Chapter 72 - The Problem Is...

Day 25

Magic! The creative manipulation of mana to produce some blah, blah, blah and then create some big booms and bams and basically be a badass.

Today was spent practicing just that.

I had the agent explain to me exactly what it was and like I said, Magic was basically the manipulation of certain mana particles to create certain effects. For instance, if one wanted to use Fire magic, one would need to control fire mana particles to do this. However, if one is not able to control these fire mana particles, this person will not be able to produce fire magic. It was basically impossible to possess an affinity for all the elements. (I will fight you if you call me out!)

I practiced using [Basic Fire Magic]. It was quite easy and felt natural.

Next on the board was magic spells. If magic was the power, magic spells were what it took to control the power to create desired effects. They were basically techniques that allowed for better control of magic. This may not make sense to some but it does to me so I'm good with that.

Trying magic spells was a bit trickier than using raw magic, but it didn't take long for me to get the gist of it. All I needed to do was visualize the kind of spell I wished to create. The direction in which I wished the mana particles to flow and the sort of shape they should form. It didn't take long for me to create a ball of fire.

I shot the fire ball to a tree, but it wasn't really effective. I also developed the [Fire Magic: Fire Ball] skill but it was level 1. It didn't use much mana. With the familia skill [Mana Share], I was siphoning the mana of my members who actually possessed mana. Sure I was doing it without their permission, but at least they were helping me get magic skills.

After much research, I found out that I really was a genius when it came to magic. Apparently, whenever a person started using magic, their magic power ranges from 5 to 10. I straight up started with 50 so I was already above normal. And creating magic spells like I was doing was also out of the norm since it would take people years to create new magic spells even when they've thought out the outline. Because, magic power 50 was the magic power those at the low intermediary level had. I felt really special after hearing that, but my mana reserves were quite low in my opinion. Of course that was out of the standard for people who just started.

I took an apple then threw it to the sky. Quickly I shot a lightning bolt through it and it went pop.

'Hmm… that ain't right. Hmmm… Hmmmmmmmmmm… Um… let's try this then.'

I threw some weirdly shaped fruit into the sky, then used Wind blades to sever it into perfect slices. My precision was off and power behind it was too much. The wind blade just made the apple go pop as well.

'Ah. That's a problem. Agent, is there no way for me to minimize the magic power in one use?'

My reason for asking this was that, 50 magic power was just a big use of mana especially for simple spells. I needed to minimize the energy use for a matter as simple as cutting an apple.

<<Affirmative>>

The agent then proceeded to explain the whole ordeal in some bull shit. In my terms, I possessed mana circuits. Mana circuits were like a pipe that generated mana over time. Ok, they were actually collecting mana from the environment into them, much like solar panels. Anyway, these mana circuits had various valves where the mana they've accumulated can flow out of. These valves increase with the owners of these mana circuits. The valves were the control system for magic power. They managed the flow of magic power. So if one's valve was on 1, that person wouldn't be able to produce a good amount of mana or magic power. However, the bigger the valve, the quicker the mana supply is depleted as well as the more powerful it comes out. So I switched my valve to something lower.

Now, with magic power 5 I tried cutting an apple with wind blades again and the apple was cut, although my accuracy was a bit off so it ended up weirdly. Still, that was a ginormous leap for me. So I decided to work from the basics up. I ended up developing a lot of magical abilities, while also increasing my proficiency for the basic magics.

I later tried magic combinations. With [Basic Fire Magic] and [Basic Light Magic] I got my desired effect of [Basic Holy Fire Magic]. So I tried out the same thing for [Basic Fire Magic] and [Basic Dark Magic] I got [Basic Hell Fire Magic]. I was happy I got what I wanted, but some magic just didn't come together like that. Something [Basic Fire Magic] and [Basic Water Magic], I didn't get a new magic, because they simply didn't click. And when I tried a combination like [Basic Spatial Magic] and [Basic Dark Magic], I only acquired a spell [Dark Magic: Shadow Travel].

