After sitting and watching the beautiful night sky for awhile Kieran didn't even bother going inside the cave before meditating since it was a nice night. At first, he lost himself in the feeling of becoming one with the world around him, marveling at each new sensation as he drifted along peacefully. Several hours passed by in the blink of an eye before he became aware of himself again even while still in a state of tranquility. "This is so nice. Honestly, I could do this for the rest of my life and feel like it would be a life well lived. But that's a bit boring isn't it," he thought with a slight smirk before deciding to try something. While maintaining his current state he directed his consciousness around him to focus on finding the signs of life in his vicinity. At first, even with concentrating his newfound senses it was hard. Everything was all jumbled up together and trying to separate the magic in the world with the magic in living beings was difficult at best. "Well, I already know what the Earth feels like. Maybe I should try with plants next? That seems like it shouldn't be that far off." His direction set, he focused his gaze on the Earth and once he had gotten comfortable again with it he slowly spread his consciousness through it and started to ever so slowly move upward. At first, it was hard to tell the difference since they were connected by the roots growing into the soil but once he realized that it was relatively easy to find the 'lines' of the mana flowing up and out. From there it was only a matter of time to study the structure and feel of the magic signature before he was able to differentiate the different types of plants. Not anything in great detail yet but he could at least tell the difference between grasses, bushes, and trees. Once that was done it was just identifying the fundamental difference between the living plants and the Earth it grew in before he could finally sense the tiny bit of Life in each.
"Well, that wasn't so bad. I should be able to create some sort of plant manipulation if I play with it a bit more but let's focus on one thing at a time," he though a bit happily before expanding his focus once again. This time it was with the idea of finding bigger organisms with "Life". Plants and animals are obviously different in many ways. Even though both are alive they shouldn't feel the same when looking at it through his awareness via Meditation. As such he focused on the spark he felt from the plants and tried to find anything even remotely similar. With surprising ease he quickly found something but it took him a few minutes to figure out what they were. Insects. They were easy to find due to the "size" of the "Life" being similar to the grass they were crawling in. From there it wasn't overly hard to up the scale to start finding mice and voles in their holes, scurrying about. Then to the rabbits in their den and the snakes slithering through the grass to the owls sitting in the trees. Even as he identified and categorized each new lifeform his awareness was slowly expanding. And at the very edge was something far larger. "A wolf maybe? Seems about the size- oh it just left my range. Probably a good thing as I don't want to deal with them right now and especially not if it could call for help," he thought a bit grimly before pulling his awareness back in towards himself as he realized it was almost daybreak. "Might as well have some breakfast and plan out what I want to accomplish today."
'Teriin'
"You have learned Sense Life ★✰✰✰✰"
Sense Life - The ability to sense all life around the user in a certain range. Will stay activated passively in conjunction with the minimap but will display lifeforms in more detail when actively focusing. Information gained as well as range will increase with mastery. Certain skills can deceive this skill based on the competing levels of mastery. Current range = 10m
"Well, that should come in handy. Let's eat and then try to see if I can get some sort of enemy perception while I'm at it," he thought while stretching a bit and then taking out the leftovers from dinner last night. He almost forgot that the pan was still hot but luckily remembered in time to use the Rabbit Fur as a pot holder again before emptying the pan onto his plate and setting it aside to cool down. "Ahhh this is really good!" he thought while happily chewing. "I wonder if I perforate the meat somehow and then rub the ground Firesage on it if it will taste less gamey? Usually, the gamey taste is because the blood wasn't drained properly but I doubt that is the case with the Inventory being set up like it is. Oh well, nothing for it but to try." Quickly finishing up his meal he heading towards the lake with his utensils to wash them and a little of himself as well before putting everything away.
