“So I think we just have to mentally accept the start of the second quest, or else none of us can start Derek,” I complained.
Derek replied, “I think I got it; just give me a second. There we go.”
[Tutorial Quest]
The tutorial will start shortly.
Before anyone can say anything, we get teleported to the dungeon, and it looks like this one won’t be fun.
[Dungeon info]
Player limit: 3
Danger rank: D -
Recommended level: 25
I start with, “Since you guys are lower than the recommended level, you need to be more careful.”
Olivia responded, “Alright, whatever you say, almighty D-rank.”
“I’m still higher than you in rank, so shush and get ready,” I said as I looked into the dungeon. It’s a cave dungeon, meaning we are in a cave system that, for all we know, could go for as long as hundreds of kilometres, but the auras I sense are from the weaker beasts, and they are coming straight to us.
“What, why?” Derek asked.
I responded, “There’s monsters up ahead, either very low D-rank or high E-rank.” The moment Derek heard that, he went to the front and activated some sort of skill that seemed to boost his defense. I start double casting, preparing [Condensed Wind] and [Fire Tornado], immediately regretting it as Olivia decided that she wanted to have a try at them and sliced the little orcs in half, though they are not little by any means, but I keep the spells up as that is less consuming than casting new ones.
We explore a bit farther, just for the same things to repeat over and over again due to the simplicity of the cave, but around 10 minutes later, a larger wave orc appears before they notice us. I send the [condensed wind], and it kills a few of them. They notice us and start charging as if they’re brainless monsters.
Derek goes to the front, and a phantom shield emerges from his arm, and he tanks the hits. Olivia casts a simple buff on Derek, and I throw [Wind Blades] to do damage and whittle down their strength as I prepare a [Small Fire Bomb]. I take out my daggers as Derek seems to be having trouble. I release a thread of mana to grab Derek. Though difficult, it is simple. I don’t pull Derek back till he is at wit’s end.
I shout, “Olivia, damage-boosting buff, would you?" Olivia doesn’t respond, but I felt the boost. I throw the charged [small fire bomb] and blow up a good chunk of the orcs, with only a few remaining. Olivia deals with the rest; she charges, the closest orc swings down, trying to hit her, though it fails, and Olivia gets a direct stab through the heart, which kills it almost instantly. She buffs herself and goes faster; it seems almost like a blur swiping at the orcs till they run out of vitality. As she finished them up, I checked my notifications.
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
Seems this group has a higher overall level then the last groups which means we are getting closer to the bus for an hour in the dungeon we are clearing the dungeon with a good momentum which means like with every dungeon the end is gonna be incredibly difficult but that’s not me their from the people who researched dungeons before I died
We finally get close to the end of a dungeon to see an even bigger horde of Orcs. Though I doubt they’re any stronger than the other hordes, they still have the number advantage. They see us and start charging. I start casting, and Derek heads to the front and prepares to block Olivia. He buffs us and puts on a fighting stance. While they are quite the distance away, I throw a [small fire bomb] to take out a few. While it takes out more than I thought it would with no extra charging time, there are still too many.
I cast and throw a [condensed wind] and [fire tornado] to slow down as many as I can while getting as many kills as possible, as the fire tornado is the longest AOE spell I have. After tens of kills at a time, I get a few notifications, which I put to the back of my mind and keep casting till I only have a quarter of my mana, and even then I killed a good chunk, close to 30% to 40%, which means I still need to keep casting. I pull out my only remaining mana potion from the starter set I picked before the first tutorial; it only regenerates a sixth of my mana, but it’s still enough to keep me going.
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I cast another [Fire Tornado], but instead of putting the normal amount of energy in the spell, I overcharge it. As the Orcs only keep spreading apart as a lot of them have already died, I keep charging the spell only for a warning to pop up.
[WARNING!!!!]
YOU ARE REACHING THE LIMIT ON THE AMOUNT OF MANA THE SPELL IS ABLE TO HOLD.
IF CONTINUED, THE SPELL WILL BE UNSTABLE, EXPLODE, AND KILL THE CASTER.
