Pros and Cons

"Could I be losing out on excelia because of Shendu?"

*hmm* "I suppose its possible. It is likely that because you relied on the talismans rather than your own strength you did not gain as much quality excelia. I don't have much experience with cases like this, but it is probably similar to using a powerful magic sword to kill a monster a level above you. Yes you may have done a great feat, but anyone else could have done it with a similar sword. In your case the talismans are more like tools than your own power."

"So if I rely on the talismans I won't be able to level up?"

"No, even in my example someone would still be able to level up provided they did it many times. After all it is still a great feat and just having the tools doesn't make it easy."

"Then rather than leveling up after one great feat I will have to do two?"

"Or more. It's hard to tell right now since you and the talismans are both weaker, but if you rely too much on the talismans you may never level up."

Lord Miach lets the thought sink in while I begin to worry on whether or not my cheat even is a cheat at this point.

"I wouldn't worry too much though. That is more of an extreme example. You just need to remember to grow yourself and make the talismans your own. After all, if no one could use a sword or armor when leveling up no one would make it to level two."

*wheh* "You had me worried there for a minute, Lord Miach."

"Just wanted to make sure you remember to rely on yourself first." Lord Miach gives me a small smile and I would bet he's snickering in his head at me.

"Alright so I just need to practice using the talismans till they're like another arm or like I would with my spear. Still they're pretty powerful so it might take more excelia than normal, but they should also help in getting more excelia so it all should balance out in the end."

"Yes, though for now you just need to focus on getting stronger, and speaking of getting stronger I believe you are now strong enough you can eat a magic stone without anything too strange happening."

A shiver runs through me. Now that my stats are rather firmly in either G or H with strength almost reaching F I should have enough power to eat a magic stone. Plus with Shendu already getting stronger and nothing showing up in my status all that's left is to see how strong a magic stone will empower him.

"Now sit on this stool and eat the magic stones in the order we discussed before. Make sure to only eat the next after I tell you to."

"Yes sir."

"Alright and can you feel how strong the talismans are or should you use one as a display."

"I think the snake talisman would work best as it's the least destructive and easiest to see."

"Then let's use that to see how strong they become."

"Well bottoms up."

As much as I would like to explain the long and difficult process of eating pointy rock; I for one do not want to relive that. To make a long and tedious process short nothing changed much. We had prepared magic stones from various monsters on each level to compare differences between monsters as well as between same species but different floors. This allowed us to check if all stones were the same or if eating only the same type would lead to problems.

Turns out Shendu is a glutton. Makes sense comparing just how powerful the talismans are to the monsters, but the stones barely increased their strength. After eating them I would feel a warmth in my throat which quickly went to my chest and disappeared. Luckily after the first one I tried eating a ground up one and it worked just the same if grittier, but hey no more gagging.

Also the feeling I got was that if a monster was closer to one of the talismans in origin it got a bigger boost than the rest. When trying the dungeon lizard stones it seemed that the snake talisman showed more growth than with kobold stones. Of course its hard to tell and I'm not using the dragon talisman inside just to see.

"Well that's all the stones we have for today, and nothing major appears to have changed in your status. The skill itself seems to have increased in power very slightly, but that may be due to the power of the talismans."

"Okay, then eating magic stones will empower the talismans, but they're such a money sink I shouldn't have to worry about accidently eating too many at once. On the other hand it's going to cost a small fortune to get them as strong as regular magic. Still they'll pay for themselves so I just need to pace it. The skill also grows in power with the talismans which makes sense as it's what lets me use them. Now that I think about it the skill description is still the same. Lord Miach, did you see anything in the skill about growing with negative emotions."

"No I didn't. It's likely that your skill was not responsible for what happened in the dungeon."

"Great so even if I don't eat magic stones Shendu can get stronger. Just what I didn't need. Do you think there's anyway to stop him."

"I would suggest growing stronger. Even we gods do not know everything about our blessing. If you continue to fight against this demon you may be able to develop a skill that lets you defeat or control him permanently."

"So basically I just need to keep training and fight the good fight."

"Yes, you may have big dreams,but you won't be able to accomplish them without personal strength."