Chapter 18 - Come Back You Rascal!
----- 𝐟r𝒆ℯ𝘄𝑒𝒃𝚗𝒐𝘃e𝗹.c𝘰𝐦
Although each spirit, no matter if their attribute were the same, was different, they would often have the same spells. ??
No matter how much a spirit resembled something purely out of darkness and shadows such as Shade, it could not hide that it was capable of creating brightness as well.
However, because spirits often take in the forms that they are believed to look like, Shade did not expect that on the form that Veronica saw him as she would also know that he was not purely capable of channeling darkness and shadows.
He was surprised that Veronica knew that he was a Light Spirit, and not just a Dark Spirit like it is often believed by people. 𝙛𝘳𝘦e𝓌e𝗯n𝗼ѵ𝙚l.𝒄𝚘𝑚
Light Spirits are just one, they are not separated by two different subspecies, no matter how gloomy and demonic a Light Spirit may look, it was still a Light Spirit. The ability to manipulate Light also created Darkness, and vice versa, they were the same attribute in this world.
The more the spirit mage knew about a spirit's true potential, the more it would be able to utilize its powers. Of course, a mage couldn't just force himself to pretend that his spirit was strong, he needed to know from experiences and real-life knowledge.
Veronica used to be talentless for the rest of the world in her second life… but for spirits, she was a prodigy and a genius, with an affinity with all of them when she was known as Anastacia. Naturally, she got to know each Spirit's powers and abilities in detail.
Spirit Magic may seem powerful compared to using innate magic affinities, but it was overly complicated to make a spirit follow a mage around until the Spirit Magic Skill leveled up enough for them to make a contract. Also, not all intelligent races knew Spirit Magic, as it was often seen as a 'racial trait' of the Elves.
However, by seeing how Veronica, a Living Armor, was capable of calling upon spirits, it was obvious that this was nothing but lies. Perhaps made so Elves could be seen as special and more unique than they really were.
Spirit Magic also required a large and vast amount of Mana to work properly, as it often required two to four times more Mana to cast a Fireball with Salamander than to cast a Fireball with an innate Fire Attribute Magic Skill.
There were those masters of mana born with vast amounts of it, and if they were capable of using their Mana properly and study its usage for years, they would learn the incredibly useful skill 'Mana Control', capable of lowering the amount of Mana required to cast any type of spell. Only those with vast mana pools, Mana Control, and that knew about the special incantations of the Elves to call upon spirits would be able to truly master the usage of Spirit Magic.
Veronica only had Spirit Magic and No-Attribute Magic as her only tools in her previous life, she dedicated herself almost exclusively to them, as it was her only specialty and tool to grow stronger.
She could be seen to be a prodigy, a genius, and a wise witch of spirits. Perhaps because she was born in the harsh Demon Kingdom, that valued more destructive types of magic and overwhelming superhuman strength, she was seen as talentless, but if she had been born in the Elven Kingdom, she would have been praised by everyone and called as the reborn Spirit Queen.
Veronica never knew her second life mother, and never went to visit her elven grandparents, because their Kingdom had already been long consumed and assimilated by the Human Kingdoms.
'Spirit Queen' was a special title granted by the Elves to those geniuses that would appear once in a millennium, those with an affinity with every Spirit.
They were said to be the reborn soul of the original Spirit Queen, one of the founders of the Bright Elf Kingdom, who was said to have mastered Spirit Magic to its fullest potential, awakening the skill several times into higher tiers while strengthening her spirits beyond what it was thought possible… some tales said that she even made a contract with Chaos, the No-Attribute Spirit, a powerful Spirit that represented creation and destruction.
However, those were nothing but tales for Veronica in her second life and believing such things would not lead her anywhere. And at the end, she perished and reincarnated as a Living Armor in her third life, only with an affinity to Light Spirits, to her understanding. She has not confirmed it yet, but she had already suspected that she may not have an affinity with all Spirits like before.
Shade, who had been surprised by her knowledge and the times when she talked like an old woman who knew too much for being a simple monster, seemed to slowly develop a greater connection with the 'piece of junk'.
"Piece of junk…! Here, I will do it for you!" said Shade, helping out Veronica on his own accord.
