Max currently stood with Vel and Domic. The three of them had gone through a Spatial Gate, a two-way permanent teleporter. They arrived at an old fort that was between Lesterwood and the swamp town of Venloc. The gate had transported them about 300 km in an instant. The gate network was created by a long dead [Arch Space Mage]. She had connected many points to the network, some like the one that Max used, are pretty obscure in their use. Normally the gates take migrating citizens and [Merchants] with their wares. From what Max understands, the power required to the gates is quite high which makes the price of using the gates also high.

Max was allowed a few minutes to observe the gates before they went through. Max could feel, through his Space Affinity, space bending into the gate, and out to the other side. He could tell that the distance was quite far, even though it was only a step to those who entered. Max wanted to research the gates more, knowing that he could understand how they worked but time was of the essence here.

The three of them walked out into the open. The gate was within a small building. The building was a part of a small fort complex. It was used 70 years ago as a training spot for soldiers and guards. The wildlife here was high enough that even tier 2’s could participate. In the middle of the complex, was a small area meant for a bonfire. The pit had a large circumference of rocks and stone that created a barrier for the surrounding ground.

Vel and Max had already discussed the best course of action was to destroy the book. They decided that fire would be used, they hoped that the flames would burn any possible afflictions before it caused damage to the ground. The three of them stood a few meters away, inside a blast chamber created out of water. The book was in the center of the fire pit, and Domic was ready to start.

Choosing Domic to be the mage who burned the book was an obvious choice. Apparently, he was Lesterwood’s best [Fire Mage]. After learning that they choose to burn the book, he practically volunteered to come along. He said that he “had the perfect spell for this”

Domic raised his arms and slowly pushed them through the falling water. Max could feel Vel part the wall, creating the opening Domic needed. Domic’s skin started to glow, tattoos that were previously invisible, started to shine. Max could feel the heat and power originating from the Flame Devil.

Domic spoke quietly, “Baptism of Flame.” White flames quickly poured from his open palms. The fire pit was engulfed in flame. As soon as the flames began to lick the book, dark and evil energy discharged. The flames kept up the assault causing the book to cry out in agony. Max wanted it to stop, he started to walk past the water, but a Vel stopped him with a water shackle.

Max tried to quell Vel’s manipulation over the water but found himself to be too weak. If this purge happened a week or so later Max would have used his monthly cooldown of Divine Powered, but for now, he was stuck. Emi shot a small surge of water at Max, splashing his face. The book died; with a climax of plague the purifying flames had no trouble burning. Max suddenly felt weak, like something was deeply wrong with him.

Domic noticed and turned his flames to Max. As the fire first began to land on his skin, he panicked. Max did his best to remember those Stop Drop and Roll commercials, only finding that the fire remained after a few rolls. Emi sent calming and reassuring images, causing Max to look his situation over. The fire did not hurt. If anything, it was making him feel better.

The flames seemed to jump to Vel, who just stood still, a bemused expression on her face. The flames jumped a few moments later, this time landing on Emi. The flames cut right through the bubble, and Max worried for a moment that they would hurt her. Again, Emi calmed him. The flames did the same to her as Vel and Max. Lastly the fire spread over Domic, before snuffing out.

“What was that...”

“An evolution of Cleansing Flame. The fire only destroyed what Ulafle, God of Burning Flames, deems as evil. The book most definitely was evil, along with the grasp it had over you.” Domic remarked.

“Oh... so my decision to help the book was because of its grasp?”

“Yes. I thought that it wouldn’t have gotten as strong as it did, but it is a Divine object after all.” Vel said nonchalantly.

The group went to inspect the remains. A small black bundle of papers sat at the center of the pit. The area directly around the book was completely black. Domic shot blue flames at the afflicted area, burning away any evidence that a corruption had once plagued the area.

"Now what?" Max asked.

"We hunt!" Vel exclaimed, "it has been too long."

Vel had previously explained that they would have to be quarantined for 3 days before they could go back to Lesterwood. The risk was just too high. Even though all parties involved trusted Domic's spell, risking an entire city was not something anyone wanted. That is the reason that this location was chosen. Max would be, what Max called, power leveled. The idea was for Max to do all of the damage, and get full kill experience, but have Vel and Domic attract or trap any and all monsters. This was a common occurrence for the rich and powerful.

