After he left Ingram looked down at his newly issued Adventurer’s Badge that had the prominent letter F before shoving it into his right pocket. Instead, he began focusing on his Learnable Barrier Magic Circle Components.
{Core-
(100%) Mixed Mana (MP Cost: 101)- Mana that has a little bit of everything, but due to it's contrasting nature it restrains itself and is only useful for making Barriers. {More Detailed Information}
Characteristics-
(100%) Physical Block Barrier (MP Cost: 50)- Blocks Physical Attacks
(100%) Magical Block Barrier (MP Cost: 50)- Blocks Magical Attacks
(Unlearned) Spiritual Block Barrier (MP Cost: 50)- Blocks Spiritual Attacks [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 1 and 575 MP]
(Unlearned) Physical Status Resist Barrier (MP Cost: 150)- Resists Basic Status Effects (Bleeding, Numbness, Physical Paralysis, Disease, Poison, etc.) [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 20 and 700 MP]
(Unlearned) Physical Concealing Barrier (MP Cost: 150)- Conceals the edge and all physical entities within the confines of the barrier [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 15 and 450 MP]
(Unlearned) Physical Repelling Barrier (MP Cost: 100)- Repels a Physical entity [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 20 and 500 MP]
(Unlearned) Physical Isolation Barrier (MP Cost: 1000)- Complete isolates the insides of the barrier from the physical world [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 30 and 800 MP]
(Unlearned) Physical Reversal Barrier (MP Cost: 1001)- Physically Reverses whatever is inside. [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 50 and 1001 MP]
(Imprinted) (80%) Solidify* (MP Cost: 5)- Solidify mana into a physical form [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 10 and 130 MP]
Modifications;
Shape-
(Imprinted) (20%) Sphere* (MP Cost: 100)- Makes the Barrier a Sphere. [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 10 and 120 MP]
(100%) Plate (MP Cost: 50)- Makes the barrier a Plate.
Malleability-
(100%) Hard (MP Cost: 100)- Makes the barrier hard.
Permeability-
(100%) None (MP Cost: 50): Doesn't allow for things to enter or leave barriers.
(Unlearned) Exit (One-way) (MP Cost: 50): Only allows for things to leave the barrier (Objects connected to the person the barrier surrounds if outside the barrier can be pulled back in) [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 5 and 42 MP]
(Unlearned) Enter (One-way) (MP Cost: 50): Only allows for things to enter the barrier. [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 5 and 42 MP]
Size-
(Imprinted) (80%) 3 Inches* (MP Cost: 0.25)- [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 5 and 50 MP]
(Unlearned) 1 Meter (MP Cost: 3.28) [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 1 and 30 MP]
(100%) 2 Meters (MP Cost: 6.56)
(Unlearned) 4.5 Meters (MP Cost: 14.76)- [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 4 and 135 MP]
(Unlearned) 6 Meters (MP Cost: 19.68)- [Class Points and Mana required for an instant Perfect Comprehension: 6 and 180 MP]
*Due to being forcibly imprinted and not learned by Host, the Class Points and Mana required to instantly attain perfect comprehension are doubled until the Imprinted Knowledge is completely learned.}
Ingram sighed, “What I can afford with my Class Points, I don’t need right now. The one I want is the Physical Concealing Barrier, but it’s worth fifteen Class Points, but leveling up my Class only grants ten per level. I would still need five more and I doubt I have enough experience to level up my class twice.” Ingram walked towards the gate, only to stop because he remembered he only has to use Class Points to instantly learn it. If he wanted to, he could learn it by himself.
‘I can’t believe I forgot about that. I just hope its symbol isn’t super complex like Mixed Mana’s was.’ Ingram mentally prepared himself before focusing on the Physical Concealing Barrier and saw its symbol. ‘Thank goodness, it's not that complex. Just a grey circle slightly obscured by a pitch-black robe. I can manage this, though I wonder why this image in particular.’ Even though Ingram was slightly confused, he used his Barrier Magic Circle Creation and began to work on drawing the image he memorized.
The first attempt failed because he had no idea how to change the color of his mana before it exploded, slightly rippling through his Mental World only for it to be devoured by the two universes spinning above and below the space. ‘That was scary, is this what using magic is like for normal people? Good thing I have Mixed Mana or that would have hurt, like the first time I failed. Repetition is key for things like this.’
