Sam awoke lying on the blue grass of the clearing for the second time that day, "That fucking sucked!" She said to no one as she sat up with a groan. Looking at the flashing text in her vision, which she now knew were system messages, she mentally selected one. She was about to read it when she caught sight of movement to her left. Surprised, Sam dismissed the message with a thought, and it thankfully disappeared from her view. Jumping up to her feet, she saw a long, sleek, black, panther-like creature with six legs stalking around the perimeter of the clearing. It seemed wary of the blue grass as it paced around, always keeping at least a meter away from the grass, like it was a threat, “if what the freaking grass did to me is any indication, it’s most definitely a threat!” She thought, remembering the unbearable pain she had just gone through a short time ago.
Tracking the large, lithe cat, as it paced around the clearing, she thought, "Smart cat, if it's avoiding the grass on purpose…also an enormous and scary cat. The damn thing could probably eat me and still ask for seconds!"
Focusing on the frightening cat the same as she had the Stunted Fire Cherub of Death, “or whatever it’s called,” Sam's reward was a message directly into her mind.
Blade Tail Panther [Level ??]
Which was followed by a subsequent message:
‘Bing’ Identify has leveled up to level 2.
The cat, or Blade Tail Panther, didn't seem to see her and was instead focused on the Imp that was still frozen in the clearing as it paced around the perimeter. Sam even tried waving her hand at the panther to get its attention, but it never looked her way.
“Huh, I guess it is a safe zone after all,” she thought, keeping her eyes on the panther, “I wonder what will happen if it attacks the Imp?” Looking closer at the cat, she realized a discrepancy between the description and reality, “hey, there’s no blade on its tail! What’s up with that? Its name plainly says Blade Tail! I don’t see any freaking blade on its tai—oh, there it is.”
The panther had circled until it was behind the Imp, and a glistening black blade as long as her forearm slid out of the tip of the panther's tail, the deadly sharpness of the blade reflecting the waning sunlight. Sam continued watching. For some reason, she wasn't even frightened by the new development; that realization bothered her a little. However, she decided to unpack that issue later as she was too interested in what was happening in front of her to care.
The panther shifted its body ever so slightly, and it took Sam several seconds to realize it had whipped its tail blade directly at the Imp's exposed back. The motion was so fast Sam's eyes couldn't track it; the tail with a dagger-like blade sticking out of it was there one second, and the next, it was in the Imp's back.
"Wait! It isn't in the Imp's back; it's a millimeter away from going in!" Sam wasn't sure who was more surprised at the turn of events, her or the panther, when the blade stopped, suspended in its flight. But the blade stopping was just the start of the weirdness. As soon as the System stopped the Blade Tail's attack, the clearing expanded outward to encompass the panther's three-meter body, blue grass and all! What freaked Sam out the most was how the trees surrounding the clearing hiding the panther vanished, as in, one second, the panther was hiding in the forest with its tail stuck, frozen about a meter into the clearing. The next second, the clearing was around the panther, and the trees it had been hiding in disappeared replaced with a level patch of blue grass.
Before Sam could freak out, a notification popped up in her vision.
Warning! Hostile action detected. A non-sapient creature is attempting to enter a safe zone while the current owner occupies the zone.
"Well, that is certainly interesting, but how could the Imp attack me with that fireball? Hmm, maybe it didn't throw it until I was out of the clearing and thus no longer protected? Either that, or it wasn't a safe zone. Maybe we were both out of the safe zone when it threw the fireball, and it tried to attack again when it entered the clearing?" Sam didn't have time to think about it longer as more notifications came in.
Attention: The current safe zone owner [S.AM.] has the right to decide the fate of the two hostile entities trapped inside. As the owner of the safe zone, you have the right to punish the entities with any form of discipline you deem acceptable, leading up to and including execution, as the intent of the invading entities is determined to have been lethal by the System. As the owner, you must decide their fate within 48 hours, at which point the System will remove the safe zone. Note: if the owner exits the safe zone for a period greater than 10 minutes, the safe zone will be considered abandoned, and the System will remove all protections, including releasing all occupants.
Sam wasn't sure what she had been hoping for but leaving the clearing in search of food and water for more than ten freaking minutes would have been nice. But that ship had sailed. There was no way she was going to try to dash through the forest for a few minutes in search of sustenance before having to run back to the clearing so the System didn’t release two deadly creatures that would almost certainly track her down and kill her if she didn't make it back in time. Looking at the two suspended creatures, she sighed and asked, "What the hell am I supposed to do?" When the Imp and Blade Tail didn't answer, she sighed again and plopped down in the middle of the clearing, trying her best to ignore the two hostile creatures in there with her.
