Feeling a sensation of falling briefly Ethan touched down, his feet resting firmly on nothing. To the observer he was standing in a motionless, dark void. No sounds could be heard, other than Ethan’s steady breathing. The sound fell flat, as if the expanse went on forever.
Ethan made to turn and inspect his surroundings, but a series of windows popped up. Followed by simple archways housing a simple wooden doors at the end of a short hallway. The archways appeared real from the front, but as he craned his head around the side, he confirmed it was more weird System funkiness, with eh sides being not existent. They were more two dimensional portals leading to the hallways, and thus doors.
Turning around completely, Ethan saw four more portals of similar flatness, leading to four more hallways ending in similar doors.
“I take it this means, I have 8 choices?”
“Pretty much. The ones in front are usually the standard offered to everyone. The four behind are custom to the person. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider the standard options. They may resonate with you more than the other options.” Joe explained.
Looking over the first four windows that had popped up, he saw what Joe was talking about. The options were standard as they came.
Blacksmith, Leather smith, Tailor, Alchemist.
Ethan wasn’t sure if this ‘resonance’ Joe mentioned was real, or just a figure of speech, but he felt the opposite when he saw Alchemist. And Tailor if he was honest with himself, just to a much greater degree. Leather Smith sounded okay, but he didn’t want to have to get stuck making purses and wallets. Or whatever the System equivalent was, coin purses? Satchels?
Blacksmith sounded fun, but he wasn’t sure that would work out, he didn’t have a forge, or even metal to work. He figured if it came down to it, there had to be metal in one of the mountain ranges he’d seen in the distance they went on for what seemed forever, since the Endless Plains curved up, and disappeared behind the nebula. There had to be metals in there, especially since the System offered Blacksmith as a profession. Unless it truly wanted to kill off all the male subjects in its stupid experiment.
“Yeah, I think I’ll keep Blacksmith as an option, but I am not feelin’ them.” Ethan said, turning to look at the four hallways behind him, and the four new options, with four new windows.
These options were bizarre to say the least.
[Anguish Cultivator]
Deal pain in equal measures, onto your enemies, as well as yourself.
[Weapon Smith]
Restricted, but set free. Hone your skill, as you hone your blade, for Allies as well as yourself.
[Armour Smith]
Restricted, but set free. Forge walls to hinder deaths eventual embrace.
[Magic Smith]
Mana. Tool, Material, Forge.
“What the hell is an [Anguish Cultivator]? Is cultivation real too?”
“Do not choose that option, you don’t have the mentality for it. And it isn’t the cultivation you are thinking. That is a profession for torturers. And Masochists. It deals with inflicting damage on yourself, and others. But as it levels up, you have to do more and more. In newer and more creative ways. It is the System taking a jab at you. Ignore it.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to, thanks for the explanation. But the rest all look the same as Blacksmith.”
“What are they?” Asked Joe.
“Well, there is Weapon, Armour, and Magic Smith.”
“Ah, no those are all different. Weapon and Armour Smith, could be considered similar, but they aren’t. Weapon Smiths gain knowledge about weapons, and weapon crafting. They also gain stats, and bonuses for those weapons. They become a jack of all trades, master of none, for all weapons, mastering only the crafting of weapons. They can craft anything a Blacksmith can, just with out any bonuses, and gaining no experience when crafting anything but weapons. It is similar with Armour Smith, but for Armour. Both are evolutions of the Blacksmith skill. If you are considering either of those, I would suggest getting Blacksmith, it is easier to level in the early levels, and can quickly catch up to either of those two options. More is always better when dealing with Professions. More experience, more bonuses, more levels, et cetera.”
“And Magic Smith? Does that Profession create skills, or Magic Scrolls?”
“No, that one is different in every way than the other three. So with the other three, you use tools, materials, and resources to craft. Using Magic to imbued, enchant, or otherwise augment items you craft. Magic Crafters and Smiths use Magic to Craft. Mana as your Tools, you can at, later levels, actually craft with Mana as a material. You form metal, stone, even leather and fabrics, with Mana. It becomes your knife, your hammer, the forge.”
Ethan mulled over the options. Asking questions of Joe as they came to him. First was asking about the lack of forge for the smithing he envisioned he’d be doing. Turns out the System expected you to build your own forge. It would give you the starter tools, then it expected your to start craft wooden weapons or leather armour, until you found or were rewarded resources. Which lead to Joe letting Ethan know the rewards going forward would include some sort of resource or material for the chosen profession, as our needs expanded.
