Pure

Four weeks passed as Mallory was locked up in her guild walls but she still got a steady increase of Excelia while her goddess gradually adjusted her stats.

While she had gained a huge increase of stats for a level one, she still had much Excelia to spare because her talismans were recently being used by her familia members who were supplying her with much more of it.

Her wealth had increased more than enough to pay off her debts and buy some armour and weapons but she no longer needed to pay off her debt due to her supplying a couple of magic talismans to the familia.

Many of her new talismans had more of a chance of helping those who were destined for misfortune as they protected them from harm the moment that they failed to evade that fate even with the warning of the other detection talisman.

With Mallory gaining more attention, her sales were increasing but she still only sold so many talismans because she did not want them spreading out too far beyond the city yet.

She did not wish for her efforts to fall into the hands of those that would use them for evil purposes so she had restricted the sales of certain ones unless they were sold to those that truly needed them.

If they chose to sell the talismans to another when they needed it then it was their own fault if they suffered misfortune because they chose to sell it to make some money over prioritising their own safety and wellbeing.

Mallory had been very busy as she was put through many torturous training and sparring sessions over the four weeks but she did not slack when it came to her research on magic, runes, monsters, seals, curses, magic circles and formations.

Her growth was very quick as it had been more than a month since she joined the familia but she had already reached an acceptable status to be able to level up.

Mallory still chose to wait for a while so she could adjust to her body gradually and so that she could save up a large amount of Excelia for when she had levelled up then she could upgrade her status which would be reset.

Once she had all SSS stats and lots of Excelia to spare then she could think about taking the steps towards levelling up.

Mallory looked at her new status with a smile on her face. 'This may not beat the fast growth of Bell Cranel but that is because I have not been going crazy with my talisman creation and sales. I have also lacked any Excelia gained from killing monsters so that is something which needs to be considered later. I expect that the Excelia needed to increase the stats will probably be double or a little more than that so I will need to start hunting monsters eventually to make up for what will be needed for the higher levels.'

———

Name: Mallory

Familia: Seshat

Level: 1

Strength: H (100) +834 -> S (934)

Endurance: H (100) +834 -> S (934)

Dexterity: E (415) +984 -> SSS (1399)

Agility: E (415) +984 -> SSS (1399)

Magic: SS (1035) +364 -> SSS (1399)

—

Skill: [Apotropaic] [None] [None]

Magic: [None] [None] [None]

Curses: [None] [None] [None]

——

Almost all of her stats were SSS while her strength and endurance were not too far behind at S grade.

SS grade stats were between 1000 and 1199 then SSS grade stats were between 1200-1399 where there was no more room for improvement within her current level.

Unlike the I to S grade stats which go from 0 to 99, 100 to 199 and so on, the SS and SSS grade stats require more to upgrade to the next grade.

Most had difficulty raising their stats past B or A grade so they would often choose to level up once their status met the requirements so raising them to S and above was rarely seen.

While it did cost more to upgrade the stats grade, it was worth it when all of the statuses of each level were layered on top of each other or added together.

One SSS grade stat would be on par with someone who had a similar number of stat points.

A level two with a previous B grade agility stat and a present D grade agility stat would be unable to catch someone with a maxed out SSS grade agility stat at level one unless they were close to reaching a higher grade on both levels agility stats.

That was what made Bell Cranel able to fight against people above his own level but there was also the help from his magic, his knife and his two overpowered skills.

While the stats were distributed and added together for each level like that, she did not believe that the skill she possessed would make things so easy for her to simply farm points from ordinary people and monsters.

There would surely be an increased need to hunt higher level monsters or to help adventurers with her skill to earn the needed points to upgrade her status as helping ordinary people would be less rewarding.

When levels and Excelia were involved, the rewards would be best when she helped or killed those within or above her own level while those below would be worth less than before.

While she did have a familia to gain Excelia from, it was not given from them everyday and there were limits to how much she could do if she remained locked up within the walls of the familia.

To get her five stats to the maximum it needed a total of 6,995 Excelia which meant that she would have to help out 1,399 people or punish evil people worth five Excelia or target a larger group with a bigger worth of Excelia to reduce what she needed to do.

Helping out a level one or someone that was worth a similar Excelia amount was more beneficial and efficient but so was hunting monsters, unfortunately hunting monsters requires putting oneself in danger.

If a level one rewarded anything between fifteen and twenty Excelia as Mallory theorised then she would have to kill between three hundred to five hundred just for her first level to reach its completion.

To kill five hundred or so level one monsters from having low stats outside of the city was far too risky as she would only be able to manage to kill a couple before being worn out and possibly injured which would increase the risk to her life before she even raised her stats a little.

At present it was better to gradually increase her stats safely under the protection of her familia but it would not always be the same once she levelled up.

Mallory was destined to enter the dungeon where the monsters would be endless and they would be able to respawn so she would be able to farm them all without worrying about running out of monsters to kill so she could gain Excelia.

Inside a small room, there were many papers laid out with different runes and symbols on them.

On the ground was a painted six pointed star hexagon formation, on the points where the lines met there was a talisman laid out while a circle was marked around it.

