"Ouch." I hissed in pain as the act of pulling on a clean shirt pulled at my sore muscles. Waking up in the morning with my young body screaming in pain and a smattering of deep bruises all along my torso and arms had not been a fun experience. Although I'd tried to keep active in this new life, it appeared my efforts to not fall behind in general fitness hadn't been enough to handle the sudden jump to life or death combat.
Considering I was still only six years old, that appeared to be obvious in hindsight. My body just wasn't mature enough to undergo the strain I'd put it through. Thankfully that was an issue that would prove to be a solved problem if today went all according to plan. I'd been operating under a lot of assumptions, but nothing so far indicated that those assumptions were in any way wrong.
If a problem arose, I'd just have to wing it.
I tied the bulging sack of magic stones around my waist, feeling the comforting weight resting against my leg. Hopefully this should be enough to provide some seed money. If trading these little guys in wasn't enough, I'd have to proceed to sneak out some of my fathers blacksmithing supplies and try to pawn it off. Needless to say the prospect of stealing from my own parents wasn't appealing.
After a quick breakfast with my parents and a hasty goodbye I left the house, ostensibly to head to school. Instead of subjecting myself to more of the drooling inanity of children, I ducked into the same alleyway as yesterday. Once I'd ensured it was empty of all possible observers, I channelled my existing stockpile of exotic energy. I furrowed my brow, focusing intently on my desired destination. It had to be that place, specifically. That specific variation of that world was what I needed to smooth the way forward. I felt the hidden tattoo on my back heat up, almost searing the skin as ever so slowly, my Dimensional Breach stirred to life with extreme reluctance. The otherworldly power reserves rapidly drained away, used to form my second connection to a new universe, solidifying into a permanent bridge between worlds. I was left with only the dregs of energy left, nowhere near enough power remaining to establish a third connection.
"It worked." I breathed, a smile forming. The slow activation had worried me for a moment, which didn't bode well for accessing variant universes of my favourite works. I had a feeling trying to forge a connection to fan-works would be a complete non-starter.
With a tenth of my Demonic Energy sacrificed, a shimmering blue hole between universes was rent open. I grit my teeth before jumping in, not being a particular fan of this form of travel. The ability to traverse worlds was a power I'd never turn down, but did it really need to be such an unpleasant experience?
I skidded to a stop, almost stumbling my way out of the portal. As I'd hoped I was a tiny alleyway between two buildings, close enough to my initial destination while being out of direct observation when I appeared. This world had teleportation magic, but it was better to avoid any potential drama or attention by appearing in the middle of a crowded street.
The morning air was cool and crisp, the time of day the exact same as back home. I felt a little shiver run down my spine as the chill licked my skin, the temperature difference between the Underworld and this place too sudden of a change.
"Brrrr." I blew, rubbing my arms and hurrying out into the street, scanning the quaint looking buildings for my target location. Book-store, nope. Clothing store, not there either. Men and woman passed me by, completely unconcerned and just going about their morning. The diversity here was much lesser than in Orario, the city playing host to a much less colourful range of species.
Eventually, my prime target revealed itself at the end of the street. My eyes devoured the sign, a grin building across my face despite the prickling cold as the unfamiliar letters unfolded before my eyes, understanding spontaneously appearing in my mind. Excitement coursed through my veins at the approaching first meeting with the the woman I desperately hoped would one day...
Now Sirvolt, don't screw this up. Even if you're a child, first meetings are important!
Forcing down the trembling in my fingertips I opened the door and entered inside. As a magical species, devils were particularly sensitive to magic and this whole room was awash with it. Potent magical items lined shelf after shelf, the good sized room packed to the brim with powerful equipment. Rack after rack of shining potion bottles stood next to gleaming apparel, obviously enchanted in some manner.
A bell above the door chimed upon my entry and I heard rustling from coming from a door positioned behind the fancy counter, followed by a crashing sound. "Oh darn! Oh just, just a moment!" A woman's voice called out, before I was graced with a beautiful sight.
