Chapter 61

I was the last one to wake up today. I stretched and groaned, my body felt a tiny bit sore from everything I've been putting it through lately. The hot bathhouse had helped quite a bit but I was still working off the aches from our prior excursion into the dungeon. In a way it was kind of surprising that I didn't feel worse than I currently did considering all of the swordfighting and running around I've done lately. Perhaps that's the effect of the Vitality points I had put in.

I decided to pull up my system.

[Status]Name: Lilith [Surname Undefined]Race: Succubus [Race Hidden - Displayed as Beastkin (Sheep)]Gender: FemaleClass: [Novice Merchant] Lv. 7Level: 29

Stat Spread:Strength: 50Vitality: 100Charisma: 10 (92)Luck: 20 (90)Finesse: 50Magic Control: 50Magic Force: 50Speed: 10

Karmic Energy: 700

Unallocated Stat points: 40

Skills:Haggling Lv. 15Swordsmanship Lv. 35Illusion Magic Lv. 3Light Magic Lv. 5Light Manipulation Lv. 4Uuna Riding Lv. 13Linguistics Lv. 10Ritual Magic Lv. 3Drawing Lv. 8Mana Sense Lv. 4Luck Magic Lv. 1

Class AbilitiesMerchant Skill - Calculations

Special Passives:Special drop rate upSightspeakDouble Down

Innate Abilities:Karmic BalanceKarma AwarenessKarmic SeductionKarmic ResonanceKarmic RetributionDominating AuthorityKarmic HypnotismSoultouched Connection Lv. 2

Racial Traits:Infernal Heat ResistanceInfernal Cold ResistanceDarksightSexual Appetite Lv. 4SoultouchSuccubus ShiftingSoulbound CompanionsLubricating Saliva

I hadn't noticed earlier but the [Novice Merchant] class was increasing my charisma too, it was probably a good idea to swap to it during the negotiation. The bonus was a bit minor compared to the karma bonus I had at the time but every point counts I guess. I wanted to swap to [Novice Magic Swordsman] but it was still too early in the day. Unfortunately it's once a day stipulation was based on a 24 hour interval... or whatever the length of the day is... Now that I think about it I don't actually know how long a day is. Either way, swapping is still on cooldown and should stay that way for another few bells.

I was a bit conflicted. I thought it might be nice to get some practice in on the new class but Bella and I are the only ones with equipment right now so it might be better to just relax until the twins' gear gets finished up. Maybe I could talk to Morrigan about the light magic ritual thing I figured out a few days ago, I hadn't been able to experiment with that with everything else going on.

I sat up and saw that the girls were all sitting around a table playing some sort of... dice game?

"Good morning. What are you all playing?" I asked.

Bella looked over excited. "Morrigan and Torien are showing Mimi and me a dice game called Trombe! It's fun, do you want to play too?"

"How about I just watch for a while?"

It was a pretty simple game, not too dissimilar to something like street craps. I was a little distracted this morning though so I didn't pay too close attention on how the rules actually worked out. Instead I just let my mind wander while I relaxed for a little while.

"I was thinking about practicing some magic today. I wanted to show Morrigan that light magic thing from the other day."

Morrigan's ears perked up. "Oh? Light magic thing? I don't use much light magic but something about how you phrased it sounds interesting."

Bella clapped her hands. "How about we split up for today then? I'll go with Torien and you and Morrigan can spend the day together. We can meet up again for dinner."

"That sounds okay to me, what do you two think?" I asked looking at the twins.

Torien looked at Bella cautiously. "That sounds okay to me... Why split up at all though?"

"I just think it would help all of us get to know each other a little better. Sometimes it can be hard when we're all in one big group. Besides, I know all of the magic theory bores you, it'll make it easier for them to focus on it without you there."

Morrigan laughed at that and Torien looked sheepish. "I suppose that's true..."

I smiled. "That sounds like a good plan, one sec, let me give you some money." I dug through my bag and pulled out my coin pouch.

It had gotten rather heavy at this point. The gold alone weighed several pounds. I counted out 5 gold, 50 silver, and 30 copper, splitting up everything but my gold nearly in half. While I was thinking about it I also counted out 20 gold for Mimi to hold onto, leaving me with 26 gold.

Bella pulled out an empty money pouch she had been apparently holding onto this entire time and filled it with the money I counted out for her.

I slid the 20 gold for Mimi off to one side. "Okay Mimi, you can carry this 20 gold. We'll still probably need to use this money but you can hold onto it and think of it as emergency rations. If you are running out of mana and we have nothing better to give you, or you're separated from us for some reason, you can use this gold to sustain yourself if you need to."

"Okay! Sounds tasty," she said energetically. The gold vanished and swirled into Mimi's hilt.

Bella leaned forward, "Mimi, do you want to come with us or go with them for today?"

