This state remained as the minutes dragged by. The green-and-purple patches had lessened somewhat, while the rest of the skin was almost inhumanely red. Every second felt like a minute. The pain only started to decrease after an unknown amount of time. The green color disappeared from his skin, their territory taken over by the red one, which soon vanished on its own.

Michael took several deep breaths.

I never want to go through that again. Holy shit.

He made a mental note to grab a “Poison Resistance” Skill as soon as one appeared. At the same time, he deliberated on how he had been caught off-guard. The Level 10 snake had possessed an ace in the hole, and it was something he should have expected. Level 10 should be where other Skills became available, both to humans and to other creatures. He had underestimated the Level 10 beast and paid for it. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Putting the three heads inside the bag Sullivan had given him after making sure they weren’t bleeding, he checked his Level.

Level 9.

He should look around for more enemies and reach Level 10 before returning. Michael momentarily wondered if the viper heads would end up attracting other animals. A small idea sprouted within his mind. He walked back to where the snakes previously were. It was a reasonably open area amidst all the stone columns and mushrooms. He put down the bag he was carrying right in the area’s center, then hid behind one of the further away pillars, keeping the bag in his line of sight. He momentarily wondered if he should use his wand to cut the snakes’ corpses open but decided that would be too much. Crouching and staying as still as possible, his suspicions were soon confirmed.

Five of the moles appeared, sniffing the air and the ground. It took them a few seconds to locate the bag, but then they headed straight toward it. Michael simply drew a line with his wand.

“Mana Wave.”

The half-moon carved into them, unceremoniously killing all of them in a heartbeat. He nodded to himself in satisfaction, before changing his position and crouching once more. This pattern repeated itself three more times. As the carcasses piled up, the number of beasts being attracted to them increased. Right after he killed another two creatures that looked like molerats, he hurriedly picked up the bag with the three snake heads and ran in the direction of Bluestone Village. His mana hadn’t decreased by too much, while his mind still wasn’t tired. Michael felt joy at this. He opened his Status Window.

Status Window

Name: Michael Gray

Level: 11

Race: Young Draconic Human (E)

Class: Mage

Job: None.

Stats

Strength: 45

Dexterity: 47

Endurance: 43

Constitution: 50

Intelligence: 87

Wisdom: 124

Free points: 27

Skill points: 5

Active Skills

Mana Sphere (F); Analyze (F); Mana Shield (F); Mana Wave (F).

Passive Skills

None.

Hybrid Skills

Newborn’s Dragonheart (D.)

Titles

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Dragon’s Descendant; Novice Mage.

As expected, his Intelligence and Wisdom Stats were much higher than all the others, which were surprisingly around the same level. The Free Points he had invested into Strength and Dexterity enabled them to be close to Constitution in value, even though the latter Stat was boosted by his Dragon’s Descendant Title. He also had almost thirty Free Points, which was a significant amount. He could almost double one of his lower Stats. Michael looked at the System messages he hadn’t yet bothered to close.

[Your state of existence has risen. Skill Point has been awarded. The number of Skills you can learn has increased.]

[You may now choose new Skills.]

[Your body has started to adapt further to the Dragon blood.]

Of course, he would follow Tairy’s advice and not choose anything, especially since once he started choosing the window would officially open. Once the window closed, there would be nothing he could do apart from waiting for the next opportunity. It meant that he needed to choose a Skill whenever he started the process. He looked at the number of Skill Points he possessed. Being able to choose five new Skills was an incredibly massive bonus, even though his Race was still only at E rank. He could only imagine what would come once he adapted to the Dragon blood.

Does it have something to do with how Dragons are seen as masters of all in fiction?

Of course, fiction wasn’t reality, but the Tutorial’s setting had remained fantasy-like, similar to many of the books he had read. In them, Dragons didn’t just stand at the apex of magic, but also had powerful bodies and were skilled at almost anything due to their long lifespans. He theorized that this was in part why his Dragon’s Descendant Title also raised his Constitution.

