Back in the cockpit, Jack had plotted a course to his destination planet with the help of the navigation computer. He pushed the power up as high as he could handle before taking damage and set the computer to autopilot. If everything worked as it was meant to, it should put him in a stable orbit. The only problem was that at this speed, it would take Jake three months to get there.
“Well, since I have some time and not much else to do, I suppose I could rethink the whole sitting and staring at a cauldron for hours on end if the whole space travel thing is like.”
Jake went to the back of the cargo section of the shuttle, sat down, and pulled out the cauldron, placing it in front of him. Then he pulled out the scrap of paper.
“Okay, let's get this started, shall we?”
Jake pushed some of his mana into the scrap of paper. At first, nothing happened, but in the next minute, Jake was in a dark valley on what looked to be a planet similar to Earth, but with some differences, like the fact that there were two moons, one of them as red as Mars and as big as it as well. The other, well, that was normal, at least for a moon of a different planet.
Walking down the valley, Jake came across a small cottage with what looked like candlelight flickering out of the windows. Jake approached the door and started to knock. The door cracked open with a slight groan. Jake called out.
“Excuse me, is anyone home? I seemed to have been summoned here when I used some paper I found. Hello.”
Jake pushed open the door, and as he did, cobwebs, the likes of which a person with arachnophobia would nope the hell out, filled the room. Jake picked up a stick and started swinging it around like a kid playing with a wooden sword, cobwebs flying everywhere. As Jake got deeper in, the cobwebs started to clear, leading to a room with bookshelves filled with scrolls and one bookshelf with an ornate crystal embedded in a shelf. Looking more closely, the shelf with the crystal was the only one that didn't have a silver glow over it. On the shelf with the crystal, there was some writing. "Test of eligibility to the path, place your hand on the crystal and all will be revealed." Jake reached out his hand, placing it on the crystal.
“Um, was that smart, Jake?”
The crystal glowed for a second before Jake was teleported deep underground somewhere. And as on cue, a message appeared.
“You have met the minimum requirements of the wandering arcane smith. The second test, the test of death, will commence in ten seconds. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one. Time to die, haha just messing with you. The real test will begin now.”
At Jake's feet were a cauldron and a ring the same as the one he was wearing before he was teleported underground. Jake picked it up and used Identify.
Item: Test Ring of the Wandering Arcane Smith. Holds materials to complete this test. Note: this ring will be destroyed on completion of the test scenario.
Item: Test Cauldron. Note: this cauldron will be destroyed on completion of the test scenario.
“Test scenario: There is a time-delayed explosive charge that is set to explode if a specific key is not inserted in ten days. The key specifications can be found on the wall of the next chamber. This is your last chance to turn back. Just say 'There's no place like home' and back you go.
“Well, Jake, do you want to be a wimp, or do you want to do the hard thing? All you have to do is take one step forward, just one step.”
In Jake's mind, a memory of him standing in front of his men before he asked them to accompany him on that fatal mission.
“You all know the stakes on this one, so I will not order you to do this mission with me. So anyone who is willing to follow me jus–”
Jack was cut off as all of his men stepped forward at the same time.
“Just one step.” They all yelled.
Thinking back on that time, a tear rolled down his face.
“Well, boys, here we are.” Jake's body moved on instinct, and he screamed.
“JUST ONE STEP!”
Jake stepped into the next room. In the center of the room was a box with a lock on it, and on the wall was a picture of a key. Looking around the rest of the room, there was a bed and a cabinet filled with potions. There were the three that he knew and one more, its color was black as night. Using Identify on it.
Item: Arcane Potion of Rejuvenation, Common. Helps to rejuvenate arcane energy for 24 hours.
“You have decided to push headlong into certain death. Good luck, junior wonder. I hope you live long enough so we can meet. To move forward on this path, you need to have the guts to do the hard things.
