“Cloud, you are a genius!”
Zeke was once again amazed and in awe at his magic master’s wisdom. He wondered whether Cloud would be a better user with his Barrier Craft, marveling at the machinations of what he could do with this sort of skill.
What Zeke witnessed before him was an impromptu kitchen, all of its appliances made entirely with his barrier magic. That included an oven, a stove, a small fridge, a freaking sink of all things, and several kinds of plates made with his own barriers used to eat meals.
One would think that this was utterly ridiculous. How in Tarial could two people make a kitchen in the middle of a cave with only the Barrier Craft skill?
With runes. Lots and lots and lots of fucking runes.
Thanks to Zeke’s levels and stats, pouring in as many runes for all of this was possible. Of course, this was all done under the supervision of Cloud who was not only ensuring Zeke doesn’t go too far, but to point out some things here and there with his more than advanced Runecraft skill, making the procedures ten times easier with Zeke’s skills.
Though he worked like mad to create as many runes with intricate arrays positioned as efficiently as possible, he hadn’t gained a single level. He did, however, gain something else.
> Mana Manipulation Level Up! It is now Level 2.
>
> You have gained +2 INT from your skill.
> You have gained +1 SPI from your skill.
…..
> Barrier Craft (E) Level Up! It is now Level 2.
>
> You have gained +2 INT from your skill.
> You have gained +2 SPI from your skill.
Seeing his two best skills level up is always great, especially now that he was gaining more stat points thanks to their advancement into their higher rarity. But what surprised him the most was something else.
> General Skill learned: Parallel Thought.
…..
> Parallel Thought (Uncommon), Level 1
> Your mind is quickened to the point where it splits up to focus better on different tasks at once. Increases your mental capacity to focus on several tasks at once. Your capabilities and speed of thought increases according to the level of the skill and the current Intelligence Stat.
It was one of those skills Zeke read about, enjoyed watching from the other side of the book or movie, but never thought he would actually gain it for himself. Since he focused a lot into using his floating pens which honestly split his head open every time he tried while making the runes, he ended up gaining a valuable new skill.
Something that even Cloud was impressed by. Most mages his age wouldn’t be able to develop such a skill so early. And he was talking about the age of the person, not the level or certain class. That was how hard the skill was to get despite its Uncommon rarity, just like with Steadfast Mind–skills that take a while to learn considering the difficulty of them.
He was glad as well since now he can easily make all four pens float automatically, practically without thought, and he swore he would make four different runes at once without issues. They wouldn’t be any good, of course, but he can just imagine just how powerful he would once he put his all into it.
But despite his advanced ability to make magic better, he still marveled at the impromptu kitchen for himself.
The runes were barely seen, and only the turquoise color of his barriers were made present. Apparently aesthetics was an important job for Runists as well, much to Zeke’s chagrin on the matter. Still, he felt more at awe seeing a working stove made entirely out of his barrier, the runes working to make the top part of the rectangular sized oven heat up like an actual stove. And after opening the compartment, one can see the entirety of the structure used to heat up meals like an actual oven would.
The same goes with the rest of the appliances, and of course that caught the attention of all the soldiers there.
“What is this…?” One of the soldiers asked in awe.
“Are they planning on cooking for us?” Another replied.
“Oh thank gods, I’m starving. Reaching Expert doesn’t help at all…”
Apparently, the higher the level and the more stats one acquired, the more of their needs increased. That goes from hunger, sleep, to anything a human body requires. Of course, thanks to mastering their bodies with leveling, they can put it off in case of battle. As of right now, however, all these hungry Expert-staged users were looking at the mages with want in their eyes.
“Gotta say Cloud, I’m not sure if I can feed them all like this…” Zeke said with a nervous chuckle, and Cloud joined him before Mikella came along.
“I’ll help with the cooking. You two just help me out on this weird kitchen you made.”
The two mages nodded in agreement, Mikella’s cooking skills just as good as Val and Cloud’s. While Cloud is a decent cook, Mikella had more experience in diversifying meals thanks to her athletic training for dietary reasons. The soldiers eagerly waited, apparently didn’t divulged enough in the culinary arts along with their training their training. Some were focused heavily on improving their fighting styles, so naturally they didn’t have much time.
