9.3

Eve was reading.

Frantically reading.

Nota’s pages flipped with wild abandon as Eve devoured her way through the romance story of the Emerald Princess and her dashing commoner savior.

She was reading to distract herself from feeling like a complete and utter idiot. Learning of an association known as the Color Coven Alliance had thoroughly floored Eve. The knowledge that the actions of the Arena in Sunspire were simply not done by any intelligent power was breathtaking. She wasn’t one to complain about spilled milk, but damn.

Living in the wild, then Glenwood, neither really had information on something like the Color Coven. The wolves wouldn’t have been able to tell me either since they departed before I turned into a Witch. Eve thought her mind repeating the refrain. I never pursued who or why witches had a reward for information, so the subsequent problems are completely my own making. Ugh.

At least she had made the first thing she purchased in the Prison Plane, books. Nota was chock full of information now, both useful and not. Still, her habit of including clauses preventing information leaks had once again bit her. Without a doubt, Jeffery T. Wellington would have happily sold her existence to the Color Coven Alliance. She wouldn’t be stuck in the Wildlands; instead, the most probable outcome was being instantly returned to civilization.

With a really big stick on hand in the form of her Coven.

Eve slumped, resting her head on Nota’s pages. It was time to turn to something else, something more productive. Eve decided to focus on Rituals and, more specifically, Talismanic Rituals. She had several ideas for dealing with the Flood Dragon Matriarch, but without materials, all that could be done now was preparation.

All her books agreed on the most important point that Tier Six had access to at least a three-quarters elemental body. As a Flood Dragon Matriarch, she would be made from the very Water Element beneath Eve. The second most important point was size. Draconic species were able to manipulate their size easily, and with access to this much water around, fighting something the sides of four Earth buses stacked side by and two by two would be the minimum largesse to expect.

Eve teleported out of her room, Nota in hand, to look at the swamp arrayed before her floating form. Kudzu had finished encircling the outer ring of the swamp and was now working his way inward, creating a massive Garden wreathed in vine thickets. She wasn’t knowledgeable enough in biology, but her plant ally assured her creating a viable ecosystem was effortless for him. At the same time he was terraforming, Kudzu was also building defenses in a layered manner. Like the Sargasso Sea, enemies with a magical hover-train could enter but never leave.

The outlay of mana spread as she focused, showing Eve how her green alchemist used plants to create mana structures. Much like the mana structures within the human body, this removed ambient mana from the air, sucking it into the plants. Growth, regeneration, toughness, and lethality were increased for the vine maze. In exchange, invaders would find themselves struggling to effectively gather mana, or in other words, their regeneration would be toast.

Somehow I don’t think Kudzu is worried much about physical fighters. Eve thought, looking at the size of some of the nearby vines and, by association, the pollen or spore delivery flowers. Even a titan can be felled if they cannot regenerate enough mana to keep the physical boosts required to fight up.

A more important point was that by weaving his way over the large mass of land the swamp contained, Kudzu was stabilizing it. Essentially, the land over the swamp’s watery depths was like the cork in a wine bottle. Beneath the cork lurked the massive Lair of the Flood Dragon Matriarch. Kudzu’s vines tied the cork down firmly while at the same time preventing it from ever becoming so small it fell into the bottle.

A small ping notified Eve of a message delivered through the tiny two-way talisman she had left with Jeffery T. Wellington. It was her first attempt at creating a communication device, so there were obvious limits. Currently, they can only exchange one hundred symbols or less, and that is only once a day. The merchant had been unable to give her any of his own methods of communication since if they were traced, it would put him in violation of the contracts with her.

The solution had been to copy a trick from one of the anime her brother loved so much. Following the Law of Contagion, something she secretly thought worked due to magical quantum physics, she had separated a single sheet of paper into two pieces. Engraving the talismans together, a link was formed between them. Since it had used Dust for runes instead of Witch’s Dust, the link was untraceable to her. Any attempt to use the communication talisman for scrying Eve would lead back to the Primordial.

