Zeno found himself in a cube 10 meters on each side, the walls being the same basalt stone the cave was composed of. There was still some light, despite the room having no visible openings or sources of light. Not enough light to see with any clarity mind you, but more akin to the level of light where you can make out blurry shapes in the darkness after your eyes adjust.
Zeno, of course, knew very well where this “light” was coming from. Mana had an interesting effect on optics, emitting a subtle colorless glow that could provide some sight on its own while magnifying any other source of visible light.
“Well this is unexpected…”
Casting a light spell, Zeno found that it glowed orders of magnitude more brightly than it should have, becoming a searchlight rather than a candle. Beyond that, the light seemed to have slivers of every color, from the deepest red to the brightest violet and beyond.
[dimension initialized - resetting parameters]
[perks gained: primal chaos mana, dimensional lord]
“What the? Status!”
[ZENO| level 1]
[Mental: Will 53 (Focus 100, Confidence 6) | Attunement 60 (Mana control 70, Mana capacity 100) | Memory 65 (Memory capacity 100, Learning ability 30)]
[Physical: Vitality 11 (Endurance 13, Fortitude 9) | Strength 11 (Dexterity 9, Power 13)]
Health: 11 | Mana: 100
[Special: Luck 10 | Perception 10 (sight 10, hearing 11, smell 9) | affinity 10 (primal chaos 10)]
[skills: spells (light 4, spark 1, force bolt 1, telekinesis 6, identify 5), mundane (research 10, cooking 1, driving 1, cleaning 2, diplomacy 3) knowledge (arcane 10, history 7, physics 6, biology 6, math 5) ]
[perks: primal chaos mana, dimensional lord, origin research]
“Well then, that's interesting…”
Before the event in the cave, Zeno was level 11, spending all of his stat points on things like learning ability, memory, focus and mana control, while putting all of his perk points into the crossed out origin research perk. Interestingly stats such as focus and memory capacity increased tremendously, from the high 20s they were in to 100 each, while stats such as mana control and mana capacity also increased from their previously moderate amounts.
The origin research perk first appeared when he was very young, only level 1, and its description stated that it would help him study the basis of whatever he attempts to learn. This of course isn't an entirely rare perk, being about as common as an IQ above 140, though due to the vagueness of its effect it remains an unpopular choice. Of course some of the people who picked it are leaders in their fields and claim it gives them very slight advantages in concentrating on a subject and seeing it from different points of view, while countless others who picked it claim it to be a scam that only sucks away perk points.
Of course in Zeno’s case something seemed much different, as if the perk burnt itself out after he put the mana into the formation. As for what the formation did, well, the newly gained perks might explain that…
[Dimensional lord: ruler of their own pocket dimension. The dimension has a volume of 1000 cubic meters per level of host. Mana in the pocket dimension is immensely favorable to host and will increase effect of host actions. Host is bound to dimension, increasing in ability as the dimension grows, unlocking new perks, skills and attribute gains. Pocket dimension can be cultivated to enhance abilities. Pocket dimension automatically generates mana from virtual subspace based on size and complexity. +2 vitality, +2 strength, +10 attunement, +10 memory, +10 focus per level]
[primal chaos mana: a special form of mana composed of all elements. Grants access to Genesis magic. Increases effect of magic skills by (primal chaos affinity * 10%). Increases the effect of power skills by (primal chaos affinity *10%). +1 primal chaos affinity every 2 levels]
“So… that happened…”
Zeno had never heard of anything like these perks, especially the dimensional lord one. Primal chaos mana was something common at exceedingly high levels, with most extremely powerful creatures having something similar. Dimensional lord on the other hand was completely unique. Zeno could not recall a single mention of a perk that gave you an actual dimension. One that grew with you nonetheless. He had heard of a few incredibly rare cases of weapons that grew along with their owners, but those were things like swords or armor or guns, not a literal pocket dimension.
