Chapter 143: 5.23 - Circles
Early next morning, like usual, Zoey showed up to Sabina's eager for her next quiz—and also simply excited to continue learning alchemy.
Before that, though, there were two other topics they needed to discuss.
"You've progressed to third advancement in your alchemy rune?" Sabina said in surprise. "Already?"
Sabina knew something strange was going on with Zoey and her class, and had seen her move to second advancement in her alchemy rune in a matter of days, but hitting third in just as short of a period was enough to make even the stoic woman incredulous.
"What can I say? I'm a hard worker."
"I would think you were lying," Sabina said, "simply for the absurdity, but I know you're not. And your speed of advancement is hardly the first unprecedented aspect of your class. Still, third advancement." She shook her head. "It's nearly unbelievable."
Zoey shrugged. It was unfair, she knew, and definitely undeserved. Then again, she'd been given a ridiculous task coming to this world, and her speedy advancement was all but a necessity.
"What is it?" Sabina asked. "Your new skill. I assume that's why you brought it up."
"It's something you told me I would get, actually."
That was all the hint Sabina needed. She was a sharp woman. "Something that helps with potion creation in less-than-ideal conditions?"
"Exactly." Since Zoey had spent so much time wayfaring, her alchemy skillset was morphing to accommodate that. "It's called Resourceful. Potions made inside a shard from ingredients found within that same shard are more likely to catalyze."
Sable hummed appreciatively. "Useful, of course, but it sounds like there's no bonus to potency. So they'll be weaker than what you could make in a proper lab."
"Yeah."
"An excellent trade-off nonetheless," Sabina said. "Improvisation is important fpr a wayfarer. Or so I've heard. I assume future skills will further close the gap, until perhaps you're as competent without a full lab as with one."
"That's the hope. Though, I was surprised the skill didn't have any kind of—well, inappropriate bent."
Sabina raised an eyebrow. "Even when a class has a theme, not every skill will follow it strictly. And you should be glad for that. Having practical abilities is important."
"True enough." Not everything should be sex-related. Having something that helped with potion creation inside of a shard would be useful. It would likely open avenues to solving all kinds of problems. Zoey could stockpile as many potions as she wanted, but having the ability to create something inside the shard, tailored to what she needed, could be a lifesaver. Literally.
Especially since it seemed shards cleared out her inventory, or parts of her inventory, with fair regularity. Bringing in a stockpile of useful potions wasn't something her brand of shards allowed. So being able to improvise new ones from items found inside the shard was useful twice over.
"Also," Zoey said, "Adrienne's running the tent today?"
"She is."
"I wonder how that'll go."
"I'm sure she'll handle herself. I'll stop by to check on her. Make sure nothing disastrous is happening. Though I can't imagine what."
Zoey could. But she didn't say so.
The lessons carried on from there. She lost herself in the usual business of assisting Sabina and being constantly quizzed and put on the spot. The two of them indulged in some … less-than-professional activities, restocking Sabina's reagent supply. Before she knew it, their time was up, and Zoey bid her goodbye.
After a quick lunch, Zoey tracked down Maddy. She'd been looking forward to seeing the blue-haired mage and was disappointed she had missed yesterday's lessons. Which wasn't to say she regretted her misadventures with Delta.
At the Oasis, the mana-regeneration room housing the obelisk artifact, Zoey found her prey. Maddy's face lit up on seeing her, as Zoey's did in return. Maddy's easy enthusiasm was infectious.
"Zoey!" Maddy said, bouncing to her feet. She jogged over, then came to a stop and beamed up at her. "What happened yesterday? I thought you were back, but you didn't show."
"Sorry. Something came up, and the rest of the day was kind of crazy."
"I figured." Maddy coughed. "I actually stopped by your room to say hi, but you and Rosalie … and Delta, I think … sounded pretty busy. So I left."
Zoey paused. "Uh. Yeah. We were busy. Like I said, hectic day."
Maddy laughed, her cheeks red. Zoey hadn't known the mage had stopped by, then had been fended off by what Zoey could only assume were some very loud, enthusiastic noises coming from their bedroom.
"Anyway," Maddy said. "More of the same, today?"
"Still have a long way to go," Zoey agreed. She wouldn't be outgrowing Maddy's lessons for a long time, as she wouldn't Sabina's.
"Oh, and I was wondering if we could head out, afterward," Maddy said. "Hang out for a bit and talk. If you're free?"
"Like a date?" Zoey asked.
"W-Well, not a date," Maddy said. "There's just some stuff we should talk about."
"Sure. But can it be a date, too?"
Gray eyes blinked several times at her, before Maddy finally stuttered out, "I mean—if you want it to be?"
