Logan awoke the next day with an energetic mindset, almost jumping out of bed. The homeliness of the guild combined with the steady progress he had been making had put him in a great mood. Even the more annoying parts of the day seemed to melt away.

After breakfasting with some of his guildies, Logan took Marcus to the G-Hall to double-check that there was still a quest for one of the components he was after, for making a relic. It was a reminder of Logan’s research into oracles, as his target was that of the ovensiase, deadwood creatures that Leroy had a system quest to kill but declined.

Thinking on that quest, it was far harder than Leroy could have completed on his own as a level 6. The ovensiase were quite strong for their ranking at the G-Hall, mostly due to their resistances across the board. At rank 15, they were advised to only be assaulted by rank 16 and over adventurers. Leroy had little hope of getting a group like that.

Logan was thankful one such quest was available amongst the board.

“Looking for adventurers to take down a thicket of ovensiase. Reports speak of at least five of the monsters that make cutting down the sought-after trees in the area difficult. If these creatures are not dealt with soon, spirits and other monsters of the forest could get agitated and cause further issues.

Rcmd Rank: 16. Rcmd Group: 3.”

Taking the quest, and having the staff member atop the tall chair that reminded Logan of lifeguards note it in their ledger, Logan and Marcus were stopped before leaving the hall.

“Phasing Hunter, day. Might you be free to aid us before you’re off on your own quest?” a burly woman asked, a patch of fresh skin and blonde hair in a cross slash as if she had been recently regenerated.

“It will depend on the aid, this one will be a bit tricky”, Logan answered.

“I’ve heard tell of your divination prowess. All I require is some forewarning on this beast’s weaknesses if any”, the woman continued as she handed a parchment to Logan.

The Spellthief took the drawing, it was the same as others in the G-Hall and he had used Identification on them before.

“You’ll want piercing arms such as spears, and a combination of lightning and fire elements”, Logan explained as he handed the parchment back.

The woman nodded as she took it, “Thank you, Sir. The hall lacked any intel on them, and I’d not want to go in blind. I suppose you’ll be too busy to come with us?”

“Do you have a caster?”

“Only a Devout, so no elements as you suggested.”

“Go to my guild, we have a Wizard called Milburga who could help you. They aren’t busy today.”

“Ah. I shall do so.”

Checking their gear before leaving, Logan made sure to ask Marcus if he had picked up a holy-attribute damaging spell.

“That I did, second-level. Blest. It can be altered like the normal elemental spells, and combined with Infuse.”

“Good, we’ll need it against the ovensiase. They are quite resilient, except for holy damage.”

“So I’ll be the blaster this time”, Marcus laughed.

“I’ll take focus, my daggers can still do some work”, Logan smiled.

Leaving the extent of the capital, Logan wondered how long it was going to take for his paperwork to go through so that he could just teleport through the barrier. They had to alter it for each person, so he was probably in a queue. Regardless, the pair teleported far away as usual.

Logan had become accustomed to forests at this point. He had visited them far more than he had on Earth, but each one had its one little flair. The new one that the pair found themselves within was of a darker hue, with fluorescent dark-green moss all around. It wasn’t cold, but their breath was coloured grey as it came out.

Spending the time to bring back his elementals, Logan had Marcus undergo the longer cast of all of his enhancements. With this possibly being the only fight for the day, they were aiming to be safe rather than sorry, improving all of their attributes barring Charisma.

As Logan clicked his fingers, Echo Radar pinged three foes amongst the grove. At tier 4 it now revealed their type, all plants.

Holding out both Bowen daggers, Logan had Marcus use Infuse on both with Blest. Spinning them in his hands, the Spellthief warped at the furthest foe from the party. Marcus warped to the second closest, while the five elementals ran at the closest.

“Identify.”

“Ovensiase - Plant. Level 16: 172/172 HP, 25/25 MP.