It took only a few minutes of searching to find their first victim. The monster looked like a scaly bear, with a long-spiked tail. Max inspected the monster.

Black Scaled Drake:

Level 12

Max would have asked about the Drake, he thought Drake's were a humanoid race, but the Drake was charging. Max acted fast, he summoned his staff in his left hand, and created a water sword within his right. Over the last few days, Max had practiced his magic. One evolution he made was his sword spell. Now, the sword was created with a thick ice core. Water flowed down the ice, in a circular pattern, creating an ever-moving blade. Max modeled it off of chainsaw, the only difference was that the water is a consistent height compared to a chainsaw's teeth. The water also made no sound, adding to the illusion that it looks like a stationary blade.

Water Blade (Evolved Rare):

30-45 Damage.

15 mana + 3 mana per minute.

Rotate a blade of water around a spike of ice.

The drake speeds up its charge. Once the beast was in range, Max let his sword soar. As the blade flew, it created a slight whistling sound. Max aimed for the drake’s exposed neck, but missed, slicing a long cut across it flank. The laceration caused its legs to falter and fall, it roared out in pain. Max honestly felt bad. He had come into its territory to purposely kill it. The least Max could have done was kill it instantly.

Max made his sword return to him. Without gripping the sword, Max sent it through the drake’s eye socket and into its brain. Max had become more proficient at manipulating water. During the 3 days that the dome was up, Max had spent most of his leisure time with orbiting balls of water. Vel had explained that keeping the balls constantly moving would not only help with his manipulation level, but also help with multitasking.

Max quickly figured out how to apply his will to the orbiting water, causing it to remain even without his focus. It still costs mana, however. Max hadn’t figured out the mana recharging his Rain Cloud utilized. Having the orbit automated defeated the purpose of the drill, and thus he had to maintain the rotation using concentration. Max’s skill would only increase while actively manipulating the water.

Congratulations you have killed a level 12 Black Scaled Drake!

93 Experience gained!

Even though the fight was easy, his leveling wouldn't be. Max was currently a level 4 [Tidal Mage], sitting at 19/640 experience, after the drake kill. As the levels went higher, the experience requirement doubled, meaning that if Max were to continue grinding drakes, he would be here awhile. It was obvious the best choice of action was to kill higher level enemies, the problem was, they were increasingly hard to find.

After Max’s golden glow dissipated, Vel assured him that they would find some monsters that would prove a challenge to him. Between Vel and Domic, they had ways to search the forest for enemies. As the group was traveling to the next spot, Max asked about the drake.

“I thought drakes were the humanoid people? Not a giant dinosaur thing that I just killed.?”

“Oh right, Lost One.” Vel smirked, “Drake’s are said to have evolved from what you just killed. Izipae, the Goddess of life and creation, is said to have granted a few drakes intelligence and different bodies. Drakes that we see today are the descendants.”

“Izipae is a Goddess you hear about a lot when it comes to intelligent races origins. She is also one of the few who’s Godly origins are known.” Domic added.

“Origins?”

“Oh right, Lost one.” Domic smirked, imitating Vel, “The gods were all originally normal people. They somehow ascended to godship through the system. The best known and most popular theory is that [God] is a tier seven or eight class. Izipae is known as the Dragon Queen. She was originally a Dragon, who ruled over all other Dragons and Dragonkin. At some point she became a Goddess, and the rest is history.”

Max wanted to ask more questions, but a few drakes appeared. Max created 3 swords, one for each. He manipulated them just like his orbiting ball exercise, receiving a whistle from Domic. Max fired off the swords the same way as before. The head drake died instantly from being impaled through the skull. The drake on the right was wounded with a large cut, forcing it to stop its initial charge. The last Max had missed completely.

Max chose to go after the uninjured drake. He blasted the drake with a frozen Water Bolt. The sudden chunk of ice caused the drake to stagger. Max took the chance to recall one of his swords and stab it though the drakes thick hide, into its lungs. The beast stopped, falling to its belly. Max put it out if it's misery. The last drake fell similar to the second.

Congratulations you have killed a level 14 Black Scaled Drake!

142 Experience gained!

Congratulations you have killed a level 9 Black Scaled Drake!

55 Experience gained!

Congratulations you have killed a level 7 Black Scaled Drake!

34 Experience gained!

Max felt slightly sick once he realized that he just killed a drake family. Max was close to throwing up, the only thing that made him not was Emi. She could feel Max’s self-loathing and sent him positive and cute images. They included images of Celenia. Max didn’t know why she sent Celenia to his brain, but he was even more confused about why that actually calmed him down. Max sent his thanks, getting a rolled eyes image in return.

Emi was quickly becoming more intelligent. No one knew what she was, but that didn’t stop everyone from quickly adopting her into the team. While Max was training or exercising, Emi would go from person to person trying to get scratches and snacks. She found if she manipulated her water bubble to only form around her “gills”, causing the rest of her body to be dry, she would get more attention. This way, she could also sit on Max’s head or shoulder, without getting him wet. She seemed to like sitting on Max more than walking or hovering in a water blob.

“Emi, you might be similar to a tadpole.” Max said, causing everyone to look at him. Emi twisted her head, signifying her confusion.

“Tadpoles are the baby stage of amphibians,” Max saw their confusion again and added, “frogs, toads, salamanders. What I’m trying to say is that your “gills” look nothing like any gills I have ever seen. Maybe you will develop into something that can breathe through air and water.”

Images of Emi hopping around like a frog flooded Max’s brain, making him laugh. They kept going.

It took the group a few hours to find a target that wasn’t a drake, bear, or wolf. The monster that was being held within a water cage, was unlike anything Max had ever seen on Earth. It had 6 very long legs, stretching upwards of 3 meters. The legs conjoined at a small hairy torso. Where the belly should have been, a large mouth full of dagger-like fangs existed. Max could recognize that it was a spider of some kind.

Skyreacher Spider

Level 22

This was the largest, and highest-level monster Max had ever seen. Max was never afraid of spiders, at least not like some people he knew, but this thing terrified him. He couldn’t tell what it was exactly that scared him. Is it the size? Or the fangs? Max asked himself.

“Alright boy, listen up. You won’t get any experience if you kill it while in the cage. That means I will have to drop it, and you kill it after. Got it?” Vel said.

“Sure...”

“When it stands fully, just use that spell we have been working on, and slice off its legs. After it falls, destroy the head.”

Max nodded, while pooling water besides him. The new spell Max had been working on, with Vel’s assistance, was called Water Scythe. Max’s original idea sprouted from games and pop culture. Max liked the idea of being a Grim Reaper, even if he wouldn’t admit it. After initial testing, Max found that scythes are incredibly useless in battle. They could slice, but that was really it, they couldn't stab, parry, or block. Vel showed him one of her spells, Water Saw, which imitated a buzz saw. Max figured adding a spinning motion to his scythe would add to its damage.

The spider was released. It stretched its front leg out to take a step. A rapidly spinning scythe slammed into the moving leg. A large gash appeared on its exoskeleton. The leg was still connected to its body, but it was hesitant to take another step. Max observed its behavior, choosing to strike a different leg. Max had noticed that it was favoring one leg in particular. Upon further inspection, Max could see that this leg had a bit more girth to it.

Two scythes sliced deep into the favored leg. The first one removed a chunk of exoskeleton, and the second cut through flesh. The leg dangled, held by a thin strip of exoskeleton. The leg was useless, and the spider had to shift its weight onto the 4 remaining uninjured legs.

The spider tried to run, but two more scythes completely cut off another leg. The spider crashed to the ground, allowing Max to see the “head” for the first time. The head was directly on top of the spider, making it so that if you stood under or around the spider, you would never see it. The head had eight eyes that darted around, and a smaller set of mandibles.

Max chose to strike with a sword this time. The sword won’t disperse on impact, unlike how the scythe would. The sword was simply more mana efficient in this situation. The sword stabbed and retreated a few times before the spider went limp.

