Chương 93: [2.19] Rained on Parade (Part 2/5)

[Current Contract: Shower] Yes, that was the best way to get in the proper headspace. A cleansing shower had always helped Angelica a bit with her depression in the past. Though, it hadn't always been the easiest thing to convince herself to do during some dark times. Fortunately, now she had the ability to thrust herself toward the bathroom with an Order.

Yes, while being her own master couldn't allow her to instantly cheat away her depression, she could still force herself to take the proper steps for treatment and self-care. Plus… uhh… sniff She smelled like Hell, literally. As it turned out, fire and brimstone was the kind of stank that stuck around, like she'd rolled around in the remains of a campfire as if she were a pig who had just found some premium mud. Regrettably, she hadn't thought of it the night prior before going to bed.

This would definitely warrant a change of sheets, also something that'd probably improve her mood, but cleaning herself came first. Ah… that's so much better. She wasn't referring to just the rejuvenating water hitting her Demon self, but just the act of cleansing her body as a Puck was so much easier than it had been as an Imp. She could now shower properly like a human again, rather than treating her bath like the spin cycle of a washing machine to clean her hairy Puffball body.

Now all she had to do was pick up a washcloth with one of her wings and she could scrub all over! Revolutionary! Able to reach every part of her body and clean it properly. Yes, it really was boosting her mood a good bit. Drying herself was also significantly easier than it used to be. Water wiped right off of her bug armor, though getting in the cracks under the carapace was a bit more tedious since she didn't want it to become mildewy. Still, much better than trying to dry a big ball of hair.

Now she only really had the hair coming out of her mask, which wasn't even as much as her head of human hair used to be. Funny how her pestilent form would be cleaner overall.

"Ugh, wait is it…?" Despite the shower being turned off, the sound of running water never stopped. She went back out to her main room and peered out the window. It was pouring outside. That made her annoyance spike. Really, right after she'd gotten clean and dry? Ugh, that just increased the urge to crawl back into bed and call the day a wash with the promise to try again tomorrow. But no, she couldn't give into the vexing cushiony temptation.

She could go out as a human with an umbrella, but that'd make the trip to the Zenmoon Sect estate take significantly longer. The plan had been to Multi-Bounce her way over there in a few minutes, but now that sounded like a major pain to do as a Puffball. Perhaps she could go buy a child-sized raincoat for her Puck form? That also sounded like another annoying task, and she was less enthused about bouncing on slippery buildings and roads while in restrictive clothing.

But there was a simple way to decrease the effects of the bad weather. She just had to recreate her Weathering Resistance Rune. Since the Evolution was done now, Angelica also coughed up her Hydration Rune earring and put it back on, then she began digging around for her temporary tattoo kit to imprint the other Rune on her body again, but then a thought occurred. Would she need to?

Thinking back, she had never actually checked what the new levels of Reprint had gotten her, but at the same time, she had a good guess as to what they were. [Lv. 3: The tool used does not need to be the same. If the act is too complex without it, may require additional MP.] [Lv. 4: The medium does not need to be the same. Complex conversion may require additional MP] [Additional MP costs are reduced with Skill Level, Creativity, and Fabrication Attunement] While she was there, she also checked the progress to the next level, which was only at one percent. Though she hadn't been using the Skill at all recently, it felt like it should be higher. Maybe Reprint became a lot more difficult to train as it levelled since it came with a new perk each time. And yeah, the new benefits were about what she expected.

Otherwise, her previous Rune etching endeavors should have failed. She'd originally drawn them all with pen and paper, but for Weathering Resistance, she'd used the tattoo needle on her skin, and for Deterring Field and Hydration, she'd used… uhh… her mind? That didn't seem quite right, but if it was, damn, so useful! She once more assumed the tattooing position on her chair in her human form, planning to repeat the location.

In her Puck body, that spot on her inner thigh was covered in carapace armor, so there was a chance it could just appear on the surface level. But she was hoping it'd be hidden underneath where she had some hair. If not, it was still a good spot that many wouldn't see easily. First, she tried using Reprint with just her mind, but nothing happened. Damn. Maybe that was something which using Runestone enabled, serving as a special catalyst.

Perhaps it wasn't actually her mind, but her fingers counting when she held it, somehow able to transfer the scribbles into the middle of the clear stone. So instead, she tried with her fingers on her skin. The Skill took hold immediately, making her retrace the Rune as it normally would but with the tip of her finger. Ink that shouldn't exist manifested from nothing, as if her digit had a needle embedded, drawing with the same level of precision.