A monster composed of deadwood and roots, the ovensiase (Oh-ven-see-as) is a rare breed of monster typically formed through a wrathful retribution sent by the deity Desma. As a deific sent monster, these creatures are highly resistant against most forms of attack, warranting stronger adventurers to face it despite their rank.

Skills: Open List ↓.

Spells: Earthen Eruption, Gaia, Gaia 2, Growth, Heal, Heal 2, Infuse, Rain, Sleep, —.

Reduction: Damage 10.

Resistance: Damage 25%, Earth 95%, Fire 80%, Holy 0%, Ice 75%, Lightning 75%, Shadow 95%, Water 95%, Wind 75%.”

“Just as I identified before”, Logan thought as the image of the creature gave the same results as seeing it in person. The Spellthief was a bit irked at the G-Hall mislabelling these as rank 15, however.

Slashing to the right and left, Logan deflected vines coming out from a larger log base. Thorny and mismatched, the creature lacked any humanoid or quadrupedal form. Instead, it was a mass of wood and plant matter.

Thorny vines continued to swipe at the Spellthief, but it was easy enough to parry these haphazard swings. These creatures were meant to have some form of planning mind, with the intent of clearing out those that would defile the teachings of Desma or do harm to his forests.

As Logan used his vaskt eyes to scout around the battlefield for traps and flanks he was able to spot shards of tree matter forming in the air. Throwing a dagger into his cloak to store it, Logan held a clawed hand towards the ranged attacks coming his way. “Spell Absorb”, he commanded in his head, catching and absorbing the spells.

“Spell Absorption successful. 3 Gaia charges stored, 2 Gaia 2 charges stored. Gaia is already mastered, Gaia 2 has progressed to tier 3.”

This would be a good time to shoot it back at his foe, if not for their near immunity to the damage type. Instead, Logan flipped around and ran his hand over the battlefield chanting, “Gaia Wall, Gaia Second Wall”, several times to cause separators of mud and rock to block some attacks from his foe.

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Jumping over another swipe, and loosing two daggers from his cloak to the floor while he grabbed his original, Logan saw the plant flail around and feel the new barriers that blocked its movement. Logan was about to smirk, but the ovensiase just compounded itself and then shot out hurried vines to pierce the panels of earth, whipping around to attack at Logan again.

It at least constrained its movements a bit, but it was more to free up his charges now.

Two more vines came hurtling towards Logan in a straight shot, the Spellthief lined up his daggers and had the vines cut themselves down the middle, splitting off into four segments that couldn’t move much further. Swiping to the sides, Logan segmented the vines and blocked another four, bashing them away with his steel.

The yellow light of his daggers flourished amongst the greens and browns, Logan could tell it was doing damage, but this thing was so hardy.

Warping closer to the main log, and dropping two more daggers from his cloak, Logan made a strong downward slash on where the vines coalesced and seemingly originated from. Separating four, he backflipped away from counterattacks.

Throwing his shining daggers at the monster, it whipped its vines around to deflect them into the air.

Logan held out two hands as he chanted, “Demon-Clan Spell: Telekinesis”, making opposing diagonal swipes with his hands.

The daggers from the floor, and the two new ones in the air, all rotated to face the ovensiase and darted towards it. Vines were severed as the log was pierced by several blades, the beasts flailing wildly as it fell into a clump of flora on the floor. Pulling his hands back and clenching his fists, Logan retrieved the daggers into his cloak and hands.

Scanning the battlefield, Logan saw Marcus running to aid the elementals, the Devout having an easier time dealing damage against the resilient monster.

Logan warped to his summons, of which only two were still active, Celsius and Fahrenheit.

Grappling a shard from the air, Logan mentally commanded, “Spell Absorb.”

“Spell absorption successful. 1 Gaia 2 charge stored.”

Following the absorption of the spell, the last ovensiase was blasted in the side with a Blest Shot from Marcus, removing a large portion of the wood and causing the rest to falter to the floor.

