Deep in the Lost Forest, 2 young humans are currently confronted by a Treant. The boy is a chef and the girl is a librarian

"" Earth cut down another Treant with his cleaver, adding another defeated monster under his belt

[+33 damage] (0/75) Treant

[You have defeated a Treant]

[+100 EXP]

[ has leveled up!]

Slice LV 7 ---> 8

[You have leveled up!]

"Earth" LV 5 ---> 6 (0/1200 EXP)

Class: Chef

HP: 125 ---> 130

MP: 60 ---> 65

STR: 9 ---> 11

AGI: 11---> 13

MAG: 6 ---> 7

DEF: 7 ---> 8

"Whew! That's another level up!" He looked at his Status

"Congratulations Earth" Plina smiled at Earth's achievement

They've been doing this routine for a few days now

After working at their daily jobs, they'll go straight to the Lost Forest for Earth to level up and improve his skills while Plina uses her skill to avoid getting lost in the... Lost Forest

"Now, time to infuse the flavors we got" Earth said in a dry tone as he looked at the Treant Fruit

"Good luck" Plina said with a smile

Earth swallowed the fruit in one bite as the bitter taste spread over his tongue

"I'll never get used to it" Earth complained as he infused the flavor into his knife

*****

[Treant-Flavor Kitchen Knife] (Knive)

Effects:

[+3 DEF +15 HP]

{Infuse more Treant flavors to unlock more effects}

Mastery (11/100)

*****

"And at last, the last leaf I have to eat to max out the Leaf Flavor Mastery" He looked at Leaf-Flavor Knife with a (99/100) Mastery

Eating a lot of leaves isn't hard but that doesn't mean its enjoyable

"What do you think would happen, Plina?" He asked the book-loving girl

"I don't know, maybe your knife will get bigger?" Plina said unsurely

"Well, time to find out!" Earth ate a leaf and infused into a knife, as it glowed bright green

☆MASTERY UP☆

*****

[Leaf-Flavor Kitchen Knife] ☆Mastered☆ (Knive)

Effects:

[+10 MAG, +15 MP]

{Infuse more Leaf flavors to unlock more effects}

Mastery (100/100)

Mastery Bonus:

*****

[ has leveled up]

Flavor Mastery LV 1 ---> 2

"Woah! My knife got stronger and I got a new skill!" He said as looked at the new skill acquired, Plina also took a glance at his Status

+++++

{Recover MP whenever in direct sunlight. Level up to increase efficiency}

+++++

"That's basically infinite MP as long as there's a sun!" Plina said in an amazed tone

"Huh? Really?" Earth looked at his knife, and tried experimenting

He drained his MP by spamming into random trees and went into the sunlight

Earth (0/80 MP) +1 MP per second

Earth (1/80 MP) +1 MP per second

Earth (2/80 MP) +1 MP per second

"It's not that strong but still useful" he said as he felt his MP regenerate

Normally, you have to rest and sleep to recover MP or have a high enough MP to gain a regen effect

But gives him a permanent +1 MP regen, as long as there is sunlight

"Still. To able to regain MP by just basking in the sun is amazing" Plina commented

"I guess, but I don't really have a lot of magic skills. I mostly use MP for and " Earth said as he checked his Status again

"Earth" LV 6 (0/1200 EXP)

Class: Chef

{Leaf-Flavor Kitchen Knife equipped}

HP: 130

MP: 65 (+15)

MP regen: 1 per second

STR: 11

AGI: 13

MAG: 7 (+10)

DEF: 8

Skills:

Unique Skills:

(Sub-Skills)

-

-

-

Flavors:

[Knife]

-Boar

-Treant

-Wood

-Leaf ☆

[Cleaver]

-Boar

-Treant

-Wood

-Leaf

GIFT: Consume

Plina gazed upon Earth's stats. He was getting stronger fast. At this rate, his goal of becoming a hero is possible, even if he's a chef

She's glad. Plina is glad that Earth is finally reaching his dreams. But something irks her...

