Ingram felt his stomach growl as he sighed and squatted on the ground. ‘I’m hungry. I need to take my mind off my stomach. How about trying to create the other types of barriers, or should I try to perfect my imprinted knowledge first?’ Ingram sat on the ground as he began to plan, his hunger and thoughts of returning to Yonder temporarily forgotten. ‘If I create my different barrier types, I can complete my Personal Life Advancement quest. I already have three done, so, if necessary, I can advance at any time. On the other hand, if I learn all my imprinted knowledge, I can perfect them for less class points and I clear an imprinting slot.’ Ingram gave it some serious thought before deciding on learning all of his barrier types.
‘Barriers are my core, so they should come first. The other components aren’t really that important right now. As for how, I have two roads, I can do it the hard way like I did with the Physical Concealing Barrier, or I can use Class Points and Mana to instantly perfect them. If I used Class Points, I’d need to reach Class Level, uh, let me count.’ Ingram began to count how many Class Points he’d need. After a few minutes ‘I’d need to reach Class Level twenty to have enough Class Points to learn them all. Given the pattern, I’d need to use 17,172 exp to reach Class Level Twenty.’ Ingram grimaced when he realized he’d have to use more than half of his exp just to learn all of his barriers. He smoothed out his expression as a hint of apathy surfaced.
‘Using that much Exp in exchange to master my barriers, well most, is worth it. What else is Exp used for if not for growth. Besides, my Class Level is connected to my Proficiency Rank, I need to reach Class Level Ten to keep improving my Barrier Magic Circle Creation skill. After my Achievement it’s been stuck at Proficiency Level Zero, just like my Wand and Magic Staff Proficiency.’ Ingram mentally mused as he focused on his class Level and watched it rapidly grow until it reached Class Level Ten. Then a sudden system prompt appeared,
{Personal Class Advancement Quest
Chose one task to accomplish to Reach [Class Level: 11].
If you wish you can choose more than one.
For every additional quest completed, you gain a better reward.
1. Have One Skill reach Proficiency Rank: Talented (1/1)
2. Meditate Ten Times (1/10)
3. Make Fifty Magic Circles (28/50)}
When Ingram saw them, he had a sudden realization as he remembered he had a Meditation Skill, ‘I completely forgot about meditating. My passive Mana regeneration keeps my MP completely filled. I haven’t managed to make it drop after Leveling up to Life Level ten.’ After debating for a few seconds, Ingram decided to look at his skills for the first time in a while.
Skills:
Passive;
[Proficiency Points: 13/70 | Proficiency Level: 8/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner] Mixed Mana Control- You have obtained the ability to feel Mixed mana in the air. All magic stats grow by 8.92% 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: 16/40 | Proficiency Level: 4/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner] Memory Reinforcement- Reinforces your memory to better remember everything, the more you learn the more Proficiency you gain. (Imprinted Knowledge 4/9 [More detailed information])
Active;
(Innate) [Uncommon] Treasure Compass- Summon a crystal omni-directional compass that points to the location of an unowned treasure of the same grade within 30 Kilometers. (Uses: 22 [Gain Six uses every hour]) {Can only find treasures of the same rank or lower.} [Evolution conditions]
[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: 24/130 | Proficiency Level: 3/10 | Proficiency Rank: Talented] Barrier Magic Circle Creation- Create a magic circle using mana. [More Details] [Time required to form a Magic Circle: 8.7 seconds] [Magic Circle Activation Range: 23 Meters]}
Ingram nodded as he realized his Mana Control and Barrier Magic Circle Creation had leveled up quite a few times. ‘I had a feeling they leveled up. My Barriers got slightly stronger, aside from leveling up and my magic circles seemed to appear slightly faster. Even though I knew my Magic Circles creation speed sped up due to my achievement, but I didn’t know I got to keep all of my previous Proficiency Points. I need to make twenty-two more barriers and meditate nine more times.’ Ingram looked the two magic circles that floated next to him and decided to speed-run his Class Advancement quest while also solving the problem of other types of defense for a whopping 8,954 MP after roughly nine seconds.
{Judgment x8: Magic Circle is 86.67% accurate. Barrier strength is decreased by 13.33%.
Perfect Barrier Strength: 5,228.15 | Penalty applied, New Barrier Strength: 4,531.23
8 Proficiency Points gained.}
{Judgment x7: Magic Circle is 86.67% accurate. Barrier strength is decreased by 13.33%.
Perfect Barrier Strength: 5,228.15 | Penalty applied, New Barrier Strength: 4,531.23
8 Proficiency Points gained.}
{Judgment x7: Magic Circle is 86.67% accurate. Barrier strength is decreased by 13.33%.
