Dante returned to his senses and saw the Headmaster smiling at him.

"Now choose your 1st level spells first then we shall work on the cantrips." He began, not questioning why Dante had gone quiet for a moment.

"Though I would send your friend back as it might take a few hours to do all three or a few hours to do just one. It all depends upon which you choose."

"You made well reasoned choices getting the utility spells the fast way. They should aid you greatly. Cantrips are a wonderous thing that almost anyone can learn with the right teacher and the will to achieve it. Here is some advice, try not to buy any cantrips from the store. While they are cheap, it's more rewarding to have someone teach you the spell in places such as here at the mages guild. But I digress." He said motioning towards the door and back towards the large room with several dozen mages.

"As you will come to understand sooner or later, buying spells from the system can give you a more or less complete understanding of the spell in seconds, but can cost quite the sum depending on the spell's level. It's cheaper to learn cantrips and actual spells from us rather than the system." Spoke the Headmaster as Dante stepped towards the door.

Dante had a thought on his way out the door.

'Note to self, find a bard and learn Vicious Mockery.' He smiled at that, stepping out of the office for a moment and explaining things to Califa. It took him about 5 minutes of explaining before she agreed to leave. Though he had to promise to teach her a few spells when he got back.

'Hopefully I can do that by the time I get back.' He thought to himself as he smiled.

Stepping back into the Headmaster's office he knew the spell he would get first.

"Find Familiar is a must have. Pairs well with shocking grasp too...Hmm Dragons Breath on a familiar. Love that combination. I'll have to get that later." Dante chuckled, not worried to let his glee show.

Scanning the list of Wizard spells he saw many that he would love to have but he could only get 8 right now. He didn't even know how much they would cost if he wanted to actually buy one.

"How much do the first level spells cost by chance?" Dante asked curious, and a bit worried about his ever depleting funds.

"Anywhere from about 10 small pieces of gold to about 100. That's just for the 1st level spells. The wide range is due to the different complexities of each spell. Easier spells are cheaper, and harder spells are more expensive. So choose your free spells wisely." The Headmaster said.

Dante looked to the two robed men flanking the Headmaster's desk, each standing vigilant. Something almost seemed to cover them, a bit of shimmering force that seemed almost like.

"Mage armor, absolutely need that." he spoke his thoughts aloud unintentionally. Immediately his face reddened a bit but he didn't retract his words.

With a sigh he continued his thoughts.

'Ok that's 2 down what else...' He thought as he combed over each and every spell on the list.

In the end he came down to 8 with the thought of checking the prices for several others at a later time.

"Find Familiar, Mage armor, Detect magic, Unseen servant always useful, Thunder wave for Shia Kazing, Shield for obvious reasons, Magic Missile the spell that doesn't miss, and last but not least Catapult." He spoke his choices aloud getting feedback from the Headmaster. Though he gave no opinion either way he assured Dante that he had made well reasoned choices.

Off-handedly he made note of a few 1st level spells he would be buying/learning later. Though he stopped himself when he realized he was making note of almost the entire list of spells. He laughed a bit.

'Damn I wish I was getting more for free but I'll take what I can get.' He thought, a small smile drawing across his face.

As he selected each spell it was added to his System Cart. Only once he had selected the final of his eight spells did the buy now button become available.

"Here we go..." He said with nervous trepidation.

Once more that door in the back of his mind opened and light poured through. Then came a few notices.

Items related to purchased spells have been deposited into your inventory...

Materials for, 1, casting of Find Familiar...

Small strip of leather for Mage Armor...

Small wooden spool with string for Unseen Servant...

There was something else, as those spells began to take shape in his mind he learned something more.

Learned and understood in that brief moment before the next notice came.

Detect Magic, Unseen Servant. They added something more to him, they gave him...

You have acquired knowledge of Ritual Casting, Wizard...

Ritual Casting- Spells known to you as ritual spells may be cast without a mana cost to you, but at the cost of an increased casting time to pull from ambient mana...

He loved the idea of making a bunch of unseen servants, having a small army to do various things for him. Now that the rules of the spells had changed, now he could.

