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Chapter 195 - Fear of the Night (Thank you for your support, DontLook@Me!)
🕑 Added 2024-11-16 17:14:57 +0000 UTCWhen night came, I had to leave Glacien nearby and then left the town using the cover of the darkness. She had a camouflage amulet with her, so I knew that she should be fine. Still, it was the first time that I left her behind for whatever reason, so I couldn’t help but worry a bit.
“These boots sure are handy…”
“We aren’t supposed to talk while we move.”
It looked like Clarice really liked to act like a proper covert operative. Still, considering her voice, she didn’t seem particularly excited or anything. Putting that aside, the boots that those guys used had a spring effect… The more strength people put on the boots, the more they could jump, so now I could leap in the air and even cross one hundred meters horizontally. I wanted to learn that enchantment.
“It looks like your strength has grown too, or is that one of the effects on the bow?”
“I thought that we were supposed to stay silent while working.”
“We are far away from the town, so it is fine.”
“The time I found you guys, you weren’t near the town and I still noticed your presence.”
“... Ugh.”
“Well, Glacien did half of the job.”
We only had to move for two hours before reaching the dungeon that Clarice mentioned. Considering that the place had the materials for the secret recipe of magic ink of her family, the place sure looked empty. No guards could be found around.
“This is a dungeon where kids usually come to train their bow skills. So it doesn’t need to be guarded.”
“Why would your family have a secret recipe for magic ink?”
“My father and mother were alchemists more than anything else, so they knew a few tricks and they taught us.”
It looked like I had touched a complicated topic, so I decided to shut up. In any case, the dungeon was nothing special. The dungeon was relatively simple, consisting of just ten floors. It housed a single species of monsters, poisonous frogs and the boss. While the lack of variety might seem uninspiring at first glance, Clarice had a different perspective.
“You could make a lot from this place. The poisonous frogs were more than just a nuisance; they were a treasure trove of opportunities for those with the right skills. Their venom could be harvested and refined into potent poisons, or even antidotes, if processed correctly. Their hides, slick yet durable, might serve as valuable crafting materials for waterproof gear or lightweight armor. Even the frogs’ meat, if handled properly, could find niche use as an ingredient for adventurers seeking to build resistance to toxins. In any case, the magic ink that we can make needs their blood and poison.”
“... You already made that?”
“A few times, yeah.”
It looked like my image of Clarice was a bit off. In any case, she didn’t have her bow with her today. She only had a belt with some throwing knives and as soon as we heard the squishing sound of a frog jumping, she threw her knife in the darkness. Before long, we heard the sound of something being hit by the knife.
When we approached the darkness, we saw the frog with a knife in its head. Clarice let out a relieved sigh and then looked very proud. It looked like she wanted to show off.
“I guess using your real bow would be too obvious, huh?”
“Indeed. Anyway, you can easily make magic circles of Apprentice rank with the magic ink that we can make from these guys. From the boss, if you are skilled enough. You can make it at the expert rank.
I should be able to make those with ease since I had been training with the amulets and with them, I couldn’t make any mistakes. In any case, Clarice took a bow from her magic bag and then began to skin the monster… she was really good at that, very proficient. In less than a moment, she was holding the body of the half meter long poison frog and letting its blood and poison fall on the bowl.
“After this, you mix it until it becomes pretty dense and you can see only a single color. If you understand it, kill some of them and return with them after you get to the first floor.”
“All right.”
It was pretty boring to get classes like that, but I wouldn’t complain since it has been a while since I had the chance to get a non-combat class. With some luck, I would get the blacksmithing class here. I had so many ideas already on how to use them that I barely could control myself not to head to the dwarven territory.
You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Carpenter, Herbalist, Shadow Scriber, (Dark Scrollmaker, Mystic Tattoist, and Venom Mage).
Those things sure were happening more often, the first two options were laughable in front of the third one. That only made me confirm even more that someone or something was trying to control my fate. Still, I decided to ignore it. Fearing what might happen won’t take me anywhere. I didn’t have time to fear every single unknown possibility.
You obtained the Shadow Scriber class.
You improved the Mana Regeneration parameter.
You unlocked the Aptitude Glyph Writer.
You unlocked the skill: Insidious Glyph.
Glyphs Writer: Gain bonus experience when summoning or creating runes that channel dark energy.
Insidious Glyph: Place an invisible glyph at a location. The glyph activates when an enemy crosses its boundary, unleashing shadow tendrils that immobilize the target for 5 seconds. Cost: 45 Mana.
