"You and I can play nicely, okay?" I ask.

The snake raises its head and hisses at me as it continues to approach. I figured that would be its response. It entered my yard and started moving towards me and only instinct let me know it was there. This thing is here for blood and for no other reason.

Clearly, it's a monster offering up its loot to me.

"If you don't want to play nicely," I point my right hand at it. "Then so be it."

A [Stone Bullet] shoots forward and blasts into the snake's head. Instead of dying, the damn thing is just thrown back a little bit, though some blood did spray out so I know I wounded it. I immediately begin casting another [Stone Bullet] as the snake flops and wriggles about.

The second [Stone Bullet] knocks the snake back more, almost to the edge of the range of my casting. I cautiously step forward as I begin casting another. My second attack didn't strike in the same spot as my first one and I'm fairly certain I'll need to hit the same spot at least three times to kill this thing, based on how little damage each hit did.

Fortunately, the snake is unable to recover faster than I can cast the spells, which makes it easier to cast again and again. My aim on a moving creature isn't perfect, but it's close enough that after four more strikes, I've killed the beast – and gained a Level.

You are now a Level 3/50 [Elemental Mage]. +10 Mana +0.003 Mana Regen +1 Magic +1 Mind +1 Skill Point +1 Attribute Point You have gained 1 EXP.

"You were an annoying little bugger, weren't you?" I ask as I apply the AP to my Magic stat. "But at least you gave me a Level."

That was way too many attacks I needed to perform for my comfort. While there wasn't a risk of danger from that snake recovering as long as I kept up the attacks, the cost in Mana bothers me. Taking out that snake with as many strikes as I needed used up 18 Mana and while my capacity did just go up to 52 Mana, I'm now at 24 Mana. If another one of those snakes attacks me right now, I might be in trouble.

I pick up the snake's body and head to where I've been gutting and cleaning the squirrels and magihawks, then set it down and head to my deck and open up the [Starter Pack]. One of the tokens is already missing, the one which held the [Basic Healing Potion]s.

Four of the bottles containing red-tinted liquid sits on the table, while an empty bottle sits beside those. They're in the shape of the classic video game and fantasy potion bottles, with a sphere-shaped body and a slender neck, a cork in the top. Except for the empty one, which has the cork sitting beside it.

Since I'm constantly taking damage just by being anywhere around here, I felt it important to use one of those before doing anything else after returning home. It fixed up the wounds from the first squirrel and while there was temporary relief from the burning feeling, which began again immediately after I finished drinking the potion. The relief also wasn't too much and more like a lessening of what was there.

Though the potion had an immediate healing effect, they're still basic ones and can't fully heal my body from the damage. Nor do they protect it from further damage.

I only pulled those out so far because I wanted to heal before taking care of dealing with the remains of the squirrels and magihawks before handling anything else. My initial usage was just half of the bottle but I drank the rest while working on processing the beasts for a little bit more relief.

Then I decided that I'd hold off on using more of them unless the burning becomes too much for me to handle or I receive further injuries. They're too precious at the moment to just use for some relief.

I wasn't expecting to need to use up so much Mana at once, though, so it's time for me to see how much Mana those potions recover.

All of the tokens are a medium-light brown with a slight golden tint to them. Each one states what they have based on the same descriptions given in the selection and confirmation menu, minus the stuff in parentheses or the quantities. However, they do each have an image as well, and this one has a black outline for a potion bottle which has blue paint resembling liquid filling up the sphere portion of it.

As soon as I've pulled the token out of the box, it begins to glow and five identical bottles with semi-clear blue liquid appears on the table and the token vanishes. I think that the token tries to find a nearby spot to place the items when activating in order to avoid just dropping them down or making the user try to catch them. The healing potions appeared the same way.

Picking up one of the new potions, I examine it.

[Basic Mana Recovery Potion] A basic mana potion, which restores magical energy upon consumption. Mana Restored: 20 Mana Dose: 0.25 ounces

There are eight ounces in the bottle, so thirty-two doses in total. If this is a basic recovery potion and there are crude ones, then it must be expected that people can reach a decent amount of Mana in capacity. The healing potions are also measured at a quarter of an ounce per dose.

