Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

A new shop, or rather shops with specialisations.

Melee Shop, mostly about swords and that kind of stuff. This included:

Finesse, Dexterity, Agility, Weight, Strength. Rapiers, Swirling Daggers, daggers, Storm Swords, Great Swords. Light armour, leather armour and so on. Mostly safe to wear.

Tank Shop, heavy armours and weapons. This included:

Armours ranging from lighter to fucking 20 centimetres thick. Shields from small that covered half of the body to Wall Shields that were bigger than the person trying to wield them. For weapons there was the Storm Hammer, War Hammer, Star Hammer and so on, mostly hammers and blunt weapons. Pretty much a walking hulk of metal.

Ranged Shop, mostly about bows, slings and so on. This included:

Leather armour, mostly light with mild-medium exposure, with the highest quality having wild exposure. For bows, you had smaller ones, even ’pocket’ crossbows that were attached to your arm. Then you had bigger bows and bows that were twice your size, but still very light. Moving on then you had the freaking siege bows that were so far from a bow that you always thought why there is no siege shop. Slings, ranging from simple string ones to the leather slingshots and its variants.

Magic Shop, mostly wands and such. This included:

Mostly magical wear, with soft fabric and all that. High to wild exposure with runic inscriptions that varied, but very different to the Runes Aiko knew. There were even comically large hats which Aiko found peculiar. For weapons, there were books, which lowered the casting speed and slightly its cost. Staffs, that applied amplifications and depending on its usage you had:

Wand, small scale, individual magic, but very accurate.

Sceptre/Rod, medium scale, individual/squad magic, with medium accuracy, but wider area.

Staff, large scale, squad/army magic, with low accuracy, but huge area.

With these you also had different types of clothes. The Wands had short lewd clothes for increased Mana recovery. For Sceptres/Rods you had longer clothes with plenty of exposure, but usually bigger hats and cloaks to allow the runic inscriptions to reduce the spell cast time. And lastly Staffs, those had the most modest clothes since you needed as much space for runic inscriptions in order to severely cut down the casting time of the spells, otherwise you would spend days just preparing everything.

Aiko was more keen about wands and rods, since she would start on a small scale and later go through the whole ’nuking everything from distance’.

However, as her Mana was too low, she had to be more modest.

”The shorter clothes would also make it easier to move around.” Aiko nodded her head. There was no need to consider the design, since there was no one around and the most important part was practicality.

”Let’s go for the wand first.” Aiko nodded her head, and it was time to pick what type she wanted.

The easiest one would be a colourless wand, which allowed her to use all elements, but with reduced capacity. She wouldn’t be limited and very versatile, but she would have to be careful about the power behind her spells.

[Colourless Wand]

[Effects:

All Elements Compatibility

Low Mana Amplification

No Mana reserve]

The rods and staffs would also have a large crystal that could store Mana, which was very tempting for Aiko, but that also had limitations, so you couldn’t just pick a staff and go brrr with the magic.

For testing purposes this would be the best wand, but later she should switch to something that would go well with her fighting style.

As for the books or rather Grimoires. There was a lot to pick from.

The smaller ones provided greater casting reduction, while the bigger one provided a combo casting.

For now, casting reduction was the best, but...

”The fireball had no casting time?” Aiko tilted her head. Was there something wrong with her fireball?

”Hmmm...” There were the Training Grounds, so why not test it out?

Aiko picked one grimoire that was thin, but had the greatest casting time reduction and went to the training/testing grounds.

”Alright, let’s use 10 Mana for the fireball and 10 to send it flying...” Aiko customised what she wanted to do before holding the grimoire.

[Do you wish to record the spell: [Fireball]?]

[Yes/No]

”Record it.” Aiko nodded her head.

[Fireball was recorded.]

[Casting Speed Reduction was applied.]

”Alright.” Aiko turned towards the target. ”[Fireball].”

Aiko cast that fireball only to be shocked. The size was about the same as if she used 100 Mana and-

*BOOOM!*

The explosion was even greater than she anticipated, which sent her flying backwards.

*Crash*

Aiko blinked a few times. If the fireball was this powerful just because she used a grimoire, then what would happen if she also used the outfit and wand?!

This content has been misappropriated from NovelFire; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

”Hehehe~” Aiko chuckled sinisterly. This would be quite fun.

”But I will also need some defensive spells.” Aiko previously relied on her armour to shrug off any damage coming her way, but that was not possible now. Moreover, those barriers, or shields or whatever she would use would also drain her Mana.

”That’s why I want to go with a wand, since the outfit is light and will allow me to dodge.” Aiko seriously nodded her head, but even with everything like that in mind, she could only cast 7 fireballs, making her mileage quite short.

”I will have to rely on the AOE damage.” Aiko clicked her tongue. It seemed like she would need more personalised spells.

Returning to the shop, she picked that wand to test a few more things.

The fireball, thanks to the wand, increased in size, but not too much. However, the distance and precision increased quite a bit, but not as much as she expected.

[Fireball is considered to be a squad spell, not individual magic.]

”Ah...” Most buffs only applied to individual magic, so she might have much better success with simpler spells.

Taking note of that, Aiko returned to the shop as it was time to dress up!

The main piece of the clothes was the torso part. It was a corset-like dress and also acted as a mini skirt. It was completely black, but it had golden stitches, making it pop-out more.

[Corset Black Dress with Red Gem (Mage Set)]

[Effects: Amplifies Natural Mana Regeneration.]

