Astaroth rested for an hour, falling asleep after a while. When he woke up, he felt refreshed.
"Even sleeping feels real here." He said, amazed.
He looked to his left, and the swordsman was no longer there. Astroth got up panicking, looking around him until he saw the man at the other end of the glade, walking back with a small animal in his hands.
He walked up to Astaroth and greeted him.
"Hello, young man. Do you feel better after resting?" The swordsman said, in a soft tone.
"Ahh yes, yes. Thank you for asking. What about you, sir?" Asked Astaroth.
"I feel fine." The swordsman answered perfunctorily.
"Are you the one who bandaged me?" He asked.
"Yes. You were bleeding a lot, and I tried my best to stop the bleeding." Astaroth answered.
"Not the best bandaging I've seen but thank you. Now let's talk about the real problem here." The swordsman said, getting serious.
"Hmm?" Astaroth said, tilting his head slightly.
"Why?" The man simply asked.
"Uh... Why... what?" Astaroth replied, a little confused.
"Why did you come back after I told you to escape?" The swordsman said, looking slightly angered.
This threw Astaroth off. He had come back because letting this man die without helping left a foul taste in his mouth. But now, the man was angry about it? He didn't understand the reason behind it at all.
"Would you have preferred I let you die, sir?" Astaroth asked, still confused.
"Yes." The man dryly answered.
"If that meant you made it out alive and well in all certainty, then yes." He continued, sitting down on the ground.
"All I cared about was you making it out alive. " He said, looking at Astaroth with a tinge of rage.
"I don't understand, sir. I am alive and well. Where is the problem?" Astaroth asked, sitting down too.
"The problem lies in the fluke you pulled. The way you threw my sword and landed a hit good enough to wound that bear." He affirmed.
"That was sheer luck. What would have happened if you would have missed it? That bear would have hunted you down and torn you to shreds. Why didn't you leave?" The swordsman asked, looking straight into Astaroth's eyes.
"I refuse to let someone die for me." Astaroth replied firmly.
"Not as long as I haven't tried every way possible to help." He added.
The man simply looked at him for a while, then averted his gaze and started skinning the small beast he had brought. Both of them kept quiet for some time, Astaroth staring at the ground and the man skinning his animal.
"What is your name, young man?" The swordsman asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"My name is Astaroth." He proudly answered.
"Well, Astaroth, you are reckless and stupid, and I thank you for it. But never do that again. When someone offers their life so you can live another day, you do what they ask. Do you hear me?" The swordsman said, looking back at Astaroth.
"Yes, sir, I hear you loud and clear." Astaroth answered back, looking the man in the eyes.
"Good. Now, are you hungry?" The man asked, switching to a smile.
"Yes, I certainly am." Astaroth replied, also smiling.
And thus, they both chatted whilst the swordsman finished preparing the creature and preparing a fire to roast it over. After eating and resting a little, they both got up and walked toward the village.
On the way there, Astaroth finally asked the man about training him with the sword. The swordsman accepted and told him to come to see him the next day at the barracks.
He would gladly train him in swordsmanship if it kept him from simply throwing swords at creatures and hoping to kill them.
After bidding farewell to the trainer, Astaroth walked back to his alcove. He lay down on his cot and looked at the time. It was 3 Pm.
He had appeared in-game at noon. The time dilation from the game to real-time was 2:1.
He had spent a little over 3 hours in-game, so that meant only about an hour and a half had passed outside. He was ready to play for a good amount of time, since he had no work for the next few days.
He planned to play the full day of in-game time, and log out the nights to eat and wash up before going back in. So he had about two and a half days in the game.
"Time to get to work." He said, smiling widely.
He looked at his stat window, now that he had some time.
Status:
Name: Astaroth
Race: Ash Elf
Level: 3 (30/60)
Stats:
HP: 30/30
MP: 50/130
Stamina: 100
Strength: 3 Agility: 3 Constitution: 3
Intelligence: 3 Wisdom: 3
Attack Power Str: 15 Attack Power Agi: 15 Magic Attack Power: 15 Healing Power: 15
Luck: 0 (Stat unaffected by Level up and free points)
Available stat points: 2
Available skill points: 2
Physical Condition: Normal
Mental Condition: Normal
Passive abilities: Mana Lobe (Lvl1/+100 MP), Mana Control (Lvl1/2% Mana cost reduction), ???
Equipped gear:
Beginner clothes
Next, he opened up his skill list.
Skills: Ignite, Propel
Ignite: Use your mana to ignite a flammable surface for 30 seconds. Base mana cost: 10 (Scales depending on material)
Propel: Launch an item in your hand or nearby with strong wind controlled by mana. Base mana cost: 10 (Scales with the weight of the thrown object)
Astaroth noticed he was still missing a good chunk of his mana. He guessed that there was no mana regen in this game.
