Due to your maturing body, your Cuteness Skill will soon become the Hotness Skill. Would you like to switch now, the first moment you are able to work your hotness?

Switch: Y/N?

“What the fuck?” I ask no one in particular. “I’m shitting!”

+0 PER!

Why the fuck am I being asked that while I’m shitting? Who the hell is perving on me, and why can’t I notice them with my 121 PER?

I accept it, finish my business, clean up, then return to the bedroom at the inn I’m booking, glad the rooms here come with places to wash up and do business. I spent a night at the one Michael did for us, and the last few at this one. This one’s comfier and more expensive. But since I make over a million krat a day… it’s not like affording it’s an issue for me.

Yesterday, I reached Dekami Level 2, and Archwizard Level 6. Ten days was all it took me. And now I’ll gain that same amount of Experience even quicker, if I grind as much as I did then. Of course, I was also busting my ass off in the Dungeon, exhausting myself.

But I also gained an extra thirteen Mana – ten from making it denser, and three from Expansion.

Stretching, I sit down on the floor, waving my hand over the ground, the Grimoire appearing. I stare at it, thinking.

Most of the spells in this one require an INT of at least fifty before they can be learned, at least seventy-five for half of them, and at least a hundred for the last third of them. A tenth requires at least a hundred and fifty, and around one percent of them – ten spells that I have seen – require two hundred or higher. One of them requires five hundred.

Even with my insane Mana regeneration, it will take me nearly eight hours to restore to full. Eighty-five and a half seconds per point.

Deciding what I want to do, I send the Grimoire back into my ring and make my way to one of the nearby Mage Guilds, walking past the curious magicians as I approach the counter. They spend so much on making this place look good that I just want to rip their heads off their shoulders.

It looks stupid, not good. They have no real taste. When I have a Guild Hall, it’s going to have dragonstone bricks, phoenixwood will be for any wooden parts, the trimwork and etchings and stuff will be done in unicornite. I have such good plans for my Guild Hall, and no one will be able to compare.

Of course, I need to find a large enough supply of that stone, brick, and metal, among other things, first, but I can figure that out later.

“I’m requesting use of one of your training rooms,” I say. “I’m going to be practicing magic the next week or so, and will need a place I can perform it without risking blowing up the building I’m in.”

“Only allowed for Guild members,” the mage behind the counter says. “If you’d like to join our Guild, you’d need to-”

“No, thanks,” I wave, turning away from the counter. “I’ll see if one of the other Guilds will be more accommodating to me.”

I spend most of the morning looking at Guilds, but they all turn me away when I refuse to join their Guild. The last few were expecting me.

After lunch, I make my way to the next Guild on my list. When I enter, there’s a man with a spatial ring sitting by the door. He stands when I enter.

“Mage Gavin,” he greets me, then frowns. “Or rather, Archwizard Gavin. So there really is a line of Wizard for Classes?”

“Indeed,” I nod. “Mage is the Third Tier, though I understand that magicians are called mages, here.”

“Correct,” he says. “I am Vincent Stormwind, Guild Master of of the Stormwind Guild. Some of our daughter Guilds reported you were going around, requesting a training room, but refusing to join Guilds.”

“I am a member of the Order of the Violet Flame,” I state. “We don’t have an official headquarters or location around here.”

“A member or a leader?” He asks, his gaze moving to my ring for a moment before meeting my gaze again, a smile on his lips.

“You’re the first person to question that.”

“How did a child such as you come to be the leader of a Guild?”

“It’s a long story,” I shrug. “But in short, I was sort of betrayed by the only person I knew in the last order I was in, and decided to found my own. Seeing as I’m of the Second Tier, I figured it a smart move to simply create my own Order, with my own purpose, rather than to follow the whims of people who would seek only to use me.”

“How large is your Guild?” He asks.

“Right now?” I ask. “The Order is small, with only a few members. I’m quite selective about who I will allow in it, because of the stuff I’ve been through.”

“Are the fairy and wolfboy in the Order?”

