Mike enjoyed practicing with his spear far more than the morning calisthenics. His stamina bar never dropped below half. Add in the fact that there weren’t any unpleasant side effects from the magically conjured food he’d eaten for lunch vanishing from him, and he thought it was quite a pleasant way to spend the time.
After an hour of working with the spear, Mike had a moment of inspiration. He cast Identify on it, causing another pop-up window to appear. It labeled the weapon a Basic Spear with no other words, but he felt his familiarity with it increase. Just a slight amount, but it was like his ability with the language. The spell gave him a burst of insight that settled into his mind.
With that slight increase, Mike started casting it as rapidly as he could. The amount of mana he had available was reduced by the maintenance cost of Bandit at his feet, but there was enough left over for multiple castings. As the bar emptied, he once again got the splitting headache and the feeling of stretching that he had had earlier. Mike also noticed that the grayed-out section became slightly smaller, meaning it took up less of his available mana pool.
The pain of the headache was worth it, though. Mike felt that each casting offered diminishing returns on familiarity, but it was enough that another window appeared before him. Another tingle settled into his body as he read it.
Lesser Spear Familiarity Upgraded to Minor Spear Familiarity!
View further progress in Skills menu!
“Skills menu?” Mike muttered under his breath as he brought the spell book up to fill a portion of his vision. “Haliard, can I take a break for a moment? I think I’ve uncovered a new wrinkle of my powers.”
“Go head. Let me know if I can help.” Haliard pulled out a chest that belonged to him, removing his equipment. Mike watched as he pulled a crossbow out and a complex looking hammer before taking a seat.
The HUD disappeared when he closed his eyes, so Mike just stared into the distance as he changed his focus. There were tabs above the book now, including Spells, the first one. That display was familiar to him, with the three icons representing the three spells he knew. Mike wasn’t surprised to find that the Conjure Ally icon that had brought him Bandit was grayed out as well.
With that, Mike reached down and scratched between the badger’s ears. At the same time, he cast Identify. The animal wiggled a little at the tingling but settled down between Mike’s feet.
Bandit
Badger Summon of Michael Wilson
Level 1
“Hey, you can level up too little guy.” Another set of scratches before Mike settled back to examine his new windows. There was no sudden insight or connection to Bandit as a result of the spell, but at least he knew his companion could get stronger.
The next tab over from Spells was labeled Skills. There were four there, much to his surprise. He had known there were three, counting the spear, divine resistance, and psychic resistance. Focusing on the fourth one, he brought up a new informational window.
Lesser Magical Resistance
Your ability to throw off magical influences and manipulation is increased a very minor amount.
3/100
Mike didn’t recall a point where a window informing him of this skill appeared. The increment at the bottom of the window was so minor, it must have been a onetime thing. If that was the steps to the next grade, Mike would have to find another wizard to cast something on him. But he could test one of them.
“Sum, can I borrow you for a second?”
The massive crystal was floating above the sand in the center of the training area. Arcs of sand flew around him as he glowed in the sunlight. There was no other weapon or equipment visible, just twisting, turning sand.
“Sure thing Mike, I’ll come over.” The twisting sand fell back to the ground and the crystal floated towards him. Mike turned his attention to the Psychic Resistance skill and brought up its window.
Lesser Psychic Resistance
Your ability to throw off psychic influences and mind manipulation is increased a very minor amount.
22/100
“Can you dig into my mind like you did before? I want to try something.” Mike blinked the window closed and turned toward the floating crystal.
“Are you sure? Most people don’t like it when I dive too deep.” There was hesitancy in the crystal’s projected voice, but at Mike’s nod, Sum did what he was asked.
If Sum’s early touch was a caress on his mind, this was something much harder. Not exactly a blow, but a constant pressure. He pushed against it, casting his will against the psychic awareness of the crystal. Mike could sense that Sum held more power than he was currently using, but it was good to practice with. Mike held out for less than a minute before he stopped.
“That’s enough,” he panted, and the pressure released. Mike brought the skill window up again.
Lesser Psychic Resistance
Your ability to throw off psychic influences and mind manipulation is increased a very minor amount.
98/100
“Did that help with anything?” Sum asked him.
“Again, really quick.” Mike was a bit ashamed he tapped out right before it ticked over to the next level and wanted to push it over the edge.
The pressure returned and Mike focused all he had on keeping Sum out. After a handful of seconds, a new pop-up window appeared at the edge of his vision and his resistance increased. Mike wasn’t sure how to quantify it, but it felt like a quarter of the pressure just disappeared.
“Thanks Sum, it worked.”
Lesser Psychic Resistance Upgraded to Minor Psychic Resistance!
“Can you tell me what worked?” Sum asked.
