Emmanuel stepped forward while the others murmured all around. Most were speculating who would win between the mysterious newcomer and him.
“This time I won’t underestimate my foe.” He thought while looking at Emmanuel.
Clarissa reapplied her skill, and they looked at each other for a moment. Fred’s mana was moving quickly inside of his body, reinforcing each part of it. Ultimately, Emmanuel didn’t wait and took a step forward while attacking.
He dashed forward at an insane speed, and Fred used his mana enhanced body to evade the punch coming his way. He evaded and slashed sideways. Emmanuel rolled on the ground and kicked him. Fred was caught by surprise and couldn’t evade, he reinforced the area of impact and resisted it.
He groaned as his ribs almost shattered, but they held. After tanking the blow, he slashed and finally drew some blood. His sword pierced Emmanuel’s shoulder.
Emmanuel attacked again, like a furious animal, totally ignoring his injured shoulder.
Willfred evaded all the attacks by minutely controlling mana and bursting it at the right time. He applied what he learned from Jouti the day before, giving no chance to his opponent.
He concentrated his mana in his sword, and jumped back while releasing a wave of cutting mana through it, one of his best tricks. Just before the attack hit, Clarissa's skill activated, and the attack was stopped.
Emmanuel looked at him and said. “Good fight.” He nodded to him and went to the side.
Although the fight was short, it was clear that Fred was superior in many ways. The fact that he could tank a direct attack from Emmanuel in close combat already showed that he was truly powerful. However, he didn’t know what his opponent could truly do in a deadly fight, Emmanuel didn’t look to be a pushover.
“Okay.” Clarissa clapped and got everyone’s attention. “Right now, we’ll begin the second part of the training. Everyone fights me. You can begin.”
The students only showed hesitation for a second, but soon began to attack her. Her vines appeared around her, totally shielding her body. Even Fred took it seriously and concentrated mana on his sword, releasing a wave of mana through it again. The attack barely cut through her defenses, and they were completely fresh after only a moment.
He could see a small smile beneath her defenses. Fred could feel some powerful mana accumulating for a second, before numerous roots burst through the ground and constricted everyone. Fred tried to evade, but the roots came too quickly, making it impossible for him to step away.
In just a matter of seconds, everyone was taken out. Even Emmanuel, with his strong body, couldn’t escape the bindings.
“Don’t be let down. This is only a showcase of a fraction of the power you can reach in the future.” Her voice was full of hope and certainty. She released the skill and the roots retreated into the ground. The damaged ground restored itself.
"Now, let’s work out on your individual skills."
________________________________
They trained for the rest of the day. Sometimes sparring, but mostly working in their control. Fred got to know Emmanuel and Amanda a bit better. The others however, didn’t approach him.
From what he understood in a short chat with Emmanuel, he was from one of the clans in the city that were warmages and veterans of war. They mostly used metal magic to fight, but due to a unique condition of his body, he couldn’t wield mana outside his body. That made him suffer prejudice during school, until he tried to train his own body with mana. The results were surprisingly good, and even though he couldn’t manifest mana outside his body, his strength was much greater than his peers.
Amanda was a war orphan. Both her parents died during the war, and she was raised by one of the elders in the city.
They were good people, and Fred enjoyed their company.
After hearing the word war many times, He couldn't resist anymore and asked Emmanuel. "How was this war you talk so much about?"
Emmanuel looked at him for a second, as if him asking that was a dumb question.
"The infinite dungeons war of course… today we can still use it because the war was won."
"Infinite dungeons?" Fred asked. He truly had never heard about it. Even when Luriel talked to him about cities and cultures there was not a word about infinite dungeons and war.
Emmanuel pointed to the ground and said. "The infinite dungeons are below us. All adventure guilds have an entrance. They sometimes release scary things, and the infinite dungeons war was when all dungeons over human territory began to churn monsters. Something that historians say happens once every millennium."
Fred nodded and digested the information. He knew the concept of dungeons. A place where monsters were born due to high concentration of mana. A concept he heard in a book. But what he heard was unexpected.
"If the dungeons are so dangerous, why is there one inside the city?" Fred asked.
"It's not that the guild was built inside the city, but the city that was built around the guild. Most low level infinite dungeons entrance has a city around it. Dungeons are full of monsters, but there are also ores and a lot of other natural resources."
Emmanuel sighed and said. "That's the extent of my knowledge about the infinite dungeons. There are also many legends, but they are unreliable. But as soon as we get our classes and are able to dive, we'll know more."
After that, both returned to their training for the rest of the day. Willfred's curiosity towards the infinite dungeons raged, but he knew he would have answers soon.
The sun was soon setting in the horizon, and most students went to their homes to prepare for the ceremony. Clarissa brought a ceremonial robe to him, and after he wore it, she guided him toward the place where the ceremony would happen.
Soon after, they got to the middle of the city. A huge building was there, and a wooden board hung over it with the words Adventurer guild written in a golden color.
A multitude of people were there, and many younger teenagers and children looked over the group reunited in front of the guild with eager expressions.
