Return to the Mansion (1)

Jumping from Level 2 to Level 5 in one go, all sorts of bonus stats surged up in proportion to the level.

An intense emotion, like a shiver running through my entire body, welled up at this explosive growth, as if all the hardships I had endured until now were being repaid at once.

‘It’s a little over three times the amount. The growth rate itself is similar to the game, at least.’

Of course, Lilith was a character who started at Level 15 when she first joined, so this was merely a conjecture calculated by comparing it to the protagonist’s growth stats.

Among the various basic abilities, the most explosively grown was, as expected, my maximum mana capacity.

My maximum mana capacity, which had already been close to 300 even at Level 2, instantly soared to an abnormal 855.

At the same time, the pain and suffering of the past overlapped in my chest, and a feeling akin to catharsis swept over me.

‘…Indeed, my efforts weren’t in vain.’

Considering just the past three days, the past where I devoured more garlic than Ungnyeo wasn’t in vain!

That absurdly large maximum mana capacity of 855 proved it.

If I were to use Lilith in the actual game, this level of maximum mana capacity was a stat that could only be achieved around Level 30.

But my current level was still only 5, not even out of single digits yet.

Of course, other stats besides maximum mana capacity were extremely ordinary, but with this alone, Lilith was no longer an underpowered character.

…Of course, compared to an ordinary person, I merely gained some combat ability, and my actual strength would only be on par with a new recruit.

Well, considering this is the body of an 18-year-old high school girl in reality, becoming as strong as a new recruit is quite something.

At this level, I wouldn’t need to suffer endlessly to increase my maximum mana capacity in this lifetime. Even if I just leveled up normally to Level 30, my maximum mana capacity alone would surpass that of most Archmages.

I’m never devouring those fucking garlic chunks again.

Of course, it wasn’t just my maximum mana capacity that grew.

My pathetic stamina of 15, which would render me incapacitated after one hit, had also risen to a respectable 47.

My abysmal attack power of 3 and defense power of 5 had also increased to a moderately usable level of 12 and 17, respectively.

Of course, my attack power still wasn’t enough to one-shot a Slime, but I could now defeat one with raw attacks, without magic or skills, by landing 2-3 stable hits.

For reference, I did have memories of defeating Slimes even in Lilith’s state before regaining my memories.

After all, Slimes multiplying near rural farmhouses after rain was one of the common occurrences.

Perhaps that’s also why I was Level 2, not Level 1, the moment I regained my memories.

Back then, I remember having to diligently hit one almost ten times just to defeat it. Now, it was as good as saying I had become 3-4 times stronger than that.

Indeed, life is all about one big shot.

…Of course, aside from general stats like attack power and defense, there were also some stats that increased quite unusually.

『Charm: 12 → 40

Luck: 0 → 1』

Looking at the growth rate alone, it wasn’t particularly strange… but the disparity was certainly a bit severe compared to other stats.

Lilith’s Charm, which was already in double digits, immediately became an absurd 40 after a 3x growth, just like other stats.

Conversely, Luck only increased by a mere 1 despite gaining 3 levels, which was truly a dismal growth.

Considering Lilith’s stats at Level 15, it might not be that strange.

I don’t know if it was the developers’ intention, but at Level 15, Lilith’s Charm carried an insane value of almost 200.

Even after reaching that level, her Luck never escaped single digits.

Of course, it was a natural phenomenon for certain stats to grow explosively and others to lag depending on the character’s personality or role.

But actually being in Lilith’s shoes and seeing that situation, it was a bit hard to say anything positive.

‘Would it kill them to let me grow a bit more balanced?’

Especially ‘Luck’ was even more regrettable because it directly affected hunting.

In the game, characters with low Luck often saw effects like ‘Attack Missed!’ or ‘Nothing happened!’ during combat.

As a character with low Luck, Lilith couldn’t escape that curse either.

The fortunate thing was that Lilith was a support-specialized character in the game, so even with low Luck, her accuracy was covered by her Charm stat’s correction.

She also had a few more exclusive skills with 100% accuracy compared to other characters.

The problem was that the direction I needed to grow from now on was 180 degrees different from how I would typically raise a character in the game.

Growing primarily with support magic, like I used to in 『Luminor Academy』?

For whose benefit, exactly? If I raised myself like that, I’d just be perfect for Ethan to exploit.

‘First, offensive magic is essential, if only to utilize my overflowing mana reservoir. Other things can be raised slowly.’

Even if an offensive spell missed once or twice due to bad luck, I could simply cast it three or four times to compensate.

For that very reason, I had increased my maximum mana capacity to an absurd degree, and I could even use Triple Casting now.

And as I mentioned earlier, Lilith had several skills with 100% accuracy.

One of them was ‘Mana Blast,’ one of the ‘Enhanced Skills’ learned first.

『Mana Blast: Consumes all remaining mana to unleash an ultimate strike on all enemies. Damage scales with mana consumed.』

With just Mana Blast at 100% accuracy, it was practically game over. One shot of this would definitely obliterate monsters up to around Level 25.