Good luck surviving after drawing attention from it. Eve thought to her erstwhile future scrying mages. I’m sure an eldritch being that sits at the edge of the Prison Plane nibbling on it will take well to being seen.

A smile flickered across her face as Eve imagined the expressions of those attempting to trace her communication talisman’s ink, paper, or Dust. Old Dar’s law still worked pretty well in a magical world. Taking out the communication talisman, Eve took a moment to read the message.

BH2soldout.need10xmore.2kslavesbought.shoppinglist?

Eve was once again struck by the jarring understanding that the Prison Plane was huge. To have so many Tier Fours just available to be picked up like a crate of chickens for slaughter was laughable. It was extremely good for her, although the fact that there were many rapists, mind breakers, and child molesters around was disturbing.

On the other hand, I didn’t actually travel much of Tal Mor. I have no clue how old these criminals are either. If you can live a longer life at higher Tiers, I could be looking at some very old offenders. Eve thought. Which actually makes slavery a much more punishing crime than simply killing an offender off. No get out of jail free card after a mere hundred years for sickening crimes. You serve the chain gang until you drop a millennium or three later.

Eve briefly wondered how the law worked when long-lived criminals existed. Shrugging, she pushed it to the side in favor of replying to the drow merchant.

10tonconfirm.Wantmorebooks.mechanical/medicine.Foods.Drinks.Ritualmaterialslargescale.Metalst4/5.herbst4/5.inkst4/5.

She didn’t know what was available since she hadn’t read much about those subjects yet, so she decided just to be vague. The Prison Plane’s methods of classifying things were rather simple. Name and Tier were all that a blacksmith needed to know. For example, Iron Tier One and so forth were how things were written. Mana structures seemed to follow a systematic pattern in regards to the ores, herbs, and other precious items available.

It was much more accurate than the basic testing she had done with Tal Mor materials provided by the forest wolves all those years ago. At least among the books, Nota had eaten were copious manuals for various treasures to be found in the Plane. Herbs, ores, elemental treasures, and more were all listed in various books with highly accurate testing methods. Rather than learn them all herself, Eve was attempting to have Nota create a search function. Linking that search function through the familiar bond would be incredible. In theory, it would create an overpowered observation skill, much like the games on Earth.

Eve truthfully wanted something that would allow her to ignore the restrictions currently on identification skills. Farmers couldn’t identify ores with accuracy, much like miners couldn’t spot Kudzu. Something that would allow her to apply the blade of observation with unparalleled accuracy was what she was currently aiming for. A glance at one of the recent System messages revealed progress was slow.

Familiar bonding process with Entity: Nota at 17%.

Synchronizing and repairing the bond severed when creating her Item and Zone was tedious. She still had access; it was just the difference between dial-up and fiber optic. Annoying, but better than nothing, at least in Eve’s eyes. The slower bonding speed was likely due to Nota desiring to become a Tome instead of the Grimoire she currently was.

Checking the System log of prior messages also brought to the fore a flashing icon she had been holding off accepting fully. Eve gave a tired sigh before she rubbed her eyes and scanned the blinking reward message.

Congratulations on Slaying a Dragon as the First of your species!

First Dragonslayer benefits still unaccepted include:

Access to the Dragon’s Hoard.

30% Dragon’s Blood.

30% Dragon’s Bones.

30% Dragon’s Flesh.

Dragon’s Magic Spells (Random)

Dragon’s Physical Skills (Random)

One-time Physical alteration allotment. (Draconic options only!)

One-time Mental alteration allotment. (Draconic options only!)

Would you like to accept these benefits now? Y/N

“System.” Eve said, her voice sly, “Can we make a deal?”

Calculating.

Please explain the offer.

“Don’t all Witches have three things?” Eve said, her voice tempting.

Offer accepted.

