Moments went by with the green screen hovering over the much more harmless slimes. I still stared at it in disbelief, not moving as much as a muscle. Not only had Cilia reminded me of my quest, she had also given me a new one, one without even a pitiful excuse for a reward.

“You get to use magic, she says…”
「You should totally use magic, you know?」Cilia’s voice rang in my ears.「It is awesome!」
“I know.”
「You never get a chance like this again!」
“I know!”
“What are you waiting for,” the target of my quest asked. “Just stab them with the spear. I will be right here.”
I slowly turned around to face him. “Ofris?”
“What is it?”
“My goddess has an important task for me.”
“Your goddess…”
“She will reward me with magic when I fulfill it.”
“Magic? That is impressive. Not many get to use it.”
I moved closer to him, “Will you help me?”
“Sure thing,” he answered before thinking, “What do I need to do?”
“Just stand still for now and close your eyes.”
“I don’t get how that will help you, but sure.”

Ofris spent a moment thinking about my weird request, then he closed his eyes and stood relaxed. Relaxed enough for me to grab his hand and place my lips on it. Nothing happened.

“Damn it…”
“What is it?!”
“She wants me to kiss you,” I explained, more than a little agitated.
He opened his eyes in surprise, “Kiss me?”
“She has been bugging me about it for days. When I do it I get magic and she will change my hair and teach me how to dance.”
“... she will teach you how to dance,” he asked, clearly not believing a word I said.
“I have no idea …”
Ofris sighed, then presented his cheek like a target practice. “This should be enough, right?”

I couldn’t help but hesitate. This situation was too awkward and even more so after each second passing by. Sighing, I took all my courage and gave him a quick peck. This time I was rewarded. A green screen blocked Ofris away, informing me of my quest progress, and a wave of heat washed over my ears and tail.

 

『Quest Completed: A Maiden in Love 5/5

Rewards:
⇒Skillset: Novice Magic (Fox Edition)
⇒Skillset: Dancing (Fox Edition)
⇒Skill: Item Box (Fox Edition)
⇒Title: A Fox’s Charm』

 

“You were telling the truth?!”
“Of course I was! I never wanted to kiss you!”

Ofris went silent. He looked hurt for some reason, even though I never even gave him the slightest bit of ‘that’ kind of attention. He was like a father to me, like a rough, distant father that yet managed to do his best to keep me safe and fed. I owed him for that.

“I’m sorry…” I quickly apologized.
“Nevermind it.” He sighed. “So you can use magic now?”
“I think so…”

It was only a single word, but a part of me hesitated to say it. I had been through hell and back during the last week and I desperately needed that to show somehow. I needed my rewards, my reasons to keep going. And magic? That was a giant step in the right direction.

“Status.”

 

『Status

—Bio—
Name: Rika
Gender: Female
Race: Beastkin; Sub-Race: Fox
Class: Magician
Level: 15 - 13% EXP

—Attributes—
HP: 135
MP: 145
Strength: 8
Vitality: 27
Spirit: 34
Intelligence: 54
Dexterity: 14
Physical Attack: 22 (+0)
Magical Attack: 108 (+0)
Physical Defense: 41 (+0)
Magical Defense: 61 (+0)

—Magic and Skills—
⇒Novice Magic (Fox Edition)
Foxfire, Fiery Shield, Charm, Illusion, Foxy Care

⇒Advanced Magic
Item Box (Fox Edition)

⇒Dancing (Fox Edition)
Foxtrott, Foxmenco, Foxy Belly Dance, Foxy Tango, Vixen's Waltz, Vixen's Pole

⇒Battle Dance:
Fiery Ballet』

 

My eyes went wide as I read through line after line. I had become stronger by a lot, and apparently more intelligent as well, if it even worked that way. It was all thanks to defeating that one primeval monster. But the best improvement came without question from kissing Ofris. I had gained five magic spells from that alone!

Foxfire was the most important magic spell of them all. For a cost of fifteen mana I could summon a bread and butter fire spell, though it was clearly meant for summoning whole swarms of them. Fiery Shield did exactly the same thing, only that it was meant for protecting somebody instead.

 

『Foxfire: Summons x small balls of fire to attack one or multiple opponents. Deals fire and holy damage.

Mana cost: 15 + 5 for each additional Foxfire summoned.』

『Fiery Shield: Sends a Foxfire to guard a target of your choice.

