Chapter 34 - Another Step

'This isn't half bad… Even if I don't know a certain enchantment, I can still use it. Still, those which I don't know should be pretty expensive to buy since they will come with items.'

Enchanting gives a lot of experience, so I didn't expect that I would make the skill reach level ten in six months. I decided to ask Ovelia for skill books with more utility effects since she stopped giving me the other ones. More advanced ones would be more expensive, after all.

After that, I would have more room for experimentation and I wouldn't be so limited in a bind. I also wanted to see how those effects could work together and with my modern knowledge.

At this point in time, I had long forgotten about Louise. Rumors about the attack didn't reach these parts, so I assumed that people were trying to keep that under the wrap for whatever reason. While we protected her, such an attack could make the houses look weak.

'I did the right thing coming to this side… information about Rayner rarely reaches these parts. Still, it looks like he finally returned home after dealing with the Raiders… I can't relax. I need to keep moving.'

At this point in time, if they didn't obtain any information about me for almost two years, and also considering that I didn't find any posters with my face in Ramnes or in Ironcliff, then they probably gave up on that strategy.

The smart thing would be to look for me in other countries, but thanks to the expansive nature of the Bastion Empire, humans weren't that welcome in other lands… people always suspected them of being spies.

While I was thinking along those lines, I decided to test one of my new toys. I closed my room a bit more than usual and then pressed the bottom of my palm. In the next moment, a small tube on my wrist fired a stone into the ceiling that made a bit of a noise thanks to the impact. The round stone didn't fall after several hours.

'Hehehe, perhaps I can add this material in gloves and then I will be able to scale walls like a spider… in any case, I can enchant some projectiles with electric or poisonous enchantments and make the target lose a lot of health over and even paralyze them. Still, unless the projectiles last for a while, enchanting them will be a massive pain in the ass.'

I had increased my mana Regen a bit, but without any proper multipliers, what I could do was extremely limited. I had two options to solve that problem… drink potions to restore mana or improve my parameters. The first option was expensive, but it would save time in the short run. In the long run, the second option was the best.

I wanted the second option because there were two ways of going about that. Keep increasing my mana regeneration with multipliers or I could get a class that would grant me the mana cost down parameter. Unfortunately, this one was mainly found in mage classes and related ones.

'I have most of the information when it comes to dungeons and labyrinths in the human empire, but I can't find this one in dungeons that aren't in the hands of nobles… I guess I will have to leave this land sooner than later.'

I could always be smarter too with the use of such tools… My sticky-bullet shooter could be hidden under my clothes and used them in some dangerous situations and I could try to fight at close range with enchanted short swords or knives, but that would be more dangerous too.

I needed to find a solution in that aspect for my melee fighting style… one that would make sense for me. It would be better if it didn't consume that much mana or it wouldn't break after a few weeks. Making new projectiles was easy, I couldn't make new swords.

Since I didn't know what to buy next. I asked Ovelia to buy me some books about enchantments. Still, instead of teaching me proper and different types of enchantments, these new books taught me the basics and some theories about the subject. 

Thanks to the skills I had, I could understand how to use my mana to add some temporary effects to a weapon, armor, or tool. However, creating effects myself was still difficult. I could only do what the skill gave me and the knowledge I obtained in the books. 

I could use my mana and make it grant a weapon a burning effect by making my mana vibrate when hitting an opponent. I could make the mana move fast in the blade of a weapon to make it sharp during contact with the target or repel a bit of physical damage in a shield, but I didn't know how to combine both and make something like the fire tornado that Louise created. I knew that wind and fire were necessary for that, but even combining two enchanted short swords, I couldn't mimic that skill. When I tried, I created a blast of flames that almost burned down my room… even though I only used wooden knives.

'I guess it makes sense… my skills improved, but Enchanter is only the basic of the classes that can create magic items. This class also has evolutions. I need to keep leveling up the skill to learn more of its secrets and experimenting and reading books about it as well.'

Speaking of classes, I asked Ovelia and Orland if they knew about anything related to special classes. They didn't know much, but Ovelia knew something interesting.

"There are classes that only certain people can obtain. Anyone can obtain the cleric class, but the high priest class is only something members of the Holy Order of many years can obtain. There are other classes like that too and they are limited by race, like you can only obtain the Lich class if you are a vampire or if you become the minion of one."