"Now then, what should I do today? Obviously, I would like to hunt a bit more of the rabbits since I only have one more meat left. Oh and get some more mushrooms and look for more spices or herbs to mix it with. And then I should probably work out some more magic while I'm at it. I feel like I'm forgetting something? Guess I should look through my skills again and plan from there." Calling up his status again he stopped for a moment once he realized, "Wow this is a mess already. And it's only going to get worse from here when I start adding more skills and spells. I wonder if I can fix this? The system has been pretty intuitive so far maybe I just have to imagine what I want and then command it? Worth a shot," he thought and then started deciding the new form of his menu. "In games, they always have different tabs or windows for each of these things so I should start there. First, separate skills, spells, and crafting recipes. Oh probably won't end up with just one title so maybe a Title tab as well? Yes, that will work. Ok now to have it automatically sort spells and recipes by Element. And while I'm at it I should separate the skills into categories as well. Uh...ok physical, magical and support are no-brainers but I feel that still leaves something lacking. Maybe a mental category? Might as well just to cover my bases. Ok now focus on the whole..." A bit of concentration and a command to change the structure and it was done. "That was surprisingly easy!" And this is what was left.
Physical Skills Mental Skills Magical Skills
Basic Sword Mastery ★✰✰✰✰ Meditation ★✰✰✰✰ Mana Perception ★✰✰✰✰ Dodge ★✰✰✰✰ Demon Eye of Truth ★ Mana Manipulation ★✰✰✰✰ Stealth ★✰✰✰✰ Truth Seeker ★✰✰✰✰ Gravity Manipulation ★✰✰✰✰ Sneak Attack ★✰✰✰✰ Earth Manipulation ★✰✰✰✰ Focused Hearing ★✰✰✰✰ Fire Manipulation ★✰✰✰✰
Support Skills Spells Crafting Recipes
Greater Mana Capacity ★ Earth: Earthglide ★✰✰✰✰ Earth Crafting: Earthen Jar ★✰✰ Enhanced Growth ★ Earth: Earth Wall ★✰✰✰✰ Earth Crafting: Earthen Utensils ★✰✰ Theory to Application ★ Fire: Ignite ★ Quality over Quantity ★ Skill Store ★ True Elemental Affinity ★ All Language Comprehension ★✰✰✰✰ Soul Empowerment ★✰✰✰✰ Basic Herbalism ★✰✰✰✰ Cooking ★✰✰✰✰ Earth Crafting ★✰✰✰✰
"That's much better. Now then, I just have to plan my routine around my skills. First off is Theory to Application, which if I'm reading it correctly means I'll be able to improve my stats through exercise and training. However, according to Quality over Quantity, I won't be able to level up very fast at all. If I needed three Horned Rabbits to level up normally with this skill it would take twelve. But...4x growth....maybe that means I get four times the stat points to distribute per level? Or maybe four times the Skill Store points? Or both if I'm lucky. Well, I'll figure it out when I level. Which means I should hunt quite a few rabbits today if I can so I can plan around it. Next would be practicing magic. I should at least add Water Manipulation to my repertoire today and maybe some sort of plant version as well if I can. But the number one thing I should focus on should be Gravity Manipulation. Since I already have it unlocked I just need to familiarize myself with it and create a few spells. One of which should be something to apply to me at all times so I can train both magic and my physical stats at the same time. I just have to be careful to start off easy and work my way up. Which also means I need a stronger attack version so I don't get myself killed trying to hunt and train at the same time either.
Nodding to himself he sat down and activated Gravity Manipulation.Thanks to his knowledge from earth he knew roughly how it would affect its surroundings but he still needed a solid hour before he felt acclimated enough to how the magic moved in this world before he attempted his first spell.Gently wrapping a small layer of Gravity around himself he immediately felt heavier as it settled down onto his body before tying it off.
'Teriin'
"You have learned the spell Gravity Cloak ★✰✰✰✰"
Gravity Cloak - A spell that targets the user and wraps the power of Gravity around him. The user can control how much Gravity affects him while doing so and further mastery will increase the maximum range as well as decrease the cost of maintaining the spell.
