Day ~52~

The first thing Rea did this morning was peel Selene off and get back to the books. When she started to read Rea realized that she was still grasping at straws. So without wasting another second she got up and walked out the door. Bumping into Mr. Lancaster as he had his morning coffee at the second floor table wasn't much of a surprise. Rea went ahead and asked him if there were any books on dragons. When he inquired as to her purpose Rea answered honestly. After spilling his coffee and apologizing to Rea for getting some on her boots he pointed her to the right direction. Once Rea had her hands on the book she desired she returned to Selene's room. Seeing the girl still asleep urged Rea to give her a special awakening... but remembering how the girl seemed to crave physical contact Rea opted to get her peace and quiet while she can.

When Rea had plopped down and started to read she began to get the picture. Of course no dragoon had ever killed one alone. The darn things could fly away, and even if you can [Hyper Jump] you still end up getting knocked off and [Reduced Fall Damage] only does so much. Rea chuckled when she imagined the irony of dragoons going splat. So Rea had a few major problems to deal with, breath attacks would require heavy armor, maybe a shield. There was just no easy way to dodge something that a dragon could fire and turn at any angle in moments. Another issue was speed, despite their massive size dragons were deceptively fast. Rea looked over to Selene and decided that learning water magic, which if memory serves also delves into ice magic, would probably be her best bet at slowing a dragon down. Flying... uggh, she pondered on that for a while and just came to a simple conclusion, find a way to piss it off enough so that it doesn't fly away. If it takes to the skies anyways to dive bomb her though... a bow, a really big damn bow. Rea had used bows as Noel a few times, she wasn't bad with one but she was sure that much more training was gonna be needed. That brought her to the biggest problem dragoons had, piercing power just wasn't up to snuff by that point. Dragon's scales are an incredible natural armor, sure a barbarian may do some damage and crack a scale with their mauls, but piercing attacks were just a flat out poor match. So she'd need to find a way to weaken scales, or remove them altogether and make room for a piercing attack to be effective. Resolving herself to pick out some sort of blunt weapon for the possible eventuality that she may just have to hammer time the beast, Rea left and returned the dragon book before Selene woke up.

When Rea got back in and locked the door behind her she looked at Selene again. With her long black hair out of the way Rea could clearly see her petite frame. Her small exposed back was a nice change of pace from the tall and lanky Lisa, the short and stocky Melody, or the muscular, well defined Lucatiel. When the girl fidgeted in her sleep and knocked a sheet off, leaving her lower half surprisingly exposed... A long winded sigh escaped Rea's lips, a special awakening was in order. In less than five seconds Rea was sliding onto the bed and gently rolling the girl onto her back. As Selene began to stir Rea didn't bother to fully remove her knee length breeches. Lifting both of her legs up Rea slid them to her thighs, revealing Rea's point of interest. Without a moment of hesitation Rea crouched down, leaned forwards, and moved both hands to under the small of Selene's back. Rea used the strength of her arms to pull Selene in while she began to wake the current object of her desires.

Selene was a bit lost for a few moments, it isn't everyday one wakes up writhing in ecstasy. She grasped the sheets with both hands, arched her back under Rea's guidance, and curled her toes as shivers went up her spine. Rea became more intense when she started calling out her name, within moments Selene convulsed violently and fell limp. As Rea had done with Melody a few times before she now rested her head on Selene's abdomen. Her arms were still comfortably wrapped under, her gaze, almost loving. Coming to her senses Selene looked down at the offender, "Is that the best you've got?" Rea let off a roguish grin and worked her way back down for round two, this time she wasn't gentle. Selene nearly panicked when Rea literally picked her up off the bed and pinned her halfway up the wall. As she desperately grasped at the wall to get a hold of something, Selene realized that Rea was deceptively strong.

When Rea felt like she had properly conquered Selene they both just laid on the bed silently. Selene vacantly massaged Rea's left arm that was draped under her bust. Rea just burrowed into the pillow and relaxed for a few calm moments.

"Rea"

"hnn?"

Selene was looking at a problem, "How am I supposed to explain that?"

"Hahahaa... they fell off the ceiling?"

