As the spell finished preparing, suddenly every leaf under my control lit up with a white fire, symbolizing that my Soulfire had been applied to them. The forest lit up with the hundreds of flaming white discs circling in the air like a vibrant display of power. But every rose has its thorns, and these discs soon changed their courses and began tearing through the fifteen people that were approaching.
Each strike from the leaves did a good deal of damage, combined with the life drain effect of Soulfire. By the time my mana was reduced by one third from channeling the spell, all fifteen men had been torn to shreds. The only ones left in the area were myself, Denise, Midnight, and Kirasami.
I didn’t really feel like killing the ninja, since even though he was technically an enemy I liked his style. But for someone that just saw a large group wiped out with overwhelming force, they couldn’t help but shrink back when I turned towards him. “So… you really are a caster… a damn good one at that.”
I chuckled a bit, smirking to him. “Didn’t you know that magic users are notorious for their area spells? If I was alone, surely you would have been enough to take me by myself, even if I saw you coming. But just using numbers to win won’t work.”
Kirasami suddenly began laughing, holding his stomach with one hand. “They said you were an arrogant bastard. I guess you have good reason, at least.”
“Maybe. Just curious, but what level is your leader? There shouldn’t be anyone over one-fifty if you guys are sticking around this area.”
“Ah, we do a lot of sparring, so we still gain levels. The boss is almost at two hundred now. I’m just over your estimate.”
“Two hundred, eh? He should have mastered quite a few abilities then. Well, if you or he feel like challenging me to a duel, I’ll agree. There’s not really much point in trying to hide from you guys, but I’ll be leaving the island in a couple weeks.” The system here really was convenient, since you could gain levels even without fighting monsters. It could even be possible to get a hundred levels before setting foot outside a city.
“Alright, I’ll pass the message along. Take it you won’t be killing me then?”
“Nope. I like you, Kirasami, you actually seem involved with this world. Not that many people are like that.” In other words, I respected him as a roleplayer. “Besides, doesn’t a ninja always have an escape route planned?”
Chuckling, he nodded, “Yeah, I guess so. Hope you don’t mind, but I’ll be keeping an eye on you for a while.”
I laughed for a few seconds at that. “Well, I’ll be joining the Fighter’s Hall starting tomorrow, so why don’t you stop by if you feel like training? It’d be less bothersome than watching from a distance.”
“We’ll see. I already graduated from that hall, though. Even found a monk in a different city that taught me some skills.”
“This place probably doesn’t have anything like ninjas, right? You did good to make it up yourself. And your stealth really is something else.”
“Says the man who made guns. We’ve got a blacksmith in our group, so I bet some of them are going to try to get him to make it.” He chuckled again before standing up. It seemed he wasn’t quite afraid of me anymore. “Well, I’ll be watching. I’ll stay out of your way, though.”
Saying that, he disappeared, likely using one last Light Speed jump to get to a safe distance and activate his stealth skill. I smiled over to Denise, and then checked our surroundings one last time. “Alright, let’s find what we came for.”
The Mana Trees were only a short distance away, and as we got there I looked around to make sure there weren’t any monsters. I didn’t really expect to find any, since the Eternal Brigade is based in the forest, and their levels are enough to be safe even if a King monster appears. Satisfied that we were alone, I gathered mana around my hand to prepare a spell, using the spell window to get the chant. “Power that rules the land unseen, appear now and show your might.”
I brought my hand up like a whip, aiming the tips of my fingers at a branch a few meters above and to the right. A low buzz could be heard, almost like a saw, before the branch fell to the ground. Looking at its base, it was cleanly severed from the tree. Denise chuckled as she watched. “You’re supposed to use the axe, you cheat.”
“Hey, you just went toe to toe with someone in a battle I couldn’t even watch. You don’t get to call me a cheat anymore.”
“Maybe, but isn’t it your fault I’m so strong?” She grinned towards me, picking up the thick branch with one hand and easily placing it on the wagon.
“Yeah, yeah. Well, let’s just get this back to Burlin. Figure Kirasami will probably shadow us the entire way there.”
“Ahh, so that’s it. You wanted to show off for him.” She started laughing while lifting me up onto Midnight, the three of us heading back towards the city.
“Well, if I show them that they can’t deal with us using people like that, then we should have a more peaceful stay, right?”
“Yeah, but why didn’t you tell him that you can’t leave this world like they can?” Denise asked, smiling back to me.
Shaking my head, I started laughing. “I wanted him to find out on his own, thanks. Got your answer back there, ninja?” I glanced behind myself at the wagon, and sure enough the black ninja was sitting there leisurely. It was the most likely place to find him, since I knew he’d be keeping tabs on us.
“Ah, so that’s what it was. I had heard a rumor about someone stuck here, but most of us don’t buy it. Guess that must be you.”
