'My king, we should be afraid of even our own kind. Since we have no natural abilities, there is nothing stopping us from learning various things without restraints, and even creating things ourselves. Anybody could become anything, even that peasant in the streets might know more of magic than me, even that beggar in dirty clothes could be a legendary diamond-rank adventurer!'

'...Maybe I should hire that peasant to be my court mage.'

- A famous joke.

Author's note: And now it is time to go back to our favourite 1ft tall flatboard in the story! Sorry for the late chapter. College, plus family drama is no fun, y'know? But now, things SHOULD have calmed down.

Changelog: Changed Nysa's fail condition(removed 'death' as a fail condition, otherwise she'd be an idiot to not rush to the capital to finish it as soon as possible), changed some of the character's stats to fit the new formulas, spent yesterday just fleshing out background stuff to make the 'game' somewhat balanced.

Also, re-named 'Size-shifting' skill to 'Fae magic'.

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Nysa POV

"So, Old man, when I'll leave for the mission?" I asked, excitedly, with a wide grin. I couldn't help but smile...I'm so excited for it! I mean, I just got a class, and already being able to get an audience with the king! Who would not be happy with such thing?

"In the moment I find the darn map in the store room, you can leave." He said, grumbling... was it something I did? Or was it simply because he was annoyed about not finding things?

"U-uh...I don't need to leave right now...I-I mean, sure, I really want to change the world by publishing the potions, but I still like you old man!" I declared, with a smile... only to make Melchior chuckle.

"If you care about me that much, then just return after you deliver the recipe. Besides..." His eyes suddenly turned cold...no, I could even sense a hint of regret in them. "I know the world very well. Even if I don't tell you to return, I am sure you won't be able to overstay in the capital. There is a reason for me to prefer to live over here in the forest, over that place."

I blinked a bit. "Uh...what do you mean? Isn't the capital the safest place?" I couldn't help but ask...the strongest, safest city was at the same time not where the players started?

"Who said the capital is safe?" The wizard said...making me shiver. I never heard him speaking like this...it is scary. "It is where the strong, and the hypocrite lives. Only noble men I know that comes from there is the king and the hero, but even then I'm sure they have some dirt under the carpet. That's why nobody must spot you with the recipe, Nysa. They'll do everything they can to steal it from you." He said...

And I couldn't help but show fear in my face. " B-but...uh...I think I'm too weak for it. I mean, sure I learnt magic, but before that even Hachi was able to catch me." I said, hesitantly...

"That's why you're not going to the capital. Not yet at least. I need to get my map, so I can make a good travel path for you, so at the very least, you can flee from all except the elite of the capital. If the information reaches their ears, I can only curse our bad luck since I doubt even I could flee from them, let alone fight back."

I shivered. What could be their levels? 50? 100? 200? Maybe even higher? W-well...either way, it was something I knew for sure. No fighting them. No telling anybody.

"Try to practice with Hachi for a little while, while I search for the map. Try to see how long you can go without being caught." I heard him say...and then he opened the front door of the house with wind magic, and walked back in his room before I could say anything.

I gulped. Both me and him knew one thing for sure... I didn't had the heart to hurt the cuddle-happy wolf, and he was too fast for me to outrun without the help of magic...and it always pushed me to my limits, to escape the cuddle session.

And then I saw Hachi. The cheerful wolf entering inside of the house... and then he saw me.

His tail moved left and right, almost like how a puppy would react to seeing this owner arriving inside of the house.

Except, it was him spotting his prey. Or Chew toy. Or maybe his pillow.

I didn't care what he saw in me, I only knew I had to run, otherwise I'd be buried in the fur for the rest of the day. It was a near-death experience whenever that happened, mainly due to the heat.

While I was busy thinking of such thoughts, Hachi jumped on top of the chair, and afterwards, on the table. I could only thank the gods that I was far enough from the chair, for him to not land on me. With that, I jumped off the table, and used my skill. [Float]. Combined with that, I clapped my hands strongly, towards the ground, using my magic to emit a strong gust of wind. Strong enough to make me fall smoothly on the ground.

Your Mana manipulation skill has leveled up!

For the first time, ever since I logged on, I landed on my feet. But, just a safe landing was not enough. I saw a shadow appearing around me...and I knew what it was. It was Hachi's shadow, the guy already jumped off.

I quickly ran away, under the table, with the massive wolf following me. One single mistake, and I'll be its plaything. Deciding the table was too wide, I turned, mainly to go under the chair. Hachi, being somewhat smart, decided to go around the chair, earning a precious extra second of advantage.

Yet it was not enough. It is still too close for comfort. I quickly ran to the bookshelves... no, actually it would be a bad move. If Hachi knocked it down to get me, I'd get murdered by both the wizard and Hachi. Instead, I ran to the wizard's reading chair. A simple, more comfortable-looking chair made mostly for him to spend relaxing afternoons on it.

I made a run for the chair. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, with the shadow of the wolf right behind me...

Except when I got close, I realized something: the chair itself was too small for me to fit in. But yet...I remembered. The main reason for me to play as a fae. [Shrink] I thought strongly to myself, trying to imagine the mana of my body simply being 'compressed' into a smaller shape. But yet, such act made me lose a lot of the mana to cast such spell.

Your Fae magic skill has leveled up!

but when I realized, I could barely slide under the chair, with my new-found size. And with that, I laid down on the ground, to drag myself forward and slide into safety.

But all of my hopes were shattered, as I felt a paw, covered in thick fur, blocking my path...and then I felt Hachi licking me, before lifting me up with his mouth, just like how he kidnapped me when I first met him.

And that is how I spent the rest of the afternoon: Being Hachi's cuddle toy.