Chapter 303

I finished the tea Bella had given me and handed the cup off to Mimi for safekeeping. I hadn't been the first to finish reviewing my levels, but I also hadn't been the last. The one who took the longest to finish had actually been Raya. We were still hiding, so I decided chatting, even at a whisper, probably wasn't a good idea when we had the bond to rely on instead.

("Are you alright, Raya?") I asked her through the bond while looping everyone else into a group conversation. It hadn't been something I had tried before, but it came naturally after becoming more comfortable with the bond.

There was a brief pause as some mixed feelings surfaced through our connection. ("I am... It's just that... I've leveled up a lot. Like, an unreasonable amount.")

Torien's voice joined the conversation as she shook her head. ("It wasn't unreasonable for you to level up a lot in that situation, Raya. You're the lowest level among us. What all of us are doing is extremely high-risk, and your illusions contributed a significant amount toward why we were able to get through that safely.")

Raya tilted her head. ("I thought experience mostly came from killing monsters though, why does all that matter?")

("It's not that simple,") Torien replied. ("The source of a lot of the magic that the system imbues into us through 'experience' comes from the monsters we fight, but it allocates that magic based on your actions, the danger, and your contribution. Typically, the more you contribute to the fight, the better your 'share' of the available mana that strengthens us when we defeat monsters. Also, as you know, it takes more and more experience to get to higher levels. A side effect of that is lower-leveled people will level up more from the same fight because they need less experience to level, but also because they're generally in more danger. If you also contribute a lot to the fight despite your low level, your share of the experience could be pushed even farther.")

There was a bit of a pause as Raya took all of that in before she finally replied. ("I gained almost twenty levels and capped out my [Novice Fire Mage] class though. Isn't that a little ridiculous?")

Sibyl sighed. ("Raya... I don't say this to rub anything in, but I think you are severely underestimating the amount of danger we were just in. I admit... that you made crossing the bridge tremendously easier, so I am glad that you're here, but if any of those monsters actually got ahold of you, they may have killed you instantly.")

("Sibyl's right, and to add onto that, if you haven't allocated your stats yet, I would recommend allocating a decent amount toward Vitality. You don't need as much as a melee fighter would, but most mages neglect them entirely and live a short life,") Silva said, cutting in.

Raya frowned as she began looking at her system again. ("How much should I add? What's a decent amount?")

("For a ranged mage, I'd suggest at least one in ten points go into vitality, if not one in eight,") Silva answered.

I glanced at my own stats and made a rough estimate. I figured I had about a fifth of my stats into vitality. It is supplemented by some of my defensive magic, but I wasn't sure if I should have more.

("What about me?") I asked. ("About a fifth of my stats are in Vitality."

Silva shrugged. ("That's probably fine. You have a bit of a hybrid role, but it's not like you're trying to gather everyone's attention in fights. You've gotten a lot better over time too. Bella hasn't had to spend as much time constantly monitoring you while you're fighting in melee range. Not like when we first met.")

I nodded. ("Thanks.")

("How much should I put into Magic Control?") Raya asked Morrigan.

("It kind of depends on where you want your focus to be. You have a bit of an odd combination of fire and illusion magic, so you may need to keep the two stats about even with each other, maybe with a slight lean toward Magic Force. Illusions often benefit from it too, but Magic Control will make you a lot more versatile, which may be desirable for illusions,") she replied.

("Should I equip [Apprentice Fire Mage] or finish leveling [Novice Illusion Mage] next? It's also close to capping and that book I found said that you can unlock a combined class if they're both capped.") Raya asked next.

Morrigan leaned back and her ears twitched a few times before she answered. ("Combination classes can be powerful if you truly want to go that route. Two schools of magic usually synergize better than martial and magic hybrid classes like Lilith's, but only do that if you actually want to commit yourself to focusing on both, not just dabbling in one or the other. I do think you'd be safe doing that based on what your combat style has looked like from what I've seen so far, though.")

("Okay! Thanks, Morrigan!") Raya replied happily.

Now that there was a lull in Raya's questions, I decided to bring up one of the new skills I wanted to talk about. I created a pane of light with the spell description on it using [Light Ward], but I was careful to limit the amount of magic light it was giving off so it wouldn't disrupt Raya's illusion.

("Look at this new spell I learned. I think it'll be useful,") I said as I handed the magic construct to the twins.

[Winged Cloak of Light - Light Magic Spell]Create a light magic construct that gives the target of the spell the ability to glide and fly. The physical durability of these constructs are affected by Magic Force, and the duration of the cloak is affected by Magic Control. The cloak can be reinforced with mana to increase its duration by either the caster or the wearer. The cloak may also be upkept with mana to extend its duration for as long as sufficient mana is supplied to the spell.

Morrigan just about spat out her tea when she started reading. ("Light magic can gain a flight spell? That's insane! What level is your light magic?")

("Level twenty-nine, after that last fight,") I replied.

Morrigan shook her head in disbelief. ("There's no way. People rarely increase [Light Magic] to that level, but this is incredibly early to gain a flight spell. Did it say you created this spell? I haven't seen you do anything that would create this kind of spell, and to gain something like this at only twenty-nine in [Light Magic] seems impossible.")

I shook my head. ("No, I didn't create this one. I did get credit for creating a spell based on the laser I used though.")

Morrigan cradled her head. ("You're so incredible it hurts sometimes. I'm so jealous.")

("Could it be that she got it because she can already fly with her wings, and has the [Flying] skill?") Bella asked quietly.

Torien cupped her chin. ("That might do it...")

