Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Accuracy Correction Lv. 7] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 5] [Enhanced Vision Lv. 6] [Mid-Air Maneuvering Lv. 2] [Wind Resistance Lv. 4] gained
“Are you really sure you want to drink that, Krim-Slak?” I asked, chomping down on a fragassa as I watched Krim-Slak nearly drink a purple liquid.
He placed the bottle of liquid on the ground and shook his head in exasperation before chastising me, “I’m here to help you test your skills and new custom spell, young scale. Stop worrying about me and prepare the spell already. Even if it fails, training my [Paralyzation Resistance] isn’t a bad thing.”
“We always have curatives on hand for status afflictions, Hestia. Water magic doesn’t have any abnormal status healing spells, so these are a must for our party,” Mister Kushlek’zar explained while dangling a glass bottle filled with a green liquid. “One of the reasons why holy mages have grown to be so respected is their access to early healing spells and [Cure]. Potions made with alchemy can do the same but are usually far more expensive.”
Urgh, I understand, but I don’t want him to suffer if my spell fizzles.
“As a holy mage, a priestess of Goddess of Aurena, you must be able to cure minor poisons and venoms. With the loss of your [Cure], the finalization of your custom spell is imperative,” the saurian priest stated, straining how important it is for me to cast this new custom spell I made.
Three days have passed since I evolved into a [Young Sunfang Dragon], which meant today was the 25th of AuthumnSun. In other words, it was time again for my Age to increase a month. I was officially eight months old now, according to my profile, just like Saori who became four months old.
The night after I finished evolving, Saori came back home to give me a rundown of what missed during that time period. As our meeting, or rather, my meeting with Count Helvas was happening soon, most of what we discussed had to do with that immediate problem.
Following the instructions I wrote for her, Saori started three yeast farms, all cultivating inside my self-crafted wooden bottles. Seeing bubbles appear made me quite excited about how they would end up. It was nostalgic, reminding me of the time I did it with my Mama back on Earth.
As guests, we had a duty to bring presents to thank the host for inviting us, especially if we were the guests of a real life noble. I had a feeling he wasn’t actually expecting anything from us, as we literally brought no belongings with us when we moved into the village, but better safe than sorry. I wouldn’t be giving him the yeast, of course, but what I will do is gift him something I will make with it. You guessed it: cake.
I know he’s a man but, come on, it’s cake! Who doesn’t like cake? Even if he doesn’t like it, he had to have a wife, right? He’s a noble, and we all know how nobles could have multiple wives in medieval times according to history documentaries and shows, right? He could even give it to his daughter.
It’s a low risk that it’ll backfire, so I considered it a great present. What’s important is that we gave him something, of course, especially after we accepted his “presents.” We didn’t want to look unthankful when our intention for this visit was to ask for a favor.
The other discussion topic was my outfit. It was decided by Saori and Tasianna, without my consensus, that if I was supposed to be the “star” of our party, then I absolutely had to look the part. Technically, I am, unwillingly, a princess of royal dragon blood according to Tasianna and the saurians, which makes me the only real noble among us. Even if I wanted to argue against it, my [Princess] title didn’t allow me to.
And as I now know how much Saori loved to use me as a dress-up doll for her clothing creations, I had no right to veto this idea. Going in my normal get-up was acceptable, I believe, but maybe dressing the part will help us persuade him better.
This also included our parties’ shoes we requested from Ruld the cobbler, a childhood friend of Lorena. After I began my evolution, Saori immediately went back to Ruld, this time together with Tasianna. They requested theirs and also decided on the final design of my boots.
Saori also managed to make contact with the bakers of the village. It was decided that I would build them new ovens with my magic, in exchange for us being able to use them whenever we needed them. Yes, we could have just made one inside our own home, but due to the garden and all our new furniture, we didn't have much room left for an oven.
Now that I think about it, Saori is fucking amazing. She managed to do all of those things in the single day I was unconscious.
After that, we just had to wait. Our three days of wait have been used for training and concert planning. As I had a new body, I needed to get used to it immediately. I still hadn’t finished practicing and mastering Danterno’s “gifts” yet, so there was much to do for me.
One of my most recent achievements was the creation of my second custom spell. A spell I would be casting for the first time, right now.
