March 14, Year 1414 of the Nas Continent Calendar.
Four weeks had passed. Thanks to focusing on my training method, my magic power increased by 6 each day, reaching a total of 894.
"Now I can use healing spells all day without worry. I’m definitely less concerned about using minor healing magic."
Seeing the results of my training made me proud. As a mage, having more magic power, which is like having more ammunition, was very reassuring. More magic power is always better because when your class level increases, the amount of magic power you use doubles.
Even though I'm at the 4th class and it seems enough now, if I start using 5th class magic that requires 80 magic power, I might feel like I don’t have enough again. Plus, later on, casting special spells often requires a base of 1000 magic power.
Just because I have a lot now doesn’t mean I’ll have a lot later.
Meanwhile, just past midnight, I went down to the basement where I was facing Isabelle. We were there to train debuff skills related to increasing magic defense. Unlike usual, there was a basket of candy in front of Isabelle, which was a gift from me. Of course, I didn’t just give it to Isabelle; I gave it to all the women in the lord’s mansion, including Hayes, Lena, and Mia.
"What’s this? Why candy all of a sudden? Are you telling me to gain weight like when I was a ghost?"
Seeing her dampen the mood before even receiving the gift was so like her. The candy was quite sweet, so it was definitely high in calories. Isabelle, recalling how she used to be quite chubby, asked in a sharp voice.
"It’s for a special day. It’s a day when a man gives candy to a woman."
I thought of White Day from my past life. Looking back, I don’t think I ever gave candy to anyone. Why? Because I never received chocolate from anyone before giving a gift. Even my only sister, Yoohee, never gave me chocolate as a token gift. We were just like any ordinary siblings.
"I wonder how she’s doing?"
Thinking of my past life made my heart heavy. Still, I hoped that with the life insurance I took out in my name, she was living well with our father.
"A special day? I know many special days celebrated on the Nas Continent, but today isn’t one of them."
"In the Eastern Continent, today is a special day. On February 14th, a month ago, women give men chocolate, and today, March 14th, men give women candy."
"Oh, that sounds quite romantic."
Isabelle's sharp gaze softened. She looked back and forth between the candy and me, then asked with a subtle expression.
"Do you like me?"
"No, that gift was for all the women in the mansion. It wasn’t something special just for you, so don’t get ahead of yourself."
"Wow... You make people work hard in training, but don’t give them your heart? Jared, don’t you know? We’re connected by a soul contract! We sealed it with a kiss!"
"Hey, that’s a contract about the soul, not a marriage contract."
"Still! You were the first to take my lips!"
"Who wasn’t? It was the same for me. Enough talk, let’s train."
"You’re really mean! Why don’t you understand my feelings? Do you dislike me?"
"I don’t dislike you. But that doesn’t mean I like you either. And it’s not that I don’t know, I just don’t want to care."
"You’re so cold, like a cold-blooded person. If I knew it’d be like this, I wouldn’t have come back to life... Boohoo."
Isabelle grumbled and pretended to cry. Even though she said that, she still did everything she needed to do. Maybe it was because of the binding force of the contract we made during her resurrection, but Isabelle helped me with my training every night without complaint.
Even though it could be annoying, sometimes she would come to the basement first and wait for me. She even cleaned the basement instead of Hayes sometimes. The carpet we were sitting on was something she personally picked out and bought from the town.
She had a good eye, and the carpet helped brighten the dim atmosphere of the basement.
"From today, let’s double the intensity of the curse skills. I think my magic resistance has increased enough to handle it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, don’t worry. Just hit me with all the curse skills you’ve got."
I nodded at Isabelle’s concerned question. Over the past four weeks, my magic defense had increased by 14. It went up steadily by 0.5 each day, making my current magic defense stat 34.
"If magic defense goes over 100, it can reduce the damage from 1st class magic by 75%."
I set my initial goal to reach a magic defense stat of 100. At that point, I’d be almost immune to 1st class magic. By combining the damage reduction effect of the magic defense stat with light protective spells like shields, I could easily neutralize 1st class magic. Since it’s hard to increase defense stats, once you do, the rewards are significant. Considering I’d face many named enemies, especially other mage named enemies, this was essential work for me.
"Alright, here we go! This time it’s the illusion curse. If you start seeing something other than me in the basement, it means your defense is breaking down. You understand?"
"Yeah, I know. I’ll handle enduring it, so just focus on troubling me."
The atmosphere suddenly became serious. I was staring at Isabelle with clear eyes, and she placed her hand on my chest.
"Isabelle, don’t wiggle your hand! It feels weird there!"
"What are you talking about? Focus!"