Logan clicked his fingers reflexively, but just like the experience numbers it returned the sign of no more combatants.

“Marcus, get my summons back up, would ya, please?” Logan asked as he moved to carve out the root ends of the monsters.

“You got it.”

“These certainly won’t oversold. Why the fuck did Leroy get a quest for these so early? Though, my quest for the Frost Monarch’s Cavern was a bit outbalanced too”, Logan thought to himself.

With the parts taken, Marcus reapplied Infuse to their weapons but still had time for the Enhances to wear off.

Aided by the adventuring quest, Logan was easily able to track down the last two foes, who were dispatched in the same fashion if a bit easier with fewer numbers. Gaining another two lots of 450 exp. Stretching wide, the pair searched the local woods for the remains of anyone unlucky enough to pass through these parts of the woods.

They found a few dead adventurers and their gear, plus a few woodcutters and the like. It was a sad sight but an expected one.

Warping back to the city, Logan informed them of the clearing of the woods and got his 7 gold for the quest, splitting it evenly with Marcus.

Taking the remainder of the day for rest, Logan put aside the roots he needed for his relic and had a few spare for another creation he had in mind.

Since Logan was limited on what spells he could cast due to his spell slots seemingly having a low increase rate, Logan would need to go about increasing them in other ways. He could only spend MP on spells he had prepared, set as his Signature Spell, gained them through demonhood, or through equipment. Regretfully, Logan’s rings did not get added to this equation.

With the new tiers into Alchemy, and advice from Ahren, Logan set to brewing a new potion to continue the change within his physiology. It would need to brew overnight, causing the Spellthief to spend the night in Amalia’s room, due to the smell of the brewing process.

The next morning had Logan quickly check his cauldron for the boiled roots combined with many other components. Downing the concoction had Logan’s veins push to the surface and tint green, his eyes dulling and taking a greenish hue before it all subsided.

Logan felt a clearness in his head that quickly filled in with ideas and the capacity to hold more spells. When compared to a normal caster of his level it wasn’t a huge increase, but Logan was allowed a new spell slot for every spell level. As it wasn’t a sought-after item, it was difficult to buy, it only really applied to the rich who could afford it when they started adventuring.

As he hadn’t reassigned his new spells for the day, Logan could change up his selection with this new expansion.

1st (5+2): 1 Aqua, 1 Flame, 1 Gaia, 1 Infuse, 1 Lightning, 1 Necromantic, 1 Wind. 2nd (4+2): 9/9* Dimensional Jaunt, 1 Haste, 1 Lightning Cascade, 1 Skin of Ice, 1 Sleep, 2(+4 full) summons. 3rd (3+2): 1 Air Blast, 1 Barrier, 1 Flame 2nd, 1 Invisibility, 1 Necromantic 2nd. Signature: 1/1 Dimensional Jaunt.

Just how many body-altering potions was Logan going to have drunk by the time he would retire?

Logan had two weeks till the last day of the year, the day thereafter was the tournament. Recently hitting level 20 put him in a solid spot, he just needed to condense power within that tier to outshine his opponents.

As a Spellthief, most of the main options were out of the window if he still wanted to keep his abilities hidden from the broad public.

Deciding on a few for now, Logan unlocked Detect Spells, Devour Spellforce, Quickcasting, Silentcasting, and Multicast. He’d still have three skill points for later, but with having a few issues with casting speed and multitude, the latter three skills would hasten his casting.

Detect Spells would allow him to see the status effects and spells currently on a target, even if he failed to or was stopped from using Identification.

Devour Spellforce let him heal himself when draining MP, instead of gaining the MP. It was a quick way to recover from damage and worked better when he didn’t need the MP he was draining.

He already could Quickcast as a Spellthief, but he needed it as a prerequisite for Silentcasting, though it was a bit more expensive on the MP side, his summons were making up for that now.

With the first component acquired, Logan went back to the G-Hall to investigate the next step. Stone yetis.

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