Chapter 73: Led By The Tail

“Excuse me –emm? Doyenne Vivian was it?” Katrin said as the pair followed the chibi through the chapel.

“Hmm? It’s just Vivian. Doyenne is just a title which refers to the leader of a chapel.” Vivian replied without looking back. Agni couldn’t help but take notice of the young girl’s tails. Each of them swayed gently as Vivian walked and they looked so soft to the touch. Agni was filled with the urge to reach out and touch one, in fact the more she felt she shouldn’t the stronger the urge became.

“Oh, I see. Well then, Vivian. How did you, um — what happened back there?” Katrin was struggling to articulate her question because frankly she didn’t quite understand either.

“Oh. That was nothing. I just smothered her magic.” Vivian held up her fan and flicked her wrist, displaying it for both of them to see. It portrayed a fox with four tails which resembled Vivian herself in classic japanese art form.

“You smothered it?” Katrin asked. At this Agni felt somewhat relieved, partially because Katrin seemed as uncomfortable in this situation as she was. Being led around by a cute little girl who obviously commanded so much power. The sequence of events seemed and felt….unlikely.

Katrin’s discomfort made Agni feel less awkward and for this she was thankful.

“Yes. It’s not too complicated, you just need to apply enough of your own magic force to your enemy’s magic. It’s just another way of canceling damage.” Vivian said, explaining things once again in a very matter-of-factly way.

“Oh.. but I didn’t see any magic besides Gigi’s.” Katrin seemed genuinely interested and was shrugging off the awkwardness by the moment. Agni realized that her curiosity about pretty much anything was driving Katrin’s line of questioning.

“Well.” Vivian said as she stopped in her tracks and turned to face them both.

“I could explain why but..that’s my secret. K?”

Agni clenched her hands, resisting the urge to pinch Vivian’s cheeks.

*Don’t do it Don’t do it Don’t do it.* She repeated constantly in her head while imagining headpats and tail fluffs.

Not only was she cute, but she struck a “kawaii” pose as she gave her reasoning to Katrin. Even the super inquisitive Scribe was forced to forget about fishing for answers in the face of such overwhelming cuteness.

They continued in silence for a few more minutes before finally reaching Vivian’s office near the back of the chapel on the ground floor.

“So, it looks like you two are already members. What’s your purpose at Mystic Tower?” Vivian said as she took a seat behind a rather large desk in the office. She pointed towards two of three chairs positioned in front of the desk. Agni couldn’t help but notice all of the items within the office. Scrolls, crystal balls, even a few weapons which Agni was unfamiliar with. Behind the desk were three katana blades, their sheathes each had a different design. Dragons, flowers and petals along with complimenting handles for the swords.

“We want to learn how to better make use of our magical abilities.” Katrin said after finally making herself comfortable.

“I see. Is it the same for you slutty witch?” Vivian said, directing her attention to Agni.

*I’m not….ugh.* She thought to herself before replying.

“I’m a Succubus….not a slutty witch. And yes, I’d like to learn how magic users do battle. It would be very helpful.”

“Oh? Why’s that?” Vivian asked as she opened a glass jar on her desk and pulled out several small marble sized candies. She offered one to both Katrin and Agni before shrugging and tossing all three into her mouth.

“Why? I mean.. I don’t know. I never really thought about it beyond that.” Agni answered.

“Hmm. It seems like Bracha didn’t really explain things to you all that well.” Vivian sighed before she sat back in her chair somewhat.

“As an adventurer you don’t really need to risk life and limb battling monsters. In fact, you can lead a life of comfort by doing tons of other things. Adventia is that kind of world.” Vivian then explained.

Agni never really lent this much thought but now that she thought about it…

“As long as you can maintain your status as an adventurer you can pretty much go wherever you want and do whatever you want within reason. Don’t get me wrong, battling Grimlock — it’s a necessary thing and it keeps us safe from the expansion but that’s not all there is to being an adventurer.” Vivian said as she made herself more comfortable to elaborate.

“The vast majority of adventurers rarely leave the cities and even more never surpass rank 0. Do you know why that is?” Vivian asked.

“Mmm. Because..the requirements for remaining an adventurer are so lax?” Katrin asked. This was something that Agni often thought about as well. Now that she’d spent the last two weeks of her new life as an adventurer, she realized just how simple it was to acquire enough experience if she’d actually put more effort in. Wayla was indeed correct, if anyone couldn’t accomplish that simple task in a small amount of time they simply weren’t qualified.

“That’s a part of it. It’s not all that difficult to acquire levels starting out. In addition, everyone has the same requirements in the beginning. It’s not uncommon for some people to simply acquire a single level or stretch their learning curve in order to stay rank 0. In fact… almost sixty percent of the adventurers in this world do the bare minimum just to get by.”

“Despite this, there really isn’t a penalty for staying within this lower rank, so I ask once again –what’s your motivation for advancing?” Vivian posed the question once again, this time her hands were folded as she awaited a reply.

Katrin was the first to speak.

“I’ve already spent one lifetime on the sidelines. I refuse to make it two. I want to live my life to the fullest and for that I need to experience as much as possible.” Katrin’s expression was firm and full of resolve. Agni could feel her passion as she spoke and for that reason she also felt as if any answer she could give simply wouldn’t be good enough.

After a long while Agni finally responded.

“I don’t have any grand ambitions or goals at the moment. I also want to experience this world and as much as it has to offer.”

“I see. In that case, would it surprise you to learn that magic is used for much more than combat in Adventia? You can use it to find jobs, like a Scribe for example is used to create all sorts of enchanted items, even highly valued gear. The main reason I asked is simple, I just want you to realize that you have many more options than endangering your life fighting against the Grimlock.”

“I see. But we’ve already fought quite a lot of Grimlock.” Katrin said as she pressed her finger to her top lip in thought.

“So it’s really not that scary anymore.” She added.

“Wait–really?” Vivian asked as her fox ears perked up atop her head.

���Mhm. Fulger Stags. Oh, god so many.” Agni whispered.

“And the ones inside the blood shards are just the worst.” Katrin was the one to moan this time as she recalled all of the effort it took to take down even one of the Grimlock in a red shard.

“Are you two serious? You..really fought inside a red shard?”

The pair nodded their heads in unison, as if entering a blood shard was the most normal thing in the world.