Now let me see this new section in my status.

Name: Ra’mon

Age: 0

Level: 0 + 1

Body: peak mortal

Mind: superhuman

Soul: magic initiate

Traits:

Void brushed

Cognito-hazard resistance

Skills:

Silent step – level 31

Fortified mind – level 37

Languages – level 15

General knowledge – level 27

Visualize – level 34

Parallel processing – level 37

Improvised implements – level 22

Meditation – level 23

…

Spells:

Distort Spacetime

Huh, is that it? I would have expected something more from all the climactic stuff that was happening. But it doesn’t have a level. That could be a problem, maybe.

Some of my other skills levelled, but that’s not the elephant in the room. I’ll check my available skills later.

No, what is the elephant in the room is something else. Or rather two elephants in the room, which I’m now doubting are two elephants, since they appeared at the same time. I am, of course, talking about my level and soul stat.

Though before that I suppose it’s good that the System acknowledged the change to my name. Anyway.

I’m level one now. Or rather, I’m level zero plus one, whatever that means. Why isn’t it simply one? Ahh, this is another one of the things that I’d need direct confirmation from the System. But it. Just. Won’t. Answer! So frustrating!

And then there’s the mysterious soul stat. up until now, it only told me that it was in flux, that it was in a state of change, that it hadn’t settle down. But now I’m apparently some kind of magic initiate. Damn, I really need some answers!

Yes, it’s rather obvious why I’m an initiate to magic, but the other stats are following a completely different progression path! Why couldn’t the System just do things in the same way for everything? Or even better, describe things numerically?

Oh bother.

Now then, let me try this new spell of mine. Distort spacetime, huh? It’s not exactly what I wanted, but perhaps it’s for the best. And who knows, it may even turn out to be something better.

I activate the skill, or rather spell, it coming to me naturally now, similarly to some of my other more unusual skills like parallel processing or how I mentally command my status.

Deep inside me, at the core of my being, something shifts. And then, a similar but not quite the same feeling as the misty touch enters my perception. It feels weaker somehow, less there. It moves from me to a spot a couple of meters away, exactly where I intended to cast the spell.

And the same thing as before happens. A pulling force makes itself knows, except that this time it doesn’t take it that long to reach its amplitude and said amplitude is also a slight bit lower. It’s still enough to move a couple branches though.

Soon, some of the smaller sticks are floating in the air. Except that, if the spell name is correct, they aren’t floating and it’s not a pulling force.

From what I remember watching on the internet, matter distorts spacetime, which manifests as gravity. So technically, those stick are falling down into a small gravity well. Damn.

I hope that’s not enough not fuck up the orbit of this planet I’m on. What was its name again? Ah yes, Ur’Fugd’Mat.

Then again, the name of the planet says it all, and maybe I shouldn’t care about this world some much. What with the Void invasion of scroonusi still ongoing and all.

Anyway, that’s nice and all, but is this all I can do? Just create a weak gravitational field? Yes, it’s the manipulation of one of the fundamental aspects of reality, but it seems sort of weak. Damn it, why don’t spells have levels?

Hmm, but can’t I improve either way? I haven’t seen any evidence to suggest that the presence of the System makes the normal way of getting better at things redundant. Sure, it’s going be slow and boring like in a System-less world, but it should be possible, right? I really hope so.

Now, onto some more exciting stuff. Or, actually. The message about me getting my first spell did say something about it advancing faster. Something about bad conditions and amplifiers?

Well, I can’t think of the amplifiers being anything else other than the ‘casting methods’ I employed. Mainly visualization, incantation, ritual and movement. So, things like that aren’t actually necessary for casting but to make spell more powerful? Interesting.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Let’s try this again then. The previous spell dissipated by now, the misty feeling long gone. I think it ended right around the time I stopped paying attention to it. Could be another thing to test.

Activating distort spacetime a second time, except that this time I’m chanting my little rhyme, I see whether the result changes. And yes, only the chant. Wouldn’t want to immediately go from zero to one-hundredth when dealing with magic, would we? Or at least not when I’m not under a time constraint.

The misty feeling once again leaves me and heads towards the point I cast the spell. Is that the mana I’m using to cast the spell? This time it’s a bit stronger, though compared to before it’s like a grain of sand next to a sun.

The pull makes itself known for the third time and indeed, it is stronger. Not by much, mind you, but it is stronger.

Now then, how long will it last? I don’t let it drop from my mind and soon it overcomes the record the previous casting made. So, it is based around me. I wonder…

Suddenly, the spell sputters out and I feel weak. Not quite exhausted, but also not mentally tired. It’s almost as if something is missing. Mana, or whatever it is I’m using to fuel my spells. I might as well refer to it as mana.

