With that in mind, Nick fired up his min/max mindset for the first time in days, engaging in one of its most practiced powers. Analyzing various strategic options in the context of overcoming a specific challenge.
Although it would lead him to facing most of his enemies in melee combat, his first choice was appealing due to its clear function and reliable nature. While Heavy Blow required a weapon to use, Nick had no intention of facing a world filled with rending claws and razored jaws with his own tender paws. Thus, the weapon requirement wasn’t much of a detriment.
He moved on to processing everything he knew about how Heavy Blow would operate, based on the information the System had provided and a bit of old-fashioned logic. Ability aside, all weapon strikes deal inherent damage. Regardless of how much the increase to inertia powered up any given attack, using Heavy Blow would always do more damage than an unmodified strike.
This equation offered Nick a clear baseline for the ability’s effectiveness, which would improve as he continued to increase his physical attributes, both by training his baseline values and allocating his free points after leveling.
On the other hand, he had no idea how much damage Mana Dart would dish out. Or how diminishing a creature’s vital energy would affect it, especially in combat. He knew that health played a major role in healing wounds over time, but that didn’t matter much if the goal was to keep something nasty from trying to eat him. Additionally, his Magic was only 2 as matters stood, which meant that the spell would likely start off weak. He had no idea how or even if he could train his baseline Magic naturally, so the spell’s growth might be limited by the free points Nick was willing to spend.
That being said, both options were classified as attacks. Thus, Mana Dart and Heavy Blow should be equally useful with proper investment if the System played fair, which so far appeared to be the case. It seemed like Heavy Blow would be stronger at the outset, which was a major mark in its favor. But raw power wasn’t the only variable that Nick was considering. Given how large and agile the beasts on the island were, he would greatly prefer to at least partially specialize in ranged attacks instead of focusing solely on hand-to-hand combat.
Thinking about the series of close calls that he had barely survived, Nick realized that he had no desire to fight within easy reach of a beast’s jaws, although it was crucial that he was able to defend himself when a hungry critter got up close and personal.
Moving on, he had fallen in love with the small bits of magic he had encountered thus far. His wand and the consumable flashbang orbs had saved his life on numerous occasions, and the idea of trying to fight something like the lurk with his sword was laughably ludicrous, no matter how hard he was able to swing it.
His golden chest had only come with one knowledge point, likely because the reward had been so good, and he already knew how he wanted to spend it. After all, this was the perfect time to learn more about Magic, the only attribute that Nick was interested in investing in that he didn’t fully understand. After sending his intentions into the display, he began to read.
Magic
Magic is the attribute governing the use of mana both inside and outside of the body. Baseline Magic can be raised by engaging in mana-shaping exercises and other advanced practices.
Magic includes:
Density: The quality of internally generated mana and the capacity of your mana pool.
Manipulation: The ability to control mana with a greater degree of precision.
Generation: The rate at which mana naturally regenerates.
Put simply, the Magic attribute determines the potency of your mana, how quickly it regenerates, and how precisely you can control mana while casting spells.
Aha. As Nick had been hoping, raising his Magic increased not only the power of his spells, but also the rate at which his mana refilled.
He was extremely curious about the manipulation component of the attribute. It seemed that his control would improve with practice and further increases to his Magic. He hoped it meant that he could fine-tune the properties of his spells over time, improving not only the power of his abilities but also their versatility.
The description of manipulation suggested that it was possible to control not only the behavior of his spells but the flow of mana outside his body, although he had no idea what the applications of doing so were at this time. The concept was inherently fascinating. Perhaps one day he could tap into the ambient mana in the atmosphere as well.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Last but not least, Nick had finally learned how to improve his baseline Magic, even if he had no idea what mana-shaping exercises were just yet.
There didn’t seem to be a time limit on making his selection, so he mulled the matter over carefully as he prepared and ate his dinner, the sky fading from radiant red to dusky twilight to star-studded night. Heavy Blow or Mana Dart. Guaranteed usefulness in every battle versus the option of being able to start and end a fight from a distance.
Nick was torn between his options, waffling back and forth between them. But then it hit him. If there was one feature common to anything that could be considered an attack, it was that it hurt when it hit you.
Even if Mana Dart only stung for a moment and did no lasting damage, he could use the spell in battle to great effect. Especially as he was able to conjure the darts ahead of time and then fire them off instantly as opportunities presented themselves in the flow of combat. Besides, using Heavy Blow drained stamina with each activation, and Nick had learned that stamina could be used for other combat actions besides powering abilities, whereas he knew of no uses for mana besides casting spells. It was concerning that his Magic was only 2 at the moment, but that meant any spells he acquired would have substantial room to grow.
