After around two weeks living at the temple, everything seemed to cool down a little. I somehow got used to all the crazy stuff going on around the place.

The fact that I busied myself with reading and learning new stuff while hunting monsters and exploring the forest in the spare time helped to keep me occupied. I even started to enjoy the experience. 

The increase in levels was a bonus too. 

But the most remarkable achievement and also the thing that I was the proudest Was that I successfully learned how to use magic. The downside of it was that I still did not know any magic as of yet.

 All that was written in the books were related to the enchanting mostly, alchemy, some blacksmith related stuff, and a few unrelated to magic stuff.

It was still useful. The basic skill [Mana Manipulation] was still there witch was the fundament for both enchanting stuff or throwing fireballs. The problem was that it did not elaborate further thus I was still incapable of throwing burning balls of fire at my enemies...

And so, I had to choose between the non-combat available ones. 

I excluded the alchemy from the start. As appealing as the name was, the requirements for practicing it were way too many and on top of that too diverse. 

The alchemy required the usage of materials such as plants, minerals, recipes, and sometimes even monster parts. It was simply impossible for me. 

Instead of alchemy, I had chosen enchanting. It was not easier by any means, but the range of material it worked on was more suitable for my situation. The piece of equipment you wanted to enchant, a monster core, and... money.

The monster core was; as one would have expected, acquired from monsters. I did not know how the monster anatomy was working but the core was the place where the monster was storing mana. Some kind of round nucleus situated usually around the heart. 

As for the money part, it was exactly as I started it. The enchanting profession was literally eating raw money. Copper, silver, and gold were the main ingredients.

The symbols from the underground chamber turned out to be enchantments and the ones from the books were of some preservation type. 

Basically, it was like drawing some circuits but more complex. There was no electricity but instead, the thing was running on mana. And for that, there was a need for a material with a high-level of mana conductivity. 

From there, it was pretty easy to understand what these high-level mana conductivity materials were. It was quite amazing. The gold and silver had no longer just symbolic value but also practical use. That explained the lack of design on the coins.

All that needed to be considered further was the quality and quantity. The bronze had the lowest quality followed by silver and at the top was gold. There were also two more materials even better than those but these were very rare and needed an absurd skill level to work with them. The first three were the basic while also worked as monetary value. 

’Though, there was nothing regarding the actual value... Or how much a gold coin is worth in silvers and respectively coppers...’

That... was still something I had to research on my own... somehow.

But going back to the enchanting stuff, one of the main benefits of the enchanting was that it enabled mana flows easier through the equipment. 

Since I was quite familiar with working electric parts not too long ago, the stuff was easier to catch for me. The familiarity with the concept went hand in hand with the new stuff. 

While I had some money to work with, the monster cores were another story. I had to personally go out and hunt them, which was not as hard after the first few times. 

’I can be called a full-fledged monster-hunter already! And a real one at that...’

And besides the cores which were used in my experiments, I stockpiled quite a bit of monster bodies in my ring. Now that I was aware that some of the materials were useful for things like alchemy and others, there was no reason to waste possible sources of money. 

Also, the ring capacity was quite... big. And when I said quite big, I meant freaking huge... I did not even know how much could be stored there. After all the things were stuffed in, I had a feeling that the ring was not even near its limits...

’The damn ring is quite... ridiculous... Even for a mythical one... there should be a limit... right?’

As for the money part, I started to run out in the second week but my drive to push forward with the work made me extract the copper from the subterranean room walls to exercise with it.

And outside the fact that it was ridiculously hard, the process took a lot of time and monster cores. But even so, I did not want to use the gold and silver coins as of yet. 

I used just copper ones to enchant my iron spears and the other stuff.

And for questions like how did I even get iron spears to try and enchant them, the reason was simple. 

I became a blacksmith too!

’Well... Not really...’ Not a real one at least. I just got the skill while experimenting with the scraps of metal that were abandoned in the temple. 

It was only possible just after I learned [Mana Manipulation] skill and how to use it to work with the copper as an enchanter. And that gave me an idea. 

It was true that copper, silver, and gold were the highest mana conductors and after working with copper, I had to agree with that statement. It was also true that the three of them could be shaped easier with the enchanting techniques infusing mana in them, but that did not mean that other metals did not have any kind of mana conductivity. 