If the potions for recovering Aura restore a lot as well, that might be good. Then again, they wouldn't do anything for me due to how much damage I'm taking. I'd run out of Aura within seconds and need to constantly drink more.

Which means saving those for now.

I uncork the potion I'm currently holding and down a small amount of it, just enough to restore me almost to full Mana. It doesn't force me to drink it by the dose, that's more of just a thing it gives to allow one to know a smaller amount than just the full bottle's worth of restoration. At least, that's what I think it is.

My Mana recovered, I think about what to do now. Not just process the snake I just killed so that I can harvest its crystal and meat for sale but for after that. I do want to meet up with others so that I can have allies to watch my back, but the risk is too high until I'm better with magic.

There are two more spells available to me right now. Learning them will help me out with monsters so that's something to do sooner rather than later.

First, I locate the token with a scroll icon on it, the scroll design containing a bluish-white bullet, and I pull it out of the box. Upon exiting the box, the token glows and vanishes and a scroll appears on the table.

The scroll is made of a yellow-beige paper and is about eight inches wide, rolled up into a one-inch diameter with a bluish-white ribbon wrapped around it so I don't know how long it is. Binding the ribbon down is a bluish-white seal with a bullet-shaped insignia in it.

Using the Skill Scroll is definitely an easier way to learn a spell than the other one I'm going to give a try, which is why I decided to go with it first.

When I go to break the seal so I can open the scroll, a notification appears in my vision.

Warning: Breaking the seal will result in the spell [Ice Bullet] being learned.

"Good to know," I murmur as I break the seal.

The moment the seal is broken, the entire scroll turns into a glowing light which matches the icy-blue color of the wax seal. That glow then flows into me and wraps around my entire body before fading away, leaving a message behind in my vision.

You have learned [Water Mastery]. You have learned [Ice Bullet].

That had no business being that flashy. While the glow wasn't too strong, it would make it clear to anyone within view that someone just used a Skill Scroll.

I check the information on [Ice Bullet] and it's the same as [Stone Bullet], just in the [Water Magic] section of my spells. It costs 3 Mana to cast and takes 3 seconds to do so. Well, that's technically longer than [Stone Bullet] does but one of those is a higher Level and has had its casting time reduced because of that.

Since [Ice Bullet] probably works the same way as [Stone Bullet], I don't bother trying it out and instead, switch to the other spell I want to learn. This one isn't from a scroll but from the same method I used to learn [Stone Bullet]: remembering a spell I've seen used.

With my right hand in front of my mouth, palm facing outward, I begin visualizing the spell circle as I shape my Mana into it. Sound amplification, possibly through wind. Mental magics to halt the mind. The most difficult spell between the three but one which a damn bird uses to attack.

It only takes me about thirty seconds to manage to begin the casting, a greyish-white spell circle starting to form in front of my palm. The reason I have it facing away from my mouth is because I'm not sure if the direction matters and I want to avoid an accident.

Seven seconds pass before the spell finishes and the moment the magic circle completes, two notifications appear in my vision.

You have learned [Air Mastery]. You have learned [Mind Mastery]. You have learned [Stunning Sound].

You are now a Level 1/50 [Mind Mage]. +10 Mana +0.003 Mana Regen +1 Magic +1 Mind +1 Skill Point +1 Attribute Point You have gained 1 EXP.

While I knew there had to be some sort of mental aspect to the spell, I didn't realize that it would be enough to grant me another Class entirely. Based on the stat increases listed in the notice, it gives me the same bonuses as [Elemental Mage] does, which is kind of disappointing. Are mind magics really that easy to learn?

I suppose they are. I learned it easily enough and there's a common bird which wields it. The Mind stat is probably how we can resist it and what affects its strength, but I'll ask the golems when I return to the System Shop.

Surprise at the notifications results in the cast for the spell running out. Nothing actually happened other than the loss of 10 Mana and the spell circle forming so my guess in that I needed to actually make a sound is probably correct. Before checking the description for the spell, I apply the Attribute Point to my Magic.

