As I left the room, leaving the beautiful girl disguised as Delia behind, I had to suppress the temptation to swing back and see the mystery hidden behind the impressively-complicated magical disguise. It was out of character for me to leave such a mystery unattended despite the opportunity, but, ultimately, the time it took for me to discover her extraordinary disguise and changing skills stopped me.

They clearly had abilities that I was not privy to, so, any attempt to break through the veil of mystery was simply an unnecessary risk.

Instead, I returned to the room they had created for me for some more experimentation, curious whether I could create storage that could enhance Tantric mana’s ability to somehow destroy Divine Spark’s nature, to the point of weaponization. Although, with the number of magical observation methods they had integrated into the room, it was going to be a true challenge.

Such a waste, I thought even as I stepped into the laboratory. I had an impressive number of priceless equipment and materials to work with, yet I had to limit my research significantly because I was afraid of a surprise detection ward they might have placed. “What a pity,” I murmured as I washed my face, the cold water giving me the jolt I needed to focus for a day filled with hard work, experimentation, and careful espionage.

The presence of constant observation was not doubtful. Even without any hidden motive, the room was like a treasury, only less defended. I could hardly blame them for trying to protect it, or their attempt to maximize the benefit they were getting from me.

It was time to work. First, I grabbed several alloy samples, and flooded them with mana, establishing some simple strengthening enchantments on them.

[-25 Mana]

Then, I flared my mana again, triggering the device that rested in the center of the room. A rotating magical field appeared in the center of the room, a chaotic field that promised only pain for anyone that dared to step inside. The alloys floated on the surface of the device, slowly corroding and disintegrating.

It was a simple and boring experiment. I was trying to understand how certain enchantments worked on different alloys. The process was dull, because after the first set had finally disintegrated, I grabbed another set of alloys, enchanted them, and threw them to the device to be destroyed slowly. All the while, I was working on a scroll, rolled open in front of me, a quill on my hand as I took detailed notes, filling the rest of the paper with the calculations, my mind filled with numbers and formulas.

The only trick, the formulas that were keeping my mind busy weren’t the ones I was writing on the scroll in front of me.

The formulas and calculations on the paper certainly looked impressive, the kind that would challenge a magical expert with an Intelligence of twenty. Yet, for me, it was barely more than doing the sums.

The same didn’t apply to the notes I was keeping on my mind.

From a distance, it looked like I was testing the performance of the alloys under different strengthening enchantments, but in reality, some of those enchantments were cast using ordinary mana, while others had a different mixture of Tantric mana mixed into their structure. Never overwhelmingly, as I wanted to avoid the attention of any observer, but just enough to see if using Tantric mana was making any difference.

It was vital to test after my latest discovery about Tantric’s impact on different applications. I didn’t want to be ambushed by another miraculous feature.

I cycled through the different enchantments, materials, and spells to test, my mind filled with endless calculations as I tried to understand the impact of Tantric. However, after three hours of detailed experimentation, I was yet to discover anything other than Tantric was bad for casting enchantments, lacking the rigidity to carry the weight of the magical effect I desired to inject.

[+7 Craft]

When I heard a knock on the door, almost four hours after I started experimenting, I was yet to discover anything wondrous. Welcoming a break, I waved my hand and the door opened, allowing the guest to step inside.

A blonde woman, dressed in leather armor, with an exquisite sword that radiated magic on her waist. I recognized her instantly, as she was one of the handmaidens that had been accompanying the princess, but this time, she wasn’t wearing a dress but armor.

Well, at least at the surface. Without checking, it was hard to guess whether she was another disguised member sent to talk with me.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” she spoke, though unlike her words, her voice was sharp with a challenge. I suppressed a sudden flash of sadness as her tone reminded me of Aviada, my unlucky lover who found herself on a dangerous journey.

“I was just finishing an experiment, no worries,” I said, turning to her with a big, salacious smile, once again the reputation as a lecher creating an excellent cover. “How can I help one of the precious handmaidens of the princess? Is there an emergency, or would I have the fortune to accompany you for leisure activity?”

