Rainer had options. He was in the white void of Sleep Learning, and there were a few ways he could use this time. The first was to lock his newly acquired notes and scrolls safely within his long-term memory. The second was to work on improving Arcane Blade, just as he had used his naps earlier to bring first Arcane Bolt and then Arcane Bolt Armament from [1/10] to [10/10]. The third was to experiment with how to improve Arcane Energy Manipulation, possibly using a modified version of a Mana Manipulation exercise his grandfather had taught him. He had gained a welcome chunk of experience when Arcane Energy Manipulation increased to [2/10] when he created the Arcane Blade spell. The available evidence indicated that it was not possible to gain experience while Sleep Learning. While magic spells and skills could be improved far faster than while awake, it required the sacrifice of all the experience that could have been earned if he advanced them naturally. So there was a good argument to secure the notes and scrolls he'd risked his life to obtain. In the long run, it made all kinds of sense. The dilemma was that it only made sense in the long run if he survived the next day - which was far from guaranteed. That good argument was overwhelmed by the immediate need to gain as much raw power as he possibly could before he woke. Any other course was a dumb risk. His decision then was ultimately pretty easy: He would try to improve Arcane Energy Manipulation by advancing Arcane Blade.
[Arcane Blade has reached Lvl 7/15]
[Arcane Energy Manipulation has reached Lvl 4/10]
The system notifications that greeted Rainer as he woke left him quite pleased with his Sleep Learning choices. Arcane Bolt and Armed Arcane Bolt did a fine job of killing low level goblins, but Arcane Blade was on another level of destructive power. If he faced any powerful opponents, his plan was simple. Kill them - fast. Distract with one or more Arcane Bolts, then close the distance and finish them with Arcane Blade. A long fight would be hopeless, as was outrunning higher level goblins. Looking back, this was the strategy he had used all along. His fencing lessons had taught him more than how to use a saber. They had changed his instincts. Without them, rather than reacting decisively and effectively in unexpected combat situations, he could have fled without thinking, or worse, froze. There was little doubt that either would have cost his life against that fire mage. But he did not freeze or flee. He attacked, and he won.
As he smiled and rose from his mat of furs, a tiny and irritated fairy fell from his head.
"Luna is awake! Luna is watching!"
Rainer only grinned. It came as no surprise that his new familiar was not well suited to the job of guard dog. He stood and indulged in a long, luxurious stretch. Somehow, that had been the best night of sleep he'd had in months. Apparently, being dumped into a bizarre fantasy RPG world filled with mortal danger agreed with him.
Time to figure out my next move. The plan remains the same - find a lone goblin, kidnap it, learn enough of it's language to communicate enough to bully it into leading me to the entrance of the mine. Wait, Luna knows English somehow...
Rainer carefully removed one of the goblin mage's notes from his backpack and set it on the floor.
"Luna, can you read this?"
"Luna is special. Of course she can! But Rainer is Luna's master now, so he can too!"
"That's great! Uh, how?"
[Current Shared Skill: All Language Translation]
[All Language Translation: All non-runic Languages shall be translated to the one you are most knowledgeable in.]
"Luna is happy to share her skill with her master!"
All language translation!? That's amazing! That could end up being just as valuable as doubled mana regeneration.
"Thank you very much! You really are special, Luna."
"Luna knows she is, but is glad that you know this too."
