After a short break, the group continued their journey, trudging further into the city. To Clover's left, Ron threw a series of punches and kicks as he walked, testing the limits of his new Skill.
Based on his wide smile, the Skill was good. Though Clover wasn't sure what exactly it did, he hadn't found a chance to ask him yet.
“Oh yeah, I know kung fu, baby,” Ron said, the words coming out quickly and slightly garbled as he had yet to adjust to his newly increased Agility.
"Are you done flailing around yet? You're just going to tire yourself out," Seb, the old man who Clover had helped fight off a Deep Ant, asked as he walked with a shuffling limp. Well, he actually wasn't that old, but he had gray hair, so that had to count for something.
"No, I'm multitasking. It's about time efficiency - I'm killing two birds with one stone."
Clover chuckled. Somehow, he had gathered a small group around him. They weren’t friends, acquaintances at most, but even that was enough to bring a smile to his face. If he stretched his imagination a bit, it was almost like he was in one of those sitcoms he used to religiously watch late into the night.
Maybe someday, he wouldn't have to pretend.
He stopped himself from getting further drawn into his thoughts. They hadn't encountered any monsters since the Deep Ants, but that didn't mean they weren't in danger. He needed to keep his guard up. The ants had taken him completely by surprise; he didn't want that to happen again.
After taking a brief moment to work up his courage, Clover asked, ”How did you know the Deep Ants were going to attack?”
Rodger coughed into his fist, clearing his throat. “A flock of birds flew away,” he said as if that was a perfectly acceptable explanation that Clover was supposed to understand.
“What?”
"Birds, well, most animals, are smarter than us. They are more attuned to danger. They know when a situation is life and death because they have been forced to live in a world of violence for their entire lives. If they run, you should follow suit."
Clover considered what Rodger said. It made a surprising amount of sense.
It had been short, a few minutes at most, since they had left the coffee shop where they had fought the Deep Ants, and they hadn't covered much distance. The group moved like a herd of turtles, mainly due to its size. Getting everyone on the same page and moving in the same direction was almost impossible.
Still, they had made forward progress. With each block, the design of the buildings surrounding them was slowly changing, shrinking from the modern towers that littered the downtown district to shorter, cheaply made brick buildings. Soon, they would enter a more residential part of the city.
And there, they were more likely to encounter other survivors. He paused. Survivors didn't feel like the right word; they hadn't survived anything yet, and humanity felt too grandiose of a word. He settled on people. There, they were more likely to encounter other people.
True to his prediction, before long, they stopped in front of an apartment complex. People looked down from their windows at the group.
"This is my stop. My boyfriend should still be up there. He probably slept through the whole thing," a woman still dressed in pajamas said.
Clover nodded. Only some people had been teleported in the middle of the night. There were others like him. Based on what Lin had told him, he estimated that only 30% of the population had been abducted by the System. Which meant that the odds were that quite a few people were hiding out in the apartment complex.
At Doctor White's behest, a portion of the group followed the woman into the building to ensure no monsters were lurking in the hallways. Surprisingly, the doctor didn't have to do much convincing; most of the group was eager to gain Skill Stones and Levels. To them, the possibility of defeat felt distant during the daytime.
While Clover didn't agree, he could see where they were coming from. They had easily beaten what had crossed their path so far, and compared to the night, the monsters seemed weakened and docile. It wasn't safe to explore by any stretch of the imagination, but as long as the sun was up, they weren't in mortal danger.
Clover wanted to follow, but stairs, the bane of his existence, blocked his path into the apartment complex, so instead, he waited with Ron outside the building in a comfortable patch of shade. To pass the time, he reopened his [Status Screen] and debated where to put his 4 remaining Points.
On one hand, he could continue putting all his points into Vitality. It had worked so far. Each Point made him feel a bit better. However, Clover doubted that was the optimal arrangement. Even if it was, and Vitality was all he needed to cure himself, as he progressed, his "build" would become increasingly lopsided, and he'd have an increasingly difficult time defeating monsters of a similar Level.
It seemed self-evident that a more general approach would yield better results in the long term. The question then was: what was the optimal arrangement. Without more information, there was no way of knowing.
He considered asking Ron his opinion, but he looked busy enough with all the punches he was throwing, so he decided against it. Instead, he decided to put at least one Point into each Stat just to see what they did.
Once he knew more, he could work out a more concrete plan.
With his plan settled, he put a Stat Point into Endurance. An energetic warmth sprouted in his muscles, bouncing around and vibrating, almost unable to be contained. In zig-zagging patterns, it spread across his body, lifting his fatigue and subtly changing him. It felt like he had just drank a warm cup of coffee.
Too soon, like all good things, the warmth faded, but the benefits remained. Blood flowed easier through his veins, and it felt like his cells had woken up from a deep nap. He felt healthier - more athletic, but not necessarily any less sick.
His SP had increased by 10, the same increase a Point in Vitality netted his HP. From what Clover could tell, the two Stats were similar in their effects, but Vitality would ultimately be more beneficial.
Additionally, Clover was beginning to suspect that the first Point in a Stat caused the most significant change in ability. One was infinitely larger than zero, after all.
He was only partially sure that his idea was mathematically correct. But he liked it anyway!
Also, beyond what the sheer difference in numbers would imply, it felt like putting that first Point in unlocked something or, more accurately, woke an aspect of the System up.
Not entirely sure where to put his next Point, he invested in the Intelligence Stat in hopes that he would magically become smart enough to where an answer would become apparent.
No such change came. In fact, Clover could barely tell that anything at all had happened. Other than a slight heating of his forehead that may have been caused by a ray of sunlight directly beaming down on it, he didn't experience any secondary effects.
Clover moved to the left slightly to avoid the sun, and while doing so, he distantly remembered an article he had read over a year ago about how there were no nerve endings in the brain, so it was actually possible to perform brain surgery on someone without them feeling anything.
He was unsure whether he could remember that factoid because of his increased Intelligence Stat. Optimistically, he wanted to think that it had at least helped his memory.
Unlike the other Stats, increasing his Intelligence hadn't increased his base resources.
The increase in his Intelligence didn't suddenly illuminate the path forward - if anything, he was even more unsure of what to do next. He sighed but didn't feel discouraged in the slightest. The feeling of bettering himself with the press of a button was addictive. He wanted more.
Perhaps it was his increased Intelligence, or maybe he had just seen it enough times to finally notice, but now that he had Stat Points to spend, there were plus signs on his [Status Screen] next to the Stats he could increase. Of course, that was obvious. It was so obvious that he had entirely overlooked that there were plus signs next to his base resources. He stared at the screen for a moment.
Name: Clover Hills
Race: Human
Class: Blank Lvl 2 - 75/250
Shard:
HP: 139/160 (10) +
SP: 68/110 (10) +
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
MP: 87/100 (10) +
Affinity:
Strength: 0 +
Endurance: 1 +
Vitality: 6 +
Dexterity: 0 +
Agility: 0 +
Perception: 0 +
Intelligence: 1 +
Magic: 0 +
Stat Points: 2
Skill Points: 5
Hesitantly, he pressed the plus next to his HP. A confirmation window appeared, and he accepted it. What followed was not what he had expected. Followed by a brief flash of warmth, his HP regen had increased by 1, to a total of 11. He scratched his head.
Perhaps it was the long-acting nature of the Stat; he wasn't sure. In the end, all he could conclude was that increasing his HP regeneration had less of an immediate impact on his condition than increasing his Vitality.
Enjoying feeling like a scientist, he continued his experimentation and put his final Point into Magic. It was his most effective means of attack, and he enjoyed using it, so the decision was a no-brainer.
In a moment of disorientation, a new awareness awakened inside of him. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before. Both there and not at the same time, currents that constantly changed size, shape, and every other quality he could think of surrounded him, tingling at his skin. Clover’s mind strained, struggling to process the conflicting stimuli.
His hair stood on end.
Out of reflex, he closed his eyes. When he opened them a second later, the new mode of perception that the Point of Magic had granted him had disappeared.
