“Master, speaking of which. What level am I at now?” Lydia asked.

That was a good question. We hadn’t done much leveling since we defeated the last dungeon. I needed to start thinking about what was important for all of us.

{Name: Lydia

Class: Speed Combat

 Job: Swordsman (LVL 15) (Slave)

Unlocked Jobs: Cook (LVL1), Commoner (LVL 8), Thief(LVL1), Scout(LVL1)

Race: Tigerkin}

So far, Lydia’s strength still centered around her high-level swordsman ability. Since she couldn’t equip two jobs like I could, then swordsman truly was the best ability to leave her at for now. I decided to check myself as well.

{Name: Deek

Class: Support

Job: Hero (LVL 8), Slave Master (LVL 1)

Possible Jobs: Merchant (LVL 2), Alchemist (LVL 1), Cook (LVL 4)}, Dungeon Diver (LVL 1), True Dungeon Diver (LVL 1), White Mage (LVL 13)

Race: Human}

When I didn’t have white mage equipped, I truly looked miserable. I was hoping to work on Hero and Slave Master. I felt at the moment, those two had the greatest benefits when it came to helping the party.

“Your swordsman is up to level 15,” I explained to Lydia.

Miki almost tripped again. “Really? You can fight as a level 15 swordsman?”

Lydia nodded, her tail swishing excitedly and her ears almost wagging. Was a level 15 swordsman really that impressive? I mean, don’t get me wrong, Lydia was amazing, but that also had a lot to do with her unique race. Just as Miki had her high spiritual energy and her spirit fire, Lydia had her strength and speed. However, most of the adventurer’s were that level, and they spent their whole lives fighting to reach that level, so perhaps my view of leveling is a little skewed. Even now, the girls are benefiting from a 2X boost from my leveling.

I’d be jealous, but I got 2X leveling up from my dungeon points. I can equip two jobs at once, and my experience goes to both jobs, so it’s more like I have a 4X leveling up.

We finally made it to the Alchemist's shop without incident. The wooden sign with a flowery herb on it was swinging in the wind. Wait… I checked with my finger, there was wind this time. Compared to before, we were on the very outside of the town. The barrier to the town was only two houses away. It’d be difficult to surround us. The ghosts definitely wanted to lure us deeper into town by staying quiet, but I wouldn’t fall for it a second time.

The door creaked open and we stepped into a room rich with many smells. There was a layer of dust everywhere, and a few things have been knocked down over the years, but it looked relatively untouched.

“Holy circle!” I declared, and a circle rose out and covered just the size of the house.

I learned I could control the size by how much mana I put into the circle. I put enough into this circle that we’d be safe. It’d also last for a few hours, and by then I’d have all the mana restored and then some. In other words, in a fight of attrition with these ghosts, I could keep going all day.

“Lydia… went to the window and rested her head, looking very much like the species she's mixed with, especially with her tail swishing back and forth. I knew she was just keeping watch, but she very much looked like a cat looking at a bird outside.

“Ah! Master, I found the books.” Miki said, walking over with almost a bounce in her step.

Since I set her spiritualist job, she moved way easier now.

“What do they have?”

“All alchemy books. Bas-ics, In-ter-med-iate, Mas-ter… in-gred-ient guides, that’s all.”

I nodded. “Can’t be helped. Too much to expect some kind of jobs or skill guide books. Look through the books. Pull out recipes you think you can do. I want anything that looks useful. Healing. Mana. Spirit. And definitely, anything that could hurt a ghost.”

“M-m-master…” Lydia turned back, her face looking shaken.

“What is it?” I asked.

“A… puppet is outside.”