[Congratulations!You have gained a level!]
The repeated chimes sounded in Penelope's head, accompanied by the voice of her daughter. While she was happy to hear her Ella's voice, but the endless chimes and repeating of the same thing over and over made her wish that the sounds would stop. Though, luckily for her, they did the moment she wanted them to after 17 of the same notification.
She took a deep breath and looked down. She finally realized how high she was in the air, and it surprised her. The small little Ella that ran around with a wand really had grown in a lot of ways. She'd made her declaration of becoming a witch come true.
Ella pointed down to the carnage below and the two dinosaur corpses sprawled about. "It looks like you leveled up a lot, mom! Let's go see what goodies these guys have for us."
Penelope allowed her daughter to pull her down towards the ground. The two landed near the collapsed dinosaurs, and Penelope turned her head away from them. "Do you actually have to skin them or something?"
Naela smiled. "Now I can see where the mistress gets that from. I am the one who handles the dismantling, since she is squeamish for a vampire. Not that I mind, I like being of use to her."
Penelope reached over and grabbed both of her daughter's cheeks. "You have gotten yourself a good one! Don't ever let her go."
"Don't worry, Mother," Naela said, "I would never let your daughter go. That's why I've decided to call you this. If I keep saying it, then it will be natural after we're married."
Elanore's cheeks flashed red. "Hey, don't start saying anything you want. For starters, if we are getting married, when are you going to stop calling me mistress?"
"Will you marry me if I stop calling you mistress?"
Penelope turned to see how her daughter would react, and she saw the little witch hide beneath her big white hat and mumble under her breath.
"Stupid not-dragon, I would marry you anyways."
Penelope and her daughter let Naela cut away at the corpses. Thankfully for either of them, it didn't take the maid very long. Penelope watched as her daughter was handed two different colored mana orbs. One of them was a sandy brown color, and the other was orange.
Elanore performed a cleansing spell, and then she sank her fangs into the larger crystal. She sucked out the juices inside and smiled as she downed it.
Penelope looked at her daughter with a mix of curiousity and confusion. "Do those things really taste good?"
The witchpire held the nearly finished orb towards her mother. "This one kind of tastes like a caramel candy. Want to try it?"
Penelope nodded. For her daughter, there was nothing she wouldn't try. She took the outstretched orb and sucked on the two holes. It was true, the flavor of caramel danced on her tongue, and before she knew it, the candy ball was emptied.
"Wow, it really did taste like caramel candy. Though, I can't say that I am a big fan of it."
"Really?"
"When I was pregnant with you, I had cravings for it, so I ended up eating a bunch of it. The flavor kind of reminds me of morning sickness."
"Whoa, I don't remember you telling me that before."
"I guess I never brought it up. I am surprised you didn't want to become a caramel witch. I ate those things so much, but at least you turned out sweet."
Ella hid her eyes beneath her hat. "I wish I was as sweet as you think I am."
Penelope shook her head and waved her finger. "Now that I am here, I will make sure you are taken care of. If you have your mother and your future wife to take care of you, then nothing can go wrong. Though, speaking of that, I wonder where we're supposed to go next. I am kind of feeling parched."
The witchpire's eyes widened. "I am surprised you still feel parched. Maybe it was because of all the levels you gained? I personally only need to drink from those orbs, so I thought it would be the same for you."
"I am a bit glad that I didn't end up the exact same. I still like eating food, and I want to be able to consume tea and coffee."
"Tea! Oh, I know, I should make you a kettle. There is already a pot, so we definitely need a kettle."
Penelope smiled. "That sounds like a good idea, but I want to be able to help you. I am in another world with magic, and I haven't been able to use it yet. I would love if you could teach me."
"I've never properly taught anyone to use magic, so it sounds like it could be fun. I might learn more about it myself...Oh, there is a spell that you could learn which would be very handy. It's something I use all of the time, and it's how I was able to know about your status. The spell is called [Inspect]."
"Inspect? That makes sense. How would I even use it though?"
Elanore shrugged. "I kind of do it intuitively. If you close your eyes and feel your body's natural sensations, you should feel something new there. For me, I kind of focus with my eyes on something, channel my magic, and say 'inspect'. Then it just happens. Though, I don't even need to say it really. I think speaking only helps you visualize what you want? I am not sure. I am just making this up."
Penelope chuckled. "I remember you being good at improvisation when you would play in the backyard. There were always new monsters to fight, and there were epic battles beyond my comprehension..."
Ella's cheeks blushed, and her eyes flickered towards the grinning Naela. "You don't have to keep mentioning things I did as a child."
"Why not, mistress? I love hearing about what you did. I want to learn all about you, and we have the key to all of the secrets you've been hiding right here."
"I wasn't hiding them!"
Penelope grinned and closed her eyes. She heeded her daughter's words and felt the sensations moving throughout her body. Luckily for her, she'd practiced meditation before. It was especially helpful when her daughter was ignoring her, but now it was good for feeling an alien sense moving in her body.
In her core, near her heart, she felt the pumping of what seemed to be a new organ. A chime sounded in her head.
[Congratulations! You have gained the skill [Mana Manipulation]!]
Ooh, so this is what it feels like? Hmm, it feels kind of like flowing water.
She felt the need to release it, so she held out her palm. She pushed the feeling out of her body, and when she opened her eyes, liquid dripped from her palm. It was the exact same consistency as water, but it was pink droplets.
[Congratulations! You have gained a new class! You are now a novice [Water Mage]!]