Chapter 230

Today was the day. Feylaria had talked with me early in the morning and gave a final confirmation that the riot would happen today and where to meet her people outside the city for the planned infiltration.

I opened my notifications to look over the advancements I had worked on the last few days.

[Ritual Magic has increased from level 10 to level 16][Mana Sense has increased from level 6 to level 8][Drawing has increased from level 12 to level 18][Cartography has increased from level 1 to level 5][Internal Mana Manipulation has increased from level 4 to level 5][Light Magic has increased from level 11 to level 12]

Lots of skill levels from the last few days I've put into improving them. [Ritual Magic] being the clear winner in the number of levels improved. Both constructing new mana circles and casting various ones to test their effects had given me more levels in the skill. [Mana Sense] improved for a similar reason, I had spent so much time looking at the effects of the rituals I was testing that it was becoming easier to perceive mana.

[Drawing] improved as well, it leveled both from the sketches I've been doing to relax as well as from copying intricate ritual circles into notebooks and the book of recollections. [Cartography] and [Drawing] are probably both benefiting from my 'natural' skill being higher than the system recognizes and making my improvement easier. There's a bit of a feedback loop where my natural skill improves the magic-based system skill which improves my natural skill further. It might be a while before that feedback loop evens out, but I've been able to see the rapid amount of improvement I've made in my sketching as it's increased.

[Internal Mana Manipulation] has also increased but that was mostly from practicing my [Enhancement Magic] with Bella out in the garden. It will come in handy once we come into conflict with people inside the slaver's guild so I made sure to practice with it to keep it sharp. My class, [Novice Magic Swordsman] gives benefits to [Enhancement Magic] so I need to make sure I keep improving it. I learned a lot with Theo but I've kind of plateaued at level eight for now, he had suggested that it might just stay there until I use it in real combat but I haven't had any opportunity until now. It would be a bit of a trial by fire but I've practiced with it enough that adjusting some of my spells felt quick and natural.

The last to level up was [Light Magic], a modest improvement, but the only reason it leveled at all was because I was regularly practicing with [Light Scribing], which is still technically a light magic spell even if I use it to cast ritual circles. The level was still welcome though because unlike most normal people, my [Light Manipulation] skill had been higher level than my actual base magic skill. That would be odd already for most people, I'm told, but what makes it even odder for my friends is that it's in light magic of all things. It makes sense since I'm often doing very specific things with light rather than just bigger things with light but it's still abnormal apparently. Getting them both even at level twelve was nice.

I dismissed the notifications and opened up my status to look over it, including all of my spells this time.

[Status]Name: Lilith BaphometRace: Greater Succubus [Race Hidden - Displayed as Beastkin (Sheep)]Gender: FemaleClass: [Novice Magic Swordsman] Lv. 12Level: 50

Stat Spread:Strength: 100Vitality: 100Charisma: 10 (754)Luck: 20 (764)Finesse: 70Magic Control: 100Magic Force: 100 (160)Speed: 70 (90)Endurance: 10

Karmic Energy: 7442

Unallocated Stat points: 0

Skills:Haggling Lv. 15Swordsmanship Lv. 38Illusion Magic Lv. 6Light Magic Lv. 12Light Manipulation Lv. 12Uuna Riding Lv. 13Linguistics Lv. 10Ritual Magic Lv. 16Drawing Lv. 18Mana Sense Lv. 8Luck Magic Lv. 6Enhancement Magic lv. 8Flying lv. 7Intimidation lv. 1Internal Mana Manipulation lv. 5Cartography lv. 5

Class AbilitiesMerchant Skill - CalculationsProstitute Passive - Resist DiseaseProstitute Passive - Magic FingersProstitute Skill - Ease PainProstitute Skill - Freshen UpProstitute Passive - Tight FitProstitute Passive - Group DynamicsProstitute Passive - Go UnnoticedProstitute Passive - Resist SleepProstitute Skill - Center of AttentionProstitute Skill - Nightcap

Special Passives:Soulbound CompanionsSpecial drop rate upSightspeakDouble Down

Innate Abilities:Karmic RetributionBeing of Karma

Racial Traits:Succubus ConstitutionSexual Appetite Lv. 47Succubus BondGreater Succubus Shifting

