《The Mastery System》


 V1C1: The Dam Pond

    Sam was swimming with his friends in the dam. It was a warm summer day.


    The drive had taken more than an hour from home. One of his older friends had a car so they had made it a habit to drive out to the dam on weekends.


    Today was much the same as the other weekends, except for a new crowd of people. They were a group of university students making a racket further along the edge of the dam.


    The students had two jet skis and were racing each other up and down the dam.


    Sam and his friends were floating in the water, enjoying the heat of the day.


    Sam ignored the jet skis and focussed on relaxing.


    He thought about how soon the summer heat would be gone. Back to school, back to dealing with fellow teenagers.


    He shook away those thoughts. He had to enjoy the moment, enjoy the heat. Maybe he could get a tan this time, he doubted it.


    His friends started heading back; they waved for him to do the same. He acknowledged but kept relaxing wanting just a bit more sun. Its warmth felt good on his pale skin.


    He was definitely going to be burned at this rate and would probably get another scolding from his mother.


    A scream interrupted his thoughts. He quickly turned to see a girl in the water; a driverless jet ski was slowing down quite a distance away.


    Knowing he was the closest, Sam started swimming over. He had had swimming lessons in the past so he wasn''t terrible but not the best by a long shot.


    Whenever he came up for air he looked for the girl. He didn¡¯t want to lose her in the waves. She didn¡¯t look like a strong swimmer and was being buffeted by the water of the waves.


    Her head kept bobbing deeper underneath the water with every wave. He focussed on her and he swam as fast as he could. The waves were rougher the closer he got to her. He heard shouting in the distance but he ignored it and kept swimming.


    When it was about ten metres away from the girl he lifted his head to breathe. He heard the sound of an engine and then everything went black.


    He felt disconnected from his body, like it was miles away. He tried to reach for it but he had no body, he just was there.


    Suddenly he felt his very soul shudder and he fell unconscious.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Jerald was fishing with his son at the pond. The pond was at the corner of his property and he shared the water with his neighbour. He had never had to quarrel with the fellow farmer about it because the area had never been affected by drought. Floods or bandits from the nearby mountains were much more frequent.


    Both of the amateur fishermen had been carefully watching their floats, looking for any movement. Jerald didn''t have much optimism but since new rains had refilled the pond with new water, he held onto his hope.


    The pond wasn''t very large or deep. Deepest part was the centre. Jerald had helped his father look for crabs a few times in his childhood. Whilst carrying out his chores, he used to explore the pond. It never had much life in the first place. He had seen a few fish and crabs, most of them from the marsh that fed the pond.


    Most of the life in the area was represented by trees. The dark green oak and elm trees made the area a nice spot to hide away from the sun, especially in summer. The promise of cool water was enticing.


    Jerald had even brought some past girlfriends here, he blushed at the thought. He looked away so his son wouldn''t see.


    Not that it mattered. He had a wife and a good one. His thoughts drifted to memories.


    Suddenly there was a disturbance in the centre of the pond. His float disappeared under the water. Jerald grabbed hold of his homemade rod with both hands. He was strong enough to pull out a deer, a fish was no problem. His strength was truly impressive but the rod was made of simple wood and wouldn¡¯t be able hold any strong contender.


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    Jerald knew this so he gripped onto the fishing line with his left hand. He wrapped it around his arm a few times, the line immediately attempted to cut into his skin from the tension. He held still, putting his feet into good footholds, waiting for the fish to start moving and fighting.


    Yet there was nothing, he tugged softly and just felt weight but no change in resistance. The weight was uncharacteristically heavy for a fish. A bit confused by the behaviour, he began pulling the line. He didn''t want to pull too quickly and possibly snap the line.


    Jeremy watched as his father pulled the line slowly and steadily. He wondered how big the fish would be.


    The two men watched as the surface of water was disturbed by a large object. The swell of the object brought a wave of water with it. The object suddenly broke through the surface and Jeremy gasped. It was a person, the teenager to be precise.


    Jerald frowned in confusion at the discovery.


    Why was there a person in the pond? Had they drowned? When did they enter the pond?


    He put aside the many questions that appeared in his head and looked at his son.


    ''Son, prepare to heal him.''


    Jeremy blinked at the words and then acknowledged. He began preparing himself to perform the most basic healing magic, Lesser Healing. His mother had begged him to learn it when he was growing up. She had stated its usefulness and convenience on numerous occurrences. Jeremy had agreed but his father was no fool and managed to avoid learning the magic. He stated that he was strong enough to withstand and recover from any wound.


    Jeremy, however, could not fault his mother. Healing magic was useful. He could not argue the number of times the simple healing magic had saved his life or the lives of his friends. His mother had tried to convince his father to learn the spell as well but without spending mastery points there was no way father would be able to cast the magic and its mana requirement was no joke either.


    His father was a stubborn man who cherished his masteries above all else, he had said before that it was a gift from the gods and he would not use up his mastery points without consideration and deep thought. Jeremy had watched his father''s beliefs become much more engrained as his mastery levels improved. Even Jeremy could not argue that a mastery point spent on an ability from the higher mastery tier would be much more powerful than the first level of healing magic.


    Jeremy had put it to use enough times to convince himself that it was worthy investment. He had even pondered on investing further in healing magic since he still had many years ahead of him.


    Once the teenager''s body was near the shore, Jerald quickly got into the water. He grabbed the teenager and carried him ashore. He shook the boy but there was no response.


    Jeremy could see a huge gash on the boy''s forehead. It was still bleeding and the flesh was bruised. He was grateful for his father''s foresight. He rushed over to the boy and placed his hands on his torso. Jeremy released the healing spell that he had been preparing.


    Yellow light shone brightly from Jeremy''s hands before moving into the boy¡¯s body. The healing magic moved through the boy''s body until the cut on his head began healing.


    Jerald watched the fascinating magic work and said a silent blessing for a wife. He was a lucky man. He picked up the boy and looked at Jeremy.


    "As soon as you can cast again, let me know. Let¡¯s head back to the house, your mother would be able to assist with the healing."


    Jeremy nodded as he started grabbing their belongings. Jerald already started moving back to the farmhouse. Jeremy could hear the thud of Jerald''s feet as he ran.


    Jeremy paused as he looked at the rod, he would fetch it tomorrow.


    After checking their fishing spot once more, Jeremy headed back into forest after his father.

 V1C2: Rain

    Jerald and Jeremy moved quickly through the forest that surrounded the pond. They were both very familiar with it, having spent most of their youths in it. It was the best spot to get up to mischief.


    Jeremy was grateful for his father not requesting another immediate healing. The first bout of healing had used up most of his mana; he was not a real mage so using such healing abilities was inefficient and exhausting for him. He would be able to cast again but he needed rest. Jeremy knew from testing that he could only use the healing ability, Lesser Heal, three times a day. If he tried a fourth time, the physical and mental exhaustion was too much for him to handle. He was sure he could do it if he trained enough but healing magic wasn''t his specialty so he didn¡¯t spend his time training it.


    The trip through the forest was uneventful. Not many animals lived in this small forest, only a few squirrels, many rats and the odd owl. When they got to the end of the forest, Jeremy healed the boy again. The large gash on the boy''s forehead was now gone and some water had dribbled from the boy¡¯s mouth, which was a good sign. The healing magic and his body were working together to expel the water.


    Jeremy knew that if either of them were proficient with manipulating water, it would have been much easier to help the boy. He had heard the stories of those with the Water Mastery, water was at their command.


    From the edge of the forest they could see the barn and the house which were in the far distance. They would need to cross the marsh that fed the pond then a few horse paddocks. Next they would have to pass the small dam that was used for watering and finally some cow paddocks before reaching the barn. It was quite the distance but Jeremy didn¡¯t mind, he enjoyed having an opportunity to train his body and test his limits.


    His father interrupted his thoughts by putting the boy down and speaking softly.


    ¡°I am going to warn your mother to prepare for our arrival.¡±


    Jeremy was confused at first and then saw his father take in a deep breath. Knowing what his father was about to do, he stepped back to make sure there was a fair distance between them.


    Jerald held the air in his lungs before using one of his many abilities: Worker''s Frenzy. Magical air bellowed out of the man''s mouth. The magic filled everyone in the area with vigour, allowing everyone to work harder and faster. The secondary effect which many farmers utilised was the enhanced voice. Worker¡¯s Frenzy was a shout ability, cast by making any sound. The sound was magical and could be pushed to extreme limits. The volume of the magical shout could be controlled by the user and with Jerald''s level, it could even do damage. Nothing substantial enough for battle but enough to burst one of Jeremy''s eardrums when he was a child.


    The shout travelled rapidly across the marsh, paddocks, dam and barn. It was impossible to avoid the sound if you were on the farm. The animals were not happy being buffeted by the wave of sound but it did not do them any harm.


    Jerald picked up the boy and started moving much faster than before. Jeremy followed suite. Worker''s Frenzy was a powerful ability but would leave them exhausted later. It was a temporary gain that had to be paid for later. They both didn¡¯t want to suffer the consequences without reaping the benefits.


    Their movement fell into a rhythm and Jeremy fell into thought.


    He felt gratitude to having such intelligent and prepared parents. His father had told both of them about the shout so that he could warn them from afar. Whether it was bandits or other dangers, Jerald would be able to let the family know.


    He smiled as he imagined his mother becoming frantic when hearing it. She was tough woman but when it came to her loved ones she worried a lot. His father had always told her to worry less but she never did.


    Jeremy stopped his father when they reached the other side of the marsh, he healed the boy again. More water came out, it was a good sign. Jerald nodded in approval and they moved along.


    When they got to the horse paddocks, it started raining very hard. Jeremy was surprised; it was too early in the year for rain. The heavy rain when blurred their vision until they couldn¡¯t see the barn anymore.


    They continued but at a much slower pace. When they got to a main intersection by the horse paddocks, two large stallions blocked their path. One horse was black and other brown, they were snorting with irritation.


    Jerald whistled to the horses and they came to him. He got onto the black horse and Jeremy got onto the brown. As soon as they were on, the horses began moving of their own accord.


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    "We found a boy in the lake; he had a head wound and took on a lot of water. Jeremy has healed him a few times and his condition has improved but we don''t know if he will make it. We will meet you in the barn."


    If anyone didn¡¯t know what was happening, they would look at Jerald like a mad man. Did he think the horse would respond?


    Well, the horse did respond, with a simple nod.


    When Jeremy was a young boy, he had been absolutely amazed by his father''s strength and endurance. The man was a powerhouse and even more so now. However, as he had gotten older and reached his current age of twenty three, he was reminded time and time again how scarily powerful his mother was.


    In appearances she was a simple farmer''s wife who shared the load of work in the farm. In truth, she was the cornerstone of their family''s income. As animal farmers they relied on the different produce they could get from their animals.


    Annabelle, Jeremy''s mother, had specialised in both the Animal Caretaker and Beast Masteries. Her power over animals was unparalleled. With her focus on both paths, they heavily overlapped letting her achieve things that many thought was impossible. Jeremy like to think of her as an Animal Magician.


    One example was her ability to communicate through animals. She could hear what they were hearing and have them carry out small movements. Naturally her control was limited and she needed the animal to be willing. The restrictions were inconsequential in comparison to the ability¡¯s potential.


    Jeremy thought back to the late nights when his mother would wake everyone up because a calf was being born or an animal was injured. The animals adored her and told her their problems. It just amazed him as he wondered how the farm would continue if she wasn¡¯t around.


    Suddenly the horses stopped. Jeremy managed to just stop himself from flying off. Just as he recovered the horse reared its front legs, throwing him off and into the mud.


    Jeremy looked up at his father from the mud. His father had experienced the same thing but managed to keep the boy and himself out of the mud.


    Jerald got up and stood next to the black horse with a deep frown on his face.


    He rubbed his dark messy beard and spoke.


    "I didn''t expect this."


    Suddenly the rain started unnaturally spinning around them, like they were in the centre of a hurricane. The horses were about to run but Jerald stopped them and guided them to the centre. They listened and lie down, trusting him.


    Jeremy didn''t know what was happening, was this a magical storm? It didn¡¯t look natural. He walked over and sat near the black horse and looked at his father.


    Jerald''s frown was still on his face as he felt forces pulling at the boy on his shoulder. He fought against it but his strength was not enough. It was like fighting a raging river. No matter how strong he was, he was just a man.


    The boy''s body floating up into the air, his body limp as it hovered in the air magically.


    Jerald sat next to Jeremy. He spoke with a voice full of uncertainty.


    "Son, use all your abilities that would protect us. All of them, now!"


    Without waiting for a response from his son, Jerald began using his own abilities. After years of training and experience, the man had focussed on 3 Masteries: Labourer, Farmer and Lumberjack. Jerald had progressed quite far in the Farmer mastery before stopping. Many of the higher Tier skills and abilities specialised heavily on food yielding crops. It was useful but only for their family¡¯s consumption which was on a very small scale. It was due to this reason that Jerald had taken up the Labourer and Lumberjack Masteries. Both offered good Strength and Stamina bonuses which were useful as well as several abilities which Jerald was now using.


    Jeremy quickly followed his father''s example by casting his own abilities, most of which belonged to the Labourer Mastery. They were some of the same abilities that his father was using but just much weaker. Jerald had explained to Jeremy in the past about the incredible power of stacking multiple copies of the same ability. The magic appeared to work much more efficiently than two single instances of the ability.


    As Jeremy felt his body strengthen and his stamina increase exponentially, he used all of his abilities, even those he could use once a month.


    Whilst the others worked furiously to ensure their survival, the boy''s skin started to collect droplets of water, like filings to a magnet.

 V1C3: Baptism

    Jerald felt the hairs on his body stand up. The air was thick of magic: Water magic.


    He had been around long enough to know the ''feel'' of water magic. It left the air smelling fresh and clean. Many people coveted it for its amazing status cleansing properties. In the large cities, they even used it to remove smells from the slums.


    Never however, had Jerald felt water magic like this. This was pure power. It was like an ant looking at a mountain. A mountain so vast that you couldn''t see the sides.


    Jerald felt fear grip him. He knew they had many protections on them but started to doubt if the protections would be able to slow down, let alone stop such a power.


    The fact they were not dead was a good sign.


    Like someone flicking a piece of dirt, Jerald, Jeremy and the two horses flew out of the eye of the storm. The floating boy was alone with the supreme power of water surrounding him.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Sam opened his eyes. He was in bed.


    His body ached, his head was pounding and his lungs were full of hot pain.


    Memories flooded back, he sat up and gasped. He started hyperventilating as he gasped at the precious air that had been denied to him in the water.


    A soothing voice filled the room.


    "Relax. You are safe in our home."


    Sam turned to see a middle aged woman. Her face was weathered from the sun, and her hair was in a messy ponytail and she wore a simple brown dress. She was a plain looking woman except for her eyes which shone with an eerily green colour.


    Sam slowed his breathing and focussed on relaxing.


    He thought he had drowned? It definitely felt like that. He remembered the terror and the pain in his lungs. His head felt dizzy as he recalled the memories.


    He closed his eyes and shook his head. He shouldn''t think about that. He needed to get back to his friends; he could rest when he got home to his own bed. He became aware of the vast difference in comfort between his bed at home and the one he was lying in.


    Who was this woman? Did she live near the dam?


    He looked around the room, it was very simple. The walls did not look professionally built and were built with uneven handmade stone bricks.


    Was the woman very poor and just lived by the dam? How did he end up here?


    Suddenly a man walked into the room through a thin wooden door. The door seemed as if it would fall off at any moment.


    The man was huge. A monster of muscle. Sam guessed he was some sort of body builder. He noticed the man¡¯s clothes and saw that they had been knitted.


    The woman¡¯s clothes were also knitted, so was the blanket he had covering him. He suddenly became acutely aware that he wasn''t wearing anything under this blanket. The blanket was itchy but the wool was soft. Where was his swimming costume?


    "Hello boy, what¡¯s your name?"


    Sam looked back at the man who spoke. He wore a frown that made him look stern. His face was also weathered, more than the woman''s. He had a thick black beard and wore a cap. His shirt was a stereotypical red flannel shirt. With the cap, it completed the man''s obvious lumberjack. It was comically accurate like he would win a costume prize. The man even had an accent that Sam had never heard before.


    The man''s demeanour was not comical at all and the way he had addressed him told Sam that he shouldn''t disrespect this man.


    "Sam. My name is Sam Underwood, sir."


    Sam hoped he had come across respectable. He knew the older folks didn¡¯t like being disrespected by young people like him.


    "Underwood? Where are you from-"


    "Jerald! He just woke up. Let him relax. He has gone through a fearful experience."


    The man called Jerald looked at the woman. His hard features crumbled when he looked at her, softening immediately. As if realising this, the frown quickly returned when he replied.


    "That is true. Since Jeremy and I also went through a fearful experience will you stay up all night next to our beds?"


    Amusement filled the man''s voice and a broad smile appeared on his face. The woman rolled her eyes and stood. She had been sitting on a simple wooden stool.


    "I will go check on Nightshade and Bessie. After that, I will turn in. Let the boy eat and rest. You can ask him all your endless questions tomorrow."


    She turned to Sam, her voice calmer and soft.


    "Jerald will get you some food. Don''t strain yourself, rest as much as your body needs."


    Sam nodded and spoke politely.


    "Thank you for taking care of me, maam."


    The woman smiled and left the room. Her hand brushed passed the man''s huge arm affectionately before leaving.


    Without any further word, the man followed her out the room.


    He returned a few minutes later with a wooden bowl which was full of hot beef stew. There was a wooden spoon floating in it. Sam thanked the man and he left.


    Sam frowned at the handmade wooden items. Did the family make everything themselves? Were they hippies?


    The stew was warm and it felt good against his hands. He stared at the swirling water; its ripples were so hypnotising and relaxing.


    Suddenly several messages appeared in his mind.


    "Talent: [Late bloomer] gained. 30 Mastery points awarded."


    "Talent: [Water Baptism] gained. Water Mastery unlocked. 15 Mastery points awarded."


    "Magical Gift: [Water Baptism Ring] gained."


    "Knowledge Mastery: Holder of Knowledge Level 1 gained."


    "Knowledge Mastery: Holder of Knowledge Level 2 gained."


    The message kept bombarding Sam''s mind until he fell unconscious face first into the stew.


    ~~~~~~~~~~


    Sam woke up in much the same way he had before: Confused, in pain and hungry.


    The memory of the stew caused his stomach to feel worse than before. He looked around the room, hoping to see food.


    A small candle on the floor flickered, providing soft light to the small room. The woman from earlier was sitting on the same stool. She was leaning against the wall, fast asleep.


    Sam pulled off the blanket to scratch himself. The itchy blanket was annoying. Sam frowned because he was wearing pants. Had someone dressed him whilst he was asleep?


    Who were these people? Was this a cult? He had so many questions.


    He looked at the pants. They were scratchy and uncomfortable. He wasn¡¯t wearing any underwear, just the scratchy homemade brown pants. He got out of the bed and put his feet on the ground. He was relieved to feel only stiffness and no pain. There was just the hunger that gnawed at his stomach.


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    He looked around; maybe he hadn¡¯t seen the stew when he checked earlier?


    To his disappointment, there was no stew but did see another stool closer to the bed. On it was a ring. For some reason, he knew it was called the Water Baptism Ring.


    The name reminded of the messages that had appeared. There had been so much information that he felt like he had been cramming for an exam. What were those messages? Was this a new type of virtual reality game?


    He sat on the edge of the bed and closed his eyes. He thought of the first words he saw before he had passed out: Talent: [Water Baptism]. He yelped in shock when a message appeared in his mind. He mentally fought against the message and it swiftly went away.


    He thought of the words and again the message appeared. He was prepared this time and wasn¡¯t surprised by the message paragraph.


    Talent: [Water Baptism]: The user survived a near death experience whilst surrounded by element of water. The element of water has chosen the user to walk a certain path. Unlocks Chosen Mastery.


    He blinked. It didn''t make much sense. Yes, he had almost drowned but ''The element of water''? That sounded weird.


    He focused on the words ''Chosen Mastery'', expecting to see another paragraph.


    A huge wall of grey appeared in his mind. He stared in shock at it and willed it away. He brought it back with just a thought. It really was in his mind. He studied the grey wall.


    It didn¡¯t seem to have an end to how tall it could be. He couldn¡¯t see the end at least. Horizontal lines separated the wall into grey rows.


    He realised it was a table with information at different positions. The details of many of them were blurred. The only details he could see were in the first row. On the left axis, it said ''Tier 1''. Above it was ''Tier 2''. He couldn''t see any more tier numbers further than that but he guessed there were more.


    He frowned. What was this thing? Sam studied it for a few minutes, trying to understand it.


    It looked like a skill tree. He had seen it in some games, lower level abilities and/or passives would unlock higher levels and more powerful abilities. What made this skill tree strange was that nothing had levels; it seemed to just track events.


    The Tiers separated the skill tree horizontally and then there were further vertical separators, they split the tree into several columns; all of the columns were greyed out and unreadable except one.


    The visible one said ''Water'' in bright blue on the bottom axis. It seemed he could only see the ¡®Water¡¯ block belonging to ¡®Tier 1¡¯. In the block was a droplet of blue water. It was split into three parts. He focussed on them to get their names.


    [Water Baptism]: User must be baptised by the element of water (Completed)


    [Water Apprentice]: User must become a disciple/student/apprentice of a Water Magic Master.


    [Water Challenge]: (Requires Water Apprentice to unlock)


    Sam blinked. According to the Chosen Mastery skill tree, he had to become a Water Apprentice. What was a Water Magic Master? What was Water Magic?


    He frowned and wondered how he was going to wrap his head around that one. His thoughts were interrupted by someone clearing their throat quietly right next to him.


    Sam stood up in fright, knocking his head on something hard. There was a splash and a loud bang followed by the sound of a spoon hitting the stone floor.


    He looked around whilst rubbing his head. On the floor was a split bowl of stew, steam could be seen coming off it. In front of Sam, stood Jerald with a look of annoyance on his face.


    The woman woke up due to the noise and stood nearby, looking confused.


    "Boy, I would swear you don''t want to eat."


    Jerald stared down Sam.


    Sam suddenly felt very small. Jerald didn''t let up his stare so Sam spoke.


    "I¡¯m very sorry, sir. It wasn''t on purpose. I was just lost in thought..."


    "You can call me Uncle. You can call her Aunty. I don¡¯t want any of that noble sir business in this house. Now I do not tolerate lies in this household. You were looking at your Masteries, were you not?"


    Jerald''s face was firm, showing no further emotion.


    Sam blinked in confusion. The man knew about the skill trees? It seemed they were called Masteries. He had so many questions. His excitement grew but was abruptly deflated when worry flooded his mind. Where was he?


    Realising that Jerald was still waiting, Sam replied.


    "Yes I was, Uncle. I didn''t mean to lie... I was wondering if you could tell me where this house is."


