December 21, 11:52 AM
Cloud Sector, Plane: Earth
Claire had been walking for a good bit, having been able to avoid more large fights. When people tried to threaten her, they normally ran after her wards went up. Definitely the best spell ever. If the glowing magical bubble didn’t deter them, a [Spark] shot their way normally did.
She had gone through the system boxes that she’d accumulated from the fight earlier. While she initially didn’t care much for the fighting and crime that now plagued the lands behind her— she was certain that there were multiple fires raging in the city— she couldn’t help but admit that seeing the numbers go up was fun… if fun could describe this system that seemed specifically designed to encourage bloodshed.
Obviously the spells she’d used had leveled up. Ice Shard gained the obligatory first level, Shield was bumped up one, as did Minor Healing. Mind Spike had shot up a whopping four levels, bringing it up to five. Almost definitely because she had used it to essentially turn someone’s mind into jelly.
She also noticed a slight bump in her statistics. She didn’t feel any different, but her average had increased by a few hundredths of a point as she walked. The homes were getting more sparse now, apartments and condominiums giving way to big houses and tree-filled lawns. Claire was tempted to go break in, and maybe find some things she could use.
She decided against it. The only thing she really needed was more gear from the system and more spells. Well, a tent and some more food wouldn’t hurt, but worst come to worst, she could steal those. They wouldn’t be neccessary unless she decided to leave civilization proper, which she had no plans on. She couldn’t say that she wasn’t drawn to it, but her logical side informed her that a bear or wolf would rip through her, probably, spells or not.
Then again, she had no idea. A bear might be scared away by her [Spark], or perhaps a wolf pack would get shredded by the shards from an [Ice Bolt]. She knew that the spells didn’t work well enough to the point of instant killing other people, so they probably wouldn’t work on animals either.
All of a sudden, a system box appeared in front of her vision— even though she had it configured to only show when she asked for them.
System Announcement.
Time: Integration +4:00
Hello, aspirant! Congratulations on surviving four hours with the System. To celebrate this, new features have been added to better aid your climb.
First, the Leaderboard! The Leaderboard is a ranking system that considers your development holistically. The top ranking will receive rewards based on their performance. Open Leaderboard?
Second, you will find monsters. In areas with low population, animals and beasts will gain strength, becoming monsters! Killing them may improve your Leaderboard ranking, and will also unlock many other rewards for you.
Third, the Shop. What use are the shiny monster parts and useless gear if they sit, collecting dust? Now, you can sell these to the Shop! You will receive compensation that allows you to purchase items from the Shop. However, both of these are limited, so be careful with what you buy and sell. Open Shop?
A reward for staying alive was certainly fun. Claire didn’t know if she was a fan of the monsters, though. It would be good spell practice, and the system implied that they might drop things that would help her out. On the other hand, murder didn’t sit right with her still. But she guessed it would depend on what the monsters were like. Levels, for sure. And gear, if she was lucky.
Shifting focus away from monsters, Claire opened the Leaderboard function, dismissing the announcement after she did so. There would be time plenty for browsing through the shop, especially when she found some money or more things to sell besides the jewelry and robe that the wizard she looted earlier had. Also there was his spellbook to go over, which surely would sell for a good amount.
Claire Wright: Wizard Level 2. You currently are ranked #1268 in the Sub-Sector (North America) for progression, #119 for combat ability, and #? for future potential. Your current ranking for combat ability qualifies you for a reward at the end of the day. Category: 101-150.
She figured that she needed a place to settle down, away from the city. A cave, maybe? She laughed inwardly, hoping that she could find a cabin out in the woods, or an abandoned house in the suburbs. Still thinking about how things would go, it was about another half an hour of walking until she saw her first monster.
Claire had stopped to take a break to rest her legs when she heard a growling from inside of a house. A giant dog burst out of the door, its veins thick and muscles bulging as it ran. Its owner had left it alone, and the lack of people around had managed to transform the dog completely. Claire had raised her wards when she saw it run towards her, its frame colliding with her defenses. Looking dazed, it continued to bite and scratch at the magical shield.
