Syl

Obviously, I wasn't satisfied and still wanted to perform a few more tests. I was very curious about the resistance to teleportation Vee spoke of, but she wasn't willing to be a volunteer. Thankfully, my [Sub-Cores] came to the rescue, and I tried teleporting Beta from one hand to the other.

It was a relatively easy experience, made easier because I opted for the safer confirmed method of double [Position] spells. However, there was no resistance. I next gave Beta the order to resist or reject the teleportation and tried again—it worked!

Thanks again, Gramps, for such helpful workers!

If I had to describe the resistance against teleportation, it felt slippery. The coordinates were hard to hold onto, and if my grasp slipped, they would rapidly revert to their original number. It was a bizarre experience, and I understood why Vee had opted to trick targets into entering a portal and skipping this entirely.

Vee even had quite a nice explanation of it from her point of view, "Unrestricted teleportation would be kinda broken, don't you think? Like you could just teleport your enemy up into the air and let gravity kill them. Or teleport them into the ocean, or into lava, or somewhere crazy! And no, you can't teleport them inside of a solid object and try to kill them with shunting—I've tried."

The whole shunting thing was supposed to be a drawback of incorrectly using [Blink] or other forms of teleportation and was clearly intended as a punishment for improper use. Either the gods didn't want someone weaponizing a drawback, or someone had done it in the past, and it was rectified.

"The more restrictions you put on a teleport, the easier it is to do," Vee continued, explaining her hypothesis. "Like the teleportation rug, they put us on. Assuming you could just walk off it, you'd be safe since it was slow to activate, and thus, it was hard to resist! Same with my web portals, you chose to walk through them so you don't get to resist it."

I'd hardly call what Vee did with the portals "choosing to walk through them" as she tried her darndest to trick you into entering or falling into them. Still, it was certainly something to think about, and I wondered what restrictions I could add to successfully create a weaponized version of teleportation.

The obvious solution for avoiding any restrictions would be to create the debuff, which I had already presumed made it easier to change someone's coordinates without interference. So, that would become my next custom spell priority.

However, this decision had one big flaw—it was absurdly arduous! I felt somewhat confident in my magical capabilities after so quickly putting together that temperature reading spell using complex concepts. My assuredness was also fueled further by the fact that I'd turned creating debuffs into a routine procedure prior to this.

And, of course, this shatters my self-assurance… I suppose it's my own fault for underestimating "advanced magic," as I'd only ever created debuffs from intermediate and basic. The step up from making [Flammable] and [Permeable] to [Frigid] and [Conductive] was quite a leap, but this really takes the cake.

Fortunately, my stubbornness was a characteristic I could rely on. I was determined to keep at this task until I achieved success. The only downside was that I'd have to keep its creation somewhat under wraps, as Sylthaeryn could never have gained [Dimension Magic].

I opted to keep poking at it through the night, deciding to postpone looking at the books until the morning. I prodded away and might have even pulled an all-nighter until Vee scolded me for interrupting her beauty sleep and finally sleeping in the absurdly luxurious bed.

***

The next morning, while Vee ate breakfast, I took a gander at the books provided. Vee had already mentioned that the Tamer book was pretty basic, so I looked at the one they had provided me with information on my class.

The book itself was an overview of the elements as a whole rather than the Elementalist class specifically. It mainly spoke about the benefit of hyper-focusing on one element and progressing further down classes, such as Pyromancer.

Sadly, almost none of the information was new to me until right at the end, when it briefly mentioned that there were rare classes that combined multiple elements together. The author noted that having the respected affinities and magic skill levels wasn't enough as you also needed to have equal elemental purity in them so that they could harmonize together.

I guess Trixie just guessed that since my Mana purity was maxed out, I'd qualify.

Elementalist was briefly mentioned as one of the pinnacles of elemental magic and one of the few known ways of adding additional elemental affinities without ascendancies. I was beginning to feel disheartened that I'd wasted my time until the author mentioned a theory that the true power of the class was the ability to unify the elemental spell skills.

