You have gained access to your soul. From now the full effects of the Soul stat will come into effect. You have been granted the following bonuses based on your performance: Access your soul: Access your soul: +1 Soul Access your soul at or before Lv. 100: +2 Soul Access your soul at or before Lv. 50: +3 Soul Access your soul at or before Lv. 10: +5 Soul Access your soul before choosing a class: +10 Soul Access your soul before choosing a sub-class: +2 Soul Access your soul with a soul stat at or below 10: +5 Soul First human to have full access to special stat: +10 Soul
A special reward has been deemed appropriate given your accomplishments. You can choose to increase one of your preview rewards by 50% or apply it as a percentage to your soul stat.
Looking it over, just these are mind-boggling. My highest stat is now soul. Thinking over the implications I try to apply the special reward to my old title, but the system says it is not allowed. Not like I wanted to waste such a good opportunity on a decent, but ultimately simple title. After a moment I choose the 5th option.
Access your soul before choosing a class: +10% Soul
For now, it was not a lot, but if it ever crossed the 150 points mark, the percentage increase would pay off. On my stat sheet, I go straight to the section soul, ignoring everything else for now, and look at the Soul Stat.
Soul: 35
Not quite as high as it could have been, but I’m glad about my choice. I go back to my system massages, skipping the bunch of irrelevant stuff showing up, like:
New skill: Drawing Drawing increased to level 4
It’s great and all, but it doesn’t add too much if I don’t focus on it. Still, if I get to 100 skills fast enough I could get the next tier on the title. After another minute of scrolling, I run into something interesting near the end.
New title: Pioneer: You have taken great steps into the system and stand at the forefront of humankind in trying to adapt to the new realities. Reward: 5% greater ease to understand and adapt to new phenomena to humankind as long as your intentions are for your race’s benefit.
This is a very strange title, and it raises the question of the system’s interference, but properly applied it could be a tremendous help. After a moment I look over the last massage, and this one is significant.
Through your incredible achievements, you have unlocked the Soul Mage class. Soul Mage: Legendary Rank 30 % Increase to Willpower +1.5/Level 5 % Increace to Inteligence +0.25/Level 1.5% Increase to All Stats +0.05/Level Special Effect +2% to Soul Stat.
Looking over it I’m amazed and my first instinct is to simply grab it, but after a moment I stop myself. Yes, it will be a powerful class, and it likely is something that would work fairly well, but it doesn’t resonate with me. The instinct to grab it has much more to do with the massive bonuses, instead of an inherent connection to what the class stands for.
I stand there for a couple of minutes thinking it over and my decision is reinforced by my gut instinct and what I have learned from the book. It only takes me another moment to gather myself and I go to my stat screen to have a proper look. I have gained a couple of stat points, but I have yet to see the results.
Name:Nash Level:10 Titles:3 Class: [Expand] 15862/0 EXP Strength 20 Soul 35 Constitution 18 Agility 19 Dexterity 19 Endurance 26 Perception 21 Intelligence 23 Willpower 39 Health 299/310 205 /day Mana 405/405 44,25 /hour Stamina 201/201 3,05 /min
I’m glad to see a couple of stats surpassing the cap. My endurance was a whole 6 points higher. And willpower was already almost at its supposed cap, though I had a feeling about that.
Looking over my Exp, I see it is already it’s enough for level 11, I only need to choose a class. Having taken care of all my system messages, I head back to the village at a fast run.
Each of my footfalls barely makes a sound as I zip past faster than anyone back on Earth could run for more than a couple of seconds. There is no doubt of the modest effect that both my Dexterity and Endurance have, but this feeling is something else altogether.
The sensory input and feedback my body returns to me are on a whole other level. In five minutes I learn and improve my running technique more than in an hour before this. I’m also more in control of my own body. It takes me only a moment to realize the only significant variables. Both are related to the Soul stat.
It's now over ten times more than before, and also I have fully unlocked it. Whatever the specific causes, it is clear that the boom is greater than I first imagined. Without excitation or forethought, my mana runs wild. The instinctive use of mana that before was a chore, only to be managed in unconscious ways, slowly comes into life around me.
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At first, it is wasteful, but this is only the experimentation stage. I use a single point of mana for a few seconds until I get the hang of it. Only 20 points in, I start to get consistent results. The results are clear. I can increase my speed by a negligible amount. But the speed of recovery is much higher.
I try it again this time sending about 2 mana slowly to better feel the results. In the first second, I can’t feel much difference but the trend is noticeable and by the fifth second the perceived exertion is like running at half the speed. For those few seconds, it’s like a rest break on interval training. Each time I trying to increase the speed the effect is disrupted, but I intermittently keep at it.
At the start of my session, a point of mana lasts me 3 seconds. Now 200 mana is gone, and each point lasts for about 6 seconds, just from my application of mana in a more precise and smoother way.
As my mana is nearing the bottom, my control is high enough I feel confident in trying another strategy. With utmost concentration, I send strong pulses of mana at each of my steps. Short and condensed pulses of mana, and a dozen steps later and about 20 mana down, I’m almost flying through the sky. So fast I run I tumble as my mana bottoms out. With my experience in the forest and the increased perception and control, I avoid any injury.
Sitting on the ground I laugh wildly. Ruffled muddied clothes don’t bother me as the achievement surpasses any other concerns. It takes me a moment to continue on the last few minutes to the village, but the entire time a big grim is firmly planted on my face.
I have started to merge the magical and physical paths. How applicable it would be in the future was of no concern, but for now it was a great addition to my repertoire. As the village comes into view, I’m surprised.
The walls are now even higher on the back reaching six meters with logs driven on the ground where the cliff stands. The front wall is now 7 meters high and made of stone. I’m immensely surprised at seeing the change in what must have been only a couple of days. I need to go see Charlie.
