Stepping through my [Rift Door] had an unintended side-effect; Vee was dropped from her [Aerokinesis] bed and humorously fell to the floor.

"Some warning would have been nice," Vee grumbled as she picked herself up.

"You're welcome to join me in here," I offered.

"Nope. It's much nicer out here; have fun," Vee swiftly rejected and began making an impromptu hammock.

I shrugged it off and got to work. In terms of creating rock magically, I had [Rock Lob] and [Rampart]. I wasn't sure which of the two would be more efficient, multiple minor spells added together or one large spell, so I tried both and compared the results.

Inside my dimensional storage, I began creating as much rock and earth as I could, with the full intention of being able to dump it out on the next set of floors. I wasn't sure how far away from [Earth Magic LV 6] I was, but creating my materials would also be training.

And then I need to start looking at my intermediate elements… considering I already have Lightning and Ice at level five, maybe I should stop using them for now? That is, assuming that having all the elements balanced at the same skill level will allow me to fuse them.

Efficiency-wise, [Rampart] was the clear winner, as I was creating a large quantity in one go, whereas [Rock Lob] won in terms of quality. For my purposes, [Rampart] was the better option, as I could improve the quality afterward by casting [Rock Lob] when I was using it offensively.

I did make one exception to this rule, though, as I shifted everyone to Earth alignment and began trying to make the strongest, densest rock imaginable so that I could use it as a reusable projectile with [Geokinesis]. I was sort of copying the idea I had witnessed that one dwarf geomancer used against me, except I didn't need it to intercept attacks for me.

I wonder what I'll get at level six. Earth got its kinesis spell early compared to the others, while I'm still waiting to get it for Fire. No idea when I'll get it for Ice and Lightning, and there's a chance I might need to craft it from scratch…

When I was done creating a miniature mountain range in my storage, I left it feeling quite happy, with three rocks floating behind me, all at the peak of my current geomancy. I'd made a cube, a sphere, and a triangle to have some variety and see which one performed better.

And just because it was fun to make shapes.

"Are you rested and ready?" I asked Vee, poking her with a tendril.

"Are you? You just spent all our rest time making magic rocks."

"Oh yeah, I was regenerating more than I was spending, so it's all good. My biggest issue was never the Mana cost of apparating rocks; it was always the time required."

"But isn't it reserving a large amount of your Mana since it's inside your [Pocket Space]? Or does [Rift Door] work differently?"

I did a quick mental check of my Mana levels, and everything seemed good.

"No issue there. I also transferred about half of it to my [Core Storage]. But the reserved Mana isn't that much, barely noticeable."

"Bloody Mana slime," Vee whined.

"Hence why I'm reluctant to evolve to a new species," I pointed out. "I'm really thinking about adding another mutation to the list."

Vee shrugged, "I still think you could potentially get something amazing. But I guess we will see in ten more levels. We have five floors left and a boss. Do you think you can make it?"

I shook my head, "I don't think so. The boss might give two levels, but I'm expecting three, maybe four at most, from the remaining floors."

"Well, hopefully, the last few levels can come from the elves plotting to kill you. That one guy gave us two

levels, and that was before we had [Companion Growth]."

"That was also like… twenty levels ago? I can't remember. Anyway, let's move on; I'm itching to bash some plantoids with my rocks."

Vee bobbed in agreement and jumped down from her hammock, landing next to me.

The next floor was another "assassination" objective, with us needing to kill four highly protected targets within a time limit. The enemies respawned infinitely as long as their charge was still alive, so we focused on killing the first two immediately.

My stored rock strategy worked wonders, as I dumped them out and used them like stored munitions. My three super rocks were more effective than I expected, and by controlling them with [Geokinesis], I could use them like telekinetic weapons.

I couldn't help but wonder if the effectiveness was due to using a higher-level spell, so I tried using just [Geokinesis] on some normal rocks instead of [Rock Lob], but the result was far poorer than expected. The stones were weaker, so I didn't expect them to be as strong, but my control over them was also diminished—my three special rocks could fly much faster and with far better manipulation, too.

I wonder if it's because they have more "earth" in them, so they are "purer" than ordinary rocks. It could just be from more Mana saturation, too, but it's something to take note of.

After that, we took a more relaxed approach and continued farming, killing only the final two targets when the countdown began nearing its limit—we couldn't afford to fail after all.

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Proficiency gained. [Attack Mastery (Greater) LV 1] improved to [Attack Mastery (Greater) LV 2].

Sadly, it wasn't enough time to gain a level, and Vee didn't get another stamina fruit, so we took a short break before moving on. I used the time to generate some more rocks to throw around on the next floors.

The next floor was "defend and attack," except our objective was in a fixed position while the enemies were allowed to roam. Two grapes were up for grabs, blue and indigo, so naturally, I stuck on defense while letting Vee handle the attack.

For defense, I dumped out all of my rocks and began rapidly casting [Rampart] over and over again to build a literal fortress around our grape. Once the defense was done, I began launching massive rocks like a trebuchet into the invading enemies while destroying any high-value targets with [Geokinesis] and my three special rocks.

"You know… seeing you magically bash a rock against the plantoids' heads until they stop moving is quite a brutal sight," Vee commented.

"I mean, it's [Earth Magic]; precision isn't exactly its forte. Brute force is all I've got going for me."

Sadly, there was a time limit again, so we couldn't grind as much as we wanted to, and Vee destroyed the grape through consumption in the last two minutes.

I hope Dran isn't putting these time limits on purpose. If I don't reach my next evolution after the assassins, then I might need to break my promise and go to a few dungeon floors.

Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 31.

19 Trait Points are now available.

"Just one more grape to go!" Vee said excitedly.

I wondered what bonus Vee would get from eating all seven grapes, as individually, they did nothing but delight her refined taste in food. Because of that, we took another break, which gave me another chance to restock my rocks.

The next floor was a group of elite plantoids, except they were all bestial in appearance and much larger than their natural counterparts. The two that stood out the most were a plant tiger with a carnivorous flower for a head and thorns for claws. And an elephant made of bark, with hundreds of fungi growing over its body—it would use its trunk to grab and toss the fungus at us, which would explode into a cloud of hazardous spores.

Limiting myself to only [Earth Magic] meant that the fight against them really dragged on. However, that meant I had plenty of opportunities to get the most out of it and cast far more earth spells than I usually would.

That's when it happened. I had lost two of my three special rocks as they shattered while I was trying to break through the skull of the elephant, which was proving especially troublesome. I'd cast [Fracture] and [Fissure], but even with two debuffs, its defense was extremely high. I was nearly tempted to just burn it all down when I received a sudden influx of new knowledge.

I began casting the new unknown spell, which targeted every bit of rock and scattered about the room. It all began collecting around me in a swirl of earthen power and then collapsed into a singular construct. The newly formed and enriched rock took on a metallic black color, with a reddish-brown streak, formed into a massive lance, and thrust forward towards my foe.

The elephant was far too slow to dodge, but it seemed still confident in its defense. However, it was immediately proven wrong as the magical earthen lance penetrated through its skull almost effortlessly and finally killed the dumb beast.

"Well damn, why didn't you do that before?" Vee chirped.

"I only just got it. Hell, I don't even know what it's called yet. I cast it as soon as it popped into my head and hoped for the best.."

"Well? Go for it!" Vee encouraged.

I gave a slimy thumbs-up and looked over what I'd missed. No level-up, unfortunately, but that meant the next floor would be a guarantee. However, I wasn't even upset, as I had a much better result to be proud of!

Proficiency gained. [Earth Magic LV 5] improved to [Earth Magic LV 6].

[Earth Magic LV 6] spell [Ore Spire] learned.

Huh, I guess this is a significant upgrade point for [Earth Magic]. No longer just rocks and stone, but now mineral ores as well? Does that mean I could explode people's weapons and armor with magic now?

I excitedly began examining the spell further. While its construct was a mystery, I could fall back on the default knowledge installed in me.

If I understand this correctly… then it's only unrefined ores. That's a bummer—no manipulating arms and armor for me. Unless a later level works on refined stuff, too. Still, if I break down this spell into its components, I could upgrade all my previous earth spells to ore variants rather than just stone.

I was pretty happy with this result, but now it was the real moment of truth.

Your basic elements are in perfect harmony.

That's a good sign…

Would you like to Fuse: [Water Magic LV 6], [Fire Magic LV 6], [Earth Magic LV 6], [Air Magic LV 6]?.

Becomes Skill: [Basic Elemental Magic LV 6]

This will cost 1 Skill Point.

"What? It doesn't give me any bonus levels!" I whined.

"What's the issue?" Vee asked, already taking her break.

"It's taking four level six skills and becoming a single level six skill. I'm used to getting at least two free levels from a fusion."

"Maybe it gives another benefit?" Vee suggested.

"Probably. At least, I hope so…"

"Don't tell me you aren't going to take it. Especially after all this time and effort."

"No, even if it gave no bonus effect, I'd take it. Having a single skill means it should be much easier to level up. Like I much prefer using [Fire Magic]—"

"That's putting it mildly!" Vee interrupted. "I noticed with all the burning you did on that medusa."

"—and I don't really like using Air and Earth that much," I continued. "This way, I could kind of neglect them and still level them up, so it works out for me."

"Yeah. With how distracted you are, the more stuff you can put into one skill or trait, the better. You should ask Mother to make you a skill just called 'Magic' at the rate you are collecting them."

"I hate that I can't deny the allegations…"

After leaving Vee feeling smugly satisfied, I brought up the prompt again. This time, I accepted it.

Fused Skill [Basic Elemental Magic LV 6] obtained. 14 Skill Points remaining.

As the skill settled in, I let out a sigh of relief. Not only had I cleaned up my profile a little, but I'd also taken something off of my personal checklist.

I was initially disappointed that I didn't even get a new spell, but as I began digesting the latest knowledge from the new skill, that feeling quickly disappeared.

When the transcribed scroll had mentioned my elements being in harmony, they really weren't kidding, as now my four basic elements would work together. Mechanically speaking, what this meant was that I'd just opened the door to basic elemental spell customization wide open.

I cast [Fireflies] and watched as the spell came out a little quicker, cheaper, and stronger than before. I cast the same spell again, except this time, I effortlessly changed it, and out came a swarm of butterflies made out of water.

"New spell?" Vee asked.

"Old spell, but customized," I answered. When I saw Vee tilt her head, I explained further. "All my basic elemental concepts are now compatible with each other. I can add [Heat] to water, air, and earth. Or I could take an existing spell and do a near-instant swap to a different basic element. I could take [Rain Cloud] and turn it into [Fire Rain] almost as simply as snapping my finger."

"Holy shit! And to think you were upset about the fusion. Show me, show me!"

I was about to respond when a panicked message came up.

Please do not cast [Rain of Fire] in my tree!

"Damn, I kind of want you to cast it even more now if that's its official name," Vee giggled.