Michael had a few reasons for that impromptu ‘training’ session. The first, was obviously so that everyone would raise their ‘battle awareness’, or at least hone their ‘killer instincts’ and resolve a bit.

Secondly, Talia and Elina had to experience a bit of pain and suffering, so that they wouldn’t lose their nerve during combat. They needed to have a stronger will to survive, but also understand that sometimes… dying was the best alternative. ‘Wiping’ was something that would occur often in Dungeons and Raids; thus, he needed to prepare them for the inevitable.

However, the most important factor of all, was having Jasmine and Inari learn some spells and stop being so useless. As for everyone else, they had to focus on raising their own skill-levels; unfortunately, there was a major setback, which was one of the reasons why most people wouldn’t try to raise the power of their spells too quickly.

[Companion Information

Name: Alice
Titles: The Neet, The Nudist, The Junkie
Level: 21
Experience: 141/630
Age: Adult
Race: Draconic Fairy
Rank: E
Class: Elementalist
Specialization: Ranged and Melee Damage Dealer, Tank
Profession: Intermediate Alchemist Level 2]

[Stats

Health: 200/200
Mana: 300/300
Stamina: 100/100
Mana Regen per minute: 300
Health Regen per hour: 200

Strength: 10(+10)
Vitality: 10(+10)
Endurance: 10(+10)
Dexterity: 3
Agility: 7(+10)
Intelligence: 30(+30)
Wisdom: 10(+20)
Perception: 4
Charisma: 5

Willpower: 3
Luck: 5
Aura: 23

Attack Power: 100(+100)
Defense Rating: 5(+58)]

[Passives

Dragon Blood Level 5: Organs, bones, tissues and even entire limbs can be completely restored, through Health Regeneration. Immunity from all diseases, curses, poisons, and toxins within 25 levels of your current level. Negates 25% of environmental damage. Reduces magical damage taken by 25%.

Underwater Breathing Level 5: Able to breathe through gills in oxygen-rich water.

Intermediate Fire Affinity Level 2: Increases mana and health regeneration dramatically, when in hot and dry environments by 100%. Increases damage against enemies of the Wind Affinity by 100%. Decreases damage taken from enemies of the Water Affinity by 20%.

Water Affinity Level 9: Increases mana and health regeneration dramatically, when in moist environments or underwater by 90%. Increases damage against enemies of the Fire Affinity by 90%.

Wind Affinity Level 7: Increases mana and health regeneration dramatically, when exposed to windy environments by 70%. Increases damage against enemies of the Earth Affinity by 70%.

Earth Affinity Level 7: Increases mana and health regeneration dramatically, when underground, within metallic or stone structures, and while surrounded by rocky terrain by 70%. Increases damage against enemies of the Water Affinity by 70%.

Potion Mastery Level 8: Increases the likelihood of creating perfect potions, elixirs, remedies and other alchemical products by 80%. Raises the effectiveness of potions, elixirs, remedies and other alchemical products when used by the creator by 80%.

Elemental Attunement Level 5: Able to train 50% faster in Fire, Wind, Earth and Water Affinities.

Intermediate Unarmed Combat Level 1: Increases Attack Rating by 100% when no weapons are equipped and bypasses 5% of the enemy’s Defense Rating.]

[Spellbook

(Ocular Magic)

Scan Level 7: Identifies the object and gives detailed information. Only effective on items below the Epic quality and within forty levels of the caster.

Identification Level 7: Shows the target’s current Health, Mana, Stamina, Name, Title, Age, Profession, Class, Level, Rank, Race and Specialization. It is also possible to examine the target’s recent activities. Only effective on targets that are within thirty levels of the caster.

(Fire Magic)

Intermediate Flame Manipulation Level 3: The caster controls natural and magical fires, by sending their mana into them. Potency is dependent on the Aura stat.

Intermediate Fireball Level 1: The caster creates a sphere of flames, which explodes upon contact with enemies or surfaces. Maximum range of 100 meters. Deals 1 fire damage for every point of Intelligence. Costs 10 mana per cast.

Intermediate Flame Thrower Level 1: The caster creates a constant stream of flames, which can then be manipulated. Maximum range of 100 meters. Deals 1 fire damage for every point of Intelligence. Costs 3 mana per second.

Flame Clad Level 7: The caster cloaks their entire body in a potent, flaming aura, dealing Fire damage upon contact with enemies. 35% of physical attacks are converted into Fire damage. Deals 1 point of damage per Aura point, to any enemy who comes within 7 meters of the caster, every second. Costs 35 mana per second to cast.

Volcanic Lightning Bolt Level 9: The caster discharges large amounts of static electricity from their body, which deals Lightning and Fire damage upon contact with the enemy. Can reach a maximum range of 900 meters. Deals 9 damage per Aura point. Costs 90 mana per cast.

