Devi blinked at the sudden appearance of multiple windows. She hadn’t expected anything to happen when she finished painting her wooden stake, but that had proven to be an error. All she had done was paint the carved patterns with her own blood, and suddenly she had been assaulted by a host of windows, far more than she had ever seen before.
Curious, Devi focused on the first of the windows.
Congratulations
You have created your first Magic Tool (G) (inferior)
XP has been awarded
Devi grinned, well, looks like I did manage to make a magic tool. She smiled, ecstatic. Look at that! I did it! I was right, it was those odd carvings, and using my blood seemed to have been the correct choice. And it seems like I even got experience for it. I wonder how much.
Feeling validated, she leaned back on the grassy clearing and focused on the next window.
XP threshold reached
Novice Tinkerer (inferior) lvl 0 -> lvl 1
1 Int, +1 Free
When she opened the next window, she felt a now somewhat familiar tingling sensation rush over her body, a lot of it concentrated in her skull. It disappeared as soon as it began, just like all the other times she had experienced the feeling.
Well, looks like I just leveled up, and by what, making a magic item! Devi thought to herself excitedly. This is so cool!
She focused on the next window that had appeared.
Congratulations
For being the first from your planet to have created a magic tool (inferior) you have been granted a Title
Magical Trailblazer (G) (Rare)
+10 Int, +10 Wis, +5 Free
+10% Int, +10% Wis
As she read the words, she felt a wave of pins and needles flow through her body, an order of magnitude higher than anything she had felt so far. It was concentrated in her skull and chest and then spread out through her limbs. She felt the bubbling mass of energy suddenly increase dramatically. None of her experiments with enhancing her Attributes had ever given her such a drastic response, but this was ten times as large of an increase.
As it faded, she could feel her thoughts accelerate. Not so much that she was suddenly smarter, but that her brain made connections a fair bit faster. Facts were easier to recall, and she didn’t have to spend as much time trying to remember memories.
Wow, I guess Titles are a big deal, she thought, shocked at the sudden changes. That was even more than what I would get if I leveled ten times, assuming that the increase is the same for each level. Though I guess I have no idea if that is the case. It could be based on a logarithmic scale for all I know.
She pulled up her Status page to see the changes.
Status
Name
Devi Robinson
Race
Human (G)
Lvl 0
Class
Novice Support (inferior)
lvl 0
Vocation
Novice Tinkerer Iinferior)
lvl 1
Titles
Tutorial Attendee, Magical Trailblazer
Health
98/100
Stamina
90/90
Mana
188/231
Attributes
Vitality
10
Toughness
9
Endurance
9
Wisdom
23
Vigor
10
Presence
7
Agility
12
Intelligence
25
Strength
8
Willpower
13
Free points
6
General Skills
[EMPTY]
[EMPTY]
[EMPTY]
Class Skills
[Enhance Attribute] lvl 0
[LOCKED]
[LOCKED]
Vocation Skills
[Improvise Tool] lvl 0
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
[LOCKED]
[LOCKED]
Not much had changed, her new Title had been added, and her Attributes had increased a significant amount. Doing some quick math that felt slightly quicker to do, Devi noticed that the +10% increase to both Intelligence and Wisdom had applied after the +10, and that it was apparently rounded down. Her Mana on the other hand looked to be still based on the unrounded number, which was odd.
Why would anything make sense? Why does the Status page not round in some places, and round in others? And does the percent increase only apply right when I received it, or will it continue to increase my Intelligence and Wisdom as I gain more? She scowled at not being able to figure out the answers. What I would give for a guidebook on everything.
Even her lack of knowledge couldn’t damper her excitement of making an actual magic item, and then receiving what appeared to be a very impressive Title to boot. And she had leveled up, showing there was a way to increase her level, and hopefully, it was repeatable.
Focusing on her mana, she once again went through the now familiar motions of guiding it down her arm and out into her newly crafted stake. The rod eagerly accepted her mana, and when she opened her eyes, a small flame danced merrily atop its tapered point.
When she checked her status, she noticed that it took 3 points of mana to light the flame, instead of just one, as with the original rod. I guess mine is less efficient, maybe I didn’t make the lines well enough? Or the materials are of lesser quality. But that is immaterial, I made this, and it is a magic item that creates fire.
She couldn’t stop grinning as she looked at her newly made magic item. From the moment she had seen mana listed in her Status screen, she had been excited, and now she was capable of making magic herself. It wasn’t something that had appeared out of thin air, but something she made with her own two hands.
Now that she knew that the magic tool was something she could recreate, she wanted to make a few more and see if each one would give her another level. The odd tingling sensation had been odd at first, but each time she experienced it, she was left wanting a little more.