The second attempt failed because he didn’t fill in the cloak covering the circle. ‘I see, so the color of my mana is entirely dependent on my imagination… Now that I think about it, it is said magic is born from imagination, is this what they meant? Again.’ The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth failed because Ingram was too hasty in drawing the circle and cloak.
‘Why is this so hard. It’s just a circle, why can’t I draw it? I know I’m not the best artist, but I’m using my mind not my shaky hands. No, I refuse to think I can’t learn this without using Class Points.’ At this point Ingram was feeling stubborn, mostly because he didn’t want to rely on the system for everything. He read stories where protagonists lost their way when the system or their gifted talent suddenly vanished.
It was only on his tenth attempt did the Barrier Magic Characteristic, Physical Concealing Barrier was successfully created, albeit with an accuracy of 10%. The main reason is the black of the cloak is incomplete in some areas, there are patches of grey, and the entire misshapen grey circle can be seen. ‘Finally…’ Ingram’s thoughts spilled out of his mouth by accident, “I did it all by myself!” After hastily cover his mouth, Ingram quickly added the component to a magic circle in this order; Mixed Mana, Physical Concealing Barrier, Sphere, Hard, None, and 2 Meters all in all it cost 508 (507.56) MP.
{Judgment: Magic Circle is 71.67% accurate. Barrier Durability is decreased by 28.33%.
Perfect Barrier Durability: 1,029.30 HP | Penalty applied, New Barrier Durability: 737.69 HP
7 Proficiency Points gained.}
Ingram read the system prompt, before wiping his eyes and re-reading it again. ‘Barrier Durability? I thought it was Barrier Strength?’ After a few minutes of thinking, Ingram realized the difference. ‘Oh, is it because Physical Concealing Barrier isn’t tailored towards a certain type of damage like Physical Block Barrier? Interesting, I wonder if I can mix the two types together, like a Physical Concealing Physical Block Barrier. Would it still be Durability or would it return to Strength? Either way, I have a convoy to follow, and I never have to pay entry tax again. Though I’m unsure if my Physical Concealing Barrier can escape the notice of the Magic Tower’s system. I doubt it, Barrier magic is Magic at the end of the day.’ Ingram quickly approached the exit before summoning his Barrier around his body and completely vanishing from sight, there wasn’t even a shimmer like light reflected around him.
Inside the barrier Ingram looked around and realized he could barely see the barrier itself, instead of being faint grey like before it was translucent. Testing weather or not he was hidden from sight, he walked up to a passerby and stood in front of them. Of course, they didn’t see him and nearly walked into him before he walked away, keeping his barrier’s size in mind. ‘So, I’m completely invisible. This barrier type is going to be useful, but I don’t know how hidden I am. Is it only my body, or is my mana signature gone too? I don’t really have a way to test that. Let’s catch up with the rest of the adventurers. I can test my Physical Block Barrier strength as I do.’ Ingram hurried after the group that had gotten quite deep into the forest by this point.
With the rest of the adventurers, they followed the messenger’s blood to the place he got attacked, they didn’t see anything but blood so the number one party split from the main group to scout. After traveling deeper into the forest, close to a desolate valley, the three saw a shocking sight. Countless waves of wolves, bears, vipers, rabbits, deer, boars, and slimes were all fighting each other, well the deer and rabbits were being hunted by the predators but violently fought back when they were cornered. At the very back of the monster hoard, sat a six-meter bear that no other animal dared approach. The only thing they had in common was they all had glowing yellow eyes filled with an unnatural madness, well the slimes had glowing dark yellow cores.
The strongest adventurer in Yonder looked over to one of his party members, a scar covered man with brown hair and sharp amber eyes covered in light leather armor along with a large bow slung over his shoulder. “Isaac, what do you see?” The spear wielding leader quietly asked. The scarred man, Isaac shook his head before he whispered back, “Tony, if I’m being brutally honest, I’ve never seen anything like this before. Usually, animals stay in their own territories, even after a stronger being passes through. Something is off about them, why are they all so close to one another. I don’t remember Yonder’s forest housing this many animals, they must have come from the Great Forest. If we want to ensure Yonder’s safety, we need to cull their numbers by at least eighty percent. We should stay cautious going forward, but the payout from the guild will be huge if we successfully accomplish this. That is if the Guild Master keeps her word.”