[Stunning Sound] Level 1 Amplify sound and enhance it with mind magic to overwhelm the ears and stun the bodies and minds of those in the target range. Cost: 10 Mana Casting Time: 7 seconds Duration: 1 second

A spell with a duration, too. I'm fairly certain the birds were casting it faster than seven seconds so they probably have it higher than Level 1. If this spell is anything like the bullet spells, then the casting time will reduce when I Level it so I apply points to that and confirm the change… and another.

[Stunning Sound] is now Level 2 Casting Time: 7 seconds → 6.3 seconds Duration: 1 second → 2 seconds

The casting time reduced by a tenth of what it was and the duration it lasts for increased by how long it had been. None of the magihawks I'd faced had managed to actually sustain it for more than a second before my own attack connected or I'd have known about that difference as well.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

For a moment, I contemplate drinking more mana potion to recover the 10 Mana I used up to learn the spell, but decide against it. I'm at a comfortable maximum right now thanks to the new Level and I do replenish somewhat fast thanks to it as well.

If I feel I need to later, I'll drink a mana potion.

Having accomplished adding two new spells to my arsenal, I return to the yard and walk over to my animal-processing section to deal with the snake that attacked me. It's brown and grey in color, with an alternation between diamonds and Zs for its pattern. It's an… interesting one, to be sure.

I've never gutted a snake before and I barely remember what my science teacher said in the seventh grade, but it's enough for this. The skin is removed with only a little bit of difficulty and set aside, the organs are removed and dumped into the bucket I've been dumping guts into apart from the heart, which goes into another container, then what bones it has are removed and placed in their own bin.

Carefully, I cut open the heart and locate the earth maginiite within it, which is then set into the dish with the other maginiite crystals, both the brownish-orange earth maginiite crystals from the stoneshot squirrels and the greyish-white air maginiite crystals from the magihawks.

Before I can start properly cutting apart the meat into separate chunks, a slight rustling draws my attention toward some the fern-like grasses planted around the base of the fencing near this spot. Then out pokes the head of another of these snakes, which are called stonefang vipers based on the description for the meat and the skin.

I set my knife down and start to cast [Stone Bullet] while aiming at the incoming stonefang viper… only to see a second one emerge from the grasses. Then a third.

That spell is quickly canceled and I begin casting [Stunning Sound] with my hand aimed toward the snakes. Unless these things dart toward me, I should have enough time if I back away as well so I do that, but make sure to do so slowly.

Logan's uncles told me that quick movements can cause a wild beast to attack or run and I'm not sure if that's true for snakes but normal snakes also don't have names like 'stonefang viper' and I'm not sure I want to know if they're called that because their venom petrifies someone. The fang of the one I killed definitely isn't made of stone and this is the only other thing I can think of.

As soon as my spell is completed, I twist my hand and snap. The description makes it clear that I'm amplifying a sound, not screaming, so there was no reason to cast it in front of my mouth and yell.

The moment I snap, I can tell that the spell was a lot more effective than I expected. Instead of just a snap, it's a small boom. Halfway to the snakes, the tall grass of my yard suddenly flattens as if shoved down by a strong wind and the snakes are blown backwards into the taller, ferny grasses, which are pushed back as well.

Rather than being a sustained sound, the snap's effect was just a snap in length. Based on both casts so far, I can assume that the duration is just for how long the spell stays up for me to use and it only amplifies the noise made for it, not draws it out.

So a screech is technically more effective than a snap in some respects.

I don't focus on that, however, as I'm not sure how long the snakes will be stunned for and I doubt they were killed by that.

Able to see one of them clearly from this spot, I begin casting [Stone Bullet] as I walk forward. The moment the casting finishes, the [Stone Bullet] blasts forward and slams into the snake. Based on the amount of blood thrown about and the hole in the snake's side, I doubt it's still alive after that.

As I start to cast another, the other two snakes begin to move. They're slow and sluggish, but alert and fast enough that my next [Stone Bullet] misses by a hair. Thankfully, the snakes are still moving slowly and sluggishly, which gives me enough time to cast another [Stunning Sound].

