CHAPTER 8: ALMOST PASSING

Shrugging off the question, Jenna moved to start Enchanting early. While the food no longer felt like ashes in her mouth, she still was eating as quickly as she could. She immediately accepted the prompt to move her schedule up.

Before beginning the drain on her Magic, she took a moment to look at the E Grade Hardened Glass that she had made the day before. At a first glance, it was no different than the various F Grade pieces she’d made. As she looked more closely, though, she saw how much more even the lines were.

Now that she could tell the difference, she picked up the etching tool and started draining her Magic. As she carved the Spell, Jenna felt where she had slipped slightly, carving a deeper furrow into the glass. She finished the piece and was shocked at how much Magic she still felt inside of her.

First Tier Hardened Glass Rank: E- Would you like to sell your Hardened Glass?

“No.” On the bright side, she was getting better at recognizing her mistakes. She knew that she couldn’t fix her mistakes until she saw them, so it was progress of a sort. Just to confirm, she double checked.

“What is wrong with my Hardened Glass that keeps it from being D Grade or higher?” she said, gesturing to the piece she had just carved.

Analysis of Hardened Glass Primary Flaw: Inconsistent Magic density within piece. Secondary Flaw: Inconsistent Carving depth. Other Flaws will not improve quality of product without fixing Primary and Secondary Flaws. Would you still like to see the other flaws?

“No,” she replied, a little confused. She checked the E Grade Hardened Glass she had made the day before.

Analysis of Hardened Glass Primary Flaw: Inconsistent Magic density within piece. Other Flaws will not improve quality of product without fixing Primary Flaw. Would you still like to see the other flaws?

Interesting. Apparently the jump from F to E Grade came from having the physical cuts in the glass be right. E to D Grade must come from the way the Magic was poured into the Spell.

“How can I make the Magic density more consistent within my Hardened Glass?”

Query imprecise. Best guess at Query: “What are optimal and probable ways for me to make the Magic density consistent within my Hardened Glass.” Accept guess?

“Yes.” Jenna made a note to replace “how can I” with “what are optimal and probable ways for me to” when she asked the Pyramid questions.

In order of effectiveness, the following options are most likely to improve consistency of Magic density given current skills and possessions: Practicing Enchanting Hardened Glass Magic flow practice Purchasing a Magic flow regulator to add to etching tool.

“What are the optimal and probable ways for me to practice my Magic flow?” she asked.

In order of effectiveness, the following options are most likely to improve consistency of Magic flow given current skills and possessions: Practicing Enchanting Hardened Glass Scheduled time for Magic flow practice. Would you like to schedule time for Magic flow?

“Would that mean that I would need to stop Enchanting before I empty my Magic today?”

Yes.

“Then no, I would not like to schedule time for Magic flow practice.” If the best way to improve her Magic flow was Enchanting practice, Jenna wanted to keep working on the Hardened Glass. After all, even if she wasn’t making progress as quickly as she’d like, she was still able to earn a point from each piece of glass. That brought her closer to her goal of entering the rift, along with whatever else she would need points for in the next decade.

Jenna activated the etching tool again, feeling the way that it drained her Magic. It wasn’t perfectly consistent. As she let her focus slip, or thought of something else, or even just grew uncomfortable with the feeling of something inside her draining out, the flow of Magic slowed.

She tried to sink into the frame of mind she’d touched on during her run. It helped, though the world didn’t sharpen. As she carved through the next piece, she paid attention to the way that her Magic was flowing through the etching tool.

A few times, it almost felt like the issue was with the tool, rather than with her own Magic, but she shoved that feeling aside. Surely the Pyramid wouldn’t recommend her a tool that she couldn’t use. She finished her second piece for the day and had the Pyramid analyze it.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

First Tier Hardened Glass Rank: E+ Would you like to sell your Hardened Glass?

“No, but what’s preventing it from being D Grade?” She wanted to make sure that there wasn’t another issue at play as well.

Analysis of Hardened Glass Primary Flaw: Inconsistent Magic density within piece. Other Flaws will not improve quality of product without fixing Primary Flaw. Would you still like to see the other flaws?

That was a relief, though it was still frustrating. She managed to finish another two E+ pieces of Hardened Glass that day. By the end of the last piece, she was at least aware of the portions of the Spell that her focus tended to slip, and Jenna felt like she could see where the Magic was sitting inconsistently in the Enchantment.