Glyph of Sacrifice: Create and sacrifice a glyph to imbue all nearby allies with temporary power. Grants allies within a 15-meter radius +15% physical and magical damage and +5 mana regeneration per second. Cost: 30 Mana and destruction of the glyph.
My brain absorbed the knowledge and then I felt those annoying feelings again… A sense of superiority started to swell within me, making me feel above everyone else. An insatiable hunger stirred deep inside me, demanding more than I could ever eat. A fire ignited within me, intense and consuming, drawing me toward the things that I wanted. A bitter longing crept through my veins, creeping my every thought with the desire to have what was not mine.
I took several deep breaths to calm myself down… that eventually happened. Pride, gluttony, greed and lust. When I obtained those classes, I could feel myself being pulled by those desires. At first, it was only anger, or hunger, but now I was feeling more of them.
‘I can’t sense any differences in my body… probably because despite the combinations, this is a low-level class.’
Regardless, considering what I knew, this class was probably the vampiric version of a runesmith or something similar. It was quite surprising that one of those skills could be used as an area of effect support spell. In any case, I was satisfied mainly because my mana regeneration increased by twenty-five percent.
I decided to return to where I left Clarice. No more than five minutes had passed, but she still looked a bit bored. I could tell that she probably picked the herbalist class in this dungeon, but she didn’t use the skills all that much.
“Perhaps I should just hunt the monsters and store them in my magic bags to create the ink somewhere else.”
“You aren’t going to do that at my home. It will smell. This should be enough.”
“No way. I wanted hundreds of times more magic ink. Enough to fill a bunch of barrels.”
“Are you planning to become rich by only selling scrolls?”
Clarice stood motionless, her expression a mix of shock and disbelief, as if the sheer magnitude of what I had planned had struck her like a thunderclap. It looked like she was unable to reconcile how someone could have the patience, determination, and endurance to grind through such an exhausting and meticulous process. It wasn’t just the amount of magic ink that left her astonished, it was the method behind it, the discipline required to maintain such relentless focus over an extended period.
She likely imagined the countless hours spent preparing materials, and perfecting the intricate steps needed to produce ink infused with magic. Every detail demanded a level of precision and effort that would make most people give up long before achieving even a fraction of the result. Even though the process in theory was simple enough, it was also pretty grinding for those who aren’t used to it.
“We have until morning, yes? Then I will head to the tenth floor and then return before morning comes. I will make the magic ink during the day somewhere else where no one will find me.”
Before Clarice could say anything, I left with Shadow Step. I couldn’t use the skill all the time, but I could use it after dealing with the monsters. In a place like this, getting things done in a single night was much better for efficiency, after all.
… …
While Regulus was clearing the dungeon, Clarice continued to mix the poison and blood. She was already regretting deciding to work with Regulus since she hated this kind of activity with passion. Only someone planning to sell that much ink would need that much… and enough to make from hundreds of monsters? That was simply insane.
‘He had grown a bit… before, he avoided eye contact and kept his distance all the time, but now it looks like he is no longer running away.’
All of a sudden, Clarice felt a shiver when she recalled the few times that Regulus smiled recently… Through his smile, she was able to see his fangs. He definitely didn’t have those before.
‘He is fine… he is completely in control. He doesn’t pass the weird auras that the other vampires pass…’
Despite saying that to herself, Clarice felt shivers once more. That was one of the reasons that she didn’t think of asking Regulus for help… she didn’t know if she would be able to keep her thoughts to herself forever. She didn’t want to hurt him with any unfounded fear yet. She already wronged him once and she didn’t want to do it again.
‘He doesn’t want to talk about what he has done since then… so perhaps he already… No, even if she was a tamed beast, Glacien wouldn’t be so loyal toward him if he had truly awakened as a vampire.’
Clarice could tell that the nights working with Regulus will pretty unnerving and tiring.
Comments
j3t
Price -> Pride
MagicWafflez
awww, poor regulus... even though he's pretty standoffish about her, I know it would really hurt him if she looked at him with the same disgust everyone else does. it's really not healthy for him mentally to be alone and reviled by everyone, they're really pushing him to be what they fear him to be. also, bleh, clarice also doesn't need to worry about him selling scrolls probably, he just wants to have a stock so he won't run out while running around as usual. Regulus hasn't paid much attention to money since the cannonball incident, mostly bartering, so I doubt he'd bother when he could be running around doing labyrinths.
Tolokk
You forgot „You unlocked the skill: Glyph of sacrifice“
