Chapter 188: A Month Later

    Elin caught herself on the doorframe as she was entering the room that she had adjoining with Kim''s. Apparently the culture this kingdom was in didn''t approve of two girls being in a relationship like she was with Kim, which was why the queen had married the king.

    That way she would be able to have some protection from rumors and not have to deal with the culture that didn''t accept she might not be interested in men that way.

    At first Elin didn''t understand it, but Kim helped her, although she suspected that she still didn''t fully understand why it was that way. Yet, she couldn''t do anything about it, so she was willing to accept that there were just things she wasn''t going to understand.

    Though, her mind did mull over that point, even now. Many times she''d exhausted herself thinking about it like it was a problem she had to fix somehow.

    However, what had her worn out this time was the fact that she''d used up her MP again as well as almost all of her stamina. She''d been working on improving her spells and everything, and she was happy to have been able to get the level that she had been so close to, off by three lousy points.

    Not to mention her body was sore from the physical exertion she''d been put through by Kim in the training yard.

    She was happy that she''d been able to even learn a few new spells through having mastered some of the ones she''d started with and had chosen later on.

    When she felt she was ready, she carefully made her way to her bed, wanting to get there before she would check her stats to see what differences she''d been able to make her stats. Although, she didn''t expect much to her spells overall, since she could only still regenerate her MP at the same rate, although she was confident that her dress'' enchantment helped at that as well. Otherwise she was confident that she wouldn''t have improved so much in just a month.

    As she reached her bed, each step making her feel like she was going to fall over, she gratefully collapsed face first onto the bed.

    Like the one that she''d been allowed ot use for a short period at Samantha''s family''s estate, it was a four poster bed that had blackout curtains around it, so she could close them and go to sleep if she wanted to and not have to worry about any light waking her up before she was ready to get up herself.

    When she landed, she had a strong urge to just lay there like that. Though, she still wanted to see what changes had occurred with her stats, even if it was just slight.

    So, she turned her said to the side and said, "Status."

    HP 56/56

    MP 1/82

    Level 18

    XP 5/171000

    Stamina 2/23

    Str 15

    Int 42

    Dex 15

    Con 15

    Wis 42

    Mag 41

    Agi 15

    Cha 19

    Physical Resistance 5%

    Magical Resistance 30%

    Skills:

    Wound Identification VI 189/250

    Wound Treatment, non-magical VIII 342/350

    Combat Medic III 129/200

    Holy Boost

    Enhanced Mastery

    Improved Resistance

    Improved MP Consumption

    White Magic Spells:

    Life Attribute – Minor Heal X 4mp Maxed

    Life Attribute – Moderate Heal X 7mp Maxed

    Lif Attribute – Heal VIII 12mp 299/550

    Life Attribute – Treat IV 3mp 24/250

    Holy Attribute – Sacred Shot X 4mp Maxed

    Holy Attribute – Sacred Flash X 7mp Maxed

    Holy Attribute – Sacred Burst IX 12mp 785/850

    Life Attribute – Assess 2mp

    Life Attribute – Regenerate 12mp

    Life Attribute – Restore Drain 7mp

    Life Attribute – Restore Life – 50mp

    Green Magic Spells:

    Life Attribute – Stat enhancement III 2mp 78/200

    Force Attribute – Physical Resistance enhancement IV 2mp 211/250

    Force Attribute – Minor Protection IV 2mp 194/250

    Holy Attribute - Sacred Flame X – 7mp Maxed

    Holy Attribute – Sacred Flare VII – 12mp 455/600

    While Elin wouldn''t have minded focusing solely on one skill at a time, Jonas and Kim had both told her that she should focus on getting all her skills built up.

    Or at least the ones that had mastery points.

    Even if they didn''t unlock new spells, that they''d at least make the spell stronger, and there wasn''t any way for them to know which ones she''d need to have powered up later on.

    Elmo had said something about how there wasn''t a strategy guide or walkthrough for this, but she couldn''t figure out what he was talking about and he didn''t seem interested in talking abou it.

    Yet, she was happy that she had been able to build her spells so much, although it certainly helped that the king had offered them some potions, that he called mana potions. Elin thought she''d be able to used them to max her skills out in no time, but by the end of the first day, she''d made herself sick by drinking them.