So he would need to find potions or consumables that filled it back up. He walked back to the old mage and see if he had any or if he knew where to get some.
As he got to the old man's abode, this time the door opened before he could knock. As he stood there unsure, from the back of the house, he heard the old raspy voice.
"Don't just stand there gawking, young one. Come in."
And so he did. He again trod lightly through the maze of books to reach the back room.
"Hello again, Master." Astaroth politely said, doing a slight bow.
"Hah!" The old man chuckled.
"I'm no one's master, young man. You best remember that. I am but an old man who knows a few parlor tricks." He added dismissively.
"I heard from mister Stryph what happened in the forest. How very reckless of you to charge a beast you have no means of fighting. Death might have been a salutary lesson for you." The old man said, sternly.
"He also told me you wanted to learn the art of the blade. I will not tell you how to live your life but know this: a jack of all trades is a master of none. Best to pick a path and stick to it." He said, looking back down at his book.
"Now tell me, to what do I owe your visit?" He said, not even looking up from his book any longer.
"I was hoping you could tell me how to regain my lost mana. Maybe a potion, or a pill of some sort?" Astaroth asked.
The old man looked up from his book with a frown.
"Young man. If it were that simple in these parts, don't you think there would be more mages?" He asked Astaroth.
"Ahh... Is it not possible, then?" Astaroth asked back.
"Sigh. It's not that it's not possible. Just that we don't have the resources to make such potions in this backwater village. You would need to make a trip to a city or large settlement for such goods." He finally added after a moment.
"Then could you point me toward a bigger settlement then?" Astaroth asked, hoping.
"Do you think you could make it there on your own?" The old man asked, his gaze sharpening.
"Would it be that difficult?" Astaroth asked, scratching his head.
"Do you think the creature you fought earlier today is a rare occurrence in these parts, young man?" The old man asked him.
"Is it not a rarer monster than normal?" Astaroth asked, slightly going pale.
"Heh. If only it were." The old man sadly answered.
"I do not know why you landed here, kid, but the monsters in these parts are all of equal or greater strength than that bear you fought. There is no way out of this village than through that monster-infested forest. The barrier around our village is the only thing keeping this place from collapsing." The mage said, his face saddening.
Astaroth gulped. Was he going to be stuck here forever? Would he have to make a new account and restart the game with a different race?
He was now seeing what the elf in the character creation meant by 'Not worth his time'. Sadly, the choice had been made. His head drooped a bit.
The old man, seeing the emotions flash on his face, sighed loudly.
"Come with me." He then said, getting up from his chair.
Astaroth watched him get up, and followed behind, not expecting much anymore. He already thought he would have to restart.
The old man walked further to the back of the house, where he stopped in front of a library. Astaroth looked at him curiously.
Was he going to get a book or something? He watched the old man extend his hand to a book on the middle shelf and pull on it.
The bookshelf just tilted instead of coming out. Then the library sank into the wall to reveal a staircase going down.
The old man then started walking down the stairs. Astaroth just followed, now curious about what was down there.
Once they were down, Astaroth could feel the air getting heavier. Like something was pressing on him from all directions. The further they walked down the tunnel, the harder it was for him to breathe.
They walked for a few minutes before the tunnel transitioned into a wide cave. The cave was lit up by a brightly glowing blue orb in the center. Astaroth could feel a crushing weight on his body as he stepped closer to the orb.
"Careful not to touch it, young man. That orb is the only thing protecting our liveliness." The old man simply stated.
"This... This holds the shield up." Astaroth deduced.
"Correct." The only man nodded.
"But why did you bring me here, sir?" Astaroth asked.
"To train you." He answered.
"It's been some time since we've had someone with magic potential in these parts. I will help you get stronger as best I can. And this is the best I can do." He added, waving to the surrounding cave.
"I know you asked mister Stryph to train you to the blade. So I won't be teaching you much magic. You can learn that on your own. What I will teach you is simply mana sensing and manipulation. If used well, you can add it to your fighting style. He said, walking around the cave.
"Now sit down." He said.
"Yes, sir!" Astaroth answered, regaining hope. He might still have a chance of getting out of here!
If you liked my story, add it to your library!
This story is in the Fantasy Carnival, so it needs Power Stones to up-rank. If I get into the top 100, I will drop an extra 2 chapters that day. Another 2 chapters for top 50. I will up the stakes at 5 bonus chapters for top 20, and another 5 for top 10! Please vote for me! :)
Also, for every 100 PS I get in a week, I drop an extra chapter on Monday!
Astaroth quickly sat down, excited to learn something that would pull him out of his conundrum. The old man just walked around him for a bit, saying nothing.
