Much to my relief, Paeris seemed much more amicable to my requests to go hunting. I wasted no time in requesting an outing to replenish my much-needed slime reserves and slowly grind away at my experience requirements.
Vee was being a little lazy and even tried opting to stay lazing about our home, but I convinced her to come along, as without her being there, I wouldn't be able to work on the [Companion Growth] skill.
I did note that Paeris seemed oddly pleased and even encouraged Vee's lazy attitude, which I found downright strange. Was he trying to butter her up for their spider recruitment plans, or was he trying to hinder her growth?
Or do they think that she's going to go crazy? Can't be, right? I explained the whole [Experiment] thing while under the whole truth spell thingy.
I had hoped to find some interesting monsters to snack on, but besides a large snake monster to fight, they were mostly wolves. I questioned Paeris about it and was informed that suitable monsters are often taken away for potential companions and that the forest was currently in a "lupine cycle."
The giant snake monster wasn't much to talk about, as the most interesting thing it attempted was to swallow me whole by unhinging its jaw. It had no magic resistance, so I could barrage it with [Wind Cutter] spells while occasionally dodging its giant gullet.
After stocking up on food, we began our walk back, to which Paeris once again offered harvesting services to me. Again, I rejected the offer and realized I hadn't shown my results yet. I proudly displayed my perfect [Dissection] results from our first hunt.
"I see you weren't exaggerating your skills, excellent job, Lady Sylthaeryn," he praised in a melodic tone.
I held back on rolling my eyes at his attitude and looked over my recent-ish gains.
<10 Trait Points are now available.>
[Derived Element (Magma) LV 5]
[Derived Element (Steam) LV 5]
[Derived Element (Nature) LV 5]
[Companion Training LV 7]
[Companion Growth LV 5]
I was pretty happy with my progress, considering the ease with which I went about it. It was only one race level, but I was gaining them from relatively weak monsters, showing the benefit of having my experience distribution readjusted. I was slowly recovering my expended trait points, assuming I didn't do another spending spree.
Despite not using them at all, my intermediate derived elements were leveling passively thanks to my Mana purity, albeit slower than I had experienced with Air, which had shot up stupidly quickly.
Part of me was a little upset at neglecting three new forms of magic, but I was trying to keep myself focused as I still wanted to achieve my first goal of [Basic Elemental Magic]. Of course, that was taking the backseat to [Dimension Magic] when I was behind closed doors.
I still have [Light Magic] too… but honestly, that's so low on my priority list. I can't use it while pretending to be Sylthaeryn, which means I can only do it at the cost of [Dimension Magic]. Nothing those unicorns did is even a fraction of the potential behind this advanced magic!
When we got back, the surprises didn't end there. Llewel personally delivered some more books and scrolls about the information we requested. There was a large book on spider monsters for Vee and a bunch of what appeared to be scribblings and postulations transcribed onto scrolls.
Llewel apologized for the lack of information about Riftmancers but hinted that I might be able to retrieve some more myself once I'm officially running for my branch position.
Similarly, Paeris suggested that if Vee's information was lacking, I flaunt my companion to the Carren branch of elves and see if they give up any aid or information.
"The Carren branch adores arachnids, and it is one of their specialties. Seeing such a well-taken care of spider companion might lead to them willingly cooperating with you," he explained.
"Will they not try to take Vee from me?" I questioned.
"Gods no! That would be practically the ultimate form of taboo!" Paeris cried out, shocking both Vee and me at the raw emotion.
"So if the Carren branch specializes in spiders, what do the Feirelle elves have?" Vee asked, breaking the awkward silence after his outburst.
"Felids," Paeris answered.
"Big cats," Llewel said at the same time.
"Well damn, I wish I was born a cat instead of a spider," Vee chuckled.
"Maybe in the next life," I joked back. "Although I reckon you should pick slime."
"Yeah, then I get all the cheat powers."
"I hate to interrupt your… banter, but we have some additional training to undergo," Paeris said.
"And that's my cue to leave. I hope those notes help you. Let me know if you want to brainstorm some magic ideas," Llewel said while practically sprinting for the door.
"I thought we were done with the etiquette training?" I whined.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"The discussion around branches has reminded me that we should give you a crash course on each branch so that you can interact suitably with them. You won't need to know their history, but at least being able to recognize them by their attire and their specialties is a bare minimum."
"Recognize them by their clothes?" I questioned.
"What, do they all wear specific outfits?" Vee added.
"Specific clothes, no, but during formal events, each branch tends to wear specific colors to match their faction," Paeris explained. "The Feirelle branch, for example, favors light greens with gold trimmings."
"That explains all the green dresses," I mumbled. My closet was now absolutely full of them, although I was still opting to wear my armor until absolutely required.
"Glad to know the gala won't just be a sea of green," Vee said happily. "Anyway, good luck with your training!"
And then Vee abandoned me to the clutches of Paeris.
"Let's get started, shall we?" he said with a bemused smirk.
The new training was relatively easy, all things considered, as I just needed to memorize key information. My memory was remarkably good as a slime, likely due to my powerful core and [Sub-Cores], even though my frequent distractions would have you believe otherwise. Paeris was impressed and left early, meaning I could finally chow down and read through my notes.
I started with the snake, eager to see if there was anything new to gain. I had expected a new poison type to unlock, but surprisingly, the snake wasn't venomous when I browsed through its profile. One trait caught my eye, and I couldn't help but grin while I read it.
"Hey Vee, I think I got a new trait for you!" I said.
"Oh?" Vee replied curiously.