He had kept Blacksmithing as an option but the more he thought about it, it would be awhile before he could expect to see any stats from his profession if he had to wait for resources. It would be the easier of the two evolutions, Weapon smithing didn’t sound like something he could benefit at all from, since his Bracers had forbid him from holding a weapon if he wanted to take advantage of the benefits they offered. Armour smithing could be beneficial, but if fell in the same pit of needed resources, and thus be awhile before he saw any of those benefits.
Anguish Cultivator wasn’t even worth considering, so that left one option.
“I’m see a lot of negatives with the smithing options. But I don’t know anything about Magic Smith, what are the downsides, and negatives of that Profession?”, Ethan asked Joe.
“Right now, it is your lack of stats. I suspect the dungeon will help with that, since you have to select a profession, then you can enter the Dungeon. But it would still be stats. The dungeon would be more difficult, as right now your Mana reserves and generation are both rather lacking. At lower levels, it still requires tools, and materials. Just not AS MUCH. I would say it is a good option, if not more of an uphill battle in the lower levels for yourself.”
So lack of resources, to train is common among them all. If I push hard I could get to the mountains in a few days. But Joe said that the next Safe Zone is two days away, and the one after that is another two days past that, at the base of the mountains. So I would have to get to the mountains, hope I find some metals, then train. Hopefully getting enough levels and stats in my profession to make it through what I have planned for rescuing Rebecca and the Kids…
“I guess that leaves me with one option, huh?” Ethan murmured to himself.
Selecting his choice, all eight gates began spinning in a circle around him, faster than Ethan could follow. As the spinning slowed, it was revealed there was only a single hallway left. Stopping directly in front of him, Ethan stepped forward. Only pausing at the mouth of the tunnel long enough to wonder if it would trap him inside it once he crossed the threshold.
It didn’t.
Walking down the was off putting, he had spent so long in the void that the return of sound threw him off. The temperature was warmer, and more humid as well. The closer he got to the door, the more alive the tunnel felt. Sounds began to filter through the door, at first it was unrecognizable. Then it hit him, running water. Part of the supplies he’d received from his first Field Boss reward had been a water skin, and some field rations. But he was sudden acutely aware of how thirsty he was all of a sudden.
Open the door, the hallway, and the void beyond vanished as if never there. The arch, the doorway, all gone. He was standing in a large cave opening. With no visible entrance, or exit. A small stream ran down one wall, along the outer edge of the cave, and then ran into a small hole into a deeper level of the cave. On the other side of the cavern, there was a raised section about two and a half meters long, by two meters wide. A shabby looking blanket, and pillow were resting on it. Light filtered in from several smaller hole in the ceiling. Casting a mellow, warm light around the gray blue earthen cave. In the center of the cave, a desk sat, ordinary, unremarkable. Four thick legs propped the table up, they appeared to grow out of the ground itself, transforming from the gray blue dirt to rich dark wood.
On top of the desk sat three things. A book, bound in light brown leather, thicker than Ethan’s hand was wide. A slip of paper, folded in half, with his name written on it in flashy, smooth cursive. And a small sack of burlap, tied off with a small leather strap. Reaching for the bag, his hand passed right through, as if it were made of mist. Trying the book, the same thing happened. All that was left was the folded piece of paper.
Reaching for it, his hand felt the smooth texture of the paper. Reaching to grab it, his hand picked it up. Before he could open it, a System window popped up. Reading it, the piece of paper dissolved and drifted away, vanishing like the door he entered from.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Welcome, Ethan,
To the Magic Smith's dungeon. Here you are free from distraction, free from the constraints of your daily life. Food, water, and rest are provided as long as you decided to train. Supplies however will be limited, we can't have you hiding away here while there is an important, nay, a Grand Experiment on going. While you are inside the Magic Smith's Dungeon, no time will progess outside. However, dangers you left in the Endless Plains will be waiting for you upon your return.
All training material will be provided, should you choose to use them.
Once you have completed your training, an exit will be provided.
[Profession: Magic Smith level 0 assigned to [SUBJECT] Ethan Soxe]
“Well, that’s good news. I guess. No time loss means I won’t be late to getting to Rebecca and the Kids.”
Reaching for the book once again, he was able to touch it now, he opened the front cover and read the Title.
[Magic For Dummies]
Only the dumbest, and most stubborn of apprentices need this most basic of instructions.