Shhh. When the curse began, a unique dark red aura enveloped my body. Then, my physical energy quickly started to drop, and my mind began to get consumed. The training process involved using healing magic to recover the falling stamina and enduring the mental consumption with pure mental strength. Of course, it wasn’t easy. A few times, I collapsed after holding on and ended up unconscious in the basement for hours. When I came to, there was a mysterious – or rather obvious – lipstick mark left behind.
Before training, I took off the Ring of Saint Gracia. This thing made me immune to mental magic and curses, so I couldn’t train properly with it on.
"Here we go."
With Isabelle’s words, the dark red aura wrapped around my whole body. I could definitely feel the unpleasant power of the curse. In terms of pure feeling, it was more vicious than black magic. Although Isabelle had become much more purified while living with me, she still couldn’t shake off her inherent evil spirit nature.
"It’s coming."
Red shapes began to emerge and slither in the empty air. It was an illusion. What I feared the most started to appear as fake images. Soon, a giant spider revealed itself. Until now, I’d seen small bugs or child-like ghosts, but this time the scale was much larger. Countless eyes blinked at me, and the many bristling hairs on its eight legs made me shiver. Deep inside, an endless fear of spiders surged.
"Ugh."
I let out a groan as I faced the illusion. The more I feared, the faster my mind would get consumed, and my adaptability would decrease. If that happened, I wouldn’t be able to use this trick training method. I didn’t want to end up in that situation.
The spider brushed its front leg across my face. It was definitely a horrifying experience. But I kept reminding myself that it was an illusion and stood firm. At the same time, I used healing magic to control the constantly dropping stamina caused by the curse.
Then, at that moment.
Kuaaaah!
The spider let out an ear-piercing scream and started jumping wildly in front of me. It was a truly grotesque sight! But thanks to my consistent training, I was able to endure it.
"It’s okay. This much is nothing."
I faced my inner fear head-on. Then the spider, which had been moving erratically, began to calm down and eventually turned into the shape of countless butterflies, scattering into the air.
At the same time, I heard Isabelle’s voice.
"Not bad. You held on without moving for 10 minutes."
Has it already been 10 minutes? It felt like less than 10 seconds, which showed how immersed I was in the training situation. Did I gain some small insight? Just as I was about to ponder various thoughts, a system message greeted me.
"By overcoming your inner fear, your resistance has greatly increased!"
"Congratulations! Your magic defense has permanently increased by 25!"
"You’ve gained enlightenment. From now on, your magic defense will increase by 1 each day, double the previous amount."
"It was worth working hard with Isabelle for a month!"
Not only did my magic defense increase by 25 at once, but the amount I could achieve in a day’s training also doubled. To increase magic defense by 25, I’d need to invest 125 stat points. It means it takes the opportunity cost of leveling up 25 times.
"This is how to reap the benefits without leveling up!"
A smile spread across my face. I have an artifact called Deluke’s Bracelet that allows me to intentionally exploit the disadvantage of low levels. That’s why stats were more important than levels. But being able to steadily increase magic power and magic defense without leveling up was like killing two birds with one stone.
"Jared, should we go again? Can you handle it?"
"Let’s go right away. I think I can hold on just fine now. Increase the intensity a bit more. This curse was really good."
"The lust curse is stronger than the illusion curse. Especially for men, it presents countless temptations that are hard to resist. You might even see my naked body, which you’ve been longing to see, through the lust curse."
"Thanks for the explanation, but isn’t the conclusion a bit weird? I never thought of that."
"If the illusion curse is a 2-star curse, the lust curse is a 3-star curse. It’s the most powerful curse I can currently cast."
"Alright, let’s go with that!"
"Prepare yourself. You might forget it’s a curse and act on instinct. You might see your ugly inner self."
"The stronger the trial, the more satisfying it is to overcome it! Let’s start!"
I immediately took off the Necklace of the Great Sage Gorzas. The third option has a lust control feature, so with it on, I can’t train normally. It makes me immune to mental debuffs.
Plop.
After removing the symbol of the sage – or the symbol of celibacy – I eagerly threw myself into the training.
After that, three hours passed. It was a non-stop session without a single break. As Isabelle said, the lust curse was a treasure trove of desires and a series of trials that were hard to overcome. I could clearly feel how many lewd thoughts I usually had. The illusions shown through Isabelle’s mind can even be revealed openly! But I faced all sorts of fantasies in there... In a way, it was for the best. If her illusions about me broke, that would be good. It would mean less hassle.
"..."
Isabelle was unusually quiet. She just stared at me silently. It didn’t seem like she was shocked, but maybe she was embarrassed because I caught her imagining things about Hayes.
Just then, a system message appeared, announcing new information.
"Congratulations! You have successfully met the minimum conditions for enlightenment and trials to enter the 5th class!"
"The special quest ‘Teaching for Advancement’ is now active. You must complete this quest to become a 5th class mage!"
Finally, the moment had arrived.