Chapter 051 - On Your Marks, Get Set..._True World Online

In the end Q decided to listen to Brie’s advice and chose to use Charge Spark. This caused Cinnamon to sulk for half a day, but Q left her alone because she knew that she’d recover eventually. It turned out to be a fairly good decision though, as when Q used it she found out that she could leave the spell charging in one hand while she could create runes with her other. Using the spell immediately created a small beam of electricity that shot out for 2 meters before dissipating while using it at full charge created a thicker beam that shot out for 5 meters before disappearing.

Q had spent the entire week leading up to the Broom Race by leveling up and training her skills in the library. As she spent time in the library, she’d occasionally encounter the Guardians and would often talk to them (though they would usually ignore her). Q didn’t mind though, and she continued to talk to them, or just spent time floating in the air beside them. Her rune training went incredibly well as she learned a bunch of new ones and was eventually able to use the flight rune to the extent where she could control it freely. The only thing that bothered her was that she wasn’t able to continue scanning the teleport rune (which reached 50% completion a while ago) because whenever she tried to analyze it, it would fail.

One day during her training she found a new way to use runes, and that was to make one large circle and a smaller one inside it. She filled the gap between the circles with a bunch of other runes and whatever passed through the circle would gain all the abilities the runes gave. She dubbed this ability, ‘Rune Gate’. As soon as she found this out, she began to abuse it and even tried going through it with her own body. The result was that it could definitely enhance her body and other spells, and didn’t even seem to have a limit to how much it could boost them! The best part was that it even remained behind after use (but anything else that passed through the gates would have a weakened effect). It only got better because she unlocked an ability in the Permanence tree called [Rune-Charge] which let her pour more mana into runes to restore them to full power.

The only drawback was that anyone could use these gates, so if she wasn’t careful her enemies could potentially use her own power against her. Q’s main problem was that her points in the Abundance skill tree wasn’t enough so she couldn’t create a lot of Gates at once. Because of this she changed her focus to Abundance and also started to put a few points into Intensity just for some extra boosts.

Sometimes the other girls would join her on her ventures into the library, though it was mostly just Cinnamon as Kukis had other things to do while Brie and Phanos had their time limit of playing (accurately speaking only Brie had this time limit, but Phanos would follow her whenever she joined or left the game). With a whole week to train her skills, Q finally got used to creating and using runes in the middle of battle. Getting used to this class was definitely worth it though! Q thought, as her damage output increased to the point that even Kukis would be hard pressed to match her unless she used her strongest spells.

“I think I’m about ready.” Q took one last look at her status screen before closing it.

(Friend of the Cute and Cuddly)

(Reckless Fighter)

Level 42

Race: Fox-kin

Class: Runemaster

Profession: Tailor (Intermediate)

HP: 325/325

MP: 705/705

VIT: 35 (+20)

WIS: 83 (+54)

STR: 30 (+14)

INT: 88 (+63)

AGI: 50 (+34)

DEX: 57 (+29)

END: 16 (+22)

RES: 25 (+48)

LCK: 10 (+4)

Leadership: 23

Fame: 3041

Equipment

Head:

Witch's Hat (Rare) Durability (30/30) - WIS +5, INT +15, RES +10

Chest:

Witch's Garb (Rare) Durability (50/50) - VIT +5, WIS +5, INT + 10, END +5, RES +20

Arms:

Fluffy Open-Finger Gloves (Uncommon) Durability (30/30) - VIT +5, END +7, RES +3, Take 20% less damage when blocking with hands, but deal 20% less damage when attacking with hands.

Waist:

Potion Holster (Rare) Durability (30/30) - VIT +5, AGI +5, Allows player to instantly use potions loaded in the holster without taking them out (5 Max).

Legs:

Witch's Shoes (Rare) Durability (35/35) - END +3, AGI +10, Active Ability: Use 50 mana to increase movement speed by 20% for 5 minutes (Once per hour)

Main-Hand Weapon:

Alrune’s Staff (Unique) Durability (250/250) - WIS +40, INT +30, DEX +20, RES +15. +25% increase to damage/effects of runes created with this staff. +5 minutes to duration of runes created with this staff. Increases maximum number of runes able to be drawn by 10 while wielding this staff.