    Sam kept his respectful tone. Both of them had been so nice to him and he hoped to eventually get food.


    Jerald frowned. It was Jerald¡¯s wife who answered without hesitation. She had followed their conversation with interest.


    "You are in our home. Situated on the Underwood family farm. I am Annabelle and this is Jerald. You haven''t met our son Jeremy yet but he helped save you from drowning in the pond."


    Annabelle noticed that he was eagerly listening so she continued.


    "The closest town is Haventown to the North-West. This region¡¯s capital is Thistlevale on the coast to the South-West. Where are you from Sam?"


    With his knowledge of geography and the information he had received, he knew was not anywhere near home. They had saved him from a pond? Things were getting weirder and weirder. He needed to deflect.


    "I am Sam Underwood. Unfortunately I am not sure where my home is from here or what direction it is."


    Vague and not a direct lie. Hopefully it would work.


    "An Underwood? I do not know of any descendant called Sam. What town are you from?"


    A frown followed Jerald''s words.


    "New Jersey."


    Both of them looked at him oddly. Annabelle answered with a smile.


    "You sure you didn''t make that up Sam? If you don''t remember, it is ok."


    Sam looked at both of them. He wasn¡¯t sure what to tell them. He was from New Jersey but it didn¡¯t seem to be anywhere near here.


    Jerald spoke after Sam didn¡¯t say anything.


    "We will not harm you Sam. Personally we could use the help around the farm. Jeremy could always benefit from someone closer to his age. However, we do not want to bring danger into this home, whether it is from nobles, bandits or your unknown past."


    Jerald took a deep breath and continued.


    "Now there is something else I would like to discuss. Jeremy and I witnessed your Water Baptism when carrying you home..."

 V1C4: A Gift

    Whilst Jerald explained the story of them saving him and his magical Water Baptism, Annabelle cleaned up the stew and got him some more. Sam listened to Jerald with interest whilst eating. The food went down so well. He didn''t ask questions as he listened, he just tried to learn everything he could about this world.


    It seemed he hadn¡¯t gone crazy and was eager to learn as much as he could about these Masteries.


    From what he heard from Jerald, it seemed he was connected to Water magic in some way; he would need to study the Masteries system to figure it out.


    Jerald finished off his long story.


    "Then Anna found a ring in your first bowl of stew. We both felt the power it held and assumed you dropped it. From our knowledge of baptisms, we know that sometimes the person gains a magical artefact. Here, see for yourself."


    Jerald picked up the ring from the stool nearby with his knitted handkerchief and offered it to Sam.


    Sam guessed that it was probably the Water Baptism Ring. The message he had received had said he had received a gift. He hadn''t given it much thought though. There had been too much going on.


    He studied the ring and noticed that looked to be made of gold. The gold shone brightly and appeared to flow and move like water.


    He picked up it and it shone even brighter.


    "Could it be cursed?"


    Annabelle¡¯s face showed worry and she looked at Jerald.


    Jerald shook his head firmly as to convince himself as well.


    "From my knowledge, its purpose to help, not harm. Why don¡¯t you put it on Sam?"


    Sam looked at it suspiciously. If magic was real, curses would be too right? Curses were magic, just created with evil intentions? He wondered if magic worked like that, he needed to learn more.


    Sam paused before moving the ring to the fingers on his right hand. He felt resistance from the ring.


    He frowned. This was indeed a magic ring; it actually pushed against his hand?


    Trying different combinations, Sam took the ring with his right hand and moved towards the fingers on his left hand.


    The ring shone brighter and brighter. Sam felt amused that the ring seems to play a hot and cold game with his fingers. He wondered what purpose the ring had.


    When the ring moved above his middle finger on his left hand, it hovered in the air and then gently drifted onto his finger.


    It felt as light like a feather.


    He smiled. It seemed it wasn¡¯t cursed after all.


    Like a sledgehammer coming down on his hand, pain pulsed out of the ring.


    Every wave of pain shook his mind and body.


    It wasn''t two seconds before the unfinished stew spilt on Sam¡¯s chest as he fell unconscious.


    ~~~~~~~~~~


    At the same time, Master level Water mages from across the country felt the birth of new apprentice, an apprentice who may end up under their tutorship.


    In the city of Thistlevale, an old grey haired scholar, who had been enjoying the view of the ocean, felt the magic in his bones.


    He turned towards the North-East, facing the direction of the Underwood farm. He wondered how a Water Baptism could happen in the middle of the countryside. Did someone fall in a puddle?


    Other Master Water Mages were also disturbed from their everyday activities as they paused to think about what they would do about this new apprentice.


    Some went deep in thought, some carried on with their day and others changed the direction of their journeys. After all, a strong apprentice was never easy to find.


    This was because they knew that all baptisms, regardless of element, created more corpses than apprentices.


    No matter their intentions, they knew about Sam Underwood, whether he liked it or not.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~


    What is your desire?


    Whoever was speaking felt cold. Sam frowned at the voice in his head. He couldn''t open his eyes. He couldn''t feel his body at all. He didn¡¯t know where he was.


    What do you mean?


    Sam managed to speak but he didn¡¯t feel his lips moving.


    Was this all in his head? Maybe a dream? Was the ring torturing him?


    He remembered reading about endless mind traps that idiots fell into. Had he become of those idiots? He should not have put on the ring. He mentally reprimanded himself before the cold voice returned.


    I am here to give a gift of sorts. I can help you with one thing. It needs to be something in the physical realm. No Masteries. No Magic. No permanent items.


    Sam frowned. So instead of being tortured he was being given things? Magical rings sounded cool. His mind wandered as he tried to remember all the times he had discussed the ¡®Genie and its 3 wishes¡¯ scenario.


    He thought about his current situation. He needed information and lots of it. If he knew more, he could find out where he was exactly and if he could get home. Naturally he would need to survive until that point as well. The Chosen Mastery had said he needed to become an apprentice of a Master Water mage. He was sure that such a ¡®Master¡¯ would be powerful and would hopefully give him some protection and teach him to protect himself. He answered the cold voice.


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    Knowledge of this world and a Master Water mage to take me as their apprentice.


    Sam had added the last condition because he needed a willing teacher. If this gift worked and a Master Water mage was found but wasn¡¯t willing to teach him, what use would that be?


    That is two things. I can only offer you one gift. What about a Master Water mage, who is knowledgeable about the world, taking you as their apprentice?


    Sam paused in thought. It was similar and still made sense and if he was an apprentice, surely his Master would share their knowledge?


    He wondered if he would come to regret his line of thinking. He thought of the Chosen Mastery and it appeared in his mind.


    A message about the [Water Baptism] Talent being updated was there, he willed it away, he could always check later.


    He focussed on the Chosen Mastery, specifically the [Water Apprentice] portion again.


    [Water Apprentice]: User must become an apprentice of a Water Magic Master.


    He just had to become an apprentice. Even though it would really pathetic if he learnt nothing, it would still count.


    I agree. I want a Master Water mage, who is knowledgeable about the world, to take me as their apprentice.


    Sam¡¯s consciousness drifted as the world around him felt damp and cold.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Jerald and Annabelle had watched Sam writhe in pain. Regret could be plainly seen on Jerald¡¯s face. Both Jerald and Annabelle had tried to remove the ring but when they got close, a strong magical presence poured out of the ring.


    The air became thick with power. Both Jerald and Annabelle collapsed to the ground from the weight.


    Before the oppressing weight began breaking bones, it dissipated in a shockwave of magic that travelled through the house and throughout the farmland as if searching for something.


    Jerald looked in wonder at Sam''s hand. He expected the ring to be there but it was gone. Replacing it was a deep blue tattoo wrapped around his finger. The tattoo moved gently like sea waves and its colour was always shifting between different shades of blue, from light to dark to light again.


    Jeremy entered the room in a panic, having felt the magic.


    "Ma? Pa? What happened?"


    Annabelle walked over to Jeremy and began explaining to him. They left the room together.


    Jerald sighed as his picked up the spilt bowl of stew. Luckily, Sam had been hungry so most of it had been eaten so he didn¡¯t have much to clean up. Jerald felt the guilt grip him as he wondered about Sam¡¯s current state as the young boy lay in bed.


    Much to Jerald''s surprise, Sam suddenly woke up. They both instinctively looked at the source of his previous pain, Sam¡¯s finger.


    Sam began rubbing his middle finger, hoping to rub the tattoo away.


    Jerald chuckled.


    ¡°I am no magician but I do know that magic tattoos can''t just be rubbed off..."


    Sam looked at Jerald with a frown.


    "Uncle, if it caused me that much pain, I was hoping removing it would be the least I could do in response."


    Jerald sighed. It was his fault.


    "I am sorry Sam; I didn''t expect such a reaction. As I said, I am no magician, none of us are. From what I heard from the townsfolk and friends is that the artefact was meant to help you but all it seemed to do was cause you pain. Did it do anything else?"


    The last sentence was said with some hope. Sam smiled at Jerald¡¯s and reminded himself not to take magical advice from a simple farmer again.


    Sam had indeed received something. It was a message that appeared when he had regained consciousness. It notified him that he had gained 20 Water Mastery points.


    "Uncle, do not feel bad. We can both learn together. It gave me 20 Water Mastery points and there was something else that happened but I just can''t seem to remember¡­"


    Sam was really disappointed now. Yes, he was using the half-truth of amnesia to help himself avoid questions but now he couldn''t for the life of him remember what happened. He remembered a conversation in a dark place but nothing more. Maybe this world had karma?


    "Sam, 20 Mastery points is good gift, even if it is restricted to the Water Master. What my father always used to say was: Restricted Mastery points are only restrictive if you have no plan to use that Mastery. Based on what I have seen, you would be a fool not to focus on the Water Mastery..."


    Sam smiled.


    "Thank you Uncle, that makes me feel better."


    ¡°It is a pleasure Sam. It is a least I can do for being partly responsible for your pain. It seems the sight of unknown magic has made a fool of me. Let us be more wary of such things going forward. Now, I will let you rest further, what the ring put you through did not seem pleasant at all.¡±


    Jerald gave Sam a nod and left him to his thoughts.


    Sam used the opportunity to rest a bit more. He didn¡¯t know what or who would be his next challenge.

 V1C5: Labour 1

    Sam was woken by voices early in the morning. In the darkness, he got out of bed and stumbled towards the room¡¯s door. Faint light was flickering from the other side.


    He opened the door to see Jeremy standing with a candle in his hands.


    ¡°Pa. Sam¡¯s awake.¡± Jeremy spoke softly whilst giving Sam a nod in greeting. Jerald soon arrived with his own candle. He looked at Sam and spoke with a smile.


    ¡°Morning, didn¡¯t expect to see you this early. Would you like to join Jeremy and I?¡±


    Sam blinked to try fight off the weariness and replied.


    ¡°I can Uncle. What will you two be doing?¡±


    Jeremy grinned eagerly and replied before Jerald could.


    ¡°Moving logs, really heavy logs.¡±


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    After been given some new clothes, which belonged to Jeremy, Sam got dressed and followed the father and son. Sam noticed that the clothes he had been given were much more worn than the previous set. They were farmers so it made sense. He felt bad for belittling the previous clothes he had been given, it was obvious that as farmers they didn¡¯t have a lot of money.


    Back on Earth, Sam had lived in a middle income family. His parents had divorced when he was young so his siblings were all stepbrothers and stepsisters. He hadn¡¯t been very close to them. He had been closer to his friends from school.


    Jerald, Jeremy and Sam had all quickly eaten some kind of hard and, in Sam¡¯s opinion, stale cereal with full cream milk. The milk was very rich and Sam knew he would have to get used to it over time. The milk he had had his whole life has been processed and refined before he bought it at the supermarket.


    During the quiet breakfast Jeremy asked Sam a question. His voice was full of curiosity.


    ¡°Sam, do you have the Labour Mastery?¡±


    With a mouthful of cereal, Sam shook his head. He didn¡¯t know what the Labour Mastery was. He guessed it was relating to physical labour? His mind wandered as he thought about what it would mean in a world of magic. What other Masteries were there?


    Jerald and Jeremy had looked at each other and then smiled knowingly.


    After breakfast, they had headed to the barn. Jerald spoke as they walked.


    ¡°We are in the process of reinforcing and mending portions of the fence. Your help is appreciated but without a high amount of Strength you won¡¯t be able to help much. You will need to work on making yourself stronger first but only if you want to. If you don¡¯t want to, I am sure you can help Annabelle with some other tasks.¡±


    Jerald looked at Sam, his signature frown appearing.


    Sam knew next to nothing about the world around him and this family of farmers was his only hope right now. He nodded and replied with a smile.


    ¡°I think getting stronger would be good. Your family has given me a bed to sleep in and food to eat which I am very grateful for and I want to contribute. If I was stronger, I would also be able to defend myself if I need to fight.¡±


    A small smile occurred on Jerald lips as he replied.


    ¡°Fight? The farms around Haventown don¡¯t have many enemies, maybe bandits and wild beasts but that¡¯s about it. The Labour Mastery will make you stronger through skills like [Hardship] but the Labour Mastery encourages non-combat labour.¡±


    Jerald paused and looked at his son.


    ¡°Jeremy, what are your thoughts on training Sam to unlock the Labour Mastery. [Hardship] is a useful skill, especially to start with.¡±


    Jeremy nodded and answered. ¡°I agree father. Watching someone hold logs all day is the best kind of entertainment.¡±


    The father and son laughed at the inside joke.


    The laughter died down as they arrived at the side of the barn. In front of them was a huge collection of logs that were stacked neatly on top of each other. From what Sam saw, they were mostly thick branches and trunks of trees. None of them had been shaped into planks or poles.


    ¡°Uncle, where did you get all the wood from?¡±


    Jerald replied with a smile, pleased at Sam¡¯s interest.


    ¡°Some of it comes from the neighbouring farms, we trade the farmers for them or Jeremy and I go to the pond and cut down some of the oaks.¡±


    Jeremy nodded proudly and walked over to one of the logs. He picked it up with ease and walked over to Sam, offering it to him. Jeremy had a smirk on his face.


    Sam chuckled. There was no way he could pick it up. He doubted he had even met anyone his age that could. Maybe some of those body builders or weight lifters could.


    Jeremy didn¡¯t seem to move away so Sam grabbed onto the end. The log was the trunk of a small tree and was much heavier than Sam had thought.


    He looked at Jerald, hoping for some help.


    ¡°Jeremy, he won¡¯t be able to practice with a log of that size. Let me help.¡±


    Jeremy frowned in mild disappointment as his father cut the log into quarters with his bare hands. Sam didn¡¯t get enough time to even process how bizarre it was to see a human chopping wood like butter. His time was cut short by a piece of wood sailing through the air towards him.


    Jerald had thrown a quarter of the log at Sam. It seemed Jerald had overestimated Sam¡¯s strength. Despite trying to catch it, Sam was knocked to the ground by the log. He was winded and wheezed as he trying to get air back into his lungs.


    Jerald walked over quickly and apologised.


    ¡°Sorry Sam, clearly I have spent too much time with Jeremy. You must take it easy. Start with one of these smaller logs and practice. You can move up to the larger logs later.¡±


    With a pat on the back, he helped Sam to his feet. Sam rubbed his chest, hoping he hadn¡¯t broken something.


    ¡°Jeremy, I am going to start moving the wood. Please can you teach Sam what he needs to know so he can begin practicing?¡±


    ¡°Yes Pa. I will.¡±


    Jerald left, leaving Sam with Jeremy. Jeremy gave Sam a smile before he began explaining the Labour Mastery.


    ¡°The Labour Mastery provides great Strength and Stamina bonuses. The skills and abilities from the Mastery can make carrying a heavy object like these tree trunks, quite easy. The Labour Mastery is a non-combat mastery but can help combat by permanently increasing your strength and stamina. It rewards hard labour, endurance and perseverance above all else.¡±


    Jeremy had then quickly moved on to show Sam what he had to do. Sam had hoped to gain more information about the Labour Mastery but decided not to pry. If he could unlock the Labour Mastery, he could study it as much as he wanted.


    Sam¡¯s task for the day was holding up a piece of the tree trunk. It seemed simple but Jeremy explained he would be doing all day without rest. The prospect seemed very daunting.


    After showing him a good stance to spread the weight of the log, Jeremy gave Sam the log. It was heavy but bearable. Sam knew he would struggle over time but he would still try his best.


    ¡°I am going to go join Pa and help with the fence. We will be moving back and forth all day between the fences and barn so if you have any problems let us know.¡±


    Jeremy started walking away. He spoke loudly as he picked up a few logs at once.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget. You have to show endurance by persevering through hardship. You won¡¯t unlock the Labour Mastery if you don¡¯t.¡±


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    With those words, Jeremy left.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    At the end of the first hour, Sam was in pain. His muscles were burning and protesting against him. He was not surprised, he wasn¡¯t very strong. If he was to compare, he had been just below average for his year at school. He hadn¡¯t done weight lifting like some of the others in his class; some of his friends had said they stunted your growth as a teenager. Sam didn¡¯t know if what they said was true but he had always thought he had years ahead of him, years where he could lift weights and try many other interesting things. He had even thought of joining a sports club at university, if he had got in.


    He shook his head. He had to focus on the present, which didn¡¯t happen to be very pleasant.


    At the two hour mark, he was dead on his feet. His muscles were in a strange limbo between numbness and pain. He felt like his muscles were not usable, like they had become completely rigid and immobile. At the same time, they protested with pain and aches.


    Jerald and Jeremy had returned several times during the day, they often headed off in opposite directions. Sam guessed to go to different parts of the farm¡¯s fence.


    Watching both of them carry many logs at once, sealed Sam¡¯s opinion that their strength was inhuman. Their strength was definitely not natural in any regard and Sam wondered if he would be able to achieve such strength in the future.


    The day passed with Jerald and Jeremy spending the time going back and forth with a few breaks. During one of the breaks, Jeremy gave Sam some water and beef jerky. Jeremy showed Sam different techniques to shift the weight of the log in order to rest different groups of muscles. After practicing Sam found it helped quite a lot.


    Sam had been about to stop before Jeremy had showed him the techniques. When Sam mentioned this, Jeremy told him that stopping would hurt his chances of unlocking the Labour Mastery.


    Sam continued throughout the morning and into the afternoon. He was sweating heavily despite being in the shade of the barn and his arms felt like they were going to snap from the weight. Whenever his muscles would be unable to take the load or threatened to cramp he used the techniques that Jeremy taught him to shift the weigh to another part of his body.


    In the late afternoon, the log suddenly felt lighter and the pain became more manageable. The sensations were followed by some messages.


    Labour Mastery unlocked.


    Labour Mastery: Hardship level 1 gained. 1 Mastery point awarded.


    Sam was ecstatic. All he had to do was hold a log for a day and he gained a Mastery!


    He was excited to study the Labour Mastery. He hoped it was interesting, especially the new skill that he had gained. Sam wondered if he could achieve another level if he continued.


    With renewed motivation, Sam continued. Sam felt like his muscles had gotten stronger, even by a small margin. The exhaustion and muscle fatigue was definitely still there but it just felt like he could hold out a bit longer than before.


    After an hour, Jerald and Jeremy returned. It looked to be the end of the day for them because they returned with pieces of wood that hadn¡¯t been used or had to be cut into awkward shapes. Jerald began forming a new pile of wood where the old one used to be.


    The sun would soon set and for Sam, it had been a long and hard day. Jeremy walked up to him whilst Jerald was organising the pieces of wood.


    Jeremy had small smile on his face, amused at Sam¡¯s suffering.


    "So Sam, how was your first day of training?"


    Sam groaned. His breathe was coming out in short sharp breathes.


    "It is so tiring and my muscles are in pain. I don¡¯t think I can hold out for much longer.¡±


    "I have felt the same feeling many times before so don¡¯t give up. If you want to learn faster, I can help¡­ but there will be a price."


    Jeremy lowered his voice a little so Jerald couldn¡¯t hear him.


    Sam looked at Jeremy with interest and a raised eyebrow, "Name the price."


    "There are some traps I have to set up in the forest tomorrow. Doing it by myself is a bit boring. If you join me and help, I would appreciate it.¡±


    "Ok. That doesn¡¯t sound too bad. I hope I can get out of bed in the morning though. How can you help me learn faster?"


    Jeremy didn¡¯t answer but instead closed his eyes. Jeremy¡¯s hands began to glow with yellow light; it grew stronger and stronger until Jerald opened his eyes.


    Jeremy walked over to Sam and put his hands on his shoulders.


    "Lesser Healing.¡±


    The healing magic coursed through Sam''s body, relieving him of pain and stiffness. Sam smiled as the pleasant pain relief coursed through his body.


    Jeremy stepped back looking exhausted.


    "Ok, that is the first step. You should be able to continue for a bit longer now. Next, you will need a bigger log. What you are using now isn¡¯t heavy enough."


    Jeremy walked over to the pile of wood which Jerald had just finished organising. They exchanged some words and Jerald began walking towards the house.


    ¡°See you inside Sam. Don¡¯t push yourself too hard or you may injure yourself.¡±


    With those words, Jerald left.


    Jeremy soon returned to Sam¡¯s side holding a log double the size of what Sam had been holding.


    He took Sam¡¯s current log and threw aside. Sam sighed in relief. With the weight gone, Sam felt better. Jeremy quickly gave Sam the larger log.


    Sam was worried about the size and weight of the larger piece of wood. He didn¡¯t think he would be able to hold it, especially in his tired state. Jeremy didn¡¯t seem concerned though and helped Sam support the weight as the log was placed into his hands.


    Whilst supporting the log with his left arm, Jeremy placed his right arm on Sam¡¯s shoulder. Jeremy began saying phrases and Sam felt magic fill the air and energize his body.


    Sam heard Jeremy say the words ¡®Lighten Load¡¯ and then the log suddenly became much lighter. It felt lighter than the previous log. Sam grinned stupidly; this was going to be easy.


    After Jeremy was done, he stepped away.


    Sam felt stronger, full of energy and the log felt as light as air.


    "That helped a lot. Thank you!"


    Jeremy shook his head and chuckled.


    "Don¡¯t thank me yet. You have thirty minutes until the Lighten Load ability ends. Use that time to find a rhythm, the key part of endurance is the mental battle. Do whatever you can to distract yourself. I would recommend distracting yourself with your Masteries. There is a lot of information you can miss without looking carefully. Good luck Sam. I am going to head inside. "


    Sam''s eyes grew wide. The news that he only had 30 minutes of the feather weight log was not good, especially since the log was much heavier. Jeremy''s advice was useful but he didn''t know how to view the Masteries.


    Sam spoke as Jeremy was walking to exit the barn.


    "How do I see the Masteries?"


    Jeremy shook his head and looked at Sam like he had asked a stupid question. Jeremy still responded though.


    "Think: Masteries List. Also works on attributes. See you in the morning Sam."


    Sam grinned.


    There were also attributes? What were the attributes?


    Sam decided to find out about the Attributes list first and shouted excitedly.


    "Attributes list!"

 V1C6: Labour 2

    Attributes List:


    Strength: 11


    Dexterity: 10


    Intelligence: 15


    Wisdom: 10


    Vitality: 12


    Health: 60/60


    Mana: 0/0


    Stamina: 13/53


    Sam took in all the information eagerly.


    His intelligence was his highest attribute with dexterity and wisdom being his lowest. Having intelligence made sense to Sam because he liked to think he was quite clever and he never was the strongest or fastest kid in any sport.


    He assumed all his attributes were considered very low in comparison to others. He was way weaker in strength than Jerald and Jeremy. He wondered what Jerald¡¯s strength would be.


    At the bottom of the attributes he saw his health, mana and stamina. He could have mana? He wondered about mana. What was it made up of? Was there some scientific explanation behind it? He was eager to find out, especially if he could have the chance to use Water magic with mana.


    Sam was surprised seeing that he had a quarter of his stamina left. He felt really tired but his attributes told him he could go longer.


    He kept checking his stamina until he noticed it decrease by one. It had taken ten minutes. After doing some calculations, he could stand there for at least two more hours before it was depleted. He wondered if it was true, he didn¡¯t think so. The rate of the stamina decreasing may become greater over time. Sam had no intention of standing there for another hour, let alone two.


    He didn¡¯t have much time before Jeremy¡¯s [Lighten Load] ability would run out so he moved quickly to the Masteries.


    Masteries List.


    This time he didn''t shout it, just thought about the words.


    He closed his eyes as the list appeared.


    Masteries List:


    Chosen


    Water


    Labour


    Knowledge


    Mana


    Sam grinned in excitement. There was so much to go through! After seeing the Mana Mastery, he was very tempted. He decided to reign in his temptation and go through the masteries in the list order. He skipped the Chosen Mastery because he had gone through it before.


    Water Mastery!


    The Water Mastery was very different from the Chosen Mastery. The background colour was blue in comparison to the dark grey of the Chosen Mastery. It also didn''t have the vertical lines of Chosen Mastery. The wall of blue seemed to go on forever was only split by horizontal lines, with each tier numbered the same as the Chosen Mastery.


    There were 3 skills that were available to him and they were all in Tier 1. Like he had done before, he focussed on the names of each skill or abilities and information on each appeared.


    [Water Attunement] [MAX]: Allows the user to touch water and gather information from it. Requires user to be in physical contact with water.


    [Water Manipulation] [0]: Allows the user to change the flow and destination of water. The greater the volume and force of water, the greater the difficulty and cost.


    [Water Clarity] [0]: Gives the user benefits and bonuses whilst in water.


    Sam was pleasantly surprised that [Water Attunement] was on the maximum level. He wondered if it had caused the feeling he had had whilst looking at the stew.


    Sam noticed that [Water Attunement] was different from the other skills. It did not have a halo of blue but instead had a halo of gold, signifying it was complete.


    What he also noticed were the lines that trailed from the Tier 1 skills to the Tier 2 skills. Sam guessed that the Tier 1 skills were required for the Tier 2 skill. He would have to confirm once he unlocked Water Mastery Tier 2.


    Sam looked on the left axis which said Tier 1. It showed a requirement of ''Water Baptism''. He looked at Tier 2. The Tier 2 requirement was ''30 Water Mastery points in Water Mastery Tier 1. Progress: 10/30''.


    Based on the requirements of the Water Mastery Tier 2, he needed to level the remaining two abilities to level 10. Since he already had 10 out of 30 Mastery points, it meant that ¡®MAX¡¯ on [Water Attunement] was level 10.


    Sam remembered he had been awarded 20 Water Mastery points so he could use those to level up [Water Manipulation] and [Water Clarity].


    Sam frowned. Where did it show his Mastery points?


    There had to be another screen that showed the Mastery points. Sam wondered how much information he hadn¡¯t seen yet just because he didn¡¯t know what they were called.


    He would have to ask Jerald, Annabelle or Jeremy when he saw them.


    He looked over the Water Mastery for a few more minutes until the log¡¯s weight suddenly reverted back to its original weight. Sam gritted his teeth in pain. The muscles in his shoulders and arms were burning from the weight.


    The log was much heavier now and he didn¡¯t think he could hold out very long. He went back to the Masteries to distract himself.


    Labour Mastery!


    The Mastery was a wall of sandy brown. The abilities and skills were a darker shade of brown compared to the background. Much like the Water Mastery, only Tier 1 was available to him. Of the three available skills and abilities, Sam already had the first level of [Hardship] after holding the log all day. He inspected [Hardship].


    [Hardship][1]: The user¡¯s body can become more powerful when enduring through hard labour and difficult conditions. 10% increase to strength and stamina.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.Sam hoped he would be able to achieve the second level of [Hardship], he wasn¡¯t sure how much more standing he could endure.


    His thoughts brought his pain to the forefront of his mind. He groaned and looked at the other abilities whilst trying to ignore the pain.


    The next ability in the Labour Mastery was [Labourer¡¯s Virtue]. It gave a temporary 10% strength and stamina bonus to all people in a small area whilst the targets were doing labour.


    [Labourer¡¯s Virtue] didn''t seem very good to Sam. He understood why it was useful if there were a group of people carrying logs or digging in a mine. Being restricted to labour related activities undermined the usefulness of the ability. He would have to ask Jerald and Jeremy what the definition of ¡®labour¡¯ was in the Labour Mastery. His guess was that combat was not considered ¡®labour¡¯ and if he couldn¡¯t use [Labourer¡¯s Virtue] whilst defending himself, it was less useful.


    Sam frowned in thought. What did he want to use the Masteries for? Did he expect to fight people? Just because the books and movies he had seen had shown evil wizards and witches, it didn¡¯t mean that this world had them.


    He smiled to himself. He was no longer on Earth anymore and was in a world of magic. People from Earth had been evil and killed many people. If you added magic to mix, he was sure it could get much worse. Even if he used Jerald as an example, a man with that amount of strength could probably stop armed vehicles.


    Sam had to make sure he was strong, physically and magically. If he had both to help him, he could definitely keep himself alive.


    He would also need to find a way of getting money. He couldn¡¯t live with the Underwood family too long. Maybe they would let him but he wanted to explore and find out more about this world.


    Focussing back on the Labour Mastery, Sam realised the importance of [Hardship]. The skill had three connections to other skills. Two of the connection lines disappeared into Tier 2 while the last connection was a Tier 1 skill. Sam found it strange that he couldn¡¯t see any information on the connected Tier 1 skill. After focussing on it a few times and getting nothing, he moved on.


    The next ability was [Lighten Load]. It was a Tier 1 skill which he thought was quite good but it had some restrictions that were very specific and limiting.


    [Lighten Load]: Greatly reduces the weight of an object. Limited to one object at a time. Can only be used once a day. Lasts 30 minutes.


    Sam understood the restrictions, without them, the ability could revolutionise manufacturing as well as other industries. His desire to see the world grew as he wondered how people incorporated the magic into their buildings and other parts of their lives.


    If he were to think from a combat perspective, he realised [Lighten Load] could be quite useful in reducing the weight of a weapon or even a person. The inability to use it more than once a day made it not feasible unless it was used as a trump card. He guessed that the restrictions might be reduced when the ability was the maximum level.


    After a few minutes, he moved onto the last available Tier 1 skill on the Labour Mastery tree. It was [Endless Vitality], which increased the vitality attribute and gave a small boost to the recovery of skin damage.


    Sam could understand the usefulness behind recovering from skin damage. He already had small cuts and splinters on his hands from holding the log.


    [Endless Vitality] was a great general skill to have. He wasn''t sure if more vitality meant a person lived longer or was just healthier and less prone to illness.


    A mental light bulb lit up in his head. He didn¡¯t know what the definition of vitality was but maybe he could find out. Sam quickly called up his attributes and focused on vitality like he had done with the skills.


    Vitality: An attribute which directly affects the user¡¯s health and stamina as well as the recovery from illness and disease.


    Sam felt excitement well up inside of him. There was such more to learn. He quickly focussed on each of the attributes and read through them. He summarised them in his mind.


    Strength gave him physical strength and toughness.


    Dexterity allowed him to move faster and allowed more body flexibility.


    Intelligence affected memory, problem solving and other cognitive functions.


    Wisdom allowed him to make better decisions and improved understanding of mana.


    He had lots to think about and Sam decided that it would be better to do it with a stomach of food and after some rest. He took a step towards the pile of logs.


    His left leg collapsed under his own weight. The log was dislodged by the movement and hit Sam in the back of head.


    He fell forward and landed face first in the dirt. He lay there for a few moments before sitting up with a headache. The exhaustion rolled over his body. He needed sleep.


    After a few minutes, Sam got up and slowly walked over to the log. After trying to pick it up and failing miserably, he rolled it rolling it until it was next to the other logs.


    His stomach growled as he stood back up. He was eager to get some food and lots of rest. Sam headed towards the house.


    As he slowly shuffled his feet forward, he pulled up his attributes and looked at his stamina. He managed a tired smile.


    Stamina: 3/53

 V1C7: Talents

    Sam didn¡¯t sleep well at all that night. The first few hours were normal but then he woke up in agony. It felt like all his muscles were stretching and contracting all at once. Despite his exhaustion, he wasn¡¯t able to sleep any more that night. The pain gnawed at him, keeping him awake.


    When Jeremy came to wake him up in the early hours of the morning to go to the forest, Sam was wide awake. He was resting shirtless against the opposite wall from the bed. He was breathing deeply to try counteract the pain.


    Jeremy arrived and took one look at him before shaking his head.


    ¡°You can join me another day, just rest and recover quickly.¡±


    Sam was grateful for Jeremy¡¯s words. He didn¡¯t have any stamina left to do anything at all.


    Sam bided his time in the darkness until the room was brightened by the light filtering through the windows. With the light, Sam took stock of his body.


    His skin was red and sore to the touch, like he had been sunburnt. This was despite the fact that he had been under the shelter of the barn awning the previous day.


    His muscles, especially those on his arms and shoulders, were visibly larger than the day before. It scared him that his muscles could grow so much larger in one day. This world of Masteries was not normal.


    After inspecting his new painful muscles, Sam closed his eyes and tried to rest. It would help if he could get any sleep at this point.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    When he was touched gently on the shoulder, Sam woke up realising that he had managed to sleep a bit.


    Jerald, who had woken him, offered Sam a bowl of stew.


    ¡°Eat. It will help your recovery.¡±


    Sam nodded and thanked Jerald. Without another word, the large man left him to rest. After looking at the stew, Sam¡¯s hunger came to the forefront of his mind and he quickly ate it.


    After his stomach was full of hot stew, Sam sighed with satisfaction. He looked around the room and saw the windows. The light was stronger and the room felt warmer than before. He guessed it was already passed midday. At this rate, he doubted he would be leaving the confines of the room for the rest of the day. The pain in his body had only been slightly reduced after his sleep and he was still exhausted. It was like a fog in his mind, numbing his thoughts.


    Sam spent the rest of the day trying to rest as much as he could.


    That night Sam slept more hours than the previous night but the pain didn¡¯t subside. It was only in the morning that he greeted with some messages and pain relief.


    Strength attribute increased by 1.


    Labour Mastery: Hardship level 2 gained. 1 Mastery Point awarded.


    He couldn¡¯t help himself from smiling at the improvement. He got out of bed and bathed himself. The pain was still there but much less than before. He felt stiffness instead of pain.


    Once bathed and dressed, he headed to the kitchen. Hoping to chat to Jerald and get information on what he had experienced.


    Sam found Jerald at the table, drinking water from an old mug. When he saw Sam, he spoke.


    ¡°Good to see you up Sam. Would you like something to eat?¡±


    Sam nodded eagerly and was given the same cereal he had eaten previously. He chewed it and was reminded distinctly of cardboard. Food was a necessity so he ate it and he couldn¡¯t complain about free food.


    After he had finished eating, Jeremy arrived. He spoke when he saw Sam.


    ¡°Hey Sam, how are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Better thanks Jeremy. I am sorry I couldn¡¯t help with the traps. Maybe I can join you when you go check on them again? Thank you for your help with the training. Despite the pain, I managed to reach the second level of the [Hardship] skill.¡±


    Jerald who had formed his signature frown, stopped drinking from his mug and spoke softly.


    ¡°Jeremy, what assistance did you offer Sam with his training?¡±


    There was silence in the room. Sam looked at Jeremy who didn¡¯t show any sign of talking. Sam wondered if he should say something but Jerald¡¯s tone had been a little scary. Not wanting to speak out of turn, Sam kept quiet.


    "Jeremy Underwood, speak."


    Jerald¡¯s voice showed a sliver of annoyance. Jeremy quickly answered and his tone was full of feigned innocence.


    "Pa, in order to help speed up Sam¡¯s training, I helped him a little."


    He smiled encouraging.


    Jerald raised an eyebrow at Jeremy just as Annabelle entered the room. She took a seat next to Jerald and listened in on the conversation.


    "Son, I think your definition of ''help'' is different from mine. Tell us what ¡®help¡¯ you provided Sam."


    Jeremy swallowed nervously and replied.


    ¡°I used some Labour and Farmer abilities to help him hold up the log longer.¡±


    Jerald held his frown and turned to Sam.


    ¡°Is this true Sam?


    Sam nodded. He noticed that Jeremy hadn¡¯t mentioned the healing portion which Sam felt had helped him the most.


    Jerald was about to speak when Annabelle joined in, cutting to the chase.


    ¡°So he didn¡¯t heal you Sam?"


    Sam frowned. It seemed Jeremy had left this part out on purpose. He guessed that Jeremy would get in trouble when Sam confirmed that the healing had taken place. However, Jerald and Annabelle¡¯s line of questioning told him they were already suspicious. He decided to be honest, that was after all, what Jerald had asked of him.


    ¡°Jeremy offered to help me learn faster and I accepted. He healed me with his [Lesser Healing] ability.¡±


    Jerald sighed and Annabelle glared at Jeremy. She spoke with a voice full of annoyance.


    ¡°Jeremy, you should know better! What you did was foolish. No wonder Sam was bed ridden for a day!¡±


    Jerald added his own words.


    ¡°Son, I have told you before that there are no shortcuts worth taking when it comes to training. This especially applies to the Labour Mastery.¡±


    Jeremy¡¯s lips were a thin line as he looked a bit annoyed. He said nothing in response to his parent¡¯s words.


    Sam frowned and spoke his thoughts.


    ¡°I am a bit confused. Did the healing cause the pain? My strength and [Hardship] skill increased this morning as the pain subsided. It seemed that the pain was necessary for the improvements.¡±


    Jerald shook his head and spoke.


    ¡°After training, stiffness and pain are to be expected but not enough to lose a day. Using healing whilst training, unless there is an injury, is not recommended.¡±


    Annabelle chimed in.


    ¡°Muscles are grown naturally by putting strain on your muscles. If you heal the muscles, they do not heal naturally. The body can become confused and attempts to heal wounds that have already been healed. The result can be that the muscles injure themselves causing the healing to be worthless. Pain is a side effect of this process.¡±


    Jerald nodded in agreement and added his own knowledge.


    ¡°[Hardship] can be levelled through endurance and as well as pain. My guess is that the pain gained you the second level of [Hardship] more than your strength training with the log.¡±


    ¡°Now that we have explained the situation, I believe a suitable punishment is required. Maybe Jeremy should spend some time with Uncle Berry.¡±


    Annabelle said the words with a glint in her eye. Jerald nodded in agreement.


    Jeremy replied for the first time. His face was neutral and hid his emotions.


    ¡°Ma. I have visited Uncle Berry on many occasions and have learnt many things from him. I think I would be able to help more if I stayed at the farm to help Pa and yourself.¡±


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Jerald raised an eyebrow at him and Annabelle shook her head.


    ¡°There is much more you can learn from Uncle Berry. We have been running this farm without your help for many years. Sam could join you on the journey and maybe the countryside will help him remember his past. I also believe you owe Sam an apology for your actions.¡±


    Jeremy sighed and then looked at Sam.


    ¡°Sam, I am sorry for causing you pain. I was interested in witnessing the benefits of speeding up your training.¡±


    ¡°I accept your apology. You are forgiven.¡±


    Sam still was a little bit confused around the whole matter. Yes, he had endured pain but he had been rewarded for it. If he had just been in pain for no reason, he would have felt very differently.


    At Sam¡¯s quick response, Jeremy smiled widely.


    ¡°Sam have forgiven me for my actions. I believe it would be best if we put this behind us.¡±


    Annabelle shook her head and spoke.


    ¡°Taking advantage of the ignorant is still not a good thing Jeremy. Your attitude shows little remorse. You will be going to visit Uncle Berry. There will no further discussion regarding this.¡±


    Annabelle tone was final, leaving no room for discussion. Jeremy seemed to understand this as he nodded and changed the topic.


    ¡°I need to inspect the farm¡¯s perimeter to check on the fence and see if the has been any trouble so I go now.¡±


    After receiving acknowledgement, Jeremy left. Sam had a feeling that Jeremy was not pleased with the way the conversation turned out. Sam hoped he wasn¡¯t blamed. Who was this Uncle Berry person and why didn¡¯t Jeremy want to visit him.


    ¡°Uncle, Aunty. I do not think I am that ignorant. If Jeremy caused my suffering and I gained nothing, I would be angered but that was not the case.¡±


    Jerald nodded and replied calmly.


    ¡°You are correct but this outcome worked in your favour. You became stronger due to enduring the pain but was it necessary? You could have spent the day training and become even stronger. In this situation, it was the actions and not the result that is the problem. Risky behaviour can be dangerous especially when magic is involved.¡±


    Sam understood their reasoning but he also knew that without risk, there was no reward. Playing it safe could often mean missed opportunities.


    ¡°I understand and will be careful going forward. Will you let me continue training?¡±


    Jerald chuckled and responded.


    ¡°I am glad you are eager to resume training and we can discuss it but first, let us discuss your progress. You mentioned that you have [Hardship] at level 2?¡±


    "Yes, is it too slow?¡± Sam was nervous about his progress. He had nothing to compare it to.


    Jerald shook his head.


    "Exactly the opposite. That is far too fast. It took me 6 months to get to that level and Jeremy took 4 months. First [Water Baptism] and now one day of training..."


    Jerald''s speech trailed off as put his arms on the table and rested his face on his palms in disbelief.


    Annabelle rubbed his shoulder and smiled at Sam before speaking.


    "Sam, do you have any Talents? If we had more information maybe we could understand the reason behind your quick learning."


    "How do I check my Talents?"


    Jeremy snorted which got him a look from Annabelle before she answered.


    "Think the words: Talent list."


    Sam followed her instructions.


    Talent List:


    Individual:


    [Late Bloomer]


    [Otherworldly Knowledge]


    Magic:


    [Water Baptism]


    He started immediately inspecting them.


    [Late Bloomer]: A talent held by a being who was without magic until it was thrust upon them later in life. 300% bonus to gaining and improving Masteries. 10% further bonus for every year after age 16.


    [Otherworldly Knowledge: Held by a being that is from another world. The being brings their world¡¯s knowledge with them. 100% bonus to the Knowledge Mastery.


    [Water Baptism]: A being whom the element of Water has blessed. The user gains 10% bonus to all attributes whilst fully submerged in water.


    Sam was stunned by the information. He willed the notifications to disappear and then realised he had closed his eyes subconsciously.


    He opened them to see Jerald and Annabelle staring at him with interest.


    Before he could speak Annabelle put her fingers on his lips, stopping him.


    Her fingers smelled like milk and honey.


    "One of sacred rules of the Underwood family is to never share their Talents with another. If you would like to stay here any longer, you will need to abide by this rule."


    Sam frowned and asked.


    "Why is there such a rule?"


    Jerald¡¯s voice was low and sad as he answered.


    "The reason is simple: jealously. Many of our ancestors have watched other families do unspeakable acts in order to gain the Talents belonging to other families. It is for this reason why we keep this rule."


    "Thank you for the explanation Uncle but how do people gain Talents?"


    ¡°There are many ways. You can gain them through great feats of strength, cunning or magic. There are too many Talents in the world to count. However, they are not equal. Some Talents are powerful enough to start or end wars whilst others only give slight improvements. Talents can also be blood line related. They are called Birth rights and mean that the Talent can be passed onto to holder¡¯s children. It is these Talents that many people seek out to make their families more powerful. Lastly, there are also Pacts; these are made by families to strengthen each other. People also seek out these sacred Pacts in order to gain more strength.


    Sam blinked at the information. Birth rights and Pacts? He didn¡¯t have any of those. He would have to think more about the Talents he had and what to do with this new information. He replied with a smile.


    ¡°Thank you Uncle. That information is very useful. To answer Aunt¡¯s question, I do have Talents."


    Jerald nodded and spoke.


    "Our rules specify that the names of the Talent must not be said or their abilities. Naturally as family members we can learn over time what kind of abilities each of us have. If we didn''t, we would all limit our potential as a family because we wouldn''t be able to leverage such Talent. Based on your learning ability so far and the fact that you have multiple Talents, I will assume one of your Talents is related to learning the Labour Mastery, which is amazing by itself. You should never tell anyone that information. Rather lie to protect yourself.¡±


    Jerald smiled with excitement before continuing.


    ¡°Talents can be split up into categories which speak to their origins. There are Individual, Birth rights, Magic and others. Would you be willing to tell us what categories your Talents are from?"


    Sam took in the information eagerly. The fact that he had two Talents that gave bonuses to Masteries definitely was information that he must never share. The Otherworldly Knowledge was definitely bizarre enough to endanger his life.


    "I only have Individual and Magic."


    Jerald and Annabelle shared a glance before she spoke.


    "Thank you for sharing Sam. Our breakfast has long been completed and we have a lot of work to do. You can join me at the cows today so that you can have a full recovery before resuming training."

 V1C8: Cows & Knowledge 1

    After breakfast, Sam left the house with Annabelle and headed towards the barn. She wore a farmer¡¯s overall whilst he still wore a t-shirt and shorts. He wondered if wearing an overall made more sense especially if he was going to help around the farm. He didn¡¯t want the clothes he was wearing to get dirty, it didn¡¯t seem that they had many pairs of them.


    When they arrived at the barn Sam noticed that there were a few cows in small enclosures. Each cow was lying down and separated from each other and some looked more docile than others. However, they all became more energetic when they saw Annabelle arrive.


    "Sam, do you know which Masteries Jerald, Jeremy and I have?" She asked whilst looking at the cows with a small smile.


    "I know both Jerald and Jeremy have the Labour and Farmer Masteries. I¡¯m guessing you have some animal Masteries? This is an animal farm after all and those cows looked quite happy to see you."


    Annabelle nodded.


