It was an idea that Michael couldn’t discard, no matter how much he deliberated on Skill levels. Coming to the conclusion that there was nothing to lose, he decided to go through with it.
So long as I can make them stay in place…
The idea had sprouted after watching the Mana Spheres pierce clean through the enemies he had fought so far. Grabbing the wand, he held it vertically in front of him. Mana flowed through his body, gathering in the magical tool. The small glowing ball of blue light formed as Michael spoke the name of the Skill. This was the crucial moment. It would determine not only what he could do with this one Skill, but also with all others. If he were correct, the possibilities were endless.
Michael’s brow furrowed. He focused. Instead of shooting the Mana Sphere upwards or in any other direction, he concentrated on keeping it still, right in front of and above the wand. The sphere revolved, contorting itself, almost as if it were trying to fly off on its own. For five full seconds, it trembled and shivered. Michael felt happiness at his success, which caused his focus to waver. The Skill immediately shot upwards like a bullet, flying through the cloudless, blue sky until it fizzled out completely. He let out a small sigh but also smiled. It was possible. He was sure of it. With just a bit more effort, he could manage to do it.
After ten straight minutes of failed attempts, Michael had grown remarkably more used to keeping the Skill in place. The spheres no longer uncontrollably flew off as if they were fleeing. They were static and obeyed his will. After conjuring one more sphere and holding it still, feeling mana continuously pour into it, he slowly approached the lion’s corpse, moving his wand and arm with care. First, he would try it out with a limb. He lowered the wand towards the beast’s intact right leg. Slowly, very slowly, he made the Mana Sphere touch the upper part of the thigh, dragging it from one end to the other. The animal’s leg was cleanly cut off. Michael laughed and swung his wand upwards, firing the Mana Sphere towards the sky.
“Success!”
His idea had been simple. If his Mana Spheres could easily pierce through the animal’s body, couldn’t they be used to cut the lion into pieces? Depending on Michael’s level of skill, it was possible to use them as if they were knives. Perhaps it would be more accurate to describe them as a high-pressure water cutter. There was no need to shoot the Skill at the lion’s body or to let the entire sphere enter its body. Using the spheres’ surface was enough.
Now that his theory had been proven right, Michael hurriedly disemboweled the lion’s carcass and attempted to drain it of blood to the best of his ability.
The scent of so much blood might attract other predators.
As he moved, he suddenly stopped in place. A thought had struck him, one that he should’ve considered much earlier. Michael spoke to himself.
“Damn it.”
He had no way of starting a fire to roast the beast’s limbs or body. He was an ordinary college student; he had no idea of how to start a fire, especially in these circumstances. His only hope would be to try and use Mana Sphere to ignite something somehow, but he guessed it wouldn’t work.
It’s worth a shot, at least.
It was his only option. He looked around him for dry leaves, sticks, and anything else that could be used, gathering them in a pile. Then, he chanted the Skill.
“Mana Sphere.”
Keeping the Sphere in place, he brought his wand closer to the pile, in the same way that he had cut the lion’s carcass. However, once the Skill touched the pile, it destroyed the gathered leaves without setting them on fire. Michael sighed.
As expected.
The Skill didn’t burn its targets per se; it seared through them with the characteristics of mana.
Well, I’m stumped.
Without a fire, there was no way for him to cook the carcass. Sighing once more, he promptly dismissed the idea. There was no meaning in worrying over something he couldn’t fix or change.
Looking at the sky, he kept thinking about the implications of what he had just discovered. Skills couldn’t just be taken at face value. The information that had been inserted into his mind about how to use the Mana Sphere skill was simple and concise. “This is how you condense your mana and shoot it.” That was it. If he hadn’t considered that this information wasn’t complete, he might have stuck to using Mana Sphere the ordinary way. This small experiment of his, however, proved that he could come up with new ways to wield Skills, beyond what the System naturally told him.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
This must be what proficiency is about.
There had been no notification regarding him reaching a new level of proficiency with the Skill, but maybe it was because he simply hadn’t reached a great enough level. He hadn’t been creative enough. This was a simple application of the skill he had been given, and as such, warranted no comments from the System. This only fueled Michael’s desire to improve. The System would acknowledge his ability, one way or another.
I’m going to try my very best to increase the proficiency of Mana Sphere. Maybe I can figure out some alternative ways to use it for defense alongside Mana Shield.
