Bloom was beginning to have his doubts about the Current's use.
He'd been following the cavern for over an hour now- at least if his internal clock was correct- and there wasn't any form of exit in sight. It was all still just stone and ice.
Bloom periodically swapped between his light and flame spell; one for light, and one for warmth.
He had seen nothing but stone ever since he continued forward.
Then he stopped in his tracks as he noticed several small luminescent spots on the walls of the cave as he walked deeper in.
He stepped forward, transferring to his light spell to illuminate the spots. They were small clusters of mushrooms and moss clinging to the cave walls. All of them were glowing a light blue bioluminescent light.
Bloom heard his stomach let out a weak rumble as he approached the mushrooms, but he quickly shook the thought of hunger from his mind. He knew not all mushrooms were poisonous, but he at least knew most were and he would rather not take his chances. Not unless he was literally starving to death.
That being said, it had nearly been a day since he'd eaten. He wasn't aware of what time it was, but the last thing he'd had to eat was this morning. Or yesterday morning. He needed to get out of this cave, it nearly felt like it was warping his sense of time.
Bloom wiped the thought away as he continued forward.
He tried to ignore the mushrooms as he walked by a small cluster of them. But whether it was his eyes altering to the new lights within the cavern or just his imagination, he could have sworn the mushrooms were beginning to glow brighter.
He didn't think much of it as he began to walk passed them. But suddenly he heart a crisp popping sounds next to him as his arm closest to the clump of mushrooms became matted in a thin layer of ice.
The suddenly sensation made Bloom yelp as his light spell faded, making the only light that of the bioluminescent moss of mushrooms. Which he now suddenly found a disdain for.
Bloom stumbled to the side as he moved away from the cluster of mushrooms, only to step a foot into the glowing moss. He tried to lift his foot up from the moss, but it stuck to it as if suctioned in place.
Suddenly, another smaller burst of frost erupted on the wall next to him as another glowing shroom exploded next to his face.
With a grunt, Bloom tore his boot from the sticky moss and ran forward while covering his head with both his arms, leaving enough space for his eyes so he wasn't running blind. Although with the only thing glowing being the things he was trying to avoid, it didn't help much.
More explosions of frost came from the glowing mushrooms as he got too close for them. In the relatively tight corridor it was nearly impossible to avoid every cluster of explosive shrooms. But Bloom could at least run past the smaller, less intense, clusters.
As he ran, Bloom scrapped against sections of the jagged walls in attempts to get as far as he could from the shrooms. But soon, as he leaned against a wall as a burst of frost erupted from across the corridor, he heard a light crumbling sound.
Before he knew it, the wall he was leaning against gave way.
His breath caught in his chest as he felt his body begin to fall. Fortunately he only fell about 10 feet before he collided with a slanted surface and semi-harmlessly tumbled down to level ground.
Bloom groaned as he stumbled to his feet, only to topple to the side and fall again.
Half of Bloom's face, as well as part of one of his arms was numb with frost. With his non-frosted hand he began to shaking produce a light flame above his palm before holding it up to his frozen cheek.
As the feeling in his face slowly returned, another scroll appeared before him as he warmed himself.
::::
[Wound Log]
[-2 Health from Frost Mushroom]
[-2 Health from Frost Mushroom]
[-2 Health from Frost Mushroom]
[-2 Health from Frost Mushroom]
[-2 Health from Frost Mushroom]
::::
Bloom was bombarded by words immediately as they were all hastily written onto the parchment.
Bloom's eyes widened at how many times he'd been hit with the explosions of frost and how much damage each had done.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the spectral book appeared before him as the scroll vanished.
::::
[Health: 4/14]
-
[You have taken a substantial to your health even though you could have just as easily avoided the damage with your own skills or spells. Maybe you'll think twice about charging head first into danger without proper protection. Or maybe you're just that reckless.]
[+1 Constitution]
-
[Maximum Health increased from 14 to 16]
::::
Bloom looked incredulously at the writing on the spectral book just as it began to fade. Did he just get attitude from a book? He shook the annoyance away. It did have a point after all. Plus, the additional constitution helped.
It took several minutes for the frost covering Bloom's skin to thaw enough that he could now feel his face and arm, and move them freely. His health had even healed to 8 of 16.
While his body still ached, he found the strength to move.
At last, he stood and looked about the room. His eyes widened at the sight.
A stream had flowed into the new cavern he now found himself in. It flowed in a small waterfall from the side of the room to then flow into a circle at the center of the room.
There was an incline in the middle of the ring of water where a moss-covered stone lay. In the middle was a pillar of ice, nearly the size of a person.
Bioluminescent vines coiled around the pillar of ice. The light bouncing off the reflective surface illuminated nearly the entire room.
Then Bloom's heart began to beat with joy as he looked beyond the pillar of ice to the wall behind it. A passageway was carved into the stone leading to a staircase upwards.
