There was nothing particularly special about the events preceding my level up. I had just been grinding for exp in the depths of Claude’s most difficult Dungeon, the Fungal Forest when I finally crossed the threshold. I was still in combat with a group of Spore Drakes when I got the notification, but rather than finishing out the fight, I immediately [Blink]ed away. [Greater Inventory] was already full from the dozens of drakes I had already killed, and since I had reached my level goal, there was no reason for me to stay.

  I used [Fly] and a few more [Blink]s to get back to the entrance of the Dungeon, then used [Waystation] to return to the teleportation room in Natalya’s mansion. Anatoly had returned to his store shortly after I started my training, and Natalya was out on an errand for the church, so I had the place to myself. I quickly made my way to ‘my room’, which I had only ever used while recovering from injuries, and sat down to look more closely at my new notifications.

  I immediately focused on the new class evolution. The [Metamagic] skill could wait. Especially since I was about to be getting another new one with my new class.

  I accepted the new class without hesitation. There was no reason not to. It had even better [Wis] and [Int] bonuses than [Archmage’s Apprentice] had had, and it came with bonus free stats, so I could start catching my physical stats back up. At this point, it would be impossible to catch them back up to my mental stats, which would still continue to grow, but they would no longer be stagnant, like they had been for the past half-decade.

  Having changed my class, I went to my spell sheet to select my new Metamagic skills. As Natalya had promised, metamagic skills were invaluable. I had earned my first one when [Archmage’s Apprentice] reached level 25, and another at level 50, and they were absolutely game changing. Metamagic skills were skills granted by the System to mage classes exclusively (they could not be obtained without a mage class), and they enhanced spells beyond their natural capabilities, allowing me to do things with them that would normally be impossible.

  The first one I had taken was [Quickspell], which just enhanced the speed of my spells. I had wanted to take [Multispell] to avoid another [Hex Shield] incident, but according to Natalya, [Quickspell] would suit me much better, since my strongest element was light, and illusions took time to create, and because [Multispell] wouldn’t be useful until higher levels. For my level 50 metamagic, I had gotten [Multispell], and I understood why Natalya had advised I wait on acquiring it. Though using more spells at once was useful, it took a huge toll on my [MP] pool, so even with my vampirically boosted stats, I would not have gotten much use out of it.

  I had already decided which metamagics I would get for my next two, and it didn’t take long for me to find them on my list of options. I selected [Distant Spell] and [Heightened Spell]. I chose [Distant Spell] because my current [Gate] and [Waypoint] range could barely get me across Ravel, and this metamagic would extend my range to basically the whole world. I took [Heightened spell] for obvious reasons, as it increased the power on my spells.

  [Archmage’s Aura] ended up being a rather useless skill. All it did was give people around me a subtle sense of my power and status, but I didn’t need anything like that, since I naturally radiated skill and confidence already.

  After selecting my new metamagics, I didn’t really have much else to do. Natalya was out on a mission, and wouldn’t return until the Spring Festival Royal Ball in two days, so I had a fair amount of time to kill. I could have returned to the Dungeon, or used the training field to test out my new skills, but after half a decade of repetitive drills and monsters I could now beat in my sleep, frankly I was sick of it.

  Leaving the city was also technically an option, but I still hadn’t figured out how to remove Natalya’s tracking spell, so I would need her to do it. I didn’t think she would reject my request. She said I would be free once I became an archmage, and over the years, I had learned that she was not one to break her promises. It was annoying, needing to wait, but without her around, and with my goal completed, I actually finally had time to do some serious daytime exploration of Claude

  I had been into the city during the day a few times, but I had never been there when I had no obligations, and no plans limiting my time. I couldn’t eat human food, or drink human drinks, so a lot of the city's attractions held no appeal to me, but there was still plenty to do especially considering the timing. The Spring Festival was an event that attracted people from all over the world to attend, so there were interesting things to do on every street corner. There were music halls and theaters hosting shows nearly around the clock, in addition to all the vendors and performers lining the streets trying to use the special occasion and good mood to earn a few coins.

  [Archmage’s Aura] proved to be very useful during those two days. It would not normally do anything for me, as all it did was give the people around me a vague sense of my power and status, but when I was trying to get into shows at the last minute, it was the only reason that any of the places I visited even heard me out. I still had to fork over exorbitant amounts of money, but having spent so much time gathering loot in the Dungeons, it was just a drop in the bucket.

  I saw a few musical performances, which I enjoyed, since I hadn’t really had time to look into Astraeus’ musical culture. I saw both a high society orchestral performance, and a show geared more towards the general public put on by this world’s equivalent of a pop star. Both shows were highly entertaining, and I would have tried to watch more, if I hadn’t discovered the theater.

  Unlike with music, I had never really been a big fan of theater back on Earth, so going in, my expectations weren’t too high. However, in Astraeus, there was magic. The performances were enhanced by expert illusionists and sound mages, and some of the larger sets even had fire, water and earth mages helping out. The plays were so immersive that it felt like I was inside of a movie, with the sights and sounds, and sometimes even smells all on clear display.