Congratulations you have killed a level 22 Skyreacher Spider!

501 Experience gained!

Max looked over his new spell after the level up euphoria ended.

Water Scythe (Rare):

40-60 Damage.

30 mana.

Send a rotating scythe of water to slice your enemies.

Compared to Water Blade, Water Scythe did more damage but costs more mana. Max figured he would use scythes when he needed to shear down an enemy, and his blade when he needed to conserve mana. Of course, each had their own pros and cons, but they were both good spells in their own right. Max was already fantasizing about combining the two.

“How’d I do?” Max asked his group of judges.

Emi was the first to respond. She sent an image of Max sitting atop a throne of dead spiders. What the hell Emi? He sent back, only getting a bashful feeling back. Domic was next.

“I don’t know too many tier one’s who could cut through a Skyreacher’s exoskeleton. I don’t have many critiques other than you could be more efficient. Instead of hitting a leg and seeing how much damage you did, you could be attacking again. Some enemies wouldn’t let you have those few seconds.”

Max nodded in understanding. Max would make changes next time.

“Aside from what Domic said, your spells could be more effective. Instead of firing off two scythes, make them more durable. A [Water Mage]’s number one weakness is its water source, meaning if you can use less water and deal the same damage, you will excel. Get into the habit now. You’ll thank me later.”

“That makes sense.” Max said.

Domic nodded along, adding “If you ever face a fire affinity opponent, having good control over your water usage may very well win you the fight. I know I have won my share of matches, just by evaporating their water.”

The group continued walking and discussing various magic theories and concepts. All of a sudden Max felt a change. He quickly checked his new notification.

Congratulations, your knowledge of Water Magics has unlocked a branch of the Kepu racial.

You may only choose one.

-Evolve one Water based spell or skill.

-Reduce time needed to form Water based spells

-Increase your ability to freeze water.

Max stopped. Holy shit. Wha-

“Boy? Something wrong?” Vel asked, interrupting Max’s thoughts.

“Nothing, just... Let's say I had an epiphany” Max said, wanting to hide his last racial.

“A what?” Domic asked.

“It's like a feeling of realization. I just realized how to make my spells form faster.” After reading through his choices, it was obvious the reduced formation time was the best. Sure, evolving a spell or skill would be useful, but permanently reducing the time it took to form a spell was insane. Freezing water better was pretty “meh” in Max’s eyes.

Max made his choice and pulled his new and improved racial up.

Kepu: Active magic!

This racial is from the ancient lost race of the Kepu. Master of magic and keepers of vast magical knowledge.

Now their legacy lives on with you.

10% increased experience granted to all spells.

Grants extra spell slots in all [Mage] related classes.

Reduces the time needed to form Water based spells by 5%.

As your knowledge grows, this power will also.

Five percent? Not great but will definitely come in handy for a quick fight. Max thought. Not wanting to keep the other in suspense, Max formed a Waterspout. The base cast time was about 10 seconds, meaning that the racial would take off half a second.

“I guess it was faster?” Vel said, not understanding.

“I would say it's a bit faster, yeah.” Domic said.

Max just smiled. The group continued to walk, and Max sent an image of the racial to Emi. She made a small squeal when she read through it. Can you even read? Max asked, getting a sigh in response.

Max leveled up one more time before the end of the day making him a level 6 [Tidal Mage]. The group had found 3 more Skyreacher spiders, a few large earthen salamanders, and a lot of drakes of varying scale color. The salamanders were interesting, they would bury themselves in loose dirt. Then they would attack any and everything that came in their range. Domic explained that they don’t often get above level 15 because they try to attack something above their level.

Domic was scary good at finding the salamanders. The group would be walking along, and suddenly he would point to a small mound of dirt. From there Max would raise his sword above the dirt, and send it crashing down, killing the salamander instantly.

Finally, Max removed the group's tents from his inventory, and got to work setting them up. Vel and Domic worked on wards and defenses. Max slept well, but most nights he “slept” well. Max had grown used to being in his mana system beach while asleep. Emi would join him, and they would rest, train, or play in the shallow waters.