《The Isolated Mage》 Prologue ''God damn its cold here'' I thought as I walked across the white snow of the North Pole, pulling a sled behind me ''I guess it''s what I expected cold and isolation but that''s just fine with me at least I''mused to it now after walking for a month without someone to talk to.Well, I have a satellitephone to use if I get stuck but I don''t plan on using it to call my friends.'' After walking for a while I think, ''Wait now that I''m close, I should check my supplies.'' I walk over to the sled and open the bag sitting on top. ''Well, I have enough food for 2 months, if I ration it that is. So I shouldn''t die ofstarvation, as for water, I can always melt the snow and drink it if I need to. I have a tent to sleep in and some extra thermal clothes. Some climbing equipment if I need to get up high and, I also have a crossbow if any bears come at me. So far so good there though, I haven''t seen any. Which is both sad and lucky I really wanted to see a bear on this journey. I don''t exactly wanna kill one but if it tries to make me dinner, there''ll be nothing else for it. Thinkingof bears'' I look around just in case any are near, as I do a mess of black hair appears at the side of my vision ''Oh... Right I haven''t had my hair cut in two months. Not since me and my girlfriend split up... Well I was sort of expecting itbut, hey, enough of my love life I''m almost there. The arctic circle, finally after almost 4 years of dreaming and planning, I''m actually gonna get there!'' ''Hello boring humans...'' ...Wait what is that voice? ''As you are currently wondering who this is inside of your head. Allow me to introduce myself.I am a god.'' Did the isolation make me schizophrenic? ''Cause I''m hearing a voice. ''Don''t worry little Humans you''re not going crazy it''s happening to everyone,and because I am a god, I have a very important notice for you.'' Alright, I''m listening. ''You humans are soooooo boring with your daily lives, rules, laws, rights,strugling for purpose it''s all soo boring and pitiful. Seeing as how the other gods are occupied at the moment, I''ve decided that I want some entertainment. So I''ve come up with a plan, and that is that your entirespecies shall go to a new world... One where I''ve made the system.It''s like an RPG,not only will the system be there but also there will be monsters. I suggest youdon''t forget to level up.'' ...Woah I think he just insulted all of humanity, wait a sec, if we get sent to a new world will I still be in the arctic? O boy this is gonna suck if it''s like that, although, leveling upsweet! *internal fist pump* I love RPGs and haven''t played one in ages. Though I hope I get to keep my stuff or I''m gonna die here. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! SYSTEM START IN 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... STARTUP COMPLETE WELCOME TO THE SYSTEM [OKAY] As the blue transparent screen appears I exclaim inside my head, ''Woah!! It really is like an RPG with the screen, is that my eyes or the world?!I wonder if I get to choose my class'' I think as I press okay on the screen. WELCOME BLAKE SMITH ''Well I guess it''s not a suprise that it knows my name, it was made by a god after all.'' PLEASE SELECT A STARTING CLASS OUT OF THE CLASSES PROVIDED CLASS CHANGES ARE POSSIBLE AT CERTAIN LOCATIONS AND AREAS (WARRIOR) (MAGE) (CLERIC) (THEIF) (RANGER) (KNIGHT) (SUMMONER) (GUARDIAN) (ASSASIN) ''Mage it is I don''t even need to look at the other classes'' I reach forward and press (MAGE) on the screen. YOU HAVE SELECTED MAGE PLEASE SAY ''STATUS'' TO SEE CURRENT CLASS ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS ''Okay thanks for pointing out the obvious but "Status"'' NAME: BLAKE SMITH CLASS: MAGE TITLE: NONE HP: 50/50 MP: 75/75 STATUS: HEALTHY/COLD ATTRIBUTES??? STR:11 AGI:8 VIT:10 INT:15 WIS:10 CHA:6 LCK:8 UNASSIGNED POINTS: 0 SKILLS: NONE CURRENT MANA REGEN IS 0.5/MIN ''My attributes are pretty good considering I''m a mage. I wish my LCK and CHA were higher but, I wasn''t the most social person,nor the luckiest but it''s fine. Seeing how my HP is 50 and my VITis 10, it must be 5 points of HP for every point in VIT. Also I guess that must mean the same for INT in MP. So I wonder what WIS does?'' WISDOM HELPS WITH MANA REGENERATION CURRENT MP REGEN IS 0.5/MIN ''Well that''s helpful that must mean that seeing as my WIS is 10. It''s0.05 for every point of WIS so what does LCK and CHA do?'' CHARISMA HELPS IN HOW ATTRACTIVE YOU APPEAR AND ALSO HELPS IN SPEECH WITH OTHER SYSTEM USERS LUCK IS THE STAT ASSOCIATED WITH DROPS FROM ENEMIES LUCK HELPS IN THAT MORE AND BETTER LOOT IS DROPPED WHEN ENEMIES ARE KILLED ''So drop rate and persuasion, it''s okay that CHA is a little low it won''t matter much, not like people are here. LCK however,that could be more useful to me, givenwhere I am'' TELEPORT TO NEW WORLD IN 10... 9... ''Well I better get ready for this, I should grab my crossbow and sledso I don''t lose them when I teleport.'' I run to the sled, grabbing my crossbow from itand holding onto it tightly as the system countsdown nears the end. 3... 2... 1... Just before the countdown ends I shout out at the top of my lungs ''IM READY BRING IT ON!!!'' A battle cry to get myself pumped up before it all changes. TELEPORT START Chapter 1 As my vision flickered for a moment as the countdown finished Ivery quickly realized that I was in danger. I was screwed by that damn system, teleported me 20 meters away from the most deadly looking blizzard, a wall of ice and snow, bigger than I had ever seen. Countless ice shardswere thrown from the vortex of ice, snow and wind. Into the fresh snow on the ground. As I looked around I also noticed that with the amount of snow in the air it was incredibly dark, snow usually illuminates a space, yet I could not even see a foot into the blizzard. As I was staring into the icy darkness in front of me, the giant blizzard of death came edging closer,I grumble loudly; ''Uh oh, I really need to get out of herelike now. Shouldn''t there be a tutorial for first time users? What kind of a damn system is this?'' I start torun, in the opposite direction, my lungs hurting from the cold air. ''This is pointless, I''ll never outrun this monstrosity, think, find somewhere to wait it out.'' There are absolutely tons of blizzards moving all around the place I pale as I think of what will happen if I get caught up in one of those things and how on Earth to escape the very deadly storm inside. ''Ican''t just run, eventually I''ll get trapped by themand I can''t just sit still and wait for the storm to die down, God dammit Blake, think, think...'' After a few seconds of contemplation and idea pops into my head ''I''ve got it I''ll burrow myself into the snow and let the storm pass over me, it''s worth a shot, right? Right?!'' As I start digging, I end up in a panic, the blizzards all around me coming togetherforming into one giant one right infront of my eyes. It was growing by the second, and it was heading right at me. I start digging like a madman with my gloved hands shouting encouragement. "COME ON! COME ON!! COME ON BLAKE!!!" I manage to make a small hole with my hands, about 4ft, just enought for me to get in and curl up into a fetal position. ''I''ll have to leave my sled up here, I don''t have the time nor space to bury it. Ijust hope it doesn''t get absolutely shredded by the blizzard'' As the blizzard of death gets closer. I crawl into the hole, taking a last look at the agony heading my way, as I crawl in I thanked a god I never believed in that I wasn''t claustrophobic. As I settled in for a long wait I felt suprisingly safe in the pure white hole. ''This must be what rabbits feel when they make a home.'' I try and make the hole a little bigger so that I can move my hands and make a place to put my crossbow thats currently digging into my side as i finished got curious if i took damage while i was outside so i opened my status. ''Status'' NAME: BLAKE SMITH CLASS: MAGE TITLE: FIRST ARCTIC EXPLORER HP: 50/85 MP: 75/75 STATUS: HEALTHY/COLD ATTRIBUTES????? STR: 11 AGI: 8 VIT: 17 INT: 15 WIS: 10 CHA: 6 LCK: 10 UNASSIGNED POINTS: 0 SKILLS:[COLD RESIST LVL 1][FEAR RESIST LVL 1][SURVIVOR LVL 1] ''Oooookay, apparently my stats went up, just by being here, I understand[COLD RESIST] and [FEAR RESIST] but what''s SURVIVOR, O great and wise system?'' SURVIVOR: SKILL GIVEN TO USERS WHO SURVIVE EVEN IN THE HARSHEST ENVIROMENTS VIT+2 ''Well it''s more VIT so I can''t complain, but where did the rest of the points come from? And what''s this FIRST ARCTIC EXPLORER title O mighty and wise system?'' FIRST ARCTIC EXPLORER IS A TITLE GIVEN TO THE FIRST HUMAN SYSTEM USER TO REACH THE UNEXPLORED ARCTIC {THIS IS A UNIQUE TITLE ONLY GIVEN TO THE FIRST HUMAN USER TO REACH THE ARCTIC} VIT+5 LCK+2 ''Well it''s pretty much what''s to be expected from a title with first in itbut, I''m worried that my HP is still the same as before I got the title, does HPregenerate automatically or what?'' HP REGEN 1 HP PER HOUR COLD STATUS -1 HP/H ''So basically because I''m cold my HP regen and loss are balanced, so Idon''t gain or lose HP I''m definitely gonna have to fix this. Ihave a lighter buuuuut it''s in the sled, and, well, I don''t exactly want to get ripped apart, limb by limb. It''s number 3 on my list of ways Ido not want to die. Number 1 is of course, being eaten by a kraken in the deep sea.'' Side tracked by my thoughts I begin to fear if my number one is now a reality in this new world. ''Oh no, oh no, if this is a fantasy world and there is monsters, then,there''s gonna be sea monsters. King of which is a kraken, undoubtedly.'' I was snapped out of my internal panic by a small *ding*. [FEAR RESIST LVL UP] ''Either this system is pitying me, or mocking me, either way, I''m not a fan right now.'' [WIS+1] ''I knew it!! This damn system.'' I thought as i scowled at the screen. ''Okay, okay, enough of that. I need to get myself warm,in all those stories about people with magic it seems to bethat there is a mana pool inside of me I just need to figure out how to use it.'' I close my eyes and think of my body with a small pool of mana in me, I imagine it moving down to my left hand and collecting in my palm, as I gather more and more mana I feel a burning sensation in my hand. I open my eyes in a flash to look and see my hand disintegrating with a blue flame, along with the most agonizing pain I''ve ever felt in my life. ''AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!'' The longest7 seconds in my life and all I had to show, or not show for it, was that my hand was completely gone, turned to ash. It wasn''t long after that my vision went black and I passed out. I woke up after what felt like days, glancing down at my left arm, to find it finished sooner than it should. The truth of it dawning on me. ''How could I be so stupid. Lost my damn hand on day one. It sounded so easy to use mana when I readabout it in those books. I don''t think I''m supposed to use mana internally. It didn''texactly help me, it''s burnt my hand into a fucking ash pile and the pain was worse than I could bear. So much so that I passed out, wait did Ipass out due to pain? Or did I run out of mana? ''Cause it looked like after my hand burned in the blue flame it went out and then I passed out. Well I''ll have to be more careful than that,but thank god I''m right handed.'' After getting over the shock of losing my hand, Idecided to check my status once more to see if it had any information about my body, mainly though, if there was any information about my hand. ''Status'' NAME: BLAKE SMITH CLASS: MAGE TITLE: FIRST ARCTIC EXPLORER HP: 20/85 MP: 75/75 STATUS: HEALTHY/COLD/DISMEMBERED ATTRIBUTES??? STR: 11 AGI: 8 VIT: 17 INT: 15 WIS: 11 CHA: 6 LCK: 10 UNASSIGNED POINTS: 0 SKILLS: [COLD RESIST LVL 2][FEAR RESIST LVL 2][SURVIVOR LVL 1] [MANA RESIST LVL 1][PAIN RESIST LVL 2][MANA MANIPULATION LVL 1] ''Let''s see got some skills, almost died, have a status called DISMEMBERED. All in a few hours work. Well... Anyway... Lets see what it says for the status effect DISMEMBERED, shall we? Ipress on the screen where DISMEMBERED is. DISMEMBERED IS A STATUS THAT IS USED FOR WHEN USERS HAVE LOST A LIMB ''Well what should I expect from the obvious name,at least the description doesn''t say give the guy a hand will ya.'' STATUS DISMEBERED HAS BEEN CHANGED TO HANDLESS FOR USER BLAKE SMITH HANDLESS STATUS GIVEN TO USER BLAKE SMITH FOR MISSING A HAND {GIVE THE POOR GUY A HAND WILL YA} ''Oi now this system is diliberatly making fun of me.'' ''You betcha it''s making fun of you.'' ''I''m hearing that damn self proclaimed god''s voice again.'' ''Oi oi oi, I''m not self proclaimed just ask one of the races native to this world. O wait you can''t ''cause you''restuuuuuuuuuck uuuuuuuuuup heeeeeeeeeeeeeere.'' ''Urgh, take the mocking somewhere else will ya.'' ''Nah, I''m actually enjoying watching your struggles,ONE MAN, ALONE, TRYING TO SURVIVE. AN EPIC TALE'' The self proclaimed god said in a tone as if he was introducing a terrible action movie, you know the ones, box office flops. ''Come on if I get a narrator, can''t it be a voice like Morgan Freeman? Huh I wonder if he''s in a better situation than me at the moment.'' (GOD)well most of the 7 billion humans i transported here are grouping up and forming small tribes but the militaries of each country are forming there respective countries again but this time they have the power not the goverment at the moment there also gathering scientists and civilians to recruit into there new countries well mainly scientists so that they can make weapons that work in this world. so basically it''s a race for who can make the best weapons first. (GOD)yup great isn''t it . eh not really my problem at the moment. (GOD)well im going to go cause i have god stuff to do oh i almost forgot here as he said that i heard a sound of something droping on the snow above me it''s a staff a magicians robe and a book about mana im giving you preferental treatment because it''s enjoyable to watch you struggle p.s don''t worry about the blizzards the''ve gone it''s safe to come up out of your hidie hole little rabit. well that was something but i have no time to waste now that the blizzards are gone i think as i start digging up with my one hand with my crossbow tucked under my other arm as i breach the surface i pull myself out of the hole and stand up as i look around i see that it''s still dark and snowy but no blizzard of death is here i see my sled broken and the bags on it strewn about and next to the hole i dug out i see a big leather book that looks very old a pure white staff about a meter long wich i almost didn''t notice because of the colour and a white old looking incredably long wizards robe its sleeves are one and a half times bigger than my arm and it looks like id trip on the bottom due to its length well its not like im gonna change out of my snowsuit when its -30 out here i need shelter i go over and grab the robe "i wonder" i mutter under my breath and think about how usualy items in rpg''s let you see there bonuses "apraise" nothing happened alright lets try "inspect" as i said it a screen poped up out of nowhere ROBES OF THE FROST MAGE WIS+5 INT+10 DURABILITY 500/500 SKILLS [COLD RESIST LVL 5][CRYOMANCY RESIST LVL 5][CRYOMANCY EMPOWERMENT] ROBES GIVEN TO ICE MASTER ALEXANDER FOR HIS HELP IN SEALING FROST DRAGON YMIR IN THE FAR NORTH RATING:UNIQUE uh oh that seems like a very big flag frost dragon ymir huh after raising what seem to be a death flag i decide to go on a inspecting spree STAFF OF THE FROST MAGE INT+5 DURABILITY 500/500 SKILLS [CRYOMANCY EMPOWERMENT] RESTRICTIONS {CAN ONLY BE USED TO CAST CRYOMANCY MAGIC} GIVEN TO THE ICE MASTER ALEXANDER FROM HIS TEACHER FOR HIS GRADUATION FROM MAGE ACADEMY DUE TO ALEXANDERS UNIQUE MANA HE CAN ONLY USE CRYOMANCY TYPE MAGIC SO HIS TEACHER THOUGHT THAT THE STAFF WAS A PERFICT FIT FOR HIM RATING:UNIQUE MAGIC THEORY VOL 1 A BOOK MADE FOR APPRENTICE MAGES IN THE FIRST STAGE OF LEARNING MAGIC WRITTEN BY THE FATHER OF THE MAGIC ARTS INT+2 ONCE READ RATING:RARE HIGH TECH CROSSBOW DAMAGE:C CROSSBOW BROUGHT FROM A DIFFIRENT WORLD RATING:UNIQUE cool so thats everything inspected time to salvage what i can from the broken sled as i start collecting everything i very quickly realize that the blizzard managed to obliterate the pack with my food in it i could only salvage 1 weeks worth of food from my original 2 months worth of food but hell its food i was starving in that damn hole as i salvage the rest of my gear i make a mental list of prioritys in my mind. okay i need shelter definitely secondly i need warmth and then i need to find some civilisation not sure if there will be towns or villages in this freezing hell but im a glass half full kinda guy next i need to read that mana book and wear those long ass robe because a snowsuit out here just ain''t gonna cut it for warmth. i grab the rope i had with my climbing gear and tie one part of it to the climbing harness i have and the other part around the remaning 3 bags with equipment in it and then wear the harness so that i have a makeshift sled. then i started to walk i walked for a few hours before i saw something of note in the distance as i got closer i knew immediatly what it was. a hill huh and damn its big i guess this is the best its gonna get for shelter i thought as i approuched it and started so make a small hole in it using the remains of the sled as a sort digging tool i continued digging until i had a area of 4X4 meters i placed my tent and set it up at the back of the makeshift cave and started unpacking my gear. i still have pretty much everything exept the food seems a bit suspicious to me but i don''t think blizzards eat so it must be my bad luck anyway lets put this damn robe on i headed to the tent and got in to change into the robe i got. well this is much better who would have thought that those old robes would be this comfortable i still need to do some thing about the length of the bottom but i can learn to live with the massive sleeves i thought as i stepped out of the tent much better than that stuffy snow suit and warmer well i guess it''s because of magic speaking of magic i thought and went over to grab the book i was given. i sat down at the mouth of the makeshift cave and opened the book about magic i was given and as i did a brilliant white light enveloped my vision and blinded me as i shut my eyes to block out the light i heard the ding of the system as i opened one eye to see what it was i saw that the light had stopped and a message was there infront of the book. DUE TO THE USER READING A RARE MAGIC BOOK THE USER HAS GAINED THE TITLE [SCHOLAR] INT+3 yus lets see my new status. NAME:BLAKE SMITH CLASS:MAGE TITLES:[FIRST ARCTIC EXPLORER][SCHOLAR] HP:85/85 MP:150/150 STATUS:HEALTHY/HANDLESS ATTRIBUTES STR:11 AGI:8 VIT:17 INT:20+(10) WIS:11+(5) CHA:6 LCK:10 UNASSIGNED POINTS:0 SKILLS:[COLD RESIST LVL 5][FEAR RESIST LVL 2][SURVIVOR LVL 2] [MANA RESIST LVL 1][PAIN RESIST LVL 2][MANA MANIPULATION LVL 5] [CRYOMANCY RESIST LVL 5][CRYOMANCY EMPOWERMENT] seems like my stats got a boost aswell as my understanding about magic judging by my level of mana manipulation but damn that book was good i now understand why i lost my hand it seems it was because mana is highly volitile when compresed so when i gathered all of it inside of something the size of a hand it was so pressured that it was looking for a way out so it destroyed the container similar to when you throw a can of spray deoderant in a fire. after my understanding setion on losing my hand the i got up from the snowie floor of my improvised cave and decided to use this week to train in my magic and after the food has run out i''d go search for something to eat. *4 days later* ''pant... pant...'' sigh this magic business is alot more difficult then my stats would have me belive i thought as i run out of mana for the 3rd time today sigh i guess i just have to mess around and find a style that''s right for me i wonder if i could combine magic with my crossbow i thought as i walked over to my tent and grabbed the crossbow inside i sat down next to the tent and put the crossbow inbetween my legs so i could load it with one hand. there better be a magic prosthetic for me to find soon because this one handed business is really damn annoying i thought as i reached for the bolts in the tent after much hardship and a few curse words i finally managed to load the crossbow. i stood reviling in my success and begun trying to come up with a way to supply the bolt with magic after reading that book on magic manipulation i was versed in lots of ways to use mana but the one that caught my eye was that everything could absorb a certan amount of mana even my crossbow bolt''s thinking this i reached my handless arm over and touched the stump against the metal and started to put mana in it being carefull not to make it explode or burst into blue flames. after pouring in a appropriate ammount of mana i checked to see how much i had used MP 120/150 eh thirty points isn''t that bad but that means i can only use it 5 times before im out of mp okay lets see what this baby can do i thought as i went outside and found a few snowmen that i had made for the use of practicing magic i walked untill i was around 10 meters away from one of them i noticed that a few of them were half destroyed or missing bits and pieces due to the failure of trying various spells i pushed my embarressment at not being very good at magic down into the depths of my mind and aimed my crossbow at one of the less destroyed ones. i pulled the trigger and the bolt exploded as soon as it hit the snowman and produced a blue flame that exploded and destroyed all the other snowmen in a 5 meter area a gust of wind ruffled my mage robes and my black long hair whipped back woah now that was awesome not like those half assed attempts in the day''s before as the thick black smoke and ash settled down on the snow i looked around for the bolt i shot and found that it was destroyed by the explosion i guess that''s the tradeoff for that attack although it''s powerfull it destroys the bolt now for the next shot wait sigh i have to load it again don''t i. huh there''s gotta be a better way to do this hey there''s magic in this world why don''t i use some form of telekinisis to load the bolt as i walked back to the makeshift cave i placed the crossbow on the floor near the entrance and walked to the tent and grabbed the pack of now four bolts and got one out dropping the rest on the floor as i did eh i''ll clean it up later i walked back over near the crossbow and looked at the bolt in my hand and imagined it flying in my hand to no avail you need contact with something to use mana with it so why don''t i just make a mana string to hold it damn Blake your a genius i mentally praised myself as i thought of a string coming from my hand made of mana grabbing onto the bolt it succeded now to make it fly as i tensed the string trying to make the bolt float with the string i heard a message from the system. GAINED SKILL[MANA STRING] ah yes the everhelpful system at least your here to help with that message from the system the mana string got easier to move well now that i have a somewhat interesting skill lets train in my new specialty ah i can picture it now the crossbow mage they''ll sing my praise through the world for the marvalous use of magic and crossbow combined as i went down the rabbit hole even more i started to train with my new way to use magic. *3 days later* i guess it''s time to leave huh i thought as i got up from the snowie floor with a energy bar in hand i walked over to my tent finishing the energy bar i had in my hand as i walked once i finished it i threw the wrapper on the floor in the tent and grabbed the crossbow i had with my right hand as i grabbed it a small tendrill of blue mana reached for the pack of 4 bolts that was next to it in the tent as the tendril got closer to the pack the end of the tendril changed into a small hand and grabbed the pack tossing the pack of four bolts over to me the tendrill dissapeared and the four bolts exited from the pack and procided to rotate around my head if seen from far away one would mistake this for the suposed telikinesis that psychics in the 21st century claimed they had but in reality there were small tendrills of mana similar to the one that grabbed the pack of bolts holding the 4 bolts around his head well thank god i managed to learn this before i had to go look for food. right now i need to grab what i need to hunt i thought as i quickly went around and grabbed things that may be useful in a hunt against monsters right i have 4 bolts a crossbow a magic staff and magic ah how will i take the magic staff i cant use the mana string to hold it its too heavy it takes 5 mana a hour just to float one of those bolts even if there pretty light it still ads up to losing mp id rather have most of my mana if i start a fight if possible hmmmm ah i''ll just tie the staff to me using rope as a psedo holster i thought as i grabbed the spare rope for climbing and tied it around my waist and made it a little bit loose so i could put it there without much difficulty and after confirming that it didnt bash into my