"What I'm about to teach you, shouldn't be taught to fledglings like you. It is a higher concept of magic. Most mages first train their mana lobes for years, before getting to learn what I'm about to teach you." He said.
"For your own good, I recommend you never slack on training your mana control. Because the skill I will teach you requires a significant amount of control." The old man said, still walking circles around him.
"What am I gonna learn, sir?" Astaroth asked.
"Mana sensing and gathering. Two concepts that push magic to a higher level. But they are also putting you at risk if not under strict control. In the next hours, if I feel you losing control even once, I will knock you out." The man said, his eyes steely.
"Is it that risky?" Astaroth asked, doubting.
"It's insanely risky at your level. You might die if I don't intervene fast enough. Especially with your small mana capacity." The man said, sternly.
Astaroth gulped. If he died, he would take a massive penalty to his experience points.
Then he remembered he was still very low level. What would happen then?
The game never talked about that. No information could be found about dying at low levels because it wasn't supposed to happen at all. He became tense suddenly.
"Now, close your eyes and focus." The old man said.
"I want you to focus on your mana lobe. Once you can sense it, I want you to sense the mana swirling in it. Get used to that feeling. Get used to that energy coursing through you." The old man added.
"Yes, sir!" Astaroth simply said, closing his eyes.
It took him some time to calm down before he could even sense his mana lobe. He had to focus on his brain like he was trying to see in his head.
After a while, he started feeling a slight pulse coming from inside the center of his brain. Something like waves, slowly washing on shore, in and out.
He focused on that feeling and finally found a small ball-shaped mass of light in his brain.
The old man, noticing his focus increasing, knew he had reached the first part.
"Good, now that you have reached your mana lobe, focus on it. Feel the energy pulsating from it. Try to breathe with the same rhythm. Feel the mana inside you and rotate it slowly in your whole body to get used to the feeling of it. Only a little at a time." The man said, watching over Astaroth like an eagle eyeing its prey.
"Yes, sir." Astaroth simply answered.
He focused on the slow pulse, trying to match his breathing speed to it. After a few minutes, he finally synchronized his breath to the pulse.
More time passed as he tried to stay in this rhythm. Once he was confident in keeping this pace of breathing, he felt the energy.
To his surprise, it felt cool to his senses. Like fresh water on a hot summer day. He circulated it a bit within his mana lobe before trying to course it through the rest of his body.
He messed up the first few tries and felt the mana slip away from him. He needed to be careful, as he only had limited resources here.
He tried a few more times and got it to a full circle in his body after 4 times. He circled it again a few more times, for practice, and then he called out to the old man.
"What now?" He asked.
"Now we expand our scope." He answered.
Astaroth could feel the concentration in his voice. Even without looking at him, he knew the old man was fully focused on him as well.
"You keep channeling your mana inside yourself and coursing it. As you do it, I want you to expand your senses outside your body." The old man explained.
"Do NOT, and I repeat, do NOT under ANY circumstance, stop rotating the mana. If you do that as you expand your senses, you might experience backlash. If you feel your concentration slip, pull back your senses. Don't let go of the channeling. Do you understand me?" The old man said, stressing every word.
"Yes, sir!" Astaroth responded, gulping and focusing to the max.
And so it began. Long hours of channeling and expanding his senses.
Pulling them back at any sign of difficulty. Slowly but surely, Astaroth expanded further out. After about six hours of doing this tiring experience, he had finally reached the cave walls with his senses.
His eyes were closed, and yet, he could see everything in the cave in a kaleidoscope of colors. Every particle of dust. Every piece of loose rock.
All of it contained traces of mana. From that point of view, the old man was like a blazing sun in the middle of the cave.
He could see all the mana contained within him, clear as day. It mildly terrified him, so he looked at the shield artifact instead.
Then he looked at himself. He could see the mana floating around him. He could see the mana inside him, circulating in and out of his mana lobe. As his senses became accustomed to this, he heard a notification.
*Ding!*
*You have developed 'Perfect Mana Sense'*
"Master! I think I got the technique. What should I do next?" Astaroth asked excitedly.
"Now you siphon the mana around. Slowly pull it in. Not directly to your mana lobe. Circulate it through your body once before sending it there. It'll make it more compatible. And don't rush it. Just a little at a time!" The old man instructed.
Astaroth did as told. He sucked in a bit, let it rotate twice to be sure, then sent it to his mana lobe. He repeated that action many times until he felt like he was saturated. Two other notifications rang.
*Ding!*
*You have learned passive 'Mana breathing'*
*Ding!*
*You have learned active 'Mana Siphon'*
"I think my mana is full, sir." Astaroth declared, deciding this was enough. But before he could stop.
"Don't stop taking mana in." The man instructed.
