Alan stared slack jawed at the inventory within his newly acquired Storage Ring, and quickly sat back down. How did I know I would find something behind that sand wall? Alan wondered, and what was with my head and chest suddenly releasing strange, new feelings, or perhaps senses?
Whatever it was, it had really come through for him, as he now found himself in possession of six Spell Scrolls, a Spell Book, charcoal, a stack of paper, another self refilling water canteen, 3 more (Basic) Health and Mana potions, 25 pounds of Jerky, and eight additional pounds of Trail Mix.
Alan removed the Spell book from his new Storage Ring and instantaneously a black leather-bound book materialized into his palm. At first look, the only thing that really stood out about the plain-looking book was a cluster of elegant gilded silver lettering engraved into the cover. He assumed the detailed lettering spelled out the title, [Healing Fog], or perhaps it was actually the name of the Spell.
After carefully studying both the front and back covers, Alan had to admit that he was completely unsure how one would even go about using a Spell Book. Alan assumed he would have to have a peek inside to find any answers, so he gently thumbed the cover open.
The moment Alan laid eyes upon the first page, all he felt was confusion. From top to bottom the page was lined with tidy rows of indecipherable writing. Just as he started to puzzle over the obviously handwritten calligraphy, the words themselves burst into a dazzling array of colorful flashes. Alan feared he had somehow triggered some kind of security measure and was startled into dropping it.
As the Spell book hit the ground, the pages began to rapidly turn themselves. As the pages noisily flipped, the lettering on each page released another bright flash of colors which painfully invaded Alan's mind.
Collapsing in the sand, Alan felt as if his brain were being zapped with electricity while simultaneously being lit on fire and stomped on.
Stop! JUST STOP!! Alan was beginning to have trouble forming coherent thoughts, yet still, the pain continued.
Slowly, and incredibly painfully, Alan's mind was forced to absorb the massive quantities of information contained within the Spell Book. Just as quickly as it started, the process thankfully ended. As the final page turned, the Spell book quietly closed. Alan reached out his arm to retrieve the book, however before he could grab it, the irritating book erupted into a blazing ball of blue fire. Defenseless, and under assault by the intense heat, Alan's poor Spell Book was reduced to dust and swiftly faded away.
A flashing notification was minimized with a thought, and shoved to the side for whenever his brain decided to stop pounding. As the remains of the book disappeared in a cloud of dust, the ache in his brain began to recede, leaving Alan covered in sweat and panting on the floor.
Several minutes later, with the pain in his head finally at an acceptable level, Alan attempted to process his new spell. Glancing at his PSA Screen, he pulled up his sidelined notification.
Remarkable! You have learned the (Uncommon) Spell [Healing Fog]!
(U)[Healing Fog] Lvl 1- Upon casting, this Spell summons a thick restorative fog that lasts for 1 minute, covering caster and all allies within a 10ft x 10ft area in a dense wall of restorative fog, capable of obscuring the senses of enemies both within and outside of the fog. Caster and allies within fog recover 200 Hp, Mp, and Stamina over duration of spell. Affected allies Hp, Mp, and Stamina regeneration rates are doubled for 5 minutes.
Area covered, duration and amount of Hp, Mp, and Stamina recovered increase with Spell level. Obscuration effects increase with Spell level. Cost increases with Spell level.
•Cast time: 25 seconds. •Cost: 50 Mp
•Cooldown: 20 minutes
Remarkable! As the first denizen of the (Human) Tutorial to learn a Spell, you have earned the Title Novice Mage!
Novice Mage- +3 to Intelligence, Wisdom, Resistance, and Willpower.
A Title? What's that for? Novice Mage? It seems pretty important, and it adds up to 12 free status points, Alan realized, so whatever it is, I'll gladly accept it!
Concentrating on the spell formula now embedded in his very being and targeting the area around himself, Alan cast [Healing fog] and immediately started to feel a comforting warmth building in the depths of his chest. For the first time in his life, he was able to Feel his Mana pool.
Slowly but steadily, the Mana was pulled from his reserves, lessening the warmth he could feel within himself.
As the Mana steadily flowed out from his body, Alan watched in amazement as a hazy mist rapidly formed in the area around him. From start to finish, it took nearly half a minute, and a full third of his Mana reserves. But by the time the process ended, his first-ever casting of a Spell was completed successfully.
"Well.. It worked just fine, but it wasn't very exciting," Alan complained.
Thick white clouds of strangely warm fog swiftly enveloped Alan and a small area around himself. An invigorating yet soothing energy within the fog swiftly relieved his remaining mental and physical tension, leaving his body feeling completely renewed, his mind crisp and clear.
Suddenly finding he was more awake than ever, Alan happily studied the working of his spell. Feeling the warmth in his body replenish at the same rate his Mp bar rapidly refilled, Alan knew his assumptions had been correct and they were one and the same.
This is Mana. Understanding set in quickly. This could very well be my path to power. At least until I figure out what kind of Class they are going to give me...
