Chapter 83
“The human kingdom.” Part 4.
Kalysto’s face paled as she heard those words from her new magic instructor.
Is it because I’ve been drinking holy water for the past few days that I haven’t had any problems so far? She couldn’t help but wonder.
There was no way she could trust these people and ask them about it without arousing suspicion.
But that left her with very few options.
Could I ask Artemis? But she would ask for something in return for the information and Kalysto wasn’t too keen on increasing her training load just now that she finally had a break from the fairies. Maybe going to the library and researching more on the subject as soon as class was over would be best.
“Another basic skill for any mage, warrior or archer is mana sense," Milo continued.
Is it because I’ve been constantly spending mana like crazy and rarely go long without spending it?... Or is it because my basic stats have gone up enough that my body can handle it? Then she frowned. Technically, my body hurts, especially my legs and arms. But that might be because of today’s exaggerated training, especially since I was the only one who only took one potion to recover, and the others took more than ten.
It was at that moment that she realized the mistake she had made. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the old man watching her, again.
Is that why this old man is paying so much attention to me?
“This skill will allow you to sense not only the mana around you but also the presence of everyone, friend or foe you may encounter on a battlefield. Monsters included," Milo continued to explain.
Maybe I should talk to Caranthir and start our training. Although she didn’t like the idea of going back to the elves’ territory. Maybe we could meet somewhere else?
“Throughout this week we will be working on developing these skills, then we will go to a small dungeon where we will help you to level up. I hope that those of you who are mages will do your best to defend yourselves from the monsters you will encounter and level up quickly. Because despite having one of the most powerful classes that exist, you need to reach level 10 to be able to access elemental magic and choose wisely the element with which you will develop your magic.”
I’d better take some holy water and finish absorbing the stat crystals the queen gave me as a reward as soon as I get to my room... that and hurry to raise the blessing level... I’m going to need a lot of holy water to make sure I don’t die while my body gets used to the excess mana... She continued worrying.
Goodbye to my hours of sleep. She thought wistfully.
“The list of elements they can choose from are: fire, the most common and the most used in combat due to its great power, as the best defense is the attack. Water, chosen by those who wish to dedicate themselves to healing or work in one of the temples that serve the gods throughout the continent. Earth, chosen mainly by those who want to work in construction, on very rare occasions it’s used during war. It is an element chosen mainly by potionists, as it allows them to grow all kinds of plants more easily. Formerly, it was believed that only earth mages could awaken a special kind of magic called plant magic. These mages can grow any kind of plants anywhere and literally end the famine of a region. But several studies have shown that this is nothing more than a myth. It is currently unknown why the system offers this option to a very few chosen ones. A plant wizard has not been heard from again in over one hundred and fifty years and they are in themselves a very rare class.”
I definitely want that one! Kalysto got excited. As someone who had known how hard it was to starve during her childhood after her father’s disappearance, it was almost impossible for such magic not to catch her attention. What will I have to do to get the queen to grant it to me?..... I need to score points with her before I make such a request... Come to think of it, although I gave her the idea of not killing the elves and keeping their sacred tree, she never said she would share the loot with me. She frowned. How foolish! I was so focused on preventing Caranthir’s death that I forgot something so important!
“Light is an element that I forbid you to choose, since it has no use for war and is only used to create illumination stones. Shadow is a choice that rarely comes up, but if you get it, take it. Unless it comes up for more than one of you, as I would prefer you to be useful in other areas," however, he gave no explanation for it and Kalysto noticed.” Like plant magic, electricity or lightning magic is a choice that is almost never encountered and very little is known about it. Air, on the other hand, is an element that is rarely chosen, as its greatest advantage is that it allows the mage to fly, but because of how difficult it is to wield, it is rarely used in combat. This is another option that I forbid you to choose," he said, looking at them all before continuing. “Another element that is almost never chosen because it requires great willpower and tenacity due to its great difficulty to control, is ice. Although again, this one is part of the options that the system will rarely give to you.”
And while the latter caught Kalysto’s attention, there were two other things she found interesting.
Why did he talk about light as an element, not mentioning darkness but shadows? But there was something even more important, almost as important as plant magic, but for a very different reason.
“What about teleportation?” Milo frowned at Kalysto’s question.
“Space magic is something only a very powerful mage can learn, and it requires years of training. It’s not something you learn because of the system, unless you’re a wizard.”
And yet Caranthir uses it as easily as breathing. She recalled. Is that another difference between the blue system and the violet system? Or does the goddess Mhiralla have something against wizards and that’s why she makes it so difficult for the magical classes to learn magic?
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“And yet it’s impossible to get such an option if you’re below level 25.”
Then I only have to go up five more levels! She cheered up, however, she made sure not to show it.
“Now, everyone, close your eyes. The goal of this exercise is for you to concentrate on feeling the surrounding mana. This will help you to raise your mana sense to a higher level," the heroes reluctantly complied, with Kalysto being the last to do as she was asked.
It wasn’t long before she felt a wave of heat passing from her left to her right, curious to know what it was about, she opened one eye, only to observe Milo arguing with the old man while the former seemed to direct a ball of fire around the others.
However, she could not hear their conversation, only see their lips moving without a sound.
Then the old man snapped his fingers, and immediately his voice could be heard.
“You won’t get those children to learn if you do it that way," Erlhas complained. Let me show you a better way." he immediately brought his palms together and in the middle of them a sphere of white energy formed.
So that’s mana? Kalysto was impressed, hurrying to close her eyes, unaware that Erlhas had already discovered her. Less than a second later, a tingling sensation began to spread down the right side of her face, down her shoulder, then down her arms, then back up to her face.
Kalysto frowned. The sensation was slightly similar to when she felt the mana Caranthir had injected into her body, but at the same time, it felt different.
She had to throw her head back as the sensation grew stronger.
And she opened her eyes in annoyance, only to discover a pair of signs in front of her, and the arrogant smile on Erlhas’ face.
[The skill Mana Sense level up to level 2!]
“I knew you’d be the first to achieve it,” argued the old man, then set about continuing to help the rest while Milo did the same with those sitting in the back.
That was all they did for the next half hour, but then they placed a black crystal sphere in front of them.
“Now you will learn how to inject a mana object,” said Milo, and began a long, very detailed explanation of the process. “You will know you have achieved your goal when the crystal sphere turns colored.”
As soon as Kalysto touched the crystal, a purple sign appeared before her.
[Does the user wish to absorb this crystal?]
[YES/NO]
“No!” she whispered softly as she pretended to be hiding a yawn with her hand.
After trying to inject mana into the crystal for half an hour with no results, Kalysto began to get frustrated.
“It is better to inject the mana when you exhale, not when you inhale," Erlhas explained gently, in a low voice. “Those who have a system tend to forget the basic steps in their eagerness to learn the facilities the system gives them," he muttered, giving Milo a slight glance.
She wasn’t sure why his sudden kindness, but still she was annoyed enough to try to take his advice.
Less than ten minutes later, her sphere was tinged with a white light with a slight violet-blue tinge.
Kalysto smiled in satisfaction at the sight.
At last I’ll be able to create arrows with my quiver! She thought.
“Ah, how interesting!” She immediately stepped aside, uncomfortable at his sudden proximity.
“What is the meaning of that color?” She asked him instead.
“I have no idea, but it’s still very interesting, don’t you think?” She frowned at the old man’s open interest in her. She felt like an ant under the magnifying glass of a small child who had discovered an anthill for the first time in his life.
So she stopped injecting manna into her crystal. And she waited patiently for the others to finish.
She only tried again when she was sure the old man wasn’t looking, and for small spaces of time. Just to make sure she had understood how to do it properly.
[The skill Mana Manipulation leveled up to level 2!]
As soon as the class was over, they were taken to another room where they were served food and then led into a long corridor with a series of doors on either side.
“These will be your rooms” before Milo had finished speaking, Kalysto and Koden went to the end of the corridor, each of them taking over a room. Kalysto on the right and Koden on the left. Immediately, Kalysto closed the door to her room without allowing anyone else to enter, and she heard Koden do the same.
Neither of them planned to share a room with anyone else.
Curiously, just as had happened when they were in prison, the back wall connecting their rooms also had a window in the middle, although this one was much wider than the one in the prison.
A spacious room, much larger than the one she rented from Mrs. Tanner when she still lived on Earth, welcomed her. A double bed was set in the middle of two bedside tables, opposite which was a comfortable sofa and what she suspected was a tea table on which rested a small arrangement of flowers. Next to the sofa was a door painted in pastel shades, almost the same pale yellow as the walls.
“It looks like a guest room," she whispered, frowning. “If they’re going to treat us like mere pawns, why give us nice rooms?” Even to say that it was all thanks to Milo’s intervention felt strange. “How is it that a mere mage has so much authority?” If it were up to the king, they would still be in prison. Anyway, that’s not the most important thing right now.
A wide window bordering the leafy branches of a tree that cried out to be pruned greeted her and when she looked out the window, she saw that they were on the third floor.
It won’t be hard to escape. She thought as she looked at the pile of thick branches on the old tree. With my skill level, it should be easy, but it won’t be so easy for the others.
Then she closed the window, making sure no one could get in through it. She opened the closet and pulled out one of the sheets inside. After rolling it up, she put it between the thin space under the door and the floor, to keep the light from her room from filtering in. Then she moved the couch and placed it against the door, thus preventing anyone from entering while she slept.
She admired her handiwork, and went to the inconspicuous door next to where the couch had been at first and opened it. Inside a small windowless room, a crude imitation of a toilet made of stone rested next to a bathtub. Curiously, despite the toiletries inside, there was no faucet, no place for her to get water.
“How are people supposed to bathe here?” She asked quietly before entering, noticing an empty bucket next to the tub- “Ezhil Purification! Ezhil Purification! Water Creation!” As soon as the water level was high enough for her to take a shower, she stopped filling the tub. “Ezhil Purification! Blessing! Identification!”
[Purified water. Class: Rare.]
A long sigh escaped her lips.
“I still have a long way to go.” She muttered and took a bath, washing off all the sweat of the day. As soon as she was done, she pulled another sheet out of the closet and dried herself with it and, after spreading it out on the couch, she pulled out her waitress uniform shirt and sat down on the bed.
“Well, if the problem is an excess of mana, what I have are a lot of skills I need to level up.” So she opened her inventory and, after taking a sip from one of the three bottles of holy water she had looted from the merchant, she took out 167 arrows from the ones Caranthir had given her and left out a potion of revitalizing.
“This is going to be a long night.”
And she blessed herself before she began.
“Replica!” she said, holding the first arrow in her hands and leaving the rest arranged in several rows on the bed. “Blessing! Ice creation! Health enchantment!”
Immediately, the arrow disintegrated.
Shit!
And Kalysto started again.