NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15: Party
Professor Sfanzreen seems to be putting in his best effort to bore me with his dull lectures.
Being a teacher is a natural talent, and Professor Sfanzreen clearly lacks it.
My attention is vaguely directed towards him, but in reality, it's focused on something much more interesting – someone a few desks ahead.
A girl, my classmate, gazes dreamily at Dadref, the handsome guy.
Welze Juble.
Blue hair, brown eyes, thick glasses, hair tied in a ponytail.
Shy, but somehow attractively wholesome in appearance.
She's the typical bookworm. I don't know why, but she reminds me of a little mouse.
The vibrant color of her hair is in contrast to her appearance and demeanor, leading me to suspect that she might have some mental quirks.
However, three main reasons have drawn my attention to her.
The first one is her class – Juble is, in fact, a Wizard.
In every balanced party, there's always a need for at least one mage.
Now I've acquired an extremely interesting ability: [SHARE SKILL].
I can use the skills of my Servants who have formed a contract with me.
Unfortunately, Rero, my faithful Servant, is a warrior and doesn't have particularly interesting skills to share.
Welze could be a valuable addition to my group because I could leverage her magical abilities.
For this reason, Welze would be an excellent addition to my harem.
The second reason is related to the first.
Thanks to the level 2 [SCAN EYE] ability, I can obtain much more information about the scanned subject, provided my intelligence is superior.
Thanks to this ability, I discovered that Welze possesses a very interesting special ability called [WISDOM DEVOURER].
[WISDOM DEVOURER]
You can learn any spell from scrolls, books, runes, and writings by expending experience points and using MP.
The cost depends on the spell.
If Welze Juble were to become mine, I could use her to store as many spells as possible and then use them through [SHARE SKILL].
The third reason is quite simple.
Welze Juble is, in fact, a childhood friend of that bastard Franz Dadref.
That arrogant show-off who did nothing but look down on me during my time in this school.
From what I've seen, she is infatuated with him, but he sees her only as a friend.
Furthermore, Franz is perpetually surrounded by other girls. I am convinced, though, that he takes her for granted.
Currently, he doesn't pay much attention to her, but if he were to lose her all of a sudden, he wouldn't bear it.
After all, I am the same in that regard. The things I claim as mine are solely MINE, no matter how much attention I give them.
No one else can touch them.
Taking her away would be a unique pleasure, combining utility and personal satisfaction.
My mind is already concocting a diabolical plan to subdue the little mouse.
I could use my slave Reis Vonner.
Damn it.
I have too many things going on.
If I could point out one of my flaws, it's having too many projects running simultaneously.
This is my Achilles' heel, and it could be my downfall if I don't get things in order.
Right now, my top priority is Luysia Camclair.
Ensuring her submission will demand all of my skills.
If I could successfully corrupt a devoted member of the Church, I would gain access to critical information for my world conquest.
Lastly, in this school, the last thorn in my side is Professor Kanna Merfal.
She possesses knowledge about demons and curses, and presumably, she knows how to deal with them.
"The skills [CREATE PARTY], [ADD TO PARTY], [JOIN PARTY], [LEAVE PARTY], [DISBAND PARTY] can be learned by anyone at any level," Professor Sfanzeen explains, bringing me back to reality.
"When you form a party with someone, the experience is divided among all the party members. On paper, it may seem inconvenient, but tackling a dungeon alone is a guaranteed death. That's why guilds exist."
Although the professor bores me to death, his explanation is useful in this case. I will need to form a party soon.
With the passive abilities provided by the Master / Servant contract, I can partially overcome the disadvantage of shared experience.
When I gain experience points (exp), my servant also receives a certain amount of exp, and vice versa.
The beauty of this is that this exp is not subtracted from the one I earn but is an addition.
The amount depends on the contract level. At level 1, it's 30%.
This means that if I were to gain 100 exp, Rero would obtain 30 exp. Of course, I wouldn't get any of Rero's 30 exp, but if Rero earned 100 exp on her own, I would gain 30 exp.
If we were to form a party, the two of us would each earn 50 exp from the hypothetical 100 exp, plus an additional 15 exp due to the [SHARED EXPERIENCE] feature of the contract.
Not bad.
"...an artificial dungeon created by Extrella to test and improve the Ventures of this nation," I can hear Professor Sfranzeen explain our next task in his monotonous tone. "...Monsters are summoned by Summoners using magicore recovered from real dungeons..."
Professor Sfranzeen concludes his lecture and assigns us the task of forming a party of at least three people to face the simulated dungeon.
I can see that Welze Juble would like to ask Franz Dadref to form a party, but the show-off is already surrounded by several companions and isn't paying her any attention.
Except for Rero, who gives me immediate visual confirmation, no one wants to group up with me, the lowly Rank F.
If I wanted, I could force Reis Vonner, but I want to try my luck with the little mouse.
This is my opportunity.
"Hey, Juble," I say with a friendly smile, trying to appear as amiable as possible. "I'm trying to form a party to take on the simulated dungeon." My tone is friendly, yet exudes an air of confidence. Welze seems surprised by my proposal and stammers a few words with an embarrassed smile. "Uh... I-I am already..."
"We're already a pair. I'm a cleric, providing support with my healing magic, and Rero Sansanti is an offensive class, a force of nature. With your magic to complement the party, I think we could be a winning team."
"Uh... I'm alr-ready..." she tries to counter, but as she does, she sees Franz Dadref forming a group with other classmates.
I can see the exact moment her heart breaks from her expression.
Welze Juble isn't among the top students. Her RANK is D, and the fact that she's a bit of a loner has meant she hasn't received any other requests. Despite her reluctance, Welze knows she's in a difficult position. Her options are limited, and my offer seems to be the only way for her to participate in the simulated dungeon. She has all the elements to make her my perfect prey.
I extend my hand. Cornered, she knows she can't refuse my proposal. She shakes my hand hesitantly. "Alright, let's team up, Wagner."
As we shake hands, from the corner of my eye, I can see the heartthrob shooting me a dirty look.
Stay calm, Dadref.
This is just the beginning.
My expression remains friendly, but inside, I'm laughing hysterically.