So, they are immune to my Hungry Shadows, but the Grasping Darkness is extremely effective? How does that even make sense? Either way, they were all immobilized now, so it was only a matter of picking them off. I stabbed Shadespike into the ground, while bringing my hands up to use my Creation ability. I may not be able to use guns in this situation, but there’s nothing stopping me from using bows!
Quietly, a bow formed in my hand from shards of blue light, an arrow appearing shortly after. On the tip of the arrow, the spell runes for Ice Lance were clearly engraved. As I knocked the arrow and pulled it back, I channeled a bit more mana into the arrow before letting it fly. Immediately, the arrow was wrapped in a thick spear of ice, skewering one of the invading cats.
I couldn’t help but grin at how effective this was, but at the same time it left me unable to Bind them. Since, apparently, I can’t Bind a creature at full health against its will, I was left only with the option of slaughtering them one by one with ice arrows. Every now and then, I would hear a low yelp from the other battle, or the sounds of wind being fired. With the wolves on that side, it gave me plenty of time to shoot down each of the cats on my side.
Once all twenty had been disposed of, I returned to my seat and watched for the next wave. It wasn’t very long after that when the wolves had finished their own battle, though one of them was killed. With a shrug, I called up another wolf to replace the fallen one, and waited to repeat the cycle again.
This continued for most of the night, though after the first wave they stopped appearing directly in front of me. Instead, they performed a pincer attack from either side of the camp at once. Same as before, I handled one side while the wolves took care of the other. Next, they tried to send a single, larger attack force to the opposite end of the camp from where I was staying.
That attack went particularly poorly, since Shadespike was able to capture the entire group in the shadow nets, making it a very quick battle. After that, the cats seemed to give up, though I kept my guard until the sun rose the following morning. I need to make a barrier spell or something, if it’s going to be like this every night.. The only good thing about what happened was that it gave me almost enough experience to master Grasping Darkness, and I was able to level up Arcane Marksman twice.
As soon as the sun started to rise over the horizon, the Twilight Cats immediately stopped their attacks, vanishing completely from the area. Realizing that this was the break I had been waiting for, I let out a deep breath. “Finally…” With a smile, I sat on the ground at the center of camp, waiting for my two companions to wake for another day of travel. Though, today I would have other things to think about than creating a meteor spell.
While it would still be a great spell to possess, there was a more immediate problem now. In order to preserve our stamina, we needed a new safeguard for our camp. This time, rather than a simple alarm spell, I hoped to create a proper barrier. Of course, this plan had a few issues of its own.
What school of magic does a barrier even fall under? Is it its own school, a universal magic like Message, or something else entirely?
I knew somewhere that I could learn the answers, but it was going to be a pain. Once Cynthia and Denise woke up, I began explaining to them what I wanted to do. Denise seemed to have been expecting something like that, while Cynthia was more concerned with the fact that we had been fighting all night and she didn’t wake up.
“You tried this spell out yet?” Denise smirked to me after hearing the plan, as if she wasn’t sure I could pull it off.
“Nope. First time for everything, though.” I chuckled, grabbing my staff and striking it into the ground. For this plan, I needed to channel an ample amount of mana to boost its effect. As I did so, a blue mist began forming around me, seeping out of every pore. “Lingering spirit, forge the soul. Ambient energy, forge the aura. Flesh of my flesh, arise and do as you are commanded.”
As I spoke, the blue mist surged from my body, condensing in front of me to radiate a bright light. At first, this light was unremarkable, but it gradually grew higher and wider to form a thin sheet. Within this wall of light, I saw myself as if looking through a mirror. Then, the ‘me’ in the mirror stepped forward, passing through the veil. Appearing now as a solid copy of me, I knew that the spell had succeeded.
Since the copy shared my mind, it didn’t even speak before conjuring a set of thick black doors behind itself. Soon, the doors were pushed open, and my copy stepped through to visit Solomon’s Library. Looking back at the others, I was pleased to see that Cynthia looked as if she had seen something amazing. Denise, however, was just smiling about something unknown.
“Okay… it should have twelve hours before the spell expires. Let’s get moving.” The others nodded in agreement, so we climbed onto the wagon and set off. Well, Denise and I did. This time it was Cynthia’s turn to stand guard while the two of us rested. That was another reason why I felt the need to invest some time into a barrier spell, because the deeper we move into this territory the more likely we are to encounter something that one of us won’t be able to handle alone.
For now, the trail was easy, with us able to spend a full two hours before encountering our first monster. Our first battle was against a pair of Five-Tailed Fire Foxes, which Cynthia was capable of defeating with only light injuries. Something I noted about these fire foxes was that they were larger and stronger depending on their number of tails. The three-tailed ones we saw originally were barely larger than the average fox, whereas a Six-Tailed Fire Fox was roughly as big as a horse!
With the increase in the number of tails, every aspect about them seemed to improve. They struck faster and harder, evaded more easily, launched more powerful fire magic, and even seemed to be smarter. I had the bad feeling that a Nine-Tailed Fire Fox would take all three of us to defeat, and another feeling that we’d eventually find out.
