Mistress Of The Evil Forest

Case 42: Joint practical class – Curtain falls.

[You have defeated a Lv.52 Demon - Balnok]

[Proficiency achieved a certain level]

[Being: Aurora Lv.37 has become Lv.42]

[5 skill points acquired]

[Skill proficiency achieved a certain level]

[Skill: Domination Lv.3 has become Lv.4]

[Achievement unlocked: Level 40]

[3 skill points acquired]

[Achievement unlocked: Balnok the Crucifier]

[2 skill points acquired]

Under the mask, Aurora smiles contently, seeing the windows that just popped up. 

THUD—!!

Balnok's giant, headless, legless body falls to the ground once again, this time quickly turning into grey dust and disappearing with the wind. Her job here is officially done.

''You—''

Aurora teleports away, ignoring Claudia's urgent voice.

The scene changes, and she arrives right beside Skely.

''Good job, Skely.'' Aurora gives the bone mage a thumbs up. ''Let's go back first.''

''Alright, Lady Aurora.''

Skely teleports both of them back to his cave.

*****

''You're back~!''

In addition to Ariel, it seems like Mister Slen is also here, and Smiley has woken up as well.

''How'd it go?''

''Phew...'' I put the galaxy mask on the table and let out a sigh of relief. ''It went well.''

''Hm~''

Come here, little dog, let me pet you... Or not, don't jump on my lap, you're too big now.

''In any case, congratulations on defeating the demon, Lady Aurora.''

''You contributed a lot, too.''

''Well...''

It's true. I wanted a final safeguard in case I wouldn't be able to finish the demon with my MP, so I had Skely preparing a sniping attack outside of the bounds. That snap I did at the end was, well, just to be cool. I actually sent a telepathy to him.

As to why I was able to send a message that far, it's because Mister Slen grew [Telepathy]—the skill that he is sharing with me a bit more. Actually, because my followers are all growing rapidly with me over the last few months, my status, especially my skills looks kind of ridiculous now.

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Name: Aurora              

Race: Owl-kin                    Title: Apostle of Light

Level: 42

HP: 111/111                    MP: 132/142

STR: 5.1                     INT: 8.3

AGI: 5.3                    STA: 5.2

Skill: [Ice Magic Lv.6], [Fire Magic Lv.6],
[Sharp Claw Lv.5], [Deception Lv.5],
[Light Magic Lv.5], [Swordsmanship Lv.5],
[Acceleration Lv.5], [Domination Lv.4],
[Telepathy Lv.4], [Teleportation Lv.4],
[Language Lv.4], [Enhanced Hearing Lv.3],
[Stealth Lv.3], [Inspect Lv.3], [Night Vision Lv.2],
[Auto Regeneration Lv.2], [Blink Lv.2],
[Flight Lv.2], [Pain Tolerance Lv.1], [Heal Lv.1].

State: Normal.

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Okay, calm down. It does seem like I'm cheating, I know.

Let's organize it a little bit.

Change the title back to 'Queen of West Zircon' first...

Alright, so these are the skills that I got from my followers.

[Linked: Language (Ariel), Teleportation (Skely), Acceleration (Smiley), Telepathy (Slen), Fire Magic (Amelia). (5/5)]

I made Chloe my follower, with her permission, of course. I was tempted to borrow her level 7 [Swordsmanship], but I had a level 5 one already, so it felt a bit wasteful. I went with [Fire Magic] instead, although I didn't use it back in the earlier fight.

Now, the real harvest is this—

[Skill points: 19]

A mouth-watering number, I know. Minus six for emergencies, I still have thirteen to spend.

Firstly, let's buy this one.

[Would you like to buy 'Inventory'? Cost: 4 skill points] [Yes] [No]

[Yes]

[Skill: Inventory Lv.1 acquired]

Instantly, the concept of space storage appears in my mind. I can somehow comprehend how much volume it can hold, and how to access it. It's quite surreal, but moving on.

Nine left. Hm... I think I still need to crank up my firepower, let's go for even stronger magic.

[6 skill points consumed]

[Skill upgraded: Light Magic Lv.5 -> Lv.7]

[3 skill points consumed]

[Skill upgraded: Ice Magic Lv.6 -> Lv.7]

Perfect, I'm feeling stronger than ever!

Wanting to try [Inventory] immediately, I hold up the galaxy mask and imagine it being inside the storage. Right after, the space around the mask seems to be fluctuating slightly, and with a 'pop', the mask disappears.

Amazing. I should also store my sword in here.

What else... Oh, right, Skely rose to level 34 as well.

''Skely, what skill will you buy-''

clack—!

Chloe puts the teacup down after a sip, sighing softly.

''You were so cool, you know?'' She pokes me, who's sitting beside her, with her elbow.

''Don't do that, I'm reading.'' I reply, pushing her arm away with my wing. 

Oh, she just grabs my wing instead. Fine, I lost this time.

Aside from that.

Needless to say, the practical class was canceled, and they hurriedly got us back to the academy, which was yesterday. Today, on the front page of the newspaper is predictably, the demon. And me as well.

'Mysterious female figure', they say, 'We are trying our best to identify this heroine and reward her accordingly', they say. Wait until I pull out the undead siblings or Mister Slen with me, they're definitely going to put a bounty on my head. 

Well, hmm... It seems like the people's opinions on this are mostly the same. They're demanding the academy and the imperial family to up their security even more, which will happen, according to Chloe.

''Ah, right.'' I speak up. ''Why didn't you tell me that Nydia was that sharp? She straight up asked Peln 'Who are you?' yesterday.''

''Wait, really?!''

''Yeah?''

''Um, let me remember... In the game, she was supposed to be a kuudere...''

''What's a 'kuudere'?''

''Means a person who appears to be cold at first, but will go all-out affectionate with the person they like...''

Chloe suddenly freezes, looking like a thunderbolt just hit her. Even the hands stroking my wings stopped. 

''Nydia will only pay that much attention to a person that she is interested in...''

''...Are you serious?''

''I swear, you freaking lady killer...!''

''Calm down, calm down...''

''Nya...''

...Seriously? A chin scratch is enough to dispel all of that anger...?

She seems like a dog more than Smiley does now.

''Hmm... Seriously though, this could be risky.'' I let out a small sign. ''If Luxia encounters Nydia, she will be able to know about Nydia's doubt... Chloe, is Luxia really not trustworthy enough?''

Chloe's face turns serious.

''Not yet, at least.'' She replies. ''Luxia is indeed on our side, but we can't reveal anything yet.''

''...Sure.''

''More than that, we'll have to prepare for the next event as well.'' Chloe snuggles at me and says annoyedly. ''I'll do all of it though. You said that you wanted to keep expanding your territory, right?''

''Is that something I shouldn't do?''

''Not at all. Outside of the Ancient Basilisk boss fight, of which the boss is already killed by a certain someone, the game hardly lets you get access to the forest, so there should be no problem going forward. It should even be beneficial, really, you get to level up more after all.''

''Alright, wish me luck.''

''What do you mean 'wish me luck'? I'm going with you.''

''I thought you were busy?''

''Nothing is more important than your well-being.''

''Chloe...''

''Fell in love with me yet?''

''Pfft- Almost.''

''Unlucky.''

We both laugh at the same time.

...Well, it's been a while since I've laughed like this, thinking back.

As expected, Chloe is still the best. I would appreciate her more if she stopped groping my bottom though, I should probably stop her-

clack—!

''My Lady, the principal is calling...''

A certain bird maid enters the room, trailing off her sentence as she stares blankly at us.

'''' ... ''''

Crap.