With that goal in mind, Devi gathered up a few more suitable branches to turn into magic tools. She never went very far away from the odd iridescent barrier, keeping in eyesight of it at all times, but in just a few minutes, she had an armful of branches she could use.
Settling back down on the grass, Devi got to work shaping each of them into the desired shape. While she worked, Devi focused on the other Skill she had gotten from the Pillar of Civilization, [Improvise Tool]. Just saying it out loud did not do anything, until she focused on a desired tool. She had been slowly sawing one of the branches into a smaller size when she had first tired the Skill, and so had wanted a saw instead of the knife she had.
After she activated the Skill, her knife gained small ridges, made out of what looked like the same material as the barrier. They were small, almost negligible, but they did help slightly with cutting through the branch.
She tried the Skill with different mental images and found a few things out. She could only make very slight alterations, and any change she made was made out of a translucent, iridescent substance that broke easily. In addition, the Skill only worked when she was focusing on a tool, nothing else. She had tried to improvise a gun, but the Skill had failed to activate, as well as when she had tried replicating a glove. The only things she could get to work were tools, like a saw, screwdriver, or a chisel, though each time she used the Skill, the item she was improvising only gained a small alteration to align it closer to what she was focusing on. Her knife gained a flatter tip when she tried to make it into a screwdriver, but nothing more.
I guess I should not expect all that much from what is a level 0 Skill, although it is quite useful. Even the small changes make it quite a bit easier to saw through the branches, and it only uses a small amount of mana to maintain.
It only took Devi about an hour to finally get two of the branches shaped and carved into replicas of the magic tool. Each one carefully check to insure the patterns were the same. She had wanted to do tests to see how much of a deviation she could make before they would not count as a magic tool but decided to just see if she would gain a level for each one she made.
Another incision on her leg let her collect her blood in the same metal pot, all while she was mentally adding mana to it. Once she had enough, she repeated the process of painting the carved patterns in the first soon to be magic tool. When everything had been covered by blood, Devi looked up expectantly as one window blinked into existence before her.
Congratulations
Magic Tool (G) (inferior) has been created
XP has been awarded
Devi waited a few moments for any other notifications, but nothing popped up.
Well, that is quite a disappointment. The first notification I received for crafting a magic tool did mention it was the first one I had made. It could be that I receive more XP for crafting new things, or the threshold to level up increases each level, and I need to craft more each time.
Devi figured she could just finish the next magic tool she had prepared, and that would answer some of the questions she had. She quickly painted over the carved pattern with her blood, and the moment she finished, the same box popped into existence in front of her eyes, stating she had been awarded XP, but no notifications saying she had gained a level.
Well, looks like either the next level requires a lot more XP than what I’m gaining each time or the amount of XP is significantly less after the first magic tool I made.
Devi looked up from her work that she had been absorbed in for the last while, noticing that people had begun to congregate near the pillar in the center of the clearing. A few other small groups edged the clearing, but the majority of everyone had clumped together. The central group seemed more organized, with lines winding their way to the pillar, where she could see figures gesturing and conversing with whoever was touching the pillar currently.
Close by the large group, Devi could see the man who had made the speech saying he would be the one to lead and protect them, if they followed him. It looked like he had indeed taken charge, and she could see him directing people around, and organizing others.
As she watched, he gestured to a smaller group off to the side and one of the people near him set in that direction. After a few moments, the same thing happened. The longer she watched, she noticed that each of the smaller groups had someone approach them, and the man himself personally walked up to others. Then with a start, Devi realized that the man had nodded in her direction and began to walk toward her with three of his attendants.
Fuck! Devi scowled, I wonder what they want with me. Better find out.
The man walked up to her and stuck out his hand.
“Hello, my name is John McCalister”
Devi begrudgingly took his hand and shook it. He had a very firm grip, though it was not too surprising since the man was at least 180 cm tall and was built like a professional athlete. His perfectly cut blond hair sat stylishly atop his head, while his piercing blue eyes stared warmly at her.
“Devi, she/her, and what do you want with me?” She asked after she let his hand go.
She glanced around to gauge everyone's reaction to her saying her pronouns. It had become a sort of litmus test to figure out how people would respond to everything. It didn't really seem that anyone made any overt reaction to it, but she was withholding judgment, for now.
“I’ve just been going around, meeting everyone here. We’ve all been subjected to these unfortunate circumstances and we should all work together to try to prevent any further misfortunes,” He gave her a consoling smile
Devi hated talking to politicians in any way, it always left her feeling slimy, and like she lost, even if she said all the right things. So she tried to avoid it when possible. Unfortunately, politicians had a bad habit of trying to talk to everyone, which sadly included her.
“Everyone will figure it out,” she said, trying to remain neutral and not get pulled into whatever this guy was selling.
