The only other fields that were easy to specialize in, or so I'd heard, were healing - which was something that you basically had to have specialists in no matter which country you were in given the necessity and importance of healers, and summoning - these were Liberomancers who specialized in using their summons and buffing them. Using summons was quite popular because it meant that you didn't have to put yourself in the line of fire and it also didn't require mana.

Currently I was tending more towards following the path of becoming a summoner - because much like becoming a healer, it was more universal in the sense that there would be other Liberomancers throughout the world who were also tending towards the same speciality no matter where you went. If I locked on to becoming a fire elementalist, however, that was fine while I was still in Chipker or Hitutsa, but might not be as good if I went somewhere else where it was not such a popular field and where the specific grimoires I would need would be harder to find.

As for healing - I had enough healing grimoires to the point where I thought it was 'acceptable' for my own use for now. I could search for some Rank Three healing grimoires, because there were still potentially many things that my current set could not heal, but they were rather rare and some families hoarded them as their own specialties. Not to mention, becoming a healer meant that I would likely be taking a supportive role to someone else, which did not mesh well with the likelihood that I might be on my own in the future. There was a reason why most healers stayed in big cities, away from where they would have to fight.

"I was a bit curious about one thing," Zeke said. "Did you ever get to try out that demonic spell you learned - what was it called again?"

"[Crimson Lance]," I told him.

"Yes, that."

"Well, I haven't had a need to use it thankfully," I told him. "I don't think it'll be that useful right now either, because it only targets one individual, and the main use of it is that it causes massive bleeding after striking the target, so if the initial hit doesn't finish off the target the resulting hemorrhage will. But I'm not sure if that holds true for the dryads - do they have blood or some kind of sap that circulates through them?"

"I'm not sure myself," he answered. "So, it works almost like a viper's venom, is that right?"

"Yes, you could say so."

"Hmm…" he said. "If only you hadn't used it - I was thinking of a way to help you get a grimoire that might allow you to fly, and one possible way to have arranged for it is if you'd have agreed to trade it."

"Really?" I asked. It seemed crazy that someone would trade a Rank Three grimoire for a Rank One grimoire. The difference in value between the two was immense. A Rank One grimoire would take an hour or two to write and could feed someone for a week. A Rank Three grimoire could take a month to write and buy a small house depending on the location.

"Yes, there are many people who would be curious about it," Zeke said. "There are many unique grimoires in this world, but not all of them are useful just because of that." That was true - like the grimoire that gave [Fragrance]. "But, that would still have uses even for a Rank Three Liberomancer. And the possibility of getting one through completely legal means - yes, many people would jump at the opportunity. Ah, but that's all water under the bridge, nothing can be done about that now. I'll have to see if there's another way… but in all likelihood you'll probably have to travel to Hitutsa yourself if you want one."

"That's fine," I said. I was okay with that - I would be traveling with the merchant train as it were anyway.

We finally reached our destination - though as Zeke was climbing out, he turned to me. "Just one tiny last thing - do you know there's a reward for making a new Rank Four grimoire?"

"Yes, the earldom, right?"

"Yes, I thought you knew, but I just thought I'd mention it again," Zeke said. "I'm not good at making grimoires myself, I've never even made a new Rank Two grimoire myself successfully. But - you seem to have a real talent for it given you made a new Rank Three one when you're so young. The guild was saying that you might even make a Rank Four one day, or at least, you were the Liberomancer within Chipker with the highest potential to be able to make one - so I wanted to make sure that you knew, well, just to motivate you. Our country could use another Rank Four grimoire."

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The palace was larger than the guild, but the interior seemed to have been fit more for function rather than style unlike the Guild, as in, it was less impressive on the inside than the outside.

We didn't have much time to appreciate the inside as the meeting was already beginning. We didn't exactly run towards it because that was unseemly and we couldn't be doing it in a place like this, but we did power walk as much as was allowed.

"Sorry," Zeke said as we approached the double doors leading us to the meeting room. I had to say - his house was huge and I would've likely gotten lost if he hadn't been leading the way. It took us nearly ten minutes of walking to get to where we were now. "I didn't mean to make us rush like that, but, can't be helped. The ride here was a bit longer due to heavier traffic with everything going on." He knocked on the door, poked his head in, and motioned me to follow him.

Everyone else was already seated around a large rectangular table. It kind of looked like a corporate board room from back on Earth, but a lot more old-fashioned with paintings on the wall of blue-scaled lizardmen who I guessed were Zeke's ancestors, a large statue of a sea dragon, and other such artistic pieces. It was a much fancier room than what the rest of the interiors of the house otherwise would've indicated.

Near the head of the table was Drake, and another blue-scaled lizardman who looked a bit older as his scales were slightly faded.

This was the governor - La-smack-n-hiss-r. Something I shortened to 'Lance' in my head as the actual did not make much sense to me.

There were around twenty lizardmen in the room - I was the only human there. One of the lizardmen had a purple sash around his waist.

All eyes were on us of course, because one, we were late, and two, probably because of my presence. There were whispers as I passed by people and followed Zeke's lead to the head of the table.

"Who… is that…?'

"Yes, the new Master Liberomancer."

"The one with the demonic grimoire?"

"The same."

"I've seen him before - didn't he work for you at one point, Lauren?"

"I heard he handed that old monster Jiah Pei a defeat in the tournament last year…"

"Really? He beat Master Jiah Pei?"

"No, I was there, he only won one round, but it's been years since even something like that happened..."

I ignored the whispers as I became rather self-conscious of some other things and cursed Zeke in my mind mentally.

If I had known I was going to be meeting the governor, I would've dressed better. Up till now I had only bought the basics when it came to clothes- I had no reason for anything better than that, I just needed to make sure that they were clean. When I had earned my place as a Rank Three Liberomancer, Granny Qi had insisted I get at least two sets of good robes - I negotiated that down to one, but I went along with it and bought a single set. A single set that I had never worn - but this would have been the perfect opportunity to do so!

Clothes did not grant any magical abilities in this world - otherwise I might've seen the value in buying some finer one, but if there wasn't a magical cloak that could boost my mana recovery or give +1 to Resistance, I saw no use. That was my thinking earlier because it wasn't like I was getting invited to any fancy parties - though this changed when I had become a Master Liberomancer. I had gotten some invitations which I'd declined or deferred for the time being, but I could see the use in having at least one set of good clothes by that point.

I had spent fifty Denarii - enough to buy a Rank One grimoire on that set of robes - and here I was, in my normal clothing while they sat in the dust at home.

Couldn't Zeke have given me a chance to change before coming here? Well, we were already late as it was, so the answer was likely 'no', and I doubted whether Zeke had done this on purpose to make me look bad given that his plan relied on me seeming respectable, but I couldn't help feel very annoyed by him in the moment regardless.

After all, appearances did matter, regardless of what anyone else would tell you. You wouldn't go to a job interview in your pajamas back on Earth! The other lizardmen were mostly dressed up well, and some had even come wearing armor and other battle gear, I guess to show their readiness for the upcoming fight. I would've done something similar if only I'd known about this meeting beforehand and could've prepared, which I hadn't.

Still, there was nothing I could do about this now, and I put on a smile and hoped that things would turn out fine. Maybe they would take my poor dressing sense in stride thinking I was some kind of savant who was only concerned with Liberomancy and did not concern himself with worldly matters? I doubted that would be the case, but a guy could hope. Governor Lance himself got up to greet me as we approached the head of the table.

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