Instead of just snapping for this one, I bring my left hand forward and snap once before shifting my right hand from the casting position to the snapping position. Doing a proper snap takes me a little bit more time and I want the loudest ones I can for this.

Two waves of the boom burst out and slam into the snakes while flattening the grass on the way to them. I keep track of where the snakes fly to with my eyes as I begin casting [Stone Bullet], though I have to wait until after [Stunning Sound] ends. It seems I'm not able to have two spells in casting or active states at one time.

One thing I learned while fighting magihawks today is that being stunned multiple times makes recovery slower on subsequent stuns. All it takes now is two more [Stone Bullet]s and both snakes are dead – and a surprise is waiting for me.

You are now a Level 4/50 [Elemental Mage]. +10 Mana +0.003 Mana Regen +1 Magic +1 Mind +1 Skill Point +1 Attribute Point You have gained 1 EXP.

You are now a Level 2/50 [Mind Mage]. +10 Mana +0.003 Mana Regen +1 Magic +1 Mind +1 Skill Point +1 Attribute Point You have gained 1 EXP.

Those two Levels came to me easily, but I guess because the fight was a little bit tougher than the others, it counted. I'm not entirely sure what the qualifications for actually gaining Class Levels are but I'll make sure to ask the golems when I return to the System Shop.

If I remember to ask.

The earned Attribute Points are added into Magic and I save the Skill Points to use in [Stunning Sound] once I gain another Class Level. Reducing its casting time and increasing its stun time is important for using it effectively.

I do need to be careful about additional Class Levels, though. I really want that bonus from [Elemental Mage] at Class Level 10 before I reach Status Level 1. It might actually be better to hold off on using [Stunning Sound] for combat until then just in case something else pops up that awards me a new Class.

A little annoyed but also a little pleased, I return to my deck and down some more mana potion to replenish some of my Mana. Gaining Levels does not increase my capacity and I just used almost 30 Mana to take on three snakes. There is no way on Earth I'm going to be sitting with a lower amount.

After I take care of the snakes' remains, I play with [Water Mastery] a little. The elemental mastery Skills relate to the ability to create and manipulate the related elements. Upon gaining the Skills, I immediately gained knowledge of how to perform the related magics. Not any specific spells, just the magics of creating and manipulating the elements.

Utilizing this magic, I create water to wash blood off of my hands with, then use it to clean blood off of the maginiite crystals I've harvested from the monsters. Next up is washing blood off the meat portions as I think that's acceptable when it's a smaller animal. My knife is also cleaned once I'm certain I don't need it any more, including after I clean off the hides and feathers.

Next is the tricky part. It's cool enough to act like a refrigerator out here but I still want extra precautions taken. The mastery Skill didn't teach me how to make or manipulate ice so I'm assuming it's not part of the basic package.

However, I do have a spell that uses ice magics. I summon an [Ice Bullet] and examine the spell circle for it when it forms, then mentally compare it to the formulas for [Stone Bullet] and [Water Mastery].

Just as I expected, there are similarities between the spell circles of the two bullet spells, and some similarities between the ice spell and the mastery spell. After using [Earth Mastery] and [Air Mastery], I feel confident in what I want to do next.

Channeling my magical power, I focus on what I believe an [Ice Mastery] spell would look like. It takes me a few minutes of performing mental tweaks and comparisons, but a spell formula begins to to take shape, flowing outward from a central point. There's no notification alerting me to a new spell, but I do receive a notification the moment it finishes forming and ice appears in front of it.

Three of them, actually.

[Water Mastery] is now Level 2. [Ice Bullet] is now Level 2. Casting Time: 3 seconds → 2.7 seconds

You are now a Level 5/50 [Elemental Mage]. +10 Mana +0.003 Mana Regen +1 Magic +1 Mind +1 Skill Point +1 Attribute Point You have gained 1 EXP.

