Chapter 21
The Teachings of Master Groa
“I am Master Groa.”
Four words, ones that I knew upon hearing them would forever change both my trajectory and quality of life here on Biprism.
“Nice to meet you, I am Cass.” I respond, then just like that I had apparently sealed my fate and tied my future to who was effectively the first professor I met here on campus.
Hidden Quest Complete: Finding a Master: You have successfully secured a Certified Sponsor for Arcanarus University. Reward: Experience, Continued ability to stay and learn at Arcanarus University, so long as your reputation with your professor Master Groa remains at Neutral or better.
Experience Gained: 500.
Ding.
Level up.
You have increased to Level 4.
You have increased to Level 5.
Class Evolution Point: New Class Spell or Perk Available.
That was it, my first Class Evolution Point. Just as every person was unique, so too were the classes that everyone had available to them. With this I had reached Level 5, which was considered the first Class Evolution point. The next one would be at level 10, then 25, then 50, then 100, and every 50 levels after that.
This really helped identify where and how you would progress in your class. Since my class was a mage class, or magic based class I was granted the option to gain a new class spell. Had I been a warrior, or rogue build then I likely would have gained access to learn a weapons art, or new espionage type technique, rather than the spell.
My other option, the class perk is something that will either modify one of my class’s capabilities. An example could be increasing the number of people I can protect from the effects of going into or from the spirit realm from three to seven, or something else along those lines. The perk could also be based on my own personal merits that are assigned to me.
In the end, all I can do is choose either the Spell something that I will likely be able to physically activate to protect myself. Or a perk, something that will more or less always be in effect, but only come into place for certain conditions.
Both are long shots, as they will be based on two main factors. The first and most important factor will be my past work and deeds. This means that my thrill of being a cat burglar might make it so my next spell would be from the school of Shadow magic and be a way to help me blend into shadows easier. Likewise a Perk could be decided based on the same criteria, all except it would allow me to better hide myself with my existing. That of course is the first course of events that are factored into the assigning of what my new Spell or Class perk would be.
The second major factor is what I do for the next twenty-four hours. I can either meditate on a course that I would like this Spell or Perk to go. Or I could perform actions that I wish the new Spell or Perk to represent.
Seeing that I just reached level 5 exactly. I could all but feel the moment my new Master became aware of my sudden change.
“You just reached level 5?”
I nod.
“What will you pick, the spell or the perk?” She asked.
I paused for a moment, but then decided that “a perk.” Would be the most optimal choice for the moment. I always had the chance to learn spells in the future, or heck that was my sole purpose for being here, to learn to create my own spells.
Master Groa just nodded her head in acceptance of this fact. “Have you thought about what you’d wish your perk to help with?”
I pause, as I don’t really have an idea on where I would want this to go. I know that a perk would likely be best, but I haven’t really given much thought on how I would want to force my growth.
I mean to be honest I haven’t even taken much time to think about what I want to do with all my free attribute points.
My class and race combination give bonuses.
Race: Shade Touched Dark Elf offers: +1 Appearance every level, and + 2 Willpower every even level.
Why the Willpower bonus isn’t just one every level I don’t really know. Also, the Appearance is an elf thing, as elves are meant to be prettier. I know normal dark elves gain +1 Willpower every other level which then alternates with Intelligence. So, for my race, it appears that being Shade Touched negates the Intelligence bonus and just pushes it all towards Willpower. Light elves gain Appearance, Intelligence, and Sociability. Wood Elves gain Appearance, Dexterity, and Willpower. Humans are some of the best and worst as they gain one free attribute point every level, and a new random skill every three levels. Yes, just randomly they learn something or gain a random point to what they already know, even if that pushes them over their maximum for that skill.
My Class: Voidwalker also gives +2 Free points, +1 Dexterity, and +1 Willpower every level, and +1 Intelligence every even level.
So my bonuses thus far are as follows: Dexterity +5, Appearance +5, Willpower +9, and Intelligence +2. In addition, I also have two free points every level for a total of 10 free points that I can distribute however I want.
Free Points: 10
Physical
Base
Bonus
Social
Base
Bonus
Mental
Base
Bonus
Strength
45 (+1)
0
Personality
45
0
Perception
87 (+1)
0
Dexterity
73
5
Sociability
42
0
Intelligence
87 (+1)
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
2
Endurance
66
0
Attractiveness
32
5
Willpower
73
9
I could have it, so everything is added together to give me a total, but for now I like having the two separated. I like seeing my direct efforts on improving my skills directly affect the way my Base attributes can grow.
I am still a long way away from the 125-max base for my attributes. My total would of course be a combination of my base attributes that I have worked so hard to improve upon and the bonuses from my class and race. But that is so far down the line right now that I don’t even want to think about it for the moment. Instead, I focus on the things I can change.
“Well first I have to assign the Perk.” I state to Master Groa.
Tingle.
As soon as I speak the word, I can feel my mind slow down and begin to focus on one specific point in my mind. During this I see a myriad of events and choices come about.
