The Bloody Curse of the Bearful Fairy
Instead, it might be good to give them some goals, something to aim for. I had no idea what to do. No, there was only one quest, and with all my tasks done, there was really nothing left to accomplish. Total stats: 124. Impressive, right? That was the difference magic made. I could really feel my power skyrocketing at an insane speed!
Grueling training! Effort! Five months of mana cultivation!! All meaningless! One [Basic Mana Heart Method] solved everything! Just sitting there, adapting to mana, and my stats rise on their own. But as total stats increase proportionally, mana accumulates and grows. Then stats grow in proportion to that increased mana. And then it grows to match that...! My growth speed right now is like a truck with a broken gear shift!
Amazing! And with [Daily Bonus] on top, I could boost my stats big time every month!
──That dream was just yesterday. They didn't rise as much as I'd hoped. Was I being too greedy...?
[Fireball] was stronger in intensity now, and infusing it with mana kept the flames burning without going out. Feeling the greatness of mana anew, I spent my days in joyful asceticism... without any further growth. Once I mastered mana, hunting monsters or gaining experience was enough training to get stronger. No need to push with physical conditioning, as Noksu had said. She had no reason to fight up close herself, and she told me──don't take it personally──that I wasn't suited for melee roles. I could wield a sword decently thanks to weapon mastery and had some martial arts knowledge, but it was all average level. Against monsters, unless it was humanoid-slaying, it was just basic chopping. Yeah... hard to argue with that.
Now that I could use mana, I lightly scanned my 57 skills. The only proper attack was that eye-beam sacrificing an eyeball. Weapon mastery handled swords fine, but against non-humanoids, it was just simple slashes... [Invisible Touch] had great utility, but [Change Plant] was the real problem. Pluck a flower, and I could turn it into any tree I wanted. Could I make tree monsters? But at flower size, what use was that? As I said before, great for orchards. I planted a grapevine in the corner of the training grounds behind base. Useful, yeah. The fatal issue was mass-producing World Trees... Elves would burn Trust Union to the ground to take it. Even if I planted World Trees, they wouldn't grow fast, no real gain, so I shelved it.
[Forest LV.MAX]..... How do I even use you? If I could implant a treant like a World Tree for Treant Punch! that'd be great, but no... Fighting in forests let all nature aid me, but otherwise, it was an amazingly performant air purifier, plus attracting certain monsters or animals──nothing combat-related.
[Lion's Roaring Fist], I'd pass to Leona someday. Her race met the conditions; she'd use it well. Magical girl skills? Meaningless, skip. Asking Riko to dress as one? That'd scream "that kind of play?" She'd just say "I'll visit tonight"──too risky.
[Enhancement] was super useful, wanted to tinker everywhere, but nothing worth enhancing, and blowing up party gear? Disaster. Yeah. Rambling way too long. Among my skills, combat ones were countable on one hand. Summon weapons, weapon mastery... The rest? No clue why they exist.
[Return] being usable again was my sole salvation. Being able to bail anytime was a huge weapon. I wasn't bummed about not using [Shapeshifter] and stared at my new [Transformation] skill.
[Bearful Polymorph: Fairy]. Regular polymorph was high-tier magic or monster skill. But "bearful" prefix? Nox's Basics of Magic said it was self-harm spell, no different from extreme curse on caster. She was pressuring: "Time to hit C-grade, right?" Piling reference books and workbooks in the corner. Repeat-test taker Hyacinth just zen-ignored with "Do we really need C-grade?"
"Hyacinth, I have a new [skill]... Wanna test it?"
"From the gods, huh... But just us two okay?"
What if we get swept into something weird again? To his worry, I countered: "If you fold to that, you can't be a man." He nodded: "Truly a strong male."
Plains had just rabbits, foxes... Occasional deer or yaks, but beasts only──no real danger. But no slacking! I brought Leona, stronger than Hyacinth and me combined!
At 9, already D-grade! Genius upper race mastering Heavenly Divine Fist, pulverizing T-Rex in one punch...! Truck with broken brakes──that's Leona's insane growth! I teared up. Worth 3 Constellation Tickets and 1 Rank-Up Ticket...! If she knew, she'd see me as trash? Thought to myself as we three headed to Trust Plains grassland.