Titles:[World Traveler - Hidden Title][Origin of Succubi - Hidden Title][Dungeon Destroyer][First Explorer][Early Intervention][Demon Hunter][Follower of Sorsette][Mother of the Succubi - Hidden Title]

Spells:Light Magic:Light OrbFirefliesLight BeamLight SignalLight Scribing]Light BurstLight Ward

Illusion Magic:Zone of SilenceEchoMirage

Luck magic:Melee HexCoin FlipDie NudgeBlackjackA Touch of Good Luck

Enhancement Magic:Flame ImbueBlade WaltzFocused PerceptionLight ImbueLightfootArmor of Light

Arcane Magic:Arcane Variant Zone of Truth (Boon)

My spell list is also getting a bit bloated, especially my light magic. There are several spells there that I'm unlikely to use anymore since I got light scribing. [Light Signal] was just an inferior version of [Light Scribing] for my purposes and [Light Orb] was useless on most enemies that weren't shadow monsters. Maybe I should spend some time replacing the light magic component of the spell and wild casting a different version with a more useful element like Theo had taught us to do using my imbue spell. I'd have to find someone else with an 'orb' skill to compare it to though. I could try to identify the light magic aspect of the spell by comparing it to the light magic aspect of [Light Imbue] but that sounds like a project I'm not ready for yet. Magic was so cool, I felt like there were always a million different things to explore at any given moment, I needed to be careful not to get swept away by it.

I shook my head. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that kind of thing. While looking over my class abilities again my eyes caught on [Prostitute Skill - Go Unnoticed] and I read its description again.

[Go Unnoticed - Common Prostitute Ability]Not all places are kind to whores. Go unnoticed allows you to blend in with those around you and deflect attention away from you even when you're wearing the most eye-catching outfit. Active ability, resisted by [Will], costs mana to maintain.

This class ability seems like it would be pretty useful right now. Maybe not for the actual infiltration, but getting back into the city without attracting much attention. It seems like it's more for blending into crowds than hiding in shadows. We still did need to leave town without being noticed first though.

"Are you ready to go, Lilith?" Bella asked.

I nodded. "Yes, I was just looking over my [Status]."

"Yeah." She sighed. "I'm a little nervous about today. This isn't something I ever pictured I would ever do. Breaking into the slaver's guild to essentially start a rebellion..."

"I... This has been something on my mind since I found out slavery was common here in the first place," I admitted. "I always wanted to do something to... I don't know, stop it or something but it always seemed like something too big to tackle. I'm not even sure if what we're doing will have that much of an impact, but I still want to try."

"It might make us wanted criminals you know. If our disguises fail then we could all be hunted down ourselves," Bella said.

"...Do you think we shouldn't do it?" I asked.

Bella sighed and paused for a moment before replying, "I want to as well. Slavery is... normal to me. I've lived with the idea of people owning other people my entire life and never even... questioned it until I was the one in a slave collar myself. It wasn't until after talking to you about your world that I even considered that it didn't have to be normal. I knew that some places didn't have slavery or had less of it, but all of that just seemed so... far away. And after seeing how Morrigan and Torien were when their collars were removed... I just didn't realize how disgusting the whole thing actually is. I knew they were raised as slaves but... they were inconsolable when they were freed... That shouldn't be normal..."

I nodded in silence. I didn't know what to say in response.

Bella shook her head. "We should get moving. We need to get to the stables and prepare to leave. We want to be ready when the riot starts."

I nodded and went down the stairs where everyone else was talking and eating a light breakfast. The atmosphere seemed so... merry despite what we were going to do today. It felt at odds with the gravity of what today would bring. We were going to fight people again today. Sure, maybe bad people, maybe people that didn't even deserve to live, but people all the same. Unlike in Norta or those bandits, it wouldn't be because we were being attacked, this time we were going to where we knew we weren't supposed to be to intentionally get in fights with people. I could already tell that today was going to be hard on me. I wasn't hungry, I didn't eat.

"You have that vacant look in your eye, the one soldiers sometimes get." I turned to see Silva sitting next to me. "Are you sure you're up for this? I can tell by that look that you already know what is probably going to happen today."

"How do you cope with it?" I brought my voice to a whisper. "Killing people?"

Silva was quiet for a moment, she was studying some of the fur on her leg. It was now black from the transformation, to hide the blood she had told me. "I get angry... and I pretend they're not people. I pretend they're monsters because they often act worse than monsters do. They're borderline demons. So I think of them that way."