Twelve talismans were marked with light magic runes and were written in Mallory's native language as they had the word 'purify' on them.

Mallory stood a little to the side as she gazed at the middle of the formation which had a small pile of ten purple and black coloured magic stones.

The magic stones were purchased with the Valis she had earned and they were just a small portion of them.

The colour of the magic stones were very dirty looking as the magic within was of a poor quality.

Mallory took in a breath then said in her native tongue. "Purify!"

The lines underneath the talismans were painted with ink which were mixed with her blood but just as the talismans activated, the light spread along the lines and soon filled the space within the formation.

The light surrounded the magic stones for a while until it completely dispersed and left behind ten clear magic stones with very pure magic power contained within it without a single flaw.

The amount of people which could purify magic stones was very low and probably nonexistent but if they could be found then they would already have been a part of the guild which monopolises the purchase of magic stones.

However the level of purity of the magic stones which had been purified were far above what others could be capable of making so their value was much higher.

Mallory looked at the magic stones and let out a sigh. "Although this is good progress, I need to find a use for them so onward I go towards the next experiments. It would not hurt to purify some more. They should sell for a much higher price than the tainted magic stones. Hmm… should I crush them into magic dust or should I keep them whole? What is most needed and how will I be able to make use of this most effectively? Such pure magic stones but they are so pure that they could be called spirit stones after they have been purified and influenced by my magic."

Among the star formations which she had tested out, the pentagram or five pointed star formation resulted in a failure while the six pointed star worked.

The six pointed star was often referred to as the star of creation or David's seal in her old world but is also referred to as Solomon's seal which symbolises wisdom and divine grace.

The six pointed star was exactly what Mallory needed to complete the formation and purify the magic stones because it fit well with the light element and anything divine.

The divine and purifying light removed all that was impure within which had resulted in a successful experiment which then continued many times over as she purified more.

Meanwhile outside the room, there were many who had stopped as they saw the flashes of light coming from the tiny gap underneath the door and wondered what Mallory was up to.

She then spent some time mixing the magic dust she made with ash and other inks as she was experimenting more with which materials were more effective for making talismans of a higher quality.

Mallory also believed that if used effectively then the magic dust or stones could be used to make other useful items.

Eventually she got her hands on a level two monster magic stone which made her spend more time upgrading the formation in her room so that she could purify it. "This is much more beautiful than the others but more costly to purify so I will not make too many of these for now until I am level two."

Her eyes looked a little impatient as she let out a sigh. "I am getting close to my goal but I am still unsure if everything will work as I have planned. I have been studying my familia status tattoo too just so that I can try to understand it more so hopefully that will be a key piece which can help me. For now I just need to finish my stat upgrades and level up. For that I need something big which can earn me lots of Excelia. For that.. I need to get permission to go outside."

With a look of determination in her eyes, Mallory headed towards Seshat's room and knocked on the door.

She heard a slightly tired voice say. "Come in."

Mallory stepped inside and said calmly. "My goddess, I would like to take a proper walk around the city this time. I wish to do my part and make a contribution to the city and the familia. Please allow this of me and if possible provide me with a little protection in the dark."

Seshat put on a playful smile. "It seems that you are very impatient to grow, everyone has their own time so you do not have to rush things."

Mallory shook her head. "My goddess, I am determined to put my powers to use for the sake of this city. You must have seen it too in the stars, the city will not last long unless something changes that."

Seshat went silent for a while and said. "Find the sources of the end of Visa City even if it takes you a very long time to do so. Find them all. I entrust this task to you."

Mallory bowed and left the room with a look of excitement in her eyes.

Seshat looked up towards the sky and gazed at the stars above. "Since she come to Visa, there has already been a great change to the stars and what I have divined from them. The end was so very clear for Visa and many lives would be lost but since her arrival some small pieces of the puzzle have been solved just by her little interference with those talismans.

The antique shop played a large part too so I look forward to how she can turn this around. I still cannot quite determine her fate which is strange, she also has a strange body which seems to collect others misfortune but she still remains unaffected by such trials she is faced with. I just hope that she can keep overcoming those difficulties she will have to face outside of my divine protection. Mallory are you truly a child of misfortune or will you become a guardian that will save this city."

Seshat may have experience with reading and divining the stars to find out about the potential dangers but she had always been a bookwork which did not go out regularly and get involved with others so her and her familia rarely had a big effect on countering the underlying problems which were festering in the city.

The Seshat familia were mainly made up of those that worked in the back rooms going over and calculating every little thing while a select few actually were able to get the chance to spot and get involved with anything which could pose a threat to the city one day if left unchecked.

Mallory had been able to change so much upon arriving in the city because she went out to walk the streets of the market and met lots of people who could have died or been injured which may have had a small effect on the final outcome of the city.

If Mallory expanded her range then it was unknown how many of the sources of the fall of Visa City could be located.

Meanwhile Mallory went to bed after returning to her room, as she closed her eyes she briefly looked towards the piled up clothes, armour, talismans and weapons which had been carefully prepared for the next day. 'It is almost time to grind some points and make a few enemies along the way.'