“Yeah, that’s right.” I smirked a bit before looking back towards the city.
“Damn, now I feel kinda bad about wanting to kill you. If you’re stuck here, would you even be able to revive?”
“Ah, yeah, we found that out the hard way. I can still come back, it’s just… different.” I explained to him about the empty void I stayed in after I was killed the last time. Of course, I left out any mention of Denise dying, the demons, or the nature dragon.
“Wow, that sounds like hell. Or well, purgatory I guess. But I can understand how you got so strong if you are in this world full time.”
“That mean you’re going to stop shadowing me?”
“Of course not. I already let the boss know that I’ll be following you for a while, so now I’m stuck with it. Besides, it could be interesting to learn a bit more. Like you said, not many people get too involved in this world, even in our group. But you haven’t had much choice, since you’ve been here for.. well I guess it has to be nearly two months to you, right?”
“Somewhere around there, I guess. And I’m guessing you want to know how a native like Denise got so strong too, right?”
Kirasami grinned to me, “Well, obviously. You don’t see humans with that kind of ability except in legends around here.”
“It’s alright, I’ll tell you. Really, anyone can do it. If you become friends with a native, and they sincerely wish to join your adventure, then they’ll join your group and gain strength as you do. Denise here used to run an inn, but she had always wanted to go on an adventure, which is how I found out about it.”
“Hmm, that’s an interesting method. Don’t think it’ll help us too much, since we are wanted criminals, though.” Kirasami vanished after saying that, and we entered the city normally.
Chapter 8
Once we returned to the crafting hall, I got to work carving up the branch of Mana Wood that I had recovered. Immediately, I noticed that this wood was significantly harder to cut than normal wood, and the durability of my carving knife was gradually dropping with each stroke. To help move things along, I cast bother Reinforce and Enchant Power on the knife. It radiated a soft glow, but after that I was able to cut through the Mana Wood like anything else.
While I was carving away at the branch, I began thinking about how I wanted to enchant this staff. If I was going to use it myself, it would need to at least be on the level of the Staff of Aben-dure that I wielded now. I had no idea how to give it the talent en
hancements that my current staff had, but I could give it the mana boost. Aside from that, I’d need to give it another ability as well to compensate for what I was losing.
Maybe I could give it an attack effect? I may not know if I’m skilled enough for the normal method of multiple enchantments, but I recalled the second enchanting method detailed in the beginner’s book. Carving a spell directly into the item, like I do with my Lesser Creation arrows, lets you enchant an item with an effect that will activate whenever mana is applied to them. Unfortunately, the method to carve a spell into an object was a bit different than the normal diagram, because obviously a complicated spell diagram wouldn’t fit on a staff.
Before I could bestow the spells into the staff, I first had to determine what spells I wanted for this job. Until now, I had managed to get by on mostly beginner level spells due to my high magical power and Denise’s backup. But as was demonstrated in the woods earlier, simple spells won’t suffice anymore. So, I began to work out some new spells, more advanced versions of the ones I had now. In total, I came up with five spells while I was working.
Frost Nova has been added to your Spell List
Flame Pillar has been added to your Spell List
Lightning has been added to your Spell List
Darkness has been added to your Spell List
Sun Sphere has been added to your Spell List
Thinking back to that book, I recalled the methods detailed in it. After the first few hours of carving, when I had the staff the shape I wanted and had sanded it down, I began carving runes into its sides. My goal this time was to carve two separate spells into the wood, one on each end of the staff. For each spell, the size, placement, and even the angle of the runes all needed to be precise to get the spell to work. Rather than drawing a diagram on the wood, I had to treat the wood itself as if it were the diagram.
On the first end, the one I would typically use as the primary spell, I engraved my new Lightning spell. This was simply a more powerful version of Shock Bolt that could keep going until something was strong enough to stop it. On the second end, I engraved the spell Frost Nova, which would create a wide freezing effect when it was used. I debated using other spells, but in the end this was the combination I chose.
Runescript has increased to 7
Runescript has increased to 8
Enchanting has increased to 11
In all this time, I have never really understood what the Runescript talent did. I’ve noticed that it increases as I write down runes, especially ones that I make myself. Perhaps it is a talent that helps with scribing scrolls? I wasn’t too concerned with it, because it didn’t have an obvious effect, but gaining three levels at once was nice.
Next, after double checking my carved enchantments, I got to work on the imbued enchantment. This time again I had to make a new spell, and the day was nearly over. Jackson had been watching me curiously for a while, and seemed quite interested in what I was doing. When I asked for some chalk, he happily provided it for me, as well as a wide patch of floor that I could draw on. Of course, I’d have to clean it up when I was done.
