One year later
I received a 10,000 attribute point book for my 5th birthday and stored it in my teddy bear bag.
We made a lot of progress in our sword, bow, and magic training.
Father gradually increased our training from 5 minutes to 8 minutes until we could finish 15 minutes, which took 4 months.
After completing the basic training, they gave us an imperial sword style skillbook, and we absorbed it.
I spent 5 skill points to learn imperial sword style.
Gave Fluffy a 5 skill point book to learn the imperial sword style.
They taught us how to do the imperial sword style.
It has 3 stances: aggressive, defensive, and neutral.
After we mastered the imperial sword style, which took 3 months, father gave me and Fluffy a ‘River Secret style’ skillbook and both of us absorbed it.
I spent 15 skill points to learn it.
Gave Fluffy 3 5 skill point book to learn it.
Unbeknownst to him, this sword style is the precursor for the ten stars swordsmanship. It has five sword skills which are: splash, ripple, stream, overflow, and flash flood.
I spent 70 skill points on learning all five sword skills.
Gave Fluffy 12 5 skill point book to learn all five sword skills.
Splash 1/5- slashes vertically. Deals (Strength + 20%) damage. Cost 300 stamina to use. Requires 2 skill points to level up or use the skill 20 times.
Ripple 1/5- 4 chain attack combo. Each attack deals (Strength + 15%) damage. Cost 750 stamina to use. Requires 3 skill points to level up or use the skill 30 times.
Stream 1/5- 13 chain attack combo. Each attack deals (Strength + 20%) damage. Cost 1,800 stamina to use. Requires 5 skill points to level up or use the skill 40 times.
Overflow 1/5- enhances all the user’s attributes by 200% for 20 minutes. Cost 3,000 stamina to use. Requires 10 skill points to level up or use the skill 50 times.
Flash flood 1/5- the user unsheathes the sword, dashes towards the opponent at high speed and decapitates the opponent. Instantly kill any opponent as long as you decapitate their head successfully. If failed deals (Strength + 250%) damage. Cost 5,000 stamina to use. Requires 25 skill points to level up or use the skill 75 times.
After 5 months of training, Fluffy and I leveled up all five sword skills to level 5 by using it.
Splash 5/5- slashes vertically. Deals (Strength + 75%) damage. Cost 750 stamina to use.
Ripple 5/5- 4 chain attack combo. Each attack deals (Strength + 50%) damage. Cost 1,500 stamina to use.
Stream 5/5- 13 chain attack combo. Each attack deals (Strength + 75%) damage. Cost 5,000 stamina to use.
Overflow 5/5- enhances all the user’s attributes by 200% for 60 minutes. Cost 10,000 stamina to use.
Flash flood 5/5- the user unsheathes the sword, dashes towards the opponent at high speed and decapitates the opponent faster than they could react. Instantly kill any opponent as long as you decapitate their head successfully. If failed deals (Strength+500%) damage. Cost 25,000 stamina to use.
I am ambidextrous, so I also trained how to use a sword and execute sword techniques with my left hand.
Mom slowly adjusted the distance of our targets till we could hit a bullseye 100 metres away, which took 9 months for all of us to achieve. Then she switched our targets from dummies to live animals such as birds, rabbit, deer and boar which are summoned by the assistant instructors.
We had a hard time hitting our new targets because we are used to targets that aren’t moving. Our new targets would run away, burrow, hide beneath objects and sometimes the boar would mock charge you.
It took me and Fluffy 5 months to achieve 100% basic mana control while my friends took 6 months. We still need to practice basic mana control to maintain 100% basic mana control.
After achieving 100% basic mana control, grandma revised our training schedule. She reduced our time doing basic mana control to 2 hours and made us practice creating magic circles for 4 hours.
They gave us a magic circle spell book.
I spent 2 skill points to learn magic circle.
Gave Fluffy 2 1 skill point book to learn it.
Magic circle- allows the user to create magic circles. Cost 10 mana to create.
She showed us a perfect magic circle, then she instructed us to replicate it.
We were horrible at it on our first try, but the assistant instructors helped us fix and locate the flaws in our magic circles, so it only took 1 month for us to perfect it.
After completing the magic circle training, grandma changed again our training schedule. She did not change our time doing basic mana control but replaced the magic circle training to spell casting training.
They tested my friends’ magic affinity with 7 different colored magic stones before teaching us how to cast spells.
Grandma handed 7 different colored magic stones which consists of red, blue, brown, green, yellow, black and white to Alice.
“What is this for?” Alice asked.
“This is to test your affinity with the basic elements of magic. Red is for fire, blue is for water, brown is for earth, yellow for lightning, green is for wind, white for light, and black for dark,” grandmother replied.
“How do you test your affinity using that stone?” John asked.
“You pour some mana to the stone, and if it lights up, it means you have an affinity towards that element. If it does not light up, it means you have no affinity with that element. If all the stones light up halfway, this means the person is a generalist,” Jacob replied.
“What happens if you have an affinity towards a certain element?” Josh asked.
“You gain bonuses such as faster spell mastery, quicker casting, heightened magic resistance, stronger and more stable spells, and if you have two or more affinity, you will be able to cast advanced elements,” Alyssa replied.
“How about if you don’t have an affinity for the element you want to cast?” Jack asked.
“You will be penalized, but you will still be able to cast it. The penalties are slower casting speed, slower spell mastery, lowered magic resistance, and weaker spell power,” Aubrey replied.
“How about generalists? What advantages and disadvantages do they have?” I asked.
“Generalists can cast all basic elemental spells. The problem is they can’t access advanced elements, since it needs you to have a strong affinity with two compatible elements to access it. They learn at a normal speed and cast at a normal speed. What sets them apart from each other is their talent, intelligence, hard work, and effort,” Joanna replied.
“What is more common a generalist, or someone who has a strong affinity towards one or more basic elements?” I asked.
“Generalists are more common because humans developed strong affinities toward an element after the gods have blessed them and gained additional powers. This happened during the Age of Gods around hundreds of millions of years ago, and they helped the gods win the war against the demon god and the alliance of demons and devils,” Bianca replied.
“Can humans use magic before being blessed by the gods?” I asked.
“Yes, but they developed and used magic spells that can only be used for everyday life, such as food creation and fertilizer,” grandmother replied.
“Those spells are very advanced. So that means ancient humans are remarkable?” I asked.
“On paper, yes, the reality is they can create raw meat and vegetables that are tasteless and contained fewer nutrients compared to the original, not cooked meals and the fertilizer they create is bone meal and dead leaves,” Henry replied.
“Why would the gods need the help of humans if they are that weak?” Alice asked.
“Gods and Angels needed to materialize physically in the mortal realm since they are always in their spiritual form in the heavenly realm, so half of their power is used to maintain their physical form. They believed it should not be forced, so only a handful of them have a host. Their enemies, the Demons and Devils forcefully possessed humans and other races until said body can’t fight and host them then discard them and find a new host. They solved this problem by blessing the other races with additional powers and knowledge to be able to fight the demons and devils. Some gods lost influence and their followers were killed because of infighting and power struggle. Coincidentally, the humans are one of the few races left that the other gods did not bless and were even ignored, so there really isn’t an established religion. Some gods who lost were Onos, the god of light, Ibris, the god of afterlife and Amis, the god of death, to name a few. These gods saw an opportunity to establish their own religion with the help of humans and blessed them. Eventually, the humans who were blessed became heroes and spread the name of their god and the ones they rescued became devoted followers, which then established a religion. Some heroes and devotees established a kingdom, built places of worship and conquered other countries to expand their territory, gain more resources and, most importantly, broaden the influence of their religion through religious conversion,” grandmother replied.
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“What happened to those religions? How did the crab religion become the largest and most influential?” I asked.
“The gods won the war and sealed off the demon god but, they were severely weakened after the war and got stuck in heaven unable to generate their physical form. Gradually, their influence became weaker due to corruption, greed, and scandals that plagued their religion. It also did not help that there were no common enemy for other religions to unite and set aside their differences in teachings and beliefs which lead to power struggles around the world and eventually a holy war that lead to the destruction of some religions. The rise of Maple was the sole reason the crab religion became the largest and most influential religion in the world,” grandmother replied.
“Any further questions?” Henry asked.
We shook our head.
“You can now begin testing your affinity Alice,” grandma said.
Alice nodded.
She poured mana into the stones one by one. Five stones lighted which are red, blue, yellow, brown and green.
