Once I got back in line, and made it up to the pedestal, I grabbed two basic books on gravity magic that I recognized from the Mage’s College library, as well as one on advanced magical theory. The latter book I would only read if I had spare time after memorizing the first two, but I only had seven and a half hours left. I quickly moved back to the table I was previously sitting at and set out my books. The first thing that I had to determine was whether gravity counted as a system or a domain, but that should be explained early on in the introduction book.
If gravity was a system, then it would merely be a process of me understanding how the system works, and that knowledge should transfer over to the original body. However, if it is a domain, I’m not sure if insights gained through meditation would transfer even if I had the time to gain them. I didn’t think that gravity would count as its own domain, but I wasn’t positive either.
One thing I had learned from experience was that a collection of systems is capable of creating a domain. A key example for his would be Nature magic being a combined form of fire, water, earth, air, light, dark, lightning, and ice. If I add in gravity, and maybe void, it might be possible to evolve Nature magic to the next level, something like stellar magic. Then if you mix in dimensional and summoning magic, it might evolve again to cosmic.
That thought made me consider whether it would be possible to combine any of my current system magics to create a domain. The only systems I have now are Enchanting, Origin, Summoning, and Divination. If I could combine any of those into a domain, then I would have less talents to worry about leveling up. I might lose a few levels, but in the long run it would more than make up for it.
Lost in thought for the moment, I put aside the books I had been about to dive into and considered this fully. Origin could go together with anything. It could be said that Origin and Oblivion were the two most primal forms of magic, creation and destruction. All other types of magic were born by branching off from those. Of course, that wasn’t exactly true, because the first mage was the first Archmage, who created many of the forms of magic with the discovery of runes.
Enchanting could go with either Origin or Summoning. Divination was the hard one. It could potentially go with Summoning by using animals to transmit and receive information. But Summoning, Origin, and Enchanting could all easily go together. I just had to come up with the way to make it all work. Having learned from experience, I knew that if I managed to learn a domain, then I could lose the individual systems that created it.
So, what concept encompases all aspects of Origin, Summoning, and Enchanting? There was only one answer I could come up with, and that was Origin itself. Origin is the creation of all things, magical and mundane, living and dead. If I had to call it anything, it would be halfway between a system and a domain. Summoning is the ability to call a spirit of a bonded creature, or the creature itself, across vast distances. Finally, Enchanting is the ability to infuse magical properties into creatures or objects.
If I were to combine certain aspects of the three, I would get the ability to create and control magical beasts. But from what I understand, a domain has to encompass all aspects of its individual parts, or else it won’t work. Magical beasts have nothing to do with item creation or enchantment, so it cannot be a domain.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me, and I considered all of the fields of magic I possessed. Nature, Enchanting, Summoning, Origin, Divination, Infernal, even Aura. Adding to that the two that I hope to get soon, Barrier and Gravity, and there is one concept that encompasses almost everything.
Okay, I can work on that once I have the other two.. It would be best if I could somehow acquire Holy magic to add to the mix, but it wasn’t necessary. Going back to my books, I opened them and fervently began studying, wanting to learn as much as I could. If anyone has done what I want to do, it would have to be an archmage. As such, there is almost no chance of me finding a book to help me through the process.
As I had expected, gravity was a system of magic, and since I wasn’t a total novice when it came to science I was able to understand it. Anyone who has ever thrown a ball or fallen on their face knows the effects of gravity, whether they consciously understand it or not. Understanding it to a degree that allows one to control it, that is a more complex process.
For the most part, the forces of gravity worked the same way here that they do on Earth. However, the entire dimension is permeated with mana in various concentrations. That is what allows such things as Mana Stones and Mana Trees to come into being. Naturally, this includes gravity. In a technical sense, mana could be considered data for this game. Following that logic, a mage is someone that captures that data in the form of code, or runes, to execute a program, or spell.
With this understanding, it is also possible to capture mana from hidden sources such as gravity, though with an extra layer of difficulty. Thankfully, the key to unlocking that mana is in the introduction book, as it is also the key to using gravity magic. So I spend as long as I can reading this book, and then moving onto the next. I am mostly interested in the theory behind the magic, as that is what will help me gain the most levels when my knowledge is transferred back to the original. Spells will help, but they will help more if I can understand it best.
Looking at the countdown, I barely had ten minutes left. How long had I spent thinking about the domain?! After cursing myself under my breath, I quickly went back and reviewed a few of the spells in the beginner gravity spells, hoping that I would have enough time to get it all. Even if I didn’t, I knew the theory behind gravity magic well enough to obtain the spells myself.
