Syl

Chapter 224: Routine Progress

After our successful espionage mission, we sort of fell into a routine. We would spend most of the day heading to the managed dungeon to do some magic practice, and then we’d spend the evenings doing some rather lavish meals as a reward.

Occasionally, we would meet up with Thern, although he still seemed much more hesitant around Trixie than Vee. It was a pretty humorous discovery that the dwarf was fine with the monster spider more than the pixie.

Then again, at least with Vee, you can see her levels and whatnot. With Trixie, you just see her name, which is certainly unnerving.

While the focus was still on getting Vee caught up on magic, that didn’t mean I was neglecting my own. I’d regained all my prior usage with my new [Soul Sight] trait, which meant I could start trying to find the latest features I’d unlocked in it.

I also needed to raise three forms of magic to level five to round out my repertoire. Unfortunately, [Light Magic] was categorized as intermediate magic, so it would require some more effort, but [Earth Magic] and [Air Magic] were ripe for the picking.

<Proficiency gained. [Light Magic LV 2] improved to [Light Magic LV 3].>

<[Light Magic LV 3] spell [Light Beam] learned.>

I’d finally gained the attack spell and was very excited by the prospect until I realized it seemed far weaker than what was used against me. I then recalled the alicorn had his magical horn, but I couldn’t produce the same results even with that.

"Most likely a custom version of the spell, like how you layered [Torrent] spells," Trixie suggested. "Or perhaps he was using a higher level of [Light Magic]?"

"It’s my first offensive [Light Magic]! Don’t tease it!" I objected.

"Don’t worry, Syl. I’m sure you’ll be shooting solar beams in no time," Vee said reassuringly, although I had the vague sense she was still teasing me.

<Proficiency gained. [Air Magic LV 4] improved to [Air Magic LV 5].>

<[Air Magic LV 5] spell [Soaring Gale] learned.>

To my surprise, this was, in fact, a low-level flight spell. When I thought about the other spells, level five usually gave something big, but this might have taken the cake. Well, assuming you couldn’t sprout wings.

It had been mentioned before that air mages could fly, but I didn’t expect it so soon. The way it was discussed previously made it sound like there was a scarcity, but level five wasn’t that hard to reach.

When I actually cast the spell, I understood why the supply was short; Mana efficiency. The spell was quite a Mana hog, and anyone with subpar Mana reserves or Air affinity would be drained dry.

Rather than granting you the ability to fly, like the [Enchanted Wings] trait, it propelled you in a direction for a duration by surrounding you in a windy nimbus. The spell had two Mana reserves you could fill, one handling velocity while the other had duration. It felt more like flinging yourself than flight, and if you kept it solely to yourself, you could get some reasonable usage out of it.

Trying to get others to fly was another matter entirely, and I wondered how they did it. Vee mentioned that perhaps they would use something relatively buoyant, like a balloon, so they would only need to worry about the trajectory.

Personally, the spell almost felt worthless for me. I could sprout wings and fly, but I supposed it could be good to fling an ally either towards our target or out of harm’s way.

However, I definitely had some fun casting it on Vee with the velocity set to the minimum and duration to the maximum, which caused the spider to flail slightly a few inches off the ground.

<Proficiency gained. [Earth Magic LV 4] improved to [Earth Magic LV 5].>

<[Earth Magic LV 5] spell [Geokinesis] learned.>

I was baffled when I received this prompt, but I went from confusion to excitement when I started looking into the spell. This was evidently the basis for the spell the dwarven geomancer used to defend herself.

The spell lets you inject Earth Mana into rock, soil, ground, and so forth and then manipulate it directly. I tested it out a few times by making some rocks float around me, much to my own amusement.

"Those types of spells are amusing; they often say the only limit to them is your imagination and Mana supply!" Trixie said gleefully.

"Why isn’t there an equivalent for my other affinities? Or did Earth just get it sooner than the others, or am I expected to craft them?" I immediately asked.

"The others do have it. I’m not sure why Earth gets it first," Trixie shrugged. "And please don’t waste your time trying to piece it together for the other elements. You’d just be wasting your time, and I doubt you’d get rewarded for it."