Perfect Barrier Strength: 5,228.15 | Penalty applied, New Barrier Strength: 4,531.23
8 Proficiency Points gained.}
When Ingram felt a wave of mana, he felt like a load was lifted off of his back. ‘Spending Mana feels surprisingly good, unlike before. Maybe it’s because I have a lot more when compared to before, or was it the information overload that made it seem painful?’ Ingram wondered as he looked at the twenty-four magic circles that floated around him only to see the numbers had changed slightly. ‘Oh, my Mana Control skill leveled up again. My Barrier Strength jumped from 5,228.15 to 5,275.67. I don’t have the time to think about this right now, I have to meditate a few times before it’s too late. I should meditate, restore a bit before stopping and repeating nine times.’ Ingram hastily realized before he sat down to meditate, doing his best to outpace his Passive Mana Regeneration. That was impossible because the twenty-four magic circles required 412 MP every minute and his Passive Mana Regeneration was only 100, so he was still losing 312 MP every minute.
Ingram began to meditate for the second time in his entire life. His mind wandered into the starry void that made up his Mixed Mana Core. This time instead of focusing on magic circles he began to look at the two universes in more detail. ‘I still feel like there’s something in-between them. It’s just an instinct, but I seriously believe there’s a third invisible thing that the other two are sitting on top of.’ Ingram floated to the point in-between the two universes. As he did, he felt a kind of devouring force pull on him. Ingram hastily retreated until the feeling was gone, but while he was inside, he saw the two universes seem to spit out a star each before the thing in the middle mirrored them, but instead of stars there was that absorbing force and when they collided, there was nothing there.
If Ingram had stayed just a bit longer, he would have seen deep in the depths of the devouring force, two stars identical to the ones the two universes spit out appeared before vanishing into the depths of the darkness. Ingram was so scared from the devouring force, he directly ended his second meditation after five minutes, only restoring 1,000 MP. He woke up with cold sweat flowing down his back and he felt extremely hungry. Within his peripheral vision, he saw the same two symbols for Hungry and Dehydrated. ‘What was that? How long was I meditating? Did that even count as meditation? I don’t feel like I regained any, if anything I think I lost some. That’s two, probably. I know I should check, but I don’t want to.’ Ingram sighed as he got comfortable and began to meditate for a third time.
In the starry void, Ingram decided against exploring the two universes, just in case something unexpected happened, like his head exploding or something. Ingram decided to focus on trying to better create the Physical Concealing Barrier Characteristic. That measly 10% Accuracy seemed to hurt his pride as a Mage. ‘What am I doing wrong? If I think back on the other characteristics, I can draw them as easy as flipping my hand. Why is drawing one from scratch so hard? Is the so-called Instant understanding or whatever secretly the system’s aid.’ Ingram entertained the thought for a few seconds before he shook his head. ‘That’s not it, I vividly recall drawing them countless times until it became second nature. Is that what instant comprehension is, countless tireless repetitions?’ Ingram froze as the thought appeared in his head, and something told him he was right.
‘That actually makes a lot of sense. So, at the end all paths lead to repetition. At least that’s something I don’t mind doing.’ Ingram sighed as he began to methodically draw the Physical Concealing Barrier before comparing it to the one, he remembered and erasing it after seeing a flaw. As he did, Ingram didn’t see the very faint platinum energy flow out from the void around him into his body and the imperfections in the characteristic lessened drastically. This virtuous cycle continued until Ingram suddenly woke up after six minutes of meditation. Ingram stretched his stiff body, feeling much lighter than before.
‘I wonder how much Mana I regained this time. I feel full, did I manage to outpace the Magic Circle maintenance cost? Let’s wait for a bit.’ Ingram sat still for a minute until he felt his mana slightly dip. ‘You know, I feel like I got a bit too comfortable with suddenly gaining a new sensation. Is this a perk of the system? Either way, sensing mana feels good. Sort of like a massage for the mind, maybe I’m the weird one.’ Ingram mused as he waited for his Mana to drop so he could meditate again. Of course, he knew he could meditate now, but he had a feeling if he did the benefits wouldn’t be very high.
‘I guess I could treasure hunt again. Why not, I have no other pressing matter to get to. Maybe I’ll even find the way back to Yonder.’ Ingram immediately acted on his plan and summoned his Treasure Compass and directly chose Uncommon. The crystalline compass floated out of his right hand and the needle spun around once before settling on slightly to Ingram’s right. Without hesitation, Ingram activated three different barriers, in the order of Physical Concealing, Physical Block, Magical Block, and finally Spiritual Block. Each barrier only had a distance of ten millimeters between them. As for the remaining twenty magic circles, he kept them so he could drain his Mana so he could deeply meditate again.