Hey, that's you!
“Cute.” Ethan said to no one, but figured the System was watching, and had chosen the title for a reason. He wondered how he was supposed to use the table if there wasn’t a chair. Before he could comment on it, a chair appeared on the opposite side of the table. A long with a small stack of paper, and a quill pen, and ink.
Picking up the book, noticing it was lighter than it should be given its size, he walked around the desk, and sat down. Opening the book, there were no other words than the title.
“Uh, Joe? There’s no words in the book.”
“Place your hand on the page, and inject Mana into it. Like you do with your Bracers, but direct it to the pages, not your Bracers.”
Following Joe’s instructions, Ethan felt the Mana leave his Mana Spring, travel up his chest, through his shoulder, down his arm, and fill his fingers. Placing his hand on the open page it started to glow a soft blue. Spreading out from his fingers, filling the page. As soon as the page was completely full of the bluish glow, the entire book burst into yellow fire. Trying to yank his hand away, Ethan was shocked to find he couldn’t. More baffling was that the fire was giving off no heat. He watched as the book slowly burnt away, with his hand cemented in place.
As the flames reached Ethan’s hand, knowledge rushed into his hand, up his arm, past his chest, and up his neck. It was slow and cold, like a snake climbing his body. The knowledge his hit brain like a cold breeze on a winter day. A shiver ran down his spine, and his hand was finally free.
“I know Kung Fu.” Ethan gave his best Keanu.
“What?”
“Nothing. I did not like that, but I guess I have the basics now.”
Looking around, Ethan saw a new book take the place of the old. Not ready to take a look at the new book, the previous one still rattling around in his head, Ethan reached for the sack. Inside was mostly food stuff, there was a ring, and a monocle, with a small bridge, and a gold chain attached to it. There was also several tonnes of various materials.
I am so taking this sack if they let me. I am getting my bag of holding damn it.
Holding up the monocle, Ethan tried it on, and the world lit up around him. Hues of purple blanketed everything. Looking at his hands, there was a fine mesh of red lines, like graph paper had been overlaid on his skin. Looking at this clothes he could see an impossibly complex rainbow mesh. He understood the colors referred to his current skill level with Magic Smithing. He was no where near being able to forge anything on or in his body. Even if the Mesh was infinitely more simple than his Tunica. The Tunica however had more enchantments, stats, and effects. Which caused the rainbow coloration. Some he could do sooner rather than later, some were a pipe dream, for much much later.
His Bracers however we’re a completely different story. The Mesh was a soft blue color, while the overlapping grid was a deep red color. Which told him he could, rather soon forge something like the bracers, but not the effects. He wondered if he could forge an entire set of armour similar to his Bracers, in how they seemed to disappear, except for the outline. He could feel his Bracers even now, they were real, physical, and very much armour. Just partially invisible.
Taking off the monocle, his vision did not return to normal. Afraid his vision was forever altered, he panicked a bit, before a System notification appeared.
[Mana Sight]
Not quite sight beyond sight, but sight within. Visualize the flow of, constrution of, and structure of Mana within.
Level 0
Effect:
+1 Perception per level
+1 Wisdom per level
Realizing Mana had formed a new pathway to his eyes, was a revelation unto itself, but the new skill was something else entirely. It was intense, to say the least. He quickly cut off the Mana, and nursed a headache while he reached for the ring.
This time he thought to use [Identify] first, but got nothing in return.
“Joe, this has never happened before, [Identify] isn’t pulling up anything. What does that mean?”
“It means, it is a System generated item, I can’t even sense what it you are holding, as it just looks like you’re holding nothing at all. I can sense to basic layout of the cavern you are in, even the desk, and chair you are using. Usually when there is nothing, I can sense a void, like the piece of paper. It is like there is something there that rejects the Mana of the world. But whatever you are holding isn’t even that. I suspect it is another item to bestow a skill.”
“Oh man, I don’t know if I can take another headache like that Monocle, if I put on this ring.”
“Ah is that what that was, makes sense. The reason the Monocle gave you a headache is because it reforged your eye, and the connections to your brain. Eyes are far more complex than hands, which is something else I suspect. That ring will alter your hands somehow. Plus your brain was just force fed knowledge from the tome, adding on the reforging of your eyes, I can see why you’d be in pain.”
“Here goes nothing…” Ethan said, inhaling deeply as he slid the ring on his left hand.
