<~> Chapter 243Cecilia waved me over as roup approached the yon where we hid the carriage. She looked over the rge group we had following us. "Are we taking everyone here with us?" she asked.

  I nodded. "Yeah, we sent most of the people we freed to the embassy, and from what I heard, they made it there safely. At the same time we were in there, the cult let loose a demon in the bazaar. There had to have been a lot of casualties," I told her.

  "Alright, if we're taking all these people with us let's get everyone on and packed up. It's normally not that safe to travel at night but it's probably even less safe to be he capital right now." Cecilia started kig out the fire that she had started.

  Silva nodded. "I'll get right on it." She headed over and started getting the former sves loaded in and fortable to move with Kal'daeryn and Nelly's help. While she was doing that, I walked over to where Raya and Sibyl were talking with the twins while everyone else was getting anized for transport.

  "I told you there would be more than ten, you owe me a drink!" Raya told Sibyl with amusement.

  Sibyl sighed and shook her head. She then turo look at me wheiced me approag. "I thought you'd bring a couple people, not this many. And one of them is a kid."

  "These are the people I thought would be from being Succubi or would have otherwise bee behind. I sent the rest of the people we rescued to the elven embassy. It's a good thing too, the cult of Amphores didn't even try to save ahey just released a demon and caved the building in. There were hundreds of sves in there, everyone would have died," I replied.

  Raya whistled. "Does that mean you saved hundreds of people on this mission?"

  My eyes wide the realization and the thought was suddenly paired with a notification.

  [Karmiergy increased by 3098][Karmiergy capped at 10000]

  I focused oification. Why had it increased now? It didn't increase when I saved people it increased when I realized I had saved people?

  "Lilith?" Raya asked. "Did you suddenly level up or something? You have that look in your eye."

  I dismissed the notification and refocused on her. "No... my karma just went up a ton and capped at ten thousand. I was just fused why it increased when you made me realize hoeople I saved and not when I actually saved them."

  Man rubbed her . "This is the first time I've heard of something iatus being affected by your perception of something. Although, I have heard of skill descriptions ging once a previously unknolication bees widespread."

  I scratched my head. "In the case of skill descriptions, I think Sorsette is adjusting stuff like that manually like she did with my race. I never asked her about it, but Karma has been something tied to the succubi since I first came here. I discovered it right after I found out about the system. I always had assumed that it was w on its own in the background, I didn't think how I saw things affected it."

  "You wouldn't ordinarily notice it," Torien pointed out. "If what it measures is how you see your as, anytime it ges, the ge would be paired with an a that you think should affect it. This is just the first time there was a mismatch between what you did and when you realized it."

  "Does that mean that everyone's karma is based on their own perception? That would make it even more unreliable." I said.

  Man shook her head. "I don't think that's exactly what's happening. Si's something you've had from the start, it might be io the Succubi. Because you're the in of Succubi I think that karma might be based entirely on how you see things, not hoersohemselves. Maybe the only reason it didn't update right away is because it didn't have a frame of reference for how saving that many people should affect their karma."

  Torien's ears went back. "What's Silva's karma at?" she asked.

  I frowned but looked over at her. "A little over a thousand."

  "Positive ohousand?" Torien asked.

  "Yeah. Why?"

  Torien nodded. "I think it probably is based on how you see things then. If she doesn't have any remorse for the people she's killed, wouldn't it be higher? If she thinks that killing someone is saving someone else, couldn't it even go up from assassinating people?"

  I scratched the spot where my horn should be. Man it was weird not having horns. It won't be until tomorrow that the potion wears off. I shook my head and tinued. "I don't know. Silva has told me that she does have some remorse for assassinating people. She says they be the hardest to kill because she intimately learns about the kind of people they are. Still, I see your point. Silva's karma would be drastically lower her based on how she sees herself. After hearing about her past... I feel like her karma is abht..."

  Man shrugged. "There's no way to really know. This kind of thing would be hard to guess at. Trying to test it would be... a bit uhical."

  Silva walked over to us. "We're all loaded up... Also, I could hear your entire versation." She gestured at the big ears on her head. "Holy, I think Torien is right. Despite the assassinations I've done, I feel like I've made the world a much better pce. I don't think ohousand would be reasonable if you have ten thousand."

  "You were eavesdropping on us?" Torien said with an unimpressed tone.

  Silva shrugged. "It's hard not to. You guys are talking about me out in the open and I have good hearing. If this was such a secret versation you shouldn't do it so close to me or put up a zone of silence or something. Anyway, we're ready to go and I think Cecilia is anxious to get moving. You should get in the carriage. It'll be a bit tighter ihan st time. Some of them are sitting on the floor to fit. I saved all of you spots though. We might be able to cram more into the seats if we try to."