The woman who entered the main room was a vision of beauty, a stunningly attractive woman in her mid to late twenties with long brown hair, her fringe covering a single eye. Her robes struggled to contain the sheer enormity of her chest which bounced slightly with every step. The brunette's body was just as sinfully curvy, her beauty obvious even hidden beneath the modest and thick clothing she wore.
"Oh, hello young man." The woman smiled upon noticing me, the gesture appearing completely genuine. The innocently alluring woman walked out from behind the counter to stand before me, bending down slightly to lower her face."My name is Wiz, and welcome to my shop! Is there something I can do for you?"
"I'm Sirvolt, nice to meet you." I beamed back up at her, a giddy feeling in my chest. She was everything I'd expected her to be and then more. The faint worry that my expectation had been too high and my attraction to her wouldn't survive the translation from the screen to reality, were laid to rest. "And I found these, and thought you might be interested?"
I untied the pouch full of magic stones and rushed over to the small table situated in the corner of the room. Reaching inside to grab a small handful, I dumped them out for the Lich to see, the little stones glinting in the brightly lit shop.
"Oh my." Wiz exclaimed, beaming down at the magical objects. She took a seat at the table and pulled out a small enchanted object, holding it before a singular eye as she leant in close. Seemingly in her own world, the beautiful undead began to mumble to herself. "Low levels of contained magic... perfect containment... completely stable..."
Grinning at the sight before me, I sat at the remaining chair and waited patiently. Taking the time to enjoy the sight of a stunning woman was never a wasted moment, especially for a woman that had been on my mind a lot. The choice of who to take into my peerage and what position they should hold had been a difficult one, but one spot in particular had been viciously contested. Here and now, I knew I'd made the right choice.
Now I only had to not fuck anything up and build up an amicable relationship that lasted years, before transitioning it into something a little more permanent. Peace of cake...
Finally done with her inspection Wiz looked up at me, placing her tool down on the table. "Where did you find this? It appears to be a completely novel form of manatite! I thought it might be a stabilised shard at first but the... erm..."
The brunette trailed off and cleared her throat, an embarrassed expression coming to her face, perhaps realising she'd been talking to a child.
"Can't tell you, miss Wiz." I smiled, tapping my nose with a finger. "But are you interested in buying them? If you do, I can find more in the future, of all types of sizes."
"Yes!" Wiz replied instantly, shooting a delighted look at the sack full of magic stones. "There won't be an immediate use case since they are so novel, but they are just so interesting! I'm sure they'll fly off the shelves."
I returned the woman's beautiful smile and felt a little bad inside. I'd have to do something nice for her soon to make it up to her. "I hope so miss Wiz. If they do, I'll be sure to bring you lots and lots."
"Here, let me just..." Wiz trails off once she gets behind the counter, pulling out a tiny amount of coins and deflating. "Um, h-how does t-t-t-twenty thousand Eris sound."
I looked at the visibly embarrassed woman and decided to take pity on her. It would cause things to become very fiddly and awkward, but I would just have to work around it. Having to work around some limitations to earn some goodwill on our first meeting was hardly a great sacrifice.
"No way!" I crossed my arms into an X, shaking my head. "I'll only accept a thousand Eris! If they sell, then next time you can pay me more, alright?"
"Yes!" Wiz cheered happily, clutching the pathetic pile of notes to her chest. "But are you sure you're okay with just giving them away so cheap?"
"I can't use them." I smiled up at her, giving a faint shrug. "And I know where to get lots more, so..."
"Then I'll gladly accept." Wiz returned my smile, holding out a large bronze coin held in both hands. "It's a pleasure doing business with you."
I accepted the payment, mentally ticking off one of my many items on today's to-do list. Even in the best case scenario I would be running around this world for the better part of the day, seeing to a variety of tasks that would be immensely useful in the future.
With our transaction completed and a promise I'd return with more stones in the future if she managed to sell her initially supply, I managed to wrangle a quick tour of the shop from Wiz. The sheer variety of items available blew me away. Some of them were utterly useless while some were potentially game-changing. I eyed the rosaries with hungry eyes, before noticing a locked cabinet.