The large man, Tony grimaced as he looked over the massive fighting hoard of animals and monsters, “What is happening?” Tony waved his hand and the six retreated with the shocking intel. After they returned to the group, Tony had a dark expression as he addressed the adventurers of Yonder, “I need you all to remain calm and listen to what I have to say. Around the valley, we saw countless wild animals.” Hushed discussions broke out, but Tony spoke over them, “It seems they are under some kind of curse of madness. They are attacking each other with no regard for their own well-being. According to our professional hunter, we need to kill at least eighty percent to ensure Yonder’s safety. I’ll let Liz give an approximate number, I’m not good with counting large numbers like she is.”
A tall flat-chested woman in fiery red mage robes with short crimson hair, blue eyes and a dark purple wand hanging from her waist stepped forward, “You’re just to lazy to even try, there are only three thousand five hundred and seventy-five beasts. Okay, Adventurers of Yonder, we need to kill at least,” Liz took a deep breath before rattling off a string of information, “Six-hundred Wolves, three-hundred Boars, four-hundred Rabbits, three-hundred Vipers, four-hundred and sixty Deer, two-hundred Bears, and six-hundred Core Slimes.” The large numbers made the adventurers pale, but Liz quickly spoke up, “While this sounds like a massive undertaking, it is possible as long as we all work together and you listen to our orders. We have three-hundred and fourteen adventurers on our side, with us, the Flaming Blades, holding the highest Rank of A, even if three of our members aren’t here due us being on vacation. Under us we have twenty complete C Rank Parties, meaning each party has six members each, thirty complete D rank parties, and eleven E Rank Adventurers.” Liz’s words echoed throughout the empty forest, but they didn’t spark much hope in the hearts of the three-hundred and fourteen adventurers, most of the eleven E Rank adventurers felt a deep wave of fear from the sheer number of foes they’ll have to face.
Suddenly, Tony pulled her back, “Thank you for that Liz. Like Liz was saying, it is possible, but only if we work together. However, I understand this task is not going to happen overnight. As an extra layer of insurance, I am planning on sending all the E Rank adventurers back to Yonder with the intent of informing the Guild Master of the current situation and the Magic Tower Master of the possibility of a beast tide in the direction of Yonder. They both have way to inform the surrounding cities and towns of our plight, so reinforcements will be on the way.” At this Tony took a deep breath and roared, “All we have to do is survive! All E Ranks, go back to Yonder with my message!” The eleven individuals all nodded and ran towards Yonder, even faster than their arrival here.
Tony ignored their actions and turned towards the D Ranks, “All D Ranks, start setting traps. Whatever kind you can think of, dig pits and fill them with wooden javelins, make rope traps that hoist whoever steps into them into the air. Anything that can slow them down but be sure to inform us of their locations in advance. If needed head back to Yonder to gather the necessary tools and, if possible, extra manpower to do this in a timely manner.” All the D Rank Adventurers immediately got to work as Tony turned towards the C Rank adventurers with a serious expression.
“As for you C Ranks, I’m sorry, you have the most important, but dangerous, job. Divide and Conquer. From what Isaac and I saw, they will attack anything they see, even their companions. So, your jobs are to draw the attention of the stragglers before leading them away before killing them as quickly as possible, the repeat. I know this is a very dangerous job, I cannot guarantee you will survive, but if it's any consolation, us, the Burning Blades will be right beside you. We have to buy time for the D Ranks to make traps and for the E Ranks to request reinforcement.” Tony hesitated before he spoke up again, “If necessary, burn the forest to cull their numbers and scare them further away from Yonder. This is only the last possible outcome when all else fails.” Tony sighed before he rubbed his temples. “Our long job starts tomorrow, but we’ll camp out in the forest to ensure the animals don’t approach Yonder. If you wish, return to Yonder in groups of two to three. To get your affairs in order, just in case.” After Tony stopped speaking, he looked at Isaac and signaled him with his eyes.
