Strangely, it wasn’t all bad, as my mother didn’t spawn at level 1, but 20. She also had quite a few racial skills that let her survive despite spawning in a secluded area. According to her, Shades are a race not born from breeding, but from natural magic giving life to shadows. So, even though she may find other Shades eventually, they never really spawn together. I started wondering if that was true for all elementals. But really, my focus wasn’t as much on them, since I was here to level up and farm loot to sell. Since elementals don’t have a standard body type, and in most cases aren’t even corporeal, I didn’t need to concern myself too much with the details.
Now, I knew how to make spells, so I had to focus on that. My performance so far has told me that I am terrible at wielding weapons, so my only option is to make an attack spell or two. Right now, I just had the basic Gust and Nature’s Grasp spells, giving me a knockback and a hold. Since I wouldn’t be able to get a class until level 10, I had to focus on what I could do on my own.
Slowly, I made my way to the edge of the village, where I wouldn’t be disturbed while practicing. There were several different possibilities for attack spells in either of the fields of magic I already knew, but the trick was making one that wouldn’t be too much to handle at my level of skill. Wind blades took far more control than I had right now, same with poison darts or root spears. However, I could come up with simplified ways to get attack spells.
First, I decided to focus on wind. Since a wind blade wasn’t possible, I’d try for a wind bullet instead. Closing my eyes, I brought my hands out in front of me in the same motion as when I had first practiced my two current spells, allowing the mana to travel between my hands and circulate. Then, like before, I started attuning my mana to the wind, causing a small breeze to build between my hands.
Focusing my control, I condensed the breeze as tight as I could while making it spin, before I shot it off in front of me. When I opened my eyes, the barely visible ball of wind impacted a nearby tree, making barely an impact. However, it seemed to be enough to satisfy the system.
New Spell Developed!
Wind Bullet – Wind Magic Spell – ★
Create a spinning ball of wind to strike against a target, causing minor impact damage.
Mana Cost: 15
A star? Guessing that’s how they rank spells here? I’m going to assume that one star is terrible. I glanced helplessly at the window that appeared, before realizing something. Both of the spells I learned in the tutorial came with a chant that made the spell easier to cast. However, there was no such thing when I cast the spell this time? Making my way quickly back to the mage’s tower.
Looking around, I quickly found my way to Rukh, the elf that had instructed me previously. “Uhm, sir, do you have a moment to answer a question for me?” Seeing that he wasn’t busy dealing with another student, I unhesitantly grabbed his attention.
Looking over at me, he seemed to recognize me from the previous lesson. “Ah, yes, what can I do for you?” I went on to explain how the spell ‘bestowed’ upon us by the gods included a chant to help activate it, and wondered if he would mind explaining more about them. After a few moments of thought, he nodded his head. “It’s a typical novice trick to memorize a spell by associating it with a phrase. Most experienced mages don’t bother with that anymore, but it can still prove helpful as a focus tool.”
I deflated a bit hearing that. “So there’s no actual power to the chant, or anything like that?”
“No, no, of course not. Even in larger rituals, the chants are used as a guide for timing the fluctuations in magic, and making sure that everyone coordinates.”
Hearing his answer caused me to let out yet another defeated sigh. I really should have chosen a more specialized race, but there’s no going back now. “Sir, I’m trying to make a basic attack spell for either my Wind Magic or Nature Magic schools. So far, I’ve come up with a Wind Bullet, but it seems like it is far too weak to be of use. I hope that you could offer some guidance in this matter.”
He seemed to have been caught off guard by the sudden polite approach, but smirked slightly before answering. “Alright, I can help you with that. Honestly, you’re on the right track if you made the Wind Bullet already, but like you said, it doesn’t have enough power to do any damage to the enemy. As for Nature Magic, you’d have to speak to the shaman instructor for help with that.”
I nodded my head, waiting for him to continue. “Wind is a rather versatile element, but takes far more control to achieve specific results than the others. For instance, practically any fire spell can be an attack, but for wind you need to focus in order to get more than a slight breeze. At the same time, greater mastery of wind will allow you to do things such as flying within an atmosphere. If you really grow powerful enough with wind, it’s actually possible to carry a bit of wind with you in outer space, holding it together with your magic and preventing the vacuum from sucking it away.”
“For a beginner, though, you should focus on building a foundation. There are two common variants of the Wind Bullet spell which may be of help to you, and both require extra time charging it to store additional mana. The first is an explosive bullet, where you use that extra mana to further compress the captured wind, making it create a small shockwave when it hits. The second is a speed bullet, where you use the additional mana to make the spell launch faster than normal. Once you train a bit, you’ll be able to perform both of those spells quite easily, maybe even do them at the same time.”
I nodded my head again, thanking him for the explanation. In the corner of my view, I was watching my mana recover slowly. Although the Wind Bullet only took fifteen mana to launch, I still hadn’t fully regained that amount back yet. It took over half a minute for me to recover just a single point of mana.