The little fairy smiled contentedly and snuggled into one of the furs on the floor. Rainer sat cross legged and arranged his hard won notes on the floor. The desk would have been more convenient, but it was busy being a barrier at the moment, and he did not want to be sitting there in case of unexpected attack. When he took a cursory look at the notes before going to sleep, it was as if he were reading a math textbook in a foreign language. He could understand the runic symbols, but not the explanatory text. Now that he was able to read it, it was obvious that they had been written by a master. In fact, a textbook was a very good comparison. They were not the working notes a mage would write as they worked on new magic. Rather, these notes were very clearly written to teach. Rainer could only hope that the mage he had killed was an inheritor to them rather than an apprentice. Whoever wrote these could kill him as easily as swat a mosquito. But these notes and scrolls were an incredible find. Their value was incalculable. All of the stress, danger and general weirdness of his current situation melted smoothly from his mind as he eagerly dug in to new magic.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Rainer sorted through the notes looking for the simplest spells. Arcane Bolt and Armed Arcane Bolt were excellent single target ranged spells, but he did not have too much in the way of area effect attacks. If he had not found the Ring of Greater Fireball, he would have none at all. So his plan for the notes was to find the easiest fire spell and learn it, then experiment with that to try to learn a fire manipulation skill. Finally, learn a fireball or similar area effect spell. For now, he was undisturbed, and his thoughts turned briefly back towards defense. There was no way to know if the other goblins hadn't found him, were avoiding this room out of respect for the fire mage, or were afraid of whatever could kill the fire mage and the group of 7 goblins back at the junction. It was risky, perhaps, to stay in one spot like this. He could end up surrounded and overwhelmed by a coordinated attack from both entrances. But this space was known and fairly defensible. Rushing into unfamiliar tunnels full of goblins who had to be on high alert was not necessarily safer.
Those were in truth excuses and rationalizations. Rainer wanted to learn magic more than he wanted anything in the world - this world or his home. He needed to learn. And so he did. The simplest spell turned out to be Candle Flame, which was basically a magical cigarette lighter. The spell structure was unfamiliar to him. It lacked the mana inputs and outputs that he had thought were part of every spell. Instead it built around a chant that shaped the flow of mana, and included several methods to internalize the chant. With enough practice and experience, one would learn to naturally flow the mana in the same way the chant directed it, but without needing to actually speak the words. There was one rune in the spell that he didn't know, but he was confident that he could derive a work-around from the context and structure of the rest of the spell. Rainer formed the runes he did know within his mind and began to chant. A chant combined sound and meaning with the intent and will of the caster. The system somehow automatically translated so that everything worked in English. How it did so was beyond his comprehension and extremely impressive.
“I walk alone in the darkness. I walk alone without fear. I walk alone without loneliness for I always carry with me but the tiniest of flames.”
The spell fizzled and his mana dropped by a negligible amount. If nothing else, the absurdly low mana cost made it the perfect choice for his first spell to learn in this new world. Arcane Blade and Armed Arcane Bolt he had created through intuition, helped along by his class and talent bonuses to Arcane Magic. Candle Flame he would have to learn legitimately. Several more attempts ended similarly, but each fizzle taught him a little bit more. Finally, on his 52nd try, he succeeded. Rainer had never been religious, but he almost wanted to offer a prayer of thanks to the World Tree. That took longer than he expected.
[Spell Gained: Candle Flame lvl 1/10]
[New Spellbook Created: Fire]
[Spellbook: Fire]
[Tier One: Candle Flame lvl 1/10]
A tiny flame danced on his finger. The spell was cheap to cast and cheaper to maintain. To Rainer's eyes, it was glorious. He had a foothold in an a vast new field of magic. He released the fire before casting Candle Flame again, repeating this process a few times until casting the spell correctly became automatic. Then he moved on to the second part of his short term plan. He slowly poured more mana into the flickering flame that licked his finger and tried to shape the flow. Even with a spell this weak, this was a gamble. Attempting to over-charge spells usually ended in failure, or even disaster. So it was no surprise when the flame burst outwards before dying out, slightly burning his hand. He was not discouraged, but decided that it was time for a break anyway. It would be tragic to leave this knowledge behind if he had to leave in a hurry. He organized the notes and scrolls, wrapped them in furs and secured them in his backpack, which he then slipped on to his back. His mana had dropped 3 points over the course of his experiments with Candle Flame, and it was safest to be at or near maximum mana at all times.