“That we will, but only if we all work together. Combine all of our strengths and resources. I have already gotten a group of people together to start working on a few problems,” He pointed to the three other people standing around him. They all gave polite waves and nods and introduced themselves.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Jordyn, Jordyn Glimney,” A tall middle-aged woman nodded in greeting. She had a no-nonsense look about her and seemed fairly disinterested in Devi, but put on a superficial smile while extending her hand.
“Likewise,” Devi replied as she shook her hand.
“What a beautiful name Devi,” the man to the right of John gave her a cheerful smile from under a salt and pepper bushy beard and reached out with a worn calloused hand. “My name is Gregory, but everyone just calls me Greg.”
“Thanks, I picked it out myself,” she said with a grin after shaking the hand, making sure to note the reactions of the four people in front of her. The man she just shook hands with gave a small chuckle but didn’t seem to grasp the full context, while Jordyn narrowed her eyes a bit, before giving a small shrug.
“You have great taste then, it is a beautiful name,” John said while giving her a large smile. Devi ignored him as the last man gave her a brief nod. “You’ll have to excuse Mr. Johnson, he doesn’t like to talk all that much.”
Devi shrugged at his comment.
“So, why did you come over here to talk to me, specifically?” She asked John.
He didn’t seem to be off put by her direct questions, taking everything in stride.
“You seemed to be one of the few people who hit the ground running after whatever happened to us happened. We wanted to compare notes to see if we were on the same page, and see if there was any other information we could help distribute throughout this group to help everyone.”
“Not much, you probably know about as much as me, not like there were any instruction manuals that came with the screens,” Devi scowled, a thing she was doing quite often whenever she thought about the total lack of information she had on basically everything.
“I know, what is up with that, right?” John agreed with her. “The least they could do would be to give us hints or something.”
“I’d even take an incompetent manager telling me what to do over having absolutely jack shit,” Gred groused.
“But we have managed to figure a few things out, apparently the price of the Skills you can buy increases every time you buy one, which just seems excessive,” John explained. “Though it only looks like it’s 100 each time.”
“I did notice that. Just another annoying thing about this place,” Devi responded, right up there with useless small talk it seems like she added to herself.
“Correct me if I am wrong, but did I see you making some fire over here?” John asked.
Is that the only reason he came over because he hasn’t been able to figure out those magic tools? So what, he can go around telling everyone how to do it and take credit? I had enough of that as an intern.
“I did have a flame going a few times, has anyone else figured out how to use this magic tool? It is very frustrating to use,” she said as he reached into her pocket and pulled out the original magic tool she had purchased, keeping the ones she had fabricated concealed.
“That’s great news! I know of a few people that have been trying to make those magic tools work. You didn’t by chance happen to buy the [Magic Tool Proficiency] Skill?”
“No, actually, do you think that would help?”
“That’s what we think,” John said. “Would you be willing to show other people how you made those tools work? I’ve only run into one other person who has managed to get one to function, though not too many have tried.” He gave a small shrug.
“It’s probably because everyone heard they were hard to use, and decided to not waste credits on them,” Jordyn chimed in, voice clearly dripping with scorn.
“So did you go buy one?” Devi asked with a smirk.
“I had already made my purchase before I heard those rumors,” Jordyn replied with a sniff.
Devi just rolled her eyes at the lady, of course, it was after, she can not take any semblance of blame now, can she. Devi scoffed internally, she has to appear good to her new boss, John McWhatshisface. What a suck-up.
“I do not think I would be able to teach anyone to use these tools,” Devi said, turning back to John. “I really do not know how I got them to work in the first place.”
She was a bit apprehensive of telling anyone the small bits of information she had gleaned from her tests, since she did not know these people. Waiting a little bit is not a bad idea, just to see what they want. Plus, he acts and sounds like a politician, and they are always up to something.
“Well, we would certainly appreciate any help we could get.” Greg punched her arm jovially.
“We will have to see,” Devi said neutrally
“Also, I have been starting a fund to help raise money for people so that they can purchase larger Skills to equip a select few individuals so they can better protect everyone here. Would you want to donate? Just a few Universal Credits can go a long way” John said, shamelessly trying to rope Devi into giving him her money.
She just stared at him incredulously. Seriously? I figured he was a slimy politician, but really? Already trying to get me to hand over money? Some people are just idiots.
Instead of answering, she turned around and started to walk away, grabbing the few loose supplies she had on the ground.
She could feel the incredulous stares directed at her back, but she mentally shrugged her shoulders. It is not like there was much more to that conversation. My time is better spent doing something else. Like not talking with politic man himself. He can go try and get everyone to like him. I will be over here figuring out magic instead.
And with that, she quickly stepped through the barrier into the dark forest beyond.