And they did exactly that as they cooked. The tempting scent of meat sizzling and stock bubbling in a pot made them want to focus harder on distracting themselves in mock spars. That was also a good way to rest, in a sense, assuring yourself with a nice exercise without thinking about losing your life.
Val usually helped out in the kitchen even when it was Cloud’s turn to cook back at the house, but she went around to help some of the soldiers who were lacking in their training. Having someone like the kind Captain giving them pointers was something the Zacharia unit was clearly ecstatic about. Even while waiting for the meal to prep, Zeke watched Val move about ever so smoothly and gracefully, he couldn’t imagine seeing that side of her after the tower was done.
She really had recovered, something which he was thankful for. Once Mikella eventually did her duty and got in to get some practice swings against Val along with Myra, he went back to cooking.
Since there was a lot of soldiers to feed, he decided to use his barriers as a makeshift tool for getting ingredients in and out of sight, even using them as plates before dunking the ingredients into the pot at a low angle to avoid spilling the hot water, the liquid created from the rune on the makeshift sink. As for where the water was going after it was used, another rune makes them evaporate just as quickly–truly, a marvel of magical plumbing.
His Parallel Thought skill was already proving its worth as Zeke felt like he was being a five man chef team all by himself. But when Zeke was peeling off the skins of the potatoes, or at least the fantasy version of it being freaking green instead of the usual brown, Cloud spoke up after a while.
“Zeke… You’re worried about losing control, aren’t you?”
He stopped with his peeling and looked back at Cloud. He was still heavily focused on cutting the potatoes Zeke peeled into smaller chunks.
“With your attunement, I mean. I know it’s hard, especially with all this,” He gestured at the scenery around him. “And you have every reason to be afraid, but you shouldn't be in the way you think.”
“What are you…?” Zeke tried to ask, but he trailed and just let Cloud continue.
“You’re worried because of your accident, you’ll lose control of your spells. You already know what will happen if that starts occurring. But I know you can’t just immediately become confident. It’s just not in our nature to immediately forget our worries.”
He listened intently as Cloud continued cutting the potatoes. It was all precisely cut into perfect cubes, nearly impossible in normal human standards at that speed.
“So here’s a bit of advice for you. When it comes to that, sometimes it’s better not to focus on magic, at least for a while.”
“So… you mean like taking up a hobby or something?” Zeke asked, raising his brow. “But then how will I improve?”
“It may not have to be a hobby. You can still improve yourself if that’s what you wish. But sometimes magical folks like us need to take a step back and reconfigure ourselves. If we keep going with our doubts and worries, it’ll start affecting us slowly and surely, like a poison. Unless you’re the type to plunge straight into magical research like a few mages I know in the past, it’s better for you to take a step back and breathe.”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Once Cloud was finished cutting up the potatoes, he looked back at Zeke. His striking blue eyes came into the scene as he spoke with a small smile.
“And something tells me that you’re not the type to do that. At least that’s what I saw in your eyes when you wanted to try out the training course.”
He was stunned at the remark. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say, even his hands were paused during the moment of peeling.
In the first place, Zeke hadn’t really chosen to be a mage, not truly. It was more out of necessity. Sure, he loves magic, and he loves to learn.
But if he were to make a choice in this world on his own, without being forced to pick a role for survival instead of for his own passion, would he still pick a support mage? Would it even be a mage at all?
The more he recalled how much fun Mikella and everyone else was having at the training course, or at least from the looks of their ecstatic faces when they made some sort of progress with their training, the more he felt that bitter ache in his chest. He thought it was just unreasonable, but apparently, it may not be so now.
The thing is… what is he gonna do about it?
“I’ll tell you this though,” Cloud pointed at the potatoes in Zeke’s hands. “You’re doing pretty good. That Dexterity stat is making good work on it.”
Zeke looked back at the potato in his hand. Now that he thought about it, he was using a knife rather than the normal peeler tool in the old world, so it would naturally be a little harder.
But he found the process almost automatic, his hands working so smoothly and barely taking even a crumb of the potato as he peeled the skins off with ease. It just felt so natural to him that he didn’t notice it before.
