Chapter 10: Chapter 10
[You have gained 5 EXP]
If there was supposed to be something else, Darius was not seeing it. It appeared as if the Wild Boar had just been a cannon fodder monster unlucky enough to end up as his practice dummy.
Darius remembered that Caesar had revealed that the value of experience was fixed and relied solely on the level difference between both parties. However, the AI had intentionally left out how much exactly he would gain per kill.
'Interesting, so as long as I kill something on the same level as myself I will gain 5 EXP.'
Darius wrung his lips. He had played a few online games towards the end of his life in order to bond with his nephews and son, Martin. He had never liked the grind-heavy aspects of such games because they had been repetitive.
On the other hand, he had been quite smitten with those management type games… what was that genre called again?… ah right, Real-Time Strategy. Gathering resources, building farms, quarries, and town buildings, training troops to conquer other players' settlements…
Too bad the world cared very little about his opinion on the matter. From this one experience, it became abundantly clear that the mechanics worked similar to the games his young boys had preferred.
In order to climb 1 level, he would basically have to kill another 19 Wild Boars. Not only that, but he had to make sure he wasn't beaten to death himself in these fights. Well, the latter should be easy enough as long as every fight could go as smoothly as this one.
Be that as it may, there might still be a problem with the former. Despite his only spell costing 1 MP, he had been forced to use up 5 points in the previous battle to kill the creature.
His Mana was limited to 21 points at the moment, meaning that he had 16 remaining, in other words, it was only enough to safely kill three of them before he would be at the mercy of whatever came his way, so Darius became cautious.
He first decided to check the carcass of the boar while his mana hopefully regenerated. He crouched and had to cover his nose. After all, the smell it carried was quite off-putting.
Ironically, Darius also sensed a slight smell of bacon. It turned out that the Sparks spell had fried the boar's innards a little, causing that effect.
Darius was not a butcher, nor was he someone versed in outdoors survival. He had been a businessman living in the city, so he wasn't going to cut up the boar and pretend like he was skilled in doing so, especially without any sort of tool at his disposal.
He just observed the body for a bit, checking if there was something he could take, but ultimately found nothing useful.
At the same time, this brought up another issue Darius had pondered about when he had left the glade, which was the lack of survival skills in his possession. He would have loved to acquire an Infopack to make up his non-existent knowledge in that regard, but since nothing like that had been included in the one he had used, it felt like it would be pointless to ask for one.
Darius rubbed his chin and thought of something. He walked over to a nearby bush and plucked out a leaf. It was a lovely green color showing that it was as healthy as could be.
Darius concentrated and attempted to transmute the leaf.
[Would you like to change the conifer leaf into a steel dagger? This will cost 7 Conversion Points.]
Darius frowned. While it was within a payable range, he had a limited amount of points for the day. Still, this was a great way for him to ascertain a standard of value for the Conversion Points.
Darius tried again.
[Would you like to change the conifer leaf into an iron dagger? This will cost 2 Conversion Points.]
It turned out his theory was correct, changing the quality of the final item lowered the cost. Darius further guessed that closer compatibility between two items might similarly result in a lower cost.
For example, changing sand to water should not cost as much as changing vapor to the same element. However, as could be seen, changing an organic leaf into an inorganic piece of forged steel cost a lot.
Darius mentally assented to the conversion. Just like that, he felt the leaf in has palm shapeshift into a sturdy iron dagger with a dark grey hue. It was a bit heavy, but most importantly it was sharp and well-made.
[Iron Dagger - Weapon
Durability: 10/10
Quality: Perfect
Damage: 1-3
Description: A sturdy dagger made of fine iron and the best possible craftsmanship. Created through pure Transmutation.]
Darius swung the dagger a couple of times, trying to get a grip on it. The unskilled person that he was, he naturally just more or less tossed it around. Still, now that he had something to use, he was elated.
He walked up to the boar and began to cut off its tusks. as Darius knew that they could prove to be useful later on. Alas, that was easier said than done, and by the time he completed his task, he was panting weakly.
He had not accounted for the fact that he was no longer a man, but a mere boy at the age of 13. His Strength and Endurance were each 3 points beneath the universal standard, so trying to do something like that had been unwise.
Darius stored the tusks and the iron dagger in his Inventory before he sat down to rest a little. After regaining his breath, he plucked out another leaf and concentrated once more.
[Would you like to change the conifer leaf into a Hunting Infopack? This will cost ??? Conversion Points.]
[ERROR, Infopacks are items unique to the Supreme System and do not exist in the world of Faust. Please try again.]
Darius breathed out lightly, but had expected this. He had merely been testing if there were loopholes in the rules of the Transmutation ability that he could exploit, but it seemed he was unlucky in the end. Perhaps he should have expected as much from a Goddess of Games and Recreation?
Darius was not too troubled though. He knew that he had a method to keep himself alive thanks to Transmutation, even if his survival skills were terrible.
[Would you like to change the conifer leaf into a flask? This will cost 0.3 Conversion Points.]