Off-Hand Weapon:

Sharpened Blue Dagger (Rare) Durability (50/50) - AGI +4, DEX +5, INT +3, Deals minor ice damage.

Accessories

Ring 1:

Ring of Trickery (Rare) Durability (20/20) - DEX +4, LCK +4, +1 to level of Stealth Skill.

Ring 2:

Ring of Medium Mana Regeneration (Rare) Durability (25/25) - WIS +4, +30% to mana Regeneration

Ring 3:

Ruby Ring of Flames (Magic) Durability (25/25) - STR +5, Increases all fire type skills/spells damage by 10%, adds a 1% chance to burn with each physical attack.

Ring 4:

Black Wolf’s Spirit (Magic) Durability (40/40) - STR +7, AGI +10, 10% Increase to damage dealt by claws.

Necklace:

Protector’s Charm (Rare) Durability (20/20) - VIT +5, STR + 2, END + 7

Bracelet:

Conductive Bracelet (Rare) Durability (20/20) - INT + 5, AGI + 5, 25% damage increase to electrical-based attacks.

Skills

Passive Skills:

Description:

Pain Resistance Lv. 6

Reduces amount of pain felt.

Unarmed Mastery Lv.7

Improves proficiency when not using a weapon.

Claw Mastery Lv.7

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Improves proficiency with claw-type weapons.

Dagger Mastery Lv.5

Improves proficiency with dagger-type weapons.

Throwing Mastery Lv.7

Improves proficiency with throwing-type weapons.

Staff Mastery Lv.4

Improves proficiency with staff-type weapons.

Rope Mastery Lv.4

Improves skill and ease when using ropes.

Free Movement Lv.3

Improves running, jumping and climbing movement.

Swimming Mastery Lv.2

Improves speed and ease of movement when swimming.

Dodging Lv.8

Improves chance of dodging an attack

Deflecting Lv.7

Improves chance to deflect enemy attacks (Deflecting an attack reduces damage dealt).

Silver Tongue Lv.6

Improves chance to convince others to listen to your words.

Riding Lv.6

Improves speed and handling when riding a creature.

Enhanced Senses Lv.2

Improves the 5 basic senses.

Silent Casting Lv.6

Can cast spells and skills without calling out their name or chanting (Using this method causes spells/skills to take more time and mana than usual to activate. Must also have a proficiency level of 8 in spell/skill to silently cast it).

Active Skills:

Beast Within Lv.6

(No Cost, 7 Hour Cooldown) Increases strength and agility by 20% for 1 minute.

Relentless Assault Lv.7

(Consumes 40 MP, 25 Minute Cooldown) Continuously attack a target uninterrupted for 5 seconds, but also receive double damage while in this state.

Magic Fist Lv.9

(MP Usage depends on spell, 30 Second Cooldown) Coats your fist in the magic used on it. Provides extra melee damage to the attack, and does not affect the original magic’s cooldown.

Stealth Lv.4

(No Cost, 5 Minute Cooldown) Blend into the shadows, making you harder to find. Fast movements or combat oriented actions will break stealth.

Sense Presence Lv.6

(No Cost, 45 Second Cooldown) Sense any presence nearby for 10 seconds.

Summon Wolfy Lv.5

(Consumes 250 Mana, 20 Hour Cooldown) Summon Wolfy with additional wolves for two hours (immediately dispelled if defeated in battle). Wolfy’s level matches yours, and extra wolves are half your level. Extra Wolves: 5

Mana Perception Lv.7

(Consumes 5 MP Per Second) Enables you to actively sense mana. Current Range: 30 Meters

Rune-Writing Lv.6

(Consumes 1 MP Per Second) Allows you to create a rune with your mana.

Spell Analysis Lv.4

(No Cost, 3 Minute Cooldown) Allows you to analyze a spell and learn new runes from it (also works when analyzing runes). Chance to analyze depends on stats, time spent analyzing, and level difference between you and the caster.