  I nodded. "Let's get moving then."

  Three of us climbed into the carriage while the others went to the coach seat. Silva had saved a spot for me ih the twins and Bel. Silva, Raya, and Sibyl were going to sit up in the front with Cecilia for this stretch of road. I was a little surprised that Silva still had energy after everything we did today, but she said that listening for threats wouldn't be too difficult for her. There were so many people that seven people had to sit on the floor. The ohat volunteered for that were the two hyenakin sisters, Nelly, the kid we found who's been attached to Nelly since we found her, Kal'daeryn, and two of the girls that had been g when we saved them. I hadn't learheir names yet but one was a rabbitkifolk and the other was an older felifolk. She didn't have any markings or anything that would distinguish her as a more specifid of cat like Kal'daeryn did. Someone had put bs down but I didn't envy their butts, the boung robably going to hurt after a while. We might o figure out some kind of rotation if we're going to travel all the way to Goldeh like this. The st trip took nine days at a reasonable pad it was going to get unfortable pretty quickly with this many people here. We might also o take more frequent breaks. I still o talk with all of them ao know the people I saved, but I was much too tired to be sociable at the moment.

  That was an issue for aime though. Maybe we could figure out a better way to squish in or something, but right now I was too tired to worry about that. I knocked oside of the carriage to signal that everyone was ready before taking my seat and leaning into Bel. All of us that had gone on the mission were wiped out so most of us quickly fell asleep, including the former sves. They had done a lot of walking and running today and judging by their looks, I didn't think that was usual for any of them.

  I decided I wao finally look through my new spells before I passed out though. I had gotten a lot from this mission and I wao check through the results before I pletely knocked out.

  [Learned Enha Magic Spell Hasted Perception][Learned Luck Magic Spell Wager][Learned Luck Magic Spell Carousel][Improved Luck Magic Spell Bckjack][Learned Light Magic Spell Light Siphon][Improved Light Magic Spell Light Signal][Learned Enha Spell Augment Strength][Learned Enha Spell Augment Speed]

  The first spell I got was [Hasted Perception] from the fight I had with the [Bohresher] demon. It was also when I finally broke level fifty that I had been sitting at for a while. Well, a while retive to the growth that I had been enjoying. This robably what most people's growth normally looked like. Anyway, [Hasted Perception],

  [Hasted Perception - Enha Magic Spell]This spell temporarily slows your perception of time and increases your ability to process stimuli quickly. This does not increase the physical speed your body moves but it does ily improve your rea time because you are able to process information faster. This spell reserves a portion of your mana and drains your mana as upkeep as long as it stays in effect. A rger portion of your mana be reserved for stronger effects up to a cap. Mana trol reduces the amount of mana required for upkeep.

  This spell seems simir to [Focused Perception] but for the perception of time rather than the effectiveness of my sehe mana reserve and upkeep cost was simir in how it operated. I haven't really trained with [Focused Perception] si requires tweaking, but now that I have [Internal Mana Manipution], I should be better able to use both of these spells. I have a feeling it pairs well with the [Augment Speed] spell I also learned. I'm not sure how mubsp;[Augment Speed] affects things yet but it would be annoying to use a speed increase if it was too hard to trol.

  [Augment Speed - Enha Magic Spell]This spell temporarily imbues your body with magic that increases the speed at which you move your body and your reflexes as if you had increased your Speed stat. The iy of this effect is increased by yic Ford the amount of mana you allocate to it. This spell reserves a portion of your mana and drains your mana as upkeep as long as it stays in effect. A rger portion of your mana be reserved for stronger effects up to a cap. Mana trol reduces the amount of mana required for upkeep.

  Hmm, looking at this now, it might be redundant with [Hasted Perception], I'll have to test these out alone and in jun with each other to see how well they work. It looks like a pretty useful spell though, artificially increased stats seem good based on how much even a minor increase in stats feel. I also cast these enha abilities on others and since I got both [Augment Speed] and [Augment Strength], I might be able to teach the spell and its variants tan to wild cast which might give her even more versatility. I quickly skimmed [Augment Strength] but it was basically identical to [Augment Speed] in its descriptio's move on to the luck magic spells I got.