  My favorite play was one based on the battle with the Demon King of Gluttony. It was a tale of heroic bravery and tragedy, where the first hour was spent building up the relationships between the paladins, only to watch half of them die, and their comrades mourn them. At the end, when the actor playing Alexei acted out the scene of his breakdown after the battle, I nearly shed a tear as well. I had never liked him much, and he had hated me from the moment he saw me, but after watching the play, I sympathized with him a lot more, and my judgment of him became a little less harsh.

  At some point during my two days of rest and relaxation, I decided to visit a boutique to get an idea of the state of high society fashion for when I made my illusory dress for the party, but I was turned away, even with [Archmage’s Aura] activated. It made some sense, since the Royal Ball was rapidly approaching, and all the dressmakers were struggling to meet the deadline and finish up all of their dresses, as well as making last-minute adjustments to already completed works, but I was still annoyed. I tried out nearly a dozen other boutiques around the city, but received similar treatment. In the end, I decided to just turn invisible and sneak in to take a look around.

  My efforts on that front were unfortunately largely pointless. As it was such a huge event with people from all over the world coming to attend, there was also fashion from all over the world, so the dresses came in such a variety of shapes and sizes and styles that I don’t think anything I wore could possibly look out of place.

  My two free days passed more quickly than I would have liked, and it finally came time for the Festival’s main event. Well, the main event for the nobles at least. Commoners weren’t invited.

  The design I finally decided on for my dress was a simple sleeveless one, with few decorations or embellishments. The main color was a gradient going from dark blue at my shoulders and black at my feet. The real appeal of the dress came from the illusory stars that I would decorate the plain fabric with. They would twinkle randomly and would remain in a constant position, no matter how much I moved, giving the impression that my dress was a window into the cosmos.

  Though my dress was pretty, I didn’t expect it to stand out too much. There were plenty of other dresses that used magical enhancements and moving parts, and compared to some that I had seen, mine was actually very simple. That was fine though. I wasn’t in much danger from the church anymore, but I didn’t want to overdress and have the other guests think I was tacky or attention-seeking. If I changed my mind later, I could always make minor alterations to my outfit. It was completely illusory anyways, and I was just wearing normal clothes underneath, so it wouldn’t be difficult.

  I arrived at the party a few minutes after the specified starting time, and was met with a massive throng of people trying to enter. There was fortunately no pushing or shoving, since no one wanted to ruin the outfits and hairdos that many had spend all day preparing, but it was still a line that I wasn’t too interested in waiting in so I put my invitation back into [Greater Inventory] and cast [Invisibility] and [Levitate] and simply floated over the gates. There was a simple intruder alert to catch party crashers, but I had enough control over the mana around me that I was able to slip past without triggering it.

  Seeing the crowd at the gates, I had been worried about the available space at the venue, but the king had planned well. There was no ballroom in the kingdom fit to host such a large gathering, so it was held outside instead on a massive lawn just outside of the palace. From the sky, I could see that it was easily three times the size of a football field, and there were hundreds, and maybe over a thousand chairs and plenty of tables scattered around the field, except in the center, where a stone platform had been magically conjured, likely to be used as the dance floor. There was a band on a slightly higher platform on one side of the dance floor prepping their instruments as the guests began to trickle in.

  Food and drinks were all set out on long tables lining the edges of the field like a buffet, though I suspected that few of the attendees would actually treat it that way. There were dozens of servants scattered throughout the area who would probably end up being responsible for retrieving refreshments.

  It took about an hour for most of the invitees to finally make it inside, and it was at this point that the king himself finally made his appearance. Unlike everyone else, he emerged from the opposite side of the field, near a few slightly raised tables reserved for himself and the dukes. He used some kind of sound amplification artifact to make a short speech, which ended in a polite round of applause before the festivities continued.

  I mingled with the other guests, mostly just making small talk, giving and receiving compliment and things like that, while I kept my ears peeled for the guards at the gate announcing the arrival of the ones I was waiting for. Natalya was one, but there was someone else I needed to talk to before I left, and I would rather do it there than have to make a separate appointment. I had heard rumors that she would be attending, but two hours after the gates opened, I still had not heard anything about either her or Natalya.

  I was growing very bored, and annoyed at Natalya for making me wait so long. Most of the nobles lost any interest in talking to me as soon as they learned that I had no last name, and no title, so I had no one to help pass the time. Or at least I didn’t, until I finally found someone I recognized

  “Lucille,” said a deep voice from behind me.

  I turned around in surprise, and found myself face to face with the hunched old Duke Lyon.

  right now by going to and giving me money. There are currently at least 2 more chapters there, maybe 3. If the third isn't there, it should be up in the next 24 hours.

  Some explanations for some of the terminology and numbers on the table: