I adjust my bracers as I walk down the halls towards the main reception of the guild, and to my surprise, as I reach the reception, I see Zhao and Seti waiting as if they knew I was arriving now. "Hello, did you know I was coming?" Zhao chuckles and says, "How could we not with the amount of Qi you''re leaking?" Leaking Qi, me? I didn''t realise, "Don''t worry about it; I''ll tell you how to control it when we get outside." He says, and I nod and sign onto the quest and follow them outside, and Zhao says, "It''s really simple; just focus on keeping the Qi in every can. They just have to be told too." I do as he says, imagining the Qi seeping out of me at all times being sucked back in and "Sub-Skill Acquired: Qi Concealment" "Sub-Skill Upgraded: Body Enhancement = F --> E" I feel my Qi capacity and usage are slightly higher; I guess that''s because rather than the Qi seeping out, it''s now cycling properly. Also, "I did it, and my body enhancement reached E rank." Zhao nods and says, "That normal happens for everyone; usually it''s the first step for any aspiring martial artist, but you obviously don''t belong to a sect, so you wouldn''t know." I see; that makes sense, I guess. With that done, I follow Zhao and Seti to the carriages, and we see two have already left. Seti looks annoyed and says, "Fucking E ranks always rushing ahead." I take a moment before saying, "E Ranks?" Zhao nods. "We''re on an E rank quest; sometimes they require F-ranks, and it''s a chance for us to get E-rank pay. Nice, huh?" I nod, and we''re approached by a young woman and what looks to be a teenager behind her. "Yo, Seti, how have you been?" she says while flicking back her curly dark brown hair, and her piercing hazel-gold eyes scan over Seti, then Zhao, and finally me. When our eyes meet, she smirks and turns back to Seti and says, "Never thought I''d see the black sheep of the Rahotep family again." She pauses before chuckling and saying, "How old was I last time we met?" She strokes her chin while staring at Seti as if waiting for him to answer, but he doesn''t, so she does. "It was when I was nine years old; do you remember?" Again she probes him for a retaliation, but he doesn''t bite, and her gaze grows colder, going from gaze to glare as she says, "It was at the Nephos festival where you were disowned by your family publicly." Seti''s hands ball up into fists, and blood begins to drip from them, and she laughs, clearly happy with her work. She turns away from Seti, her gaze landing momentarily on Zhao. She simply makes a noise, "Ew", before walking directly up to me and holding her hand out. "Nice to meet you, Ethan. I''m Eudora Theodorakis, descendant of Apollo. It is an absolute pleasure to finally meet you, demigod."
I take her hand and notice just how much I''ve changed. There aren''t really mirrors here, and I''ve been so busy training and stuff I hadn''t noticed my pale skin slowly changing, becoming more olive tinted like Eudora''s like a Greek''s reflecting my newly found Greek heritage from Chronos I suppose. "So you know me?" I ask her, shifting my focus. She nods and says, "I do. It caused an uproar when a demigod left to become an adventurer." She pauses and says, "You''re actually the reason I joined this quest; I heard you had partied with Seti and that Seti had taken this quest." "You joined this quest for me?" I ask, confused, and she nods, "Sure did." I pull my hand back away from hers, realising we were still holding them together, and I ask, "Why?" and she lets out a faint laugh and drags over the kid that was behind her. "Introduce yourself," she says to him, and he steps forward and looks down at our feet before saying, "H-Him- My n-name is J-J-J-Jason Carter, b-but most people c-call me Jay." Jason Carter, huh? Sounds like an Earth name to me. "Hi, Ethan Carter." I say back to him, causing him to look up, "I-I knew it. You are an o-o-otherworlder like me." I nod, and Eudora steps back in. "Jay agreed to be an attendant of mine." I nod and ask, "What exactly does that have to do with me?" I ask as politely as I can despite the fact I can already clearly tell what her intentions are I think she wants me to know what they are too her smile doesn''t fade in fact it grows and she says "It has everything to do with you since I also want you to be my attendant." I sigh and say, "And what makes you think I''d ever agree to that?" Eudora smirks and says, "I see nobody has properly explained the system to you yet, have they?" I shrug, and she says, "Don''t worry. This trip will take three days. We''ll stop off at a camp on the third night. I''ll explain the system to you then." Without even giving me a chance to say anything else, she walks off to speak to Seti and Zhao – well, mainly Seti. She doesn''t seem to have any intention whatsoever of speaking or listening to Zhao. I watch her – the way she speaks, the way she moves, the way she holds herself – they all exude an aura of confidence and an aura of nobility. I whisper "Appraisal"