"What's in there?" I asked, leaning in close to frosted glass.
"Oh! I ordered those when I just opened the shop, but never managed to sell them. I was so sure they would be in high demand." Wiz lamented, a hopeless look on her face. "Skill potions are just so useful, I don't understand..."
Cha-ching. The sound echoed in my mind, unable to believe how quickly I'd struck the jackpot.
"Those do sound useful." I echo, leaning in close to catch a glimpse. "Does anywhere else in town sell them as well?"
"Hmm..." Wiz hums, a finger stroking her chin as she thought. "I would think the local Adventurers Guild carries a small stock, but my price is even cheaper! Why would everyone buy straight from the Guild?"
"How much do they cost?" I ask innocently, mental calculator at the ready.
"The Guild sells Skill Potions for around twenty-five million Eris, but mine are only twenty! I found the most wonderful supplier but they just don't sell..." Wiz trailed off, tears in her eyes.
Ah.
That would explain it.
An Eris in this world was about the equivalent to a Japanese Yen from my first life. To use the very inaccurate method of cutting off two zeroes from the number, each Skill Up potion usually sold for around two hundred and fifty thousand dollars...
In a city where most adventurers lived out of stables or hot-bunked with each other, living in cramped quarters.
Even with her reduced prices, it was little wonder the voluptuous Lich had trouble moving her merchandise, all the local customers just flat out could not afford the potions. Axel just plainly could not support adventurers of such wealth, the monsters and opportunities close by unable to propel the locals to such financial heights. Those adventurers who got the closest to affording Wiz's wares would no doubt leave the city for one better equiped to support their own progression, robbing the Lich of potential customers.
With a heartfelt farewell I left the cozy little shop behind, directions to my next destination having been acquired from the busty brunette. The streets were rougher than those in Orario had been and a far sight from the magical perfection of my own home in Kite City, but the town carried it's own rustic charm. I just enjoyed my time wandering through the streets, dodging the much larger adults as they went about their business.
Wiz's directions proved themselves as the Guild quickly came into the sight, the large building dedicated to herding the endless ranks of murder-hobo's proudly advertising it's purpose. The knowledge that everybody in that building wouldn't hesitate to cut me down if they knew I was a devil, all to earn some petty change wasn't lost on me. That's just the kind of world Konosuba was. Mustering my courage and fighting down any trepidation remaining, I entered with wide eyes, trying to look as innocent as possible.
Tables were littered throughout the ground floor, almost two dozen strangely dressed men and woman loitering around. Drinks flowed easily even at this early hour, the smell of greasy foods filling the air. The men were almost all muscular and tanned while the woman wore either revealing clothing or thick dresses with little in-between.
There were a line of windowed counters at the far end of the room, two currently manned. The pretty older woman had a long line of customers waiting for her attentions, while the other was completely empty of adventurers, the male guild employee resting his head on his arms in boredom.
Perfect.
I approached the daydreaming man and grasped the edge of the counter, pulling myself up to look at him face to face.
"Excuse me sir, can I have an adventurer's card and directions to a monastery? I have the money right here." I sniffed, putting on a sad face and dropping the exact charge onto the wooden surface.
"What?" The Guild employee startled, blinking at my sudden appearance. "Listen kid, I can't just give you a... wait, you want directions to a monastery? Why?"
"I don't have anyone to take care of me anymore mister." I lied my ass off to the befuddled man, trying to put on a brave face. This was also something I'd practised in a mirror, being one of my major failure points. There was an all too high chance of this going tits up , my age being a major limitation. Since so much was resting on this going well, hours had been poured into perfecting the sad sack routine. "I'm all alone now."
"I see." The man grimaced, shooting an alarmed look around for support and being utterly unprepared when confronted by an orphaned child. Seeing there was nobody else available to foist it off on, he turned back to me. "Isn't there anyone else you can go to? Family, aunts or uncles? Family friends?"
