The sun was already well on its way down on the sky by the time the young dark elf opened his eyes again. He looked around with his stomach grumbling as he sat up. Bray was nowhere to be found and the fire had gone out as well. There was still some soup in the nearby pot, so Regis helped himself to a small portion of it with some bread. By the time he finished, the youth felt less drowsy and had a dozen things running through his mind once again. Seeing the sun slowly moving downwards through the grate on the ceiling, he figured it should have been around six o’clock.

With dusk approaching, he had to manage what little time he had before heading to the workshop where Amanda and Sophie resided temporarily. His first though was to continue on enchanting his equipment, but the previous night’s battle proved that it wasn’t just his armour and weapon that were lacking. Since Bray wasn’t there, the youth had to take his chances with the lonesome quiet and sat down to meditate.

As he felt his consciousness begin to sink into a trance, he thought of the one thing he had to get done. ‘Soul-space’ Regis thought about the mystical place like a mantra and after a moment long sensation of falling; the dark elf opened his eyes. The small area floating in the dark void looked almost the same as he left it after his last visit.

Only the statue on the pedestal looked different. It now wore the dusk-blade armour set and held a bladestaff in its hand while a pale blue plate floated around it. On the chest area of the statue, the familiar armour and blank yellow crystal could be seen. He stepped closer and he touched the polished brass tablet in front of the offering bowl. Green mist floated out from his shardwaker mark that was absorbed into the glass globe in the statue’s left hand. The ancient tome atop the pedestal opened on its own accord and his character sheet appeared in front of him.

{Name: Regis ???}

{Title: Beginner bladestaff wielder}

{Race: Dark elf/Sun elf/ Human}

{Age: 19}

{Amaranth: 6713}

{Caste: vagrant}

{Path: ???}

{Craft: Locked}

{Attributes}

Allure: 15 Deftness: 16 Erudition: 18 Faith: 8 Luck: 12 Might: 13 Mind: 15 Physique: 15 Spirit: 16 Willpower: 19

Health/Arcana/Stamina

{32/32}{42/42}{33/33}

{Status effects}

None

Thanks to the changes brought by his continuous growth in battle, many of his attributes had increased, raising his three main stats into new heights. While Regis was happy to see this, he knew that unless he managed to step onto the mythical path of a Tier one class, his attributes would stay capped at twenty for the rest of his life.

Thanks to Bray’s kindness, he now knew the constellation charts of the seven paths’ first forms and he also had the Amaranth to firmly step on them. The one thing he lacked was the decision of which path to follow. One of the changes in his character sheets however was an unwelcome one. As he looked at the section regarding his craft, only the word ‘locked’ could be seen. As he focused on that part of the page, the ink beneath it swirled and shifted to a small description.

{For a Shardwaker, a craft is more than just a hobby or a way of making a living. To truly call it their own, they must open themselves to the path of crafts wholeheartedly.}

“Shit.” Regis cursed as he read the short text.

It was a fancy and roundabout way of telling him that he had to re-create the apprentice constellation before the Heart would acknowledge him as a true craftsman. Trying not to fret over it before the necessary moment, he turned the pages of his soul-tome to the part regarding his skills, using the small bookmark on the side. There were a few obvious changes into his skills, but most of them only grew a level or so higher. What caught his attention were the three new skills he gained and his lore skill that was on the verge of a break through and needed him to attend to it. He looked at the skills and their description, all of them short and on the point.

{Infusion enchanting}

{Graft lasting runic enchantments into objects by focusing your will and arcana to infuse the items with elemental energy or the essence of raw materials. Every level decreases arcana cost by 0.25 %. Every tenth rank grants a minor perk. Every twenty-fifth rank allows you to choose a specialization.}

{Arcana cost: varying}

{Cost reduction: 0, 5%}

{Skill mastery: 2/100}

{Mastery progression: 8/10}

{Spell weaving}

{Weave your arcana into a thread that can be used to create temporary runic circles and runic spells. Each level decreases the focus required to create and maintain your creations by 0, 25%. Every tenth rank grants a minor perk that is gained after specialization. Every twenty-fifth rank allows you to choose a specialization.}

{Focus reduction: 0, 25%}

{Skill mastery: 1/100}

{Mastery progression: 7/10}

{Transmutation alchemy}

{Change the shape of different materials, fuse them together or create items from them using a transmutation circle. Every level decreases transmutation cost by 0, 25%. Every tenth rank grants a minor perk that is gained after specialization. Every twenty-fifth rank allows you to choose a specialization.}

