Chapter 42:

A couple of days later, I still hadn't finished learning those new skills. The day after I talked with Astrid, I told the team that I had gotten the identified skill. It shouldn't have made a huge difference, but it did.

Now that we knew the spider was level 15 and the minions were level five, we got past it with surprising ease. I wasn't sure if knowing the level just made them take it more seriously. Or if it helped us overcome the pride of being unable to get past something, knowing that it out-leveled all of us. But we actually tried tactics that were more appropriate for our level rather than trying to take the thing head-on. I wasn't sure how it helped much, but whatever it did, it was good.

After that, we were at 17.5% progress through the challenge. So one, maybe two more rooms, and we'd be clear—at least clear of the minimum. Unfortunately, though, we got stuck in the room immediately after the spider. The enemies had changed again, and because they were lower at a level, they gave us lots of problems. Instead of spiders, now it was motherfucking snakes. Lots of snakes. At least forty of them all at once.

The snakes were small, and they were fast. Insanely fast. Like a greyhound. Because of how low to the ground they were, they were impossible to stop.

It was easy to prevent something like a large spider, a badger, or a bear from reaching the backlines. But the four of us couldn't stop the snakes from getting to Astrid.

With something big, we could get in front of it, could hit it, could slow it down. Even if it was big enough to barrel past, it might be possible to redirect it. But these snakes... the way they slithered made it hard to hit them on the ground. And when you did, it damaged your blade. Then they'd get past your legs, bite our only healer, and then come for the rest of us.

The venom they had was enough to kill Astrid relatively quickly when they all swarmed her, and her lower constitution didn't do her many favors. Once she was down, there was nothing we could do to remove the venom from our veins.

With the venom still in our system, we couldn't leave the room. And so we died. So far, we'd done two attempts, but the frustration that had built for the spider wasn't building yet. So, I think we had time to figure it out before we started to panic again. Everyone knew how close we were to getting out of the minimum. Despite how frustrating this seemed, we had just gotten past one possible fight, and there was a bit more patience needed to get past this one as well.

Whether that was because of the identification skill telling us that the snakes were only level nine or perhaps because it was Astrid. She hadn't turned over a new leaf or anything. Despite everyone still fighting and bickering all the time, she at least was trying some of the time. Maybe it was having some effect. It was hard for me to tell how much that helped exactly, but I seemed to have marginally fewer headaches with the antics of my teammates.

She and Bjorn still fought all the time, but I saw her back down when she was obviously wrong a few times. With that part cleared up, I realized it wasn't just her. There was something with Bjorn, too. As he was my friend, I had been giving him the benefit of the doubt and had talked with Astrid first. But that had been unfair of me.

I knew he had problems. It was clear that I needed to talk to him as a friend and figure out if this team could continue to work. Because, well, everyone needed to get better, as Astrid told me, and I was working on it. I was getting really, really close to learning my skills.

That night, after our challenge run, I went back home to meditate on them.

***

The past couple of days, I had spent a lot of time and effort reading and memorizing each page of the book. In order to touch them, I had to have a hardened mental will, to not absorb the books directly. And in order to achieve this, I had to prepare myself for over a minute to touch them. Maybe I was being paranoid and going overboard, but I could feel the pressure of it trying to push into my mind, and fighting against it was difficult.

I left them open on my desk and turned the page as quickly as I could. I read each page twice before turning it in again, and I memorized pretty much every part of both the healing spell and the movement spell. Now, I sat on the floor with my mind as empty as possible as I attempted to feel and understand the motions of my mana to activate the spell. I was getting very, very close. I could feel the effect starting to form as I went through the patterns and formed the pattern with the threads of my mana before it fell apart.

I was working on both spells at once, as I felt this actually helped me. Every time I would learn something on one spell, it would help me get a little bit farther in another one. Switching back and forth prevented me from just bashing my head against a wall. Standing up quickly, I went back to the book and looked at the diagram for the movement spell before sitting back down. A few minutes later, I felt my hand twitch, and I sprang up, moving across the room in the blink of an eye.

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With a stifled shout of triumph, I pumped my fist in the air before I got control of myself and returned to my seat. A few minutes later, I could feel warm energy suffusing me, and the slight ache in my knees and hips from sitting on the hard floor for so long faded.