    As a result, the king limited her to two per day, and some days she didn''t even drink that many. Some days she didn''t care to do anything at all.

    On those days, Kim had to help her shake off the malaise that kept threatening to engulf her. Why that was, she couldn''t say, but since Owen had left a couple weeks back, she couldn''t ask him to help explain what that was. Especially since he''d be able to see into her mind and tell her what the problem was in the first place.

    Sighing, she turned her face back into the blanket over the bed and let an exhausted sleep take her over.

    +++

    Kim heard Elin enter her room through the door that connected their rooms. Ostensibly their rooms were connected because Kim had already been established as Elin''s personal bodyguard, but the King had let her know that his wife, the queen, had a similar arrangement with one of the maids, who was her personal maid.

    Not that Kim really needed to know that kind of detail, but she wasn''t going to fully object to it. Especially since it wasn''t like he went into graphic detail.

    However, she wished that she could get the images out of her head from that. Especially after she saw the queen and her ''personal'' maid. It just sent shivers down her spine every time the thought crossed her mind.

    Not that she could expect anything different from a man.

    Kim walked over to the door and peeked in Elin''s room, not wanting to disturb her if she was worn out again.

    The training they''d all been engaging in had been rather extensive, and while Kim was finding it rather exhausting, she couldn''t deny that it was showing promising results. Especially with her skills. Skills that she hadn''t thought would really get built, given how often she used them. Largely because of the cost they had, regardless of the strength of the attack.

    As she looked in Elin''s room, she saw Elin looking like she was staring and poking at thin air, but Kim could tell that she was checking her stats.

    While Kim couldn''t say that it was a bad idea, she hadn''t checked her own for a few days at least. Partly because she hadn''t been really that concerned with seeing where things were every day, at the end of the day.

    Yet, now that she saw Elin checking hers, she knew that she wouldn''t be able to get it off of her mind for a while if she didn''t do the same.

    So, stepping away from the door, she called out softly, "Status."

    Then as the screen appeared in the air in front of her, she regarded what it held for her.

    HP 147/270

    Stamina 5/137

    Level 18

    EXP 45902/171000

    Str 36

    Dex 20

    Vit 37

    Con 30

    Int 15

    Wis 10

    Agi 30

    Endurance 37

    Physical Resistance 15%

    Magical Resistance 5%

    Skills:

    Weapon Proficiency

    Bastard Sword X Maxed

    Short Sword X Maxed

    Weapon Specialization

    Bastard Sword

    Shield Proficiency S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Large Shield VIII 298/450

    Armor Proficiency

    Plate Armor IV 185/450

    Leather Armor V 443/500

    Metal/stone/wood Expertise

    Unarmed Combat X Maxed

    Iron Skin

    Stamina Armor

    Leadership

    Inspire

    Abilities:

    Shield Bash X – 4 stamina Maxed

    Charge X – 3 stamina/10 feet Maxed

    Reversal Cut X – 7 stamina Maxed

    Reversal Slash X – 14 stamina Maxed

    Reversal Strike IV – 23 stamina 232/400

    Iai Cut X - 10 stamina Maxed

    Iai Slash IX – 20 stamina 723/800

    Combat Dance X – 8 stamina Maxed

    Dodging Strike – 2 stamina/dodge

    Energy Slash – 2 stamina/slash

    Magic Cut VIII – 7 stamina 547/600

    Weapon Throw V – 15/300

    As she looked over her stats, she couldn''t help but feel pleased at some of the skills that had been built, even though she''d maxed them out at least two weeks ago.

    However, she pushed those thoughts aside as she looked back in Elin''s room, to find Elin looking like she''d gone to sleep. Though, Kim didn''t plan on just letting Elin sleep undisturbed just yet.

    For one thing, she wasn''t going to let Elin just go to sleep in a position like she was currently in, as her legs were hanging over the edge of the bed, to the point her feet were still on the ground, even though she wasn''t putting her weight on them.

    So, she instead went into Elin''s room, picked her up, startling her lover awake, though Elin still didn''t seem fully awake even then. As she ignored Elin''s protests of outrage and indignation, Kim placed her on her bed fully, before pulling the curtains closed around the bed.

    Only then did she return to her own room, feeling a little better about Elin''s situation as well as entertained at being able to rile up Elin''s emotions for no other reason than to see her lover''s face angry again.