"I do."
"Then, um, awesome. Great. Perfect. It's a date."
Zoey smiled, amused at how flustered Maddy had become. She really was way too cute. "So, what room are we in today?"
Maddy shook her head clear, then looked around the Oasis. "This way."
For the most part, the next several hours were focused on professional business. Zoey was, ultimately, an aspiring wayfarer, and while some of these sessions could go to inappropriate places—especially since Zoey needed to refill her Lust with the help of Rosalie—she really did want to improve her competence in spellcraft. Maddy was an eager teacher. Especially because she intended to join up with them, now, and Maddy wanted competent teammates. There was time for work and play, even if with Zoey, the lines blurred.
Plus, with an upcoming date, they would have plenty of time to chat about both less serious and more serious matters. So the actual training session was reserved for just that. Mainly, she focused on her second-advancement skill associated with her rune of arcana: 'Influence'. While 'Element: Ice' was her most direct combative specialty, Influence opened up all kinds of potent indirect combat spells. And not only that, it offered abilities that could help her in the lewder portions of the shard. She'd learned that through fighting Mel the other day. She'd been a pliable pile of goo in Zoey's hands after she'd inflamed her with an aphrodisiac spell.
But she practiced with ice too. Their sessions were several hours long, so there was plenty of time to hone each of her abilities. Unfortunately, she was limited in what she could accomplish, and not just because of her status as a novice. One of her first-advancement abilities was 'First Circle', which allowed Zoey to 'cast spells up to one Circle in complexity'. A single circle could only hold so much off a 'blueprint', so to say, and complex spells simply couldn't be cast with just a single Circle.
She brought the topic up to Maddy.
"When will I be getting my second Circle, anyways?" Zoey asked. "Is there a standard? Or is it up to luck?"
"I mean, yeah, it varies, like runes and skills do for everyone," Maddy said. "But I would be surprised if you don't get it soon. Third advancement, probably—fourth for sure."
"And what will that open up?"
"The first Circle has enough space to create straightforward effects, like a spear of ice or—in your 'influence' case—a simple inflammation of emotion. But with a second Circle, you can add conditions and such. Maybe you could make orbiting shards of ice that you prep before a fight, and will home in when they sense a target—or with some other activation condition you design."
"And third Circle?"
"More complex stuff, obviously. So, like, maybe a simple familiar made out of ice."
"A familiar?"
"Yeah. You can design them to do whatever you want, but, oh boy, that starts to get really complicated, really fast. Spell design isn't easy. Some mages make better money from that than actually clearing shards."
"Could you?"
"Could I what?"
"Design a third Circle spell."
Maddy wavered back and forth. "Eh. Maybe. My family is more on the practical side than the theoretical one. Still plenty of both, because any good mage would be," she blinked at Zoey, then coughed, embarrassed at having inadvertently lumped Zoey into the group of 'not a good mage', because she was obviously ignorant on the theoretical side, "but yeah," she continued, "designing third and above Circle spells would be tough for me. My mom could, though. But she's not the best at it."
"So what if I wanted something custom, at that level?" It was a while away, but considering her pace, something she ought to think about sooner rather than later. "I'd have to hire someone?"
"The hard part would normally be finding someone that could in the first place, because mages that competent aren't common." Maddy laughed. "But that's not a problem for you. I'm sure Rosalie's family could arrange it, no problem."
"Rosalie's family?"
Maddy paused, then paled. "Um."
"You know who she is?"
"Uh," Maddy said, dragging it out. "Do … you?"
"No. She's been kind of cagey about it. I haven't pressed." She was pretty sure Rosalie would tell her if she asked outright, but Zoey wanted to let her open up at her own pace. "She told you, though?"
"No," Maddy said, obviously trying to figure out how to navigate the conversation. She still looked a bit panicked.
"So you guessed?" Zoey asked. "She's important, then. I mean, I knew that, pretty much anyone can tell by how she acts." Zoey chewed her lip. "But for you to 'figure it out', to recognize her, that means her family's really important."
Maddy just stared with wide eyes.
Zoey shook her head, amused at the deer-in-headlight look. "It's fine. I'll drop it. I think it's sweet that you're trying to keep her secret." Plus, Zoey wanted to hear it from Rosalie, not Maddy. Though her estimation of how important Rosalie's family was went up a notch or two. She'd figured Rosalie was important from the start, but maybe even more so than she'd assumed.
She was a woman that a goddess had explicitly arranged for her to meet.
"Anyway," Zoey said. "Back to the lesson?"
Maddy grasped the opportunity eagerly. She launched back into her demonstrations, maybe a bit louder than appropriate, still flustered from her slip-up.
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