Not to mention those attribute increases. It's rare for a single perk to grant a +1 to and attribute per level, while dimensional lord adds a total of 14 to base attributes and 10 to focus, the equivalent of +5 to will. You would need over 20 common perks to get that many stats per level up.
Zeno probably would have stared for a bit longer if it wasn't for the fact that the system soon chimed in.
[light spell level up]
The light spell was something Zeno used constantly, getting up to level 4 after countless hours. Now it leveled up after a few minutes. The description of dimensional lord said that it would increase the effect of the hosts actions, which could possibly include the rate you got proficiency in a skill.
Given this knowledge, and having no idea how long he would be stuck in this little pocket dimension, Zeno decided to put it to use and unlock Genesis magic. Of course to actually unlock a kind of magic, you had to know what it did, and Zeno could only make an educated guess based on the name. He began to will his mana out and focus it onto a point in front of him, willing something into existence. Zeno continuously poured mana at the limit of his mana control, which should have drained him completely in a little over a second. However, he found that the mana in his little pocket dimension replenished anything he spent almost instantaneously. He ended up channeling mana for a little under an hour, outputting around a quarter of a million mana, and creating a small green cube with rounded edges, as it the universe supplied the most generic object it could…
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[genesis magic unlocked]
Zeno wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't an object so perfectly generic. Either way, it he obtained the genesis spell, and can now worry about other things, like how long the air would last him in this room. Admittedly that would last a while given the large space of the room, but if he finds himself stuck for a few days…
So zeno decided to keep practicing genesis magic, and see if that could create stuff like food, water, or oxygen. Interestingly enough, it actually took a lot less mana than the previous green cube, possibly because Zeno actually knew what he wanted to create. He could feel a gentle breeze as he created oxygen, as well as only taking minutes instead of hours to make a good sized hot dog and about a liter of water straight into his mouth.
So, worst case scenario he lives the rest of his life inside a 10 meter by 10 meter by 10 meter box, given he isnt driven mad by lonelyness and commits suicide first…
“Ok, priority 1: get out”
So he began to create some materials to try and make another diagram that would hopefully bring him home, leveling genesis magic to 3 in the process, while light leveled up to 6. Now, using his knowledge of the arcane and telekinesis to make another diagram he began to write across the floor and walls, making repeated symbols for traveling as well as old symbols for earth, while using various symbols to denote the geography of his home town, getting a new “array creation” skill, while leveling telekinesis to 7.
Pouring mana into it caused it to glow, but instead of taking Zeno home it just gave him a welcome, but unhelpful message
[level up!]
Of course there really wasn't much he could do, so he began to look through his status screen noting the changes, and given that he has 8 perk points to spend decided to try and see what he could get.
[perks available: dimensional obelisk, worldly influence, primal creation]
[primal creation 0/100: using primal chaos mana, the cost of the genesis spell is divided by primal chaos affinity. +1 primal chaos affinity per 2 levels]
[worldly influence 0/70: all sentients within the pocket dimension will have their opinions of the host improved slowly]
[dimensional obelisk 0/100: creates a small obelisk linked to the users dimension. This obelisk can be used to enter and exit the dimension at will, as well as absorbing creatures and substances into the pocket dimension to develop it. It also functions as a weapon, protecting the user and growing along with the dimension]
Zeno put his points into dimensional obelisk almost immediately. It may have taken many more points than he had at the moment, but given the rate he gained proficiency within the pocket dimension, he felt he could do it if he put his mind to it, even if it took a few days…
“This might take a while…”
Soon enough Zeno went to rest up against a wall, thinking of several different skills he could gain and level quickly. Genesis was certainly near the top of the list, along with perhaps telekinesis since those would probably be the most useful. Perhaps a few crafting skills would come in handy, given the fact that he will never want for raw materials. So maybe forging, carpentry, definitely some alchemy…
Of course those need things other than simple materials, heat for forging and alchemy, a way to cut with carpentry, both cases where he could learn another skill to level up at the same time.
