Mash and the others ended up not doing anything for the reconstruction effort. The city had no shortage of stone mages and classes related to building. Mash was surprised how much of the city had been restored. Judging by the progress the city would be fixed in another day or two. No one in their group was requested for something like reconstruction, however, they were asked to remain for a short while. The king was going to formally honor those that fought, and he asked that they remained for the celebrations.

Despite the request, Mash wouldn’t be there for either. The others would go as they had done their fair share, but Mash didn’t think he deserved to be there. More than that, he didn’t want to receive praise for what he had done. This whole thing was partially his fault, and he didn’t deserve to be put up on a pedestal. Deciding to avoid the celebrations, Mash remained at their house. He would do some research on the nearby dungeons, while they were celebrating.

It hadn’t been damaged, though it was mostly empty. The serving staff had all left to check on their families. Mash was there and so were his friends and family, but nobody else was. Alex wasn’t there either, instead, Luna had two new guards who stood at the entrance to the house. Apparently, they considered his brother to be sufficient protection inside, and remained in case she wanted to go somewhere.

Mash was laying on his bed, though he wasn’t tired. It had just been a convenient excuse to get some time to himself. He was tempted to use his inhuman hibernation since the skill would help him deal with his depressing thoughts but held off. Red’s warning was not something he would ignore.

Red had talked a bit more about her skills once they got back, and Mash was surprised at the similarities. They were both inhuman, at least as far as their statuses was concerned. She had also gained the inhumanity skill and he was surprised to see that they were different. The name was the same, but the skill itself did drastically different things. Her skill didn’t provide her the same intuition that his skill did, though it did add to her defenses like his. It was a strange situation. Mash didn’t know that skills with the same name could do different things. Although, that seemed obvious now.

Also, he learned that Jill had managed to gain twelve levels, having killed eight of the black demons. After hearing Red’s and Luke’s story, Mash was impressed that Jill had killed so many of them. However, she had, not so subtly, described the fights as easy. He knew that Jill wasn’t trying to show up the others, but the way she said it had made Red extremely angry. When Mash had left them, Jill was still trying to apologize.

He didn’t know how long he had been in his room and wondered if the others had left for the celebration already. They knew that he wasn’t going to go and that he would be ready to leave once they got back. They had all gotten everything in order in the morning and had stocked up on anything they might need.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Mash was a bit surprised to hear knocking. The servants usually announced themselves, and rarely ever knocked. Not to mention, that he thought that they had all gone home. The door wasn’t locked, so Mash just called out to them.

“The doors unlocked.”

Luna opened the door, slipping in quickly. She looked at him strangely, and Mash thought that she looked tired. When she had left yesterday, she had been gone for the entire day, only arriving after the sunrise this morning. Mash sat upon his bed, and Luna took a seat beside him. She pulled out a small box and handed it to him. It was a wooden box, that was painted black. An image of the moon on the top.

Luna was obviously waiting for him to open it. Curious, Mash gave in to her demands and opened the box easily. Inside he saw what looked like a dungeon key. It was far smaller than normal, and it was similar in color to the dress Luna had worn last night. The key was shaped oddly too. A squarish grip, and a long shaft ended in a crescent-shaped moon. The whole thing was black with white specks mixed in. It was obviously painted like a replica of the night, and Mash looked at Luna with some confusion.

“It’s a key that will take you to the church. It should work from anywhere.”

Staring at the key in his hands, he processed what Luna had said. The church had dungeon keys? Did anyone in the church go into dungeons? From what he gathered they gained levels slowly but could do it just by acting faithfully. He had also never heard of a key like this one, and he asked Luna about it.

“Where did you get this?”

Luna coughed a little, before answering very quietly.

“The, uh, the goddess made it.”

Mash almost dropped the object in shock, and then actually comprehended what she said. He couldn’t help but treat the key more delicately as he placed it back into the box. In his hands, was something made by the goddess of the moon. Its value would be immeasurable.

“You met the goddess, and she gave you this?”

He stared at Luna incredulously, the idea of her speaking with the goddess and receiving this seemed impossible.

“Yeah, I knew that the item existed, so I wanted one for you. I didn’t think the goddess herself made them though.”

Mash floundered for a bit, before accepting the item for what it was. His sister wanted to feel confident that Mash would be safe, and despite having one of Priscilla’s bodies she wanted more assurance.

“Thank you.”