The two men walked into the forest, away from the rest of the group. Tony asked a very important question in a low voice, “Isaac, what do you think of our chances? You have the most survival knowledge of the Flaming Blades, so I want your honest opinion.” Isaac rubbed his beard stubble as he mulled over the answer before silently shaking his head, “With the group of adventurers we have now, less than one percent. There’re too many animals when compared to us, unless we get reinforcements in a timely manner, and I mean within two days or so, we will die. That’s almost three thousand out of control animals we have to kill, and that’s not even counting that large bear we saw. I’m sure that was the Bear King of Yonder, I thought he was a myth, but I guess not.”
Isaac’s words made Tony’s expression change, “If it comes to that, I’m sure I can take the Bear King-” Isaac cut him off, “I know you can, but what are you going to do after being surrounded? Even you won’t make it out of that. There’s a high chance there are variants within the hoard of animals.” At the word “Variant” Tony’s expression darkened further and he tightened his hands into fists. Tony took a deep breath and relaxed his grip with a sigh, “I see. If it becomes too overwhelming, retreat with the rest of the party. I don’t want to lose any of my friends, not before we’ve seen more of this large world.” Isaac had a bitter expression, “I understand, but I’ll ask the same of you. You know stubborn we can be, if you don’t retreat, we won’t either.”
Tony put on a smile before slamming his palm onto Isaac’s back, knocking him forward a few steps. “Sure, so much for this being a peaceful vacation huh.” Tony mocked their luck as he walked back to the rest of his party, with Isaac rubbing his back as he followed with a grumble, “Tony’s still so heavy handed. That really hurt.” Tony laughed loudly when he heard Isaac’s grumbles.
Ingram finally caught up with the group, or so he thought. As Ingram quickly stepped to the side of the earthen path, he saw it was only a group of ten adventurers. They ran past where he was standing, did he realize they were headed back to Yonder. ‘Did I miss the fight?’ Ingram peeked at his mission window but saw the Guild Master’s Request was still there. Soon after the ten ran by Ingram heard the sounds of disgruntled grumbling from an eleventh adventurer.
It was a young man with black hair, he was slowly walking along the path while furiously grinding his teeth, “Why should I have to miss out on the fight? Is it just because I’m only E Rank? I mean the task of delivering a message to the Guild Master and Tower Master should only need two people max. They just want to keep all the contribution and money to themselves. I knew I should have listened to my friend and taken the Advancement Test yesterday. Now look at what happened, I’m forced to retreat to Yonder. I won’t forget this, Burning Blades, you cut off my path to a richer life, I’ll never forgive you.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Ingram had a confused expression, so he began to follow the young man to see if he could glean more information from his venting. After following him for a few minutes, Ingram felt tired. ‘He’s only repeating the same few lines, just with different words. I should have ignored him and followed their footprints to the main group.’ Ingram silently sighed, mostly because he was unsure if sound was concealed by his barrier too. Right as he turned around, he finally heard the young man say something different. The black-haired young man stopped and seemed to roar at the blue sky, “Do you know how much money the parts of three-thousand beasts would generate?! This is so unfair!” The young man panted after he yelled before slumping his shoulders and obediently heading back to Yonder, but he still continued to grumble about how unfair it was every five steps or so.
At this point Ingram obtained the information he wanted, but it wasn’t something he’d want to know. ‘Three-thousand beasts!? That’s… uh, much more than I thought I would have to face.’ Ingram bit his index finger’s first knuckle before he picked up the pace and began sprinting towards the adventurers’ camp site. ‘No, there’s no way the beast tide is that large. That guy must have been mistaken, I mean I doubt a forest this close to a city would even have three-thousand animals.’ Ingram’s logic was sound, but he forgot two things. First, he’s playing a game and second, Yonder is a city on the very boarder of the Empyrean Empire. Due to a lack of information on his part, he could never know that next to Yonder is called the Great Forest, but due to the changed to the world future players will rename it to, The Forest of Despair.
After running six meters, Ingram ran out of stamina and had to stop to catch his breath, so he leaned against a tree. ‘Even in the real world, I never got this tired after running, even my legs hurt. Is this because of stamina, movement or strength? Either way, this is going to be a real problem in the future, I can already tell.’ Ingram thought with a tired smile as he caught his breath and decided it was best to walk. For the first time, Ingram looked down at the forest floor out of curiosity, only see… the footprints of the eleven E rank adventurers, but his own were missing. ‘So, the Physical Concealing Barrier conceals ALL physical traces. I mean I think so anyway. When I followed that guy, he didn’t hear me breathing or turn when he heard my footsteps behind him. That’s nice to know.’ Ingram made a mental note of this information before continuing forward, to confirm whether or not the black-haired man’s words were true or not.