Selene slapped Rea's arm, "Lamps don't just fall from the ceiling."

Rea really wasn't feeling like it was her problem, "Most people wouldn't tear them off of the ceiling."

Selene got out of bed and started to clean the mess up at that point, "Most people wouldn't pin someone near the ceiling while..."

Another roguish grin appeared as Rea enjoyed the view, "While what?"

Selene chose to ignore Rea, and for as long as possible... hopefully until she left for academia, ignore the problem.

"Selene"

"What?"

Rea's perpetual roguish grin was still present, "When did my name become Reahhn?"

"..." Rea wasn't sure she'd ever seen such a pure blush before, she was glad that her awakening seemed to only temporarily turn the pale skinned petite girl into a beast, so to speak.

After a large celebratory breakfast, cooked by a father who seriously had no idea what he was really celebrating, the two got back to hero books. Rea quickly made a few remarks as they began, high powered bow user, high defense with no specific requirements as far as offense goes, blunt or defense enfeebling capable, and ice magic. Selene, being the smart person that she is, put two and two together, "You really want to face a dragon?" Rea simply nodded, "It takes years to become a hero, decades even. Now you're thinking of becoming a multitude of hero classes as a part of the process. Do you have any idea how insane that sounds?"

"I do, but I've got a few advantages, and there is a time limit. To have my daughter again I need to have a relatively young body..." Selene gasped when she realized that Rea's deal with a goddess was about literally giving birth to her daughter a second time. "I'm pretty damn driven Selene, if anyone can do it, I can. When I said I'd be getting serious at the Vestlei academia I wasn't joking."

"Right, because learning several languages in one day isn't being serious," she added sarcastically. "About ice magic, you'll just have to become a really powerful water mage. The default hero class for all basic elemental mages is pretty much the same. [Hero-Water Sage]"

"I figured, any idea about the others?"

"Discover them through actions... these books are full of rare classes that require special methods and a lot of time to attain. You already know what you want, so go for it. If you want to take blows from a dragon get a shield and plate armor, take a few beatings. If you want to bust something with a hammer, dish out a few beatings. Get the point?"

Rea nodded happily, "Yeah I get what you're saying, no more need to read the hero books... just get to work and eat some lesser dragon hearts when the time comes." Moving in closer to Selene Rea spoke once more, "I'm sorry, I probably won't see you for a while. My schedule just got hectic."

Selene could see where this was going, "I think I'm liking the way you say things, good morning was particularly pleasing."

As she pushed the petite girl down on her fluffy seat of ultimate fluffiness, Rea replied, "Goodbye is ten times better."

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Rea walked out of the library with newfound resolve, new goals, and a slight limp. She was pretty happy and having a hard time focusing on what happens next. Selene was the first woman she'd been with in this world that wasn't just smaller than her, but weaker as well. She'd forgotten how it felt being the more capable of a pair, as far as physical prowess goes. Melody and Lucatiel had been pretty darn powerful, and sure Lisa hadn't been very strong but that woman was tall... and very dexterous, Rea chalked that up to her being a tailor. Mulling over the fact that she may never enjoy being the less experienced partner again, Rea realized that she was wasting time. On a more practical note she was pretty sure that her frequent workouts with the women of Vestlei had actually improved her strength and flexibility a bit, not just the obvious yet annoying stamina rank ups that had interrupted some of her greatest moments.

Deciding that she would wait for the academia to train any practical combat abilities, Rea made for the merchant's quarter. Her first target was Lisa's shop, and no she wasn't going there to eat. Rea made quick pit stop at the grilled food stall she'd hired, and told them that she would no longer require them to deliver. With that out of the way Rea made her way towards the tempura stall outside of Lisa's place... on her way there a particularly enticing aroma assaulted her nostrils. Rea quickly searched for the alleyway where it had come from and immediately began to investigate. Once she'd passed through two or three streets Rea found a stall that was selling... COOKIES!

