The next hour was spent watching Riord re-equip various gear as Sam watched. After all that time, Sam had yet to successfully use the skill. It was harder than it looked.
“One more time, I feel I’m close to a breakthrough,” Sam said excitedly. He had finally gotten over his distaste for Riord enough to hold a conversation and the excitement of learning something new was biting at his heels.
“Fine, fine. One more time, tiger cub.” with that, Riord wiped the sweat from his brow and readied himself one last time. “Equip!”
Watching the light flow around Riord’s body, something clicked in Sam’s mind. He felt something take root and two notifications popped up in his peripheral vision. Looking closer, he punched the air.
Epiphany reached, skill acquired: Equip (Uncommon)
Mastery level: Advanced
This is the first time learning an advanced mastery skill, gained +9 in all stats and a bonus passive skill has been granted: Mana Sense (Rare)
“Did you get it finally, lad? Come on, show it off.” Riord chuckled at him.
“Yeah… something like that.” Sam took a steadying breath. “Equip!” he shouted, feeling the power surge through his body. He imagined putting on his hoodie and replacing his robe. This time, he noticed more intricacies in the casted skill as he felt the energy rushing through his body, the light now being a multi-colored haze instead of a bright white light. He felt a vibrating feeling on the surface of his skin. A moment later, the energy stopped and he was standing there wearing his hoodie over his armor.
With that, he excitedly jumped and punched the air again. “I did it! Skill acquired”
“Skill acquired, huh? You did that more fluidly than when I just learned the skill, almost as good as me. How does that work?” Riord asked.
Sam looked at him with a smirk. “The skill said something about copying the mastery of the skill I learn, so with a little practice I should be as good as you at it.”
“Unfair! Imagine learning any skill in an hour, sounds busted to me.” Riord complained.
“I mean, we have no idea how long harder skills would take me to learn. This one was only uncommon, right?” Sam rebutted.
“True, true. My pride has been salvaged for today, thanks cub. Still, that’s an amazing ability you have there…” Looking at Oren, the paladin gestured for the assassin to take his place. “Come on, teach the kind something cooler next.”
Oren nodded once and then looked at Sam. “Watch closely. This is called ‘Shadow Step’, I can vanish into any shadow and re-emerge out of any nearby shadow.”
With that, Oren fell backward and disappeared into his own shadow. A moment later, he tapped on Sam’s shoulder causing the boy to jump slightly.
“In combination with the ‘Assassination’ skill, I can use this skill to deal massive damage to unsuspecting enemies. Your turn.”
“My turn? But I don’t know anything about how it works yet.”
“Right, here’s the description.”
Shadow Step (Rare) An active skill that lets you become one with the shadows. Find yourself traveling through uncharted territory ruled by strength alone, only the strongest can blend into the shadows, defeating their foes unchallenged.
Section divider [https://i.imgur.com/WQI1rlR.png]
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Nearly two hours later, Sam finally felt something shift again after trying to learn the skill. He didn’t seem to have a natural affinity for shadows, but the skill made sense to him. It would be invaluable, so he did his best to try to learn it.
While they had been training, Oren explained other uses for the skills in between periods of silence. Sam found out it could also be used to travel quickly if you spammed the skill and jumped the max distance every time you entered a shadow. And in dark places like caves, you could travel almost infinite distances. The amount of light drastically affects the range of the skill.
With that thought, it finally clicked. He had been thinking about it wrong this entire time as he saw a blob travel across the ground. He wasn’t trying to force himself into the shadow, he was trying to become part of the shadow like the description said. With that, a notification popped up on his screen.
Epiphany reached, skill acquired: Shadow Step (Rare)
This is the first time learning a rare skill from Epiphany, gained +6 in all stats.
With a smile, Sam fell backward and disappeared into his shadow. As soon as he passed through his shadow, he saw a different version of the world through a shadowy lens. His newly forged mana sense was on high alert as he raced towards the stands at a speed faster than he could process. With that thought, he exited through a shadow at the base of one of the seats and sat down.
Sitting there, he smiled broadly. “Mastery of shadows is now mine. Muahahahaha.”
Looking at where had been in shock, Oren looked around for a moment before spotting him and smiled slightly. “You learned it, good job.”
Looking at Oren, and then Rubio, he beamed. Their spectators had grown bored and were engrossed in a card game in the stands but Rubio was still ardently paying attention. It seemed he found the whole concept of studying skills to be amusing.
The last few hours had been worth it though. He had grown closer to Oren, developed his understanding of the shadow affinity, and grown a lot in his proficiency of mana sense. He still couldn’t make heads or tails of the “Mana Sense” passive skill, but he felt like he had a better grasp of the mana around him and could better tell when skills were used. The system likely gave him the beginner version of it, so he’d have to work to master it himself.
Giving him a thumbs up, Rubio walked over followed by Oren and Riord. “Looks like you learned two skills, great job. Two skills at that mastery in a few hours is nothing short of miraculous, it would take weeks or months to develop those skills enough to be that proficient. Let’s take you out for a field trip to the tower and then we’ll call it a day, sound good?”
Rubio smiled at him, waiting for an answer. Thinking about it for a moment, Sam nodded. Going to the tower sounded like an interesting idea, only one of the skills he acquired felt like a useful combat addition right now but he was excited to test it on something at his level.
“Before we go, tell me more about the 1st floor of the tower,” Sam asked.
“Sure, kid. It’s pretty straightforward: it’s a massive series of plains divided by hills with a large forest in the middle. You’ll figure out the rest when we get there, but it’s mostly filled with Lesser Goblins a bit stronger than the tutorial ones you faced. You just need to hack them to pieces, it’s easy enough.”
Sam nodded and waited as Rubio explained the plan to his party.
Section divider [https://i.imgur.com/WQI1rlR.png]
A quick jaunt from the training grounds was all it took to reach the black stone tower reaching into the sky. Rubio and Riord decided to accompany him, and the rest of the party decided to go about their business instead. This part wasn’t going to be that interesting.
Walking through the plaza, at this hour it seemed almost nobody was there unlike when he arrived that morning. There were a few people idly waiting, but none of the massive parties he had seen before.
Sam figured everyone was either still in the tower or had already finished their business for the day.
Following Rubio, the man turned around as soon as they got to the tower. “This part is fairly straightforward, just place your hand on the tower and you’ll find yourself at the beginning of the 1st floor. We’ll be there waiting for you.”
With that, he watched as the man placed his hand on the tower and vanished into thin air. Nodding at him, Riord did the same and vanished as well. Looking around again, Sam tried to steady himself.
Taking a deep breath, Sam placed his hand on the tower as well and heard the voice once more. “Welcome back, challenger. Your real trial begins now, turn back now or you’ll find you have to reach for more power than you’ve ever imagined to brave the challenge.”
With that, a prompt appeared before him.
Accept the tower's challenge?
Yes/No
Wondering briefly why he suddenly had a choice for the first time, he accepted without hesitation and felt his body begin to shift. It was a sensation not unlike Equip, but he felt his entire body vibrating with energy instead of a layer on top of his skin. With that thought, he vanished and found himself traveling through pure darkness once more.