Chapter 295

I walked over to the large chest that had appeared near the middle of the room. "What did the dungeon give us?" I asked.

Torien looked over her shoulder before stepping away with a wicked looking black short bow in her hand. "A lot. We'll have to get Mimi to identify what everything is exactly, but the chest is half stuffed with coins, and half stuffed with artifacts."

I scratched the base of my horn. If what Mimi said is true, the dungeon itself didn't seem complicit with what they were doing. On the other hand... it was a dungeon. I had no idea if dungeons were wise enough to stop spawning demons if we asked it to.

"What are the chances that the dungeon doesn't actually spawn demons and that they all came from that hole?" I asked while looking at Mimi.

Mimi frowned and looked at the remnants of the ritual circle. "I don't know. We haven't seen any other monsters since we came in... but I believe it was in pain before we entered."

"It's possible it can't summon demons at all without that tear in the room," Lori suggested. "Maybe the cultists were using this dungeon to summon demons, not taking advantage of a dungeon that already did."

Morrigan looked around the room warily. "If that's the case, then... perhaps this was our only goal in this dungeon. If the dungeon isn't spawning demons, we would have no reason to... clear it." She let the implication hang in the air. You never wanted to talk about destroying a dungeon while inside a dungeon openly. If there was one thing that pissed off the potentially-intelligent structures, it was that.

Lori frowned. "I did think it was odd that the complexity of the traps didn't match the threat of the demons we were fighting. We could handle both fairly easily, but... no offense to the dungeon, the traps were a bit simple when compared to dungeons with monsters at the level we were facing."

Torien set the black bow down. "Maybe we should return to the city early, then. We don't actually want to clear the dungeon if we've handled all of the actual demons."

"I agree. We should head back to the city," I replied. "For now, let's take some time to rest and take stock of what we got from the chest and go through our notifications. That was a tough fight. We could all use a breather."

When I got nods of agreement, I sat on the ground and pulled up my notifications while Lori and Mimi continued to identify and catalog everything in the chest.

[Cartography has increased from level 5 to level 8][Drawing has increased from level 19 to level 20][Drawing Skill Ability Create Simple Copy has been unlocked]

[Your party has defeated a Bride of Astaroth][Your level has increased from level 54 to level 55][Novice Magic Swordsman has increased from level 19 to level 20][Apprentice Magic Swordsman class unlocked][Light Magic has increased from level 18 to level 21][Light Manipulation has increased from level 16 to level 20][Light Magic Spell Fireflies has evolved into Light Magic Spell Light Domain][Enhancement Magic has increased from level 13 to level 14][Ice Magic has increased from level 1 to level 6][Learned Ice Magic Spell Freezing Grasp][Learned Ice Magic Spell Wall of Ice][Learned Ice Magic Spell Creeping Frost][Mana Sense has increased from level 10 to level 13][Ritual Magic has increased from level 20 to level 25][Drawing has increased from level 20 to level 23][Pack Tactics has increased from level 8 to level 9]

Damn. That's a lot of notifications. We got a lot out of that fight and I got even more for taking care of that ritual circle afterward. That monster must have been really high level because I got a primary level and two class levels from that one fight. Getting to level 20 also unlocked [Apprentice Magic Swordsman], which is a pretty long-awaited upgrade. Starting from the top though, it seems I unlocked a drawing skill ability at level 20, before we even fought that giant demon.

[Create Simple Copy - Uncommon Drawing Ability]After spending so much time copying documents, recording scenes, or illustrating diagrams, you are now able to do all of these tasks with more ease. The holder of this ability will now be able to spend mana to quickly recreate documents, scenes, or objects to the best of their drawing ability as if they had fully focused on the task for an extended period of time. The mana cost scales with the complexity of the drawing you are trying to capture and is limited by how well you would be able to create such a copy within half a day.

My eyebrows rose at the ability I gained from reaching level twenty in drawing. This was quite interesting. It would make still images much easier to capture. I probably received this skill because this was what I've mainly been using drawing for outside of my personal time. One of the very first things I drew was a field copy of a plant, and the most recent thing I drew was a copy of that horrifying ritual circle. This new drawing ability would come in handy quite often. Especially since I just received unlimited paper from this strangely generous dungeon.

I pulled up my new class next.