{Arcana cost: varying}

{Cost reduction: 0, 75%}

{Skill mastery: 3/100}

{Mastery progression: 4/10}

{Lore}{Specialization pending}

{Knowledge is power. Learn about the workings of the world and the myriad creations in it. Study the arcane, cultures, creatures, items, texts and all that is worth knowing. Lore gathers all you’ve learned and helps you identify and deduct things when necessary. Every level in lore skill grants 0,5% to persuasion and haggling. Every level grants 0, 5% in identification checks towards higher rarity or shrouded items. Every tenth rank grants a minor perk that is gained after specialization. Every twenty-fifth rank allows you to choose a specialization. Lore is a passive skill.}

{Skill mastery: 25/100}

{Mastery progression: 30/30}

Regis focused on his lore skill and the ink of the page swirled around like a small ink galaxy. When it stopped, the main description of lore was at the top of the page with three notes beneath it

{Arcane lore}

{The arcane lore specialization grants 20% increased mastery progression speed towards arcane subjects and 20% success rate to arcane lore related skill checks such as disenchanting magic formations, arcane mineral identification and arcane research.}

{Historic lore}

{The historic lore specialization grants 20% increased mastery progression speed towards historic subjects and 20% success rate to historic lore related skill checks such as era identification, historic linguistics and purification.}

{Nature lore}

{The nature lore specialization grants 20% increased mastery progression speed towards natural subjects and 20% success rate to nature lore related skill checks such as, herbal identification, beast identification and potion alchemy.}

After a short minute of thinking, Regis chose the arcane lore specialisation as he needed every bit of help to learn new runes and spells if he wanted to go far on his path both as a wizard and as an enchanter. As the ink swirled once more, the skill list returned to its rightful place with some changes.

{Lore}

{Knowledge is power. Learn about the workings of the world and the myriad creations in it. Study the arcane, cultures, creatures, items, texts and all that is worth knowing. Lore gathers all you’ve learned and helps you identify and deduct things when necessary. Every level in lore skill grants 0,5% to persuasion and haggling. Every level grants 0, 5% to identification check success towards higher rarity or shrouded items. Every tenth rank grants a minor perk that is gained after specialization. Every twenty-fifth rank allows you to choose a specialization. Lore is a passive skill.}{Skill mastery: 26/100}

{Specialization: arcane lore}

{Perks: historic lore 1, nature lore 1}

{Mastery progression: 1/30}

Focusing on the specialization part simply showed him the description he read about arcane lore before, but concentrating on the perks, he was pleasantly surprised. The two discarded speciality paths returned as small perks that granted 5% increase in their respective subjects. It was a small, but still meaningful addition that would serve him well in the future. Since none of the other skills had substantial change in them, he turned the tome’s pages towards his spell. Several new spells expanded his small, but steadily growing list. Regis took a quick look at them and he was more or less in agreement with their descriptions.

{Arcana shield}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: arcane/aura}

{Spell type: verbal}

{Spend and reserve 10 points of arcana to create a hardened plate of arcane energy in 4 seconds that will circle around you to protect you from 15 points of damage if attacked. Each level of mastery increases the damage negation by 1 point.}

{Arcana reserved: 10}

{Damage negation: 15}

{Cast time: 4 seconds}

{Range: self}

{Spell mastery: 0/5}

{Mastery progression: 1/10}

{Earth to stone}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: elemental}

{Spell type: verbal}

{Use 10 points of arcana to turn the soil beneath your touch into sandstone and back in a half square metre area with your hand at its centre in 5 seconds. Each level of mastery increases the size of the transformed area by 0, 5 m².}

{Arcana cost: 10}

{Area of effect: 0, 5 m²}

{Cast time: 5 seconds}

{Range: touch}

{Spell mastery: 0/5}

{Mastery progression: 0/10}

{Lesser mend}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: arcane}

{Spell type: verbal}

{Spend 10 points of arcana to reverse the flow of time for a manmade or naturally occurring item, restoring 2,5 points of durability to it. Objects below 80% durability are mended at a 1:10 ratio and objects below 50% are repaired at a 1:20 ratio. Every level of mastery increases durability repair by 0,5 points.}

{Arcana cost: 10}

{Repair done: 2,5}

{Cast time: 5 seconds}

{Range: touch}

{Spell mastery: 0/5}

{Mastery progression: 6/10}

{Raise earth wall}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: elemental}

{Spell type: innate}

{Spend 10 points of arcana to raise 1,5 metre long, 0,25 metre thick and 0 5 metre high wall made from condensed earth in 3 seconds. Each level of mastery increases the size of the summoned wall by 0,25m*0,25m*0,25m. Changing the size of the wall would also change the required casting time.}

{Arcana cost: 10}

{Cast time: 3 seconds}

{Area of effect: 1,5m*0,25m*0,5m }

{Range: 5m}

{Spell mastery: 0/5}

{Mastery progression: 2/10}

{Windblast}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: elemental}

{Spell type: verbal}

{Spend 10 points of arcana to compress the air around you in 3 seconds and then propel it forward in a 3 metre cone blast to deal 5 points of physical damage while knocking back your enemies. Every level increases damage by 0,5 points.}

{Arcana cost: 10}

{Damage: 5}

{Cast time: 3 seconds}

{Range: 3 metre cone}

{Spell mastery: 0/5}

{Mastery progression: 8/10}

‘That earth wall was an innate spell? I thought only mages had inborn spells, but it seems like dangerous encounters can bring some unexpected results.’ The pages recording his spells now had a sub-section with the word ‘Runic’ penned on it with firm style. As the tome furled to the runic section, Regis saw the results of his experiments noted down one after the other.

