User: Claff:
Health 280/280
Stamina 250/280
Mana 900/900
Achievements
Slime Slayer!
Quests [1]
Monster Hit List
* Wolves 0/10
* Hobgoblins 0/10
* Killer Kobolds 0/10
* Giant Slimes 0/10
* Skeletons 0/10
Optional
* Orcs 0/∞
* Ogres 0/∞
* Trolls 0/∞
* Spiders 0/∞
* Dire Wolves 0/∞
* Dire Rats 0/∞
* Dire Spiders 0/∞
Party [0]
Equipment
Ring of Mana Regeneration (+20%)
Slime Bracelet (+500 mana )
Ring of Ball of Light
Ring of Stone Bullet
SKILLS
PASSIVE
Enhanced Body Lv 9 [22%]
Increased Mental Capacity Lv15 [10%]
Regeneration Lv16 [19%]
ACTIVE
Arcane Magic Lv 12 [65%]
Barrier Magic Lv 12 [50%]
Game-like Storage Lv11 [4%]
Storage (10/24)
1 g 9s 77 c
1. Bowie knife
2. 25 shirts (varied colors, cloth)
3. 10 pants (cloth)
4. 10 underwear (5 boxers, 5 sock pairs )
5. 43 rations (varied flavors)
6. 15 Potions (varied)
7. Leather armor set
8. 5 books
9. Water skin
10. Camping gear (tent, placemat, sleeping bag)
The first run through Slime dungeon gave me 15 slime boss cores. After that, it took me 21 more runs to get my bracelet to +500 mana. Technically I could've had +506, but that would’ve bugged me to an indescribable degree, and I didn't feel like carrying around six cores until I came back to bring it up to +1000.
Damn, I'm so close to having 1000 mana. It’s so close I can taste it. I’ve only been here for a day. I could do another few runs, right?
I kept wanting to convince myself to finish the bracelet, but I knew if I started at just a few more, I'd keep going until I had the full thousand upgrade.
I started my run back before I could stop myself. Rather than go to the guild hall, I went to the herbal field I used to farm with Grifith. It was time I asked him to join my party.
Why am I so nervous? It’s not like he’s a stranger. We’ve been working together for a while. It’s only been a few days since I last saw him.
And a lot has happened in those few days. Example one being i now had over 500 more mana than I did the last time I saw him.
I made it to the field just in time for Grifith to take his lunch break. He looked surprised to see me, even more surprised to see the rings on my hands.
“The prodigal son returns. What’s up man. Ready to go for a run?” He gave an evil grin at that.
“Har har. No. I’m actually here to ask you to join me for a quest. It’s my silver Rank promotion test.” He cringed immediately.
“For starters, I have no clue how you’ve gotten to THAT point already, But i think i’ll have to pass. I’m more than comfortable where I am, just farming this one goblin, and collecting some herbs. It’s a comfortable life, and it pays well. Although judging from those rings you’re wearing, you seem to be making more than enough money for yourself.”
“Oh come on, you don’t even want to hear what the quest is going to be? We just gotta kill a couple of monsters. The hardest part about the quest is going to be traveling. Just a couple of days to get there, a couple of days to kill the monsters - a week tops - then a couple of days back. It’s really not that bad.”
Except we’d be going to the Dark Forest.
“Except we’d be going to the Dark Forest.”
Can he read minds?!
“Okay, you got me there. But you know about my barrier skill. We can sleep under the barriers. With your detection skill, we’d have everything killed in no time. WHat do you say?”
“Claff. I really don’t want to. I’m seriously happy here. Besides, it wouldn’t count as a promotion test for me, only you. I’d have t-” I interrupted him.
“Actually, Bran said whoever I get to go with me will be able to consider this their promotion test too. So it would count for you.”
He looked shocked again.
“I see. But still, who would be here to kill the daily Goblin spawn?”
“We can kill stronger spawns in the forest. It would be better practice for our skills, We’d get more money for it, and we’d get promoted to Silver Rank.” I put extra emphasis on the rank.
He looked to finally be coming around!
“Alright. But before I say yes, I need to know the details of the quest. I’m not going in there just to get myself killed.”
