The Dive: Birth of a Hero Page 20
Aura - A type of magic that does not rely on spells, and instead directly manifest mana as a semi-solid shape. Higher levels allow more powerful effects and more complicated shapes.
I sat there, staring at the prompt that appeared in front of me when my agility hit the benchmark. I had expected to get a talent similar to Denise’s Speed, but instead received a magic talent. Why do I get this for Agility? Is it just because it’s harder to use the aura if I can’t move properly
Deciding to test it out, I held out one hand, my palm flat. There wasn’t a tutorial on how to use the ability, so I tried a training method Lilith had taught me while in Hell. By focusing my mana into a shape, I wrapped it around my hand. Back when I was doing this to level up my Magical Talent, I had to use my Scan spell to track the shapes. But this time, as soon as I focused on it my hand was surrounded by what looked like a glove of blue light.
Very nice… I began shifting the light with some effort, until it extended from my hand like a short blade. The first thing I noticed while practicing this was that my mana was not decreasing. I’d have to properly train it to find out its full effect, but for now it seemed to resemble a different form of my Lesser Creation.
With that thought in mind, I held my hand out, my index and middle finger extended as if to form a gun. The mana blade around my hand extended upwards and downwards slowly, until it looked like a bow formed of quivering light. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make a string to connect the two ends, though. Likewise, while I could make a shaft of light in my other hand that looked somewhat like an arrow, I couldn’t launch it from the bow.
Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter, though it would have been cool. I could get the same effect with my Lesser Creation ability from my grimoire, so I wasn’t exactly sure how this talent was supposed to benefit me. All I could come up with was that items I make with Lesser Creation have essentially no durability, and are destroyed the first time they take any real damage.
I already had one talent that was entirely useless to me, Axe Mastery, so it wasn’t unheard of to get something I wasn’t likely to use in the future. At the very least, it gave me more stat points to invest, so I was able to become stronger whether or not the talent helped me. Maybe I can use Aura more once I’m hiding my identity? I don’t know what its damage is like either.
Testing my new ability in a battle would be foolish, since I could be killed if it wasn’t strong enough. I’ll go out and practice it in the forest tomorrow, see what I can do. If it really doesn’t use any mana to fight with my aura, then that is a good thing. The shapes I can make should be practically limitless, once I level the talent a bit.
Practicing for just a bit, I formed my aura into a variety of shapes. At first I kept it limited to my hands, making things like swords or axe blades extend from my palm. Then, I decided to try something bigger, and worked my aura across my entire body. Once I was wrapped in the blue light, I pushed it outwards, forming spikes along my skin. Next I extended it further outwards, until a bubble wrapped around me similar to my grimoire’s barrier effect.
Aura has increased to 2
Denise has mastered Hawk Eyes by bringing it to level 30. An extra skill has been unlocked as a reward for reaching this level.
So Denise mastered another one? I’ve got to work hard to catch up! Both Denise and Cynthia had mastered two talents each, whereas I had a large number of talents but hadn’t reached the master level in any of them. I had almost mastered Magical Knowledge, but now I only seemed to gain levels whenever I learned something of actual importance, like when I found out how Mana Stones worked.
Looking over at my stockpile of mana stones, I sighed heavily. There was really nothing I could do with these stones that I couldn’t do myself. I might be able to integrate some of the stones into a staff, but I didn’t know the method for assigning a command word to the stone so that people could use it without having to spend their own magic. Another thing I’d have to learn before I left town, or else whenever we arrived at the dwarven mountains.
Shortly afterwards, Denise and Cynthia both returned to the room. Looking over the room and the cluster of gems in the corner, Cynthia cleared her throat and blushed. “Uh… where am I sleeping…?”
Sure enough, the room only had one bed, and we hadn’t given it a single thought. Denise and I were used to sharing a bed, but that wasn’t going to work with Cynthia. Getting up, I walked to the far side of the room. “Ah, sorry, give me just a minute.”
Placing my hands on the floor, I closed my eyes and focused on the Create Lesser Objects spell. As the lights from my arm began to form the wood, mattress, and blankets, Cynthia let out a soft sigh. It wasn’t a very good bed, but it would be enough for the night. “Thanks… I really didn’t want to sleep on the floor my first night.” She smiled shyly to me.
“It’s okay, I should have taken care of it earlier. By the way, Denise, looks like we both got something nice today.” I smirked to her and she replied with a questioning look. “You finally mastered your farsight ability, and I got this.” Raising a hand, I formed a blade of blue light around my palm, extending a few inches outwards.
“Very cool. Energy sword spell?” She looked inquisitively at my hand, and I shook my head.
“Not a spell. Can apparently make things like this from my magic now. Kinda like my book lets me do, but more mystical looking.”
“So, you’re saying that right now it’s pretty useless, right?” Denise smirked to me, causing me to hang my head in shame. “That’s alright. You said you couldn’t power up your book’s power by practicing it, but you can if it’s your own ability right? So maybe this will eventually become stronger.”
“Right… well, I’ll be practicing it tomorrow.” I took a moment to look over our character sheets before the three of us went to bed.
Name: Cynthia
Race: Human
Title: Hard Worker
Fame: 40
Gild: 0
Level: 92
Health: 1425 + 28
Mana: 0
Strength: 130+26
Agility: 70
Endurance: 275
Wisdom: 20
Intelligence: 20
Luck: 40
Attack: 10 + 144
Defense: 10+244.75(+49)
Talents: Swordsmanship 31, Shield 31, Heavy Armor 22, Hidden Strength 4, Hammer Mastery 2, Fortified Health 2
Title Bonuses: +10 all stats, +20 Luck
Equipment Bonus: +20% Defense, +50% Health Recovery
Ah, so talents can level up even after reaching 30? I wonder if there is a higher tier than Master that will unlock even more abilities. And why does Cynthia have 0 Gild now? Did her father really take away everything that he had given her when he kicked her out?
Name: Jin
Race: Human
Title: Mage, Emissary of the Underworld, Ritualist, Arcane Savant
Fame: 1670
Level: 219
Gild: ∞
Soul: 562
Health: 1050
Mana: 3103+850
Strength: 60
Agility: 200
Endurance: 200
Wisdom: 270+20
Intelligence: 500+20
Luck: 10
Attack: 10 + 52
Defense: 10 + 150
Talents: Magical Talent 25(+2), Magical Knowledge 27(+2), Navigation 6, Nature Magic 17, Summoning Magic 12, Runescript 8, Discovery 4, Divination 5, Enchanting 11, Infernal Magic 25, Arcane Marksman 8, Sailing 11, Mana Pool 7, Mana Recovery 9, Origin Magic 16, Axe Mastery 2, Carpentry 10, Staff Mastery 9, Arcane Staff 5, Aura 2
Title Bonuses: +2 Int/Wis, +400 Mana, +2 Magical Talent/Knowledge, +50% Mana Recovery
Equipment bonuses: +20 Int/Wis, +750 Mana, +50% Mana Recovery, Elemental Resistance +5%, Magic xp gain +15%
Looking at my own sheet, I couldn’t help but sigh. Twenty talents, and most of them still in the single digits. At this rate I might even be level three hundred before I
complete my Archmage quest.
Name: Denise
Race: ???
Title: Innkeeper, Beastmaster, Undying
Fame: 30
Gild: ∞
Level: 219
Health: 1050
Mana: 0
Strength: 240
Agility: 600 + 150
Endurance: 200
Wisdom: 40
Intelligence: 30
Luck: 7
Attack: 30 + 435/170
Defense: 15 + 470
Talents: Archery 30, Reflex 25, Speed 15, Chef 6, Tracking 10, Light Armor 15, Taming 13(+4), Hawk Eyes 30, Swordsmanship 25, Sailing 10, Regeneration 15(+2), Shadow Walker 10(+2), Stealth 15
Title Bonus: +4 Taming, +2 Regeneration/Shadow Walker
Meanwhile, Denise had only thirteen talents, only one of which was still in the single digits. And that talent wasn’t anything related to combat. So while Cynthia and Denise had only a small number of talents, their average levels were well above mine. If she really wanted to, Cynthia might even be able to defeat me in a fair fight.
Of course, the main bonus to having so many different abilities was that I would almost never need to fight fairly. Still, I should stop learning new types of magic until I master at least one of my current ones. After that I can worry about branching out even more.
Chapter 14
The next day, I decided that I would handle asking about Mana Stones before I went to train. After saying my goodbyes to the two girls, I walked back to the Crafting Hall. It had been about five days since I left, and the amount of crafters was around where it was the last time I had been here.
There were various people assembled at the woodworking tables. Some were doing their own projects, while others had an instructor helping them. At some tables, it seemed that the amount of instructors had run out because there were two or three crafters standing around receiving a lesson from a single person.
Looking around, I eventually saw Jackson standing next to a table with a single craftsman slowly carving away a short log. Walking over to him, I smiled. “Hey Jackson, business seems to be good.”
“Ah, Jin! How’re you doing?” Jackson looked to me, taking his eyes off of his apprentice crafter.
“I’m doing good. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“Not at all, not at all. He’s just working on a… I think it’s going to be a scepter. It’ll be a while before he finishes it. So, what can I do to help you? I figured you’d still be at the Fighter’s Hall to train.”
I sighed, shaking my head, “They didn’t want to train me, so I did so myself. But that’s not why I’m here. You remember when I first came here, I asked you about Mana Stones?” After he nodded, I continued with the main point. “I’ve obtained a few, and would like to learn how to make an item that will accept them. I saw a pair of fighters activating such stones with command words, despite having no magic of their own.”
“Ah, yes! I had hoped you would come back for that lesson before you left.” Jackson smiled from ear to ear as he said this. “There is a special technique to install a Mana Stone into a compatible item, but it must meet certain requirements.”
“What are the requirements?”
“Well, first the item must have a slot for the gem to fit in, which has to contain a specially drawn diagram. That’s why so many Mana Stones are sized similarly, so that they will fit in those sockets. The second is that the item can’t have an opposing stone installed in it. If you try to put fire and ice together in one object, the two stones cancel each other out.”
Nodding, I thought that this was all fairly easy so far. I could create an item with my magic specifically to fit a Mana Stone if I wanted. “Anything else?”
“Yes, there is one more requirement. The material of the item you are socketing has to either be made of a material that can channel mana easily, such as Mana Wood, or be coated in a polish that will allow the same effect.”
Again, something that could be easily taken care of with my crafting methods. “I understand. Once you have the item and the gem, how do you get the two together? Surely it is not as simple as placing the Mana Stone into the socket?”
Jackson blushed a bit at my question, his face turning red in embarrassment. “Mostly, it actually is. Placing the stone into the socket while speaking the chosen command word will bind it. It’s a lot easier to put a stone in than taking it out, though.”
I nodded, smiling a bit. “That’s fine. Can I see what the diagram for a socket looks like?”
“Oh, of course. Uh… Bradley, just keep working on that for a minute, I’ll be right back.”
Jackson took off to get a piece of paper and a pen from a neighboring table, and began drawing something. Meanwhile his apprentice, Bradley, just sighed and glanced up to me before shaking his head.
“Here it is!” Jackson returned with the paper and handed it to me. “The diagram is very simple, really.”
Indeed, the diagram was little more than a spiral pattern, with branching lines along the outer layer. “Thank you. So, I just need to make an item with a socket that has this carved into it, and then place the stone. That is quite a bit simpler than I had expected.”
“Yes, the difficulty comes from finding the Mana Stones. Most Mana Stones come from dwarven lands, while most of the Mana Trees are from elven territories. Thankfully a few clusters pop up here and there.”
“Ahh, so that’s how it is.” I let out a small smile, thinking that my combination of abilities really was too much like a cheat. Even without me being able to purchase whatever I want by altering coins, I could create valuable items with relative ease. “Thank you for your time, Jackson. I’ll let you get back to your student now.”
“Very well. Please do come again before you leave.”
“I’ll do that.” And with that, I turned around and left the busy building. Checking to make sure I wasn’t being followed, I ducked into an alley and cast Teleport, moving directly to the area that I had chosen for training Cynthia.
Due to an impending lethal attack, Barrier has been activated.
“Eh? Jin?” I heard Denise’s voice just as the prompt appeared, looking over and seeing her scimitar just a short distance from striking me. On the other side, Cynthia had assumed a defensive stance. Oops… looks like my timing was a bit bad.
“Ah, sorry.” I smiled to her, moving out of the way from her attack and dismissing my barrier effect.
“Sorry? I could have killed you!” The red-eyed woman glared to me as she shouted that.
“It’s alright. Nothing happened, right?” I looked between the two of them with an innocent smile, making sure I was well out of their way.
“You….gah!” Denise shook her head in defeat and looked back to her sparring partner. “You must never do something like that, understood?”
“Yes, ma’am…” Cynthia nodded her head rapidly, looking between the two of us.
The two women resumed their sparring session, and I moved over to the tree to begin testing out my new ability. I’ve got a duel tomorrow, and that woman won’t forgive failure… better figure out what all I can do.
Raising my right hand, I surrounded it with an aura blade like I had practiced last night, and struck out at the tree. The sound of the impact was fairly quiet, and when I looked I saw that there was only a small cut along the bark. Don’t tell me that this is actually a weak ability?
Before my next strike, I noticed that my mana had momentarily dropped a fraction, and decided to put more energy into my next strike. Again the attack was quiet, but the cut deepened a bit. Surprisingly, the amount of mana I consumed didn’t seem to change any, so I continued hacking at the tree.
Over time, I learned that it was the amount of focus I put into the shape I was creating that seemed to determine its attack power, rather than the shape itself. In a way, I guess it was like the more I focused, the more real the shape became. When I tried directly stabbing the tree with the energy blade, after closi
ng my fist to avoid any broken bones, the blade sank into the wood.
After pulling my hand back, I saw that even though the blade was fully inserted, the cut was relatively shallow. Next I steadied myself, focusing entirely on the blade I was creating. This wasn’t something I could do in a fight, since it required me to take my attention off of my opponent, but it was a good test. My aura sword began shining more brightly, until it looked like a solid sheet of blue. With my focus unwavering, I again struck at the tree. The cut this time was considerably deeper, almost the full length of the blade.
Aura has increased to 3
Okay, so I have determined its attack power… but I should be able to do more with it, right? Judging from what the description told me, Aura was an ability that could be used both offensively and defensively. It wouldn’t do any good to just tell one of my companions to attack me, since their strikes would easily pierce a weak defense.