“Well, cheers,” Krim-Slak announced, pouring the purple liquid into his mouth before swallowing it all in one big gulp. “Kri, drinking poison never changes. You can’t get used to that awful taste, ever.”
Tell me about it, dude…
After losing my ability to produce toxins with my body, as Danterno “kindly” chose to get rid of [Toxin Secretion], I had to make do with [Corrosive Fire]. Poisons and venoms were one of Saori’s and my most important tools in battles. The flexibility and lethality of concoctions I could make and apply on attacks made fighting against stronger opponents far easier, so it would be an understatement if we said we missed them.
My current toxin creation using [Corrosive Fire] was inefficient. Although I could control the the effects of the “corrosive” part of the fire, it was unusable for Saori in that form as she didn’t have [Pyrokinesis]. The only way for her to use my toxins was for me to overheat myself and have my sweat capture the toxins.
I don’t think I have to say how uncomfortable that was. I don’t sweat from temperatures humans consider infernos, I sweat under conditions even fire dragonewts would overheat.
Using [Core Regulation], I could manually increase my body temperature high enough so I could sweat enough for a whole vial of poison for Krim-Slak to drink. He was my practice dummy for my new spell.
“Urgh, got [Paralyzation (Minor)]. Look at how slow my arm is moving, ruha ha ha ha ha ha!” Krim-Slak laughed maniacally, almost as if he was enjoying it. "Come on, young scale, don't just stare. Do it already and make sure it works otherwise, we might have to waste that expensive curative, ha ha!”
“O-Oh, yeah,” I fumbled with the wooden tablets before me, trying to find the one with the chant. Reading the chant one more time, making sure that everything was correct, I began the casting process of the spell.
“Hear me, my embers of white
Your form so bright, your warmth so soothing
Burn, naught for who you once were
The Light beckons, seeking your aid
White fire, mend and protect my allies!
Sanctified Blaze!”
Pointing my index finger at Krim-Slak, a white circle appeared before it. After casting the spell, the magic circle attached itself onto the elder scale-kin like a tattoo, before releasing white flames.
"Woah!" Krim-Slak uttered in surprise, reflexively readying his hand to smother it. "I-I feel no pain. No heat! It honestly feels like being healed by a holy spell! Damn!"
Using his personal dagger, the bulky saurian cut his arm, tearing through scales and flesh until blood began leaking out. The white flames hurriedly moved towards the wound, wrapping itself around it before dispersing to other parts of his body, leaving no signs of him ever cutting himself.
It acts exactly like my healing spells. Flesh and scales are being reformed. The flames helped the regeneration process!
The flames continued moving around his body as if they were restlessly chasing something away. After a couple seconds, their movements dulled and the flames returned to the white magic circle, causing Krim-Slak to widen his eyes, “The status effect is gone. By the Goddess, your spell just got rid of [Paralyzation (Minor)]. Extraordinary!”
“Hmm, it seems I can touch the flames without being burned. This isn’t the case with the fire your body produces, right, Hestia?” Mister Kushlek’zar stated after touching the white fire on Krim-Slak’s arm.
I nodded in agreement. Compared to what was happening now, there was one huge difference between the spell and my own [White Flames]. Both fires could heal wounds automatically, almost as if it was a HoT, a Heal over Time effect. However, the flames I produced naturally from my body were hot and could burn others, while the one cast as a spell weren’t.
…Actually, I haven’t tested that yet. Maybe this was a special trait of these flames?
“Alright, let me try out the secondary function, haaa!” Mister Kushlek’zar announced, readying his raptor-like claws to slash Krim-Slak. However, before his claws connected, the white flames suddenly grew in size and enveloped themselves around the saurian priest’s hand, forcing him to withdraw it.
“Argh!” his once green scales on his hand were now slightly black, singed by the fire he touched. “Ocean Healing”, he cast to heal his hand using magical water, returning the vibrancy back to his scales.
Smirking at what happened, I couldn’t help but clap my hands together from total excitement.
The spell worked, ahahaha!
I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this! The spell actually worked exactly how I imagined it. “Sanctified Blaze” was a new custom spell I developed with the help of Mister Kushlek’zar using [White Flames] as the “element” of the spell. Whether it was the intention of Danterno or not, I could use both [White Flames] and [Corrosive Fire] as the base for a spell.
