Visiting the Mage Guild for the third time, she finally no longer received those strange looks from her fellow mages.
Cressia followed her plan and purchased a batch of high-quality magic materials, along with various Magic Crystals that might come in handy.
She also exchanged for a superior Inscription Knife.
This trip dealt another heavy blow to her wallet.
From entering the Mage Guild’s gates to finishing her purchases and leaving, just twenty minutes had passed, and a hundred gold coins were already spent.
Among that, a single top-tier Inscription Knife cost her 30 gold coins—more expensive than an ordinary Third-Tier Magic Wand.
There was no way around it. She could craft magical tools herself if she had an Inscription Knife and raw materials, but how could she make an Inscription Knife on her own?
Unless absolutely necessary, she didn’t want to spend so much upgrading to a high-level Inscription Knife. However, the magical tools she intended to make this time were not low-level. Her old, battered knife couldn’t keep up with such crafting.
Moreover, for mid-to-high level magical tools—like superior scale armor made of tougher materials—a regular Inscription Knife simply wouldn’t carve them.
This time she bought a considerable amount of magic materials, and luckily Fana had given her a Storage Ring not long ago. Otherwise, it would have been quite troublesome to carry so many items.
After stepping out the door, Cressia’s face was still a little flushed.
Her gaze discreetly swept over the nearly invisible bulge beneath her chest.
That damn Bandage Patch—while it did a decent job covering the area, compared to regular snug clothing, it was obviously far inferior.
No time to waste. In her current state, wandering outside wasn’t a good idea. Heaven forbid she accidentally offend that madwoman again; who knew what terrifying things she might do next that would make her feel faint.
She arrived safely back at the inn, moving hastily. The Boss Lady greeted her with a glance, but Cressia only managed a simple smile before rushing inside her room.
With a loud “slam,” she shut the door and finally relaxed.
Pulling the curtains shut with a rustle, she locked the door and, feeling insecure, cast a Domain Magic to isolate the entire room.
Only then did she feel some peace of mind.
“So innocent? You look nothing like the image I saw in your memories.”
“In the scenes I viewed, you were a guy casually waving a Magic Wand while standing on your own bed in a little dress.”
“Shut up!”
Cressia bit out those words through clenched teeth, her face flushing red.
Damn, a being that could search memories in such detail was terrifying—far more threatening than hackers who could steal browsing histories or cloud storage resources.
“God, Great God, Divine One, I beg you, please.”
“Ah? What’s wrong?”
“You’re a god, for crying out loud. Could you stop always doing these pointless things?”
Cressia spoke while still working, placing the newly bought magic materials on the table in batches.
What had been a tidy desk was once again a cluttered workspace covered with magic materials.
“Is that so? It’s interesting, and besides, aren’t you having fun?”
“Fun my ass—”
Cressia instinctively wanted to curse, but stopped herself halfway through.
“Ah, right, right, you’re right. I’m having fun.”
Pulling out a chair and sitting down, she decided to ignore this mostly useless and annoying companion.
For now, improving her strength was far more important.
After being resurrected by Cotiya, though she had some complaints about her current appearance, there was no denying her magical abilities were flawless.
Her battle today against two Tier Four Magic Beasts had already demonstrated her superiority.
Excellent mana reserves, casting speed, keen perception, and even the destructive power and efficacy of her magic had all seen great improvements—her Spirituality too.
In other words, even without a Magic Wand, she could easily defeat the fully equipped version of her former self.
After the Assassin Incident, she had become extremely cautious about survival.
One COS Louis XVI incident was more than enough.
She didn’t want to perish halfway before even seeing that damned Third Princess.
Hmm… If possible, after completing a few more C-Rank Commissions and saving enough funds, she could prepare to leave this border region and venture deeper into the Empire.
Staying here forever wouldn’t even guarantee a meeting with the Royal Family.
Spreading out a sheet of paper and picking up a pen, Cressia began working at the desk.
Ten minutes later…
“Pff…”
With a muffled pop, the scroll in front of her turned to ash, and a basketball-sized hole appeared on the poor desk.
Black scorch marks smeared across the girl’s pale, delicate face.
The inscription had failed.
“As expected, Magic Scrolls aren’t that easy to make.”
Cressia sighed and started using mana to repair the burnt desk.
Although the scroll used for inscribing could contain high energy levels, it required great precision and mana control.
For a beginner attempting scroll inscription for the first time, failing to control mana output often resulted in burning the scroll.
Yes, the item she wanted to inscribe was exactly the Magic Scroll Fana had used today.
Its zero activation time and automatic triggering made it incredibly practical, and she had been coveting one ever since she first saw it.
She had studied this knowledge before but had never put it into practice.
However, considering her previously terrifying success rate with inscription, she was confident that making Magic Scrolls wouldn’t be too difficult.
“Good thing I prepared plenty of materials.”
“Failure is the mother of success. Let’s try again.”
Ready, she confidently started the next attempt.
Fifteen minutes later.
“Pff…”
“No worries, it’s only five gold coins worth of materials each time. Burning them is fine; succeeding once will save 120 gold!”
“Again!”
“Pff~”
“Saved 115 gold coins. Success means profit!”
“Again!”
“Pff~”
“Hey, what the—?”
“Pff~”
“I don’t believe this damn thing is this hard to make.”
“Pff~”
“Damn it…”
“Pff~”
Two hours later, Cressia stared at the pile of ashes before her, her head buzzing.
In those two hours, she had burned eight sets of materials. The time spent on inscription grew longer, and her completion degree improved.
But the point about controlling mana precision was truly difficult. The last two failures had come at the final step.
It frustrated her.
Mostly because of the precious gold spent on materials.
Forty gold coins just gone down the drain!
Dumping the pile of failed ashes into the trash in one go, she used mana to repair the hole in the desk.
Taking out the last two scroll raw materials, she picked up the Inscription Knife, her gaze sharp and serious as she stared at the scroll.
Last two tries. This absolutely has to work.
(2/2)