Little did Ingram know, the Treasure Compass took him even farther away from Yonder and closer slightly to the dangerous Great Forest. After a long thirteen-minute walk, the sun began to set but he found another Herb. This time it was a dull light black herb with a whorled orientation with only two toothed leaves on a short stem. After he made sure it didn’t have a protector, he deactivated the Physical Block Barrier and plucked it. Naturally, the Treasure Compass interfered again. Ingram felt like this one wasn’t a beneficial herb and he was proven right by the final line of the system prompt as he recreated his Physical Block Barrier,
{You have obtained [Uncommon] Paralysis Poison Herb}
‘Paralysis Poison Herb? So, this is why it didn’t have a protector, well that or whatever was protecting it got lost, like… me.’ Ingram realized he was even more lost. The trees and grass were much more overgrown when compared to before, like no-one has walked through here at all. ‘What’s the term called, uh, this is a virgin forest. There’s better one, uh, what was it again…’ Ingram seriously thought about something that didn’t matter, but he was distracted from reality, so he was happy. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers, the sound bouncing off the Physical Block Barrier, making it sound much louder, the crisp sound was pleasant to hear. ‘Primeval Forest, that’s the term. I can’t believe I forgot that.’ Ingram nodded before turning around three-hundred and sixty degrees before walking back the way he came, with a much quicker pace than how he got there.
To return to the pile of scrap metal, it only took him six minutes. ‘Okay, now I know where I am… just kidding. I’m still as lost as a, a, a sloth? It rhymes so it's right.’ Ingram did his best not to think about how hopelessly lost he was, to the point where he wasn’t making any sense. ‘I can safely say that that way, is not the right way.’ Ingram looked behind him before shaking his head with a hint of despair. ‘How about I walk that way next?’ Ingram’s expression turned stoic as he looked towards the left side of the forest. Ingram suddenly slapped his forehead, ‘Oh, I can use treasure seeking to find trash. If I’m lucky, I’ll end up at the battlefield. I’m sure there is a lot of trash there. Okay, I won a contest of luck earlier, I’m sure I have a bit more luck in me. Please Treasure Compass, I’m begging you, take where I want to go, to the battlefield.’ Ingram held his breath as he summoned his Treasure Compass and locked onto Trash.
The needle spun as Ingram held his breath, this time it spun nine times before stopping, pointing to Ingram’s left. Without any hesitation, Ingram followed the needle while hoping it was headed towards the battlefield. This time, Ingram had been walking for quite a long time, a solid thirty minutes. At this point the entire sky was dyed crimson as the sun began to sink into the horizon. Ingram saw a familiar sight at the end of the needle, the bloody battlefield along with the glowing forest that the Beasts ran from.
Ingram nearly collapsed from joy as he sank to his knees in relief. ‘I finally made it back. Never again, next time I’m going to leave marks or something to follow back. Randomly adventuring is dangerous. Once I go back, I need to learn about these herbs so I can up charge them by fifty percent or more to another Player to earn some adventure funds.’ Ingram planned nefariously as he slowly made his way back to Yonder.
When he stepped past the guards, it had been twenty minutes since he found the battlefield. Once he was in the city, Ingram felt a wave of relief wash over him. ‘Finally, civilization. Now I understand the phrase, “You never know what you have until it’s gone.” I’m tired, let’s go back to the Inn before I meditate. First things first, I need to reappear and get rid of the barriers on my body. I already said I can’t use magic, and I don’t want the Tower Master to smite me or whatever she can do with the power of the Tower. Heh, that rhymed.’ Ingram mused as he walked into a dark alleyway. He walked the length of the alley to ensure no-one could see him, Ingram closed all four barriers before walking out of the dark alley, like the events of the past few hours never happened. Ingram slowly walked his way back to the Inn, doing his best not to look out of place.
Once he walked in, the receptionist saw him, rolled her eyes before placing his key on the large wooden desk. Ingram took it before walking upstairs, both parties ignored each other in peace. It took Ingram ten minutes to return to the Inn after entering Yonder, most of the time was spent strolling around Yonder to waste more Mana. After he sat on his bed, he bent down and took off his shoes before laying back onto the bed, leaving his legs dangling. ‘How comfortable. I was on my feet all day. What an eventful day.’ Ingram mentally sighed one that was followed by an actual sigh before he began to mediate.
Ingram was only sat still staring at the swirling stars of the two universes. ‘This place is so mysterious. Is it real or is this just a manifestation of my mana? I don’t know.’ Ingram sighed as he closed his eyes again. Just as he relaxed, he felt something rush out of his mind, at first it was like candle in a hurricane, useless. The feeling grew larger and larger until an image appeared in his mind, the Physical Block Characteristic. Then another, this time it was the Magical Block Characteristic and finally it was the Spiritual Block Characteristic. At first, they just sat there, slowly spinning around him until a violent force rushed out of his mind and forcibly merged the three into one. The image of a shield that blocked a spear, a translucent iridescent beam that scattered into thirteen pieces, and a black and white beam that shattered into translucent shards.
