After a few rounds of practice, Liam felt satisfied with this new ability. The range was decent and the delay could be used as a surprise attack, or an additional attack depending on how he used it.
He knew though, after more practice and gaining more control and manipulation, it would be easier to use. For now, it was something he needed more practice and understanding of.
Chime sounds echoed in his mind as notifications appeared in front of him.
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“Congratulations! Mental Resilience – Whispers from Beyond has reached level 10! Progression to level 11: 17%! Your resistance to the Whispers of the beings hidden within the shadows has increased.”
“Congratulations! Shadow Hand has reached level 2! Progression to level 3: 100%!”
“Congratulations! Shadow Hand has reached level 3! Progression to level 4: 90%!”
“Congratulations! Mana Control has reached level 11! Progression to level 12: 1%!”
“Congratulations! Mana Manipulation has reached level 11! Progression to level 12: 1%!”
“Congratulations! Control over Shadow Mana has reached level 6! Progression to level 7: 0%!”
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As he closed his notification windows, Liam deactivated the ability and the shadow mana that was still coating his right hand and picked up the dagger that had dropped.
As he turned around, he took a step back in surprise as the others were staring at him. Some of their eyes were bewildered while the rest were eager with questions.
Before he could say anything, Mercer beat the rest to the punch and asked, “What was that? I saw the shadows start to form over your hands, so I thought you were practicing your Veil of Shadows ability. However, I saw it stop at your wrists and then your dagger shot up! When that hand made out of shadow appeared. I just knew…I just knew it had to be some ability. What was it!?”
“Yeah…about that…,” Liam started as he scratched his cheek. “Let’s take a seat.”
Eri laughed into Liam’s mind as his group gathered around.
He went over what he had discovered when his Mana Control and Mana Manipulation reached level ten. He left out Eri telling him about the method that he used. He claimed it to be something he came across but couldn’t remember where.
They didn’t call him out on it, but instead asked other questions.
“How did you get your Mana Control and Mana Manipulation up so high?” Roman questioned.
“I heard it’s a hard process to work on,” Mercer added as he looked up from his notebook.
“Mana Control and Mana Manipulation is part of some of the crafting processes for things like making toxins, and making mana potions in Alchemy, as well as Bone Crafting in my blacksmithing,” Liam started to explain.
“Using it for crafting is one thing, but that still shouldn’t bring it up to level ten so quickly. I could understand level five or six, but not ten,” Mercer stated with curious look.
“You’re right,” Liam started back up. “Since I was trying to incorporate it in bringing my daggers back to me in a sort of fighting style, I practice retrieving them. Also, when I have time back at the inn, I would practice lifting them and trying to pick up more than one or two. Once when I was able to get the third one that’s when it hit level ten.”
Everyone stared at Liam.
Feeling a bit uncomfortable, Liam asked, “What? What did I do this time?”
“You’re supposed to be relaxing, not practicing,” Ariyana stated with a disapproving look. “You’re still pushing yourself.”
“I agree with Ariyana,” Avery said.
The rest nodded their heads in agreement.
“But this is relaxing to me,” Liam said. “Working on my Mana Control and Mana Manipulation has always helped me sit down and relax.”
“But you’re still working your mental capacities to the limit,” Blair stated. “That’s not relaxing.”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Fine, I was going to stop for the night anyways,” Liam said with mild annoyance as he opened his inventory.
He noticed he was down to two mana potions and decided what he was going to do next.
“I’ll just do something else that helps relax me,” Liam stated.
“What’s that?” Artem asked.
“Alchemy,” Liam answered with a smile on his face. “I need to make some more Mana Potions.”
“Liam!” the others suddenly shouted, making Liam leap a bit in his seat.
“What!?” Liam questioned, confused why they shouted.
“Doesn’t making Mana Potions require you to use Mana Control and Mana Manipulations?” Avery asked with a brow raised.
“Yes, but…,” Liam started.
“No buts,” Mercer scolded. “You need to relax. Not work more.”
“I’m not going to be using anything related to my Mana though,” Liam said with a frustrated look.
“What do you mean?” Blair asked with a confused expression.
“I have vials filled with mana filled liquid that I took care of before we came here,” Liam informed. “All it requires is me to finish it and I don’t need to use mana or anything.”
The others eyed Liam carefully. They didn’t see any hints of lying within his eyes.
After a few seconds of silence, Mercer finally caved and said, “Fine, but you’re not allowed to do anything that will drain you physically or mentally.”
“Fine,” Liam stated with a grumble.
The others shook their heads as Liam stood up and walked over to a spot close to the firepit but didn’t have anything around.
He thought about how he was going to set up an area to place his Alchemy equipment. After giving it some thought, he remembered an ability he had yet to use. It was one he didn’t have a need for because he always had places he could do his crafting at.
This was one of his Class abilities he had received when he got his Crafter class. It was called Mobile Crafter.
