Three seconds. Three seconds was all it took to knock out an annoying chatterbox. Most of it was an accident though. She came running up to me and I was merely trying to restrain her. However, in my attempt to do so, I ended up tripping her which caused her to hit the ground and somehow knock herself out, not that I am complaining.  

I look over at Anne and try to explain but she just cuts me off.  

“It’s all right. Any idiot can tell that was an accident. I'll drag her back to her room, maybe she will be less likely to charge at you now.”  

With one simple fluid motion as if it was as easy as carrying an empty basket, Anne lifts up the unconscious Laura by her middle and carries her off to her bed. A moment later Clara walked up to me with a younger version of her in tow.  

“Well, that was kind of unexpected. I knew she was gonna attack you again, just didn’t know you would knock her out...scary”  

“It was an accident.”  

“Ok, whatever you say. Anyway, this is my kid sister Emilia. She works at the guild whenever she feels good enough.”  

Emilia attempts to hide behind her sister. She has the same facial features but is shorter and more frail-looking and has longer hair. Her shyness also brings out her cuteness.  

“sorry about that she is shy around people. She usually works the off-hours at the guild and does our paperwork.”  

“It’s all alright. I'm sure she will get used to me. I am going to call it a night and head to my room now.”  

With that said, I head to my room and dress down to something comfortable. Since I will not be working this next week, I need to find something to occupy my time with. though I could start taking requests whenever I want, I do want to use this week to relax.  

While sitting on the bed a thought occurs to me. I need more utility spells other than just my fireball spells and I could also work on my hexes and curses. I should use this week broadening my repertoire of spells. I would also need to create a spellbook so I can prepare certain spells each morning easier. That is one of the cons of using arcane magic. I should also try and create classifications or schools for each type of spell. With my goal in mind, I spend the rest of my evening making a plan for myself to work on for the week.  

The next morning, I get up and go downstairs for breakfast. I sat down at the table and spot Laura eating her breakfast. She glanced up at me while eating a piece of toast and turned a shade of red before looking back down while avoiding eye contact. I guess I had a bigger impact on her than I thought.  

My morning consisted of me checking into the two places I commissioned my clothes and polearm from. I told them I would be out for about seven days and would pick it up then. I also wandered around the various shops looking for a book I could use to write my spells in. That last one was a bit as most of the merchants were not carrying anything like that. I did eventually find something that would suit my needs for the moment. It was just a small leather-bound journal of sorts with about twenty or so pages in it.  

I decided it would be best to practice my spells in the forest, preferably near my home if that was an option. I didn’t want to destroy anything plus I also just didn’t want people gaping at me while I most likely failed. I bought something for lunch and wandered towards the exit to town. A guard tried to stop and question me, but I simply flashed him my tags and walked on as he just stood there with a stupefied look.  

After about an hour of trekking through the woods I finally came across my old home. Walking inside brought me some peace of mind, it felt nice to be back home. After unloading some of my gear, I sat down at my desk to figure out how to move forward.  

I found some flaws in my magic skills with that fight back in the jungle. I have a movement spell with my shadowstep, but I need more than just that. I got lucky with my cheap shot spell but I need to work harder to cover any gaps I may have. Looking back through my spell list the only ones I really use are my curse fireball and normal fireball spell, healing, and shadowstep. I know more spells than this but I seem to just fall back on these spells. Opening my new spellbook, I start to write down the spells I know and their rune arrays for easy memorization.  

Fireball is a third level spell since it requires three rune arrays to cast. I don’t know what classification or school I should label it as for right now so I will leave that blank. I spend the next few minutes drawing the spell arrays into the book, each circle taking a page. My curse fireball is an enhancement and adds an additional spell array increasing my fireball to level four if I use it. I wonder if I just created my own metamagic.  

My healing spell isn't anything special as it isn't an arcane spell but just a mana based one so I will skip that one. Shadowstep is a weird one, ever since I tweaked it, it should be a sixth level spell. Because I fused my dark and space elements into it, it has become an at-will spell. Looking through my spellbook made me realize just how lacking I truly am. I need to fix this ASAP.  

I spent the day coming up with spell Ideas and possible creation methods for said spells. I added plenty of utility spells to aid me when in combat against opponents who are stronger, outnumber me or both. As the day came to an end, I went back to my old bed and fell asleep.  

.  

.  

.  

Before I knew it, I had spent an entire week in the forest training. I was surprised no one had found me considering how much noise I was making with some of my spells. I felt really good about the spells I had created. There were times when I blew myself up when I messed up a spell array. I had accidentally frozen my hand testing out a fireball spell as well. I had also tested a spell on an orc one time, but that only ended up charming the orc.  

I found a solution to my physical defense. It came in two flavors; A spell I called mage armor which coats me in a thick coating of arcane mana and another I call shield, which creates a floating shield that I can direct with my mind. Mage armor is really good against physical attacks while the shield is better suited for small projectiles and magic attacks. Both of these are level one spells since they only require one spell array, which I love, make casting them easily.  

I then dabbled a bit in some illusions and came up with a spell that can duplicate myself up to a maximum of eight copies now. They can't actually do anything, but they copy all of my movements and if I cast a spell, they cast one too except theirs is an illusion. I dubbed that one mirror image as I thought it was fitting, plus it reminds me of a game back in my old world.  

The next spell I created is Bestow Hex. This one is pretty nasty as it can cause all kinds of complications to someone. While the hex isn't as strong as a curse, it can still do some serious damage if used correctly. This spell is a level four spell so I can only imagine what level a bestow curse spell would be like.  