Status Window
Name: Jason Carter
Age: 15
Occupation: F-Rank Adventurer
Origin: Hellenika
Class: Undetermined
Fame: 0
Status: Mortal
Title: None
Stats:
Strength: 27
Dexterity: 31
Endurance: 19
Vitality: 23
Magic Power: 5
Luck: D
Charm: C-
Charisma: E-
He''s weak. His stats are even worse than mine. When I first started, I thought, Why on earth is Eudora keeping somebody like him? Is it because of what Seti told me before, that otherworlders grow stronger faster than natives to this world? I know it''s true; after all, I''ve experienced it myself. I allow Jay''s Status Window to disappear, and I look over at Eudora "Appraisal"
Status Window
Name: Eudora Theodorakis
Age: 23
Occupation: F-Rank Adventurer
Origin: Hellenika
Class: Unassigned
Fame: 79
Status: Nephos
Title: ???
Stats:
Strength: 103
Dexterity: 99
Endurance: 101
Vitality: 94
Divinity (1): 149
Magic Power: 8
Luck: S+
Charm: A+
Charisma: S
Incredible – almost an E rank at such a young age. Seti and Zhao are early and late thirties, respectively, and weaker than her. Is this what they call a genius in novels and manga? Her class is undetermined like mine, and she has more fame than me. Perhaps I could ask her what fame does, but at the same time, I don''t want to be indebted to her at all. She is a Nephos, like she mentioned earlier, and her title is blocked just like Seti''s so that must be a Nephos thing. I pause as my eyes gaze over two stats I had thought were one: Divinity and Magic Power. I had thought that when given the choice between the three, they were all the same and it was just choosing a preferential name, but perhaps... all three are separate forces, and whenever you choose one, it converts however much of the stat you have into the stat of your choice. That means theoretically I could use Qi, magic power and divinity, right? As much as I don''t wish to be indebted to Eudora, I need answers, and if Seti and Zhao can''t give them to me, I have a feeling she can. "Ethan!" Eudora''s status window disappears as Zhao''s shout makes me lose focus. "We''re heading off now." he says, and I nod, following behind him into our carriage. I take a seat opposite Seti and Zhao; it''s just us three in the carriage, thankfully, and once the door is closed, we set off.
I crack my knuckles as our carriage bounces on the bumps in the road. Seti and Zhao have barely spoken to me since finding out I''m a demigod. This is exactly why I didn''t want them to know at all. Anyway, that Jay kid sounded American. I wonder what other people I''ll meet here. After all, apart from me, there''s meant to be 19,999 otherworlders, and I''ve only officially met, what, six? Seven? Also, there''s always the chance I might find people I knew on Earth. It''s unlikely but possible. I crack my neck and sigh... I took my foster family for granted. I... miss them. "So you''re a demigod?" I look up, and Seti and Zhao are staring at me. I don''t know what to say; I''ve never been in a situation like this. I don''t want to lose these two. I try to speak, but words just don''t come out, and I just nod... I wait for something, anything, any noise to break the silence, but nothing for minutes until finally I hear a deep breath, and then Seti says, "You could''ve just told us, dipshit." I look up, and Seti is smiling at Zhao too. "I-I..." I clutch my neck; the words just won''t leave. I''m too nervous. Are they sure this is fine? They don''t resent me for my advantages, despite the fact I''m always needing them... relying on them. It''s always take, take, take with me and never give. Not only have I lied to them, but I''ve been a terrible friend. I rub my fingers and wrists and hold my hand as it begins to shake. My lungs tighten and my breathing goes shallow. I try to calm down, but my body won''t listen. Then I feel a hand on my shoulder as Zhao says, "Don''t worry; we''re not mad or anything; we just had to process." I look up, and Seti says, "You can''t help who your parents are any more than we can." He flashes me a smile, and the tightening in my throat lets up. "I''m sorry I didn''t tell you two." I pause trying to think of the right way to explain, but there is no right way. I''ll simply just tell the truth: "I was worried you two were so kind; I was worried you would feel betrayed that I, despite my advantages, had relied on you two." Zhao laughs, shocking me, before wiping the tears from his laughing away, and he says, "What are friends for, mate?" We all laugh, and I sigh in relief, a weight lifted off of my chest. I no longer have to lie to my friends. It almost feels like a new beginning to our relationship, a true beginning.
