Chapter 76: I’m terrible at SP usage.

“Wait, is getting one Job so much of a difference?!” I asked, shocked at this revelation.

“I have only acquired two Jobs. [Mage], which is my current one, and [Caster], which is a pre-requisite for the former. Each Job has a separate level which allows you to gain certain stats depending on your specific Job. I apologize for not informing you about this earlier, Lady Hestia,” Tasianna apologized with a bow while walking beside me. “Coincidentally, my [Mage] is max leveled, so I do require a Job change.”

“That is unfortunate, Miss Tasianna, ha ha ha,” agreeing with Tasianna’s statement, Mister Kushlek’zar laughed merrily beside me. “Lady Hestia, do you remember seeing ‘Job Skills’ and ‘Job Spells’ in my status board? Certain advance Jobs give you skills and spells as long as you have it as your ‘Main Job’.”

“Mister Kushlek’zar, please, don’t imitate Tasianna. You don’t have to address me like that. I’m fine if you were to drop the ‘Lady’ party,” I insisted with exasperation. “Still…that does make me a bit envious.”

What felt like about two or three hours have passed since we departed east from Carine village. We were traversing towards the spot where we found Lorena, the place where we will start hunting the bandits that kidnapped the Carine villagers.

Now, I’m pretty sure most people would be more interested in what happened during the beginning, when Mister Kushlek’zar suddenly revealed that he knew that I was a dragon. Well, all I can say is that it started out pretty heated but ended quickly as if it was dowsed by water.

Sparking my inner fire, I was immediately agitated by his words, readying myself by preparing ten magic circles and raising my body temperature to the point that the very air around me was too hot for Mister Kushlek’zar to stay close to me. Although, I didn’t mean to, even [Spark Flame Veil] activated itself, creating a zone of explosive sparks to protect me, in case one of his companions attacked me with their weapons.

Although it looked like I was blazing to fight, I actually wanted to run away from them. I saw those guy’s stats, so I knew that my current dragonewt form wouldn’t cut it if they were to fight me all at once. My stats were inferior and I felt an instinctual fear from Mister Kushlek’zar.

Not only was this guy an experienced magician with skills I’ve never heard before but he was also a water mage. One of my biggest elemental weaknesses.

Sure, with Saori and Tasianna we definitely would have stood a chance against them, I think, but I’m not risking defeat here. I did, once again, make a promise with somebody so I felt compelled to escape the saurians and just wing it with the bandit subjugation with the three of us.

Pretty impulsive, right? Well, that was exactly what Saori told me after Mister Kushlek’zar explained to us that they had no ill intentions and were actually pretty elated to meet a dragon. In fact, their race, the saurians, considered levianewts and dragonewts as distant cousins due to their racial god Xohulotel.

The serpent and ancestral god of the saurians was described to me as a massive serpent creature that flew through the skies, bestowing the jungle where the saurians came from with bountiful blessings, until it one day disappeared, which was later explained to them that it ascended to godhood.

Now, if I took their “distant cousin” talk seriously then this Xohulotel couldn’t be a normal serpent. If you looked at Earth’s mythology on dragons then shouldn’t there be quite a few that fitted this description?

There were the North European Wyrm, Lindwurm, and Amphiptere, the Chinese Long, and the Japanese Ryuu. As Mister Kushlek’zar never laid eyes on this god and as we had to take into account that depiction of gods could change over the millennia, then Xohulotel’s draconic origin could be any of these dragon types.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that he was a native Peolyncian dragon or that Mister Kushlek’zar had a wrong idea of him, and that Xohulotel was just a flying serpent like a Quetzalcoatl or something.

Regardless, all that mattered was that the saurians weren’t our enemies. I had to quickly apologize to them as it would have felt too inappropriate if I hadn't.

Thankfully, building up the courage to dissolve that awkward situation wasn’t too bad. What awaited me afterwards for worst, and that was Soari’s scolding, telling me telling me that I acted far too recklessly and brash.