"Mmm... Morrigan said she would teach me how to condense mana, I'd like to learn that today if I can..."

I patted her on the arm, "That sounds like a good idea. We'll spend the day practicing magic." I turned to Bella. "What are you two going to do today?"

Bella shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. Maybe we'll go out and explore the town. I never really got a chance to look around since I came here. Maybe Torien can show me around?" she asked looking over to her.

"Sorry, since we're slaves, all we really got to see was the adventurer's guild and the surrounding gathering areas."

She nodded. "No problem then, it'll be fun to look around for the first time together."

We spent a little bit of time packing up our things before we headed out of the bathhouse. We were a lot less... messy than last time so we didn't need to take another dip before we left this time time around. The bathhouse was a bit pricy so we decided we would find a cheaper place to stay tonight. For obvious reasons I was reluctant to stay at the last inn we were at again though. After splitting up Morrigan, Mimi and I left the town and found a private looking clearing in the forest to practice magic together.

"So what was it that you wanted to show me?" Morrigan asked.

"Right, so because of my history I don't really know if this is something that's been done before or if it's like, obvious but niche."

I used [Light Signal] to draw out a basic fire ritual spell, then activated it. Using [Light Manipulation] I was able to scale and rotate the circle, and by adjusting how much mana I was applying through it I was able to intensify or calm the flame.

Morrigan didn't look particularly surprised or anything but her head was tilted and her right hand cupped her chin. "Hmm... Interesting. To be honest, I've never heard of anyone using light magic like this. While at first glance it doesn't seem too powerful, the fact you're able to manipulate the actual ritual circle and influence some of its effects at will is quite novel. Usually the mana conversion rate for ritual magic and the time it takes to set them up is the main limiting factor for them but this method greatly increases the activation time. How fast are you able to create a ritual, start to finish?"

I released the magic and caught my breath for a moment. Once I felt ready I quickly drew out the magic circle again, it took me about 20 or so seconds, start to finish.

"Hmm... that's a lot faster than most rituals would take but I don't know how much combat potential that would have. If even a basic ritual takes you that long to draw, I have my doubts a more complex ritual like a fire projectile spell would be castable in a reasonable amount of time. It's too bad you have to actually write out the spell yourself. I know some people will carry wood blocks with rituals pre-carved on them to save time."

Hmm... I wonder. I pictured the fire ritual circle in my head, then I activated [Light Signal] and used [Light Manipulation] to basically draw the entire thing all at once. It's kind of hard to explain but I just drew out all the individual pieces in one stroke of my hand instead of tracing them out line by line.

"Ah! That's much better!"

I released the circle rather than activating it to save my mana. "It works but it takes a lot more concentration to do it that way. I have to use [Light Manipulation] before I even start drawing anything with [Light Signal]. I'm not even sure if it's actually faster to do it this way."

"Even if it takes more preparation in the beginning, at the very least your opponent would have a harder time preparing for it. I know all you're drawing is a small flame but if you were casting say a firebolt, I would see it coming a mile away. Besides, not having to draw each line individually should make it easier to cast more complex spells that way. Well hopefully at least. You should practice drawing the most intricate ritual you can remember using that technique and see if you can speed up the process."

"Hmm... I'll have to look at my reference book."

"Cool. In the meantime I'll work on teaching Mimi how to condense mana."

Mimi's voice echoed out from nowhere in particular. "Do you think it's safe for me to take my beastfolk form here?" she asked.

I looked around a little. "Well we are close to town but I don't think it'll be much of an issue." I dug through my backpack and pulled out the long cloak I used to take Bitch across town. "Why don't you wear this while in your beastfolk form. If anyone comes by, you'll be able to cover yourself up enough that no one should be that suspicious."

"Okay!" The sword on my hip melted out of its sheath onto the ground in front of me, quickly taking Mimi's amalgamated form. I did however notice a quite obvious change since I had seen her in her beastfolk form this morning. Her eyes had gone from lifeless gems set into her face to actual ruby colored eyes.

I handed over the cloak. "Hey Mimi, did you change your eyes?"

She looked up at me. "Hmm? No?" She touched her face, her fingers touched her eyeballs directly which made me wince a little even though she didn't seem to notice. "That's odd, they do seem to have changed."

Morrigan walked over and took a look. "Ah! Your new eyes look really pretty. It's... honestly a lot less creepy to look at than before... no offence."

Mimi shrugged before starting to put on the cloak. "I don't mind. I didn't do it on purpose but I have noticed that where everyone looks is useful information. Maybe something about this form changed without me intending it. It's not like I particularly chose this form in the first place."

Morrigan nodded. "Maybe."

I pulled the hood over Mimi's head. "We'll just have to keep an eye on you." I said with a smile. "Now, lets get to practicing. I'm sure you're interested in condensing mana and I'm itching to practice this new light ritual technique."

I dug out my small book of rituals and got to work.