“At least I’m not in pain anymore. Might as well check my notifications while I try to figure out what to do with those two.” Simultaneously with the thought, the list of notifications Sam had ignored popped back up into her vision.
'Bing' Congratulations! You have received Crystal grade mana channels: The System has recognized you have been brought to this planet against your will by an unknown means, and instead of destroying you, the System has rewarded you with Purified Crystal Mana Channels. Purified Crystal Mana Channels: All mana-based functions are 200% more efficient. Your mana channels cannot be destroyed and will regenerate in the event of lost body parts, chance for mana poisoning or channel burnout reduced to 0%, entropy reduced by 200%, reducing the cost of all mana-based actions by the same percentage.
‘Bing’ Your Crystal Mana channels are fully integrated, and Soul Link is established.
Sam whistled to herself and told the two monsters, "Wow, I'm not a hard-core gamer, but even I know those are some impressive bonuses!" Having played RPGs on and off through the years, Sam knew that 200% of anything was an amazing bonus. Hell, it was almost a cheat to have that kind of bonus, considering this new world seemed to have similar mechanics as the games she used to play back on Earth with the notifications and monsters with levels. Sam knew she had just hit the holy grail of upgrades, assuming everything else in the world didn't receive the same thing at birth, of course. She admonished herself, "I’m operating on a lot of assumptions here. I shouldn’t get too excited just yet.” She continued scrolling through her notifications.
One racial skill detected: Recovery [Level 1]:
Skill ‘Recovery’ has been integrated with your mana channel upgrade and is now 200% more effective: Lose a finger, no problem, grow it back! Lose an arm, quick, reattach it, or grow it back! Lose your head; well, you better act fast!
“Surely that’s a joke, right? Heal a decapitation?” Sam was a little skeptical, “I hope I never find out if that’s for real, that’s for sure! Anyway, moving on,” she checked the following message.
‘Bing’ Congratulations! You are now a System Interface User:
Designation: Samantha Alecto Moura [S.A.M.]
Origin: Earth [location unknown]
You may now choose a class from the available options or wait and choose later. Note: once a class is selected, you cannot change it easily, so choose wisely.
Wondering how the System knew her name and that she was from Earth, for a brief moment, Sam dismissed the thought, assuming she would eventually find out. She thought to herself, “Class Options," and a list popped up in her vision, prompting her to exclaim, "Hey, I'm figuring this stuff out!" She said it to the two monsters in the clearing, frozen in stasis. Shrugging when they didn’t answer, she eagerly looked at the list of classes that appeared and was disappointed immediately; it was a short list with only two options:
Class options:
Option 1: [Healer]:
Receive two free attribute points per class level, two attribute points in wisdom per class level, and one attribute point in intelligence per class level.
Description: The Class 'Healer' is integral to any successful adventuring party but is rarely selected as a class choice by individuals due to the inherent drawbacks associated with the class. As a healer, you can boost your already impressive regeneration ability to the point where re-growing limbs will take minutes. You can heal almost any wound and may even develop the ability to revive the recently deceased at higher levels in the class, as long as your mana pool holds out. These abilities will make you extremely difficult to kill and one of the most sought-after members of any serious adventuring party. Wealth and fame will be within your grasp if you survive, that is. The Healer is a support class that relies heavily on others to protect them because they are limited in offensive abilities. As a Healer, you will be the primary target in every conflict. Almost all enemy combatants will try to create opportunities to remove you from the battle first, above all else.
Choose Healer as your class. Yes/No
“Nope! I have been single and independent my whole life for a reason. I will not be choosing a class that forces me to seek protection from others! Like needing to be protected by some weird, overconfident alpha character who thinks I owe them something, ‘extra,' for their protection…in the creepiest of ways. Besides, I have no idea how far it is to the nearest humans…at least I assume they will be human…god, what if the nearest sapiens are like lizard people or something?” That thought set Sam back for a second. She had no idea what the indigenous residents of this planet might be or even what they may look like. “Huh, I guess there’s no point worrying about it now when I haven’t made it more than five meters from where I started,” she thought morosely. Shaking the thought off, she checked the next class option and smiled to herself, “now this is more like it!”
Option 2: [Arcane Pathfinder]:
Receive ten free attribute points per class level, plus 1% to all base attributes every ten levels.