Ingram heard the group before he saw them. “Watch it, if you hit me with another handful of dirt, I will bury you.” A cold feminine voice said with a serious tone that made Ingram instinctually freeze in place. “Don’t stand behind me then. Besides, even if I had a shovel I would have tossed the dirt where you’re standing.” A guy said before continuing to dig with his hand, not caring about her nonsensical complaints. The woman clicked her tongue, when Ingram saw the two, he saw she had summoned a brown magic circle that instantly dug a deep hole. The man sighed before filling in his slightly dug hole before walking away from the haughty woman.
Ingram decided not to comment on what he just witnessed and started walking through the makeshift camp. “I wonder when the Guild Master’s going to show up?” “I wonder what we’re going to do for dinner?” “I wish I could dig pits instead, no I have the power to fight, this is the burden I have to bear for my might. Who told me to be strong.” “I’m going to take a nap, wake me if something happens.” “Has anyone else seen an influx of strangers in Yonder?” Ingram stopped and decided to stand out of the way and listened to the conversation of that last person.
“I mean, I guess I heard my girlfriend say she saw a few new faces wearing the same attire. Maybe they came from the same place. I dunno and I don’t care, it’s none of my business.” The ordinary man next to the initial man said, but the other refused to drop it, “I mean, don’t you think it's weird. The moment they show up, a Beast Tide starts. It’s a bit to coincidental in my opinion.” A second guy sighed, “You… I think you should stop reading those strange books. You can’t blame a group of people for a Beast Tide, not without proof anyway. If the Guild Master or Tower Master heard you, they’d interrogate you for what you know, so keep this false idea to yourself. I don’t want to explain to your wife that you got arrested.” The first guy sighed before muttering, “I guess, it was just an observation. Changing tunes, have you seen the-” He got cut off by his friend, “If you start talking about women, I’ll tell your wife about you ogling other women.” The first guy clicked his tongue but obediently fell silent.
Ingram had a strange expression, but he decided to look for the most important looking people to see if they could lead him to the Beast Tide. It didn’t take long to find them because the crowd of people seem to subconsciously avoid where the Burning Blades were sitting. Ingram wasn’t just going to walk up to them, instead he slowly walked around them before entering the forest behind them. ‘I’m betting on the fact the strongest are blocking the path to the Beast Tide, if they aren’t then I guess I’ll wander around the forest… Nah, that’s dumb, I should just turn back if I don’t find anything.’ Ingram planned as he began walking through the forest before suddenly stopping and face palming.
‘I’m so stupid, I can just look for tracks to follow. I doubt they hid them, normal beasts don’t know how to follow tracks, and they’d have no reason to believe otherwise, right?’ Ingram softly sighed as he knelt down and slowly began to look around the earthen forest floor. After a few minutes of searching, Ingram found a pair of footprints, one set were extremely deep while the other was barely noticeable. ‘Found them, now all I have to do is follow them to the Beast Tide location. Though I still have no idea what I’m going to do, I’m just curious about the animals in the world.’ He thought as he stood up and stretched his stiff back, but due to his barrier his hands and knees didn’t have any soil on them.
‘This barrier is convenient, now let’s go see a Beast Tide.’ Ingram mentally sighed before slowly following the tracks to the nearby valley. When he got there, Ingram nearly cursed but he held himself back. ‘This is far above three thousand, but what’s wrong with them? Why are they all fighting each other? No matter what, that’s a good thing for Yonder, until one group loses and starts to flee, that’s when the Beast Tide should start. I mean, they’re being extremely brutal, killing one another at the cost of severe injuries from the surrounding beasts. This world is dangerous, I’m going to add the rest of my stat points into Intelligence and Wisdom now. The stronger the barrier, the better off I’ll be.’ Ingram tried and failed to swallow the lump in his throat, so he decided to increase his odds. Under his even distribution both Intelligence and Wisdom increase by seven to forty. Oddly Ingram felt his current barrier grow at the same time, when he looked at his Physical Concealing Barrier Magic Circle, he saw the judgment section had changed,
{Judgment: Magic Circle is 71.67% accurate. Barrier Durability is decreased by 28.33%.
