One bag of Gold Sols, two bags of Gold Sols~...
"And that should be all. Glad doing business with you, lassy," said Armveil, the old-timer drawf working at the Nequitas-sponsored blacksmith shop that I visited before.
"That's my line," I replied while using the money bags to fill up the space in my Storage that had been left open after I'd taken out all the "confiscated" goods from Springwood's hideout. Said stuff is now resting in the backroom of the blacksmith shop.
"No, no. Lassy, you've done a lot for us. Springwood's been reported outside the country already. You guys might have scared him off." - Armveil
Already? It's been just four days since I saw him leave Isla de Mina. Selling the "legal harvest" from our trip there to the Adventurers' Union took some time. Not to mention we didn't want to act suspiciously, so we delayed our departure an extra day or two. The hot springs were also a good reason for staying a little longer.
"Okay then. Is Blot around?" - Garami
"No, he's also leaving the country. Gotta tag along with the boss." - Armveil
"With Filyn? Why?" - Garami
"Sorry lassy. Confidential stuff. It'd bring you trouble if I told you." - Armveil
"In that case, let me be blessed with ignorance." - Garami
"That I'll do. But why're you asking for Mister Smartypants?" - Armveil
"*Chuckle*, Smartypants... No, I just wanted to tell him we're going to be unavailable in the next few days. And that we're going to leave the country sometime after that again." - Garami
"You people have a busier schedule than mine! And you don't need to tell me what you're planning. That wouldn't be fair." - Armveil
"For real? What if our plans somehow ended up ruining one of your secret projects?" - Garami
"Ha! I doubt Blot would allow such a mishap to take place. Besides, do you think I, the guy whose only job is to keep the Nequitas organization's gear in tip-top shape, would know anything that classified?" - Armveil
"Uh...yeah? Where would they get the stuff needed for those top-secret operations?" - Garami
"Nah. You're overestimating me, lassy. I'm just at the top of the goon mountain, leaving the complicated secret evil organization stuff to those above me. Besides, I'm too busy with other stuff recently anyway." - Armveil
...? Then who are..., nah. Didn't I state that knowing too much can sometimes be a problem just now? Let's leave it to that and flee with my money.
After saying my goodbyes, I left Armveil's smithy and returned to the mansion we've rented thanks to our latest windfall. I wanted something more reasonable, but Mira and Noire (especially Noire) complained that they wanted a rest on "the lap of luxury". And here I wanted to save some Sols for our trip out of the country...
In the end, I yielded to their demands when I remembered that Iron and Revi had been living in ruins for their whole lives. Especially Revi, who's several times older than the rest of us. Damn you, Mira. Your silver arm has nothing against your silver tongue nowadays.
"Welcome home, Guild Master." - Alf
Despite my beliefs, only Alf was in the mansion to greet me. Those guys, here I pay big money for this place and you're not gonna use it...!
"Where are the riff-raff?" I asked, not bothering to hide my irritation. Alf caught on to my resentment but replied without any worries in his tone.
"Mira and Iron are at the Union's training grounds. They said something about wishing to test out Iron's combat abilities. Revi went along, as she wished to get used to that magic tome she brought with her from Tir na Nog." - Alf
Right, one of the grimoire Magic Catalysts that were in the castle's library. We snuck a few with us, enough for me and Revi to use. Although, while Revi seems to favor magic books as her magic weapon of choice, I'm not so sure. I got [Grimorie Catalyst], but it's just too clunky using it since my hands are almost always occupied by either my scythe, my dagger, or controlling threads. What a dilemma. I should try to find a solution to it in the future.
"Noire, on the other hand, is out in town showing off her 'new looks'." - Alf
Damn, that fallen angel. And for real this time around. Both she and Iron have already evolved when I was too busy worrying about Springwood and keeping track of our economy. But not today!
"Give her a lecture or something for me if she comes back. I'll be busy in my room for the rest of the day." - Garami
"The queen of nightmares is going to grow more terrifying? I should stop you for the world's sake, but that's a fool's errand." - Alf
"Good thing you're not a fool then. Night-night~." - Garami
After locking myself into the master bedroom, I started to prepare for my third evolution. Hmm, normal people always make a ruckus whenever a single evolution occurs, as proved by the gang and the people having witnessed Noire's and Iron's new appearances, so what would they say if they heard this is the third time I've gone through this rite of age? That's not important right now. Come on out, status page!