Warning! Arcane Pathfinder is a System curated class. Due to your unknown origin and after analyzing your memories, the System has marked you for study. It has created a class option unique to you.
Arcane Pathfinder description: you have traveled, mostly naked, through the void and possibly dimensions to arrive here; it is only fitting your class reflects the unique nature of your arrival on this plane of existence as well as the path(s) you traversed along the way. As an Arcane Pathfinder, you will forever be a wanderer, never being able to settle for too long in any one place. You will find that the call of adventure increases over time if you pause your exploration for too long. Although not prevented by your class, companions will be challenging to keep due to your class-enforced wandering soul. As an Arcane Pathfinder, you will find yourself alone for long periods, traveling companions coming and going along your path, likely only staying for a short time. Still, you will also see and experience many wonders others will never have the opportunity to see, making the class both solitary and rewarding. This class is not for the weak or faint of heart and will be filled with wonder and danger in equal measures. This class is designed for you, a strong individual who only needs herself to survive.
Warning! Selecting Arcane Pathfinder will remove all other class options permanently! You will not be able to learn spells or skills from books, scrolls, or any other accelerated means; all spells, abilities, and skills must be created by you, either consciously or otherwise. To compensate for this, you will be provided with a curated set of abilities to aid you in your journey, but no skills or spells. Racial skills, spells, resistances, and occupations will remain available.
Choose Arcane Pathfinder as your class. Yes/No. Warning! Selecting 'No' will permanently remove this class as an option.
"Holy crap, this class is amazing, but do I really want to never settle down? To top it all off, the freaking System read my mind and thinks this is what I want. At least that explains how it knows I'm from Earth… Don't get distracted; this is what the System thinks I want. Is it what I want?"
Sam searched through her emotions, trying to find anything that might prevent her from wanting the life the Arcane Pathfinder offered. Did she want to settle down? No, she had never had that desire and didn't expect it to change; it just wasn't an urge she had ever felt, and watching how utterly miserable the people she had grown up with had become once they settled down and started their family only solidified her not wanting to even more in her mind. One of her favorite sayings was, “People with kids are the best birth control ever.”
“But do I never want to settle down with someone once I feel like I have done and seen it all?” Sam thought about the wording of the class description, “it says I will be forced to wander from place to place for the rest of my life. The message doesn't say how long I will be able to stay in one place, and by one place, does it mean a city? A country? A planet? No, that's ridiculous; it couldn't mean a planet…is it that ridiculous, though? I mean, I'm standing, well, sitting on an alien planet right now…so…," she slapped herself lightly on the cheek, “stop it, Sam! Get back to the real question! Do you want to wander for your entire life or not?”
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Focusing, Sam thought hard about the question. She could not find anything wrong with the idea of having to explore for the rest of her life. Back on Earth, Sam had always forced herself out of her comfort zone by traveling to and exploring different countries alone without the need for a traveling companion. She also loved hiking and exploring state and national forests. Camping in the backcountry was her guilty pleasure, which she found to be a peaceful reprieve from her high-stress job. As far as companionship was concerned, she had never truly felt the need for it. She had never been interested in someone enough to pursue a relationship apart from a quick fling on occasion. Sam enjoyed being single. She was still young and suitably attractive. If she ever felt the urge, she only had to wear something revealing and visit the local club to satisfy her sexual needs.
Yet somewhere in the back of her mind, Sam had always held out hope someone would one day sweep her off her feet, and they would live happily ever after. So, it was annoying that one of the first significant decisions facing her in this new world was guaranteeing that would likely never happen.
After searching her soul for a reason, she should not choose Arcane Pathfinder as her class and finding nothing, Sam made her decision. Without any more hesitation, she selected ‘Yes’ and tensed for the inevitable pain to follow.
A warm blue glow enveloped Sam, and once again, she was carried by an unseen force to the center of the clearing and was suspended off the ground. But there was no pain this time, and the System was gentler with her. That didn't stop her from looking at the grass in fear, thinking she was about to be probed again, but to her relief, no blades grew to meet her; the grass remained inert. Instead, the blue glow surrounding her turned into a mist and started siphoning away from her body, forming a replica of her, that is, if she was colored blue and translucent. Sam watched in fascination as tiny threads ranging in color from a vibrant dark purple to a silly light pink formed in the blue body before her. "Those are my nerves; they must be. But what is the other stuff?”
Along with the representation of her nervous System was a network of what she could only describe as purple circuitry. However, unlike the circuits on boards she remembered seeing, these were three-dimensional and much more numerous than her actual nerves. Sam was taken aback by how many were in her brain and eyes, “those must be my mana channels. No wonder I blacked out when they burned into my brain! I’m lucky I don’t have permanent brain damage!”
All the mana channels originated from two places in her body. One was a small purple sphere about the size of a golf ball at the base of her brain, where it connected to her spinal cord. The other was a slightly larger softball-sized sphere in the center of her chest. The two orbs were joined by a dense cluster of circuitries pulsing in time together and flowing out to her extremities with each pulse. Watching the pulses, she thought, "I am lucky I don't have brain trauma from what I assume is a golf ball-sized mana battery placed in my brain.”
Both spheres continued to pulse in synch with each other with less time between each pulse. Each pulse sent more purple energy flowing down Sam's mana channels, and she began to feel the energizing pulses in her body as the magical energies increased. Sam realized this wasn't happening outside her body but was only a visual representation of what was happening inside her.
The pulsing light show continued for another hour, with the pulses eventually becoming so fast there was virtually no perceptible time between them until, finally, the pulses stopped. Sam stared at her mana channels; they were now glowing a bright, deep purple, and she could feel they were intensely charged with energy. The three-dimensional representation of her body turned back to mist, which siphoned into her chest. The invisible power keeping her suspended gently lowered her to the ground and released its hold once she was steady on her feet.
‘Bing’ Congratulations! You have gained the class Arcane Pathfinder [Level 1]; you have received:
10 free attribute points
New abilities:
Mana Manipulation
Loot
Spatial Inventory
Cartography
Linguistics
Mana Sight [Level 1]
Sam was grinning ear to ear, "I know magic!" she whooped and did a little jump in the air, pumping her fist, "and to think, Healer was the only other choice."
Sam felt the powerful purple energy flowing inside her body, and it felt good! After a quick self-assessment, she found there was not even an inkling of pain anywhere in her body, not even a mild backache. Clapping her hands excitedly, she said, "Now, how do I view my new abilities, allot my free points, and check my status? Hmm, maybe not in that order.”
Sam tried to clear her mind and thought, “status,” nothing happened. Frowning a little, she tried again, this time focusing on her caricature floating in the corner of her vision and thinking, “status.”
A semi-transparent window popped up, obscuring her vision slightly.
Samantha Alecto Moura [S.A.M.]
Race: Human; Mortal [Level 0]
Class: Arcane Pathfinder [Level 1]
Health: 46
Stamina: 93
Mana: 219
Attributes:
STR – 5
VIT – 3
END – 6
AGL – 7
INT – 10
WIS – 7
Free Attribute Points – 10
Abilities:
Spatial Inventory
Loot
Linguistics
Cartography
Mana Manipulation
Mana Sight [Level 1]
Class Skills:
None
Racial/General Skills:
Identify [Level 2]
Recovery [Level 1]
Class Spells:
None
Racial/General Spells:
None
Resistance(s):
Pain [Level 5]
Heat [Level 4]
“Not exactly as epic as I initially thought. Also, why the fuck are my initials an acronym used to identify me, and why are they in brackets? I guess I'll figure it out in time…maybe. I'll check the descriptions of the abilities; that might give me a better understanding of what I am capable of. If they even have descriptions."
Focusing on Spatial Inventory, Sam tried to will more information from the ability, and it worked, "Yes!" she exclaimed to the clearing, “This is getting exciting!”
Spatial Inventory:
While spatial storage isn't new to the multiverse, you are the first to have the spatial link etched onto your very soul; lucky you! Backpacks and coin purses can be lost or stolen. Banks, countries, worlds, and empires can collapse, and for an eternal traveler, this can be devastating. But not if that traveler is a Pathfinder with access to her own pocket dimension! Which, you guessed it, you now have! With your Spatial Storage ability, you can store items, weapons, living non-sentient life forms, and trade goods, among many other things you will encounter on your travels. The weight of all stored items will be drastically reduced. Stored items can be retrieved to appear anywhere within a three-meter radius of your body.
“Why does that read like an advertisement?” Sam thought when she finished reading the message, “Please tell me the System doesn’t think this is how I want to be addressed just because of all the targeted ads it must have seen when it read my memories,” she was not sure she liked that idea but waved the worry away, "I don't care about that now. I have, no, I am, a freaking bag of holding! Screw you inventory control…at least I hope I can hold more than a backpack worth of items…the description does mention trade goods, so surely, I can hold enough to turn a profit if I become a trader? I'll just have to try it out later." She thought about another part of the description, "I'm not too excited about it being 'etched' on my soul, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing I can do about that now.”
