Mature Content Warning: Nothing really. Maybe some foul language.

Author's Note: I decided to finish out chapter one today. I had the first update for chapter two mostly ready. I need to fiddle with it a little, but it should be up in a few hours. Feel free to tell me what you think.

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Chapter 1.3: Blackthorne Begins

Several hours had passed. A pile of grass bracelets had formed near him. At this point Blackthorne had eaten enough onions to regain his full vitality. Still, he wanted to be able to eat a few more right after making the attempt to imbue his weapon with magic. Well, he did not want to eat them... They made his tongue feel like it would blister. He did want the option to do so, however.

“Alright, it’s time.” said the man.

The mage unsheathed his blade and held it in his hands. The most basic form of enchanting was the ability to temporarily imbue an item with corresponding magic. His jolt spell was an attack spell, so it needed to be added to a designated weapon. He suspected that higher forms of enchanting would allow for permanent or more powerful effects.

He concentrated on the sword for a moment and forged a link with the item, much like he had done with the grass ring. He spoke the incantation for the Jolt! spell, then envisioned the sword arcing with black lightning. There was a minor tug on his body at first, but soon he could feel the painful burning sensation once again. His life essence filled the sword with vitality and imbued it with the power of negative energy.

Blackthorne panted heavily when he finished his labors. Immediately, he pulled out another disgusting onion and ate the corpse. He felt slightly better, but he still had only slightly more than half of his health remaining.

He checked his weapon then grinned. That was not a bad turn out for an experiment.

<<< Item >>>

Copper Sword of Jolting!

Quality: 1

Durability: Infinite

Attack Power: 1-3

Value: Cannot be sold [will disappear after one month]

Special Option(s)

Rage Lightning: 1-6 additional dmg

Remaining Uses: 3/automatic

>>

“Now that’s great.” He did not like the automatic part of the usage, though. That meant that the first three strikes that connected with an opponent would unleash the power. He had studied each of the skills that he had chosen during the first dream and in even greater detail once he had woken up.

Higher grade enchantments allowed the wielder to activate the power at will or under certain conditions. Still, it was better than random. There was no way to know when the power would activate if the usage condition was random.

He sheathed his blade then nodded. “So far everything works like it was supposed to work. Good.”

After sheathing his sword, he set about sorting through his bracelets. He wanted to find the absolute best items among them. The rest of them would be placed into his bag. He had a little more room now that he’d eaten most of his onions.

He wore the two best bracelets and stored the rest. They would make for good synergy fodder later. Right now, he would focus on making more bracelets until he could not stay awake in the dream world any longer, or until he woke up naturally in the real world.

Blackthorne the mighty mage of grass weaving completed another eighteen bracelets before something truly interesting happened. A soft feminine voice whispered in his ear, “Your skill in jewelry crafting has increased.”

He looked around for a moment then realized what had happened. It was this world’s equivalent of a system message! During the first dream he had been told that the mother goddess spoke to her children whenever they showed promise. Gaining a skill level must be what that cryptic information had meant.

The mage checked his skill list to see what had happened. There was little different, but he did smile at the change in level.

<<< Skills >>>

Primary

Dark Magic Level 1

Conjuration Level 1

Secondary

Heavy Armor Usage Level 1

Sword Mastery Level 1

Ring Mastery Level 1

Tertiary

Synergy Level 1

Jewelry Crafting Level 2

Enchanting Level 1

Alchemy Level 1

>>

He checked his status to see if anything had changed then grinned. Crafting was considered a vitality skill. His vitality had increased by one point.

During the first dream, or the tutorial as he liked to call it, Blackthorne had sifted through the available skills. He had then chosen the ones that he felt meshed well together. The end result was a dark knight sort of character, though he was more mage than knight.

He actually considered his current profession to be more of a tank mage, a heavy armor wearing destructive magic spell caster. It was a rare option in games except for paladins and dark knights. Those characters tended to be more knight than magic user, however. Mages who could properly wear heavy armor and wield swords were much rarer.

Ring mastery allowed him to charge rings with vital energy. Eventually he would be able to charge other accessories as well, but that would take quite a while.

Synergy combined items into new items. Enchanting would boost his natural attack and defense since his combat skills were lower than his magical damage. Jewelry crafting allowed him to create the accessories he would use to store his vitality. At some point alchemy would allow him to create potions and other items that would help immensely. Another reason to choose the skills that he chose was that they would largely raise the stats he would need most, vitality and spirit.

He smiled for a moment then shook his head. “I hope I can get better materials soon.”

Blackthorne gathered materials then made several more bracelets over the course of another hour. There were a few more of the superior versions now, but none of the newly created items were better than what he currently wore. He stuffed everything into his bag and then tied it. There was precious little space left.

The bag was a strange, but useful item. When it was empty it was quite small. However, it stretched when things were added. Eventually it was three times longer and twice as large. It looked slightly ridiculous hanging from his belt. He did not mind, however. It was free and unlike his sword and cuirass it would not disappear in a few weeks.

There was little else to do after he finished working on his crafting skill. He was tired, but he was also loathe to leave this world. There was something pristine, something pure about this reality that he truly enjoyed. The real world was filled with assholes as far as he was concerned.

Of course, that meant that this world was now filled with them as well. Billions of people from Earth existed here at any given time of the day. No one knew how big this place was, but it seemed to be much larger than the waking world.

Blackthorne sighed softly then gripped the dirt. It did not matter whether this world was pure or not. It was his. This place might be a dream, but it was his dream. Throughout most of his life he had longed to be reborn in a place where he was not just a poor fat bastard who let the world run over him.

He lifted his hand and watched the dirt run through his fingers. It was quite fine, like sand. The sand-like earth slipped through his fingers and he thought about it keenly. This time it would be different. This time, he would be different.