Now I get to my two big ones. The first one is a spell that creates an anti-magic field in a five-meter radius that follows me. I can have the spell last as long as 14 hours or dispel it manually. The two cons about this spell are, I can't cast any spells and it doesn’t actually dispel any spells only suppresses them. But I created it mainly to counter the mage types.   

My second spell is another metamagic spell. I call it empowered fireball. What this bad boy basically does is replaces the air around my target into C2H2 and O3, also known as acetylene and ozone. Once a fireball comes into contact with that, everything in about 5 to 6-meter radius will practically be instantly incinerated as the temperature probably exceeds over 5000 deg Celsius. Don’t know for sure but I do know how hot acetylene torches using regular oxygen burn, so this is all guesswork. That spell also is a level six spell as I need three more arrays just to create and replace the air in the said area. My spell that removes all oxygen would be a level four spell because it only affects my surrounds from about one meter from me.  

With my improved spell list completed, I decided to head back into town. Tomorrow I start mercenary work and do any bidding the guild master may have for me. Going to kind of miss my old house, but there is something about living in town that is enjoyable.  

I was walking back up to the town gate when I noticed a guard was running towards me. I was a bit cautious when I saw this but just continued on my way. When he got close enough to me, he called out to me. I noticed it was the same guard that saw me off when I left.  

“You Lynn? Mithril rank right? Guild master told me to send you his way as soon as you returned.”  

I only nodded in response and headed towards the guild.  

Arriving at the guild, I noticed everything was very busy. There were large groups of mercenaries huddled around tables looking at what I could see were maps. They were all in conversation with each other.  

I notice some sudden movement off to the side and looking over I notice it is Emilia rushing towards me.  

“Lynn! Please, you got to help my sister!”  

“Whoa! First, calm down, then tell me what's up.”  

She takes a moment to calm her nerves before speaking again.  

“It's Clara. Something bad happened to her. Please, I need your help.”  

“This wouldn’t have something to with the guild master calling for me would it?”  

“Yes, Most likely.”  

“Alright let me go see him first then”  

Seemingly satisfied with my answer Emilia returns to the reception area. Proceeding up the stairs I arrive at the guild master's office and give it a knock.  

“Come in!”  

Walking in I can see both Arlan and Nilrem around the table with a map. There are also a few other mercenaries standing around the table as well. Walking up to the table I notice I am getting a glare from an ogre of a woman. Finally noticing me, Arlan looks up and greets me.  

“Good! Lynn you here. I was starting to wonder where you went.”  

Unable to contain herself any more the ogre finally speaks up.  

“Why is there a child in this meeting?”  

“Thania, that is Lynn. She is a new mithril rank. I called her in.”  

“When did we start handing out mithril rankings to little nobles?”  

“Thania! Enough! You have been fighting me all day on decisions. She has earned her ranking fairly, verified by myself and Nilrem. Now can we get back to the topic at hand?”  

I don’t know what history the ogre woman Thania and Arlan have, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize that she is a troublesome woman. After everything settled down Arlan spoke back up.  

“All right since everyone is here, I’ll go over everything and our plan of action.”  

“five days ago, we lost contact with a secondary scouting party. They were investigating the disappearance of a mithril ranking mercenary named Zaber on the eighth floor of the dungeon. His disappearance is troubling since he was one of our top scouts.”  

Arlan seemed to be explaining stuff just for my sake as it seems everyone here already knows what is going on.  

“We sent out a rescue party to track and find the missing scouts and they too seemed to have disappeared two days ago. As most of you know one of the members of that rescue party is Clara who as you know works at our reception area. Her sister put up some money to find and rescue her. Since Clara is a dear member of our guild, I forked out the rest of the money needed for a request like this.”  

“I want to create a group using two of our best mithril ranks, Lynn and Thania, to go with some gold ranks and find them. You guys will depart tomorrow early in the morning, meet up will be in front of the dungeon. Now the rescue party may be fine and just haven't contacted us, but considering the circumstances, we can't take any chances. Assume the worst, hope for the best. Dismissed!”  

So now that explains Emilia’s actions. She was so shy when we first met but now that her sister is in trouble nothing matters to her except her sister's safety. Well, this is good then I can finally test out my new gear once I go pick it up.  

After leaving the guild I stopped by the blacksmith and picked up my polearm. The thing was really cool looking and after giving it a few practice swings, I was satisfied with it. Storing it in my inventory, I left the store.  

My next stop was the tailor where I would pick up my armor. Opening the door rang the little bell they had on the door. A women's voice echoed out from the back.  

“Be with you in a moment!”  

Waiting for just a bit the woman came out from the back and beamed at me when she saw me.  

“OOH! You're here good! I had so much fun making your clothes. I never made anything like them before, so I can't wait to see them on you.”  

She rushed me into a changing room and handed me my clothes. It took several minutes to piece together all my stuff correctly but once I did, I found it was quite comfortable. I stepped out and the woman just stared at me as if admiring a piece of art.  

“You look amazing! I was really worried about how it would turn out but you look stunning. If you were a magey type you could be like a dark sorceress.”  

Since she went through all this work for me, I decided to humor her a bit and I struck mage like pose and conjured a black fireball in both hands. Doing so garnered a loud gasp with more eye twinkling.  

“Oh, goddess! You really look amazing now you're like a....black sorceress! Yes, I'll call you the Black Sorceress!”  

I can only give a forced smile as I was dubbed a new nickname. Finally getting her to calm down I paid for my outfit which came to 15 silvers even. With my business complete, I returned to my dorm to prepare for tomorrow’s job.