She had just enough Magic left to finish the Hardened Glass she used to empty her Magic pool every day. Unsurprisingly, it was an F Grade.

“Is it just plain F?”

Granulated scores for Grades below highest achieved do not provide relevant information. Recommendation: only provide granulated scores for Hardened Glass at highest Grade achieved. Accept recommendation?

“Yes.”

Jenna made her way to combat. The past few days of draining her Magic had made the feeling far more bearable. It still wasn’t pleasant, to be sure, but she found that she minded the emptiness much less.

Beginning First Round of Combat.

Jenna looked at the single goblin which had been summoned. Unlike every other monster she’d seen, this one was not equipped with a sharpened stick. Instead, it was holding a badly made sword. She wasn’t even sure if it was sharp, though she had no intention of finding out.

As the goblin began its fast approach, Jenna noticed how quickly it was moving. It was much faster than any other goblin had been so far. When it came within reach, it swung down with its sword.

She managed to parry the blow, but was struck at how strong the goblin was. Her mace was forced out of position. She was only barely able to recover before the goblin swung again.

Jenna found herself being forced onto the defensive. Her only hope was that the goblin would tire before her, so she moved as economically as she could. The goblin continued battering at her with wild and aggressive swings. She kept stepping backwards to avoid the strikes.

As the seconds turned into a minute, Jenna realized that her plan to outlast the goblin wouldn’t work. It seemed to have endless endurance. As her back hit the wall, she started to panic. Even though the intellectual part of her knew that she couldn’t die, it was shouted out by the rest of her brain.

As the goblin’s sword came down for a final strike, she felt the world sharpen around her. She lashed back out with her mace, somehow deflecting the blow from the sword. With the goblin caught off balance, she began her counterattack.

She swung her mace into the goblin, but it deflected her strike with its sword. It struck back before she could react, drawing a burning line across her arm. That was her first injury from combat training.

Rather than pulling her out of the mental state she was in, Jenna felt herself drop deeper. Each breath of hers seemed to be perfectly in time with the rushing of blood through her veins and her body’s movement. She felt like she had been listening to a dance for years and only now learned the steps.

Ignoring the blood for now, she pushed harder. Jenna moved faster than she knew that she could. The goblin wasn’t perfect, she knew. As she rushed forward, it was as though its weaknesses were on perfect display for her.

She feinted out, trying to draw the goblin’s sword. When it moved to block, she adjusted her swing, taking a swipe at its torso. She did little more than brush past the goblin with her swing, but it was enough to draw blood. The goblin no longer had the only blood that fight.

The sight of its blood on her mace seemed to push the goblin into a raging fury. It moved even faster and more furiously, sacrificing its graceful movements for savage blows. If she hadn’t been seeing the world sharper, it might have worked. Instead, all that its wilder movements did is give Jenna a cleaner target to strike.

She watched the goblin overextend on a swing and punished it, striking down on its arm. While she felt bone break, it wasn’t enough to bring the goblin down. It tried to switch the sword to its other hand, but Jenna timed her swing for when the hand off happened.

With the goblin disarmed, she was able to deliver savage blow after blow until the goblin faded into essence. As it did, Jenna felt herself slipping back out of the mental state she had been in. The world started to fade until it was back to its normal, muted state.

Leaving the mental state was worse than her first experience draining her Magic pool. She collapsed, feeling like she was unable to get air into her lungs. The cut on her stomach felt like it was on fire.

“Do I need to worry about this cut?” she asked, hoping that the answer would be no.

Query imprecise. Best guess: will the cut become infected or lead to secondary injury if left untreated? Accept guess?

“Yes.” That was more or less what she had been thinking.

If cut does not stop bleeding within one hour, medical care recommended.

That was hardly helpful right now. “Wait, did I not finish the round of combat?” The Pyramid always alerted her when she was finished.

Jenna wasn’t sure if she was getting better at reading the tone of the Pyramid’s messages, if it was giving messages with more tone, or if she was just anthropormophizing the training ground from lonliness, but she felt like it was almost rolling its eyes at her as the next table appeared in front of her.

Congratulations! You have finished the First Round of Combat. Generating Report.

Jenna’s Status:

Jenna Fredrickson First Year Spells Known: Expected Years Completed: 7 Prediction Confidence: 25% Points: 67 Qualified to Ascend to Next Year? No