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Chapter 137 - Vol. 3 - Chapter 2

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Inside the snowy courtyard, a woman with ink-black hair tied down with a small black, silk headdress, wearing a similarly colored black robe with a simple-looking belt that had some symbols on it. Small accessories could be seen on her body, from the beautiful earrings Mathias gifted her to another small necklace-like pendant around her neck, giving off some mana.

In front of her was a small height creature that was holding two daggers in its hands, while he too was geared up from head to toe with leather armor.

Seemingly he was starting to warm up for the sparring, doing some stretches which made the young woman give a small smile when she saw the kobold do his lover stretching exercises.

Without taking a lot of time, where the lady had plenty of time, he told her calmly.

"I am ready whenever you are ready, Mistress."

Fayrene, who also downed her combat gear she painstakingly managed to acquire from the Grand Market and also by tailoring her own pieces from the specific designs that weren't hers.

She was doing her final checks on her starts, to be sure it was as she remembered last time she checked, that being four days ago.

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[Status Window]

Name: Fayrene / Class: Arcane Apprentice

Level: 45 (43.560/130.000) / Titles: Exquisite Tailor / Holder of Supreme Mana Core / Mana Whisperer / Arcane Explorer

Health: 5515 / Mana: 10039

.

Strength 170 / Stamina: 385 / Agility: 240 / Intelligence: 1200 /

Dexterity: 492 / Charm: 75 / Dignity: 14 / Insight: 15

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'It seems I gained once again experience without doing quests like Mat, I wonder why this is the case? I have plenty of mana to play around and try my spells to the best of my abilities.'

'Still, I am constantly shocked when I check what the system says about my spells and those titles, I wasn't even aware I had before being cursed. I have to remind myself to stay humble and never stop learning the magic and even from the other schools, and taking Mat's advice I am a mage so my primary stat should always be intelligence.'

"Immediately, little Vek. Give me a second, I am still new to this."

Replying to Vek who was ready for rumble, she went to her system and like a clumsy girl she tried to get to the option of sparring which made the kobold confused, until his eyes immediately turned serious as if something was triggered for him too.

[You have sent a sparring challenge to NPC: Vek]

"This is in the end a sparring session, little Vek, where I hope you can teach me a lot."

[Vek accepted your sparring challenge.]

"Of course, Mistress. I will not go too hard on you."

[Sparring will commence in 5 seconds]

"That will remain to be seen."

'[Arcane Intellect]'

'[Arcane Barrier]'

'Now the potion.'

In a quick succession, she casted the spells in a masterful way, before she took from her inventory an intermediate potion that recovered 1250 MP, bringing her back to full resources, and with the cooldown reaching 0, she noticed Vek immediately disappear from where he was standing, moving with swift movements toward her.

'Wow, he is fast. I need to cast 'Fireflies' to keep my back safe in case he jumps me. It will take seconds before he attacks me, so I have to hurry.'

Her palms started giving off a white-purple light that started dispersing the light around her, forming the shape of fireflies that started moving around her, as if they formed her first line of defense, before Vek could even get to her Guardian Angel that was Barrier.

However, once she casted that, she sensed something on her side and controlling the fireflies, she turned along, only to see Vek give her a cheeky smile, dodging her spell, and slashing her shield two times.

[Vek : Lv. 85][10.500/10.500]

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[You have suffered 560 damage.]

[You have suffered 389 damage.]

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"Mistress, should I take you slower?" asked Vek who escaped Fayrene's spell, giving her a calm look, while at his feet black feathers were falling down touching the ground.

'This little brat learned Mathias's technique, this is why he is so fast. But for how long will you be able to run from me? I can feel your mana being consumed by those raven feathers.'

She didn't say a single thing to Vek, only extended her slender hand that in what felt like an instant, casted the 'Arcane Missile' which like a projectile had the primary target whoever stood in the direction of the owner's attack.

"Dangerous!"

He did a crazy jump to the side, evading Fayrene spell, but what he didn't know was that a second projectile awaited in the direction he chose to evade. It was a stupid amateurish mistake of giving an mage space to cast safely its spells, and now he was suffering this burn.

Nonetheless, with a scarred expression, his wings were extended and he stopped his descent from his initial jump, mocking Fayrene in a cheeky way, that it made the young woman to smile evilly at the dragonwrought kobold and cast another of her strong spells, 'Arcane Barrage'

"You also know the Lord's spell??"

"Little boy, you are looking down on me. While I might not be a fighter like Mathias, this doesn't mean I am lacking in magic. What spells he knows, I do too and even better."

She stopped her remark, and watched as her three instant projectiles flew in the air, with Vek in mind, whose face turned serious, and with the raven fathers around him, he started flying with a dive toward Fayrene.