The spell I wanted to make this time was relatively simple. For the last enchantment, I wanted to make a version of my Enchant Power spell that instead boosted magic. I’ll admit I was a bit concerned at how I was going to pull this off, since simply saying ‘boost magic’ could have any number of results. What I wanted was to boost one’s capacity with magic. I’ll lose the ten points of Wisdom from my staff this way, and purely put the magic towards my mana capacity.
Enchant Mind has been added to your Spell List
I smiled a bit to myself once I had the spell worked out in my head, and received the prompt that it had been added. Now able to get to work, I began drawing out the diagram I needed on the floor of the crafting hall. Enchant Mind was a basic-level spell, so I only needed to use the basic enchanting circle, combined with the semicircle that would make the enchantment permanent.
Once I placed the staff in the center of the diagram, I put my hands on its edge. Focusing my mind on the new spell I wanted to imbue, I mentally placed it into the circle. Substituting the permanency aspect of the diagram for the activation sequence, the enchantment immediately proceeded, temporarily causing my staff to radiate a dim blue light.
By now quite a few foreigners had gathered around as well, and were watching me finish up my magical staff. In fact, it was because of these foreigners that I drew the enchantment with chalk rather than using one of my spells to do it. As the enchantment filled the staff, for a brief moment the two tips began reacting, one side sending out sparks while the other emitted a chilling mist. I was afraid that the carved enchantments were going to activate and I’d have to destroy my new creation, but they settled down as the magic adjusted.
Carpentry has increased to 10
You have created your first magical item through your skill in Carpentry.
Please select a name for your item.
Thinking carefully on the enchantments I placed on the staff, I decided to name it the ‘Staff of Winter Storms’. Right away, the previous prompt blinked out of existence and was replaced with another one.
Staff of Winter Storms
Created by: Jin
Rarity: Rare
Durability: 100/100
Magical Attack: 40-70
A staff carved and enchanted by the one on the path to becoming an Archmage. Capable of releasing the powers of ice and lightning from its tips.
Mana + 750
Magic Experience Gain +15%
Able to cast: Frost Nova, Lightning
I was a bit disappointed in the result, to be honest. While the mana provided was about half as much more than my other staff, both the magical attack and magic experience gain were a good bit less. On the other hand, I couldn’t exactly expect to craft a unique quality item on my first attempt. Given my levels in the relevant areas, I was lucky to get this much.
Of course, now I was running into a new problem. My bracelet would only carry one type of item at a time. Denise managed to get away with storing two weapons in them because one was a ranged weapon, but there was no way for me to store two staves into my bracelet. And if I had one equipped, I would lose the bonuses from the one stored.
Well, everyone just saw me create this staff anyways, so I can just walk around with it. It was still a good quality staff, even if it wasn’t on the level of Aben-dure’s. I wasn’t sure yet, but I think with the increased mana capacity, I also had a higher recovery now too. I’d have to test it later. For now, I cleaned up the chalk drawing I made on the floor and presented the staff to Jackson.
“So, this is your answer?”
“Yes, sir. I wanted to make something that I could use in my travels.” I nodded to him, and he smiled in response.
“Very good. This is a fine staff, even without the magic you put in it. I’m no mage, so I can’t be the judge of your enchantments, but the workmanship itself is good. It’ll be a shame to lose you to the Fighter’s Hall after this.”
I chuckled slightly, placing my staff at my side like a walking stick. The room was already dark, night having fallen some hours ago. “I will not be there long, just enough to learn how to use this in a proper fight. After that, I plan to move on. There is still much to learn about this world.”
Jackson began laughing at my comment, shaking his head. “Never have I seen a foreigner so interested in simply learning. Perhaps there is something different about you after all.”
I smiled, and the two of us said our goodbyes. Although the crowd had lessened somewhat, there were still several foreigners watching us. As soon as I broke away from him, they began rushing up to me to make offers to buy my staff from me. One person even went so far as to bid seven thousand gild. Of course, I had no intention of selling it and refused them all, saying that they were craftsmen themselves. If they wanted a magical item, they should learn the skills to create it.
After that, I broke off from the crowd
and made my way to my inn room to prepare for my first day of combat training. The next day, I discovered that there was a sudden influx of students at the Mage’s College. I passed by the line of foreigners that were paying their intuition to enter the stone building one at a time, moving on to the Fighter’s Hall a short distance away. Today, I decided not to use my grimoire’s ability to create my usual bow and armor, and went in my regular commoner’s clothes. The only items I had on me were my backpack, coinpurse, equipment bracelet, Soulfire Ring, and my new staff.
When I arrived at the Fighter’s Hall, I saw that the building was much larger than that of the Mage’s College. To be more accurate, it was actually a collection of buildings merged together. Off to one side was the archery range, while the other side had an open area with people practicing various weapons. As I approached one of the teachers, who I identified because he was not actively training himself, I introduced myself.
The Dive: Birth of a Hero Page 11