Chapter 13: Level Up

A month flew by.Within a single day, Amber successfully made a magic scroll for her Hyper Water Jet spell. To test its effectiveness, the team decides to take a Gold level beast subjugation quest, Rattling Scorpion.The scorpion is a large black insect monster of 6 meters wide that has a very poisonous sting and 2 sharp claws. It would shake its stinger, making a rattling sound. What makes it gold rank is because its shell is very hard and one sting would lead to certain death.However, Trevor's hard alloy armour can withstand its piercing attack. Although it would still hurt him from its impact.As they engage the scorpion, Fay takes the chance to abuse spatial portal closure to just chop its stinger off when it's tried to sting Trevor; just to play it even safer. The scorpion becomes easier as only its claws and fangs are threatening.Wain just stood by this time because they just wanted to test the new magic scrolls.Fay and Lisa combined their control magic as earth and ice lock the feet and body of the scorpion. It struggles and tries to break them as ice and earth wrapping it cracks here and there but they are instantly repaired as they supply mana to the spell continuously. It can't move at all.Amber took a scroll she had made and channeled her mana into it. The writings written with the blood of the dragon ignited as a full magic circle formed.Most of Amber's mana was sucked instantly while the scroll burnt into ashes. The magic circle is complete within 2 seconds as a large amount of water forms and aggregates in an instant.In another 2 seconds the spell is completely charged and Amber uses all her focus to shoot a very high-pressure water jet, halfway splitting the head and cutting across the whole scorpion body open instantly.It really takes less than 20 seconds or less to kill the gold level beast from the first second of engagement. Amber still used most of her mana and she became practically useless afterward though. The magic scrolls are still indeed a cheat item. The party collects the loot and stores them in Fay's inventory space as usual.It really becomes easier to take down gold level beasts. They even get more relaxed as they change their gameplay once in a while. Trevor, Wain, Elvis and Amber don't really have any change in their combat style. It's just that Lisa loves to see her Earth Golem in action. A strike from an Earth Golem can even push back a drake and hurl it with its strong power.Fay being the support substitute had become more and more proficient in his Ice Magic and used portals to redirect and shield attacks acting as the team support - and occasionally abused his spatial closure to chop a beast limb off. If only the beasts would willingly put its whole neck into the portal, it would die the moment the portal closes.If a beast somehow survives Amber's ultimate move, Wain and Elvis would finish them off. Within this month so far it only happened twice but even then, the beast is already on the verge of death.Wain and Elvis particularly felt useless at times. And Fay himself has crazy powers and could solo the entire thing but he's just there with them because he wanted to be with them.Trevor, as the tank with skill that taunts the enemy will always be valuable no matter the scenario.So those two guys felt quite depressed after multiple gold level beasts subjugation.Wain had expressed his feelings to Fay about this as well."Fay, I feel like I did nothing when we killed that drake...".Wain had his ears flopped down.'Umm...'.Fay is not sure what to say. It's technically the truth because he really just stood there while the drake got beheaded by Amber's water jet.Lisa and Fay simply lock it down and even wrap its lips in earth and ice so it can't shoot any fireball and Amber uses her magic scroll to instantly cast the spell. What can the drake do? It just gawked in place and prayed to the goddess.Even Elvis had the same feeling and got more and more depressed.'Ummm... but Amber can only cast it once and she would run out of mana afterwards...'