Zach got up from the wood stump to stretch his back and legs after dismissing the prompts about the Enchanter class. For a moment it felt good to get his blood flowing again before he realized that he was hungry and that he hadn’t even tried to unpack his belongings. Going to his backpack, Zach made camp. Looking at the canvas tent and rope Zach realized that no real knowledge was coming to him about how to set up the tent.

“Grim, I am staring at my tent and haven’t a clue what I need to do to start a camp. Please tell me I didn’t waste 13 points of DP on a skill that won’t tell me how to set up a camp?” Zach said with a hint of annoyance. Suddenly Zach felt something inside of him release, and he knew before he could set up the tent he needed to work around the area and clear away a few things.

For an hour, Zach used his dagger to cut away some brush and created a makeshift bedding. Just as the brush bedding got to be as thick as a couple of fingers, he understood it was enough to insulate his body from the cold hard ground. Throwing his blanket down on the leaves and pine needles, he wasn’t sure why certain things kept coming to his mind. He didn’t know how he knew that this spot was better for his tent and that one was better for a fire, or how he knew picking up branches and bits and pieces of dead tree-fall would help him start a fire and keep it going throughout the night. In fact, it wasn’t until he placed stones around his camp site in a circle, that Zach finally questioned what he was doing.

“Ok Grim, I understand why I needed to clear the brush and set up some things like I did, but why am I putting stones around my camp in a circle?” Zach said as he continued to follow his gut instinct.

Grim appeared beside him as he placed one of the last few stones. “Zach, there are several things that go into a true camp creation, but first let me explain what a skill is. A skill is an action that spends mana to influence the world around it. You are setting up a boundary that will keep bugs and low-level monsters out.”

Zach looked at Grim in surprise as he set down the last stone. Walking over to the fire pit he threw in some dry leaves and some pine needles that had dried out. “Wait, so you’re saying I am casting a spell?”

Grim shook his head, “Not quite. Let me try to use one of your memories as an example. Remember when you tried cooking spaghetti for your first girlfriend?” Zach shuddered at the memory. “Well, Zach you went out, found a recipe and from the advice on the web you could tell that cooking the dinner was supposed to be easy. However, you overcooked the noodles until they turned into a mash. You burnt the meat and instead of throwing it away, you thought the store-bought sauce would cover it up. So where did you go wrong? You had the knowledge from a recipe and had watched several VR videos on how to do it, but the simple fact was that you didn’t put your concentration and being into cooking that meal.”

Zach struck the fire starter creating a cascade of sparks onto hair-like dry fiber from weeds he had pulled apart. As a spark caught, Zach felt the urge to blow air over the spark and help the fire spread. “However, instead of just knowing the steps and trying to do something, you are putting mana into the action and having the universe help you. Every action you are taking is the universe helping you understand what is needed and how to do it. As you continue to use the skill and become able do things like starting fires without help, the universe helps you in finding more things that would make you comfortable or powering up the camp boundary to protect you. So back to the memory, if you had used mana to help you, the universe would have given you feelings and sensations on when to take off the food from the stove and perhaps even told you to add new spices.”

The fire caught on the dry tinder and Zach kept feeding it small dry leaves until a flame the size of a quarter of an inch came to life. Zach could feel his hand go to the dry twigs next to the leaves and throw a few in. “However, that doesn’t mean you can just add mana to anything you do, and the universe will help you. When learning a new skill, people of this world spend mana through their grimoires and hope that the universe understands what they are trying to do.”

“You, however, have one major advantages they don’t. You have me! Yes, I know that sounds egotistical, but I am controlling the release of your mana and keeping it focused on a task. Most people would have focused on their grimoire and pushed through a thought like, ‘how do I build a fire?’ They would have pushed as much mana through it and hoped for the best. I, however, direct the mana much more efficiently. You have only used about five points of mana setting up this camp and recovered two in that time.” Zach sat there watching the fire for a moment, thinking about what Grim had said. The fire had been built up high enough that he could feed some bigger branches that were maybe as thick as his little finger. He was waiting for the fire to get a little hotter, before adding more branches of that size, so he placed a little more of leaves to keep the flame going.

“So, if I tell you I want to learn the skill for daggers, and wave this the thing around while you release my mana, I will gain a new skill?” Zach said as he pulled out his dagger.