It was just way harder to shape and the effect would be close to nothing. But that was fine since I didn't plan to use it for enchanting. I just wanted to shape it in the way I needed.

With that principle in mind, I started to work on everything I got. I softened the metal with the enchanting technique and hammered it with a rock and after some time, I got the skill. 

” That... surprised me quite a bit... ” I muttered to myself as I remembered how startled I was when the notification appeared out of nowhere. 

I somehow managed to become a blacksmith without using fire and with rocks in place of a hammer. If someone were to consider the factors, that would have made quite the achievement...

*sigh* 

” What the hell am I doing here... ”

Shaking my head from the useless thoughts, I moved my attention to the current objective. I finally felt prepared to work with silver on the best spear I managed to craft thus far. 

Even though it was the first time working with silver, that did not mean I could afford to fail. The metal was probably way more expensive compared with the copper one. 

*sigh*

’Gooood... Let's get started!’

 

---------------------------------------------

-A certain slave’s POV-

 

” Hey! Do you hear me, Ron? Are you really sure about this? We can't step back right now but you are sure about it, right? ”

The human named Ron who was leading the group, seemingly irritated by the constant questions, made a gesture to stop the advancement and turned back to the one who asked.

” Of course I know what I'm doing and all will be good as long as you shut down your big mouth. Understood Gerrard? ”

An audible grumble escaped from the one named Gerrard. It seemed that he could not understand as always. How had he survived so long in this world I did not understand.

” Listen here, Gerrard... We are in the forest. It's still ok, we have the blue moon for the moment but the next one will be red. ”

Ron made a pause there to let the much slower one comprehend so far the explanation.

” That is the problem, Ron. If we go deeper into the forest, all of us will die when the red moon will appear. ”

I was surprised that the idiot managed to understand so much on its own. Maybe his intelligence could be compared with the one of a slightly bigger child’s after all.

” All will be good as long as we don't go deeper right now, Gerrard. We will stay here at the borders, waiting for the day, and then we will depart. As long as you will shut up and don't make too much noise, everything will be fine. ”

I was surprised at how patient the one called Ron was... And that would be a problem for me in the future. 

” Ron, why was there a need to bring this incompetent with us? It's obvious that he will do something to endanger us. ” the third and the last member of the group outside of me spoke for the first time. 

” What was that woman? You say that I'm incompetent? Come here to see how competent I really am. ” the idiot roared back.

*cling*

” Vanessa, put that dagger back. ”

The tension in the group was rising. Maybe that was my chance. 

’Do something stupid.’

” What are you laughing at, you slut? I will chop your head off. ” the idiot roared at me too. 

” Calm down, Gerrard. We still need her for the night and I don't think she's yours to being with. ”

” Ron, explain to this incompetent properly what we were doing here... I think he's possible to think with his lower head judging by the way he looked at the slave till now... ”

” Now you really pissed me off. Come here and I'll chop your head first. Who do you think I am to sleep with a lower-human? ”

” We are losing time Gerrard, Vanessa. I brought her because she's a WolfKin and has Night Vision. She wears the collar and cannot escape... That, if she wants to live and I'm sure she wants. So shut up and let's move. ”

After that, we continued the advancement and camped near a river. The red moon would come out soon. 

’How to proceed? If I do not escape this time, the chances for the next time...’

” Hey, I know what you are thinking. We are near the border with Brigantia but let me tell you a thing. You can't. ” the man called Ron said as he seated himself opposite to me. 

’What arrogance... if not for this damn collar...’

” You do not seem to listen, huh? Not like I care but you'll do the job for which I brought you here... Are we clear? If we have a good time, you'll have one as well so don't make things harder for yourself. ”

The man tried to stand up but seemed to want to say another thing. He pondered a little and fixed his eyes to me again.

” Do not even try to run or do something dangerous. For this expedition, that collar is set to explode if I do not imbue it with my mana daily. As such, you will not survive without me. Nobody will help you with it either in this country... And to make your way to Brigantia takes several days at the shortest. ”

After that, he stood up and made his way back to the others. 

” That is for me to decide... not for you, human. ” I muttered out loud my first words on that day. 

Observing him further, it seemed that he planned to extinguish the fire for the red moon arrival. The others complained a bit but complied in the end.

’At least, he seems to be the only one with a brain in the group...’