Sam chose to read about her Loot ability next, moving down the list.
Loot:
The ability to assimilate defeated foes instantly using the ambient mana from the atmosphere and the residual mana from your defeated foe. Please note looting will not destroy the body but only remove a certain percentage of usable parts from the target. At the same time, the ambient mana used will also synthesize a replica of some parts and possibly create random items. The replicating effect is to prevent users with the loot ability from disrupting the ecosystems they visit by robbing local scavengers of their sustenance. Looted monsters may still be harvested for additional parts once looted. The Loot ability is synergistic with Spatial Storage.
That was a straightforward explanation, less like an advertisement than Spatial Inventory had been. Still, Sam wondered what "synergistic with spatial storage" meant. The description didn't say, though, so she figured she would just have to wait and see. She skipped over Linguistics and Cartography, not checking either of them, already assuming she knew what they meant, “I will be able to communicate with races I encounter and will be able to map my way with the mini-map I can already see in my field of vision.” A small full-color map in the top right corner of her vision showed her standing in the center of the clearing. Waving her arms, she watched as the map displayed her motions in real-time, “nice.”
Sam looked at the ability description she was most interested in, Mana Manipulation.
Mana Manipulation:
Have you ever wanted to harness the power of mana, creating, changing, or destroying the reality around you at will? With the mana manipulation skill, you can do just that! Mana Manipulation is an advanced skill that allows competent users to 'Manipulate' their mana and sometimes the mana around them. The only limitation is the user’s power, mana reserves, and mental abilities. This skill will allow the creation of spells once the user has created and used skills with mana manipulation enough to etch the pathways to their soul. Spells created will be more efficient than the specific skill(s) used to create them.
“Either the System is slightly unhinged, or someone is messing with me with some of these descriptions,” Sam was leaning toward the former, “I guess that only leaves Mana Sight; let's see what I got."
Mana Sight [Level 1]:
Synergistic with Mana Manipulation. By infusing your eyes with mana, you can view the mana in your environment. Higher levels will add additional effects and strength to this skill.
"That was short, but at least it was informative."
Sam sighed; she knew she was just putting off the inevitable, so, dismissing the screen from her vision, she looked at the Stunted Imp and Blade Tail Panther with another sigh but resolve in her eyes. She didn't want to kill them, but she knew deep down that if she waited or tried to run, they would very likely hunt and kill her once they were freed.
Closing her eyes, Sam calmed her breathing, relaxed her body, and reached out to her mana with her senses…nothing happened. “Um, maybe if I focus on the mana sight skill, how do I do that again?” When nothing popped into mind, she started saying things like, “Mana Sight! No, that didn’t work. How about Manipulate! Hmm, nothing. Maybe I need to meditate or something?”
Sam sat in a lotus position and did her best Buddha imitation, “Focus your thoughts. You want to manipulate mana, to see mana, to be mana. Wait, no, that last one was silly. Focus, Sam, your life may very well depend on it!”
Sam sat and simply meditated, feeling the grass beneath her naked backside, the cool breeze on her skin, the rustling of the leaves in the breeze…
‘Bing’ Congratulations! You have learned the General skill of Meditation: By clearing your mind of unneeded thoughts and focusing inward, you have achieved a meditative state. While in meditation, all recovery speeds will be increased by 50%.
“That was not the notification I was hoping for.” Grumbling a little, Sam opened her eyes and realized she had been meditating a bit longer than she thought. The sun was long past its zenith, and the shadows from the trees were becoming longer by the second. Two moons were visible in the dusky sky when she looked up.
"Two moons, huh? One small and blue and one white that looks similar to Earth's moon. I guess that solves the question as to whether or not this is Earth."
Standing up and stretching, Sam brushed off her bare butt, and looking to the sky, she asked anything that cared to listen in annoyance, "Would it have killed you to give me some clothes? You even mentioned I traveled mostly naked across dimensions or some shit. Did it occur to you that may not be how I prefer to travel?" There was no response, not that she had expected one.
Taking off her T-shirt, Sam inspected it. It was a goner; the entire back of the shirt was burned away except around the collar and shoulder areas. "This won't even be useful as a blanket." The shirt still carried some sentimental value, though, so she wanted to keep it, deciding to store it in her inventory for safekeeping.
"I hope this works," Sam focused on the shirt in her hand and imagined it going into her inventory. Instantly, the shirt disappeared.
