"Don't tell me?!" She answered excitedly. The grass around us began to wave in unison, showing her enthusiasm. Kon noticed this, and its tail began to shake again, nervous about what would happen.

It was time to teach her sorcery.

***

"Okay!" Elizabeth shook her head enthusiastically as she followed my instructions. She began to peel off the scales of the prismatic viper and piled it up atop the table found in the middle of the room.

TINK. TING. CLANG. CLANK. TING.

The scales fell on the tables with each opening of Elizabeth's palm, "What's next?" She asked after quickly finishing the task I gave her. I couldn't help but be impressed with how fast she finished that. Even a factory worker would be put to shame with that speed.

I cleared my throat, "Keuhum, now I will teach you the power to harvest the sun!" I shouted.

Elizabeth gaped and began to clap her hands. I wasn't even trying to perform. I just need to keep playing my role as the wizard, and I'll get what I had in my mind. Just resist the cringe, Vaeden.

I gestured for Elizabeth to come outside, bringing a few of the prismatic scales with me. Surprisingly they were as light as feathers. How handy.

As I opened the door. Kon immediately rushed towards me in hopes of feeding on my blight, "Later, Kon. After this," I said, ruining Kon's hope. He skittered towards the back of a random tree and sulked there. He's usually forceful. I wonder why he's so submissive all of a sudden. Was it because of those affection messages from the system? I shook my head. Focus on the goal today. That's for another time.

My gaze switched from the sulking centipede to the spotted canopy up top. The leaves filtered the sunlight. It was perfect for what I was going to show Elizabeth. I looked at the ground once more and assessed where the grass was the greenest and lush. That was where the sunlight was concentrated.

I found a spot just a few meters away from the stoney path that led to the forest. I gestured for Elizabeth to follow me. This sure is going to blow the socks off her feet, well, hooves.

Kon poked his head out from behind the tree to check on us from time to time. It seemed like he was interested in what was happening. We reached the spot, and I began to clear the grass with my claws. Thankfully, my blight instantly made them wither, so it was a fairly quick affair.

Elizabeth carefully observed what I was doing as I laid the scales at an angle on the ground. There was a considerable difference in temperature from inside the spot where the sunlight was concentrated and outside. I guess a 5-degree celsius difference, the laws of this world is exaggerated, but I'll be taking advantage of that.

"Observe," I stated proudly as I finished supporting the single scale I placed down with a small pebble. Elizabeth nodded and watched intently.

A portion of the sunlight that fell on the spot bounced off the prismatic scale and concentrated into one beam. From what I can remember from the painful experience with the Prismatic Viper, it used its scales to momentarily blind us with a flash. That meant its scales had the properties to magnify light.

Ssssssssssttt...

Just like what I inferred, the concentrated beam of sunlight was starting to burn the patch of grass it was pointed at. Elizabeth's eyes widened in disbelief at what had just transpired. A mere reflection of light was able to burn the grass. If I could tell what she was thinking, it would probably be like, 'Sir Vaeden is harnessing the power of the sun!'

"Sir Vaeden is harnessing the power of the sun!" She exclaimed, taking a few steps closer to inspect the beam of light I created. I smiled at her expression.

"Be careful not to touch the beam of light. It will burn you," I said with caution as Elizabeth's hand was trying to reach for the beam of light. She quickly retrieved her hand and hit it behind her back like a guilty child caught in action.

"Now Elizabeth, would you like to try? It's simple sorcery you can do it easily," I encouraged Elizabeth, handing her another scale which was about the size of a finger for her.

She replicated how I placed the scale and supported it with a pebble. Still, it wasn't able to reflect light properly, "Sir Vaeden, did I do something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"Just a minor adjustment can fix that," I said, nudging the prismatic scale a few degrees so that the sunlight would bounce off perfectly.

Sssssst...

The sound of burning grass tickled my ears once more. It usually takes time for things to burn with a magnifying glass, but wow, the magnifying power of these scales sure are no jokes.

Elizabeth hurriedly grabbed another scale from me and copied what I did, and indeed she succeeded this time. Elizabeth clapped in satisfaction from what she has learned and looked at me.