I stop channelling mana into the spell, but it wants more, like urging me to put more in to check just in case I turn on [Eyes of Fate]. As the world looks dull, the spell seems brighter than earlier, and a screen pops up.
[Spell Limit]
Recommended :250
Current:380
Max till instability: 500
So the requirements aren’t set, its just the minimum nice to now, so I’ll keep adding more mana till it hits 500. I start channelling more as the current moves up. I channel faster as the current goes up.
417/500
I add more
436/500
I keep going till it reaches 500.
500/500 close to being unstable
I shout, “Both of you behind me now.”
They do as I say, and they get behind me. I throw the overcharged [Fire Tornado], and the moment it hits, it becomes the size of an actual tornado, which ends up clearing the horde of orcs, but I also didn’t throw it far enough, so I attempted to put up a barrier of mana but lacked the minimum and only wasted my mana. I leaped backwards in hopes of getting away before I got to critical health. I had to land, turn, and run as my leap was not far enough.
I got away, but I’m still close to the tornado, slightly exhausted, as I even had to grab my teammates as I have a higher dexterity than them. I checked my health to see how much that hurt.
Oliver stering
HP:236/520
SP:423/740
MP:80/1630
Burned (slight increase in damage to cutting and water to you while burned)
“WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING?” Olivia shouted at me!
I responded, "Well, we needed to get rid of the orcs, but I guess it did cost me the rest of my mana and health.”
She calmed down and said, “That is true and all, but you need to be more careful and come here to let me heal you.”
I obey and walk over to her, only to get slapped. I look at her confused, and she says, “You deserve more, but that will do.” She then proceeds to heal me like nothing happened.
“We won’t be able to keep moving till I regenerate my mana as I’m out, so let's take a rest. We’ve been doing great for how much time we’ve been in here; maybe an hour or two will be good enough,” I stated.
Derek responded, “Yeah, my stamina is also low with my mana in the higher area.”
I enter a meditative state to draw mana from my surroundings to regen faster. I think back on how the spell overcharged. Usually, every time I cast a spell, there is a faint feeling of structure that allows me to form the spell, which is probably the help of the Tome, but when I overcharged it, the structure felt unstable, like it was carrying too much weight and it needed to be released.
I checked my tome to see if there was any change in the spell, just in case.
Fire Tornado
A mix of wind and fire magic to make a tornado with the properties of fire
(Has been overcharged? Please be wary, as overcharging too frequently will break and be unusable.)
Rank: D
Damage: D+
Mana usage: C (250 mana)
So it seems that I can’t overcharge frequently, or else the spell will break. That is something not even the genius mages of the world thought of before I died. I try to activate [Eyes of Fate] to see if it gives me any information on how many times I can charge it, but nothing comes up. If anything, there is nothing shining in my vision until I see a small spark.
It widens and turns into a portal. The movement of my teammates stops, not that they are staring at the portal but that they are frozen. I see the figure that comes out of the portal as they fully exit the portal. I could only think of it as godly; I couldn’t even breathe. It was a being not even meant to be in the tutorial.
“What is a child doing using that power?” the being asked, but answered its own question, “So you are a child of Elphine. It seems the old God made some children to revive his legacy. Let's see how far his bloodline gets you.”
I can’t say anything. He stares at me. The sword is so strong that even it’s words seem powerful enough to destroy planets, yet it’s held back by his will. It pulls out a great sword, one of such great quality that I can’t even stare at it without my mind going blank and getting close to disappearing into the confines of my mind to save me from insanity. It puts the sword up to swing down. As he does, I feel the sword touch me. I think maybe he’s knighting me or something until my head explodes.
[Skill activation]
The hand of fate has been activated.
Returning ‘1’ minute back in time to before death
I return to the moment before my death, but this time without God looking at me.
[Skill Gained]
Aura resistance
[Skill Gained]
Almighty Resistance
[Skill Gained]
Protection of Elphine
I stare at the skills, and I nearly faint, thinking back onto the god, and I’m a child of a god. That doesn’t make sense.
I stand up, nearly vomiting, then say, "We should get going; my mana is back to normal.” They don’t say anything as they see the horrible mood I’m in, and we start moving.
[Skill Description Update{Fate’s Hand}]