“Yes!” she practically jumped in the air as she said it. “I can get skills that have other classes as requirements, this is amazing!”

Light flared within the small room and the runes on the page started to burn like a lit fuse, disappearing one by one. Another flash and the book lifted from her hands, spinning slowly in midair.

But then it began to melt, a purple substance eating through its pages and dripping down the cover, sizzling. It started spinning faster and faster, and in seconds the book was completely gone, only a dark purple sphere of goo remaining.

Kass could only watch, everything happening too fast for her to comprehend. In the blink of an eye, the spinning sphere shot out at her and slammed into her chest. She tensed, ready for the pain, but it never came. She opened her eyes and saw a window waiting for her.

You have learned the skill Shadow Bolt

Shadow Bolt

Level 1

Rare

Active - 75 mana per cast

Range: 30 feet

Create an orb of pure darkness that launches at your enemies at high speed.

She stood there for a second, still trying to catch up with everything that had just happened, her heart pounding. I really want to try it out. Hmm... I’ll wait till later. Still need to learn the other spell and finish up in here.

She summoned the book of Astral Walking and placed it in front of her like she had with the last one. After a second of focus the window appeared and Kass accepted that she wanted to learn the skill.

The book lifted from her hands again and began spinning. This time, however, it didn’t start to melt. Instead, it looked like an enormous pressure was placed on it, and the book began to bend and crumple in on itself.

With a final pop, it crunched fully and then disappeared. A split second later an explosion erupted from where it had been, energy washing over her and the room. This time when she opened her eyes, Kass found herself standing on a transparent platform surrounded by small motes of purple and white light, within a sea of darkness.

Her first sensation was one of vertigo. Like she was standing on the edge of a skyscraper without anything to hold onto to steady herself. Her body swayed, and she stiffened with fear, then she windmilled her arms, trying to keep balance.

She took a forced step forward and was relieved when she didn’t fall, she could just barely make out the platform that had expanded to where her foot was. She took another step forward, and it moved again.

The fear fell away a little and she was able to look around, strangely feeling like she was within the planetarium dome looking at the projection of all the stars in the galaxy. Eighth grade field trip...ha, that feels like it was a lifetime ago…

She was pulled from her memory as the motes of light suddenly shot towards her. They came from every direction, absorbing into her. Now feeling like she was traveling at warp speed like in all the movies, the lights elongating before smashing into her.

An instant later she found herself back in the small underground room, standing by the head of the bed and facing the wall. Kass jumped up slightly and shook out her body, trying to get over the vertigo, then looked at the new window of information.

Astral Walking

Level 1

Rare

Active - 50 mana per cast

Duration: 30 seconds

Partially enter the Astral realm, reducing all damage taken by 10%.

While Active- Grants the ability: Speak with Dead

Damage reduction and speak with dead...that just might come in handy. Might as well try to be friends with dead things while I’m at it…

“Have you ever heard of the skill Astral Walking? It reduces damage by partially entering into the Astral realm but it also says it grants the ability to speak with the dead.”

“An interesting skill. I haven’t come across that skill in my time, but there are others that are similar in nature, regarding the ability to speak with the dead. Many religious sects use this ability to commune with those stuck between this world and the afterlife. I am not informed on the dangers of such things, and I also do not know the danger of partially entering another realm. Be cautious when using that spell.”

“Okay, good to know. And yeah I think I’ll test it out a few times before using it in battle. If it’s anything like what I experienced to gain the skill, I’m never using that in a fight,” Just thinking about it almost made the vertigo return.

There were still a few more items within the chest and Kass moved back over to it, reaching an arm in.

Ring of Mana Regeneration - Increase Mana Regeneration by 5%

Ooo, how pretty...I like that color. The whole ring was colored a light blue, made from some unknown type of metal. She slid the ring onto her finger, and, just as her coat had done, it resized until it was a perfect fit.

“I don’t think that will ever get old...magic is amazing…” she looked at the ring in her finger for another second before pulling out the next item.

Crohulian Dagger of Blood Sacrifice

The dagger was sheathed in a plain metal scabbard. It showed signs of wear, but for the most part seemed to have weathered the time pretty well.

The blade itself was around eight or nine inches long and curved slightly towards its point. It had a false edge on one side, and when she carefully pressed a finger to the other side, she could tell that it was pretty sharp. Not anywhere near the level of Whisper, but still sharp enough to probably cut through anything she’d come across so far. Maybe not the Torusinth now that I think about it. That thing was tough...

Overall, to Kass, the dagger didn’t look like anything special. She used her identity skill to find out more.

Crohulian Dagger of Blood Sacrifice

Rarity

Rare

Damage

Unknown

Sharpness

Unknown

Durability

Unknown

Affinity

Unknown

Upon drinking sufficient blood, grants +2 intelligence and restores 2 mana every 10 seconds for 60 seconds. Stacks 3 times.

This is actually really good. She tossed the dagger from hand to hand, deep in thought. I just don’t know if I could change my fighting style to fight with a second weapon…but I do know some techniques already from my Alanivan sword skills, so it is possible… just another thing to test of I guess.

Also...identify actually revealed that information...I wonder why, it hasn’t leveled up or anything... I probably should keep a better eye on what it can and can’t do.