.'We definitely need you in case the beasts are alive after all that'.'And if there's more than one beast, we can't rely on Amber anymore'.Fay tried to comfort Wain. Fay is speaking based on facts after all. If Amber failed to kill the beasts or the worst possible scenario totally missed it and wasted all of her mana for nothing, they won't have enough DPS to kill it without Wain and Elvis (excluding Fay using his full magic transformation power).And if it's subjugation of multiple beasts, Wain and Elvis will definitely be needed more. Amber can use her lethal spells very few times because of its tremendous mana consumption. The water element lacks lethality for lower ranked spells that use lower mana. And so, it's really just a matter of circumstances. It's not that Wain is useless.And honestly, Fay thinks it doesn't matter. Fay himself worked with the party even if he could go solo because he loves to do quests with his friends unless he wants to make money. Everyone secretly knows too but no one mentioned it because they too are grateful and felt secure with Fay around.After a month of doing quests, finally Elvis can't stand it anymore.'Should we try Mithril rank beasts?', Elvis asked the party.He thinks it's becoming too easy and it's like he has nothing to do. He could only shoot arrows and self deluded himself thinking he was doing something. He knows it does injure and weaken the monster, but since the monster can get one shot from a single spell it truly doesn't matter in his opinion. He wanted to try subjugating a beast that can withstand Amber's spell."It will be very risky", Lisa argued.After all, a single mistake is all it takes to lose limbs and ultimately death. The dragon breath back then still causes her to feel fear. They would have been dead without the magic walls cast just in time. They can't get too complacent just because they can kill beasts so easily now.And the party had already reached quite a high living standard by taking down gold level beasts. Truthfully, they can just stop there unless they want to have mansions for each of themselves and have tens of servants serving under them and eat true dragon meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.The others however agreed. They feel ready to try. Fay also assures everyone he will protect them with his space portals and ice magic. But if they consider a situation where Fay isn't around, then they truly aren't ready...And thus, Elvis made a suggestion."We can try Mithril rank quests once Trevor and Wain have their own full Adamantite armour... And we can get everyone else to wear dragon scale armour".Mithril rank beasts include young and immature Adamantite level beasts, and also various creatures like unicorns, gryphons, emperor cobra, leader of undead like a lich or wraith king.Many Mithril and Adamantite ranked beasts can use magic. Trevor can't resist them with his current armour, and it would be very dangerous for Wain, and they still need someone to distract the monster from targeting their backlines. Lisa and Fay's defensive magic may not hold up as well.If anyone wonders why mages don't wear heavy metal armour, it's because mana interacts with various metals and can disrupt mana flow and spell casting. But materials from true dragons and other beasts that can use magic are especially compatible.Elvis tells his plan to his party members. That is, to collect enough funds to get them the necessary equipment.Trevor a full set of pure Adamantite heavy armour and shield and to get Wain his own Adamantite light armour would be their main agenda.Trevor and Wain are taken aback. That might cost a whopping 20 and more platinum coins for them both. And if it includes making Dragon Scale armour for the rest of them, it would add even more cost, although not much since they already have the dragon scales in hand."Isn't it... Too expensive...?", Trevor is surprised at Elvis bold plan."It's an investment. If you guys have them, we can start to take down the Mithril level beast more safely... And maybe someday, even...".The party had their heart racing at the thoughts. To reach the pinnacle of strength as an adventurer.Adamantite level beasts. The true dragons, the 9 tailed fox, garuda, crimson Phoenix, 7 headed hydras... And many other creatures of insane magical prowess and strength.Adamantite level beasts are a very rare encounter since they would live far deep in the unexplored regions of Elysia. Only once in a few tens or hundreds of years would these creatures come nearby a town or a village and threaten their safety. And most of the time they don't even threaten anyone it's just their mere presence brings ecological changes to the surrounding such as weather changes and beast hordes as they fled in all directions causing disasters.But even if they don't come nearby, they can seek them.Some adventurer parties at the highest rank actively search for rumours and information about their sightings to hunt them down and venture deep into unexplored regions of Elysia.Normal people would never understand the thrill of seeking adventurer and challenging their own upper limit to test their strength against apex predators of the world. Some may even call them stupid and crazy for seeking death.They start to imagine finally reaching the pinnacle of combat power in the world.'And the auction should have been finished a few days ago. We will get our