บท 58: Chapter 57: I like to play with dirt.
"Ahhh!!! We. Did. It!" Drake shouted in triumph, placing the chunk of silver gray stones into his inventory. Looking at the new prompt.
[Profession Quest! Mine an assortment of Gems and Minerals.]
[Completed Accept Rewards?]
Drake mentally accepted the rewards, sweat drenching his every crevice yet again from the surprisingly hard work out that it was to gather the required ores and gems.
A mote of light flashed and a grayish pickax that looked much like the one in his hands clattered on the ground, followed with the familiar mechanical female voice he thought he had muted once again.
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the Miner Profession]
[You have learned system skill, Material Identification]
[You have be awarded 1,000 Profession Experience]
[You have increased to a Proficiency 2 Miner]
[You have increased Material Identification to Proficiency 2]
"Wow that's a lot. Natto, I have to ask. Why do notifications like this get past the mute function?" Drake asked, an eyebrow raised, picking up the pickaxe from the ground.
"Ah. That would be upgrades after F Rank. There are two ways they get past the mute function. One they are part of skills, or they are providing information that is not given commonly," she said, waving a roasted nut in the air.
"Why in the world would levels not be included in that?" Drake asked, confused.
"Certainly seems a bit off, but I believe the system sees leveling as a common part of your reality, as normally it would be much more frequent than what you experience," she clarified.
Well that does make some sense, I am leveling slower and slower. He thought, inspecting the pickaxe in his hand a bit more in the light of his fireball that rotated around his shoulders. He spotted faint cobalt blue streaks in the iron that shone in the light ever so often, giving the pickaxe a surprisingly otherworldly feel.
[Mana Infused Iron Pickaxe[F Grade] [Uncommon]
A Mana Infused Iron Tool that is used to mine out various ores, jewels, and material.
This tool is specifically used to mine ores and material and deal's no damage.
Increased proficiency in mining by 15%
Requirement: Mining Profession
Drake whistled, "Ooo, Drake like. This little baby is sure to help me out," he said smiling.
Looking over at the wall, he activated his new Profession Skill, Material Identification, while staring at a blue gem he already knew the information of so he could compare.
[Unmined Sapphire Gemstone [F Grade] [Uncommon]
A raw magic gemstone.
A magically infused gemstone that can be used in crafting to create accessories that increase Intelligence by a small amount.
Ok that's less helpful than I would have liked… But at least it tells me what I'm going to be mining definitively instead of waiting till it's mined. Drake thought slightly deflated.
Looking around Drake spotted several other gems and ores that he had mined before, all sporting about the same descriptions, just having 'Unmined' as a prefix.
"So, now that I have this, I'm ganna test the difference but I wanna ask before I get lost in the sauce again. You sure you can't help me out a bit with the crafting profession?" Drake asked.
Natto stuffed another nut into her cheeks forcing them to slightly protrude, turning to Drake she only shook her head.
Has she gotten even more gluttonous after her Rank Up? Drake thought, turning away to prepare to strike the wall, wanting to compare the difference in the tool grade.
Drake walked up to the shaft wall, spotting a cluster of violet reflecting crystals. His mind turned to Natto's explanation from earlier, where she basically said she could tell him about specifics of how the basics of certain professions worked, and what they did, even now going as far to tell him some of the specific items they could make in detail. But as far as teaching the profession, allowing him to pick it up, he was shit out of luck.
Drake did feel the pressing need to increase his repertoire of jewelry to encompass his major stats, but there was sadly nothing he could do about it at the moment.
Making a mental note that he would have to ask around Shigure's camp for when he inevitably ended up visiting it, needing both tools and expertise in jewelry crafting and a proper fighting expert if he could manage it.
Taking the new pickaxe Drake pulled it above his head, his eyes trained on the cluster of Amethyst Gems. Bringing the pickaxe down with a crack, Drake fell forward off balance, the pickaxe sliding through the stone like a hot knife through butter.
"What the? Wow, that's so much better… Let me see," Drake said, pondering outloud.
Switching back to the old pickaxe Drake tried again, swinging down with all his might the pickaxe crashed against the sedimentary wall. This time the pickaxe didn't slide in as easily but made its way inside the shaft wall more deeply than before.
Confirming Drake's suspicions that his gaining of his profession must give him some extra bonuses to his ability to mine by default, even though it was not mentioned in the description of the profession.
[Profession: Mining P2 (1.24%)]
Mining Proficiency 2 (1.24%)
You have worked hard to break ground with the purpose of gaining wealth from the land, earning you the title of a back breaking profession.
You enjoy playing in the dirt.
It wasn't something that was entirely detrimental, just very weird how the system seemed to arbitrarily withhold information.
The system had also done the same with some of Drake's skills. Granted almost all of the information was within the skills but there were some small snippets that were left out, adding nuance to the skills. His ability to use confluence skills being a perfect example.
He could make the mental jump that something was missing preventing him from using certain forms of combination magic but the skill had left both the why and how.
The most surprising was that Natto had no idea either, as if it was just a known misgiving of the system that everyone just accepted.
Drake pulled the pickaxe from the wall, snapping the Amethyst from the wall as well, placing all the items into his inventory. While pulling out another familiar stone he had been procrastinating on. Until he was interrupted with a symphony of loud notifications in his head.
[You have increased Magic Sight to Proficiency 2]
[You have increased Multiplicative to Proficiency 2]
[You have increased Warrior's Stamina to Proficiency 2]
[You have increased Of the Apex to Proficiency 2]
[You have increased Heretical Mind to Proficiency 2]
[You have increased Hoarder to Proficiency 2]
The notifications were surprising, in both that they were not nearly as overpowering as the ones from the introduction and that so many had upgraded all at once.
