Deep beneath the Tiphor Desert, in a chamber untouched by time, the liquid mana of plane’s core began to churn. It seethed and twisted, the liquid mana beginning to bubble. Beneath the liquid, in the center of the Mana Chamber, a change began to occur. The mana began to change its form, crystalizing into a solid. Slowly the crystals began to form a skeletal structure, forming the base of the new life. Slowly, ever so slowly, a vague humanoid shape developed, formed from the frothing mana. Bluish muscle, organs, and skin began to form around the skeleton, matching the color of the surrounding liquid. Over time, the body of what appeared to be a human formed, curled in the fetal position. There was no defining features to show its gender - no face or genitalia. Where both of these should have resided was only smooth, perfect skin. Despite the lack of defining features, if one was to guess its gender, they would have guessed male. The form was almost picturesque, muscular, but not bulky, lithe, but not skinny. After the initial body was formed, the mana around it began to flash different colors. With each flash, a symbol was emblazoned upon the beings chest and second, smaller symbol on its blank face. Eleven flashes of light in sequence - a strong purple, a startling yellow, a soft green, lighter blue, a deep brown, a sickening red, a dull gray, a pure white, a pure black, a sharp mixture of white and blue, and finally, a light orange. The figures formed a circle on his chest and a smaller one on his face, with seemingly one final space available at the top of each to finish them off. The 12th flash never came, however. Finally, after the last mark was burned into the chest and head, a consciousness was bestowed upon the creature, heralding the birth of the fifth Legendary Being on the Sycer Plane.
----------------------------
All he could sense was blinding light. It swirled around him like an angry ocean, covering him in its embrace. Unable to focus with the light blinding his senses, he turned them off completely, relying only on his sense of touch to feel his surroundings. The liquid was neither cold nor hot, rough or gentle, soft or hard. It was simply...there. Relying on instinct alone, he tried to push himself upward, seeking to escape the sweet embrace of the liquid. Several moments later, he gave up, unable to move from his position. Deciding to relax in the liquid, he let himself float aimlessly amongst it. He didn’t need air to breath or even food or water to drink. All he needed to survive was held in the liquid around him. No, it was the liquid around him - Mana. He opened himself to it, allowing the power to flow inside of him, nourishing him. He felt strength come to his limbs, his mind sharper, his power grow. Some time later, he finally stopped absorbing the mana, knowing instinctively he had reached his limit. Just as he finished, a box appeared in his vision, both there and not there, visible, yet invisible. At first he could not read the characters inside the box, but slowly they came into focus.
...Formation Complete
...Initializing eruption of Mana Volcano
He felt the mana shift around, the liquid suddenly becoming more violent. He instinctively knew not struggle as the liquid rose around him, carrying him upwards to some unknown destination. Suddenly the liquid was no longer around him. Instead, he felt a cool substance brushing against his skin. Then he felt his stomach rise into his throat, followed by a hard impact on coarse, shifting ground. Shifting his senses back on, activating the lone skill he instinctively knew he possessed.
(Passive) Mana Sense (X) lvl 1
-Race exclusive
Mana is your gateway to the world around you. Through it, you can sense everything around you, to a level beyond that of any other race.
+ability to sense the shape of objects around you
+ability to sense the flow of mana around you
+ability to sense the sound waves around you
+ability to sense the smells of objects around you
+ability to sense the taste of objects around you
Current Radius: 20m
NOTICE: This passive, and its individual parts, are able to be toggled on and off at will
He did not activate it all at once, instead choosing to activate it one ability at a time, save for the first two, which he activated together. A blue field of vision stretched out around him. Each grain of sand at his feet stood out to him, outlines with a pinprick of light in each one. What would normally obscure someone’s vision did not affect him as long as the object was within his 20m sphere. He could sense the flow of mana in the cactus 8 meters to his left, count the individual spines on it, including the ones on the far side, and sense the outline and flow of mana in its roots through the sand.
Next he activated the sense of sound, the world around him coming alive. The sound of blowing sand, the cactus growing, the solid earth shifting slightly 15 meters below him, he heard it all in perfect detail. He could not see the sound waves, but he understood with perfect clarity where every sound around him originated from. He found he could also hear sounds that originated outside of his sphere, as long as the waves traveled into it. Strangely, he was still able to pinpoint the location the sound originated from and what caused it, giving him a slightly blurry image of what could be outside of his range. It did not matter to him if the sound was high, low, soft, or loud, he heard it all. The final two abilities, the sense of smell and taste, were both activated then immediately deactivated. The sheer number of disgusting tastes and smells that had assaulted his brain had convinced him that he would not be activating them unless absolutely necessary. Beyond the regular senses, he found he could also sense the slight changes in air temperature and pressure around him. His skill now fully functioning, he finally took time to read the notification box that had been hovering in his vision for some time.