Of course, once used, I wouldn’t be able to use Mana Blast or even other magic until my mana was refilled, and there was a fatal weakness where I’d have to fight with 0 remaining mana if another enemy appeared.

Still, isn’t it a basic human instinct to want to have a reliable ultimate skill loaded, even if it means no turning back after one use?

Naturally, I wasn’t planning anything grand like using this magic to escape Blackwood Mansion.

Even if it was to escape my status as Ethan’s exclusive maid, it didn’t mean I would take other people’s lives to do so.

I just wanted to secure it as a last resort, purely for a hypothetical situation.

‘In the first place, even Lilith’s full-power Mana Blast wouldn’t work against Harold.’

It was beneficial for my mental health to dismiss realistically impossible options from the start.

Anyway, Lilith’s next goal from now on was naturally Mana Blast, so the skill progression also had to proceed in a direction to acquire Mana Blast.

Normally, a typical Lilith route would involve raising character durability and support magic, but I would boldly skip character durability and support magic and proceed in a direction that raises offensive magic.

In the first place, there was no better route in the current situation.

Before allocating skills, the basic ‘Skill System’ of 『Luminor Academy』 follows the following formula:

『1. All characters can obtain 3 Skill Points per level.

2. All characters have several types of ‘Skill Trees’ according to their individuality, and the points required to learn the first skill in each ‘Skill Tree’ are 2 points.

3. In each ‘Skill Tree,’ after acquiring all 3 subordinate skills, an ‘Enhanced Skill’ can be acquired. The points required to learn the first ‘Enhanced Skill’ in each ‘Skill Tree’ are 5 points, and after acquiring an ‘Enhanced Skill,’ 3 new skills corresponding to the next stage can be acquired.』

In other words, to summarize, it means this:

For Lilith to use Mana Blast, she must first learn 3 subordinate skills. This process requires consuming 6 points.

Then, to learn Mana Blast, the first Enhanced Skill in the ‘Offensive Magic Skill Tree,’ an additional 5 points must be consumed.

In other words, a total of 11 points are needed to learn Mana Blast.

But how many Skill Points do I currently have?

『Current Remaining Skill Points: 10』

“Haa…”

A bewildered sigh escaped me at the unchanging number of Skill Points, no matter how many times I looked.

Yes, in truth, accumulating 10 points at once was an incredible feat in itself, normally speaking.

Still, was it too greedy of me to wish for just one more point?

For reference, the 2 points used on Clean were for the ‘Support Magic’ skill tree, so they were completely unhelpful for learning Mana Blast, which belongs to the ‘Offensive Magic’ skill tree.

‘Of course, at that time, there was no skill more efficient than Clean, so not learning it wasn’t an option.’

Now, I couldn’t cancel Clean and learn Mana Blast. More importantly, if I hadn’t had Clean, I wouldn’t have been able to explosively increase my maximum mana capacity like this.

In the end, with lingering regret, I spent 6 of my 10 points to acquire three subordinate skills in offensive magic.

『Shockwave』

『Mana Arrow』

『Maximum Mana Capacity Increase +10』

Honestly, the last one, Maximum Mana Capacity Increase, was a skill I didn’t particularly want to raise.

This was also a stat that I had no choice but to raise to learn Mana Blast.

In the game, it was an essential skill that Lilith, who was mana-deficient in the early stages, absolutely had to raise, but for me, with a maximum mana capacity almost comparable to a Level 25 monster, it was practically useless.

I decided to save the remaining 4 points for now, not using them immediately. They were points that would need to be invested in raising Mana Blast as soon as I reached the next level.

Given Luminor Academy’s characteristic of gaining 3 points per level-up, I could have spent about 2 points, but I decided to hold off for now, thinking I’d probably just end up acquiring character durability or support magic anyway.

There was also the possibility of running out of points when truly needed later if I used them rashly.

Playing as the ‘protagonist’ was something I had done dozens of times, so I could allocate skill trees with my eyes closed. However, starting as ‘Lilith’ was truly a first-time attempt, encompassing both my previous and current lives.

Considering that there might not be a next chance if I failed, I had to judge and decide carefully.

Thinking about it that way, proceeding safely was indeed the best option.

‘In the first place, just learning 『Shockwave』 and 『Mana Arrow』 is a sufficiently good outcome.’

They could be used for hunting in a pinch, and Clean alone had its limits when it came to fully consuming my overflowing mana.

For now, I should just be satisfied with having acquired two decent offensive skills.

“…Shall I head back soon?”

Seeing that it was still bright outside the window, it seemed only about a full day had passed.

Given the time, Isabelle and Katarina seemed to have already returned to the mansion with the coachman, but the distance from the city to the mansion wasn’t so far that I couldn’t walk it.

I could just think of it as rehabilitation training after reviving from an incapacitated state and walk slowly.

“Eutcha.”

Gathering the money pouch and letter placed on the dresser, I walked back to Blackwood Mansion before the day ended.

…It was about two hours later that I realized I had been lying unconscious for a full three days.