"No sir, it's just me. I heard that Monasteries take in anyone, so please mister!" I shamelessly begged with wide eyes. "I don't know what else to do!"
"That's eh..." The man trailed off looking awkward. "I can't really give you a card, but we do have some pamphlets here with directions on them?"
"But if I'm going there anyway, isn't it better to have the card?" I asked 'innocently', tilting my head as if I was unsure. With an adventurer's card in hand, living at a monastery would be extremely beneficial to unlocking the monk class, giving me a head-start and a leg up in the future.
"Shi- yeah, okay." The guild employee cut himself off before talking in a whisper. He lowered his head towards me, eyes roving around to check if anyone was paying attention. "Look, you didn't get this from me, okay?"
"Thank you mister!" I smiled at him with watery eyes, triumph surging in my chest. "What do I need to do?"
"Just place you hand over this." The man sighed, once he was certain nobody was looking out way, all caught up in their own business. His co-worker was swamped with a constant queue and didn't appear to be paying any attention in our direction. He grunted and pulled out a large contraption from under his counter, a large metallic base supporting a large blue crystal wrapped in gold and steel.
The urge to cheer at the sight was almost overwhelming, confirmation I had ended up at least close to the correct universe.
I held my small hand over the crystal, causing the containing clockwork to begin twisting and twirling. Unseen but very faintly felt, a strange sensation began to spread across me. If it wasn't for the twin experience of awakening the Dimensional Breach and having recently experienced gaining the Falna, I doubt I would have noticed, the feedback was so subtle. Something was gently wrapping itself around a portion of my soul, I was sure of it. The phantasmal sensation felt like a silken belt was gently being tightened around me as the crystal ball glowed and sparkled, arcane energies swirling within.
At the bottom of the guild device, a small needle twitched and shivered before shooting a beam of energy down onto a blank card that hadn't existed moments before, appearing from nothing to endure the impact.
"Thank you, thank you!" I quietly cheered, snatching it away from the pedestal the instant the energy stopped. I held it to my chest as if it was a treasured lifeline and not so coincidentally hiding the details from view. "I don't know what I'd do without you mister!"
"Eh, yeah, sure kid." The man smiled uncertainly, placing the crystal ball back under the counter in a hurry. "Look, whatever you do, don't go playing with that right now. Okay? Just, show it to the people at the monastery and do what they tell you. Got it?"
"I understand!" I nod cutely, tucking the incriminating card away into a pocket. "And the pamphlet?"
"Right, one second." My partner in possible crime breathed, leaving the counter to scan across a densely packed shelf behind him, plucking something out and returning to the window. "Okay, this looks like a great place. It's open to everyone and is only a few hours away, you could easily find someone to ta-"
"I refuse." I interrupted, shaking my head, crocodile tears vanishing. That wasn't my target at all. "I want something really strict."
"Eh? Kid, listen, this really is your best optio-" The man rallied, appearing confused.
"I don't want that place. Next." I declined, kicking my dangling feet behind me.
"Eris, children these days..." The guild employee lamented, returning to the pile and returning a minute later with half a dozen options. I listened to the spiel attentively, trying to discern which one was my target location. I was operating off of very shaking information here and with the distances involved I couldn't run off half cocked.
Eventually I collected the pamphlet which I thought was the correct choice, thanked the already regretful man and left the guild hall. Victory swirled in my chest, giving my stomach butterflies of excitement.
Everything was just going my way and in the back of my mind, I was waiting for the other boot to fall and shatter all my dreams. What was the expression, man makes plans and God l-
Ouch!
Hissing in pain and clutching my smarting head, I settled down on a small stone bridge to scan the pamphlet. Yada yada, we encourage only the strictest of self discipline. Do you want to start a new life of purity and discarding worldly desires, becoming better than the sad sack of shit you already are-
Who wrote this?
Thankfully there were directions in the back, showing the way to the monastery from a variety of locations. Locating the little diagram of Axel I began to whistle and made my way to the gate. I vaguely remembered Kazuma and crew stopping to make camp for the night, so it was more than a days march away from the city, but before actually reaching the monastery itself.