Welcome to the Plane of Sycer, ManaBorn
Please choose a name update and unlock your status
The ManaBorn thought for a moment before choosing something he felt quite appropriate.
Thank you for choosing a name, Azul. You may now access your status.
Death: Unknown
Status Name: Azul Race: ManaBorn (Legendary) Gender: none Currency: 0P,0G,0S,0C Level: 0 Experience: 0/20 Class: none Subclass: none Subclass: none Titles ManaBorn (X),Primogenitor (X) Health: 100/100 Stamina: 80/80 Mana: 300/300 Health Regen: 0.1/min Stamina Regen: 8/min Mana Regen: 10/min Attributes Strength: 10 Constitution: 10 Agility: 8 Perception: 8 Wisdom: 10 Intelligence: 10 Attribute Points: 0 Skills Passive: Mana Sense (X) lvl 1 Active: none Magic: none Archetype: Pure Mana (X) Skill Points: 0 Affinity Pure: 100% Fire: Unknown Water: Unknown Wind: Unknown Earth: Unknown Lightning: Unknown Blood: Unknown World: Unknown Life: Unknown Death: Unknown Runic: Unknown Divine: -----
Azul was stunned by how big it was. He had scroll mentally to reach the bottom of it. The first thing he did was remove the affinities from the end. It was an easy list to remember after reading once. Next he inspected his attributes. His mana seemed rather high to him, but when he identified his two titles and his archetype, he understood why.
Title: ManaBorn (X)
-Race exclusive
You are a being that has been exposed and born in the core mana of the Sycer Plane. You are mana, almost to a fundamental level.
+100% mana received from each Intelligence Point
+adds 10 mana points per Wisdom Point
+100% Mana Regen
+100% resistance to Pure spells
Title: Primogenitor (X)
You are the first of your race in the Sycer Plane. The first must survive. The first must thrive. The first must grow strong.
+25% experience gain
+50% skill point gain
+100% attribute gain
+Learn and upgrade skills at faster rates
(Archetype) Pure Mana (X)
-Race exclusive
You are a being born of the very mana that regulates your plane of existence. You are the embodiment of magic, the epitome of power, an existence never seen before.
+100% Pure mana Affinity
+able to learn all forms of magic
+50% power to all Pure spells
+ability to use mana to supplement your body
+ability to comprehend any amount of mana related stimuli without repercussion
Azul was quite impressed with his natural born talent. Of course, being a monster of the Legendary level and being the apparent first of his species helped. All the bonuses to his mana from ManaBorn were definitely the reason behind his 300 mana pool. It seemed to him like one point of Intelligence gave 20 mana with his boosts and one point of Wisdom gave 10 mana. If the same held true for his other stats, one point of constitution gave 10 health points and 8 stamina points per level. Content with his new knowledge of The System, Azul turned his attention to his surroundings. His first observations about his surroundings held true upon closer inspection. Everywhere around him was sand, cacti, and the occasional rock. About 18 meters below the ground he could sense a slight uptick in the amount of mana. Most likely this was because it was getting closer to the Mana Volcano he had been born in. His sense told him that there was no opening left from where he had come from, leaving him no option of returning to the volcano.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Having nothing better to do, Azul set off in a random direction. His enhanced sense of hearing had given him no clues that the landscape changed anytime soon, so he figured he would just walk until he found something, or something found him. He wouldn’t need food or water, so the environment had little effect on him. He could not sweat due to the lack of liquid inside of his body, but he could definitely feel the heat of the what he assumed was midday in the middle of the desert. It didn’t take long for his sense of hearing to pick up on something outside of his 20m range that interested him. Of course he always heard the slight shifting of sand and dirt as the small bugs went about their lives, but he had started to block that out after the first 10 minutes of walking. This sound was different, a slight clicking noise, along with a squelching, ripping sound. Azul turned toward the noise, trying to get it inside his sphere.
It only took several paces for Azul to see his first ever monster in the Sycer Plane. The beast as about 2 meters long and half a meter tall, sitting sat low to the ground as it munched on its prey, 8 legs protruding from its thorax. Azul noted that the flow of mana in the creature was strange, with it tending to be strongest at the tip of its tail and ends of its mandibles. Luckily for Azul, there was still a small dune between him the monster, so he had plenty of time to observe. The clicking noise he had heard originated from the monster tapping its mandibles together between bites of flesh. Azul figured if he could get a shot in before the monster noticed him, he might have a chance at winning. Reaching for his mana, he pulled it out of himself and focused on forming it into a spear. In the end he succeeded in forming a jagged, roughly made spear of purple mana. Ignoring the notifications pinging inside his head, he maneuvered the spear up and over the dune, giving him a clear shot at the occupied monster. The bolt pierced through the unsuspecting arachnid slightly farther back than Azul had anticipated, severing the tail instead of killing the monster. It screeched in pain, and Azul could see spurts of blood exiting the monster from where its severed appendage should have been attached. Wherever the blood touched the ground, the sand hissed and melted, corroded by the acid. The monster spun in circles trying to spot its attacker. Waiting for the monster to face the opposite direction, Azul hurriedly formed another jagged bolt of mana. The moment the oversized insect spun away, he raised the bolt and launched it. This time the bolt struck true, tearing through the carapace of the monster and leaving a jagged, seared hole through its abdomen. The monster collapsed to the ground, its legs scrabbling helplessly against the sand, its screeching reduced to nothing more than fading hisses. Azul waited until the monster no longer moved to approach his work.
The bolt of mana had torn a rough looking hole straight through the 3 centimeter thick shell, destroying the stomach and intestines of the monster. The wound was similar to what fire would accomplish, but also different. Instead of burning things to ash and searing flesh, mana seemed to disintegrate and fuse. There was no signs of the organs at all, and some of the torn tissue seemed like it had fused itself with surrounding flesh. Content that his mana spells worked quite well, Azul read the string of messages that he had ignored during the fight.
Skill Gained: (Passive) Pure Mana Manipulation (I) lvl 1
The ability to manipulate mana in its purest form.
+3% control
-3% mana loss
Now that he thought about it, he had noticed that some of the mana seemed to leak off of his bolt and fade into the surrounding area while he cast it. He assumed this was what was referred to as mana loss. The constant leaking of mana from a spell into the air.
Skill Gained: (Magic) Pure Mana Bolt (I) lvl 1
An unrefined bolt of pure mana, designed to be thrown at its target.
Cost is proportional to amount of mana directly used in the spell.
+2% power
Pure Mana Bolt has reached lvl 2!
+4% power
Azul nodded to himself as he read the notification. It seemed that the spell he had created was indeed a mana bolt. The more he used the spell the more the power would increase. He wasn’t sure what the (I) beside the spell name meant, but he was sure he could find out if he found civilization. Finally, when he scrolled to the last few messages, a sudden sense of euphoria filled him. He dropped to the ground, his body shaking as feelings of pure pleasure flooded him. A few moments later the feeling stopped and his body came to a still. He lay there for a moment, reorienting himself before he fully read the messages.
Victory!
Enemy Defeated: Giant Scorpion (I) lvl 8
Experience Gained: 250 (200 * 1.25)
Your level jumped from lvl 0 to lvl 4!
+32 Attribute points (16 * 2.00)
+48 Skill Points (32 * 1.5)
‘So levels cause euphoric reactions, but you only level after you read the message. I’m going to have to be careful to not read messages during battle in the future. They are really easy to ignore though, so I don’t know much trouble I’ll have. Now, I think I’ll start with the attribute points.’
Azul quickly decided that most of his points should be spent on Intelligence and Wisdom. From what the system told him, Intelligence increased the power of spells, maximum mana, memory, and cognitive function speed. Wisdom decreased mana loss, increased mana regen, increased application of knowledge, and helped make good decisions. While Wisdom was a little vague, it still gave him mana, and most importantly decreased the constant loss of mana he experienced when using his spells while also raising his regen. Next he would prioritize Constitution and Agility. These skills were survival skills. Constitution increased the toughness of his skin and bones, along with his health and stamina pool. Agility increased his flexibility, balance, reaction time, and attack speed. The System recommended that Perception be raised with Agility, but he didn’t see a purpose behind that since his senses were already very good. Lastly he would increase his Strength. Most of his power would be coming from his mana and not from his physical body. Of course, there would be times where brute strength would be necessary, so he planned to spend some points. Eventually he decided to place 10 points in Intelligence, 10 points in Wisdom, 6 in Constitution, 5 in Agility, and 1 in Strength. As he assigned the points, he could feel his body growing. There was no pain associated with it, but he felt his mind speed up its thought process, his skin harden slightly, and his feet seemingly grow lighter. Content with his choice, he once again brought up his attributes, leaving the rest of the status out.