Eyes wide, he glanced around, checking to see if anyone had noticed. No one had.
After recovering his nerves, Clover took a moment to wonder what it was that he had sensed, and during the process, he realized that though the effect had faded, some remnants of it remained. If he focused, he could still feel a whisper of what he previously had been able to.
Some doors, once opened, could never truly be shut again.
With his newly enhanced senses, Clover took the time to experiment with his magic. During the fight with the Deep Ants, he had struggled to activate [Unstable Mana Bolt] quickly - that was unacceptable. If he wanted to survive, he needed to be able to use the Skill at a moment's notice.
Driven by that simple motivation, he practiced quickly locating and delving into his core. A sneaking suspicion, driven mainly by the popular media he had consumed but also some degree of instinct, grew within him that the place he was searching for - the place that housed [Unstable Mana Bolt] was actually his soul.
He had no proof, and he had the feeling that his suspicion wouldn’t be proven for a long while yet, so he didn't dwell on it for long.
His increased Magic Stat made the process somewhat easier, and after a few repetitions, he got the hang of it. The space that contained his Skills - his soul, felt closer now, always hovering at the back of his mind, ready to be accessed at the drop of a hat.
For him, it hadn't been hard; its location never changed. He couldn't help but wonder how his progress would compare to that of an average person's. The System had designated him as "Magically Talented", so he assumed he had it somewhat easier, but to what degree he wasn't sure.
He still had a bit of time left till the group would be ready to move again, so he used the opportunity to further refine his skills.
To use [Unstable Mana Bolt], he had to say the words aloud - he wanted to change that. It was slow and clunky, and from what he had seen inside the Skill Stone, he knew he didn't have to.
Skills required focus to activate. Saying the words aloud was just a handicap - an easy way for those who weren’t good enough.
He delved inward and set his focus upon the crystalline structure that contained [Unstable Mana Bolt]. For a long moment, he simply observed it, gaining familiarity with its geometry through his hazy senses. Then, without speaking a word, he tried to activate the Skill, copying the motions the one-handed sculptor had gone through. Predictably, he failed.
However, from that failure, he learned. And on his next attempt, though he failed again, he felt the structure twitch in response, not strongly enough to activate the Skill, but just enough to let him know he was on the right track.
He smiled, enjoying the novelty of toying with forces beyond his understanding. With each attempt, he improved, but beyond that, as his focus deepened, and he culled away all distracting thoughts, he gained a blurry awareness of the space around the structure - a space he was mostly oblivious to before. It was dark and incredibly vast, though not empty.
However, with his weak senses, he struggled to make out any further details.
As he continued experimenting, he discovered that when he pressed particularly forcefully against [Unstable Mana Bolt], the structure would flash, momentarily casting back the darkness that obscured his senses.
After twenty-some attempts, Clover stumbled upon a cold current lurking in the darkness, making him flinch. It was an instinctive reflex more than anything. Like a serpent, it slithered at the edges of his perception, releasing a palpable and unending aura of hunger. Before he could hope to understand what he had sensed, it - the aberration disappeared.
Clover took a deep breath; the encounter had left him equal parts scared and excited. But, with his current level of understanding, he could only continue to blindly trudge forward. Thus was the danger of being a novice without a teacher.
His next attempt was a success. Disorientated, his eyes shot open as a crisp bolt of blue mana began to form in the palm of his hand. He jerked his hand to the side, away from any living targets. His movements felt oddly sluggish like he was only halfway in his body.
[Unstable Mana Bolt] tugged against him like a dog on a leash, straining to release itself. He fought against the impulse for a moment, just to see if he could. To his surprise, he found that if he concentrated, he could delay the release of the bolt of mana. With each passing second, a pressure built, continually increasing the difficulty of holding back the spell.
As a bead of sweat began to roll down his wrinkled forehead, Clover released the bolt of magic. It rocketed forward much faster than it had been capable of earlier this morning and crashed loudly into a car window, shattering it.
Congratulations! Unstable Mana Bolt has reached Lvl 5. +1 Skill Points.