Wait—really!?

I rushed to try fusing all my magical skills together but got no result. I knew I was still missing [Dust Magic], but my gut told me this wasn't the only reason. I tried again, this time only grabbing Fire, Water, Air, and Earth.

<Prerequisites for [Basic Elemental Magic] have not been fulfilled.>

I gasped in surprise and slammed my hands on the table, startling Vee. "Who, what, where!?"

I excitedly explained it all to Vee in a flurry of words, although as I babbled on, I could feel her interest rapidly waning.

"That's cool… I guess… congrats?" Vee commented. "If it just turns four skills into one, I don't really see too much benefit beyond removing some clutter."

"One skill is easier to level than four skills, not to mention the levels get sort of combined and divided into the new total," I answered.

"Right… You mentioned that before," Vee replied. "I was supposed to be working on that [Body Mastery] fusion?"

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"And [Soul Mastery]!" I quickly added. "And then I think you can combine the two into one mega trait!"

Vee nodded, although clearly, she didn't share the same excitement about the possibility that I did.

"Look, I can't get [Body Mastery], so I need you to answer the question for me."

"Just get [Slime Mastery]," Vee joked.

"[Morph Slime] is kind of like that…" I replied. "I'll ask Gramps if there's another one. I've certainly tried combining [Cryo Slime], [Blaze Slime], [Acid Slime], and the like with no success."

I quickly tried again to confirm, but there was still nothing.

"Or maybe it's stuck behind an evolution," Vee suggested. "When I evolved, I had a lot of traits that got swallowed up into [Thread Mastery]."

I nodded at her explanation and began thinking.

If there is a fusion of the slime traits, then Vee might be right that I need to evolve and stop being a blue slime. Being a blue slime means having [Mana Slime], and I probably can't fuse it into a superior trait while still remaining a blue slime. Although, having said that, it doesn't explain why I can't fuse the other slime traits by excluding [Mana Slime]... unless there's a rule about fusing that I'm unaware of? Something like "you must use all the pieces you have available"?

I sighed. I was worrying about future things again when I really should have been focusing on this [Basic Elemental Magic] right before me.

What prerequisite am I missing? I hope it's not class-level related, or Gramps has really put me in a shitty situation…

I continued reading the book's last few pages, hoping to find the answer. Sadly, the book didn't mention any prerequisites, and I could only curse the author for leaving such a tantalizing treat outside of my grasp.

The best I gained from it was a hint at what [Basic Elemental Magic] would provide me—harmonious control over the elements not unlike the equivalent Arch-mancer class.

Sighing, I examined my profile, tried to figure out what prerequisite I could be missing, and came up with two possible theories.

[Water Magic LV 5]

[Fire Magic LV 6]

[Earth Magic LV 5]

[Air Magic LV 5]

Could the reason be that I need to have these four skills at the same level? Fire reached level six, so it "fell out of harmony" with the other three. Although I could just be grasping at straws. As for my other theory…

[Derived Element (Air) LV 8]

In all likelihood, this is the reason. My other three elements were naturally acquired through slime cores, while this one is artificially added through the class. Hopefully, when it reaches the max level, it will behave equally to my other elements.

The trait had shot up to stupidly high levels with minimal input from my part, thanks to my ludicrous Mana purity. Even my three newly derived elements had also made gains without me looking.

[Derived Element (Magma) LV 3]

[Derived Element (Steam) LV 3]

[Derived Element (Nature) LV 3]

I should focus on casting some air spells, as that definitely boosted the gains in [Derived Element]. If Paeris agrees to the hunting trip, that might be a good opportunity, as I can't exactly use any of my slime powers of [Dimension Magic] publicly.

Once again, I was feeling a bit too stretched in too many directions. I was definitely being greedy, wanting it all rather than focusing, but I felt like it would weirdly work out due to circumstances. Arguably, [Dimension Magic] was my number one priority, but I could only progress it behind closed doors, which left me to work towards Elementalist stuff publicly. My ensuing evolution would happen naturally and would be outside of my control unless I decided to go on a sudden killing spree.

