Hah…I can’t believe it took ages for me to try this out.

  Marcus let out a soft sigh as he dipped deeper in his bath. The water was warm, and so was the room that he was in. It made him feel somewhat dizzy, but mostly fuzzy.

  The smell was good, though. It was fragrant, refreshing, and somewhat alien, even after he tried this thing four times now. Sure, spending quite a hefty coin for this hotel suite was something Marcus thought was stupid earlier, but he didn’t regret it anymore.

  After all, if they were staying at Branburg for a bit longer than normal, it was probably worth it. Marcus and Stella weren’t on the constant move while they waited for her familiar to come back after all, so it was an opportunity to ‘taste’ the comforts of life better.

  This was one of those.

  Quite frankly, he’d never felt as clean as he was these days. Before hell, he was a poor commoner turned adventurer. At hell, he was a soldier covered in blood, sweat, and dust. After he emerged from it, he found himself in constant battle again after he imposed on himself a mission to hunt the Death God’s minions.

  Now that he eliminated two ministries of the Death God Cult, namely the Ministry of Fervent Service and the Ministry of Justified Acquisitions, he could lie down for a bit. He didn’t exactly get answers about how he’d eliminate Archbishop Selena after all, so it was pointless to go out after her.

  For now, he decided that he should seek ‘advice,’ or well, help. After all, if a problem couldn’t be solved with a sword, then it should be solvable with magecraft.

  His magecraft was…atrocious. If it was swordplay, it would be the equivalent of a soldier relying purely on strength, without tactics or finesse. Even someone like Marcus, who wasn’t trained in the art of masterful swordsmanship, won’t just swing his blade blindly.

  He needed to get better.

  He raised himself up from the water. Then, he stepped out, deciding that he had stayed way too long already. Work was still waiting for him, after all. Even now, he was still trying to practice how to become a better [Mage], especially since he now had the option for a new class advancement, which he gained after the battle at Eisenfeld.

  He gently wiped himself with his towel before covering himself with it. Looking at himself in the mirror, he decided that he should clean up his teeth for a bit. A toothbrush and toothpaste were still new to him, but after experimenting with them earlier, he was now getting the hang of it.

  He soon rinsed his mouth with water, then left. Once outside, he wasted no time to wear his clothes. He grabbed for himself a simple white shirt and a black vest. Then, he wore his coat on top of it. It was simple, professional, and not too peasant-looking.

  Considering Stella’s habits and the places the two often went to, Marcus learned that looking like a common soldier laid off from his job didn’t work. So, he took her advice to dress up with clothes that she picked for him earlier, instead of going out of his room with nothing but his shirt and pants.

  Once he looked half decent after he combed his hair a bit, Marcus took a quick glance at his pocket watch. It was already 08:00 hours, right on time when Stella usually emerged from her suite for the day.

  He met her in the hallway, her near-perfect elven face replaced with her equally pretty fake human face. There was something strange that he noticed in the woman’s face, though. She seemed quite excited, a bit too much in fact, but for what? He couldn’t pin it down. She was smiling way more radiantly than normal, so something must have happened.

  “Sir Marcus!” Stella beamed as she looked at him up and down. “Good morning. You look quite sharp today. I told you, you should always listen to my advice.”

  “Yeah, uhh, sure.” Marcus wasn’t in the mood to argue against her, so he just nodded along. “Morning too. What’s up?”

  Best to speed things up. I want to make a lot of progress with spell mastery today.

  Nearby, the Academy of Branburg offered services for practicing mages, both for its faculty, students, and alumni, and even private visitors. It included training facilities, private use of research equipment, and much more.

  It was why Stella helped Marcus apply for using one of its facilities to test out his magic. It would be ridiculous after all to practice in this hotel, and going outside of the city every day was a hassle. It wasn’t like he was trying to cast gigantic spells after all. He was still a beginner, and quite frankly, he didn’t want to go crazy again by just using an inordinate amount of mana to overwhelm his enemies.

  In any case, after Marcus’s innocent question, Stella perked up again. Her lips curled up into a mischievous smirk, a rarity for him to see.

  “Hmm…would you like to guess?”

  “Bah, come on, just say it.”