Mister Kushlek’zar called those two skills “empty vessels”. Two magic skills with the ability to create spells but providing none for the user to use. The only way for these skills to reach their maximum potential was for me to start creating spells with them.
“Thank you so very much, Mister Kushlek’zar. I can’t believe it actually worked on the first try this time,” I giggled like a little girl, remembering how my first custom spell [Imperial Hellfire] always fizzled and failed whenever I tried to use it. “However, the System didn’t say that it got registered. Did I do something wrong?”
"No, you didn't," he answered, still inspecting the white magic circle. "Most mages assume the first cast of their spell will be a failure, which is the case most of the time. We went through the spell creation meticulously, going through every word, every part of the magic circle, and how you should envision your spell. You got lucky on your first cast, a proof of your talents, but to make the System recognize the spell, you need to cast it as if you mastered every last part of it.”
When Mister Kushlek'zar mentioned "mastered," he meant knowing what my spells did in and out. We needed to test the spell and see everything that it could do, which included how long it would last and if it could heal moderate stage status affliction or not.
From our tests, we found out that as long as the spell lasted, it could heal the recipient of the spell as much as they needed. There was no cap. It truly acted like a HoT like [Sacred Field].
Strength-wise, it seems the healing wasn’t burst-like. It would heal wounds slowly and it couldn’t cure abnormal statuses above minor. We had to use one of the saurians’ potions when we found out that my spell couldn’t heal Krim-Slak’s [Paralyzation (Moderate)]. Poor him.
Mister Kushlek’uar suggested the strength of the spell was lacking either ‘cause of my chant or the level of [White Flames]. If it was the latter, all I needed to do was to start leveling that skill up. If it was the former? Well, then I’ll have to work on it in the future.
We also tested what its effective range was. Acting just like Saori’s [Shadow Snake], the spell would function even without me in the area. The Mana I used to cast the spell lingered inside the magic circle, after all.
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Now concerning the casting range, it was similar to [Minor Heal], [Moderate Heal], and [Major Heal]. I could only cast it on people directly in front of me.
The last thing we needed to test was the damage. Currently, I didn’t know if it was elementally more aligned to holy or fire. I couldn’t burn myself on my own fire spells, so this meant that it had to have some fire inside itself. I also want to know how much it can protect its recipient from attacks.
“Come on, Saori!” While I was contemplating this, my attention was drawn to two people sparring with each other, a wolfkin and a carnosilian. “Having a high Agility is advantageous, but with those large movements, you're just wasting your Stamina! In a drawn-out battle, the moment your Stamina reaches zero, your chances of winning will be the slimmest.”
“Yes!” Saori responded back energetically to Grazlahta, her sparring partner, sweating buckets full as she dodged every attack.
After our duel with each other, Saori and Tasianna lost their reason to hide their extra training from me. Saori would fight and train her body with both carnosilians, learning how to wield daggers while she was a wolfkin. I considered joining her, but I noticed how little leisure time I would have if I did.
On my list of to-dos, I had to attend Mister Kushlek’zar’s tutoring on magic, master my two new fire skills and create custom spells with them to replace my loss of [Fire Magic] and [Inferno Magic], learn how my body worked and how to effectively use my scale-dust, and lastly, prepare my concert. There were too many things on my schedule that also doing physical training was just too much.
Instead of doing everything, I’ll concentrate on becoming the best in one category first, and then the next. Exactly like Tasianna. Instead of joining me in creating new custom spells, Tasianna was training up her magic skills first. She wanted both [Wind Magic] and [Water Magic] to reach level 10, to attain the advanced versions [Storm Magic] and [Torrent Magic].
Knowing the sorta spells she will get from them; she was planning to enrich her arsenal of System spells before starting on creating custom spells.
As I was watching Saori and Grazlahta fight, I suddenly had an idea. I activated [Humanization], revealing my wings, and used wind spells to “fly” towards them. With my wings having grown after my evolution, it was now so much easier for me to keep myself afloat with magic. I couldn’t fly with my strength alone yet, but flapping my wings while staying in the air was flying in my book.