"Awesome! ....Wait...the wording is a little different than what I expected. It says range instead of weight...does that mean I can reverse the Gravity affecting me as well?" Immediately he tried to lightly reverse the effect and was rewarded when instead of feeling heavier he felt lighter than normal. "Huh. I wonder if I can figure out levitation with this as well and combine them for Xianxia style movements like in those over exaggerated Chinese martial arts films. Oh well, I'll worry about that later. Now to change the target and figure out an attack/debuff version," he thought. Concentrating on the feel of the Cloak around him and leaving it active he then switched his focus to outward instead of in. "I should probably start small. Maybe five meters in diameter at the target location?" Holding out his hand towards an area in front of him he willed his magic to create the phenomena he wanted and was rewarded once again with a familiar sounding message tone.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
'Teriin'
"You have learned the spell Gravity Well ★✰✰✰✰"
Gravity Well - A spell that targets a specific location and greatly increases the gravity to slow down enemies. Higher mastery allows for greater control and weight distribution as well as higher efficiency and increased range. Can be maintained at an additional cost. Current range = 5m. Current rate of slow = 1/4th normal speed reduction
"Very nice!" he crowed happily. "One more as an attack should start me off for today. I can work on the other Elements tomorrow." And with that, he set his mind to the new problem. "Hmm....honestly, I probably can't just make things fall to the ground due to the weight as that is most likely higher level mastery of Gravity Well. So that means I need to use an object to instantly make heavier to fall onto my enemies. Since I'm targeting an object instead of an area it should allow for greater weight control for an actual attack if it hits. The problem is, what exactly am I going to use? Just throwing stones or whatnot has a great chance of missing and if I just threw something at the target it most likely will just fall down before it reaches them," he pondered, quite stumped at this point. "Wait. What if I use it on the downswing of a weapon? Sure it would be much better if it was a big two-handed hammer or something but if I time it right I should still be able to do some pretty decent damage with a sword."
Quickly standing up he pulled out and equipped his sword before looking around for a likely target. Spotting one of the deadwood logs he had dragged over initially he maneuvered it into a more open space and unsheathed his sword. "I should probably coat the blade completely in the energy of Gravity so that when I need to exert the full force I can just act like it's an on/off switch. Need to be careful that I don't warp the blade by using too much though. Maybe coat the blade and then focus the switch more towards the end of the blade itself?" Once again letting his imagination lead him along the path he wanted he lead the Gravity energy towards his sword before completely wrapping it around it like he did with his Gravity Cloak. Making sure to not let the weight affect the blade yet he concentrated more power towards the top third of the blade. Checking once more that everything looked like it did in his head he took a stance with his sword and swung, activating the "switch" towards the end of the swing....and almost face-planting when he over-balanced! "Well that was a thing," he chuckled ruefully as he set himself to try again. The second time was no better than the first but expecting it this time he was able to recover his balance easier. The third time was, unfortunately, the same. The fourth time, however, his blade seemed to jump towards the log, slicing completely through it and actually burying itself into the ground a little bit. "All right! Now to find that sweet spot again." It took him a few more tries to figure exactly when on the downstroke he needed to apply the Gravity but eventually he heard that tone once again.
'Teriin'
"You have learned the spell Enchant Gravity ★✰✰✰✰"
Enchant Gravity - Through trial and error, you were able to apply Gravity Manipulation in a completely different direction. Coats a weapon in Gravitational energy and swiftly and greatly increases it at the most opportune time to wreak havoc on your target. Higher mastery will increase the weight you can apply as well as reduce the cost of the spell.
"Ok, now that that is taken care of I should start hunting. Hopefully, I can forage more supplies along the way" he said to himself and then cast Earthglide to exit his camp. Looking around to make sure he was alone he released the spell and activated Focused Hearing and Sense Life to see which direction he should take before setting off as Stealthily as he could. With the help of his new senses, it didn't take him five minutes to sneak up on an unsuspecting Horned Rabbit and with a quick application of Enchant Gravity, the poor creature didn't have a clue what happened before it was dead. Noticing nothing changed in the spoils he received he quickly used his Demon Eye to look at everything in the vicinity before moving on. About the time he finished killing his seventh Horned Rabbit he was startled when he received a new notification.