A System Spell Tome has been granted to you...

In his mind's eye he could see the tome sitting open on the table in his small hobbit house, in his soul space. He smiled as he learned the spells from the system. He felt as light poured forth from that small door in the back of his mind. Watched in his mind's eye how the light transcribes each spell onto the pages of the spell tome.

A moment later he felt the door close once more and after thinking for a second he came to a decision.

A small strip of brown leather appeared in his hand, taken from his inventory, then he cast his first true spell.

"Mage Armor." He said, feeling his mana slip away as he invoked the spell.

'No, it didn't slip away, it was spent.' He thought as his mana sense gave him a small glimpse of what was happening to his mana.

He sensed as small amounts of mana seeped out of him through his skin. It rose no more than an inch from his body before it began to take shape.

Bringing up his hand to observe the change he saw the faint and translucent outline of what looked almost like leather armor around him. Reaching up, he touched his face only to feel the flesh of his hand as opposed to the rough feel of leather. A few more seconds of experimenting showed him that the spectral armor that now adorned him seemed to be able to pass through itself.

Part of him wished to test the spell, a small part which he ignored.

Then he had a thought.

"Do spells and skills interact? I just cast Mage armor but if I activated my Iron skin skill would something else happen?" Dante asked

The Headmaster smiled, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Yes, no, and maybe..." The Headmaster explained for a moment how under a variety of circumstances spells and skills could interact. Either this could be by design or by accident.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Using Dante's own spells and skills as an example he explained how few of them should interact much with one another, save for the combination he presented.

"While it may not occur right away, it is very likely you will get a reaction if you continue to level your Iron skin skin and continue to use Mage armor. What form the reaction will take is likely to be a simple increase to the effectiveness of one or both of the effects." He sighed before following up his brief explanation with a comment.

"I wish more of my students asked questions like the ones you have been posing." He said smiling sadly before he clapped his hands together and took a deep breath.

"Right then, would you like to pick your remaining cantrips and spells now or come back another day and choose them?" The Headmaster stated, his prior sadness all but forgotten.

Dante smiled, finding a bit of familiarity in the Headmasters actions.

"Considering how much time learning the cantrips may take up I think it would be wise to learn them first then come back another day for the remaining spells." Dante noticed the text floating across his vision for a moment.

+2 Wis...

The Headmaster smiled.

"A wise choice. Now which cantrips will you choose?"

"Fire bolt, Ray of frost, and Shocking grasp...Oh yeah that reminds me. System store, Mend, Arcs."

A few seconds of searching and he had found and bought Mend from the System store for 1 point.

Mend Touch a small non-magical, non-complicated object and restore it to its prime. Resource Cost: 100 Mana, Range: Touch, Duration: Instant

Much to his surprise he learned that like Strike, Mend counted as a skill. Though it was only counted as Rank 1, Common, it still meant he could gain about 10 Rp from leveling it.

And as he looked back over his skills, he saw Cleanse and Purify there as well.

Congratulations! You have reached 100 Skill levels! The Trainee Road has opened to you!...

'...Well isn't that interesting.' He thought before turning back to the Arcs skills.

'Even with them capping out at 10, they are very useful.' He thought with a smile as he and the Headmaster began their training. After a moment of thought he rubbed his chin in contemplation.

'Didn't I open my skills window not long after I got those? Why weren't they there then? Maybe it just took the system a moment to add them since they are rather new...' He thought before deciding to let the issue lie.

--------------------

First was Fire Bolt. As he and the Headmaster worked on the cantrip his Mana manipulation began to level and to his joy a road was walked. With every step he took he felt something stirring within him, growing, changing.

Mana Manipulation has leveled up! Lvl. 14...

All it takes is a spark, to light the fire. +25 mana, +1 Wis, Int, End Affinity progression...

Mana Manipulation has leveled up! Lvl. 15...

To many, fire is a force of destruction, and to their credit it can be. +25 mana, +1 Wis, Int, End Affinity progression...

Mana Manipulation has leveled up! Lvl. 16...

To many others however, fire is a tool to be wielded with caution. +25 mana, +1 Wis, Int, End Affinity progression...

Mana Manipulation has leveled up! Lvl. 17...

Physical Fitness has leveled up! Lvl. 5...

He reached out and with a cry he took the final step.

"Fire Bolt!" A small orb or flame appeared in his hand before he flung it at the training dummy more than 100 feet away, hitting it square in the chest.

+1 SSP...

Throwing has leveled up! Lvl. 3...

Mana Sense has leveled up! Lvl. 12->14...

Student of Magic has leveled up! Lvl. 6...

The Flame burns brighter within you now...

It was then that he felt it. And for a moment in his mind's eyes he saw the small flame that embodied Control Flames grow just a little larger.

Congratulations! You have completed the Road of Fire! You have obtained the affinity, Fire!...

Congratulations! Your mana has surpassed 2,500! The Wizards Road III has opened to you!...

When he had successfully learned and utilized Fire Bolt, it had taken him nearly an hour.

"A little under an hour, you have made good time. Not an extraordinary time, but by no means slow. Take a 10 minute break and then we shall begin with Ray of Frost." The Headmaster spoke his encouragement before stepping away a moment to allow Dante to rest.

Dante felt the onset of a headache from all the mental and physical exercise he had to endure for the last hour. Turns out remaking fire bolt was a fair bit harder than he had initially thought it would be after his initial success with remaking Light and Dancing Lights. He sat on the ground, leaning against some boxes in the training yard.

"Status!..." He said breathlessly, his throat parched. He ignored the blue box for a moment as an idea dawned upon him he had to try.

He raised up his hand and clenched his fist, casting Shape Water as he did so.

His mind was tired, so there were no words he thought. Only action.

As he clenched his fist and cast the spell, a thin fog began to form around him.

Smiling weakly he tilted his head back and used the spell to force the condensing fog into his mouth.

It was a simple 3 step process.

Condense water from the air into fog around him, this helped him cool off and gave him ample water for step 2. Step two being condense said fog into a mouthful of refreshing, clean and cool water.

Step three being the most obvious, swallow the water and repeat steps 1 and 2.

+1 Wis...

Affinity progression...

The Road of Water has opened to you!...

After a few gulps of water and more than a few deep breaths he looked at his status and marveled at his growth.

Dante A. Stone

Race: Human

Class: Wizard

[Rank 1] Lvl. 25

EXP: 433/5,100

Gold: 32 small (gp)

Strength

56

Resources

Total

Regen.

Constitution/Vitality

56

Health

1,187

(49.6/min)

Endurance

67

Mana

2,541

(43.5/min)

Dexterity

46

Stamina

1,546

(64.05/min)

Willpower

42

Road Points

28

Intellect

58

Stat Points

29

Wisdom

77

Charisma

41

Luck

43

Perception

42

Spirit

46

Soul capacity 38.95/46

Seeing how many Stat points he had he decided to spend them in preparation for going beyond the walls with his team.

"My health is falling behind so let's bump that up..." He said as he was about to put 10 points into Con. Though he supposed training some of his skills that gave health or points in Con might be the smarter play. So, he held off on putting points into Con, at least for now.

Grabbing a stick and drawing some quick figures in the dirt he saw it would take about an hour for his mana to refill once empty. Then again Wisdom was his highest stat.

Unable to decide on how to divide the stat points. So, he decided to pour it all into the one stat he couldn't level through his own hard work.

Luck.

As he input the points he felt something shifting within him though he couldn't tell what it was. The feeling washed over him and in a moment was gone.

As he continued to keep a light fog around himself, he cast a Firebolt and held it there in his hand. The longer he held it the more it began to move.

Until it shifted and became something else.

The flame that looked upon him was temporary to this world. It could not dance and play as it did in the man's soul space but when it looked upon it saw a fire surrounding him. Suffusing him.

The small flame became gold for a moment before its time ran out. Returning it to where it came.

Dante smiled, now with a moment to think and relax he had a moment of clarity.

"Didn't I get a notice a while ago that said I could rank up?"