It was a beautiful day. Inside one of the guest rooms of the Tulip Palace, Sai was practicing his Magic Art.
Sai would admit he was very excited in learning magic. Who wouldn't want to use magic to fly or conjure up fire balls. So enthusiasm jumped into learning Magic Art. It was only hours into practice that his enthusiasm was assassinated by frustration and boredom.
Sai had a bowl of pink poison in front of him. With his mana he tried to move the liquid with his mind and willpower. "This is not working, what am I doing wrong?"
Sai directed his question to his Godmother Rowana. Rowana was enjoying a cup of tea. "Your either missing Willpower or the image in your mind isn't clear enough. Keep practicing, you will eventually master it."
Sai nodded sadly. He worried that he was magically inept. Some people weren't able to perform Magic Art for one reason or another.
Sai sighed and kept practicing his magic arts.
He was trying to move the Poison. However it wouldn't budge. He tried to lower the scale of his magic. It was impossible to manipulate the entire bowl of poison. He pictured a small drop coming out of the bowl.
His mana condensed and slowly a drop of poison floated out of the bowl.
A smile bloomed on Sai's face. "Look! I did it!"
He proudly displayed his single drop of poison levitating in the air before it fell back into the bowl.
Rowana nodded her head, "Good. You are making progress. You have more talent as a warrior than as a mage. Considering your gift, you can be a great warrior."
Sai mulled it over, he didn't want to be just a warrior. "Isn't there something like a combination between a mage and warrior, an all rounder."
Rowana replied, "You mean a Magic Knight? A Magic Knight is skilled in both physical combat and the Magic Arts. They are very powerful, the issue is that it is impossible for you to become a Magic Knight."
Sai frowned, "Why? Because I suck in magic."
Rowana shook her head negative, "No. It is because you have the Hero title. You can't gain a Magic Knight title because you can only have one title and the Hero title can't be removed."
Sai then said, "Blessing."
Level 4 Title Hero Agility 0 Durability 23 Mana 3 Mind 0 Strength 3 Remaining 6 Gift Sour Apples
Sai focused on the Hero title. Trying to get the description. Nothing showed up.
"What does the Hero title even do?"
"It means your super powerful against Demons. It also has some convenient abilities such as allowing you to speak and read our language and allows you to access World Magic," Rowana explained.
"You know I am going to have to ask. What is World Magic?" Sai asked.
"Well honestly I am not exactly sure. Few heroes were able to access World Magic. They were able to create mountains and change the weather. Their one Hero that created islands using World Magic," Rowana explained.
Sai looked excited, "How do I get World Magic?"
Rowana shrugged, "Don't know. You would think one of the past heroes would document the process. Yet it is a big mystery."
Sai sighed, "I will have put it on my to do list."
Rowana grimaced, "Every Demon Invasion in the past has brought humanity close to extinction. Only Hero to consistently survive was the Sword Saint."
Sai slumped his shoulders, "That sounds terrible. So I am guaranteed to die."
Rowana gave a big smile, "I grew up learning about the heroes. How they would defend their kingdom with their incredible power, cleaver tactics and wits. The Heroes of the past would defend humanity to their last breath. We are not going to fight the next Demon Invasion. We are going to run away! I am positive we will survive."
Sai didn't know what to say and nodded his head.
"Good, we almost got off track. Can you increase your Mind attribute by three points? You will understand why the Mind attribute is valuable," Rowana lectured.
Sai then said. "Blessing." When the window appeared he moved three points into the Mind attribute.
Level 4 Title Hero Agility 0 Durability 23 Mana 3 Mind 3 Strength 3 Remaining 3 Gift Sour Apples
Sai then said. "Alright I got my Mind attribute up to three points."
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Rowana nodded. "Watch carefully." The poison in the bowl levitated and turned into a ball. "Can you copy what I just did?" Rowana asked. The ball of poison settled back into the bowl.
"Alright here we go," Sai manipulated the mana. He could imagine it like a photo, a perfect sphere of poison. The mana condensed and manipulated the poison to rise from the bowl forming a wobbly sphere. "I am doing it! I am doing it!"
The sphere of poison went back into the bowl. "Are you telling me when I increase the Mind attribute I can perform Magic Arts easier," Sai asked.
Rowana nodded. "Yes, increasing the Mind attribute, makes your memory better, which makes your imagination more clear. There are some talents that don't even need to increase the Mind attribute to perform Magic Art." Rowana answered.
Sai mulled something over. "How do you measure how dangerous someone is?"
"Levels are a good indicator the majority of the time. Assassins are the only exception," Rowana explained.
Sai had noted the fact down. "Alright, are we done with the Magic Lesson? I want to fight some Horned Dogs today."
"Yes, but be sure to use the remaining points you have to increase your Agility attribute," Rowana ordered.
Sai shivered,"I will... I'm also going to have to use my gift today."
Sai used Sour Apples and summoned three yellow apples. With heraclean willpower he started to consume one of the apples.
Rowana asked, "Can I have a bite?"
Sai smiled and handed one of the Apples to Rowana. Rowana took a small bite from the apples. "GLEGHA!" She coughed the awful fragment from her mouth. "All that is sweet and holy and divine and good in the world this hurts my very soul!"
Rowana looked at Sai in astonishment. "Are you insane! How can you eat this!"