Rewards, with the exception of Quadruple Experience Gain, will be traded for:

Witch’s Ink Athame

Witch’s Paper Candle

Eve grinned, she’d taken a massive loss, but it wasn’t like she could get these at the dollar store.

Witch’s Ink Athame (Unique)

Soulbound.

A blade forged of abyssal black ink-steel used in Rituals by the Silver Witch.

Grants Rapid Ritual

Grants Boosted Ritual

Witch’s Paper Candle (Unique)

Soulbound.

A candle forged of abyssal black soul-paper used in Rituals by the Silver Witch.

Grants Sacrifice for Power

Grants Inlay Ritual Runes

Eve smirked even further as she scanned the four Granted abilities.

Rapid Ritual

When crafting a ritual, your speed is Rapid.

Boosted Ritual

When executing a ritual, the power is Boosted.

Sacrifice for Power

You may sacrifice for Soul Slots, Stats, or Power in a Ritual.

Inlay Ritual Runes

You inlay ritual runes with esoteric flames.

Eve pulled the two floating items into her body. There was zero resistance, one of the perks of a Soulbound item. The System had literally read her mind, as she had been wondering how to acquire Soul Slots. Apparently, the rules worked differently for gaining System currency than in Tal Mor. Her recent glut of books had mentioned that Witches always had a blade and candle. So, she decided to trade her rewards for slaying the Junior Flood Dragon.

Did I take a loss? Eve thought. Perhaps, but in the long run, it matters little.

It wasn’t like she could get items from the Color Coven in the middle of the Wildlands. The drow merchant was a dead end as her books told her quite clearly witches sold such items only to others of their Race. In other words, unless she took a loss to the System, Ritual magic would take a long time to work, even with Witch’s Dust.

Carving the runes was easy, but powering the Ritual was a whole other ball of wax. Witches required a Candle to properly power their Rituals. Her books made no bones about it, and Eve was clear the item wasn’t something she could self-craft without any knowledge of making it. The blade, or Athame, was in the same boat as she was no arcane blacksmith.

Needs must. Eve thought as she floated to the top of her Hut’s roof. At least the items are soulbound. Still, I could have really used another spatial inventory like the Dragon’s Hoard.

Crafting a table and chair, Eve opened Nota to read about Rituals. Several hours later, she slumped back in her seat. It was clear from reading that she was going to need a long preparation time. On the more sparkly side, she had her Athame and Candle. This was fantastic because, according to all the reading, Witches couldn’t do a Ritual without one.

Period.

Much like how Polyglot existed for her as a Witch, even if it wasn’t on her Status, the same invisible Race rules affected how she used Rituals. Generally, such things were nothing but advantages, and Eve suspected that new witches inducted into the Color Coven Alliance had no such issues with supplies. However, for a witch on her lonesome in the Wild, with no Coven connection to call upon.

Ugh. Eve thought. Just traveling from here to civilization is months of fighting. There’s a reason a Merchant like Jeffery travels in the magical equivalent of a WWII combat train equivalent.

It simply wasn’t worth the cost comparison. Better to stay here, murder her way through slaves for Tier Five, and then perform a Ritual or ten to kill the Matriarch. That would push her to the peak of Five, which is well worth the wait. Killing the Matriarch would let her hit Dragonslayer II. At that point, she could use the Candle to Sacrifice for Power. No one would convince Eve that a Tier Six dragon wouldn’t be worth the buck for such a bang.

The worst part of switching from Dust to Witch’s Dust was Eve no longer had an eldritch entity in her subconscious doing the heavy lifting. Certainly, she could still manipulate Elements, and her control over the silverspore was free of outside influences. On the other side of the coin, she didn’t know how to transmute elements or reconstruct molecules or any of the ten trillion, and one tricks an entity older than the System knew.

Which means testing stuff, exploding stuff, and learning new stuff. Eve thought with a physical groan. Isn’t this a magical world? Why am I still doing postgraduate studies?!

Eve picked up Nota and put her nose to the grindstone once more.