Verdammt nochmal, she gets scarier and scarier, the stronger she gets. Still, she’s right, I really should tone down my impulsiveness to avoid misunderstandings like with the wyverns…

“Sigh…,” I sighed in exasperation as I reflected on my behavior.

Noticing this, both Tasianna and Mister Kushlek’zar turned their heads, prompting the younger of the two to ask me with curiosity, “Hmm? Is something the matter, Hestia?”

“Ah, sorry about that. I was just thinking about what happened before. It's still irking me that you saw through my [Identity Blocker] so easily,” I complained to the elder scale.

I mean, [Identity Blocker] was level ten. TEN! It wasn’t the level that annoyed me, but the fact that my 1750 SP investment was completely fucking useless! I couldn’t level anymore, meaning I couldn’t earn more SP, until I evolve. This wouldn’t have been a big loss when I was younger, but it honestly hurts when I'm at this stage.

“Hmm? I believe I explained everything to you, correct?” Mister Kushlek’zar stated with a finger on his chin. “About how [Identity Blocker] was a skill suited for the hectic field of battle, while its use will deteriorate once everything calmed down. If I would have fought you, it would have taken me a few minutes to realize your true nature, Lady Dragoness, and in a fight to the death, every second is precious.”

“However, in that case, wouldn’t it be better to just completely hide your whole status board? It would be a contest between your [Identify] and my [Identity Blocker],” I argued back.

“Correct, Hestia. That is [Identity Blocker]’s true usage. Information is key and every second that you have to work without knowing what your opponent is planning is perilous. Besides sensitive titles or skills, only custom spells or abilities are worth hiding," Mister Kushlek’zar explained. “That is why, Miss Dragoness, I suggest that you and your companions issue an ID, post haste. If possible, get yourselves ones that allows you to hide certain information on them. Ahh, the wonders of Altrust’s technology astound me every time I witness them.”

After Mister Kushlek’zar correctly identified me as a dragon, he also did the same with Tasianna, exposing that she wasn’t a wind elf. While there wasn’t much evidence for him to prove Saori was also a shapeshifter, he still was suspicious about it.

Asking him how he guessed it, he explained to me that he had three reasons that pretty much confirmed his hypothesis that I wasn’t just a normal dragonewt.

First, it was something only a mage would be able to identify, and that would be my lack of [Mana Control], [Arcane Mind], and [Arcane Corruption Resistance]. Pretty embarrassing of me to forget this fact, but the thing is that besides for [Mana Control], the two latter skills were always fused with [Primal Magics], and [Draconic Magics] later on, ever since I was born.

[Mana Control] is needed to move your mana through your body, [Arcane Mind] allowed you to learn spells, and some sort of [Arcane Corruption Resistance] was something beginners like Saori always got after they started using magic to level up their skills. Without these, most people couldn’t become fully-fledged mages.

The second reason was my lack of “claws” and “fangs” skills. As I had the superior versions [Draconic Claws] and [Draconic Fangs], I couldn’t exactly show them as they, you guessed it, sounded pretty dragon-like, right?

Grazlahta, the red carnotaurus-looking saurian, mentioned how dangerous my claws looked. Only Dummköpfe or somebody who is not used to clawed beastmen wouldn’t have noticed it.

And the last reason was that my job was “None”. Mister Kushlek’zar was a 64-year-old mage who has probably taught one or two people in the art of magic before, so somebody like him would become suspicious when a 15-year-old were to appear with so many high-leveled skills without ever having taken a Job.

Let me make this clear that skills are hard to level up the higher they got. I’ve only been able to do this at an accelerated phase due to skill points and my monster evolutions. However, dragonewts couldn’t evolve normally, which begs the questions of how the hell I got so many skills.