The final thing I checked out was seeing about fusing my sight and vision traits, which I kept forgetting about. [Soul Vision] and [Soul Sense] were both options, just like I had predicted, but I opted to not grab them at this stage.

Firstly, my trait points were low, sitting at a mere seven points! Maybe I was paranoid, but I felt I needed to be more careful. Secondly, I couldn't see any immediate benefit from fusing [Dark Vision], [Thermal Vision], and [Eagle Vision]; what would I gain from it? A few extra levels in [Eagle Vision] and possibly a new unknown effect.

[Soul Sense], on the other hand, was a tantalizing option as I'd see benefits to [Electro-Magnetic Sense], [Tremor Sense], and [Spatial Sense]. But it would be a waste to fuse them at this stage without getting past the easy levels in [Spatial Sense], and then there was my other doubt—I needed [Spatial Sense] right now for my [Dimension Magic] training.

I was a little distraught when I temporarily lost [Mana Conception] when I combined it into [Soul Sight]. It felt like I had been ripped off for my purchase, and I found myself a little hesitant to repeat that situation.

Perhaps I was being a little neurotic, but I also felt like the only reason I regained my [Mana Conception] functionality so soon was my familiarity with it. Meanwhile, with [Spatial Sense], I had barely scratched the surface, and if my doubts manifested themselves, I could be without it for days!

So let's put a pin on that until I get some more levels into it and then either become more familiar with the sensory trait or reach a stopping point in [Dimension Magic].

Shortly after, Paeris arrived looking absolutely prim and proper. I thought I might get some enjoyment out of his reactions to serving a slime, but his capability to hide it was beyond my social deductions.

"I hope you slept well, Lady Sylthaeryn," he said with a bow. "Any problems with the accommodations? Your mother has emphasized that I should make you feel right at home."

"Thank you. Everything is great in that regard," I replied.

"Meaning there is something that can be improved?" Paeris questioned, catching on quickly.

"I want to hunt something," I replied honestly. "And preferably before that, I'd like someone to share [Companion Growth] with me."

I was expecting a minor protest or objection to my request, but surprisingly, Paeris nodded, "Your mother and Llewel have both suggested you go on a short hunting trip to loosen up and relax a bit. Likewise, it will allow us to evaluate your fortuitous growth while absent."

Meaning they want to know what magic I'm packing. Makes sense.

"As for your other request, that will be easily doable. We shall simply ask one of the Tamers to show their progress in the skill, which will double as sharing the skill."

"I'm surprised we can't just ask them to share it," I replied.

"This deception is necessary. Why would you ask for a skill you already own to be shared?" he explained. "However, due to your position and my own, we can easily ask for a progress update and even have someone surrender their full profile for scrutiny."

I can just ask anyone to show me skills? Jackpot!

Perhaps seeing my excitement, he raised a finger, "However, abuse of such a privilege would be a faux pas and should be avoided whenever possible. Speaking of which, please inspect the level of my current skill."

Paeris held out his hand and projected one of his skills for me to see and undoubtedly share.

<[Roleplay LV MAX]

Fully immerse yourself in fabricated identities, adopting mannerisms, speech, and behaviors to sell the illusion. Manipulate perception through convincing performances that bend belief to your whims.

Beyond simple deception, Roleplay allows you to inhabit roles so thoroughly that they may begin to feel real—to others and perhaps even to yourself.

The effectiveness of your portrayal is influenced by skill level, situational context, and the strength of your assumed persona.>

I was flabbergasted; the skill sounded utterly insane, and Paeris already had it at max level! I immediately wanted to compare it to the original description of [Acting], which I quickly pulled up.

<[Acting LV 6]

Deceive others with your presence, actions, and words.

Take on false roles and blur the lines of truth.

The effectiveness of your deception is based on skill level and circumstantial evidence.>

That's quite the upgrade! What happened to the superb but straightforward [Acting] I'd grown so fond of? This feels like you've gone through so many promotions that I hardly recognize you anymore!