Wait. Do I even have mana? He wondered exactly one second after deciding to choose Mana Dart. A consideration he wished he had thought of before making such a pivotal, life-altering decision.
It turned out that Nick did not, in fact, have any mana just yet.
But this massive problem was fated to be solved less than a minute after it appeared. Because that was when a string of words appeared directly in his field of view—the first time that the System had addressed him without using the display as an intermediary since he had left the dungeon. Words that Nick could make out clearly, even in the dark.
System Message: Critical update
Contestant has received their first mana-using ability.
Transferring [Mana Dart] to contestant’s active ability slot and initializing latent mana pool.
At this point, two things happened at once. The first was that a beam of ruby light shot out from the surface of the ability stone, transfixing Nick’s brain with a spear of pure, undiluted information before crumbling into a fine powder that dispersed into the wind.
He felt the familiar sensation of ghostly fingers poking around inside his brain as the System modified his synapses on a molecular level. Carving out new neural pathways that would allow Nick to use the spell as naturally as if he had been casting it all his life.
While most of his brain was grappling with sheer sensory overload, a small corner of Nick’s awareness could still appreciate how bizarre it was that he suddenly knew how to do something that he had never tried before. While countless changes were taking place upstairs, a second, equally profound transformation was occurring within Nick’s chest. More precisely, at a point exactly two inches below his heart.
One moment, everything behind his ribs was business as usual. The next, there was blazing heat, like a nuclear reactor had been switched on behind his left lung. He screamed at the potent, searing sensation, certain that he had been hit from behind and was critically injured. Although the intensity did not subside, Nick realized that the feeling was not actually pain, even though it was nearly overwhelming.
Rather than an external force acting against him, the pulsating flame coursing inside him was an integral part of himself. A missing piece that Nick had been unable to perceive until now. That was when he felt something foreign reach inside his chest. Something that he had experienced before, before his orientation had begun. This time, instead of a sensation of ethereal fingertips, he got the whole hand and a bit of the arm as well.
As he struggled to process what he was experiencing, an alien force penetrated his torso. It plucked a thin strand from the surface of his newly formed energetic core and attached the free end to a spot near the base of his skull, linking the tendril to the new neural network inside Nick’s brain, irrevocably binding them together.
Then, all the strange sensations vanished as mysteriously as they had appeared. He found himself quivering while lying in the sand. He didn’t know when he had collapsed or how long he had been out, although the moon had risen sometime during the process. While he waited to regain control over his body, Nick took his time contemplating the magnificent expansion of his consciousness. Although he could no longer directly perceive it, he was certain that the warmth inside his chest was either the source or the container for his magic, perhaps a bit of both.
In addition to acquiring his first spell, he had learned a great deal about the System from this experience. Information that he would ponder at his leisure, bright and early tomorrow morning. But not now. Right now, Nick was utterly drained, and there was only one thing that he desired more than sleep.
“Mana Dart,” he whispered while visualizing casting the spell as best he could, signaling his intent and letting the ability do the rest. He felt a vague tingle inside his chest, and Nick knew that he had to concentrate on it until the spell manifested, or he would waste the attempt. Despite his exhaustion, he was able to hold onto the spell for the three seconds it took to coalesce. Right on time, with no further preamble, a silver sliver of light popped into existence in front of his nose, forming a wedge-shaped spear the size of his pinky that began circling his head like a satellite orbiting a planet.
Nick’s eyes tracked the glowing point of mana, which he could feel clearly, as if it were a part of his own body. While most of him was lost in wonder, the rational layer of his mind noticed that the dart created a bit of light. A side effect that might prove useful in a pinch. As he had nothing that he wanted to shoot just yet, he watched the dart dance through the air for five ecstatic minutes, until it completed a final lap around his forehead and winked out of existence.
I did it. I just cast my first spell.
He wanted to summon another dart right away, since he had just achieved his childhood dream. But he resisted the temptation through a combination of willpower and sheer exhaustion. Until he was able to experiment with the spell, Nick had no idea how many darts he could use per day or how quickly his mana would regenerate once spent. Since mana isn’t listed on my profile, hopefully I can learn to keep track of my reserves by feel. A problem for another day.
His heart alight with the joy of being initiated into the mysterious world of magic, Nick closed his eyes and let the roar of the surf carry him into the land of dreams.