Mister Kushlek’zar just explained to me that humanoids like him depended on the Job system to level their skills up faster. Changing Jobs not only granted skill proficiency but also stat increases. Pretty nifty, right?

…Which means, how much SP have I actually wasted here? I used 1750 SP to get [Identity Blocker Lv. 10]…but it proved to be completely useless. Now, how many easy to level up skills have I spent SP on that I could have easily leveled up with the Job system?

…Fucking hell. Fucking hell. Verdammte Scheiße…I think I need a moment, otherwise, I’ll explode here.

…ARGH, how much SP have I wasted, waaaaaaaaaaaaah!

“Anyways, anyways, so about the Job system…is it really that powerful as you made it to be?” I asked Mister Kushlek’zar, ignoring how much my pride as a gamer just broke into pieces…regardless of the fact that I never was the best to begin with.

Nodding in confirmation, Mister Kushlek’zar began his explanation, “If evolution is what makes monsters into the indomitable beings that they are, then the Job system is what allows humanoid races to catch up to them. Stats, skill proficiency, and Job-specific abilities and spells are what makes this system so important. A monster receiving the [Humanize] skill is rare, but I have heard you can receive a Job with it, young scale.”

“Mhmm,” I stared at him in wonder. “If that is true, then…doesn’t that mean that I can become even stronger without having to worry about evolving?”

“Ha ha ha, that is very much true, young scale,” Mister Kushlek’zar laughed merrily, finding joy in my excitement. “I have heard this from the people of the Republic of the Aquapolis, Caedhul. The levianewts, nagas, and merfolk there are all followers of the Goddess of Water, Plesia, so I can assure you that they are not twisting the truth around their tails.”

Enjoying how curious I was about it, the saurian continued laughing as he pulled out what seemed like a card from beneath his robes. Showing it to me, the first thing that I thought was that it looked exactly like an ID card that you would be able to find on Earth.

It was a cyan-colored card that was split into two sides. On the right side, you had his personal information like his name, level, Job, and age, while the left side was adorned by a beautiful emblem that depicted a trident jumping out of the ocean, piercing a fish in the sky.

From what I heard from Tasianna, an ID was a manatech like our party bracelets, a Peolyncian invention that is powered up by a mana battery to activate its System-like functions. Although I was unaware of how they were able to do it, I still found it pretty intriguing how you can fit anything into such a small, thin card.

I mean, this is a foreign technology in a world filled with mana and magic. Who wouldn’t want to know more about it?

“This is what an ID looks like. Everybody has a past, and I won’t push you to dispel my ignorance on it, Lady Dragoness. All you need to know is once you reach a town with access to a [Crystal of the Divine System], then you should issue IDs for all three of you. Your elven friend should know the importance,” directing his eyes to Tasianna, Mister Kushlek’zar gave her a nod, signaling to her if she understood it. “I would recommend the town Firwood to the north of Carine Village. It isn’t the friendliest place, but it gives you access to most combat-predominant guilds. Unfortunately for you, it doesn’t have a mages guild for you to register at, which is a shame as a fellow seeker of the arcane.”

Noticing a sudden change in the emblem of Mister Kushlek’zar ID, my curiosity was once again piqued by this new experience. Knowing that I could display my party bracelet’s party menu by pouring mana into it, I guessed that Mister Kushlek’zar was doing the same thing with his ID, as it was a manatech.

Driven by my want to learn, I reluctantly activated [Mana Eyes] for five seconds to grasp the mechanism of this object. What was revealed to me was well worth the headache that I received from activating this taxing skill.

Once Mister Kushlek’zar’s mana flowed into the ID, the blue energy quickly joined together into one mana condensed area, most likely the mana battery, before being released in one direction like a river. Enveloping the emblem, the mana started to escape from the card as it activated the IDs function, reforming it into a completely new emblem until all the mana was turned into small blue particles.