You have reached a milestone in [Elemental Mage]. +10 Aura +10 Mana +0.0001 Aura Regen +0.001 Mana Regen

"That's more than a little curious," I mumble as I examine the notifications.

Does that mean if I use my Skill Points to raise a Skill for an element, it will boost the related Skills for it? That seems really cheap and like something that wouldn't be allowed. I'll ask the golem before using my Skill Points on it. Even if I can, I'll probably still try to boost up [Stunning Sound]. I doubt it would go up in Level from only one of the two related mastery Skills increasing.

I apply the Attribute Point to Magic, then examine my Status.

Name: Carter Leif Elm Age: 20 years Species: Human Sex: Male Level: 0 Experience: 7/14 Aura: 0/27 Aura Regen: 0.0002/second Mana: 53/102 Mana Regen: 0.017/second Strength: 8 Constitution: 9 Agility: 8 Dexterity: 9 Magic: 24 Mind: 17 Vitality: 10 Soul: 10 Skill Points: 3 Attribute Points: 0

"Looking good," I say.

With all of the boosts to my Aura and Mana pools today, I should probably be suffering less damage from the ambient Mana in the air now. One thing which does have me concerned, however, is the fact that it's so easy to gain Levels. Sure, I need tougher fights as I get tougher, but even still, things are progressing too easily for me.

Since this is a harder zone and the golem said things are only going to get stronger here, I'm actually a bit afraid of what an actual tough monster is like. With these stats and the money I'll earn from selling my kills to the System Shop, I can probably supply up and try to locate my grandma and friends to team up somewhere safer.

You have received a Quest. [Quest Type]: Special. [Requirement]: Live in your current area of residence for 6 months (until 10/6/2023). [Reward]: Varies. Though it might be tough, it could also prove easy. Will it be a challenge to overcome, or a paradise built by you? The possibilities are vast and up to you to control. If you continue to live in your current area for the next six months, a great reward will await you.

Despite the sudden Quest notice being lacking in some details, I can actually "tell" a lot more information than it says. The "area" isn't just this lot but the actual area around it as well, meaning I can move into another part of this neighborhood and still be fine. The reward itself will be dependent on the me of the time of completion, in order to keep it relevant for me.

The Quest also won't be forfeited if I camp somewhere for the night, or if I have to stay in another spot for a few days to recover from injuries or something. It's dependent on what I'm considering my actual residence and what I'm using as it. I can even tell that the Quest will know if an attempted loophole is used and end, preventing me from completing it.

I don't need this "extra information" reading the Quest window gives to know this is a Quest issued by a god and I can't decide if there's an actual reason for it or if it's because of my comment to the golem to pass on to the gods that caused them to decide to do this. Either way, I really don't want to play into a god's game. Just surviving here will be difficult enough.

What if I offered you an incentive to try it for one month? 5,000 syscre; [Class Starter Kit]; 5 [Basic Healing Potion]s; 5 [Basic Mana Recovery Potion]s; information on how to receive one specific Perk of your preference. Accept this incentive at a System Shop to confirm.

This god really wants me to stay here and that only makes me more suspicious of the situation. However, those rewards seem like a pretty good way of giving me an incentive to actually try this out. It's even let me know about a feature I didn't know existed, though the Perks menu is empty when I check it.

Additional money – which seems like it's going to be pretty valuable based on what I've already seen – plus a starter kit for a Class, plus more healing potions and more mana potions. All in all, the actual value of just the items is definitely over 20,000 syscre. That seems like a pretty good deal to me.

There's still zero reason for me to want to stay here, though. If I was on the fence about it, then this might tip me over. However, things are too dangerous and the ambient magical energy in the air is too strong for me to be comfortable with staying.

I'll ask the golems about Perks when I return to the System Shop later just in case I can get information about what they are without taking on the incentive. Before I leave for that, however, there are some other things I need to take care of.

Lunch would be a good one. So would putting ice in a cooler to keep the meat cold and make it easier to transport and pick out what items I'm taking from my storage to trade in at the System Shop in case I do stay here, or to try and transport away if not.

There's a busy rest of the morning ahead of me and I should get started on taking care of things.