I'd have to eyeball it.
Leaving the city through the west gate and utterly ignoring the concerned guards, I headed directly for the forests surrounding Axel. There was little chance of finding my target on foot, but I couldn't exactly take flight within direct eyeshot of the towns folk. That sounded like a good way to rouse an army of bloodthirsty murder-hobos, all after their own pound of flesh, if only in an attempt to turn pieces of my corpse in for money.
Once I'd broken line of sight from the city guards, I flared my wings and flew just under the canopy to create some more distance before shooting up as quickly as I could, directly into the sky. If anyone spotted me at all, hopefully I looked like any other random dot on the horizon, dismissed as a mere bird.
Wind rushed passed me, rustling my white hair and exacerbating the already chill morning. Fighting off a shiver of discomfort I rushed into the sky until I had a good view of the terrain from high enough. My eyesight, already superb as a devil had been further enhanced by the Falna. The dirt tracks that comprised most of the roads in this country needed to be plainly visible, as they served as the main point of reference.
Satisfied with my height and after a confirming check of the pamphlet for precise directions I set off at a fast clip, cruising on high far above the ground. The excitement of the flight itself wasn't quite enough to drown out the discomfort, but the knowledge of what I hoped to find pushed me forward regardless.
My eyes scanned the road network spread out far below, darting from road intersection to crossroad in a rush, my heart leaping every time I spotted a new one. The target wasn't found on any of them as I continued on, until I was frowning. Within fifteen minutes at my current speed I was far out into the boonies, only passing over the occasional hamlet, this area of Belzerg underdeveloped and sparsely populated.
An hour later I scratched my cheek, worry beginning to build in my chest as I floated far above the monastery at the end of my journey. During the entire trip here I had scoured every road I could see, but still the tranquillity girl remained absent. Did she move somehow? The monster was a literal plant! They couldn't migrate, could they?
I sighed before deciding to expand my search area, going farther off the direct route. Kazuma and company were idiots after-all, expecting them to take the shortest path might be handing them too too much credit.
The sun was well past it's zenith when I finally spotted a tiny figure sitting on a stump just past a faint road connection, the angles so aligned I might have missed it on my first flyover. Disgruntled at wasting so much time and elated at actually finding the target, I swooped down low while channelling demonic energy into my fist.
At the maximum range of my spell I fired, long before the distant monster disguised as a little girl could begin to work her beguiling magic. A crimson glow filled the air as my magic circle concentrated power, a thunderous crack accompanied by a bright flash shaking the deserted forest as the attack discharged.
The little girl screamed and twitched as my lighting seared her flesh but my heart was hard. I knew this was a monster who preyed on the empathy within others, magnifying it until she could turn her prey into a meal. There was little redeeming qualities in this monster, her appearance a mere facade.
It didn't stop the intense guilt and horror that swelled up within me, rising up and blocking my throat. I swallowed heavily but refused to relent, spell circle regaining it's spent glow and spinning faster as I stayed on the attack.
It took six fully powered blasts before the creature stopped moving, her haunting screams still ringing in my ears. I knew the monster didn't have any real offensive abilities but I fired another four blasts into her smouldering corpse just to make certain it was dead.
"Gahk-" I coughed upon landing, the stench of burning wood and flesh and plant matter assaulting me. Thankfully most of the little body had been burnt beyond recognition, sparing me from witnessing the sight of dead little girl.
What a horrific creature.
"Well now, this is where it gets annoying." I muttered, briefly regretting turning down Wiz's offer of more money for the magic stones. Without a shovel to dig down into the roots and hopefully find the corpse and its treasure, there was some finagling to pull off.
After the long flight and then the magical barrage, my Demonic Energy was already under half and what was to come next wouldn't help, but there was nothing else for it. Another tenth of my total capacity drained away to fuel the Dimensional Breach, the sudden expenditure leaving me light headed. With an aggrieved sigh, I returned back to the Underworld.