Perfect Barrier Durability: 1,247.64 HP | Penalty applied, New Barrier Durability: 894.18 HP
7 Proficiency Points gained.}
‘Interesting, I thought I would have to remake my Barrier to refresh the Barrier Durability. I’m glad I learned this early.’ Ingram thought as he controlled the magic circle to float into his shirt to conceal it. Looking out at the hoard of beasts, he tried to swallow the lump in his throat again to no avail. Ingram clenched his teeth before he started walking towards the hoard, ‘I can’t keep being afraid if I’m going to play this game. I need to get a closer look, to face my fears, what the worst that can happen? I die?’ Ingram let out a nervous chuckle, but it sounded more like a whimper. ‘If I die, I hope it won’t hurt too much. After I die, I’ll just respawn, probably. I don’t have many items to lose anyway.’ Ingram’s thoughts sounded brave, but his shaking hands and quivering legs revealed his actual mood. Despite his fear, Ingram walked towards the sounds of chaos to fulfill his curiosity and conquer his fear.
Close to the edge of what could only be described as a moss pit of frenzied fighting, Ingram hid behind a tree while watching a gore scene even the darkest part of his imagination couldn’t conjure up. The bloody scene made his stomach churn, but Ingram was conditioned by gruesome horror movies, so he managed to endure. ‘This… no I have to get used to scenes like this if I want to be an adventurer.’ Ingram seriously thought but didn’t turn away from the unfamiliar sight.
Suddenly Ingram saw a group of gelatinous masses of various colors were slowly making their ways over to him. At first Ingram didn’t notice but it was a very obvious once they began ignoring what was attacking them in favor of moving towards him. ‘C-can those, those slimes see me? They don’t have eyes… is it magic? According to novels and movies is if can’t be explained through normal means, then its magic. If I’m right, then my Physical Concealing Barrier only conceals my physical form, which makes sense on second thought because that’s what its description says. This might be a problem for the future, but I have other barriers to keep me safe so I should just be prepared more barriers just in case. Right now, I still have one Physical Block Barrier and one Magical Block Barrier prepared from my time in the Magic Tower. So, if need be, I can immediately cast them.’ Ingram fearfully thought as he slowly walked away from the beast hoard, but the group of slimes increased their pace in an attempt to catch him.
Thankfully after Ingram was eleven meters away, they seemed to be unable to see him, so they turned their attention to their many other attackers. Ingram released a breath he didn’t know he was holding before quickly walking back the way he came. ‘I have no idea what I’m going to do to complete my quest, but I know I’ll need the help of the other adventurers. I mean all I have are barriers, defensive magic. Now that I think about it how will I gain experience? I don’t think my barriers have any form of lethality, except for encasing an entity and letting them starve or dehydrate. How long would that take? Do Life Levels impact starvation due growing all stats? There’s so much I don’t know,’ Ingram sighed as he slumped his shoulders, ‘I have to explore this world one step at a time.’ Ingram decided to stop thinking in favor of solemnly marching back to the Adventurers’ Camp.
After he returned, Ingram sat against a tree a few meters away from the Flaming Blades. ‘How long have I been walking? My legs are killing me.’ Ingram looked up at the sky and made an estimate, ‘I think it’s been about two hours or so. I feel like I’ve used quite a lot of Mana. I should check just to make sure. Status Board.’ With a thought Ingram’s current stats appeared before his eyes.
{Name: Ingram
Race: Human
Mana Type: Mixed Mana
Experience: 208
Life Level: 2 (Experience required until next Life level: 99)
Main Class: Basic Barrier Mage [Level: 1/600] (Experience required until next Class Level: 189) [Press to see learnable Magic Circle Components] [11/20 Learned]
Hp: 150/150 | MP: 11,885/12,000
Stamina: 10/100 | Satiety: 52/100 | Thirst: 51/100
Physical Attack: 0 | Physical Defense: 0 | Movement: 4
Magic Attack: 600 (629.76) | Magic Defense: 600 (629.76)
Stats:
Vitality: 6 |Strength: 3
Endurance: 5 |Agility: 4
Intelligence: 40 |Wisdom: 40
Free Stat Points: 0
Free Class Points: 0}
Ingram slightly frowned when he saw his MP had only dropped by one-hundred and fifteen, but he saw slightly shocked to see his Magic Attack and Defense with the bonus attached had increased from 623.82 to 629.79. ‘If I’m calculating this right, my Magic stats have increased by 4.96%. The only thing that can do that for me, right now anyway, is Mixed Mana Control. So, from the increase I gained one levels in Mixed Mana Control out of nowhere.’ Ingram looked at the missing one-hundred and fifteen mana and came to a sudden conclusion, ‘I see, my barriers require a bit of mana to maintain them. That makes sense actually, but how much mana have I used for Mixed Mana Control to level up? Skills.’ With a thought Ingram’s skill page appeared before his curious eyes.