It had cost her a bit more MP than using the Skill normally would, but barely any extra at all. [Rune: Weathering Resistance Lv. 7 imprinted] [Runic Artist Lv. 3] [Creativity increased] [Fabrication Attunement increased] Oh cool! Despite being the exact same thing, her Rune was a stronger version than last time. That must be the power of Runic Artist, and was definitely an advantage of imprinting over using a catalyst like Runestone to make them, meaning they could be refreshed and improved.

Well, unfortunately, she could only do it once per Evolution currently, or until the Rune wore off, or if she somehow got the Shedding Trait, which must be different to Gawk's Molting Trait, even though the words had roughly the same definition. Of course, she could just repeat it on herself and hope for higher levels that would take precedence, but her skin had limited surface area. And changing back, the Rune was actually nicely hidden.

Really, Angelica would be happy to spam Runes endlessly to train both Runic Artist and Reprint. Which, when checking the latter, had only moved up to two percent progress. Before, when making Runes, it had been quite speedy, but apparently that training method had already diminished or the requirement from Lv. 4 to Lv. 5 had increase significantly. Yeah, damn, that'll be a bit. Maybe she should start carrying a small flipbook around that she could just riddle with Runes when she had little else to do.

She already had a proper sketchbook, but that would look more conspicuous, and it was a bit pricier and nicer, so she wouldn't want it to be set ablaze if she accidentally equipped one of the Runes by touching the paper wrong. Plus, since she could use a basic pen or her finger now, it'd be very convenient. In general, she wanted to start incorporating Skill practice more into her routine, especially during idle times. So small ways she could practice discreetly were a must.

Actually, she should go ahead and tweak her lifeplan wording to put more emphasis on training this way. Back as a human, Angelica clicked on her computer, groaning since it was showing its age, taking forever to boot up and load a simple file: her ever-changing lifeplan document. After a few extra words were added, which would also alter her Order the next time she renewed it, she decided to check on the radar.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. It looked like the rain would end in the nearish-future, or at the very least lessen to become more conducive to bouncy travel, so it made more sense to wait it out rather than trudge through. But how to kill the time? Ah, food! Yeah she should probably do that.

Eating always made her feel better when going through a hard time, but she often regularly forgot or failed to achieve the motivation to even go through the act. And she was also notably feeling a bit better now that Hydration was working again, since she'd gotten so used to drinking less, and that probably wasn't helping.

A pan, some butter, two slices of bread, and a disproportionately large amount of cheese, and her breakfast—rather lunch at this point in the day—was sizzling away, only a few minutes from gooey goodness. But as Angelica watched the food cook, her mind couldn't help but wander over to the bare burner next to it, a recent intrusive thought returned in full force. She clicked on that knob and placed her hand straight onto the electric coil.

As the stove warmed up beneath her palm, she could definitely feel the temperature rising. Heat Resistance didn't mean she couldn't tell something wasn't hot, rather, it just didn't negatively affect her. No discomfort, no pain. She wondered just how far it'd go at her current level. Smartly—if any of this could be considered smart—she'd started it out at low heat, but steadily clicked the knob up higher, gauging the heat with each step until it reached its max setting.

"Tch, ah!" She pulled her hand from the stove in haste, quickly moving it over to the sink to douse with water. Fortunately, it didn't look like it'd leave a burn since she'd reacted so fast. Still hurt, though. [Achievement Unlocked: Shaking Our Heads | Seriously? Seriously?! You're supposed to be Evolved, right? Yet you're still doing stupid things that only Imps should be dumb enough to try. You get no reward for this, and it's only an Achievement in name. We just want you to know how disappointed we are in you] Wow, harsh. Except she had actually gotten somewhat of a reward for it. Checking Achievement Hunter, its counter had gone up by one. So she'd still made an impact with her testing. And it had given Heat Resistance a modicum of experience, so overall a net positive experience. [Special Note: We suspect this is due to your Humanborn Secret, since you've performed an idiocy so cliched in human culture. What's next? Drinking from the bottles under the sink?] Wait… that actually wasn't a bad idea. Thanks DGS! Angelica had wondered how effects of normalized poisons, such as alcohol, would play with Poison Eater. Sadly, since they were so weak compared to something deadly, especially up against a Demon constitution, it probably wouldn't do much in the way of healing. She could buy some cheap alcohol to test this, but since she'd never drank much during college and hadn't acclimated to the pungent taste, it felt like a waste of money.

The chemicals under her sink, though, now those should be far more potent. She looked in the cupboard and gave them a glance. Sadly, a few were alcohol based, so they still probably wouldn't be pleasant, unless Poison Eater had tweaked those tastebuds too like they had with Toxic. What sprang to her mind of wanting to try the most was antifreeze. That always had a sweet smell, almost like syrup, sweet sweet forbidden syrup, now no longer forbidden.

