Mia went over my mundane skills with me in excruciating detail. I zoned out for the most part, only really tuning in for the more interesting highlights. It had been quite a while since I had last checked any of them, so some of it was a bit surprising.
For instance, my Seduction skill had been getting quite a workout. Not that I had been actively trying, of course. My goal—particularly with Lynnria—had been entirely counter to that, but with my very specific skill load-out combined with the girl’s own natural inclinations, I had been failing spectacularly. As a result, I was on the cusp of becoming a Competent Seduction artist.
I had no doubt Arx would be overjoyed.
On the more exciting front, I had managed to unlock a couple of new skills. The coolest one was doubtlessly Flight. According to Mia, that was not a skill I had any natural access to, but since I had purchased that levitation spell from her, I now had the opportunity to practice it at my leisure. And I intended to.
The other skill-unlock was Safe Fall which, as the name implied, was the ability to fall while minimizing injury to yourself. And while it was nice to have, I just wished I could gain a skill like that without looking like a total idiot in the process. If someone ever bothered to write my biography, I had little doubt the title would be something like, The Subtle Art of the Pratfall: The Life of a Muppet.
Most of the rest of my skill improvements had to do with non-combat related activities with the main contenders drawing heavily from participating in casual conversations, traveling over large distances, and… well, sex to be blunt. Given my situation, I would have been surprised had I not, but the sheer number of sub-categories was a little much.
Also, having Mia gleefully read them out to me, all while struggling not to giggle like a cheerleader over a stolen love letter was not doing great things for my composure.
“Seated Reverse: 12. Standing Reverse… 9? Oh, we need some practice on that one, I think.” She paused to scribble something down in her notes. “Uh, let’s see… Standing Leg-Hoist: 14—“
I cleared my throat. Loudly. “I think I get the idea, Mia.”
“Aww…” She pouted. “But I was just about to get to the Oral section.”
“Skip it.”
“Breast fondl—“
“Skip that part, too.”
“What about clitoral stimulation? Surely you want to know—“
“Skip.”
“Sensual Massage?”
“Look, can we just get to my spells?”
“But Sensual Massage—makes me want to fuck—would pair wonderfully with The Hammer of Glory. I really think you should work on—“
“Mia, please…”
She sighed. “Oh, fine. Spoilsport. Here.”
With that, she held up a large, blue posterboard for me to peruse.
| Forgotten in Stillness [off] | 24 | Enemies forget me [passive] |
I immediately noted with some consternation that I had left my sole defensive ability turned off, and with a surreptitious flick of a mental switch, I toggled it back on. I was just lucky that my girls were still incapacitated, or I would have never heard the end of it. Also, there was the whole protecting-me-from-monsters thing, but that went without saying.
Mental note: always check your passives.
That done, I began skimming over the rest. There were few major jumps in ability that I could see, though my handy see-in-the-dark spell was beginning to rapidly out pace most of the others. When I first bought the thing, I never thought it would see so much more usage than the rest, though it should not have been surprising.
There is a reason blacksmiths spend most of their time making simple tools and nails, after all. Swords and armor have their own special romance, but they are nowhere near as useful as your basic, everyday hammer.
Even so, the spell could not compete with Windfall of the Thrall, the ‘always-on’ aura I had foolishly purchased which constantly ramped up both my companions’ luck and their sex drives. And since I could not turn it off, it was getting a near constant work-out. So that was understandable.
Meanwhile, Detonating Sap Varnish—by far my most devastating ‘attack’ spell and a personal favorite—was languishing barely out of the single digits, only just above Lust Transfer… Mark II. Ugh… It still grated on me that such an extremely situational ability had gotten the upgrade treatment, but that milk had long been forcibly ejected into space, never to be seen again.
That only left one other item of note.
“Oh, hey,” I remarked. “Looks like The Hammer ticked over into Low Intermediate.”
Mia blinked once before glancing down at the card. “Oh. I guess you’re right. Drat. I meant to prepare a notice for that.”
“Nobody’s perfect,” I assured her. “You can just tell me what that improves if you’d like.”
She sniffed. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. One more thing I’ll have to get used to. Anyway, your ability should be more controllable now, improving your subtlety with it. And it is slightly less resistible by unbound entities, allowing you to more easily improve your influence over them.”
“Uh… huh. I’m not sure how I feel about that last bit,” I admitted. “You make it sound kind of creepy.”
She only shrugged, unconcerned. “It is a tool like any other. If you do not want to use it that way, you do not have to.”
I sighed. That seemed reasonable enough. Although, it would certainly make me a lot more comfortable if I could lock that particular tool into a convenient gun cabinet somewhere.
It was about that time that Lynnria came limping back.
“Donum, I’ve found something you should see.”