"Does that help?" I asked.

Silva shrugged. "Sometimes. It's easier the less I know about them. A soldier that is running at me with a spear and is trying to kill me, I'm happy to kill him before he kills me. That can be easy. The ones that are hardest for me are actually the ones I target for assassination. They're the ones I learn the most about. I learn all of their vices, their habits, how vile they are, the people they hurt. But I also learn about their family. The ones they love. The mostly innocent sons and daughters they'll leave behind. I know that I'll be taking their father or mother away, sometimes both. Their parents might be pieces of shit, but it can be hard not to compare the orphaned children with myself. After I lost my own parents. Killing people isn't easy... and it shouldn't be. But I still think some people deserve it."

I sighed.

She shook her head. "I know that probably didn't help much. I can't really offer you any better advice that isn't just 'get over it.' If I'm honest, I don't even want you to get over it. I like that you don't like to kill other people. As long as you stay like that, I won't need to worry about you being as bad as the people I assassinate, or even as bad as I am myself. I will do my best to take that burden from you whenever I can, whenever it's appropriate."

A moment of silence passed between us before I nodded. "Thank you, Silva. I think that helped plenty."

She reached over and patted my arm. "You're welcome."

A sudden realization came to me. "Uh, Silva. Have you eaten since becoming a succubus?"

Silva's smile faded a little bit. "Raya, Sibyl, and Cecilia helped me out last night. As a succubus, I can't ignore those needs. I don't want to be the first of our kind to become starved."

"How are things coming with Torien? Any changes?" I asked.

"Slow, but in the right direction since we talked that time. She isn't avoiding me anymore but a lot of the warmth I used to get from her hasn't returned yet. She's still upset with me but I don't think she's mad at me anymore at least. It won't be a problem on our mission but it seems it will still take time to heal the rift between us."

I nodded. "I'm glad you've at least made that much progress."

"Yeah," she replied.

It was still fairly early when our large group finally left the embassy with Tenna and her apprentice in tow. Cecilia and Sibyl had gone ahead of us to prepare the carriage and uunas for transport but the rest of us were walking in a large procession relative to the other people out at this time of day. Things got busier once we got to the part of the city near the stables though. There were still lots of carriages loading and unloading cargo to other places. An... unfortunate number of them were loaded up with slaves too. These people won't be among the ones who will get a chance to escape during the upcoming riot today. All I can do is hope that the black eye we're about to give the slaver's guild will be a big enough hit to cripple their operations. Wishful thinking but not impossible.

Tenna was impressed when she saw our large carriage and the powerful uunas that pulled it. I got to see the whites of her eyes when she saw how casually I walked up to Nikka and ruffled the fur on her giant head. Nikka gave me a large messy lick with her rough feline tongue, I was less amused by that, but I could see the amusement on the big girl's face. Tenna and her apprentice suddenly felt a lot more confident in Cecilia's, Sibyl's, and Raya's ability to protect the two of them while they waited for us outside of town. The two uunas that pulled our carriage were intimidating and Cecilia's ability to handle them made it clear that she wasn't a pushover herself.

The carriage pulled up to the gate and the guards did a quick inspection of the inside of our carriage and asked us a few questions before waving us through. It had honestly gone much better than I had expected it to. We didn't even get held up by the Tamin church or questioned why demon hunters were leaving town before the demon problem was rooted out. They took a look at the escort mission we got from the adventurer's guild and felt confident that everything was normal. Escorting Tenna to Traehall had been a great cover as expected.

Outside of town our carriage pulled off the road after half a bell of travel and doubled back on a less traveled path. We found a secluded canyon the elves had directed us to, it was a place often used for smuggling because it was hidden from plain view of the town and was a little too far to check constantly. With the tighter security focused on the capital, it's unlikely we would run into anyone here. Once we found a nice shaded spot for the uunas to rest we met with a small group of elves. There was a small stone house large enough for everyone to meet up in. It was a well-used building by both the smugglers that use this place as well as the guards that patrol the area when possible. I could guess this place had a rich history of cat and mouse games between criminals and guards in this city.

One of Feylaria's aides that I recognized from the meetings we had, bowed to me. "It's great to see that everyone made it here without any trouble. We best hurry, we don't have much time left."

I braced myself as I prepared to be transported back to the city.