I crept back to my room in utter frustration. The dopamine release subsided as almost all the happiness of advancement drained out of me. All the pain I suffered for so long was only for half a trick.
I couldn't make the stone reappear.
"There's no prestige to my magic," I said, grunting uncomfortably after entering my room.
"Prestige?" Saarya raised an eyebrow. Her nose was still wrinkled even though she couldn't smell the reek, mostly.
Well, she couldn't keep the art going forever, as she already had exhausted herself in drawing the spirit formation and helping me throughout the process.
There was literally a layer of gunk over my skin before. Although Saarya had cleaned that off mostly when I was resting, I still emanated a terrible stench.
Of course, we couldn't smell much of it throughout and even now.
Saarya was a master at manipulating the mind, so blocking the receptor that helped in smelling was a pretty simple job for her.