(Wind Magic)

Air Manipulation Level 7: The caster controls natural and magical gases, by sending their mana into them. Potency is dependent on the Aura stat.

Pressure Wave Level 5: The caster creates a sphere of condensed air within their palm and then releases it, sending their aura of Wind, crashing into the enemies. Deals 50 points of Wind damage. Maximum range is 5 meters. The force is determined by the Aura stat. Costs 50 mana per cast.

(Earth Magic)

Earth Manipulation Level 6: The caster controls natural and magical rocks, minerals and metals, by sending their mana into them. Potency is dependent on the Aura stat.

Stone Fist Level 8: The caster creates a copy of their hand out of stone, and then launches it like a missile towards the enemy. It explodes upon contact and deals 8 points of Earth damage for every point of Aura. The physical damage of the shards is equivalent to 80% of the caster’s Attack Rating. Has a maximum range of 80 meters. Costs 80 mana per cast.

(Water Magic)

Intermediate Water Manipulation Level 1: The caster controls natural and magical liquids, by sending their mana into them. Potency is dependent on the Aura stat.

Aqua Dragon Claw Level 9: The caster transforms their mana into a sphere of water, then coats their hand and launches the stream of liquid towards the target. It can then be used as an attack or to pull the target towards the caster. Deals 9 point of Water damage for every point of Aura. Force is dependent on the Aura and Strength stats. Has a maximum range of 90 meters. Costs 90 mana to cast, and 9 mana per second to channel.

Aqua’s Mercy Level 3: The caster channels mana into their target’s wounds, sealing them and preventing further blood-loss. After that, they continue to stimulate the cells and force them to rapidly regenerate the lost tissues. The caster must be in physical contact with the target. Heals 3 HP, per Aura point, per second. Costs 3 mana per second.]

Almost all of Alice’s spells had become far more powerful, yet their mana-costs were also severely increased. Of course, with all of the orgies and constant fighting, she had forgotten to finally use that ‘Essence of Earth’ to evolve.

On the sixth day of their training camp, everyone was mentally exhausted. Jasmine was completely naked, curled up in a ball on Elina’s lap, crying “Nyah~, I don’t like this game anymore~! JJ doesn’t wanna play~! Wah~!”

The angelic cat-girl was smiling wryly at the mystical tablet in her hands and consoling “If it makes you feel better, I was never very good at Chess before my Intellect and Wisdom were this high… Why don’t we play Poker again?”

Hearing that, the little girl immediately cheered up and sat across from the naked woman, wagging her tail back and forth, arrogantly announcing “Nyahahaha~! You will definitely regret challenging JJ, the God of card-games!”
Michael complained “Oi, the only reason you can even win at all, is because it’s mostly about Luck!” He was in his ‘neutral’ form and wearing his normal white tank-top and black boxers, while gently petting the tiny adorable vixen, who was sitting on his lap.

Sarah and Talia were literally flying around above them, one was frantically dodging or deflecting arrows with her dagger and wakizashi, while the other was struggling to avoid the teleporting little girl. Every now and then, the Huntress would be struck with a shuriken and lose control of her body for a few moments, but before she could be defeated, a powerful wind would blast her opponent away.

Alice was lazily stretched out between Elina and Michael, her entire body was covered in a constantly swirling glob of boiling water. At the same time, she occasionally fired ‘Volcanic Lightning’ towards the High-Elf and Dark-Goblin.

In the Nephilim’s lap, next to Inari, was a pure-white egg that was larger than the tiny fox. He gently caressed the two of them while revealing a gentle smile and channeling his potent Arcane and Light mana into both of his ‘children’.

Spells and Passives were much more difficult to train after they reached the ‘Intermediate’ stage, but they also seemed to transform in the process. Even if the ability was originally very vague in the beginning, it would become more similar to those learned from skill-books eventually.

Michael sighed as he stared at the ‘Electrical Manipulation’ section of his Spellbook, muttering “Ugh, I kinda expected that something like this would happen… but nerfs are always so fucking annoying.”

“Lightning Manipulation Level 5: The caster is able to create and control natural and magical electricity by infusing their aura into it. Potency is dependent on the Aura stat.”

“Lightning Blast Level 2: The caster creates and stores a large amount of electrical energy within their body and releases it towards their target. Deals 2 Lightning damage per Aura point. Costs 20 mana to cast.”

“Intermediate Electrical Charge Level 1: Temporarily enchants an Arcane weapon, allowing it to deal additional lightning-damage for 10 attacks. Deals 100 damage and has a chance to burn or paralyze the target. Costs 10 mana to cast.”

“Intermediate Electrostatic Discharge Level 2: Releases the stored energy from an Arcane weapon, creating a lightning-bolt to strike 10 designated targets. Deals a total of 200 damage. Has a maximum range of 200 meters. Costs 20 mana to cast.”

