Chapter 1592: The Next Morning
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Aquarina woke up the next morning all groggily, mostly exhausted because she went to sleep so late, even though she was now waking up around 2 PM, which was incredibly late to even wake up to begin with.
"Aagh… I never imagined that dungeon exploration would end up taking so long," she yawned. "Back then when we went dungeon diving with Sylphy, we would usually not take that long, right?"
"Mostly because you had a dozen powerful friends with you too!" Undine appeared by her side. "Good morning, Aquarina… Or well, perhaps good afternoon would be better."
"Ah, yeah, but they're growing," said Aquarina. "Silvia and Justicio, and Agua too, they're going to get super strong. Or I'll try my best to get them as strong as my other friends. But well, it still depends on their own will and everything else… Ah, whatever, I shouldn't be really thinking about that anyway."
Aquarina slowly walked out of her bed after stretching, she was used to her morning talks with Undine, almost always just waking up and talking with her one way or another. She ran to her bed, feeling all sweaty and hot due to the temperature of these lands, and decided to take a cold shower with her magic, combining ice with water magic to create very cold water.
"Phew… Ahh, yeah, this is good, holy shit."
She almost moaned in pleasure as she took that shower, washing her head, her long hair using a variety of oil extracts and honey, and then the rest of her body with a lot of aromatic soap. Despite having a sweaty body, Aquarina didn't like being sweaty, even less smelling like sweat either, so she would take her baths almost religiously at the beginning of the day and then at the end of the day, sometimes taking another shower in the middle of the day with just her water magic.
"I've grown pretty strong so far…" she thought, walking out of her bathroom. "Let's check the Status again. I bet my stats are super high."
Aquarina checked her Status after 18 Level Ups, and indeed, her stats had skyrocketed even more now.
Ding!
[Due to your great growth so far, usage of Mana and Magic, and your constant training, your Magic Circle has grown stronger, as its Runes had developed and expanded, increasing your Maximum Mana Capacity and strengthening your Magic Power.]
[Your [Magic Circle]: [Tier 7: Rank 7: Abyssal Spiritual Ocean Princess Magic Circle] has Ranked Up to Tier 7: Rank 8!]
[You gained +5.000 MP.]
[You gained +5.000 Magic.]
[You gained +5.000 Resistance.]
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<System>
[System Owner]: [Aquarina Darkage Grandstone]
[Magic Circle]: [Tier 7: Rank 7 -> 8: Abyssal Spiritual Ocean Princess Magic Circle]
[Physique]: [Tier 8: Rank 2: Divine Abyssal Adamantine Dragon Princess Physique]
[Level]: [100/150] -> [118/150]
[Class]: [Abyssal Frost Barbarian: ★★★★]
[Subclass]: [Dark Oceanic Witch: ★★★★]
[HP]: [104.700/104.700]
[MP]: [152.400/152.400]
[Strength]: [113.850]
[Defense]: [82.200]
[Magic]: [72.200]
[Resistance]: [64.200]
[Agility]: [132.400]
[Luck]: [42.700]
[Charm]: [48.200]
{Skills}: [Darkage Abyssal Bloodline: Lv7] [Abyssal Embodiment: Lv7] [Abyssal Aura: Lv6] [Divine Protection: Lv6] [Heavenly Ocean Ruler: Lv7] [Heavenly Poseidon's Aegis: Lv7] [Dragon Heart: Lv8] [Ocean Dragon's Aura: Lv7] [Abyssal Shadow Dagger Arts: Lv3] [Divine Poseidon's Trident: Lv8] [Elemental Fusion: Lv7] [Shamanic Alchemy Arts: Lv5] [Unyielding Bond Heart of Love (Sylph): Lv3] [Assassination Arts: Lv7] [Ocean Magic: Lv6] [Execution: Lv5] [Sea Princess' Wrath: Lv7] [Divine Abyssal Frost Leviathan Double Aura: Lv6] [Heavenly Step: Lv5] [Elemental Spirit Vessel: Lv6] [Abyssal Adamantine Dragon Transformation: Lv4] [Divinity Spark: ???: Lv3] [Experimental Cooking: Lv2] [Dark Whip Arts: Lv1] [Wind-Soaring Kicking Arts: Lv1] [Abyssal Sea Fist Arts: Lv1] [Dragon Blade Arts: Lv1]
{Divine Protections}: [Oceanus, the Chief God of Oceans and Water] [Tethys, the Chief Goddess of Fresh Water and Nursery] [Amatheia, Nymph Goddess of Ocean Animals] [Amphinome, Nymph Goddess of Ocean Currents] [Amphithoe, Nymph Goddess of Ocean Waves] [Sylph, Hero of Heavenly Eyes and Draconic Blaze]
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"Oh that's really nice, my Magic Circle gained a new Rank! I hadn't even realized!" Aquarina nodded, reading the messages appearing above her status. "Five thousand to Mana, Magic, and Resistance is not bad, also that means ten thousand more of these for Rank 9 and then Rank 10… Though it still feels pretty further away, my Magic Circle growth is not as quick as my Physique… Kind of disappointing."
"At the end of the day, Magic Circles won't grow so quickly through physical fighting," Undine said. "Unless you have unique Magic Circles like Luck with his Divine Beast Magic Cricle, or a powerful connection between Magic Circle and Physique that lets you make them both grow together like Sylphy."
"Aeeh… I know," Aquarina groaned. "It is must easier to create a Physique or modify than it is to do the same with a Magic Circle… I hate that about cultivation. Why are Magic Circles much more complex?"
"Well, for one, the Physique your entire physical body, so its obviously easier to modify as it is physical and tangible, right there with you, it is big too and has many parts. Magic Circles are much more delicate constructs of Mana and Runes, whoever invented them must have been pretty crazy, because planting a magic circle that will usually conjure a magic spell directly inside your body seems like suicide if it explodes."
"A-Ah… I guess you're right…" Aquarina nodded, drying her hair with Tier 1 Wind Magic Spells. "Now most people can use Magic so easily since the invention of Magic Circles I guess, but was it different before it became so widespread?"
"It was, people didn't have as much access to magic as before, Magic Circles was something still in development and improving over many centuries," Undine explained. "I would say it only started to become widespread at the same time as Magic Technology, which facilitated people's daily life a lot… Around twenty thousand years ago."
"T-That's still a lot of time!" Aquarina complained.
"It's nothing when you compare how old this world is though…" Undine said. "We spirits don't stay up constantly through these years though, through most of my life I've been sleeping, merged with the world's Elements, the Rivers of the Amazonian Jungles, sometimes waking up and forming an ethereal, spiritual vessel, the body you're seeing right now."
"Ooh…" Aquarina nodded. "I guess that's how Spirits live that long…"
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