Chapter 11: Chapter 11
Darius assented to this as he pondered over the difference in costs. Changing a leaf to an iron dagger had cost 2 whole points but changing the same type of leaf to a leather flask for storing water cost less than a quarter of the former.
From this, Darius could ascertain that the organic development of the final item had to play an important role in calculating the cost. Organic development in this case referred to the precise process an item underwent before it was formed.
In the case of the dagger, it was formed through blacksmithing. The iron ore would have grown in the mines, before it would be extracted then purified into an ingot through smelting, then forged carefully into its current shape.
As for the flask, it would be made from good quality animal hide which had to be carefully cured, then crafted into its current shape. According to his understanding, what his ability did was artificially simulate the organic process of these items and implement it instantly.
Of course, the base of the item would be changed in order to simulate the process.
As such, Darius identified three main factors that should decide the cost of the conversion. The first was the difference between the base item (leaf) and the base version of the final item (iron ore). Converting across this chasm was likely what made up the majority of the cost.
The second was the simulation of the organic development. From what Darius could tell based on the description of the dagger and the quality of the flask he now held, the simulation was done with the best possible techniques based on the item he wanted.
So the simple iron dagger he wanted had been made as if it had been crafted by a Supreme Blacksmith with a perfect forging skill. It was quite the elitist approach, but Darius would not have wanted it any other way.
The third factor was the actual transmutation, where the item was instantly changed from one form to the other. From what Darius could tell, this stage should not consume that much in terms of cost compared to the first two.
Well, what was important was that he had ascertained some criteria he felt he had to watch out for. He would have to always be mindful of these three factors when converting items, otherwise he could end up spending his precious Conversion Points foolishly.
As of now, he had 7.7 conversion points left for the day. He still wanted to experiment and understand the limitations of his skill as well as draw a true subjective value for the Conversion Points he had.
Darius took another leaf and concentrated.
[Would you like to change the conifer leaf into an empty book? This will cost 0.01 Conversion Points.]
'Hmm… since the properties of a leaf are not as distant from papyrus as it is from iron, the Conversion Points are far fewer. Not to mention the fact that it shouldn't be as hard to make as a dagger, so the other two factors are much simpler as well.' Darius noted calmly.
[Would you like to change the conifer leaf into a blank sheet? This will cost 0.0001 Conversion Points.]
Darius nodded. The difference between an empty book and a single sheet was was big enough for such a great price reduction. However, he was not interested in making a book like this yet.
No, Darius' true goal was…
[Would you like to change the conifer leaf into a fireball spell manual? This will cost 30 Conversion Points.]
Darius breathed out lightly. To say he wasn't disappointed would be a lie. He had expected a high cost, but not so high he would be unable to pay for it even with his entire daily allowance.
However, he had learned something valuable from this experiment.
Firstly, the world of Faust indeed had something like spell manuals that mages used to pass on their knowledge to each other. This might sound obvious, but Darius didn't like to blindly assume too much when he could gain hard evidence through his own hands instead.
Secondly, he could actually spawn such items on his own. After all, it would be a waste to purchase one for exorbitant prices at a shop for mages when he could simply get a few of them free.
Finally, there was hope for him to acquire this one day. Either he had to climb above the Amateur stage and become a Journeyman to have his Conversion Point cap increased or he could acquire items and convert them into points for his usage.
Darius tried to convert the iron dagger back into a conifer leaf.
[Would you like to change the iron dagger into a conifer leaf? This will cost ??? Conversion Points.]
[ERROR, items changed through Transmutation cannot be changed back to previous states.]
Darius sighed. So many limitations!
But still, it was manageable. Such a powerful ability needed many rules to keep it sensible and within reason, otherwise it could easily be abused to cause great harm to the entire world.
Darius performed one more general test for the day.
[Would you like to change the iron dagger into an iron sword? This will cost 0.05 Conversion Points.]
Darius smiled. Finally, a small loophole that was beneficial to him! With this, he could progressively upgrade an item over time. Since he had a limit of 10 points that refreshed every day, he could convert… say, a rock… all the way into a house as long as he made the transformation slow and steady.
With that, he was pleased. Immediately, he tried something else.
[Would you like to change the conifer leaf into an empty spell manual? This will cost 9.6 Conversion Points.]
Darius smiled.
[Would you like to change the conifer leaf into an empty book? This will cost 0.01 Conversion Points.]
Darius assented and watched the leaf shift into a thick book that looked fresh from production. Darius could swear he could even smell the hot glue that was used to stick the pages together.
[Would you like to change the empty book into an empty spell manual? This will cost 5.9 Conversion Points.]
Darius smiled even wider. This loophole was truly useful and quite logical in the end. By splitting the changes into stages, it lowered the absurdity of the transformation and the complexity of a Transmutation.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Kotario
Kotario
In this chapter, the basic loopholes and rules of Transmutation are shown.
Of course, there are many of you out there who feel you are clever than I, and that's honestly fine.
But before calling me or Darius an idiot, please make sure you actually READ the details shown, or you'd only disgrace yourself.
Firstly, pay attention to the 5 listed rules. Secondly, never forget the 3 factors that decided Transmutation cost/possibility.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
6 Power
stone 
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