บท 45: New knowledge

The Chef had a pair of short horns, which curved a little towards each other. But this wasn't the only weird thing about him.

His skin was red, and his eyes were one yellow and one blue, and both had a slit-like in the middle of them like the eyes of a cat.

He also had a very devil-like tail but had it around his waist like a belt, so it wouldn't usually draw attention.

His teeth and nails were a little sharper than of a human. But other than that, he had the characteristics of a human.

Shingi recognized him as a Half-Demon, a rare race in the game that most people considered that didn't exist.

Of course, they weren't always born the usual way as other half races, but most resulted from deals demons had with mortals or souls that were cursed and returned to the mortal world but not as undead.

But even if they had demonic blood in them, that didn't make them evil by default or have to follow other demons' orders. Instead, they had their own will as other races and were more resistant against demon's control but weren't immune to it.

Aneta, who was enjoying some tea, noticed Shingi, who just stood at the kitchen entrance.

"Oh, you are finally back. Annoue mentioned you were working on some special project, and you would be late, so I helped around." [Aneta]

'Help around? Isn't she just drinking tea, and that guy and Annoue are doing everything?' [Shingi]

Of course, Shingi wasn't planning to say it out loud, as he didn't want to risk having a poor relationship with her. So instead, he joined Aneta at the table and waved hello to Annoue, as she was currently busy with her lessons.

"So this is the mysterious chef that made our dinner in the past?" [Shingi]

"Oh yes, that is him. I had considered asking him to teach Annoue for some time, but she seemed too scared of him in the past." [Aneta]

"In the past? And why do you think it isn't the case now?" [Shingi]

It was clear that Annoue didn't feel entirely comfortable being next to her 'teacher.'

"Well, she asked for the lessons. She said she had to make a special one, and she needed help, and she wanted to learn by Karemon." [Aneta]

Shingi nodded as he understood what the situation was. He was happy about it as he was planning to ask the Mayor for her help to raise the COOKING Skill of Annoue in the future.

At that point, Aneta moved her chair closer to Shingi and lowered her head and body to get closer to him, and whispered so that he was the only one that could hear her.

"So how your 'project' went? Had that group of Blessed Ones proved useful?" [Shingi]

Her knowledge about him and his group heading outside the town didn't surprise him, as they passed from the gates who had guards of the town, so there was the chance of one who noticed them have reported to the Mayor especially since a child was the one leaving with a group of Blessed Ones.

"Well, there was some progress. But all I can say is you have to expect some surprises to come soon." [Shingi]

Aneta looked at him in a look Shingi was quite familiar with, as he had used that a few times.

She tried to read his body language to tell what he may hide. Still, something unexpected happened as some notifications appeared.

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AN ENCHANTMENT TRIES TO AFFECT YOUR MIND

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THE USER OF THE ENCHANTMENT HAS LOWER CHA THAN YOU, SO THE ENCHANTMENT FAILED

CAUSE OF HAVING LOWER INT THAN USER OF ENCHANTMENT, NO SIDE EFFECT GOT PICKED FOR THE USER OF THE ENCHANTMENT

BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE OF CHA, A WIPE GOT TRIGGERED

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CHA WAS DECREASED BY 1

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Annoue went back to drink her tea, and she didn't seem to have noticed something strange. Shingi kept himself not to show the surprise of the System's notifications.

'She had used a silent spell storing Enchantment and even has over 16 INT? I guess the Mayor wasn't as simple as I thought.' [Shingi]

An enchantment, even if you had the enchantment circle ready and carved, you usually spend some time feeding it with mana and enable it. Still, there was a way to make some feedings beforehand but keep it deactivated. Thus, you have used enough mana so that it didn't get rejected, but not enough to activate the Enchantment. This way, it was undetectable even by MANA SENSE of the use of Enchantment, except if it had a visual sign.

It wasn't easy for someone to do, even for Shingi with his 16 INT and Master Rank MANA MANIPULATION.

He had tried a few times, but he hadn't even come close to succeed even if he used his Blessing's active effect on him. It seemed it wasn't a problem that just Stats and High Skill Rank would solve, but talent and experience.