Surprisingly, nothing happened. Ethan exhaled as another System notification popped up.
[Deft Mana Hands]
Your hands are much too large and combersome, now you can use them to weave Mana as a tool.
Level 0
Effect:
+1 Dexterity per level
+1 intelligence Per level
“That was much easier than I expected.” Ethan sighed.
“I told you it would be.”
Ethan got up, and hobbled over to the space he was supposed, he thought, to use as a bed. His head was pounding, the light in the cave was just barely too bright. He needed to lay down.
At least I walked away this time.
He thought as he laid down and passed out.
----
Ethan had no idea how long he had slept. But upon waking he felt revitalized, healthy, and full of energy. Glancing around nothing had changed. The cave was still the same blue gray, the table still in the center of the cave, and still no exit. The letter had stated that he could exit the cave when his stuies were complete. But he had no idea what that meant.
So he did the only thing he could, he sat down, and tested out his new skills.
[Mana Sight] was something entirely new. It changed the way he processed the information he received visually. It somehow connected to his Mana Spring, and his Internal Well. Ethan felt it made a new connection between the two, Mana would circulate between the two, with [Mana Sight] filtering the Mana as well as his vision.
When he wasn’t focused on anything, the world was covered in the grid, and far too much information was taken in, bringing back the pounding headache. He quickly decided this wasn’t meant to be used all the time. Sitting at the desk, head down, looking at the top of the desk he noticed the grid of the desk was a deep black, and very spaced out. From what he had known, from the injection of the [Magic Smithing for Dummies] book, Black meant he would never be able to create something like that, but the space between the grad lines meant it was easier to forge. It was a confusing conflict of information. Joe suspected it was more System creation nonsense for the dungeon, allowing Ethan to work in a less cluttered space.
Placing his hands on the desk, and activating [Deft Mana Hands] he saw the grid on his meld away, and a single Mana tendril inch its way out of his palm. He could manipulate the thread of Mana as if it were his hands, but he lost control of his hands.
How am I supposed to hold anything, and work on it at the same time…
Ethan canceled [Deft Mana Hands] and reached into the satchel provided by the dungeon. Pulled out a small block of wood it rest comfortably in his palm, its light color and soft feel reminded him of cedar. Using [Identify] he was shocked when it was in fact cedar and not some weird System ‘wood of blah blah’. It was just regular old, Earth Cedar.
Activating [Deft Mana Hands] he discovered his right hand still grasped the small block of wood, and is left produced the Mana thread. Figuring this is how he was supposed to work the skill, and forge items, he tried to focus on the grid, while extending the thread. He had always preferred to experiment versus learning everything he could then trying things out. Especially if he wasn’t interested in the topic. Not that he disliked the idea of Magic Smithing, he just had no frame of reference for the profession, so he had no idea what it was like.
[Magic Smithing for Dummies] had been a bunch of theory, and basic application information. It didn’t provide anything like schematics or plans. It was just the explanation of what the Profession should know about what he was seeing, and how to use his new Mana thread. It had explained the thickness of the thread correlated to amount of pressure, and type of application the Mana would form. Wide was more like a hammer, or press, while thin was more like a scalpel or needle and thread. If he got more skilled, he knew he could reverse those applications as well. If he used a large thread to bind two materials, the fusion would be stronger, but the Mana binding would be more brittle. Which is why the thinner Mana thread was preferred, increasing the bindings to offset the lack of strength.
All of this however, was fascinating to Ethan once he saw it all in action. He had taught himself CAD software in his free time, as a hobby of sorts back on Earth, and approached Magic Smithing in a similar way. At first he only had access to limited tools. So he began to cut away sections of the wood. He found he could form a circle of thin Mana, and push it into the wood, it cut effortless through it.
Notifications rang, notifying him that he had leveled his profession a couple times. Ignoring them, he played with his block of wood. Reshaping his thread, changing its size, and thickness. Until the wood block was nothing more than a crumbling pile of chips. Through all of his experiments he had discovered how to replicate most of the tools he was familiar with, even sandpaper, which was weird as the thread didn’t take on a rougher texture, it just somehow sensed his intentions, and smoothed out the block.
“Joe, I don’t feel so well, I think I’m gonna pass out.” Ethan said as a wave of nausea hit him like a freight train. Laying his head down on the table, he groaned.
“I told you your stats weren’t high enough. You are experiencing Mana withdrawals, you have run out of Mana.
Ethan passed out, again.