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“Mobile Crafter – This ability allows the Crafter to set up a specific area for the craft they wish to do. Each Craft requires certain equipment to be able to set up an area for it. When a Crafter has the right equipment and knowledge for the craft, it will show in Available Crafting Stations. If the Crafter does not have all or the right equipment then the craft will show up in the Unavailable Crafting Stations. If the Crafter has not started a craft it will not show up on either list regardless of if they have the right equipment or not. Level up the ability to be able to use bigger crafting stations.”
“Which would you like to use? Available Crafting Stations – Alchemy (Small). Unavailable Crafting Stations – Blacksmithing (Small), Tailoring (Small).”
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Liam clicked on Alchemy (Small), surprised at how convenient it was.
As he clicked on it, an ethereal outline appeared before him. He moved his eyes around to see it move along with his vision.
This is probably showing me where I can place it. Liam thought as he moved his head around, having the outline follow his vision.
He decided to test something and looked at the firepit.
The outline turned red.
So red means I can’t place it there while the ethereal outline means I can place it there. That is good to know. Liam thought as he walked over to his seat and sat down. His back was turned to the firepit as he faced the open area behind the rock he used as a seat.
Once he was satisfied, he accepted the spot.
The ground before him shook a bit as the ground pushed up and started to mold itself into a small desk. The stone desk came up to his mid stomach while sitting down. On top of the rock-like desk, his Alchemy equipment appeared.
“That’s convenient,” Liam muttered.
“What are you doing now?” Avery questioned with an exasperated tone. “Didn’t we tell you not to…” Her voice trailed off as she got a good look at what was right before him. She titled her head with a now curious look and asked, “What is that?”
Mercer and the others looked over as well.
“This?” Liam inquired as he pointed to his small Alchemy lab. “This is thanks to one of my Class abilities. It’s called Mobile Crafter. It creates a Crafting Station depending on the craft I’m about to do. It can only work if I have all the equipment though. Since Galin, my Alchemy mentor, was so graciously kind enough to supply me with the equipment, I was able to make this station.”
The others looked at him with a mix of awe and curiosity.
“So, this is one of you Crafter Class abilities?” Mercer asked.
Liam nodded. “It’s the first time I’ve used it since I haven’t had a need to use it. This is just a small station. Once when I level it up some I can make a bigger station.”
As the others continued to stare, Artem asked with a curious look, “Do you think it could work with cooking?”
Everyone looked at him.
Liam blinked a couple of times before thinking about it. “Hm, I think it could, but I’m not sure. I don’t have the cooking craft, nor do I have the equipment for it.”
“Do you need to know the craft to make the station?” Artem questioned.
Liam nodded. “It said that I need both the knowledge of the craft and the equipment.”
“Hm,” Artem muttered. “When we get back I’ll introduce you to my mentor so you can at least get the basic knowledge, and can we try it?”
“Artem!” Avery scolded.
“What?” Artem questioned. “If I could get a cooking station when we’re out on floors like this, then cooking could be a lot easier.”
Liam let out a short laugh. “I don’t mind trying. I need to get more knowledge on my class abilities anyways to see what the basics are. So yeah when we get back we can try.”
Artem gave him a smile, appreciating his kindness.
Liam turned back around and started pulling vials of glowing liquid and placed them in a vial holder rack. He then pulled out vials of light blue liquid and bottles of clear water.
After pulling everything out he noticed Mercer had moved closer and was staring at him.
Liam turned to him and noticed he was staring at the ingredients.
“Are you curious?” Liam asked.
Mercer nodded.
Liam gave him a small smile as he pointed to the vial of glowing liquid. “These are Mana filled liquid. The process to make them is to channel enough mana into a vial of water and try to extract it. It’s a tedious process because you have to keep channeling mana every now and then until it finally extracts.”
“Interesting,” Mercer stated. “What are these blue liquid ones?”
“These are the blueberry flavors I extracted so I can add flavor to the potions,” Liam stated.
“How do you mix them? I would think you just throw them together and it makes them right?” Mercer questioned.
Liam was about to explain, but then noticed the others had gathered around.
“You would think that, but no,” Liam shook his head. “You do mix them together, but you have to know the ratio so one doesn’t overpower the other.”
Liam took two Mana Extracted liquids and poured them into the Cucurbit. He then took three vials of the Blueberry Extracts and poured them in. After he was done he opened a bottle of water and poured in about a quarter of the bottle.
“After you do that you then light the Bunsen Burner,” Liam continued. He then placed his hand out, palm up and chanted, “Come forth heat of flames and burn. Become the tool that will help. Light and Burn!”
Liam channeled his mana as he chanted the spell. Controlling how much he channeled he was able to make the flame small, instead of the normal size he used while in battle.
This spell was one he was very familiar with and had practiced his Mana Control and Mana Channeling with the most. Thanks to the practice his control over the size of the flame was great.
He then guided the flame with Mana Manipulation to the burner. Once when the flame got over it, Liam turned the nob on it to make the flame condense and focus right under the Cucurbit.
“And voila. I am now finishing up the process of making Mana Potions.” Liam stated. “When the liquid heats up enough it’ll mix the liquids together and form it into a gas which will hit the top and turn into condensation. The liquid then rolls down into the container here and what makes it there is the potion.”
“Wow,” Roman stated. “It may have been because of how you explained it, but it seems a bit easy.”