Damn, mana exhaustion is really something. Now I can finally understand why all those people didn’t want to deal with it in the stories. Like, I didn’t even notice when I sat down! I must really be out of it. It’d be better not to experiment with doing magic in this state. Who knows, maybe the stories were also right about this and in the absence of mana the spells are fuelled by lifeforce. I definitely don’t want to risk that.

So, what now? Ah, right! I wanted to check my available skills.

Hmm… really!? After only a cursory glance I can see that only these are the interesting ones, and they aren’t what I expected.

You have learned the skill: Ritualization!

Accept?

You have learned the skill: Qigong!

Accept?

And that was it. I could guess as to what these skills are and what unlocked them, but that just made me more puzzled as to why there weren’t more. I did, after all also employ two other skills, namely incantations and imagination (or will). Why had these two qualified but the other two not?

Whatever, I won’t be accepting these two just yet. I can already use after all, the System message confirmed that, so there’s not that much point in doing so. Sure, maybe it’ll amplify my spells even more, but for now I’m not interested.

Maybe I’ll take the one about rituals later on, but for now that method is too slow. And I also don’t like the idea of my spells being dependant on movement.

Hmm, but I wonder why some other magic related skills aren’t available to me. Like mana sense for example. It’s pretty obvious that I can sense the mana, or something like that, that exits me when I cast the spell. So why isn’t the skill available?

Do I need to train that the old-fashioned way too? That’s such a bother. But that’s already two magic related things the System refuses to help with. Or perhaps the prerequisites for those types of skills are higher than just being able to do it. Another thing to ask once the System becomes talkative again.

So, now what? I’ve done what I wanted, mostly, and I’m more or less safe. Is it time for a training montage? Huh, that’s a nice idea. Maybe I could get a skill called training montage that would power level me to infinity. Or, hmmm. I could technically already do that by locking myself inside my mind watching imagination TV while also training in the real world.

Better not do that, at least not yet. Seems kind of lonely. Even more lonely that being stranded in a world scheduled for execution.

Anyway, time for some more magic. Now that I don’t have to be so careful about what I cast, it’s time for fireball!

If I’m still capable of casting that type of spell, that is. I did make spacetime manipulation into my magical foundation after all.

So, what to do, what to do. I won’t use all the amplifier methods this time. The imagination and forcing my will onto reality should be enough.

So, utilizing the full might of my visualization skill, I imagine the power of a proper fireball. A deep, rich red ball of flames forms inside my imagined hand. Then, it shoots out into the distance where it collides with a tree and explodes, spreading fire into the surrounding.

Once I have the image firmly in my mind, I push my will onto reality and open my eyes.

In my hand is a table tennis ball sized orb of fire. Tongues of flame flicker over it every now and then. Soon enough, it’s flying through the air in a lazy parabola before colliding with the ground. Weak flames spread to the very nearby grass, though they do not last long.

I stand there, stunned. Is that it! That nothing like the image I had in mind! Damn it, whatever. Let’s just add it to my status. Maybe this also has a different name than fireball like portal became distort spacetime.

But there’s nothing on my status sheet. The three dots in the skills section don’t contain even a mention of any fireball and the spell section doesn’t even have the three dots.

What’s happening? I can very clearly cast the spell and the difficulty to acquire it simply cannot be that high. Even if it was, surely, I’d just offer me a weaker version, right?

No, I’m beginning to suspect that my first theory may be the one closer to the truth. The System, for whatever reason, doesn’t want to get involved with magic, or perhaps in this case it’s appropriate to call it Magic. Even though I still don’t know what the capitalization means.

I am interrupted from my thought by a deep rumbling. Huh, I suppose it has been a while since I ate. Especially considering that before this morning meal I hadn’t eaten for days.

So, setting the mysteries of magic, as the System so nicely put it, aside, I return to a more mundane activity. Cooking.

Of course, I first have to get some more birch bark, but it doesn’t take too long. This time I do separate the outer from the inner bark though, since I know which part is edible.

Then, off into another pot of boiling water with it, and I’m left to wait.

I’m not looking forward to this meal, especially if this is what I’ll be eating for the nearest future. maybe a skill will help with that. Since, you know, the System is stingy and I no longer have to save space (if there is indeed a limited number of skills) for the more magical skills.

And while on the topic of skills to make my time here more effective, how about I also take up something like sleep resistance. It’s similar, isn’t it? Something for eating so I have to eat less and this so I have to sleep less.

Ah, but then again, meditation could be an alternative solution to that problem.

What would a skill that helps me eat less even consist of? My body needs nutrients to survive, so something to make me last longer with a smaller number of them? Or something to make the absorption of them more effective. Oh, what a conundrum!