“Is it another weird thing you can see?” Haliard asked as well.
“Whatever it is I do, the class stuff, it gives me skills.” Mike struggled to put into words what he was seeing. Some of it seemed almost instinctive, but other parts of it were bizarre. “Innate abilities. When I pushed back against you earlier, Sum, it gave me a skill to resist psychic intrusions. Using the spear gave me one designed to help use spears.
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“The skills can improve it seems. Practicing with the spear gave me an upgrade to that skill. You helped me move my psychic resistance to a higher tier. It became easier to hold you out.”
“That is a great power to have then. Do you have any other skills?” Sum was curious, but Mike didn’t want to reveal too much of what he had learned. Not until he understood it better.
“A few. Not many yet, but there are more tabs to examine.” It was true. There was a Classes tab to check out, but Mike was most excited for the Quest tab.
“Then I shall get back to my training.” The crystal turned and floated away, taking his place back in the sand of the arena.
“What is he training?” Mike asked Haliard. The older man turned to look at Sum before turning back to Mike. His crossbow was strapped across his back now, with a quiver of bolts on his hip.
“He is attempting to control individual grains of sand. Moving them telekinetically helps him focus his efforts.”
“That is impressive, there must be millions of them.”
“There is a reason he is the bedrock on which the Blurington fortune rests.” Haliard attached his hammer to his belt and stepped closer to Mike. “Are you ready to train, or are you still going over your special abilities?”
“Are you going to let me go over them, oh so demanding task master?”
“I have to practice too, you know. I can work with Aaron if you’re going to sit there staring into space and gesturing oddly.”
“Go ahead.” Mike turned back to his display. He focused on the Quest tab, bringing up a brand-new screen.
Learn A Language (87/100)
Learn The Spear (12/100)
Defeat Undead (3/10)
Learn Spells (3/15)
Only four of them so far. Mike smiled as he examined the first one, bringing up another window with more details.
Learn A Language
Slide is rife with languages and communication styles from across the multiverse. Master a new one.
Reward: A new Skill
87/100
That was one Mike was very close to completing. He glanced over at the people training, picking up a good chunk of the words they were saying. At a rough estimate, Mike guessed he understood eighty-seven out of one hundred words.
No idea why I think that, Mike thought to himself with a smirk. He moved on to the next quest.
Learn The Spear
Slide is a dangerous place. A dependable weapon in your hand is your best friend.
Reward: Unlock Inventory
12/100
“I’m starting to like this. I can get an inventory? But how do I officially ‘learn’ the spear? That is fascinating.” Mike felt a smile grow across his face as he examined the remaining two Quests. “Finally, some real guidance.”
Defeat Undead (3/10)
Continuing quest. The Undead wander Slide, always hungry. Defeat them.
Reward: A minor quality magic item
3/10
Learn Spells
Magic flows through Slide. Knowledge is power.
Reward: A new Skill
3/10
That reflected the last tab Mike had to examine. He remembered the long list of classes that had appeared in the middle of his zombie fight. If that gave him a chance to pick from that again, what would it mean? Could he have more than one class?
All the other classes he had seen so far, aside from Karl’s Halberdier class, had far more complicated names than his simple Mage. Mystic Archer, Prophet of Doors, Shield Sentinel, and Psychic Berserker. What would they see, if they had the interface he did?
That reminded Mike that he still hadn’t seen any information about Haliard. Each time his Identify leveled up, it revealed more about whoever he cast it on, but that old man still had question marks. As Mike thought about it, the status window from the last time he cast it on Haliard appeared again.
Haliard Morgenstern
Trustworthy
Human/??
Class: ??/?? Level: ??/??
That “trustworthy” indicator was the only change on his information in three levels. Mike wasn’t sure what it meant, but all the others had it as well. If it let Mike know someone’s intentions toward him, the spell could be a lifesaver even when he spoke the language.
Examining it, Mike noticed that the Class and Level sections were split, so it was possible to have more than one class. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his Quest wouldn’t take anything from him he would come to rely on.
Mike opened his Class menu. There was only one entry currently, and of course it said Mage. He focused on that, bringing up a detailed window.
Mage
Level 2 (16/500)
Wizards study it. Sorcerers are born with it. Warlocks borrow it. But Mages are magic personified.
Class Skill: Unknown
“A skill from my class as well? How do I figure that one out?” Mike bounced among the various screens, focusing on them in turn. Nothing he did made the Class Skill show itself. After several minutes he sighed, resigning himself to waiting for something to reveal the skill.
“Spells, spears, and languages. And if I see a zombie, I go for the brain right away. Sounds like a plan.” Mike hadn’t had the habit of talking to himself back on Earth, but he found it soothed him here. The sound of his voice kept him controlled, focused. Hopefully no one would think he was crazy.