    "Yes, that is correct. My Masteries are focused on animals and all my skills and abilities rely on Nature. Before we can discuss my Masteries, there is a lot of general Masteries knowledge you much know first. What I will tell you is common knowledge but I¡¯m not sure how much you remember so stop me if necessary.¡±


    She made eye contact with him. He nodded in acknowledgement before giving her a smile which she returned.


    ¡°Masteries are a blessing in our lives and should be treated as such. There are many different Masteries throughout the many lands. I have heard stories of travellers from far away who have Masteries no one has ever heard of before.¡±


    She paused for a moment before continuing.


    ¡°Masteries are important for surviving and thriving in these lands. People use the Masteries to carry out different jobs in order to feed themselves and their families. Not being able to use the Mastery system correctly will make life very difficult. From what I have heard from Jerald, you don¡¯t know much about the different lists and statuses that are available. Let me show you the Status screen. It is important because people may ask to see yours in the future. Now watch. Status Share!"


    A notification appeared in Sam''s mind.


    Status:


    Name: Annabelle Georgina Underwood


    Race: Human


    Sex: Female


    Age: 42


    Primary Mastery: Beast Mastery Tier 3 (Transitioning)


    Sam willed the message away and tried to share his in return.


    "Status Share."


    Nothing happened and Annabelle chuckled.


    "You got to think about your status, let it fill your mind. The words don''t mean anything. Think of your Status first and then try pushing it to me."


    Sam did as she instructed and looked at his status.


    Status:


    Name: Samuel Jeffrey Underwood


    Race: Human


    Sex: Male


    Age: 16


    Primary Mastery: Knowledge Mastery Tier 1


    He then tried to push it to her. On his third attempt he watched the notification leave his mind and travel towards Annabelle.


    She didn''t seem to look at the notification for very long before speaking.


    "Thank you for sharing your status with me. Regarding a person¡¯s status, you shouldn''t judge by a person by what you see in their status. Let¡¯s use the Primary Mastery as an example. It provides three pieces of information. Firstly, the name of the Mastery that the person has the most Mastery points in. Masteries can be very different with most not being combat focussed. Due to this, if a person has put into 1000 Mastery points into a single Mastery, it doesn¡¯t mean that they can defend themselves. Points also don¡¯t compare well either, if two people had 1000 Mastery points each and spent them on the same Mastery. One may be very powerful and be able to destroy a small town easily whilst the other may be defenceless. Are you following? I know this is a lot to take in.¡±


    Sam nodded eagerly. He didn¡¯t know Annabelle would be such a gold mine of knowledge. The example with 1000 Mastery points made him feel incredibly weak in comparison, did people really have that many points?


    Annabelle walked over to a cow that was lying on some hay. She rubbed the animal¡¯s side and continued.


    ¡°Secondly, there is the Tier level of the Mastery. This can give quite a lot of information away but at the same time, it is not very reliable. As you saw, my Primary Mastery is Beast Mastery Tier 3 (Transitioning); this means that the Beast Mastery Tier 3 has the most Mastery points invested in it. Finally, the third piece is the word ¡®Transitioning¡¯. It is optional and is only shown when it is applies. It means that I have skills above Tier 3 which is very open ended. Myself for example, I have a few Tier 5 skills but this information is not available by only seeing my status. The Primary Mastery Tier level from the status screen is often an underestimation of a person¡¯s true Tier level."


    Sam watched as a green glow appeared around her hand. She touched the side of the cow and the green glow disappeared into the cow¡¯s body. The cow mooed softly.


    She looked into Sam¡¯s eyes and her eyes shone a bright green colour. When she spoke, her voice was more neutral like she was restraining herself.


    "Now that you have learnt about the Status screen, let us do some work. These are the sick cows that need some rest and treatment. We will need to clean out these stables and put in fresh hay and feed. There is a broom behind you, grab one whilst I get this cow out of this stable.¡±


    Sam followed to her instructions and as soon as the cow was out, he began sweeping. Once the sweeping was done, they put in new hay and some feed into the stable. Annabelle and Sam repeated it for all the stables. The cows mooed in disagreement whenever they were removed but quietened down when they were put back with fresh hay and feed.


    At around lunch time, they sat together in the barn and ate some dried beef that Annabelle had brought along. Sam had noticed her voice become more strained as the morning had progressed; it was especially bad after she healed the cows. She also looked visibly tired like she hadn''t slept in a few days. He guessed it was related to her Mastery and the abilities she was using.


    They had been eating in silence for a while when Annabelle suddenly started talking.


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    ¡°Let¡¯s carry on with your learning. In order to improve a skill or ability, you either have to earn the improvement or paid for it with Mastery points. Each skill or ability will almost always reach maximum at level 10.¡±


    Annabelle closed her eyes and spoke quietly.


    ¡°You can earn Mastery points from ¡®Earning Masteries¡¯, some examples of these are the Body, Weapon and Knowledge Masteries. You cannot use any Mastery points on any of those Masteries. They have to be earned through effort and practice. The ¡®Earning Masteries¡¯ will reward you with extra Mastery points which can be very useful."


    Annabelle walked over to a small calf which was bellowing repetitively. She sat down next to it and began using abilities whilst rubbing it gently. It soon calmed down.


    "Those who have any Earned Masteries as their Primary should not be underestimated. This is because they have to gain everything very slowly through hard work and effort. What was your Primary Mastery again?¡±


    She asked the question with a frown as if she was surprised she had forgotten. Sam walked closer to her and shared his status again.


    She stared at the screen for much longer now and spoke without looking at him.


    ¡°How many points do you have in the Knowledge Mastery?¡±


    Sam hadn¡¯t even looked at the Knowledge Mastery yet so he quickly focussed on it with his mind. He counted up the number of points in the three skills he had and the total was 11.


    He told her the number.


    Several different emotions appeared on Annabelle¡¯s face and she began to speak, more to herself than anyone else.


    ¡°12 points? How is that possible? Without even knowing how the Mastery System works¡­¡±


    A long minute passed before her face suddenly contorted with anger. She didn¡¯t seem like the same person anymore. She looked at with an intense stare and spoke.


    ¡°How? What Knowledge do you have? Who are you? What do you want with this family?!¡±


    Her voice turned into a snarl as she finished asking the last question. Sam took a step back in fear. His step was noticed and didn¡¯t seem to help the situation.


    Annabelle took a step towards him and grinned evilly. He noticed long canines that definitely were not normal. Sam was sure he would have noticed such teeth before.


    He started sweating. Had he made a mistake? Was having 12 points in the Knowledge Mastery too much? Had she worked out that he wasn¡¯t from this world? He knew it was bound to happen eventually. Worry filled his mind like a fog.


    Suddenly, Annabelle¡¯s body froze and her features relaxed. Her face took on one of worry. She looked around the barn in confusion until she saw him.


    ¡°Are you ok Sam?¡±


    He nodded and was about to speak when Annabelle lifted up her hands. They were shaking violently. Fear appeared on Annabelle¡¯s face. She spoke quickly, her voice was filled with worry.


    ¡°Sam! I am going to shift. Don¡¯t run! No matter what you do, don¡¯t run! Jerald should come to help you. Just don¡¯t run.¡±


    Annabelle didn¡¯t wait for a response but instead began shouting Jerald¡¯s name, over and over again. The name slowly began less understandably as time passed until all Sam heard was growls.


    Her body began to change. As soon as he saw the grey and brown fur growing from her body, realisation hit him. He had seen enough television to know what was about to appear in front of him.


    A werewolf.


    He was in a magic world. Of course there were werewolves; at least that¡¯s what he thought she was changing into.


    Sam watched carefully as Annabelle¡¯s body dropped to the ground. The transformation had started slowly but quickly sped up to completion. An abnormally large wolf stood next to the calf. The calf had become still and didn¡¯t make a sound. Sam didn¡¯t blame it, he did the same.


    The wolf had light brown fur with a line of grey fur along its back. Its green eyes locked onto Sam and with a snarl, it began quickly moving towards him.


    Everything in his body told him to run. His mind was even screaming it. Fear gripped him like a vice. He fought his instincts and didn¡¯t move.


    The wolf had crossed the room in a blur. When the wolf got close to him, its body began shifting again and Sam could only watch in morbid fascination. The wolf changed into a human wolf hybrid which had no other name than werewolf.


    Its muscles competed with Jerald¡¯s in size and its height alone made Sam feel tiny. Sam thought back in his mind of all the shows and movies he had watched about werewolves. If there was anything he could use to help him escape. He looked around and saw nothing that was useful for stabbing. He also doubted the barn had anything made of silver.


    A huge powerful claw grabbed him by the neck and hoisted him off his feet. Despite being lifted up, the werewolf still looked down on him. Sweat drenched Sam¡¯s t-shirt and he felt like he was a moment away from peeing himself.


    The werewolf snapped its jaws threatening and growled at him. All Sam managed to do was let out a fearful whimper. He closed his eyes, knowing there was nothing he could do. His utter inability to protect himself brought shame to the forefront of his mind.


    ¡°Hey! Sam! Annabelle! Anyone there?¡±


    Jerald¡¯s shouting was followed by the arrival of man himself. His eyes quickly took in the situation and he immediately began mumbling words under his breath. His body began to increase in power and size. The air in the room suddenly became oppressively heavy, Sam battled to breathe.


    With a growl, Sam was thrown aside like a ragdoll. He hit the barn wall with a thud and fell to the ground. The werewolf rushed towards its new target, Jerald.


    The powerful man seemed calm despite the imminent danger. When the werewolf got close, he punched it with one rapid strike. The werewolf yelped and flew across the barn.


    Much to Sam¡¯s surprise, Jerald then turned around and ran away. Each step made the ground shudder. Sam watched the powerful man disappear and selfishly hoped the werewolf would run after Jerald.


    There was a howl that made Sam begin hyperventilating in fear. The werewolf ignored Sam as it quickly ran passed him, out of the barn and after Jerald.


    Sam¡¯s shoulders slumped in relief, he was alive.

 V1C9: Cows & Knowledge 2

    Sam dusted himself off as he got up off the ground. Hitting the wall had been painful and he was sure he would have a few bruises in the morning but he was grateful nothing was broken.


    He waited a few minutes so he could calm himself down. His heart still stammered with fear. Fear that the werewolf would return and end his life effortlessly. When he felt a little bit calmer, he headed to the barn door. He guessed Jerald wouldn¡¯t be back yet since he was dealing with the werewolf but maybe he could find Jeremy.


    Jeremy arrived at the barn door just as Sam was exiting. On seeing a person, Sam¡¯s body froze in shock. On realisation it was just Jeremy, he relaxed. Jeremy looked serious as he spoke.


    ¡°It''s just me. Let¡¯s talk inside. I saw them head off towards the mountains so it will be awhile until they return.¡±


    Jeremy led Sam to a stack of hay bales and sat down. He offered the spot next to him to Sam, which he took.


    ¡°I know you are frightened. It is understandable but we are safe now. Let me explain some things? It might help you understand the situation a bit better.¡±


    Sam nodded but he doubted how safe they really were. Jeremy began speaking.


    "I remember the first time she transformed in front of me. She did it so that Pa and I could recognise her Beast form. When I saw it, I thought it was powerful and I was excited. I even wondered if I could someday gain the ability to transform.¡±


    Jeremy chuckled darkly before continuing.


    ¡°The Beast form is an ability from Tier 5 of the Beast Mastery. Pa and Ma had discussed for months whether she should purchase it and if it was worth the risks. They even asked me for my opinion. Back then I didn¡¯t think the Masteries could be harmful; they all seemed to be only beneficial. Beast form came with side effects and risks which we all knew. It was common knowledge for anyone who knew anything or heard stories about the Beast Mastery. I wasn¡¯t worried back then because Ma was strong and I didn¡¯t think such things could happen to us. If I think back, I think we were all a little na?ve. Pa was insistent that Ma shouldn¡¯t waste her potential despite the risks and warnings and Ma wanted to progress and get stronger. It made sense then to get the ability so Ma did.¡±


    He stared at a point on the barn wall as he continued.


    ¡°On the day that I experienced the Beast form, Ma had been working out in the paddocks all day. She was delivering foals and looking after the mares to make sure they didn''t die during childbirth. It would have been a tough day for any person but it was worse for Ma. She had been exhausted because she had woken up almost every night for the previous two weeks to check on the mares and help deliver foals."


    Jeremy began unbuckling his overall as he spoke.


    "I had been staying with friends up in the mountains nearby for about two weeks. We all got tired of sleeping on the hard ground so we had decided to head back two days earlier than planned. I still remember being so excited about gaining a level of [Hardship] from the sheer exhaustion of the trip."


    Jeremy finished with the buckles and his overall hung loose around his waist. Jeremy had been wearing a t-shirt underneath his overalls which he left on.


    Sam was impressive by Jeremy¡¯s physique. His arms were very muscular and Sam guessed it was from a high level of the strength attribute. The high number of points in Labour Mastery probably helped as well. Sam was surprised that the ladies weren''t lining up to talk to him.


    "I arrived alone on the path heading home towards the barn. The others had gone in different directions to go back to their family¡¯s farms. It was after dusk but there was still enough light to see. I wasn¡¯t concerned about walking at night though because the farm is quite safe and I knew my way around it. Bandits hadn¡¯t been seen in the area for quite some time so I didn¡¯t expect any trouble.¡±


    Jeremy took a deep breath, like he was reliving an unpleasant experience.


    ¡°When I got to the paddocks it was a bit darker than before but I knew the way and didn¡¯t stray from the path. I heard some growling which I thought was odd. I remember thinking it was a fox or something and I had scared off a few foxes in the past so I wasn¡¯t worried. I continued walking without further thought; it had taken a few extra hours to get back so I was tired and eager to get home. It was all fine until I kicked a stone by mistake which skipped into a wooden post. I hadn¡¯t seen the stone which had been sticking out of the path. The sound scared one of the foals nearby. It ended up crying out for help in fear of the sound.¡±


    Jeremy stood up.


    "Next thing I knew, a fur covered arm had pierced through my chest. The last thing I remember before passing out was the growling and snarling."


    He took off his t-shirt to reveal a huge scar on his back. The scar was made up of a large wound in the centre with three large jagged scar lines that extended outwards from it. All of the scar tissue was glowing an unnatural green colour.


    Jeremy turned back around and started putting his t-shirt back on. Sam could see a smaller entry wound on Jeremy¡¯s chest which was still bigger than a human fist. It also glowed with the same colour. Based on the wound¡¯s size and angle of attack, Jeremy¡¯s lungs should have been almost completely destroyed by the attack.


    "It is a magical scar, hence the colour. After Ma stabbed me, she seemed to come to her senses. She immediately spent all of her Mastery points on different types of healing magic and then began healing me. Ma eventually passed out from exhaustion and Pa found us both. Pa told me afterwards that three foals died that night due to unknown reasons and Ma never mentioned why. I have heard some types of powerful healing magic using sacrifices..."


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    Jeremy sighed and then knelt down, his face very close to Sam¡¯s. When he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper.


    "The reason I told you this is because when I woke up, I realised that I had been baptised in the Beast Mastery..."


    Sam blinked in shock.


    Jeremy opened his palm. Inside of it was a large claw that looks to belong to a huge animal. It was definitely larger than any animal claw from Earth. It glowed with soft green light.


    "This is a Baptism Claw. It can kill any beast, regardless of strength or Tier. At least that is what the town library says."


    Sam thought back to the Baptism ring he had received. The ability to kill any beast sounded very powerful. He wondered what his ring had done?


    "When did this happen?"


    "It was a few years ago, I was nearly 18 when it happened."


    "When I used my Baptism Ring, I got my tattoo. Did you get something like that?"


    Jeremy''s expression darkened and shook his head.


    "When I found out that you had completed your Water Baptism, I was surprised and scared. I think Pa was foolish to encourage you to complete it."


    Sam was surprised, he had never heard Jeremy speak ill of his father. Jeremy saw Sam¡¯s surprise and explained.


    "After that night that gave me the scar, I knew about the baptism. I gained the [Beast Baptism] Talent, even though it didn¡¯t give me any bonuses. I was worried and scared and almost spoke to Ma and Pa about it. They were struggling to deal with me almost dying so I didn¡¯t burden them with my worries. I instead did some research in the Haventown library. It took a few visits but I eventually understood what had happened and what would happen next."


    Sam listened intently.


    "When you accept the Baptism artefact or gift, the baptism is completed. That part was all normal and expected. The part that I didn¡¯t expect was next. I still remember the words..."


    "When the baptised person uses the artefact, they become a magical beacon to all nearby Masters of the baptised Mastery. The Masters shall learn their name and location so that they may guide them in the future."


    Knowledge Mastery: Holder of Knowledge Level 6 gained. 2 Mastery Points awarded.


    Sam stared at the new information. He gained a level in Holder of Knowledge? He didn¡¯t even know what it did. He chastised himself for being such a fool. He had delayed reading up on his Masteries for far too long. As soon as he got back to his room, he would go through all of his Masteries.


    Jeremy''s story made him realise how close to death he had come. Sam shivered from the fear and hopelessness that had welled up inside of him. He had felt so powerless and weak. It was a sensation he didn¡¯t want to feel again.


    Jeremy spoke softly.


    "I know I am burdening you with a lot of bad news but the truth is important. It is not always pleasant either and I believe you deserve to know so that you can protect yourself. When I found out what the completed baptism did, I looked for more information. After finding the first piece of information, I knew what to look for and started finding more information.¡±


    Jeremy paused and chuckled.


    ¡°I spent so much time in the library that Pa thought I had a Talent for the Scholar Mastery. It took quite a lot of convincing to get him to stop encouraging me to read more.¡±


    Jeremy¡¯s smile faded as he continued with his story.


    ¡°Whenever a baptism happened in the Haventown area, within two months, the person disappeared. Families would start looking for them but they were almost never found. Sometimes they would show up years later as an almost completely different person who had obviously been trained. Most of the time the person would never been seen again. It was this information that helped me make the decision to not use this."


    As Jeremy¡¯s gestured to the claw resting in his hand, it then slowly disappeared into his palm. After a second, it looked like it had never been there to begin with.


    Jeremy tightened his fist and then looked at Sam.


    ¡°We should probably head back to the house so we can eat. Thank you for listening to me Sam. It felt good to tell someone about this burden. ¡°


    He stood up and Sam did the same. Sam¡¯s mind was swirling with thoughts on what Jeremy had told him. Fear was the most prevailing thought. Fear of the werewolf, fear of death and fear of the unknown powerful Masters that could be coming for him.


    Sam frowned at the thought of the powerful ¡®Masters¡¯ and a question came to mind.


    ¡°Jeremy, do you know how powerful the Masters are? Did the library have any information on that?¡±


    Jeremy shook his head.


    ¡°I also had the same question but I couldn¡¯t find any information on what Mastery Tier the Masters were. Whenever I have heard someone mention a Master, they have always spoken about someone who is very powerful and can easily kill normal folk like you and I.¡±


    Sam doubted that Jeremy¡¯s muscle mass could be considered ¡®normal¡¯ but he got the point. He would be no match for the Masters.


    Sam had a few other questions, especially around the Beast form, but he didn¡¯t want to prolong his time in the barn. He wanted to be in bed, warm and relatively safe.


    ¡°Any other questions? I know I gave you lots to think about.¡±


    ¡°I do have some questions but we can talk about them another time. I just want to get some food and sleep.¡±


    "I can definitely agree with that but before we go. Please don''t mention my baptism to anyone.¡±


    Jeremy looked at Sam with sad eyes that showed the weight of the burden he carried; a burden that was now shared.


    Sam nodded and spoke.


    ¡°I won¡¯t tell anyone. It is your life and your secret to tell.¡±


    Happy with Sam¡¯s response, Jeremy led Sam back to the house.

 V1C10: Mastery Time

    Sam was deep in thought as he chewed on some dried meat. There was an apple on the table in front of him which Jeremy had kindly fetched for him. Food wasn¡¯t plentiful in the house but Sam didn¡¯t mind. He hadn¡¯t been the poster boy for healthy eating on Earth anyway. Home cooked meals had been few and far between.


    Since getting back from the barn with Jeremy, Sam¡¯s mind had been spinning. He had so many questions that he didn¡¯t have an answer for. The claw had just disappeared into Jeremy''s hand? Was that normal? What was the Beast form? Could anyone unlock the Beast Mastery, get to Tier 5 and get the ability? Why weren¡¯t there more werewolves around?


    His brow furrowed in frustration which Jeremy noticed.


    ¡°Sam, what¡¯s troubling you?¡±


    Sam shook his head in resignation and replied.


    ¡°There is so much I don¡¯t know and I have so many questions to ask.¡±


    Jeremy bit into an apple as he sat down opposite Sam. After chewing and swallowing, he spoke nonchalantly.


    ¡°If you got questions, then ask. If I can¡¯t answer then you will have to find your answers elsewhere.¡±


    Sam nodded. A paper and a pen would be so good right now. He wanted to write everything down to digest later.


    He sighed and began rambling off several questions.


    Jeremy smiled before taking another bite of his apple, teasing Sam as he chewed slowly before answering.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~


    Sam lay on top of his bed feeling a bit more hopeful. He had managed to get some new information from Jeremy.


    He had asked about the Beast form but was disappointed to learn that Jeremy didn¡¯t know much more than he had already told Sam and he suggested that Annabelle would be the best to ask. Sam didn¡¯t feel like approaching her anytime soon especially if should could transform into a werewolf at any moment and simply detach his head from his body.


    After hearing Jeremy¡¯s baptism story, Sam realised that he needed to get to a library. It was gold mine for all kinds of topics that he needed to know: geography, culture, society, history and many more. It would give him a much better understanding of this world. Asking people would be riskier and create more suspicion about his origins.


    Jeremy had confirmed that the Haventown library was the closest but also mentioned that Thistlevale had the largest library in the region. Jereld mentioned that his father and him would be going to Haventown in the next day or two. Sam eagerly showed his interest to join since he was keen to see the town and naturally the library. Jeremy said he would speak to Jerald about it.


    Sam¡¯s questioning regarding the Baptism claw had also yielded some fruit. There was an inventory for magical items within the Mastery System and this inventory was where Jeremy was storing his Baptism Claw. After Sam got excited at the prospect of the inventory, Jeremy mentioned that the inventory had very limited space. It seemed really amazing to be able to carry items without a bag or pockets. His mind went over the many possibilities.


    A memory of a female face appeared in his mind. Her face was young and pretty but almost always angry at something or someone. It was one of best friends from school: Jackie. Memories of her and his other friends swirled around in his mind. He distinctly remembered Jackie refusing female clothes because they didn¡¯t have pockets. She would have loved something like the inventory.


    He focussed on the memory and remembered it happened during one of their weekend visits to Philly. Their group had road tripped there a few times but it was their very first trip which was the most memorial. They had argued over who made the best Philly Cheese steak, took a selfie with Rocky and ended up shopping for clothes. It was there where Jackie ended up buying a pair of men¡¯s jeans because they had pockets. It had been one of his best trips he had been on, if not the best.