‘Oh, this is—’ before he could finish his thought, the violent force rapidly receded and the three characteristics reappeared before he was kicked out of the starry void. Ingram opened his eyes in shock, he felt a wave of weakness wash over him before he fainted and all of his magic circles were shattered by an unseen force the moment he did before it burrowed into his body. Unknown to Ingram, a new fifth Barrier Characteristic was permanently burned into his mind.
When Ingram opened his eyes again, he saw he was in the starry void. Before he could do anything, he was violently dragged towards one of the universes by an invisible force. Galaxies and nebula zoomed by until he saw a familiar third blue planet silently orbiting a sun. The invisible chains dragged him down onto the planet and he was forced to watch what really happened the day he wished he could forget.
Two people were chatting inside of a large truck, with four others sitting in the back as they waited for the red light to change. Ingram tried to walk forward, but he felt like he was bound by invisible chains. ‘Mom, Dad, Tomas, Bart, Beth, and Emily. It had been so long, I almost forgot what you looked like.’ Ingram subconsciously smiled for the first time in a while. Soon, the light changed, and his father slowly crossed the intersection. As he did, a flashy red sports car ran a red light, the driver was unconscious at the wheel and slammed into the driver side. The resulting scene made Ingram want to close his eyes, his father had been turned into a pile of broken bones, flesh, and viscera that was splattered across the road as the sports car, that was easily going over 100 MPH made the much larger truck crumple like a tin can from the force created from the sports car’s momentum. Oddly, the sports car was only slightly dented, and the young man driving was only knocked unconscious.
Ingram did his best to look away, but as he did so he realized that while his father died on impact, his mother and siblings were still alive but in grave conditions. ‘This is different from what I was told. The police said they all died on impact, there were no survivors from either side. This has to be a dream, how silly. I panicked for no reason.’ Ingram shook his head with a mocking smile, but a deep, cold voice spoke up, “Watch. Your unspoken wish has been fulfilled. I will show you the truth of what happened that day. This is the benefit that I have given you, as payment for your service. A service that is ongoing, even now. As for what this service is, you don’t have the right to know. This is to balance the scales, so now all you can do is… observe.” It was as if the cold voice was speaking directly into Ingram’s soul, with the power hidden within the words seeming to muddle his mind.
“What are you taking about? Who are you?” Ingram numbly asked but received no answer. Despite his words, the scene before him continued down an unexpected path. The young man in the sports car was still unconscious, but a kind passerby called the police to inform them of the gruesome crash. Soon, the wails of sirens approached the crash site. Ingram held his breath, he slightly believed the words of the mysterious voice. Perhaps the power that shook his soul had a persuasive nature, or perhaps Ingram wanted someone to blame either way he watched with bated breath.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Naturally, the police showed up first closely followed by a few ambulances and firetrucks. When the seasoned veterans saw the gruesome scene, they went pale, and the newbies directly vomited. The firemen did their best to keep their composure as they started to dismantle the mangled truck as the paramedics pulled the unconscious young driver of the intact sports car out and gently laid him on a gurney before wheeling him to the ambulance to check his injuries as they took him to the nearest hospital. As they did so, Ingram memorized his face. He felt it looked familiar, but his emotions were too tense to put a name to a face.
It took almost ten minutes to unravel the truck from the sports car, and the firemen did their best to gently pull the surviving five out as another group of paramedics rushed forward to assist and take them to the ambulances. Ingram let out a sigh of relief, as if he didn’t know how this all ends, ‘Their okay. That’s good.’ Suddenly the scene shifted to a hospital, Ingram didn’t feel any discomfort, until he saw who he was observing. ‘Oh, it’s him. That… that unconscious driver.’ Ingram made have looked calm on the surface, but years of unchecked rage surged in his chest as he cold observed the young man’s pale expression and severely injured body. Suddenly the door was violently opened and a middle-aged man in a tailored suit had greying black hair and ice blue eyes. He urgently rushed in and when he saw the state of his only child, he was furious.
“What happened?” His deep voice seemed to make the surrounding doctors and nurses fearfully take a few steps back, but a large burly man stepped in from outside and inform him of his son’s accident in a low voice, “Chairman, the young master seemed to have fainted at the wheel and ran a red light before crashing into another car.” The middle-aged man seemed to calm down before nodding. “I see, so he’s at fault. I told him to lay off of those d… never mind. What about those he hit? How are they?” The burly man seemed to hesitate before speaking, “One died on impact while the others are in critical conditions, but with timely treatment they’ll survive, at least according to their attending physicians.” The middle-aged man nodded again before asking, “What is their family standing like? Are they upper class or middle class? No, what I mean to ask is do they have the financial strength to hold my son accountable for his accident?”