knees as i walked i ventured forth into the land of snow and ice. sigh im a bit nervous about not finding food in this wastland but still i need to find some my luck shouldn''t be that bad saying that i did lose my hand on the first day here so who knows as i walked for an hour or two a horrible realization dawned over me "aaaaaaaaa! damn i forgot to have some way of finding my way back i''m damn stupid" as i said that admition of stupidity out loud i heard some thing like snow being trod on i very quckly stop walking to make sure that it''s not my own footsteps ''crunch''''crunch'' wait thats not me. i immediately went into alert mode and started scanning the surroundings but as i did the noise stopped as quick as it started i continuesly scanned around me with my mana bolts at the ready aiming at each piece of snow that could be used for cover by something as i aimed at one of the possible hiding places i heard a noise of rapid footsteps and a blur in the corner of my eye i quickly turn to where i saw the blur and shouted "WHO''S THERE... COME OUT NOW I HAVE A CROSSBOW AND I''M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT!". As i shouted that i saw the blur again this time i could make out a bit of grey as i saw it dash to another hiding place what the hell is it,fuck im really out of my depth here i need to get out of here now as i came up with a plan i saw the blur poke its head out gray skin bald head pointed ears black eyes and razor sharp elongated teeth were what i saw when the figure decided to reveal itself i was shocked at how human it looked and how unhuman it looked oh fuck by any chance is it some form of friendly elf i immediatly regretted my naivety as i heard the loudest shreik come out its mouth "WWWWRRRRRAAAAAGGGGGG!!""AAAHHHHH". I shelded my ears with my hand and stump due to the loud noise that pierced right through me making my ears bleed dropping my crossbow in the process as well as my bolts that were held in place due to my concentracion that was broken due to the immense pain coursing through my head as i knelt down due to the pain and closed my eyes in reflex due to it i realized my error no what have you done you fool open your fucking eyes and see what that damn thing is doing after realizing my mistake i opened my eyes and was scared because the crature was no longer in my sight as i looked around deafened by the scream the creature let out moments ago i saw a flash of grey in front of my vision and a frightening amount of pain in my face "FUUUUUUUCKKKKKK YOU FUCK AHHHHH" i saw the blood come down over my eyes and used my hand to try and wipe it away unsuccesfulley as i did i felt what the creature had done to my face five long cuts were across my face bleeding profussley luckally missing my eyes by a centermeter i shouted due to the immense anger i felt at the creature "WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU ARE IM GONNA FUCKING GUT YOU AND MAKE YOU INTO A FUCKING FLAG YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE". I reached over and grabbed the crossbow on the ground and got into a kneeling position and used my mana strings to load the crossbow i had in my hands i looked around for the creature franticaly but all i heard were gurgling sounds and the sound of very fast feet fuck how can i fucking kill him if i can''t fucking see him as that thought passed my mind rapidly i saw the blur infront of my vision and more pain this time on my back but due to the adrenalin from the first time the creature cut me i didn''t feel it that much i simply grunted and continued to scan the area if this goes on im gonna die in this fucking place i need to do something drastic here. I channeled mana into my brain to try and speed up my perception and it worked i managed to see the creature granted only for a second but i managed to deduce what made those cuts on my face and back five elongated sharp fingers were on the things hand and it ran on all fours like an animal as i forced more mana into my brain and eyes it got slower and slower until i could see it as if it were running it was a 2.30 meter grey hairless humanoid with very long arm''s and leg''s disproporcionat to its body its arm''s reached down till it''s knees and its legs were 3/4ths of its body. I aimed my crossbow at it as i saw it running for me again this time able to see it as it got to 9 meters i shot and prayed that it hit as the bolt flew straight at its torsoe i watched in anticipation as the crossbow approched its torso come on come on COME ON!! as the bolt neared its torso the creature dodged nimble with its body and using it''s frekishly long arms it plucked the bolt out of the air and looked at it as the creature looked at the bolt i was stunned by how fast it moved no way it plucked a crossbow bolt out of the air bolts fly at 300 feet a second just how fast is this thing as i kneeled there stunned at the show of agility i saw i came back to reality as the creature ran back to cover i loaded the next bolt and pressed magic into this one why not catch this one asshole Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.as it dashed around i waited for my chance again as it aprouched once again i fired my crossbow and smirked as the creature did the same thing it did to the first bolt and plucked it out of the air as it exploded i saw fear on the creatures face for 1/10th of a second before the area around it was consumed with a explosion of blue flames i shouted as the black smoke arose from the explosion "ha see that you fuck im top dog around here now and im gonna ...!" cut short from my victory celebration i saw the creature rise from the settling black smoke and ash with blue flames over it''s body it screamed and rushed towards me "WWWWRRRRAAAAGGGGHHHH" oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck im dead aren''t i no im not gonna fucking die here am i come on blake are you an idiot that''s gonna die here in the middle of nowhere or are you gonna win and use this magic thats so useful it''s frightening to destroy this fuck infront of you. After that thought my mind kicked into overdrive and started to work as fast as possible using all the mana and willpower i had i dropped the crossbow i had and grabbed the staff in my holster with my hand stood up and got into a baseball pose as the creature got closer and closer more and more adrenelin filled my brain and as it got in striking distance i swung as fast as i could with all my strength and bashed the staff across the creatures head i hit it so hard i heard a crack in both the staff and the creatures skull as the creature flew back due to the ridiculus amount of strength put in the swing till it was 4 meters away my mind went blank and i stood there for a few seconds until one thought came up in my mind i won as that thought surfaced i walked over to the body to look at my kill and as i got halfway there my legs gave way under my own weight and i was forced to lay on my side due to collapsing no more adrenaline huh my eyelids felt heavy and the pain of the cuts on my face and back were coming back i guess this is the end of me huh i was expecting a big bang for my death not to be snuffed out like a candle huh maybe death isn''t so bad i feel... warm it feels like im in bed in my house laying in on a sunday evening... it feels comfortable like a hug from mom NO! im not gonna damn well die here my eyes flashed open and i felt my mana i pushed the remains of my mana to the wounds on my face and back to try and recover as i felt the cuts slowly heal i fainted due to the expenditure of mana as in my unconsius state i heard the reminescent ding of a system message. As i came to i had the worst headache in my life i pushed myself up with the help of my hand and stump out of the snow that had formed around me and looked around to confirm where i was thank god im not dead was the first thought that came into my head as i was examining the place where i confronted that monster i saw a arm with long sharp fingers pertruding out of the snow i walked over to the arm after grabing the crossbow the bolts and staff that was buried in the snow i put the crossbow under my left arm and using my right hand i pulled the creature from the snow to examine what i had gone up against. "inspect" ELVEN WENDIGO A MONSTER THAT MUTATED FROM A ELF AFTER IT WAS POSSESED BY A WENDIGO SPIRIT WENDIGO SPIRITS CAN ONLY CHOSE A HOST IF THE HOST HAS CONSUMED THE FLESH OF THE SAME SPECIES AS THE HOST THIS MONSTERS DANGER RATING IS:A- how the fuck did i kill this thing i must be fucking amazing although feeling my face as i thought maybe not considering i almost died and now have five massive scars on my face well i guess it got reckless and died because it underestimated that i have the awesome magic everyone will want to learn once i get out of this frozen wastland as i entered my fantasy world again i was snapped out of it due to the hunger i had oh right i was sopposed to get some damn food well mr wendigo it looks like we part here im gonna burn your body because it''s the least i can due to vent my anger at you as i ingected mana into the body i realized that i had larger amount of mana than before the fight i quickly inspected my status "status". NAME:BLAKE SMITH CLASS:MAGE TITLES:[FIRST ARCTIC EXPLORER][SCHOLAR][EXTREME HUNTER] HP:115/115 MP:160/160 STATUS:HEALTHY/HANDLESS ATTRIBUTES STR:15 AGI:10 VIT:23 INT:22+(10) WIS:13+(5) CHA:8 LCK:12 UNASSIGNED POINTS:0 SKILLS:[COLD RESIST LVL 5][FEAR RESIST LVL 4][SURVIVOR LVL 4] [MANA RESIST LVL 1][PAIN RESIST LVL 5][MANA MANIPULATION LVL 5] [CRYOMANCY RESIST LVL 5][CRYOMANCY EMPOWERMENT][MANA STRING LVL 4] [RAPID HEALING LVL 2][CROSSBOW MASTERY LOW LVL 5][MAN ENHANCED PERCEPTION LV 3] [LIMITLESS STRENGTH LVL 2] hell at least i got a lot of my attributes up thanks to killing that wendigo thing what''s this extreme hunter thing then o helpful system. [EXTREME HUNTER] TITLE GIVEN TO SYSTEM USERS WHO HAVE KILLED MONSTERS OVER DANGER RATING A ALL STATS +2 so whats this danger rating system then. DANGER RATING SYSTEM USED TO RATE MONSTERS DANGER LEVELS THE SCALE GOES FROM F TO SSS EXAMPLE: SLIME DANGER RATING: F GOBLIN DANGER RATING: E MAGICAL BEAST DANGER RATING: D ORC DANGER RATING: C OGRE DANGER RATING: B TROLL DANGER RATING: A WYVERN DANGER RATING: S DRAGON DANGER RATING: SS-SSS NOTE THAT THESE ARE THE BASE DANGER LEVELS OF THE SPECIES A MEMBER OF THE SPECIES CAN EXEED THERE RANK DUE TO ABILITY AND SKILLS EXAMPLE: ORC KING DANGER RATING:S METAL SLIME DANGER RATING:B ah it seems i''ve done something increadable killing a creature fourth from the top in danger rating, eh at least i got some stats from it anyway now that i know what this stuff is i think i''ll take my leave i found some very faint footsteps away from the battle site and followed the direction at least i don''t have to worry about getting home now i can just hansel and gretal my way back but instead of breadcrumbs it''s barely visable footprints. ah the snow has covered the footprints that were there but all i have to do is walk in a straight line as i didn''t change direction when i left for food ah food i stooped in my tracks as that thought made my stomach cry out in longing, fuck i''ll make my way back for now but i''ll have to head out tomorrow for some food as i walked i gradually saw the massive hill that i had made my makeshift home in i walked quicker in anticipation of siting down in the tent and relaxing as i reached the mouth of the makeshift cave i quickly made my way to the back where the tent was i unziped the door crouched inside and layed on the floor inside it and very quickly fell asleep. NEXT DAY i was roused from my sleep by the sound of scratching somewhere and brushed it off as my dog back home scratching the door to get out into the garden in my half asleep state but quickly awoke myself due to remembering where i was "where the hell is that comming from" i got out of the tent and looked all around the makeshift cave only to pinpoint the source of the scratching that was coming from deeper inside the hill. I decided it was time to have a look around the hill that i had called my home i walked out of the makeshift cave and walked around the hill as i got around to the other side i saw a cave with fog at the entrance the cave stuck out of the massive hill of snow like the entrance to a iglu as i looked closer there was a layer of black rock underneath the white oh is this the famed dungeon the hero encounters as he''s getting used to the world in all those books i''ve read ah if there is a dungeon then there''s monsters and if there''s monsters then there''s food "perfect" i mutter under my breath and ran back to my cave and grabbed the crossbow,bolts and staff that had half of it''s durability gone after killing the wendigo and ran as fast as i could towards the dungeon ignoring my hunger pains i ran to the cave entrance and as i approuched the fog at the dungeon entrance a window popped up. ARCTIC BEAST DUNGEON DUNGEON RATING: C seems like it''s the perfect dungeon for food a smile made it''s way onto my face as i thought this as i made my way past the fog i saw that inside of the dungeon on the wall was a wooden board that had a map of the dungeon huh it seems like this dungeon is one long cavern it spyrals in on itself and has a massive tube at the top of the spyral that goes underground it drops to the bottom of the board damn that''s a long way down i guess nobody''s been down there i memorize the map i look around this dungeon is massive. After memorizing the map i set off for some delicious food i make my way deeper inside the dungeon i wonder what food im going to eat if it''s dog then i dont mind that much but if it''s orc i dont think i''ll eat it although the tab of information said that someone only turns into a wendigo if they eat there own race so i think i''ll be okay but i don''t really want to eat something inteligent sigh i guess desperate times call for desperate measures even if it is a orc i guess i''ll have to eat but could it at least be the japanese style orc that looks like a pig if it''s the western style orc i may be sick but i guess i''ll still eat it ''scratch''''scratch'' broken out of my thought process that if anyone heard would question my sanity by the noise i look over to where it originated from and saw what was the best possible outcome for something to eat YES a bear thank god it isn''t a orc i noticed the bear was pure white and 3 meters tall but my need for food disregarded it''s appearence i quickly loaded the crossbow in my hands using my mana strings and aimed at it''s head while it was distracted scratching the wall for some reason i pulled the trigger and the bolt went straight through the bears head and pinged off the wall leaving the bears head in a pitiful state with a big hole through it with the bear colapsing to the ground i ran over to it and my thoughts went into a frenzy thinking off eating it yes yes now how to cook it well i don''t have any way but apart with magic so... wait calm down Blake let''s inspect this guy first "inspect". "MAGICAL POLAR BEAR" AN ANIMAL THAT BECAME MUTATED DUE TO THE MANA OF THE DUNGEON DUE TO THE CONSTANT EXPOSURE TO MANA IT HAS BECOME RESISTANT TO MAGICAL ATTACKS DANGER RATING C- yes it say''s nothing about being non edible that''s always a good sign alright now it''s time to cook this baby up i used the bolts i had to try and cut up the bear''s skin to get to the meat but after 10 minutes of trying all i could get was a disformed lump of meat and a sore hand i held the meat from the bear in my hand and imagined a hot fire under it after a minute i heard the sound of meat cooking a heat in my hand and a system message. [PYROMANCY SKILL OBTAINED] ah i guess i never did learn how to use fire after i got these mage robes i didn''t really need to after five minutes of cooking the meat that had turned from red to brown i couldn''t wait any longer and i ate the meat not caring that it burned my mouth and throat as i chewed and swallowed it ah that may be the best food i''ve ever tasted that may be the hunger talking but still as i sat down to get some more meat off of the bear carcase i heard footsteps i immediately loaded my crossbow and activated mana enhanced perception and turned around to see a bright flame and 4 human figures as soon as i saw them i could tell that they saw me too because they immediately changed to a diamond formation with the torch bearer in front and the other three behind him .I pushed the bear out away from the wall so i could use it as cover i crouched down behind it with my head and crossbow visable ready for combat as they got closer i made out the features of the humans coming towards me white hair white skin purple eyes leather armor pointed ear''s?! shocked by the realization that they weren''t humans but elves i shouted out "DON''T COME ANY CLOSER... STATE YOUR BUISNESS!" the elves where suprised at the loud voice and the one holding the torch walked forward but one of the other elves a girl tryed to stop him by pulling on his sholders "Eren have you lost your mind we are the only ones supposed to be in here that man is either a dwarf or a rogue elf we should report this to the elder immiedietly" i heard her whisper due to the mana enhancing my brain "your right fei we should report but first we should see the identity of our mysterious guest" eren said to fei "zil max spread out and block the exit fei take out your bow and give me cover if he try''s to attack you know what to do" the elven man whispered to the group the elves moved to block the exit all three spaced out evenly to be able to intercept me if i try to run for it as the elven man holding the torch walked towards me judging by what that elf said it seems that the dwarfs aren''t on freindly terms with the elves but luckaly im fairly tall so i should be fine now to talk and figure out where the hell i am. "greetings i am Eren of permafrost city what is your name stranger". ah he''s speaking like a gentlemen eh i guess i''ll talk to him in the same manner for now should i give him my name or should i give him a alieas hmm what should i call myself ah i''ve got it. "my name is Black greetings Eren of permafrost city might i ask why you act hostile to a humble traveler such as myself?" i said in a confident tone. "traveler you''ve got to come up with a better lie than that nobody ever travels this far north now tell us why your really here mr Black?". "that is the truth mr Eren i came here from a distant land and was looking for some food when a party of 4 elves decided to trap me in a dungeon" while not the whole truth it isn''t exactly a lie. "if you are a traveler then why are you here in this dungeon?". "well when i arrived in the north i lacked any sort of map or knowledge about the area and became lost after finishing off the last of my provisions i was looking for food when i stumbled across this dungeon, while enjoying a wonderful meal i was rudely interupted by a group of 4 elves and thus here i am" the elves looked at me suspiciously pondering whether to belive my story until fei spoke out in a mocking tone. "ha who would belive that stupid story coming here without a map or knowledge either your stupid or lying" ah she''s got me there. "ahhhh of course it was a lapse of judgement on my part however i truely have no clue where i am at the moment i only know i am in the far north .If possible i would like to come to the town of permafrost you speak of so that i may understand where exactly i am have a good meal and a place to stay where i dont have to constantly be on guard" after all the elves looked at me pitifuly Eren spoke up. "very well mr Black we will guide you to the town of permafrost so that you may rest however we shall not do it for free what can you offer us?". damnit i really don''t have much all i can give them is this bear at the moment "would you consider doing it for this bear that i killed". "terrible sorry but that is not enough to enlist our services although we came here to hunt a lone bear is not enough". ah i''ve gleamed some information from this it seems they came here for animals could they be here for food aswell. "well then would you consider my proposal" Eren spoke. "go on". "you help us hunt more animals such as that bear and then once we have enough we shall all leave together and journey to the town of permafrost". eh thats a better bargin than i expected "that is acceptable i agree". "that is very good but first allow me to ask what race are you?" Eren said in a stern voice. ah of course this will come up"i am human if you must know". "hu-man"the girl archer said in a confused voice. "yes human it is a fairly new race" i said dispeling the confusion as i stood upto show them my apperance one of them gasped after looking at my face. "do..do all humans have scars like that on there face?" one of the other elves at the back asked. "they do not this" i reached up to touch my face with the stump "...was when i encountered a wendigo" this time they all looked shocked. "a,a wendigo where did you encounter it?". "i encountered it whilst looking for food luckily i managed to kill it before it killed me but it took my hand and gave me these beauty marks"no need to tell them i lost my hand due to stupidity they must already think im an idiot already going somewhere like the far north without a map ah well let''s just keep the lie like this. "might i ask how did you kill something like a wendigo?" Eren asked in a curios tone. "i used a combination of magic and crossbow to slay it". "your a magic user aswell?". "yes i am a mage" i replied in a confident tone. "sigh i guess that''s enough questions come Black let''s hunt some monsters together so that i can see the skill that took down a wendigo." "oi Eren you sure we can trust him?" one of the elves said to Eren. "sure it''s fine the guy''s clean i checked him with my skill". huh skill must be something like seeing through lies eh im not worried im not exactly a bad guy i got up from behind the bear with my crossbow in hand and used my mana strings to pick up the bolts i walked over to Eren and he called the other elves over so i could meet them "here Black this musclehead over there is called zil" Eren said as he pointed to what looked like a elven bodybuilder with metal armor on about 2 meters tall with white skin white short hair and purple eyes holding a metal greatsheild with a golden tree painted on it and a mace that was out of place with how small it was compared to everything else "he''s a guardian" Eren added helpfully so that i knew his class. "and these two over here are feila and maxim " pointing over to the two remaining elves the girl feila was a textbook elven beauty pretty face excelent curves and pale white skin and hair tied into a neat ponytail different from everyone else in the party she had red eyes she was holding a bow in her hands and had a quiver of arrows on her back she was wearing leather armor with fur in certan parts of it such as the collar and the arms the man maxim had a toned build slim but powerfull he had purple eyes same as Eren and zil he was holding a longsword in one hand and a book in the other he was wearing the same type of leather armor the girl was wearing but had metal gauntlets instead of leather gloves "they are the ranger and cleric of our group and i of course am Eren the warrior and leader of the group"he said in a confident tone. "well as you already know im a mage and my name is Black" i said . "ah yes now that introductions are over with let''s hunt" as he said that the party started to move the guardian Zil in front Maxim behind him then me and Eren with feila at the back as we walked we hunted and we got deeper and deeper the first time i used my technique to load the crossbow eren asked me about it. "ah yea i lost my hand to that wendigo so i had to come up with a new way to load it with one hand and puting it between my legs took too much time so low and behold the mana string" i spoke in a confident tone. "you don''t use magic in the traditional way?" he asked puzzled. "it''s not like i can''t use it it''s just a bit difficult for me is all" i said in a dejected tone. "hahahahahah ah truth be told i switched my class for that very reason that''s why i respect mages a great deal i know how much concentration they must put into there spells" he doesn''t seem like such a bad guy but it''s never wrong to be a bit cautious. as we went up the spyral cave the monsters got more numerous and grew stronger with every encounter however with my assistance and the party''s teamwork we eventually made it to the large shaft at the top of the spyral i leaned over the hole and looked down the shaft that was around 4 meters wide to see uter darkness no light nothingness as if it were the void as i was leaning over the hole leading to the void i felt a foot on my lower back and looked back in suprise but it was too late i was already kicked into the hole i looked up at the elves and saw Eren smirking and a laughter coming from above why did they push me? i quickly tryed to use my mana strings to latch onto the wall but they were torn due to the weight in a desperate bid to stop my descent i grabbed the staff on my hip dropping the crossboow in the process imagining a layer of ice with alot of snow on top but as i went to cast it i was already moving too to cast it and for it not to kill me it was impossible im going to die. I had given up i was simply freefalling at this point until the shaft walls broke away leading to a absolutely massive dark cavern as i descended at terminal velocity i saw just how imense this cavern was as i was halfway to the ground and my death i heard a cry from what sounded like a bat "SCREEE" i looked around for the noise and realized that it was a absoulutely massive bat around 3 times bigger than me and it was flying towards me to intercept me before i hit the ground can''t i catch a break for once it''s been one problem after the othersince i arrived here now either i die as a smear on the ground or.. wait if that bat catches me i can survive this fall as i was gettting closer and closer to the ground the bat got faster and faster obviosly it''s a hunter if it want''s to eat me alive as the bat got closer it reached out it''s clawed feet to grab me as i was plumeting i let it grab me expecting a claw dug through my shoulders i readied my mana to heal the wound but much to my suprise it didn''t stab me it grabbed my mage robe and it gradually lowered it''s speed to cancel out the momentem as we aprouched the ground my mind was frantic trying to think of what the beast wanted me alive for if it was a normal predator it would just grab me not caring about the momentum but it did as we got lower to the ground i saw various lights and a few figures standing there as we got closer i could make out what it was it was a small village huh a village down here i guess this means they tamed this beast to grab people who fell as we got closer to the ground there was a group of very small people waiting outside the village as i got down to 1 meter off the ground the bat let go of me and i dropped to the ground hurting my feet when i landed i grunted and looked at the surroundings rocks strewn about and a large clearing with large rockfaces on all sides as if it were a gladiator pit were what i saw as i took in the surroundings. judging by the people waiting outside the village they must know im here by now as i was thinking about my situation i heard a chorus of footsteps and what looked like 10 small bulky bearded solders coming out of a path cut into the rock they surrounded me each had a wooden sheild that was as big as there body and a spear 1.5 meters long they were all wearing metal armour as if they were a order of knight''s dwarves huh id heard they were small but damn there only half my height as i was thinking about the second race i had encountered in this world a dwarf wearing purple robes and dazling rings with ginger hair and a massive beard steped into the clearing "welcome to the underground dwarven kingdom unknown creature as you are neather elf nor dwarf we would like to ask you what you are?" ah it looks like its some sort of noble by how he''s dressed. "if you do not speak the common tongue then we have mage''s capable of telepathy now please answer the question or you will not live very long" as he finished speaking the dwarves surrounding me all pointed there spears at me i guess he want''s me to introduce myself well then let''s hope that this noble is reasonable "my name is Black i am a wandering mage i was tricked by the elves and was pushed into this place my race is human it is a fairly new race". "i see any enemy of those damn elves is a friend to all dwarves we welcome you to this kingdom of course before we allow you into town we will have to ask you a a few questions and confirm whether you have commited any crimes as per usual when any traveler enters the village" as he said that the guard''s stopped pointing there spears at me and stepped back a few steps to break the encirclement as they did a small woman the same size as the dwarves wearing a blue mage robe with short ginger hair stepped beside the dwarf noble and whispered something in his ear i focused mana into my ear to be able to hear but the female dwarf glared at me as soon as she felt my mana and said. "it''s increadably inpolite to eavstrope" in a threatening voice i was stunned obviosly this girl is a very good magician. "i''m terribly sorry i was simply curious as to what you were whispering about" i said in a apolagetic tone. "hahahahah it''s enterly normal to be curious but you should never overstep your boundreys Black ah i still haven''t introduced myself i am Oal Norast head of this village and this is Arya Thaast our resident mage and master of the creature that saved your life"ah so she was the one that saved me. "thank you ms Thaast for saving my life". "do not worry in truth the reason i was whispering was because you are not the only one that was dropped down into this cavern" wait what somebody else came here at the same time. "ah here comes my pet now" as Arya said that the giant bat came holding somebody who i recognized is that feila why is she here? as the giant bat flew over my head and hovered there flaping it''s wings it dropped her and she fell onto the floor without trying to stand up what''s wrong with her? as i looked at her condition i saw that she looked like she was beaten unconsious it must have been those others up there that did this to her as i looked at her Oal asked me a question "do you know this elf Black?". "ah yes she was a part of the group that tricked me and threw me into the pit however i have no clue why she is here aswell perhaps the other party members beat her unconsous and threw her down here after a dissagrement however we shall not know for sure until she wakes up and tells us" i said calmly. "hmmm very well Arya take her to town lock her in a cell and use healing magic on her until she wakes up and then we shall interogate her"Oal said in a commanding tone. "as you wish Oal" she replied and two guards walked forward and grabbed her and with Arya in the lead and the two dwarves carring feila behind her. "now black follow us" Oal said as he turned around and the rest of the guards went with him through the path as i followed them through the passage which was incredably narrow at certain points we finally reached the village i was suprised by the farms around the village it was as if it was a normal villadge in the middle ages apart from the crops that i saw instead of wheat it was mainly mushrooms and potatoes near each field there was a sort of stret lamp that projected light onto the crops as we neared the village it had a large wooden wall surrounding it aswell as wooden keeps on each corner all in all it was a very small village only around a 100 people could possibly live here as we aproached the gate the gate guards all saluted and opened the gate in a hurry. "Black stay here and wait for Arya she will be out shortly to perform the inspection". "very well i shall wait in advance thank you for allowing me a place in your village Oal". "do not worry about it as i''ve said before any enemy of the elves is our ally"he said and then walked inside the gate with six of his guard leaving two to stay behind presumably to watch me after waiting for a few minutes i saw Arya come out of the gate. "hello there mr Black i''ll now perform the inspection im going to search your soul for any trace of evil so stay still and don''t try to expel the mana that im going to inject into you okay"she said. "very well im in your care"huh i wonder what she means search my soul as i thought that she muttered something and a circle of pure mana apeared infront of me with countless runes on it, it gradually began to move until it passed through me and i felt a tiny bit of mana inside my body from the spell after a while the mana vanished and she spoke after a while. "it''s done you are now welcome into the city of norastir obviously i would refrain from breaking the law while here but now that''s done i would like to talk as a fellow mage about magic after your settled in come find me at my shop you can''t miss it it''s the only building thats clean the inn is next to the lord''s mansion it''s called the weary blacksmith now then i shall take my leave". "could you please wait a moment truthfully i lost all my currency when i was tricked by the elves so i do not believe that i could afford to stay at the inn"o well if i have a excuse as to why im poor then i''ll just have to use it it might not be true but still it''s the best option i have at the moment. "ah do not worry here" she said as she took a small piece of engraved metal shapped like a sheild out of her pocket and gave it to me "this is my proof of citizenship just show it to the old lady behind the counter and say that i sent you then when you come visit me return it" she said with a smile "oh but please don''t lose it it''s a pain to get a new one". "thank you once again Ms Thaast". "ah don''t worry about it and call me Arya Ms Thaast is my mother"she said smiling once again. "very well ms Arya". "ha never had someone call me that before but still goodbye Black i''ll see you around"she said as she walked into the gate ha i guess she is kinda cute nonnonnoononon blake please get a hold of yourself no need to get the FBI involved in this she''s probably just interested in magic that''s it exactly no fantasies please as my mind started to gradually go into meltdown i walked through the open gates of the city of norastir. Chapter 2 chapter 2 Passing the gates of the village of norastir i half expected a dwarven village to be made entirely of stone with great statues of heroes long past and works of art that would make any human no matter who in awe of the great works of art usually associated with dwarfs in fantasy,however as i walked further and further into town i was very surprised that it looked like a small town from a western. no proper roads just mud and gravel,no works of art,simple building design i was half expecting after taking in the scenery for a sheriff and a outlaw to be in the main street having a duel at sundown with tumble weeds roaming around but what greeted me were happy faces of dwarves staggering around with mugs of beer in there hand with the occasional roar of ammusment from a nearby tavern in town,i realized that this town is very laid back. i walked just a bit further on and i spotted the lords mansion it was 3 times as big as all the other buildings, it was positioned at the end of the main street,it had a big clock on it that indicated the time. --1 oclock in the morning! ah no wonder most of the dwarves are in the tavern-- i walked closer to the lords mansion and looked at where i was staying for the night,it was a fairly large place a bit bigger than the rest of the buildings here but still small in comparison to the lords mansion,i neared the door of the supposed inn and saw a sign next to the door with a dwarf sleeping on a anvil with his hammer on the floor and some what looked like nordic rune symbols on it,as i opened the door that was a bit small and ducked my head to enter i was shouted at by the old lady behind the bar ."oi elf we don''t like your kind ere,now get lost before i call the guards!" --sigh she thinks im an elf-- "don''t worry madam i am not an elf" "ha thats the biggest lie i''ve ever eard ,and i''ve eard some big lies now get lost" she replied with a look of amusement on her face "it''s true i am a human it''s a new species to this world ah here" i said as i remembered the proof of citezenship that was in my pocket,and took it out to give to the old dwarf. "lemi see that" she said testily and snatched the small piece of metal out my hand to see it. "ah" she muttered with a look of suprise on her face "im terribly sorry for how i acted mr..." "Black my name is Black" "mr Black i hope you can forgive this old woman for how she acted" "do not worry it is not a big issue" --i guess i should get used to being mistaken for a elf seeing as how im pretty tall compared to a dwarf-- "now would you like a room mr Black" "ah yes can i have one for one night" --eh i''ll just get a room for one night if i need to come back here then so be it-- "if you want food i can cook you something on the house as an apoligy but usually we only provide breakfast for our guests" ah food i thought as my stomach made rumbling sounds. "i''ll take that as a yes then" the old dwarf said and walked into the back room with a wry smile on her face, after five minutes went by she came back out with a tray with two plates on it covered by a cloth and told me to go up to my room ,as i walked up to the second floor the old lady shouted up. "it''s the last one on the right!" after reaching my room i entered inside and was