"This time, send it to your body. Send mana to every fiber, every cell, and every atom of your being. Again, just a little at a time. Don't rush it. This is the most dangerous part." He added, fully focused on Astaroth.
Again, Astaroth did as instructed. He kept at it until his body felt like an atom bomb.
He felt energized, like he could split a mountain with one punch. A little after, it started hurting.
His body felt like it was dipped in hot water. Slowly, the pain got worse and worse. At some point, he felt like he was in a bath of lava.
Like his flesh would melt away at any moment.
"Argh! It hurts!" He suddenly yelled in pain.
"Keep going! You're almost there!" The old man encouraged.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!" Astaroth yelled again, feeling like he was bursting.
And suddenly.
*Kacha!*
He heard a sound like chains were bursting. His whole body released all the mana accumulated inside it, and then he hurled.
*Blergh*
Thick black mucus was getting discharged from his mouth nonstop. It kept going for a few minutes.
The stench coming from the stuff was rancid. As soon as Astaroth stopped throwing up the gunk, the old man burned it with flames. The stench soon disappeared.
Astaroth lay on his back, sweating profusely, breathing roughly as if he had just fought for 2 days straight. And then a notification came.
*Ding!*
*You have accomplished 'Body Cleansing'*
"What is body cleansing?" He thought out loud.
"It is the art of purifying the body through mana purge. As your body takes in mana, it also gathers impurities stored in it. It would eventually reduce your mana affinity and control, resulting in smaller mana capacity and weaker magic." The old man explained.
"That is why you must purge it every time you upgrade your mana lobe. Every time you cleanse your body, the mana you accumulate becomes purer, thus resulting in stronger spells and less wasted mana. Do it every time you upgrade your mana lobe." He added.
"Now, if you don't mind, let's get you out of here and cleaned. You reek and you need to go sleep too. It's already well into the night." He added, before turning around and walking towards the tunnel.
The road back upstairs was arduous, as he felt utterly exhausted. Astaroth didn't even ask for any more tips or lessons. He just walked straight back to his alcove, stopping only shortly on the way, to have a dip in the river.
Once he got to his alcove, he just laid down on the cot and stared at the ceiling. He looked at his status window again.
Status:
Name: Astaroth
Race: Ash Elf
Level: 3 (30/60)
Stats:
HP: 80/80 MP: 180/180 Stamina: 100
Mana Regen: 1/second in combat, 5/second out of combat
Strength: 3 Agility: 3 Constitution: 3
Intelligence: 3 Wisdom: 3
Attack Power Str: 15 Attack Power Agi: 15 Magic Attack Power: 15 Healing Power: 15
Luck: 0 (Stat unaffected by Level up and free points)
Available stat points: 2
Available skill points: 2
Physical Condition: Normal
Mental Condition: Normal
Equipped gear:
Beginner clothes
Next, he checked out every skill description.
Passives:
Mana Lobe Lvl1: Your mana lobe is freshly created and can store a small amount of mana. +100 mana capacity.
Mana Control Lvl2: You have grasped the fundamentals of mana control. Keep practicing. 4% mana cost reduction.
Perfect Mana Sense: You have an immaculate ability to sense mana. It's like you were born to do this. Can toggle actively to notice mana flows.
Mana Breathing Lvl1: You have learned how to absorb mana through breathing. Mana regen 1/second in combat, 5/per second out of combat.
Body Cleansing Lvl1: You have done your first body cleansing mana purge. Mana flows more easily into you and it is purer. Mana capacity +50, Spell power +10%, HP +50.
Actives:
Propel: Launch an item in your hand or nearby with a strong wind controlled by mana. Base mana cost: 10 (Scales with the weight of the thrown object)
Ignite: Use your mana to ignite a flammable surface for 30 seconds. Base mana cost: 10 (Scales depending on material)
Mana Siphon: You can turbo charge your mana breathing to one breath, to restore a large amount of mana (25%). Side effect: nausea.
Looking at all that, he smiled. Even though he was sure that he was behind every other player on leveling, he knew he had a solid foundation from which to grow.
Astaroth was sure he could make up for the tardiness, eventually.
So he turned to his side and closed his eyes. Tomorrow was a big day for him, too.
He had to learn the way of the blade. He logged off and ate. Alexandre then took a shower just to stay clean, and rested for a few hours, before logging back in.
If you liked my story, add it to your library!
This story is in the Fantasy Carnival, so it needs Power Stones to up-rank. If I get into the top 100, I will drop an extra 2 chapters that day. Another 2 chapters for top 50. I will up the stakes at 5 bonus chapters for top 20, and another 5 for top 10! Please vote for me! :)
Also, for every 100 PS I get in a week, I drop an extra chapter on Monday!
Currently 118th :)
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