"So what''s your Qi stat at now, Ethan?" Zhao asks all of a sudden, surprising me. "I can tell you''re at least in the integration phase." He continues, and admittedly I hesitate. I don''t want to lie, but should I be telling people my stats? Then again, I can see theirs whenever because of appraisal. "Are you going to lie to us again?" Seti asks with a grin. I can tell it''s a joke by his tone, but it still stings. I wasn''t going to lie; I''ve just read way too many stories where main characters hide their stats, but he''s right; I shouldn''t lie, especially since I know their stats. I sigh and say, "It''s forty-seven." I watch as Zhao''s jaw drops, and I know why he has no talent in cultivation. He begins to recompose himself, but he can''t hide the disappointment on his face. The worst part is it''s not me he''s disappointed in; it''s himself. His eyes widen in surprise as if he caught himself moping and smiles as he looks up at me. "Wow, you''re seriously talented, huh?" I shrug. "Guess so." Shit, that sounded so cocky. Zhao strokes his chin and says, "Hey Ethan, at some point I should take you back to our sect to learn martial arts." Me? Join a sect? I cover my mouth so I don''t squeal. The countless dreams of me in a murim world after hours of bingeing a story flash before me, but what if I can hide my excitement? I drop my hand. "Can''t you just teach me?" I ask Zhao, and he sighs. "Afraid not, mate. It''s strictly forbidden to teach outsiders martial arts, and besides, even if it wasn''t, I only know the basic forms." "But you taught me your sect''s cultivation?" He strokes his gauntlets. "I taught you a weaker version that we''re allowed to teach anyone. If you were to go back to my sect with me, you''d be taught our martial arts and true cultivation technique." Sounds like a great deal, and for someone like me who used to obsess over any murim story I could get my hands on back on Earth. It''d be a literal dream come true, but... "Sure, I''ll go one day, but not right now." He nods and says, "That''s fine, but you can''t go any later than the empower phase, or martial artists may assume you''re a rogue and eliminate you." I nod. Every time I learn something new here, there''s another danger waiting behind it. New knowledge, new threat. That seems to be how this world works. It''s useful, but that doesn''t make it any less terrifying. I turn to Seti, "I hate to do this right after our earlier conversation, but is there any chance you could teach me magic?" I bow my head and wait for his answer, and to my surprise, he flicks my head and says, "Do you never learn? We''re friends; of course I''ll teach you." He flashes me a wide grin, and I can''t help but smile back, ready to learn.
