"Have you been using the breathing method well?"
"Yes, it now says I can use 12 magic power…? The rest is still dormant though."
Walking through the Eastern Dungeon, Relafan and Alice engaged in small chatter. As was usual, the girl gripped tight a crowbar and a gun she had received from the Hero.
They strolled through the dungeon at a quick pace. All of it thanks to the Hero alone.
Since no matter which of the gangster Kobolds in Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses came over to him, their hands would be cut without mercy.
"How did you find a sword in the modern world anyway?" Asked Alice, surprised at the pure white blade in Relafan's hands.
"I didn't, it was a reward for the first scenario."
Relafan lowered his stance as two more of the thug kobolds ran over, swinging broken bottles and battered batons.
He rushed ahead and kicked the knee of the first kobold before smashing its jaw with the hilt of his sword. The Kobold fell as Relafan spun to the side and swung the sword downward, slashing the chest of a Kobold.
"Brutal. Have you learned using a sword?"
"Something like that. Now then, take the kills."
Alice nodded and smashed the heads of the fallen Kobolds in with her crowbar.
"It is unfortunate that we only level up after a scenario ends, or we could have gotten you some more magic skills."
"But doesn't your stat go up? Weren't you here to train in the first place?"
Relafan nodded at her words. The way the Apocalypse operated was quite strange compared to what he was already used to.
The killing now would level her up, but he had not seen any kinds of skills yet.
If Vincent was going to be the same way with Alice as he was with Relafan, then there was a high chance that just leveling up wasn't going to help them at all.
He could teach her magic…
But he had no idea how. In the first place, as the Hero, he had only learned very specific light magic and spells that operated on catalysts. Summoning giant fireballs was not in his area of expertise.
If magic worked by just getting a feel of things or by imagination like in novels, things would have been much more convenient, but all of it needed voluminous, delicate, calculations.
"Pipo…?"
The slime talked then. Relafan noticed that Alice had already finished disposing of the garbage and was moving ahead.
"Oh!" A lightbulb flashed in Relafan's mind. "Neo Mack 3, aren't you a merchant?"
"Pipoooo?"
"Do you have any grimoires, or books about magic?"
The slime nodded fervently. With a wave of its hands, an especially decorated window popped open in front of Relafan.
Small slimes filled the screen almost aesthetically, written on the top were the words Slimy Store.
A list of items and tabs reminiscent of shop boards he had seen in multiplayer games opened up. With a glint in his eyes, Relafan started scrolling through the shop.
Though, most of the items were grayed out and locked. The words [Scenario Requirement Not Met] was written next to them.
Being with Vincent for a long time, Relafan had picked up a few of his habits. It was necessary to survive. And making hypotheses based on available information was the most necessary.
Just imagining how many stories would have been less frustrating if main characters could do the same and assume that their harem members had a crush on them made him drool. The words harem made him drool.
"Pipo?"
"Sorry. Yes… um, set item class to magic, specific type to grimoire, and… low level cap."
At the bottom of the grayed list, Relafan finally found a grimoire that he could use.
"Basic Dark Magic…"
Every other element was sold out.
He tapped the information of the basic dark magic grimoire, and the reason why it was the only item not sold out yet made itself clear.
"User can suffer from severe mental deterioration…"
"What?" Alice muttered. Relafan hadn't noticed when she crept up to him, but it seemed that she could see the list too. "Hey, I don't think you should use things that can damage your mind."
"No, it's perfect."
"You'll lose your mind! It says it right there!"
"I won't, you will. You'll use it."
Alice reeled back.
"Me?"
"Yup."
Dark Magic on its own was horrible, it was also what the Demon King's army used in the other world.
But here stood the natural antithesis of the Demon King. Relafan, the Hero, was a natural master of Light Magic that only people blessed by the gods could use. It was more than possible to cure her of any mental damage.
"I'll buy this, Neo Mack 3!"
"Pipipo!"
Using the last of his cash points, Relafan purchased the grimoire and handed it to Alice with a bright smile.
The girl wasn't ready to take it up, mental deterioration felt quite ominous.
"I don't want it…"
"Take it…"
"Um… on second thoughts, how about no?"
"If you take it you might be able to use spells like Invoker from Doda 2."
Enough was said. The grimoire was snatched from Relafan's hands faster than he could keep up with and was already being devoured by Alice.
Hail Games.
***
The two of them set off again, and after a short walk where Relafan continued battering monsters and Alice kept taking the kill while reading the grimoire, they finally arrived in front of the head honcho of the gangster kobolds.
Towering over them with a stick stuck in its teeth, the head honcho growled at the challengers.
"Maybe we should turn back?" Asked Alice.
"Yeah, no."