Rune-Launch Lv.4

(Consumes 10 MP, No Cooldown) Allows you to shoot a rune or set of runes at a surface. Runes will stick to surface and activate when commanded to.

Rune-Charge Lv.3

(Consumed MP Varies, No Cooldown) Allows you to inject a rune or set of runes with more mana, resulting in an increased duration for the runes, as well as restoring their effects.

Spells

Charge Spark Lv.2

(Consumes 20-50 MP, 30 Second Cooldown) Store up magic power to let loose a strong blast of electricity. Damage and range increase depending on how much mana is stored. Has a moderate chance to stun target.

Runes

Element Runes

Command Runes

Special Runes

The new abilities she got, [Free Movement] and [Enhanced Senses] were actually a combination of multiple skills that merged into one (once all the prerequisite skills were at least level 5). Free Movement consisted of Running, Jumping and Climbing, while Enhanced Senses consisted of the skills corresponding to each sense (which was quite a pain to get). She also managed to get her Tailoring to the Intermediate level, and finally made a single item on par with her equipment.

Finally the day of the Broom Race had begun, and Q and Cinnamon headed towards the center of the village. They met up with Brie, Phanos and Kukis who were already there, and found a spot to sit and wait. “Hey Q,” Kukis greeted. “Are you ready to eat my dust?”

“Don’t steal my line Cookie.” Q grinned as she waited in anticipation. In this race, only Q and Kukis learned how to ride a broom so they were the only participants. Phanos also wanted to learn how to ride a broom but she was limited by her class being unable to learn the spell, which vexed her to no end. Brie also had the same problem as Phanos in that she was limited by her class, and Cinnamon already had her wings so she didn’t need to learn how to fly (that and none of the witches were willing to teach her anyway). In the end the other three girls became spectators, while Q and Kukis prepared to compete with each other.

The girls chatted and waited for next half hour as the fountain square was being filled with various residents who all came holding brooms of different shapes and sizes. Eventually a flash of light appeared at the top of the fountain, and it faded away to reveal each of the Grand Witches.

“Welcome everyone, to our annual Broom Race!” Pamerun’s voice boomed across the square. “I can see that you’re all eager to get started, but let’s have a review of the rules shall we?” A few voices of discontent leaked out from the crowd, but for the most part they waited patiently. Pamerun waited for a few seconds before continuing. “The race will take place in three locations, first being around the village, second through the Forest of Fog, and the third on a large open plains past the forest. The race track has already been laid out by floating lanterns so follow those. Also, if I find that any of them have been moved or manipulated I will personally find whoever did it and suffocate them with a [Void Pocket].” Her brilliant smile mismatched with her chilling words, causing everyone in the crowd to shiver a little. “You can ride on any kind of broom, or even staffs in the case of a few people-” She took a moment to look at Q, “but for the most part as long as you’re using the flight spell, everything is fine.”

“Furthermore, there are relay stations set up by some volunteers in these places - the forest especially - in case anyone wishes to drop out of the race early.” Suina, the Grand Witch of Water stepped in. “Oh, and this time the race will be a little more dangerous. We’ve set up quite a few traps, but don’t worry because we’ll be personally overseeing the race.” The crowd became a little concerned when they heard that there were traps, but hearing that the Grand Witches would watch over them gave them a bit of reassurance.

“Just as a final reminder, you are allowed to attack your opponents in the race, but keep it in moderation okay? Also slight sabotage is fine because we can’t stop you anyway...” Pamerun said. Hearing this the crowd all cheered and got some dangerous glints in their eyes. “Again, no manipulating the racetrack. Oh, and those spectating should head over to Caryll to get teleported to the finish line. Okay, everyone to the starting line!” Pamerun and the other Grand Witches flew on brooms to the north of the village, and the rest of the crowd followed suit.

“They’re really loose with the rules huh?” Q said.

