It was still morning, so I decided to enter and went straight to the registration desk. “Good morning, I would like to sign up for beginner classes.”
“Okay, what is your name? And level?” She inquired.
“Jiro, I’m level one.” I responded, impatient to start my lessons.
“Level one? How can that be?” She exclaimed and stood up. She examined me closely. “It’s true, but how?”
“I’m a Chosen One, can’t you tell?” Why can’t she tell? “The man at the inn could.”
“A Chosen One? I knew they had arrived, but I never thought I’d see one.” She examined me again. “He probably could because he had a high level Analyze.”
“Analyze?” I asked, interested to learn something new.
“Analyze is the skill used to identify people, it has only has eight levels, he must have the fifth or sixth rank, Expert or Adept.” She explained, “With it, you can see their approximate level, the precision depends on the level. I’m at the fourth rank, Journeyman, which is useful for this job.”
“Then why couldn’t you see my name and level?” I inquired.
“I’m not sure, maybe your title protects against it or something. Anyway, I’ll check if any classes are available.” While she searched through the pile, I tried to use Analyze on her. It took a few seconds staring at her, glad she wasn’t looking at me, but I unlocked the skill and saw her name and her approximate level, 7~10.
Analyze Neophyte:
Allows you to see the name of low level people and monsters and their approximate levels.
“I’m sorry, there are no more openings.” She told me. Her face brightened, “However, I am sure there are professors who will be delighted to teach a Chosen One, even though you are a dragon-kin.”
“What do you mean? I thought that this was a more… accepting place.”
“It’s just that some of the professors here came from other kingdoms,” she explained diplomatically. I bet there is a skill for it. “So they aren’t very progressive in their manner of treating other species.”
“I see.” She left, and I was alone at the registration desk. I decided to Analyze every one that came by. After a while, I checked the progression and while Practice was a 100% but Knowledge was at 20%. I knew that Knowledge showed how much you understood, but I was baffled by how to increase it. I just looked at the faces, how could you improve that? Maybe I had to look at more than their faces? To the next person I saw, I studied their clothes as well, and got a welcome message.
Analyze has advanced to skill rank Novice
You now may Analyze higher levels, and gain a better approximation of their level.
+50 XP
Agina, the receptionist, had returned with a professor. Short, compared to me, and thin with shining eyes. When I tried to Analyze him, no luck. “A true Chosen One!” he exclaimed. He strode up to me and grasped my hand in firm handshake.
“My name is Egric. I already know your name. Level 2 already? You were just level 1 ten minutes ago. I suppose you must have already gotten a skill to Novice rank. I feel very lucky, Agina passed by me first so I had the chance to teach a Chosen One. I’ve sure you will increase in strength very fast; it comes with being a Chosen One. Well, enough dilly dallying, let’s get to work.” He dragged me off as I throw a despairing look towards Agina and she hid a smile.
I was dragged off to a small classroom and was forcefully sat down in a too small chair. Apart from his unstoppable enthusiasm, he was a good teacher, and by lunch time I received two skills.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Magical Knowledge Neophyte 3
You understand a few basic runes
Magical Talent Neophyte 1
You can cast basic spells
It took me a few minutes of negotiation, but I managed to leave to go eat, as I was ravenous. A few people pointedly ignored me in the road, but I understood that because I was a dragon-kin, and not because I was a Chosen One. Taking a deep breath, I strode into the classroom. He was waiting for me, drumming his fingers on the desk top, and declared. “Now that we’ve done the basic, we can go put the theory into practice.” He examined me “You do have the skills, correct?”
“I think so, Magical Knowledge level 3 and Magical Talent level 1.” I replied cautiously.
“Excellent! Most students normally only have at most one of the two, and almost none have a higher level than one in any.” Still babbling on, he led me to the magically protected room for practicing. “Now, using what you’ve learnt, cast a light spell.”
“How?” I asked.
“Think of the rune for light, and then try to infuse to with mana.” I closed my eyes, looking for my mana, and found a small ball of glowing mist. I then imagined the mana streaming out and making the form of the rune for light with it. When I opened my eyes, I saw the rune in the air, but not activated. Taking the rest of my mana, I used it to activate the rune.
Mana Rune
To cast a spell, you can use your mana to draw the rune. This method is more costly, but may be used in unique ways.
“Well done, what skill did you get?” exclaimed Egric, looking at me like he could read my mind.
“Mana Rune, why? Is it normal for me to get one?” I questioned, befuddled.
“Yes, it determines your way of casting spells.” He replied “For example, mine was a skill that increased the bonus of saying the incantation. Nevertheless, I’ve never heard of Mana Rune. How does it work?”
“I can draw the runes with my magic,” I told him “but it costs more mana.”
“Wonderful!” he exclaimed “Do you know what this means? You can create spells on the spot, which bypasses the time needed to create it on paper. On the downside, it could create a spell with unpleasant effects. It seems like that means good mana control. Tell me, what did your mana look like?”
“A dense ball of mist.”
“Yes, good mana control. I wouldn’t be surprised if someday you affect objects with it. That would also mean good spell control, so you could probably make a spell turn, or go backwards. Better precision, more critical hits… Also, good with enchanting, could burn the enchantments into the item, enchantments made with pure mana, never heard of that before…” The professor continued on, give me good ideas, as well as getting on my nerves, when he finished up. “Anyway, when you become a master with your ability, come show me what you can do.”
New Quest!
Egric wants you to come see him when you have reached Master rank in Mana Rune.
Difficulty: Unknown
Reward: Variable
Do you accept the quest? Y/N
“I will.”
Quest Accepted
“To guide you on your way,” continued Egric, “I give you this book of all known runes. Take good care of it, there are only a few copies in all the lands. It is enchanted, so that when someone creates or discovers a rune, they can decide if they want it to become a part of the book.”
You have received:
Book of Runes
Item Class: Legendary, Quality: Masterwork, Durability: 2000/2000 (Regenerates by using the owner’s mana) Soulbound
This compendium of all runes is ever expanding, it hold almost all of the runes known.
“You can create runes? Also, why are you giving me this book?”
“Well, first of all, yes you can, and second, well, I feel like it. It also seems to have been the right choice as I got 2500 XP. You do know that you can get XP from creating quests for people, right? However, if you promise a reward and don’t give it, you lose a lot of reputation and XP. You even can get a title, Oathbreaker, that you cannot lose and stays above your head until you have redeemed yourself. Some people even refuse to sell you things if you have it. That means, if you want to create a quest, make sure you can resolve it. Now, back to lessons? You still need lessons to help you learn more about magic, even though you have all the runes at your fingertips. I think we should concentrate on spell creation as your magic will depend on it. You will also need a spellbook to contain all your spells, an enchanted one at least, but I won’t give it to you. I can recommend a great place, although I’m not sure if you can afford it…”
By the time I had escaped from his clutches, it was already dark out. I still got nice stat increases though.
Intelligence: +3 (14) Wisdom: +1 (12)
I went back to the inn, ate a quick meal, and climbed into bed. Sadly, it didn’t happen straight away, a curse that could have easily been remedied…