This trait greatly enlarges the creature's mouth and stomach, allowing it to consume prey in a single gulp, even those larger than itself.
Once swallowed, live creatures inside the stomach are subjected to a minor suppression effect, weakening their movements, resistances, and even strengths as digestion begins.
Maximum size scales with trait level, as does the suppression effect and digestion speed.
Ideal for predators that prefer overwhelming force and swift consumption.>
"How would this help me?" Vee asked, sounding quite peeved. "If anything, this is more suitable for you."
"Imagine all the food you could eat!"
"It's quality… not quantity that I care about," Vee defended herself. "If I swallowed it whole, I wouldn't get to enjoy the taste!"
"Yeah, I guess that's true. I guess I'll put it on my list of traits to potentially borrow, especially once I get enough traits to go full worm again!"
"Please don't become the exploding worm again," Vee whined.
I sighed, "Explosions will sadly have to wait until I get a better food source."
I then spent some time reading through the notes, and while the amount was a little disheartening, it still had some nuggets of information I found pretty intriguing.
First, it mentioned a skill to help with coordinates, and the writer proceeded to gush about its usefulness while frequently mentioning how he or she felt it was mandatory. The skill was called [Triangulate], and I eagerly told Vee all about it.
"We've gotta unlock that skill ASAP!" Vee exclaimed excitedly.
Secondly, the writer mentioned discovering a custom spell by layering [Pocket Space] constructs atop one another at a fixed location. The resulting spell created not only a space big enough to quote "walk inside," but since it was at a fixed location, it wouldn't require you to reserve your Mana to store it.
I was curious how that would work, and to my surprise, the author theorized that it utilized ambient Mana to fuel itself. I still didn't have access to [Pocket Space], so I didn't have a complete picture of how it worked, and I could only garner some tertiary information from examining Vee's casting of the spell.
I tried convincing Vee to experiment with layering the spell, but after I lost an arm in a spell backlash, she was adamant about refusing it.
"I don't need it right now, so I'm perfectly happy to wait for you to try it out and iron out all the kinks and health hazards in it," Vee replied. "Thanks a bunch, by the way!"
I groaned at her lack of curiosity, but even when I pointed out she had [Defy Death] to save her, she still wouldn't budge.
Vee snorted, "Just because it won't kill me, doesn't mean I won't permanently lose a limb. When you get me a regeneration trait that won't let fire or silver cripple me, then I'll consider doing some magical risks."
"Fine…" I grumbled while reading the rest of the notes.
Sadly, there wasn't much new information. A large portion was dedicated to discussing [Spatial Sense] and its importance, but none of it was new. Still, I was happy with what I read and eager to discover [Triangulate] and this upgraded version of [Pocket Space].
"Time to start messing with dimensions!" I exclaimed happily.
Vee immediately disappeared, reappearing at the far end of the room while staring at me wearily.
"You do that… I'll be all the way over here, where it's safe. Or maybe I should vacate to the kitchen."
I had hoped that with the "training" out of the way, I'd be left to my own devices, but it seemed that Paeris was determined not to let me sit idle.
Not only were there occasional rehashes to check that I hadn't forgotten or somehow damaged my crafted [Roleplay] persona, but there were also quizzes on the other branches' information.
I was getting particularly sick of repeating their key colors or their favourite monster companion. At times, the only thing keeping me sane was occasionally chanting "pink core" to myself.
My official wardrobe for the evening was also being crafted. With so many pieces of jewelry and ornaments, I thought I'd struggle to walk if they kept decorating me.
Lastly, there was also the need to create my backstory, a crucial final step we had been avoiding until now. Paeris or Loreleia might have been trying to put together the most reasonable-sounding explanation of what had happened to her daughter, why she had suddenly returned, and why she was qualified to become the head of a branch.
The cover story pieced together was actually very reasonable, in my opinion. Sylthaeryn left to explore the world, as she had always dreamed of, against her mother's wishes.
During her travels, Shalana, her panther companion, died, sacrificing herself to save her Tamer's life. Sylthaeryn was absolutely heartbroken, forsaking the Tamer class and swearing to never take another companion as a form of mourning. Apparently, this was a common thing amongst elves, depending on how close they were to their [Bonded Companion].
She opted to take the Mage class as a substitute for Tamer to protect herself. Despite disliking the class growing up and rejecting it multiple times, she opted to take it as a further form of penance against allowing Shalana to die.
Her superior elven abilities made magic come to her naturally, despite lacking the official formal training. Furthermore, her unorthodox approach and natural talent led to a fortuitous encounter where she learned how to obtain the rare Elementalist class.
Not only did Sylthaeryn eventually manage to accomplish this, but she also made a name for herself in the human lands. While venturing into the dwarven lands, she discovered a distraught spider, powerful yet constantly hounded by the dwarves attacking it and trying to drive her from her home.
Sylthaeryn couldn't stand for this, the wounds of losing Shalana still present. But… the dwarves were long-standing allies of the elves, and attacking them would severely harm their relations. So, despite originally swearing an oath against taking another companion, she acted and reached out to the spider.
Sylthaeryn's intuition was correct, and the spider did not seek to harm the dwarves, only defending its right to live. Sylthaeryn immediately took action, pledging to protect the spider from harm and grant it a new home. Sensing her honesty and hidden loss, the spider accepted, and thus, Vee was named. Sylthaeryn's wounded heart was slightly mended by a powerful and loyal new companion.
"Holy shit… I mean it's a load of crap, and it's sappy as hell. But! I guess it's something these elves will eat up," Vee said, after hearing the whole story.
"It's certainly something…" I chuckled.