Syl

Chapter 90: Fabrication

When I opened my basic profile, I was introduced to a very different interface from the one I was familiar with. I could mentally select a portion of the profile and had the option to edit it directly. I removed my name.

I changed my name.

I created an entirely different identity.

The most fascinating part was that I could instinctively tell when a particular section of my profile aided or hindered the disguise. Changing my name seemed neutral unless I removed it, and then it was a hindrance, but if I morphed into a monster, it was seen as a boon. According to the system, hiding my currently equipped emblem was seen as neutral, but I knew socially it would be strange for me not to have it equipped—so many people had seen my [Dungeoneer] emblem.

Driven by a sense of curiosity, I embarked on a journey of experimentation with different emblems. I tried my hand at faking some, such as [Chieftain], [Guild Master], and [Guild Staff], all of which were classified as massive detriments. The only other emblem I knew of was [Bonded Companion], which was a penalty until I transformed into a monster, and then it became a benefit.

'I could pretend to be a companion. That's interesting. If I was roaming around in a dungeon, it would prevent me from being attacked if I was spotted by another adventurer.'

'I should try to find more about companions. Sylthaeryn's class was Tamer, if I recall correctly... I've not run into any in the guilds yet.' I continued to ponder before having a small epiphany, 'Could I pretend to be my own companion?'

I reverted my profile to normal but manually set my race to elf. Then, I formed a ball of green slime in my palm and had Alpha maneuver into the blob. Visually, it now looked like I was holding a small green slime. I tried to apply the profile multiple times, but it kept just overwriting my own.

'Come on, if it's possible to [Multitask] spells, then surely it's possible to fabricate two profiles...' I complained. In hindsight, I should have thought of it sooner, but in a moment of frustration, I shouted at Alpha to use [Identity Fabrication].

Despite it being technically Alpha's profile, I could feel a penalty on the level because it was my skill. Green slimes would evolve at ten, so it made sense why it was complaining about it. I repeated the experiment with my other cores one by one. Beta, disguised as a purple slime, and Gamma, disguised as a red slime, could go up to level twenty without penalty, while Epsilon, as a white slime, could only go up to level nine. At first, I thought something was wrong, but then I recalled that white slimes were technically the same tier monster as myself, which meant that Epsilon was being limited by my own level limits.

Speaking of level limits, I could freely swap between Warrior and Scout up to level eleven without any detriment, which meant that my class qualification was enough to satisfy the system, and it was using my Mage level as the reasonable limit. As if that wasn't enough, whoever created this skill must have also worked on [Equipment Swap] as I could save ready-made profiles for quick application. All my experimentation even increased my skill level, much to my satisfaction.

I was feeling rather shitty about the situation after Odark, but this definitely brightened my mood. Everyone was asleep when I silently returned to my cot and quickly joined them in slumber.

The following day, it was decided that the owner and some farmhands would travel to the city proper to get tools and hire additional hands for the replanting of the fields. This meant the two widows and children could be carried in a cart pulled by a donkey, and I offered to escort them just in case.

To keep myself occupied, I worked on creating a new debuff spell with my newly acquired [Ice Magic]. Due to [Mana Conception], this was far simpler than ever before despite the much more complex mana. I was a little hands-off on the spell creation and left it primarily to my [Sub-Cores], which allowed them to flex their new level and processing power. This allowed me to instead entertain the children with [Kindle] and [Water Orb] by shaping both into various patterns or shapes.

While the children laughed and giggled at the silly shapes, they had no idea about the intense mental battle I was having to try to actively hold more than a single spell. Regrettably, by the time we reached the city gate, I still hadn't received the [Multicasting] upgrade and instead gained a different prompt that caused me significant emotional damage.

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The worst part was that this new skill level gave me no benefit or ease in holding my two individual spells. I had to fight my inner demons to not just buy the upgrade then and there out of spite, and I wondered if Dewi had pranked me about telling me not to buy it. After a quick explanation to the guards, I parted ways with the group to head toward the adventurers' guild and report on the situation. Before I left, there was a tug on my clothing, and I saw the boy giving a friendly smile.

"Thank you for saving us. You're a hero! When I grow up, I also want to be an adventurer." He said, trying to give his best dazzling smile. He then placed his finger over his lips and winked. It seemed like he was more than happy to keep my secret.

I returned his smile, giving him a quick ruffle on his head. "If you do, I'd recommend the Stantondale branch, ask to speak to Tabitha. That's where I started my adventuring career."

The boy nodded excitedly, and after some thanks from the mothers, I finally left them. I hastened to the guild and requested to speak to Luke upon entering. I noticed more odd looks and glances than usual, and only when I overheard some murmurings did I realize why.

"What the hell is she wearing? Is she going to swap to a barbarian or hunter class?"

"She's a Sorcerer now."

"That's a lot of levels. What quest did she go on?"

I ignored the rumor-mongering and patiently waited, although I felt a tinge of anger at the disparaging remarks made against the armor Yuzz had made for me. Although I had to admit it starkly contrasted my simple robe. The wait wasn't long before I sat at our familiar booth.