“That suits the style of the witches though.” Kukis brought out a broom and sat on it and began to slowly float up in the air. “Need a lift anyone?”

“I… will go with Q.” Brie approached Q who was already floating in the air, sitting on Alrune’s staff.

“I shall follow milady.” Phanos said without pause, and she jumped up on the staff and held out a hand to help Brie up. Q raised an eyebrow at Phanos’ action, as she was standing upright and stable on an object that’s hard to be balanced on. Luckily the staff was long enough that all three girls could sit on it. Once Brie got on, Phanos plopped herself down between her and Q, most definitely on purpose.

“Cinn?” Kukis looked at the angel who only shook her head and flapped her wings to fly beside Q. “Hahaha… forever alone.” For a moment Kukis was a little sad, but she flew off to join the rest of the crowd with a determined look in her eyes.

Q had a bit of trouble maneuvering the staff with three people on, but she was eventually able to stabilize it and lazily floated along. Brie and Phanos weren’t very nervous being this high in the air as they had ridden with Q before on multiple occasions (which turned out to be one of Brie’s favorite things to do), but that didn’t stop them from gripping tightly onto the staff.

“We’re moving very slowly you know?” Phanos complained. “Maybe the race will be over by the time we get there.” Cinnamon’s eyes narrowed at her comment, but Q put up a hand to stop her.

“Hey, I just wanted to eliminate the risk of us falling off, but if you insist…” Q grinned mischievously as her hands began to move rapidly and created a few rune gates. She created three gates in the time span of 10 seconds, and every single one of them had five speed runes lined around them. “Hold on tight!” She willed the staff forward, and passed through the first gate.

*****

Kukis landed at the starting line and took her spot. She looked around for Q and the others but couldn’t find them anywhere. “What’s taking them so long?” Her question was quickly answered as she heard a shrill scream coming from behind her.

““AAAAAHHHH!!!!!””

Kukis turned around and heard the scream get louder as whatever it was approached the starting line at a high speed. The rest of the racers also turned around to see what the commotion was, and were shocked to see what appeared to be a red comet heading straight for them. A few of them even began to start casting defensive spells, but were quickly stopped by Pamerun who ordered them to stay still.

As the red comet got closer, Kukis was able to make out a person. “Hah, that’s so like you Q.” She smiled once she found out what the cause of the screaming was.

As Q approached the crowd, she created a rune gate with a bunch of slow runes written on it. Once she passed through the gate, she slowed down and eventually came to a stop on the ground. With a wave of her fingers the slow effect disappeared. While Q had a refreshed face, Brie and Phanos were clinging to each other with pale complexions and collapsed on the ground. “Hahaha! That was great!” Q looked behind her to see Cinnamon land lightly.

“Did you go at maximum speed?” Kukis walked up to Q and asked. The two girls often trained with each other throughout the week, so they were very clear of each other’s capabilities.

“Nah, just a bit under half. I guess it is my fault for only flying slowly with those two before, but they wanted to go fast so… here I am. I did use up one tenth of my mana though…”

“Was it worth?” Kukis handed over a blue potion.

“Thanks Cookie.” Q drank the potion and watched her mana bar slowly fill up. “It was definitely worth. For the first time I was able to see Phanos’ nervous face! Absolutely priceless!”

“Yes. I also felt a feeling of satisfaction.” Cinnamon added. “To finally see Phanos look like that… it was a wonderfully cathartic moment. Hehehe.”

“I-I’m still here you know!” Phanos’ face had a slight blush, but she still tried her best to look angry.

“Q, please never fly that fast again.” Brie pleaded.

“I make no promises.” Q’s mischievous grin resurfaced.

“*Ahem*!” Pamerun cleared her throat, surprising Q and the others. “Participants please line up in your positions. Spectators head over to Caryll.” The girls apologized and went to their respective spots and waited for the race to begin. “The race will begin on my signal!”

The racers all got on their brooms and floated in the air. “On your mark, get set…” Pamerun let her words trail off for a few seconds before finally giving the signal.

“GO!”

Chapter 051 - On Your Marks, Get Set...

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