The burly man wasn’t shocked, he knew what kind of boss he worked for, so he uttered a sentence that sealed Ingram’s family's fate, “On the surface, it would be no. However, after we dug a little deeper into their family, we learned Mary Ingram has a deep friendship with the Booker Family. She grew up with the current wife of the Booker Patriarch, Elizabeth Booker, formerly known as Elizabeth James, and meet up every weekend.” When the name, Booker was spoken, the middle-aged man’s expression seemed to warp into a furious visage, making all the occupants of the room lower their heads. They didn’t dare raise their heads until they heard the Chairman’s cold laughter, “I see. Booker, huh.” He took a deep breath before deeply sighing, “Why must you get in my way every time. What happens next is your fault. Heh, Booker can you bring the dead back? The tired expression you’ll have next we meet will be glorious.”
The Chairman coldly ordered all those in the room, “There were no survivors from this crash, understood? Even the other driver wasn’t spared.” The chairman softly spoke in a voice only he and Ingram could hear, “Who asked the other driver to be my son, the things I do for family.” The leading doctor, the hospital director, hesitated for a few seconds before sighing and nodding, but it looked like he aged a few years in that instant. The chairman saw his struggle and made a mental note to take care of this loose end later. “John, relay this order to Tony, use all available resources to cover up this accident, both above and below board. Bribe who you can and those who refuse, do as you wish.” The chairman spoke before leaving, the anxious expression he revealed at the beginning replaced by an icy grimace.
John only lifted his head when the Chairman left. “As you wish, Chairman Jackson. Young Master, you don’t know just how much he loves you.” John sighed before walking out of the hospital room with a faint bloodthirsty air that scared all who saw him. Before Ingram could react to this new unverified information, the scene shattered like glass, and he opened his eyes in the Inn in Pheasant’s Rest on the dawn of the third day. Ingram silently sat up, put on his boots and walked out of his room, his expression unreadable. After he passed the receptionist’s desk, he dropped the key off before leaving.
When he saw the brightening sky, he felt it was painful to see. ‘Another sunrise.’ Ingram thought absentmindedly as he walked towards the adventurer’s guild. Standing outside of the Adventurer’s Guild, Ingram still had a blank expression as he walked towards the receptionist desks, because it was so early, there was only one person inside, a receptionist finishing up a graveyard shift. When he saw Ingram, he sighed but put on a polite smile and asked, “How may I help you today?” Ingram nodded before gently asking, “How many F-Ranked quests do I have to do to advance to E-Rank?” The receptionist kindly responded, “Amount ten F-Ranked Quests. However, due to many complaints from strong new adventurer’s that aren’t quite C-Rank material, there is a way to immediately become an E-Rank Adventurer. That was is to show your strength though using a Judgment Stone. They just arrived from Headquarters a few days ago, so not many people know about them. Anyway, a Judgment Stone, well, judges the person who touches it, revealing a color depending on their level of strength. F-Ranks are white, E-Ranks are Green, and D-Ranks are blue. As for C-Rank or higher, we’d need a Mid or High Tier Judgment Stone, we only have a Low-Tier stone on hand due to being a low-ranked city. Aside from the occasional Beast Tides, Yonder is a peaceful city. Though, the last Beast Tide was much larger than usual.” The male receptionist said all in one breath, making Ingram wonder if he needed to breathe at all.
“Okay, can I use the Judgment Stone for free or is there a fee?” Ingram asked after a moment of thought. The receptionist shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know. The guild master never set a price, or at least not yet. She just dropped it off and left. Due to her negligence, I can let you touch it for free. Besides, Leon vouched for you last night. I didn’t think he had anything nice to say about new adventurers, I guess you tickled his fancy. Let me go get it.” The male receptionist hurriedly left, not because he respected Ingram or Leon, but rather so he could go home faster. When Ingram heard Leon vouched for him, he felt slightly warm inside, but the unconfirmed truth he learned last night, cooled his heart back down to a glacial level.
When he returned the receptionist was carrying a large crystal ball with black mist swirling around inside. “Here it is, just place your hand on it and relax.” The receptionist informed as he read the instruction manual. Ingram followed the steps exactly and the black mist tried to surge into Ingram’s hand, but it was stopped by Ingram’s Mana. The stalemate lasted for a few minutes until the black mist fell back before condensing into a dark liquid before it shot into Ingram’s hand before retreating as if it met a natural predator. Both men had no idea what was supposed to happen, so they merely watched it all play out. Soon the black mist rapidly turned white before, in the very depths a hint of green and in the depths of the green an imperceptible hint of blue appeared before a very small crack appeared on the bottom of the Judgment Stone.
The male receptionist shrugged, “That’s green, so I’ll count it. Congratulations, you are now an E-Rank adventurer. Please hand me your badge.” Of course, he knew that the instruction manual said for a person to be a E-Ranked Adventurer, the entire orb had to become green, but he was tired and only wanted to go home. Ingram complied and after a few minutes, he obtained an E-Rank Adventurer Identification. “Thank you. Can I ask two more questions?” The male receptionist nodded so Ingram pulled out the Healing herb from his empty cloth pouch and asked, “What is this plant called?” The male receptionist’s eyes sharpened as he gently took it from Ingram’s hand before gently observing it. “This is… where did you get this? This is a two-leaf healing herb. They’re only found in the depths of forests. They’re worth two silvers, but if you gave it to a potion alchemist for them to make a Healing Potion, it could easily rise to ten silvers.” The tired male receptionist lost his aura of tiredness as he gently clutched the Uncommon Healing Herb, not returning it.
“There are three ongoing E-Rank Quests for a Two-leafed Healing Herb. If you want, I can help you accept one of the quests before giving you the reward. Think about it, it would be one more quest closer to C-Rank.” The male receptionist did his best to convince Ingram. Ingram nodded and the male receptionist jumped up and rushed to the quest board before immediately taking one down and walking back to his desk. “This quest was requested by the Lord of Yonder yesterday, so while the monetary reward is lower, he is willing to offer the smallest Magic Pouch as a sign of goodwill towards both the Magic Tower and Adventurer’s Guild for their service of protecting Yonder from the Beast Tide. There are three quests like this, one for collecting a Two-Leaf Herb, this is the smallest Magic Pouch with only an area of sixteen meters, one for killing the Bear King, we got information that it’s only a C- Ranked Beast not an A Ranked Beast like we originally thought, it’s just unnaturally large bear, this magic pouch has an area of twenty-five meters. The final one was for investigating the source of the Beast Tide, the unnatural forest, this magic pouch has an area of thirty-six meters.” The male receptionist explained as he placed the quest on the desk.
“That works. I’ll take it.” Ingram agreed and the male receptionist immediately processed the request before marking it as complete. After he did, he vanished into the backroom and Ingram waited, but his mind began to wander, ‘What am I going to do? Gathering quests should be easy for me, but combat quests are impossible. I don’t know, I’m so exhausted.’ After a few minutes, the male receptionist returned with a small bag. “Here’s your reward, I saw that you have a debt with the Adventurer’s Guild, so I took a portion of your reward to pay it off. The rest of your reward is inside of the magic pouch. Now to ensure no-one else can use it, you have to inject your mana into this small gem. It will only allow for the person with that Mana signature to use this magic bag, of course there is a way to erase someone’s mana signature, but only the magic tower knows how. They charge a premium to erase a mana signature.” The male receptionist said before quickly falling silent, as he said it he knew he said just a bit too much.
Ingram didn’t comment, but he gently picked up the magic pouch before walking out. The male receptionist watched him leave before yawning and slumping over the receptionist’s desk as he waited for the morning shift. “I got lucky, the adventurers were tired from fighting so I didn’t have much to do tonight. I need to take care of the Judgment Stone, what a pain.” The male receptionist picked up the crystal orb before vanishing into the back. Ingram looked at the small pouch in his hands. He gently touched the faded gem before he felt a wisp of his mana drill out of his finger and into the gem. Afterwards he ignored the Magic Pouch, but if he were to look, the gem that took a wisp of his mana cracked.
Ingram shoved the pouch into his pocket before walking down a dark alley and when he walked back out had his four normal barriers active in this order, Physical Concealing, Physical Block, Magical Block, and Spiritual Block for a grand total of 1,729 MP along with a four system prompts,
{Judgment: Magic Circle is 80% accurate. Barrier strength is decreased by 20%.
Perfect Barrier Durability: 5,323.19 HP | Penalty applied, New Barrier Durability: 4,258.55 HP
8 Proficiency Points gained.}
{Judgment: Magic Circle is 86.67% accurate. Barrier strength is decreased by 13.33%.
Perfect Barrier Strength: 5,323.19 | Penalty applied, New Barrier Strength: 4,613.60
8 Proficiency Points gained.}
{Judgment: Magic Circle is 86.67% accurate. Barrier strength is decreased by 13.33%.
Perfect Barrier Strength: 5,323.19 | Penalty applied, New Barrier Strength: 4,613.60
8 Proficiency Points gained.}
{Judgment: Magic Circle is 86.67% accurate. Barrier strength is decreased by 13.33%.
