A week

The two mercenaries continued their everyday life after purchasing the paper talismans from Mallory as they went to spend some Valis in the tavern.

In their slightly drunken state, they were about to head out of the alleyway but then they heard a ripping noise which caused them to look towards the talisman in their pockets.

One of them had ripped which made them panic and both of them went into hiding right away.

Heavy footsteps came closer and went into the tavern as there were people yelling. "Have you found them yet?"

"No sir, we must have just missed them."

"Damn it, they still intend to evade us after failing to complete that task."

"Yeah they owe the boss the penalty fee for keeping him waiting for nothing for so long."

"What if we do find them and they do not have the Valis?"

"Beat them up of course."

The two men went pale and ran down the other side of the alley so they would not be spotted.

When they got far away, one of them looked at the ripped talisman and raised it up into the air. "These things are treasures! We need more of these!"

The other sighed. "I thought you were joking before when you told me but now I know for sure that it was true."

The man puffed out his chest proudly. "Of course it was true and I discovered it first! Now we just need to find a way to solve that problem. Otherwise we will have to rely on these things to avoid being beaten up."

The other nodded. "I agree. I guess we can only try our luck and go out again but this time we can bring those talismans if there are more."

The man looked excited. "You are right!"

The other thought of something and said. "If she becomes popular then it will be difficult to get our hands on them. We need to be quick to buy them otherwise everyone will want them."

The man nodded. "What I find strange is that one was sold the other day but the next there were two. Maybe she is able to increase how many she can make? If so then that is much better."

While they had escaped harm and made use of one talisman to protect them both, Mallory felt the same feeling within her body as they escaped.

The next day she sold one to them while she sold the others to an old lady and an old man.

With the fifty Valis she made on the first day, the one hundred and fifty Valis she made on the second day and the two hundred and ten Valis she made on the next, Mallory had already earned four hundred and ten Valis.

Four hundred and ten Valis was still a very small amount to earn compared to what adventurers would be able to earn but it was enough for her to buy herself her daily essentials and pay for several meals but since most things were covered by the familia, Mallory did not need to worry about buying food unless she was to eat out somewhere.

Five hundred Valis would be enough to purchase a lesser potion so she could almost afford one but it did not interest her much.

In truth, she was undercharging for the price of what her talismans should be sold for but she did not mind since it helped to attract more attention and buyers.

It also helped to gain more acceptance towards her talismans and let her reap the rewards from them being used by those people.

Later that day, an old man avoided being knocked over and avoided breaking his hip because of the warning.

An old lady narrowly avoided a mugging because she had been warned and was vigilant towards those approaching her, when a hand reached out towards her she was able to back off and call for help which made the thief run away.

The two mercenaries were able to avoid harm twice after entering the forest and then returned with a batch of herbs.

In Seshat's room, Mallory was laying on a bed with her back exposed and Seshat used her divine powers to open up the statue.

Seshat was very surprised as she saw the arrangement of the stats and the Excelia which had been collected. 'It seems that she was not slacking.'

It was shown that one Excelia could be distributed towards the stats from the Excelia which had been earned with Mallory's skill.

Seshat pondered and asked. "What would you like to prioritise for your growth direction for now?"

Mallory had already known which direction she wished to go. "For now build upon my magic then next would be dexterity and agility. Strength and endurance have less of a priority."

What she needed was a much higher magic stat so she could produce more talismans without suffering from magic exhaustion and mind down but she could also not just neglect her other stats so she had decided on agility and dexterity as her next priority.

Agility and dexterity were best for her in the present because while she was not a combatant, she may face some form of dangers in the future so she should be able to avoid it or run away.

Although she may have gained a little improvement to her status through training and practice, she soon saw the changes that had been made which were the result of her six talisman sales.

The warm feeling in her body seemed to have been perfectly integrated with her body after her status had been updated so she could notice that her Excelia had been distributed into her status.

——

Name: Mallory

Familia: Seshat

Level: 1

Strength: I (16) -> (18+2) -> (20)

Endurance: I (14) -> (14+2) -> (16)

Dexterity: I (23) -> (24+5) -> (29)

Agility: I (23) -> (24+5) -> (29)

Magic: I (2) -> (5+29) -> (34)

—

Skill: [Apotropaic] [None] [None]

Magic: [None] [None] [None]

Curses: [None] [None] [None]

——

Her Excelia that had been gained in the three days came from two that were elderly and ordinary people which did not reward much after preventing their harm or misfortune but she had helped two people many times with four talismans so they provided her with extra Excelia and the amount was quite decent even if they were ordinary mercenaries without a familia.

She placed her hand on her chin as she grinned. 'I will have to thank them later. Just them alone helped me earn a lot in just three days. It seems that they are quite unlucky fellows or they have just been tempting fate after getting the talismans. I need to warn them to not rely too much on the talismans.'

On her first week within the familia, she had gained a big increase in stats even when she was not busy grinding in the dungeon.

Although she had grown suddenly, she still needed to adjust to her changes so she does not lose her bearings in combat so she left the room after thanking her goddess then went to test out her growth.

She may have gained a leap in status which was to be admired since she was still a beginner in training within the familia, Mallory was still someone who had all I grade stats which was below 99 stat points.

While her growth was quick and it had been the result of a couple of talismans being sold, it did take her a week to accomplish.

Mallory's mood changed for the better as she remembered that her magic had grown. "More magic means more talismans. More talismans means more Excelia so it is not all that bad."

With more magic, she could make more talismans which would result in more money made along with Excelia earned every week so her current gains were nothing in comparison to the next.

The larger her magic and the larger her sales, the better it was for her to earn Excelia to boost her stats so she was not too worried about the slow growth in the beginning.

As her goddess had stated, her skill depended heavily on her own efforts and if she worked hard then she could surpass many strong adventurers even if she did not step into the dungeon or slaughter monsters.

Since she had magic power to spare, she spent the rest of the night to make a large batch of talismans while experimenting with some new types which were related to her detect talisman.

The harm detection talisman was the most basic, then there was a monster detection talisman then there was an evil detection talisman.

The harm detection talisman was her first made one and ripped when there was incoming harm to the carrier.

The monster detection talisman was her second and would rip once monsters were nearby which would be useful for warning people of monsters being nearby or an incoming attack.

The there was finally the evil detection talisman which would rip when the carrier was in the presence of someone who had committed many evils or harboured sinister intentions towards the carrier or to others so it was good for law enforcement or city guards but also for others to spot those who wished to do them harm in some way..