Each step closer I can better see the village and its changes. There is more damage to the ground and destroyed moats and traps. There are also burn marks on the gate. Just the feeling everybody presents is a little different from a few days ago.
Before everybody was green, now after at least one more battle, their backbone started to form. Passing through the gates, I see a few signs on the wood of the battle that happened here. Observing the houses lifts my mood, it can’t have been that bad, all the houses I could see were intact.
After only a minute I arrive at Charlie’s office. After I knock on the door I hear him:
“Come on in.”
Entering as soon as his gaze notices it’s me he sits straight. With an easy smile, I start.
“So, tell me, what has been happening?”
“Damn boy, you show up a couple of days too late. The battle already happened.”
“So I noticed. Given that I saw no destruction on the village itself, can I assume there were no deaths?”
“Yes, though there were two bad injuries. Luckily we managed to get our hands on a few healing potions. They don’t regrow limbs, but it was enough this time.”
“Tell me about the attack.”
“Sorry, I don’t have the time to catch you up. Pass by the guildhall, and the scribe or someone else can catch you up. If you still need to discuss something then we can talk later. The attack pointed quite a few of our weaknesses.” As I nod and start to turn he continues: “ Just tell me one thing. Was it worth it?”
“Leaving the village?” At his nod, I continue: “Definitely, 6 days meditating in a single sitting, and I did something unlikely to be done in less than a couple months had I continued in the village. It was not my intention to spend so long out of touch, but it has already happened.”
“No use crying over spilled milk, now leave me be, got too much work to do.”
Noticing his entire demeanor and how fast his focus immediately shifted back to the myriad of papers around him, I know he is not been dismissing me, he genuinely thinks he needs to do everything. The feeling is familiar. Not quite the same, but I was used to solving everything on my own.
I turn around again and leave thinking over the direction of the village. It’s not ideal, given the person in charge is feeling so overwhelmed, but it will have to do. I head to the town square and as I’m almost turning to the guildhall, I notice Alex.
Now there is someone that would be happy to see me. Perhaps an even better choice to catch up on the happenings of the town. As I approach and wave he turns, a smile lights up his face. His beat-up appearance and tired demeanor are instantly replaced. With energy in his voice a spring in his step, he greets me.
“Nash, you are a sight for sore eyes. Are you back for good?”
“You know me, I like to wander around.”
To my surprise, he nods.
“It is good you are back, at least for a while. Let me catch you up. Everybody is so busy after this last attack that I doubt many would take the time.”
“I will take up on your offer, lets go to the tavern and get a table. My treat.”
“There is a new Restaurant just behind it. They have a few private rooms, let’s catch up there.”
At those words, I follow him in tacit agreement.
Sitting in a more recluse area of the restaurant, I look down and see a much more normal menu. There are a dozen items, not a lot, so I end up with the fish soup, cornbread, and a couple of slices of pineapple.
I know they are not the real thing, just very similar. However, these twelve options including deserts and the side dishes, paint a very different picture from our first day here. It is very good that we managed to access a more varied diet, there are dangers however we need to pay attention to. Growing complacent would be our death. Everybody seemed to still be running on the adrenaline of the last battle, but after it wore out, the danger would set in.
Stoping my drifting mind I keep listening to Alex.
“After that, the attack came. We all knew it was about to come at any minute, but the sheer size of it surprised us. Almost 600 goblins. Two hundred of them were riding on big wolves and they had 5 magic users. Their riders were not much help for them in the primary use. Nobody was trying to run away, and everybody was inside the village. We even had some already.”
“Yeah, I saw the wall. You guys build it quite fast.”
“It started the day you left, and it finished just yesterday. We got two more Earth shapers, and they helped immensely. It takes more mana to shape the stones, but it is well worth it.”
“Yeah, I noticed there was barely any gap between each stone. You guys also seemed to have figured out how to make some type of cement.”
“We have someone from one of the new villages we discovered over. I heard it is not hard to make. Anyways, we had 800 enemies to deal with. Everybody is still shaking in their boots. We were better armed and most of us started to wear a little armor, but the attack was significantly larger than we expected. So, when all hope seems lost,” He continues on a more exuberant tone. “Charlie gives the signal and a few mages start pulling on a massive mana battery on the wall. I’m not sure how big it is, but it can’t be less than 10,000 mana. They along with the couple hundred people with the gauntlets were absolutely essential to our defense.”
“How large of an attack were you expecting?”
“The standard is around double the first attack, so 500. This was more than triple.”
“When was the attack?”
“Four days after you left.”
Hearing that I was slightly relieved, while the difference could be about the exploration of my soul, I had barely taken a peek at it 4 days after I left. Still, this does raise a few questions. And with those thoughts, I keep listening as he goes on about everything around town.
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I keep speaking to Nash until I’m satisfied I covered everything of relevance the comes to mind. There are probably a couple of things I forgot, but probably nothing too important. As important stuff start to run out, I notice that the news grabs less and less of his attention. That is the time to ask a question of my own.
“So Nash, what have you been up to?”
“Quite a bit, but I did finally find out some about Aether. One of the applications at least.”
“Come on tell me already,” I say excitedly.
“There are a few ways to think about it, but I settled on one for now. I think it is about telling a story and having it come true. That was always true in some way, but with enough of Aether, a skill that may have taken a month could come to life in a day or an hour. That is about all I did ever since. Meditating for days on end and as I learned to use Aether. I even unlocked something within me.”
“Cool,” I respond absentmindedly. I keep asking a couple of things, but a few possibilities don’t leave my mind. And how he expressed himself fit exactly and idea I had.
An idea that has limitless possibilities. Charlie was a wonderful speaker, some might even call him a storyteller. Imagine what he could be telling stories that came to life in front of our very eyes.