In the end, some magics clicked to create other magic, some did to create spells of one of the two magic in combination and some just didn't click at all. Made sense, I guess. My [Mana control] and got so strong it actually became [Good Mana Control]. I was surprised, but I wouldn't think too much about it. I tried the [Dark Element Manipulation] skill. It allowed me to directly mess with the actual dark element. For instance, when I used the skill, I could control the shape my shadow formed. It may have seemed like a simple manipulation, but apparently this skill wasn't one easily acquired. I wouldn't read into it too much as well.

With [Basic Ice Magic] I created a spell called [Ice Field]. It was a small area where the ground was just slippery ice. With all of these, various tricks and traps kept coming to mind. Magic would save me a great deal of effort. Still, I needed to test these out sooner or later. The perfect place to try this was the Forbidden dungeon. And with the side quest, I think I would have even gotten a lot of benefit as well as a good level up and possibly an evolution. And the dungeon would most likely carry gold and ancient artifacts.

I decided to raise my magic as high as I could, but after a lot of experiments, my mana got finished, even with the mana I was siphoning off the others. I really went crazy, practically destroying everything around me. There was torn up earth, jutted rocks, trees that were blown down, cut or straight up scorched. And what scared me was an attack spatial magic skill I tried. I didn't expect it to work, but it did so well I was almost creeped out. Definitely a one-hit kill skill, for regular targets, but spatial magic had the unfortunate effect of draining most of my mana and was unbelievably slow and difficult to control unlike the other magic.

So I decided to go back to the cave with all the dead rabbits I caught from my daily quests. I also managed to catch a flame deer. It wasn't really a challenge especially with my current speed and I tried out the [Devil Form] skill. I was surprised by its effects and felt like it would be really useful later on. When I got back, Minerva was sleeping at the back of the cave and Ulva was playing with Kawaii.

I transformed into my human form and gave her a pat on the head. I went to attend to the caulala that I assumed would have died from a lack of water, but Minerva found a container she had been using to fetch water to water it. When I got there, the caulala growled at me and I tried patting it, but it bit me. Luckily, I didn't really feel that and I shook its head to get spices to fall.

After collecting them, I moved to start cooking. Sure, I didn't know how to cook, but I could ask for advice from Reiman using the Familia system. He run me through the steps and I managed to produce a fire deer stew.

Well, I ate portions of the meat before cooking so I got the skills [Fire Force] and [Throttle]. And I consumed its soul, still not getting enough experience points for a level up. I needed to fight something strong. But I noticed something odd with my experience points. There were moments where I would check and the experience points had increased out of nowhere. Maybe it was just something the system was doing to allow me to level up quickly?

Well that wasn't the matter at hand.

'Hey, Ulva.'

"Hmm?"

She responded while playing with the creepy slime.

'I want to see your abilities in action today. So you think you can show me one of your skills?'

Her eyes glittered then she nodded happily.

"Eh… I am not really strong."

'I think you're underestimating your capabilities a bit.'

So we tried for about half an hour and I was ready to give up. Ulva was… pretty much pathetic. With her stats, her speed and strength should have been more, but she was weak. Too weak. Was it because it was day time?

"Sorry."

Ulva said out of nowhere. She looked really depressed about it. And from the way she was acting, she probably didn't even know that she was actually quite strong. Which led me to believe that the monster she was talking about was probably a vampire that turned her into a dhampyr and killed most of the villagers. Her parents probably sold her off in fear of being killed by their own daughter, rather than killing her themselves.

Ok, the last part of my theory needed working on, but it fit in with the story quite well.

I patted her black hair gently and smiled.

'Don't worry about it, ok? I'm sure you'll get stronger eventually. Even though you are actually stronger than tons of the creatures in the West'

Then out of nowhere, I had an idea.

'That's right! I can just test out [Remorse] on you!'

"Huh?"