Liam laughed. “Once when you get it down and do it over and over it is, but when you’re first beginning to learn how to do this it isn’t.”
“I believe it,” Roman agreed. “That’s why I said it may have been how you explained it.”
The others laughed as they moved over to the rocks they had for seats.
After a half an hour had passed, Liam started another batch of Mana Potions. As he placed the finished products in a separate area from the extracts he noticed the others were kind of quiet.
He looked at them and saw the majority of them were reading a Knowledge Theory book. The silence was both eerie and welcoming. His mixed emotions about the silence was because it let his mind wander.
He hadn’t forgotten what Mercer had said earlier. It was true that he needed a goal. This was a new world, and he couldn’t waste any opportunities that were given. However, he really didn’t know what he wanted to do.
Crafting was fun, but he didn’t want it to take up all of his years. He liked the challenges that learning new skills gave him, but he also didn’t want to waste his life training.
So then what?
What was so fascinating about this world that it would catch his attention and make him want to search for more of it?
Liam looked up at the cavernous area they were using.
This Forgotten Realm was full of mystery. It had been tough for them to get to where they were, but finding out that there was forgotten history here and learning about it made him excited.
This was something that people may have forgotten and to learn something that isn’t in any books but instead from almost a real source sounded like fun.
Growing up Liam loved to learn about things that weren’t taught in books. Especially history. His father would often tell him about the origins of his family from his side.
His side of the family came from another country. The things he told him about his country you couldn’t find in the History books taught in school.
Liam remembered the times he got in trouble for calling his teacher out to correct her on the false information she was teaching when it came to that country. He remembered how angry she got with him. His father laughed when he told him about the trouble he would get into.
He also remembered what his father had told him whenever he told him that maybe he should stop.
“Never back down. No matter who it is, how much more powerful they might try to make themselves seem, or how much authority they claim to have. Never back down. As long as you stand your ground you will always remain the victor.”
He took the words to heart. Even though his teacher always won the battles that gave him detention and trouble, he tried to live by those words.
As Liam let his mind wander, he was taken out of his thoughts as he heard someone start to hum a tune.
Liam looked around to see Mercer had closed the book he was reading and pulled out an instrument that looked a lot like an acoustic guitar. However, there were many differences from what he knew so he assumed it was probably something equivalent like a Lute.
He plucked at the strings as he pressed his ear close to it. As he was doing that he continued to hum, what sounded like to Liam, a soft tune.
Mercer noticed Liam was looking at him. He stopped humming and asked with a small smile, “What’s up?”
“That tune you were humming. What is it?” Liam asked.
“Ah,” Mercer started. His emerald-green filled eyes looked sad as he answered, “It’s a song that I heard back when I was a child. It’s a sad song, but its also meant to help you realize life isn’t as hard as it seems.”
“It sounds like an interesting song,” Liam said.
“It is,” Mercer said as he looked down at his instrument. “It was the first song I ever heard and it’s the one that made me fall in love with music. It’s called Don’t Forget about Me.”
Liam gave him a half-smile. “I’d love to hear it some time.”
“I can try playing it if you’d like,” Mercer said.
Liam nodded.
“Please excuse my singing voice,” Mercer stated as he placed the lute into position. “I’m still working on the singing part.”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Liam stated.
Mercer cleared his throat as he brought his hands to the strings.
“Don’t. You. Forget about me, as the days go by. Close. Your. Eyes. Whenever you miss me, I’m right by your side,” Mercer started singing.
As Mercer sang, his hands plucked at the strings. At first, he plucked a string with each word, but then strummed a few chords as he continued. The melody carried a heavy yet light sounds as he ran his fingers over the strings. The tone of his voice starting the song sounded like it was full of loss, but gave you a sense of promise.
“Keep. Your. Chin up high, you’re stronger than you know. Spread. That. Smile out wide, whenever you’re feeling low.”
After he finished this part of the song, he ran his fingers over the strings making the sounds produced a little more complex, but still brought life to the song. The tone and volume of his voice rose a bit as he sounded like he was motivating you to rise from a bad moment.
“It’s okay to let the tears flow out, it’s okay to cry. You’re stronger than you know, so don’t fall for that lie. It’s okay to feel like you’re lost, all paths are meant to be walked. Don’t fret if it takes too long, don’t mind others when they mock. They don’t know where you’ve been, Or where you will go. Enjoy the path set before you, don’t rush and take it slow.”
The complex finger movements Mercer used to play the instrument started to slow a bit as Mercer’s voice started to soften.
“Don’t. You. Forget about me, as the days go by. Close. Your. Eyes. Whenever you miss me, I’m right by your side. Keep. Your. Chin up high, you’re stronger than you know. Spread. That. Smile out wide, whenever you’re feeling low.”
The rhythm of the song started to slow down even more as Mercer began the end of the song. His voice now sounding like he was on the verge of crying but still holding a beautiful melody.
“Memories will be formed; emotions will run high. Remember me throughout it all, this is not my goodbye.”
As he finished the last word, he allowed the final strung to echo as he closed his eyes with a faint smile.