I see my first few moments in this world, where I fought the myriad of higher level monsters, using natural land formations and events to kill enemies. I even remember the way I swore that I could see the spirit of the dead dragon following me for years. I instantly discarded those thoughts, as I did not want to have my perk in any way defined by my ability to kill other creatures. That is a function of this life that I do not wish to enhance.
With those first few memories replaced, the focus shifts to my next major moments. Instantly I am brought to my time traversing the goblin dungeon. I can see the way I went about stalking the different goblins. How I would sit still for hours at a time to just observe their mechanical processes so that I might better understand my own processes and ways to improve in engineering. Focusing on those, I found that those were some of my favorite moments. The thrill of moving around in dangerous places. Moving around knowing that if I was caught, I would likely die. Those were the moments that I lived for. Those were the moments that I truly cherished about this life. There was an innate thrill of hiding right in plain sight and not being noticed.
I remember how that feeling of freedom was destroyed by that stupid Ranger who was able to spot me due to my magical signature. While I had improved on that thanks to different skills I’ve gained over the years, being spotted due to my magical resonance is always a big deal. I even remember how that was my major factor in why I had to ultimately give up my time on the run in Legrand, how it was getting too hard to move around while still being unnoticed.
With those memories being brought forward, I mentally selected those and mentally imprinted the idea that I wanted to be able to move around without leaving behind magical resonance.
“So what would you like your perk to encompass?”
Hearing those words, I couldn’t help but have a smile cross my lips as I just realized what I wanted my perk to focus on. “I want to be able to move around without leaving any form of magical resonance.”
Hearing that, Master Groa let a smile crest her lips. Her change was so pronounced that even with her mostly solid face, I could see the way she opened her lips wide like a shark would. “Well then, I think I have your first task as my apprentice. One that should help you with focusing on what you want your perk to cover.”
***
I should have known that her comment was a little too convenient. Also, I don’t know if Master Groa is a pre-scripted character, one that everyone will potentially have access to if they meet certain conditions, or if she was one specifically designed and tailored for me and my experience. Regardless, she is perfect for me and still checks all of my boxes, even if she has given me a seemingly impossible first day assignment for a level 5 mage.
My mental boxes, on things I wanted to improve upon in the game. First, there is the tie to the darker factions of the world. I have been approached once or twice by dark elves, but mostly I am able to avoid them. In fact, given how heretical I can be, I try to avoid all elves. Elves are fairly easy to notice as they all tend to follow the same tall, slender, and athletic builds with very few exceptions to this rule. As such avoiding elven silhouettes is easy, especially when I can generally see anyone coming within a kilometer of me. Or roughly a kilometer, still working on it, not quite there yet.
So being able to be exposed to the world of the darker races is a plus and something that could help get rid of my Second Class Citizen flaw, at least in certain cases. I will always be accepted back into the Maltese Empire, a mostly light aligned faction. The Maltese Empire is also my only really safe connection to the world, meaning that if the Maltese Empire falls, I would effectively have to trade in more badges to be allowed access elsewhere. While I still have a few badges I can reuse, I’d prefer to keep those for hidden factions that only happen once in a lifetime. You know, those chance encounters where you meet a random teacher and she turns out to be part of a sadistic cult who sends her students on near suicide runs inside the premier Magical school.
Another major factor with Groa as my instructor is that she was right, she will not be able to teach me direct spells, but rather spell theory. Meaning I won’t be forced to learn solely attack spells, when defense, evasion, and misdirection spells are more my cup of tea anyways.
Third, and probably the most important reason why I liked the idea of working for Master Groa, she would encourage me to follow my baser instincts and redistribute knowledge and other materials that are just laying about on this campus.
It is this last part that lets me realize, I might have a problem.
I remember taking some of those personality tests, and I often came up as one of those people most likely to be a grandmotherly cat-burglar. You know, one of those people that would go to a random neighborhood, find a random unoccupied house and break in, look around, then leave.
Sadly, those tests proved to be very accurate. Most of the time that I go on heists I don’t actually take anything. Instead I just look around, making sure to read every item possible, in as quick of a time as possible, then leave.
Intellectual property theft, or IPT, that was a big concern at my job in the real world. That is also what I spend the majority of my time here doing. Going into places, reading plans and then providing that information to groups who could leverage that information properly. My first case of this was what I did at the goblin cave, where I stole the blueprints and was able to mentally repurpose those.
There are of course other grander capers I have done, like taking down the Legrand Airship, and it did go down. I got that confirmed by Hector when I got back. Fortunately, while I did inadvertently kill a number of people from that, all of those that died in that event, didn’t associate the event to me.
As for what I was doing now?
I am just sitting in a courtyard, that is right next to Professor Maxine’s office. He has a warded window that overlooks the commons. Apparently the wards prevent people from being able to peer into the office, while allowing him to peer out. Surprisingly it appears as though the wards are in effect even when the window is open, as it is currently.