{Runic arcana bolt}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: arcane}

{Spell type: runic}

{Weave your arcana into the required runic sequence and form a bolt of condensed arcana in 4 seconds for 15 points of arcana and fire it towards your enemies. The runic arcana bolt deals 7,5 of arcane damage. Each level of mastery increases your base spell damage by 0,5. The spell fades away after fifteen meters.}

{Arcana cost: 15}

{Spell damage: 7,5}

{Cast time: 4 seconds}

{Range: 15 meters}

{Spell mastery: 0/5}

{Mastery progression: 6/10}

{Runic chilling touch}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: elemental}

{Spell type: runic}

{Weave your arcana into the required runic sequence and cover your palm with frost in 2 seconds for 15 points of arcana. Your touch deals 2,5 frost damage per second, up to 5 seconds per spell cast and can cause the enemy to slow down. Each level of mastery increases your spell damage by 0,5 per second}

{Arcana cost: 15}

{Spell damage: 2, 5-12, 5}

{Cast time: 2 seconds}

{Range: touch}

{Spell mastery: 0/5}

{Mastery progression: 1/10}

{Runic fire bolt}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: elemental}

{Spell type: runic}

{Weave your arcana into the required runic sequence and form a bolt of condensed fire in 4 seconds for 15 points of arcana and fire it towards your enemies. The runic arcana bolt deals 7,5 of fire damage and can cause the enemy to catch on fire. Each level of mastery increases your base spell damage by 0,5. The spell fades away after fifteen meters.}

{Arcana cost: 15}

{Spell damage: 7,5}

{Cast time: 4 seconds}

{Range: 15 meters}

{Spell mastery: 0/5}

{Mastery progression: 1/10}

{Runic ice bolt}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: elemental}

{Spell type: runic}

{Weave your arcana into the required runic sequence and form a bolt of hardened ice in 4 seconds for 15 points of arcana and fire it towards your enemies. The runic arcana bolt deals 7,5 of frost damage and can cause the enemy to slow down. Each level of mastery increases your base spell damage by 0,5. The spell fades away after fifteen meters.}

{Arcana cost: 15}

{Spell damage: 7,5}

{Cast time: 4 seconds}

{Range: 15 meters}

{Spell mastery: 0/5}

{Mastery progression: 1/10}

{Runic searing touch}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: elemental}

{Spell type: runic}

{Weave your arcana into the required runic sequence and cover your palm with fire in 2 seconds for 15 points of arcana. Your touch deals 2,5 fire damage per second, up to 5 seconds per spell cast and can cause the enemy to catch on fire. Each level of mastery increases your spell damage by 0,5 per second}

{Arcana cost: 15}

{Spell damage: 2,5-12,5}

{Cast time: 2 seconds}

{Range: touch}

{Spell mastery: 0/5}

{Mastery progression: 4/10}

‘Runic spells are nice.’ He noted to himself with a smug grin as he furled the soul-tome’s pages to the part that recorded his kills and gains. This list showed some obvious changes as well.

{Foes slain}

{Level 1 Blight touched rat}*14. You have gathered 210 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Orcish outlander}*2. You have gathered 100 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 3 undead wolf}*2. You have gathered 120 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 3 fallen archer}*3. You have gathered 60 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 3 fallen infantryman}*45. You have gathered 2700 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 4 fallen swordsman}*29. You have gathered 3480 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 5 fallen berserker}*1. You have gathered 240 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 5 fallen earth mage}*1. You have gathered 240 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 5 fallen squire}*1. You have gathered 240 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 6 fallen ghoul}*1. You have gathered 480 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 7 fallen bladedancer}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 7 fallen priest of malice}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 8 fallen knight}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy as a reward for assisting in slaying it.

{Shards and other bonuses}

{Arcana shard}*1 Your maximum arcana was increased by 1 through absorbing arcana shards.

{Fortitude shard}*5 Your maximum stamina was increased by 5 through absorbing fortitude shards.

{Vigour shard}*4 Your maximum health was increased by 4 through absorbing vigour shards.

{Spell mastery}*5 Your maximum arcana was increased by 5 as a result of gaining greater mastery in your spells.

{Meditation}*5 Your maximum arcana was increased by 5 due to prolonged meditation sessions.

It looked like his gains were indeed substantial, letting him have enough Amaranth to splurge on his constellation charts.