"Before we start, I need to know where you''re at understanding-wise, so let me ask: how does the choice between magic power, divinity and qi work?" He must mean the choice when you first use the status window, so I guess the best thing for me to do is to use the theory I came up with earlier: "At first I thought the three had been interchangeable, but I have recently changed my view on it." I pause before continuing, "I now believe the three exist as different energies, different sources of power." Seti nods. "Good. I won''t ask how you came to that decision, but at least I can skip that explanation." He stands up and holds his hand out of the window; he holds his palm out flat and swipes it to the right, and a blade of wind soars from his fingertips and flies away from the carriage. "That was a wind blade." He says, and then he picks up his staff and holds it out of the window and swipes his staff to the right, unleashing a larger wind blade that soars from his staff, and this time it doesn''t dissipate; it carries on forward and cleaves through a tree, slicing it clean in half. He turns back to me, looking smug, and says, "There are three fundamental principles to magic; if you fail to comprehend these, you''ll fail to produce magic." He holds three fingers up and then puts one down. "Knowledge without the prior knowledge – you cannot perform a spell. For example, to use a wind blade, I must understand how a blade works, how the wind flows and therefore how a blade of wind would work." I nod, and he continues dropping a second finger. "Creativity – to use a spell, for example, a wind blade – you must have the creativity to change the property of your mana to wind and then to form a blade with the wind mana." He pauses before dropping the final finger and saying, "Talent, of course. Everything requires some form of talent. Magic is something even the untalented can do, at least at a basic level. For example, take me: to use useful spells, I need a staff. I''m not talented enough to hand cast powerful spells." He drops his entire hand and says, "Now that you know the three principles of magic, you just need to learn meditation and purification and form your mana core." I wait for him to continue, but he doesn''t, so I ask, "How exactly do I do that?" He sighs and says, "The three principles." Oh, I get it now. I sit on the floor and get into a meditative position. "Feel the mana. That''s all I can say; you have to feel the mana and then interpret it your own way. The first step as a mage is to find their interpretation and find their own creativity." Seti says before going silent, and I focus on trying to find my interpretation of ambient mana, which would be easy to find and draw in as I''m focused. I hear the dripping of rain; it''s incessant but just what I need – raindrops. I focus on raindrops; they remind me of home, of rainy days in Birmingham, the rain tapping at the windows. I imagine the mana falling the same way around me as if it''s drops of rain falling from the sky, and I can feel them all around me. little droplets of mana, and I begin to draw them in." Once they''re in focus, then gather them and use them to build a core." I draw more in and begin combining them just under my dantian, which holds my Qi. I use the droplets of mana to build a core. It''s hollow, but it''s there. I open my eyes and take in a nice deep breath." Stat Created: Magic Power = 7" "Skill Acquired: Mana Core" "Sub-Skill Acquired: Meditation" "Bonus: +3 Magic Power" I can feel a new energy in my body, but..." It feels impure." I say as I look up at Zhao, who smiles, "Good, you''re definitely talented." He clears his throat and says, "Ambient mana picks up impurities as it travels, and when you absorb said mana, you also absorb the impurities into your core. Luckily, by cycling the mana in your core, you can purify your mana. Also, since you have a dantian, you''ll get a nice extra effect in the fact that the impurities will be pulled into your dantian and converted to qi." I nod and close my eyes again, focusing on my core, and I begin cycling the mana, slowly removing the impurities planted in it, and just like Seti said, as soon as the impurities are cast from my core, they''re pulled into my dantian. Once I feel my core is free of impurities, I open my eyes. Sub-Skill Acquired: Purification" "Purification Process: +2 Magic Power" "Cultivation Progress: +1 Qi" Seti and Zhao stare at me waiting, and I just grin, "Was that supposed to be so easy?" Seti can''t help but laugh as he says, "You are such a prick." I stand up, and he punches my arm and says, "How dare you form a core faster than your teacher?" Zhao just laughs and says, "You''re such a show-off. Was Qi not enough?"