There was enough time for me to memorize two of the spells, before I received the one minute warning. Honestly, I was surprised that there had been a warning at all. I quickly gathered my books up, standing up from my table to move back towards the pedestal. Since Levy hadn’t finished her own studying yet, I paused for just a moment. “Later, Levy. Looks like my time’s up.”
Startled from her seclusion, she rose her head to smile at me. “Later Jin. See you next time you pop by!”
I nodded to her, and then rushed to the pedestal, placing the three books on top of it to send them back to their shelves. Immediately afterwards, it felt as if all energy had suddenly left my body. I didn’t even have the time to collapse, my body fading out and my view turning to darkness.
Summon Clone has expired. Please review the information gathered by the clone. Failure to do so soon will result in the information being lost.
Finally! I sighed heavily, setting down a bowl of stew that Denise had prepared for our dinner. The sun had just started to set, and we had made camp for the night. With a smile, I looked over to our team chef. “Mind taking first watch again? My clone finally got the information for me to review, and that’ll take another six hours.”
She didn’t seem to mind at first, but pursed her lips at the last part. “Okay… but get some rest afterwards. You can put up a barrier once you get to that part, right?” She relaxed noticeably when I nodded my head, indicating that I likely would be able to establish a barrier once I reviewed the information.
Since I had just finished my supper, I immediately got to work, meditating and opening my mind to the knowledge that my clone had gathered. I had expected the clone to be back after no more than six hours, when it retrieved the information on barriers, so the fact that it lasted all twelve surprised me. Maybe there wasn’t a way to cancel the spell prematurely? That was certainly a possibility, but I would learn soon enough.
Immediately, the memories began playing through my head like a movie, though I understood every thought that my clone had during the process. To call it an enlightening experience would be accurate, because I learned that the clone was a complete copy of my personality. However, Levy could tell the difference due to our link, and it didn’t have access to specific things such as my Artifact World.
It didn’t take me long to get to the information on barriers, leaving me confused as to wh
at kept the clone active the entire time. He wasn’t fooling around with Levy, was he? I better keep watching… Time flew around me while I was watching my own personal movie, memories of things I didn’t do, thoughts I never had. It was really disorienting, like having your entire life narrated.
Gravity magic? Of course! That makes sense… wait, why’d he stop? The thoughts quieted down slightly after my clone pushed his introduction book to gravity away, making me strain to make out what he was thinking. Making a domain..? Well.. it should be possible. Wait.. he wants to do that?!
Naturally, my mind was able to piece together what my clone had considered enough to know just what domain he wanted to make with that combination. However, I had a hard time considering whether or not to go through with it. The domain itself was inherently powerful, to a degree that could put someone into legends. But the immediate costs should also be considered.
Do I really have a choice..? This will help me immensely against the players in the upcoming war. I decided to try it. Given that it encompassed three fully mastered fields of magic, I could at least hope that the resulting domain didn’t reset to level one. If it did, I’d be losing nearly a hundred and fifty levels. I knew I would be losing levels either way, because I had never even heard of a triple digit talent.
New Quest Received!
Domain Creation
Requirements: Magical Knowledge 30, Magical Talent 30, understanding of the basic laws of magic, understanding of the domains and systems of magic, compatible magic systems.
As one who understands the truth and origin of magic, you are capable of combining multiple systems of magic into a single domain. Doing so opens a wider range of spells and abilities, but may have a temporary impact on your ability.
Reward: New Domain, ???, ???
Difficulty: B+
Really? The system even gave me a quest for this? I sighed inwardly, before a flood of messages appeared in front of me to award me for what my clone had learned.
Scholar has increased to 10
New Talent Unlocked!
Barrier Magic - This field of magic enables its wielders to create fields of energy to serve various purposes.
Barrier Magic has increased to 5
Set Barrier has been added to your Spell List
Basic Barrier has been added to your Spell List
Reactive Barrier has been added to your Spell List
New Talent Unlocked!
Gravity Magic - This field of magic governs the laws of gravity, allowing the user to distort those laws as they see fit.
Gravity Magic has increased to 8
Increase Weight has been added to your Spell List
Gravity Field has been added to your Spell List
Damn, I was hoping for a few more levels than that. I shook my head, a bit disappointed in the results I gained from the clone. On the bright side, I had received a quest from the system to create a new domain of magic after the idea came to me. That means that it is entirely possible. And with all of the requirements to receive the quest, as well as what I will be giving up to complete it, the reward should be amazing.
“Done yet, over there?” Denise’s voice snapped me out of my stupor, and I turned to see her fighting a large group of Twilight Cats, easily twice as many as last night. “Because I’m getting a bit tired over here!”
“Ah! Sorry, yeah, just finished.”
“About time, now hurry up.” There were several deep cuts along Denise’s body, and her outfit was reduced to rags. If I had to guess, I’d say she had been fighting since shortly after I started going over the information.