Not that this changes anything as no one outside in the courtyard appears to be aware that the window is in fact open. I think there is an illusionary enchantment on the window as well, one that makes it appear that this window is closed at all time. That or maybe the professor is not concerned about anyone peering into their office.
I honestly couldn’t blame them, as right now I am actively searching his office for what he is working on and I am not even the closest student to his window. Still, I can see the merit as to why Master Groa would want me to spy on this person.
Notes:
Annila Groa has increased her efforts to view my work. She is right that a breakthrough is imminent.
Countermeasures taken: Anti-Scrying wards placed. Anti-Divination wards. Mental Resistance rings placed. Anti-Telepathic rings and wards purchased. Anti-Visual wards, and visual distortion wards placed throughout room.
Shopping List: Must get more lye for additional anti-mental magic wards.
That part just looked like Maxine’s personal notes on making sure their Intellectual Property was safe. Of course, they did nothing to protect them from Angel’s Sight, nor my skill that allows me to read everything. Seeing this, it is clear why Master Groa likely contacted me specifically as I don’t use magic to steal Intellectual Property, rather I use good old-fashioned skills. Skills that don’t fit normal countermeasures and procedures.
New Spell Details: Astral Planar Detachment (working spell title). Concept: A spell designed to allow a user to project their mental consciousness outside of their body so they can spy on, so they can observe the world from a different vantage point that is not bound by a physical body.
There were a few mark throughs and strike throughs on the wording of the spell. But the intent was clear. The professor wanted to create a spell that would allow them to do something similar to my Angel’s Sight, only probably far more limited in scope.
I then saw that they had written down their initial findings for what happened to them while casting the spell.
Initial Test Notes: Complete focus is required. During times of mental detachment, body is observed to be in a slumbering or meditative state. This effectively lets the caster maintain the spell indefinitely, as mana regeneration is on par with the Passive drain the spell requires.
Second Test notes: Was able to maintain connection longer, noticed an odd burning sensation the further away from my physical body, that my astral projection moved. Excessive range needs to be compensated for with excess mana.
Third Test notes: Noticed Professor Groa trying to spy on my unattended body. Put in countermeasures to prevent such future attempts. Still trying to see what Groa’s big spell is. This time I will not lose grant funding.
And there it was, the full reason for why I was sent here to investigate this random professor Maxine. Also, that is one odd last name, but I will avoid such distractions for now. Especially as I can see the professor making a new note while I am observing him.
Time: Thursday 14:27, beginning fourth trial.
With his hand quickly scratching that line to paper, I watched as the mage first began channeling energy. I could see the gray tones of mental mana at first, but then something odd happened to the process. The mana began to turn and change slightly.
I watched as the mana went from dull neutral colors, to a more vibrant color on the spectrum. Then I was particularly surprised when I saw that the professor was able to convert their mana entirely to spirit mana.
Once that personal conversion happened, I watched as the spirit. That’s right, not the mental projection, but the full fledged spirit of the professor stood over their body. Then they began to leave the room. They first tried the open window, but then found the wards to be too tough to get through. Seeing that, the mage nodded to themselves, apparently that was a test of some kind to see if the wards on the window could stop a spirit.
Of course, that proved the wards worked, but then the next second he showed how ineffective the wards would be against spirits as he was then able to go through the unwarded walls, just as a spirit would, before making his way across campus.
I was at first going to call this a day, and report back to Master Groa, especially as that is exactly where I though the professor would go next.
There was of course, just one problem.
The professor who had been making their way across campus, looked around and then spotted me. Well not just me, but my familiar that was floating around nearby.
“What?” The distorted voice of the professor said, as they couldn’t help but come closer to look at the phenomenon that was me and my spirit familiar.
Zero seeing the professor come closer, dashed off to a safe distance. This was good as it showed a survival instinct in the relatively young creature. Not that I was exactly sure how old the familiar in question was, only that they considered themselves to be a child in terms of the spirit world.
Still, with Zero moving away, one would expect that the professor would lose interest in me and also go away. Yet, they continued to stare at me. Then they began moving forward slowly, as if afraid to startle me from making any loud movements. I really wonder if this professor is some type of professional creep, or if they were just spurred onto this series of events based on what was happening. Regardless, they moved forward until they were peering over my body.
Of course, as a way to blend in, I pretended to be meditating.
“What an odd glow?” The professor said to themselves as they peered at me. Then I could see the way their body shifted and began circling around me.
At this point I got serious stalker vibes from the creep of a professor. One who apparently stared at random girls sitting in the courtyard. Granted I was doing the same exact thing to him, but in a less obvious and intrusive way, but I needed to stop this, before it became a thing.
That was why when he circled around me and moved to my front, I struck out.
Vwim.
Without even thinking about my conscious action, I cast a miniature portal that was just large enough to snake my hand into the spirit realm, where I grabbed ahold of the professor and held him firmly in place with my left hand. That’s when I removed my goggles with my right hand showing my dead eyes staring directly at the professor, who by this point visibly began to shake.
“What? What is this?”
“I could ask you the same thing…” I say in a menacing tone.