Staying around Saori like an annoying fly, who was ignoring me, I began casting “Sanctified Blaze” again, now having completely remembered the chant and flow,
“Hear me, my embers of white
Your form so bright, your warmth so soothing
Burn, naught for who you once were
The Light beckons, seeking your aid
White fire, mend and protect my allies!
Sanctified Blaze!”
Custom magic gained: [Sanctified Blaze]
Custom spell [Sanctified Blaze] has been perfectly integrated into the System
"Ohhh, wohooo!" once the spell attached itself to Saori, the System suddenly sent me the message I was longing to see. Thrilled at reading it, I began celebrating as my parallel minds kept me afloat by casting wind spells. "Mister Kushlek'zar I did it! The spell got accepted by the System. Yes! Ahahahah! My first spell, my first spell, my first spell! See that Danterno! I don't your meddling to do it, I could have perfected [Imperial Hellfire] on my own!”
“Hestia, I am happy for you but could you celebrate some-, urgh, where else instead of here, where you are interrupting us!” Saori chastised me, dodging to the side from Grazlahta’s attack. As she did that, flames started seeping from the magical circle, retaliating against Grazlahta.
Identify!
Sanctified Blaze
A holy-fire mixed elemental spell using white flames to protect its recipient. Continuously heals Health and cures status affliction while it is in effect. White flames will also attempt to shield its recipient from attacks, depending on the will of the user. The power and effectiveness of this spell does not increase through increasing the Mana cost but through the skill [White Flames] and Intelligence stat of the caster
I couldn’t stop smiling. It was like my muscles themselves wouldn’t want to listen to my brain. I did feel a bit embarrassed about not being able to control myself but what could I do? Damn, this elation of having made a custom spell might be addicting.
“Hey, hey, Mister Kushlek’zar!” I called out as I flew to him. “This means that [Sanctified Blaze] now follows the rules of the System, right? It gets boosted by ‘amp’ skills and I don’t have to do the chant anymore, right? Just like [Prayer] and [Symphonie des Feuergottes], right? Ahhhhh, this is amazing~”
To some people, my voice might have sounded like a hyperactive squirrel, as I pranced around in the air as I flapped my wings like a crazy bird, uncontrollably casting wind magic to balance myself in the air. But to me, it felt just appropriate to do so. It’s magic! I made my own magic spell! Hello, that’s something spectacular, never before seen, a moment in my life!
Just like when I cast my first spell, or the moment [Imperial Hellfire] appeared in my profile. Magical, magical, magical! I’ve been in this world for eight months but something like this is still able to excite me to no ends, it seems.
“Hmm, pretty much yeah. However, never forget the chants of the spells, alright? [Symphonie des Feuergottes], [Sanctified Blaze], and any other custom spell you create in the future, they are your creation and the creator should always know their spells best,” Mister Kushlek’zar lectured me, staying strict as always. “And do not forget, once you get the chance to register at a mages guild, do it promptly! Register yourself as a mage and display your spells, which will not only increase your prestige but ‘legalize’ your spells.”
I was told that it was imperative for me to announce highly destructive spells like [Symphonie des Feuergottes] to the mage’s guild. The guild was responsible for managing magicians in the kingdom, so the threat of an unknown spell like this would make some people sweat. Instead of angering some old, sensitive archmage, it would be better to just follow some rules.
“Also, if they ever ask you for a master, I wouldn’t mind you naming me as yours, ha ha ha,” Mister Kushlek’zar stated in a joking tone, but seeing the glint in his eyes and the prideful smile he had made me think otherwise. “Honestly, I am really thankful for your help, young scale. If I hadn’t met you, Saori, and Tasianna, I don’t know when I’d be able to receive [Instruction]. Lacking it after training so many Depth Guard apprentices had always been a thorn to my pride. Witnessing you create a new functional custom spell under my tutelage has been an honor, my student.”
“Hie hie, well I couldn’t have done any it without you, Master Kush!” I beamed a smile, causing the elder scale to stroke his plumage in embarrassment, showing extreme joy through his waggling tail.
It was true that creating this spell took a while. The importance of creating a custom spell lied with the caster’s ability to imagine the spell, and then record those thoughts into words, acting as the chant. Mister Kushlek’zar explained to me that mages are fleeting and adventurous, seeking knowledge and new experience just like the God of Knowledge and Magic, Istari.