Not wanting to waste any time, I immediately created the design for the Basic Barrier spell around the entire camp with Sculpt Earth and Stone, stretching out beyond where Denise was fighting by a few meters. With my knowledge of diagrams, I drew a single line from the edge of the circle to myself. This way, I wouldn’t have to run to the edge of the barrier to supply it with mana.
“Okay, here it goes!” I had forgotten entirely to keep my voice down, seeing that Denise’s injuries were increasing faster than her regeneration could heal her. My hand slammed down on the line I had drawn, and I channeled every bit of mana I had into it. All at once, the area around the camp was lit with a dull blue glow, a thin field of mana rising up in a dome around us. “Think you can finish off that group? I’ll keep any more from coming in.”
Denise nodded, a bit relieved that she could fight without holding back to reserve stamina anymore. Just as the Twilight Cats were about to launch another wave of attacks, she vanished from sight. Although she hadn’t used it in a while, I could recognize the signs of her activating Light Speed. And in a flash, every enemy surrounding her had been cut to ribbons. At the same time, she collapsed on the ground next to me, completely out of breath.
Meanwhile, I continued feeding my mana into the barrier, keeping myself constantly at 1% of my maximum. While this caused rather extreme fatigue to weigh down my mind, I knew that if I let up, the barrier wouldn’t be strong enough to hold for the rest of the night. So, I kept at it, even after another wave of cats appeared and struck against the barrier. I’ll probably have to keep this up for quite a while…
Since I was using a set barrier instead of a sustained one, I had to make sure the mana supplied stayed stronger than the amount of damage they were pushing out. Thankfully, after their first charge they were taking their time, only occasionally striking the barrier to test for weaknesses. This allowed me to slightly reduce the mana I was pumping in, until I was recovering again.
After a while, the cats seemed to get bored because they couldn’t get past my barrier, and ran away. By that point, it had been nearly half an hour of constantly channeling mana, and I had even increased both my Mana Recovery and Mana Pool by one each. However, now I was completely exhausted, and had lost count of how much mana I had pushed into it. It should be at least a hundred thousand, in my opinion.
But enough of that, because I wasn’t in the mood to think about anything, finally giving into the fatigue and falling on my face as darkness overcame me.
Chapter 30
“Jin..? Hey, Jin, get up.” I heard a small voice calling me from my slumber, and opened my eyes to see a worried little redhead looking at me. “Another busy night?”
With what little movement I could manage, I nodded my head to her. “Yeah, you could say that. I take it the barrier held?”
“Uhm.. yeah, about that…” Cynthia’s face became flushed at the mention of the barrier. “Could you take that down now? We’re kind of… trapped.”
I felt the corners of my lips raise into a smirk, “Sure. I’ll make a better barrier tonight if I can, this was a rush job.” Now that I was no longer deprived of my mana, I could raise myself up to look at what I had done. The barrier surrounding the camp was still holding strong, and it seemed that the cats had not returned after failing to breach it. With a quick gesture, I erased part of the spell diagram holding the barrier in place, causing it to shatter instantly.
Without even waiting to say anything, Cynthia immediately got up and ran outside of camp. Going by how much of a hurry she was in, I could tell what the emergency was. Guess she’s still shy after all. When I looked around the camp, I found a grumbling Denise stripping out of her tattered outfit, replacing it with one that seemed brand new. “Figured I’d be needing a few of these… might even help to learn how to sew.”
“Might be a good idea. I do carpentry, Cynthia handles blacksmithing, and you do tailoring. Though.. you might need to wait a while before you start…”
Once she is fully dressed, Denise turns back to face me with a raised eyebrow. “Explain.”
“Well.. one of the things I learned last night was that it is possible for me to open up my magic to the next level… But, to do that… I’ll likely have to give up a significant amount of power.”
For a moment, it looked like she might not understand, but then realization dawned on her. All that she could do at
the time was shrug her shoulders with a sigh, “So, to become more of a cheat, you’ll have to temporarily be less of one..? And, since our power is linked to yours..”
“Most likely, the two of you won’t get weakened, but you’ll have to wait until I catch back up before you can gain any more power.”
“Good, because if we get weaker in this area, that’s just asking for trouble. How much power do you think you’ll be losing?”
“Not sure… Could be anywhere from a sixth, to nearly half of it. But, this will make me a lot more powerful once I get control of my new abilities.”
Denise rolled her eyes, nodding her head slightly, seemingly unconvinced. “Yeah, yeah. Well, since the cats won’t be a problem anymore, the two of us can handle guard duty until you are back on your feet.”
As if on cue, Cynthia chose that moment to walk back into camp. “Sorry, what’s wrong with Jin?”
The Dive: Birth of a Hero Page 43