Perfect Barrier Strength: 5,323.19 | Penalty applied, New Barrier Strength: 4,613.60
8 Proficiency Points gained.}
Ingram walked right out of Yonder’s front gate before spending ten minutes to slowly retrace his steps to the previous day’s battlefield. The beast corpses were gone with only the bloodstains remaining to tell the tale of what happened yesterday. Ingram sat in the center of the battlefield to meditate, only to awkwardly realize his passive mana regeneration had once again outpaced his expenditure. Ingram looked at the empty field and decided to use his thirty-meter barriers to make a maze. As for the types, he started making them, only to realize a new type had appeared in his head when he began to think about his Barrier Characteristics. ‘Oh, this is that one that I made while meditating. I thought I failed and fainted from the effort of merging the three. I guess I should name it… I shall name you, Absolute Block because it blocks all forms of damage. I’m such a genius.’ Ingram thought narcissistically before shivering from the cringe of what he just thought.
Ingram shook the useless thoughts out of his head before he started to make magic circles. After thirty minutes of constant effort, he made enough to make his empty Magic Circle Space look like a small starry void. After admiring his handiwork, he picked a section and began to fill them with mana. In total he activated sixty magic circles. With only one being a 1.99-meter Absolute Barrier and the rest were 30-meter Absolute Barriers for a final cost of 42,655 MP. After this section, Ingram only left himself with 3,316 MP. Just as a wave of weariness washed over him, Ingram saw the sixty system prompts.
{Judgment: Magic Circle is 86.67% accurate. Barrier strength is decreased by 13.33%.
Perfect Barrier Strength: 5,323.19 | Penalty applied, New Barrier Strength: 4,613.60
8 Proficiency Points gained.}
{Judgment x59: Magic Circle is 100% accurate
Perfect Barrier Strength: 5,323.19
10 Proficiency Points gained.}
Ingram rubbed his glabella before he immediately began to meditate. He didn’t even have the time to remove his three redundant Barriers before had to meditate. It was instinct on his part, but if he didn’t in the next minute, he would run out of mana to maintain the sixty-four barriers. Ingram meditated like his life depended on it, mostly because it does. He was in the wild and if he ran out of Mana and fainted it would be game over for him. Ingram felt a wave of Mixed Mana enter his body only for it to be removed a minute later, with a bit of interest. Ingram hastily opened his eyes and checked his current MP all within the span of a few seconds,
{Hp: 400/400 | MP: 3,316/47,700
Stamina: 300/300 | Satiety: 100/100 | Thirst: 100/100
Physical Attack: 0 | Physical Defense: 0 | Movement: 24
Magic Attack: 2,415 (2,678.23) | Magic Defense: 2,385 (2,644.96)}
Ingram’s body began to meditate again, but his mind wandered into his Magic Circle Space to start calculating how much Mana he was spending and how many magic circles he had to get rid of to start regaining Mana. After another loss, Ingram finally calculated how much mana he was spending by quickly checking his total MP again, only to see it dropped by 227 MP for a second time. ‘I see. I need to remove the three original magic circles, that would remove 51 MP from the 227 MP loss. Then based on how much MP the Absolute Barriers needed I think I need to lose roughly… seven to finally be able to maintain the remaining Magic Circles.’ Ingram waited for the third loss of 227 MP before opening his eyes and rapidly mentally shattering the Physical Block, Magical Block, Spiritual Block and seven Absolute Block magic circles. After waiting another minute, Ingram felt his Mana had begun to recover, even if it was only by a measly 80 MP.
Ingram let out a deep sigh of relief before he began to meditate again, ‘This is a good time to level up my Meditation Skill. I wonder how long it would take other Mages to level up their Skills. I bet I’m the fastest. Even if the cost is having no attack power whatsoever.’ Ingram mentally sighed before he fell into deep meditation as he observed the two universes and the mysterious dark void that sat in-between them. Ingram maintained this slow recovery to grind Meditation Proficiency, but the mental stress was slowly getting to him. Due to every meditation requiring the upmost recovery, he had to closely observe the two universes to gently pull energy from the stars and the dark void. This wasn’t without its benefits, his Class Advancement Quest had been completed as stopped to check his total MP over the course of two hours. After that, Ingram felt he couldn’t handle it, so he crushed all of his Magic Circles with the exceptions of the Physical Concealing Barrier and the 1.99 Meter Absolute Barrier.