He didn’t know how much Dragon blood was coursing through him, but it was certainly powerful. True Dragons likely had access to much greater abilities and racial perks. With so many Skill Points, it would be hard for them not to be experts in various fields.

With such thoughts in his mind, Michael crossed the distance between his hunting ground and Bluestone Village in no time at all. He entered the village excitedly, ignoring the looks toward his bag and clothes, and went in the direction of the town hall. He slowed down as he walked. Even from afar, he could see the line outside it. He could only imagine how crowded the interior was. It seemed that Sullivan was paying the price for giving him that warning. Gratitude blossomed within his heart. He instantly decided to see Tairy first, changing direction.

He arrived at the same courtyard after only a few minutes. As he neared it, Michael spied a robe-wearing caster leaving with a dejected expression. Apart from this single individual, the area close to Tairy’s home was mysteriously empty. He furrowed his brow slightly. He approached the rectangular stone where Tairy was sitting. The milky-white eyes opened and stared at him before he had even said anything.

“Finally. I was getting tired of waiting. What Level are you right now?”

Michael curbed his surprise, stopping himself from asking why the caster looked so upset.

“Eleven.”

“And you didn’t spend the Skill Point?”

“No, I didn’t. Isn’t that what you told me to-”

“Don’t be foolish, kid. You may have been in a situation where you were forced to pick a suitable Skill in order to simply survive.”

Michael closed his mouth. The grumpy dark elf was right. He had been short-sighted. The average caster received their third Skill Point at Level 10. If they hadn’t yet picked Mana Shield, it should be their highest priority for survivability. Since he had started out with ordinary Intelligence and Wisdom Stats, he had a grasp on how helpful Mana Shield could be in a pinch or if one was simply hunting alone.

“…You’re right.”

“You are capable of reflecting and admitting you weren’t entirely correct. Very good. It’s a valuable trait.”

“What do you mean? Everyone can do that.”

“You would be surprised at the amount of people incapable of that, especially when they’re ‘special’ like you.”

Once more, Michael realized that he was right. While Tairy didn’t seem to know exactly what was special about him, the Young Draconic Human’s Race description said that Michael was one of “extremely few.” He could have turned arrogant, careless, and self-important, but his mind didn’t even consider going in that direction. He was the same as usual, the same as before.

Tairy changed his sitting position, dragging Michael out of his thoughts. The old dark elf spoke.

“Alright. Now, I’m sure you’re thinking of all the interesting Skills you didn’t pick before, or of all the new ones, but don’t mind any of that. What you should do is select the Inferior Mana Heart Skill. It’s the single most fundamental Skill if you want to be a caster.”

Michael had to refrain from changing his expression. Thankfully, he seemed to have succeeded. Inferior Mana Heart should be the F-ranked version of Basic Mana Heart, which was E-ranked. It shouldn’t even be comparable to his Newborn’s Dragonheart. But, there was no reason to reveal all of this. He shouldn’t and couldn’t trust Tairy just yet. He merely complied.

“Alright. I was thinking of getting that one, anyway.”

Michael pretended to be looking at System windows, which wasn’t difficult since Rose’s health bar remained in the corner of his vision, and to select a Skill. He turned to Tairy.

“There. It says it enables the creation of Circles.”

The dark elf nodded, stroking his beard.

“That’s the most important effect. The few others are too insignificant at F rarity.”

Michael nodded. Tairy continued to speak.

“Now, you are finally ready to receive proper instruction from me. That’s the most interesting thing for me to do around here, so I’ll do it properly.”

“…What about the other casters?”

“I give them just enough guidance. They are too low-leveled for there to be significant differences between them. It’s too boring. I just tell most of them to pick the Inferior Mana Heart Skill as soon as possible and to come back when they do. They usually leave feeling pretty upset over having already picked a different Skill at Level 10 or over not having reached Level 10 yet.”

Michael felt as if he had gained some insight into why the caster he had seen looked so despondent.