Congratulations! Unstable Mana Bolt has reached Lvl 6. +1 Skill Points.
Luckily, an alarm didn't go off. However, the sudden loud noise did alarm those of the group who were loitering outside the building, threatening to spark a minor panic.
“Sorry,” Clover said as he rubbed the back of his head. “False alarm - nothing to worry about.”
After a dubious moment, much of the group accepted his explanation and returned to what they had been doing. A few squinted their eyes at him, looking at him like he was a crazy person.
Maybe he was.
"You alright?" Ron asked while inspecting the damage to the car from afar. A light sheen of sweat coated his forehead. Despite that, he had, for some reason, not taken off his suit jacket.
Clover nodded. "It turns out experimenting with magic can be a bit destructive when you don't know what you're doing." He had been lucky he hadn't accidentally shot himself in the leg.
Slightly guilty, Clover remembered that he hadn’t upheld his end of the deal - he had forgotten to tell Ron how he had unlocked [Unstable Mana Bolt].
“Ah, did you unlock anything cool with your experiment? I heard one of the guys got an Inferior Slate Aspect as a reward for killing a Deep Ant.”
Among others, Clover had eavesdropped on that conversation.
The fact that the System gave out Aspects as a reward obviously meant they were important, and he suspected that he had lucked out in receiving a Magic Aspect, though, like so many things, he wasn't sure what they were used for. If he had to guess, solely based on the name, he'd guess they modified some part of the System.
While they had been traveling, he had also overheard that someone had unlocked an Ant Exterminator Path after the battle. Ironically, they claimed they had worked as a bug exterminator for six years.
Clover shook his head. "I haven't checked yet, maybe." He had checked immediately after the battle, but he had been disappointed to find that he had yet to unlock any new Skill Paths. However, in light of his recent experimentation, he might have unlocked something new. He jittered with excitement but stopped himself from checking.
First, he had a promise to uphold. Clover explained how he had unlocked [Unstable Mana Bolt] to Ron. Clover didn't think the information would be useful, but Ron disagreed; he seemed convinced he could reverse engineer at least one of the conditions for unlocking the Path.
After concluding his conversation with Ron, which had somehow morphed into a more extended discussion on the nature of magic in different media sources, Clover opened the Skill Paths Menu, and to his excitement, he had unlocked a new Path,
Under the Magical Talent tree, a new box depicting a cracked vase in a storm had been revealed.
The Fractured Window 0/5
It is said that no two snowflakes are the same, and it is equally true that no two souls break the same way.
Prerequisites (2): Magical Talent I, ?, Minor Affinity Absorption, ?, ?, Nascent Soul Perception, Inferior Mana Sense,?, Fractured Soul, ?...
Quest: N/A
Clover paused after reading the Path's description. It was quite a strange experience to so casually read on a glowing blue screen that he had a fractured soul.
He couldn't help but consider if a fractured soul was the source of all his problems. It had to be, or at least responsible for, a significant chunk of them.
He had to wonder how it had happened - what had broken his soul and when had it happened. He couldn't think of anything in particular that would have done the trick. Maybe he had been born this way.
On the bright side, if there could be in a situation like this, as he continued reading further into the Prerequisites section, he found that at least he had some positives going for him.
Minor Affinity Absorption, Nascent Soul Perception, and Inferior Mana Sense all sounded like good things to have.
The Path's ominous description made him question whether he even wanted to put Points into it. But after psyching himself up a bit, he figured there was no reason not to if it would only cost him 5 Skill Points. His soul was already broken. What’s the worst that could happen?
Plus, the rewards from the last Path in this Tree had been good.
He tapped his finger against the box 5 times, and another blue screen appeared in return.
You can not claim to be a shaman, wizard, or sorcerer, and yet through a twist of fate - a fractured soul, you have the uncanny ability to glimpse the same unseen horizon that they do.
Be warned, those who can see can be most easily touched, and the soul, in its earnest efforts to repair itself, will absorb most anything - for good or foul.
However, this predicament is not permanent; through hard work or good luck, anything can be repaired.
Accept Skill: Y/N…