Of course, his ‘Lightning Manipulation’ technique allowed him to send out incredibly weak bolts of static electricity anyway, so he was actually much better off than before. Unfortunately, it was impossible for him to discover that in the Battleground Sanctuary, because damage numbers didn’t even appear.

He grumbled “The balancing is pretty shitty as well… I mean, who even designed the mechanics for my sword? I could understand if Chaos just came up with it, but when I use ‘Lightening’ now, I’m completely weightless and the sword has practically no fucking momentum. Although, with my ridiculous Strength, and the fact that it’s basically a chainsaw, it still seems to work pretty well.”

Then he reached into the golden treasure-chest to his right and pulled out a piece of orange candy. After pulling off the plastic wrapper and tossing it away, he began infusing the substance with his Chaotic aura.

A few seconds passed, and the confectionery had turned bright-red. Inari lifted her head up and whimpered at him, while gazing at the little ‘fox-treat’ in his hand with her bright-blue, vulpine eyes.

Michael snickered as he brought it to her mouth, allowing her to stick out her tiny pink tongue and lick it happily. She wrapped her four tails around his left-hand’s fingers, and tightly restricted them, building up her Dexterity and Strength, bit by bit.

Her entire body suddenly changed, and even her information was altered, “Grey Squirrel, Level-0, Rankless.” The only remnants of her original form were those blue-tinted eyes, which seemed to be hiding a vicious and terrifying magical-beast within.

“Rodent Mastery Level 1: The caster’s body can take the shape of unranked rats, squirrels, rabbits, mice, hamsters, and other similar animals. Enemies and allies below the caster’s level will not be able to view the caster’s true stats, race, class, rank, and level. Duration is dependent on the Aura stat. Costs 10 mana to activate.”

Since Michael was at a higher level than her, he would have been able to ‘Identify’ that she was using a concealment spell. Obviously, in those six days, he didn’t have the opportunity to learn such a skill. The only way to unlock it, would have been to find a ‘real’ unranked animal or person, at level-zero, and then focus mana into his eyes, attempting to ‘Scan’ them.

Inari made some chirping sounds as she grabbed the piece of candy with both of those tiny squirrel-hands, and began earnestly devouring it. He muttered “It seems like, in order to learn a transformation spell, she has to kill a shit-ton of that creature first… It also takes for fucking ever to level the skills.”

Once she finished eating, the squirrel squeaked and it’s body was enveloped in a bright-green radiance. The critter’s neck began growing much longer and the rest of it was thinned out, into a single fluffy tail.

Eventually, after some arduous effort, the hair fell out and was replaced by smooth black scales. Inari’s information changed to: “Adder, Level-0, Rankless.” Her HP and MP appeared as 2/2 and 1/1. It was to the point that even a normal Human would have been able to easily kill the seemingly ‘harmless’ snake. However, those bright blue-serpentine eyes were still incredibly ominous and any animal with a bit of Perception would have been able to sense the dangerous aura that she unconsciously emitted.

Michael smirked, “Okay, now… go-go fox-girl!” and she began shape-shifting back into a bright-green vixen. After that, she expanded until she returned to her normal size, but she just stopped and stared into his blood-red irises.

She shivered and whined loudly, over and over again until she lost consciousness. Elina asked “Did you ‘Intimidate’ her again?!”

However, a message appeared in front of the Nephilim’s face, and the angelic cat-girl tilted her head in confusion. “Your first Companion, Inari, has reached the end of her Childhood Phase and will now begin Adolescence. All base-states except for Aura, Willpower and Luck will double. Her reproductive cycles will begin and the ‘Pedo-Barrier’ has been removed. However, the ‘Jailbait-Barrier’ has been installed in its place.”

That tiny fox began growing rapidly, from the size of a wolf, until she was closer to that of a tiger. Michael quickly sent that pure-white egg into his inventory, and began gently caressing the gigantic vixen.

“Aw~, my little girl is finally starting to grow up… It’s only been like, three weeks since we first met, but we’ve been through so much together. Oh, like that one time, when I shoved my hand down her throat, grabbed her heart and yanked it outta her mouth, hahaha~! There was also the time when I was having sex with Alice, and she used that opportunity to test her new ‘Acid Bomb’ spell on us… Actually, now that I think about it, I basically just neglected her for the first two weeks, and most of my memories are of our ‘training sessions’. Wait a second, oh shit, now she’s actually stronger than me!” As soon as Inari was roused from her slumber, she noticed the massive difference in her stats and immediately turned towards the man.

“Arf, bark, grawl! Rarf, arf, awoo~!” She quickly stood up and arrogantly gazed down upon the sitting Nephilim. The vixen continued her speech: “Ar~! Rarf, awoo~! Bark, bark, bark-bark-awoo~!”

Michael glared at the ‘teenage’ fox, “How many fucking times do I have to say this? I don’t speak your goddamn doggy language! Just talk like a normal person! Besides that, even if you doubled your stats, it still wouldn’t be enough to kill me anymore!”