《Descent of the Arcane》Chapter 7: Learning and Training
Advertisement
"The Galgorian Empire is an empire of living machines. Most choose humanoid forms though there are those who choose more exotic forms. The most common race is the androids and living robots. There are also cyborgs as well as more normal biological races. The difference between an Android and a living robot is how they come to be. A living robot was originally just a machine who through certain circumstances became completely sapient. An android on the other hand is born. This is done by the parents creating a body for their child using materials that can grow and be interchanged. After crafting the body the parents will sever a small piece of their soul and mix it with the other parent's severed soul, this amalgamated soul will then be placed into the prepared body gifting it new life. Only those under A-rank may be able to give life among the machines because higher ranked beings souls are to powerful to create new life. This is why the machine empire is very protective of children of both their and all other races." Caleb closed the book, 'Greatest Empires, Clans, Churches, and Halls of the 97th Cluster'.
This book once more shook Caleb's mind at the reality he now found himself living in. First this book mentioned that each Sector was made up of 4 quadrants which all held 15 to 20 Clusters. Each Cluster was made of 20 to 30 Star Clusters each of which was then made of 10 to 20 billion galaxies, each of which was significantly larger than the milky way galaxy that Caleb had grown up learning about. The second thing that shocked him was how sci-fi all of this felt. He felt far more comfortable with the magic and game like system than he did with the knowledge that machines can gain sapience and give life. How does magic and sword fighting work in a world with laser cannons and space pirates?
"Oh well, it's time to get back to work. Hell it is not like those things will be affecting me anytime soon." Caleb though before turning back to the metallic dummy. It had been 6 days, during which he had spent 100,000 credits to use a room with a 50/1 time dilation to learn and master the runes. This was something only possible with Tier 1 runes as they were not that profound. Learning profound things inside time dilation was nearly impossible as the time dilation warped the profundities, which is why time dilation was typically used to train fighting and crafting techniques. There was actually three stronger rooms, but they cost far more and charged by the hour instead of by the day. The only reason he had enough for the 50 times training room was because Jared and Thomas had given him all the money from selling the rhino trophies and the 2 wind copper ore they had found in the mini-dungeon they had done. The other loot was split evenly though, but after all of that Caleb was now nearly broke again having only 6,531 credits. They also learned that the only way to get Tutorial points was killing things or completing quests. To receive a quest that offered a Tutorial point reward you had to go to the city office were a bulletin board offered quests to transport goods slay monsters craft something and many other things. while there were other quests at the different guilds they would only give credits and occasionally items but no Tutorial points. Hidden quests had hidden rewards and it was complete luck whether or not you even completed them.
Advertisement
Currently Caleb was working on a runic spell for fire, as he had learned he could use any element he was not weak against. Having an affinity made it easier to learn/create a spell of that element was greatly increasing it power as well. Caleb for that reason had already created 4 runic blood spells and 2 runic lightning spells. He had currently ignored his dark Addinity as he had know idea how to use it. The reason he wanted to create a fire spell was because he knew that he would eventually find opponents immune or at least resistant to blood and lightning kind of like the people of the machine empire he had just read about. So far Caleb had learned to make a spell 5 runes at a minimum was needed. Also while a spell formation may work it needed to cross a certain threshold to be recognized by the system as a proper spell. The first threshold was speed: every rune needed to be completed in less than 2 seconds and the max cast time for a spell was 5 minutes, Caleb was very far from the max time but then again the most runes he had put into a single spell was 30 so far as trying to hold all of those runes had made his mind feel like it would shatter. The second threshold was in a way more difficult for Caleb to measure: the power of the effect of a spell, this was easily measured for damage or healing spells but became far more difficult for auxiliary spells. But Caleb believed that he had finally gotten a winning combination:using burning from Aedirg, cleansing from Dryder, stability from Tygio, destruction from Hamnyr, fast from Mylg, explosive from Trydg, and fire from the rune Bolnirc. Forming each rune above his hand as fast as he could in a circle and in the correct order, 9 seconds later his mana flashed into the spell formation transforming into a crystalline blue flame before launching at the steel dummy causing the face to ever so slightly melt as it turned a very bright cherry red with parts even being white hot.
**DING** ACQUIRED SPELL, StarCleansing Firebolt: Does fire and magic damage. Does double damage against the undead and living dead. Damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom
"HaHa, yes finally! " Caleb screamed in joy. It had taken him 127 tries, 13 blown off arms, 4 dissolved arms and one lost leg to finally unlock a fire spell. The lost leg came from the time he tried to make a fireball that could curve around a target, unfortunately what he got instead was a fireball that bounced off the metallic dummy and into the dummy who cast the spell. With this new victory Caleb was once again invigorated to master the arcane path and rule over all magic but for now let's look at my status page.