Fully restored, and feeling as if he'd just had a full night's rest, Alan removed a spell scroll from within his Storage Ring and used [Examine] on it.
Spell scroll containing the (Basic) Spell [Water Jet].
Surprisingly he was greeted with another notification.
Remarkable! Your Skill (B)[Examine] has grown to Level 2!
After mentally preparing for the oncoming assault, he unrolled the Scroll. As it unraveled, the tiny words written within formed into points of colored light that briefly hovered above the page, before plunging directly into Alan's open eyes.
Reflexively clenching his eyes shut in an attempt to block the pinpricks of light, to Alan's dismay the glimmers of light passed right through his eyelids. After several moments spent anticipating agony he was able to mostly relax, as this time around the pain was minimal.
A small amount of pressure began to build up in his skull as the formula for this new Spell became embedded alongside [Healing fog] somewhere within the recesses his mind. As the last flicker of energy fled the Scroll, it promptly crumpled to ash.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Remarkable! You have learned the (Basic) Spell [Water Jet]!
(B)[Water Jet] Lvl 1- Upon casting, this Spell shoots a high pressure water stream in a straight line at enemies up to 15ft away causing minor Water damage. Damage and distance increase with Spell level. Cost increases with Spell level
•Cast time: 5 seconds •Cost: 10 Mp
•Cooldown: 1 minute
Alan was strongly considering casting his new Spell [Water Jet], but after a bit of thought, decided to hold off. Instead one after another, he removed the remaining Spell Scrolls from his inventory, cracked open their seals, and absorbed them all one after another.
Remarkable! You have learned the (Basic) Spell [Lightning Strike]!
(B)[Lightning Strike] Lvl 1- Upon casting, this Spell calls down a single small lightning bolt on an enemy up to 15ft away causing minor Electric damage and chance to cause (Paralysis) Debuff. Damage, distance, and chance to inflict (Paralysis) Debuff increase with Spell Level.
Cost increases with Spell level
•Cast time : 5 seconds •Cost: 10 Mp
•Cooldown: 1 minute
Remarkable! You have learned the (Basic) Spell [Fireball]!
(B)[Fireball] Lvl 1- Upon casting, this Spell launches small ball of flame in a straight line at foe up to 15ft away causing minor Fire damage and chance to cause (Burn) Debuff.
Damage, distance, and chance to cause (Burn) debuff increase with Spell level. Cost increases with Spell Level.
•Cast time: 5 seconds •Cost 10 Mp
•Cooldown: 1 minute
Remarkable! You have learned the (Basic) Spell [Banish Darkness]!
(B)[Banish Darkness] Lvl 1- Upon casting, this Spell emits soothing orbs of light that last for 10 minutes, allows for sight in darkness, and causes minor Light damage to unholy enemies within radius of emitted light. Radius is 5ft around caster.
Duration, radius of spell, amount of light orbs and damage to unholy enemies increases with Spell level. Cost increases with Spell Level
•Cast time: 10 seconds •Cost: 25 Mp
•Cooldown: 10 minutes
Remarkable! You have learned the (Basic) Spell [Wind Blade]!
(B)[Wind Blade] Lvl 1- Upon casting, this Spell compresses air into a thin crescent-shaped blade that can be thrown at any foe up to 15ft away causing minor Wind damage. Can also be left in place as a trap causing minor wind damage. Small chance to dismember limbs. Damage, distance, and chance to inflict dismemberment increase with Spell level. Cost increases with Spell Level.
•Cast time: 5 seconds thrown / 7 seconds as trap
•Cost: 10 Mp thrown (+3 Mp per second as trap)
•Cooldown: 1 minute
Remarkable! You have learned the (Basic) Spell [Stone Skin]!
(B)[Stone Skin] Lvl 1- Upon casting, this Spell hardens casters skin into stone for a duration of 1 minute. Minor increase to Constitution, moderately lowers agility.
Duration of spell, and increase to Constitution increase with Spell level. Decrease to agility reduced with spell level. Cost increases with Spell Level.
•Cast time: 5 seconds •Cost: 20mp
•Cooldown: 2 minutes
As soon as all of his Spell scrolls had been learned, Alan sat down upon the small pile of ashes that were their remains, and once again found himself with a pounding headache. He was unsure if he would be given access to more Potions, and admittedly clueless on how to make them. Due to all of the uncertainties, he was unwilling to waste any of his Health Potions on something as simple as a headache. Without any other choices, Alan was left to close his eyes and wait for the cooldown on his [Healing Fog]. Which was still over 15 minutes away.
Laying back in the ash-covered sand, Alan placed his forearm over his eyes and reflected on the massive quantities of new information he'd suddenly found himself in possession of not only was his knowledge of the elements, their properties, affinities, and how they function at an all time high, but everything from the basic casting of Spells, to the fundamental laws affected by said Spells was now ingrained in their entirety within the expanse of his memory. And the majority of it made absolutely no sense.
He found that he now possessed intricate knowledge about fire’s intensity and rate of spread. The different temperatures that various fuels ignite and how their flames developed. The boiling point of water, the temperature at which it became vapor and the effects of vapor pressure.