[Apprentice Magic Swordsman]Unlock Condition: Reach Novice Magic Swordsman level 20. While this class is equipped, gain 30 Speed, 100 Magic Force, and 8 Magic Force per class level. Spellcasting can now be channeled through swords as if they were wands, even when this class is not equipped. Enhancement-type spells are more effective and last longer while equipped and are increased to the baseline level of a Novice even when this class is not equipped. Gain Skills related to melee magic casting, offensive magic spells, and wielding a sword easier.

Wow, this class seems way better now. It's also the first class that I've seen that gives me bonuses even when it's not equipped. It's like the benefits I received for reaching level 20 in the novice version of this class are now cemented, and this is just more bonuses on top. I gained slightly more Speed and more Magic Force, as well as more Magic Force per level. Classes seem way more powerful than I initially gave them credit for. It was only now that I had developed one of my classes far enough to see the benefits. I had gotten so many free levels from my origin title that my class had fallen behind by quite a lot. Though even the novice version of this class was fairly powerful when I unlocked it. There was no downside to switching my class to the new one, but I wanted to unlock the Will stat by switching to that priest class. Unfortunately, I didn't want to do that here, where I wasn't completely safe yet. I'll leave it on novice for now and switch to the priest class once we get back to town, assuming everything is safe.

I got some improvements to [Light Magic] and [Light Control] from my extensive use of [Light Siphon] as well as evolving [Fireflies] into [Light Domain]. It was a bit unexpected, but considering that [Fireflies] was probably my most used light skill, it wasn't an unwelcome addition.

[Light Domain - Light Magic Spell]Create an area illuminated by magic light in an area equal to Magic Force x 100 foot. Magic Control improves the ability to move and manipulate the shape of the domain while it is active. Light Domain slows anyone targeted as an enemy and anyone standing inside of Light Domain can use improved versions of light magic and shadow magic spells. The magnitude of these effects is improved by Magic Force. The strength of these effects are doubled when used against shadow and dark aligned enemies.

I gaped a little bit at the strength of this ability. [Fireflies] had been one of my favorite light magic spells, but this one seemed amazingly useful. As [Fireflies] had shown me, slowing down enemies and making them flinch the way that [Fireflies] had against particular enemies made some tough fights almost easy. Now that I would be able to use that against any enemies, it was a massive boon on its own. I wasn't sure what it meant by improved versions of light magic spells, but that was promising too. There were some spells I basically never used, like [Light Orb] just because it didn't do anything to most enemies, but depending on how this spell affected my light magic, this could be huge. I almost started testing it out while in the dungeon, but I held off for now while I went through the rest of my notifications. This wasn't the only new spell I received. Ice magic had gone up to 6 and I learned three new spells from that.

[Freezing Grasp - Ice Magic Spell]Charge your hand, other extremity, or casting implement with ice and strike or grapple an enemy to do additional cold magic damage. Repeated or long exposure to the ice magic from this spell can have additional negative effects on the enemy. Cold magic damage is improved by Magic Force. Additional negative effects are improved by Magic Control.

This spell seemed pretty good, especially if I could channel it through my mithril sword like it implied. Since it seemed less flashy, I decided to quickly test it out. I walked off into one of the corners and attempted to cast it through my sword. The last foot or so of my blade took on a blue sheen, and when I touched it to the ground, I could feel my mana spilling out and tearing into the stone below. I pulled my sword away and let the spell dissipate. It seems to work well. I was exceedingly happy to have such a compatible skill to use through my sword. It didn't work like [Frost Infuse]. It was more of an active skill rather than a buff skill, and it cost a lot more to use, but that just made it more versatile. I didn't need to apply it to every strike if I didn't want to, and I could capitalize even more on especially effective blows. I sheathed my sword and went back to the rest of the notifications.

[Wall of Ice - Ice Magic Spell]Create a wall of hardened ice magic. Durability and density are affected by Magic Force. Range, height, length, and area of the spell are affected by Magic Control.

Very simple and to the point, but it seems powerful. I had been taking advantage of the ice fording ritual liberally, so it made sense that I would get a spell related to that. Especially considering that I had used it repeatedly during the last fight. I would need to test this out to see how strong it was. It says it's hardened ice magic, but I wouldn't hide behind something like this if I wasn't sure about its durability. Considering that it scaled on my Magic Force, it gave me high hopes for it though.