After I left Rukh, I went to find the shaman instructor, who apparently handled schools of magic similar to my Nature Magic. This one was a young woman, another half-elf like myself, but seemed exceptionally young for her position. I have encountered the fabled elf loli…
Speaking to her for a while, I learned that I wouldn’t be able to easily do any poisons or anything like that with my magic, until I first learned how the poisons were made. Sera, the loli elf, suggested I learn alchemy to assist my Nature Magic. According to her, the potential for this school of magic laid in the fact that it could produce the effects of practically any potion, so long as the caster was familiar with the process of making it.
Hearing that, I couldn’t help but imagine me using my magic to eventually pump out potions one after another and selling them for easy profit. Though, going by my current recovery speed, I’d be lucky to do two or three potions an hour. Still, I got what I came for, and was even awarded another point of intelligence for listening to their explanations, and a point of wisdom for asking their advice.
Moving back to my previous practice spot, I decided to try something different. What Rukh had said before inspired me to make a new spell, which might actually let my bow be something other than completely useless. Thankfully, by now my mana had finished recovering. Pulling out an arrow, I nocked it and focused. Extending one finger from my left hand, I used it as a guide in the same way I had when I circulated mana between my hands earlier. This time, I was circulating the mana along the path of the arrow.
At first, the mana kept floating away before it could reach the other hand, but once it had managed to bridge the gap it flowed more easily. Still… that was another ten mana I had lost just like that, so I needed to focus. Now that I had the mana circulating, I once more began attuning it to the wind, causing it to spiral around the length of the arrow and focusing on the tip. I kept pouring mana into it until I could faintly see the wind being distorted by the spell. Then, finally, I let the arrow fly to the nearby tree.
As soon as I launched the arrow, I noticed how it spun far more than it did when I fired it normally. And even though the tree I targeted was barely five meters away,
I still hit far from the center. It seemed that adding the spin into the arrow reduced accuracy, but increased speed and penetrating power, since the arrow actually dug in several inches.
New Spell Developed!
Lesser Spiral Arrow – Wind Magic Spell – ★
Create a spinning current of wind around an arrow before letting it fly, granting it additional power at the cost of accuracy.
Mana Cost: 30
I couldn’t help but curse at the high cost, and that wasn’t even taking into consideration the mana that escaped initially. Rather than waiting twenty minutes for my mana to recover, I went ahead and moved on to the next test I wanted to do, which was to create a guided arrow. Since I still had over a hundred mana left, there was really no point in waiting.
Retrieving my arrow from the tree was a splendid failure, as it was buried too deep. As soon as I tried to pull it out, the shaft snapped in half. So, one arrow lost forever… I continued cursing silently as I went back to my previous firing spot and nocked another arrow. Using the same method as before, I established a mana circuit between my hands that traveled along the arrow. However, this time instead of a spiraling force, I tried to compress it a bit more, and had the wind moving forward in the direction of a tree roughly twenty meters away.
When the arrow launched this time, I tried to keep control over the mana I had locked in around it so that I could guide the arrow to its target. However, that proved to be more than I could hope for, and I lost the connection to the mana almost instantly. Almost, meaning that I was able to hold onto it for a few feet after it left my control. Sadly, since the spell failed, it wasn’t enough to trigger the system granting me a new spell. But I wasn’t too discouraged, and knew that this spell should eventually be possible, since it wasn’t a matter of lacking the mana, but lacking the control that stopped it from working.
A noise distracted me from my thoughts, and I noticed that my stomach appeared to be demanding attention, since I had yet to eat since I arrived in the game. Looking at my inventory, I was thankful to see that I had a few pieces of bread that would ease my hunger. Though strangely, I only had four slots for my inventory right now. Likely, either getting bags or leveling up would increase the size of the inventory.
After eating the rather bland bread, I decided that I would next head to the alchemy instructor, before finally going out to hunt. The sooner I get out there, the sooner I can level up and get the loot I’ve been waiting for. Though, I couldn’t help but let out a groan when I looked at my contact list, and saw that both my dad and Jacobs had already leveled up at least once each. I’m not procrastinating… I’m just making sure I’m ready…
Chapter 5: Rascally Rabbits
Once again making my way through the town, I eventually stopped to ask for directions to someone able to teach me alchemy. The answer I got nearly made me fall flat on my face from embarrassment, since apparently the alchemy shop was right next door(tree? Next tree? No, I’ll go with door) to the giant tower of magic.
Calm down Falenel… It’s not your fault.. it’s a genetic trait of men to be unable to ask for directions… I tried to make excuses for myself while saying and making my way back. At least this way, I was gaining a bit more time to wait for my magic to recover. Need to add a technique to recover faster, or learning how recovery works to my to-do list…
Once I reached the fabled alchemy station, I was rather surprised to find that no other players were lining up to learn the trade. I mean, who doesn’t want to be able to concoct their own healing potions, if there isn’t a limit to the amount of trade skills you can learn?
My question was further relevant when I got inside and noticed the busty, silver eyed elf manning the counter. Or, was she a half-elf? Her ears didn’t seem quite as pointed as the other elves, and her chest was a bit larger than normal for the race. As she saw me come in, she directed a kind smile at me. “Welcome, how may I help you?”