But sadly, she didn't have any of that readily available—no sense to own since she no longer had a car. Angelica pulled out an unopened bottle of drain cleaner, her selected beverage of choice. Did she buy this, or had it been there since she moved in? Honestly, she couldn't recall at all. Both of her sinks could probably use it, having slowed down a bit since she began her tenancy, but now she didn't want to waste it. Checking the bottle didn't show any kind of expiry date or indication of when it was brewed.

But that shouldn't matter, since if it was somehow more deadly when consumed, that'd just be even better. She unscrewed the cap and gave it a sniff. Yeah, about what she expected, not the most tantalizing, but that didn't stop her from taking a swig. Mmm! Her eyes lit up and tongue danced as the liquid sloshed down to the back of her throat. Well that's delightful! Sort of like lemonade mixed with a sports drink, but with a pleasant burn like a heavily carbonated soda.

Yeah Poison Eater definitely had to be messing with her sense of taste, because otherwise, how dare humanity make something so yummy but deadly. So with her grilled cheese ready, Angelica settled down at her desk with her food and bottle of drain cleaner, ready for a good meal. She even threw on a foreign animation that she could now understand every word of without subtitles thanks to Maxed Tongues.

It was interesting understanding all the jokes and subtext without having them translated and possibly losing the same impact. What had sadly lost some impact, though, was her sandwich. Maybe it was the cheap ingredients, but it wasn't hitting the same way it usually would, even with the egregious amount of cheese. Sadly, she guessed the probable reason. Angelica was likely subconsciously comparing it to the delicacies she'd had the previous day in Hell. Her paltry sandwich didn't compare.

But it probably wasn't right to weigh them on the same scale, because the Demon cuisine had been on par with some of the finest dishes in her world. What really got her, though, was the cost disparity. She could buy an amazing meal for a handful of Essence. In Casniem, something of the same level would cost upwards of a hundred bucks, maybe even more depending on the place. Hmm, would it be weird if she started regularly popping over to Hell for meals?

Treating travelling between planes of existence the same as going to a restaurant for takeout. Maybe she'd even make a list of spots and make a Demon food blog. One she could never share, but for her own amusement, and for reference for Merlina's Boutique, some storyline about trying magical cuisine. However, currently she needed to save up every Essence she could, and money had become more disposable, so it was probably best to avoid splurge spending. Didn't mean she couldn't go back once and a while for a treat.

This all reminded her, though, of one idea she'd gotten from Hell that she still wanted to try. While the sandwich and deadly drink had satiated her, it was time to make another grilled cheese, one she could save for later in Second Stomach. Reprint! Her body took over, making the sandwich exactly as she had before. Sadly, it didn't spawn the ingredients into existence like it had with the ink for her Rune tattoo, but the absurd amount of cheese was identical. What would happen if she didn't have the ingredients?

Another test she could try later, not wanting to burn through her current stock just to reach that condition. When it came time for the actual cooking, her hands automatically tried to put butter and the sandwich in the pan since it was there and the appropriate tool, but she fought against it. Instead, she managed to convince herself to go the hard way.

The Skill was clearly reluctant, wordlessly checking with her to perform the complex action, making it known that she'd be pointlessly spending MP to do so, but she forced through regardless. Angelica found herself holding the sandwich flat in one palm, and rubbing her other hand over the top piece of bread. No way! The bread began to crisp itself until it eventually reached a definitive golden brown.

Not only that, but it had an appropriate level of butteriness applied, which she could tell by the sudden greasiness on her skin. Glancing over, the stick of butter she'd left out was gradually decreasing in real time, which somewhat explained her ingredient inquiry. Maybe her temporary tattoo ink had been used from her kit without her knowing, wherever in her apartment it may be. When one side was done, her hands automatically flipped it over and cooked the other.

Crazy that she could do this without actually having any sort of any proper Inferno Skill. Reprint was more powerful than she could have ever imagined when she first got it. Overall, it cost a little over thirty MP to make the sandwich using the Skill, which was way too much for something that barely saved any time or effort, but it was worth it for the knowledge and knowhow. And she'd been mildly rewarded for the attempt.

[Creativity notably increased] [Fabrication Attunement notably increased] Still not enough for a rank up? For whatever reason, Fabrication was much stingier with it than the other Attunements. It was becoming less of a wonder why many Demons didn't see the value if it was harder to improve with. Down the alternative hatch her weirdly cooked sandwich went, saved for later, probably becoming her dinner.

Since it had already been a bit disappointing the first time, she'd probably just transfer it straight into her stomach, not bothering to chew and savor. With cooking duty done, she went and checked the window again. It definitely did look like the storm was lightening a little, so it probably wouldn't be too long before she could head out, but it was best not to rush off due to impatience, even though her motivation had increased dramatically due to the recent wins. What else could she do?

Ah yes, of course, the book!