"As you already know, I am a mercenary, aside from my duty as a Tide Watcher. That means that I receive and accept Quests at the ‘Mercenary Guild’, a guild focused on dealing with humanoids. It can range from simply helping them with fetch requests to high risk Quests like these,” Mister Kushlek’zar said nonchalantly. “However, there is another guild similar to this called the ‘Hunters Guild’ which focuses on monster subjugation and material acquirement. Together with the mercenary guild, members of these two guilds are called ‘Adventurers’.”

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Looking at the emblem with [Mana Eyes] activated, I could only say that it was pretty simple compared to the other one. All the emblem showed was a lance, a sword, and an axe placed behind a shield. Noting really fancy or colorful. Was this the mercenary guild’s emblem?

“I suggest you join one of them, as they provide official ID registrations. Once we finish this Quest, you will probably receive some money, but you will need even more if you wish to stay in a town or city,” finally finished, Mister Kushlek’zar placed his ID back into his pocket and gave me a smile.

“Thank you very much, Mister Kushlek’zar. That was really informative,” I said with genuine gratitude. “Although, the first emblem on your ID…what was that?”

“Oh, you mean the trident one? That is the emblem of the 'Tide Watchers'. The trident flying out of the water represents how the members of this group would wander away from our homes, close to the water, to travel the world to bring justice. Piercing the fish is a symbol of us performing this justice by any means possible," he explained. "It actually isn't a saurian faction, but one created by Plesia’s faithful. Caedhul, the aquapolis, the center of Plesia’s faith, that is where our group originated from…oh, I think your wolfkin friend is calling for us to hurry up.”

As we were talking, we eventually reached the site where we found Lorena. Lead by Saori’s nose, we made it back here at a good pace without needing to hurry up as we did this morning. Compared to us, the saurians had to carry around all their equipment, which included their cooking and camping tools. Although I suggested to them that I could store everything in my storage magic, they refused.

They explained that this is all part of their traditions, especially the giant crocodile-looking saurian, named Akasht, who felt threatened by me. It was his job to act as the pack mule and he took pride in being able to carry all the luggage of his fellow companions.

The saurians also explained that rushing the rescue Quest was unnecessary, arguing that the threat of winter would prevent any large-scale mobilizations from people like bandits. It was already hard to prepare winter rations for ordinary folk, but it was even harder for lawless people as they had to gather and hunt for a large community of backstabbers and belligerent fighters.

Mister Kushlek’zar said, “Most of these men only have respect for their leader while having little loyalty towards the group. Winter is harsh and every man must fight for themselves.” According to him, it was normal for whole groups of bandits to fight over supplies, so it was very unlikely that a smart leader would relocate.

Saori argued with, “What about the kidnapped?” and “Shouldn’t they be aware that they are hunted?” but Mister Kushlek’zar quickly shot those down, too.

“As much as it pains me, the Tide Watchers cannot save everybody. We have our own duties and responsibilities so our safety must come first. Besides, I personally do not believe that our targets will move any time soon. You remember the mercenary group that Chief Colwyn mentioned? I have little faith that the bandits have taken no casualties.”

While I wasn’t satisfied with his answer, I had to admit that “hastes makes waste” as my dance instructor always told me. I promised Lorena, yes, but falling into a trap isn’t worth it. I could only hope that Mister Kushlek’zar was correct.

“Good work, Saori,” I told my friend. “I know we were here just this morning, but it’s still awesome that you found it in these woods. Your sense of smell must have gotten better, right?”

“Yeah, the more days pass, the better I get with detecting a certain scent among thousands. My new body is still growing, after all,” Saori said with contentment, proudly tapping her nose. “Although, that meant being in the village was a bit tiring. You understand, right?”

Grimacing, I nodded my head in agreement, “The stink…well, I guess without a proper irrigation system, they had to throw the poop and pee somewhere. I’d just wish they dug a hole like when we do our ‘business’.”