Sai grinned mischievously, "Well, they say an apple a day keeps the reaper away, but I guess they didn't specify what kind of apple. Honestly, a piece of my soul is ripped away everytime i eat these."
Sai finished all his Sour Apples, even the one that Rowana couldn't bear to finish. He summoned his Blessing Window and moved the remaining Points into Agility.
Level 4 Title Hero Agility 3 Durability 26 Mana 3 Mind 3 Strength 3 Remaining 0 Gift Sour Apples
"I am ready to go," Sai said determinedly.
----
Sai and Rowana were on the first floor in the dungeon. "I hope you prepared, I am going to let you battle Horned Dogs."
Sai gripped his sword tightly. As he pumped himself up.
Rowana and Sai started moving into the dungeon.
"I will attack first and leave one Horned Dog for you to battle. Good luck," Rowana explained
"I will do my best," Sai said seriously.
It wasn't long until they found a group of four Horned Dogs. Rowana quickly summoned poison needles and defeated three of the Horned Dogs. The single Horned Dog charged at them.
As the Horned Dog grew closer he realized it was much larger than Sai had anticipated, and its sharp teeth and claws looked like they could tear him apart with ease. But Sai knew he had no choice but to fight. He raised his sword, trying to steady his shaking hand.
The Horned Dog charged towards Sai, snarling and baring its teeth. Sai held his ground and swung his sword, but his lack of experience showed. He missed the Horned Dog, who lunged forward, narrowly missing Sai's arm.
Sai stumbled backwards, his heart racing. He had to think fast. He adjusted his sword, trying to get a better angle for his next attack.
The Horned Dog lunged towards him again, but Sai dodged to the side and swung his sword with all his might.
The sword connected with the Horned Dog's shoulder, and it let out a yelp of pain. Sai didn't waste a moment, and swung again, this time hitting the Horned Fog's hind leg.
The Horned Dog stumbled and fell to the ground, whimpering in pain. Sai took a step back, watching cautiously as the Horned Dog struggled to stand up. But it was no use. The Horned Dog was injured too badly to continue the fight.
With a final swing, Sai ended the Horned Dog life.
"That was a rush," Sai admitted, trying to calm his beating heart.
"You can improve, with your current power a single hit should kill the Horned Dog. Also don't forget you have three more Horned Dogs to kill," Rowana indicated the unconscious Horned Dog that she dealt with.
Sai slowly nodded. He went over to the unconscious Horned Dog and ended their lives.
They continued their exploration. When they found a glass orb on the ground. The orb was a blue color and the size of a baseball.
"Lucky!" Rowana went over the glass orb and picked it up. Her eyes glowed briefly before going back to normal. "Child this is the treasure that the dungeon creates. These are Magic Orbs, they are able to perform Magic a single time when you call their names. This one is called... Actually I can't say the name or it might activate," Rowana put the Magic Orb into her satchel. "That Magic Orb is called the Repel Orb. If I said the word Repel it would repel Horned Dogs and other Magic Beast away from the user."
Sai asked some question that crossed his mind. "How are you able to tell what the Orb does and does this dungeon produce any other types of Magic Orbs?"
"Well I used a very ancient magic. There is another Fairy Godmother that knows it better. It is an ability I was born with. Anyway, dungeons only produce a single type of Magic Orb. You could say this Kingdom was created by harvesting Magic Orbs to defend against Horned Dogs," Rowana explained.
"Alright let's keep going," Sai said.
Sai and Rowana kept exploring the dungeon. Looking for both Repel Orbs and Horned Dogs.
They found a pack of four Horned Dogs. Sai realized the Horned Dog travels in fours. Rowana launched two poison needles and knocked out two out of the four Horned Dogs.
Sai looked at Rowana like she was crazy. "Do your best to defeat them," She said with a smile a gentle mother would give as she kicked their chick out of the nest.
Sai raised his sword, bracing himself for the fight. He had no idea how to fight two Horned Dogs at once.
One of the Horned Dogs lunged towards him, and Sai swung his sword. He missed, but the Horned Dog's teeth bounced off his skin harmlessly.
Sai felt a surge of confidence. He knew that he could take on these beasts, even with his limited experience.
The Horned Dogs attacked again, but Sai was ready. He swung his sword, hitting the first dog in the side. It died quickly as the sword cut it deeply.
Sai swung again, this time hitting the second dog in the head. The blow was enough to kill the beast.
In a matter of moments, both Horned Dogs lay dead at Sai's feet. Sai let out a triumphant roar, feeling the thrill of victory course through his veins. He had won the battle, and he knew that he had proven his strength and resilience.
He had faced two Horned Dogs and emerged victorious, and he knew that he was capable of even greater feats in the future.
"Great job!" Rowana was ecstatic. "We have hundred more Horned Dogs to hunt today!" She said in a jubilant tone.
Sai's expression turned from one of triumph to one of dismay as Rowana spoke. "Hundred more?!" he exclaimed, feeling a knot form in his stomach. "I don't think I can handle that many."
Rowana's smile faltered slightly at Sai's response, but she quickly regained her enthusiasm. "Oh, come on, Sai! You did great with those two! I have faith in you," she said, patting him on the back.
With a heavy heart, Sai and Rowana continued to grind.