《Ars Magica》Arc 2 (Travels): Chapter 1

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I'm...kind of at a loss here. Ok. Maybe if I just go over what I did, maybe I could figure out what's going on here. It's better than nothing, I suppose. Since I'm stuck here, under all this.

So, after I had tried to quickly take care of the commander, it...said something. I couldn't really understand the oink-growls that well. I wasn't really expecting to, but if some measure of English was actually spoken, I'd put where I'm at more in the terms of an alternative dimension than anything else. I suppose that the only information I got from that exchange, was that I could still be in an alien video game or something. Putting that aside, though, I still have to focus on the order of events to get my head on straight.

After its rendition of Rome and Juliet on a farm, it proceeded to stab me in the stomach multiple times while I think it was causing my head to progressively pound more and more. Now, the pain in my head could've just been from the multiple stab wounds leaking blood or adrenaline rushing through me, but I don't think that it could've been either of those options. Each time it had stabbed me, it made sure that I made no movements while it stared into my eyes. So, in all likelihood, It might have just been trying to do something to my mind the same way that those eyeballs had. Albeit, it was much more effective, considering that I actually felt pain, rather than just a vague sense of unease. Although, with the multiple stab wounds inside me, my head was slowly losing out to pain and my mind was slowly losing the battle. Sure, my regeneration helped a bit, but it was getting slower over time. It probably needs energy as much as I do, or perhaps it was simply because it fed upon my stamina. It was just a manner of how much I had on me to give towards it. Combine both of those facts with how the pig had been restricting my movement, and all that I could do was just enduring the hardship until something, anything, had changed. Because as time went on, and the punishment towards my head gradually increased, so too did my mental resistance go up. In essence, the pig and I were stuck in a limbo, where he couldn't exactly conquer my head unless I got dealt enough damage, but every time he had done so, I was just steadily building immunity towards it.

Then, there was a moment where it no longer held anything within my mind. Where the mental attacks simply seemed to glide off of me and my body could no longer regenerate so fast that I was at the equivalency of losing basically no health. That was the moment where I became desperate. There wasn't anything else that I could've had done to stop the repeated attacks against my person except make the orc throw some variety into his attacks, like a punch to the head, a kick to the leg, and things like that, all while I tried fighting back. However, his body almost always evaded my blows, and any that I landed were only nicks or scrapes. It was beginning to head towards a losing battle, and for the first time in a while, I think I had actually managed to stare death in the face without flinching. I was ready. That was not meant to be though. Something had managed to change after the endless back and forth of physicality.

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At one point, while the pig had managed to grab a hold of me once again, trying to pierce my mental defenses, the orc's attention had been drawn away by something while he was stabbing me through the chest again. I don't really know what had managed to cause it to do that. Maybe Kojo was able to grab it's attention away, or a line between the wolves was slowly losing ground? Who's to say at this point? Especially since...yeah. I just could not focus on the battle around us. The wolves were almost inconsequential to me, only registering as faint background noise as the pulsating within my head began to follow the beat of my steadily slowing heart. Well, after I realized that the touch of death might actually hit me once again, I thought about about what I could do, trapped by the throat. Then I managed to pull to the forefront of my mind a very vital piece of knowledge. I didn't just have to bare-knuckle brawl like I used to in High School. I also had a somewhat ranged weapon. In other words, my magic spear. I didn't really know how much space I needed to conjure it, as I hadn't exactly made it since the fight with the Grendel, but from what I could remember, with how much the spear's length was extended, I definitely didn't have enough if space was a requirement. I conjured it anyway, cause I figured maybe magic doesn't care about space requirements. Because of that, I had managed to prove myself right, in a way. When I managed to make my spear appear, it had managed to appear within my hand, while its length was being conjured as time went on. And just when I thought it might stop at the orc's chest, it continued anyway, pushing a clean hole all the way through the orc until it's length was what it had been before. I was surprised to say the least at this turn of events, mainly because I did not expect it to work whatsoever. I also like to think that the orc was somewhat taken off guard as well.

I pulled it out, as swiftly as it had appeared, and I believe that with the addition of this new weapon, it had started to become slightly panicked. At least I assume so, why else would it cause every single wolf he had to just come at me as soon as he fell onto his knees. At first, I was scared as hell. I did not want to go out like that, just being torn to shreds by ravenous tooth and claws. So, I thought, maybe I could try the [Inspiration] ability again. My mind at the time had thought perhaps it might've seen an angle to the battle that I couldn't have at the time. The first time I activated it then, it did absolutely nothing. At that point, I had started to seriously panic. I was in danger of losing what little footing and ground that I had gained in this battle, simply because I was not prepared for a goddamned Zerg rush. I did not believe I could handle all of those wolves, so I just activated it again as the first one tore into my arm. That was when my perception changed in that battle.

Information started flowing into my brain, filling up a space I had been begging for, but couldn't exactly put to words. As swift as I could, I began to put that information into action. To better explain what I did, and what I had been unknowingly asking for, I should probably go over it in my head really quickly. Even now, the memory still fills a rush inside my head, so putting it all into words will at least let me understand it somewhat, since I'm not in any immediate danger that I can sense.

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Now, for certain kinds of spells, it seems like the outcomes of those spells will always follow the same type of pattern to activate. Basically, once mana had been provided towards a spell, let's for example say my spear, it would take form with part of that mana as a catalyst. Now, the knowledge I received doesn't really have anything to do with changing up the pattern of my weapon, or even making new spells out of the existing patterns I held within my 'soul space'. The only thing that I was given the knowledge for, the only thing that mattered within this situation, is that sometimes, the kind of mana that you feed towards a spell, doesn't matter. Some spells had only certain kinds of mana they accepted, and what I had been feeding my [Magic Spear] was just plain mana from my soul. However, that wasn't the only kind of mana that the spell could take. If I pushed the stream of magic through that gray obelisk that was representing my Decay affinity, before putting it towards the patterns for a [Magic Spear], I would be able to change the color of my mana, while also getting a different type of spear. In other words, the mana I provided my magic spear with was key here, and once I had made the necessary changes within my soul, all of a sudden the plain old glowing blue spear that had done slashing, piercing, and probably magic damage had managed to gain another type of damage. And ho boy does that damage do something incredible.

Pushing my arms to perform tighter movements than I had thought I could pull off, I managed to manuever the spear to hit the closest wolf within around 2 seconds after I received the information from [Inspiration]. As soon as my spear butt managed to meet with the skull of the wolf who first bit me, his flesh began turning to dust from that one point and started to rapidly spread. At first, I was a bit freaked out from the change in my spear's color, where it was now a light black, as well as the effect it had on normal living creatures. I mean, the most I had been using decay on was just inanimate stuff and trees. I did not care about trees that much. Nobody would care about trees that much...Well, I assume GreenPeace and hippies do, but I doubt any of those exist here. If magic's involved, you can just instantly grow a tree back anyway, so their whole environmentally friendly message is a lot easier to do without all that corporate espionage they pulled awhile back. However, once I had managed to do that to that wolf...I think it made me realize something. This power that I have, that I just tapped into. I don't know if I want to use it. This-Ok. I understand fighting for my life. I understand even killing or maiming, but I just doing this to wolves just didn't feel right. The animals here were a lot smarter than I had given them credit for, judging from how much Kojo managed to talk with me before now. At that point in time, I had directly caused the death of a sentient person.

So, with those thoughts in my mind, I tried to pull it back. I tried to limit the amount of magic I was using, the amount of Decay that I wanted to flow through the spear. I still used it because I needed any edge I could towards this overwhelming wave of fur, but at least it wasn't decaying things as fast, or to near as horrible as a state. Now, when I managed to hit a leg, instead of it just fading to dust, while the rest of the wolf screamed in agony as its muscles and tendons stopped functioning and the neurons degraded to uselessness, the leg just stops functioning as good after awhile before it slowly disappeared, leaving that wolf without a leg, while managed to only cause it to collapse from the pain instead of straight up dying to it. That measure of my mana was enough for me, so for any that managed to get within my 360 degree range of motion, I managed to hit, and all those that I missed, I just barreled through them, pushing them off to the side to get to the rest. It worked, but it wasn't fast enough. I wasn't fast enough for that. My goal, the orc commander, the head honcho, had somehow managed to sprint halfway down the corridor towards the other side of the goddamn cavern. I don't think I'm half as fast as that, but...I did have one last thing that I could do. One last card I could pull with the knowledge I had gained.

