17 Gains

Upon my return to the city, I began training. However, I also took some time to wander around Orario each day as well to increase my familiarity with even the less traveled parts of the city. As the days went by, I got better and better at navigating the city, although the city was so massive that it would take me weeks, if not months, to get familiar with every single nook and cranny. I contented myself with learning the main roadways and main alleyways for the time being whenever I wasn't training magic, skills, or arts.

Initially, the plan had just been to take some time to learn Explosive Magic, but that changed quickly once I found a few Common and Extra Skills that I could gain fairly easily. I even managed to get one of the skills without even meaning to. One day, when I was walking down a particularly dark alley, I was stopped by an unsavory individual who tried to rob me. One would think that in a city famed for its superhuman adventurers, trying to rob random passersby would be suicide, but who was I to judge?

He didn't have a falna, so once I released some of my aura, all it took was my presence to scare him off. Well... Scared off isn't the right way to phrase it. I must have accidentally put too much pressure on my aura as he fell to his knees, peed his pants, and passed out instantly while still on his knees. I felt a bit bad when I saw that, but not enough to not knock him onto his side with a gentle booth to the side. It was as I walked out of the alley that I gained the Common Skill: Coercion, for my efforts.

After easily receiving Coersion, I realized that I had been ignoring Common Skills entirely and even an Extra Skill, which I quickly found with Skill Tree and determined wouldn't be too difficult to obtain. This epiphany led me to train not only to gain Explosion Magic but also these other skills that I was determined to get. Despite some of these skills being merely Common Skills, that was no reason to ignore them. Any boost to my strength is a valid boost, after all. Plus, every single one of my skill effects works in conjunction with one another, so the more I have, the more their bonuses compound with one another.

. . .

Eventually, my first full month in Orario came and went as I stayed out of the dungeon, focusing solely on training and exploring the city more. Soon after the anniversary of my first month in the city, I completed my current training arc. I gained the Common Skills: Self-Regeneration and Strengthen on top of Coercion, which I had received before. Then, I also obtained the Extra Skills: Danger Sense and Parallel Calculation, which were easy to gain thanks to my Predictive Calculation.

Finally, I received an unexpected benefit when I tried to merge my new Explosion Magic with Flame Manipulation. The two merged into the Extra Skill: Explosive Flames. I was extremely excited when this happened, as I thought it meant I might be about to receive Degenerate since I had naturally merged two skills. However, it seemed that the only reason they merged was because they are naturally connected skills and magic, which makes them easier to combine. It was a slight annoyance that I got no reward for it, but I was still happy to have an evolved form of Flame Manipulation.

Once I gained those skills, I took the next day off and prepared to go back into the dungeon. On that day off, I oiled and sharpened the Foe-Hammer and readied myself, feeling much better about everything than the first time I had gone to the dungeon. I also spent this time restocking up on supplies contained within my Spatial Storage. I got some more barrels of water and nonperishable food stored away before settling down in my small room and meditating on the bed.

Meditation was something I had scoffed at in my past life, but I began to see more and more of its usefulness in this life. As a mage, doing meditation was definitely a stereotype, but that was for a good reason. Meditation and a calm state of mind help the mana within one's body flow better and with higher efficiency. Basically, meditation is like a passive buff for your control of mana and mana efficiency that gets better bit by bit over long stretches of time. Even my biggest grip with the practice, the time it takes, was null in this life.

As a High Elf, I will live for hundreds of years, which is impressive, but if I have access to the full Tensura power system, then I can potentially evolve into a Saint to become functionally ageless and immortal. If I become a fully spiritual lifeform, even if my body dies, my soul won't unless directly attacked and overwhelmed. However, I have plenty of time either way, both for meditation and many other things. Once my meditation was over I laid down in my bed and went to sleep.

. . .

I awoke suddenly the next morning to one of my new skills, Danger Sense, blaring in my mind as I noticed someone standing above my sleeping form. I reacted instantly, ripping my blade out of my Spatial Storage and pointing it toward the intruder. There, I found Tsubaki with her one uncovered eyebrow raised in amusement as she held the tip of my blade. She seemed unbothered as she ran her finger over the blade gently. 

"Nice blade, but mine are better. If this ever breaks, I'll give you a discount on something I've forged," she said, turning her face away from the blade and toward me.

"If it ever breaks, I may take you up on your offer, but what if I were to forge my own blade?"

"You? Forge? Have you touched a hammer or anvil before in your life?"

"No, but I am certain I can learn the skill if I require it. It may take me some time, but smithing seems like a good skill to take up sooner or later. Plus, I am in the right place to do so." 

"You are in the right place, but it isn't like you can just pick up a hammer and start making swords. It requires patience and practice hone over time."

"As do many skills I already possess. With enough dedication, anything is possible."

"That's true enough," she confirmed with what she must have thought was a sage-like nod.

"By the way, is there a reason why I suddenly woke up to find you standing above me? I thought I wasn't due for another transport mission for a week?"

"You're not," she confirmed lazily. Hephaestus told me to come check up on you. You're new, and nobody has seen you around recently."

"I've been training. My first excursion into the dungeon went differently from what I pictured. I took my mistakes from that first visit and have improved upon them over the past few weeks."

"Wait, when have you been to the dungeon before, and with whom? I don't remember you being a part of any of the newbie groups we sent in to get experience," she said, making a timeout gesture with her hands and looking concerned.

Is she just worried about me, or are they concerned about me entering the dungeon alone now that they've seen how valuable my magic is? My expression didn't change outwardly while I considered this question due to tapping into my Thought Acceleration. Time seemed to slow around me as I used the faster processing to think. I briefly considered the optimal response to not concern her and to let me be, but I eventually just decided to tell the truth straight up.

"A few days after getting my falna. You didn't see my name on any list because I didn't join a group. I just went in by myself, poked around the sixth floor, and killed some of the monsters there before evaluating myself and coming back up to the surface." 

"You did WHAT! WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE!?" she shouted, catching me severely off guard.

Despite the shock of her outburst, I didn't bend beneath her gaze, "Hephaestus did tell me I was free to do what I want." I said with a shrug.

She shook her head either due to shock or inability to get the words she wanted to out before she sighed deeply, anger leaving her, "What the hell kind of dumbass decision was that? I'm sure the Goddess didn't expect you to go out and try to commit assisted suicide the next day. Also, what do you mean poked around the sixth floor."

"I didn't say anything because I didn't think it was a huge deal, and I didn't want either of you to worry about me. I can handle myself."

"It's my DUTY to worry about everyone in the familia," she said, putting up her hand and turning away to take a few deep breaths before turning back to me, "Sorry, I usually don't get this worked up too often."

"No, it's fine. I'm the one at fault. Though it is a bit cute." I said with a chuckle. 

"Relax, Grampa," she said, stepping away, though my joke seemed to have eased the tension in the room. "Let's go finish this talk somewhere more private."

As she gestured back at the door, I saw that there was a small crowd outside, though they all seemed to be trying their best to look busy while clearly eavesdropping.

"Lead the way, Captain," I told her, following her out of my room and locking the door behind me.

=== === === === ===

Some of the new Stuff:

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~ Arts:

. . .

+ Earth Magic: Liquidize, Earth Lock, Magic Stone Attraction, Stone Spike, Stone Wall

~ Common Skills: Coercion, Self-Regeneration, Strengthen 

~ Extra Skills: Magic Sense, Parallel Calculation, Danger Sense, Explosive Flames

. . .

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