“That’s perfectly fair.” I pulled up my quest UI. “We have to kill Wolves, Hobgoblins, Killer Kobolds, Giant Slimes, and Skeletons. Ten of each. There's also bonus monsters that don’t necessarily count, but we might encounter them so we’ll get credit for killing them.”
“See, here’s the thing. The monsters you just listed are fine and all, but those bonus monsters are going to be the end of us. I can’t do it man, I'm too happy with what i got to be throwing it all away.”
I thought better of you Grifith. But-
“If that’s how you feel, then I won't push you. I’m heading out the day after tomorrow after breakfast, just in case you change your mind. I’ll wait at the southern gate for an hour, then I'll be heading out after that.” I let him know my plans.
“I won’t change my mind about this. But thank you for thinking of me. Come back alive, alright?”
Disappointing. But it is what it is.
I left him alone and started my journey back to Silface. I had preparations to make.
Wait. Actually, I'm done with preparations. I don't really have anything to do until my robe is ready.
I went to the enchanter’s guild and sold some more mana. Paris was surprised I went from selling 600 to 800. He made the adjustments to his machine, I made my deposit, and he handed me 40 silver.
Might as well see what type of things he has to sell while I’m here. Soon enough I’ll be getting a whole gold coin for every deposit I make.
“So Paris, what items do you have for sale? I’ve seen the goods at the store of the man who brought me here, but that’s the most of what i've seen.” I showed him the rings I got.
“These are good rings for beginners, and they can serve you well into the advancement of your adventuring career. The best of what I can create is sold as national treasures, and the rest are either private sales for quite the coin, or not even worth mentioning.”
“That’s quite the non answer, but okay. What private sale could you make for me? Maybe I can offer to pay in mana, or if you have experiments that require pure mana, I could offer my services?”
Paris smiled. “I appreciate your offer, however, you are still too inexperienced for the test I'd need your skills for. Tell me, if you don’t mind. What level is your Arcane Magic skill? Your Barrier Magic skill?”
“Both are level 12. But they're also growing quickly too. I’m sure in no time I'll be able to do something. But I guess that’s for the future.” I felt rather glum about learning that I won't be getting any fancy new equipment.
Oh well. One of these days I'll get it. Not that I even know what it is I might want.
“Tell me Claff, how much research have you done into your skill?”
Oof. Practically none. I bought that book of skills and descriptions, but i haven’t actually read it yet. I only know what I remember from when I picked my skills originally, and that was before my memory was enhanced by Increased Mental Capacity. I remember practically nothing, except the occasional blurb.
“I know that Arcane Magic is one of the stronger hitters when it comes to casting spells, but I also know that the mana requirements are much higher than elemental magic skills.”
“Yes, but what do you know of the spells you will learn at higher levels? As an enchanter, I had many teachers that told me what I could look forward to as I leveled my skill. See, every Fire Magic is the same. The same with Water Magic, Wind Magic, and every other skill. You are guaranteed to get the same spells that anyone else would get if they got that skill.
Level one Fire Magic is Firebolt. It costs 5 mana, and has a two second casting time. The cost and casting time decreases as the skill levels, until the user gets Fireball at level 5. Everyone who knows magic will learn this eventually, but most schools of magic will follow a similar pattern until level 20. Then the spells will become more specialized for that particular school, and the levels will become harder to get. There is a qualitative change in what a person learns as they grow. Arcane Magic has its own separate set of spells though.”
I feel like I should be taking notes. This is one hell of a lecture.
He continued.
“My question to you is, do you know what spells are available in your higher levels? Do you want to know what level 13 holds for you? 14? I can tell you if you want, but I will admit you seem to have a pretty damn good grasp on your magic, despite not having a teacher to guide you in the proper way to use the spells you learn.”
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“Before I decide, how do you know what spells come up in my skill? I haven’t heard of another user of Arcane Magic.” Bran mentioned he’s done some stuff in his past, but does that mean I can't trust him?
“I have lived for a very long time. I had a friend, oh about a thousand years ago now? He also wielded Arcane Magic, though from what I heard from Bran, your way of using your Barrier Magic is quite disturbing. Robbing the monsters you encage of their stamina until they are no longer able to move? Quite impressive. I don’t think anyones ever done that before.”