    Sam explored more of his memories as he remembered the fun times he had with his friends. He grinned and laughed until tears started flowing down his face.


    They were good times and good friends.


    He missed them.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Sam woke up with a start, wondering where the hell he was. When he looked around he realised he was still in the small room within the Underwood farm house. He was still in the world of magic.


    He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. He wasn¡¯t on Earth anymore; his life wasn¡¯t relaxed and safe. He had focus on keeping himself alive. There were people coming for him and he would have to gain as much knowledge and as many skills needed to survive and thrive in this world.


    Sam blinked his tiredness away as he regained his focus. He needed to get stronger and the Masteries seemed to be the best option right now.


    Sam whispered the words he had learnt from Jeremy. They were the words to bring up the number of Masteries points.


    ¡°Show all Masteries Points.¡±


    Masteries Points:


    Any Mastery: 56 points


    Water Mastery: 35 points


    Sam grew giddy with excitement. It was a lot of points! If the maximum level of a skill was level 10 then he could upgrade 9 skills to level 10!


    It was much more than he thought he had. He pulled up the Water Mastery screen and picked [Water Clarity] from the two available skills and inspected it.


    [Water Clarity] [0]: Gives the user benefits and bonuses whilst in water.


    He focussed his mind and thought about increasing [Water Clarity] to level 1 using 1 Water Mastery point.


    Water Mastery: Water Clarity Level 1 gained. 1 Water Mastery point has been removed.


    Sam was happy that his instructions had been carried out correctly but he still checked everything to make sure. He still had 34 Water Mastery points left. When he inspected [Water Clarity], he noticed a change in the description.


    [Water Clarity] [1] Gives the user benefits and bonuses whilst in water. 10% bonus to Dexterity attribute.


    On top of his [Water Baptism] Talent, he had a nice bonus to dexterity whilst swimming. He would need to test it out.


    Feeling a bit wealthy in the points department, Sam focussed his thoughts on increasing the [Water Clarity] level to the level 3 using Water Mastery points.


    Water Mastery: Water Clarity Level 3 gained. 2 Water Mastery points have been removed.


    He inspected [Water Clarity] again but the change was dexterity bonus which had increased to 15%. He increased the level until he saw a different bonus; it was on [Water Clarity] level 5.


    [Water Clarity] [5] Gives the user benefits and bonuses whilst in water.


    - 20% bonus to Dexterity attribute.


    - 100% bonus to Health regeneration


    Seeing that he was getting more bonuses every few levels he decided to increase [Water Clarity] to the maximum level.


    Water Mastery: Water Clarity Level 9 gained. 4 Water Mastery points have been removed.


    Sam frowned. Why was [Water Clarity] only level 9? It didn¡¯t say ¡®MAX¡¯ like [Water Attunement]. He was sure that the maximum level was level 10.


    He tried increasing the level again and got some new information.


    Unable to increase level of [Water Clarity]. [Water Clarity] [MAX] must be earned and cannot be purchased with Mastery Points.


    From what Sam gathered he had to earn the last level. He inspected [Water Clarity].


    [Water Clarity] [9] Gives the user benefits and bonuses whilst in water.


    - 30% bonus to Dexterity attribute.


    - 200% bonus to Health regeneration


    - [Underwater breathing] [Active] (9 minute duration) (Usable once per day)


    Sam was impressed. He could breathe underwater?!! He definitely would need to try it whilst bathing. He felt excited like a kid opening presents at Christmas.


    Whilst looking through the bonuses, he realised that he had no clue how effective health regeneration was. Would it regrow lost limbs?


    Sam inspected ¡®Health regeneration¡¯ but much to his disappointment, the description didn¡¯t give him any more information. He shelved the question away, hoping that he got the answer before he was heavily injured. He moved onto the next skill.


    [Water Manipulation] [0]: Allows the user to change the flow and destination of water. The greater the volume and force of water, the greater the difficulty and cost.


    He used 9 more Water Mastery points to upgrade [Water Manipulation] which left him with 17 Water Mastery and 56 Mastery points remaining.


    He inspected [Water Manipulation] again but much to his disappointment it hadn''t changed much.


    [Water Manipulation] [9]: Allows the user to change the flow and destination of water. The greater the volume and force of water, the greater the difficulty and cost. User can use mana to affect a larger volume of water with greater ease.


    Sam didn''t want to stop now and with a thought, brought up the Knowledge Mastery.


    The Mastery was a light shade of blue grey with the abilities and skills following a similar but darker colour scheme. The Knowledge Mastery seemed quite dull in comparison with the other Masteries because none of the abilities or skills had halos around them.


    He immediately tried to upgrade [Holder of Knowledge] and received an expected response.


    Unable to increase level of [Holder of Knowledge]. Skills in the Knowledge Mastery must be earned and cannot be purchased with Mastery points.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    The test confirmed what Annabelle had told him about the Earning Masteries. He quickly inspected the three skills that were available to him on Tier 1.


    [Holder of Knowledge] [6]: The user holds rare knowledge that is unknown to the masses and this sets them apart. 1 Intelligence attribute gained per level.


    [Memorization] [4]: The skill to quickly store information upon seeing it for the first time. Bonus to short term memory storage and retention.


    [Well of Knowledge] [2]: The skill to store information in long term memory. Bonus to long term memory storage and retention.


    Sam found it quite interesting. In this world, a person could tangibly measure their ability to remember. He guessed increasing [Memorization] and [Well of Knowledge] required hours and hours of practice. Sam shivered as unpleasant memories of cramming before finals surfaced in his mind.


    Sam found [Holder of Knowledge] to be fascinating but also strange. It was the only skill other than [Hardship] that he had gained a level in. He had gained a level after Jeremy had told him about the Masters getting informed of the baptisms. It made sense for that knowledge to be hidden because if it wasn¡¯t then everyone would never complete their Baptisms. From what he gathered from Jerald and Annabelle, a baptism was considered a magically miracle which was welcomed indeed of feared.


    If his interpretation was correct, he would need to learn about things that no one else knew about. Finding said information would be really difficult because he had no way of knowing if it was common knowledge or not. Sam¡¯s desire to get to a library was growing stronger and more important.


    The Knowledge Mastery seemed like a nice way of getting Mastery points. Based on what he had gained before, each level gave 2 Mastery points. At the current moment in time, he didn¡¯t really need more Mastery points but Sam had his suspicions that spending 1 Mastery point per level would probably not be the norm in the future. It also didn¡¯t hurt to keep some extra Mastery points for a tough situation like Jeremy¡¯s baptism where Annabelle had luckily had spare Mastery points to get healing abilities.


    He remembered Annabelle mention the Body and Weapon Masteries. He needed to get those Masteries as soon as he could. Having a strong tough body with which he could defend himself would be great. He felt regret for never learning any martial arts at school.


    Sam decided to revisit the Labour Mastery since he had lots of points and [Endless Vitality] had looked like a great skill.


    The vitality attribute was important because it determined how much health and stamina he had. Both were crucial for him surviving an attack and having enough stamina to fight or escape. [Endless Vitality] would provide the boost in health and stamina that he needed.


    Sam thought back to Jeremy¡¯s story. If Annabelle hadn¡¯t had the healing abilities, Jeremy would have definitely died. He knew he couldn¡¯t solely rely on others to heal him. He had to be self-sufficient in his own power. If he couldn''t heal or recover health in some way then he was as good as dead. Without further thoughts, he tried to spend ten points on [Endless Vitality].


    Labour Mastery: Endless Vitality Level 9 gained. 9 Mastery points have been removed.


    Sam noted that the same rule seemed to apply to the Labour Mastery. Maybe it was a universal rule? Another question to be shelved on his shelf of endless questions.


    Sam inspected the new skill and grinned widely.


    [Endless Vitality] [9]: Provides the user with additional vitality and healing to cope with the hardship of labour.


    - 1 Vitality attribute added per level


    - Shallow wounds recover much faster and have less chance of infection.


    - [Endless Regeneration] [Active] Increases total health and stamina regeneration by 500% for 5 minutes. (Usable once per month)


    Sam was pleased. If he was in water, he could use [Endless Vitality] and greatly improve his health regeneration due to both of the bonuses. Water was definitely becoming his safe haven.


    After that he tried to upgrade [Hardship] and got a similar message to what he had gotten for [Water Clarity] and the Knowledge Mastery. This meant that a Mastery could have both types of skills: those which could only be earned or those which could be earned or purchased with Mastery points.


    Sam let out a sigh. There was so much information about the new abilities, skills and Masteries that he felt a little overwhelmed. It had been a long day and he felt mentally fatigued.


    Finally he got to the last Mastery left, the Mana Mastery. It was the Mastery that Sam felt the most anxious about. There had been no mana on Earth so a whole Mastery dedicated to it seemed daunting.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    After a quick toilet break and some deep breaths to calm himself, Sam brought up the Mana Mastery.


    The Mana Mastery had a clear white background which reminded Sam of a squash court. Every few seconds a shimmer of a rainbow would ripple across it like it was alive. Unlike the other Masteries, Sam could only see two Tiers: Tier 1 and Tier 2.


    The first Tier reminded him of the Chosen Mastery. There were vertical lines separating Tier 1 into three blocks. Each block had a name under it:


    Mana Grimoire


    Mana Cycle


    Mana Flower


    Each block had a shape in the centre. He couldn¡¯t see the shapes of the Mana Grimoire or the Mana Cycle but the Mana Flower was clear and it was unsurprisingly the shape of a flower head. The flower head was made up of five petals and a flower centre which had the only ability he could choose in the whole Mastery: [Meditation].


    He examined the Mana Mastery, hopefully to find more information.


    The Tier 2 requirement was all Tier 1 abilities and skills to be on maximum level. It was a steep requirement because the Tier 1 didn¡¯t seem simple like the Water Mastery Tier 1. Many skills and abilities were unavailable and to get all of them to maximum level didn¡¯t seem like a simple task.


    All three blocks of Tier 1 had a connection to the centre of Tier 2. He didn''t know what was on Tier 2 but for the effort and points required, he guessed it was quite powerful.


    After finding nothing else, Sam returned to the [Meditation] ability and inspected it.


    [Meditation] [0] [Active]: Allows the user to enter a state of peace and calm that is separate from the distractions of the body.


    Sam knew of the benefits of meditation on Earth but he could only guess what it was like in a world of magic. Sam thought [Meditation] could be useful and as the only ability available, he didn¡¯t have much of a choice either. He used a Mastery point to gain the first level.


    Mana Mastery: Meditation level 1 gained. 1 Mastery point has been removed.


    Sam willed away the Mastery and took in a deep breath. He had been successful in spending points and going through all his Masteries but the mental fatigue had gotten worse. Whenever he increased the levels of his skills, it seemed to stretch his mind as he gained new knowledge.


    Sam inspected [Meditation] again to see if there had been any changes in the ability description.


    [Meditation] [1] [Active]: Allows the user to enter a state of peace and calm that is separate from the distractions of the body. (30 seconds required for [Meditation] to be in effect)


    - User can move mana within their body.


    - Strenuous cognitive thought may disrupt the meditative state.


    - Only Mana Mastery skills and abilities can be used.


    - Mastery notifications will not be shown.


    Sam was surprised by the large amount of new information. He couldn¡¯t see his other Masteries and no notifications? Why? It seemed quite restrictive and somewhat dangerous.


    Sam decided to test out [Meditation], the description and restrictions were intriguing. A headache had also been forming and he hoped [Meditation] could do what it said on the bottle and relax his mind.


    Sam put himself into one of the meditation poses he had seen on television. His legs were folded like a pretzel and he let his hands rest in his lap.


    He quietly said and thought, ¡°Meditation.¡±


    Five seconds slowly passed, so slow that Sam thought he had made a mistake.


    On the fifth second, the room disappeared and his mind stopped interpreting feedback from his body. He couldn¡¯t see, hear, smell, taste or touch anything.


    He was in world of empty black. It should¡¯ve scared him but he felt calm and relaxed. The blackness felt comforting and strangely familiar.


    The mental fatigue slowly began to recede and Sam felt relief.


    Sam decided to experiment with the ability and his quick realisation was that he couldn''t do much whilst meditating. If he pulled up any Mastery, the ability would immediately be cancelled. He tested it by trying every instruction or command he knew. To his pleasant surprise, his Status screen and Attributes list did not cancel [Meditation] but everything else did.


    Having learnt something, Sam was glad he tried. [Meditation] didn¡¯t seem to have a cost of any kind because his stamina hadn¡¯t decreased whilst testing and he had no mana to decrease either. Since there was no cost, he decided to stay in [Meditation] until his mental fatigue went away.


    Sam relaxed his mind into a calm thoughtless lull.

 V1C11: Interlude - Wolf

    To the east of the Underwood farm, deep within the Red Earth Mountains, Kaleb sprinkled the last ingredient into his stone pestle. The crushed mixture didn¡¯t look like much to the inexperienced but to Kaleb the mixture was only one step away from being an excellent poison. He removed one of his gloves and held it over the crushed contents and thought his command.


    Create Greater Poison: Paralytic Death


    Nature mana dripped steadily from his hand and into the mixture. The pestle''s contents began hissing and reacting in response. Kaleb took a small step backwards and put the glove back on.


    He was an expert poison maker but wasn''t a fool. The complexity of a greater poison meant that there was always a chance for failure and a lab inside a dark cave offered many sources of contamination. Kaleb, however, was used to the poor conditions and had rarely made a mistake in similar circumstances in the past.


    Having a pristine lab was a na?ve goal. Kaleb had even sought after one in his early years but it just turned out to be a trap. Everyone who had the resources to provide such a lab had their own goals. The price of a state of the art lab was his freedom and nothing had irked him more than that. He was quite well off in his current partnership and if it didn¡¯t work out, he was sure he could find a criminal organisation he could work with. Powerful poisons were hard to come by and skilled poison makers even more rare.


    He waited patiently as he pondered his possible career choices. After a minute the ability had completed the creation of the poison. A dirty white powder was the only thing remaining in the pestle. The familiar colouration and consistency brought a smile to Kaleb¡¯s disfigured face.


    He began scraping the powder into small leather pouches that were paper thin. One of the side projects over the years had been perfecting the delivery mechanism for his favourite poison. Through trial and error he had settled on the paper thin leather which would pop at the slightest impact thus releasing the powder into the air. Victims were paralysed in seconds and dead in minutes.


    He used several differently sized pouches based on what opponents he would face. Larger and more powerful opponents needed a larger dose especially if they had poison resistance. He made sure to make a few small pouches in additional to extra-large ones.


    Thinking about his week, Kaleb found himself remembering the great news his fellow slaver, Mud, had given him and it had gotten him very excited. He thought back to a few days prior when their plans had abruptly changed.


    Kaleb and Mud had been heading north to the Blood marsh since Kaleb needed some exotic ingredients and hoped to learn something from the elusive herbalist tribe living there.


    They had been travelling in the Red Earth mountains for a few days since it was a good place to avoid people of the noble, good and legal variety. Mud welcomed the longer detour because he had a rare opportunity to absorb the natural Earth mana that filled the mountains. The mana was so thick that even Kaleb could smell and taste it in the air.


    They had been in a small valley when Mud had stopped walking without warning. Kaleb had checked their surroundings in case they were under attack. When he hadn¡¯t seen any imminent threat and Mud had regained consciousness a few seconds later, Kaleb realised it was another Baptism mind broadcast. As a Master Water and Earth mage, Mud was naturally informed when there was a baptism of the Water or Earth elements.


    After recovering, Mud had a stupid grin plastered on his face. Much to Kaleb¡¯s disappointment, Mud revealed that the baptism was a Water Baptism and not a Earth baptism.


    Water baptisms were always false hope. The person would always be out in the ocean or on a distant beach. It was often too far for the slavers to travel and if they did, it was far too dangerous. The sea was the territory of the mermen and they were very possessive of Water mages. They would quickly reach the location of the Water baptisms to claim them as their own.


    Their prized Water baptism merchandise had been stolen from them by the mermen so many times that Kaleb and Mud had given up on grabbing Water baptised people altogether.


    It was then that Mud had informed Kaleb that the Water baptism had occurred inland.


    Kaleb had grinned so hard that his face hurt. The news was a great stroke of luck and fortune for them. A Water baptised slave could fetch them a good amount of money.


    The rarity of Water baptisms, especially on land, meant that not many true Water mages existed in the different kingdoms. A person could unlock higher Tiers of the Water Mastery by crossing over from a water hybrid mastery like the Mud or Temperature Masteries but without the Tier 1 foundations the person would have a dismal level of control over water.


    The Sultans from the Northern lands would pay very good money for a baptised Water mage. He had heard that such mages would be used to find sources of water in the arid lands or serve as a servant in the bath chambers. Kaleb didn¡¯t care where the product ended up as long as he got a good amount of money from the deal.


    After the Water baptism revelation, the slaver duo had changed their plans to immediately head East through the mountains instead of North. They were familiar with what was required for a kidnapping so they had followed their usual routine.


    Mud would begin scouting with his signature Mud crabs then make contact with the local gangs and bandits. The local criminals could often be convinced with some coin to assist in the attack. Most of the time they died or run away but they often were a good distraction for anyone wanting to stop the slavers. Sometimes the local bandits also had valuable information regarding the local authorities and general area.


    Kaleb had moved to quickly contact their assassin for hire, Knives. He was a clumsy and reckless young man who didn¡¯t have many aspirations other than killing people for money. Despite the young man¡¯s flaws, when on the job he was a excellent assassin who was relatively inexpensive.


    Mud disliked Knives but begrudgingly agreed to work with him purely out of necessity. No one could disagree that a tough opponent dying in their sleep were the best kinds of ¡®accidents¡¯ for their line of work. Kaleb¡¯s relationship with Knives was not one of hate but rather indifference. Knives was someone they had hired and if he didn¡¯t perform then they would just need to replace him.


    "Wolf! You in here?"


    Kaleb snapped out his thoughts as he heard footsteps before seeing Knives walk around the corner and into the cave he had made into his personal lab.


    ''Wolf'' naturally wasn''t his real name. ''Mud'' was equally fictitious despite its fitting description. ''Knives'' was a lazy name but worked nonetheless. Codenames made parting ways easier for everyone and no one had had a problem with it yet.


    Kaleb was annoyed, he didn¡¯t enjoy being disturbed and everyone knew this. A blade that was as black as obsidian formed from his right hand.


    He glared at Knives and spoke.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "Knives, you are well aware that no one should disturb me whilst I am working!"


    Knives lifted his hands in surrender but his smirk implied the blade hardly posed a threat to him. After a minute of awkward silence, Knives replied with a furrowed brow.


    "Sorry Wolf, Mud asked me to give you a update."


    Kaleb sighed as he retracted the blade back into his body. Mud knew he was making poisons in his lab. He was probably just hoping there would be an ''accident'' which would result in Knives'' death.


    Ok, what¡¯s the update?


    Kaleb switched to Spirit Speech so that no one could overhear them. You could never be too cautious especially in his industry where backstabbing and murder were the norm.


    Knives didn''t react to the change in mode of communication and relayed the new information without pause.


    The bandits want 20% of what the kid sells for and they want some coin upfront. Mud didn¡¯t like their proposal but said he would discuss it with you. It seems the bandits didn¡¯t believe him because some of them are already on the move towards the target.


    Kaleb swore to himself. The bandits were greedy bastards and wouldn¡¯t miss out on an opportunity to take the prize for themselves. Kaleb and Mud had made a name for themselves as slavers so the bandits had probably gathered their own information and now wanted the whole pie instead of just a piece. The other scenario was a different faction of the bandits. The gangs sometimes split into factions with one half wanting to bargain whilst the others wanted to take it all for themselves.


    20% was daylight robbery but Kaleb didn''t fault them because it was expected. Low life criminals were predictable and Kaleb had dealt with such types many times in his career. He would need to revise the plan with Mud if the bandits¡¯ behaviour would inconvenience them.


    Anything more on the target''s location?


    Kaleb had only received preliminary feedback from Mud regarding the target''s location.


    Mud confirmed that most of his Mud Crabs have expired after triggering their sensing seals. Some were unfortunately destroyed before they could trigger their seals but Mud seems quite confident that we shouldn''t have a problem.


    Destroyed? Someone had noticed the crabs then. As long as they weren''t recognised as their modus operandi then they should be fine. However, precautions may still be required. Things were never simple.


    What about the target? Anyone nearby who could give us trouble?


    Knives nodded and continued.


    The farm appears to house four people. Two Earth mana users left the farm early one morning and didn''t return after a day and from our latest reports, still haven''t returned. Mud stated that their Earth mana wasn''t very aggressive but one of them had very dense Earth mana and may pose a threat. Most of the crabs that were destroyed had been near the house. Luckily one of the crabs managed to survive and trigger it''s seal in of the rooms which contained the other two occupants. The last two are the target who is a boy and a Nature mana user who is a woman. Mud said he was surprised by the Water mana density in the target and suspects that he had nearly completed Water Mastery Tier 1. The woman had a high mana density but very low mana. Mud found it quite odd and guessed high Tier 3 or Tier 4.


    Kaleb felt himself get a little excited. There were only two people on the farm! If only they had left earlier and travelled faster...


    The Nature mana user at Tier 3 or 4 sounded suspicious. If she only had the Animal Caretaker and Farmer Masteries then she wouldn¡¯t be a threat but if she had the Beast Mastery then it could get messy. Precautions would need to be taken. Kaleb wondered if they could send in Knives to get rid of the woman because it would make their job much easier.


    Kaleb thought of the boy and struggled to contain his mirth. What a fool! He must''ve used Mastery points to gain the Water Tier 1 skills. There had not been enough time since the baptism for the boy to have earned it all. His lack of practice and experience meant he was just a boy with some water tricks that he doesn¡¯t know how to use. Kaleb wondered if he was doing the boy a favour by kidnapping him because no master would be happy with an apprentice who had taken shortcuts.


    Kaleb licked his lips with anticipation.


    You done with your update, Knives? Where is Mud?


    Nothing further Wolf. You can ask Mud for further details if you want. He said there were still some crabs that haven''t expired yet. He is sitting on an outcrop above us, replenishing his Earth mana.


    Kaleb grabbed the poison pouches and stored them in his poison inventory. It was especially useful because it kept the poison in hiatus and separate from each other. It also helped if you could materialise a pouch of death almost instantly.


    He nodded to Knives and headed for the cave entrance.


    Once outside the cave, Kaleb removed his leather gloves and dropped them on the ground. A tiny bottle appeared in his hand, he pulled the stopper and took a sip. The bottle disappeared back into his hand and he spread his arms as a notification appeared in his mind.


    You have been affected by a Greater Potion of Weightlessness. 1 minute, 59 seconds duration remaining.