I had a spear. And while a spear could be a melee weapon most of the time, there was one thing a spear had over a regular ass sword. It could be thrown, so I did just that. I was quite concerned at the time, given that Kojo had managed to get in front of the orc and just start tearing into him, with a bunch of wolves beside him. I was a bit worried given that I could hit one of them, but I thought maybe my accuracy ability I had could do something to compensate for it. However, there was a bit of a problem with actually just, throwing the thing. [Magic Spear] always seemed to dissipate once I let go of it. I think that it might have something to do with the amount of magic I put in. I was somewhat proven right at the point in time, as I just pushed everything I had into it. Sure, it started glowing and...causing dust to just come up from everything all along its length, but I had managed to do it.

With the spear flying through the air, I knew that I was on the right track with how the magic weapon actually functioned. However, the force and amount of mana that I put into it was perhaps just a little too much, as I hit the orc way too hard. In the face. With a lot of decay magic, that it just dispensed all at once before disappearing. I...I don't want to think about the scream of agony that I had heard, nor the pile of ash that's floating through the air being made up of someone's brains. It...makes me want to throw up, and I would rather not try and do that onto the furry pile around me. Anyway, after that every single wolf in the cave stopped what they were doing. Some were a bit confused, and the ones that had been running at me, turned towards me slowed down to a crawl. However, the moment of stillness was only that, a moment, and as the next second came, the wolves had began running towards me at full speed.

The next few moments were a bit of a blur to me. I had used up all of my magic, all of my stamina, basically I had given everything for this fight and my regeneration was much slower than normal, so I had a lot of health just shaved off of me. So, with that in mind, and the adrenaline just wearing off, I let whatever come may come. I was sure that if I died, at least I got rid of the main guy pulling all the strings, and if that's enough for Kojo to get the rest of the wolves to back off of him, then so be it.

And then, I awoke to this. Lying on my back, thankfully still in the same position, except there's a few important things that my brain notices. It's dark, and I can't feel anything, not even my own bodily functions. Basically, I can't hear my heartbeat or the feeling of me breathing. There's just...nothing. I mean, this could be a dream, but...it's not really like my usual ones. Most of those, I just mention being in a dream, or even just realize it, and I'm just pulled out immediately. For this one, that fact does not hold all that much weight.

That could mean a couple things, if I included magical nonsense. One is that this isn't MY dream, but someone else's. Hell, that's probably going to be a thing if I keep advancing the meditation related skills or something. Another could be that this isn't a dream and I just have exhausted myself so much that even when I'm awake I could be sense-dead to the world. It would definitely explain why I feel pressure on my back. Finally, it could be that I've been found by society and I've been put into a medical ward. I mean, it could be that, but I don't really want to put so much stock into the possibility that I've just been in a co-

...Error//////

M.I.G.W. Compromised

Finding Change...

Change Found: Beast Master Gerung's Premature Death

Cause: Altercation with Chaos Engineer Dave

Situation Fix found...

Implementing...

Done.

Chaos Engineer Dave gains 5 class levels for brief error

Chaos Engineer Dave is revoked of title: Newcomer

Chaos Engineer Dave is given the title: Destiny Breaker

Displaying Pre-Written Declaration...

~To those who have managed to disrupt M.I.G.W., Congrats!~

~M.I.G.W. was basically made to be unchangeable~

~For reasons, I will not disclose what M.I.G.W. is~

~Just know that since you've been able to affect M.I.G.W., you might do so again~

~Beware of future consequences for doing so~

Declaration Ended...

Resuming Normal Parameters...

Congratulations for killing a Legendary Class holder, for that you have been given 10 levels, and the title: Legend Slayer

For reaching level 50, you have gained two benefits. These include the following: You now have the choice of taking another class or increasing the levels for your current one. To see available classes, go to CLASS CHOICES. You have also been given an extra 10 stat points to dispense.

....that's quite a lot to process. I mean, I guess it was fine for them to get rid of the Newcomer title, since I wasn't sure what it did anyhow. Wait, why is everything getting brighter now? Oh...I understand now. That system update was very special, as it seemed to make my brain slow down in its processing. Now, I can actually tell what's going on...I am being dogpiled, literally. Are they asleep?