plesantly suprised by the clenliness of the room,i put the tray on the bed and locked the door using the chain lock on the inside of the door. --huh no lock on the outside i guess thats her way of saying don''t leave your stuff here-- after eating the very delicios soup and cut of meat i layed in the bed that was not big enough for me as the bottom of my legs dangled at the end of the bed,i organized the information i had collected throughout the day and fell asleep. after i woke up due to the knocking on the door of my room "oi mr Black it''s time for breakfast" i heard the old dwarf lady shout through the door i quickly got up ,still wearing my mage robes from the night before and unlocked the door "i''ll be right down" i said poking my head out from the door. "oi mr black there''s a bath out back if you need to clean up before breakfast" --ah i think i know what she means-- i thought as i smelt myself and i did not like the smell ,after bathing with a bucket of water which was a new experience for me i sat down on the bed and had breakfast. --they should really make a dining area here i don''t like eating on a bed-- after i put the empty bowl on the counter and the old dwarven woman gave me Arya''s proof of citizenship ,i walked back into town this time all eyes were on me ,as i walked i heard whispers about me being an elf and sigh''d,as i looked through the rest of the town i saw Arya''s store it was the same height as the rest of the buildings but instead of the colour of brown wood it was a clean white colour. --ah so that''s what she meant about it being the cleanist place here-- as i walked closer i noticed the shop next to Arya''s was a blacksmith,i heard the banging of hammers and the shouts of workmen as i walked past to get to Arya''s shop. as i neared the shop i saw the sign of a staff shooting electric,fire,water and wind out from it next to the door. --of course she runs a magic store-- i sarcastically thought as i opened the door and ducked under hearing a bell that was attached to the door. "ah mr Black your here i hope you enjoyed your stay at the inn,the one who runs it is my mother after all" --ah no wonder the old lady looked suprised when i gave her Arya''s citizenship-- "yes i did however the bed was a little small for my tastes" sudden realization dawned on her face as she thought of the size of the bed that was in the inn. "oh sorry about that since this town has only been here for a short time we aren''t exactly equiped do deal with other races" --fair enough-- "so how long has this town been here then?" "it''s been here for around two years" "so it''s a fairly new town then?" "yes after the war with the elves ended 2 years ago the dwarven leaders decided to increase the ammount of land they had under there control so that the eventual population boom after the war wouldn''t cause mass starvation and overcrowding it has been both succesful and unsuccesful this specific town was one of the first to be founded for the project however the most recent one is 2 months old" --huh that''s probably the reason the dwarves don''t like the elves but why was eren going to report to the elder if i was a dwarf-- "does the kingdom of dwarves have a presence above ground aswell?" she looked a bit dejected at my question "sadly no after the war we lost our only foothold on the surface permafrost city and were forced by the treaty to stay underground in this dungeon" --wait what-- "this place is a dungeon?" "of course this place is still the c rank dungeon of arctic beasts" "how is this posible?" i asked wide eyed "the dwarves were originaly from underground on the main continent,the third king of the dwarves told his 2nd son to find a new land to birth a new dwarven kingdom you see at that point in time the dwarves of the main contenient were being annihilated by a undead horde,and this was the last effort to keep the dwarven race from going extinct,they made a agreement with the elves to help them settle a new land to the north after 7,000 dwarves and 3,000 elven escorts reached the north they found the climate unforgiving but due to the sheer amount of dungeons containing magical beasts that where a source of food the dwarves settled here in the far north far away from there homeland,the elves and dwarves lived in harmony for around 500 years until animosity arose due to the assasination of a certain elf prince at the hands of a dwarven assasin,after that the dwarven leaders proposed to expand certain low level dungeons so that in case of a civil war the dwarves had somewhere to go in times of need,once the project was finished in this dungeon the powder keg exploded and a civil war erupted dwarves against elves neighbor against neighbor husband against wife" i gulped at this part due to the serious tone she said it in. "the dwarves had twice as many citizens as the elves,however very few had actual combat training due to the elves being the ones we relied on to protect us from the dangers of the north,it was a massacre the dwarves lost every city that they had appart from permafrost the only reason we didn''t lose permafrost was because it was a centre of production and the population was mainly dwarven,we made a last stand at permafrost but we were defeated once again,the elves proposed a peace treaty and in it the dwarves were forced to stay underground and never re-emerge from the surface again" --no wonder the dwarves hate the elves-- "but enough about the painful history of the dwarves come in and have a seat let us discuss your race human was it im very interested in your race" she said desperate to change the topic of conversation,she lead me into a back room with a table and two chairs as i sat down i pondered on the thing''s she said. -- painfull history huh it seems the dwarves really don''t like to talk about there defeat-- after we talked about the specifics about my race things like maximum age,culture and the like we moved onto dicussing magic. "so Black what is your specialty in magic i''d imagine that it would be cryomancy due to your white robes but feel free to impress me" she said wryly smiling. --wait the colour of the robe means which element you use-- "well im not actually very good at cryomancy magic i just got this robe before i came here because it has a cold resist enchantment" i said holding the back of my neck feeling sheepish "if thats the case what field of magic do you specialise in then?" she asked in a curious tone "well i use mana strings to help me load a crossbow due to the loss of my hand and imbue the crossbow bolt with mana to make it explode on contact with a target" "so you use mana similarly to a mage swordsman but i have never encountered someone who uses mana and a crossbow very interesting" "so ms Arya what field of magic do you specialise in?" i asked "ah i use water and soul magic hence the blue robe" she said as she pointed to her blue robe "soul magic?" "soul magic is the use of the soul with mana,it is one of the most diverse fields of magic it can be used for many different purposes such as making a blade of pure soul energy and mana or imbuing a golem with a piece of your soul so that it becomes a part of you,or even searching a persons soul to see whether they have commited any crimes like what i did before you entered town" she explained with pride in her voice. --that magic type seems a little too op,but hey it''s magic it''s supposed to be op maybie i should try and learn soul magic from her,hmmm seems a bit suspicious to ask to learn from someone you only just met but i''ll give it a try nothing ventured nothing gained is my mottow-- i looked her straight in the eyes and put on my best im very serious face and asked "Ms Arya i would like to study the field of soul magic under your tutelage" she looked at me suprise on her face for a few seconds until a small chuckle was heard "very well but i must warn you before you become a practicioner of soul magic this type of magic will take a very large tole on the psyche,it is not uncommon for practicioners to fall into madness or a mentaly impared state,i have witnessed many mages fall into such madness after trying to become soul magic practitioners" --gulp i may be biting off more than i can chew here-- "so, do you still wish to learn soul magic?" she asked in a very serious tone --in for a penny in for a pound i guess-- "yes i do" after i said those words my vision went black,i started to panic however i heard Arya''s voice "do not worry this is the first stage to become a soul mage" "what your not gonna ease me into it your just gunna dunk me into the deep end and hope i float?" i asked annoyed at the suddeness of it all. "hahahahaha of course not this trial will simply tell me whether you have the aptitude to become a soul mage,it''s sink or swim friend" she said as i imagined a massive smirk on her face "okay okay,just tell me what to do in this place" i said giving in to her "all you must do here is pull your soul from your body,don''t worry this space is inside of your mind so any damage will not affect you,if i was a cruel master i would make you do this while awake and if you failed you would simply become mentaly impared,also should you fail here you may aswell give up on soul magic it is an inborn talent to feel one''s soul and manipulate it freely" --there she goes again explianing thing i didn''t ask about im thankful for the information but it''s a bit much at times anyway onto this soul manipulation business-- as i tried to feel my soul i imagined that it was similar to my mana pool but inside my head instead of my body,after around 10 minutes i felt something moving i was interupted by Arya''s voice. "very well done usually it takes around two hours of concentraction for even the most gifted in soul magic to feel there own soul, it seems that your compatability for soul magic is incredible" she said and i could tell that she had a massive grin by the way she talked. "if i have a lot of talent in soul magic will it be difficult using other magics?" i asked with curiosity "hmmm it is possible but not very likely,you can use other types of magic already can''t you?" --well i did obtain that pyromancy skill while cooking that bear so i guess i shouldn''t be worried about it-- "yes i can use pyromancy magic and as i have mentioned my mana string''s" "then there is nothing for you to worry about you may not be gifted with all the atributes of magic,but usually a mage can use 2 or 3 kinds of magic" --good to know at least i have something to look forward to after learning soul magic-- "now,i want you to manipulate your soul to exit your body" she said trying to get me to focus "how,do i just grab it with my hand or do i have to force it to come out?" "however you like,it does not matter"Arya said in a neutral tone --very well then-- i reached for the back of my head with my right hand and imagined a mana string grabbing my soul,i pulled very gently and gradually,eventually i felt the soul leave me and i pulled my hand with the mana string attached in front of me so i could see what my soul looked like,it looked like a white sphere with glowing white flames coming off the top with the mana string attached to my soul and hand it looked similar to a ballon. --we all float down here-- i thought sarcastically now that my soul was out of my body it felt like i was in two pieces,i felt cold as if this dark place Arya put me in was going to swallow me,but as i looked at the soul i felt reasured that it was there,it felt very weird but as i took a closer look at my soul i noticed that a very thin membrane covered the soul. "very well done,now that you have separated soul and body you may feel uncomfortable but that should be the least of your problems when trying to learn soul magic,i''m sure by now that you''ve noticed the membrane surrounding your soul that is what we soul practitioners refer to unofficially as the soul hymen" --what-- "wait wait wait so your telling me that my soul is basically a..a you know a" "virgin soul"she said in a totaly serious way interupting me "yea that"feeling very uncomfortable with the conversation i decided to ask what to do next "now what do i do Arya?" "i would like you to try and shrink the soul so that the membrane stay''s intact but the soul compresses down" --okay let''s do that-- i concentrated on my soul for around 20 minutes before i felt like my world was gradually getting smaller, i looked at the soul inside of the membrane and it was very slowly shrinking. --yes i''ve got it!