I wondered if she had learned what I was, but she didn't look at me when she said that and just kept reading the notes of the next clients. It seemed that I was still in the clear… 

Nevertheless, soon enough, I learned the original class in the dungeon was supposed to be acolyte… but the dark acolyte showed up for me because I was a dhampir. It was really troubling… I could have obtained the class, those special classes always were pretty good, but I knew about how most vampires saw other races as lesser beings thanks to their immortality. They could harness a lot more knowledge than most races, and that made them arrogant… I also knew that they had their own hierarchy, and I would be at the bottom for being half-human.

Knowing my luck, I thought that something would happen in the city while I was there… However, the place had been withstanding attacks from harpies and assassins for decades, my presence alone wouldn't be enough to jinx that. Thanks to it, another year passed in the blink of an eye… even though I only crafted bows and enchanted them day in and day out.

Thanks to all that, I had saved almost one Ignis coins… I still couldn't believe how much valuable those were. Still, despite my creations being pretty good, they weren't master pieces. I should feel fine in making the equivalent of nine thousand dollars at my age.

Speaking of age, I wondered if there was something off with my body. I was only eleven, but already 1.75 centimeters tall… I reached 1.80 in my previous life, but I was seventeen when that happened. I didn't want to become a beanpole and I was still pretty skinny.

When I came to the shop, I was as tall as Ovelia, but I was taller than her and Orland too. I noticed that he got really annoyed when he noticed that. Still, at least he didn't make my life there harder.

"So, it was about time, huh? It is a pity that I can't make much more money out of out…"

"Hahaha, I guess I was just a commodity to you, huh? Miss Ovelia."

"Urgh, that gives me the shivers… call me boss at least once, damn it."

I laughed a bit more while packing my things and cleaning the room. I did that regularly, but I still was pretty messy, so it was better to do it one last time thanks to my experiments. Despite her words, I knew that she was a bit bothered not because she was only losing a good worker. She often offered me days off to relax in the city and even took me to drinking a few times where she introduced me to the girls serving drinks at the bars in the city. 

"What are you planning to do now?"

I considered Orland's question for a moment, I was planning to head to the dungeon of the city to gain a class or two, but telling my exact steps could be a problem. It would be better if they didn't know much about me since there were classes in this world with interrogation skills that could force others to spill the beans.

"I will travel around to improve my skills and get some classes that can help with that. Someday, I might return here and let you profit from me for a while longer."

"You'd better do that! Now come here. Come here!"

I scratched my back when I saw Ovelia opening her arms… that was a bit awkward. I had never been much of a hugger in my previous life and in the new one, I had gotten used to keeping my distance from others. Still, I figured out that I couldn't deny someone like Ovelia. I hugged her too and I felt like my ribs were cracking. She probably had the strength parameter unlocked and I still didn't have my physical defense, so it hurt a bit. Despite that, she was the one who sniffed a bit during the whole thing.

"Make sure to get some muscles, you will only be looked down if you are too scrawny."

"I will see what I can do."

I smiled and Ovelia pushed me away, and then she showed a large smile too, but she couldn't hide the tears in the corner of her eyes. I wished that I could stay for a while longer, but I was too weak to protect myself. Besides, it was bound to happen… someone finding me here and then that would cause trouble for them too. While I was telling those excuses myself, Orland stepped up and offered a handshake.

"Take care."

I accepted the handshake and nodded… most of my things were in my magic bag, and so I was traveling light. I finished cleaning my room and then left the shop. Those two followed me to the exit and then I walked away. Before disappearing in the distance, I turned around and then waved my right hand a few times at them and they did the same. Then, I headed to the exit of the city.

… …

"Let's close the shop for today and go drinking."

"No way, you will cry even more if we do that. You cry too much when you are drunk, big sis."

"You can stay here and eat the leftovers of the previous night then."

"Hah… you are terrible. Perhaps we should drink enough to forget about him… people with green eyes like those are rare to find and you know where they usually come from. Those other guys also kept asking about a green-eyed archer… he already is infamous."

"Forget about it. Everyone has a thing or two they are running away from. We are no different."

Orland couldn't say a thing after that… in the end, they went to the bar and drunk themselves silly.