Knowing that accepting the present would be for the best, he stored it carefully within his storage space. It was most likely the most valuable item in his possession. All he could do to show his gratitude was give Luna a hug. This was beyond anything he had been prepared for, but he was grateful for it. To get to level 100 his plan had been to clear a dungeon by himself and had hoped for something like this.

Jill had checked with the guild, and it turned out that killing high-level monsters wouldn’t actually let them reach the next rank. It had to be someone with a proper class, instead of the estimation that monsters received. So, it turned out that he would need to clear a dungeon by himself, as he didn’t want to kill someone for the advancement.

After he received the item, they talked for a little bit longer. Eventually, she left, needing to prepare for the celebration. She was going with his brother, as he had done extremely well during the fight as well. He hadn’t ranked up, though Mash didn’t expect him to. At his level, it would have taken thousands of the demons to reach the next rank. Once they were gone, Mash didn’t really know what to do with his remaining time.

He decided to head to the training grounds and practiced with his anti-magic. He could manage a barrier like Priscilla had done before, but he was working on making it more like an aura. If he could get the anti-magic effect to fill his draconic domain, he hoped that it would compound with its own passive effect. He quickly learned that the effect diminished greatly with range, and, even at his best, the anti-magic effect only slightly covered him. He could manipulate it a little, but it seemed to naturally originate from him. There was a problem that he noticed quickly. The anti-magic weakened his own magic. It made his lightning do less damage and also made his wood grow more slowly. That explained why the demon had always formed its magic at a distance. However, Mash couldn’t actually do that, though the affinity would greatly strengthen his dragon form.

The raw strength of the form would be able to take advantage of the anti-magic. It would also strengthen the anti-magic too as it did with the power of his other magics. Plus, it would be extremely helpful against higher-level monsters, and it would also make him particularly strong against people and monsters that relied on spells. After practicing with that, he moved on to try some of his other affinities.

He would like to act like it was his natural abilities and skills, but he knew it was mostly just Priscilla. While his inhumanity skill gave him some instincts, it wasn’t comparable to Priscilla’s skill with mana. She was able to guide him for most of his affinities. The black fire and lightning were manageable but were not very potent. It would be good for getting around certain defenses but was far worse than his normal lightning for most enemies. Furthermore, he just didn’t like using the magic. It felt kind of nasty to use it like he was mocking those that had died from the fight.

The treant hadn’t given him anything new, but he finally explored what the cat had given him. The wind affinity was awkward to use, and it seemed like something Priscilla struggled with. The mental magic affinity was easier but was still not an easy process. By the time Mash heard his friends return, he had only managed to communicate a single word through the affinity. Testing to see if he could communicate with his sister through the body of Priscilla that she had, he sent her a one-word message.

[Welcome.]

Priscilla told Mash that his sister had received the message. Mash was glad that they had managed to succeed, even if it was just a single word. Hopefully, they would be able to hold conversations after practicing a bit more. Mash went back upstairs, trying to see what the others thought of the new magic. Plus, it was almost time to go, and he wanted to spend the remaining time with his siblings.

After spending a while with the others, it was finally time to go. They were standing at the exit of the house, and Mash prepared to say his goodbyes. Luna was crying, much like she had when she left for the capital back when they were younger. It had only been a little over two years ago, but it felt like a lifetime away. Honestly, Mash felt the same, but he managed to avoid crying himself. They hugged, and Mash tried his best to reassure her. Her voice was strained as she spoke.

“Remember to send me a message once a week. Otherwise, I will start annoying Priscilla until she makes you do it.”

It felt like his sister was mothering him a bit, but he also wanted to keep in touch, so he agreed without any argument.

“I’ll make sure to remember. Plus, I think the others would remind me anyways.”

The others nodded their heads but were standing a short distance away. Despite being close, they understood that this was mostly a family goodbye. He wanted her to know that he would come back once he could.

On the other hand, his brother surprised Mash by giving him a hug too. it was a gesture that he had not been expecting. Honestly, Mash was so startled that he just stood in place stiffly. After the short hug, Arthur handed Mash a large scroll. It was easily longer than his arm, and Mash wondered what it could be.

“Stay safe, this will hopefully be helpful for you. Not as good as Luna’s gift but should still keep you on the right path.”

Uncurling it, he realized that it was a map. He had known about it with his domain, but he didn’t know that it was for him. The map showed his location on it and had all of the known dungeons pointed out. Villages and cities were marked on it too, and Mash wondered what class would let someone make it. There were some other details as well, like mountains, rivers, and the like. Accepting the gift, Mash said one final goodbye before leaving.

“Goodbye, I’ll see you guys soon.”