Of course doing all of those in such a limited space probably wouldn't be the best idea. So zeno looked at the wall behind him, thinking about how he could expand…
[would you like to expand dimension in this direction?]
A quick yes later and zeno found the room to have expanded another 10 meters in the direction of the wall. Spending a few hours to separate both sections with a wall and building himself a small forge/lab he got to work on creating a fire based spell. The spark spell was good for starting fires, but its small area and short duration made it impractical for anything other that starting a campfire. If he intended to actually use a spell to provide the heat for forging he would have to make a different spell entirely. Come to think of it, if this spell would be used exclusively for crafting, it would probably be a good idea to add an enchantment to enhance and refine whatever goes through the flame.
The enchantment could be something simple such as just strengthening the materials in a process like tempering steel, but that wouldn't be as universally useful as a flame that endows the product with some form of extra effect, like a flame that automatically alloys two materials together. However such a flame would be much more complicated to create. The idea zeno had in mind was a flame that would enhance the natural properties of whatever it touched, making swords sharper, springs bouncier, acid more corrosive, etc…
Zeno began to think of his primal chaos mana, which enhanced both his magic abilities and any “power” abilities he gained in the future, meaning abilities based more on using mana with the body instead of the mind. The primal chaos mana seemed to be were other kinds of mana evolved from, and thus seemed to be able to change to be more applicable to whatever it was used on. Of course a flame like that would seem to be very difficult to design and control, but since Zeno would effectively just be imbuing his mana into whatever he was crafting through the flame, most of the work would already be done.
So Zeno got to work on making an array that tried to illustrate his plans for his new spell. The array worked a bit like training wheels, guiding the magic in such a way as to take the desired effect through symbols and images. Of course, that doesn't mention the difficulty of actually finding a good symbol for what he wanted to accomplish. After all, how does one symbolize growth, change or even chaos itself for that manner. Zeno tried quite a few things, from a blooming flower to a diagram of the four seasons, to an infinity symbol, but none did the trick. Change was fundamentally about going from one state to another, something inherently impossible to depict in a static symbol.
Zeno decided to try creating the raw materials for when he eventually decided to start crafting. He’d already gained a few levels in array creation, but couldn't find a single static symbol for change. He thought of as many transitions between states as he could, from life or death, hot or cold, on or off, happy or sad, light or dark, etc… but none seemed to do the trick.
He saw as different materials emerged from nothing, brought about through the magic of the genesis spell. It was only afterwards that an epiphany came. If it was impossible to represent change with a single static symbol, use more than one symbol.
And so he began a new array. This one had a small diagram of fire at its core, while to the “east” as Zeno arbitrarily decided, were a bunch of raw materials, like stone, coal, sulphur, iron, wood, and others, while the “west” had several finished products, like knives and hammers, vials of chemicals, a wooden chair, and more, while the “north” and “south” had general symbols of improvement and good luck, such as joyful faces, plus signs, shooting stars, and four leaf clovers all surrounding the fire diagram and making a sort of “forge” connected by random wavy lines. The lines connecting the materials and products to the core of the formation all had arrow points that went from the raw materials, through the fire and to the finished product.
Forcing mana into the array caused a small, multicolored flame to appear in the middle. Studying the idea behind the flame, Zeno brought a small lump of diamond made by the genesis spell from his pocket. Using telekinesis, he brought the diamond into the flames to test whether the diamond would burn up like a lump of coal as a regular diamond would or whether the diamond would be forgeable.
Interestingly enough it was a bit of both. The diamond started to burn, but the raw materials placed around the array seemed to be sucked towards it. As sulphur, steel, coal, wood, and other raw materials rushed into the flames, the mass seemed to compress itself, developing a pseudo-gravitational pull that dragged the finished products on the other side over and into the flames as well.
[emerging chaos ignition unlocked]