Josh did the same process. Three stones lighted which are yellow, blue, and green.
Jack repeated the same process. Four stones lighted which are brown, red, green, and blue.
John carried out the same process. All the stones lighted up halfway.
Mark replicated the same process. Three stones lighted which are green, blue, and yellow.
“Everyone’s finished the magic affinity test. We will now move on to the spell casting training,” grandmother said.
“How about Felix? He hasn’t completed the magic affinity test,” Mark replied.
“I already knew his magic affinity because it is inherited from your parents, but since everyone wanted to know. Felix, go test your magic affinity,” grandmother said.
I duplicated the same process. All the stones lighted up.
My friends kinda look upset.
“Today we are going to teach you how to cast some simple elemental spells and a non-elemental reconnaissance spell,” grandmother said.
They gave us a newbie spell book that contains 7 tier 1 spells which are fireball, waterball, scan, spark, earth wall, windcutter, and sand golem.
I spent 7 skill points to learn all 7 tier 1 spells.
Gave Fluffy 1 5 skill point book and 2 1 skill point books to learn all 7 tier 1 spells.
Fireball 1/10 (tier 1)- generates a ball of fire and hurls it on a single target. It has a maximum range of 100 metres. Cost 15 mana. Deals (Int + 20%)*4 damage. Requires 2 skill points to level up or use the spell 10 times.
Waterball 1/10 (tier 1)- creates a ball of water. Cost 10 mana. It has a maximum range of 25 metres. The temperature and salinity of the water can be changed. Requires 1 skill point to level up or use the spell 5 times.
Spark 1/10 (tier 1)- generates a white lightning bolt and hits a single target. It has a maximum range of 5 metres. Cost 30 mana. Deals (Int + 50%)*4 damage. Requires 5 skill points to level up or use the spell 25 times.
Windcutter 1/10 (tier 1)- creates and fires a crescent-shaped wind that cuts everything in its path. It has a maximum range of 50 metres. Cost 25 mana. Deals (Int + 25%)*4 damage. Wet enemies receive double damage. Requires 3 skill points to level up or use the spell 15 times.
Earth Wall 1/10 (tier 1)- Erects a wall of earth in front of the user with a length of 3 metres, a width of 1 metre, a height of 1 metre. Cost 40 mana. Blocks (Int + 10%)*4 damage. Requires 4 skill points to level up or use the spell 20 times.
Scan 1/10 (tier 1)- Scans the area around the user 100 metres away. Can be blocked by solid objects and Tekrite or other anti-magic material. Does not detect invisible objects. Cost 75 mana. Requires 5 skill points to level up or use the spell 10 times.
Sand golem 1/10 (tier 1)- Creates a 2 metre golem from hardened sand. It has 350 hp, 25 physical attack damage, 0 physical armor, and 0 magic armor. Lasts 15 minutes. Cost 150 mana. Requires 10 skill points to level up or use the spell 30 times.
She showed us how to cast tier 1 spells: fireball, waterball, scan, spark, earth wall, windcutter and sand golem.
“Just follow the instructions on the spell book and you can cast all the spells I showed you,” grandmother said.
We nodded.
Grandmother smiled and created dummies 5 metres away from us.
“Use these dummies to practice casting the spells I just showed to improve your casting speed and spell mastery,” grandmother said.
We followed her instructions and began casting spells.
At first, all the spells took 15 seconds to cast.
It took me 3 months to level up all 7 spells to 10 because I could cast 10 spells simultaneously, while Fluffy took 5 months.
My friends took 4 months to level up all 7 spells to 10.
All the spells now take 1 second to cast.
Fireball 10/10 (tier 1)- generates a ball of fire and hurls it on a single target. It has a maximum range of 100 metres. Cost 100 mana. Deals (Int + 80%)*4 damage.
Waterball 10/10 (tier 1)- creates a ball of water. Cost 40 mana. It has a maximum range of 25 metres. The temperature and salinity of the water can be changed.
Spark 10/10 (tier 1)- generates a white lightning bolt and fires it on a single target. It has a maximum range of 5 metres. Cost 200 mana. Deals (Int + 100%)*4 damage. Wet enemies receive double damage.