[Effects: Allows to store some of your Mana... (Red Gem)]

[Special Effects: Increases Agility and Flexibility at the cost of sensitivity.]

The tips of the chest part were attached by two strings that connected to a wide white laced choker that gently hugged her neck. It was not uncomfortable, and the middle part had a small light-blue jewel.

[White Laced Choker with Light-Blue Jewel (Mage Set)]

[Effects: Balances the Mana inside head and chest to protect it from implosions.]

[Special Effects: Protects the neck against ranged attacks. (Light-Blue Jewel)]

There were two leather belts in crisscross pattern that hoisted the grimoire and on the other side potions. It was loosely attached, but it didn’t hug her body too closely, allowing for greater mobility. The back side of the belts had more parts, which connected to pouches with explosive flasks, just in case shit hit the fan, but those were written down in the effects.

[Right Brown Leather Belt]

[Effects: Stores and protects the Grimoire.]

[Left Brown Leather Belt]

[Effects: Stores and protects the Potions.]

Just under the chest, the gem was connected to a golden jewellery which amplified the effects of the Mage Set. It was slightly heavy, but that was gold for you.

[Golden Corset Jewellery]

[Effects: Amplifies the effects of the Mage Set.]

The back bottom part of the skirt was connected to a long skirt that went all the way down to her ankles. It was black, with golden decorated rims. The front rim was very simple, while the back rim was very lavish. The whole part was also inscribed by that runic stuff, amplifying its effects. Of course the front part was completely exposed and only part of her sides were concealed.

[Detachable Runic Skirt (Mage Set)]

[Effects: Greatly Amplifies Natural Mana Regeneration.]

[Special Effects: Greatly Amplifies the effects of the Mage Set.]

A leather belt was hugging her right thigh, with a few compartments, presumably for wands, but the shapes were slightly strange, so Aiko didn’t touch it too much. The design started with a big golden right that was connected to leather straps. On the sides of the golden ring there were tensioners, so that you could tighten the thigh belt without attracting attention.

[Questionable Thigh Belt]

[Effects: Amplifies anything that is left inside this belt.]

[Special Effect: Won’t rip or move easily.]

Both her legs had stockings, one was slightly taller than the other, probably because of the belt, but both of them reached about halfway to her thigh. There was no string that would attach it to the belt or her skirt, but it didn’t seem like it would slip down even if she tried. The same side with the belt also had a golden ornament, while the other leg had a laced design. Overall this was not see-through, it kind of reminded her of an incredibly soft sock, but it was dubbed as stocking. It was completely black with a gently soft lustre.

[Black Thigh-high Stockings (Mage Set)]

[Effects: Improves Agility.]

[Special Effects: Increases Mobility and Movement-type Magic.]

Her boots were short, but firm. The top of the boot was bent over and there were no strings to tighten the boots, but even then they were firmly stuck to her legs. It had high heels which Aiko was not too used to, but she would have to get used to it if she wanted to use it. The design was once again black. It kind of felt like this was some black magic type of outfit, but there were no mentions of it, so she would just let it go.

[Short Black High Heels (Mage Set)]

[Effects: Improves Stability.]

[Special Effects: Heels provide protection against Mana disturbance and corruption.]

On her arms, she had ornamented gloves with forearm guards. The gloves were completely black, but very soft, gently hugging her skin and keeping her warm, while the gloves were black with golden parts, making them pop out on her forearms. The gloves went around the halfway part of her upper arms, but like the stocking, they didn’t slide even when she tried.

[Soft Black Laced Gloves (Mage Set)]

[Effects: Amplifies Mana Distribution and Discharge.]

[Special Effects: Protects against sharp attacks. (Does not protect against the impact.)]

She had a golden necklace with a large red gem below her neck. The design was quite difficult to explain, but imagine half-moons connected to each other and ending up with a large red gem in the middle as a full moon.

[Golden Necklace with Large Red Gem (Mage Set)]

[Effects: Slightly Amplifies Natural Mana Regeneration.]

[Effects: Allows to store some more of your Mana... (Red Gem)]

[Special Effects: Increases Mana Distribution and Discharge at the cost of sensitivity.]

Lastly, she had a cape that worked kind of like an open jacket and hoodie combined. The hoodie part concealed her face with golden rim decoration and the rest was covered by the runic inscriptions. The hood then connected to the cape part that reached to about her lower back, barely. The hood was also connected to a jacket-like structure, it reached to the middle of her upper arms, concealing that her shoulders were exposed, but that part was like a sleeve, where you would stick your hand into. There were also ornamented shoulder guards, but nothing too heavy. The whole design was mostly black, with golden ornaments and sometimes red colours.

[Black Cape with Protective Shoulder Guards. (Mage Set)]

[Effects: Amplifies Natural Mana Regeneration.]

[Special Effects: Conceals your presence.]

And that’s it. Yes, there was no lingerie that went with it, which upset Aiko, but if she did wear anything under it, then she would be accused as a fashion terrorist, which she didn’t want.

Her chest part was fine, since the fabric didn’t move much and concealed pretty much everything, but she was greatly bothered by the skirt part, since it was too short to her liking, especially since she had nothing under it.

”Ugh...” Aiko groaned unhappily, but she would at least test this set...

And why didn’t she give up this set?

[Mage Set]

[Effect: Amplifies the effect of your Mana 2 times.]

[Effect: Amplifies the effect of your Mana Regeneration 1.5 times.]

It was too good to pass up on...