"Waterkinesis sounds kinda fun, though," Vee commented.

"[Hydrokinesis]," Trixie corrected smugly. "And what’s the point? Syl can shoot deadly water beams and make it rain. Moving some water with your mind seems dull by comparison."

Trixie’s explanation dampened my mood on receiving the other versions of the spell. But if anything, it would make a good way of counter-pranking the mischievous pixie.

I’d also made some gains in my traits; some of them were highly overdue in my books.

[Mana Circulation LV 8]

[Mana Reinforcement LV 8]

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[Derived Element (Air) LV 7]

I can’t believe how fast that [Derived Element] has leveled up...

I’d asked Trixie if she knew what happened when it reached max level. Sadly, she didn’t have the answer but made an educated guess that it might grant me the whole affinity and potentially remove itself from my trait list.

My general skills also saw some good gains.

[Multitasking LV 6]

[Thunder Step LV 5]

[Wind Step LV 4]

I’d occasionally used my step skills while casting spells simultaneously, which conveniently seemed to level up [Multitasking]. Ironically, the skill might have never leveled up if I hadn’t done that, as I still liked to delegate multiple spells to a [Sub-Core] rather than do it myself. It was just so much more efficient.

And, of course, thanks to all the magical training, I gained quite a few headway with my magical skills.

[Mana Manipulation LV 7]

[Magic Efficiency LV 6]

[Magical Overcharge LV 2]

[Counter Magic LV 5]

[Magical Subterfuge LV 5]

Out of all these gains, [Mana Manipulation] was definitely the one I was most excited about, as it meant I could further customize my spells. I had high hopes of figuring out the homing component of the [Fireflies] spell and adding it to some of my other spells.

I imagine homing [Ball Lightning] would be incredibly effective.

All the spellcasting meant [Magic Efficiency] would naturally go up, and I even got to practice some [Counter Magic] with Trixie. Although it was a struggle to get the pixie to partake in that activity.

"This isn’t fun anymore..." Trixie groaned. "You’ve gotten too good at this!"

"I can stop using my [Sub-Cores]..." I offered.

"Th-that’s cheating!" Trixie exclaimed wildly.

"I’d be using them in any normal circumstances. I don’t see how using my own trait is cheating..." I teased.

The pixie fumed, and only when Vee joined in some playful taunting did I get a few rematches, enough to get a single skill level. It was better than nothing.

I’d also very briefly tried out [Magical Overcharge]. I didn’t like it, and Trixie agreed with me unconditionally. As a being of Mana, no doubt it would quite literally be burning away her life to use such a skill.

Vee thought it was potentially valuable, and when I offered her the skill, she was met with an unfortunate error: she lacked sufficient Mana capacity.

"I’m sure you’ll be able to buy it once you get [Soul Mastery]," I replied.

"I suppose..." the spider grumbled disappointingly.

"It’s probably a safety thing," Trixie suggested. "Can’t have young mages burning up their entire Mana supply in a panic. Hitting zero Mana is no good, even you non-spirits."

"Oh, trust me, I know..." Vee sighed.

"Oh? Being a bit reckless with the fancy [Dimension Magic]?" Trixie asked.

"Hardly..." Vee said and pointed toward me. "Syl left [Mana Burn] on me while keeping me hostage."

"Syl! How could you!?" Trixie gasped in outrage.

"It was the only way to stop a silly spider from teleporting away," I explained. "This one was refusing my [Telepathy] because she was afraid I would plant brainworms in her."

"It’s a perfectly valid fear!" Vee objected. "You even admitted to being scared of being mind-controlled or enslaved as well."

"Yeah, but not through brainworms..." I replied.

"And certainly not through something as simple as [Telepathy]," Trixie pointed out before starting to cackle maniacally. "Plus, it’s not like the brainworms require your permission."

Vee yelled and started trying to smack Trixie for that remark. The spider really had a phobia against it.

The only thing I’m slacking on is my sneaky rogue stuff... It’s a pity our covert operation didn’t level anything up.

We’d settled so much into our schedule and relaxed that I’d almost completely forgotten about the assassination attempt. So it was a bit of a surprise when Lukhek appeared again at my door, abruptly reminding me of that whole ordeal.