She stored the dagger and took out the last thing from the chest. It was a small leather pouch that was tied shut with a leather cord. She undid the knot and it slid open. Inside were four small crystals, each around two inches long and a quarter of an inch thick.

Mana Sliver

No other information was given. She even tried using identify, but nothing happened. “So these are the mana slivers you were talking about earlier? Why can’t I see any more information about them?”

“It is precisely what it says, a sliver of mana, though in crystalized form. Each sliver contains an amount of stored mana that can be used in many different ways. Powering an Anderstone is only one function. Many types of magical items, wards, and defensive shields must be charged with mana constantly. Mana slivers make this possible.

“You can also crush one to instantly restore some of your own mana, but a lot of the stored mana is lost in doing this. Swallowing one has proven an effective method. As your body slowly breaks it down, that energy then flows through you. I have heard of many mages that do this before a large battle.

“Among their many other uses, mana slivers are also used as a form of currency. Each was worth roughly... six or seven silvers back in my time, which meant that using them could get expensive quite rapidly.”

Kass filed away as much of the information as she could, quickly finding that what she was holding was a whole lot more useful and valuable than she had first thought.

“They sound really important to have, is there a way to get more of them? Like, can I make them?”

“They can not be made, no, but it is possible to get more. Certain monsters drop them upon death, generally the elemental types, though other types do as well. Extremely powerful monsters are known to drop many at a time, with a chance to drop the stronger variation, the mana stone. Mana stones are the same in function, but much more potent.”

“Guess I’ll have to start hunting elementals if I need more of these later.” She recognized the monster type from her quick lesson Whisper had shot into her brain. From what she knew, she didn’t want to get anywhere near an elemental at her current level.

“Well, looks like that’s everything. Guess I’ll take this too,” she said as she touched the chest and stored it away. I wonder how much room I have left…maybe it would let me put things into the chest and then store it? I’ll do that later if I need to. It really does need some organizing though, just looking at that messy list gets on my nerves, even if it is alphabetized.

Kass took one last look around the room and her eyes settled on the deteriorating bed. A quick nap would probably be a good idea. “Hey Whisper, I think I’m going to try and get a little bit of sleep if that’s okay. This place seems as safe as any, and I am pretty tired.”

“I will alert you if something approaches, get some rest.”

“Thanks,” she said, yawning right after. Just the thought of sleep made her feel even more exhausted.

Not wanting to sleep on the dangerous looking bed, she pulled out the bedroll from storage to check it out. The size of it surprised her when it appeared on the ground, even though it was rolled up tightly it still reached her waist.

The exterior was made of a material that felt like a burlap sack to Kass, which wasn’t anything like the comfortable blow up mattress and warm sleeping bag she had hoped for. At least you have something. It’s probably better than sleeping on the cold floor. She flipped it over and found an opening slit into one side of it. When she stuck a hand in to feel inside, she was surprised to find it lined with soft animal furs. Yeah, much better than the floor.

She unrolled it in front of the door, deciding she would lay against the wooden door to try and keep anything from opening it without her knowing. That was the plan at least.

Once fully extended, the bedroll was around eight feet long and three wide. Guess it makes sense that this is huge since it was owned by the same guy as this coat… She remembered the giant jacket she had received before it shrunk to better fit her. I wonder if this Finsel guy is still alive... would be interesting to meet him.

She rethought over that again and instantly changed her mind. Yeah nevermind, the guy is probably pissed I stole his jacket and all the stuff inside...he’d probably want to kill me…

Kass really hoped that she would never have to deal with that situation, she was in enough trouble as it was. A giant smuggler trying to kill her was not something she wanted to add to her list.

She sniffed the inside of the bedroll. Other than smelling a little greasy and a little like garlic, it wasn’t too bad. She shrugged and swung Whisper in front of her. It’s not like I smell any better. She removed her boots and let her toes air out for a second and stretch. Even my feet smell....ugh.

She was about to store her boots but then stopped, a question forming in her mind.

“If I store something, does time affect it the same way as it does here? Like if I were to store a hot bowl of soup, would it stay hot until I pulled it out? Or would it cool down?”

“Hmm, storage items are known to have different effects on the things stored within. My guess would be that yours would only see changes after a very long time. So to answer your question, I believe the bowl of soup would remain hot for...one hundred years, give or take.”

“One hundred years?! Are you serious? The coat wouldn’t even last that long.”

“As long as it is connected to some form of mana signature I imagine that it would. Though that doesn’t mean it can’t be destroyed.”

“Well those definitely aren’t going in there,” she pointed at the hot and smelly boots, and then decided to move them further away from where she would be sleeping. Worried about my own stinky boots when I’m literally about to sleep in a super old, and now dead, necromancer’s room and inside a greasy giant man’s old bed… she sighed, some things you do just don’t make sense K… “Pfft, like I have a choice,” she muttered to herself.

Kass sat down on the bedroll and brushed off her feet before tucking them inside and sliding into the pocket of animal fur. She had to admit that although it wasn’t hers and smelled like a man that ate too much garlic, it was pretty comfortable.

She hugged Whisper against her chest, cast barrier for good measure, and dismissed her orb. Within minutes she drifted off into a deep sleep.