A tiny fairy with shoulder-length pink hair and rose-pink eyes darted anxiously back and forth around Li Fei, massaging her temples with delicate little hands.
Li Fei finally sorted through the fog in her head.
The star courtesan had always been waiting for a proper, romantic coming-of-age moment — and so she'd kept herself strictly in check during working hours, holding the line with great difficulty.
#Do you have any idea how hard the star courtesan has been trying?#
And then last night, she'd gone to her best friend's place as a guest — and under some truly outrageous hospitality, had nearly lost the battle entirely.
Fortunately, the star courtesan had pulled back from the edge just in time, preserving her principles by the skin of her teeth before tumbling home in one piece.
As for the unexpected daughter that had appeared in the morning…
Li Fei cast a complicated glance at the Knowledge Tree in her System Panel.
Introductory Summoning Magic:
Automatically summons a Nature-alignment unit loyal to you once per day.
Apparently, Li Fei's surprise promotion to motherhood was entirely the fault of Introductory Summoning Magic.
Summoning Spells and Summoning Magic were two distinct concepts. The former consumed mana to call forth a set number and variety of combat units — they were constructs of magical energy, bound by the duration of the summon, and could be easily dismantled by spells like Cleanse or banishment. The latter, however, was a gift from the laws of existence itself — living beings that were born, genuinely and truly, into this world.
Like the little fairy in front of her.
One could say she was Li Fei's daughter by way of the Nature Goddess herself. And what was more — from this day forward, Li Fei could look forward to receiving one adorable, devoted daughter every single day.
"A mother who's still a virgin herself… how scandalous. I wonder who'll take on the responsibility someday."
Li — Mother of Fairies — Fei buried her face in her hands and began calmly thinking through the uses of her future daughters.
She had a decent general knowledge of the common Nature-alignment Transcendent creatures, fairies included.
If Moonlight Wolves were among the weakest Transcendent creatures in terms of combat power, then fairies were unquestionably the absolute worst in direct frontline fighting — bar none.
And yet this ancient race had survived the catastrophes of the Age of Myths all the way to the present, becoming an indispensable pillar of the Nature alignment. That alone said something.
Beauty rivaling that of succubi and angels. Intelligence approaching that of humans. Nimble mobility. Exceptional reproductive capacity. Whether deployed as scouts and cannon fodder on a battlefield, or distributed across various industries to handle simple tasks — their value was irreplaceable.
Without exaggeration, the contributions they made to the prosperity of the Nature alignment were something even high-Sequence creatures might struggle to match.
"It would be a terrible waste to turn them into EXP. They're cheap labor that's obedient, clever, and easy on the eyes…"
Li Fei, sitting at a very comfortable Morality score of -9, turned the matter over in her mind and arrived at a rough plan with impressive speed.
Keep some as personal maids.
Send the rest out to work — and have Li, Mother of Fairies, Fei "hold their earnings in safekeeping" on their behalf.
Once the numbers grew large enough, perhaps she could even follow Lady Gneia's lead and start a business of her own — a fairy-themed all-you-can-eat buffet tavern with a certain… distinctive flair…
Li Fei finally broke into a smile. She lifted her hand and beckoned:
"Come here. Let Mama give you a hug."
The little fairy heard her and obediently burrowed into the warm, soft embrace, her thin, semi-translucent wings pressing flush against Li Fei's smooth, fair back — soft and slippery to the touch.
She was tiny — no taller than the length of Li Fei's forearm — but her proportions were perfectly balanced, her skin and face exquisitely delicate.
"Can you understand what I'm saying?"
Li Fei studied her for a moment, then asked.
"Mm."
The little fairy tilted her head up and looked at her with wide, pure, dewy pink eyes. Her flawless little face was written over entirely with adoration.
Born with mastery of at least one language… is that a racial ability of the fairy bloodline, or something granted by Summoning Magic?
The thought flickered through her mind and was gone. It only made Li Fei more eager for tomorrow's first day at the Magic Academy.
"You have to listen to Mama from now on."