I listen, but I can only hear slight breathing and an occasional thump of fur on fur. Hmm...since I'm stuck here, I might as well deal with the things I can deal with. I've got quite a bit of stat points now, especially since the battle helped me get to level 61. Raised my total count to 99. Should probably use them now anyway since I don't know if any value in the system can go higher than 99. Most games I know of have hard-capped limits there, so it's best to use them now before I get rid of the ones I receive from leveling, assuming that I'm right about all this.

I should probably start from the top and work my way down. I don't think strength is all that good, to be honest. Sure, I could get more, but 30 is enough for me. I don't plan on being an Arnold Schwarzenegger model here. I'm fine with the current definition I've got. Guess that mean's the next stat I look over is dexterity. Honestly, I'd like to bump it up to 50, at the least. If I'm right, my speed will just increase dramatically from me doing so. Plus, a new stat ability is always handy. While I'm at it, I can also do something like...charisma. Just a fiver though. Nothing too fancy. Got to stay a bit humble after all, even if my appearance doesn't seem to change with it. I should probably bring up constitution to 50 as well. I need all the health I can get after all, if I'm going to be meeting things that have the classes I've dealt with. Speaking of, apparently there are Legendary Classes?

That orc...Gerung! It was a Beast Master? Guess that explains why he was trying to dominate my mind, I guess. Anything can be a beast with the right mindset after all. Also the titles I've gotten don't make me excited. Sure, I got rid of the Newcomer title, but I didn't even know what that did to begin with. Makes me think that the titles are just for show, literally. It might just be a categorization system that the system uses to deal with specific people. Destiny Breaker just probably only follows people who've done what I had apparently did? What did I even do anyway?

Was I not supposed to...kill Gerung? Uhhh...I still feel bad about it. Thankfully there isn't any blood or guts or anything. Otherwise, I'd probably be throwing up a lot more due to my squeamishness. Also, maybe it's just me, but is it normal to feel this way? To just not care? I mean, it happened, I can acknowledge that, I can say and remember that I did that, but why do I feel nothing? Shouldn't I feel something about killing someone. That was a person, who probably had a family and a life of its own, and I ended it. So, why can't I feel anything about the action itself?...I don't know. I need to take my mind of this. Maybe go over the survival instincts advancement?

So, at some point in that fight, I had managed to level my survival instincts all the way. And of course I went to advance it, who wouldn't? It's helped me so far with finding food based on intuition. And, the skill did advance during it, but...looking back on what it actually is, strikes me as strange.

Survivalism: Lv4 [40/100 %]

Cost: (-AP)

There are people who often take survival instincts to the extreme. These people often take it so far as to make it an art form or a policy of theirs. This is what happens when they take it far enough. This skill provides the user with some knowledge of the four fundamentals of survival, as well as a passive boost to most physical skills.

I mean, from what I'm getting, there's supposed to be knowledge in my brain now, but nothing's popping up like it would for inspiration. At least it also does a boost to some physical skills I have. Oh wait, I don't have that many. This just seems like a crappy trade-off to me. I don't even have a vague sense of what's edible now or not if I just pull up the picture of a berry, but you know what? It's no good just worrying about something I don't understand. Focus on the things that I can and do understand. Like the allocation of stat points. Might as well do that already.

For gaining a DEX of 50, you earn the ability: Speed

For gaining a CON of 50, you earn the ability: Recovery

Generic sounding names, but alright. What about their descriptions though?

Speed: Lv1 (0/100%)

Cost: (-/10 AP)

There are times where people don't need strength, where they don't need magic, or even when they don't need others. All they would need, would be their own body. This can equate to pure strength, or pure wit. Either way, these people who obtain this ability can say that their strategy is better with it than without. While inactivated, the ability improves reaction time proportional to the level. While it is activated, your general speed will improve over the duration it is kept active.

Recovery: LvMax

Cost: (50 AP)

There are times in which having a good spell or a special affinity isn't enough, where your body just can't give anything anymore. This is where this ability comes in handy. It can be used for one of three things. One is that this ability can perfectly get rid of all instances of poison at once. The second is that this ability can recover half of your maximum amount of health. The third, and final one, is that it can be used to completely recover your total mana.

...Though they sound a might bit generic, they are still good and what I was kind of hoping for. Well, I still got a bit over 40 points to allocate now, but I can think about that a bit later. Right now, I have to figure out how to get out of this...Dang. Don't think I'll be getting quietly out of this now. There's a wolf's head right in front of me, staring at me.

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