Thera was still exhausted after breakfast, an hour of sleep simply didn’t cut it, but she did her best to put her new level of sleep resistance to use as she fought through it, telling herself it was just more training for the skill as a whole and with a flood of spirits still around her, she gave them as much of her mana as she could as she went through town and to the deep woods beyond to train for a bit in peace.
After her spirit empowering had changed to mana empowering, she hadn’t known what to expect from the growth but it appeared there was more to it than simply letting her give mana to the other mana-based lifeforms on the world, a fact she was seeing the more she used it.
In the past, she had always lost more mana when trying to give it to a spirit she didn’t share a magic with compared to those she did, but that difference seemed to be gone now that it had awakened, and not only that, the amount she needed to transfer overall seemed to have plummeted.
At the ninth level, she could give a point of mana to an earth spirit and they’d receive a point, as simple as that, but in its new form, every point she gave seemed to temporarily boost the recipient's own regeneration rates, letting them top up to full for a fraction of the mana cost, with the results being obvious.
More and more the spirits swarmed her when she wasn’t busy to take advantage of her power, not that she minded. They were all always more than friendly and it was making the number of them explode in the world. As long as she was around, none of them would deal with the weakness that came with their normal acts of reproduction, and the more there were, the better everyone would be as a result.
It was a win-win all around and even if they did choose to abandon the world after the second wave or sometime during the third, it was still worth it to her. Her father’s people would live and were even on the edge of thriving. No matter what the outcome, it was a positive, something that she could at least take comfort in if things were to go wrong when the gates across the globe once more opened up.
“Princess-”
“Princess-”
“Princess-”
But I’m never going to get used to this.
“Sorry everyone, I’m going to need to focus just a little bit so I might not be the most talkative right now, don’t mind me.”
She didn’t want to just ignore them, but she was out there for a reason in the end. To practice.
It had been a while since Uliel and Vasta had suggested she try to create her own spell, something that would incorporate and suit the magics she had access to, and since then she hadn’t made any progress.
There were a few excuses of course, she’d had her vacation and then there was the nightmare of how it ended, plus when she wasn’t practicing her magic or taking lessons she was either out hunting with Aso or going out for clinic work as well as trying to get her way through her current job, but all of that was exactly that, excuses. She wasn’t having luck because she couldn’t think of which direction to go, it was as simple as that.
And I’m not quite sure I’m ready to take any of Ben’s suggestions. She thought to herself as she reflected on some of the ideas he’d been able to spit out without a second thought. From the purely life affinitied ossification which would convert a body to bone akin to petrification’s effects but being irreversible due to the nature of the spell, to binding life and dark together in a curse of permanent weakness on whoever it touched, he was willing to get creative in ways she wasn’t sure she was entirely comfortable with considering herself, even if the ends might justify the means.
She was a powerful mage, she wouldn’t even want to deny it. Now that she had more control than any point in the past combined with her outrageous mana, levels were coming easier to her than they had any right to and would likely keep on coming. If the world survived and she gained any level of fame for herself, she didn’t want to be recognized for turning people to bone or weakening them beyond measure.
But that’s just what I don’t want to do, it doesn’t exactly give me a path forward.
So with nothing else she could think of she passed the time by experimenting, moving her various types of mana in a variety of ways, waiting for inspiration to strike as the time passed.
It didn’t help that she was still tired but she just wanted to get something, to feel an idea fall into place as the woods around her were torn up and broken down, only stopping when a spirit spoke up.
“Princess, there is a demon nearby,” It told her, more than willing to handle it itself but knowing that killing it would provide some small boost to her growth, even if only a drop. “Should we leave it to you?”
“Please, point me in the direction.”
Even if it was just one, a demon was a demon. There was no way she could leave it and if it was close enough, why not enjoy the minor benefits that killing it would bring? So with it in the spirits’ senses, they led her deeper into the woods until she was able to eye it in the distance.
Unlike many others she’d seen, there was nothing particularly remarkable about that one, looking like thousands of others she’d witnessed in the first wave, not that she cared. It was going to die, that was all it came down to, so while it was still in the distance she cast out her charm, calling it over while at the same time preparing a different dark spell, strengthening it with all she could.
The one she used was simple. In every way that mattered it weakened the beast, sapping it of its strength, stamina, and whatever mana it held.
As it felt the call of her charm it ran to her, with the second effect slowing it to a walk, and then a crawl in its futile attempt to reach her, putting up a good effort too. It was only a few meters away by the time it stopped moving, falling into mana exhaustion only moments later.
After that point it took two full minutes for the creature to finally die, having lost even the strength to breathe by that point, all while Thera watched on, reaping the benefits of that use of skill.
<MAX LEVEL OF THE MASTER DARK MAGE JOB ACHIEVED>
The little bit of experience from both using her spells and killing the demon did it, pushing her over the edge and finally letting her take a new job for herself as she looked at her options, even if she knew what she was going to pick.
AVAILABLE JOBS
Musician
Professional dancer
Bard
Darkness mage -charm specialized
Healer
Staff user
Homunculus creator
Chimera maker
War mage
Empathy mage
Barrier mage
High crystallization mage
Master spirit mage
Non-affinity mage
Heretic
Dark princess
While the expected dark princess was there as an option, it still brought a frown to her face. Not for what it was, she’d more or less accepted that she was going to be getting that variant the moment she started walking the dark path. No, what made her frown was the lack of other options. Just like when she’d completed master earth mage, she was only given the one.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Seriously, I’ve had four for life after I finished the master branch. Why has my worst affinity given me my most options?