money soon'.Everyone agreed on this idea eventually.Since then, they really only try to hunt gold level beasts each time a quest is posted. Note that gold level beasts are an occasional quest that would pop up once or twice a week at most and only once a month if there's really nothing dangerous nearby.So, most of the time they do silver level quests and below. Also, it's important to cull magic beast populations regardless of rank around to keep villages and the town safe. Normal people that don't have affinities with magic, have zero skills and are living with a normal job cannot fend off these monsters, even the small fries like goblins.From the auction, they gained over 7 platinum coins from selling its scales, hide, and bones.Elvis decides to keep 5 platinum for the fund towards the armour sets while splitting the 2 platinum coin for the rest.Fay refused his share and reminded Elvis about the dragon heart he took. And even added more gold coins to cover a total of 1 platinum. Fay has enough coins as he even sneaked into the capital and the nearest 2 towns with his portal to find more gold level quests from their guild branch and cut them like blenders.Elvis does remember; he just doesn't mention it because he really thinks he should just give it to Fay since it's some kind of investment and a token of appreciation for his work. But since Fay insists, he takes the coins and adds them to the party funds....[2 months after the true dragon incident]"Fay. Do you want a better body?".Kyubey asked while looking at Fay with its round red eyes.It's late at night and Wain had already slept after their almost daily activity. 'Better body? You mean?'."Thanks to the dragon heart you gave me, my research is complete. I can give you a better body based on the dragon's unique biology".'I... Uh...'. Fay is not sure.It's a bit too sudden. When did Kyubey do this research anyway.'The new body will increase your mana capacity and its regeneration. And I have made a better prototype of the dragon's heart, and I estimate it has performance similar to that of an adult true dragon'.Fay is a bit speechless. What is Kyubey doing behind his back all this time?Fay laid in silence, thinking about it. A better body... And it means it can enhance his strength. There's no downside to having more strength in this world that have legendary creatures that could even affect the weather.Fay reluctantly agreed.'Summon your Soul Gem'.Fay nodded and summoned it.'Isolate all of your consciousness into the Soul Gem'.Fay just nodded and did so. He focused all of his consciousness to be inside his own Soul Gem. Fay's body fell unconscious and seemingly dead as the heart beat stopped.Fay can feel and 'see' the surroundings with his magic senses even if his body is a Soul Gem. Kyubey use his mouth to pick up Fay who's residing in his soul gem in his mouth.'Wait. Kyubey, won't Wain get worried. How long will it take?'."Few hours. But before dawn".Fay just agreed.The body is already prepared but it's stored in the basement of the ruins he found. Kyubey does have spatial technology and that's where he keeps the miniature factory to create magical bodies.But this new body made with true dragon DNAs is his first major experiment and he requires direct monitoring and maintenance. Normally, in the previous world he would create modified bodies of magical girls he scouted from the miniature lab and just take it directly from his spatial space as he made the Soul Gem to contain the soul of the girls. This time he needs to adjust and monitor Fay's soul gem and his new body with various monitoring and adjusting devices.Suddenly Wain arm went to move and hug Fay's dead body just as Kyubey jumped down the bed.'He won't notice right?'. Fay thought. Well, Wain is asleep so it should be fine. Fay felt worried. What if Wain woke up and thought he was dead?Let's hope he doesn't.After hours of being carried by Kyubey in his mouth, exiting the town North and going through the thick forest, Fay finally 'sees' an ancient ruin. He saw Kyubey tapped on the wall and a stair leading to the basement is revealed.?What is Kyubey doing all this time?Kyubey walked down the stairs. Fay finally saw it. The basement is lit up with magic lamps. And a few human sized Earth Golems and 5 Kyubeys are working on different advanced looking devices. So many different alien devices powered with magic crystals are around.???Where did Kyubey get all this? He made it himself?Some of them are indeed custom made, while most of them are devices he had in his spatial space with a few tweaks.Fay observed the human sized Earth golem. This is definitely like Lisa's earth golem. It's just smaller. So Kyubey can indeed use magic doesn't he.Kyubey