A hundred million people had entered the city within the first real world day, every single one of them unable to log out. And the count was only rising. In a city that originally had had a population of five million at most, it was a catastrophe.
Crime had immediately increased a thousand fold, the price of food had increased, and most of the wanderers were left suffering in the spawn areas. Some had planned ahead, ones who has transferred their savings into gold before logging in, and many had done so after joining ECLIPSE. Unfortunately for everyone, all that had meant was the inflation of gold, in addition to the increased demand on everything. Simply put, everything was in chaos.
It was the reason why Kai, his dad—who had decided to use his real name, Issac—Arson, and Droozle had gathered together in Kai's apartment. They had decided to join a guild, while they still could. They just needed to figure out what was a good guild to join, and what skill Kai could choose, to help as many people as possible.
They were pretty sure the skill could be pretty much any sensible combination of words, and it would become a skill even if nobody had ever had such a skill before. A skill could be anything, even something like "one legged burning ice puppy conjuration". A skill that enables the creation of food and shelter would be brilliant, allowing Kai to possibly create houses, farms and food from thin air.
If they came up with a good enough skill, mythical or beyond if they were lucky, then the four of them might even be able to create a guild and village of their own, a safe haven for those who needed it. It was the best outcome.
There were just a few problems, Kai didn't want a skill that would make everyone purely dependent on him, something like that could by no means end up well. Teach a man to fish and all that. Nor did Kai want a skill called omnipotence. Kai wanted a second life, one where he could work his way to power, not Just win the lottery and become a god.
A skill that would enable Kai to build the foundation of a self-sufficient village, or that he could use to help a guild do it.
"What about a skill that would allow you to turn mana permanently into matter?" Droozle suggested.
It was a good idea, a skill that might be able to create anything, with enough mana. But Kai likely didn't have enough mana. Maybe there was something similar that would allow him to use the mana around him. "That's good, but that sounds like it needs a lot of mana."
"So, the skill of permanent mana matterification into anything, and ambient mana control." Kai's dad suggested.
"I doubt a skill name can be that long, the longest I've heard of was four words. But otherwise yes, I don't know if we can come up with anything better in a short time." Arson said.
"So, worth a try?" Kai asked, before opening his character sheet. The boon was clearly visible in it.
Boon from Al. This boon allows you to name any single skill, to learn it at the novice 1 stage. All characteristics +5.
Do you wish to use boon now? Y / N.
Kai quickly selected yes.
Please state the name of the desired skill.
"Permanent mana matterification into anything, with ambient mana control."
Processing…
Compressing skill title"Permanent mana matterification into anything, with ambient mana control" into: Manaweave Alchemy
Processing…
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Manaweave Alchemy (Ethereal), novice 1.
Manaweave Alchemy is a skill beyond rumor, as few alchemists even dare to dream of such abilities. Manaweave Alchemy allows its user to weave their own mana into their surroundings, and permanently transform it into any matter, at a cost of 10 mana per kg of matter, and up to 1n ambient mana woven per mana used, where n is skill level.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
+5 to all characteristics.
Kai felt his muscles become denser, his posture easen as his body felt lighter, more nimble. Even his sight improved, along with every sensation becoming noticeably clearer, and yet he felt his mind become more capable of handling the increased flood of information. Even so, Kai read over the notification again, to make sure he'd read it right. "So… did it work?" His dad asked.
"Yes! The title was compressed into Manaweave Alchemy, ethereal rarity. I don't even know how far beyond legendary that is! But for ten mana, I can create a kilogram of any matter. And, I can draw in ambient mana for the transformation into matter."
"Kilograms? Who uses kilograms?"
"Literally everyone."
"Show us!" Arson impatiently said. Kai followed suit, only to come across a problem as he drew the mana out of his body. Kai's mana manipulation wasn't good enough to hold more than one point of mana out of his body for more than a few seconds, and even then, Kai couldn't move it further than a few inches without losing control of it. But it was enough to use his new skill, just not too effectively.
Kai could feel the Ethereal skill as clear as day, it was a part of him, ready for activation like many of his other skills. Kai focused on holding a point of mana in front of him, in a small sphere above his palm, while imagining smooth steel and activating the new skill. With a flash, Kai felt the mana warp, solidify and transform from its translucent, electric self, into an inch wide shiny steel orb, which fell on Kai's palm. It was heavy, for its size. Kai had spent three mana on it, and with the skill, up to three mana had been used from the ambient air. The small orb weighed nearly six hundred grams. A notification made itself known in Kai's still open interface.
Title gained: Beyond Mythic. You have reached far and wide, to learn and use a near unimaginable skill with endless potential. +10% to all characteristics. +1 available skill slot.
Skill: mana manipulation has increased from beginner 3, to Maestro—Error—Unjustified advancement of skill.
Correcting…
For glimpsing into the intricacies of an Ethereal mana transformation skill, you have gained insight deep into the workings of mana. Skill: mana manipulation, beginner 3, increased to Apprentice 1. Added +0.01n mana recovery, where n is skill level.
Kai's mouth gaped slightly open as he read over two new notifications. What was the Maestro stage? And had he really caused an error just by using a skill? Kai's thoughts ran faster than ever before. Apprentice 1. He had gone from beginner 3 to the apprentice stage with a single use?
"What happened?" Kai's dad worried, seeing his son clearly distressed.
"... I just got a new title… and leveled mana manipulation from beginner 3, to Apprentice 1."
Arson began laughing. "I- I'm not sure which will get us accepted to a guild faster. A skill beyond mythic, or someone capable of leveling up from level 15, to 25 in a second," he wheezed.
Soon enough, both Kai and Droozle joined in, leaving Kai's dad to look at the trio puzzled.
The next hour was spent with Kai experimenting with his skill, which was easy enough with Kai's increased mana recovery. Kai wanted to know what he could create, trying both food and water at first. Once they determined that the bumpy sphere of homogeneous red matter tasted like a good steak, and a nice glob of water dropped in an empty bowl, they determined Kai could conjure food and water. With that, Kai tried creating soda, and the absolute tastiest goop possible.
"Yeah, yeah. Just make my cooking skill more useless than it already is." Droozle had muttered after he'd had a taste. Though they did conclude Kai needed more practice with his mana manipulation abilities, and his skills if he wanted to make anything that looked viable.
After that, Kai decided to try non-food items, such as gold, diamonds, a material that turned whatever it touched into food. All but the latter worked, Ang Kai suspected it was because a material such as that would need mana for its effect. And since Kai turned all the mana into matter, the material couldn't rely on mana. That was assuming if such a material even existed.
An hour passed as the others searched for the best guild to join, while Kai focused on leveling up his ethereal skill. By the end of the hour, when Droozle, Arson and his dad had decided on a guild, Kai had reached novice 3 in the skill.
The guild consisted of about a thousand people, and had been working on building a village before Al had gone rogue. Kai could talk to the guild leader, and come to an agreement that would give Kai's dad, friends and his friends' families a place to live. After that, they could focus on helping everyone else.