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
I can feel the core, but something''s missing. As if hearing my thoughts, Seti speaks up, "I won''t tell you the next step; you need to use your imagination to figure out how your mana should travel from your core to where you need it to be." Think about how I would move my mana... Well, I should probably start with qi. When it came to qi, I had to forge pathways, which makes sense. Qi is a more aggressive, violent force. My dantian pulsates as if alive, while my mana core swirls with complete calm and control, which would lead me to believe that mana doesn''t require such a painful process, such as forging pathways... A way to move the mana around my body painlessly needs to be something versatile that reaches everywhere... Oh, I get it. I focus on my core, drawing little bits of mana and threading them into my veins. I feel the mana begin to flow, and it forms a clean loop. Mana reaches all the way to my fingertips and toes, making them tingle, but also remains in my core and makes it anywhere else I need it. I open my eyes and say, "I figured out it was the veins." Seti nods and says, "Yep now I could teach you magic, but I won''t, and that is because, as I said, creativity is incredibly important in magic, and if I were to teach you any further, I''d hinder your creativity and therefore your potential." I nod and bow my head. "Thank you very much, teacher!" Zhao laughs out loud, and Seti kicks my leg. "Dude cut it out; that''s creepy." I let out a chuckle at his disgusted face.
I open my eyes as I finish my cultivation. "Cultivation Progress: +1 Qi +1 Strength" I''ve been feeling weird ever since I got here. I think my physiology has changed due to my becoming a demigod. I don''t get as tired anymore nor as hungry. It''s unsettling, to say the least. On earth, I felt tired even after eight or nine hours of sleep; now I can barely stay asleep for more than four hours, and I feel completely refreshed. It''s useful, of course, and allows me to train more, but I can''t help but be scared I''m becoming inhuman, and I''m not a fan. But regardless, I should try and use magic using what Seti told me about knowledge well. For now, I''m knowledgeable about normal mana, so I''ll try that creativity in RPG games. There is often a mana missile spell, so I''ll try that. I hold my hand out of the window and focus as much mana as I can, drawing it to the centre of my palm. The sensation is weird. It''s like I feel everything and nothing simultaneously, a faint tingling sensation just barely noticeable, yet I could describe in full detail now. I''ll have to let talent take its own course since I can''t influence that. I push the built-up mana out through my palm, and a surge of mana explodes from my hand as it shoots upwards and screams in pain from the recoil. The missile soars away and smashes straight through a tree. "Skill Acquired: Magic" "Sub-Skill Acquired: Pure Magic" "Sub-Skill Acquired: Mana Missile" My arm hurts from the recoil, and I can feel that my reserves of mana are exhausted already, but that was good. I''ve now experienced what it feels like to create magic, and I know that magic can cause recoil, so I should be careful of that. I sit back down clutching at my arm, and Zhao asks, "What are you doing up?" As he rubs and opens his eyes, the noise of my magic must''ve woken him up. "Couldn''t sleep." He nods, and I ask, "Is there anything else I can learn during the integration phase?" He yawns and strokes his chin. "Qi sense is the only thing left to learn in your phase, I believe." Qi sense, huh? The way martial artists detect another''s qi levels is to "channel qi into your eyes and brain and focus on picking up qi; it might take a while, though, even extremely talented martial artists can struggle with this because it overloads the brain and eyes." He says, while he readjusts himself and tries to fall back asleep, I take a deep breath and send Qi through my pathway. I don''t really use the pathway that leads up to my skull, and I channel Qi into my eyes and brain. It hurts; the back of my eyes feels like they are on fire, and I can''t see. I feel warmth under my nose and eyes and a migraine unlike any I''ve ever experienced. I try to hold it and focus on seeing others Qi, but I can''t hold it, and I relinquish the Qi, which falls back down to my dantian, and I rush to the window, heat rising up my throat as I do, and as I get my head over it, I throw up. That was even more painful than carving out my Qi pathways. "Failure." I mutter to myself a feeling I was far too used to in my world and a feeling I had hoped to avoid here.