Grim shook his head, “If you tell me, that you want to learn the skill Small Blades. I would release mana focusing on the question on how to strike with your dagger. Maybe you will get the skill, or maybe not. It depends a great deal on many things, and I don’t even know a tenth of them. What I can tell you is that as you gain knowledge, I can pass that on to your children. For example, any child born from you will be able to learn Camp Creation relatively easily, as I will pass on that knowledge to their Grimoire Companions on how to direct their mana.”

Suddenly, Zach imagined his fifth generation grandchildren being able to have thousands of skills. “So, Kings and Queens of this world must be near unstoppable with everything they can do thanks to their parents.”

Grim shrugged, “I won’t deny that Kings and Queens probably have Grimoires with knowledge of thousands of skills, spells, cultivation techniques, and other things. However there are a couple of things that limit their progenies, like the 100 DP limit, another is that they still must use the knowledge and increase their skill level at it. Just because your children will have an edge on learning Camp Creation, maybe they will never need to learn it as they want to be librarians. Here’s an example, the God of Dwarves gave his people the inheritable skill of Blacksmithing. Every dwarven child born will have the ability to quickly learn blacksmithing. Does that mean every dwarf is a blacksmith? No, that’s just racists thinking. Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that some dwarves choose to become blacksmiths and some don’t because they want to be something else. In either case, the person has to choose what to learn and grow in. Your many times grandchildren will have the same choice, it just might be easier for them to become certain things.” Grim seemed to stop talking as a prompt came up.

Congratulations! With the start of your fire and the boundary stones up, you have created your first campsite and a haven from the dangers in the world.

Your camp site is ranked as Novice. The boundary stones will keep out level 1-2 monsters, all insects, and animals for one day. At the end of the day, you can renew your campsite by making improvements to it.

You have gained +1 in [Camp Creation].

Zach leaned back from the fire and dismissed the prompt. Though he hadn’t setup his tent he had a fire, a place to sleep, and a boundary; it was finally safe enough for him to sit back down on the stump and consider his choices. “Grim, can you show me the other two packages?”

(Package One) ArtificerDivine Store Item:Skill: Golem CreationDivine Store Cost:10 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will give the person the ability to find or craft a body suitable for an elemental to live in once infuse with mana.Additionally, the person will be able to invite elementals into their creation through their Grimoire. Each level up to level 25 will increase the golem’s mana pool by 1% per level. (Unlocked) With the Companion Bloodline this item can become an inheritable skill for 5 DP.Divine Store Item:Skill: Core CreationDivine Store Cost:10 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will give the person the ability to focus their mana and create a mana core. At level one the core will contain a mana pool of 10 mana points. Each level up to level 25 will increase the pool by 1 mana point. (Unlocked) With the Companion Bloodline this item can become an inheritable skill for 5 DP.Divine Store Item:Golem Creation Subskill: Imprint SkillDivine Store Cost:10 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will give the person the ability to focus their mana and imprint a skill of their choosing on a Golem. The skill level limits the level of imprinted skill (Current restriction 1:1). Every 5 levels up to level 25, the amount of skills capable of being imprinted will increase by 1. Divine Store Item:Cultivation Technique: The Seed GrowsDivine Store Cost:50 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will allow your Grimoire to guide you through the cultivation technique: [The Seed Grows]. This Cultivation Technique has a total of two levels of guided practice. Upon Mastery of the first level the user will gain 10 Mana points and access to Life energy. (Unlocked) With the Companion Bloodline this item can be added to all future Generations for 50 DP.Divine Store Item:Grimoire Upgrade: Commune with ElementalsDivine Store Cost: 20 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will allow you to talk with elementals through your Grimoire. Since elementals can’t speak but only sense intentions through elemental energy, the Grimoire will help sharpen your thoughts to better influence and understand the local elementals. (Unlocked) With your Companion Bloodline upgrade you can speak in complex thoughts and your Companion can help put a willing elemental into a Mana Core temporarily.Divine Store Item:Grimoire Upgrade: Contract MakingDivine Store Cost: 40 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will allow your Grimoire to make permanent contracts with any summoned creature. Contracts will be stored in your Grimoire and you will receive a warning should an action you are considering will break the contract. Additionally, should anyone break the contract, all parties will receive notifications immediately. (Unlocked) With your [Grimoire Companion Bloodline] upgrade your companion now has access to common contracts and can barter on your behalf.

