Level 1 Fallen

The next morning, I consulted Diane about my idea to create a second type of elemental ki projection, and she agreed that water would probably be the best option. However, she also pointed out that if we used the Create Water and Fire Shaping skills as the components for enchanting, we should be able to create the skill directly at the novice rank, without needing to demote it.

If that was the case, we could potentially get both water and earth, giving me four types of elemental projections if you included shadow. Though, when Diane said this, she added that it was a shame that neither of us had any wind skills to add to the mix…

Either way, Diane used her rune writing to help guarantee the enchantment of the new Water Shaping skill. As for the earth skill, she didn't have any to offer, so we could only use my downcasted Sand Shot. For the most part, it went through the same process as when I created the Fire Shaping skill book, but…

At the final moment, as my arms were splitting open with red sand seeping out, the final Enchantment Skill Book shattered. Diane and I looked at each other with shocked eyes, our heads drooping. With no more attempts at our disposal, we didn't have a way to create this skill anymore. Not until we got another enchantment book, at least… but they cost half a platinum each, and were often sold out on the market.

Even if we raced back to Slitherhold to run the dungeon, the local lord probably has it regularly swept clean with his own troops, meaning that there would be nothing for us to loot. Diane offered a weak smile, seeing my sullen expression. "At least you managed to learn one." She said. "Now, are you going to use the skill book, so you can give me the quest for it, or not?"

I couldn't help but blink at that. "I didn't think you'd want this one, since you should already have all of the runes it would give you. Is there something this can do for ninjas that I didn't think of?"

Diane gave a firm nod, forming a strange hand seal with both hands. "Water dragon technique!" She declared in a dramatic tone, causing me to blink again. Still, I nodded my head and created a quest for her. Since this one was for a basic water control skill, I decided to have a little bit of fun with it.

The quest that I gave Diane was for her to go swimming, and stay underwater for at least two minutes. With her stats, that shouldn't be difficult at all, and it would give her a chance to relax. I know, I know, I'm not the one to talk.

However, when Diane read the episode, her eyes went wide in shock. "A swimsuit episode?!" She asked in astonishment, her face going red.

"What?" I tilted my head in confusion. "You don't have to wear a swimsuit or anything, if you don't want to. Your clothes will get a little wet, but we've been through worse."

Diane hesitated at that, seeming conflicted. Her eyes darted between the quest window and the actual window in the room. "Fine, let's do this. Meet me at the oasis in half an hour." She said, before darting out of the room.

I wasn't sure why she wanted me to meet her there, since she could have completed the quest on her own. But regardless, if she wanted me to be there, I would be. I stood up, and began making my way towards the oasis, where I had seen everyone swimming the day before.

It took Diane a while to arrive, and I quickly discovered the cause of her hesitation when I saw her. She was no longer wearing her ninja attire. Clearly, she had run to a clothing store after leaving my room.

Instead, she wore a one-piece, frilly black swimsuit, her face bright red. "So, how does it look?" She asked, her one visible eye looking up at me.

"I mean… it looks cute?" I offered, since any measure of logic would say that she was indeed cute in this outfit. I wasn't interested in halflings in a physical sense, but that didn't mean cute things stopped being cute. "But, why did you go and get a new swimsuit? You aren't going to get much use out of it after this, are you?"

"You never know." She retorted, puffing her cheeks out. "Besides, it's a custom. When you are offered any quest that involves swimming, you have to have a swimsuit. That's basically a rule."

After she said that, Diane rushed towards the water, taking a deep breath and diving in headfirst. There was a voice in the back of my mind, telling me to take a picture of Diane in her new swimsuit and send it to her friend, Hammerhead. However, there was a much louder voice pointing out just how suicidal of an action that would be. I have seen Diane threaten physical violence for far less than that.

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I watched Diane sitting cross-legged beneath the water, resting in a meditative pose. Two minutes of holding her breath was nothing. Even at five minutes, she showed no signs of needing to surface. When seven minutes rolled around, I began to get legitimately worried for her, but she finally pushed herself up, breaching the surface and taking a deep breath.

With that, the quest was registered as completed. I half-expected Diane to rush to the dungeons afterwards in order to get the skill that she had mentioned wanting. However, instead, she seemed to be enjoying herself swimming. I saw a rare smile on her face as she floated on the surface of the water, until a catfolk boy splashed her, mistaking her for a human child.