Advertisement
STATUS PAGE NAME: Caleb Fulmen RACE: Human (G) LEVEL: 7 CLASS: N/A PROFESSION: N/A TITLES: (FORERUNNER OF EARTH) (MASTER OF THE COMMON TONGUE) (PRODIGIOUS LINGUIST I) (TIER 1 ARCANIST) (RUNIC SPELL SCHOLAR I) STATS HEALTH (HP): 200/200 STAMINA (SP): 390/390 MANA (MP): 450/450
VITALITY: 20
TOUGHNESS: 20
STRENGTH: 25
AGILITY: 60
ENDURANCE: 14
INTELLIGENCE: 45
WISDOM: 45
WILLPOWER: 45
PERCEPTION: 31
FREE POINTS: 0
SKILLS:
INSPECT: Allows user to inspect anything non-sapient. Scales off of wisdom and intelligence.
IDENTIFY: Allows user to identify anything sapient. Scales off of wisdom and intelligence
JOURNAL: allows use of system panel to right down thoughts and ideas. Every 5 levels in race adds one panel.
QUICK-STEP: Increases movement speed at the cost of stamina. Scales off of agility and strength
SPELLS:
MANA BOLT: a bolt of mana that causes damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom.
MANA SPEAR: Mana in a spear shape. increased penetration. damage scales of intelligence and wisdom
RUNIC SPELLS:
MANA BOLT: Made of 5 runes, a bolt of mana that causes damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom.
MANA SPEAR: Made of 6 runes, Mana in a spear shape. increased penetration. damage scales of intelligence and wisdom
THUNDERBOLT: Made of 8 runes. A ball of lightning that blasts the enemy dealing lightning and magic damage. damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom LIGHTNING VINES: Made of 17 runes. Creates vines of electricity that shock, and bind enemies in a 20X20 yard radius at the targeted location. can be cast at an equal number of yards as perception stat from caster. Power and strength of vines scaled off of intelligence and wisdom. INFERIOR BLOOD AMPLIFICATION: Made of 23 runes. Burn your blood to increase all stats by 10% with zero issue, 25% at an added cost of 10 HP/sec and a 7 hour weakness debuff lowering all stats by 75%. for every additional % of increase costs an additional 50 HP/sec BLOOD MARK: Made of 15 runes. Mark the enemy with your blood making it impossible to be lost, few can even notice the Mark. Increases exp from Marked enemy, increases damage enemy receives from caster. must be within 1,000 yards and have enemy in sight to place Mark distance can be increased through perception. damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom BLOOD ARROW: Made of 18 runes. Difficult to heal. 10% of damage caused returned to caster as HP. damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom SACRIFICIAL BLOOD SLASH: Made from 30 runes. Uses resources from all three pools. Does true damage to enemies HP equal to a quarter of sacrificed HPs. Must use claws or a bladed weapon. scales off of intelligence and strength. StarCleansing Firebolt: Made from 7 runes. Does fire and magic damage. Does double damage against the undead and living dead. Damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom
ELEMENTAL AFFINITY:
Inferior, Low, Medium, High, Great, Supreme, Peak, Apex, Demi-god, God
DARK: Inferior
LIGHTNING: High
BLOOD: Supreme
?: ?
ELEMENTAL WEAKNESSES:
Inferior, Low, Mild, High, Extreme
HOLY: Mild
RUNE MASTERY:
TIER 1: 100%
Caleb smiled before taking a look over his two new Titles:
TIER 1 ARCANIST : COMPLETLY MASTERED THE TIER 1 RUNES. +5 TO ALL MIND STATS
RUNIC SPELL SCHOLAR I : CRAFT 5 RUNIC SPELLS OF YOUR TIER. +5 TO ALL MIND STATS
Caleb loved how many stats he was getting. The more stats he gathered the high he would evolve. His goal was to become the most powerful as only then could he see himself as the true ruler of magic, as if you couldn't even reach the peak how could you ever understand all the intricacies of magic. Caleb checked the pocket watch he had bought seeing that it was 9:03 in the outside world. After thinking for a little bit he decided to go get some rest before going out of the city tomorrow to see about getting those last three levels that he needed, Thanks to the training rooms time dilation he would be able to return to his adventures in this new world significantly faster than planned. It had taken 2 days to learn all the Tier 1 runes and three days to master them. The last day had been spent trying to craft spells to help in the adventure. What Caleb didn't realize was that even for an elf genius they would need a year to craft a spell so instead they would usually just buy already crafted runic spells that used runes they had mastered. This was why the Title (RUNIC SPELL SCHOLAR) was so rare. Yet Caleb had crafted 9 runic spells in only 50 days time.
Advertisement
Longshots
Superpowers ... without capes. A man produces narcotic gas in his lungs, a woman turns into a wall of corrosive flesh. One girl creates tiny stinging 'mayflies' while another is assaulted by the emotions of anyone she touches. After the mysterious 'Seventeen Seconds' sweeps the globe, a handful of people develop extraordinary abilities. Rachel's father is one of them--and that's why she shoots him. But four years after she's charged with his murder, he reappears. He's rich. He's connected. And he's plotting to destroy a city. To stop him, Rachel enlists the help of Lark Larson, an easygoing slacker with bizarre abilities of his own. She doesn't have any powers herself, except for her unflinching willingness to put herself on the line. As far as Lark can tell, that's more than enough.
8 70The Magus of Origin
Daniel Kho was a man of hard work and too honest for his own good. Betrayed by family and friends all his life, he decided to live alone in peace where no one could take advantage of him anymore. After a decade of saving, he finally bought his own land, built his own home, and started a vegetable plantation. Daniel was only a few months away from becoming completely self sufficient in self-exiled bliss. Unfortunately, fate had other plans for him, as a malfunctioning artifact dropped him in the middle of the mountains in another world where monsters weren’t his only problem.
8 207Dig a Little Deeper
[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] Being a dungeon isn't easy. Past memories just out of reach, not wanting to be a murder pit and trying to find a purpose are just the beginning. It takes time and several hiccups to transition from being a mobile being to being a stationary rock that changes the word with its mind. What is the miasma right outside the door? What monsters does it hide? Can the people that have found me really be trusted? Now planning to post a chapter every other week. I have added a volume for the maps so they are easy to find. There are spoilers on the maps. Cover art commissioned from Rachel Paizs through Upwork.com
8 195Demonizing Matters
A high fantasy drama about a young woman who finds out a demon secret. This secret sparks a growing conflict between demons and humans. While trying to save her own life and dealing with the unexpected consequences of her actions, she falls in love with a hated demon. We follow the drama of Lita, alongside a cast of several other POV characters, as she discovers secrets (both open and purposefully hidden), makes well intentioned but sometimes disastrous decisions, and encounters prejudices and truths. Demons may be evil… or not. Humans may be good… or not. God is aloof… or not. Publishing every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This is my first real work! Super excited to be publishing! I don’t spend a lot of time describing gore, sex, trauma or any other type of scene that would be labeled as mature. I've labeled the story as mature in every way more because I don't quite understand the standard and don't know if I've crossed the line at all (and I'd rather be safe than get my story rejected for under labeling ;)). Mostly I hint, start the scene then interrupt/fade out, and in general let the reader know it happens but without making it too explicit. (I’d love to hear how I did on this! And if it was still entertaining/informative without being traumatizing.) This is what I prefer to read myself so that’s what I write. I’m not apologizing. ;) If I mislabeled my mature content it was by accident. And, yes, the pacing was also on purpose. Beyond that, I welcome any feedback you want to give! Enjoy the story!
8 199*DISCONTINUED* Resistance - A Fortnite Story No.6
"So it's come to this I see...""Yes. Some time during this week, we will be at war with the Imagined Order.""Tell me Foundation, ya think we got a chance at beating them?""If I must be honest Jones, with their numbers, technology and new members in their ranks... I'm not sure.""You may be right... But we have to fight back! We can't just give in to Slone and her armies!""Exactly. So if it's war she wants-""We'll hand it to her on a golden platter!!"---------After 3 months of peace and quiet on the new island Artemis, life seemed to have found a new sense of normalcy again after The Last Reality's invasion failed.Midas, Jules, Jones and the rest of their friends were finally at peace with their lives and couldn't wait to relax and enjoy themselves.That is, until The Seven contact them about a looming war against the Imagined Order.And lo and behold, they were right.Now a war against the two factions has begun and with strong numbers on their side, such as Gunnar and a newcomer modified by Doctor Slone herself, I.O seem unstoppable.Forming the Resistance, it'll be up to Midas and his family, along with the Seven and their followers to stop their plans to capture the Zero Point and save their home one last time.Will they succeed? ...or has Slone and the Imagined Order finally won?
8 257I Am the Fated Villain
Immediately after Gu Changge realized he had transgressed into a fantasy world, the world’s protagonist, and fortune’s chosen, vowed to take revenge on him. Envied by all, he not only has the female lead head over heels for him but he’s also treated as a distinguished guest wherever he goes. Fortunately, Gu Changge’s prestige and power are superior to everyone else’s, so shouldn’t it be easy to trample on a mere fortune’s chosen? Hold on… There’s a system dedicated to milking and harvesting from the protagonist? Gu Changge smirked. “Seems like even fate wants me to fulfill my destiny as the Villain of this world!” Thank you for reading updated I Am the Fated Villain novel @ ReadWebNovels.net
8 214