As the days passed, I would go to my secret area and work on magic formulas and nothing else. I was still trying to find a way to fuse fire and lightning together. And today was no different. I sat in the same spot as always, looking at the magic circles etched into the ground while pursing my lips. I felt like I was missing some kind of link between the two. “Ahh! This is getting me nowhere….”

I scratched my head and sat back, looking up at the sky. “Clouds are starting to come in. I should probably call it a day soon. Let’s check my stats first….” 

[Name]: Faith Cyrilia

[Age] 7

[Level] 9

[Race] Dragonkin

[HP] 2700/2700

[MP] ∞

[Status Points] 40_-.

[Strength] 270(Max For Level)

[Vitality] 270(Max For Level)

[Intelligence] 270 (Max For Level)

[Mind] ∞

[Agility] 270 (Max For Level)

[Skill Points] 7

[Skills]

[Appraisal (LVL 1)]

“Finally capped!” I had been waiting for this moment! If this was a game and my character had such high stats at level 9, I am sure there would be nothing I couldn’t kill under level 30 at the minimum. But this was finally my time to figure out if applying status points to capped stats would actually allow them to exceed the cap.

I took a deep breath before finally adding a point to vitality.

[Status Points] 40 → 39

[Vitality] 270 → 271

[HP] 2700 → 2710/2710

“It really does allow me to break the cap!” My eyes shined with happiness. While my health is high, I am always worried that I will never have enough. So being able to up my vitality to gain more health was a huge thing for me.

[Status Points] 39 → 0

[Vitality] 271 → 310

[HP] 2710 → 3100/3100

“Not bad…. At least now I can continue leveling up. It will all need to wait until tomorrow, though.” Or so I thought.

The next day it was heavily raining, keeping me stuck inside with nothing to do. In the end, I ended up doing more research on magic, looking at the books we had and hoping to find something that might help me with my fusion magic. 

I couldn’t help but sigh as I opened the books I have read many times now. I have memorized each of these books. I could recite each page on-demand if someone asked me to do so. So I knew I would never find anything new. But I still combed over them in hopes of finding something. If not, anything that could help in my fusion magic. 

I sat by the window in my bedroom with the wooden shutter propped up to block the rain but also so I could look outside as I contemplated what I read. The humid air made everything feel sticky and myself feel sweaty, but there was nothing I could do about that. This world did not have anything called a dehumidifier or an air conditioner. I could only suffer under these conditions. After a while, you do get used to it, but it still made me feel sluggish. 

“Faith, you look like you are about to melt away and turn into a slime.” I heard my brother’s teasing voice. I couldn’t help it, though. I was really not feeling up to anything with how sticky I felt. There were actually slimes in this world. Only they were mostly found in the lowlands down below the cliff. Every once and a while, a slime would appear near the top of the road that leads down into the valley. But normally, the village kids will go out and kill it as a means of practice.

I hate to say it. But from the pictures I have seen in books and stories I have heard about slimes, they seem to be very cute. Sadly another creature that looks cute but is actually very deadly. If a human gets surrounded by many slimes or falls asleep in an area that they are active in without protection, one could quickly find parts or all of their body being slowly digested. Slimes are considered the world’s cleaners as they can eat anything. The word ‘eat’, is probably the wrong word to use as they dissolve their prey with their bodily fluids. To be honest, I think I would prefer to be eaten then dissolved slowly. At least by the time I hit the stomach of whatever attacked me, I would either be dead or at least close to it. It may be a strange thing to say, but this was how I felt about it. 

Slimes were also beings that were immune to physical attacks and needed to be killed with magic of a different element. So a blue slime could be killed by any element but water. The same could be said for any type of slime. Slimes were born from magic and only from elements that were abundant in the area. They were basically harmless to a certain extent. A child could easily kill them if they can cast the correct spell.

  A slime’s main attack was its pounce. After contact, the fluids on the slime’s body would rub off onto its target and dissolve the clothing of the person. If the fluids touched skin, it would begin to burn and dissolve the skin. But unlike when it is trying to consume you, the damage is minor and not fatal.

At my brother’s teasing, I just ignored him. Because he said something that reminded me of something I had read before. Slimes sometimes had two fused elements. In areas where magic of two elements is abundant, they would be formed of those two elements. My eyes widened at this revelation as I jumped up from my seat. “Brother, you are a genius!” 

I ran by my brother, who seemed to be confused as to why I was praising him as I ran out of the room back to the bookshelf. “Found it!” I quickly turned to the page with slimes that explained in great detail about how they are born. 

“By elements intertwining with each other, they can form a mix of elements which gives birth to a dual element slime…. If this is true…..” I couldn’t wait! I grabbed my raincoat and tossed on my boots. I was about to run out of the door when a big hand grabbed my shoulder. 

“Faith, where do you think you are going without saying anything?” I turned to see my father’s questioning gaze which caused my mind to blank out for a second. I was so caught up in my revelation that I had forgotten that I was still only seven. 

“I think I figured out the issue that I have been having with my magic. Father, if I do not go out and try it now, I might forget everything!” I was slightly lying because I could never forget. But still, I had to go out now. This was something I had been working on all week! I had to find out if my way of thinking was correct or not. It would be fine if I could just work it with magic circles, but I had to actually cast them to prove my theory.

My father looked into my eyes, that were full of determination, and sighed. “Fine, but I am going with you. It’s raining, and the roads are dangerous.”

“What are you two talking about?” I heard my mother’s voice coming from behind my father. I paled because I did not know if she had heard what I was saying.

“Faith thinks she had just figured something out about casting magic and wanted to go out and try it. I will go with her. We are going towards the rocky area where it will be safe to see if her idea works or not in case something happens.” My father answered truthfully. Although it was not about spell casting.

I looked at my mother, who was eyeing my father suspiciously before she nodded her head. “Just be back before it gets dark.” 

I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard this. But now I am a little troubled. I knew I would need to explain fusion magic to my father now, and I hoped he would not keep me from using it. “Alright, Faith, get on. I will carry you over.”

I climbed on my father’s back and left the house with him. We had only gotten halfway down the road when he asked: “So tell me, what is it that you are so excited about? I know it is not casting speed.”

The dreadful question had finally come. I took a deep breath and collected my thoughts before trying to finally explain myself. “The past week, I have been working, without any success, on magic formulas that would allow me to fuse two elements together, creating a new spell. I have yet to even attempt to try anything outright, only drawing magic circle after magic circle on the ground, but nothing I worked up seemed like it would work, nor did I wish to try it unless I was actually sure it would not blow up in my face. But now, after remembering how double element slimes existed, I figured the process of fusing two elements together with magic was not much different than how it happens in nature.”

“Fusion magic, huh? Faith, fusion magic is said to drain a lot of mana. Are you sure you are able to cast something like this?” My father seemed more worried over mana deprivation than anything else.

“If my idea does work, it would be no different than casting a few spells at a time. Meaning it will use much less magic than the fusion magic theory read in books.” I replied. It was true. If my idea on fusion elements actually worked, it would reduce the mana cost by almost eighty percent.

“Hmmm…. If it does work, I want you to teach me. Also…. Do not tell anyone about this. If word of fusion magic spread, it could cause a huge imbalance in the world. And I, for one, do not wish for war. I only want to learn it so I can protect you, your mother, and your brother. And also so I can get a better understanding of what you are working so hard on.”