Li Fei probed at her fairy's "loyalty index" with a coaxing tone: "You'll be having more little sisters soon who'll need looking after. Raising all of you is hard work — Mama might need you to help share the load…"
"Mama… I'll be good," the little creature said at once, clutching Li Fei tightly. "Just tell me what to do. Anything."
You said it yourself…
Li Fei's expression warmed with satisfaction as she stroked the fairy's soft pink hair. The little fairy — whose life had been arranged in full detail approximately thirty seconds after her birth — narrowed her eyes contentedly and let out a pleased little hum, then burrowed deeper into Li Fei's arms, craving more closeness.
"Let's give you a name."
Li Fei tilted the fairy's chin up with one finger, a smile curling at the corner of her lips. "How about… Ram?"
"Mm, mm! Ram loves this name!" the newly christened little fairy chirped with delight.
"Good. This afternoon I'll teach you some basic knowledge — study hard, so you can teach your sisters properly when the time comes."
Li Fei threw on a robe, climbed out of bed, washed up quickly, and pushed open the door. Bright morning sunlight made her squint.
Too lazy to change clothes, she crossed to the room next door in a few steps, leaned against the doorframe, and knocked lightly:
"Anyone there?"
Li Fei's lodgings had been arranged by Lady Gneia.
Ninety-nine percent commission was ruthless, certainly — but the employee benefits, one had to admit, were really quite generous. The Golden Kumquat Tavern had more than enough money to throw around, and it had secured an entire block of decent housing for its girls to use as staff quarters. After all, grinding wages to the bone while maxing out benefits was a universal strategy for preventing talent drain — it worked the same in any world.
Every evening as night fell, the girls — each beautiful in her own way — would head out in twos and threes to start their shift, filling the whole street with the drift of their perfume.
Some of them had even moved in together. They carried on workplace romances, sharing a mirror in the mornings to help each other with their hair and makeup, then going to work arm in arm to entertain their handsome, generous clients at night. Whether anyone got jealous was anyone's guess — but the star courtesan, for her part, had no objection to this kind of casual, unencumbered lifestyle. After all, they were all out here selling wine together. Who was in any position to look down on whom?
To Li Fei's eyes, this place was a garden in full, riotous bloom — every flower that grew here was beautiful and a little broken, romantic and a little twisted. She'd been slightly unsettled at first, but once her Morality dropped into the negatives, the star courtesan had simply… adjusted. Life was life.
Where there's a garden, there are gardeners — Lady Gneia had hired professional staff to handle cleaning, maintenance, and keeping the peace. Security, in truth, was the least of anyone's concerns. God only knew which of the women living here had spent the previous evening in the moonlit company of a noble heiress, or seeking entertainment with a Sequence 3 angel. No one in their right mind would cause trouble here.
"Good morning, Miss Li Fei… is there something I can help you with?"
A neatly dressed young woman came quickly to the door and stopped short, breath catching.
Li Fei's long hair was slightly disheveled, still holding the warmth of the pillow. She'd thrown a robe carelessly over her shoulders; beneath it, a thin, cream-colored silk slip and breast wrap, her luminous collarbones and slender waist flickering in and out of view. Her legs below the skirt were straight and perfectly shaped, seeming almost to give off a faint glow — even the little feet tucked into her slippers were flawlessly delicate, vivid and full of life.
Then again, every person on this street was a close colleague. There was no need to stand on ceremony.
"Do you have a moment? I need a favor."
Li Fei's eyes curved with a smile.
She couldn't quite explain it, but she'd been finding herself increasingly fond of watching women grow flustered and shy in the face of her beauty — especially straight ones.
Besides, flirting with no obligation to follow through is completely harmless.
"I'd be more than happy to help," the young woman said, pointedly looking to one side, unable to meet her eyes directly.
"Go to Teacher Annie's place and pass along my apologies — let her know I can't make it today. The address is…"
Li Fei stepped closer as she spoke, nearly bowling the girl over.
"Understood. I'll go right away."