"Good to see you again, Syl," the dwarf said politely. "With how spry you’re looking, I assume there’s been no hint of our shadowy friends."

"It’s good to see you too, Master Lukhek," I responded. No, it’s been so quiet I almost forgot I was attacked in the first place. I hope everything has been alright with the guild."

"Good. Good," Lukhek responded happily before forming a slight frown. "For the most part, it has been smooth sailing... But we’ve heard some disturbing activity lately, and I wondered if you’ve seen or heard anything."

"We’ve mostly been in the dungeon, so I’m unsure how much I can help. We went out once, but nothing really happened," I answered.

"Aye, you haven’t been out recently, but before the whole assassin ordeal, you did take out almost a record number of kobolds," he said.

"Oh... This is about kobolds?" I questioned.

Oh, gods... Did I still have the kill quest active when Vee and I went and had our fun?

Lukhek nodded, "Outstanding work; I can see that you more than earned that Gold rank. But with how many you killed, combined with other killings in the guild, we should have been entering a quiet period. But that is not the case; in fact, there seem to be more kobolds than ever!"

"That doesn’t sound good..." Trixie spoke, injecting herself into the conversation.

I’d expected Lukhek to flinch, but the dwarf barely battered an eye at the sudden pixie appearance.

"It’s not good at all," Lukhek shook his head with evident disappointment. "Which was why I wanted to know if you saw anything strange with the kobolds when you were out killing or if you have any idea why they might be spawning in such strange numbers?"

I wracked my mind trying to think, but I was drawing a blank. I even had a quick consultation with Vee to see if she recalled spotting anything, and even between the two of us going back and forth, we struggled to think of anything noteworthy.

Is the chaotic essence the reason for so many kobolds? I thought we cleaned it up, though...

I didn’t want to admit that, so I grasped at one of the few available straws.

"They were collecting monsters..." I offered.

"Taming or enslavement?" Lukhek immediately questioned.

"It was a warlock chieftain, so definitely the latter," I replied.

"Warlocks..." Lukhek spat. "If they’re getting rarer classes like that, then a lesser dragon might be pushing them. Especially if it was a chieftain."

"How rare are we talking?" I asked. "I know they have a ton of geomancers."

"Like... One in a hundred, maybe even worse than that," Lukhek answered. "An affinity for dark magic is once in a blue moon amongst their kind without outside influence."

"So, what do you want Syl to do about it?" Trixie asked in an almost demanding tone.

"For now? Nothing," Lukhek responded with a dry chuckle. "I’ll be putting up a big bounty quest for warlocks if, for some reason, you want to make even more cash. But at the moment, we are still in the information gathering stage for a bigger plan, if we need one."

"No chance of just heading to their main nest and wiping them out?" I queried. That had been the response Stantondale rallied against the goblins, after all.

Lukhek shook his head, "There’s far too many of them. It’s like trying to cut off the head of a hydra; two more pop up. Consistent culling and encouraging them to avoid Dhoggurum has been our tried and true method. Besides, a big shift in the dungeon ecosystem like that would open up a power vacuum for another potentially worse monster species to thrive."

"What about a hit squad for the lesser dragon?" Trixie suggested.

"We sometimes do those, but we’d need confirmation that one exists. Sending glory seekers on a wild goose chase is a recipe for disaster I want to avoid. We can’t afford to lose any good adventurers, and yes, that definitely includes you."

After that, Lukhek didn’t stay around much longer and took his leave. Trixie and Vee immediately turned to me as if questioning my intentions.

"I mean... I’d like to kill a lesser dragon if possible," I admitted.

"Assuming it exists," Vee pointed out. "What if all the chaotic essence is the reason for the kobolds."

"Extra essence. Extra spawning," Trixie agreed. "Just like one the floating island."

"The warlock was before the chaotic essence," I deflected.

"Probably... But I still think this is partially your fault; maybe it was brewing, and you accidentally sped it up?" Trixie suggested with a smirk.

I hope I wasn’t to blame. But either way, I’d be helping clean up the mess if it got to that point. I’d gained plenty of experience from the last kobold culling and had new toys to try out.