(Package Two) Earth MageDivine Store Item:Skill: Core CreationDivine Store Cost:10 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will give the person the ability to focus their mana and create a mana core. At level one the core will contain a mana pool of 10 mana points. Each level up to level 25 will increase the pool by 1 mana point. (Unlocked) With the Companion Bloodline this item can become an inheritable skill for 5 DP.Divine Store Item: Cultivation Technique: The Rock BreaksDivine Store Cost:50 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will allow your Grimoire to guide you through the cultivation technique: [The Rock Breaks]. This Cultivation Technique has a total of two levels of guided practice. Upon Mastery of the first level the user will gain 10 Mana points and access to Earth energy. (Unlocked) With the Companion Bloodline this item can be added to all future Generations for 50 DP.Divine Store Item:Spell: Stone SkinDivine Store Cost: 25 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will transfer the knowledge to cast the spell [Stone Skin]. Casting [Stone Skin] requires some type of stone to be within a ten-foot radius around the caster. The essence of whatever stone is found around the caster infuses his skin, improving unarmed damage potential and creating an armored skin. Drawback of the spell is that the caster will not be able to move quickly and their sense of touch will be deadened. At Level 1, the spell will increase unarmed damage by 30% and will stop 40% of damage from breaking the skin. As the Spell levels, damage and armor protection will increase. Upon Mastery of the Spell, the mage will gain the permanent enhancement of Level 25 [Stone Skin]. (Unlocked) With the Companion Bloodline this item can become an inheritable spell for 15 DP.Divine Store Item:Grimoire Upgrade: Focus Earth ManaDivine Store Cost: Cost: 25 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will allow your Grimoire to better focus the element of Earth. Earth spells will cost 30% less mana to cast. (Unlocked) With the Companion Bloodline this item can be added to all future Generations for 25 DP when they gain access to Earth mana.

Zach got up to feed the fire and organize his thoughts. On the one hand Earth Mage is cheaper and is a common class, allowing me to progress quickly. On the other, everything I have read in my previous life has said ‘don’t be common'. Of course, being an Artificer is a slow build and I have no idea how long it will take me to create my first golem, but then again having a magical creature fight for you is bad ass! Additionally, gaining access to the element of Life could lead me to Healing, and since I am solo right now, I can’t take any chances. Hell, just admit it! You want to be an Artificer and create a mecha like Transformers or Tetsujin 28-go.

Zach admitted it to himself, he really did want to create a Mecha. Shaking his head, he decided, and his decision was based on feelings instead of logic. “Grim, please purchase the Artificer Package.” A blue prompt appeared asking if he wanted to confirm the purchase of the Artificer package and he pressed yes. The blue prompt he was waiting for appeared.

Purchase of Artificer Package confirmed!

You have gained Level 1 [Golem Creation]!

You have gained Level 1 [Core Creation]!

You have gained your first Subskill. Know this your subskill can never surpass the level of the main skill.

You have gained Level 1 [Imprint Skill]!

You have gained your first Cultivation Technique. Know this, additional compatible techniques can be purchased at the Divine Store for a Reduced Price.

You have gained Cultivation Technique: [The Seed Grows]!

You have purchased a Grimoire Upgrade: [Commune with Elementals]!

You have purchased a Grimoire Upgrade: [Contract Making]!

Congratulations! Divine Luck has struck and your purchase of Cultivation Technique: [The Seed Grows] has become an Inheritable Item.

Your current DP total is 105!

“What the Fuck! Grim what just happened?” Zach shouted as he looked at the prompt.

“It seems that one of your items has been upgraded. This is surprising, normally one out of a million people might receive this notification. Your lucky to have been given this.” Grim said in a calm voice.

“Well damn… let’s roll the dice again Grim. Show me the most valuable skills for adventurers that can be purchased for 105 DP.” It had been Zach’s original thought to buy the map upgrade and save the rest of his points for emergencies. However, the little pig in his mind squealing for more was riding his thoughts, and so Zach pressed his luck as another prompt appeared.