-- "i''ve done it Arya now what do i do?" "now you work on controlling the soul inside of the membrane,i want you to make the following shapes a sword,a shield and then a cage,it may take a while for you to acomplish this but don''t worry an hour here is a minute in the real world so take your time,and be extra careful not to break the membrane okay" she said putting enfasis on the last part. "why what will happen if i break the membrane?"i asked with curiosity laced in my voice "you remember those side effects that i told you about before you came here" "yea" "well that''s what happens if you break the membrane and your not ready" "oh" "yea that''s why im here to guide you through the steps, so make sure you complete all the shapes before we move onto the next step" --i have a bad feeling i know what the next step is-- after 4 hours of practice i managed to make all the shapes,the cage was the most difficult one i spent 2 hours on it!. "now that that is out of the way,i would like you to use your mana,and make a small hole in the membrane with your mana string,make sure that it is very small only the size of your ring finger" --i knew it sigh-- "also this is the dangerous part if you fail here you will either become a invalid or a madman, good luck!" she said the last part in a cheery tone "wait didn''t you say that in here is a safe place to mess with my soul?" "that was only the first step that was safe,if you did the first step awake you would collapse from pain don''t forget this is your actual soul we are using here" "ah" --alright let''s get started then-- as i created a mana string to poke a hole in the membrane,Arya spoke once again "once you make a hole in the membrane the soul will want to exit you must control your soul so that it stays in the centre,it must not exit the membrain" she said the last part very slowly and seriously. i pushed the mana string through the hole and immedietly it was like a vaccume,the soul began to move to the hole to escape but i held it in place,after the longest 3 minutes of my life the vaccume finaly stoped."perfect now that you have finished that step have a break and we will move onto the final step" after 15 minutes i asked Arya what the final step is "now what do i do?" "oh it''s quite simple really,you just manipulate your soul out of the hole into your head where it was originaly once that''s done you will wake up" i did as she said,and as i made the soul enter my head it didn''t stay there,the soul expanded until it filled my whole body as that happened i very suddenly woke up. "welcome back" Arya said with a grin on her face as i was about to say good to be back i was interupted by the system GAINED SKILL [SOUL MANIPULATION] CLASS CHANGE BLAKE SMITH HAS BECOME A [SOUL MAGE] CONGRATULATIONS GAINED TITLE [SOUL MANIPULATOR] --huh class change i hope it''s a better class than mage i mean.. it would have to,be to automatically change it-- "status"i muttered under my breath NAME:BLAKE SMITH CLASS:SOUL MAGE TITLES:[FIRST ARCTIC EXPLORER][SCHOLAR][EXTREME HUNTER] [SOUL MANIPULATOR] HP:165/165 MP:220/220 STATUS:HEALTHY/HANDLESS ATTRIBUTES STR:25 AGI:20 VIT:33 INT:34+(10) WIS:23+(5) CHA:8 LCK:12 UNASSIGNED POINTS:0 SKILLS:[COLD RESIST LVL 5][FEAR RESIST LVL 4][SURVIVOR LVL 4] [MANA RESIST LVL 1][PAIN RESIST LVL 5][MANA MANIPULATION LVL 5] [CRYOMANCY RESIST LVL 5][CRYOMANCY EMPOWERMENT][MANA STRING LVL 6] [RAPID HEALING LVL 2][CROSSBOW MASTERY LOW LVL 5][MAN ENHANCED PERCEPTION LV 3] [LIMITLESS STRENGTH LVL 2][SOUL MANIPULATION LVL 1][PYROMANCY LVL 1] [UNBOUND SOUL] "woah"i said accidentaly in awe of my new status --now that is a big boost to my status all my attributes exept luck and charisma rose by 10 each,sweet but what is this unbound soul skill, system?-- [UNBOUND SOUL] IS A SKILL THAT IS GAINED BY UNLOCKING THE TRUE HIDDEN POTENTIAL OF THE SOUL HAS INCREASED ALL PHISICAL STATS BY +10 PERMENENTLY --so basicaly because the is now free from the membrain it''s now spreading everywhere in my body making me stronger, awesome-- "ahem" snapped out of my thoughts by the sound i saw Arya looking slightly annoyed at being ignored "ah sorry i was absorbed in thought i didn''t mean to ignore you" --smooth Blake real smooth-- "very well i shall repeat myself, i''ve always wanted a brilliant disciple in soul magic now that i have one i thought it might be good if you worked in my store whilst i taught you,so that not only can you learn magic but earn a wage aswell,you don''t expect me to pay for you whilst you are here in norastir right, not only that but i will help you with your other magics so that eventually we would be equals,and i would have a conversational partner to discuss magic with and you would become a powerful mage with your talent it should only take a few years, so what do you say Mr black would you accept my kind offer" --wow that offer is really great i can''t exactly see any negatives not only do i get money i learn magic aswell-- Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere."where would i sleep here at the shop or at the inn" "you would stay at the inn for free for around 3 months after that you have to pay" --so basically i live at the inn for free while earning money and learning magic-- "i accept your kind offer ms Arya" "wonderful i look forward to your future development my student" she said with a grin i responded in kind "and i look forward to your excellent guidance aswell teacher" i said with a large grin on my face after i accepted Arya''s offer we talked about the elven girl feila that arrived after me "i was told by that girls guard that when she woke up she started panicing and trying to get out her cell she managed to break her own fingers when she tried to escape due to the guard slamming the cell door on them" --ouch that must have hurt,why was she so desperate to get out?-- "and so begins your first lesson you,will acompany me to see the girl to interogate her and heal her broken fingers,it should be easy with your talent in soul magic so i will be your assistant. while interogating her" "master are the dwarves allowed to take elven prisoners?" "not really but it isn''t that big of a deal,if they can''t see her they can''t help her" she said with a maniacal grin on her face. --uh oh her sadistic side has shown itself-- "do you not like the elves master?" "i do not hate them in fact i admire them ,there prowess in magic and archery is enviable,and that''s before i even mention that they live incredably long lives ,the only reason i dislike the species as a whole is there wholeharted devotion to there species,they will sacrifice anything and everything if there leaders tell them to ,absolutely everything. she said the last part in a angry tone while she clenched her fist so tight i saw her knuckles turn white. --whoa,now that''s some represed rage right there if i''ve ever seen it, what the hell happened to her for that kind of reaction-- "master?" i saked in a concerned tone "ah im fine,now let us depart for your first lesson" she said getting up from the chair and walking towards the entrance of the store ,naturaly i followed her out. as we walked towards the lords mansion Arya was bombarded with hello''s and how are you''s by the other dwarves as we walked,after she finished talking with the overly friendly populace we reached the lords mansion,she spoke up about what occured on the street. "if you haven''t figured it out by now i''m one of the two mages in norastir aswell as the only person who can heal injuries" --ah no wonder the dwarves were so friendly to her-- we entered the lords mansion and it was the first door that i did not have to duck to get in due to it being 2 meters tall,as we walked in there was a sort of reception desk the dwarven girl behind it took one look at us and gestured with her hand to go into the room on the right with the guard next to it ,as we walked towards the door the guard started to look at me suspiciously but Arya spoke in a gentle tone. "it''s fine he''s with me" "but isn''t he a elf?" the guard spoke in a gruff tone tensing up as if readying himself for a fight. "no he is not,he is a human and also my student,if you continue to show hostility i will inform lord Oal that your days would be better spent as part of the Death Team" --Death team,that sounds like a happy place-- i thought sarcasticaly the guard stutered and said "m..my apoligy''s Ms mage please proceed with your student" as he opened the door i saw that it lead downstairs with a set of wide stone stairs. we got deeper and deeper and while we were descending i decided to ask Arya about the death team she spoke of. "so what''s that death team stuff you were saying to that guard?" "the death team is basically a military unit comprised of criminals with combat experience,they take on suicide missions hence the name death team" --no wonder that guard stutered when she brought it up-- "doesn''t gathering criminals to perform suicide missions make them want to escape even more,and how do the guards stop them from escaping?" "there are no guards of the death team but thay have a collar on them the collar acts as a restraint of sorts it not only kills them if they break any dwarven laws but it can track were they are through there soul" she said in a prideful tone "you seem awfully happy about the death team master" "of course i am i was once a member of it" --huh,wait,hold up,what?-- "you were a member?"i asked wide eyed that my master just admited to being a criminal "yes i was" "then how are you free at the moment,did you escape" "hahaha of course not in the death team once you finish 10 missions you go free thought usually nobody makes it past the 5th mission,and very rarely do people finish the 10th mission,i know of only 1 other person that finished his missions and became a free man" --damn i unsuspectidly chose a baddass for a teacher,lucky me i guess-- as we reached the bottom of the stairs it looked like a old medeival dungeon very little light only torches placed on the wall outside of each cell,each cell only contained a pair of chains on the wall and a bucket nothing else was there exept the cries of a few prisoners from far away cells. --now this is damn depressing-- as we walked we eventually saw a cell with a guard outside it,we greeted the guard and asked him to open the cell door to let us in,he grabed the keys off of his belt and unlocked the cell door with a click,he opened the cell and me and Arya went in we saw feila crouched in the corner as we went inside the dark cell Arya signaled for the guard to give us some alone time with feila and he obliged,he walked presumably to check the other prisoners. "who are you?" feila spoke in a dreary tone not even looking up to greet us "i am Arya Thaast and this is my student mr Black" as soon as Arya said my alieas she looked up sharply and her eyes widened when she saw me "i thought you were dead human" she spoke in a spiteful tone --calm down blake just play it cool no need to strangle the life out of a prisoner-- "to be honest i arived here in a better state than you elf,at least i wasn''t betrayed by my comrades beaten black and blue then tossed down that hole to die" i said in a haughty voice "tch" i heard her click her tounge at me "i don''t hear you deny it elf,so why did your own people turn against you?" i said in a arrogant tone --it''s probably best to try and provoke her so she reveals something while frustrated Arya''s not interfearing so i think im doing the right thing-- "i need to get out of here,i need to get back to permafrost"she said in a annoyed tone "answer my question elf,and maybie i''ll let you out" she looked like she was thinking about something for a few minutes,until Arya broke the silence."if you refuse to answer the question of why you need to get back and why your companions did what they did,my student will use soul magic to make you talk,but be warned he is inexperienced and may leave you as little more than a invalid if he goes through your memories" --ah the fear tactics,but why do i have to be inexperienced ugh-- after hearing that feila very quickly made a decision "fine i''ll tell you" she said giving in "i am the 3rd elven princess from royal blood,or i used to be i was abandoned by the elven royal family after i was framed for crime i did not commit,one of the elven elders framed me,and now that most of the descendents of the king were killed in the civil war by dwarven assasins"she paused to glare at Arya but she remained unfazed by the elf''s gaze "the king has only one possible heir now,my younger brother who is only 20 years old,i was going to return to the elven capital after i managed to uncover evidince that the elder had framed me,so that i could stop that elder from controlling my younger brother like a puppet,but as it was