Shaking the remnants of frost from his body, Bloom began to walk towards the doorway.
As he approached the pillar of ice, he hesitated slightly as he eyed the glowing vines.
He concentrated for a moment as a light sheen fell over him, covering himself in a thin blanket of magic no more then half an inch from his skin and robes.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
He kept an eye on the vines as he walked passed them, taking a breath of relief as nothing happened.
Then something grabbed his leg.
Bloom screamed and jumped to the side, however, whatever had latched onto his leg had kept a tight hold, causing him to fall into the shallow ring of water.
Bloom quickly looked to see what had latched onto his leg. He expected to see a vine tangled around his ankle, but he let out a scream as he noticed what it truly was.
A bony arm had grabbed onto his ankle.
As he struggled to free himself from the grasp of the hand something moved underneath the moss before clawing its way to the surface.
A skeleton. Lacking skin, muscle, blood, and everything else that would have made it alive.
Green moss still clung to the bones of the skeleton. Some of its bones were cracked and missing pieces in some parts, but that didn't hinder its movement.
The skeleton clawed its way forward, letting out a hollow wail as it did. Its deep black eye sockets were illuminated by nothing but a tiny pale blue light.
Bloom thought quickly, opening his hand to let a small flame flicker to life above his palm. He shoved his palm outward toward the open jaw of the animated skeleton.
The flame quickly expanded to engulf the inside of the skeleton's skull.
The skeleton let out another cry as it grasped at its face, letting go of Bloom in the process.
The mage quickly shot to his feet and scrambled away, getting back onto the stony floor.
Bloom met eyes with the skeleton as it rose fully from its mossy grave. Smoke rose from the inside of its skull to spill from its eye sockets.
Bloom winced at the sight as he conjured another spark in his palm.
The skeleton charged at him with another wail only for a spec of flame to collide with his chest, breaking several of its ribs. However this didn't stop the undead as it charged and slammed a hand into Bloom's chest with surprising strength for something that lacked muscle.
The protective shield of magic shimmered as the skeletal hand collided into it, nearly breaking instantly from the force.
Bloom was sent hurling back from the skeleton's attack. He quickly hurled another small flame at the skeleton, only for the skeleton to move to the side and charge at him again.
Just as the skeleton reared back an arm for a punch, Bloom dispersed into fog. The attack flying straight through the rapidly fading mist.
Bloom had meant to reappear close to the door way to the stone stairway, but instead as soon as he reappeared he was met with the pillar of ice reflecting his face back at him.
Bloom quickly turned before firing another bolt of flame into the back of the skeleton, breaking another one of its ribs just as it turned to face him once more.
The skeleton dashed forward again towards the mage as another small explosion burst off one of its arms. But the undead wasn't deterred as it swiped at the Tiefling's head.
Bloom quickly ducked as the bony arm hit the pillar of ice, knocking of a respective chunk of it. The mage quickly pointed a hand upwards and shot a flame directly into the skull of the skeleton, blowing its skull open from the inside.
With that, the skeleton finally fell. Many of its bones broke apart and fell into the ring of water.
Bloom panted to catch his breath, his arcane shield was still up, but barly. He wasn't sure how much mana it had taken to sustain the shield after the attack, but it felt as if he'd hardly managed to keep it from shattering.
Just then a small slip of translucent parchment appeared in front of him.
::::
[You have gained 50 EXP from 'Fragile Skeleton']
-
[This is the first time you've defeated a 'Fragile Skeleton']
[You've gained 100 EXP for this achievement]
::::
Suddenly, the markings on Bloom's arms began to glow. A wave of euphoria washed over Bloom as his entire body suddenly felt a flood of pleasure.
But just as the light had appeared, it just as quickly faded.
Then the translucent book opened before him again.
::::
[You have leveled up]
[Your level has increased to 2]
-
[You have gained +1 Stat points]
[You have gained +1 Skill points]
[You have gained +1 Aptitude points]
***
Stats
[Malron "Bloom"]
[Level: 2]
[Health: 24/32]
[Mana: 61/92]
[EXP: 50/300]
[Profession: None]
[Strength: 8 (45%)]
[Dexterity: 11 (65%)]
[Constitution: 8 (60%)]
[Intelligence: 23 (20%)]
[Wisdom: 14 (50%)]
[Charisma: 11 (60%)]
::::
"Fragile?" Bloom shouted. "That was supposed to be fragile?" He gritted his teeth at the book in front of him. "That took nearly 5 shots of fire to take it down!" He shouted. He tried to hit the book, but his hand passed harmlessly through the image.
Bloom sighed, he would get nowhere with being angry at a book of all things.
He scanned over his stats once again. He'd already thought of what he was going to put all his points into. But then he came to a realization. How?