Claire waited for a bit, letting the attacks whittle her shield before refreshing it instantly. The spell was specifically designed to resist physical attacks, meaning that there was no hope of the beast making it in to hurt her, but at the same time all of her attention was being focused on the beast. Its blows hit a lot harder than anything a person had tried yet at her level, which was saying a lot because her basic ward could hold off for quite some time against other people.
She hoped that it was the monster that was abnormal, that it had a special propensity to shield-breaking, but there was a chance all monsters would be this strong, too. Or, its power was due to their distance from major population centers— she was three hours away from the city, now and maybe four hours’ walk from where all the people really lived.
Claire let loose a spark of fire just as the monster broke through her ward. Shooting forward and hitting it in the snout, it was knocked back visibly by the spell before turning to lunge again. By then, she had a mind spike prepared, which instantly connected the two’s minds. In that brief moment, she could sense a… profound wrongness with the mind of the beast. It wasn’t anything like the others she’d hit with the attack before, whose minds felt normal. When she was with the monster, though, it felt like something had corrupted the replica. Almost like a tumor had grown wild within… the metaphysical body, for lack of better word.
The metaphysical body in question, shaped like a very normal dog, had a very clean hole right through it where the heart would be. Her focus back on the physical form of the monster, Claire was blasted backwards when a jet of light burst out of the dog’s body, right where her mind spike had hit. Energy visibly streamed out of it, and the monster burst as it seemed like it was being sucked into itself.
She lay on the ground reeling, the blood coursing through her body feeling like a hundred needles. She felt something change inside of her, and the feeling of the needles persisted. Piercing through her body, limbs, and extremities, Claire was filled with an icy cold sensation, and then it suddenly stopped. Something felt different, but she couldn’t place her finger on what it was. Then, her ears buzzed as a melodic voice sounded in her ears.
“Hello?”
“Hello?” Her voice quivered as Claire began to prepare runes for some kind of attack. “Who are you?”
“Hmm. Don’t worry about this. You’ve just done something very, very good. I’ll be in touch with you, soon enough. This changed your System a little bit, and I’ve added in a few touches of my own. I think you’ll like it.”
The buzzing in her ear faded. Claire kept calling out to the voice, but it did not return no matter how much she yelled. Confused, alarmed, and really, really scared, she decided to obey the command from the… administrator? Surely she was one, but Claire was still confused as to why an administrator had contacted her.
Opening her system, she saw a few upgrades, a class level-up, and a few new spells. Her quests were changed also.
[Class leveled up!]
Wizard 2 → 3
Due to your abilities demonstrated in combat with men and monster alike, your masterful use of Spirit to rupture the core of a higher-leveled monster, and a boon granted by a greater being, you have gained a significant upgrade to your Path! Your existing spells have been modified. You have learned new spells. You have gained a new class feature.
Feature: School of Magic
School of Magic has been selected: Order of Mind.
Ability: Primacy of Intellect: You gain a passive resistance to harmful mental and spiritual effects. You enjoy a buff to the effects your own mental and spiritual spells.
Cantrips (3/3)
Lvl. 1 Energy Bolt - Speed
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- You conjure and project a mote of energy from an extended finger. Damage and range is determined by Spirit and Intelligence levels. Components: Verbal, Somatic.
Lvl. 1 Words of Warding - Flexible
- You extend your hands and chant, tracing runic sigils in the air around you and invoking words of power. Attacks are stopped by a barrier, which is extremely durable while components are being supplied. Duration and strength after this point is determined by Spirit and Intelligence. Components: Verbal, Somatic
Lvl. 1 Spirit Spike
- You drive an invisible spike of energy into the spirit of another creature you can see. Effects are determined by your Spirit, contested by the target’s Spirit and Wisdom. Components: N/A
First Circle (4/6 prepared)
Lvl. 1 Spiritual Shield
- You conjure an opaque shield that protects you, also granting you positive effects. Shield strength, duration, and type of buff is determined by Spirit. Components: Verbal.