It was a question she knew she wasn’t going to get an answer to, even if she tried to keep it from bothering her. After all, while she was lacking in certain specialized mage paths, she wasn’t when it came to what she suspected would be more broad ones. Since dark princess would almost certainly be a job she’d gain passive experience through like the others, she was already planning on taking war mage for the next wave, if only to see what benefits it would bring and then she’d still have master spirit mage.
It had of course become available when she’d awakened her spirit empowering, but it had mage right in the name, there was no way it would do nothing for her magics, so she tried to keep positive as she took the one she’d been aiming for for so long.
“I’ll take dark princess.”
<ACQUIRED JOB- DARK PRINCESS LV0>
<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING MANA, MANA RECOVERY RATE, AND INTELLIGENCE>
<ALL EARTH AND SPIRIT RELATED SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>
<SPIRITUAL DARK MAGIC LEVEL INCREASED>
<SPIRIT COMPREHENSION LEVEL INCREASED>
<MANA ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>
<MAGIC INCLINATION LEVEL INCREASED>
Name: Thera Oress
Race: Succubus/Spirit Hybrid
Titles: Spirit Child, Madman’s lover, Spirit princess, Saintess, Destined holder of Spirit Empowering, Outsider slayer
Jobs: Dark princess (lv9)
Previous Jobs: Beginner Dancer, Dancer, Apprentice mage, Earth mage, True mage, High earth mage, Spirit mage, Life mage, High life mage, Telekinetic mage, Adventurer, High telekinetic mage, High spirit mage, Master earth mage, Earth princess, Master life mage, Life princess, Saintess, Crystallization mage, Master adventurer, Queen of mana, Mana embodiment, Dark mage, High dark mage, Master dark mage
Attribute:
Vitality: 2784
Vitality recovery rate: 49/hr
Mana: 657,632
Mana recovery rate: 361/min
Strength: 572
Agility: 1160
Stamina: 1012
Intelligence: 1210
Affinities:
Light: 4
Life: 22
Fire: 11
Water: 14
Air: 12
Earth: 103
Death: 3
Dark: 43
Space: 2
Time: 1
Resistances:
Light: 5
Life: 9
Fire: 11
Water: 16
Air: 12
Earth: 35
Death: 13
Dark: 42
Space: 7
Time: 8
Blessed skills:
Spiritual earth magic lv7*
Spiritual dark magic lv3*
Passive skills:
World speak+
Coordination lv6
Bind
Mana recovery rate enhancement lv9
Earth sense lv7
Dark sight lv0
Mana enhancement lv3
Magic inclination lv2
Sacrilege lv0
Sleep resistance lv1
Active skills:
Calculate lv3
Dance lv5
String instrument lv4
Woodwind instrument lv3
Cleaning lv2
Staff wielder lv1
Meditation lv2
Speed reading lv5
Spiritual life magic lv7*
Overwhelming non-affinity magic lv0*
Mana empowering lv0*
Cooking lv1
Mana examination lv9
Spirit comprehension lv1
Blessings:
Anailia’s Blessing
Elvat’s life magic Blessing
Quox’s Blessing
Eneth’s Blessing
Earth Pantheon’s Blessing
Life Pantheon’s Blessing
Dark Pantheon’s Blessing
Yuzu’s mana regeneration Blessing
Trials:
Trial of Anailia and Tolona
Earth Tower
Life Tower
Dark Tower
And this is instantly all worth it.
As nice as getting the level to her dark magic and other skills felt, as far as she was concerned the real boon was getting the one to her spirit comprehension.
She’d been getting better at not letting her thoughts slip through to the ones around her without meaning to but with that little bit of extra control the task felt significantly easier. She was sure she’d be able to keep her thoughts to herself, at least when it really mattered.
Which now just leaves a question of how fast I’m going to try to level this. I do already get passive experience but I’m pretty sure I could technically get a fair bit more if I’m willing to. Hmm.
It was a question of what she was willing and not willing to do, namely, charming her mana. While it was no longer happening automatically within her soul, she was sure she could make it if she so chose, which in principle should have been akin to constantly casting a dark spell.
If she was to, she’d need to put on her brace again for the time being, but when she thought about it, it didn’t feel nearly as bad to her as she’d expected. Sure, it had been a huge issue for her in the past but now it was something she’d be able to control. She wouldn’t exactly like it, but the fact that she’d be able to stop at any moment made the idea significantly more acceptable than it otherwise would have been.
So alone in the woods she did it, just for a moment, just as a test, even if the surroundings responded to her in a big way with the sounds of creatures moving towards her and kept going even after she canceled it, leading her to prepare another spell on her fingertips with fear ready to counteract the draw of the charm.
Definitely should have grabbed my brace first. She sighed to herself. Dumb idea, wish I could scare them off as easily…
She felt something click in her with the thought. Who was to say she couldn’t? Her charm may have merged into her dark magic but who was to say that she couldn’t apply a different spell to herself to give off?
At the very least, she couldn’t think of any reason it wouldn’t work so she gave it a try, fiddling around as she tried to influence the mana stored within her soul in a way other than the one she’d been born to, and only after seeing some distant beasts being lured over felt it click and got to watch the immediate change as they started to flee instead, running for their lives like death itself was chasing them.
Interesting.
She undid the effect but was suddenly full of ideas. If she could do it with those two dark spells, could she do it with more complicated ones? And what about her other affinities? Could she attach some general healing spells to her soul to provide some passive benefits to any hospital she was in or could she use earth spells to affect the world around her? Could she mix affinities to create more complex options and could her non-affinity magic be incorporated too?
Before she’d had no ideas but suddenly she was flooded with them, her head filled with things to test as a path to her individual way of using magic began to look more clear.