“Yes and no. With my last level, I can now rob caged monsters of health, stamina, and mana all at the same time. Every point I steal from them goes towards strengthening the barrier I put around them.”
“That- I don’t think you realize how scarily effective that is.”
I couldn’t help but smile.
“It’s my own unique way of using magic. I use what I learn in what I feel is the most reliable way I know. Then I make adjustments as I go, taking into consideration what I know of the monsters.”
I told him of my first time letting the Giant Slime boss enter its second phase, and how I started surrounding the monster after that, pushing to get underneath it so it can’t melt the ground to get out.
“Scary. Ingenious. And again, impressive. Maybe I won't tell you your future spells then. I’d love to see what you come up with. How did you like the Charge and Moderation modifiers? No other skill grants those two. The other level 11 and 12 skills deal with area of effect skills, though you already have one of those, don't you? What was it again? Arcane Explosion? Yes, that’s it.”
Damn, maybe he’s telling the truth.
“Okay, okay, you’ve got me. So what spell modifier can I look forward to for level 13 and 14? The longer I have to think about how to use it, the better I'll be with what I get. I have to figure at some point I'll get a modifier to let me cast multiple spells at once.. Maybe a modifier that lets me use ritualistic magic with other people? That would be cool.”
Paris had a shocked expression for a split second before cooling his face. I almost missed it.
“Very intuitive. Yes, level 14 of your Arcane Magic skill will allow you to cast multiples of the same spell at the same time. Though it will take an enormous mental toll on you to do so. I recommend getting plenty of practice in doing so before you try doing it in battle. It can leave you with a headache almost as bad as learning spells from leveling up.”
“I see. That seems useful. How about level 13? What will my next spell modifier be?” This information is just too damn good.
“I’ll let you figure that one out on your own. I feel I've spoiled too much for you as it is. But when you reach level 20, make sure you stop by. I have a few experiments I'd like to run with that particular skill.” He seemed to waver between his suspicious behavior and his normal behavior.
“No promises, but I'll see what I can do.”
Paris clammed up after that. I bid farewell and followed Hood back to the entrance.
At this point, I feel my best course of action is to go read up on the monsters I'll be hunting. Wolves and Hobgoblins are pretty self explanatory, but how am i supposed to kill a skeleton? It’s already dead!
Turns out that I need to either completely destroy the skull, or I need to use some sort of holy/light magic.
Will my light ball ring be enough? I guess I could downcast my arcane explosion right in its eye socket. But I'll have to be a lot closer to it than I'd like to to do that.
The skeleton wasn’t the only monster with a specific kill requirement on the list Bran gave me.
“Trolls are monsters with incredibly self healing abilities. The best plan of action is to burn it using fire magic. Have a melee blade wielder remove a limb, then have the fire caster use their magic to cauterize the wound, stopping the monster from rapidly regrowing its missing limb.”
That was the official method of killing a Troll. Use fire or fire magic.
I could always go back and grab the ring or fire bolt, but I won't have a “blade wielding melee fighter” with me. I could try my barrier magic and drain its resource pools. And if its regeneration is enough that the barrier can’t kill it, at least the troll will be trapped and unable to attack me.
The rest of the monsters seemed pretty cut and dry. ‘Deal enough damage to vital organs and the monster will die’ kind of situation. So basically, and empowered Mana Bolt to the head and I'll be good.
The scariest monsters in my list at the moment were the Dire Wolves and the Dire Rats. They both seemed to be pack creatures that rarely traveled alone. I know they’re both - along with the troll - on the optional list for my quiet, but the fact that they’re on the list at all means I will probably have to deal with them at some point during my ventures into the Dark Forest.
A lone man stands against an army of monsters. Who will prevail: The nerd who played too many video games in his past life, or the monsters who were born specifically to kill?
I felt a little cynical all of a sudden.
Why is Bran trying so hard to get me promoted? I’ve done nothing that should be of interest to him. All i’ve done since getting thai this world is spawn kill the same goblin over and over, then solo a dungeon. He had no reason to even know who I am. So what does he want from me?
Yah know, i really could just keep farming that goblin with Grifith. Hagrid even said it himself, I could be a street hobo for all he cared. This is my life to do with what I want. I don’t owe anyone anything.