The young woman uncapped her pen and opened her pocket notebook to copy down the address, a flush creeping up her cheeks.
"Thank you."
Li Fei reached into her neckline with two fingers, drew out a warm silver coin, and placed it in the girl's palm. "Don't refuse — you've earned it."
Space rings for storing items were obscenely expensive — well beyond any low-Sequence Transcendent's budget. The star courtesan couldn't afford one right now and wasn't particularly planning to buy one either. She had complete faith that some client would eventually give her one.
Two hundred points of Charisma wasn't enough? Then three hundred. Then a thousand, ten thousand. The star courtesan was absolutely certain that with enough Charisma, even the stars in the sky could be blasted down by a beautiful woman wielding a forbidden curse on her behalf — there was absolutely no need to waste her own money.
For now, she'd make do with her built-in "storage space." Perfectly convenient — the only downside was that shoving coins in there was a bit cold.
Feeling the lingering warmth in her palm, the young woman's blush deepened. She noticed her nose had begun to itch and clapped a hand over it immediately, determined not to let herself bleed. That would be mortifying.
"Oh, one more thing."
Li Fei added, "Could you also arrange for a maid? A professional one — someone experienced enough to help teach my fairy some basics. I'll pay the appropriate fee, of course."
There was no hiding the fact that she'd mastered Introductory Summoning Magic, nor any real reason to bother. If anyone asked, the answer was simply: exceptional talent and natural genius — no cheating whatsoever.
"Are you… a Druid?"
The young woman's eyes went wide as the implication hit her. She pressed a hand over her mouth.
The Golden Kumquat Tavern was hardly short of Transcendent employees — the commission was simply too attractive. There was even someone else on this very street who had also mastered Introductory Summoning Magic.
"Not yet."
Li Fei replied modestly: "I know nothing about rituals. I'll have to become a proper Transcendent after I enroll at the Magic Academy."
This single sentence carried so much information that the young woman — who had long dreamed of the Transcendent path — was left standing there, stunned into silence.
"Then I'll leave it in your hands."
Li Fei waved goodbye. The young woman stared at those impossibly long, dazzling legs as they retreated, and sank into deep, profound thought.
A talent of that caliber… and she's here selling wine? Has the Golden Kumquat Tavern really expanded to this level?
"What am I being coy about? If I keep saving up like this with an ordinary job, how long before I even come close to touching the Transcendent world?"
The young woman murmured to herself, "Maybe I should also…"
...
It had to be said — professionals got things done fast.
Before long, a maid in white over-the-knee stockings was knocking at the door, patiently and attentively guiding Ram through the proper ways to serve a mistress.
Li Fei sat through it for a while, then rapidly lost interest.
Tomorrow was the first day of school, and she'd taken today off specifically to go back to the Moonlight Wolf Den and grind a solid batch of EXP — and to field-test her new spells and equipment in the process.
"Ram, Mama is heading out. Pay close attention and remember everything well — you'll be setting the example for your sisters in the future."
Li Fei gave Ram a pat on the head.
"Mm, mm!" Ram nodded vigorously, full of spirit. "I'll do my best!"
Good morale. Serviceable.
Li Fei was quite satisfied with Ram's performance.
Hiring a maid wasn't terribly expensive, but money saved was money earned — and she wasn't exactly rolling in it, either. Two thousand seven hundred gold coins of debt wasn't going to pay itself off.
"Oh, right — order a few maid uniforms made for Ram as well."
The maid appeared to have anticipated this. She immediately produced a small booklet from her pocket. "You can choose the styles here. If nothing suits your taste, custom orders are also available — we can connect you with a designer."
"Let me have a look."
Li Fei opened the elegantly bound catalog. It displayed not only the various uniform styles, but "buyer showcase" photos of each design worn by actual maids.
"These two styles. Ten sets of each."
After brief consideration, Li Fei concluded that ten fairies should be just about enough to manage her daily household needs. She waved a hand with casual authority: "Stockings — all styles, all colors, multiple sets of each. No fishnet."