The following are the top purchases for AdventurersDivine Store Item:Silver CoinDivine Store Cost:1 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will give the person one Silver Coin. This Item can be purchased multiple times. (Unlocked) With the Companion Bloodline this item can become an inheritable item for 10 DP.Divine Store Item:Skill: Light ArmorDivine Store Cost:10 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will give the person the ability to wear Light Armor with only minimum interference. Upon purchasing this skill, the user will be able to wear Light Armor with a -2 Dexterity penalty. Each level up to level 25 will decrease the Armors weight by 1% per level. Every 5 levels the user will gain +1 Dexterity when wearing Light Armor. (Unlocked) With the Companion Bloodline this item can become an inheritable skill for 5 DP.Divine Store Item:Skill: SpearDivine Store Cost:10 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will give the person the ability to fight using a spear and cast Weapon Techniques. At level one the skill will increase a spears damage by 10%. Each level up to level 25 will increase the spear’s damage by 1%. (Unlocked) With the Companion Bloodline this item can become an inheritable skill for 5 DP.Divine Store Item:Skill: Appraisal SkillDivine Store Cost:10 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will give the person the ability to focus their mana and understand the value of an item. Additional crafting skills or knowledge of the item will increase the accuracy of its value. Every 5 levels up to level 25 there will be an increase the amount of information you receive from an item. (Unlocked) With the Companion Bloodline this item can become an inheritable skill for 5 DP.Divine Store Item:Grimoire Upgrade: Mana PaperDivine Store Cost: 10 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will allow you through your Grimoire to create a blue panel in which you can write on. (Unlocked) With your Companion Bloodline upgrade you can speak/think and your companion can write all comments. Your companion can draw an image of what you are seeing. With the Companion Bloodline this item can become an inheritable skill for 5 DP. Divine Store Item:Grimoire Upgrade: Map MakingDivine Store Cost: 20 DPItem Description:(Note Requires Grimoire Upgrade: [Mana Paper]) Purchasing this item will allow you, through your Grimoire, to create a map of the area you are in and update it with new information. This ability will require mana as your Grimoire is using it to sense distances. (Unlocked) With your Companion Bloodline upgrade your Companion can use part of your mana regeneration to update the map. Your Companion can also share or receive maps and update them with new information. With the Companion Bloodline this item can become an inheritable skill for 15 DP. Divine Store Item:Grimoire Upgrade: Extra-dimensional SpaceDivine Store Cost:5 DPItem Description:Purchasing this item will create a small (1’x1’x1’) pocket of space to store items. No living creatures can enter this space. However, all animal and/or plants will stop decaying once stored. This upgrade can be purchased multiple times, and each successive purchase will expand the pocket of space by a foot in one dimension. (Unlocked) With your Companion Bloodline upgrade your Companion can sense which item you require and bring it up to the top of the opening. With the Companion Bloodline this item can become an inheritable skill for 5 DP.Divine Store Item:Grimoire Upgrade: Auto-lootDivine Store Cost: 30 DPItem Description:(Note Requires Grimoire Upgrade: [Extra-dimensional Space] and Skill: [Appraisal] Purchasing this item will allow your Grimoire to sense all available loot around you that you can claim and teleport it into your Extra Dimensional Storage. The highest valued item will also appear in your space and if full, low value items will be dropped. (Unlocked) Your [Foraging] skill can be used with [Auto-loot]. (Unlocked) With your Companion Bloodline upgrade your Companion can make intelligent choices as to what you should loot. For example, if you are storing all of your food in the space and you come across valuable coins, your companion will not drop all of your food. You can set up loot parameters with your Companion.

When Zach saw [Auto-Loot] and [Map Making], he couldn’t resist the animal inside and said. “Ok Grim, purchase it all.” One last blue prompt appeared before him asking if he wanted to confirm the purchase and he pressed yes.

Purchase of ‘Artificer Package’ confirmed!

You have gained 3x Silver Coin!

You have gained a Bronze Spear!

You have gained Level 1 [Spear]!

You have gained Level 1 [Light Armor]!

You have gained Level 1 [Appraisal]!

You have purchased a Grimoire Upgrade: [Mana Paper]!

You have purchased a Grimoire Upgrade: [Map Making]!

You have purchased a 2x Grimoire Upgrade: [Extra-dimensional Space]!

Current Extra-dimensional Space: 1’x2’x2’

You have purchased a Grimoire Upgrade: [Auto-loot]!

Your current DP total is 0!

Zach was a little bummed out that he didn’t receive another Divine Luck bonus, on top of which he was now out of points for anything else. Light flashed, and a spear rested near a tree trunk. Feeling depressed at having spent everything on the hope for more Divine Luck, Zach looked at Grim and spoke, “What now?”

Grim said one thing, “Now we hunt and try gathering Golem components.”