"Has Earth felt so far?" Plina imagined Earth walking forward while she stares behind his back

No matter how fast Plina runs, she's always behind him. Always staring at his back, while he continued to walk forward

Always... left behind

"Plina!" Earth snapped her out her daze

"Um, yes?" Plina looked at the boy confusingly

"You okay there? You've been blanking out more recently" Earth noticed the girl's weird behavior

"Oh! Yes, I'm fine" Plina turned her head away. She can't let Earth know this. It will only make her a bigger burden

"Huh?" Plina noticed a blob-like creature staring at them

+++++

"Green Slime" LV 1

HP: 10

MP: 10

STR: 1

AGI: 1

MAG: 5

DEF: 0

{Small slimy creatures that dissolve anything they swallow. Taste like apple and grass}

Skills:

+++++

"A slime" Plina looked at the LV 1 monster

"Don't worry Plina! I can defeat it!" Earth charged towards the slime

"Wait! Earth! Slimes are-" Plina tried to warn the boy

Earth swung his blades to the slime multiple times. But the blob creature split in half and reformed like nothing happened to it

"Slimes are invulnerable against physical damage" Plina finished

"Uh...." Earth tried to back up as the slime drew near. Its acidic properties can easily dissolve a human in seconds if not careful enough

"Don't worry Plina! I have another plan!" He quickly grabbed Plina and dashed away as the slime bounced towards them

"RUUNNN!!!" Earth shouted and ran as fast as he could with Plina in his back. The slime kept chasing them as the 2 humans comically run in fear from a LV 1 monster

-o-o-o-

Earth and Plina both gasped for their breaths, as they narrowly escaped the slime. They managed to escape at the very edge of the forest

"That was a close one! I almost saw my life flashing before my eyes" Earth said

"You can kill an orc but you can't kill a blob of snot" Plina said with disappointment

"I can't help it! None of my skills are magic-based! All of it is either supportive or blade attacks!" Earth rebutted

She sighed in response, "For now, let's avoid slimes until you gain a magic skill from mastering one of your flavors" she advised

"Agreed" Earth replied

Plina looked at the tired boy. Carrying her must have been hard

"Hey. Sorry if I wasn't much of a help when fighting" Plina apologized

"Huh? Don't worry about it! Besides, you're the reason why we can go to the Lost Forest without getting... lost" Earth said and groaned at the name of the place

The place was too literal for its own good

"But still! I wanted to help!" Plina tried to convince the boy

Earth placed a hand on the top of her head, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll both protect you and myself whenever were in trouble, I promise" he said with a smile

That didn't ease Plina's doubts, but what could she say?

She's just a boring shy librarian

"Now, come on! Let's call it a day and I'll cook some chicken back at the city!" Earth said as he walked towards home

"Sure" Plina managed to give a small smile, but still had a bad feeling in her chest

-o-o-o-

I wonder when did I start following Earth?

In a distant memory, a little girl with a brown hair is crying under the giant oak tree beside the river

She was often bullied by the other kids in the orphanage. They all said she was too shy, weak, and meek

"Hey! Why are you crying?"

The girl looked up and saw a boy with pure black hair smiling at her with a cocky grin

"I-I'm not! Go away!" The girl meekly said and tried to hide her face

"Hmm, but it would be unheroic for me to leave a crying girl alone" the boy mused

"W-What? I don't need any help! I just want to be alone now" the girl said back

"Is that so? Ok then, I'll go away" the boy slowly walked away

The girl looked at the boy's receding figure

"Just what I thought. None of them really cares about me. He just wanted to gain my trust" The girl thought as she cried again

"ORRRAAAHHH!!!" the boy suddenly came running towards her while pushing her into the river

The girl fell into the river with a big splash as the boy laughed with a prideful smile

"What was that all about, you idiot!" The girl yelled at him, her clothes now soaked

But the boy kept his cocky smile, "There! You're not crying anymore!" The boy declared

The girl's anger turned into surprise, as she noticed that she stopped crying and her tears have been washed away by the river

"You can thank me! A hero-" the boy was interrupted by a splash of water

"Thank you? Now Big Sis will get mad that my clothes got wet!" The girl said angrily as splashed the boy again

"What? I just help-"

The boy was interrupted again with a splash of water

"Ok! You asked for it! Cannonball!" The boy jumped into the river with a big splash

The two children continue to splash water to each other. Their anger slowly turned into laughter as they played at the river. The girl forgetting her sadness earlier

The 2 children finally exhausted their energy and laid in the grass beside the river while they stared at the clouds in the sky

"Hey, what's your name?" The girl asked

"Oh! It's Earth. You?" The boy responded

"It's Plina" the girl replied

And that's how the 2 first met

-o-o-o-

Plina slowly rises from her nap. It seems she fell asleep while reading a book. The vivid memories of her dream still linger her mind