Her sharp frustration at being flirted with was amusing, even if I suspected it was more acting than her actual feelings.

“No,” she said, managing to keep her voice even except for a little growl that infected it, her eyes pinning me down. “I heard that Her Highness had selected you for an important mission. I just wanted to spar with someone who had been selected for such a beautiful honor.”

“As a warrior?” I said, letting a tone of dismissiveness infect my tone. There was a reason mages were valued much higher than warriors in levels as high as the twenties. It was really difficult for a warrior to compete against the sheer burst potential of a mage.

There were certain advantages of warriors, of course, particularly their extended battle performance, but in a spar without any trick, the victory was given.

“Yes, as a warrior,” she growled, doing her best to her anger at being dismissed. Unfortunately for her, it seemed she didn’t have too many acting skills, because the fakeness of her emotion was apparent. She looked angry, but it lacked the existential frustration many high-leveled pure warriors carried after being dismissed by a mage. “I want to make sure you can handle such an important mission.”

Not surprising, as with their skill modification, she wouldn’t feel that fundamental frustration of being limited by their selection.

“As you wish,” I said, enthusiastic at the opportunity. I doubted that her aim was to get an accurate understanding of my combat abilities. If that had been the case, they would have found an excuse to test them before asking me to take the mission.

Yet, considering it gave me an excuse to use unlimited magic on her to better understand their tricks, I welcomed the opportunity regardless of their objectives.

Especially since she didn’t seem to equip any magical ability to catch my tricks.

“Follow me, then,” she said as she turned and started walking, the sudden flash of satisfaction rather interesting. I wondered about the exact reason.

“So,” I murmured as I quickly caught up with her. “Don’t tell me we’re just going to have a boring spar?”

My frivolous words didn’t generate much goodwill, but they needed me too much to react to that explosively as well. “What do you have in mind?” she asked.

“Well, maybe we can have dinner together?” I asked, and it earned a sharp look, though that sharpness was nothing compared to the one that followed it after I finished my sentence. “Maybe the same kind your friend Delia had delivered in the morning.”

She said nothing, too busy containing the flare of anger. The anger was intense enough to confirm that she knew exactly what had happened during the breakfast, no doubt feeling insulted that I would ask for a similar service from her as well.

Even better, she couldn’t just admit without revealing she already knew what had happened. Her lips, staying closed, implied that she didn’t have the intention of revealing that particular nugget.

“Maybe, depends on how long you can resist,” she said, doing her best to hide her anger. “Manage to spar with me for fifteen minutes, and I’ll personally feed you dinner.”

“Deal,” I said smugly, even though inwardly, I knew it was much harder to follow that request. A high-leveled mage could defeat a high-leveled warrior easily, but an extended spar was a different deal. Most mages didn’t have my advantage of rapid mana regeneration, meaning that, in any extended combat, they were at a great disadvantage. It would have been even more pronounced in a spar, where the mage wasn’t allowed to deliver a deadly attack that would finish, allowing the warrior to be even more aggressive.

Yet, I couldn’t reject the offer without destroying the thoughtless and braggart personality I created for them.

However, as I continued to walk deeper into the building, I realized that I might have bitten a bit more than I could chew. The reason, was I had decided to kill some time by focusing on the sway of her hips, the view of them clad in a leather prison beautiful, only to receive a notification.

[+50 Experience]

Just a notification of experience. No penalties, no reductions, nothing, meaning that she had a higher level than my actual level, let alone the surface weakness I had been displaying.

It took a lot to suppress the moan that tried to force itself into my face. Clearly, a painful sparring session awaited me.

[Level: 32 Experience: 499160 / 528000

Strength: 46 Charisma: 63

Precision: 40 Perception: 42

Agility: 40 Manipulation: 45

Speed: 39 Intelligence: 49

Endurance: 39 Wisdom: 51

HP: 6528 / 6528 Mana: 8000 / 8000 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Arcana [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [100/100]

Master Craft [84/100]

Expert Speech [75/75]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (0/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia – Level 22/26]

[Helga – Level 22/26]