    Kaleb¡¯s body floating gently off the ground. He kicked off a nearby wall and grabbed onto the rock face and climbed up like a spider. It didn''t take long before he was at the rock outcrop that Knives had mentioned. The expensive potion had saved him about an hour of walking which he wasn''t willing to do and showing off was fun from time to time.


    Once he was at the top, he drank a Potion of Clearing to remove the effect. After a few seconds, his feet landed on the hard rock. With no protection from rocks, the sun beat down on Kaleb¡¯s face and blinded him slightly. He held his hand up as he looked around for Mud.


    Mud was lying shirtless on his back with his eyes closed.


    Kaleb took off his shirt and his pale skin was in direct contrast with the dark red rocks around him. He took in the view which was fantastic at this height. The mountain range they were in was very large, stretching north from the coast until it balloon towards the North-East. The high concentration of Earth mana in the mountain range caused red dust to coat everything whilst naturally helped all Earth mana based mages. The abundant mana was probably why Mud''s crabs had be able to survive for so long.


    Kaleb''s upper body was covered in a multitude of burns, weapon scars and different mana seals. Mud¡¯s torso looked equally as damaged as Kaleb¡¯s. Slavery wasn''t an easy profession because no one was ever a willing participant in the process.


    Kaleb smiled to himself as the strong sunlight continued to beat down on him.


    An idea came to mind and he checked how much Nature mana he had. He had used up a lot of mana when creating the poisons so it made sense for him to gain some more Nature mana, especially if it was free.


    With a mental command he used one of his more enjoyable abilities:


    Photosynthesis.

 V1C12: Crabs

    Sam cancelled his [Meditation] ability and was thrust into a world of pain.


    All of his senses assaulted him with their needs. His legs ached from the lack of blood flow and his stomach growled with hunger.


    He slowly began stretching his legs and arms in order to help the blood flow back to them. It took at least five minutes before he got up. Once up, he looked through the window blinds and saw that the sun was slowly beginning to rise. He wondered how long he had been in [Meditation]; his guess was a few hours.


    He headed straight for the kitchen to find some sustenance for his protesting stomach. He managed to find some apples which he wolfed down eagerly. After the apples, he grabbed some dried strips of beef and started chewing on them.


    He frowned at the exhaustion he felt in his body. His mind was as clear as a bell after the time spent in [Meditation] but his body felt exhausted. It felt like he hadn¡¯t slept at all.


    Since he had some time whilst eating, he checked the notification he had gotten when he ended [Meditation].


    Mana Mastery: Meditation level 2 gained. Mana Sense is now available.


    He grinned eagerly. New skills would always be welcome! Sam quickly inspected [Mana Sense].


    [Mana Sense] [0]: Allows the user to sense the mana in and around their body.


    Another sense? He already had five senses. How would a sixth sense work? It seemed really useful because [Meditation] was a world of nothingness and it made his body vulnerable. Would [Mana Sense] solve that problem?


    He refrained from purchasing the first level despite how fantastic the skill sounded. He wanted to test out his Water skills before he purchased any more levels.


    He headed back to his room and lay on his bed. He put some of the beef strips next to his bed in case he felt hungry again.


    As he lay there he wondered where Jerald, Jeremy and Annabelle were. Wouldn¡¯t they normally be eating breakfast at this time? He missed clocks and watches. Had they invented them but maybe farmers were too poor to have them?


    Before he realised it, he had fallen asleep thinking about inventing a watch in this new world.


    ~~~~~~~~~~


    Annabelle crushed a mud crab with her wolf clawed foot on the barn floor. As her foot returned to its human shape she knelt down and moved around the pieces of the crab, hoping to find clues as to who the owner was.


    Earth mana infused with Water mana. It was a rare gift to have the talent and skill to combine the two elements. It required a good understanding of both elements individually and combined. It was for this reason that Annabelle had focussed solely on Nature mana for her own Masteries.


    After looking at the crab for a minute she came to a conclusion. Based on the creature''s shape, composition and the fact that Sam was freshly baptised, it pointed to a certain infamous duo.


    The Crab Slavers.


    Her father had mentioned them before at one of the tribal meetings. They were a dangerous duo who kidnapped people, especially those who had been baptised, to sell them to the highest bidder in the criminal underworld.


    One of the slavers used crabs made of mud as sentries to get information on their targets. Once the crabs were spotted an attack would happened merely days later. Bandits and gangs were also sometimes involved, paid to create mayhem and chaos.


    The slavers also had a poison maker who used poisons to paralyse, murder and to help them catch their targets.


    The strange part was that their victims were almost always baptised by Earth and Nature. She hadn''t heard of them targeting the Water baptised before but she guessed they wouldn¡¯t give up the opportunity.


    She became aware of her sudden annoyance for no reason whatsoever. She sighed as she reined her raw emotions. It was always the case after she gone through an involuntary transformation. She could feel angry, anxious, frustrated and depressed all within an hour.


    Her mood swings made her feel like a teenage girl and it only annoyed her further.


    It had all started with Sam''s arrival. The wolf inside of her had gotten very agitated for no reason. So agitated that she had transformed against her will after just using up some of her mana. Something she hadn''t done for months. It didn''t make any sense to her. She had worked so hard at gaining control but it always seemed to slip.


    She had cried in Jerald''s arms the whole night after the incident in the barn. She hated feeling out of control. She hated feeling weak. It made her furious.


    Annabelle suddenly realised both of her hands had transformed into clawed hairy paws. She focussed and reined in her anger and her hands shrunk back to their previous human form.


    She sighed in resignation as she began leaving the barn. She knew what she had to do but she had been avoiding it.


    She had to speak to Sam. The boy was probably very scared of her at this point and she didn''t blame him. The last time she had lost control with someone around...


    Guilt gripped her heart painfully as Jeremy''s blood covered body appeared in her mind. The pain and guilt kept the incident fresh in her mind despite the fact it happened years ago.


    The nightmares had returned recently and had only made her emotional state worse.


    She didn''t just want to talk to Sam about the attack. The boy was a big unknown in her life and she didn''t know what to do with him. She had many questions for him and she wanted the truth.


    Jerald and Jeremy, especially Jeremy, had welcomed the boy like a long last son and brother.


    She recalled her husband¡¯s words.


    "He has our surname, Anna, it is destiny!"


    Destiny. Argh. She had berated Jerald for using that word. It had reminded her of her brother Berry and the path he had taken.


    She headed towards the stables. She was low on Nature mana after intentionally using all of it to fool the crabs. She had noticed that they had a seal on their backs and after watching a few from a distance, she concluded that the crabs had a sensing seal of some kind.


    What they recorded or measured, she had no clue but if she were to use sentry crabs then measuring mana seemed like a good way of sizing up an opponent. It wasn¡¯t a fool proof method but better than nothing. If the crabs didn¡¯t measure mana like she guessed then her trick would have achieved nothing, unfortunately only time would tell if she was successful.


    She felt excited to absorb Nature mana; it made her feel so alive. For years she had worried about the happy feeling the mana gave her but her father had told her there was only one type of mana that was truly addictive: fire.


    She had made sure to avoid all forms of fire and even the candles they were currently using in the house had annoyed her. It was for these reasons she had made Jerald and Jeremy leave for Haventown without Sam. They had no Spirit crystal lamps, the geyser was almost completely out of Fire mana and they needed more dried meat for the house and more. The list of things needed didn¡¯t seem to end.


    It would definitely be an expensive trip to Haventown but unfortunately the supplies were needed. The trip would make them some income if Jerald and Jeremy could sell some milk and get some milk orders in.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    She also knew they would need to start selling a few of the horses soon. The local races had died down over the years and the wealthy in Thistlevale had clearly invested in other forms of entertainment.


    Annabelle smiled as she remembered taking some city visitors on a horse tour around the farms. City folk were so clueless about nature but they often had a lot of coin.


    She arrived at the stables and the horses neighed in greeting.


    She fetched her favourite brush and began stroking the nearest stallion. It neighed happily in response. As she brushed the horse, one of her Animal Caretaker skills called [Caregiver] came into effect.


    The ability gave her Nature mana replenishment over time as well as increased Nature regeneration whenever she was caring for an animal. It also gave her the ability to take Nature mana from the creature. The ability put the life of the creature in her hands and was a burden for her to carry because if misused, the animal would surely die. She fought off the haunting memories of the past as she focussed on caring for the horse.


    Annabelle moved from horse to horse in her normal brushing routine as she replenished her Nature mana. She didn¡¯t need to take any Nature mana because the replenishment and regeneration would suffice. After half an hour she was bursting with Nature mana and her light green eyes shone brightly with power.


    As she left the stables she felt the Nature mana move throughout her body. The feeling of power was fantastic and also a burden to bear as she realised that she still needed to be on guard and lookout for the slavers. Knowing she couldn''t be in two places at once, she decided to summon her familiar.


    Summon Familiar: Felix


    Because she had the time, she let the Nature mana slowly flow from her body thus reducing the cost of the ability.


    A patch of grass was suddenly uprooted as the soil burst out the grass in a large ball. The round ball of soil began changing shape as it formed an assortment of features like a nose and large floppy ears. Four legs grew out of the bottom of the ball as it grew larger and the different features became more distinct.


    As the summoning was coming to an end, the light brown soil colour rapidly darkened and hardened until the creature''s whole body was the colour and texture of a dark metal.


    Felix the Earth Hound panted excitedly at Annabelle and gave her an enthusiastic bark.


    She smiled as she walked up to him and scratched his hard head affectionately. She didn''t get to spend as much time with Felix as she wanted.


    She vowed to herself to summon him more often.


    Hello Felix. It is good to see you!


    Felix barked happily at her.


    I know it has been awhile. Life is quite busy on the farm.


    Felix whined before his whining was silenced by more ear scratches.


    There is an enemy who has been or still is watching us. I am expecting an attack soon.


    Felix started growling.


    I worry that they will be powerful. I need you to guard the farm¡¯s fence. You should find some summoned crabs that are made of Earth and Water mana. If you can get their scent, it would help us find the enemy.


    Felix rubbed himself up against her legs. His metal fur was cold and hard. She chuckled happily before commanding him to go.


    Felix rushed off across the farm and Annabelle smiled as she watched her dog companion enjoy the freedom of running.


    She definitely needed to summon him more often.


    She started walking towards the pond since she had seen Sam head there earlier. She could also smell him from where she was standing. Tracking people with her sense of smell, even untransformed, was a trivial exercise.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Sam swung his legs back and forth whilst sitting on the edge of a narrow wooden bridge.


    The bridge was one of the few crossings made to help the Underwood family members navigate across the marsh. The marsh was made up of many small and large streams cutting through the long grass and around islands of mud to eventually join and enter the pond in the forest.


    Sam''s toes broke the surface of the water as they swung. The small splashes of water unnaturally avoided wetting his legs.


    He felt very excited because his water powers were awesome.


    He could move water with his mind! He had been practicing since he woke up and his excitement had grown more and more. Moving water didn¡¯t seem to cost anything. His stamina had dropped a little but Sam had attributed that to him flailing his arms like a mad man for the first fifteen minutes.


    After he had worked out that no physical movement was required to move water, he had sat very still and focussed on his testing out [Water Manipulation].


    He could make dozens of small waves, a large wave, a vortex or a mini explosion of water. The options seemed endless.


    He pushed himself to his limits and discovered that the only thing stopping him was his own mental strength or lack thereof. The water seemed to obey his instructions but it only took direct commands. Complex ideas or shapes had to be painstakingly created through multiple commands and it was exhausting to hold the water in place for so long.


    The power he had gained made him feel good about the choices he had made to upgrade his skills and abilities. His other skills were not as tangibly cool and not easy to test or use.


    [Endless Regeneration], the ability of [Endless Vitality], could only be tested when he was injured and intentionally hurting himself to test a once a month ability didn''t seem wise.


    [Water Manipulation] was the most fun and Sam loved the sensation of controlling water. Did someone say aquaboy?


    [Water Attunement] was also incredible but in a more subtle way. Whenever his foot was submerged, the water would ''talk'' to him. It was less talking and more an influx of information to his mind.


    There was so much information that it ended up feeling like a room full of people were shouting at him. At the start, you didn''t hear or understand much but after a little bit of time and some focussing, you could sort through the noise and retrieve the interesting parts.


    An eel lives over there, a crab is walking across the mud and a frog and its tadpoles are swimming against the current further down the stream.


    It seemed really powerful to gain so much information so easily and he knew it would be useful when fighting in familiar water, even if it couldn¡¯t pose a direct threat like [Water Manipulation] could. A drawback he did find was it took a while for his mind to sort through all the unnecessary information.


    The last one, [Water Clarity], was also untested. The skill had said he needed to be in water so without going for a swim he didn''t think he could activate it. Bath time would probably be his best time to test it.


    After a brainwave, Sam came up with several new ideas on how to use [Water Manipulation]. He quickly took off his shirt and grinned widely.


    As he began commanding the water in the stream to start spinning rapidly, his excitement coalesced on one idea.


    He could create his own washing machine and clean his own clothes!

 V1C13: The Power of Water

    Annabelle was struggling to comprehend the situation in front of her.


    A teenage boy was staring intensely at his very wet t-shirt for a few minutes as if he was watching the water drip out of it. He then wet it and stared it at it again.


    She battled to understand what he was trying to do until she realised that the water was dripping too fast to be natural.


    She was shocked and questions flooded her mind. Did he have that much control of water?


    Was it a drying ability? Wasn¡¯t Air the better element for that?


    ¡°Hello Sam, did you just dry your t-shirt by pulling the water out of it?¡±


    Annabelle guiltily watched as Sam yelped in surprise and tumbled back and into the slow flowing stream behind him. She had forgotten about her [Soft Walking] skill that automatically activated when she was in nature.


    She also could have saved Sam from falling in the water but she didn¡¯t want to tempt a transformation with any sudden or drastic moments. If she did two uncontrolled transformations in a couple of days then she may end up kilometres away in the wilderness, naked and alone.


    Her recent evening with Jerald after her last transformation came to the forefront of her mind. If it wasn¡¯t for him, she would have had a much worse time with her [Transformation] ability. Even the wolf inside of her had to admit that Jerald was a force to be reckoned with and she loved him with all her heart.


    She blushed when she realised that she hadn¡¯t even moved to help Sam.


    He arrived back on land by awkwardly surfing a wave. She was amazed by his powers. Was this the power of a [Water Baptism]?


    ¡°Sorry Aunty. I didn¡¯t see you there. I tried spinning the water out but it didn¡¯t work so well so I ended up just trying to pull out of the water. It works for most of the water but not all of it, the t-shirt is still damp.¡±


    He gestured at his soaked t-shirt with disappointment.


    ¡°That is very interesting..."


    She was still in mild shock and then remembered one of the reasons she had come to see him and spoke with a sad sigh.


    "I am sorry for scaring you. It is twice now that I have scared and endangered you.¡±


    She watched Sam awkwardly scratch his head and then spoke.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok Aunty. Back in the barn, I didn''t know you could transform, it was quite scary."


    "I should''ve warned you about my transformations before it happened but I didn''t expect it. Sometimes I lose control but it doesn''t happen often. That day I was really tired and then was really surprised that your Knowledge Mastery was so high. I''m sorry."


    "Will it happen again?"


    Annabelle knew she couldn''t promise anything but despite her suspicions she knew she wouldn''t attack him without cause.


    "I may transform again because I haven''t mastered my control...But I don''t attack unless I have a reason to."


    She smiled as reassuringly as she could. Her own lack of control infuriated her. She couldn''t even promise not to hurt a teenage boy.


    "So can you tell me about your Water skills?"


    Sam appeared to light up with excitement about the subject matter and nodded eagerly.


    Annabelle smiled at his eagerness and then she immediately regretted the onslaught of complete gibberish.


    ¡°eSeaK9W ItY4WRT sSpNMq water BpblPI LyIreceZgRckhli5IIR MGbQzqV MXgKfUKEoHZ0 uc5kaSgEUL3I 8JMB34oGg uFOMY4N Wr56O Kzt...¡±


    ¡°Sam! Please stop.¡±


    Her head was ringing from the unpleasant sounds.


    Sam looked at her with a surprised face and Annabelle sighed. This boy knew nothing.


    It was behaviour like this that fuelled her suspicions! How did anyone not know that you couldn¡¯t share skill and abilities information explicitly?


    It was one of the first things she had learnt as a child. Anyone who had any experience with the Mastery System would know. It was natural to tell friends or family members about your abilities so even four or five years knew. Yet, this sixteen year old boy didn¡¯t know it.


    She had lain awake at night trying to figure it out. Was he a prince who was trained as a scholar but nothing else? Had he lived his life as monk far away from people? Was he raised by wild beasts?


    None of her ideas made any sense because you couldn¡¯t escape the Mastery System. All people from all the different regions used it. All creatures with though, human or non-human, all knew and used the system in one way or another. By using it, you would know that sharing Mastery skills didn¡¯t work.


    ¡°You can¡¯t tell someone about skills or abilities from the Mastery System. If a person doesn¡¯t have the Mastery or is on a lower Tier, the Mastery System will create interference that is very unpleasant.¡±


    As expected, she got a complete blank look from the boy. She rolled her eyes and began speaking.


    ¡°Allows the user to take on a form of a chosen beast. Abilities and skills are limited whilst in beast form.¡±


    Guilt quickly hit her as she realised that a Tier 5 ability was a really bad choice. The further the gap between the two people¡¯s Tier level, the worse the interference effect.


    Sam looked like he had been hit in the head by a sledgehammer and was groaning and stumbling a bit.


    She took a step forward to help but he moved away slightly so she stayed where she was. As expected, he still feared her and she was not surprised but it still hurt her a little. It reminded her of Jeremy after the attack.


    Her own son had avoided her for at least a year after the incident. When Jeremy had stopped avoiding her, his attitude had changed to one of indifference and anger. It had only been in recent years that she had seen the return of her happy, kind and friendly son and it had made her so happy.


    ¡°It seems to have gone now. That was really bad. Was that some kind of mind attack? Mind magic?¡±


    She chuckled and shook her head. If only she was that powerful.


    ¡°As I said, The Mastery System stops your mind from understanding so I suppose you can call it a mind attack from the system.¡±


    ¡°What were you trying to tell me about?¡±


    Annabelle smiled sadly.


    ¡°I described my Beast form ability. Did you understand any words?¡±


    Sam shook his head and then frowned in thought. His next question surprised her.


    ¡°Aunty, where is the Mastery System from?"


    Annabelle blinked. What an interesting question.


    ¡°No one knows where it came from but it had always been there as long as humans have lived. It is extremely powerful and provides all creatures, big and small, the potential to improve themselves.¡±


    She smiled as she repeated her father¡¯s words. After Sam didn¡¯t say anything further, she returned to the original subject.


    ¡°If you want to tell me about your Water skills, you have to avoid exact words and give a vague description. Even then I probably won¡¯t be able to understand it all.¡±


    He frowned in thought and then began speaking.


    ¡°DKKcshJiKK swimming in the water m9c93NGj26¡±


    They tried a few times until Annabelle finally managed to piece it all together.


    ¡°So you can move water around, the water talks to you and you get bonuses in water?¡±


    Sam nodded with relief and Annabelle gave him a big smile. Internally Annabelle was freaking out.


    Water Manipulation?!?! It was a Tier 1 skill? That was ridiculous. Something had to have been lost in translation. For a manipulation skill to be on Tier 1... It seemed so unfair.


    She felt a tail appear from her rear end; she willed it away and calmed herself. She sorted through the information as calmly as she could. He could manipulate water or as she guessed, Water mana, and he gained bonuses in water. The manipulation, if true, was straight forward and self-explanatory even if it was far too powerful to be a Tier 1 skill.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Bonuses whilst surrounded by an element were common in the Masteries. Her [Soft Walking] had a similar effect by giving her a huge stamina and Nature mana regeneration in addition to the quietened movement.


    Annabelle mentally sighed as she tried to process the last item.


    Information gathering from water.


    How was that possible? What were the limits? How did water communicate? It was just Water mana and thus had no means of communicating.


    ¡°How does the water talk to you?¡±


    Five more minutes of headache inducing gibberish before she got some information. It was even more ridiculous than before. The water could tell him where obstacles or living things were in the water.


    She had been expecting the ability to measure water temperature or the amount of water in a stream at best but not something that was useful in combat.


    How did anyone hope to attack a Water baptised person in water? Was it just impossible?


    She gave him a smile as something dawned on her.


    ¡°What levels are your three skills?¡±


    10, 9 and 9 was what she got from his fingers. It seems he didn¡¯t want to try his words. Sensible enough but levels didn¡¯t mean much so the Mastery System allowed them to be shared.


    She didn¡¯t understand who this boy was and why his levels were so high. How had he gotten a skill to maximum level? She was sure this had been the first time she had seen him practice.


    Was he practicing in the bath? Was that the reason that had run out of Fire mana in geyser earlier than usual?


    From her recent conversation, his general cluelessness regarding the Masteries only seemed to reinforce her guess that Sam was the one who used up all the Fire mana in the geyser. What if he had thought that only hot water came out?


    Even with the bath training, it still wasn¡¯t possible in the short amount of time. There seemed to only be one explanation.


    ¡°Did you purchase the levels for your skills?¡±


    The innocent nod from Sam made Annabelle cringe internally. She had never mentored a student on the ways of Nature since that was her father¡¯s role but she definitely knew that purchasing Tier 1 skills especially those only available to the baptised was a big taboo.


    The ¡®greatest insult to a teacher¡¯ was what her father had called it. A shortcut for fools and idiots who believed life would just give them an easy ride.


    This boy knew nothing and it was as clear as day. There was nothing she could do to help him now other than encourage him to max out his remaining level 9 skills. He might even be useful in the looming attack from the slavers.


    She would also need to tell him about the slavers but first, she needed to explain the rash mistake he had made.


    It took her a few minutes of explanation for Sam to understand why levelling with points was considered a poor choice. When he finally accepted her reasoning, it took ten minutes for him to calm down. She watched emotions run rampant on his face. The emotions ranged from fear to sadness to anger and back to fear. At the end, tears stained the teen¡¯s face and she wasn¡¯t sure which emotion had caused it. The prevailing emotion in the end was anger and he was clearly not in a good mood.


    His reaction was to be expected; it was not every day that a person is told that they unknowingly worsened their chances of success. Annabelle didn¡¯t dare tell him that a true Master of Water would never accept him now and only the mediocre ones might accept him if he showed extraordinary talent.


    She paused in thought. That logic applied to the elements like Earth, Nature, Air and Spirit which all had Elders and Masters in the cities but she wasn¡¯t sure about Water. The Mastery was so rare on land and the mermen ruled the sea with an iron fist.


    Would he have to go train with the mermen?


    She shuddered at the thought. Those fish people were disgusting!


    He interrupted her thoughts with another question. His tone silently begged her for some good news.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen Uncle and Jeremy today; do you know where they are?¡±


    Unfortunately she had only bad news for him. She explained that Sam had been asleep for two days and that Jerald and Jeremy had left for Haventown without him.