The girl let out a sigh, "No more" Plina told herself. She felt staring at Earth's back again

"I won't follow him anymore. I'm tired at looking at his back, staying on his shadow" she said to herself

"I want to walk beside him. I'm tired of being protected, I want to protect him" Plina said with a newfound determination

"I need to get strong"

-o-o-o-

Plina looked at her Status to find anything she can use to her advantage

"Plina" LV 1

Class: Librarian

HP: 90

MP: 70

STR: 2

AGI: 3

MAG: 9

DEF: 1

Skills:

GIFT: Linguistics

Her GIFT Linguistics gave her the ability to understand any language. It's very useful when she reading several different kinds of books

"But not very useful for combat" Plina sighed

"Come on! Think! Earth said every class has a hidden potential! I just need to find it" the girl closed her eyes tight and tried to think of an idea

×××××

To: At**ck

With: *in*

By: Bl*d*

×××××

A brief flash of information rushed into her mind, she opened her eyes wide

"Wait, when did I see that before?" Plina thought

×××××

To: **tack

With: Wi**

By: Blad*

××××

"That's right... I had this feeling when I stared at the Treant that attacked us in the forest" Plina remembered every detail of the magic circle

"Wait... Of course! My skill!" The librarian grabbed a paper & quill and started to draw the magic circle. Every single detail seared into her mind, she put them all into the paper

"Done! Now what?" Plina focused on the magic circle she drew. Until...

×××××

To: Attack

With: Wind

By: Blade

××××

[You finally unlocked the hidden potential of your GIFT]

-o-o-o-

{Hidden Requirements}

(Requirement 1: Draw a magic circle in an accurate detail [Complete])

(Requirement 2: ???)

(Requirement 3: The user's class needs to be a [Complete])

Completion Reward: Unlock the "lost art of magic"

-o-o-o-

Plina stared in shock at notifications she got

"Oh my god, Earth was right. Every class has a hidden potential" she said

"But how? How did I read this magic circle?" Plina stared at the magic circle. It's obvious she needed another requirement to fully unlock this mystery ability

It has 3 rings with symbols between them. These symbols are supposed to nothing but random lines, but in Plina's perspective, she can read what they meant

Then it hit her, "I see, so that was it" Plina said

"Because of my Linguistic GIFT, I can read any language"

"That includes the language of magic" she deduced

"To: Attack" was in the innermost ring, followed by "With: Wind", then ended by "By: Blade" in the outermost ring

It seems she can see every part of the spell. Every single detail memorized, thanks to her skills as a librarian

"So that means..." Plina held out her hand

"" Plina use one her skills, causing a small orb of light to appear

is a basic skill of the Librarian class. It gives off small amounts of light for late-night readers in the dark

Plina concentrated at the small orb of light she made

×××××

To: Support

With: Light

By: Glow

×××××

She immediately draws the magic circle of the basic spell into another paper

"So basically, the innermost ring the spell type, the middle one is the element used in the spell and the outermost is the function of the spell" Plina began studying the 2 magic circles

×××××

To:

With:

By:

×××××

She drew the empty magic circle in yet another paper. Her discoveries are good and all but...

"Damn it! It's still a dead end! I can't use this if I can't activate them!" Plina scolded herself

What Plina did next, is what a good librarian would do in a situation don't understand

"Library! Search {Basics of Magic}" Plina used one of her skills as a librarian. , a skill that lets the librarian search a specific book in a massive cache of the library

Moments after she used her skill, 5 books came flying towards her and neatly stacked at her desk

She started reading the books in an efficient manner. And with her outrageous high skill, she read all 5 books in just a few minutes

She closed the books and think

"A magic-user needs a medium to provide as an anchor of a spell?" Plina wondered and looked at her drawn magic circles she did

Most magicians use pure mana to draw magic circles in mid-air, which Plina can't obviously do

The girl sighed, "If only it could be written by ink on paper, then it would be easy" Plina mused

"Wait... Could it?" She came across an idea

"Library! Search {Production of Ink}" she used her skill again. Only this time, a single book only came to her desk

Plina searched the book for the answer that she's looking for

"Hmm... water, gum arabic, and a few drops of thyme oil. I think I could manage to get those ingredients" Plina said to herself