As Rea devoured nearly two dozen delicious, melt in your mouth, heavenly little morsels she made her way to Lisa's. Rea also made a personal note to return and try a few dozen of every flavor over the coming days... while she was thinking that Rea did a one eighty and went waltzing right back. The young girl manning the stall, no older the eight or nine, had not expected to see Rea again. While she asked for a few of what seemed like white chocolate macadamia cookies Rea struck up a conversation, "Did you make these?"

The small brunette girl was a little flustered, Rea was happy to see a shy little kid selling cookies. That had made her realize that people around the city must really trust each other... or this baker really needs the money and has a little girl manning the stall for them.

"It's ok to talk to me, I don't bite during the day." Rea showed off her chocolate covered maw as she said that.

The girl giggled at Rea's spectacle, "Daddy makes them."

"They're amazing aren't they!?" Rea was happy to get a response from the girl who now gave her an exaggerated nod, "Where can I find daddy?"

The girl pursed her lips, "Why?"

Rea put both of her hands on her hips and answered in a jovial manner, "I happen to love cookies, and your daddy is an artist. I'm going to thank him, then ask him to teach me..."

Rea didn't know it at that time but this little girl had a noggin for making money, she realized exactly what daddy would do when Rea asked to learn from him. Pointing out a dainty little finger the girl said, "Go all the way to the fork, turn left and you can see the bakery. Our gate is a black muffin, you can't miss it."

As Rea made her way towards the baker's place she pondered about how much of a waste of time this is... no, just no. Cookies are not a waste of time! Ignoring the whispers and glances of people as she made a literal skyward fist pump, Rea continued on her merry way. Once she arrived Rea realized that they were not, in fact, hard up for money. The baker happily greeted Rea after hearing her last name, and hearing that she'd like to learn. After they began to talk he came to know that she only had nine days or so to learn. Feeling a bit insulted that she would try to learn the basics of his craft in a matter of days he immediately started to shoo her towards the door. Through some mild debate Rea managed to get him to teach her a few basics of baking over the next few hours. Still being kicked out of the place Rea was a bit displeased with the baker. When his wife saw the hilarious spectacle and Rea's pouty face she nearly lost it laughing... So on her way out Rea proceeded to give his wife a very, very long kiss, followed by a nice loud smack on the gluteus maximus. Ignoring the ensuing chaos she had once again caused Rea fled the scene for Lisa's shop. In hindsight she probably shouldn't have done that, the man did seem to know who Ainsworth is after all.

Ability [Baking Lv. 1] learned.

Ability [Job-Cook] learned.

Ability [Grappling Rank Up]!

Rea didn't really give much thought to the fact that she hadn't learned roasting or anything during her travels to Vestlei. She just figured that skewering a snake and shoving it over an open fire must not have been enough. Lisa greeted Rea in the usual way by waltzing up to her door and flipping the sign closed. Rea apologized to the woman while she was being pushed towards the workshop. Lisa was a little upset at first when she'd heard that Rea had not come to play with her. After some careful negotiation Rea agreed to pay her the average of her normal sales during the time that she occupies. Rea didn't know it but Lisa was pretty happy to be teaching someone how to sew. Rea had always liked the neat, fine needlework of Lisa's clothing. It should probably be mentioned what Rea's new goals were. The ophidian didn't want to depend on the Ainsworth's generosity so she planned to learn how to tailor her own clothing, craft and maintain her own equipment, and possibly learn a thing or two about cooking before she took off. Rea was focusing... okay let's admit that she really wasn't focused. Rea figured that cooking shouldn't be too different from her own world so she'd probably manage well, even without a bunch of abilities to boost the effectiveness or taste of her food. For now she wanted to learn tailoring and leatherworking basics from Lisa... she'd already once felt the effects of poor craftsmanship, rather Nathan reaped the benefits of her shoddy leatherworking. They didn't take long to get to work. Rea quickly explained that she would probably only be making gloves, simple clothing, and possibly new boots.

