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 :)
After logging back in, Astaroth felt fresh and well-rested. Ready to tackle this day of rough physical exertion.
He was sure that the sword training would not be for the weak, and he was still only level three.
He walked away from his alcove, and towards the barracks in the village. From there came the sounds of swords hitting wooden dummies at a steady rhythm.
It sounded less chaotic than the previous day, probably because of the trainer orchestrating this training. He walked into the courtyard quietly and started observing the training.
He saw a rack to the side with short swords on it and walked to it. He inspected the swords.
Basic Training Short Sword (1h):
Grade: Common
Attack Power: 1
Durability: 10/10
Description: A short sword that is good only for training.
'Meh' He thought, as he grabbed one.
The sword had a certain weight to it. He had never held a real sword in his life, but he was expecting the game to take away that realism.
He knew some swords were too heavy for him, for example, the trainer's long sword, but he thought that was because of a stat requirement. Now he guessed that there were hidden stat requirements for each weapon.
Luckily for him, the weight was barely an inconvenience, so he could still wield it. He started copying the movements the surrounding trainees were performing.
At first, his moves were sloppy. But Astaroth was good at one thing, and that was rote execution. He worked in a factory, so everything was always the same.
He kept doing the movements for hours, getting better as time went by. By lunchtime, everyone stopped training and went inside the barracks to grab some food.
He, on the other side, kept slashing and sweeping. The reason for that was the notification he had gotten just a short while back.
*Ding!*
*Your training has borne fruit. Strength +1*
He even swapped swords and grabbed a longsword on another rack. He of course inspected it first.
Basic Training Longsword(1h/2h):
Grade: Common
Attack Power: 1(1h)/2(2h)
Durability: 10/10
Description: A longsword that is good only for training.
He went back to performing the moves and had a little more trouble, seeing as the sword was heavier and longer. But he focused on the task and eventually went back to doing the moves fluidly.
After another few hours, he heard another notification.
*Ding!*
*You have learned 'Basic Sword Training'*
'Yes!' He thought.
'Maybe if I keep at it, I'll unlock the next levels.'
And so, he got back to training. But it was not long before he saw the trainer walking toward him.
"How are you today, sir?" Astaroth said, lowering his sword and bowing his head.
"I'm doing a lot better, thank you." The trainer responded.
"I see you came to train and that you have grasped the basics. Good. But you won't learn anything more from just practicing these moves. Come with me." He added, beckoning him with his hand, as he walked to the center of the court.
Astaroth could see that the dirt there was a little more compact. Like feet had stomped there more often, and with more force.
He quickly understood why, as the trainer drew his sword and turned to him. The trainer only smiled a little, before getting into combat position and becoming serious.
'We're gonna spar' Astaroth immediately understood.
He lowered his posture, hoping that he could learn something new from this.
His hopes were quickly dashed. Instead of calling this a spar, one might call it a beating.
The trainer dashed at him at speeds high enough for him to only be a blur. Astaroth had just enough instinct to block the sword slash coming at him from the left.
But the result was as expected. So much force came at him that when the swords collided, he lost grip on his own and it flew away from his hand.
That also threw him off balance, and he ended up wide open.
The trainer grinned at him savagely before kicking him in the chest, sending him flying into the nearby wall. When Astaroth hit the wall, all the air left his body, and he crumpled to the ground.
After a few seconds of gasping to catch his breath, he spat out blood.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw his HP bar had dropped by half! Was the trainer trying to kill him?!
"That hurt!" He growled as he got up.
"That was for disobeying me yesterday." The trainer said, a smirk on his face.
"Now, grab your sword. We aren't done." He added.
Astaroth did as he was told and grabbed his sword. This scene happened a few more times, with only the violence toning down a bit.
They spared for a few hours if this could even be called sparring until Astaroth was black and blue and unable to bring his sword up any longer.
"Okay, we've trained enough for the day. Go wash up and rest. I expect you to be here tomorrow again, young man." The trainer said to Astaroth, before walking into the barracks.
People around him were giving him pitying looks as they went back to training. The poor lad would go through hell for a while until he got good or got dead, they thought to themselves.
Astaroth, though, was not in the least discouraged. He got another notification that washed his bitterness away.
*Ding!*
*Your training has borne fruit. Constitution +1*
He might not be leveling for now, but at least he still got something productive done. He walked back to the river to wash up and then walked to his alcove. As he did, he looked up his status screen again.