Seeing as the enemies we were fighting now were magical beasts, I made sure to keep a lookout for special drops that could prove useful to us. I hadn’t even considered doing so until I received something in the middle of the night from one of the Twilight Cats. After killing it, I spotted a tiny black pearl in the grass, reflecting the light of the moon. While simply picking it up didn’t tell me what it was, my Scan spell easily identified it.
Lesser Darkness Essence
Rarity: Uncommon
This essence was created from the life force of a weak creature. Even so, it is a ball of pure darkness energy, and can prove useful for various purposes. When fed to a magical creature with the darkness attribute, it can increase their power by a small margin.
I was immediately surprised at the sight of the essence, and then let a grin rise on my face. Running around the camp for the next ten minutes, I gathered up every similar item I managed to find, though there were only eight of them. Afterwards, I started trying to hold back against the Twilight Cats to get one as a summon, but they were far too weak. I’ll have to find another shadow beast to bind for that.
Sadly, the Five-Tailed Fire Foxes didn’t drop a similar essence. Since I had already bound a six-tailed version, I felt no need to keep these. Leaning back into the wagon, I let myself rest while we continued traveling forward. The next fight was against a total of three Wind Wolves, which Denise had to help with. Not because they were powerful, but because they could fly and Cynthia hadn’t made a ranged weapon yet.
After that fight, she glared at me as if it were my fault, prompting me to hurry up with my research on magical guns. It’s not as easy as it sounds, you know! I had a design in mind, but rate of fire was a problem I couldn’t figure out how to overcome. If it fires too quickly, the Mana Stone powering it would run out of energy faster than it could replenish itself. One of the good things about these stones was that they gathered mana from their surroundings, but it still took time to gather.
If she carried around a surplus of replacement stones, maybe. It needs a more efficient recharge mechanism! I opened my eyes wide as I thought struck me. What if the re
charge mechanism is the solution!?
Closing my eyes, I began working on the design I had in my head. Really, it was quite the simple design, and I was amazed I hadn’t thought of it before. With my hands raised, I immediately cast Create Advanced Object, letting the idea in my mind take shape. I could feel the metal handle resting on my hands, but didn’t dare to open my eyes to risk breaking my concentration until after I was done.
Gradually, the weight in my hands increased while my mana decreased, and I knew it would be ready for the next step once my mana started refilling itself. Once I opened my eyes, I looked at the strange object in my hand. Truthfully, it looked like a cross between a gun and a short sword with a bit of wand thrown in.
Most of the object was made entirely of steel, with a sleek handle leading up to a curved blade. The blade itself was split down the center, with a blue Mana Stone at its base. Further up, halfway through the blade were two more stones, one on each side of the opening. Along the split blades, there were several runes inscribed to add another layer of enchantment.
Please name this object.
I smiled to myself, giving the weapon a look over to make sure it was finished. “Magi Gun.”
Magi Gun has been successfully created!
Magi Gun
Created by: Jin
Rarity: Very Rare
Durability: 75/75
Attack: 50-70
Ranged Attack: 30-45
This weapon bears three essential enchantments, which allow it to function as both a melee and a ranged weapon. The first enchantment allows the Magi Gun to gather mana from the surrounding environment, whereas the other two allow the gun to either channel that mana into the blades, or fire it at an opponent. By gathering more mana, it is possible to charge up the attack to deal increased damage.
Origin Magic has increased to 27
For inventing a new class of weapon, +50 Fame
When I glanced over, I saw that Cynthia was staring at the new creation with wide, hopeful eyes. Laughing, I took a moment to explain how it worked to her. “Okay, let’s get you started on this. First, you need to know that it has to charge up before it can fire.”
I glanced around, and pointed the Magi Gun at a nearby bush. “To charge it up, grip the handle tightly while focusing on charging.” As I explained, I demonstrated by gripping the handle and concentrating. Sure enough, mana began visibly streaming into the two gems at the center of the device, causing them to glow brighter and brighter. “When you have enough energy stored up, you can either channel it into the blade or fire it. To fire it, relax your grip slightly and focus on shooting the energy.”
Again I demonstrated for her, slightly relaxing my hold on the gun and willing it to shoot. The blue gem at the base of the weapon lit up, and the mana stored in the other two gathered in front of the blade. For a brief moment, the mana began to spiral rapidly before shooting in a straight line, punching a small hole into the bush. Once more, I focused on gathering the mana into the weapon. “And to send it into the blade is even easier. If you start swinging the weapon without wishing it to fire, it will automatically put the mana into the blades.” To demonstrate, I simply swung the weapon, and the blades began glowing as I did so.
Cynthia watched each and every step, burning the scene into her mind. It was obvious she wouldn’t be able to easily reproduce this item, since it used Mana Stones, imbued and engraved enchantments. However, I could easily replicate them for her, and she could help me come up with improvements.
Denise just watched with a smirk, looking at me with a playful gaze. “And? Did you make something for me too…?”