I kept telling myself that, but I knew in my heart, I couldn't stand to be lazy that way. The goblin was always just a way to get some money while I trained my skills. I was always going to try to stand out, try to be the best I could be.
I slapped myself.
There’s no way that I'm psyching myself out of this. This is my chance to move up in the world. I'm about to be a silver plate adventurer, damn it!
The rest of my time in Silface was spent studying the bestiary i bought. I wanted to know about as many monsters as I could that lived in the Dark Forest.
Ugh I hate spiders.
Apparently the marker for where the Dark Forest starts is determined by the thickness of the webs in the canopy of trees, when the webs are so thick that even light can’t get through to reach the ground. It’s supposed to make the whole area rather creepy.
Maybe I'll get that firebolt ring and just light the webs on fire. Then I'll get credit for killing all the monsters in the forest.
I laughed at the simplicity of my idea, but knew that would likely be impossible. Otherwise someone would’ve done it already, and continued to do it regularly to keep the population of monsters low.
Oh sweet, apparently the heads of the spiders are their weak spots. That and their large abdomens. My guided mana bolts should make killing them pretty easy. The same goes for the Dire Spiders, which seem to just be a bigger version of the regular spider monster. Though the Dire versions of all the monsters seem to be stronger in general.
I kept reading for the rest of the night. I even brought my book out when I was eating dinner at Half Moon so as to get more information on what’s in the area.
Thaggerd gave me an extra large portion of orc meat this time, along with some steamed root vegetables and a large mug of some kind of beer. I made sure to leave a silver coin on the table for my tip.
I finished my food Then went to my room. I put my book away and decided to do some barrier training to waste some time. I started with putting a Basic Barrier in front of the door. Then I started to stretch it out, covering the whole wall.
My previous barrier manipulations have always been sort of instinctual, but I was trying to be more deliberate with my casting this time.
I extended the barrier more to cover the wall on the right, then moved it to include the left wall and the far wall. After that, I added the floor and the ceiling of the room to completely cover the room in my barrier. This barrier was a little taller than what I had done in the Lizardman Dungeon, But the other dimensions were about what fit the first groups I had trapped and drained of their mana and stamina.
I walked around the room, examining the barrier for any flaws that might be able to be exploited. Nothing jumped out at me as being a weakness, so I released the barrier.
Now for the fun part. I grinned at the thought of my plan.
I formed a 3 mana barrier a few inches off of the ground, making sure that it wouldn’t let me pass through it. Then I took a careful step, putting a bit of weight on it. The barrier supported my weight with no problem. I added more weight slowly, constantly checking the barrier’s pattern for signs of stress. I saw none, so put my whole weight on it.
The barrier held.
Step 1: Success!
I then cast another barrier a few inches in front of my foot, making it small enough to not be a hindrance, but large enough to fit my foot firmly on top of it.
I took the second step, then made a third and a fourth, each one going only four inches higher than the last. I made a total of 12 basic barriers until my head was basically touching the ceiling.
FUCK YES! Now I have a rough method of at least getting off the ground. It’s not exactly flying, but it’s good to have in case of a falling emergency. This method of barrier use would also be good for stopping flying monsters from escaping.
With another quasi-weapon added to my arsenal, I wrapped a barrier completely around the room and packed it full of 800 points of mana. This would be the second to last night of sleep in Half Moon for a while, and I intended to enjoy it uninterrupted. I was tempted to add the Drain, Siphon, and Leech effects to the barrier for extra security/practice, but decided against it.
The next morning, I went to the enchanter’s guild to sell my mana again and left without much conversation. It seems Paris was serious about me learning how to use my magic on my own.
I went to the adventurer’s guild next to check in with Sarah and Duke. I waved at Luke as I passed him, but he was busy with another adventurer to notice me.
“I’m baaaack. Yall miss me?” Sarah and Duke were chatting at the front desk, apparently waiting for customers to come in for the day.
“About time. Your robes should be finished around lunch today.” Sarah smirked and said, “How’d it go at Slime dungeon? Did you get to +a million mana yet?”
“Not quite, but maybe one day. Right now though, it’s at +500 mana. I’m looking pretty good for the moment.” I made a couple of barriers for me to stand on as I approached them.