Her voice caused me to snap out of my mild delusions and get back to what I wanted to do. “Right, sorry. Yes, I’m interested in learning about alchemy. Would that be alright?”
She thought about it for a few moments, and then nodded her head. “Yes, that would be fine. But I need to ask a payment, first. The basic alchemy set costs 70 copper, and I’ll need you to either provide the herbs you use to practice, or pay for their cost.”
I likewise nodded, seeing that this was entirely reasonable. However, I decided to ask something else that had been on my mind. “What all does alchemy cover? Just curious.”
She smiled a bit more at my question. It seemed not many actually cared to ask for the details. “Well, as I’m sure you know, the basic levels of alchemy involve mixing together different types of potions. However, as you become more skilled, you also are able to do more. For instance, a master alchemist could make a potion, but they could also develop ways for more permanent effects. They could also make poisons, bombs, or even play with a creature’s genetic make-up.”
I blinked, a bit surprised hearing that. Obviously, I figured they could do poisons, and maybe even bombs, but this sounded like the answer to one of my earlier problems. “You mean gene therapies? I’ve heard about those, but didn’t know what kind of skill was needed to create them.”
She kept that same smile as she nodded her head again. “In order to master alchemy, it’s necessary to learn various other disciplines, such as chemistry and biology. For gene therapies, you just mix in a touch of genetics, and can get a pretty good result. The only other profession that covers all of the needed skills to make them are doctors, and they are similarly at a high degree of mastery.”
Well, that suddenly made alchemy far more appealing to me! “Thank you very much, miss.” I was just about to turn around and leave to go hunting for the resources I would need to learn alchemy when something occurred to me. “This may sound like a silly question, but are there any devices or techniques that will accelerate learning in a given field?”
I asked this because of how long I could imagine it taking someone to learn everything needed to become a proper alchemist. It could take years for someone to build up to the master level, decades even, if there wasn’t some kind of assistance. And given what I’ve learned from my fighting and magic practice, the system did not tend to help much in terms of learning. I actually wasn’t sure what the levels in skills gave at all, aside maybe a very slight bonus to success.
It took her a moment to think again before she nodded. “You must be asking about Skill Shards. Their use isn’t that widespread, and many frown upon it, but certain professions are able to create gems which hold the knowledge of a skill. This information has to come from someone that actually has the skill, and only contains that person’s knowledge on it. Say for example, I assisted in creating a Skill Shard for alchemy. Whoever used it would know everything I chose to put in the shard, and nothing else. They wouldn’t get any personal recipes, secret tricks, or anything that one typically develops when they learn the skill themselves. They also would not know anything I didn’t know about it. So… there might be a plant considered extremely common in other areas, but if I’ve never seen it, the shard I helped create would not grant them any knowledge about it.”
“I see…” It took me a moment to piece together this information. I’d probably need to go to a big city to find these Skill Shards, but I would definitely find one. Maybe there is one that I could use to make me better with the bow or something. “Doesn’t that mean that if someone made a Skill Shard for a type of magic, whoever activated that would learn all of the different spells that person chose to record?”
Her head nodded again as she looked at me. “That’s right. However, most people don’t want to take that gamble. There are only two pieces of information that can be understood from a Skill Shard without activating it if you have it scanned. The first is the type of skill put in, and the second is the level of mastery the information qualifies as. Since a single shard can only
hold one type of skill, it’s impossible to sneak more in, at the same time, the scan will cross reference the amount of information stored with what is currently known on the networks to determine how high it is. When making one with a magic school, you could easily just put in your knowledge of how that school of magic works, and a few advanced tricks to make it more effective without actually putting a single spell in.”
You have learned and understood the nature of Skill Shards
2 Intelligence
I was slightly surprised by that, but decided to thank her again and leave. In my inventory was only thirty copper coins, not nearly enough for the lessons. Before leaving, I made sure to ask what kind of herbs she was looking for for the training. Then, after realizing that I had no idea what a common fireflower or blood weed looked like, I had her show me a picture, which I quickly sketched in order to remember them. Surprisingly, my little sketch actually gave me a new skill as well.
New Sub-Skill Acquired!
Sketching – Basic Level 6
Exp: 50%
Used for various different skills, this ability allows you to create decent sketches quickly, capturing the image of an object or expressing an idea.
Current applicable skills: None
I wasn’t really that surprised by the skill itself. I played several artistic characters in other games, and had managed to pick up a few skills that transferred over to real life, such as drawing. What I was surprised about was the skill’s level. Rather than Beginner Level 1, like every other skill I had started as, this was Basic Level 6. Did that mean that my real life skill had managed to transfer over to the game, and that was the level it deemed I was at?
If so, this would be fairly interesting. I decided later to test out a few other skills I had picked up from games, but wanted to wait for a bit since none of them were immediately useful. In most VR games, the system would help correct mistakes when you used an attack, and only help you better visualize what it was you wanted to create for more artistic skills. So, the only skills that I managed to actually remember from my time in other games were drawing, mechanics, and hacking.
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