[Remorse] was a skill that allowed me to temporarily steal my target's abilities, right? But then it also allowed me to give my target a random ability of mine, depending on their affinity for it. Maybe if I gave Ulva one of my abilities it could work! With that being the case, I tested this out on Shitsuke and the others to help make them stronger.

'Ok, Ulva, don't freak out.'

"Wha-ah? Wh-whats happening?"

I put my hand on her head, then activated [Remorse].

[Would you like to use [Remorse] on your target]

'Yes'

[Target has acquired your skills [Basic Ice Magic]]

'Noicee! Ok Ulva, try to use Ice magic or something.'

"Ice magic?"

'Yea, just try doing something with Ice. I don't know. Will it or something?'

With a determined look in her eyes, she nodded.

"Ok!"

However, when she tried it, nothing came. It was a total flop. I wondered what was wrong. While I was looking at her, my eyes landed on her collar and by accident, I used [Analyst] and was shocked by what I found.

'There it is!'

"Wh-what!?"

'That. The collar.'

I pointed to her collar and she looked down curiously.

'That's the reason why you can walk in day time. It's also the reason why you are so weak.'

"Huh?"

'Hmm, I guess I'll have to find a way to remove that from your neck while keeping the protection it gives on you.'

Ulva slightly tilted her head.

"Then will I be able to help you?"

'Erh, that doesn't matter, but I guess so.'

Ulva clenched her fists and had a determined look on her face.

"Um, I know you have done so much for me, but could you please remove the collar?"

'I guess so, it doesn't look too tough, but you might die the moment I do that, so let's hold it off for later, ok?'

She looked disappointed again and it made me feel kind of sorry for her.

"If you say so, but… um… it's sort of weird seeing you completely naked."

She said. Then I realized that I hadn't really thought much about my privacy. I was buck naked in the wild like some kind of crazy person. I sighed and reverted to my normal form. That was embarrassing.

'I-I'll have Sylvie make me a dress later.'

"Umu."

Afterwards, I decided to learn how to craft potions, so I grabbed a few renosue herbs. It took me a while, especially since I didn't have the right tools, but I managed to create a potion, that would heal up to 50% of one's health when used. In video games, a percent heal was practically overpowered and I was sure this potion would be the same. I mean, it even had a High Epic rating on it and its value went for 500 gold coins.

Yes… 500 gold coins.

'No! Damn it! I can't sell this for money then! No one's going to have 500 gold coins at the ready!'

I sighed and gave up. I would just create lots of them and store them in my inventory. I also practiced my other skills and went back to building up my poison resistance and even attempting a fusion of skills. It was all good and felt a bit nostalgic.

DAILY ACHIEVEMENTS

[Tori learned [Fire Magic: Fire Ball]]

[Tori learned [Fire Magic: Fire sphere]]

[Tori learned [Water Magic: Water shot]]

[Tori learned [Water Magic: Water sphere]]

[Tori learned [Lightning Magic: Lightning bolt]]

[Tori learned [Lightning Magic: Lightning Dagger]

[Tori learned [Earth Magic: Rock Shot]]

[Tori learned [Earth Magic: Rock Blaster]]

[Tori learned [Wind Magic: Wind Blade]]

[Tori learned [Wind Magic: Breeze]]

[Tori learned [Light Magic: Light Shot]]

[Tori learned [Dark Magic: Shadow Travel]]

[Tori learned [Spatial Magic: Air Steps]]

[Tori learned [Spatial Magic: Void Shot]]

[Tori acquired the magic [Holy Fire Magic]]

[Tori acquired the magic [Hell Fire Magic]]

[Tori acquired the skill [Shadow Manipulation]]

[Due to the unique skill [Evolver], Tori acquired the skill [Fire Force]]

[Due to the unique skill [Evolver], Tori acquired the skill [Throttle]]

[Tori created [Renosue Half Potion]]

[Tori fused the skills [Beetle Armor] + [Centipede Armor] + [King Viper Scales] to produce the skill [Anguix Bug Armor]]