"Good to see you again, Miss Syl." He replied, then scratched his cheek nervously, "I hate to ask, but what exactly are you wearing?"

"Hey, Luke. It's my backup armor. My robe, unfortunately, was burnt to cinders while I was fighting orcs."

"So you did run into orcs..."

"A lot of orcs. I found their underground lair, killed a bunch, and took down their warlord chieftain." I answered. Luke's eyes were as wide as saucers, and when I noticed he wasn't going to interject, I continued, "I also rescued two women and three children from capture; they are currently with the gate guards. Oh, and I did kill the Plant Horror, but unfortunately, it didn't have anything harvestable."

"I..." Luke stammered.

"Sorry, it must be disappointing that I didn't bring back any materials."

"I-I need to contact Master Lisa!" Luke blurted out and left me sitting speechless at the table.

After awkwardly waiting, Lisa's secretary eventually came to fetch me, and I was ushered to her office. I wondered if I would get scolded again, like with the Salamander quest, but they had explicitly said mass extermination quests were generic. To my surprise, Lisa had a big smile on her face instead.

"Thank the Gods you didn't wear that to your dinner!" Lisa said, almost bursting out in laughter. She eventually calmed down from her laughter and continued speaking.

"Well done, Syl. We just confirmed over thirty dead orcs from the quest tracker. The majority were low-level but confirmed that a warlord was among them."

"No problem. The underground lair was to their detriment; if it had been an open area and they had been spread out, I wouldn't have been so lucky."

"Speaking of which." Lisa said, pulling out a map of the local area, "Can you point to the entrance you discovered? Then we can confirm it's cleared out and destroyed; perhaps deal with any stragglers."

I nodded and, using my own mental map as reference, pointed to the entrance I had used. I also encircled the area where the main complex was situated.

"Sneaky bastards, no wonder we couldn't find them. I'd expect this level of cunning from goblins or kobolds, but not orcs."

"Kobolds?"

"They are little lizard monsters, like a goblin mixed with a dragon. They mostly live underground; if you do go with Thern, you'll see plenty." Lisa replied, rolling up the map and handing it to her secretary, "Send a team of scouts to confirm."

Once her secretary left, she continued, "I must say your successes are remarkable. I know all adventurers hide a trick or two, but you keep overachieving. You've also gained many levels rapidly, exploiting the risk bonus factor to the maximum."

"Yes, although the downside is that my skills are falling behind my class levels, or at least that's what it feels like. I'm tempted to change my experience distribution."

Lisa frowned, "I would say don't do that, although I know we humans are biased because we don't have many good traits to choose from. I know dwarves have some enviable traits, and I can only imagine what elves get."

"I hope you don't mind the frankness of my question, but how do you spend your skill points? I've saved a large amount in case I want to purchase a lot of skills, and I've never touched upgrading."

"Never?" Astonished, Lisa replied, "I know some diehards do that and try to earn every skill proficiency, but the Gods gave us these points to spend; it feels foolish not to."

"My concern was buying the wrong thing, especially if I knew I could upgrade it with some effort."

"That's a good mentality, but what if having an extra level is the difference between life and death? Especially, as a spellcaster, getting another new level opens many doors to new spells or components."

"That's a really good point. Then do you recommend prioritizing my highest skill or bringing up my lower skills to match?"

Lisa sighed with great exaggeration and rubbed her temples, "Now that is the question everyone asks, and nobody knows the right answer. Raising your minimums gives you more flexibility and could unexpectedly save your life while raising your maximums gives you trump cards that could solve a situation effortlessly."

"Now you understand why I didn't want to spend any," I replied, frustrated.

Lisa laughed, giving a knowing smile, "Fine, fine. I'll tell you what I did, maybe that will give you some ideas. I focused on my highest skill where possible unless I unlocked a vastly more powerful skill. For a relatable example to you as a spellcaster, I focused a lot on my [Air Magic], but I immediately swapped my focus when I unlocked [Lightning Magic]. It was a higher tier of magic, and I felt it had more opportunity."

"That sounds like a very reasonable approach."

"It worked out pretty well for me," Lisa said with a smirk, "However, you'll need to tailor it to your specific situation. Undoubtedly, you have at least one form of experience boosting, and some skills are easier to level than others if you can easily exploit bonuses like risk or first time."

I nodded, "I'm also reluctant to upgrade a skill unless it had just leveled up manually or was brand new. Although... Even with new skills, I'd feel reluctant to do it; it seems like level two is so simple for almost all of them."

"I think you'd struggle to find anyone who wants to buy an upgrade midway unless you were sure you hadn't progressed it in some way. There are no refunds, and if you were more than halfway to gaining the level manually, you'd be basically losing a skill point!"

"Glad to hear I'm not the only one a bit panicky about spending my points."

"If you're just starting out, it can be terrifying. Also, while yours is a little extreme, it's not even the worst I've seen; Luke can't even decide on a class and keeps flip-flopping between the three starters."

Her secretary returned with refreshments, and Lisa invited me to settle down. It seemed like we still had much to talk about.