Windcutter 10/10 (tier 1)- shoots a crescent-shaped wind that cuts everything in its path. It has a maximum range of 50 metres. Cost 150 mana. Deals (Int + 75%)*4 damage.
Earth Wall 10/10 (tier 1)- Erects a wall of earth in front of the user with a length of 15 metres, a width of 5 metres, and a height of 5 metres. Cost 450 mana. Blocks (Int + 50%)*4 damage.
Scan 10/10 (tier 1)- Scans the area around the user 5 kilometres away. Can be blocked by solid objects and Tekrite or other anti-magic material. Does not detect invisible objects. Cost 350 mana.
Sand golem 10/10 (tier 1)- Creates a 2 meter golem from hardened sand. It has 2500 hp, 150 physical attack damage, 0 physical armor, and 0 magic armor. Lasts 8 hours. Cost 500 mana.
A year has passed.
Our overall close combat skills further improved.
They taught us how to coat swords and our body with mana, map reading, basic survival skills, camping, fishing, making traps, pick locking, hide and use hidden daggers, climbing and swimming.
Coating swords with mana boosts its durability, avoids chipping the blade, triples the physical damage, and wound or kill beings that are normally impervious to physical attacks.
Coating your body with mana boosts all attributes by 300%. It stacks with other spells that also enhance your attributes.
Hunting live animals with the bow immensely improved all our attributes.
We learned how to aim with unstable positions, hit fast moving targets, track targets in unfamiliar terrain, and use the wind to our advantage.
They taught us how to coat arrows with mana to enhance its penetration power, triples the physical damage, and lessen the effects of rain, gravity, wind resistance and drag, allowing it to travel much greater speeds.
Grandmother and her friends gave us a beginner spell book that contains 3 tier one spells and 6 tier two spells which are: bubble bomb, frostbite, wind bullet, quicksand, electric shock, ice shards, pyroblast, paralyze, and water cannonball.
I spent 15 skill points to learn all 9 spells.
Gave Fluffy 3 5 skill point books to learn all 9 spells.
It took me 3 months to level up the tier 1 spells to 10, while the tier 2 spells took 5 months.
My friends took 4 months to level up the tier 1 spells to 10, while the tier 2 spells took 6 months.
Fluffy took 5 months to level up the tier 1 spells to 10, while the tier 2 spells took 7 months.
Water cannonball 10/10 (tier 2)- Shoots a fast high pressure ball of water at the opponent. It has a maximum range of 250 metres. Cost 180 mana. Deals (Int + 125%)*4 damage.
Paralyze 10/10 (tier 2)- launches a yellow lightning bolt at the opponent and paralyzes them for 5 seconds. It has a maximum range of 15 metres. Abnormal pen= (Wisdom + 30%)*4. Cost 125 mana.
Pyroblast 10/10 (tier 2) - hurls an immense fire at the enemy. It has a maximum range of 75 metres. Cost 500 mana. Deals (Int + 250%)*4 damage.
Ice shards 10/10 (tier 1)- Creates and fires ten ice shards at the opponent. It has a maximum range of 300 metres. Cost 125 mana. Deals (Int + 50%)*4 damage.
Quicksand 10/10 (tier 1) - transforms a 30 metre area into quicksand. Traps anything inside it by sucking them deeper and restricting their movement. Cost 150 mana.
Electric shock 10/10 (tier 2)- Generates a strong blue lightning bolt and fires it on a single target. It has a maximum range of 10 metres. Cost 750 mana. Deals (Int + 150%)*4 damage. Wet enemies receive double damage.
Frostbite 10/10 (tier 2)- freezes your enemy’s skin. It has a maximum range of 30 metres. Deals (Int + 80%)*4 damage. Wet enemies receive double damage.
Wind bullet 10/10 (tier 2)- shoots four supersonic high pressure air bullets at the opponent. It has a maximum range of 500 metres. Cost 950 mana. Deals (Int + 200%)*4 damage per bullet.
Bubble bomb (tier 1) - Creates hundreds of small bubbles which explode when popped and causes a chain explosion that covers a small area. Cost 350 mana. Deals (Int + 30%)*4 damage.
The tier two spells take me 5 seconds to cast, while tier one spells take 1 second.
After we maxed out the levels of tier 2 spells, grandma and her friends gave us a spell book that contains two passive spells: magic penetration, and aura manipulation.