Rea came to Lisa first for two reasons. One, she was already acquainted with Lisa. Two, she only wanted to learn some basics about properly sewing cloth or stitching leather. The sewing technique that Lisa taught Rea was a simple and effective one, thanks to [Apt Pupil] and some prior experience Rea picked it up relatively quickly. She was still an amateur, but at least she could make functioning clothes. Lisa had seen some of Rea's black snakeskin equipment, so she knew that Rea had a natural talent, or rather some sort of basic understanding of how to properly size and fit something. After only two hours or so Lisa was pleased with Rea's level of competency and moved onto stitching leather, Rea had no Idea how much goes into actual leatherworking. Before they began Lisa brought out a few spare tools and gave them to Rea. One thing was some sort of glue made from rice flour and tree sap, Rea knew she'd need more of it in the future so a good half hour was spent teaching her about ways to procure the materials for effective glue, and ways to cook it into glue. Rea was happy to learn that rice flour and tree sap isn't the only way to go about it. Another piece of equipment was a stitch groover, this thing was used to tamp down the area of leather where you intended to stitch. Having a nice straight and deep groove to stitch in ensured that she'd have trouble tearing them open at the seams. The last tool Rea was given, other than some spare nylon threads, was a large nickel plated needle. The thing was a bit intimidating compared to the needle she'd been using for sewing. Once you knew the process, and already had basic sewing knowledge, stitching really wasn't that difficult. Once again, her work wasn't pretty but it would get the job done for now.

Ability [Sewing Lv. 1] learned.

Ability [Sewing Rank Up]!

Ability [Sewing Rank Up]!

Ability [Sewing Rank Up]!

Ability [Stitching Lv. 1] learned.

Ability [Stitching Rank Up]!

Ability [Job-Tailor] learned.

[Job-Tailor] Level 7!

Ability [Tailored Goods +] learned.

[Job-Craftsman] Level 8!

Ability [Deft Hands Lv. 1] learned.

Rea immediately realized the secret behind some of Lisa's near inhuman feats when she got [Deft Hands]... After thanking Lisa for teaching her, and testing out [Deft Hands] in a completely misguided way, Rea was heading for home in the middle of the night. Once again, even inside the city, night just didn't feel very safe. Rea quickly made for the Ainsworth mansion without a single detour. She thanked the moon and its cloudless night for kindly lighting her way down the twisting alleys that led her home. It was so bright that she actually managed to spot a few things she had never noticed before. As Rea made her final turn she realized that the moon was very full... With werewolves in mind she made a mad dash through the gate and straight into the mansion door. If either Meril or Lark had been awake they may have asked her why she'd just sped through their lobby and crashed into the stairwell. Shaking off the spooks, Rea gathered her wits while walking towards Meril's room, without waking the woman up she quietly gathered a change of clothes and made for the bath. Soaking in that bath had really done wonders to calm her down.

Day ~53~

Knowing that she wouldn't see them much after enrollment Rea decided to spend time with the Ainsworth family. For the most part they all just exchanged various stories and ate hearty meals. At some point the conversation veered in Nathan's direction and Rea was made aware that she'd done a bad thing by collecting and hanging onto some of the dead man's ashes. She had planned to spread them at some nice place during her travels, but the more they talked about Nathan the more she realized that this world has a few key differences regarding death. Your body or ashes could actually be used by necromancers to enslave your soul, so basically the fact that Rea had burned him and left the ashes behind to scatter in the wind did a lot to ease their minds. Around noon Rea excused herself and made for Lucatiel's cabin, when Rea barged in without knocking she was made aware that the chains weren't just for her. Ignoring the poor man Lucatiel was entertaining she asked if there was a proper way to spread someone's ashes without going out into the wilderness. Lucatiel happily continued to entertain while she answered Rea's question... after sticking around for a good half hour to enjoy a show, Rea made her way towards the southeast end of Vestlei. Lucatiel had directed her to a cathedral...