"S-Shade? Alright, I'm counting on you as well!"
Veronica had taken care of a Dark Slime with a Light Ray, which seemed to be super effective in the Dark Slime as its body seemed to be shrouded in darkness, the piercing light fried its insides quickly and made its slime body boil.
As she felt the experience points overflow her body, Veronica couldn't wait much longer, as the two previous slimes that she had made dizzy for a split second with two 'Shadow Balls' were back in action, attacking her from each side.
From her left, there was the Rank 2 Blood Slime, and from her right, the Rank 2 Toxic Green Slime.
With the help of Shade, she released the Light Ray spell through her left, penetrating the Blood Slime's body with it and making its body momentarily boil, the creature shrieked in pain as it moved away for a few seconds.
"Bugyaaah!"
Meanwhile, Veronica braced her claws with her Mana coating and released two powerful Unarmed Fighting Techniques into the Toxic Green Slime.
"Piercing Kick! Hammer Blow!"
Flash! Clash!
The Toxic Green Slime managed to evade an attack swiftly by twisting its liquid body, but the Hammer Blow hit it directly into its Slime Core, the powerful force made the large green jewel release a few cracks.
Crack!
"Blooob!"
"Not enough either, Toxic Green Slimes have sturdier Slime Cores than other types of slimes it seems…!"
"Light magic is often good to purify poison!" said Shade.
The Toxic Green Slime expanded its body and entangled Veronica's arms with its tentacles. She quickly used 'Charge' to obtain a momentary speed boost, moving the slime to the side while releasing the 'Light Ray' Spell, targeting the Slime Core.
Flash!
"Buuggyyy?!"
The slime seemed pained, and Veronica used this opportunity to finish it off with a Piercing Kick.
"Piercing Kick!"
"Veronica, to your back!" shouted Shade.
"Hm?!"
However, from Veronica's back, the Blood Slime was already back in action in the company of the blue slime from before! They extended their slime tentacles towards her legs, making her heavy body trip to the ground.
Clash!
"Do you think that that is going to stop me? Light Ray! Soul Materialization!"
Even if she were in the ground and had a hard time standing up due to her heavy body, Veronica could still fight! She extended her soul within her armor and manipulated it as a long, dark-colored claw, releasing a powerful slash towards the Green Toxic Slime, shattering its Slime Core once and for all!
Crash!
"Bugyaaa…!"
[Experience Points have reached the required level!]
[Individual 'Rank' has increased from level 19 to level 22!]
[Furthermore, the Individual's 'Job' has increased from level 19 to level 22!]
Using the small stat boost of her level up, Veronica used 'Charge' to increase her speed and stand up but saw that the Blood Slime and the Blue Slime had separated.
The Blood Slime appeared from above her, covering her entire helmet with its red slime and beginning to quickly dissolve it!
"Alright, take it if you want! I don't need a head anyways!" shouted Veronica, giving away her helmet as she made her Soul Claw appear once again, sending the helmet with 'Throwing' at fast speed.
The Blue Slime appeared from the ground, without Veronica not even being able to detect it just like before! It entangled her right leg and tried to sneak inside of her hollow body.
"I know why I can't detect you when you disappear, you rascal! You have Stealth, don't you?!"
"Bloob?!"
The Blue Slime seemed shocked by Veronica's words, even if it did not understand them, it knew that she meant something important and provocative!
She must have realized its trump card!
"Guubooo!"
The Blood Slime quickly recovered from its slight damage as it pounced towards Veronica again, having already eaten the helmet by dissolving it completely.
"Light Ray!"
Veronica used her finger to release a bright ray of light, the Blood Slime instinctively tried to evade it, and Veronica used this opportunity to get rid of mister Blue Slime once and for all!
However, just at this moment, the Blue Slime quivered and moved away from Veronica, it tried to escape again!
"You rascal! I can't believe that the Blue Slime escaped once again, this is getting ridiculous!"
"Concentrate on the enemy that you have in front of you…!" shouted Shade.
Veronica could not follow it, as the Blood Slime pounced towards her enraged, she had to kill it before she was dissolved by it and eaten.
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