I had a pretty well-developed nose but Saori’s was even better, seeing as she had [Primal Senses] and the body of a cadejo, a giant wolf monster. Although it was unpleasant due to how stinky Carine village was, we couldn’t do anything else but to endure it.

I mean, we have to, uh, smell each other after our “business”, after all. It also doesn’t help that nearly all of Saori’s body was covered in fur. The amount of times that she had to ask Tasianna for water in a day is baffling.

Ahhh, having a good sense of smell is such a curse.

Anyway, Saori was able to detect remnants of Lorena’s scent around the area and managed to find a trail, which matched the vague directions that Lorena gave us. They weren’t detailed enough for us to work with, so having Saori’s nose on our side is a godsend.

We continued as far as we could until the sky started to become orange. Knowing full well that going any further today was foolish, all of us agreed on making camp for the night.

After taking out our cooking tools and a few ingredients we started preparing dinner, while the saurians prepared the tents. Luckily for us, Akasht carried an extra tent that was large enough for us three to fit inside, which means that we won’t be sleeping with a view of the stars tonight.

With the cooking finished, we began serving both warm tea and stew with meat kebab to everybody. Interesting to note, Tasianna was acting quite cheerful around the saurians, finding joy in the fact that every single one of the them was a follower of Plesia. Compared to her attitude with Lorena and in the villagers, I could only say it was day and night.

Finished filling a large stone bowl, which was larger than me, with stew, I carried it over to Akasht, the huge crocodile saurian.

…You’re wondering why I have such a huge bowl ready? Well, I was curious if I could eat from it in my dragon form, but that, unfortunately, wasn’t as effective as just eating it as a dragonewt.

Anyway, interested in starting a conversation with him, I spoke to Akasht as I handed him his meal, “Hey, Mister Akasht? Here is your stew. I hope you like it~” I said with a wide grin.

“Tha…nk you…, Mi…ss Dra…gon,” he thanked me slowly with a deep, bellowing voice. "…Mhmmm, gragk escliel saotl, higrm gomak es, shevak.”

Unable to understand what he just said, I could only tilt my head in confusion, however, that didn’t last long as one of the carnotaurus saurians came up to me, "Hey, young scale. He said, 'Mhmmm, this meal is nice, you are a good cook, Miss Dragon.’ and I have to agree too, cause this stuff is better than what Kush can make, ha!”

“Uhm, oh, Krim-Slak, right? Thank you for translating that for me,” I greeted the blue saurian. “Is what he just said in your language?”

“Kri, young scale. Sarcosilians like Akasht are as intelligent as any other saurians, but unfortunately, they don’t sound too smart because their throat can’t pronounce Common tongue words. That’s why he speaks ‘Aelulash’ with us. It’s easier for him,” the elder scale explained to me with a full mouth, continuously consuming more stew despite speaking with me.

Ew.

“‘Aelulash’? Is that your native tongue?” I asked, ignoring how disgusting his eating habits were.

“Kri, it’s the language of the continent that we came from. As you might have heard from Kush, we aren’t Altrust natives,” Krim-lak stated, dropping his spoon and emptying his mouth before speaking this time. “We saurians come from over the oceans of the Goddess, from a jungle-filled place we call ‘Aelozonia’. Trees everywhere, like the Belzac forest where you once were. We only got over to Altrust because a Caedhul expedition team found our spawn-elders there and didn’t just kill them off, ah ha ha ha!”

Slamming his tail on the ground, Krim-Slak continued with a merry laugh, “You know, I gotta thank your wolfkin friend. After Kush became an official priest for the Depths Guards, he lost his touch as a hunter and tracker. Even as a Tide Watcher, he’s still too rusty, so Saori really helped us out here.”

“Oh, I did wonder why his evasion and tracking skills were so high, despite being a mage. Then again, that’s the same thing for me,” I remarked with a confused frown. “Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you about your race, Krim-Slak. Mister Kushlek’zar is a ‘Raptosilian’ and Mister Akasht is a ‘Sarcosilian’, right?”