Duke looked at me curiously from behind the counter. “How are you taller? Like, easily 4 or 5 inches taller than the last time you were here.”
Sarah looked down and saw what I was doing. She burst out laughing, and I dismissed the barrier. I fell the 4 inches I had given myself and landed smoothly. Which is to say I stumbled and had to catch myself on the counter so I didn't fall. This only egged her on to laugh harder.
“I have no clue what you mean. I’ve always been this tall,” I said as I righted myself.
He chuckled and said, “Sure, bud. Sure.” Sarah just kept laughing.
I made small talk with Duke for a bit so Sarah could compose herself. Then I made a barrier on the ground for her to stand on too. She saw it and was hesitant to stand on it until I distracted Duke.
“Hey Duke, what’s that on the shelves behind you? I never asked before.”
He turned around and started showing off various little knick knacks that honestly looked pretty cool.
While he was turned to grab the second pieces he was going to show me, Sarah stood up on the barrier. It made her go from about as tall as my shoulder to half way up my head. Not significant, but noticeable if someone was paying attention.
Duke obviously wasn’t. He kept showing me his wares. I was tempted to buy one that was essentially a flash grenade, but I had my light ring that I had a few ideas on how to use to a similar extent, including a downcast Arcane Explosion.
He went on for a few minutes, in which Saraha was poorly containing her laugh. I eventually added two more barriers for her to stand on, after which she was officially taller than I was.
After what felt like forever, Duke finally said “What is so funny!” Then he saw how much taller Sarah was. “How are you doing that?!” he exclaimed.
I made a few barriers for her to step down from as she was back to laughing. I told him what I was doing, and got a good kick out of it too.
I spent the rest of the morning wasting time with them. When it was almost time for lunch, Sarah went to the back to check on the progress of my robes.
I was tempted to get the other set of robes while I was here, but I remembered Sarah saying they were pretty expensive, so I passed on it.
She brought my robes out and I tried them back on. They fit just as perfectly as before.
“Well damn. I’ll be leaving for the Dark Forest first thing in the morning. I feel like I'm missing something though.” I pondered outloud.
“Well, you have plenty of food.” Duke started listing. “You should be plenty good on water as well, since you bought the 300 gallon skin not too long ago. You should have plenty of potions, especially since I picked them out myself. Your camping gear should still be fine, since you’ve only used it the one night.”
“Your robe is in perfect condition, though you haven’t paid for it yet.” Sarah added. I gave her 20 silver coins. But I still felt like I was missing something.
“Have you learned all your spells for your skills? You should do that before leaving.” Duke mentions spells, but that wasn’t it. I’m up to date on everything.
“Oh well, I'll make due. I’ll see you guys when I get back. I still have 27 days until I need to turn the quest in, so I'll make the most of my time out there. Although I only have enough food for 2 weeks. Meh, I can stretch it with monster drops if I need to.”
Duke laughed at me mentioning food. “Dude, very few people carry as much food as you do. You should be plenty fone for 2 weeks, but if you want to add some more, nobody has bought any today. We’re fully stocked at the moment.”
I grinned and started pulling out all the blue bags of rations they had. I added another 40 ration kits to my collection before Duke stopped me.
“Fuck dude, i didn’t think you’d want to take EVERYTHING! Now I gotta go refill that. Bastard.”
He punched my arm and I handed him 8 silver for everything.
“So now I'm good for 4 weeks. I’ll be taking my dear sweet time at this rate. Hey Sarah, got any more 300 gallon water skins i can buy?” She rolled her eyes at me and shooed me off. I gave them both a hug and left to talk smack with Luke. He probably has a few words of wisdom to give me before I leave.
“You’re a dumbass for going alone, and you better come back alive. Bitch.”
Words of wisdom indeed. I went to Half Moon to get some last minute reading done before leaving on my journey in the morning.
I got up before sunrise, fully rested and ready to go. I ate my breakfast and headed to the southern gate. I wasted my mana throwing empowered mana bolts off into the sky, waiting just like I told Grifith I would. An hour later, he was still a no show.
I pulled my map up and oriented myself to aim right at the Dark Forest. I took my first step outside of the gate when I heard someone call out.
“Leaving so soon?”