When I thought that Diane was going to lose her cool and storm away in a fit, she turned to the boy, eyes narrowed. She extended her hand towards him, and a small wave rose around her, splashing back at the boy. Afterwards, she had a smug, triumphant grin on her face as the boy laughed.

It was only then that I understood why Diane was so happy to play here. Because of her illness in her world, she had never gotten the chance to play at the beach like this as a kid. Even if she was a grown adult now, the chance to experience what she lost from her childhood must have been too good to pass up.

Well, I wasn't about to spoil her good mood by running off to train. Instead, I sat in one of the free chairs near the water, watching her. Every now and then, she would turn towards the shore, as if to make sure I was still there, and smile at me. I suppose, for now, I don't need to worry about training.

Diane played in the water for three hours, sometimes with the beastfolk children, and sometimes just swimming on her own. It was around noon before she finally got done, walking out of the water with a satisfied look on her face. To me, it looked as if she felt more alive after this experience, so I was happy that she was able to enjoy it. Even if I hadn't really intended for this effect at all.

Diane closed her eyes, casting the Clean skill on herself. Surprisingly, this skill also served to dry her off, and she quickly equipped her normal ninja-themed attire. "Thanks for this." She said in a quiet voice, walking up to stand next to me. "I really needed it. I'll see you tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll be able to get out of here."

With that, her figure faded away, and she made her way back into the city. I let out a deep breath, walking back to the inn to resume my own training. Diane was still determined to handle these dungeons on her own, so I wasn't going to get in her way.

That said, I could now train both Fire Shaping and Water Shaping at the same time. When I activated Water Shaping, it definitely felt different from its fire counterpart. My palms felt damp, water forming on them and lifting into a small ball. As this ball had a physical form, and could even turn into solid ice, it was naturally more sluggish to manipulate than flame, but it was also easier for it to retain its shape once I got it how I wanted it.

The downside of the novice-tier Fire Shaping and Water Shaping skills were also obvious. With both of them I could force them into a solid form. I could make them take detailed shapes with considerable practice. However, I was limited in the range that I could deploy the water and fire, and that range was just as far as my arms could reach.

When Diane used Water Shaping to create that wave earlier, she was most likely just making the water she created with Water Shaping push other water at the boy. Especially since, once the Water Shaping skill is dismissed, any water created by the skill immediately dissolves. This meant that it could not serve as a replacement for the Create Water skill to quench thirst, or be used in cooking.

I expected that the range issue would be largely irrelevant once I evolved them into their second tier. Using Ki Projection as an appropriate analogue, it was able to be used regularly during ranged attacks.

However, even with that being the case, I practiced condensing both fire and water into various weapon shapes, such as swords, shields, and spears. I may have had proper gear, and didn't need to immediately worry about upgrading, but this was different. If I could make reliable weapons purely with my skills, and these skills continued upgrading, it was a solid investment for my future.

Already, my Martial Intent-X could create weapons far more powerful than my current Blood Alloy Blade, and more flexible. I couldn't see myself replacing my armor, but that was more because I needed the enchantment slots on it for more stat enhancement. My stats would essentially double whenever I wear my current Blood Leather armor set, due to the enchantments I placed on each piece.

Like that, I continued training for the rest of the day… and the next day, as Diane still failed to get the skill that she wanted. I could tell that she was getting annoyed with the dungeon, and was just giving it one last day to drop the Feather Arrow skill before moving on.

On the bright side, I managed to upgrade Fire Shaping into Fire Projection, though my water skill was still a fair ways off from reaching the same standard. I had considered not evolving them at all, and waiting until I had the chance to get more elemental shaping skills. Perhaps, if I could fuse them all together, I'd get some extremely powerful skill, like how the basic stat enhancements turned into the Duke of All Trades-X skill.

Unfortunately, I decided that that was rather unlikely. It was just too unlikely that we'd be able to get the skills needed. Instead, it was better to train the skills I had access to already, and make them strong enough to actually be usable in regular combat. That meant trying to train both the fire and water skill to their master level, so that they would be on par with Martial Intent-X.