Creativity and knowledge were important to creating a spell, as a mage needed to know how their spell was supposed to look and do. With [Fluid Cast], they were able to morph their magic but without little inspiration, most custom spells would just seem like a weaker version of a System spell.
He explained a normal mage would learn magic from a tutor or instructor. The “master” would teach them their custom spells and tell them how to cast spells and use them in the real world. Apprentice mages would imprint all this information and the habits of their masters, developing themselves as a lesser version of them if they continued staying under their tutelage.
This would be alright when they were building their foundation, leveling up their magic skills and increasing their Mana, Intelligence, and Wisdom stats. However, once they began developing their own custom spells, many began to realize all they were trying to create were replicas.
A normal mage at this phase was considered “sheltered”, having experienced only System spells or the custom spells of their master. They couldn’t think outside of the box. They kept studying tomes and parchments, taking so much pride in them that most forget Istari’s lessons.
At least, these were Master Kush’s opinions, developed from his stay in Caedhul. He loved his stay there as a Depth Guard priest, as it was an invaluable opportunity to serve Plesia and the country that took him and his race in.
But he knew if he wanted to continue developing himself as a mage, he needed to wander. So he became a Tide Watcher, a wandering justicar in the service of Plesia. He could wander the world and learn. Exactly what a mage should be doing in his opinion.
A good mage would wander the world, travel, and fight against many foes. This was their chance to test their mettle, their trained knowledge, and come out of it with power and experience. This would fuel the mage’s ability to create new and powerful custom spells.
I guess in that case, I was quite “knowledgeable.” Having had the power of the internet, it was easy for me to think of spell effects. [Sanctified Blaze] attaching itself like a tattoo and acting like a “Heal over Time” from an RPG game. [Symphonie des Feuergottes] might have been finalized by Danterno but no way could he have known about a symphony’s movement.
“I admit that my only self-made custom spell is [Tehenhauin]. The others were taught to me by my elder scales,” Master revealed. “That sight that inspired me, that magnificent creature who was gracious enough to show me its power. How lucky I am to have survived that, he he he.”
Master Kush then looked down, heaved a sigh, before crossing our sights once again, “If you truly consider me your Master, then I must start acting like one. I am far too green. Our meeting has given me so much inspiration for new custom spells. We will soon say our farewells, but once we meet again, I assure you that I will live up to my role by then, young scale.”
Hearing the word “farewell” did dampen my mood for a second as I never really liked that word, but I knew I had to stay strong here, “Yeah, I’ll make sure to show you some cool spells too, when we meet again.”
"Ha ha ha, that's what I want to hear!" he laughed merrily, before turning his head to Tasianna. "You too, Tasianna! I expect much from a fellow worshiper of the Depth Goddess! Show me how powerful your ice magic will be the next time we meet."
Having her focus broken, Tasianna flinched as she hurried process an answer, “A-Ah, yes, yes! For my princess and to become stronger in general, I will make sure to become a mage worthy in your eyes, Priest Kushlek’zar!”
“Good answer! You have the spirit of a saurian, Tasianna!” Master Kush then opened his pouch, taking out a leather bag. “We will be leaving on the 29th as the villagers wish to arrive at their village in time for Origdiviel Arashan. I believe the mercenaries helping out in the village also are planning to go then too. Here are a few macula plant seeds. You will be training, I presume, after I leave so having them on hand is important. The last thing you want to do is cause strong monsters to spawn around the village, right?”
I accepted his offer with gratitude. I was planning to train with Tasianna and Saori during winter, so these are invaluable to us. Imagine us polluting the area with so much mana that something like a C rank monster would appear. We could all take one on easily, but if a villager saw that, then I think Count Helvas would complain about it.
Besides, Master Kush did say that the water these macula plants produced was high-quality mana water. We had to hand them to the lord for now, but once we were outside the area, we could just, you know, "farm" them, he he. I had enough mana to do so.
With our training over, we said goodbye to the saurians for today as we had something important to do.
“Alright, Ruld should be finished with our boots,” Saori announced as we walked outside the woods. “Let us visit him and then…time for your little dress-up, Hestia~ ”
Oh boy…