Skill List:
Attack Skills:
Magic Skills:
Crafting Skills:
Active Skills:
Passive Skills:
Perception Skills:
Leadership Skills:
Resistance Skills:
Elements:
Monster Skills:
Extra Skills:
Title List:
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Hunting Titles:
Status Titles:
Traits List:
Oooookay, I've grown a lot since the last time I checked this thing. All the fighting in Tir na Nog, plus the crab bonus round recently, is to blame for that. Actually...isn't this a little too much?
"Hey, Bloom! Get over here, pronto!" - Garami
"Yes, yes. Master, you are aware that I can come to you wherever you are? There is no need for bad manners." - Bloom
"Yeah, whatever you say. But for now, please explain this bug on my status page." - Garami
"Bug? ...Master, the only thing that looks like a bug here is your spider-related skills, and spiders are arachnids." - Bloom
"Good, you know that much. The arachnid-bit, not the part that my status page is a-okay." - Garami
"...? Seriously, Master, what is the problem here?" - Bloom
"It's not exactly a problem...if it turns out to be true, but..." - Garami
My skill levels are too bloated!! Sure, I've been working my butt off these last two weeks, but not THIS much! I'd be one of Iron's pals if I did..., okay, I'm still pal with him anyway, but you get what I'm trying to say.
"Oh, so that is what was confusing you. Master, you see, if a person has reached their highest racial level and earned even more EXP, the excessive EXP will go to their skill and class levels instead." - Bloom
For real!? That would explain why all of Revi's skills, outside those who could not grow due to that curse she had, were all maxed out. Sure, a few centuries is enough to train to reach such a state, but I think this trick also played a hand in it.
"I will warn you though, Master, that this method only gives an abyssal low increase to the other levels. In addition, you must not forget that evolving would grant you higher status values, access to stronger skills, and more AP each time a skill level reaches a multiple of 10, among other things." - Bloom
"Tch, that's true. Between this and evolving, the latter would be better in the long run." - Garami
Actually, since evolving requires clearing certain conditions, maybe this trick was prepared to make it easier for those who had reached their level cap to clear some of those requirements.
Thanks again, monster crabs~. But holy, I got enough AP for days now. I'm not gonna get more skills though, maybe except something to help my alchemy somehow? I do wish to have an alchemy-support Nightmare Item form as well...but not today. Evolving is on the agenda here, not skill shopping.
I mean, I've obtained some stuff already. [Flash], which creates a sharp light that I want to use as a method of blinding targets in dark spaces, [Lockpicking] in case I ever encounter a locked treasure chest in a Dungeon or something and Mira isn't available, the Apport skills, restricted to user of Mage-line classes despite being tailored for warriors and rogues, that allow me to retrieve my weapons from a distance, and the last Ability-type skills that I wouldn't get from Hunting Titles.
Sure, it's not a lot, but my skill list is pretty big from the beginning, so my plan for now is to develop the skills I have instead of getting new stuff randomly. I did start by evolving [Concentration] into [Thought Acceleration] and [Parallel Thinking] into [Parallel Calculation], so continuing that trend won't hurt.
Or I could obtain the new skills with the plans for using them as components for new Nightmare Item modes. Speaking of those things, with the huge increase in my racial levels, I should have unlocked new "mode-change slots" for all of them. Not that there's a big rush for upgrading them or anything, but it's nice to have a plan prepared for the future.
Besides, if I had to force myself to think of a method to consume all that AP right away, my Skill List would be messier than Mira's bedroom. And boy, that place is the pits!
But for now, as I said before, it's evolution time!
And here we go~! Still just the top 5 evolution options available. Demons have a lot of variation, so not drowning in lots of options that are not suitable for me is a blessing. Time for the traditional "looking through my options" ritual! From the bottom to the top. Well, the top is the only answer here, but still~.