  “Aww, you’re always no fun, Sir Marcus.”

  Marcus facepalmed. Why was she always so playful with him? He truly didn’t understand it. The only times he was playful with her were when she was so down that Marcus would be willing to play the clown for a little bit. Now though, she was just playing silly mind games with him. It was both quite annoying and endearing.

  “Look, if I were interested in guessing, I’d have guessed already.”

  “You, Sir Marcus, will not live a happy life if you keep up with that attitude.”

  “Fine…what, your familiar finally talked to you?”

  “Hmm…close, but guess again!”

  “I see. She’s fully back, isn’t she?”

  “Yup! Sir Marcus, you’re quite the astute guy, huh?”

  It's so obvious. Why are you acting like it's a grand discovery?

  Even he snorted from that. She sounded so stupid, yet she somehow didn’t fail at amusing him a bit. The fact that she even managed to affect him made him internally scoff. He was getting way too soft.

  “Alright. Can I see her? You can come out now, Lady Fox Spirit?”

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  “Hmph, did you forget her name?”

  “...Sirius?”

  “Truly a bummer. It’s ‘Siris,’ alright? S-I-R-I-S.” Right then, the fully corporeal fox spirit flew out of Stella’s purse. She quickly flew high enough that she was at Marcus’s eye level while she crossed her arms. “Now, I can finally have a good look at you. Not bad, if I do say so myself.”

  It felt like he was just judged by his mother. It didn’t help that Siris’s mature tone was quite…‘motherly’ for a lack of a better word. Quite frankly, it felt like she was the adult in between two children acting like adults.

  “So that’s what a great spirit looks like,” Marcus pointed out. “In flesh.”

  Siris smugly smiled. “I wouldn’t say ‘in flesh,’ but that’s close enough.”

  “You ma'am sure are lively.” Marcus turned to Stella, noticing her pleased smile. “Heh, this certainly makes me feel like it was all worth it.”

  “I can’t thank you enough for it, Sir Marcus,” Stella happily said. “We’ve talked a lot already, and, well, that definitely took a lot off my shoulders. I feel less lonely now!”

  Marcus felt like he was punched in the gut. Did she feel lonely all this time while with him? Damn, he truly needed to work on his social skills.

  “...Eh…heh…heh, that’s good to hear,” Marcus said bitterly, disappointed at discovering that someone in his company felt that lonely.

  “Now, now, raise your head, boy,” Siris suddenly said.

  “I’m not a boy. Call me Marcus. And please remove the ‘Sir.’”

  “Hmph. Fine. Sir Marcus, you should raise your head all the time, okay? I believe you said the same to Stella all the time.”

  I said please remove the goddamned ‘Sir’ part.

  Whatever.

  “What’s the deal with you two today anyway?” Marcus asked. “If you guys are planning for a reunion, I can just go to my daily practice on my own. Wouldn’t want to disturb you two after all.”

  “My, did you really think that’s what I have in mind today? No, I am quite, quite curious about you, young man.” Siris zoomed close to Marcus, which made him step away a bit. “Today, I wish to grant you your reward for saving the damsel in distress behind me!”

  “Huh? W-what?!” Stella, who was watching the two with amusement, suddenly turned red.

  “Uhh…even I wouldn’t describe her that way.” Marcus looked away. “Though, maybe it is close.”

  “It absolutely is not!” Stella insisted.

  Siris didn’t seem to mind Stella’s outburst, instead continuing with her speech. “While it was hard to observe you well during my weakened state, I have seen your spellcasting abilities.”

  She then flew close to Marcus’s left ear, whispering slowly.

  “You, I think, will be a wonderful mage if you can just cast your spells better.” Siris giggled. “Quite frankly, you remind me of Stella’s early days.”

  “I doubt that I have her level of mana reserves. Well…not now at least.”

  Ever since Stella reached level 60 and ascended to platinum rank, the bonuses from her [Saint] class greatly increased. During the battle at Eisenfeld, stat-wise, Marcus was superior in magic. Now, that wasn’t the case anymore.