As Rainer waited the 16 minutes it would take his mana to fully regenerate, his thoughts turned to Fire Manipulation. Mana Manipulation and Arcane Energy Manipulation felt very similar. That similarity, along with his talent and class bonuses, was doubtless the reason Arcane Energy Manipulation had been so simple to learn. According to his class description, the Arcane was the source of all other forms of magic. So fire magic could be derived from arcane magic, in the same way that white light could be split into every primary color by a prism. In a sense, fire magic had to be a subset of arcane magic. When he manipulated his Arcane Bolt to create both Armed Arcane Bolt and Arcane Blade, the arcane energy felt like an extension of him. Even at this moment, the 8 Armed Arcane Bolts surrounding him seemed somewhat like additional limbs. There was not the same connection to the Candle Flame as it had flickered weakly on his finger. But there was a very small ongoing mana cost to keep the tiny fire alive, so a connection still had to exist. The fire converted his mana into a different type of mana, but it was still his. So it had to be possible to manipulate and control it.
Rainer thought about fire. Fires almost acted like they had a will of their own. They were by nature hungry, hot, mercurial. They resisted control. But they could be used and contained. Fire needed oxygen and fuel. Fire breaks, fire pits, ovens, stoves, torches, candles, and flamethrowers all used fire by controlling one of those needs. Fire could be fed, but it could also be drowned, starved, or buried. How then could he manipulate fire that was his, born of his will and sustained by his mana? It may come down to a question of mindset. Fire does not want to be pushed, but it can be fed and lead. His mana gradually reached its current maximum of [13/17], and a Candle Flame sparked to life on his finger. Rather than try to directly fuel the tiny fire, he moved a very small amount of mana out of his body and just to the right of the flame. The hungry little fire curved toward the mana and grew brighter and hotter. Rainer smiled and willed a gentle flow of arcane infused mana into his fire, and the flame grew larger and hotter. It began to burn his hand, but he persisted and increased the flow of mana. He lost control. The flame flared and burned his hand badly before flickering away to nothing. Rainer clamped his jaw tight and fought to regain control of his mind as he endured the intense pain. Suddenly, it got quite a bit easier to endure.
[Skill Gained: Pain resistance lvl 1/10]
[Skill Gained: Fire Resistance lvl 1/10]
[Skill Gained: Burn Resistance lvl 1/10]
The new skills came as a surprise and a relief, but he had just foolishly injured his right hand. He was too busy mentally kicking himself to notice Luna fly over to his hand. He did however very much notice when a strange, violet fire leapt from her hands to his burned skin. Wherever it touched, it healed. Luna focused intently, and just minutes later she finished restoring his hand. Then she turned, and Rainer was faced with a furious 7 inch tall woman.
"What were you thinking!?! Rainer is only a level 3 mage, and more than this, dumb like a young child is dumb. He can not just add more mana to a spell! That does not work except for very powerful mages, but you are not a powerful mage. You are a child playing with fire and are very lucky you saved Luna so that she can heal you and teach you not to do dumb things!"
"Thank you for healing me - you really are wonderful, Luna. I know that I took a risk, but I need to get stronger quickly so that I can fight our way out of this cave."
"You are right that Luna really is wonderful, but this is an obvious thing, and burning yourself does not make you stronger quickly! It makes you burned! Rainer is Luna's master now, and must be more careful. It is not proper for a princess to have a dumb master!"
"Thank you again, Princess Luna. I do appreciate your teaching me all of these things."
Rainer had no plans to stop his experiments. In fact, having a familiar who could heal just lowered the risk and made him more eager. But it was time to regenerate his mana back up to its maximum again, and he was getting a bit nervous about staying in one place quite this long. As soon as his mana was full, he'd decided to unlock the door and see where the tunnel led.
A quarter of an hour later, with one point of mana still left to regenerate, a low, angry growl rumbled from behind the desk blocking the back entrance to the room.
What on earth was that? Uh, what in this world was that, rather?
Something told him he only had seconds until he found out.