And it felt almost therapeutic, even. He had a goal in mind, and there was no need to think. No use in trying to control his mana to avoid burning out or to make an utter mess. It was just the result of his hands at work, something which he has full control over.
Nodding to himself, Zeke continued on. This time, he went with even more fervor on prepping the food as the soldiers were just about done with their training.
…..
Everyone had their meals and rested up for the following night. After that was done, the group picked themselves up to keep going down the long hole to this famed biodome.
What they haven’t realized is just how far they had to go. According to the scout by their side, she said that it took several hours of long-flight to find something even remotely interesting, and Zacharia assumed it to be a biodome. That sounded like horseshit to Zeke and Mikella, because they had to rest up for about two more days when the process kept going.
They slept, then traveled. They rested and sparred, then traveled again.
Eventually, one person finally asked the big question that everyone was most likely thinking. It’s from the guy who made this hole.
“How deep does this go on?!”
Zeke shouted as he couldn’t handle the long trip. Despite his shout, nobody really seemed to react to him. If anything, they agreed silently.
It was one thing to create a giant hole, but even he didn’t think that his power could reach literally this far down. Thankfully, Cloud came up to explain.
“It’s most likely that it connected us to another channel underground, rather than you straight up digging through. Notice the small holes here and there?”
While Cloud said they were small, in truth from this distance, they were as big as trucks that could pass through with ease. But now that Zeke noticed them, he realized that the entire hole they were in expanded a little, if not just off angle. According to the witnesses, his power went straight up, so surely it went straight down too. It wouldn’t make sense that there were some parts here and there that seemed to go on horizontally and diagonally rather than straight down vertically.
“Biodomes aren’t created naturally. They might even be able to shift the atmosphere around it, causing the entrance to it to be hidden away. It could result in traveling longer than normal, but really it was just closer than we expected. Biodomes are elusive areas compared to dungeons, and could act in accordance to defend themselves if possible.”
“So it’s like a living thing?” Mikella asked. “It knows when it’s in danger and when to run?”
“In short, possibly,” Cloud nodded. “Let’s just hope that it isn’t in our case. Zacharia, do you agree that if it was that kind of case, we’ll return back?”
“Of course,” Zacharia agreed, much to Zeke and Mikella’s surprise. “If the goal of reaching there normally is unachievable, then it would be a wasted venture. It’s better to return and keep fortifying the town than to go after something out of our reach. Of course, we still have to report to the kingdom regarding this find.”
Cloud nodded along as the group kept walking. However, before silence could take over again, one of the soldiers yelled out.
“Sir, my familiar caught something!”
It was a young woman, at least around Mikella’s age. Shoulder-length brown hair with intense yellow eyes called out. She had the appearance of a hunter, her clothes made up of leather armor dressed in green and black than the usual brown and black. She had as many tools on her person than even Mikella in her storage pack, ranging from pouches to sheathes alike. She had two fingers near the side of her head as she called out.
“What is it, Nina?” Zacharia turned back to face her. Nina is the scout in question that helped find the biodome.
Then, something slowly began to fly upwards towards them. For a moment, Zeke prepared himself to use his barrier, but he picked up that it wasn’t hostile. It was a small avian creature, with wings flapping hard to reach up to them. Once it did, it glided over to Nina’s shoulder and perched on it. It cooed, making a ‘whooing’ call as it tilted its head.
“An owl familiar…”
Zeke recalled reading about beast tamers, users that can control beasts and use their abilities in battle. It would make sense that a scout capable of taming a fast bird would be essential for any party. Plus, being an owl, it’s capable of seeing through the darkness with those wide eyes.
“Aww… it’s so cute,” Mikella whispered to Zeke, her eyes directly on the bird. “Clara would love that!”
“You think we should find a pet for her, then?” Zeke wondered aloud, putting Mikella into a serious thoughtful gaze.
“Mmmh… depends if it doesn’t grow too big. Then again, she prefers cats to dogs, so maybe birds aren’t her thing.”
“Aww, but dogs are cute too,” Zeke whined. He always wanted a dog in his old life.
Somehow the two kept talking about having pets for Clara to care for as Zacharia asked Nina for the information.