His CHA, the one stat that hadn't changed other than when he finished some of his MAIN QUEST's tasks, but now it went down and not up as he wanted.

But he got some info out of it, especially since there was this mechanic of WIPE that System mentioned, which seemed to cause the one who tried to affect him to forget of trying from what he understood. It was helpful, but did that mean he had three more uses of that? And would it happen only to ones with higher INT than him, or is it random? So he still had a lot of questions for the unknown stat.

'Could it be the same as the resistance of Half-Demons against mind control of Demons?' [Shingi]

He was half Blessed One, and he had considered it was coming with some benefits, but he had noticed none until now.

"May I ask you something, Mayor?" [Shingi]

She nodded to agree as she stopped drinking her tea to listen to the boy.

"I am most appreciative of your help towards my sister and me. But there were some troublemakers around my family's shop these past days. Some keep following me around. I am not completely sure of their intention, but they have acted quite weird." [Shingi]

He went over the event that happened at his shop, leaving details of the battle out and emphasizing the lack of guards being around, not mentioning the possibility of bribing but leading to it carefully with his words.

Aneta seemed to understand the situation quite fast and especially after hearing that Blessed Ones were behind it. They have helped the town, but there were, of course, the ones who have caused troubles, and she was the one who had to deal with them.

She assured Shingi that he would monitor them, as they have caused no damage this time.

"Also, if I may, I would like to ask a favor from you." [Shingi]

"Of course, if it is something in my power, you can only ask and see what I can do. I have heard of your family's shop being open again and what you and Garry have crafted until now being of an excellent quality, which has helped quite a lot in lowering the costs of importing stuff from other towns for no reason. It's good that Garry is back at it once more. It seems having an apprentice helped to awaken his focus once more." [Aneta]

'If only you knew the truth.' [Shingi]

Of course, he wasn't telling clients that everything they ordered was made by him only and that Garry hadn't even tried to lift his hammer for any of them.

"I have recently come in contact with some Blessed Ones, and they have helped me unlock some skills and techniques on the Arcane Art, but they aren't able to help me earn a class. Is this something you can help me with?" [Shingi]

The Mayor got serious after hearing that and got in deep thought.

"Well, if you were heading for a non Arcane User, I could offer you help, but for one like that, in your current situation, you won't be able to do something, and I can't help you either on covering the cost."

"Cost? What are you trying to suggest?" [Shingi]

She seemed somewhat reluctant to say, but after thinking for a few seconds, she spoke.

"Well, it is a recent discovery they have made in those Dungeons that have appeared these past years. They found these strange crystals in them, enabling one with no class to earn one. However, it is still unknown what the class will be other than it is suitable for using it as it seemed as the Gods decide it based on the users' Skills. But those crystals are quite expensive, and you won't be able to afford them even with my help." [Aneta]

Shingi seemed surprised by the revelation of something that he hadn't even considered being possible. He was expecting her to know a Tutor for him, but a crystal that could give him a class just by using it and it would suit him was more than he could ask.

"How much are we talking about?" [Shingi]

Aneta seems to think once more, this time remembering something, not because she didn't want to say.

"The most basic one that can only give you one of the basic Classes should cost around 100. Then the cost will increase to a couple hundreds even thousands as they would have more chance to have a rarer class the higher the quality of the crystal." [Aneta]

The cost did not surprise Shingi. It wasn't something that anyone could easily afford, but he wasn't just anyone.

So he summoned out of his Spatial Ring the gift pouch that Fire Whip gave him not too long ago.

He had some leftover money but not too much, and even if he could use those metals for other projects, getting a class was more important.

"These should cover the cost if sold and get a good one. Do you think you can make a deal with those?" [Shingi]

Aneta wasn't a professional at knowing unique pieces of metals; still, she recognized some of them. However, they were pretty rare, and it was possible to be around a few hundred of gold in that pouch.

"Where.... where did you find all those?" [Aneta]

He gave a broad grin as he gave his answer.

"It was a gift from someone not that important." [Shingi]