“Urgh, come on young scale, you could call me ‘mister’, too. Or at least ‘old scale’. Anything to show that I’m older than you,” Krim-Slak requested with a plea.

Sorry, Krim-Slak, but you lost most of my respect by speaking with your mouth full. I felt the spit hitting me, I justified to myself, staying silent to signal the blue saurian that I wouldn’t budge.

“Urgh…anyways, to answer your question, me and Grazlahta are ‘Carnosilians’. Raptorsilian, carnosilian, and sarcosilian are the three main races that comprise us saurians. All of us have our own roles in saurian society,” he explained. “Raptosilians like Kush are responsible for hunting small fry and being priests for our God Xohulotel. Carnosilians like me are builders and heavy-duty artisans, although, don’t you dare underestimate us in a battle, girl, we fight with the ferocity of Aelozonia’s monster-infested jungles.”

Roaring out a war cry, Krim-Slak flaunted his muscle and power, releasing a blood-chilling aura as he stared at me with a bestial focus. While I knew he wasn’t serious about it, it was still incredibly intimidating and suffocating when another predator glared at you with unrestrained bloodthirst, baring his dinosaur fangs right in front of my face.

I couldn’t do anything but ready my claws and return his glare with a burning gaze, commanding him to back off by heating up the air around me.

“…Gooooood, I like those warrior eyes of yours, Hestia. You don’t need to fight but don’t show weakness in front of others when they challenge you. Remember that when you enter the merc or hunter guild, aright? Hmph, scale-kins should look out for each other,” Krim-Slak tapped my shoulders with a menacing, but kind, grin.

Was this his attempt in trying to gain respect from me? If so, then I won’t fall for it. Sorry, Krim-Slak.

“Anyway, back to where I left off. The last are the sarcosilians, like Akasht over there,” he pointed at the slow eating hulk. “Transporters during peace, but unstoppable juggernauts during war. That’s why he didn’t agree with letting your carry his stuff. Those big guys take pride in being able to carry anything and everything. It’s even more meaningful when they carry the stuff of the priests they are assigned to guard.”

“Huh, you mean, Mister Kushlek’zar?” I asked, pointing at the elder scale mage who was merrily talking with Saori and Tasianna about cooking and tea making.

Nodding, Krim-slak continued, “Yeah, sarcosilians find the most joy if they are assigned to a raptorsilian priest, as we believe that serving a priest is akin to serving Plesia and Xohulotel. We carnosilians and sarcosilians aren’t the best mages, you see.”

“That so?” understanding the situation, I turned towards Akasht who finished enjoying his meal. “I’m really sorry about what I suggested back then, Mister Akasht. I didn’t know your circumstances.”

“It…is…alright, Mi…ss Drago…n,” he said slowly with a nod. “I carry…your stuff…if you…wa…nt.”

Allowing him to carry the massive stone bowl, I told him to put it next to the cauldron so I could give him a second serving. As I was about to follower the big guy, Krim-slak spoke to me, asking me for a favor, “Yo, young scale, if you get the chance after this Quest, do us old scales a favor and teach Kush this recipe. Guy isn’t the best cook and he tries his best to recreate Aelozonian dishes but without our continent’s spices, it ain’t gonna cut it. Save our tongues, young scale.”

Showing him a wry smile, all I could do was to slightly nod to his request, I’ll just leave this to Saori, I thought.

After filling Akasht’s bowl up, Mister Kushlek’zar suddenly called out for me to come to him. Sitting myself down on the cold ground, I waited for the elder scale to speak.

“Now, Hestia, I would first like to give my thanks for an impeccable dinner. ‘Never is a dinner dull, when one shares it with others’ especially when it can warm one up during these cold nights,” Mister Kushlek’zar started. “And now to the second part…as you’ve requested from me, let us begin this magic theory lecture.”

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