The idea of jumping back to Orario did occur to me, but the possibility that the gods and goddess of that world would detect the divine treasure made me hesitate. I'd much rather stash my loot at home, which necessitated this next step anyway.
Returning to the alley I'd departed from this morning with a stumble and a curse at the slippery, sliding nature of dimensional travel, I quickly made my way home. Instead of heading in through the store however, I simply flew over the back fence of our small garden. Most of the space was taken up by dad's forge, leaving a tiny shed to hold miscellaneous items. Thankfully the strip of garden not taken up by either was regularly worked on by my second mother, who kept it looking nice.
The ringing of hammer on steel filled the air, echoing out from where father was hard at work. Under cover of the predictable beats, I inched the shed door open, squeezing inside the darkened space, festooned with old tools. Finding my prize and holding it aloft, I braced myself for the return trip and opened up another portal.
"Fuck me." I moaned, collapsing onto the trail floor next to the monster corpse, stars of exertion floating across my vision. Only a quarter of my magic remained and I still had multiple trips yet to make.
Logistics really were a son of a bitch.
Lying on the floor wouldn't uncover my prize however, so there was nothing left to do but get up and dig a really big hole. As a man, this should come naturally to me but having only a vague idea of where the treasure was located really dampened the spirit.
"Really need to get some magic for earth manipulation." I noted wryly, thinking back to how long I'd spent tinkering with my lightning spell, time that could maybe have been better spent elsewhere.
The next hour was a pain, manhandling a shovel that was almost as tall as I was with my devil and Falna enhanced strength. It was relatively easy to begin with but my young body soon began to show it's limitations. Sweat soaked through my clothes as lungs bellowed heavily, desperately trying to suck in more air. I felt light headed but I was on a timer with no idea when I'd locate the divine treasure. Going full tilt was the only option available right now.
Thankfully my shovel struck a beany covered skull with plenty of time to spare. With frantic motions I shovelled the dirt away, throwing it carelessly across the trail until my prize was visible.
The hammer of fortune.
With shaking and sweaty hands I pulled the muddy treasure out of the ground and held it aloft. The hammer was a stripped orange and red with two dull golden heads. It's appearance was utterly lacking compared to its effects, a fact I found great pleasure in. Hiding it would be a cakewalk.
Aware that Eris was potentially already active in the world and could potentially be gathering up stray divine treasures, I opened a portal right away and returned to the shed. My cursing hopefully swallowed up by the ringing of the forge, I closed the door behind me before sneaking into the house through the back door and scurried up to my bedroom.
"What a day..." I groaned, ready for this all to be over with but still having stuff to accomplish. An hour remained until I should be coming home and I didn't want to waste it, aware that my gruelling training with the Loki Familia would begin tomorrow. Would I even have energy to spare going forward? With no way to know, all the ducks I wanted lined up needed to be organised now.
Holding the hammer of fortune aloft I gave it a vigorous wave, watching in glee as three golden coins fell to the floor with a metallic tinkle. The faces revealed a value of fifty thousand Eris which made me sigh. The coins obviously had gold in them but where nowhere close to pure. That would have been the dream, but...
I vigorously waved the hammer and let out a little laugh as each swing produced more gold out of nowhere, swiftly building up a growing pile of golden coins. The sweet clink of metal on metal was music to my ears.
Grabbing a bag out of my closet I quickly began to fill the container to the brim, my already sore arms quickly turning into a burn. I weighted it carefully before adding a touch more and then slung in over my shoulder.
Time to return back to Belzerg.
I shoved the hammer deep into the pile of random toys I'd accumulated over the years from well meaning family friends, confident it would be secure. Who would steal years old children toys, of all things? Despite being a treasure created by the gods, the hammer appeared perfectly mundane to both eyes and magical senses.
"Why do I do this to myself?" I groaned, taking flight as the heavy pack of gold dug into my shoulders, the dregs of my demonic power flowing to sustain the rapid movement. Now on a direct course back to Axel, the journey was considerably faster.