  [Wager - Luck Magic Spell]Activate this spell to summon a six-sided die. Wager up to half of your total maximum mana and roll the die. If you roll a one, double the mana you wagered is reserved for a day and ot be used. If you roll a two, the mana you wagered is reserved for a day and ot be used. If you roll a three, the mana is spent and nothing happens. If you roll a four, the mana is spent, and any spells that cost less than the wagered mana be cast at twice the speed that you could normally cast them for a day. If you roll a five, the mana is spent and any spells that cost less than the wagered mana have twice the effect for a day. If you roll a six, the mana is spent and any spells that cost less than the wagered mana do not cost any mana. Results four, five, and six, ot stad will repce the previous result. This spell does not be from the luck stat.

  This spell was an odd ohe ive results of the two low rolls would be quite harsh to deal with. At the maximum bet, all of your mana would be gone on a one, and half your mana would be gone on a two for a whole day. The three roll is a waste of mana, but the four, five, and six, rolls seem really good. Faster casting is useful but not crazy depending on how it works, double the effect of spells could be pretty good, especially siny spells that cost less than half mana would make even normally ells a lot more useful, but no mana cost of spells was insane. If I was willing to risk brig my mana for a day, I could do so mubsp;if mana costs weren't an issue. Well, for anything that costs less than half my mana on the maximum bet. I would have to test if that included ritual spells.

  [Carousel - Luck Magic Spell]Create a random magiimal struct of a random size to attack a target. The strength of the magical struct is affected by Magic Force, the type and size of the animal created, and Luck. The ability to direct, order, and trol the animal is affected by Magitrol and the type of animal created. The duration of the struct is affected by Magic Force, Magitrol, and Luck.

  This was arange one. All the luck spells tend to have very odd effects. It creates an animal struct, si's a carousel, presumably a horse or something else ridable. I have no idea how useful this spell is, I'll have to try it out ter. It also seems a bit strahat it's a Lubsp;spell. Aside from what is summoned, what does this have to do with luck?

  [Improved Luck Magic Spell Bckjack][Bckjack - Luck Magic Spell]Create two palm sized English pattern pying cards. Kings, Queens, and Jacks are worth 10 points. Aces are worth 11 points. After drawing the first two cards, you may choose to take another card, if the value of your cards total over 21 points, you bust. The cards be thrown to create an are explosion with the magnitude of the face value multiplied by Magic Force. Bonus damage applied when drawing a Bckjack, any ace paired with any card worth ten points. If you bust, you take magical feedback for every point above 21. If you haven't bust, the cards be folded to e the explosive effect. Higher lucreases the ce of drawing higher values and Bckjacks. Mana use is a ft amount governed by yic Force.

  This spell has been upgraded to include the ability to 'hit' and take an additional card. That sounds a bit fiddly to do in the middle of bat but there have been times when I had a really low hand and could have taken another card without any risk. I don't know what magical feedback is like though, I'll have to ask Man about it the ime she's awake.

  The st two are light spells, one is new and the other one is upgraded.

  [Light Siphon - Light Magic Spell]Create a ball of light that absorbs the light nearby. The collected light then be redirected into anht spell, released, or absorbed as mana. Strength of this effect is affected by Magic Force. version rate of light into a different spell or when verted into mana is affected by Magitrol.

  This looks more like an anti-light magic spell. The idea of this is bizarre. I wao test it out immediately but I got yelled at the st time I started casting mana while others were resting. Even if this spell didn't seem particurly dangerous, it robably a good idea not to mess with it while traveling in a moving carriage. If nothing else it could spook the uunas or make uests panic.

  [Improved Light Magic Spell Light Signal][Light Signal - Light Magic Spell]Create a ribbon of light magic you use to create light magistructs or write messages with. Strength, iy, and hardness of the light is determined by [Magic Force]. The size of the struct, fine trol over the struct's shape, the shape of the ribbon, and the mana cost to maintain or harden the struct is determined by [Magitrol].

  Huh, iing. [Light Signal] ell that I kind of stopped using once I developed [Light Scribing]. It ended up beiirely redundant and useless outside of, well, signaling people. And that wasn't something that had been necessary very often. Now it looked like I could create hard light magic. I was really curious what that would be like, and it was another spell I'd like to test, but I won't while traveling. Bah, too bad.

  I was ied in looking over my status and deg where to allocate my points but I was too tired to think clearly about that right now. I'll sleep for a while and look at that when we wake up. The caravan tio bump along the road on the way to Goldeh. When I finally closed my eyes, the entire caravan was filled with light sn.

  Saine

  Hello! Lots of spells! These level up chapters are getting so long that I'm needing to break them up a little. Hopefully it felt pretty natural where I broke it up this time. Also, there's some more hints toward what a lot of people have beeing about. Just what is karma and how does it work? Also, I made sure to post this in the right pce this time! I still 't believe I screwed up so badly st time haha. Thanks as always for reading!

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