Alan somehow knew that the cohesion of liquid was nothing more than the attraction of molecules to those of the same kind, which also effected surface tension. It was if he had always known about the freezing point, the lowered density of water once frozen, and the effects of polarity.
His comprehension of wind direction, momentum and magnitude led him to a new grasp on the workings of electrical energy. Terms such as voltage, current, resistance and induction were now much more than just words to him, and he knew without a doubt they would be of great help if he somehow lived long enough to make it home.
The applications of his newfound knowledge went so far beyond the scope of Spell casting, that Alan found that he was becoming increasingly curious about the skeletal previous owner of the storage ring.
Who was it? Alan wondered, How did they get down here and why hadn't they used the scrolls themselves?
The large bones, and clawed hands certainly did not belong to humans. Not to mention the age of the corpse. It had obviously been down here awhile.
Does this 'System' reuse the tutorials? Alan pondered, Or is this tutorial located somewhere previously inhabited, maybe even currently inhabited? Is it possible this damn tutorial is actually somewhere on the surface of Earth, I mean, Terra-764? What a stupid name for a planet. I wonder if it can be changed?
Before long, Alan felt his spells cooldown end which prompted him to cast [Healing Fog] and bask in the rejuvenating mist. Once again the spell left him feeling as if he'd somehow received 8 hours of sleep within the short one-minute Spell duration. Once again energized, Alan hopped to his feet, stretched out his back, and then returned to the columned room to continue searching for an exit.
Once again entering the massive chamber, Alan started his search by walking around the perimeter of the room. As he slowly followed the wall, his panic level began to rise, until nearly devolving into a full on panic attack as he found himself almost halfway around the wall and had yet to find another exit. Right as he was about to completely lose his cool, Alan rounded a pillar and located another archway carved into the far wall.
This arch also contained a stairway within, much like the previous one, only instead of ending up in a collapsing wall of sand, this one descended downward about 10 feet until it ended in a wall of shimmering yellow light that occasionally crackled loudly, before a burst of green energy was released across the surface of the strange wall of stationary energy.
He tried to glean some information from his [Examine] Skill, but the Skill once again proved its near-uselessness.
[Examine] Failed.
Left unsure of what it was, and questioning the wisdom of approaching the eerie barrier, Alan instead chose to first finish walking the circumference of the pillared cavern in hopes of finding a normal exit. Unfortunately his search failed to uncover any further doorways.
Returning to the stairwell containing the yellow barrier, Alan approached the crackling wall of colored energy while slowly extending a fingertip towards it. After momentarily pausing to gather up his confidence, Alan slowly inserted his finger. A pulse of energy shot up to his elbow, and caused every hair along his arm to stand on end.
Although there was no resistance or pain involved, only a hair-raising tingle, Alan realized he'd been holding his breath nonetheless. Releasing his breath in a quick burst, Alan shoved his arm through the barrier, inhaled another deep breath, and stepped shakily forward into the unknown.
The atmosphere within the Dungeon felt heavy and oppressive. His very first step was met with a descending curtain of dry heat and pressure. What he perceived to be an increase in gravity almost buckled his legs, causing him to grunt under the strain of remaining upright. Alan tried to suck in a deep breath, but the weight seemed to constrict his chest, making it difficult to take more than a baby-sized breath. His heart palpitated furiously and his palms became slick with sweat.
Alan's knees began to quake, and he had to brace himself against the desperate urge to flee at once. The pulse throbbing in his neck seeming to synch up with his base reptilian instincts. Both demanded he abandon this fools errand, and go dig out a hole to hide away in. He clenched his jaw and took another step.
His refusal to back down in the face of fear saw several notices flash across his vision, providing him a much needed distraction. With less than no idea what to expect from a Dungeon, he pushed the notices aside. Alan feared the descending curtain of pressure somehow meant impending danger, so he drew his dagger, and tiptoed shakily down the few remaining stairs.
Reaching the final step, the weight seemed to lessen, easing the strain on his knees and lower back. Either that or his body had begun to acclimate to the harsh environment. He squatted down as quietly as possible, and cautiously studied the entrance corridor of the Dungeon.
As far as he could tell, everything inside was made of either sandstone or just plain sand. The unadorned, somewhat glistening beige sandstone walls were over ten feet tall and felt as smooth as ice under his curious touch. The walls held up a sandstone ceiling the exact same color, and most likely texture as the walls.
Because the walls and ceiling were spaced the same distance apart, the hallway would normally form a perfect square. However, because the floor was covered in a layer of coarse sand several feet thick, to Alan's eyes it actually appeared to be more of a rectangle.
Peering intently at the wall, Alan used [Examine], desperate to gather any new information.
Quartzite sandstone.
"I guess these Skill Levels aren't very fast acting huh?"
Without any enemies, or obvious traps, Alan yet again started complaining out loud. While he had a chance, he retrieved his sidelined notifications, and was instantly hit with a dense chunk of information.