Warning: Time remaining 09:23:58:34
“Well, a little fucking help in knowing how to start to make the bloody key would be good, don't you think?” Jake said as he walked over to look at the wall. “Actually, I take it back, this might work.” Looking under the key, there were three sets of words: Arcane Flame, Arcane Hammer, and Mana Shield. Under each set was a picture: the first one was a man sitting down with his hand on his cauldron, with black clouds entering his body while it looked like they were mixing with something else and then being pushed out into the cauldron. The second image was basically the same, only the color of the second energy coming out was green. The third one was a man pushing out energy from all over his body.
Thinking about it for a while, Jake decided he would start with the third one, Mana Shield. Sitting down, he thought back to how the shuttle used his mana to make a shield. The way it worked was it pulled the mana from deep inside of me, from what felt like my brain, then put it in an accumulator, drawing in more from outside of the shuttle before releasing it and repeating the process. It did this multiple times a second, which created a physical shield.
“Okay, Jake, let's think this through. If the mana is stored in my head, which begs the question, how does so much mana get stored there? You know there's only so much room after all. Back on track, there's no time for tangents, to copy the pictures the mana needs to go throughout all of my body before I release it in a burst. Let's give it a try.”
Warning: Time remaining 09:01:01:13
“All this time and all I managed to do was spread the mana throughout my body. Maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong. If I am working with a cauldron, shouldn't I be just trying to shield the top of the cauldron? That would help keep it at a constant temperature, right?”
Jake sat down, putting one hand over the cauldron.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Now let's try this again.”
Warning: Time remaining 08:09:03:02
“Not bad, about two days to get this to work.”
Ding! Profession level increased +1 point
New skill (small mana shield common) You can produce a small physical shield of mana anywhere on your body.
Crackling sounds were coming from underneath Jake's hand, a barrier covering the top of the cauldron. Jake went back to the images.
“Let's try the second one, as it is the only one with color I'm guessing the green is referring to Stamina as green is the color of the stamina potions.”
Jake put his hand on the cauldron and, after a moment of thought, attempted to summon the image of his skill, Steady Aim. Though he couldn't recall using it in his previous fight, he now didn't have a firearm to test it. Instead, he focused on visualizing how the skill might work, trying to understand its relationship with Stamina. Hours later, Jake was shadowboxing his way around a ticking time bomb. His plan was to use his perception to look at how his Stamina moved through his body.
“I feel like I'm getting closer to figuring this out.”
Warning: Time remaining 06:00:60:54
Sweat was streaming down Jake's face as he sat on the floor with his legs crossed and a hand on his cauldron.
Ding! Profession level increased +1 point
New skill (Arcane hammer rare) Use your Arcane energy to reshape items.
Jake got up and walked over to the cabinet to grab a potion. Chugging back the potion, Jake came to a realization.
“I've been taking these potions for days now, and this cabinet doesn't seem to have any less than the first time I took one. It's truly a pity I can't take them with me when I leave this place.”
Jake sat on the side of the bed, his eyes heavy as he drifted off.
Warning: Time remaining 05:13:59:07
“I may have napped a bit longer than I intended.”
Getting up, Jake walked over to the images again.
“I think I've got this one. I've already figured out half of it; I just need to figure out the rest and make this key so I can get the hell out of here.”
Jake brought in the arcane energy from around him and forced it through his body, similar to how he used the Arcane Hammer skill. This time, he attempted to add in his own arcane energy. Just as it seemed like it was going to work, Jake's hand exploded, blood and bits of fingers flying all around him. Jake screamed as he grabbed his wrist and rushed over to the potions. Feeling weaker and weaker, he finally drank down the potion, relaxing and letting go, collapsing into his weakened state, sleep taking him away from the endless pain.
Warning: Time remaining 04:00:00:01
The first thing he noticed upon waking up was the time remaining, then the other messages.
Ding! Class level increased +15 points
Ding! Grade level increased +20 points
New skill (rebirth of the exploding body unique) Will passively heal the user. Stamina is converted into temporary units of integrity to provide healing at a 100 to 1 ratio. Warning: the system recognizes that you have a tendency for self-harm; the system recommends you seek medical advice.