    To lessen the blame on them, she mentioned the family¡¯s lack of supplies and apologised for the use of candles. She was embarrassed to be using candles because they were such inferior items. They were dangerous and provided very little light.


    Spirit crystal lamps were much more efficient and safe. She also mentioned the geyser and its almost depleted supply of Fire mana. She was curious to see if he owned up that he had used the geyser too much.


    He sighed in resignation and spoke with a voice full of raw disappointment.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sleeping but rather using one of my mana abilities. I didn¡¯t even know that much time passed."


    He looked like his day had been ruined and she empathised with him.


    "I really wanted to go to the library. How long will Uncle and Jeremy be gone for?¡±


    ¡°Probably a week. There were quite a lot of things that had to do. I am sorry you missed out, we did try to wake you.¡±


    His disappointment was plain as the sun was shining.


    ¡°Hopefully there will be opportunities in the future.¡±


    Annabelle nodded and spoke.


    ¡°We normally go to Haventown once every month or two months depending on our needs.¡±


    There was a long pause. Annabelle stared at the birds in the trees. Nature was definitely her favourite place to be. The sounds of the birds chirping and the wind rustling the trees felt so right.


    A question from Sam interrupted her thoughts. The boy never stopped asking questions. Was it the reason he had so many points in the Knowledge Mastery?


    ¡°You mentioned a Fire mana geyser? Is it a geyser that runs on Fire magic? Does the Fire Mastery exist? Can you do fire magic?¡±


    Annabelle blinked as she processed the question and its implications. Sam¡¯s excitement was palpable and it was clear he was interested in the Fire Mastery.


    She didnt want to crush his excitement but fire was dangerous, very dangerous. She embodied her strongest imitation of her husband¡¯s famous frown and began her lecture on the dangers of the Fire Mastery and fire in general.


    She told him about the Great Fires of Whistlevale, the loss of the library in Haventown, the maniacs who had run rampant burning down anything and everything in their path. She told him about the many Fire Wars in the Northern lands which scorched the soil resulting in thousands of hectares of unusable land.


    His response of morbid fascination only made her heart flutter in fear. She needed a different approach. The deaths of thousands of people had worked on convincing Jeremy when she had first told him. He had been younger though. She came up with a new idea and tried it.


    ¡°Every time you use Fire mana it takes a deeper hold of your mind until you become completely addicted to it. You can¡¯t eat or sleep without using Fire mana. Fire mana users eventually start using their own health to convert into Fire mana. They will do anything for their addiction. It is really messy and many people become victims.¡±


    ¡°Oh. So using Fire mana is like drugs?¡±


    He knew what drugs were? It was clear that he wasn¡¯t fond of them by his disappointed tone. She had heard of drugs from passing travellers. Poor people in the large cities got alchemists and herbalists to make small consumable items that contained very pure Fire mana. The effects of Fire mana were worse on those without fire resistance so they would get addicted immediately and often die soon after. It was a major problem in some of the larger cities.


    How did he know about drugs? Where was Sam from? She would bet good coin that neither of her neighbours even knew what drugs were.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    She watched his reaction and was happy to see him mirror her frown and speak.


    ¡°Are there other dangers from using mana? Please let me know. I have already made too many mistakes. I don¡¯t want to end up addicted to Water mana or something similar."


    He sighed and spoke.


    "I don¡¯t have any Water mana though, can I still get addicted?¡±


    She was happy she had convinced him to avoid Fire mana but his words only created more confusion regarding his skills and abilities. If he had no Water mana, how was he controlling water? Maybe he meant he had no Water mana left?


    ¡°Use your mind to bring up your attributes list. You should have mana numbers below your health.¡±


    She watched him frowned in concentration and then respond.


    ¡°It just says Mana: 0/0.¡±


    It didn¡¯t even specify the mana type. She tried to remember when her attribute list had shown that. It had been when she had been 7 or 8 years old and was before she gained Nature mana.


    How could a Water baptised person not have Water mana? The area wasn¡¯t her expertise so she chalked it to up to different Masteries but it was strange nonetheless.


    She had been wasting enough time. She needed to get the truth from Sam and then prepare for the evident attack ahead.

 V1C14: Truth

    After getting Sam to sit on the grass, Annabelle drew a circle of Nature mana with her finger around them. It was so thick that the grass was sparkling green in the sunlight.


    She sat opposite Sam and used one of her abilities that would stop anyone from listening in on their conversation.


    Nature¡¯s Haven


    Nature mana suddenly shot upwards to create a dome around them. Sam quietly watched the dome form with curious eyes.


    ¡°It will stop anyone from listening in on us whilst we talk. Next, I want to form a temporary pact with you. It is just so you know what a pact is.¡±


    Lying. It broke down trust and she was blatantly lying.


    Nature¡¯s Pact


    ¡°You should have a notification which asks you to accept or reject the pact. Accept it and then we can start.¡±


    Nature¡¯s Pact has been accepted.


    She would have to ask for forgiveness afterwards. The gnawing need to understand who Sam was, superseded her kindness.


    ¡°Let¡¯s begin then. What is your name?¡±


    She saw him frowned in a little confusion but answered none the less.


    ¡°Samual Jeffrey Underwood. Aunty, why are you-¡°


    ¡°Where are you from?¡±


    She had to be quick. If he realised that it was a truth pact, he would just walk away or worse; figure out how to avoid the real truth. Truth was limited by a person¡¯s knowledge and understanding.


    ¡°New Jersey.¡±


    Sam¡¯s frown stayed but he said nothing.


    ¡°Where is New Jersey?¡±


    ¡°¡­ United States of America.¡±


    She watched as his eyes grew wide before they gazed over. He was probably reading the details of the pact for the first time.


    ¡°This pact says that we both have to answer questions truthfully. Are you interrogating me?¡±


    His voice was full of hurt and disappointment. Unfortunately for Annabelle, the truth pact worked both ways.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because I need to.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because you are a mystery to me.¡±


    She had to stop his momentum of questions and gain something substantial.


    ¡°Where is the United States of America?¡±


    ¡°Earth. Do you want to know where I am from?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because I fear you will bring trouble to my family.¡±


    ¡°Do you trust me?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Ask me the same question.¡±


    ¡°Do you trust me?¡±


    ¡°I did before you did this pact. Why didn¡¯t you just ask me all these questions without this pact?¡±


    Sam glared daggers at her and she felt guilty. Not guilty enough not to get answers though, it was for her family¡¯s safety.


    ¡°You could have lied. Do you want to hurt my family in any way?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    She started asking her next question when she was interrupted by Sam.


    ¡°Why did you attack Jeremy?¡±


    It felt like a dagger had pieced her chest, she sucked in a breath. He knew?! She didn¡¯t get much time before the magic of the pact compelled the truth from her.


    ¡°It was the instincts of the wolf. I did not have enough control to stop it.¡±


    ¡°Why did you attack me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why. The wolf inside me thinks you are a threat. Don¡¯t ask me why because I don¡¯t know that answer.¡±


    She felt so small. Jeremy had told him? Why? She had thought and hoped that Jeremy had left that tragedy behind him.


    An old fear reared its ugly head and with it an unasnwered question. The question swirled in her mind, begging to asked but Sam interrupted her thoughts.


    ¡°Have I done anything that would make you think that I wanted to hurt anyone in your family?¡±


    Annabelle blinked at the specific question and asked.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°What do you need to trust me?¡±


    ¡°I need to know you will not bring harm to my family and that you will look out for their best interests.¡±


    ¡°I have already answered the first question. Ask me the second one."


    She stared at him. Who was this teenager? She had just betrayed him and yet he was still trying to prove his good intentions?


    ¡°Will you carry out your actions in the best interest of the Underwood family?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Since she had started asking questions, she had watched him carefully. His answers hadn¡¯t been vague and rather precise.


    He wasn¡¯t lying unless he could overpower the pact which she knew he couldn¡¯t without greater Wisdom than she had.


    ¡°I am from a planet called Earth. It does not have the Mastery System. I feared for my safety which is why I lied when I arrived."


    Knowledge Mastery: Holder of Knowledge level 6 gained. 2 Mastery points awarded.


    There was no greater truth than the Knowledge Mastery¡­ She froze as the realisation hit her. It didn¡¯t make sense. A world without the Mastery System, she had to confirm.


    ¡°Are you from a place called Earth which has no Mastery System?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    She felt her fear deflate and anxiety and confusion replace it. Had she betrayed his trust to find out where he was from and then what? She hadn¡¯t thought her plan through. What did she want to use the information for?


    Her skewed motives aside. A place without the Mastery System? It seemed so bizarre. How did it all work? It explained why Sam knew nothing about the system.


    Her mind felt numb. She hadn¡¯t gained a level in Knowledge Mastery in such a long time that she had forgotten the sensation.


    She stared in disbelief at Sam who looked to be in a state of calm resignation.


    The question in her mind reared its ugly head again. She didn¡¯t have much time left before the pact ended, it was her only opportunity.


    ¡°Is Jeremy baptised in the Beast Mastery?¡±


    She had to know. Everything pointed towards it. Since her [Beast Transformation] animal was a predator, it was destined to cause baptisms and her father had even said it was a rite of passage of sorts but for it to be her own son¡­


    ¡°Jeremy is not baptised like I am¡­¡±


    He took a deep breath and his tone became accusatory as he stared at her.


    ¡°He is baptised in fear. Fear that his mother may attack him again.¡±


    Like a sword through to gut, she balked. Was that what Jeremy thought of her? Was she just a source of his nightmares?


    She couldn¡¯t stop the tears as she began weeping.


    Minutes passed before she recovered and by that time the pact and the dome had run their course.


    She looked at Sam and saw a frown on his face of Jerald¡¯s calibre.


    ¡°If you want to know something about Jeremy and that night, you need to speak to him. He is your son. How do you expect to move passed such an incident if you don¡¯t talk to him about it? What if Jeremy needs help and is afraid to ask?"


    She stared at him as the questions went unanswered.


    Sam was correct and his words definitely sounded like something her father would say. She sucked in air as she tried to control her emotions. She spoke softly.


    ¡°I am so sorry Sam. I am sorry I attacked you and I am sorry that I betrayed your trust with the pact. I needed answers; I needed to lessen my worries.¡±


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.¡°I don''t think a pact was necessary. Lying and betraying me like this..."


    He glared at her before his face softened.


    ¡°I really like this family and this farm isn¡¯t too bad. Where I came from, there were a lot of people and it was really busy. On the farm, it is slower and more relaxing..."


    He paused and chuckled.


    "The cold baths aren''t very pleasant though.¡±


    Annabelle chuckled with him. Their chuckles turned into laughter that could be heard from the other side of the marsh.


    As their laughter came to an end, both of them were smiling. Minutes passed as they sat quietly together. There was a soft breeze moving across the grass.


    Annabelle smirked as she broke the silence.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to bath with cold water. There is a seal on the wall that you just need to touch and say ¡®Release¡¯. If you do that, the water comes out hot.¡±


    Surprise appeared on Sam¡¯s face and Annabelle''s smirk turned into a grin.


    "Really?"


    Annabelle nodded as she pulled up her left sleeve and showed him her upper arm. There was a large circular tattoo made of light grey ink.


    ¡°This is a seal. There are many different types of seals. Each has a different design and each design has a different purpose.¡±


    Annabelle watched Sam become excited and he spoke.


    ¡°I saw a similar thing near the bathtub. I thought it was a decoration. So these ¡®seals¡¯, how do they work? What does the one on your arm do? Can I get a seal?¡±


    She smiled as she let go of her sleeve. He was like a person discovering food for the first time; he wanted to know what everything was and experience it too.


    ¡°A seal can be created by certain Masteries but the Seal Mastery is the most specialised and the best at it. Seals are used throughout everyday life and make everything much simpler. Two examples in the farm are the geyser seal which releases fire mana into the water to heat it and the water cleanse seal which purifies our drinking water. Those two alone have made our lives much better. There are, of course, many more.¡±


    Annabelle watched him nod as she continued.


    ¡°Seals can be created in different ways. Some are permanent and some disappear after a few uses. Most require the ¡®Release¡¯ command and can be triggered by almost anyone as long as they come in contact with mana. Seals are very useful and there are even protective seals which many warriors use to protect their bodies from attacks."


    She smiled as she waited for a barrage of questions but there was only one.


    ¡°Can you show me how it works?¡±


    Annabelle blinked. She only had two seals: one was for communciation and the other was for emergencies. She supposed she could contact father.


    She nodded and spoke as she pointed to the tattoo on her upper left arm.


    ¡°This is a communication seal. I can communicate with different people who have a matching seal. I will contact my father who is the Elder of the region. Please show him respect and refer to him by his title, Elder.¡±


    She made sure to be clear. She didn¡¯t want father to get angry because of a misunderstanding and she was sure father would like Sam. He had seemed interested in meeting Sam ever since she had told him about the baptism.


    ¡°Come closer to me. His voice will come out of the seal.¡±


    She placed her palm on the communication seal and willed Nature mana into it. The familiar connection to her mind appeared and she focussed on her father.


    After a few moments, she heard his deep voice.


    ¡°Daughter, what affords me such a blessing this day? I would think you would be too busy milking the cows.¡±


    She blushed as she realised that she had berated him many times for calling her whilst she was working during the day.


    Seeing the confusion on Sam¡¯s face she removed her hand from the seal and spoke aloud.


    ¡°Elder, I have removed my hand from the seal so that Sam may speak with you as well.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that is fantastic. Sam, can you hear me?¡±


    She looked at Sam who was staring bewilderingly at the glowing grey seal. Sam hesitated and spoke.


    ¡°Elder, it is my honour to speak to the person who raised Aunty to be such a nice lady.¡±


    Annabelle was stunned and blushed slightly. She had not expected a compliment especially after the way she had treated him.


    There was a hearty chuckle from the seal before some coughing. Annabelle blush turned to worry.


    ¡°Elder, are you ok?¡±


    There was a pause before the Elder responded.


    ¡°I am just an old man. Now we have been acquainted Sam, do this old man favour and tell me what Masteries you have. I have always found that a person¡¯s Mastery say a lot about their life.¡±


    Another pause and Sam looked questioningly at Annabelle. She gave him an encouraging nod and then Sam began speaking rapidly.


    ¡°Elder, I have the Knowledge, Labour, Water, Mana and Chosen Masteries. Which Masteries do you have?¡±


    Annabelle frowned. She didn¡¯t know Sam had such Masteries. She had heard of the Mana Mastery, it was held by scholars who always avoided war. She hadn¡¯t heard of the Chosen Mastery but she was sure that if someone would know, her father would.


    ¡°Oh that is quite an impressive list. I would recommend you keep the Chosen Mastery a secret. It is quite a unique Mastery, more so than even the Mana and Knowledge Masteries. From a combat perspective, the Water Mastery seems the most useful. Annabelle?¡±


    ¡°Yes Elder?¡±


    ¡°I would recommend you assist Sam to gain the Body and Weapon Masteries. Since he can¡¯t summon water yet, he will not be able to defend himself without a source of water. Some basic physical combat strength would be useful for him. Since he has the Chosen Mastery, I will make him an ally of Nature when we meet.¡±


    What?! An ally of Nature! It was a Talent that was rarely gifted and was gifted to those with had contributed greatly to Nature and its followers. Only an Elder could bestow such a Talent. For her father to say such a thing¡­


    ¡°Yes Elder. I will get Jerald to instruct him immediately.¡±


    Annabelle wondered what she had missed. Was Sam now an honoured guest instead of an extra mouth to feed? What was the Chosen Mastery? She would have to ask father as soon as they were alone.


    ¡°Unfortunately Sam, I do not have the time to tell you about my Masteries. In my long lifetime, I have collected many, many Masteries but what I can share with you is some wisdom I have learnt which is something to remember as you grow stronger. Focussing and specialising in only one Mastery can make a person very powerful but they can become predictable in battle and in life. Different Masteries offer different perspectives and different interpretations of the laws of mana and the realms. I would recommend you gain as many Masteries as you can and with the knowledge of many Masteries you will be able to see your true path and gain power. Power is difficult to measure with Masteries and sometimes someone with a simple Tier 1 ability can surplus someone with Tier 4 abilities so don''t get arrogant. Each gained Mastery makes a person stronger and wiser because each can provide a different insight into our understanding of the world. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°I do Elder. Thank you for your wise words. I look forward to meeting you.¡±

 V1C15: Retrospection

    Sam sat patiently opposite Annabelle on the grass. She had been privately communicating with the Elder for the last thirty minutes.


    Sam hadn¡¯t minded when the Elder had said he needed to speak with Annabelle privately since he had lots to think about.


    Annabelle now knew where he was from. Her response had been more subdued than he had expected. He thought pitchforks would be fetched and torches would be lit. He was an alien to this world and yet, Annabelle had seemed fine with it?o


    She had even changed to subject to Jeremy. He was not surprised that there were unresolved issues between the two. Annabelle had almost killed Jeremy who seemed really haunted by the memories. This world of magic was different from Earth but both seemed to have strained family relationships in common.


    He wondered if he had taken the wrong approach and should¡¯ve told the Underwood family upfront about his origins. He stopped the thought since he couldn''t change the past. He looked at Annabelle who was in the same pose whilst communicating with the Elder.


    Annabelle¡¯s father had sounded like a nice man and the respectful demeanour that Annabelle had used made Sam want to meet him. He was probably powerful and maybe Sam could learn something from him. Maybe even become his student?


    He wondered what an ally of Nature was. From Annabelle¡¯s reaction it was a good thing. Maybe a badge, tattoo or other benefits? Would he be part of a club? He chuckled to himself as he thought of some of the sports clubs he had been forced to join as a kid.


    He returned his thoughts to the present because he knew thinking of home would just worsen his mood and he had so much to think over.


    He looked at the magical tattoo around his finger. It hadn¡¯t changed since he had first received it but after seeing Annabelle¡¯s seal, he wondered if the tattoo was a seal of some kind.


    He touched it and said the words ¡®Release¡¯ but much to his disappointed, nothing happened. He gave up on it and his mind began thinking about the Water Mastery, one of his greatest disappointments.


    Sam had been devastated when Annabelle told him that purchasing Tier 1 skills and abilities was a mistake. He had made mistakes before but he didn¡¯t know if they would compare to this. He felt like an idiot. Would his water skills be weaker now? What would be the long term impact?


    Practicing with [Water Manipulation] had been the highlight of his morning. To have the power to move water was invigorating. It made him feel so powerful. To think that he could¡¯ve been more powerful if he had waited put a bad taste in his mouth.


    Even with his current powers over water, he knew he was still weak, physically and mentally. Annabelle had easily tricked him with her pact. If she had been an enemy, it could have been a lot worse. He had a learned a lesson though and the lesson was to inspect every pact that was offered to him. He would also need to be more cautious on whom he trusted. People could pretend to help him only to hurt him later.


    The pact that Annabelle created had stirred a question in his mind.


    If a temporary pact existed then surely a permanent version did?


    He shuddered at the thought of a permanent malicious pact. The tugging feeling to tell the truth had been almost impossible to resist and he had felt powerless.


    The ¡®interference¡¯ that the Mastery System created when someone described their skills was even more unpleasant. It felt like someone was hitting a giant bell next to your ear whilst bees buzzed throughout your head at the same time.


    If a Mind Mastery existed and a person could do such attacks, he would need to make sure he could guard against it. Some kind of resistance would be needed. Maybe it was called Mind resistance or Mental resistance?


    He thought of Fire mana and how it made people addicted to it. He had been so excited when he thought about shooting off fireballs at his opponents. It seemed Fire magic came with real dangers to his mental health which extinguished his desire to gain any Fire mana.


    He would have to ask Annabelle how to get Mental resistance and would add it to his list of priorities. He didn¡¯t want people or magic messing with his mind.


    The other thing that Annabelle mentioned was Spirit. The way Annabelle spoke about it made it sound like it was an element or Mastery of some kind. Was Spirit an element of light? She had mentioned Spirit crystal lamps which he was eager to see. He would need to ask more questions. Assuming Fire, Water, Air and Earth existed, were there other elements?


    The Fire mana geyser was equally as intriguing. So everything ran off magical seals? He thought back to the pure refreshing water from the taps. He had seen a design on the tap handle, it was a probably the water cleansing seal she had mentioned.


    If seals were so useful and used in everyday life then making seals seemed like a good way to make money. He didn¡¯t know what currency they used but whatever it was, he needed to get some if he wanted to stay safe. There was no way he could live off the Underwood family forever. He imagined people in the streets selling seals and himself joining them. What would that profession be called? A Sealist?


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    He chuckled at how stupid it sounded. Despite the silly name, he needed to obtain a form of wealth for the long term. He would also need to understand more about the local economy and how it functioned.


    Now that his secret was out of the bag, he didn¡¯t have to pretend and hold himself back. He could ask as many questions as he could think of. He felt like a good opportunity had presented itself. If only Annabelle would finish her conversation¡­


    He would ask Jeremy the questions instead but he wasn¡¯t around. Sam sighed at himself again as he thought about the library. What a lost opportunity to get access to more information. If safety wasn¡¯t one of his primary concerns, he would just ask for directions and start walking to Haventown.


    He could only blame himself for the missed opportunity. How could he have done things differently? Maybe tried [Meditation] in shorter sessions? Without an ability to measure time, it would have been fruitless.


    Despite the obvious loss in sense of time, he didn¡¯t think [Meditation] was a bad ability especially since he had unlocked [Mana Sense]. He would need to focus on gaining the first level of [Mana Sense] to see what the skill did. Earning levels, rather than purchasing them, would be his focus for the Masteries. He didn¡¯t want to make a fool of himself again and vowed not to spend any more Mastery points unless the situation was dire.


    ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting. The Elder had more to say than I expected.¡±


    Sam looked at Annabelle as her voice interrupted his thoughts. She was stretching her right arm which had been in the same position for a while. She stood up as she stretched.


    ¡°Let¡¯s walk back to the house. We can talk along the way.¡±


    She finished stretching as she walked over to him. She offered her hand which Sam took as he got up. He stretched a bit with her and then they began walking back along the path.


    After only a few steps, Annabelle stopped and she looked at Sam.


    ¡°Sam, I am so sorry for what I have put you through. Do you forgive me?¡±


    Sam nodded and spoke.


    ¡°I was thinking about it. Maybe it is for the better that you know my secret. I can at least be honest when I say that I have never used a Spirit crystal lamp before.¡±


    He smiled at her and she chuckled.


    ¡°Your secret is safe with me. Speaking of secrets. Will anyone be able to follow you here from Earth?¡±


    Sam blinked at the question. He didn¡¯t even know how he had truly gotten here? If it was a portal then maybe people could follow. He thought about the tragic drowning experience and envisioned an army of soldiers doing that. He scrapped the idea as he realised that no one would really care about him missing anyway. Sadness gripped his heart.