[Creeping Frost - Ice Magic Spell]Release ice magic in an area around you that moves along the ground with a maximum area of Magic Force x 1 foot. Finer control of the area is affected by Magic Control. Ice magic spells can be cast from anywhere connected to a contiguous patch of ice connected to you. The caster of this ability can walk through the area of Creeping Frost normally, but it may become difficult terrain for others.

This was an odd spell but it seemed to have a strong effect as well. While [Light Domain] seemed powerful to stay in, this one seemed more powerful the farther away from me I can get it. I could potentially increase the range of my ice magic a lot based on how I used this, and could potentially use this in tricky ways to get sneak attacks from behind. I didn't have a lot of ice magic spells and I didn't know if [Freezing Grasp] would even work through it, but even being able to cast [Ice Shard] or [Wall of Ice] from further away or behind an enemy seemed strong. I would need to see how powerful the terrain change effect is though. It would be bad if it hampered my teammates too much.

I also got a few levels in [Mana Sense] and quite a few in [Ritual Magic] from dismantling that ritual circle in the middle of combat. That had been quite stressful, but I trusted my team to keep me safe while I worked through it and it got easier as I made progress. Ultimately, I was happy with how everything had gone. That monster was dangerous and we had been lucky enough to have come out of it unscathed. I didn't want to dwell on how badly things could have gone if we had been a little slower with our spells, especially our frontline, who had nearly been cooked alive early in the fight.

I reviewed my status and decided to drop my ten points from this level into Strength. I wanted to continue to improve it as a solid base for my hybrid magical abilities.

[Status]Name: Lilith BaphometRace: Greater Succubus [Race Hidden - Displayed as Beastkin (Sheep)]Gender: FemaleClass: [Novice Magic Swordsman] Lv. 20Level: 55

Stat Spread:Strength: 120Vitality: 110Charisma: 10 (1010)Luck: 20 (1020)Finesse: 70Magic Control: 100Magic Force: 100 (200)Speed: 70 (90)Endurance: 30

Karmic Energy: 10000

Unallocated Stat points: 0

Available Classes:Black Cat Lv. 10Seductress Lv. 1Novice Prostitute Lv. 20Apprentice Prostitute Lv. 1Novice Merchant Lv. 7Novice Light Mage Lv. 5Novice Illusion Mage Lv. 1Novice Swordsman Lv. 1Apprentice Swordsman Lv. 1Intermediate Swordsman Lv. 1Expert Swordsman Lv. 1Novice Magic Swordsman Lv. 20Apprentice Magic Swordsman Lv. 1Priest of Knowledge and Innovation Lv. 1Novice Ice Mage Lv. 1Novice Soldier Lv. 1Novice Crossbowman Lv. 1

Skills:Haggling Lv. 15Swordsmanship Lv. 41Illusion Magic Lv. 6Light Magic Lv. 21Light Manipulation Lv. 20Uuna Riding Lv. 13Linguistics Lv. 10Ritual Magic Lv. 25Drawing Lv. 23Mana Sense Lv. 13Luck Magic Lv. 14Enhancement Magic Lv. 14Flying Lv. 10Intimidation Lv. 1Internal Mana Manipulation Lv. 5Cartography Lv. 8Ice Magic Lv. 6Marksmanship Lv. 4Pack Tactics Lv. 9

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 upDouble Down

Skill Abilities:SightspeakSynergistic ConnectionBlade MaintenanceCreate Simple Copy

Innate Abilities:Karmic RetributionBeing of Karma

Racial Traits:Succubus ConstitutionSexual Appetite Lv. 50Succubus 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 OrbLight BeamLight SignalLight ScribingLight BurstLight WardLight SiphonLight Domain

Illusion Magic:Zone of SilenceEchoMirage

Luck magic:Melee HexCoin FlipDie NudgeBlackjackA Touch of Good LuckWagerCarousel

Enhancement Magic:Flame ImbueBlade WaltzFocused PerceptionLight ImbueLightfootArmor of LightHasted PerceptionAugment StrengthAugment SpeedFrost Imbue

Ice magic:Ice ShardFreezing GraspWall of IceCreeping Frost

Arcane Magic:Arcane Variant Zone of Truth (Boon)

I closed my status and dusted my hands. Now that I was finished with this, it was time to check out what all the dungeon dropped for us.