Lvl. 1 Energy Infusion
- You inject energy into and project a physical object in your hands, dealing damage to an enemy on a hit. The object then explodes, dealing damage in an area. Damage, distance, and area of effect are determined by Spirit and quality of material component. Components: Somatic, Material (a fist-sized or smaller physical object)
Lvl. 1 Energy Blast
- You conjure and project a number of energy bolts from an extended palm. Bolts can be combined to form a blast, which shoots outward in a cone from the contact point. Damage, range and quantity is determined by Spirit level. Components: Verbal, Somatic.
Lvl. 1 Minor Healing
- You chant and channel energy through your hands, and heal the target equal to the energy expended. You are healed for a fraction of the amount you heal others. Efficiency is determined by Spirit level. Components: Verbal, Somatic.
Second Circle (1/0 prepared)
Lvl. 1 Personal Sphere
- You flood a spherical area with energy that follows you. Other beings in this area can be aided or hindered at your will. Hostile attacks will be less effective if they enter the sphere. While the sphere is active, you enjoy a buff to attacks made with Spirit as their base and a buff to your physical durability. Effectiveness is determined by energy consumed.
The administrator had given her a pretty substantive boost. She must have seen something in me! All of her spells were reset to the first level, unfortunately. But they all seemed much more versatile. The ice shard spell, for instance, had removed the ice part entirely, replacing it with a version that ran off of her Spirit and worked with anything, not just ice.
Her shield spell had changed also, turning into a full-body shield that also ran off of her insanely high spirit. It also would buff her while active, which would be cool. Claire might miss having a shield she could bash things with, but the change was by and large a good one. She had gained a new first circle spell, the energy blast. It seemed like another area damage option, apart from energy infusion which would eat material components. It seemed like a version of what the wizard she’d fought earlier used to bust open her shields.
Claire’s cantrips had changed the most. Spark turned into a neutral version of itself, no longer fire but just plain “energy.” Mind spike had changed into a spirit spike. Judging by the system level up notice, it seemed like ripping open the monster’s mind with the spell had also leveraged her spirit, which tore apart the monster’s spirit as well. A neat upgrade, particularly if she could casually explode holes in things with her mind alone. The biggest change, however, was her upgraded blade ward. It had changed almost completely. It wasn’t a one-and-done deal anymore. It sounded like it would stay almost indestructible until she stopped channeling energy and writing the runes. Afterwards, depending on her spirit, the shield would last until the energy was exhausted.
All in all, potent upgrades. They would take some getting used to, but that was a matter of course.
Claire, having digested the information, pulled up her quest list to see if it had any guidance on what to do next.
Quests Active: 6
Paths to Power (II)
Cantrip total level is greater than ten. (🗸)
Have six Spells. (5/6)
First Circle Spell total level is greater than five. (🗸)
Rewards: 1 Wizard level, School of Magic feature
Eye of the Storm (Limited)
Find reliable shelter.
Find a renewable source of food and water.
Survive the night, until 8:00 AM.
Rewards: Spatial Pouch, Variable
Monster Slayer (I)
Slay 10 monsters. (1/10)
Rewards: Gear Upgrade Token
* Do this immediately!!
Learn how to meditate and level the skill to 11.
Rewards: Basic competence, 1 level up
* Stop being weak (I)
Raise your Body statistic to 1.00 (0.89/1.00)
Raise your Mind statistic to 1.50 (1.41/1.50)
Rewards: Average physique, acceptable intelligence, 3x Body Refining Pill
* Prove yourself (I)
Kill monsters higher than your level. (1/25)
3x Spell Upgrade Token (1st Circle)
She had received several new quests, and the Paths to Power (II) was almost done. She received an additional two, one to find safety, basically, and the other to kill monsters. Given by the low number of monsters it asked her to kill, Claire figured that it would be the first in a sequence of similar quests.
The truly interesting ones were the ones that the Administrator had gave her. The appearance of the quests was different, as was the phrasing of the material. The Administrator seemed to really want her to learn how to meditate, rewarding it with a whole new level up! Body Refining Pills sounded interesting also, and she only had a few tenths of a unit before both of her statistics met the requirements. She also had a variant of the system-given Slay Monster quest, only requiring her to kill higher-leveled monsters. The reward was much better, giving three instead of one tokens for her to upgrade things with.