'Dundundun dun dun dun dundundaaa'
"The skill Basic Sword Mastery has leveled up! Basic Sword Mastery ★★✰✰✰"
"The skill Sneak Attack has leveled up! Sneak Attack ★★✰✰✰"
"The skill Stealth has leveled up! Stealth ★★✰✰✰"
"You have earned the following items: Rabbit Fur x1, Rabbit Meat x1, Rabbit Horn x1, Copper Coins x3"
"Wow! I didn't think anything would level up so quickly. Must be the effect of Theory to Application. Not that I'm going to complain. Wonder what else I can level up by the end of today," he thought wildly before calming down and checking his surroundings again for anything useful. Moving on once again he noticed how much easier it was to move while in Stealth now, and how much quieter he became. Grinning in anticipation he resisted the urge to start rushing ahead to find more prey. "Slow and steady now. Let's not get cocky and end up getting hurt because I couldn't contain my excitement and made a mistake. Plus I shouldn't need but a few more rabbits to level....hopefully." Unfortunately, it wasn't until his sixteenth Horned Rabbit that he finally heard a welcome sound and a slew of messages appeared.
'Dundundun dun dun dun dundundaaa'
"You have leveled up! You have earned the following increases: HP +235, MP +5850, Stat Points +12, Skill Store Points +400"
"The skill Enchant Gravity has leveled up! Enchant Gravity ★★✰✰✰"
"Through arduous training under the skill Theory to Application, you have gained the following stats: Strength +2, Constitution +3, Intelligence +6"
"Woooow!" he whistled softly seeing the sheer amount of gains just one level got him. "Hmm. Looks like my base HP was 100 and my Constitution stat is multiplied by 10 and added on. But it seems like I only got 25 for level 2 plus my CON stat x10. However, my MP stat is all messed up. I remember my base stat being at 6,600 at level 1. That means that the base MP started at 1,000 and then my Intelligence was multiplied by 100 and added on. If I take the same formula as the HP then 1/4 of the base stat is added every level plus my Intelligence x10. Which would put me at 13,050 after adding the additional gain to Intelligence but that still leaves 3,330 extra MP from something. Wait....I forgot I Meditated a lot yesterday. That could easily explain the extra. But regardless that is some absolutely broken MP," he shook his head in shock. But before he could think about anything else his Sense Life picked up a far larger signature than the rabbits he had been hunting. Quickly and quietly moving behind a tree he focused his hearing towards the direction of the new lifeform but couldn't really hear anything. "It must be moving very quiet for me not to hear anything at this distance. I wonder if it's a wolf? Oh....looks like something caught it's attention as it's starting to head this way. Must be that bit of blood that was left after the fight. Wonder if I can still get a Sneak Attack on it."
Holding his breath he readied his sword for a quick strike after casting Enchant Gravity on it. Luckily he didn't have to wait long for what seemed to be a large wolf came out of the bushes. About 1.5 meters tall with bristly, dark grey fur and sharp yellow fangs was all that Kieran could make out clearly before launching his surprise attack. Unfortunately for him, this particular monster was much better suited to combat as even with his ambush he wasn't able to get a clean shot, only causing a short slash across its flank as it quickly evaded him. "Damn!" he muttered as the wolf turned to him with a deep, low growl before quickly dashing towards Kieran. Trying not to panic he cast Gravity Well centered on the wolf and then Dodged to the right just in case. Which was good as the wolf was still able to land at his previous location even with the slow debuff. But luck was not with the wolf today as his body stumbled a bit due to the increased weight, opening it up for Kieran to quickly dash in and swing down with another Enchanted blow. Not even he could tell if it was luck or design as the blade landed perfectly on the neck and decapitated the wolf cleanly.