On the way I withdrew my adventurers card and browsed the details. As expected it outed me as being a devil, with my Class yet unchosen. Disregarding all the possible options, I immediately selected Adventurer, eyes roving over the rest of the details.
Agility: 3
Intelligence: 32
Luck: 14
Magic Power: 41
Speed: 4
Strength: 4
Vitality: 6
"Ha. It really works just like that.." The short giggle was torn from my throat as what I'd suspected proved true. The card didn't show the details of my Falna, because I was pretty sure the physical boost would have knocked my stats up by a larger margin.
The adventurer's card showed base stats and those raised by levelling up, building a person up by absorbing fragments of monster souls to the limit of their potential. You wouldn't ever become level capped, but there would come a point where your stats would fail to rise. Considering most active and passive skills scaled off of those stats, this would soft lock an adventurer from progressing, their power failing to rise with their level, which would require greater monsters to kill to advance further. In this way an adventurer from this world was limited to their base potential.
The Falna worked in quite the same way, upgrading your abilities according to your potential, eventually stalling out when you began approaching your limits. What it had that the Konosuba system lacked, was the ability to increase the users potential entirely. Devils had a much greater potential than most races to begin with, so everything being equal I expected my stat cap to be rather high. With a qualitative upgrade granted by Falna upon level up, just how far could my potential reach?
The dungeon of Orario had an effectively infinite horde of monsters to gorge upon. I expected them to provide a lesser amount of experience than creatures from this world, given their extremely limited age, but that would hopefully be counter-balanced by the unending nature of their supply. In the world of konosuba, adventurers often had to travel long distances to perform their jobs, carefully selecting a contract and then spending most of their time travelling back and forth. Add in downtime and just living life, their actual kill counts was remarkably low for the time invested.
The only factors holding back the possibility of power levelling was injury, exhaustion and magical depletion.
All of which can be conquered.
Landing in the forest and marching into the city with the heavy pack was a struggle. Huffing and puffing and drawing some concerned looks from attentive adults, I trudged back into Wiz's shop.
"I'm back!" I exclaimed loudly, before collapsing into a chair beside the little table.
"Oh, Sirvolt." Wiz started, her eyes widening when she saw my muddy clothes. "Are you okay? You didn't need to go get more of the manatite right away!"
"I'm fine, just tired." I smiled at her concerned worry, she really was a sweetheart. "And I didn't get more, this is something else."
Having said that, I heaved my straining bag up onto the table and opened it up. The room didn't quite light up with the reflected glow of glorious gold, but it did kind of sparkle prettily in the well lit room.
Wiz gasped with wide eyes, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. "Sirvolt, why do you..."
"You said you had Skill Potions, right?" I smiled, beginning to withdraw fistfuls of golden coins and counting out stacks of ten. "How many can I get with this?"
It turned out the answer was three, over half of the Lich's supply. Each of the expensive potions cost four hundred of the golden coins, leaving me with only dregs in the bag. My heart hurt at the sight of so much money spent, but the brunette's ecstatic expression soothed the ache. The knowledge I now had an inexhaustible supply of currency hadn't quite sunk in yet.
"Are you really, really sure you can afford this?" Wiz asked for the fifth time, her trembling hands carrying away piles of gold only to return to plonk the final potion down in front of me. It glowed a deep purple, full of potential.
"One hundred percent sure!" I answered on repeat, swallowing down the magical elixir without waiting, just like the two that came before. The viscous fluid soothed my throat, tingling as it went down, tasting vaguely of blueberries.
Yummy.
"Then what was the manatite about this morning?" Wiz frantically asked, appearing confused and delighted and uneasy all at the same time. I supposed when you were living hand to mouth and struggling to make a single sale, an easy windfall could make you uneasy.
"This and that are two different things." I assured the beautiful undead, checking my card to watch as another point manifested. Together with my initial twelve skill points, the grand total of fifteen stared back at me. "One is doing business, one is patronizing a business."
"Oh, if... well, if you're sure!" Wiz answered after a moment of thought, perking up happily.