Status:
Name: Astaroth
Race: Ash Elf
Level: 3 (30/60)
Stats:
HP: 90/90 MP: 180/180 Stamina: 100
Mana Regen: 1/second in combat, 5/second out of combat
Strength: 4 Agility: 3 Constitution: 4
Intelligence: 3 Wisdom: 3
Attack Power Str: 20 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
He tried tapping each attribute to see what they did.
Strength: 1=5 Strength-based weapons damage, affects force (+2.5kg/level)(Base=25kg)
Agility: 1=5 Agi-based weapons damage, affects speed (+0.25m/level)
Constitution: 1=10/25/50/75/100 HP, 0.1% Physical resistances/point (Poison, Bleed, Stuns included) (Lvls 10/20/30/40/50)
Intelligence: 1=5/10/15/20/25MP, 0.1% Magic resistances/point (Elemental types), 5 Magic Damage(Lvls 10/20/30/40/50)
Wisdom: 1=5/10/15/20/25MP, 0.1% Mental resistances/point (Fear, Confused, etc), 5 Healing Power
He distributed the free attribute points he had. One in wisdom, and one in intelligence.
His stats changed.
Status:
Name: Astaroth
Race: Ash Elf
Level: 3 (30/60)
Stats:
HP: 90/90 MP: 190/190 Stamina: 100
Mana Regen: 1/second in combat, 5/second out of combat
Strength: 4 Agility: 3 Constitution: 4
Intelligence: 4 Wisdom: 4
Attack Power Str: 20 Attack Power Agi: 15 Magic Attack Power: 20 Healing Power: 20
Luck: 0 (Stat unaffected by Level up and free points)
Available stat points: 0
Available skill points: 2
Physical Condition: Normal
Mental Condition: Normal
Passive abilities: Mana Lobe Lvl1, Mana Control Lvl2, Perfect Mana Sense, Mana Breathing Lvl1, Body Cleansing Lvl1, ???
Equipped gear:
Beginner clothes
Skills: Propel, Ignite, Mana Siphon
Once in his alcove, Astaroth practiced his mana control. He wanted to have greater control over it because it would help him greatly if he ever got to cast magic.
He fully used his 'Perfect Mana Sense' and started manipulating the surrounding mana. Moving it, making shapes out of it, breathing it in, and expelling it.
He even tried compressing it. But that was a whole other game.
The more he tried compressing the mana in front of him, the more he drained his mana.
He deduced that to control ambient mana; he was using his own to coerce it into action. An idea came to him then.
He gathered a ball of ambient mana in his hand. Then he started pushing on it with his own mana, trying to compress it. It was working!
Since his mana was purer than the ambient mana, it was denser and could press down on the ambient mana with more ease. The little ball of condensed mana floated in front of him for a bit before he let it disperse.
He then tried out something else. He pulled in ambient mana and attached it to his body.
He kept it there and then started pushing out his own mana into it from beneath, trying to condense it from under, while holding it from outside with his will.
It took him many tries, as his concentration slipped up and he would lose control over certain parts of the ambient mana, leaking out his own.
But after a while, he achieved what he was trying. And just like he hoped.
*Ding!*
*You have learned the spell 'Mana Skin'*
He quickly opened his skill list and tapped the new spell to read its description.
Mana Skin: You condense mana over your body, forming a second skin of pure mana. Reduce damage taken by 10%, also has a 20% chance of repelling a glancing blow. Base mana cost: 50 (Mana cost and damage reduction scale with how compressed you make the layer)
Seeing the second part of the description, he tried pumping more mana into it, only for the skin to shatter.
"I guess that's the best I can do for now, huh?" He grumbled.
"Oh well. It will do for now." He added.
He thought of something else next. If he could coat his skin with mana, shouldn't he be able to do the same with objects?
He got up and ran out of his alcove. He scrambled around, looking for a branch, or anything that could do a makeshift sword.
He quickly spotted a snapped-off tree branch and picked it up. He ran back to his alcove.
The people outside saw him and looked at him weirdly but went back to what they were doing.
He practiced for another couple of hours, to no avail. He was sure it was doable, but he felt like something was eluding him.
He gave up for the day and went to bed. He was exhausted.
He logged off again to repeat his routine. Eat, shower, and then rest, dreaming of a day when he would stand head and shoulders over everyone.
He then logged back in for the last time of the weekend.
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!
We have reached top 100 today!!!
So I gave you 2 extra chapters :)
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