Chapter 86: Learning My First Dark Spells

POV Eliza

The next few days passed without any special events. During the day, I accompanied Winn into town and in the afternoon, practical training was scheduled. The only difference was that the practical lessons took place in a group and I joined this group. In addition to Tamina and me, there were other children aged between 10 and 15 in this group. In addition to physical activities, there were also lots of useful skills exercises that helped us to gather information. In addition to stealth, these included acting, bargain and disguise. Sense Presence was also practiced during the exercises in the city.

The physical activities consisted of many exercises I was already familiar with to increase physical skills such as body strengthening, climbing and body development. There were also combat exercises against wooden dolls and other people. As the majority of the community worked in secret, short swords and daggers were the preferred weapons, which suited me very well. I also wielded a spear, but with my low strength I wasn't able to reach advanced rank for long. Daggers, on the other hand, were a completely different story, as agility was the necessary characteristic here. Here I was taught many tricks to eliminate an opponent without having to kill him. The attacks were used to attack the opponent's vital points and thus incapacitate him. As a side effect, however, I learned to kill opponents with one hit. You couldn't do one without mentioning the other.

Master Freyna was away for several days at the time, so she wasn't present at meals and I didn't get any private training. I learned from the others that the older members were often away on missions and were sometimes out of town for several weeks. After six days, she came back in the evening and met with two of the adults in her office. They were Winn and Brinna, one of the human women. These three were the three most important members of the small group and always met after the missions. They formed the leadership team. I didn't see them again that evening.

The next day I had my next lesson with Master Freyna and this time the subject matter was a surprise.

“Would you like to learn spells for dark magic?” <Freyna>

“Höh? The offer comes as a surprise, but yes, I would love to.” <Eliza>

“This knowledge is very valuable, because you won't get it anywhere else here in Lightburgh. We have taught you a lot here because, like us, you worship the same goddess and have helped our Tamina, but I cannot teach you this knowledge for free. I trust you enough to even consider it, but my gut tells me I'm doing the right thing. And I've always been able to rely on my instincts. I hope you understand that.” <Freyna>

“I can understand that, very well indeed. So far, I haven't been able to show my appreciation either. What can I offer in exchange?” <Eliza>

“There are many things we are interested in and others we are always short of. The easiest is money. Alternatively, there are items that we can use. In particular, potions against poisoning and mana potions, as we can't easily obtain these ourselves. Non-lethal poisons such as sleeping poison or similar are also popular.” <Freyna>

“I should be able to get the items in dungeons. I'll just have to travel to Tyros first. Or I can do jobs for the Adventurers' Guild, but since I'm only rank D, they don't pay very well.” <Eliza>

“The dungeons are the quickest way to earn money, but also one of the most dangerous. But I assume you'll manage. Being rank D at your age is pretty impressive. How many dungeons do you know about?” <Freyna>

“I know the two nearby, the Nature Dungeon near Tyros and the Darkness Dungeon northwest of here. I've also heard of the Air Tower and the Earth Dungeon far to the south.” <Eliza>

“I know a few more. There's the lightning dungeon in the northern mountains. The fire dungeon is on a volcanic island in the western sea.” <Freyna>

“Thanks for the info, but I'll have to make do with the two nearby for the foreseeable future. What else can I offer?” <Eliza>

“Certain information is valuable to us. Depending on what it is, we can do business with it.” <Freyna>

“That's difficult. I haven't been around much, so I probably don't know anything new.” <Eliza>

“Don't say that, because you've already shared a valuable piece of information with us. You remember your rescue in Tyros? We made contact with the survivors and learned a few new things. This is exactly the kind of information we need.” <Freyna>

“I understand. I'll keep my eyes and ears open on the journeys I'm going to make.” <Eliza>

“I see we understand each other. The last thing that will help us are certain skills you can teach us. Or at least let us know how you've increased them. These are primarily certain resistances like poison or mind.” <Freyna>

“Oh dear, I only know one way to increase them. By passively activating them. I've often been poisoned or enchanted accordingly. Wait, no, I know another way. I've already improved resistances with a dungeon stele.” <Eliza>

“We already know that. But you need the resistance to be at the value to improve it.” <Freyna>

“I always thought that too, but I was able to improve one of my resistances without having the necessary level beforehand.” <Eliza>

“How is that? That's the first I've heard of it.” <Freyna>

“I already had the resistance before and the missing EXP was automatically deducted from my unused EXP. But that only works for certain resistances. I assume it's the ones that match the dungeon's motto. It also works for light resistance in the darkness dungeon. What I know for sure are the resistances of monster attacks that occur in the dungeon, such as poison in Tyros or mind in dankness dungeon. “ <Eliza>

“Interesting, we'll have to try that out. Sounds like part of our group will be making a trip to Tyros soon.” <Freyna>

“I could help there. I already know the dungeon there well and know what to expect. At least the first floors.” <Eliza>

“That would also help us and can be paid for in the form of knowledge.” <Freyna>

I was still negotiating with Master Freyna about what I could currently offer in exchange for spells. For my three mana potions, which I still have from the heroes, I got some basic spells. For the information about the survivors, I got two more. When I thought about what other information I could give away, I remembered the abandoned shrine in the hill. Master Freyna was very interested in this information, and even though my description of the location was vague, she wanted to look into it. Finally, Master Freyna explained to me what the advantages and disadvantages of dark magic were and what special features had to be taken into account.