{Skills:
Passive;
[Proficiency Points: 8/50 | Proficiency Level: 4/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner]
Mixed Mana Control- You have obtained the ability to feel Mixed mana in the air. All magic stats grow by 4.96% when using Mixed Magic. The more Mixed Magic you use before recovering MP the more Proficiency you gain.
[Proficiency Points: 0/10 | Proficiency Level: 0/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner]
Wand Proficiency- You have the talent to use Wands. The more you learn about how to properly use a Wand, the more Proficiency you gain. Magic Attack stats increased by 1% while using Wands.
[Proficiency Points: 0/10 | Proficiency Level: 0/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner]
Magic Staff Proficiency- You have the talent to use Magic Staff. The more you learn about how to properly use Magic Staffs, the more Proficiency you gain. Magic Attack stats increased by 1% while using Magic Staffs.
[Proficiency Points: 5/30 | Proficiency Level: 3/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner] Memory Reinforcement- Reinforces your memory to better remember everything, the more you learn the more Proficiency you gain. (Imprinted Knowledge 4/8 [More detailed information])
Active;
(Innate) [Trash] Treasure Compass- Summon a crystal omni-directional compass that points to the location of an unowned treasure of the same grade within 10 Kilometers. (Uses: 23 [Gain two uses every hour]) {Can only find treasures of the same rank.} [Click to see growth conditions] [Upgrade chance obtained, Press here to spin the wheel]
[Proficiency Points: 11/20 | Proficiency Level: 2/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner] Specialized Meditation- Calm your mind and feel the mana that exists all around you. Gently guide it into your body to nourish your body and refresh your mind. Each meditation recovers 100 to 1000 MP every 30 seconds, with a 2.98% chance to increase your MP by 15 permanently.
[Proficiency Points: 2/30 | Proficiency Level: 3/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner] Barrier Magic Circle Creation- Create a magic circle using mana. [More Details] [Time required to form a Magic Circle: 9.7 seconds] [Magic Circle Activation Range: 13 Meters]}
Ingram looked at his skills for the first time since yesterday and felt like some haven’t changed while other did drastically. ‘I was right, but I didn’t expect my Barrier Magic Circle Creation to grow to Proficiency Level Three, but at the same time I’m not surprised.’ Ingram calmly accepted his growth before he began to reverse calculate how much Mana he had used by referencing his Mixed Mana Control Proficiency Points and Level after subtracting his magic circles Mana Cost. ‘I see, I used 2,415 MP to maintain my Physical Concealing Barrier, but I only used 115 MP according to my Status Board, so if I divide the two, I get Twenty-One, so that number must be my barrier-maintenance fee. As for why 2,415 MP turned into 115 MP is probably because of my Mana Regeneration.’ Ingram stopped and attempted to write on the soil, only for nothing to show up.
‘Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Mental Math it is, so doing a bit of math, 2,415 MP minus 115 MP equals 2,300 MP, and dividing this solution by 115 MP I’d get 20 MP. So, this 20 MP must be my Mana regeneration. Another question is how long is each cycle? I vaguely remember feeling the sensation of my mana leaving me pretty often, so I’m willing to bet the Mana is taken from in at or below one-minute intervals. I’ve always been pretty good at math and memorization.’ Ingram mentally boasted before realizing he accidentally obtained how much time he’d been using his Barrier. ‘Oh, that One-Hundred and Fifteen is also how long I’ve been using my Barrier, if my theory is right anyway. Mainly because 21 MP every Minute would result in 2,415 MP after One-Hundred and Fifteen Minutes and 20 MP every Minute would result in 2,300 MP after One-Hundred and Fifteen Minutes, so subtracting the two would naturally leave 115 MP, what a coincidence or is it? Nah, I’m pretty sure it is.’ Ingram mentally mused before silently laughing to himself, completely ignoring his tense surroundings.