“Sure, talking to myself, that’s what makes me crazy, Bandit.” He looked down at the badger, who was curled up at his feet, seemingly asleep. “The fact that I can summon you out of the aether and you understand me is sane.”
Casting the Conjure Ally whenever it had come off cool down while training the spear had seen it advance to another level. Now Bandit would last seven minutes, but it hadn’t increased the badger’s level. That must take something else.
“The question is, how do I learn spells?” Mike looked over the men and crystal training before him. Karl and Julian were slamming into each other, with Karl’s halberd ringing against Julian’s shield. Bradiac was throwing punches in the air, dancing and dodging. Circles of sand orbited Sum. Haliard and Aaron were firing their ranged weapons at targets they had set up. Mike rose and approached them.
“Still working on your stuff?” Haliard asked. The man’s wiry shoulders bunched and heaved as he cocked his crossbow again. As narrow as he was, there was undeniable power in his body.
“Kind of.” Mike twirled his spears around his fingers, an action he would not have been able to handle back on Earth. “Still practicing with this a little. I came over here to talk to Aaron.”
“What can I help you with?” Aaron released the arrow he was holding, and it punched just off center of the target. He winced a bit and turned to Mike. “Don’t judge me by that one, you distracted me.”
“I was wondering if you could teach me any spells. I figured if you’re an Arcane Archer, you would know something.”
“That… is a way to describe me, I guess?” Aaron scratched his head sheepishly. “I do use some magic in my archery, but teaching it?” He held out his hand and an arrow appeared in it. It was semi-translucent blue, and all of one piece. It had the texture of wood, metal, and feathers, but it was not.
“I can conjure my arrows, so I never run out. That is the spell I’m most familiar with.” He dropped that one and conjured another. The first one fell to the ground point first, making a small tinkling sound as it hit. “I don’t know of any other magic.”
Leaning over, Mike lifted the arrow and held it in his hand. The thing was almost totally weightless. There was a tingling where Mike held it, more pins and needles. As he studied it, the arrow seemed to dissolve away.
“That is odd, usually they last longer than that.”
Mike ignored Aaron as several windows popped up at once. He didn’t open them yet, instead focusing on his hand. Where the arrow had been, the skin had taken on a faint blue coloration, just like that of the summoned arrow. As he watched, it faded away.
“Well, that definitely did something. I’m going to think a minute, you two go ahead without me.” Mike sat down on the ground, staring at his hands. Haliard and Aaron looked at each other and shrugged, getting back to practice.
Mike was reading the displays that popped up, his only movement the flickering of his eyes. He did raise one hand to scratch Bandit as the badger crawled into his lap, but he was otherwise busy studying his windows.
Spell Absorbed!
Conjure Arrow Discovered! (4/100)
Affinity Increases:
Force Dart (97/100), Conjure Ally (23/150)
Mike opened his spell book and saw a fourth slot had appeared, though this one was also grayed out. The symbol was an arrow in flight, similar to his Force Dart spell. There was an incrementally lighter portion of it at the bottom. Mike assumed that was the four percent he had discovered.
The other portion of the window, the Affinity Increases, showed slight improvement to two other spells. His Force Dart had not increased in level at all yesterday, but he had gotten it close. Now absorbing this spell had pushed it forward slightly. Mike moved to open the next window but stopped himself.
“Bandit, how much do you want to bet that this has something to do with my class skill? Fifty bucks?” The badger didn’t answer, but Haliard and Aaron did glance at him, confused. He waved away their concern as he opened the next one. “Still learning how all this works, sorry.”
New Class Skill!
Mage Hunger
Gain the ability to absorb constructs and spells. This imparts knowledge of fundamental components of magic, driving your own power to maximum heights.
“You owe me,” Mike said to Bandit, but instead of paying up, the animal vanished as the spell ended. Mike sighed and cast it again. The badger didn’t reappear in the same spot it had just left, though. It was a foot away and seemed very irate that it had been woken up for something as simple as the fundamental rules of reality asserting themselves.
“Aaron, can you conjure me up a few more of those arrows? I think I can learn something from touching them.” Mike stood and walked over to where the two were training. He launched a Force Dart down at the targets, hitting it dead center.
“We can do that later on; we have to start getting ready for Sum’s challenge match.” Haliard and Aaron started breaking down the targets and stowing the pieces.
“Is that soon?”
“Soon enough that the Blurington’s sent a messenger to gather us up,” Haliard said with a nod towards the stairs.
Mike turned to see who was there. After hours spent learning about spells and fighting with spears, he was astounded to see a large, quad rotor drone hovering at the base of the stairs.