Yeah, I remember this guy. Or at least his pre-evolved E-rank version. Even the description is pretty much the same as the "Dark Gazer"'s. How is this one of my top 5 evolution choices? I guess having even one Evil Eye-type skill, even if it's a perception type, is a big deal for demons. Obviously, this guy is a big pass. NEXT!!
*Whistle*. This is an unexpected entry. Must be due to the [Black-Light Technique User] title. Just having Light and Darkness alone wouldn't be enough for this guy. And what is this "S" for?
"Bloom, what's your take on this guy's racial rank?" - Garami
"A Darklight Sphere? Master should indeed be able to evolve to it..., oh, you asked about the rank, yes? Ranks assigned with a Minus means that the species will have it easier to gain experience...but you already knew that, Master!! Oh, you were talking about the S-rank? It means the species is an exception to some of the rules of the World System." - Bloom
"What rules, exactly?" - Garami
"I do not know. That information is being withheld from the Kigal-Note. All I can say is that this rule only affects species above racial rank C, so Master is in no hurry to learn what it is, I suspect." - Bloom
Above C-rank, meaning a special rule for creatures that are stronger than even Fire Dragons or Liches. Since I doubt there are not at least a few of those boss characters, it should be reasonable to suspect there are some rules to prevent those guys from exterminating parts of the world's ecosystem. Not that it stopped the B-rank boss snake...unless he got weakened by those rules. Which might have had a hand in how Springwood managed to defeat him.
Well, a spirit creature in the shape of a ball isn't that interesting, so I don't think I would choose it even if I hadn't decided on my next evolution. Plus it doesn't tell about what skills it has, so it could possibly be only some random Light and Darkness skill that's given. Or the ability to transform into a humanoid that the description text mentions, but who knows for sure? NEXT!
There it is! Stygian Executioner's standard evolution! It got that plus sign in front of its rank, so like with the Stygian Executioner, the High Executioner might be difficult to develop... But didn't I reach the level cap quite easily?
Still, those two skills it has seem useful. [Trap Expertise] is an evolved [Trap Creation] that also requires stuff like [Disarm Trap], so... Yeah, I can get this pretty easily in the future. Just need to take one trap at a time.
As for [Darkness Trickery]...wow. It can act as a decoy for the user AND inflict damage on the attacker. It seems to only exist in Gloom-category attributes, but this is nice. Too bad its 1st tier version, [Darkness Trick], doesn't provide the decoy effect and works more like a mine. I'll have to look into if I can somehow obtain it without having to go the long way in training a less-than-useful skill...
In any case, if I hadn't already made up my mind, then this one would be one heck of an evolution to go for. But I have decided already, so NEXT!
Djinn? Lineage of Sloth? Oh, right, I think I've read about it somewhere, that demons can be classified after the seven deadly sins and such. Gray Demon, the species I was reborn into at the very beginning of my second life, also belonged to that "demon lineage". I guess genetics(?) can't go away that easily.
Still, this isn't a species I'd want to evolve into. An albino like me, living in the desert? No way in hell, mister! ...Or do I?
In any case, I should take note of the two skills it mentions. They seem like good fits for me. Onto the NEXT!
Oh, we're already here. Well, what can I say? "Hello again, my first masterpiece"? Yeah, that works.
Kur Kigal...among the several hundreds of designs I made back in Limbo, this one is the first of many. And despite being the first, it's my personal favorite.
And since I designed it, I knew exactly what requirements needed to be filled to evolve into it. High stats, Teachings of Killing class(es) (I only figured out they were assassination-type classes before learning about the sub-group for the classes), both Darkness and Light attributes, and most importantly, a long list of killed monsters, represented in the form of Hunting titles.
And finally, the [Empty Demon Vessel] trait, as having it is a condition for skipping ranks and turning into a "High Demon". Had Stygian Executioner been a normal "Demon" instead of a "Low Demon", I wouldn't have had to worry about that part. Boy, was I freaking out when I learned that when I was researching demons in the Union's library! But in the end, things went alright!
Yes, please!
And good night-*intense snoring*...
Kur Kigal]
Except for the clear winner, which of Garami's evolution option is your favorite?