It seemed that most of the skills he had been using up until now had increased, and that two of his passive skills had gone up as well. Looking at his skills, the other passive skills were not far behind.
Tempered in Flames P1(83%)
Sound Body and Mind P1(87%)
Weapon of Choice P1(76%)
Looking at the skills it appeared that even the passive skills increased at different rates. Drake didn't fail to notice most of his active skills had stalled since he hadn't fought recently. The worst of it was his 'Fully Loaded' skill that he hadn't been able to utilize, leaving it at an abysmal 0%. Along with his 'Aura of Command' skill.
Drake continued to use his skills ad nauseam, doing his best to make up for lost time where he could. For now there was nothing he could do for some of his skills, but he made sure to remind himself to focus on them when he could, skills were his lifeblood now after all.
But digressing, Drake looked down to the smooth stone in his hand, finally ready to take on another rare stone.
[Skills Stone: Oppression [Rare]
Unlocks a random skill from the Oppression tree
Requires open skill slot
Taking a deep breath and a slightly nervous glance at Natto. Drake clenched his hand around the stone.
[You wish to consume, Skill Stone: Oppression [Rare]
[Confirm?]
Bracing himself for another round against the power that came with consuming the higher grade stones. Drake accepted.
The nearly scripted feeling of cold shot up his arm, but much more quickly this time, turning to a warm comfort like the smoldering embers at a campfire. But soon the feelings changed, the hot and cold oscillated back and forth pushing Drake's inner equilibrium severely out of whack.
The feeling suddenly turned into a raging tornado within himself, fighting to break free from his fleshy cage.
Drake fought fervently against it, trying his best to contain the feeling and energy inside. The power within him was quickly winning out against him though.
The feeling soon overpowered Drake as he screamed silently falling to his knees. The power soon changed to consciousness as he felt it ripped from him, his senses expanding outward in a way that was completely foreign.
[You have learned skill: Tyrannical Aura [F Rank]
Drake felt as if he was having an out of body experience. He was inside his body but was also aware of his surroundings such that he could instantly identify Natto running to him.
"D-d-d-Drake… I implore you to c-c-c-alm down.. You have gained a powerful aura skill. A-a-and it is affecting your surroundings. Rei-ign in yourself, imagine your body as the focal point and b-b-bring your consciousness inside!" Natto advised, her teeth chattering the words.
Drake wasn't sure what was going on, only that he knew what he was doing was affecting her negatively.
Trying his best to focus, Drake imagined himself as both an anchor and container. Trying to pull his spreading senses into himself. The feeling was nauseating, but he soon began inching his purview inward. Noticing his senses lock into place around him, as if a mental clamp came down on them.
A deep exhale escaped Drake as he found himself curled on the ground, looking up at a shivering Natto, her teeth still clattering as she looked back concerned.
"W-w-what was that. I've never experienced something like that in my l-life. It felt like I was being spread so thin I could lose myself?!" Drake said, his body shivering now from the experience.
Before Natto could answer, he again felt himself pull apart ever so slightly, forcing him to focus again on solidifying himself and his senses within him. Another gasp for air.
"Y-you finally got a proper Aura skill. Certainly you r-remember Bear's? A real passive aura skill needs minute control to keep in check and be used p-properly," Natto explained her chattering slowly subsiding, "I believe you obtained something very strong. Normally Aura will not push out to that extent just from obtaining them, it almost felt like it wanted to consume the surroundings, leaving nothing in its wake."
Drake struggled with keeping his focus on keeping himself contained but tried to summon a fireball in his hands for warmth.
The spell sputtered out several times before Drake cursed, unable to focus enough to cast the spell chantlessly. Forced to chant the spell he closed his eyes to focus on keeping himself together then spoke the words mechanically.
"The f-fire of my heart, take f-form and sear my enemies. F-fireball." Drake chanted, still feeling a deep cold in his core, as if being spread too thin had expunged all of his body heat in the process.
The fireball formed in Drake's hand, but without his concentration to manipulate the spell, it went out of control and flew out from his hands into the wall of the mineshaft. Slamming into a fiery explosion down a side shaft crushing the side wall it impacted.
"S-shit…" Drake cursed, fighting with himself to keep his body from seemingly tearing apart.
"Y-you dolt! Your essence, soul or spirit, whatever you want to call it is the one being spread. Y-you will continue to feel this until you reign in yourself. You w-will also keep imposing your aura on the world until you control it. Calm yourself and b-breath!" Natto shouted.
Drake looked up at her from his lying position with one eye, his body continuing to shiver as hers did. He could see her face pale and continue to do so.
He was hurting her again, he knew it. She was putting on a front but he could see the fear in her eyes, the same as before.
Fucking damn it. Drake cursed inwardly for doing something he promised to never again. He forced himself to a sitting position. His body fervently objected, faltering each step of the way.
Finally getting into a meditative position he closed his eyes, doing his best to contain his senses, trying to contain his will.
Slowly but surely he began to feel warmth again fill his center, his anchor that was himself. His senses starting to normalize.
A quite washed over him, as he heard the crackling of the torches, the light droplets of condensation fall to the mine floor. A touch on his hand, and the soft steadying breathing of the only person who was with him.
Drake finally opened his eyes, to see Natto again. Her face painted with worry and cold sweat, but color returning to her skin.
He had found some small balance in keeping the Aura at bay, but the container was weak. And he had yet to fully grasp his new skill, but for now that was enough.
Placing a gentle hand on Natto's slightly damp hair, Drake smiled, "Thank you."
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