keeps on walking and reaches a corner of the space and there lies a body that looks exactly like Fay's original body floating in a bluish liquid tank with tubes connected to the body supplying nutrients.It really doesn't look any different than his previous body.Kyubey pressed a button and all the nutrient fluid got flushed out. The glass tank opened. An earth golem went to pick up the newly developed body and placed it on a nearby table. Kyubey attaches various cables from various devices to the body. Kyubey placed Fay's soul gem into a container next to it which also has few cables attached to it."I need to establish a connection for the body to connect to your consciousness".Fay shrugs his non-existent shoulder and lets him be.All the Kyubeys went closer and stationed themselves at various devices around Fay. Kyubey placed his paw on multiple buttons."Kyubey... I feel sleepy...".Kyubey didn't respond.Fay finally fell asleep in his Soul Gem....Fay opened his eyes. He can feel he is inside his new body. It's probably a success since he can move his feet and hands fine. He actually felt better.Better is an understatement. The air even felt fresher, and he feels so energised as if he is actively absorbing mana from the environment through his skin pores.His heart beat is really strong as well, and each pump emits a high amount of mana. And he can feel excess mana flow out into the environment from his body as well.And he realizes he can feel mana from the environment. Plus, all his senses feel better. His eyes can see father and can focus like it has some scope features. Fay didn't realise it when he used the scope feature his eyes pupil turned into a slit like shape - like a dragon. And he can smell things better.Fay felt his muscles. It feels tougher and denser, although appearance wise, he still looks the same.Amazing...Fay can't help but recognise how great of a body this is.He estimates his mana amount is increased by more than 10 times and his heartbeat generates a lot of mana. It would take only an hour to generate too full. And the source is his heart.'How does the body feel?'. Kyubey who's sitting next to Fay asked while looking at the various devices to monitor its connection to the soul."It's really great! Thank you Kyubey"."You are welcome. I am just satisfying my curiosity. Your body is slightly better than a true dragon, except the exterior since scales won't match your aesthetics, and your heart is even better".Fay can't help but blink twice. He held one of his hands to his chest feeling the force of his heart. It really feels so strong.'Did you use the dragon heart for my heart?'."Yes".How to say, it's definitely worth trusting Kyubey.'Can I use the weird magic the dragon uses?'."You should be able to. But the dragon back then used a different language entirely. I need more data to analyse them to derive the spells from it".Fay nodded. Needing more data means Kyubey needs him to fight true dragons and let them use magic so Kyubey can analyse them.It's possible, but he doesn't think he needs such a power up unless the demon lord descended like in the fairytales he read. But it's just a fairytale isn't it. He will put it aside later.Fay noticed he is naked and had so many cables attached to him. Thankfully he has his inventory space and had spare clothes in them. Fay detached all the various cables and climbed down the table.'Let's go back'.Kyubey jumped on Fay's head as everything is working fine.Fay takes a look around the lab again. The Kyubeys are still busy with their devices. He wanted to observe what they were doing but he didn't want to disturb Kyubeys much. Fay trusted Kyubey more since he made this body for him.Fay conjured his soul gem. He noticed something different.The glass walls of the egg-shaped Soul Gem looked different. The glass wall has a scale-like structure around it. And the top part of the Soul Gem has a slit-like dragon eye decoration on it. Previously it's only a simple silver sphere. Kyubey seems to upgrade his Soul Gem as well… or he took the liberty to change its aesthetic for some reason.He wanted to transform to use his long-distance portal."You should be able to use a long-distance portal without transforming now. I have made enough progress in my research and made adjustments so your space power can be powered by mana to a certain extent".Fay nodded. He tried and used his space magic. It consumes less magical girl energy, added with a tenth of his current mana. It's not much because he can generate that back within minutes with his dragon heart. (Note that his previous mana capacity is already on the high end).Spatial cracks form and open up.Fay and Kyubey entered their room and is both surprised at the scene.