"Understood."
"I'll hold onto this catalog — I may be placing more orders with you in the future."
Li Fei set the booklet down on the bedside table with an air of mild disinterest. "You two carry on. I'm heading out."
...
In the center of an endless open grassland, a tall, upright silhouette stood motionless.
She wore a silver mage's robe and long boots, one arm raised high, holding aloft a staff of deep, terrifying black — its crown a skull, pale and cold.
"Magnus et nobilis draco deus..."
The moment the incantation rang out, an intangible, crushing pressure rolled across the landscape like a tide. A vast, desolate roar — something between a dragon's cry and the weight of a prison — rumbled from nowhere and everywhere at once. The sky itself seemed to darken, and even the laws of the world appeared to tremble.
Mana raged. It boiled. It surged along arcane, impossible trajectories, laying bare the very essence of the laws that governed all things.
"Draco Power!"
Li Fei's eyes blazed with brilliant light. Ferocious mana wove itself into a magnificent, towering structure, howled forth along the staff, and poured down upon her in a cascading torrent of power.
[Dragon's Might (Lv1)]
Spell Effect: Increases the target's Strength and Constitution by 100%.
Duration: 5 minutes
Mana Cost: Enhanced attribute points ×2 + 100
EXP to Level Up: 8 / 4,620,000
An eighth-tier spell — bearing power that rightfully belonged to Sequence 2 — now held in the hands of a "non-combat unit." It was, without question, a desecration of every master-level existence throughout history, a mockery of the laws of existence itself. Something unseen seemed to stir in the silence, rousing from an ancient slumber with a roar, straining to correct the distortion in the natural order.
The System Panel blazed with a radiance Li Fei could not perceive — and then, just as silently, stilled again. Everything returned to calm, leaving behind only a single, nameless sigh from some unknowable dimension:
"It is Depravity…"
"Ah. So this is what that level of power feels like."
Li Fei's cheeks were flushed, hot breath escaping through her parted lips. In her hand, the Ogre Staff trembled faintly, letting out a low, strained creak — as if barely holding itself together under the weight.
She took one step forward. The soft earth shattered beneath her foot. Li Fei descended upon the world like some battle-forged war god, radiating the terrifying aura that only the powerful of high Sequences could possess.
She nearly lost herself in the sensation of power she had never known before. With effort, she dragged herself back to composure and pulled up her System Panel.
Strength: 37 (base: 18)
Constitution: 27 (base: 13)
Mana: 260/270 → 94/270
"37, not 38…"
Li Fei murmured.
The Introductory Cycle Principle increased the effects of Nature-type spells by 10%.
18 × 210% = 37.8.
Her Strength had not been rounded up to 38 — the decimal had simply been truncated, leaving it at 37.
"Is the rotten system skimming off the top?"
Li Fei formed a quick hypothesis. "Or there's another possibility — the benefit scaling for Strength attributes is progressive and non-linear for my character…"
"Also — each cast of an eighth-tier spell contributes 8 points toward proficiency."
I'll test the rest gradually.
Dragon's Might lasted only five short minutes. Li Fei wasn't going to waste a single second of it. Wearing a savage grin, she strode toward a nearby Moonlight Wolf Den. The explosive surge of power left two shallow trails of craters behind her with every step, crushed grass lying flat in the little pits she left behind.
Until now, Li Fei had always relied on poison and ambush to pick off isolated Moonlight Wolves — safe, but limited in efficiency.
Now, it was time to try something more effective.
This wasn't recklessness. This wasn't overconfidence.
Full Moon-grade [Ogre Staff] in hand. Full Moon-grade [Guardian Mage Robe] on her back. New Moon-grade [Nightshade] tucked in her pocket. Plus the Dragon's Might buff at eighth tier.
In broad daylight, hunting Sequence 9 Moonlight Wolves.
With equipment stats that completely outclassed her targets on both ends — choosing to stick with slow, high-cost hunting methods anyway would not be caution. It would be stupidity.
____
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