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
Mia went over my mundane skills with me in excruciating detail. I zoned out for the most part, only really tuning in for the more interesting highlights. It had been quite a while since I had last checked any of them, so some of it was a bit surprising.
For instance, my Seduction skill had been getting quite a workout. Not that I had been actively trying, of course. My goal—particularly with Lynnria—had been entirely counter to that, but with my very specific skill load-out combined with the girl’s own natural inclinations, I had been failing spectacularly. As a result, I was on the cusp of becoming a Competent Seduction artist.
I had no doubt Arx would be overjoyed.
On the more exciting front, I had managed to unlock a couple of new skills. The coolest one was doubtlessly Flight. According to Mia, that was not a skill I had any natural access to, but since I had purchased that levitation spell from her, I now had the opportunity to practice it at my leisure. And I intended to.
The other skill-unlock was Safe Fall which, as the name implied, was the ability to fall while minimizing injury to yourself. And while it was nice to have, I just wished I could gain a skill like that without looking like a total idiot in the process. If someone ever bothered to write my biography, I had little doubt the title would be something like, The Subtle Art of the Pratfall: The Life of a Muppet.
Most of the rest of my skill improvements had to do with non-combat related activities with the main contenders drawing heavily from participating in casual conversations, traveling over large distances, and… well, sex to be blunt. Given my situation, I would have been surprised had I not, but the sheer number of sub-categories was a little much.
Also, having Mia gleefully read them out to me, all while struggling not to giggle like a cheerleader over a stolen love letter was not doing great things for my composure.
“Seated Reverse: 12. Standing Reverse… 9? Oh, we need some practice on that one, I think.” She paused to scribble something down in her notes. “Uh, let’s see… Standing Leg-Hoist: 14—“
I cleared my throat. Loudly. “I think I get the idea, Mia.”
“Aww…” She pouted. “But I was just about to get to the Oral section.”
“Skip it.”
“Breast fondl—“
“Skip that part, too.”
“What about clitoral stimulation? Surely you want to know—“
“Skip.”
“Sensual Massage?”
“Look, can we just get to my spells?”
“But Sensual Massage—makes me want to fuck—would pair wonderfully with The Hammer of Glory. I really think you should work on—“
“Mia, please…”
She sighed. “Oh, fine. Spoilsport. Here.”
With that, she held up a large, blue posterboard for me to peruse.
| Forgotten in Stillness [off] | 24 | Enemies forget me [passive] |
I immediately noted with some consternation that I had left my sole defensive ability turned off, and with a surreptitious flick of a mental switch, I toggled it back on. I was just lucky that my girls were still incapacitated, or I would have never heard the end of it. Also, there was the whole protecting-me-from-monsters thing, but that went without saying.
Mental note: always check your passives.
That done, I began skimming over the rest. There were few major jumps in ability that I could see, though my handy see-in-the-dark spell was beginning to rapidly out pace most of the others. When I first bought the thing, I never thought it would see so much more usage than the rest, though it should not have been surprising.
There is a reason blacksmiths spend most of their time making simple tools and nails, after all. Swords and armor have their own special romance, but they are nowhere near as useful as your basic, everyday hammer.
Even so, the spell could not compete with Windfall of the Thrall, the ‘always-on’ aura I had foolishly purchased which constantly ramped up both my companions’ luck and their sex drives. And since I could not turn it off, it was getting a near constant work-out. So that was understandable.
Meanwhile, Detonating Sap Varnish—by far my most devastating ‘attack’ spell and a personal favorite—was languishing barely out of the single digits, only just above Lust Transfer… Mark II. Ugh… It still grated on me that such an extremely situational ability had gotten the upgrade treatment, but that milk had long been forcibly ejected into space, never to be seen again.
That only left one other item of note.
“Oh, hey,” I remarked. “Looks like The Hammer ticked over into Low Intermediate.”
Mia blinked once before glancing down at the card. “Oh. I guess you’re right. Drat. I meant to prepare a notice for that.”
“Nobody’s perfect,” I assured her. “You can just tell me what that improves if you’d like.”
She sniffed. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. One more thing I’ll have to get used to. Anyway, your ability should be more controllable now, improving your subtlety with it. And it is slightly less resistible by unbound entities, allowing you to more easily improve your influence over them.”
“Uh… huh. I’m not sure how I feel about that last bit,” I admitted. “You make it sound kind of creepy.”
She only shrugged, unconcerned. “It is a tool like any other. If you do not want to use it that way, you do not have to.”
I sighed. That seemed reasonable enough. Although, it would certainly make me a lot more comfortable if I could lock that particular tool into a convenient gun cabinet somewhere.
It was about that time that Lynnria came limping back.
“Donum, I’ve found something you should see.”
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