Rea was a bit skeptical at first because in her old world, well, a cathedral seems like the sort of place a necromancer would hide in plain sight at. To Rea's dismay, instead of a priest or something, the man standing at the altar was indeed, Calphos Staruck [Job-Necromancer] Level 27. When she noticed the man Rea did a one eighty and made for the northern stockade where she'd met Lucatiel's daughter. Once Rea arrived she had to chase the woman down, literally. After explaining her predicament to the younger Silversword she was directed to the northern watchtower. Silversword went off to question the necromancer while Rea went up the tower to spread Nathan's ashes. A guard was slightly startled when Rea first climbed up his ladder, he was even more startled when she proceeded to shimmy out on a ledge and sit down. After absently fumbling through her pack Rea managed to find the dried fruits can she had gathered Nathan's ashes in. As she gazed out across the northern plains Rea offered the man who'd died to save her a few final words, "I will be a hero, I will live a thousand years, and I will save a thousand lives. I will always remember you, Nathaniel Ainsworth. May you find peace in the next life, and may you be born in a kinder world, with a kinder fate."

Once the wind kicked up for a moment Rea spread his ashes. As she got ready to put the can away she'd realized that using the same can she had stored sap in at one point had probably been a poor idea... While she was sitting around feeling like an idiot the guard offered her a canteen of water. After dumping some water into the can then closing it and shaking it to all hell, Rea opened the can and poured the rest out. It was a slightly less respectful send off than she had imagined but, you know, gotta do what ya gotta do. The guard who had watched this entire spectacle could only sigh and hope that perhaps one day his own remains would be dealt with in a proper manner. When Rea offered him the canteen he simply said that she could have it..

Rea has obtained [Storage] Engraved Stag Leather Canteen x1.

Rea sat on that ledge for a long time in silent contemplation. She really did miss those few days they had been together, Nathan and her. It had been a fun few days of travel, learning, and shenanigans. As Rea sat there watching wind blow over grassy plains, and sparse clouds float across a deep blue sky she tried to push him from her thoughts. Even the scent of a certain fully armored guard couldn't distract her enough. At some point her efforts had an entirely unexpected result.

Ability [Internal Mana Control] learned.

Ability [Job-Mage] learned.

All of a sudden Rea could feel it within herself, something bizarre, something foreign yet familiar. She imagined this must be what it feels like when a monk finds his chi, then snickering, Rea decided to test out what would happen as she harnessed the power she could feel. When she attempted to bring it out with her hand there was only some odd repressive feeling. Imagining this must be what it feels like to have erectile dysfunction, then snickering wildly, Rea thought that maybe she couldn't use it without a clear objective in mind. So without further ado she just let one word fill her thoughts while harnessing the mana. The guard behind her gaped when all of a sudden Rea's hand was soaking wet and dripping all over her lap.

Ability [Mana Operation Lv. 1] learned.

Ability [Hydro-hand Lv. 1] learned.

Ability [Aqua Tolerance] learned.

Rea was rather pleased with herself when that happened, when the smelly guard began to laugh at her she turned and thought that it'd be nice if he had his own personal raincloud. With that in mind Rea closed her eyes and snapped her fingers. As the sound of a startled gasp hit her ears she opened her eyes, Rea's grin faded when she realized that the man was dry. The guard was completely catatonic and could only point a finger up. All around them it was raining over the tower. Rea had formed a massive cloud above and water was now pouring by the overhangs.

Ability [Cloudburst Lv. 1] learned.

The guard spoke up, "Am I correct in assuming that you've just learned to control mana?" Rea gave him a lackluster nod, she still wasn't sure if this could be considered a failure. "My name is Loren Peladias, you my lady will one day be a great mage."

Rea absently shrugged, "Did I just do something impressive?"

The guard let out a slight chuckle, "Most impressive, everybody is born with a different threshold for mana, there are ways to increase it but starting with the ability to do something like this makes you a genius miss."

Rea wasn't too happy with the word genius, without giving it a second though she didn't close her eyes this time while snapping her fingers.

Ability [Spell Tuning Lv. 1] learned.

[Job-Mage] Level 4!

Ability [Elemental Power Lv. 1] learned.

While the no longer smelly guard was gaping at his own miniature raincloud, Rea pondered some of her abilities. She was getting very curious about how certain abilities affected one another. Like if [Improved Piercing Power] would stack with [Elemental Power] when attacking with frozen spears. Once again thanking Airi for the divine blessing she slipped back by the guard... not entirely sure how to cancel the spell. Pretending like it isn't her problem she quickly left the tower and made for her next objective.

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