"I really, really am. I'm going to come back for those last two potions as well, when I've got time." I assured her happily, smiling up at her. Wiz returned my smile, radiating pure happiness and this really was the perfect moment.
"Before I go, um, can I learn a skill from you?" I asked, knowing that this leaned heavily into manipulative territory. After spending all this gold and promising to spend more, Wiz couldn't really turn me down. It felt kind of scummy, but I supposed that was a sensation I would have to get used to.
"Of course! I used to be an adventurer, so I know a lot of magical skills." Wiz replied happily taking a seat opposite my small form. "What do you want to learn?"
"Drain Touch." I answered blithely, trying to play it off as not a big deal. The brunette went still in fright, her previous happiness freezing in place.
"You, I, that is... um..." Wiz trailed off, looking out of her window into the street as if anticipating a suddenly forming horde.
"It's fine, I knew you were a Lich." I rushed to reassure her. "I'm not exactly human myself."
"Oh, I hadn't noticed." She replied slowly, gradually shaking off the sudden shock. "Well, if that's what you want to learn..."
"It is! You can do it on me, but please don't take a lot. I'm almost out of magic as it is." I explained, reaching out a hand.
"Okay, um, Drain Touch can be used like this..." Wiz started, launching into a quick explanation I listened to intently as she reached out to grasp my hand, engulfing it with her own. "Brace yourself."
There was no way to prepare for the truly awful sucking sensation, strength and magic torn from my body by a black hole that just slurped up every aspect of my being it could reach. My stomach churned and I almost threw up before the sensation stop.
Wiz had just activated the spell for an instant but I felt like laying down and dying.
"A-are you okay Sirvolt? You don't look so good. Quick, learn it and use it on me!" The beauty fretted, running the back of her hand over my forehead. I obviously complied, having expected this exact reaction. Three skill points vanished and suddenly...
I knew what to do.
"Drain Touch." I whispered, holding the Lich's wrist and focusing on my Demonic Energy. Upon uttering the words, the guttering flames of my power folded itself into an incredibly complex pattern far beyond anything I'd ever attempted. Every twist and weave of the magic was interwoven with layers of runes that built upon each other in ways I'd never even heard of, let alone practised.
Strength and magic flowed back into me the instant the spell began, quickly replacing what I'd lost and then some. The accumulated exertion of today and yesterday vanished within moments and I sighed in pure satisfaction, reluctantly cancelling the spell.
"Are you okay Wiz? That wasn't too much, was it?" I asked, gazing up at her.
"It's fine, that much isn't enough to cause me any discomfort." Wiz promised with an easy smile, not appearing to have been affected much. "I'm a rather high level, after all."
We spent a little longer talking before I begged off, the clock constantly ticking away. Wiz waved me off with an enthusiasm I returned, although probably for entirely different reasons. The beautiful woman had found a young boy who knew her secret and wouldn't judge her, while also spending astonishing sums of money at her shop. And me? I'd just started laying down a long term foundation.
Entering the cathedral to Eris filled me with a certain degree of trepidation. It wasn't exactly safe territory for a devil to be entering, but if the worst comes I was sure I could enact a quick escape. Thankfully my caution proved unnecessary, as a bearded old priest approached me.
"Is there something I can do for you child?" He asked kindly, gazing down at me.
"Yes please. Can you teach me Blessing of Luck?" I smiled up at him, as innocent as a fawn.
"Oh, I'm afraid that the church does not offer that-" He started with a shake of his head, before I held up a fistful of golden coins.
"Of course, spreading the Blessing in Eris's name is also our sacred duty." The priest informed me solemnly, taking the gold and tucking it into his shirt in a smooth, practised motion. "Here, let me show you..."
Twenty minutes later I stumbled through the door of the family shop, magic once more in the gutters, ready to sleep for a week.
"Interesting day at school?" Mum asked nonchalantly, her gaze lazily inspecting my dirty clothes. "Why don't you go run a bath?"
"Very interesting day." I prevaricated with a yawn, stomping tiredly towards the back-room staircase, not noticing her narrowed eyes tracking my departing form.