The carriage jerks to a stop, and I get out. "You." I hear, and to my left, I see a group of five; their armour is nicer than ours, weapons too. They must be the E ranks. Seti and Zhao already told me about rank discrimination, so I shouldn''t annoy them. I walk over, and one of them stays to talk to me, but weirdly enough, he doesn''t look me in the eyes like I''m undeserving of eye contact with him. "F rank, I need you to go get wood for our fires. Also wake up your fellow F ranks to set up the tents." I nod, ignoring the sting of being referred to as a rank, not a person, and he walks toward the four other E ranks to help set up their tents. I can''t help but be curious "Appraisal"
Status Window
Name: Ravi Ashokan
Age: 33
Occupation: E-Rank Adventurer
Origin: Bharata
Class: Tank
Fame: 24
Status: Mortal
Title: None
Stats:
Strength: 219
Dexterity: 142
Endurance: 268
Vitality: 249
Divinity: 37
Luck: D
Charm: E
Charisma: B-
He''s a tank, so he sacrifices speed to take attacks while his allies fight the beasts. No wonder he''s their captain. Bar dexterity, which is still high, he''s almost D rank. I let his window fade away and head over to the carriages. I first open the door of Eudora''s where she and Jay are asleep. I shake Jay''s shoulder and tell him, "Wake her up and set up the tents." He nods, and I step down, closing the door behind me and jumping into our carriage, and I shake Seti and Zhao awake. "Need to set up the tents." Zhao holds a thumb up, and Seti grumbles, "Mmmmm." I step out of the carriage and see Eudora and Jay out of theirs stretching. "If they don''t get out, will you wake them up?" I ask Eudora, and she nods, so I head out into the forest to collect dry wood to burn for our fires. While I''m exploring and collecting wood, I stumble upon a beautiful river, and I can feel the mana is denser here. I''ll have to come back when the others are asleep. I can feel the mana; it''s drawn to me and I to it. I shake my head, refocusing. It''ll do us no good to annoy the e-ranks before the quest starts. I carry on collecting dry wood and head back to camp. When I arrive, I see two sets of tents, five bigger tents, and then a bit further from them are two small tents. I head over to the E-ranks tents first and hand Ravi half of the firewood, and as I''m about to turn away, he says, "Don''t be greedy, little F-rank," and takes more of our half of the firewood before pushing me away and saying, "Don''t approach our tents again unless called for." Arsehole I walk over to our tents and place the firewood down, and Seti holds his staff against it, and a fireball forms at the end of the staff and lights the wood. I sit down and sigh, and Seti says, "That tent there is ours." He points at the left tent. "And I''ll be using the right." Eudora chimes in. I nod and shrug; it makes sense, and I can''t complain about her getting her own tent; she is a woman, after all. We sit around the fire and eat our jerky rations provided by the guild, and I only eat a bit before giving the rest to those four to share. I''m just not as hungry as I used to be. I wait for everyone else to fall asleep and sneak out of the tent. I walk out into the forest to attempt Qi sensing again. in. I summon the Qi, channelling it, moving it through my pathway until it''s imbued in my eyes again. I lose my vision, but this time I can''t hear either or smell. I feel nothing on my face but also warmth. My head pounds, beats like a heartbeat, and I think I''m beginning to understand how I can get through this. I think I need to balance focus, ensure I''m channelling an equal amount of Qi to both my eyes and brain whilst also ensuring that my Qi imbued sight doesn''t overtake my other senses, but I''m not there yet, so I let go for now. My sight returning, I feel the heat rise in my throat again and vomit on a tree.