I couldn’t help laughing, closing my eyes and shaking my head. “You would shoot this way too fast to do any damage. You are far better off with a bow. Though, I can work on making you a new bow later, if you want?” She seemed satisfied with that answer, nodding in agreement. We both knew that a bow would turn out far better than a gun when I made it, due to my personal knowledge of crafting.
Once again, I cast Create Advanced Object, making a second Magi Gun. When I held the two weapons out to Cynthia, she eagerly accepted them, holding them gently in her hands. “I’ve got to practice with these.” Her face was split in a wide grin, and I knew that she would be eagerly using those weapons until she mastered them. Part of me wondered what talent she would receive for using such weapons.
At the same time, I made my own pair of Magi Guns, though mine were slightly different. Rather than pulling mana from the surroundings, I chose to have mine pull the mana directly from myself. By doing so, they would charge considerably faster, and I was able to influence the type of mana I fed it to create additional effects.
“Okay, I’ll handle the guard duty for a bit.” I said with a regretful sigh as I slid off the wagon. “If I can train with these and get some experience with them, it’ll be easier for you to do so as well.” Sadly, no matter how much she practiced on her own, she wouldn’t get a talent for her new weapons unless I leveled up. She seemed to understand my meaning, and got up on the wagon with Denise to watch me, still holding onto her new guns.
Man, and here I was looking forward to resting a bit more. So far, we had been traveling for nearly four hours, so there was quite a while before my clone returned or we had to stop for the day. Besides, I wanted to experiment with these as well.
Smiling slightly, I started walking alongside the wagon. It was about twenty minutes later when the first monster appeared, and at first I wasn’t even sure what to make of it. It was.. well… it was a rabbit. Just… a really big one. A rabbit with snow white fur the size of a full grown human that radiated a faint light. According to my Status Glasses, it was known as a Light Hare, with a difficulty rate of twenty-five.
Yes, this was a rabbit. Yes, it was cute. And yes, Cynthia was staring at it with wide eyes and seemed to be wanting to keep it. However, I made sure to stay on guard in case it, for some reason, attacked us. After a few moments of it staring at us, the Light Hare vanished, a dust trail the only indication that it had moved away faster than we could see.
“Well… that was different.” I shook my head, once more walking beside the wagon. Glancing back, I was relieved to find both Cynthia and Denise still present. At the speed the rabbit was moving, I doubted that any of us would have even noticed if it abducted one until it was too late.
Not long after that, we came across an encounter that was actually a battle! At first, I had been confused because there was no warning from Foresight, but the ground had started shaking as if there was an earthquake. Moments later, cracks appeared on the surface of the ground, and finally my earring saw fit to alert me of an underground monster.
Not long after I received the warning, a giant stone worm rose up out of the ground. It was easily two meters thick, with a gaping maw surrounded by razor sharp teeth that seemed to be made of steel. According to my Status Glasses, this was a monster known as an Earthen Worm, with a difficulty rating at twenty-seven. Well… this’ll be interesting…
Pulling out my Magi Gun, I began charging it with mana in my right hand. Meanwhile, my left hand was pointed at the worm. “I have read and understood the origin, and command it to shape to my desire.” As soon as I cast my Sculpt Earth and Stone spell, I could sense the entire body of the worm, which currently reached ten meters into the air, but at least another twenty was below ground.
My first instinct was to try to shatter it with my spell, but I couldn’t. Not even a single crack appeared along its surface. What I could do, though, was slow it down. While it used its strength to struggle against me, bringing its giant mouth down, I had plenty of time to raise my right hand. By now, the Mana Stones were glowing brightly, but immediately their light diminished.
Instead, a large sphere of light nearly a foot across, appeared in front of the gun. “Spirits of the pit, fires from the world beyond, fuel my wrath and sever the living.” In the time it took me to take aim and chant my spell, the worm had not yet managed to fully descend
upon me. Had I not already mastered the Sculpt Earth and Stone spell, as well as reached a master level in Nature Magic, I doubt this would have worked. But, since it did, what came next was even more satisfying.
The ball of light I had produced in front of my gun turned pitch black, slowly producing dark flames. Compared to my usual Hellfire Bolt, this seemed much more densely concentrated, evident by how tightly packed the mana was. When the bolt launched off into the approaching worm’s mouth, it rapidly expanded, practically exploding inside of the creature.
Unfortunately, the shock of the attack broke my hold over the Earthen Worm, and it recoiled at its full speed, shooting a flaming breath into the sky as it tried to spit out the fire eating it from within. One thing I had learned about hellfire, though… it’s incredibly persistent. In the book I read on Infernal magic within Solomon’s Library, it said that true hellfire can burn for twenty days before dying naturally.
Knowing that I wasn’t going to get much time before the worm charged at me again, I summoned my other Magi Gun to my hand, raising them both to take aim. Taking advantage of the specialties of my guns, I pushed the mana directly into them until the Mana Stones were shining just as brightly as they had been before. Unlike Cynthia’s guns, mine didn’t have to wait on ambient magic to recharge. The next benefit came from my Aura power, and was something I wanted to test out.
The Dive: Birth of a Hero Page 41