    ¡°No I don¡¯t think so. I wasn¡¯t a very important person.¡±


    ¡°Everyone is important as part of a group Sam. I can teach you whatever you need to know but it won¡¯t happen now. We unfortunately have more pressing issues right now.¡±


    She paused.


    ¡°When you put on your Baptism ring, you completed your baptism and by doing so the Mastery System alerted all nearby Masters of your baptism¡­ you don¡¯t look surprised?¡±


    ¡°Jeremy told me already. It was one of the reasons why I purchased the skills. Are we in danger?¡±


    Sam knew they were. Annabelle had tensed at his question and her quick nod confirmed his fears. Would he need to run?


    ¡°There is a group called the Crab Slavers. They are close by so we need to start preparing. The Elder will be sending a friend to assist us in defending the house. The Elder confirmed when I was talking to him that the bandits have surrounded the farm but it seems they are waiting for something so we need to be careful. When we get back to house, I will move your bed into the main bedroom. You can sleep there so that I can protect you.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything I can do?¡±


    Annabelle nodded.


    ¡°You need to stay by my side and don¡¯t make yourself vulnerable. You can rely on me to protect you. I am not weak. We can assume that they are watching us so we need to act as natural as possible so they don¡¯t suspect we know about them. You can continue your Water training and I will supervise you. Do you have any questions?¡±


    Sam¡¯s heart was pounding. The action movies had always made it sound so cool. He felt sick. He swallowed nervously and asked his question.


    ¡°How many are there?¡±


    Annabelle started walking again as she spoke.


    ¡°At least 40. From what the Elder and tribe members had seen, the majority of them are bandits who are mostly Tier 1 or Tier 2 at most. The powerful ones are the slavers themselves. One can use poisons and the other is a Mud mage who uses a combination of Earth and Water skills. The Elder explained that the Mud mage probably received the notification of your location. It means that he is a Water Master and thus must have completed Water Mastery Tier 3. This makes him dangerous. If I were to fight him alone I may be able to defeat him but not with the poison specialist and the bandits assisting. We need to be very careful and not do anything stupid. Now, let¡¯s go, there is lots to prepare.¡±

 V1C16: Sam and the Bubble

    Sam watched in amazement as Annabelle carried his bed out of his room and into the narrow hallway. Her arms were glowing green and when Sam looked closely he could even see her veins glowing the same colour.


    Wow, magic was really powerful.


    ¡°Is the ability you are using from the Beast Mastery?¡±


    Annabelle nodded as she passed the bathroom and basement doors which were directly opposite to each other and then took a deliberate wide left turn into the main bedroom.


    As they had walked back from the marsh earlier, Sam had spent the time digging up all of his unanswered questions and felt eager to find out the answers.


    With a huff, Annabelle put down the bed in the corner of the bedroom near a cupboard. The room was now very cramped but a person could still move around without too much trouble.


    ¡°Aunty, I have a few questions that I haven¡¯t been able to ask previously¡­¡±


    ¡°Because you were scared of looking like an idiot?¡±


    Sam blushed and Annabelle chuckled.


    ¡°That day has long passed. Why do you think I was suspicious? You knew far too little, even for someone with memory loss. So, what do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°What are all the elements? You have mentioned Fire, Earth and Spirit. I am guessing Wind is an element?¡±


    ¡°Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Nature, Spirit and Blood are the elements I have encountered. People who use the Spirit and Blood elements are normally¡­ a bit different and rare. The Mind is also an element but it is a bit different from the others because it doesn¡¯t have a physical component. The most common example is the Knowledge Mastery which is related to the Mind element.¡±


    Sam blinked. That was a lot to digest. Spirit and Blood? He wasn''t sure if he wanted to think about magic and blood. Too many stories went bad when magic blood was involved. Thistlvale definitely sounded like a place to visit someday.


    ¡°Ok thank you. Next question: How does health regeneration work? Can it regrow limbs? And stamina, it is used for running right?¡±


    Annabelle frowned a little in thought and then spoke.


    ¡°Health regeneration recovers wounds and heals over time regardless if the injuries are internal and external. It is very slow and can be even slower if the wound is large. For large wounds, direct healing is much better because if you rely only on health regeneration then you have a great chance of getting sick. Health regeneration is not recommended for limb regrowth because it is far too slow and painful. Direct healing is better than regeneration in almost all areas except cost which regeneration being much cheaper. Healing magic, regardless of the source of mana, is always very expensive which makes sense because it is a very complicated type of magic. Uncle Berry knows much more on the topic than I do so you can ask him when you see him.¡±


    Annabelle paused and then seemed to remember the second question.


    ¡°Stamina is quite straightforward; if you exert your body to do something it will use stamina. Some abilities also use stamina especially Earth based abilities. Your stamina will decrease slowly over time throughout the day and recovers when you sleep. Having zero stamina will cause you to fall unconscious which I don''t recommend.¡±


    ¡°Ok thank you. That helps. When I was levelling some of my skills and abilities, I noticed that I couldn¡¯t purchase the last level, is there a reason for this?¡±


    Internally Sam was freaking out. He could regrow a limb? Screw aquaboy, what about lizardboy?


    Annabelle began walking out of the room and towards the kitchen door as she spoke. Sam quickly followed.


    ¡°You can¡¯t purchase the final level of any skill or abilities, you have to earn it. The earning part may be as simple as using the ability once but often it is more than that. You have to use the ability in the way it was meant to be used. So if you have a healing ability then you would have to heal a large wound, which would cost a lot more mana than usual, and then you may earn the last level. Does that make sense?¡±


    Sam replied as they left the house and headed towards the stables.


    ¡°That does make sense. Next question is about your Beast form. It looks very powerful even if it is a bit scary. Can anyone with the Beast mastery get such an ability?¡±


    Annabelle made an unpleasant face as they entered the stables.


    ¡°I would agree with you on the scary part. It is very powerful but difficult to live with. If someone has enough points and spends enough time then yes, they could purchase the ¡®Beast form¡¯ skill but it is never that simple. There are choices that are made in life and opportunities that appear that not everyone has. I can transform into a wolf because of some unique circumstances and that is not common even amongst those who have the ¡®Beast form¡¯. The form of any predatory animal is difficult to obtain and control but it can become very powerful. I would not recommend obtaining the ¡®Beast form¡¯ skill to anyone because it has been a burden on me and has caused tragedies that I regret.¡±


    Annabelle voice was full of sorrow and regret as she fetched two brushes from the nearby wall. She handed one to Sam and they both began brushing the nearest horse. He copied her motions and as soon as they both got a rhythm she spoke with a smile.


    ¡°So what should we train you in whilst we wait for the bandit attack?¡±


    Sam was pleasantly surprised by the direction of the conversation andanswered.


    ¡°If I train the Labour Mastery, I can get more stamina and strength which can help me run away or punch someone.¡±


    Annabelle shook her head.


    ¡°Attributes bonuses are a blessing and a curse. You have to train with a consistent attribute level until you are familiar with them whilst fighting. In other words, if your strength changes by large amounts, you won''t be familiar with how fast or slow your arms move or how hard they can hit. I am assuming you have no fighting experience since you don¡¯t have the Body or Weapon Masteries so getting extra strength is not going to help you much. I suggest you practice your Water Mastery skills. If you can get another skill to maximum level, you should get a boost to your skills with Water.¡±


    Sam blinked. Is that how attributes worked? He knew strength gave him more muscles but it did make sense that needed to have to train his body in order to use them.


    ¡°Can you teach me the Body and Weapon Masteries?¡±


    Annabelle shook her head and spoke.


    ¡°My fighting style is a Nature specific style and I mostly use spells or attacking abilities. If I am really stuck, I can just become a werewolf as you like to call it.¡±


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    She gave a grin with teeth that seemed longer than before.


    Sam shuddered as he understood. Annabelle couldn¡¯t help him with gaining those Masteries.


    ¡°Jerald and Jeremy can definitely help you when you are back. The Body Mastery is close to the Labour Mastery in the way that they both focus on training and exhausting the body.¡±


    She paused her brushing which caused the horse to neigh in response, she quickly resumed her brushing as she spoke her mind.


    ¡°Other than the Water Mastery, you have the Knowledge, Chosen and Mana Masteries. The Knowledge Mastery won¡¯t help you in a fight so that leaves the Chosen and Mana Masteries. The Elder says the Chosen Mastery makes your special but I don¡¯t know enough about it. From what I know of the Mana Mastery, it is not a combat focussed Mastery."


    Sam sighed at the last options which were both useless in combat. The Chosen Mastery didn¡¯t give him any skills or abilities at all and the Mana Mastery hardly seemed useful in combat. Sitting down and meditating whilst fighting an enemy would be asking for a quick death.


    ¡°I have been practicing my Water skills so I will continue but the Chosen and Mana Masteries won¡¯t be useful in fighting enemies. I do want to practice the Mana Mastery though but I lose track of time when practicing. I don¡¯t want to lose two days again¡­¡±


    ¡°Anything I can help with?¡±


    Annabelle¡¯s eyes were glowing green now and it was a little unnerving. He ignored it and focussed on finding a solution to his problem.


    ¡°Do you have any way to keep track of how much time has passed?¡±


    Annabelle grinned and her teeth were definitely longer now.


    ¡°We have an old clock in our cupboard. It is one of the trinkets Jerald had bought in town. Let me see if I can get it working. How would it help?¡±


    Sam elaborated on his problem of losing time in [Meditation] and his plan to familiarise himself with how much time had paused.


    Annabelle agreed to lend him their clock and Sam felt eager to start practicing. He would¡¯ve started immediately but the animals still needed care and Annabelle seemed like the only person who could keep him safe at the moment.


    They ate a late lunch of the usual apples and beef strips. Annabelle revealed a secret stash of cookies that Sam happily consumed.


    The rest of the afternoon was spent caring for animals and doing normal maintenance. Without Jerald and Jeremy to help, there was quite a bit of work. They kept their distance from the farm borders which Annabelle said her familiar was guarding.


    When sunset was approaching, Sam got to meet her familiar whose name was Felix.


    The dog looked like a bloodhoundbut with an unnatural dark grey body. With the dark colouring, Felix looked very formidable and reminded Sam of a miniature tank.


    After some sniffing, Sam got to scratch and pet Felix which was a bizarre experience considering the dog¡¯s body was hard and cold. Felix happily enjoyed it and Sam made a friend after some beef strips were gifted.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    That night, after a supper of warm beef and carrot soup, Annabelle got an old wooden pendulum clock out of a cupboard. After some tinkering, she got it working and placed on top of the cupboard inthe main bedroom.


    Sam watched happily as the pendulum swung back and forthrhythmically. After a minute of staring, the smaller clock hand moved. He doubted the time was right but he didn¡¯t mind, he just needed a point of reference.


    After telling Annabelle that he was going to practice [Meditation], he activated the ability. After 30 seconds, he was sucked into the world of nothingness.


    After what felt like five minutes, he cancelled the ability and checked the time on the pendulum clock.


    It had only been fifteen minutes.


    He sighed in relief. At least he hadn''t lost a day or two like last time.


    He decided to try unlock [Mana Sense] so he activated [Meditation] and waited patiently.


    When he was thrust into the world of black, he immediately tried to feel around the blackness. He didn¡¯t know what he was looking for but wanted to at least try something.


    Time passed and he knew he had to use his time wisely. He thought about how he could unlock [Mana Sense]. If [Mana Sense] was like one of his own senses then he should be able to get feedback from the world around him.


    He decided to try use his five senses and focussed on hearing the world around him. He strained his mind as if he still had ears and concentrated on listening.


    Time passed and Sam heard nothing and felt no change.


    He tried his sense of smell next, followed by his sight.


    None of his attempts changed anything. He had gained nothing about the world from him. It was just empty blackness with no odor or sound. He thought about his last two senses: taste and touch.


    Taste just seemed like a stupid option so hedecided to ignore it for now. As his only realistic option left, Sam reached out his arms and tried to grab onto anything. He had done it earlier and the verdict was the same: nothing.


    He decided to change his approach and then imagined himself touching something. He remembered the pendulum clock nearby, he imagined what it looked like and he mentally reached for it.


    He quickly felt a wall of resistance and he pushed against it. The wall shuddered and he suddenly became aware of a giant bubble that was surrounding him and blocking out the world.


    He mentally pushed against the bubble and he felt more resistance. He stopped pushing and thought about what to do next.


    He had to burst through the bubble. He was sure it was the reason the world was black and empty. He didn¡¯t know what lay on the other side but he hoped it was [Mana Sense] level 1.


    With a mental breath to prepare himself, Sam began pushing against the bubble with all his mental strength. As he pushed, the bubble distorted as it tried to contain him.


    The resistance started causing a headache to form but he didn¡¯t stop pushing even though it felt like blood should be coming out of his nose.


    The strain was unpleasant to say the least but Sam kept pushing until the resistance suddenly gave away as the bubble popped silently. The world of black began collapsing all around him and Sam suddenly found himself sitting on his bed in the chilly dark bedroom.


    He felt exhausted and based on thechilly night air, he guessed that he had missed out on a few hours of sleep. His head was pounding from an exquisitely painful migraine but Sam didn¡¯t care. He had a silly grin plastered on his face as he looked at the notification that had appeared in his mind.


    Mana Mastery: Mana Sense Level 1 gained.

 V1C17: Fight or Flight

    Sam followed Annabelle into the barn full of curiosity.


    After taking a while to fall asleep with the migraine, Sam had slept late into the morning. After multiple attempts to wake him up, Annabelle had left him to sleep in.


    Sam had felt guilty about oversleeping but had explained his success with gaining [Mana Sense] to Annabelle who had been pleased with his achievement.


    The reason Annabelle had been trying to wake him, other than the responsibilities to the farm, was thatthe man who the Elder had sent, had arrived. He had ended up spending the morning familiarizing himself with the farm.


    Sam walked up to the tall man with light brown skin and offered his hand. The man took it and their eyes met.


    Sam could feel the intense focus of the man''s eyes on him. They look unnatural because surrounding his iris was a ring of orange. Sam wondered what type of magic could change how a person''s eyes looked.


    The hairs on his arms and neck, which had been acting weird all morning, stood up like a chill had entered the room.


    The man smiled a small smile and broke the eye contact briefly to speak.


    "Sorry, some of my abilities and skills are channelled through my eyes so it can make them feel... intense. I am Richard, nice to meet you Sam."


    Sam visibly relaxed at the man''s comforting voice which was smooth and deep. The voice that suited a charmer of the ladies.


    He noticed that the man''s face was relaxed and calm which seemed to contradict his eyes. He replied to Richard to distract himself from staring.


    "Nice to meet you too Richard. Thank you for coming to help us."


    Richard nodded curtly and then minutes painfully passed with no words, only the odd moo from a cow.


    Annabelle broke the awkward silence.


    "Alright, Sam, I am going to check on Felix. Ask Richard whatever questions you have. I''m sure it must be nice to meet someone who isn''t part offamily."


    With those words, Annabelle left Sam alone with Richard. Sam swallowed nervously and spoke after Annabelle had left.


    "Aunty Annabelle mentioned that you had already checked on the perimeter of the whole farm. How did you do that so fast?"


    Annabelle hadn''t said anything about Richard''s abilities and running the perimeter in the few hours of the morning was possible but not a simple feat.


    "I checked the perimeter several times on foot and flying as well. You were asleep for a while so I had lots of time."


    Sam blushed with embarrassment and Richard chuckled.


    Then it dawned on him.


    "You can fly?"


    His enthusiasm was a little too much because Richard grinned eagerly in response. Without a word, his body began to hover off the ground.


    In response, the hair on Sam''s arms stood on end and his skin felt uncomfortably sunburnt and scratchy.


    He took a step back and the sensation lessened.


    "You ok Sam?"


    Sam nodded.


    "Yes, your flying looks great! I wish I would do that. My skin had just been sensitive since this morning. It is from a new ability I got."


    Richard''s eyes were on him like an eagle on a rabbit. He scanned Sam''s body like his clothes were transparent.


    "Do you have a mana sensing ability?"


    Sam nodded as he quickly inspected [Mana Sense] again. It showed that nothing has changed since he had checked when he woke up.


    [Mana Sense] [1]: Permanently increases the users sensitivity to mana fluctuations in the area around them.


    - [Active]: Allows the user to sense the mana around them in a 1 meter area. Only usable in [Mediation].


    "Annabelle mentioned that you had some interesting Masteries. Mana sensing is an extremely powerful ability that comes in many shapes and forms, each with their own limitations. My mana sensing ability is combined with my vision. I can see different types of mana which is quite useful but it makes my eyes a good target for enemies. If I am blinded then I lose more than one sense."


    He smiled sadly at the mention of his own weakness and then he perked up with a small smile.


    "When I gained the ability, it took a long timefor me to get used to it. The extra information can be quite overwhelming at times. I am sure you are going through something similar."


    Sam looked at the hairs on his arm which had calmed down a little and nodded.


    "Thank you Richard. I will try to get used to it. It feels strange for my body to change so suddenly."


    "It is the magic and wonder of the Masteries. They have the power to change everything."


    Time paused and before the awkward silence could settle in again, Sam spoke.


    "Richard, I want to be able to fly. How do you fly and how can I learn?"


    Richard hovered a bit higher off the ground in response. He even did a little swirl before landing back on his feet.


    "It is not easy at all. You can learn an ability on Tier 4 of the Movement Mastery that lets you fly but getting to Tier 4 on the Movement Mastery is very difficult to achieve. I unlocked the ability because of my focus on Wind Masteries. The ability is very mana intensive and is difficult to master. I have been practicing with it for a while and it is still difficult. I can only use it for a few minutes at a time."


    Sam sighed. Was all the cool stuff always out of reach?


    "Don''t worry. There are many abilities that resemble true flight and why do you care about flight if you can breathe underwater?"


    Richard cocked an eyebrow and smirked.


    Sam blushed.


    "I am assuming Aunty Annabelle told you? It is only has a limited duration."


    Richard blinked his eyes in surprise.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "You already have water breathing?"


    Sam frowned.


    "Didn''t Aunty tell you?"


    Richard shook his head and began speaking.


    "I joined our Elder on one of his journeys to meet one of the Water Elders. I only got to meet a Water Master and we chatted. I assumed half of what he was saying was lies because he was a merman but over the years, I have realised that he might have been telling the truth. Since you have Water Mastery, I wondered if you had some of skills that he told me about so I guessed. Can you talk with water? What about conjuring balls of water to follow you?"


    Sam paused momentarily as he gathered his thoughts.


    "The water gives me information but it isn''t the same as talking and no I can''t make balls of water. What is a Water Elder?"


    Richard scratched his head which ruffled his straight black hair. It was cut in a messy manner that covered his ears and neck. He combed it with his hair before responding.


    "Annabelle mentioned that your knowledge is a bit lacking. Answer my question first and I will answer yours, what is an Elder?"


    Sam was surprised to be put on the spot but was grateful to Annabelle for warning Richard that he didn''t know much. He didn''t want to be laughed at.


    "An Elder is someone who has lived for many years and is someone who is respected... and they are also really powerful?"


    He tried but knew that there was more to it. The way Annabelle had spoken of their Elder has been with great reverence.


    Richard nodded and spoke.


    "You are correct but that is a very simple description that does not mention many important parts of what makes up an Elder. An Elder is an Elemental Leader. They represent the will of an Element in a region. My Elder who I serve under, who is also Annabelle''s father, is the Nature Elder who protects the Thistlevale region. It is a large area from the coast to the mountain ranges north of Haventown."


    Richard smiled at Sam''s surprise.


    "In order to be a Nature Elder you must have at least completed Tier 5 of a Nature mana Mastery. I am only on Tier 3 of the Beast Mastery because I have also focused on the Wind Mastery. Annabelle has focused on theNature Masteries because her goal is to succeed her father as the Elder."


    Sam blinked. Annabelle wanted to become an Elder? An Elder sounded much more powerful than he had originally thought. Was Annabelle really that powerful?


    "But isn''t Aunty Annabelle a farmer. Why would she want to become the Elder?"


    Even as he said the words, he realised that the whole Underwood family seemed knowledgable on many topics. Was that unusual for a farmer?


    "I am not sure how many farmers you have met but the Underwood family is no ordinary family of farmers. There was no way anyone related to a Sultan-"


    Sam had been looking at a rat scuttle nearby when Richard had abruptly stopped speaking. He heard a sloshing sound which was followed by a splatter of liquid.


    Sam looked at Richard to see him looking down. A black blade was sticking out of his chest and it was covered in blood which was hissing and bubbling on the blade.


    The blade slid back and out of Richard and he collapsed onto the straw covered floor as blood began pouring out of the wound.


    Sam threw up in his mouth and then onto the barn floor. His mind was struggling to comprehend what had just happened.


    They had just been talking? He hadn''t seen anyone enter the barn¡­ Where had the blade come from?


    Sam''s skin felt raw with sensitivity. Was there mana in the area? Who?


    He felt overwhelming fear grip him as he looked around and saw no one. It threatened to overwhelm him but he fought against it. He forced himself to keep looking for someone or something.


    There was no one except Richard who was lying motionless on the floor. Sam couldn''t see where the black blade was either.


    He rushed towards Richard to check on him but before he could arrive a punch hit his stomach. Several ribs cracked as he flew a few meters.


    He landed painfully against a wooden pen and slumped down. His chest burned painfully at every breathe and his vision was blurry.


    A black shape moved in front of him and in his direction.


    Was he going to die?


    He refused to let himself be a victim again. He gritted his teeth and pushed against the barn floor with his feet. His attempts at moving away were quite ineffective and painful but he kept trying.


    He heard a chuckle from the black shadow as it got closer. He wiped his eyes, hoping to see more clearly.


    His eyes focused and he still saw no one. The black shape was gone. He looked towards Richard''s body and noticed something strange. It had begun glowing intensely with green light.


    Suddenly his vision of Richard was blocked by a man who appeared from nowhere. He wore black clothes that covered his whole body, even his face was covered. He had two identical black blades attached to his hands with the left blade dripping with Richard''s blood.


    "Boy, you are coming with me." The man''s voice was surprisingly youthful which seemed to contradict the imposing figure.


    The right blade retracted as he reached to grabbed Sam''s neck.


    Sam tensed. He needed to do something. He needed to escape. He tried to reach out to any nearby water but found none. Maybe he could try punch and kick the man and try get away? His throbbing ribs disagreed with that idea.


    Before he could put a plan into action, the man was suddenly pulled backwards. He flew across the barn like he was being yanked by an invisible cord.


    Sam watched in disbelief as Richard was standing in a pool of his own blood. One hand was on the wound in his chest, glowing green andhis other arm was directed towards the man in black.


    It appeared that Richard was controlling the air around the attacker. Sam watched as the man in black was whipped back and forth in midair before being slammed forcefully headfirst into the barn floor.


    "Sam! Come here quickly!¡±