Davis was startled to see them back at the house so quickly after leaving. That wasn't long enough for a full clear of the Dungeon at all.
"There is a Guild Cooldown timer, and the beasts trigger it as well. So, we had to wait. But we made a little detour, and found an interesting thing." Karl explained, not going into detail, as there was a customer in the shop, a young warrior with some sort of badge on his shirt.
Karl guessed that it was an employer tag, marking employees of the company. The boy didn't have a Guild Tag, but he did have the look of someone who had seen things that most teens didn't.
That was a look that Karl was familiar with. He was doing mental calculations, so it was likely to afford one of the cheaper rings.
Karl noticed that there were now Ascended Rank wooden rings in the case, as well as Commander. But Loros had gone in a very different direction than what Karl had been teaching them yesterday.
Instead of combat runes, she had made functional inscriptions that had translated surprisingly well to system stats.
[Ring of Cleaning] Creates a vortex around the ring that draws in loose debris and dust from up to five metres away.
Alright, maybe she had just gotten frustrated after dropping a small piece, or constantly cleaning her space.
But there were other functional ones after that.
[Ring of Refill] fills a container under one litre in size with water
[Ring of Cleanliness] rinses the user with a veil of water from head to toe
They were expensive for people who made Ascended Rank wages. But for an adventurer or caravan guard? Some of those would be fantastically useful.
She wasn't a powerful Demon, and nobody in the city really needed combat skills at Ascended Rank. However, those useful items would make life so much better that keeping a few of them for employees or on a trip was worth it.
A young mage came in, in Academy robes, and ran over to the case where the young warrior was standing. Then he smiled and pointed at the [Ring of Refill].
"Good Sir, how much for that ring?" He asked.
"The Ascended Rank functional items are two gold coins each." Davis explained.
That really was a lot for an ordinary worker. But the student smiled and nodded.
"If you would, please. I will take that ring."
The boy placed out stacks of silver coins on the counter, and Davis slid two back to him.
"You miscounted, dear customer. Thank you for your patronage."
The boy noticed Karl looking at him and smirked. "I'm an Earth Elemental Mage, and we're not allowed to carry anything with us around the Academy but a wand. I can't cast water magic, but now I can make myself a drink while studying."
Karl smiled. "You will be popular very soon."
The boy looked confused until Karl elaborated. "You're not the only one who can't use water magic, right? But you can make cups and fill them now."
The student smiled and ran out of the shop, headed back for his school to show off his new item.
Presumably, the restriction on items was intended to make the students work together, but self-sufficiency was always an option if you had enough resources or skills.
Karl headed up the stairs with the ladies, and settled on one of the many large cushions in the third floor's lounging room. Rae had made so many that they didn't even try to decorate in here. All that fit was the cushions, pillows and the bookcases along the walls, which were still distressingly empty.
He would have to order a shipment of books for the house.
"Well, you said that there is a butterfly. Since they don't last long, can you show us the Glasswing Illusionary Butterfly?" Lotus asked hopefully.
A fluttering creature appeared before her, and darted around the room, then settled on Lotus' outstretched hands.
Karl could see, by the lack of Soul Energy, that it was an illusion. But by thermal imaging and every other standard, it truly did appear to be real as Lotus gently stroked its crystalline body.
"So beautiful." She whispered.
The illusionary butterfly sprinkled a sparkling dust over Lotus, which its wings spread around the room, and Karl sensed the real Glasswing Butterfly's annoyance as the energy level in its space dropped but everyone else's energy level increased.
[Indeed, your evolution is troublesome for you.] Karl consoled the beast as it calmed down again.
Not only was it hard to find food, but when it got excited, it leaked its limited energy away. If it hadn't been in his space, able to regenerate itself, just that dump of energy would have left it crippled at this early stage after evolution.
As such, Karl was beginning to suspect that it was not that the butterfly had an innately short lifespan, but that it had evolved in a strange way, and it simply wasn't suited to life in the outside world. It needed a huge amount of mana input and specific foods to survive after emerging from its crystalline shell.
It could feel the contact with its clone, though. Having the Priestess stroke its back was very comforting, and soon the butterfly was sleeping again, while the clone wandered around the room, letting out a small waft of mana infused dust every time it found something exciting.
But the mana dust wasn't entirely a negative aspect. The mana level in the room was rapidly rising as the dust dissipated, and it wasn't dispersing into the atmosphere.
Instead, it was making a perfect resting room for the growth of magical creatures, and System users who could absorb magic from their surroundings.
For example, Karl. Whose beast spaces were rapidly increasing in quality now that the newest member had joined them.
Dana and the others were also growing rapidly, infused with mana far more powerful than their own. Most likely, this ability had been intended to create a nest, a safe spot where the Glasswing Illusionary Butterfly could rest without deactivating its [Illusionary Domain] ability.