Her body gave off arcane energy which made Vek still continue his dive, sure that he will have enough time to get to Fayrene and punish her for her open defense. He thought it was another of her projectile firing spells, but instead Vek saw Fayrene lift off from the ground, and raise to meet his dive.

'Levitate' 'Fly'

"You can fly too?"

"Ohh come on, little Vek, an arcanist who can't fly is just a small apprentice. Now let me give you some help in your journey."

"[Impactful Wave]"

[You have dealt 1576 damage to the target.]

[Ding! The Unique Passive Taste of Magic has been triggered, you've stolen 100 MP from the target.]

'This can be a successful combo, and now following either with Arcane Orb, or Aether Blade could end the match if he was wounded, but as far I can see, this little boy picked from Mat's stubbornness.'

"Ahhh, Mistress, you thief! Give me back my mana!" shouted Vek after he got up from the ground he imprinted his shape after his failed dive assisted by Fayrene push.

"If you ask me nicely, maybe I will think about it." replied Fayrene, who was levitating in the air, at about 12 meters height, seeming to have fun sparring with Vek.

"Pretty please." asked Vek with puppy eyes, making Fayrene smile at him, and later see a purple light move from Fayrene hands, not looking anything like her projectiles or even the purple shaped hand that pushed him.

"[Mana Transfusion]"

[You have sent 150 mana to your enemy.]

[Ding! It isn't suggested for the user to help its enemies in a fight. Needs to be reminded about the dangers of such a choice.]

'So noisy.'

"There's more mana than I lost! Thanks, Mistress. For this I will show you my unique technique that only Lord Mathias knows. I call it Dragonborn."

Fayrene who was levitating saw Vek body give off a red energy around his body, with his body suffering a small transformation, becoming slightly larger, with his wings getting fuller and also his head growing a small pair of horns, as if he was a deer sprouting its antlers.

'Cute, but it should be something dangerous too.'

Indeed, once Vek was done with his quick transformation, he pushed his body from the ground, using his wings that got stronger, beating faster, propelling him toward Fayrene, and he noticed the fireflies still being around her, protecting her like fairies.

"Dragon Breath!"

He breathed a stinking but also burning breath in Fayrene's direction who couldn't evade this sudden attack, barely protecting herself with the fireflies that dispersed, and also her Barrier that started cracking like glass.

This fire breath hurt her, as if she was attacked by one of his physical attacks, and even though it was a spell it hit her the same, having a stronger defense when it came to magic spells or attacks in general.

"Now way, you should be affected by the fire breath."

"Not really, besides, little Vek you should have some mint afterwards."

"[Aether Blade]"

From her hands, arcane began being manifested, starting gathering in an alerted manner, and suddenly the shape of a gladius sword was formed. Awed by this spell he never saw from Mathias, he then followed as Fayrene did a clumsy slash with the sword.

"Aya!"

[You have dealt 600 damage to the target.]

She managed to slash at Vek's body in a her untrained way, only thanks to the moment of empty mindess the kobold was showing, but it wasn't with a mean intent or anything, which made Vek to start laughing, taking his two daggers and clashing with Fayrene that was doing a second sword attack.

"Mistress, your sword is really strong, but your technique is, mhmm, how should I say it, awful."

"I know, you little jerk, this is why I am practicing with you, so I could get better."

While the two were sparring in the air, Vek descended to the ground followed by Fayrene whose dress did a spectacular aftereffect, and what ensued next was Vek telling Fayrene something she wasn't aware.

"Mistress, I am not someone who knows swords since I have decided to master the daggers, but Lord Mathias, he knows about all the weapons. His sword skills are way better than mines."

"Wait, wasn't he only a spear user?"

"Nooo, since we returned to Titan, he has been training a lot of weapons, from the sword to dagger, to spears, to maces, to axes, even something he calls martial arts. It was the Lord that taught me his footsteps that have helped me a lot in raising my rank as Adventurer."

"Would you look at that? I never knew about this. But, let's get back to our sparing, I doubt you have a lot of that transformation time."

"I have plenty of time to defeat you mistress. You are still inexperienced."

The two went again with their sparring, getting more into it as both parties' resources were diminishing in an alerted manner.

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In the end, Fayrene was first to touch the snow with her knee as the spar ended with her losing because of her HP being depleted from the constant clashes with Vek, who was still on his 40% even though he had an racial unique passive that was recovering his health, from what she managed to pick from his skills using her gift.

Her expression was slightly exhausted after 10 minutes of sparring, with her stamina being exhausted a bit by Evocation, nonetheless there was no anger for her failure and lost in her face, instead she smiled at the kobold and even bowed her head a tiny bit.

"Thank you for doing this for me little Vek. It means a lot."

"For nothing Mistress, it was a pleasure training with you. Now I know how to beat the Lord's magic spells that he uses to cheat and always win against me."

'You are telling me that Mat is constantly beating this little beast?'

"You guys are always sparring like how we did?"