“Well fuck, I don't want to do that again. Let's think this through. My hand was destroyed the moment the two arcane energies touched. So maybe it's as simple as not combining them until they have left the body. I think I should have another look at the image.”
Looking at the image, it was obvious what had gone wrong. The two arcane energies didn't touch; they were released at the same rate and only touched when they were inside the cauldron. Jake sat back down at the blood-covered cauldron and tried again. At first, it started to work, but the flame couldn't hold its form and exploded up out of the cauldron. Jake tried for two days to get it to work. He tried increasing the amounts, and varying the amounts, all to no avail. With only two days left, he had one last idea. If the problem is that it keeps exploding, maybe that is what it is meant to do. So what he did was to form a barrier over the cauldron and try that.
Ding! Profession level increased +1 point
New skill (Arcane flame rare) An explosive flame contained within a mana barrier.
Stats at the end of chapter 3:
Universal constant interface
Name Jake Everval
Race Human
Grade TG
Level 4
Class Trooper Shadow Mage Class
level 17
Profession Arcane Smith Profession
level 3
stats points available 38
Mana 210
Arcane 300
Stamina 100
Health 210
Strength 16
Agility 15
Intelligence 30
Wisdom 21
Perception 27
Integrity 21
Items:
* Enchanted Daggers, Common: A set of two daggers usually used by those in trade professions, enchanted with the skill "Raises Edge," giving a 2% damage multiplier.
* Minor Cloak of Shadows, Common: You may not be able to hide in plain sight, but you can hide in the shadows. Increases stealth by 10%.
* Simple Clothing, Unranked: What do you expect? They cover your body.
* Stick of Thunder, Common: Can be used to frighten weak-willed enemies or bring death. Enchanted with a self-loading function.
* Inferior Necklace of Breathing, Common: Creates a weak bubble of air around the user. Can be broken if impacted hard; lasts one hour.
* Ring of Holding, Common: Can store non-organic items, has limited space, can't store large items.
* Cauldron of the Smith (Redacted): This cauldron once belonged to a renowned smith; his journey took him through the integrated universe, his end is unknown to the system. +20 to Intelligence, +10 to Perception, +10 to Wisdom, +10 to Integrity. Upgradeable. Requires soulbound.
Skills:
* Steady Aim, Common: This is a basic trooper skill that gives a passive stat boost of 5 to Agility, Strength, and Perception.
* Summon Projectile, Common: As a mage, you can use mana to summon projectiles. Note: Summon Projectile does not include any ability to launch the projectile. The mana cost is determined by the projectile size.
* Transmute Powder, Common: Requires pre-existing object to be turned into powder before transmuting can commence. Transmuting the powder requires knowledge of what you wish to transmute it into. The mana cost is determined by the quantity of powder being transmuted and the rarity of the powder.
* Shadow Strike, Common: To strike from the shadows is your business. Gives 5% to damage if the target is unaware of your attack.
* Universal Translate, Common: as newly integrated, you were given the ability to understand the language of all humanoid life forms.
* Identify, Common: The ability to identify basic information on objects and other life forms.
* Arcane Boost, Rare: Provides a powerful boost to your physical body. Uses Arcane energy to keep operating. A backlash will occur when deactivated.
* Arcane Time Dilation, Unique: Slows time in the localized area around the caster. This skill will only activate in times of the caster's greatest need. A backlash will occur when the skill deactivates.
* Rebirth of the Exploding Body, Unique: Will passively heal the user. Stamina is converted into temporary units of integrity to provide healing at a 100 to 1 ratio. Warning: the system recognizes that you have a tendency for self-harm; the system recommends you seek medical advice.
* Arcane Hammer, Rare: Use your Arcane energy to reshape items.
* Arcane Flame, Rare: An explosive flame contained within a mana barrier.
* Small Mana Shield, Common: You can produce a small physical shield of mana anywhere on your body.
Titles: