Back at the dungeon, they went on with the same tactic they used on the last run. But, Isabella managed to hold herself back a little bit. She started to used other spells than Fireball to clear single goblins, primarily Fire arrow and if the surviving goblins were starting to come into close range she sometimes used Fire lance. That spell worked like a flamethrower and shot a large stream of fire at the enemies. All in all, her fire was pretty effective against furred goblins and with Isabella holding back a bit, it took far longer until they had to take a break because she ran out of mana.

"Let's rest for while until Isabella has regenerated her mana. These goblins are of no real challenge for us and a good way for her to train. We can use the time to work on our new elements and maybe select a class." Fedor suggested and the rest agreed.

Daniel went through his spells and saw that he already created seven spells of his own. One more and he should be able to get the perk that Anna had mentioned. He didn't know if all spells needed to be in the same element, but he wanted to make sure that he would get the perk. While thinking about what would be useful, he remembered the fact that his camping cooker was almost out of gas. He smiled when he got his idea for a new spell.

Daniel started to focus his mind on the carbon dioxide in the air and then, he gathered some of it in one spot. After this, he tried to use magic to separate the carbon from the oxygen. It took a lot of effort, but he was successful. He then let go of the oxygen, while he kept the carbon dust in his hand. As a next step, he gathered the water vapor from the air and then he started to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen. It was a little harder to prevent the hydrogen from dissipating, but it worked. As a last step, he pushed the hydrogen and the carbon dust together. It worked and he was left with a small amount of methane. He removed the camping cooker from his inventory, opened the valve of the gas tank and then pushed in the newly created methane.

Elemental Spell created

Air - Gas recombination - Level 1

Allows the caster to rip gas molecules apart and combine them in a different form.

Perk gained

Spell creator I

You have created eight new spells without copying the work from somebody else. All of your own spells use 5% less mana.

Daniel was satisfied. He got the perk and a new spell that worked on a more fundamental level than anything he had before. It would probably not be very useful in a fight right now, but it increased his understanding of magic and would be a first step towards even more fundamental powers.

He looked around and saw that the others were still occupied and Isabella was still meditating in a corner for her mana regeneration. So, he went on with his experiments and though about his new earth magic next. He decided that Fedor had the right ideas. Daniel started to copy the Toughen skin and the Earth wall spells. With a clear goal in mind, and after he'd already seen the spells in action, it was not very difficult to copy them. Twenty minutes later, he had created two new spells.

Elemental Spell created

Earth - Toughen skin - Level 1

Creates a hard layer above the skin that offers some additional protection.

Elemental Spell created

Earth - Earth wall - Level 1

Rises a earth wall from the ground. Size depending on mana usage.

After finishing the two spell he paused and thought about what other spells could be useful. After a short pause, he started experimenting again and a bit later he had created a third new spell.

Elemental Spell created

Earth - Quicksand - Level 1

The spell breaks the connection of stone in an area an turns it into fine sand.

This would be enough spells for earth magic, he decided. Daniel then turned his mind to his new lightning element. He had a goal in mind, but first he wanted to get some experience with the element. He smiled, what would be better than to create one of the most popular spells in all of fantasy.

When he started to experiment with sending small lightning arcs between his fingertips, he paused for a moment. If he created a normal lightning bolt like it was used in most fantasy settings, he would end up with a casting spell. But, his skill focus was on channeling spells. He adjusted his spell concept a bit and came up with a continuous lightning arc.

Elemental Spell created

Lightning - Arc lightning - Level 1

Creates a lightning arc and fires it at a target. It keeps going until the channeling stops and continuous damage over time. Depending on the toughness of the opponent, his movements will be impeded by the electric shocks.

Daniel smiled. This spell would be absolutely devastating in a one on one fight. He could fight an enemy with his saber in the right hand, while at the same time, using Arc lightning with his left hand to stun and distract the foe. When he tested the spell, he determined that the spells only drawback was the high mana cost.

"My mana is full again. We can keep moving." Isabelle declared, just as he was finished with the arc lightning.

Daniel nodded and the others stopped their experiments with their new elements and they moved out again.

The next group of goblins they ran into consisted of 15 of the ugly creatures. Daniel and Anna decided to support Isabelle with their own magic attacks. While Daniel used his new Arc lightning, Anna showed her new Ice shard spell. Her new spell was devastating. The shards were able to go completely through goblin and even damage the ones that were standing behind.

They went on like this until the enemy reached a group size of 20 goblins.

"Let us rest a bit. The last time, shortly after we’ve met groups of this size the higher leveled goblins started to appear." Daniel suggested and they settled down in a cave where there weren't any stinking goblin bodies lying around.

"I've decided my class and picked it. I've chosen to select the Tank class and I got a really cool class skill called Life is mana. It lets me use my life energy to cast spells. I was starting to worry that I'd lose out by not putting any points in mana capacity. But, this should help a lot." Fedor announced his choice a short time later.

"I've decided to become an Ice Mage. It is a rare class and boosts my mana cap by 40%. I'm not sure which class skill I'll select, yet. There is a selection of a few that sound pretty promising. But, I don't know yet if I should select Spell piercing, Mana shield, Aura or Spell detonation." Anna informed her party.

Isabella kept quiet, while she had reached level seven, it was still a long way for her until she could reach level ten and select a class. Daniel remained quiet, too. He still hoped to get a class that was of a higher rank. He just congratulated his friends to their new skills and kept thinking about his magic.

While spells became more powerful with a higher level, in his opinion, that couldn't be all. There should be a way to improve and develop spells. Maybe, combine them with another element. He paused, yes, that seemed reasonable. He grabbed his saber and activated his Windcutter spell. So far so good, he thought and then he started to charge the air with an electrical load. As he increased the load, small sparks started to appear around the edge of his blade. He kept increasing the load, until he was rewarded with a notification.

Elemental Spell advanced

Air - Windcutter to Lightning - Lightning Edge (A)

The air blade will be charged with electricity. Hitting the opponent will cause electrical burns and muscle spasms if his toughness is not high enough.

An advanced spell starts with half of the level of the base skill. The operator can still use the base skill with double the effective level of the advanced skill. Training the base skill will not increase the proficiency of the advanced skill!

Perk gained

Spell Creator II

With advancing a self created spell, you have proved a deep understanding of magic. All advanced spells will use an additional 5% less mana.

He smiled. The only question was if the bonus would work additive or multiplicative. That would make a huge difference when he kept collecting perks like that in the future.

Following a sudden inspiration, he checked his class selection window. He was right, there was a newly available class.

Storm blade dancer (Epic) (agility +30%, mana capacity +30%)

A storm blade dancer is the advanced form of an air blade dancer. The class improves the use of mana and the speed of the users blade even further. With access to advanced spells, persons with this class are deadly opponents.

Daniel didn't hesitate and chose this class. A 30% bonus on his agility and mana cap was very powerful. He had a huge grin on his face when he decided to have a look at his possible class skills.

There were a lot of skills to choose from, but most of them didn't seem to be very difficult to create without the class or they wouldn’t be a great help right now. The most interesting were Domain, Two weapon fighting, Evade and Mental channeling.

Two weapon fighting and Evade seemed straightforward and he was confident that he would be able to create them by himself. Mental channeling would make it easier to cast spells without using his hands. At the moment, he used his left to cast spells, while he wielded his saber in his right. The skill might be very powerful together with Two weapon fighting, but right now he wouldn't need it. In addition, he was able to cast without using his hands. It just took more concentration and more mana. When he looked at the description of Domain, he didn't hesitate and selected it.

New Class skill acquired

Domain - Novice 0%

Domain uses the operator’s access to elements to observe his surroundings. With higher skill, the range of the domain increases. Current range 1 meter.

He smiled, with this he would be able to notice an attack coming from behind as it moved through the air or the steps of someone in the next room as he created little vibrations in the earth with each step.

Fighting against larger groups of goblins had become more and more chaotic. This skill would help a lot with dodging attacks that came from outside his field of vision. All he needed now was a way to increase his reflexes in order to make full use of the skill.

Daniel paused when he had another idea. He activated his Haste skill. Then he tried to use his lightning magic to amplify the electric pulses from his brain. It was hurting like hell, but he was rewarded again.

Elemental Spell advanced

Air - Haste to Lightning - Advanced Haste (A)

An advancement of the skill Haste. In addition to the air magic of the basic spell, it uses electricity to supercharge nerve impulses and to improve reaction speed.

With that done, he was finished, at least for now. He shared his new class and how he got it to his friends and when they were ready, they continued their way through the dungeon.