Chapter 8: Isekai Life & Spell Debate

I was once again floating in the void with Corgiel, before the table with the fated d4 on it. Everything was as usual, even the yellow-green confetti, except...

“Uh ... is your dress shorter?” I asked.

“N-no...” she seemed to blush and look away.

“And your chest, it’s...”

“What kind of a way is this to greet your friend!” she yelled, covering up her chest with her arms, “Could you at least say hello to me! Jeez!”

“Oh, right, sorry,” I said. But, in my defense, it was a pretty stark difference, like Shoujo Lily becoming Tsundere Lily between scenes or something.

“Jeez! I was excited, too!” she said crossly, “It’s a pretty important level up for you!”

Oh, right, of course. Level three. I would be getting a new spell level, and so, because I’m a specialist wizard, I’d be getting a brand new spell for free. Generalist wizards would be left hanging out until they stumbled upon or paid to learn a second level spell- unless the DM said otherwise, of course- but not me, I’d get a freebie.

Also, I had a new nonweapon proficiency coming my way. That was also kind of neat. Right?

“I’m really sorry for saying that stuff, Corgiel,” I ended up saying, “That was really disrespectful of me. It’s just, you seem to have changed your appearance. And, well, I found it really noticeable, that’s all.”

She still pouted. “You’re paying attention to Theodore.”

Huh?

“You’re paying attention to Theodore,” she repeated, “You’re picking up on his etiquette skills, that’s all~”

Huh. I guess I was. I mean, etiquette at it’s core was treating people with due respect. The signs and symbols that you express yourself may vary from culture to culture, but in AD&D the Etiquette nonweapon proficiency is entirely divorced from exposure to other cultures, so at it’s core it becomes an act of expressing due respect to individuals.

So ... that’s a thing.

“This whole situation isn’t some kind of secret test of character, is it?” I asked, “I’m not going to wake up in my old body having learned enough lessons about how to be a good person, am I?”

Corgiel grinned. “Nope~! If you choose to be a good person in your Heaven, that’s your decision~”

Hmm, alright. I guess she hasn’t lied to be yet.

I raised my hand and opened my mouth, but Corgiel pointed at before I could speak. “You have questions! Well, go ahead~!”

First things first, let’s find out how deep the hole I’ve managed to screw myself into. “Is Calliope also pregnant now?”

“Hmm, I wonder~”

“Well, be coy if you want, but since you told me last time, I didn’t think it would be a problem this time.”

Corgiel made another pouty face. “Someone’s being mean today~”

Oh, come on, it wasn’t that mean!

“I was just teasing you last time~ So from now on it’s super secret~”

Well, that was disappointing.

“Well, okay. Would the size of the goblin tribe I’m about to start fighting be a surprise to most people in the setting? Like, is it larger or smaller than normal?”

“It’s about average~ But not many people would know how big a goblin tribe is, so any size could be surprising~”

Okay, good to know, I suppose.

“How are Katriana, Ashryn and everyone doing?”

“Hmm, I wonder~ No, that’s kind of mean to say~ They’re doing fine, but just because you left them behind doesn’t mean they’re completely safe, okay?”

That makes sense. I mean, I wouldn’t expect them to be completely, one hundred percent safe. I just have to solve the mystery before anything bad happens, right?

“What is Yua’s class and level?”

“Oh, you want to know about Yua, hmm? I don’t want to tell you, because you’ll figure it out eventually~ But she’s about on par with Calliope in terms of experience~”

Not exactly 100% what I wanted to hear, but okay.

“So, that’s it for my questions. Where do you want to start with the level up process?” I asked.

“Wow, that was fast compared to last time~ Where do you want to begin?”

I gave it some thought. Corgiel seemed to have recovered, and is in a good mood now- though answering as few of my questions as possible might have something to do with it. Maybe I should try the tricky things first?

“Well, about my nonweapon proficiency ... I have a question about the nature of alchemical steel in this universe.”

“Yes?”

“If I were to take the Blacksmithing proficiency, could I recast the metal and still have it retain it’s properties?”