While his Goblin Skeleton mindlessly wondered around Alaster with hatchet in hand, Alaster himself opened the book and began to read.
The few pages described how EXP worked in basic terms. It also explained why Alaster only got 2% from the boar while he got 10% from the goblin. The boar was considered a Mundane Creature. Typically, weaker than Magical Creatures. While the Goblin was considered a Magical Creature. Despite the Goblin being much weaker than the Boar.
Magical Creatures gave more EXP than Mundane Creatures.
While a Mundane Creature had a small chance to develop magical abilities, it was very rare, so typically, it was a waste of time to hunt Mundane Creatures for EXP. The book went on a brief tangent about how if a Mundane Creature that had developed magical abilities mated with another Mundane turned Magical or a simple Magical Creature, it's off spring would be mostly Magical.
Alaster only skimmed over that section, as it held little interest to him.
The final thing in the book, at least before it began to list the classes, detailed use of Mana Crystals.
Every Magical Creature had a small chance, usually one in fifteen, but it varied, to possess a Mana Crystal within their bodies. Anyone with Mana, which was the vast majority, could sense the presence of a Mana Crystal if they were close enough. The stronger the person was with Mana, the wider the radius, and the more noticeable. So most hunting parties wanted at least one Mage in their party, so they didn't miss any.
Of course, the Mana Crystal was still in the body of the creature, so even if detected, it still had to be carved out. Typically, it was beside the heart, but certainly not always.
The uses of Mana Crystals were many, nearly every Crafter wanted to get their hands on them. Alchemists, Blacksmiths, Engineers, Magitek, Enchanters, etc.
However, the main use was to absorb it. Upon absorbing, the Mana Crystal would dissolve into mana particles and be absorbed by the user's body. By absorbing it, the user would receive a bonus amount of EXP equaling to half the EXP for killing the creature.
Mana Crystals also had an incredibly small chance to grant the user an ability of the slain creature. However, this was a one in a hundred shot. Enough of a chance that people would try to use Mana Crystals from creatures with desirable abilities, but not enough for people to refuse to buy Mana Crystals to absorb.
There was also a chance to receive the Bloodline of the creature slain, which would grant more permeant stat bonuses and even a few passive and active abilities. However, this chance was one in ten thousand. A person who received a Bloodline from a Mana Crystal was said to be favored by the God of Luck.
Alaster realized that this was how Noble Children were able to level up so quickly. They could simply use their wealth and influence to purchase Mana Crystals for the kids to use. Alaster felt a bit jaded by that, but knew that he would do the same if he had the money.
As it was, Alaster was broke, he had no money. Not even the money he had earned over the two years of protecting Isabella. He had asked Lord Siphas to keep account of the money he earned, so he could grab it when he left to find his sister. After all, most of his needs were taken care of by the Siphas family anyway. He had food, shelter, and even training. And it was not like he had any friends to go party with.
Alaster was not sure how much he had earned, but was sure that it was a sizable amount, at least to a Village boy.
Clearing his head and warming his hands by the fire for a moment, Alaster turned to the Classes. Each page had around five classes detailed. The Class name would have an 'N' or an 'A' next to it to show if it was a Novice or Adept Class.
Each class would have a brief description as well as occasionally their strengths and weaknesses, and most Novice Classes had an Adept Class listed that it could evolve into.
However, there was no order to the Classes. A Novice Class would have an Adept Class listed that was a page or several back. So Alaster was forced to skim through all the pages to find his own Class. His attention was occasionally caught by a Class, which he would read, but then move on.
Eventually, in the back half of the book, Alaster found his Class.
"Death Mage - N
A Death Mage's most unique aspect is its Undead Minions, but it is not its strength. A Death Mage is very versatile. Being able to cast a Necrotic Bolt that is devastating against living and breathing opponents, however it is lacking against any opponent made out of anything else. The Bolt possesses a strange ability to bypass armor to hit the flesh underneath, though the armor does affect its potency.
However, it is the Bone Crafting spell they possess that the ability of the user shines. Able to make practically any physical object out of bone. From small and intricate objects like keys, to large and solid objects like weapons or armor, usually for their Undead Minions.
Most common Evolutions involve: Necromancer, who focuses on their minions. Nether Mage, who focuses on spell use, similar to their Necrotic Bolt."
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'Interesting.' Alaster thought to himself.
He had heard of Necromancers. They were a very rare class, but despite the stories describing them to be monsters and villains, Alaster had heard of them using their minions for mundane tasks like farming or hauling to make their living. He had even heard of a City far to the south who used the Minions of the Necromancer to guard the walls, as the City was practically in a perpetual blizzard and the Undead were unaffected by the Cold.
Alaster closed the book and fought with his mana once again to access the Ring of Holding. Once open, Alaster quickly put the book, shield, and the bones of the Boar, inside before he lost control of his mana.
Alaster lightly stretched and checked his mana before he resumed his journey.
[Mana: 119/130
Mana Regeneration: 1/min]
'I spent over an hour reading' Alaster noticed as he looked at his Goblin Skeleton.
It seemed to sense his attention, and stopped to return the stare.
"I need a name for you." Alaster mused with a slight grin.
"Gobi." Alaster knew his naming sense sucked, Evelyn and Isabella both made fun of him for it.
If the Skeleton cared one way or another about its new name, it did not show it.
"Follow me Gobi!" Alaster decreed majestically as he kicked snow over the fire and walked away.
However, before they got too far, Alaster noticed the spear of the Goblin before he had killed it. It was a basically just a long stick with a sharpened point, but was a little shorter than Alaster.
"Carry this." Alaster ordered Gobi, to which it immediately moved forward to grab the spear from the snow.
As Alaster traveled through the woods, occasionally ducking under low branches laden with snow, Gobi followed close behind, walking into the branches without caring. Alaster only rolled his eyes and continued on.
Eventually, the sun began to set once more. Alaster did not want to scramble for shelter again, so he stopped early.
He found a small but dense cluster of trees and began to pack snow in between the gaps. Then dug through the snow, piling it around the edges. Once he had dug a large enough area for himself and a small fire, Alaster used the wooden spear Gobi had carried and dug through the frozen ground. It was a long and tiring ordeal, but eventually he had dug a deep column in the ground, with another small hole connecting to the bottom and exiting a few inches away.
Alaster had seen one of the hunters teach his son how to do this. It was a simple process that Alaster quickly understood. The actual fire would be in the first, larger, hole. The air for the fire would come through the second hole and supply the bottom of the fire. Due to being underground, the flames and light would mostly be concealed, only allowing the heat out. And due to there only being one exit for the heat, it could be concentrated.
The area Alaster had cleared was roughly a meter in diameter, and all that snow was piled on the edges. With the snow being a foot deep, and even more being piled on top, Alaster ended with a wall of snow nearly a meter tall around him. A wall that would further conceal any light or heat.
It was beginning to grow dark, but Alaster had Gobi gather some fallen sticks while he had been constructing the rudimentary shelter. Only a few of the sticks were adequate for use in a fire, so Alaster used the rest to make a small platform that he could sit on, so it would be flatter and wider than the shield, but be off the frozen ground.
Alaster soon had a small fire going inside the deep and narrow pit and just like he had expected, no flames came out. He had specifically chosen this cluster of trees as the dense branches were lower to the ground, providing a sort of roof. With the fire, it quickly warmed up.
Alaster was still cold, but he would not be shivering, especially with the cloak. Alaster had Gobi sit against one of the trees in the cluster, but out of the shelter itself. Undead were unaffected by cold, at least the level of cold that was natural. He would have had the Undead patrol, but Gobi was weak and more likely to attract the attention of a predator that neither Gobi nor Alaster could handle.
Taking out some of the boar meat, Alaster stuck it on one of the sticks and began to cook it over the fire. It was a boring meal, but Alaster was just glad to have a meal. He had been pretty lucky to find something he could eat that wasn't too strong for him. It had been a large boar, but Alaster did not know when he would find anything else, so he rationed it.
After eating, Alaster wanted to take out of the bones of the boar to practice his [Bone Crafting] spell, but he did not have enough light. Which was what he wanted, but it was only enough light to see general objects, not anything detailed. Even if the branches of the cluster did not block the sky, no light of the moon would have been visible.
Thick clouds covered the sky, threatening a storm.
Instead, Alaster crossed his legs and sat straight. He was tired, but he knew he had very little time to become stronger, and needed every edge he could get. Colius had told him that an Ability that every Mage Type should have is [Meditation]. It was a simple Ability. One that sped up mana regeneration, so long as they stayed still and calm.
So that was what Alaster did. Colius had taught him how to meditate, even if the boy was not able to learn the Ability itself, the knowledge of the Ability was still useful in keeping a calm mind. It was a skill Alaster had used many times before.
Taking deep breaths, Alaster began to clear his mind. It took a while, as it would for anyone, but soon, Alaster had completely cleared his mind, focusing only on his breath.
[Ability Learned: Mediation
Level 1: 0%
Clearing the Mind to see what is concealed
Mana Regeneration increased to 5/min during use]
Alaster smirked to himself and struggled to continue. However, he kept his mind clear and body relaxed. He had done this many times before, so it had come easily to him now. He did not meditate to get the ability or even to level it up, but to relax himself.
After all, he had been attacked and thrown into the wilderness with no gear or knowledge of his whereabouts. He had expected to only leave the Siphas Family after he had grown strong enough, where he would return to his village and see if they had learned anything about his sister.
While meditating, it was very easy to lose track of time, in fact, Colius had recommended that he forget about time. So he was not sure when he had been yanked out of his trance by the distinct sound of a nearby branch snapping.