I get to the river and wash my face of the vomit and blood, and I take my leather vest off. The cold bites at my skin. "Skill Upgraded: Cold Resistance = F --> E" Never mind; I guess it doesn''t I sit on the hard ground and begin cultivating. It is almost weird how different cultivation and meditation are but also how imilar they are. Cultivation is a completely internal process; you use your qi to create more qi, whereas in meditation, you draw in ambient mana and then cycle it through your core to refine it and remove impurities. I focus on the way I''ve chosen to cultivate, which is creating a cycle in my dantian. I cycle the qi in an eight shape, allowing it to build upon itself and grow, and when I''m no longer gaining anything, I open my eyes." Cultivation Progress: +6 Qi +1 Strength +1 Dexterity" woah I think thats the best cultivation I''ve done so far right next up is Meditation and I want to harness the density of the mana in this river so i strip down and get in the river I would keep my clothes on but if they get wet it''ll just be uncomfortable even my e rank cold resistance cant fully negate the chill of this water and I breathe slowly but rhythmic and I begin drawing in the raindrops of mana surrounding me there is far more here than when I did this in the carriage I draw as much as I can take in and when I can no longer pull any in I begin cycling it immediately refining and purifying the mana of my core and casting the impurities into my dantian I feel the last of the impurities devoured by more core and I open my eyes "Meditation Process: +5 Magic Power" "Purification Process: +3 Magic Power" "Cultivation Process: +5 Qi" Incredible I knew the density of the mana here would help, but I didn''t realise it''d be this good. Now I want to create some magic; a fireball should be my next move. it''s something I''m fairly knowledgeable about it thanks to games the issue is changing the property of my mana... but if i go based on Seti''s explanation that you just have to understand it then surely if I just focus on my mana specifically the mana currently flowing down my right arm and I imagine the flames of the fire at camp the heat they gave off the sounds it made the way it moved in the wind I feel my right arm heat up and focus channeling the mana in my right arm to the centre of my palm and once its gathered in full I focus imagining a flaming ball of fire and responding to my imagination a ball of flames slowly grows in front of my palm "Sub-Skill Acquired: Fire Magic" "Sub-Skill Acquired: Fireball" "Bonus: +2 Magic Power" incredible I''m actually using a ball of fire like in the games and unlike the mana missile It doesn''t immediately shoot; however, my hand feels like it''s burning, but it''s not. I can feel the sensation of my skin burning, but it''s not. The pain is there, but nothing''s happening. I aim the fireball at the ground, and the moment I think of it shooting out, it does, crashing into the water and causing steam to rise. "Incredible," I mutter.
I would rather not stop there. Surely there''s something I can make, a magic thing I can create that will be supported by my other skills. Think, think spearmanship. What if I... I once again convert all of the mana flowing down my right arm to fire mana, and I curl my fingers inward, mimicking the hold of my hand on a spear, ready and waiting. I channel the mana in my hand, ignoring the burning sensation as it pools, and once it''s completely gathered and spread throughout my whole hand, from the palm to the fingers and the fingertips, I push it out, creating a spear made of flames. "Sub-Skill Acquired: Fire Spear" "Skill Acquired: Heat Resistance" "Bonus: +2 Endurance +2 Vitality" It doesn''t burn anymore. I toss the spear between my hands, and it stays strong and doesn''t disappear, and then I pull it back and hurl it into the water and watch as steam hisses from the water as it evaporates in front of me." Sub-Skill Acquired: Spear Throw" Nice I''ve now got a proper backup for if I lose my sword; I can feel my mana reserves are growing close to zero. It feels like it costs more when creating magic than using it, which makes sense. Before I run out, I should create a form of defensive magic. What are the magics usually used as defence in games again? I stroke my chin and pace back and forth. "Fire and wind are mostly offensive, I believe." I mutter under my breath, and if they''re mostly offensive, I should probably use water and earth for defence. I don''t know much about Earth apart from soil, which won''t be of much use, but water I run my hand against the current of the river, feeling the flow of the water against my hand as I envision the mana in my arm flowing like the current of a river. I pull my hand out and hold it forward and push out a wall of water like a shield. "Sub-Skill Acquired: Water Magic" "Bonus: +1 Magical Power" "Sub-Skill Acquired: Water Wall" I don''t really have a way to test its capabilities, so I''ll have to test it in real combat. I dissipate it and feel my mana reserves have essentially zeroed out. I sigh and get dressed again. I''d forgotten since my cold resistance upgraded, but I''m naked. I put my armour back on, and I''m about to leave when Eudora emerges from the forest. "Hi." I rest my hand on the hilt of my sword, ready to unsheathe it if need be. "What are you doing here?" She chuckles and says, "Me? I was just enjoying the view." Oh shit. Eudora bursts into laughter, literally tearing up; she laughs so hard. "Don''t worry, I''m not here to blackmail you or anything. Remember, I promised I''d explain the system to you." She winks at me, and I gulp. Nothing good can come of this.