"Now let's head to the next part. You're probably wondering what's the application for this right?" I asked her. She tilted her head and thought deeply for a few minutes.

"To kill?" she answered. I shook my head and retrieved the scales. They were still relatively cool. I was expecting them to be hot to the touch. Interesting. Everything seems to be going well for what I'm planning.

"The answer is, to disable," I corrected her, gesturing her to return back to the house. It seemed like Kon was bored watching us do our little science experiment as I saw him coiled up the tree unmoving. Was he sleeping?

We made our way back. Elizabeth had a blank look on her face as she sat down. She was deep in thought about what I meant about using the scales to disable.

"Alright, Elizabeth, can you create reflective vines similar to the scales? sturdy and heat resistant," I requested Elizabeth. I didn't know if those vines existed, but from what I can observe from this world. There's a high possibility.

Elizabeth nodded her head and straightened her back. She walked towards one of the pots that had a flower planted inside it and conjured her Ingenium. A silver vine as thin as yarn sprouted out of the pot and crawled towards her, "This is probably what you're asking for,"

I hurriedly went to Elizabeth and examined the vine she created.

「You have discovered Lumen Alter」

「Lumen Alter Basic Profile Acquired!」

「Opening Lumen Alter Basic Profile...」

「Lumen Alter: An extraordinarily rare vine only found at the deepest depths of the Nox Labyrinth. Due to its high resistance to heat and damage, it is a sought material for divers to create their armor. The material is used to combat against the intensity of Draconic Flames.]

I wasn't expecting such a high-quality material like this, but this will be more than enough, "Sorcery, isn't always about defying the norm. Elizabeth we must make haste and turn these vines into countless small coils," I commanded Elizabeth. With her Ingenium ability, this would be done quickly.

After a few minutes, tiny coils littered the floor of the room, "This should be enough," I muttered. Elizabeth stopped using her ability, and the vine that endlessly grew out of the pot retreated back to the soil. What a handy ability she has.

Now, we were close to finishing. Just one more step, and this will all be done. I quickly gathered all the coils and placed them inside my inventory.

「 Inventory (3/5):」

• 「Dice of Mending (1/3)」

• 「Partial Juvenile Sky Mirage Chimera Corpse」

• 「Lumel Alter Coils (800)」

• 「Slot Available」

• 「Slot Available」

"Elizabeth, the next task is going to be more tedious since you are the only one capable of doing damage to the scales," I said. The look on her face signaled worry, "I need you to poke small holes at the base of each of these scales," I asked her. I felt terrible letting her do all the work, but she was the only one capable enough to do it.

Elizabeth, in pursuit of learning sorcery, followed my command. Familiar vines came sprouting out of the pot near her. Weren't those the vines she used against the chimera?

She began to mold the vine to her will, making it thinner and thinner. She cut off all of its thorns, and now it looked just like an ordinary vine. I wonder what she was trying to accomplish.

Elizabeth picked up a thorn on the ground and placed it at the tip of the vine, and there it began to make sense. She was creating some sort of needle that would make her job more manageable.

"The preparations are done," Elizabeth said. She whistled, and the single vine began to move. It flew across the room and reached the table, accurately and precisely puncturing a hole in each of the scales.

THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.

Resounding thuds emanated from the table as I watched in awe, "Is the table going to be okay?" I asked.

Elizabeth shrugged, "I can make a new one," This Ingenium ability really is convenient. I'm jealous.

After a few minutes, which felt like seconds as I watched the spectacle of her vine quickly moving to and fro, it was finally done. I hurriedly moved to the table and gathered all the scales, and placed them into my inventory.

「 Inventory (4/5):」

• 「Dice of Mending (1/3)」

• 「Partial Juvenile Sky Mirage Chimera Corpse」

• 「Lumen Alter Coils (800)」

• 「Prismatic Scales (5377)」

• 「Slot Available」

A smile unconsciously formed on my lips as the following system dialogue popped up. I noticed the system had this function when I placed the corpse of the Prismatic Viper into my inventory.

「Crafting materials detected, would you like to craft something?」