He thought back to when he had selected the Mana Shield and Mana Path Skills at Level 2. He hadn’t given it much thought since he had selected them so quickly, but looking back on it, it could have been a mistake. He had two Skill Points, enough for both Skills, but he didn’t know if the System would force him to only pick one. He had only been given one Skill Point for reaching Level 1, so it was possible that he would only receive one Skill, even if he had the required Skill Points for more of them. Thankfully, that hadn’t been the case.
By the time he finished resting and stood up, the twin suns were already slowly sinking under the horizon, creating a beautiful sunset. The wind was cold, coming over from the plains. The cracks on the ground had spread a bit as the dying trees had risen just a bit higher. Michael managed to detect a discreet scent of blood, based on his experience with the smell, though it could just be the blood covering his torn clothes. Part of his satisfaction with his new skills and having survived died as his thoughts reached this point. Out there, everyone and everything else was also struggling to survive, killing and fleeing as needed. He wasn’t alone, for better or worse. He needed a plan for the night, and fast.
…There are probably nocturnal hunters around. Staying here as the night deepens would be stupid.
He was nothing but a simple student before being teleported to this place. He knew almost nothing about surviving in the wild or protecting himself from predators. He had barely managed to find water, for God’s sake. All he knew was that running water was better than still water and that whole animals needed to be both disemboweled and cleaned before being eaten, but he only had enough skill for one of those. He could only think of one feasible course of action that might result in his survival; it was also his only choice regarding finding shelter.
Time to go underground.
Michael dusted off his robe, put his wand in place, and started making his way toward the waterfall and the hole it led to. It would be better to go down while there was still some light. He walked slowly, as he still needed time for his mana to recover. After his fights and attempts of skinning and disemboweling the animal’s corpse, his mana pool had hit rock bottom. Thankfully, around 20% had recovered while he rested.
He could only hope that he would survive the first night.
***
James ran his hands through his red hair, wiping the sweat on his forehead. He didn’t care about how his hair would look after this, and he was sure that nobody else did, either.
“What the actual fuck is going on?”
Next to him, Dylan put his hands over his face, speaking loudly as he did.
“Fuck, fuck!”
None of them wanted to believe it, but what was happening to them was real. The weight of the sword on the scabbard on his waist and that of the armor over his body. The hot air and solid ground. All of it was real. They had really just been teleported to a mysterious place, forced to live under a System that seemed like that of a role-playing game. How was this possible? There had been no trace of this System’s existence throughout all of human history, and now, out of nowhere, it transported them to some unknown land? James let out a deep sigh.
He looked at the corpse in front of them. It was a rather large, brown bull. According to the System, it had been Level 3. Next to him, Naomi spoke in a subdued voice.
“I can’t believe this is real.”
Their group was composed of less than ten people, all of whom were currently dealing with their own emotional turmoil after they directly killed another living being and received XP for the first time. The group was the exact same that gathered together at the restaurant before all of this, with the sole exception of Michael. After arriving and identifying one another, they had barely had enough time to share greetings before the bull had stomped out of the cover of the trees, running at them.
In a split-second decision, Dylan threw himself in front of it and raised his shield. The bull had hit the shield like a truck, pushing the man backward and to the ground. Woken out of their stupor, the group had worked together to defeat the beast. The result was the current situation.
Elizabeth spoke.
“We can’t lose our minds over something like this. There are certainly other creatures who will try to attack us. We need to keep ourselves together.”
James observed her with renewed attention. The two of them were the ones who seemed to be taking the current situation the best, for whatever reason. He had already started to calm down after feeling his sword cut into the flesh of another being, telling himself that he had no choice. She, however, seemed not to have been affected at all. Dylan yelled.
“Keep ourselves together!? We were just attacked by an animal and forced to kill it! I still have blood on my hands and hammer! We’re in an unknown place, with no food or water! And-”
Elizabeth nodded as if it were a matter of fact and interrupted him.
“That’s exactly why we have to remain calm. If we lose control of our emotions here, we might all die. We do need food and water. Maybe we can cook this bull and try to find water later. Either way, losing our cool isn’t gonna help at all.”
Dylan opened his mouth, before closing it once more, gritting his teeth, and lowering his head. James knew she was right. At that moment, he was glad to have been sent here with her. Her words were starting to affect the entire group. The sound of people taking deep breaths could be heard. As the group started to calm down, he spoke.
“Elizabeth is right. Come on, everyone. We can’t die here. Is anyone confident in cooking this bull’s meat for all of us? If not, we’ll have to look for other sources of food. It’s already sunset, so we don’t have much time at all. I don’t wanna be here once it’s nighttime.”
They needed resources. Urgently.