Claire mentally sorted the quests out in order of priority. First was Paths to Power. It was already so close to finishing, and she really wanted the free class level that the quest would reward. The new spell and School of Magic feature would be useful, too. After that, it would probably be the Monster Slayer quest. Ten monsters for a gear upgrade token seemed like a really good deal— and from her earlier hunch, she could probably try to kill more if the rewards were good. She might even get some progress into the one with higher-leveled monsters.
The juicy reward from the meditation quest and body pill quest seemed unfortunately out of her reach. She would probably try to learn meditation after she’d found safe shelter, finishing the Eye of the Storm quest in the meantime. And for the body, she found that her attributes climbed as she did things and leveled up. So besides from that, there was nothing worthwhile that she knew would raise up those statistics.
Plan set, she decided to go and find somewhere to rest while she read her spellbook. Wizard’s Arcane Recovery told her that she would regain energy quickly while doing so, so Claire burned energy into a ward spell, hoping that the amount she put in would keep her safe while she rested.
The first thing she noticed with her new set of spells was that the System would no longer cast it for her. She had to form the runes, expelling mana from her hands and fingers in order to draw them in the air, or mentally form the runes for the spells without somatic components. Another thing was that her spellbook’s layout changed. Now, each of her new spells had the old forms in the pages behind. So her energy infusion spell had the inscription for an ice shard right behind it, and the bolt spell had the spark one as well. Those could still be system cast, just as before, but Claire was curious as to why they did not count as new spells.
Almost on a whim, she decided to try decoding the runes in the spells she knew. Ice shard and spark were the prime candidates right now, both seeming like they were really simple. Well, as simple as literal magic spells could get— meaning that they didn’t do anything weird like her Spirit Spike or any of the barriers.
After several minutes of perusing the spells, she realized that the two had something in common. The spark spell was simple, with three runes. It summoned a fire, then it grew the fire, then it finally shot it out. The ice shard, while more complex, followed something similar. It froze water, then infused energy (in fashion similar to the more general spell she’d just obtained), then finally shot it out. In both cases, the attack was shot out… with the same exact rune.
Realizing now that runes were like puzzle pieces, almost, it only took a few tries for her to manage to make some progress. All she did was change the first runes around from the two spells. Instead of forming an ice shard, the spell instead conjured a mote of fire, but it unfortunately got bent out of shape by the second rune. Her next attempts exploded in her face, thankfully not hurting her because of the little amount of energy poured into the experiment. It was about a half an hour until Claire had managed to make a fire version of the ice shard. It was a bit cheaper in mana, but it couldn’t do nearly as much damage as the shard. All it did was make an exploding spark, which must not have counted in the System as a new spell.
It was a solid proof of concept, though, leading Claire to resume experiments. This time she would try to make a spark-sized version of the ice shard. She swapped the first runes from the two, and the spell went off without a hitch. The water in her hands froze, promptly melted again, then shot forward with a small splash on the ground. Useful… in a water gun fight.
The next thing she tried was swapping the first two. The rune that would enhance the flame from her spark would melt the frozen water that ice shard’s rune had made, so maybe she would basically cast an ice shard without all of the extra runes? That went off much better. The water froze, then was shaped by the second rune, then shot off. No explosion, though, proving Claire’s idea that the middle runes were the ones in charge of exploding.
Still no system spell, but that was fine. The next few minutes were spent testing out different combinations of all of the runes from the two spells. She managed to make a spell that shot already-exploded ice, and a spell that only froze water, but it was only until another twenty or so minutes passed until she got a notification that she had learned a new spell.
This particular attempt was very similar to the ones made before, only that she had tripled the amount of runes used. Not the type, only the number. This one, when she cast it, froze all of the water almost instantly, then it visibly deformed into the shape of a crystal shard— almost like a knife with no handle. The spell then ended, but Claire was left with a physical object, a knife made out of ice. When she threw it at a tree, it exploded into a million little pieces, quickly melting in the midday sun.
[Quest Complete!]
You have satisfied the requirements of the quest, “Paths to Power (II).”
Cantrip total level is greater than ten. (🗸)
Have six Spells. (6/6)
First Circle Spell total level is greater than five. (🗸)
Rewards: 1 Wizard level, School of Magic feature, 1x Random Class Spell (1st Circle)