"[Bearful Polymorph: Fairy]!"
Surprisingly, no image needed! Half-hoping it'd fail, the skill activated, light engulfing me. Vision shrank, beautiful gem-like butterfly wings sprouted from back. Flower-and-leaf dress like fairy from a fairy tale──adorable, sparkling.
Fairy race exists only as "female"!
Magical being, pitiful cursed existence.
By constellation's blessing, you are not cursed!
Transformed into Fairy race: All stats convert to "Mana."
[Bearful Polymorph] side effect: Stats reduced by 80%!
Constellation hopes you cough blood and die! Inflicted with incurable periodic hemoptysis!
As cute, lovable "Fairy," speech becomes cutesy too.
[Clear Mind] resists mental abnormality.
Fairies were tiny; I shrank to Leona's height. And immediately, [Periodic Hemoptysis] status──permanent, untreatable. Stuck with it forever in this form. Hemoptysis? Respiratory disease. Yeah, I had late-stage tuberculosis now. Could die anytime.
"Maybe it's fine?" Inhaled──nausea hit, world spun. Limbs like lead weights. All stats to mana, then 80% down... Around 25 now? Lucky... Circulated mana for body enhancement, could move a bit!
"Uwweeeek!!"
Spewed a bucket of blood, vertigo whistled in head. Vision spun wildly. Something yanked from body, hemorrhagic shock──limbs trembled. No chanting, no words──dire straits, might die.
"B-Big bro?"
"Radamu-sama?"
"O-Onii-chans... Hueeng... Radamoo-chan feels like dying... Head spinning like crazy... But Radamoo-chan strong fairy lady... No crying~..."
"...."
"Do fairies talk like this?"
Leona's kindness made me tear up... Yeah, seems so. Nodded, blood drooling from mouth. Speech was so damn annoying. Hyacinth gushed "Fairies are so cute!"──Leona kicked his shin: "Read the room!"
Couldn't move, so asked Hyacinth to carry me.
"Hoeek... Onii-chans... Carrying cute Radamoo-chan~... Don't mistake for doll... Radamoo-chan cuter than dolls... ☆"
"Too much blood messing your head?"
Maybe. Why does "carry me" become so grandiose? Carried, I recalled: "[Maou] attributes or spell reqs unmet? Use skills as if met." Now I could use previously impossible skills.
Safest first: [Inventory LV.3].
"Hawaawa~ Cute Radamoo-chan's bag opening~ ☆"
......Air froze. Uwweeeek──spat another handful. Damn bag won't open. Felt like Inventory yelling "Hero! You can do it! Open!"──but only nonsense came out.
"Hoeek! Inven☆tory-chan, open pleeease~!"
Finally popped open. Seemed to say "Good job.." Anything to store? Nah, gave up, closed it. Vomiting per open? Pass. Fairy body Leona-sized──only smaller items fit, nothing anyway.
[Heaven-Earth Demon God Black Heart]. Try it? Mastered all mana attrs, but not "Yin mana." Missing condition? Not attack anyway... Braced, shouted skill.
"[Heaven-Earth Demon God Black Heart]! Hawaawa, why can I say this straight? Baby Radamoo-chan doesn't get it~!"
Chant worked?! Nothing happened. Auto-applied...?
"Hawaawa~ ☆ Radamoo-chan's love-filled [Fireball]~!"
Palm out──roaring fireball engulfed grass-munching rabbit. Resigned to death from "that guy," rabbit closed eyes tight. Charred fireball swept plains, exploded far off.
[Heaven-Earth Demon God Black Heart] effect: Acquire rabbit's stats.
....It's on! Amazing!
Warning - If skill ends, acquired stats reset.
"Hawaawang ☆ You shitty thing~!"
Fuck! Couldn't hold back curse. Magic power incomparable. Issue: constant hemoptysis. Released transform──limbs limp, lay on plains half-day. Hyacinth's potion saved pale-corpse me from anemia death. Thanked him for piggyback to base... Coughed too much blood, needed 3 days rest.
Never using that skill again.