Health: 160/160
Stamina: 128/128
Mana: 420/600
Health Regen: 0.15/min
Stamina Regen: 8.5/min
Mana Regen: 12/min
Attributes:
Strength: 11
Constitution: 16
Agility: 13
Perception: 8
Intelligence: 20
Wisdom: 20
He was pleasantly surprised with the jump in mana, but a little disappointed about the regen. At his current rate it would take him around 50 minutes to regen all of his mana if it hit zero. Deciding to find some way to increase it later, Azul turned his attention to his stat points. He wasn’t sure how to spend these, but after a few seconds of experimentation with the system, he discovered what to spend them on.
10 points:
(Passive) Pure Mana Regeneration (I) lvl 1
Your flesh is infused with mana, allowing you to heal your injuries with it.
+ability to convert mana into health at a 2:1 ratio
NOTICE: This skill is part of the PURE branch of skills. It may be affected by other PURE branch skills or be able to fuse with them in the future.
10 Points:
(Passive) Pure Mana Fusion (I) lvl 1
Enhance yourself with your mana, increasing your physical abilities.
+50% Strength, Constitution, Agility, and Perception while active (does not increase total health or total stamina)
Cost: 5 mana/min
NOTICE: This skill is part of the PURE branch of skills. It may be affected by other PURE branch skills or be able to fuse with them in the future.
10 Points:
(Passive) Pure Mana Burn (I) lvl 1
Enhance yourself with mana, increasing your magical capabilities.
+10% spell power, -10% mana loss, +10% mana control while active.
Cost: 5 mana/min
NOTICE: This skill is part of the PURE branch of skills. It may be affected by other PURE branch skills or be able to fuse with them in the future.
15 Points:
(Passive) Pure Mana Shield (I) lvl 1
Covers your skin in a thin film of mana, protecting you from harm
+25% damage received transferred to mana pool instead of health pool.
Cost: -50 maximum mana on activation, cost of damage transferred
NOTICE: This skill is part of the PURE branch of skills. It may be affected by other PURE branch skills or be able to fuse with them in the future.
After reading all the options, Azul made the obvious choice and bought all four of the skills. Pure Mana Regeneration gave him a way to heal himself with his mana. While he hadn’t been struck so far, he was sure a healing power would never be bad. Pure Mana Fusion and Pure Mana Burn were simply buffs that made him stronger while costing him some mana regen. Even with both buffs active, he still regenerated 2 mana/min, meaning he could keep them active permanently in battle. Pure Mana Shield was just another safety measure between him and a quick death. -50 mana was quite a bit, but he was willing to sacrifice it for his own safety. He didn’t know what else lived in the desert, and he needed to be sure he had as much protection as possible. With only 3 skill points remaining, Azul closed out of the skill tab, ignoring the grayed out skills he couldn’t afford.
Eager to try his new powers, he first activated Pure Mana Fusion. The dark purple rune on his chest suddenly lit up, smaller purple lines snaked there way across his bluish skin, glowing faintly. He could feel his power grow, his skin harden, the outlines of objects grow slightly more defined, and his feet become a little more limber. Next, he activated Pure Mana Burn, and the purple rune on his face lit up. The same lines spread across his head, glowing with a faint sense of power. Raising his hand, he focused on forming another Pure Mana Bolt. The spell formed slightly faster and hummed with slightly more energy, despite him not using any more mana than he did last time. Focusing on the bolt, he checked for leaking mana and could almost swear it was slightly less than before. Allowing the bolt to disperse, he activated his final power. Pure Mana Shield. He felt some of his mana pool drain away into the runes on his chest and head before each of them pulsed gently. A thin, nearly transparent film of purple mana spread across his body, nearly unnoticeable to the naked eye. A dim hum filled his ears as the shield finished forming around him. Moving his arms and legs, he felt no different than he had before after testing Pure Mana Fusion. Content with his new skills, Azul deactivated them and sat on the sand, ignoring the scorpion corpse beside him.
Crossing his legs he focused inside himself, searching for his mana pool. He found it quickly enough, a seemingly small void of space just behind his naval that occasionally pulsed with power. Then, he focused on the air around him, trying to draw the ambient mana in the air into his pool. Slowly the mana began to follow his command, drawing closer and closer, passing through his skin and into his mana pool. A small ding notified him that he had acquired a skill.
Skill Gained: (Passive) Siphon Meditation (I) lvl 1
You use the environment to your advantage, drawing upon its mana to restore your own.
+100% mana regen while meditating.
-cannot move while meditating
Azul continued his meditation, focusing on regaining the rest of his mana before moving on. He did not want to be caught without enough mana to fight properly. With double the regeneration from meditating, it took just over 10 minutes for his mana to restore completely to 600. Once finished, he reactivated all his buffs, lowering his mana to 550 and his regeneration to 2/min. Once again he set off across the desert, searching for some form a civilization.