The next day, a shop called the Night Sky Pavilion welcomed a new clerk. The Night Sky Pavilion, also known as the Night Sky Demon Pavilion, was said to be owned by a Witch. The new clerk was an underage elf. The Elf Race rarely appeared in human society, and these pointy-eared beings had severe 'cleanliness' issues and looked down on humans. So people were discussing this elf's origins, speculating about the shop owner's background.
The title 'Witch' generally referred to powerful female mages. Although nobles basically had the opportunity to learn magic, whether one could become a mage and how far they could go on this path still depended on personal talent. Female mages who met certain conditions could potentially earn the title of Witch. The conditions were: ten magic skills maxed out, magic attribute reaching 3000 points, and not having obtained certain other titles in advance.
Such as Saintess.
If the Saintess title was obtained early, the Witch title wouldn't trigger. The Witch title's effects were: magic power increased by 30%, MP recovery speed increased by 50%, and it could stack with other titles, skills, and equipment effects.
But Tsukasa-chan didn't pay much attention to this title matter because the power of titles belonged entirely to the system, unlike skills and attribute values. Skills and attribute values were abilities that remained even if the system's existence was isolated, though without the system's help, one might not know how to use the skills or be unable to exert their power. But titles were different; once separated from the system, titles became completely useless.
"How is the teacher's situation?"
"..."
Vision Sharing.
Through the Shadow Demon's vision, Tsukasa-chan saw the scene inside the Night Sky Pavilion. Leona was pestering the teacher for information about the Witch. Regarding this young lady who wanted to become the Witch's disciple, Tsukasa-chan had no intention of taking her as a student. Because the Witch identity was just an illusion she created. Although Eidor's illusion skill level was high, it could still be seen through. To avoid unnecessary trouble, this identity wouldn't be used for long.
When the time came, she would use her real identity to inherit the legacy left by this Witch. Although there would definitely be some trouble then, this was already the best method. For now, she still needed the Witch identity; it wasn't yet time to step into the forefront with her true self.
"Eidor, it's time."
Tsukasa saw that the teacher and Leona were getting along well, so she didn't continue watching. She had her own things to do. The Shadow Demons were responsible for watching the house and collecting materials, while the teacher and Leona were in charge of running the shop. Her task was to head to the labyrinth to train and raise her level. During her breaks, she also had to study the secret arts of the Fairy Race, and now she had to add a course on Necromancy Magic. So, despite appearing to spend her days either reading or drinking tea, she was actually quite busy.
"Teleport, Target: [Elroe Labyrinth] - Middle Layer."
Above the teleportation gate, ancient runes emitted light as they floated up from the altar, circling around Tsukasa and Eidor. Then, with a Flash of light accompanied by a mana surge that shook the atmosphere, the two of them broke through space and arrived at the teleportation point in the [Elroe Labyrinth].
The moment her feet touched the ground, Tsukasa raised her hand and cast a brand-new spell—'Fire Spirit Summoning'. A vortex of flames swirled in front of her, and within the fire, a bright red body formed, taking on a humanoid shape with four limbs. Judging by that graceful figure, this Fire Spirit had manifested in a female form. It is said that the appearance of an elemental spirit is closely related to the image the master thinks of during the first casting. Someone craving powerful combat strength might think of a legendary Flame Demon, but Tsukasa was definitely thinking of spirits from certain 2D games at the time.
"Fire Spirit, go block the entrance. If you find any spider-type monsters, eliminate them as quickly as you can." Tsukasa hadn't summoned the Fire Spirit to farm monsters. The Middle Layer of the [Elroe Labyrinth] was a purgatory zone, and the monsters living here all possessed the 'Fire Resistance' skill to some degree. Although the Fire Spirit had a geographical advantage here, the efficiency of farming monsters wasn't high. The reason she summoned the Fire Spirit was entirely to deal with the fire-weak spider monsters—namely, Wakaba-san's children left behind in the labyrinth.
Of course, this didn't mean the Fire Spirit was actually weak. After all, the Fire Spirit's stats were tripled on this map, reaching a height of 3,000 points across the board. Furthermore, its elemental body was immune to most physical attacks and even came with a passive Ignite skill. Attacking it might not only result in the attack being negated but also in being burned by the flames on its body. On this map, even Tsukasa herself would have some difficulty dealing with a Fire Spirit.
Receiving the command, the Fire Spirit instantly transformed into a wisp of flame and flew toward the entrance, which was the path leading to the Lower Layer. As for those clones in the Upper Layer, it seemed quite a few had already been subjugated by Adventurers, and she had killed many herself during her previous visits, so there weren't many left up there now. However, there were still many in the lowermost layer, because many Adventurers didn't even have the qualifications to enter this Middle Layer, let alone reach the bottom. Combined with the powerful spider monsters guarding the area, it was simply unrealistic to expect to completely eliminate Wakaba-san's clones. Even the Hero's party probably couldn't pull it off.
She had once been fortunate enough to see a giant spider monster. At that time, after seeing those stats in the tens of thousands, she had immediately taken Eidor and fled through a teleportation gate. It was then that she deeply understood just how strong Wakaba-san truly was. The gap between them was on a different dimension, which was why she was so afraid of being caught by Wakaba-san again.
She had a premonition that the next time they met, Wakaba-san might even be able to crack the supposedly invincible 'Celestial Realm'. In other words, unless she could obtain a new life-saving skill or quickly improve to the point where she was stronger than that giant spider monster, the next time she saw Wakaba-san, she might only have a hope of surviving if she knelt down and called Wakaba-san 'Mother'. After all, she had played Wakaba-san before, and judging others by herself, she felt that if she were Wakaba-san, she would have been livid at the time.
Clearly I was kind enough to train you, even intending to promote you into the Demon Lords Army, and you had tacitly agreed before. I never expected that as soon as you gained a bit of power, you couldn't wait to dump her,
and afterwards you even came back and killed so many of her offspring. This wave of deep-seated hatred has completely exhausted the little bit of fellow-countryman sentiment left between us. The next time we meet, I'm afraid it will be a fight to the death.
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