As soon as the shirt disappeared, Sam realized she was completely naked with no idea how to retrieve her only possession from the freaking pocket dimension she had just put it in. She slapped her forehead, “god, I can be an airhead sometimes! Now, how do I check my inventory? Uh, inventory?” As soon as she thought it, a massive empty space opened in her mind's eye. "This is way bigger than I imagined. It must be at least—” Something caught her attention, and Sam facepalmed at the sight. There floating in front of her in the infinite void was her T-shirt, and right next to the damn T-shirt was a large hiker's backpack, complete with a bedroll strapped to the top. Shaking her head, she mentally summoned the pack out of her inventory by imagining it on the grass in front of her, it appeared exactly where she imagined she wanted it instantly, much to her relief. "Thankfully, that was easier than trying to manipulate mana.”
With curiosity, Sam started rummaging through the backpack, noting the items as she went, "Let's see…rope, bedroll, a little cook pot. Hey rations, nice," setting the items to the side as she pulled them out, Sam came to a set of clothes and did a little fist pump when she pulled them out of the backpack, "yes! Thank you, System! Sorry for ever doubting you," she wasn't even upset about the System not telling her about the backpack, it probably had in one of the dozen messages she had skimmed over but even if it hadn't Sam figured the System had more important things to worry about than reminding a weak little Earthling to check her inventory. Sam held up each item of clothing and inspected it, her Identify skill kicking in after a second on each one.
Plain leather trousers
Plain leather shirt
Plain leather gloves
Plain leather boots
There were no undergarments in the backpack, but that didn't bother her; she wasn't accustomed to wearing underwear anyway. She just hoped the leather didn't chafe. Putting the forest green leather clothes on, she realized she shouldn't have worried. Plain or not, the leather was as soft as velvet against her skin, and everything fit her perfectly.
"Stands to reason, I guess; they were made specifically for me. Damn, I feel better already; it's amazing what something as simple as plain clothes can do for my mental state."
Dressed and feeling less, well, naked, Sam continued rifling through the backpack, "Flint and steel, hmm, it's no ferro rod, but I think I can figure it out. What is this?" She pulled out what looked like a bundle of neatly folded leather straps that unfolded as she pulled it out of the bag, revealing:
Leather Harness
Iron Dagger x 6
“What the hell am I supposed to do with these? Trip and fall, accidentally stabbing myself to death?" Pulling one of the daggers out of its sheath on the harness, Sam slowly turned it over in her hand. She glanced sideways at the Imp, where it hung in suspended animation, "I guess there are worse ways to die," she said. Walking the short distance to the Imp, she held the knife to its throat and said, "This is for trying to fry me alive, asshole," as she drew the blade across the Imp's throat. She braced for the spray of blood she expected to come. Nothing happened. She tried again, but the dagger didn't even leave a scratch on the Imp's skin where the blade slid across it. Confused, Sam stabbed the knife into the Imp's eye, throwing caution and her own queasiness at killing something aside. Nothing. It was like an unseen barrier was in place, protecting the little demon cherub from her attacks. Sam went to the panther and tried to cut and stab it with the same result. "What the hell? What am I supposed to do, smother them?" She looked at the two monsters closely, "Are they even breathing? She leaned in until her nose was a centimeter from the Imp’s, “nope, not breathing.”
Sam turned back to the backpack, frustrated at her failure. Looking at the grass next to the pack, she noticed a small blue leather-bound book neatly camouflaged by the blue grass of the clearing. "It must have fallen out of the pack when I pulled other items out. Either that or it was always there, and I didn't notice it." Picking up the book, Sam identified it.
A Beginner Guide to Manipulating Mana
Looking up at the sky again, she said, "You're laughing at me, aren't you," before looking back to the small book in her hands. Sam opened the book to a random page and braced for something to happen. When the 'something' never came, she shrugged, “I guess it was too much to hope for the book to just download its information into my brain magically, like in a game, I suppose.”
Flipping to the first page, Sam realized the book was written in some sort of alien text like nothing she had ever seen except, maybe in movies, “I can’t read this!” but that thought had no more popped into her head when the strange characters on the page suddenly started to make sense. They didn't transform into English lettering; no, she could read the text as it was written! “I can read this! Thanks Linguistics!”
Sam eagerly started reading like her life depended on it, which was, in truth, the case. The moon's light was bright enough for her to read well into the night, her head resting on the backpack as she lay on the bedroll, learning how to become a genuine magic user.