“Sir, it looks like we’re slowly approaching the biodome. But… according to Piggy, it’s a lot bigger than we previously noticed.”
D-Did she call her owl ‘Piggy’? Zeke wondered, catching that little tidbit. Does it eat like a pig or something?
“Can you estimate how big?” Zacharia asked.
“I’m sorry, I’m not very sure. Piggy had to escape before she could scope out the area any longer. The monsters there looked ferocious and I couldn’t identify their levels.”
“That’s alright, make sure you reward Piggy for the effort.”
Nina nodded gladly as she chirped slightly at her companion. Rubbing the feathers on the breast, she offered a small snack from one of the pouches which the owl pounced on immediately.
Zeke was stunned to find Zacharia so caring for the creature. Then again, who wouldn’t? It was cute as hell.
“This trip might take longer than normal, it seems,” Val said, realizing the implications of the large size.
Tilting his head, he thought deeply. At this point, he can’t help but think it’s not worth going in and out of the hole with how long it would take. However, an idea popped into his head. When Mikella looked at him, a hint of dread showed on her face.
“Zeke, you got that look on your face again. The one where it gets me nervous,” Mikella asked aloud, catching the others’ attention. “What do you have in mind?”
“Something that would help us get down faster. Alright!”
Zeke shouted as he stopped making the staircase downwards, leaving the group to stop in protest. Before they could complain or worse, push each other by accident, Zeke created a large platform of a barrier and stepped onto it.
“Get on over guys, we’re taking the faster way down.”
That immediately got the soldiers to hesitate. However, realizing the implications, the Journeyman users stepped over with ease. As they came along, so too did the soldiers. Of course, their own retinue consisting of Myra and the others followed along right after the Journeyman, though with a bit of hesitance on their faces.
Then, four pens suddenly appeared from his storage pack. Apparently with his control over them, he could easily bring them out into the physical world and place them back into the storage pack without using his hands. That, he knew for sure, would never get old for him.
His four pens, thanks to his Parallel Thought skill, flowed with ease as they started drawing with Zeke’s full attention on the runes. The other soldiers watched with awe at the work with Cloud, making sure to keep watch, nodded in approval despite the clear difficulty.
Of course, he already showed this off to Mikella about the skill, to which she just stated; ‘that’s just expected of you’. It kinda sucked the fun out of showing off to her.
Meanwhile, Zacharia’s retinue began clamoring about the situation.
“Zeke, what are we doing here?” Rajin the half-elf asked, looking down at the platform with a bit of trepidation.
“Don’t worry about it. Hopefully this will get us down fast. Oh, but I will affix all of you in your place so you won’t move. Make yourselves comfortable, and don’t worry, this won’t take awhile… hopefully.”
That immediately got the group to look back at him with raised brows, questions seemingly endless in their minds. Piker walked up to him, for once his face paling for an entirely different reason than his earlier sickly form.
“Zeke… you’re not saying we’re going down…the superball way, are you?”
Zacharia’s retinue froze in their places. To see Piker, the usually stoic man who could barely discern danger from normal life, was actually looking nervous at the barrier mage. However, the mage in question smiled with a hint of madness in his eyes.
“It’s gonna be better than that!”
Val smiled excitedly, clapping her hands together. “Ooh, I heard about the Superball! I always wanted to try it out at least once. The way Myra and Mikky talked about it sounded so fun!”
“It’s not as close, but it’s similar. Make sure to keep still and make a comfortable posture.”
As Zeke instructed, everyone grouped up evenly and made themselves perfectly comfortable. Then Zeke covered themselves with a layer of barrier over them, connecting to the platform like a dome. Once that was made, each person in the group noticed their bodies unable to move at all.
They shouted, clamoring nervously as they couldn't move at all. Though even if Zeke forced them to not move thanks to his special affixing feature, they had enough power to break through with their stats alone. Still, it wasn’t recommended.
As soon as everyone was in place, Zeke poured mana into the rune.
“Alright, get ready!” Zeke said, the barrier surrounding them beginning to glow slightly, the same glow as his eyes while looking down at the abyss below. “Going down!”
Then their stomachs dropped as the entire platform freefalled to the darkness below.