my team''s turn to hunt for food in the dungeon i went with them,little did i know that the same elder who framed me paid my team to kill me,and now they have probably destroyed the evedence i had against him luckaly my team was ignorant and did not kill me on the surface,but tossed me down the hole,after beating me black and blue like you said" --a elven princes huh,and one with a grudge it seems-- "interesting very interesting,Black stay with her for a minute whilst i inform Oal about this development" Arya said as she opened the door and left the cell. "so are you really a human,or are you just a tall dwarf?"she spoke after Arya left "no i truly am a human" "oh so that means that the first impression you have of elves is a bad one then ?" "whatever makes you say that,was it the part where the first time i meet your race i was pushed into a hole and expected to die from the fall?" i say in a sarcastic tone "i am truly sorry for my team''s actions,but please do not judge all elves by the actions of some,when you meet with others of your kind please do not make elves out to be evil" "ah you don''t have to worry,in truth humans are worse than elves in that regard and i do not wish to tell tall tales to the rest of my kind about the elves i will only tell them the truth about what i have witnessed,and also your wise words" --she seems rather friendly for a elf,i always pictured them as arrogant and prideful well i guess she was in the begining,also it seems she thinks that im in contact with other humans,boy if she could just see what i''ve been through whilst i''ve been here-- after a few minutes of conversasion about human and elven cultures Arya came back with Oal in tow. "well well well,getting a bit friendly with the elven princess are we black" Oal said with a smirk on his face "not particularly,we were just having a cultural exchange of sorts" i responded with a calm tone "hahahaha of course of course,now princess please come with me to my office so that we may discuss your return to the surface" Oal said in a happy tone with a smile on his face. --he''s up to something but it''s not really my place to get involved-- "i would love to lord Oal but first,can someone please heal my fingers" as she said this both me and Arya looked at each other and facepalmed --ah we forgot one of the original reasons we were here for-- "of course,Black would you please do the honor of healing the princesses fingers"Arya said looking at me. "but,i don''t know how to heal yet master" "don''t worry,just force your soul out of your hands into her fingers after realigning them with your mana strings" --okay-- "very well i''ll give it a try" "wait a second can''t you do it ms Arya,im a bit worried about a inexperienced soul mage healing me" --oi-- "have no fear princess while he is inexperienced he is also extreemely talented it should be fine,also it will be a good experience for him to learn healing" "okay" feila said in a dejected tone as she stood up from the corner and walked towards the light i saw the state that her fingers were,in they looked like tree roots branching off in all directons it made me uncomfortable just by looking at it. "this may hurt" i said as i manafested 10 mana strings and wrapped them around her broken fingers,as i did i heard a moan of pain from feila. "here we go" i said as i pulled the broken fingers into there proper positions and held them there for a few seconds i heard a cry of pain from feila this time. "AAHH!" while she was crying out in pain i pushed the part of my soul that was in my hands into the mana strings connected to her fingers and heard the sound of bones clicking into there proper place for a few seconds,and then i started to feel very sick my face paled and my consentration broke,my soul recided back into me as i threw up on the floor,it managed to get on everybodies trousers and robes in the room. after i threw up i heard the similar sound of throwing up infront of me,as i looked i was shocked the elven princess threw up aswell,we both shared a look and started laughing. "hahahahahahahahah" "ahh why did you throw up aswell feila?" i asked as the laughter died down "ah i can''t stand the sight of vomit,and i feel ill myself when i see it" --well that really killed the illusion that elves were noble creatures,but now at least it feels easier to talk to her-- "as i was going to say before you broke into laughter,is that since it is your first time using soul magic you may feel a bit nauseous"Arya said in a neutral voice "i think he went past feeling nauseous,and went straight to throwing up" Oal commented looking at the bottom of his robes with sick on them --ah crap now my throat is burning and i need a change of clothes,also a drink of water would be nice as well-- "well Black it''s time to stop flirting with the elven princess and go,i''ll even get you a change of clothes and a drink of water at the store" Arya said as if reading my thoughts. "i wouldn''t call throwing up flirting but sure i could go for a glass of water right now" as we exited the cell and walked towards the stairs,i heard the princes shout "see you later Black!" "of course you will it''s a small town!" i replied as we left the lords mansion we walked to a clothing store where i managed to change into a black longsleeve t shirt and a pair of blue work trousers it seemed that Arya new that i''d need clothes eventually so she comisioned this tailor to make something my size while we were walking to the lords mansion. --can she see the damn future i bet she knew that i would throw up but didn''t say anything very sneaky,but damn i look good now-- i thought as i looked in the mirror that was just a bit too small,what greeted me was a handsome face with five scars across it a black beard and long black hair making its way past my shoulders, past my neck i had a lean but strong build similar to a boxer. --i wonder if the blacksmith can make me a metal prosthetic hand-- i thought as i looked at my missing hand --i also need to cut my hair and have a shave although it''s seems like it''s normal for men to have beards,well dwarven men anyways i''d personally feel alot better if i could get this itchy thing off my face,oh yea i need a weapon aswell i lost my crossbow in the fall aswell as my staff maybe i should try and use a sword and get into that magic swordsman buisness that Arya mentioned,hmmmm on second thoughts nah i prefer to use magic over sword,well Arya said that soul magic is diverse not to mention that i could level up my pyromancy and discover my third magic type so i''ll stick with learning magic at the moment-- after getting my new clothes i sold my mage robes to the tailor for 10 gold which according to Arya is a lot. --well maybe he gave me a better deal because im Arya''s student-- after getting the 10 gold Arya walked with me towards the inn to speak with her mother and tell her that im her student as we walked i asked Arya about the offensive and defensive uses of soul magic. "hmmm it''s a bit early for you to be learning those sort of spells, you must be able to use soul magic without throwing up first" --i''m never gonna live that one down whilst i''m with her,am i-- "but,i suppose since you have a very high affinity for soul magic i should be able to teach you those sort of spells sooner than most, however before that i''d recomend that in your spare time at the inn you practice using your soul,but make sure you have a bucket to vomit in whilst you attempt it" she said with a massive grin on her face. --just you wait *mentally shakes fist*-- "so how do i practice using my soul?" "well there are many ways but for you i''d recommend that you push a majority of your soul out of your body so that it is visable and make different objects using it,but make sure to never push all of your soul out,after you can do that easily i will teach you the offensive and defensive soul spells" --alright,that will be fine but i need a new crossbow,just in case i need too defend myself-- "by the way the blacksmith sells an assortment of weapons,i''d recomend you buy one you are comfortable with for tomorrows training,but that can wait take the rest of the day off and go in the morning to grab a weapon" --fuck,can she really read my mind?-- as we arrived and entered the inn i saw the old lady coming down the stairs. "Arya what are you doing here,i thought it was strange that you gave mr Black your proof of citizenship,have you finally found someone new?" the old lady said with a happy tone and a smile on her face Arya frowned and spoke in a exausted tone "no mother,this is Black he is my new student,Black i believe you have already met my mother" "yes we have met" "Black could you please go upstars to give us some privacy,i have something i would like to discuss with my mother in private"Arya said with a frown on her face "very well i shall take my leave upstairs then" as i walked past the other rooms on the upstairs floor,i heard a few raised voices and the banging of metal downstairs/ --oh so it was that sort of talk,i wonder why Arya''s mother said have you finaly found someone new to her maybe it''s just her mother taking an interest in her love life,but still i don''t think that i''m her type,well i could always be wrong i mean im a man and she''s a woman i wouldn''t exactly say no but even still i would rather just be friends-- i reached the door of my room from night before and went inside to sit on the bed. after a few minutes of imagining scenarios with me and Arya i concluded that i would not work out at least not while i was her student i was broken out of my thoughts when i heard the door open,and saw Arya,standing there with a black eye!?. --wow now that''s brutal her mom just hit her-- "you okay?" i said getting over the initial shock of Arya of all people having a black eye. "i''m fine you are able to stay here for 3 months for free as i said also apoligies for putting you in a awkward position here" "ah don''t worry about it i''m used to family disputes,so what happened for you to end up with a black eye,wait don''t tell me let me use my power of divination,you... didn''t do the dishes" i said in a joking tone. --a bit of humor never hurt''s in these situations-- "ha,not at all i always did the dishes when i was young,thank you black but i would rather not talk about it it''s a very personal matter" she said with a sad smile. "don''t worry i also understand that,but still if you ever need someone to talk to i''m always available,im your student after all aren''t i" i said with a smile. "yes, yes you are" "alright then now that''s settled when should i be at the shop,tomorrow for my magic training?" i asked "be there by 10,but make sure you get a weapon from the blacksmith before you arrive,okay?" "ugh,so early,but i guess i can make it there by ten" after we said goodbye and Arya left i was curios about my status "status" NAME:BLAKE SMITH CLASS:SOUL MAGE TITLES:[FIRST ARCTIC EXPLORER][SCHOLAR][EXTREME HUNTER] [SOUL MANIPULATOR] HP:165/165 MP:170/170 STATUS:HEALTHY/HANDLESS ATTRIBUTES STR:25 AGI:20 VIT:33 INT:34 WIS:23 CHA:8 LCK:12 UNASSIGNED POINTS:0 SKILLS:[COLD RESIST LVL 2][FEAR RESIST LVL 4][SURVIVOR LVL 4] [MANA RESIST LVL 1][PAIN RESIST LVL 5][MANA MANIPULATION LVL 6] [SOUL STRING LVL 6][RAPID SOUL HEALING LVL 3][CROSSBOW MASTERY LOW LVL 5] [MAN ENHANCED PERCEPTION LV 3][LIMITLESS STRENGTH LVL 2] [SOUL MANIPULATION LVL 2][PYROMANCY LVL 1][UNBOUND SOUL] --seems like some skills changed when i used them with soul magic my mana string is now soul string?,i guess it must be a superior version of it,also rapid healing changed to rapid soul healing,i should get started on practicing my soul magic then,wait i hate to admit it but Arya''s right i need a bucket-- i went downstairs and grabbed the bucket i used to wash myself with this morning and brought it upstairs. --eh she shouldn''t mind me using this bucket as long as i clean it up before i give it back-- after 2 whole hours of practice making shapes out of my soul and feeling sick i heard the classic ding of a system message. [SOUL MANIPULATION LVL UP] --thank god it finally leveled up well thats me for the night-- as i lie in the bed that was still too small for me i wonder about my mom and dad and how they were doing. --they should be fine dad''s as tough as a brick and as loyal as a dog he''ll never abandon mom,and mom well she''ll be able to just punch her way out of anything,ah i still remember her hugging me and almost killing me with her iron grip,anyway i hope there doing okay-- as i lay there drifting off to sleep i remember something --i still havent got that glass of water Arya promised me sigh--