'Dundundun dun dun dun dundundaaa'
"You have learned the skill Critical Strike ★✰✰✰✰"
"You have earned the following items: Wolf Fur x1, Wolf Meat x2, Wolf Fang x2, Copper Coins x11"
Critical Strike - By studying your opponent you can strike a deadly blow at its weak point. Can activate passively when hitting an opponent's weak point even by Luck. Higher mastery will make it easier to pinpoint an opponent's weak point as well as increase the damage of the strike.
"My Luck is working overtime today," he says while panting lightly from the nervous tension of fighting a stronger monster. "I wonder how Wolf Meat tastes?" Shrugging he continued on his way a little longer before starting to circle back towards his camp from a different direction. By the time he made it back to his base and used Earthglide to enter he was quite tired, at least mentally. "Looks like I've got a few hours of daylight left but I think I'm done exploring for the day. On top of that I was so focused I skipped lunch and I'm starving!" Resolving himself to an early dinner he first set about organizing today's haul. "I was quite lucky today since not only did I find a few patches of mushrooms, Medicinal Grass and Firesage I also found a few new herbs. Add on to that a couple of Pomfris trees I picked clean and the wolf and rabbit meat I caught and I've got enough to keep me going for a few weeks. And I even leveled up a few more skills as well!"
Wild Avens - A small purple plant with a peppery and minty taste with a hint of sweetness reminiscent of Earth's Basil
Forest Chives - A long stem grass related to onions it has a more refreshing taste than its Earth counterpart.
"The skill Focused Hearing has leveled up! Focused Hearing ★★✰✰✰"
"The skill Sense Life has leveled up! Sense Life ★★✰✰✰"
"The skill Mana Manipulation has leveled up! Mana Manipulation ★★✰✰✰"
"The skill Gravity Manipulation has leveled up! Gravity Manipulation ★★✰✰✰"
"The skill Basic Herbalism has leveled up! Basic Herbalism ★★✰✰✰"
"Today was a good day! Let's make some food now!" he said happily before deciding to use Earthen Utensils to make several skewers and a very sharp fork. Starting up the fire under his stove again he then took out a cut of Rabbit Meat and also one of the Wolf Meat he got. Seeing as how the Wolf Meat was rather large he cut it into quarters and put the rest back into his inventory before cubing the meat he left out on his cutting-rock. Taking his newly made fork he started perforating each side of the cubes before grinding up the Wild Avens and Forest Chives together and then rubbing it deep into the meat. Lastly, he washed the mushrooms and then took the skewers he made and alternated chunks of meat with the mushrooms and as a finishing touch squeezed Pomfris juice lightly over the whole thing before setting it on his makeshift stove. Rotating the skewers every few minutes to make sure the searing was even it wasn't long at all before the eight skewers he made were done. Pulling the pan from his inventory he quickly moved half of the skewers into the pan before putting it back into his inventory and the rest onto his plate along with half a loaf of bread.
And of course, it was delicious. In no time at all the skewers were picked clean and all that was left were a few crumbs from the hard bread. Washing it down with water he sat back and started to relax again. "Perforating the meat first and then rubbing the herbs on it definitely eliminated the little gamey taste it had. As much as I want to stay here until I'm sure I'm strong enough to at least deal with the typical bandits and thugs in what is hopefully a low leveled beginner town, I'm very tempted to skip it just so I can get some different ingredients to cook with. I mean this stuff is this good and it's all things I've found in the wild! Oh well, I'll think about it in a few days. I guess I'll just meditate some more while leaving the Gravity Cloak up. Tomorrow since I don't need to hunt I'll focus purely on learning some new magic. Water and Air definitely and if I can Light and Darkness as well. Maybe I'll start on Darkness during the night." he muttered softly to himself before falling deep into Meditation again.