Looking in front of the guild, he realized that there were at least triple the numbers of youngsters that were in the school. They all looked to be around 15. “Why were those people not at school?” Fred turned to Clarissa and asked.
“Most of them were training with their families. The ones at school were only focusing on fighting and didn’t have a proper background to train them. Those whose families can teach them how to get a specific class, or were aiming to get support skills, were training in other places.” Fred nodded and walked away after being shooed by Clarisa.
He soon joined the group waiting in front of the guild. All of them were sitting in a meditating position, turned toward the building, but only some of them were truly meditating. He could see that most were so eager to get their classes that they could barely stay still.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
After sitting down in a meditating pose, he closed his eyes and felt his surroundings. He could feel the mana around him, and how it flowed through everything. His mind was soon lost in the wonder that was mana.
GOOOONG
the sound awaked him. Fred opened his eyes and saw that everyone around him was still sitting. Soon, a calming voice could be heard coming from the open entrance of the guild. A man with red hair and eyes said. "This is the day when mana expands from the infinite dungeons and freely flows through the world, causing endless turbulence. But it is also the day when the endless potential in us awakens. Be happy, because your destiny has arrived."
Soon after the man finished his words, mana left the building and expanded everywhere. The mana coming out of the building, no, not from the building, but from the infinite dungeons below it, agitated everything. Fred could feel it penetrating through his being, and soon a notification appeared.
Class options:
Number of skills
Primal Swordsman (R)
8
Actor (In)
16
Elemental Berserker (R)
8
Trickster (C)
12
Fire mage (C)
12
Water mage (C)
14
Rock mage (C)
13
......
......
He looked over the available options and was happy that he could choose from so many options. The elemental mage classes were all basic variations, as he only had minimal control over the elements, but even that was enough to earn him a class.
He knew that from the many options available to him, only some were truly compatible with his fighting style, and they were.
Class options:
Number of skills
Arcane Warrior (E)
7
Mana Savant (L)
4
Arcane Warrior was obviously a warrior that focused on using mana to fight. He didn’t know which skills should be available, but there would surely be skills focused on fighting. One or two would surely be an attacking skills.
Mana Savant on the other hand, was a legendary class. Two steps above Epic. He didn’t even know how he was able to get the requirements to unlock this class.
All classes had requirements to be able to unlock it, the Common rank mage class was an obvious example, where only having a basic mastery over the elements would unlock it. He bet the requirement for Arcane warrior was a high weapon mastery and mana manipulation to be either Rare or Unique.
However, he didn’t even phantom the requirements for Mana Savant. He was struck between the two classes, and didn't know what to choose. Even though Mana Savant was a Legendary class, Arcane warrior had more skills.
Even though lower rarity classes had weaker skills, the quantity and variety sometimes made it better to choose a lower rarity variant than the rarer one.
Even someone with a Common class could become as powerful as someone with a rare class from what he learned. The skills could evolve and fuse, something that was difficult for someone with so many little skills. If He chose the legendary class available to him, would he even be able to fuse his skills?
But in the end, that didn’t matter. He had to make a choice, and even though it didn’t have to be now, he wanted it.
His eyes fell upon the Mana savant class. He had never heard of someone wielding a legendary class. It was something that if presented to a person, no one would refuse. His will moved to it, and he selected the class. As soon as he made his choice, the perception of his surroundings changed. He felt a power awakening inside of him and opened his eyes to look at his status screen.
Congratulations on getting your first class! Identify skill learned! Limits of general skills that can be learned have been increased by two.
Name:
Willfred
Race:
Human
Class:
Mana savant (L)
Level:
1
Strength:
28
Agility:
29
Constitution:
31
Intelligence:
58
Wisdom:
56
Status points available: 10
Class Skills
Name
Tier
Level
Mana source
Inferior
1
infinity armaments
Inferior
1
Mana body
Inferior
1
Mana sage
Inferior
1
General Skills
Name
Tier
Level
Mana manipulation
Epic
3
Sword mastery
Unique
100
Regeneration
Rare
35
Literature
Rare
85
Meditation
Rare
48
Acting
Uncommon
60
Identify
Inferior
01
Perks
Nature attunement
Your body is attuned to the natural elements. Gives the user extra resistance to the elements and more affinity to them.
He was happy to be able to acquire two new general skills. He would have to ponder carefully which skills were best suited for him. After seeing the changes on his status screen, he was instantly drawn to the new skills. He willed it and their descriptions appeared before him.
Mana source
Your body becomes a source of mana. Mana capacity is doubled and regeneration is three times faster.
infinity armaments
You can choose two models and create them out of mana. The strength of creation can vary due to complexity of chosen model and mana of skill caster.
Mana body
Your body is naturally enhanced by the mana inhabiting It.
Your body naturally gets stronger with its mana. The user is able to boost the body and related skills by using mana.
Mana sage
Wielding mana has become your second nature. Manipulating mana in specific ways is easier the more you become familiar with it.
He carefully read all the descriptions, and had no words to describe his skills. They were simply amazing. Only infinity armaments was a bit harder to figure out, but he knew it would become one of his main weapons.