With a semi-confused look on his face. Bloom reached out a finger and touched his aptitude number next to his intelligence stat.
One second went by.
Then two.
Then three.
He finally removed his hand. "How do I do this?" He mumbled to himself.
Another slip of paper appeared.
::::
[Are you having trouble with adding your points? Are you wondering 'how do I do this'? Well it's simple. Simply speak what you would like your points added to and the Archean Stone shall do the rest.]
::::
"Um... thanks?" He said as the small slip of paper vanish in a small burst of sparks.
Bloom cleared his throat before speaking again. "Add 1 aptitude point to intelligence.... please." He said.
About half a second passed before anything happened. For a moment, Bloom felt thankful there wasn't anyone- or anything- around to witness him seemingly talking to himself.
::::
[Intelligence Aptitude has increased by 1]
[Intelligence Aptitude is now 21%]
::::
"Oh... and can you add 1 point to Constitution." Bloom added.
::::
[Constitution has increased by 1]
[Constitution increased to 9]
[Maximum Health increased from 32 to 36]
::::
Bloom let a smirk creep across his lips as he looked at his new stats. If he'd gotten all of that from just taking out a single weak skeleton, he could only imagine what he could gain from more threatening creatures like savage goblins or bears- not that he thought he could take down a bear in his current state.
With a light grown, Bloom got to his feet and started towards the doorway.
The spectral book followed him as he flipped a page. A moment later his skills and spells were displayed.
::::
Skills
[Evocation]
[Bound Stat: Intelligence]
[Rank: Beginner 1 (progression: 0.03%)]
[This skill dictates the effectiveness of channeling and controlling spells of the evocation school of magic.]
[Effect: Channeling spells of the evocation school is 3X% easier, where X equals skill level (1). Holding concentration on spells of the evocation school is 1.5X% easier, where X equals skill level (1).]
-
[Abjuration]
[Bound Stat: Intelligence]
[Rank: Novice 5 (progression 0.10%)]
[This skill dictates the effectiveness of channeling and controlling spells of the abjuration school of magic.]
[Effect: Due to your low rank with this skill, there is no benefit from casting spells of the Abjuration school.]
-
[Conjuration]
[Bound Stat: Intelligence]
[Rank: Novice 1 (progression 0.00%)]
[This skill dictates the effectiveness of channeling and controlling spells of the transmutation school of magic.]
[Effect: Due to your low rank with this skill, there is no benefit from casting spells of the Transmutation school.]
-
[Flame Tolerance]
[Bound Stat: Constitution]
[Rank: Apprentice 1 (progression: 0.00%)]
[This skill dictates your tolerance to heat, fire, and similar effects.]
[Effect: Damage caused from heat, fire, or similar sources is reduced by 2X%, where X equals skill level (1).]
***
Spells
[Dancing Lights]
[School: Evocation]
[Rank: Novice 1 (progression: 12.00%)]
[Cost: N/A]
[You conjure small orbs of light. You can control each orb's luminosity and movement individually. Due to the spells simplicity, this spell costs no Mana to use. However altering the luminosity of the orbs will cost 1 Mana.]
[Due to your low rank with the Evocation skill, you can only conjure one orb at a time per casting of this spell.]
-
[Produce Flame]
[School: Conjuration]
[Rank: Novice 1 (progression: 3.00%)]
[Cost: N/A]
[You conjure a small flame in your palm of which you control the intensity of. The flame can also be tossed a short distance at foes. Due to the spells simplicity, this spell costs no Mana to use. However expelling the flame from your hand will cost 1 Mana.]
[Due to your low rank with the Conjuration skill, the spell's damage is halved and the heat it emits is reduced.]
-
[Misty Step]
[School: Conjuration]
[Rank: Novice 1 (progression: 0.20%)]
[Cost: 15 Mana]
[You disappear in a gout of mist, only to reappear a short distance away. This spell is known for being quick to cast and get the caster out of a dangerous position.]
[Due to your low rank with the Conjuration skill, you may appear several feet in a random direction away from where you intended upon casting this spell.]
-
[Shield]
[School: Abjuration]
[Rank: Novice 1 (progression: 0.50%)]
[Cost: Proportional to damage]
[You can form a protective shield of dense magic to protect yourself from physical force. However a strong enough force can break the shield, wasting away your magic.]
[Due to your low rank with the Abjuration skill, this spells efficiency has been halved.]
::::
While he was pleased that he'd progressed in some of his spells and skills, he had noticed how much his extremely low aptitudes' for his stats would affect him. But regardless, at least now he knew he could grow. He had been at Sanli's Academy for three years, but was still technically counted as a first year due to his abilities. Or lack thereof.
Finally he reached the stairway upwards. Even as he conjured an orb of light in his hands, he couldn't see the top of the stairwell.
With a sigh he began his trek. At least now the only way to go was up.