Ingram collapsed to the ground, well technically he wasn’t touching the ground, he started to deeply inhale before harshly exhaling as he did his best to stop his head from spinning. He wiped the accumulated sweat off of his forehead as he looked through the barriers at the sky. ‘Never again, this was exhausting. I’m going to keep my mana spend under my passive mana regeneration from this point on. I was only meditating, why am I so tired.’ Ingram mentally cried as he came to an important decision as his head spun from the hours of meditation, so he decided to just lay there for just a while. The events of his dream replaying in his mind as he wondered if it was just a dream or reality. ‘That’s impossible, after all how could a game know about my past.’ Ingram sadly sighed as he closed his eyes to mourn for his family for the first time in a while.
Suddenly he opened his eyes and sat up, ‘No, I won’t forget. What if it’s true? I don’t want their deaths to be in vain. Besides it's not like I can do anything, but when I log out, I’ll look into this Chairman Jackson. If his face matches the one from my dream, there should be some truth to it. If that happens… I don’t know. I always heard that the best revenge is a life well lived, but how can I live well with the knowledge my family died so a businessman could upset another businessman. That would be too unfair for them, but I’m just a man. I can’t do anything, except to remember them. How I hate the world.’ Ingram felt his boiling blood cool as he remembered his social standing, so he decided to live like a salted fish.
Ingram wasn’t in a rush to get up, so he stared up at the sky for a bit longer as he decided on his next move. ‘Oh, wait my Class Advancement should be complete by now.’ Ingram suddenly remembered the reason for his frenzied meditations. Opening the quest menu, he saw his Class Advancement Quest with two other advancement quests had appeared in his available missions,
{Mission Tab:
Current Missions:
1. Life Advancement Quest {More Details}
2. Class Advancement Quest {More Details}
Available Missions:
1. [EX] Locate the rest of
2. Mixed Mana Control Advancement Quest {More Details}
3. Specialized Meditation Advancement Quest {More Details}
All F and E Rank Adventurer’s Guild Missions [To accept, please check the Adventurer’s Guild’s F or E Rank Board]}
Ingram silently focused on the Class Advancement Quest and two new quests, and their descriptions appeared,
{Personal Class Advancement Quest
Chose one task to accomplish to Reach [Class Level: 11].
If you wish you can choose more than one.
For every additional quest completed, you gain a better reward.
1. Have One Skill reach Proficiency Rank: Talented (1/1)
2. Meditate Ten Times (10/10)
3. Make Fifty Magic Circles (50/50)
Do you wish to complete this Quest? Y/N}
{Mixed Mana Control Advancement Quest: Use 1,000 MP within ten days.
MP used: 1,000/1,000
Start Quest? Y/N}
{Specialized Meditation Advancement Quest: Restore 1,000 MP within ten days.
MP restored: 1,000/1,000
Start Quest? Y/N}
Ingram was slightly shocked, so he looked at his Skill list and realized they were both capped out at Proficiency Level 10, with an overflowing amount of Proficiency Points. ‘I have more than enough Proficiency Points for Mixed Mana Control to level up multiple times and the same for Specialized Meditation. I didn’t realize I could accumulate so much in such a short time frame. But it was so not worth it.’ Ingram silently accepted all three. The two skill advancements resulted in those skills ranking up to Talented as his accumulated Proficiency funneled in. While his Class Advancement Quest gave him another system Prompt,
{Class Advancement has been completed with all additional quests being successfully completed.
Reward: [Class Level: 11] Unlocked.
Bonus Rewards: 3,000 Experience and Specialized Title: [Rank One Acolyte], All Magic Stats increase by 1 Points when equipped.}
Ingram looked at the title a felt it was useful, but he could go without. ‘One extra point isn’t a bad reward for all of my effort, just a bit lack luster. If anything, I’m happier about the free 3,000 Exp. I used so much just to reach class level ten, so this is just a drop in the bucket, but even mosquitoes have meat.’ Ingram mused as he started to increase his class level until it hit Level Twenty and he got another Class Advancement Quest along with one more Skill advancement quests for Mixed Mana Control,
{Personal Class Advancement Quest
Choose one task to accomplish to Reach [Class Level: 21].
If you wish you can choose more than one.
For every additional quest completed, you gain a better reward.
1. Have One Skill reach Proficiency Rank: Skilled (0/1)
2. Meditate Twenty Times (20/20)
3. Make One-Hundred Magic Circles (100/100)
Do you wish to complete this Quest? Y/N}
{Mixed Mana Control Advancement Quest: Use 3,000 MP within ten days.
MP used: 0/3,000
Start Quest? Y/N}
Ingram felt like crying, ‘I just said I’ll only meditate when I want to. Whatever, I’ll do these later. I have enough Class Points to learn all of my Barrier types.’ Ingram decided to ignore the other advancement quests and decided to focus on his Life Advancement Quest. In order to do that, he needs to know every single one of his Barrier Characteristics and now he has the capital to learn most of them.