Mana cost: 15 + 5 for each additional Foxfire summoned.』

 

Charm looked like something I would never use at first. My whole being spoke against charming my enemies. But not only would the spell disable enemies from defending themself probably, but it could also be used on friendly targets for a huge buff. Both effects were stacking as well, making them look quite strong.

 

『Charm: Allures your target

When cast on enemies: If successful lowers the target's defensive capabilities and temporarily increases its attraction to the caster.
When used on a friendly target: Decreases effects of exhaustion and general debuffs and increases natural mana and health regeneration for 1 hour.

Can be cast multiple times for a stacking effect. Chance to affect the target's memory. Voiceless activation: Blow a kiss or Blink Thrice. Mana cost: 30.』

 

Illusion seemed more or less useless, but it would help me hide my real identity to some extent. Maybe a stronger version of it would be more useful.

 

『Illusion: Casts an illusion over a part of your body, hiding it from view for 1 hour.

Mana cost: 30.』

 

Foxy Care, the last of my magic spells, seemed to be the worst of my spells by far - when it came to using it. It required me to get physical with my target, which was something I just couldn’t see myself doing to anyone but family and maybe friends. Sadly, I could already see myself do it anyway, to save myself or others.

 

『Foxy Care: Lick target or stroke it with your tail for a small healing effect. Decreases likelihood of infection and slows bleeding.

Channeling Spell: Effect increases with cast duration.

Mana Cost: 1 per second.』

 

The dance choreographies were plain useless to me. I didn’t see myself dancing anytime soon, especially with the lack of real music in this world - not that I had seen anybody play an instrument yet. But there was a single dance routine that promised something good for me: even more magic!

 

『Fiery Ballet: While gracefully jumping and dancing around the battlefield, summon an increasing number of Foxfires.

Summons 1 homing Foxfire for each spinning circle, up to 5. This limit resets when alternated with non-spinning dance moves.

Mana cost: 10. Consumes an additional 3 mana for each Foxfire summoned.』

 

“Rika?” I heard Ofris ask.
“Yes!”
“You have been out of it for a minute. Are you okay?”
“I have never been better! Magic is awesome!”
“She really gave you magic?”
“She did!”

Showing was better than telling, so I simply turned around and used my very first magic, aiming right into the center of the group.

“Foxfire!” I called out.

Five balls of fire appeared all around me, gently embracing me with their heat. Each Foxfire was barely half as big as a soccer ball individually and came with a red base and white fire as a tip, making them look like detached fox tails. If what I read was true, this meant a mixture of fire and holy magic.

The Foxfire hovered around me for a few seconds before searching for an opponent each and impacting with loud hisses. Four slimes immediately lost their shapes, turning into piles of goo, with only a particularly large one surviving the strike. I immediately sent a second foxfire after it.

“Foxfire!”

After defeating the five slimes and making sure no other ones were attacking, I quickly turned around to face Ofris only to find him staring at me in disbelief.

“What is it?”
“You don’t use an invocation?”
“Invo- what?”
“You just say the word?”
“It doesn’t say it needs anything else.”

Ofris seemed to think about what had just told him, then he just sighed. 

“Make sure you don’t tell Sahria about it.” He told me. “She would hate being outdone like that.”
“I will totally tell her.”
He sighed once again, then pointed towards the slimes. “How many do you think you can kill with your mana?”
It took me a second to do the math. “Sixteen, I think. More if I dance.”
“Dance…”

I turned towards the slimes and just showed him. “Fiery Ballet.”

I felt my mana drain once again as I began to spin around, once, then twice and thrice, then made a few steps forward and spun again. Again and again I repeated this performance until I could no longer keep it up again. I still had mana, that wasn’t the issue, but I was too dizzy to even think about keeping up with my silly dance. Ofris quickly caught the staggering me.

The slimes hadn’t liked this dance at all. Dozens of them laid on the ground, spread out like way too old pizza dough. And the experience points? They had just come rolling in like crazy. Two green screens rewarded me for my silly dance performance.

 

『Level Up! Level 16!

+5 Vitality
+5 Spirit
+4 Intelligence』

『Level Up! Level 17!

+4 Vitality
+1 Strength
+4 Spirit
+4 Intelligence
+2 Dexterity』

 

“What do you think?” I gleefully asked for Ofris' attention.
“You…”
“Isn’t it awesome! It’s real magic!”
“Never tell Sahria.”

I would do exactly that.