“They’re traveling companions of mine,” I shake my head. “They’re working with me toward a personal goal of mine, for their own reasons. If they wished to join the Order, though, they’d be more than welcome. I do not discriminate based on Species. After all – I one day intend on moving past Human and into the Second Tier of my Species, myself. If I were to limit it to but one Species, would I not be forced to leave it when I leave that Species, myself?”

The Guild Master thinks for several long moments. I can’t read him at all. I can’t see his name, his Level, nothing. I don’t like that, especially since he seems to be able to read mine.

“You do have an excellent point, there,” he nods. “I do hope you know what you’re doing, though, allowing any Species into your Guild.”

“Any Species is welcome,” I say. “But not just any person. The Order does have strict requirements. I will not allow fighting amongst my members, and until I reach the Third Tier, I plan on keeping it a smaller Order.”

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“Where is your headquarters?” He asks. “Every Guild has one.”

“Wherever I am, for now,” I answer. “I have yet to find a place I determined suitable enough for my Order, and so for now, we are scattered across the world, working on our personal goals while looking for a suitable place to make our permanent base.”

“While it is against policy,” the Guild Master says. “To allow those outside of our Guild to use our facilities and resources, I have no issue with you using our training rooms to practice magic, and have already notified all of our daughter Guilds.”

“Sir,” a mage steps forward. “I don’t believe-”

“While you are my trusted Assistant Guild Master,” the Guild Master looks to the other man. “Archwizard Gavin is a powerful young magician who leads his own Order, and from the way his Mana and magic shifted with his words, he is fully dedicated and loyal to his cause. I would rather be his ally than someone who turned him down.

“However,” Vincent looks at me again. “I will admit that I am acting a fair bit selfishly in this matter. Your Mana Pool is higher than most I’ve ever seen before, save for those who’ve lived decades – or even centuries. If your Order one day surpasses mine, and I’m in need of help, I would only hope that you’d remember my kindness to you.”

“Don’t do me wrong,” I say. “And I won’t do you wrong. Do me right, and I might just help you out, if you need it.”

Skill Gained!

Appraisal Resistance 1/10: The ability to resist Appraisal, a power granted from a god’s Blessing. Only Appraisals at or beneath your Resistance will be affected.

I forgot that Appraisals came from a god’s Blessing. And that gods give Blessings. Didn’t that one magician I found have a god’s Blessing? It kept him from decaying and being attacked by monsters and animals while he was dead.

“I will tell you,” Vincent says. “That only our training rooms are free for you to use. Anything else will require negotiating. I’m sure a boy your age didn’t come to be of the Second Tier at fourteen without access to many magics and a talent for learning them. If you wish to make a trade between our Guild and your Order, we can supply you with magics you don’t know or have access to learning, potions, and other such things.”

“Understandable,” I say. “I have access to a book of spells, though most of the spells are far stronger than any I’ve ever learned before. In truth, I really only know a few spells. Mastered? Even fewer. I can probably learn the spells, now, but I’d also like to learn more basic ones.”

“Very well,” he says. “We can trade you some smaller spells, and a trainer, for more advanced ones. I would also be willing to give up some Mana Potions in exchange for powerful spells as well.”

“Do you have any Alchemists?” I ask.

“Two,” he nods.

“I also have a book of alchemy,” I state. “I’ve a few recipes I might be willing to share, though since alchemy is far easier than magic, I’m sure those won’t get as much of a boost as some of my spells might.”

“Depends on the recipes,” Vincent says. “There are some that would be quite useful.”

“How much does a Mana Potion cost in your currency?” I ask.

“The standard one,” he says. “Would cost one thousand krat. Our alchemists can craft Lesser, Mana, and Greater Mana Potions, though we lack recipes for the higher two, and all experiments for them have created duds. The recipes for each would cost fifty thousand, two hundred thousand, and five hundred thousand, and that’s to sell the recipe, not to buy the ingredients.”

“I have a recipe for Legendary,” I say. “Why the spike in price?”

“Lesser,” he says. “Restores three points of Mana, regular restores ten, and Greater restores thirty. The potions themselves cost five thousand, ten thousand, and twenty thousand.”

In other words – not much at all, and they cost a lot. Mana Potions are meant for last-resort.