  In total, Marcus’s [Magic] stat value was 424. Stella, on the other hand, now had 600 total. The numbers were equally lopsided now with their [Dexterity] stats. It was a reminder that he was with a [Saint] here, not a normal person, but the appointed hero by the goddess of life herself. She more than doubled her magical strength just by rising by one rank.

  “Hmm…now that you say that,” Siris turned around, looking at Stella. “You are indeed letting out quite a lot of mana now. Even in your exhausted state.”

  “Uh, uhm…” Stella played with her fingers. “Well, I reached platinum rank now. Marcus said that my stats are better now.”

  “That’s a gross understatement.” Marcus said, a touch bit jealous. “But, you’ve worked for it, so that’s well-deserved. I’m sure you’ll use it for a lot more good.”

  “I sure hope so.” Stella tried to smile again.

  “Well then, I better help you out fast,” Siris said to Marcus. “Where will you train today? I really can't wait! I have a new apprentice in my wing!”

  [Name: Marcus Lieberman]

  [Age: 18]

  [Race: Human]

  [Class: Hell Ranger (Lv 100), Mage (Lv 15)]

  [Rank: Diamond]

  [Strength: 314 + 198]

  [Vitality: 305 + 198]

  [Magic: 312 + 112]

  [Perception: 327 + 518]

  [Speed: 320 + 518]

  [Dexterity: 310 + 112]

  [Class Skills: (Hell Ranger: Swift Blade, Absolute Blaze, Hellfire Aura, Blink Step, Healing Aura, Pinpoint Hardening, Mass Surveillance, Unseen Veil) (Mage: Intermediate Elemental Magic, Magic Missiles, Weak Dispel)]

  [General Skills: Diamond Mana Core, Identify, Deception, Levitation, Advanced Equipment Repair]

  After Marcus finished taking a cursory look at his current stats, he gave out a soft sigh. It was once so impressive, but now it was starting to look sad compared to what Stella had.

  They were now at a private training hall inside the academy, which was cleared for an hour, which was what Marcus needed right now, because his [Mage] skills were still quite weak. He was truly only carried forward by his high-level’s [Magic] stats.

  The only good news was that he had a lot of progress with his spells. He already had quite the sizable starting repertoire. All of the spells he had at the moment were shamelessly copied from Stella’s grimoire, though. He was planning to expand it further, maybe find a way to make it better once he had a better understanding of magic theory. But for now, his main goal was raising the mastery of his spells.

  He decided to summon his grimoire. It was a bit strange at first, but he was used to it now. His grimoire, unfortunately, wasn’t grand or anything; it was just a thin book at the moment.

  When he opened it, the spells available to him showed up from each page:

  [Ignite]: 90% Mastery

  [Blow]: 82% Mastery

  [Rock Throw]: 83% Mastery

  [Cleaning Vortex]: 80% Mastery

  [Fireball]: 35% Mastery

  [Rock Barrage]: 45% Mastery

  And so on.

  As one could see, Marcus’s mastery of more simple, mostly utility spells was now quite decent. According to Stella, the closer you were to eighty and ninety percent, the harder it was to improve it further. When you operate with outdated and badly designed references for spell formulas, mastering it to achieve maximum efficiency and effect would be even more difficult.

  Even Stella had quite a number of spells stuck at 90% mastery. That meant, he was now a somewhat useful [Mage].

  Still, at the moment, Marcus was far behind. His second most important spell after [Cleaning Vortex]—[Rock Barrage] was only at 45% mastery.

  That was atrocious.

  “Alright!” Siris started, flying around the hall as she created a bunch of ice golems in front of Marcus. “We’re going to start with this. I need you to attack my creations!”

  “Is this for appraising my skill?” Marcus asked as he pulled out his wand.

  “Yes! I wish to see how well you invoke your spell circles. Then, I’ll find out how we can improve that.”

  “I see.”

  I better impress her if I want to ask questions later about that Archbishop.

  Marcus steeled himself as he calmly aimed his wand at the ominous-looking ice golems.

  “Sir Marcus! You can do it!” Stella cheered from behind. “Lady Siris isn’t that bad of a teacher, so just do your best and she’ll give you a passing score.”

  “...Thanks,” Marcus replied. “Here goes nothing. [Rock Barrage].”