"Yea, he told me this is the fastest way to grow stronger beside fighting monsters and bad guys and he is right, since I came to Titan I only kept on growing. I can't even compare myself with my younger self."

"And have you ever won against Mathias?"

"Not even once. Even in my Dragonborn form he still beasts me without sweating. Is frustrating losing so much to him, but I can see myself making progress."

'Then how strong is Mathias exactly since he became the Mythical Emperor's successor? I have to get him to teach me the sword so I can make use of my Aether Blade spell. Such a good spell, but because I am bad at close fighting I can't make good use of it.'

She could see that Vek still remained outside to train himself, which also made her continue her arcane studies inside her room, after spending some time with Lady Ann, her granddaughter Joel, and the orphans.

As she was telling the kids some stories, when she got to telling them about the fables Mathias told her in the past when they would cuddle around, she paused her story making the orphans look at her with interest and curiosity, yet she was thinking in those moments about Mathias specifically, until she snapped back, excusing herself for the moment of blankness, continuing her story.

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On another hand, Mathias was on the phone with someone that sounded rather bothered, but in the end he did agreed with what he told him.

"Make a report with everything that happens in Satisfy that you think might be worth me looking into it."

"Brother, what do you have specifically in mind, you sound as if you've been on Duracell batteries all day long and recharged your spirits."

"I want to know about possible bosses, hidden bosses, high difficulty hunting grounds, and unique places around the Saharan Empire and the neighboring countries. I don't mind a target in particular."

"Ohhoo, a lot of things to keep note while also focusing on playing the game. I am close to hitting level 60 with this hunting ground I managed to find on the hunting estates of the Count. A treasure trove is this man."

"Note that down too, maybe even that enemy of the Count, I might visit it and clear it out."

"But why this enthusiasm?"

"Because I will 99% think will be required to he high level to join the Black Knights and Red Knights. I'll have to check the forums if players have tried to join the Red Knights to see their response."

"Hmm, I think I've seen some guys complain about not being able to apply for the knights for reasons unspecified by the ones in charge."

"I'll have to look. Anyway, Merry Christmas, Vlad, and see you in one week for some beer."

"Likewise, Merry Christmas."

Ending the phone call, while the clock was 2 AM, he didn't go to disturb his family that had the parents sleeping, especially his dad that returned from work at 12 AM, only being able to chat with him while he was heating himself food, where he too asked the things a concerned parent would ask his child.

Nevertheless, they postponed their talk for tomorrow with his dad, being dead tired, and in the meantime before going to sleep, he returned to his room, where Alex was looking at his phone.

With an apartment with three rooms, once he went to Bucharest, it seems that the younger occupied his room, graduating from sleeping in the same room with Christian, and once he got in the bed, he ruffled Alex's head a little bit, before he went to check his phone for the forum.

"Don't stay on the phone too long, especially at night."

"I'll be finished in 10 minutes, looking for some funny gifs and memes until sleep catches me."

"I see, then I'll leave you to your things."

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Some of the spells introduced and used by Fayrene in this chapter.

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[Levitate]

Rating: Epic (Growth) (1/50)

Using the power of the arcane to cancel the effects of gravity on your body, you'll be able to levitate in the air. Using your arcane control over your body, you can muster the energy and use its ability to fly.

Flying speed is proportional to the caster's magic power. There are no restrictions on height, but be careful about oxygen deficiency.

Skill Mana Cost: Ascent (50 MP) Fly - 25 MP per second.

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[Aether Blade]

Rating: Rare (Growth) (8/35)

An Arcane Spell that wants to mimic the desire of the user to use a sword, in doing so creating a condensed blade made of arcane that can be used as an weapon for melee combat or in long distance as an instant casting spell.

Depending on the user desires, the instant cast of the spell deals 285% magic damage, while the longer duration, will consume [10] MP per second, with the power of the blade being equivalent to the user's magic power + a fixed number according to your level (75 MAP)

Skill Consumption: 650 MP (Instant Cast Option) - Blade Form - 50 MP per sec

Skill Cooldown: 3 minutes

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[Wave of Force]

Rating: Epic (Growth) (2/50)

Defensive Spell/Crowd Control Spell

Wave of Force releases a radial wave of energy, dealing Arcane damage to all enemies within 30 yards, ignoring line of sight and obstacles, but does not damage enemies hiding behind walls and doors.

Discharge a wave of pure energy that deals 410% damage as Arcane to nearby enemies.

[Impactful Wave]

Knocks enemies back, dealing a 210% magic damage, slows them down by 60% for 3 seconds, and repels incoming attacks(back to the attacker). Adds a 5 seconds cooldown.

Used to push enemies that are getting closer to the user

Skill Mana Consumption: 550 MP (THE PUSH) / The AoE spell cost is 950 MP

Skill Cooldown: 3 minutes

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