After three hours, Ingram heard the large man speak softly to the scarred man who just sat down next to him, “Isaac, back from your patrol I see. Did the Beast Hoard show any signs of moving towards Yonder?” Tony asked and Ingram began to listen intently, mostly because he had nothing else to do except make more Barriers. By this point the dark zone where his magic circles were created held fifty barriers, twenty-five for Physical Block with sizes of two meters and twenty-five for Magical Block of the same size but only twenty-five of each were Spheres while the others were Plates.
Ingram subconsciously held his breath as he listened to the two converse in front of him, “Thankfully, no. They haven’t really moved since you last saw them, but oddly their numbers haven’t changed much over the past few hours. It’s odd, but other than that, I haven’t seen anything else out of the ordinary. That’s all for my report. On another note, Tony have you contacted the rest of the party?” Tony grimly shook his head, “No, but then again, I’m not the one trying to contact them. You’d have to ask Liz for more detailed information. From what I understood from her harsh answers every time I asked is, the others are responding at all. More they haven’t received her message at all, Liz said it’s almost like something is interfering with the communication magic item. I don’t understand all that magic nonsense, but I’m sure they’re fine, they’re stronger than the three of us put together, especially our fearless leader.” Tony said carelessly, but Isaac had a grim face as he walked back into the forest.
“Why don’t you take a seat and eat something before heading back. You can’t scout on an empty stomach.” Tony said as he grasped Isaac’s left shoulder with his right hand and physically dragged him over to the center of camp where the C-ranked adventurers had setup a large table with warm soup and steaming meat. Isaac allowed for himself to be dragged towards the dining table as Ingram rubbed his aching stomach, “I’m hungry, I’ll log out for a bit. I should see if John_Doe2619 read my message.”
Ingram instantly logged out, and his body went limp, but his Physical Concealing Barrier remained active. Felix woke up and rubbed his stiff body before quickly walking over to his desk and unplugged his fully charged phone. Turning on the screen, Felix saw he had two missed text messages, and saw the time was so he quickly unlocked his phone and opened his messages. The first was from his job stating his leave request was officially approved. ‘I forgot I asked them to message me each time I took leave.’ The second appeared a minute after he logged back in earlier, at 2:08 am,
{Thanks for the information. I’m also in the Empyrean Empire, but it seems we spawned in different cities, I appeared in the Imperial City. I chose the Novice Physical class, mostly because I didn’t have the talent for magic. :(
On another note, I saw that people can fly in this world. According to the people that witnessed the flying person, he was the Empyrean Emperor. They said something about him being bored and deciding to personally strike down an evil spirit or something. An armored old guy was being made fun of, but the guards chased the crowd away, so I don’t know what happened afterwards.
Anyway, I found a teacher; to be more precise he found me. It was some old man with burly muscles, he said I had the perfect physique to cultivate or something. He offered to make me his final disciple, naturally I agreed, and I obtained a growth title! [The Martial Emperor’s Final Disciple], you’re jealous aren’t you. It increases my Strength by 5 points for every level and my Agility by 2 for each level. Get this, it said my title can grow based off of my efforts in learning from the Martial Sage. I tried to ask my master to escort me to Yonder so I could get my friend, but he refused. Can you believe that? He also said I’m not allowed to leave the mountain until I reach Life Level Twenty, or that’s what the system mission said anyway.
Oh, I forgot, I was taken to a mysterious glowing circle, and we teleported to a misty mountain covered in greenery. My master said it was called, Evergreen Peak, it had this name to reflect the path we all walk in order to reach eternity or Immortality or something like that. I wasn’t really in a state to listen due to trying my best not to vomit. To cut myself off, we won’t be able to meet for a while, so take care of yourself and don’t die too many times without me there to watch your back. Remember to send a response so I know you read this.}
Felix read through the message while mixed feelings, ‘They spawned in the Imperial City, met a Martial Emperor and became his student. I spawned in a desolate area, found a bloodstained notebook and nearly died. The differences between people hurt sometimes.’ Felix sighed as he sent a simple, {Read it.} before logging back in.