I spent 2 skill points to learn it.
Gave Fluffy 2 1 skill point book to learn it.
Magic penetration- allows the user to apply magic penetration on all of their spells.
Aura manipulation- allows the user to manipulate auras around their body or spells.
“This will be the last part of your training. After this, you will have a test which is to kill a golden brown bear. It is a tier 1 magical beast. Everyone will get a reward after completing the test,” grandma said.
“What will we do for our final training?” I asked.
“We will teach you how to sharpen the aura of your spells,” grandma replied.
“Do spells have auras?” Alice asked.
Nice one Alice. I also wanted to ask that question.
“Yes, they have auras. Yours are too weak to be noticed,” grandma replied.
“What does the aura around your spell do?” I asked.
“It determines how strong the magic penetration of your spell is. The stronger it is, the higher the magic penetration of your spell and vice versa,” Vanessa replied.
“Is magic penetration important?” Mark asked.
“Yes. It helps lower your opponent’s magic resistance and anti magic armor, which allows your spell to deal more magic damage to the enemy,” Aubrey replied.
“How do you sharpen the aura of your spells?” Josh asked.
“We’ll get there in a bit, but first I need to change the dummies as they are unfit for the new training,” grandma replied.
Grandma erased the old dummies from existence and replaced them with identical ones.
The new ones have a magical aura around them.
“Does the magical aura around the new dummies follow the same principle of anti-magic armor? It will block a certain amount of magical damage,” I said.
“It looks like I don’t need to explain it, because Felix already guessed it. You will receive an extra reward for your correct answer. Henry show them how to sharpen the aura of their spells,” grandma replied.
Henry nodded.
He cast a fireball spell but did not fire it, created another magic circle, used it to sharpen the aura of the spell, and fired it. The dummy exploded to pieces.
“Did everyone understand it?” Henry asked.
We nodded.
“Now it’s your turn to do it,” grandma said.
We copied what he did and failed.
It looks simple yet complex at the same time.
The fucking aura of my spell is hard to lock on and sharpen it using the magic circle, even with the help of my silver eye.
“As expected, everybody would fail in their first time. Sharpening the aura of a spell is the hardest to learn and master for a beginner mage. Don’t worry, we are here to help and guide you, just like what we did in your magic circle training,” Vanessa said.
Damn, this isn’t like the rpg games where you just open the skill tab and upgrade the spell to make it more powerful and increase its magic penetration.
Grandma walked towards me and said, “Felix, can you cast your fireball again?”
I nodded and cast a fireball without firing it.
It took grandma a few minutes to locate it.
“The aura of your spell is at the bottom. It’s so thin and weak that I almost could not detect it even with the help of advanced mana control,” grandma said.
“What should I do?” I asked.
“Since it only covers the bottom part of your spell. You need to spread it and cover the whole spell, then make it thicker. After everything is done, fire it on the dummy,“ grandma replied.
It took me 30 seconds to cover the whole spell and making it thicker.
I launched the fireball, and it reduced the dummy to ashes.
“Continue doing that and by the end of the training you need to reach 10 seconds or lower to sharpen tier 1 spells and 20 seconds or lower for tier two,” grandma said.
I nodded.
At first, it took me 30 seconds to sharpen the aura of tier 1 spells while tier two took 1 minute.
After 5 months of practicing, I could sharpen the aura of tier 1 spells in 4 seconds, while tier two took 8 seconds.
Fireball- Magic pen= (Wisdom*1.3)*4.
Spark- Magic pen= (Wisdom*1.8)*4.
Windcutter- Magic pen= (Wisdom*1.5)*4.
Water cannonball- Magic pen= (Wisdom*2.1)*4.
Pyroblast- Magic pen= (Wisdom*2.6)*4.
Ice shards- Magic pen= (Wisdom*1.4)*4.
Electric shock- Magic pen= (Wisdom*3.6)*4.
Frostbite- Magic pen= (Wisdom*1.9)*4.
Wind bullet- Magic pen= (Wisdom*2.2)*4.
Bubble bomb- Magic pen= (Wisdom*2.1)*4.
I also no longer need the help of grandma to help me locate the aura of my spells as it now covers the whole spell and is a lot thicker compared to the first day of our aura sharpening training.
End of Chapter 4.