"Yes," I half-yelled, half-hissed to myself in an attempt not to bother everyone at this late hour. It was probably more like four in the morning. Again, my habits of sleep had returned to those of my college years, getting little more than four hours a night, but it was worth it. It was so worth it.

I pushed aside my bed and started carving into my floor the modified ritual to tell me what abilities I had just gained.

+Spell Quick Step.

Quick Step is upgrading and changing into Dance of the Jester.

Dance of the Jester:

The Dance of the Jester spell transforms the user into a blur of motion, allowing them to move faster than the eye can see. Upon activation, the user channels illusion-type mana to harness a burst of supernatural agility, enabling them to dodge and weave through the battlefield with incredible speed. Each step and leap is performed with such rapidity that onlookers perceive only a series of afterimages crafted by the illusion mana, leaving enemies disoriented and unable to track their movements accurately.

This extraordinary speed is not merely about evasion but also about creating chaos among foes. The user's movements become a dazzling display of acrobatics, appearing and disappearing in multiple locations almost simultaneously. The frenetic dance, enhanced by illusionary magic, leaves enemies guessing, striking at shadows while the user remains untouchable. This unmatched agility and deceptive speed, powered by illusion-type mana, make the Dance of the Jester a formidable skill for avoiding attacks and sowing confusion in the ranks of adversaries.

+Spell Healing Touch

Healing Touch is upgrading and changing into A Fool's Consitution.

A Fool's Constitution:

A Fool's Constitution is a self-healing spell that draws upon the enigmatic powers of arcane mana to restore the user's vitality. When cast, the spell radiates arcane mana from within. The mana pulses rhythmically from the heart as it begins to mend wounds and replenish health. This arcane mana permeates through the user's body, accelerating natural healing processes and infusing cells with rejuvenating magic.

The spell has a chance to trick the world so that the effects of recent damage may be reversed. As the healing progresses, the user's skin glows faintly with a kaleidoscope of colors, symbolizing the playful yet potent nature of the spell. This radiant display not only revitalizes the user but also acts as a deterrent to enemies, showcasing the formidable and unpredictable power of arcane mana.

I stared at the description, confused and excited all at the same time. Both had upgraded. I thought I only had a 50% chance. It was pretty lucky that both were upgraded. There was only a one in four chance of that happening. They both developed one of my special mana types with an efficiency boost for naturally learned spells. It was kind of unclear if that meant the spells were more efficient or if I learned them faster. Did that efficiency bonus apply to my chance for them to upgrade? Hard to say, but the movement skill sounded awesome. It was exactly what I wanted without having to compromise on cost: swift motion in rapid bursts. But on top of that, it came with a decent amount of confusion and crowd control.

If I practiced enough with it, I imagined I could be quite formidable. If I learned other illusionary techniques, it might even become the foundation of my style. The increased agility sounded nice as well. I was entirely satisfied with that outcome.

But the healing touch upgrade left me worried. "A Fool's Constitution" sounded a lot more like a skill rather than a spell, but that was a bit of a misnomer. Apparently, spells and skills weren't really separated based on what they could do but rather on the mechanism by which they did things. And this self-healing spell seemed immensely powerful. I particularly liked the potential for tricking the world so that the effects of damage might be reversed. That might mean that I had the potential to regrow lost limbs within a time frame of being damaged.

The downside was it was a self-heal. It sure was going to sound pretty selfish to get a self-heal skill when I had planned to get something that would help everyone. Besides, self-healing skills were expensive because they were a bit rarer and harder to learn. What mage wanted the ability to self-heal? They weren't supposed to be getting hurt. Maybe a self-healing skill would be more common, but a spell? Not for ones at my level. Maybe at a much higher level with more complicated and powerful spells.

The flashing light show of me healing was also a bit of a downside. I wasn't sure how intimidating a glowing human would be. Certainly, it would feel like a fool. But I had resigned myself to being a fool and jester long ago, so the names didn't bother me.

Settling down into meditation, I examined the mana in my body and found that the two spells were nestled in there as well. They seemed to still be settling, slowly changing their general shapes as they melted into the surroundings of my mana. They were barely perceptibly moving constantly, almost as if they were breathing. I had a sensation that I could nudge them in certain directions if I focused hard enough.

I touched the healing spell, trying to see if I could push it towards allowing me to heal others as well. I could move it in that direction slightly, but the distance I would have to go would take quite a long time. What was I going to tell the team?