“How difficult is it,” I say. “To obtain the necessary components for those potions?”

“Not too difficult,” he answers. “Many of the resources can be farmed in this or other Dungeons, or found outside, though the higher the potion, the harder it is to obtain some of the ingredients.”

“I know,” I say. “I actually had access to the Alchemist Class when I gained access to the System. I will admit that I haven’t done alchemy since gaining access. Cost for the components for a Mana Potion?”

“Four thousand krat,” he answers. “But then the time needed, and the Skills required – those aren’t cheap.”

“Of course,” I say. “A Legendary Mana Potion restores one hundred Mana, according to the recipe. The potion itself would probably cost at least one hundred thousand to purchase, and as the recipes seem to cost ten times the potion, that means the recipe is worth one million. It’s only useful to people who have immense Mana Pools, such as the two of us, but with the normal regeneration rate being what it is, it would be useful in a longer exploration of a Dungeon or somewhere else, as well as in any prolonged battles.”

“Indeed,” Vincent nods. “There are four members of my Guild with a Mana Pool large enough for that to be useful to, and all four of them would be able to afford one every now and then.”

In other words, it’s something people need to save up for. Huh. Guess I’m just lucky.

+0 PER…

You know you’re just upset that I can net five hundred thousand or more in a single trip to the Dungeon.

+0 INT…

Jealous?

-0 CHA…

“Of course,” Vincent says. “That’s if our Alchemists can make it consistently. The only reason those potions are so cheap are their Skills enable them to succeed more often than not. A Legendary Mana Potion will probably be more difficult, and result in more failures than successes, to start.”

“So two or three million is a more reasonable expectation, starting out?” I ask.

“Correct,” he nods, then tilts his head a little. “Were you going to buy them from us?”

“It wouldn’t hurt to have them,” I nod. “And I’d rather trade for what can be made easily than what can’t be. I restore Mana at a decent rate, though I’d also like to not have to wait seven or more hours to refill to full.”

“How long per point?”

“Little more than a minute and a quarter per point of Mana,” I say, and his eyes widen, just a little bit, in his surprise. “Like I said – it’s a decent rate.”

“It’s an impossible rate,” he says. “What a magician wouldn’t give to regenerate Mana that fast.”

“It takes me almost eight hours to restore to full,” I grumble. “That might seem really fast to you, but to me, it feels like forever. Even a full minute faster in regen would still take me almost three hours to refill completely. And I really need to get stuff done.”

“We also have Regeneration Boost Potions,” he says. “They accelerate restoration speed for half an hour. They’re a little bit cheaper, though it all depends on your intended result.”

“I’d rather restore now than later,” I say, and he nods.

“How does five Greater Mana Potions sound, then?” He asks. “In addition to three Tier I Lightning or Air spells?”

Considering how hard those are to learn, normally, I’m sure it’s quite the deal.

“Five,” I say. “And four. Two Air, two Lightning.”

“It’s a deal,” he sticks out his hand, and I shake it. “Let me show you to a training room, and I’ll have someone create the necessary scrolls.”

“My tome,” I say. “Does posses the bolts for those spells, so don’t include those, please.”

“Understood,” he nods. “Do you have a protection charm, for if a spell backfires while you’re attempting to learn it?”

“No,” I answer. “Though I’ll only be using today to master the spells I already have. I’ve a friend that can teach me a spell to heal myself if something backfires, though.”

Michael and I completely forgot to do that. I’ll locate him later.

“A charm is good to have,” Vincent says.

“For most,” I shrug. “I gain resistances quickly, and my body’s quite tough. I’ll be fine for weaker spells, I promise.”

He nods, then leads me through the Guild Hall into a training room in the basement, a stone room with glowing enchantments covering the walls. He closes the door behind him as he leaves, and I look at the training dummies.

“Magic Missile.”

By the time I finish for the day, I’ve mastered Magic Missile and Magic Shield. I’ve also gained Lightning Bolt and Air Bolt.

I thank Vincent, then head back to my inn, yawning. That was actually pretty exhausting. At the inn, I close my eyes and focus on my Mana Pool, and shortly before I pass out, a message flashes in my vision.

+1 MNA!