Morrigan sighed, exasperated. ("If someone else created that flight spell, they must not have told anyone about it. Some mages hold back their discoveries so they can surprise their opponents, but you would think someone dedicated enough to get light magic of all things that high would share the discovery.")

Sibyl shrugged. ("Lilith got it that high.")

("No offense to Lilith, I love her, but she is weird, and all of you know it,") Morrigan said playfully.

I couldn't help but snicker at that.

("Are all of you gaining levels in [Pack Tactics]?") I asked.

Everyone nodded in unison.

("It's had a surprisingly noticeable effect for me,") Silva commented. ("I don't normally enjoy fighting in groups. Using the bond has helped with coordination a lot, but it wasn't until this skill leveled up a little that I've become comfortable fighting this way.")

Sibyl nodded along. ("I think the effect has been more pronounced for us in melee range, but it's also been good for knowing when to back off to allow our backline to get in hits too.")

("I've pulled off so many shots I never would have taken before, I'm glad that Eira was able to show us how to do this using the bond. I think it makes us a lot stronger, especially within Lilith's [Light Domain] ability,") Torien added.

("I got an offense spell after that last fight called [Holy Flame],") Nelly said. ("It's a short projectile, like a flamebolt.")

Morrigan smiled. ("That should be really effective against demons! Though... I wouldn't want you to tax your mana too much if you need to heal. You should use it, but only sparingly. Don't let your mana drop below half.")

Nelly brightened. ("Okay. I'll be able to help out more.")

All of us shared a few details about our new skills with each other. I could tell the others were still a bit nervous sharing some of it with the group still, but the bond made everyone feel safe to talk about their abilities for the most part. There were still places where details were held back or specifics were glossed over, but there had been a lot more sharing than there would have been in the past. No one else had gained any particularly unusual skills or spells, so the conversation wound down pretty quickly from there.

The details that Morrigan had shared about her class were a little interesting. She wasn't a traditional spellcaster, as I already knew, but most of the skills she gained almost sounded like an application of ritual magic to me. Not in the sense that she was writing out spell circles in the way that I did with [Light Scribing], but more that she was combining bits and bobs using the ambient mana in a way that seemed like an entirely different language from the outside looking in. If I took a single component of a ritual spell and showed it to someone, it probably wouldn't mean anything to them either. I wouldn't be able to repeat much of what she had tried to explain because I didn't understand most of it, unfortunately. It had been the first time she had talked about the kinds of things her class helped her with though, so I had been intrigued, even if she didn't give us any actual skill descriptions.

In all, we had spent a little over a bell resting and chatting silently using the bond before we decided to get moving again. We were finally getting close to the dungeon all of the banshees were coming from, and it had begun to register to the passive effect of the [First Explorer] title. The four of us who had the title could feel the subtle tug in the direction of the dungeon as we approached. A bit more walking and we finally spotted where they were all coming from.

There was a clearing ahead of us with a large cave opening embedded in the face of the mountain. Banshees were only pouring out of the mouth of the cave in ones or twos, but it was a continuous stream of them. We waited and watched from the tree line for a while, but they never let up, only paused for short amounts of time between groups occasionally.

("We're going to have to push through them to get into the dungeon,") Silva said.

Lori squinted at the cave. ("This looks more like a dungeon break, but it's not stopping. They usually come in waves. This seems out of the ordinary.")

("Even if we push through them, will we be able to rest at all in the dungeon, or are we going to be fighting continuously?") I asked.

Silva's black rabbit ears twitched as she took in the sounds. ("Depends on the layout of the dungeon and how the demons react once we get inside. If it's a maze-like dungeon, we could probably hide out in a side passage that isn't in the path of the exit. If it's a more open dungeon, we might be able to hide somewhere. Raya gives us a few options, but it'll be difficult for her to keep an illusion up for us the entire time.")

("I can go first,") Mimi suggested. ("If we're in a tight hallway, like the dungeon stairs, I should be able to eat anything before it can get past me.")

("That's not a terrible idea, what do you think?") Silva asked, turning to Lori.

("I haven't seen Mimi fight much, but I can feel her confidence through the bond. We won't really know what the situation is until we get inside the dungeon. We can make additional plans once we're inside. It would be best if we could get into the mouth of the cave before we were forced to fight though. I'd like to avoid the situation at the bridge,") she said.

("My illusion can reach the cave from here, but it won't do anything about the sound or the ones in front of us,") Raya said as her fox ears twitched along with Silva's.

("I can use [Zone of Silence] if you don't have it. I think I can reach the cave from here. We will probably have to fight any that come out of the cave while we're approaching, though.")

Lori nodded. ("That should be fine. We'll have to be fast. As long as we can kill any before they can escape through Raya's illusion, we can just leave them there until we get to the stairs.")

("I'll just eat those ones too,") Mimi said.

Lori turned to Mimi with furrowed brows. ("You don't have to worry about getting full, do you?")

Mimi almost laughed out loud as her amusement flowed through the bond. ("Of course not. I have a maximum amount of space I can hold without eating. But anything I destroy and convert to mana just goes to my mana reserve.")

Lori turned back to the cave and let out an anxious chuckle. ("Your powers are a bit scary, you know. I often think about how powerful Lilith's ability to transform people is, but I think you might actually be scarier, especially once you learn more about spatial magic like you've been studying.")

Mimi shrugged. ("It wouldn't be the first time I've been called scary. It used to happen a lot.")

I shook my head. ("We're getting off track a little here. Let's work through our plan one more time and get this over with.")