She quickly grabbed her purse & cloak and prepared a short trip to the merchant street

-o-o-o-

After a few hours, she came back to the library with the ingredients needed for her little experiment

Plina is technically homeless but she considers the Library as her home. Ms. Heinsworth lets her use the bathroom to bathe and all of her clothes are in the supply closet of the library. As for food, she could dine out or eat Earth's bento that he offers every day

"That was longer than I expected" Plina said

Not only she had to buy the ingredients, but she also had to find a magic crystal for the idea she thought, and its definitely not cheap

"Let's just hope this would work" Plina said to herself before she grabbed the new mortar and pestle from her bag

"Right, Lux Crystal" Plina looked at the white crystal with curiosity. This crystal is mostly used for charging up those fancy torches that never go out

She began to grind the Lux Crystal into a fine powder as she slowly mixed the other ingredients into a spare bowl. Then she mixed the fine material with a little bit of water and stored the finished product into a flask

"Done" Plina stared at the pure white liquid

+++++

[Lux Ink]

Element: Light

"A special kind of ink laced with the element of light"

+++++

She used the ink to draw the magic circle of the magic skill

×××××

To: Support

With: Light

By: Glow

×××××

After she's done drawing it, she held the paper facing away from her

"" Plina chanted as 2 orbs of light appeared in front of her. One made from her skill and one made from the magic circle she drew

Plina immediately dropped the paper in shock. She wasn't expecting to work that easily

"W-What? That means..." Plina looked at the 2 magic circles she drew earlier

She took another paper and drew another magic circle, only this time she changed a few details

"If I'm correct, then this would work!" Plina said to herself as she copied the "Attack" and "Blade" symbols from and transferred it into a custom magic circle

×××××

To: Attack

With: Light

By: Blade

×××××

Plina finished the custom spell and pointed the finished magic circle away from her

"" She chanted as blades of light shot out from the magic circle she made and sliced the nearby wall

-o-o-o-

{Hidden Requirements Achieved}

(Requirement 1: Draw a magic circle in an accurate detail [Complete])

(Requirement 2: Make a custom magic circle on a piece of paper [Complete])

(Requirement 3: The user's class needs to be a [Complete])

Completion Reward: Unlock the "lost art of magic"

-o-o-o-

[New Unique Skill acquired: ]

[New sub-skills unlocked: ,, ]

-o-o-o-

"I-It worked... I can... I can..." Plina tried to contain her tears

"I can be a hero" she finally gave in and cried

After so many years of being belittled, getting protected, following...

She finally has a chance to protect those she cares about

-o-o-o-

"Nothing like a good stroll into a monster-infested forest that makes your blood running! Is that right, Plina?" Earth said with his usual outgoing personality

Earth and Plina are going to their daily hunt in the Lost Forest. Plina wants to surprise Earth of her newfound abilities

She binded and a new spell she made called into a book she named {Book of Illumination}. This way, she can easily cast a spell by opening the book to a certain page by using her skill

Plina nodded in response, "Don't worry Earth. I can protect you now" she thought

"Hey, Plina. Do you hear that?" Earth suddenly said as they hide behind a bush

They remained quiet as they saw a group of people walked by the forest

"Adventurers" Plina recognized the group with weapons and strong auras

"There must have been a quest" she looked at the weapons soaked in monster blood

"Hey, I recognized that guy. The one with an ax" Earth pointed at the man

"Him? I think his name is Arciel. A B-rank berserker" Plina replied

"He's the reason why Plina got attacked by the orc in the first place" Earth sneered at the arrogant adventurer

"Should we meet them?" Plina asked

"Nah, let's just stay quiet. They're not worth the trouble" the chef replied

"Okay" the librarian said. They watched from the bush, as the adventurers exit their view

"Now, lets- AHHHH!!!" Earth suddenly fell backwards as the ground crumbled behind him

"EARTH!" Plina yelled out as she saw the boy at the bottom of the ditch. It turns out that they're close to nearby a pit of some kind

"Earth! Are you okay?" Plina shouted at the bottom of the pit

"Yeah. I'm okay. Just a little scratched, that's all" Earth shouted back

"Don't worry! I'll climb back there!" Earth said and attempted to climb the pit

*boing*

"Huh?" Earth looked behind him as his eyes widen in fear

A group of red slimes looked at him hungrily

+++++

"Red Slime" LV 1

HP: 15

MP: 20

STR: 7

AGI: 3

MAG: 10

DEF: 0

{A more acidic version of its slime kin. Taste like strawberry and blood}

Skills:

+++++

"Earth!" Plina watched Earth being cornered by a large group of slimes

"Plina stay there! I'll figure something out!" Earth repeatedly sliced the slimes with no effect whatsoever. The slime shots acidic slime to Earth as some dissolved a bit of his skin

[+14 damage] (117/130 HP) Earth

[+8 damage] (109/130 HP) Earth

[+ 10 damage] (99/130 HP) Earth

Plina clenched her fist. She was useless again. Always protected, while Earth risked himself

"Earth, if you're protecting me, then..." Plina jumped down the pit, with Earth surprise

"WHO'S PROTECTING YOU?!" Plina yelled as she activated her ability

"{Bookmark: Page 2: }" Plina chanted as a book flew out from her and automatically opened to page 2 then activated the magic circle written there

×××××

To: Attack

With: Light

By: Glow

×××××

A brief strong burst of light stunned all of the slimes, giving Plina enough time to cast another spell

"{Bookmark: Page 1: }" she chanted as blades of light shredded the group of slimes to pieces

(45/70 MP) Plina

The girl looked at her MP, she used a lot of magic just to make that happen

"Plina... You can cast spells now?!" Earth said in shock

Plina opened her mouth to reply, only to see the slimes reform again. only cut them to pieces, which slimes can easily recover from

"I'll explain later, now we have to deal with a bunch of slimes" Plina said

The slimes started to shoot their acidic shot with again. Plina shielded Earth from the attacks with her body

[+9 damage] (81/90 HP) Plina

[+13 damage] (68/90 HP) Plina

[+11 damage] (57/90 HP) Plina

"PLINA!" Earth watched Plina's skin burn from the acidic liquid

"Earth... I'm tired of you getting hurt because of me. So now, let me protect you this time!" Plina said in determination. The boy was speechless at the girl's resolve

Plina looked at the of the slimes and use her to the magic circle

×××××

To: Attack

With: Water

By: Projectiles

×××××

[ skill has leveled up]

Memorization LV 17 --->18

She flipped the page of her book then dipped her quill into the Lux Ink and started to draw a new magic circle into the page

×××××

To: Attack

With: Light

By: Projectiles

×××××

Once Plina is done drawing, she pointed her book to the group of slimes

"" she chanted as balls of light burst the slimes into oblivion

[You have defeated a Red Slime] ×12

[+120 EXP]

[You have leveled up!]

"Plina" LV 1 ---> 2 (20/200 EXP)

Class: Librarian

HP: 90 ---> 95

MP: 70 ---> 75

STR: 2 ---> 3

AGI: 3 ---> 4

MAG: 9 ---> 13

DEF: 1 ---> 2

Plina let out a long sigh before she collapsed besides Earth

"I finally did it. I managed to defeat a monster on my own" she said between her tired breaths

Earth looked at her with a confused face she ever seen, "Why did you that Plina? You could just run to safety" he said

Plina can't stop giggling, remembering that was the same words she used when Earth saved her from the orc

"Because I want to be a hero too, you idiot" Plina replied with a small smile

Earth returned a smile as well, "Then let become heroes, Plina. Together" He raised his hand to high-five

"Sure" Plina high-fives in agreement. She finally felt truly glad. She was no longer following him. She was instead walking beside him

"By the way, have you noticed how lame you sound when asked me earlier?" Plina smiled deviously

Earth thought back to their conversation and immediately gripped his head in response

"HOW STUPID AM I??!!" he shouted to himself for repeating the same dialogue from before. Plina just giggled in response

But unknown to them, an orc was watching them intensely from the shadows of the trees

-o-o-o-

The orc silently left the 2 and went deeper into the forest, as it passed several secret entrances

Finally, the orc reached a chamber. In the middle of it, a large orc sat on a throne made out of twisted roots

"What is it?" The large orc said in a daunting voice

"Humans have been coming too close in the forest" the orc responded

The large orc went silent a bit, "Hmm, I see" he responded

"What do we do Chief?" The smaller orc asked

"Prepare the fighters" the large orc commanded

"It's time to take revenge against those humans" the large orc said threateningly, as he stood from his throne and grabbed a large broadsword and walked towards his tribe of orcs

+++++

"High Chief Forest Orc" LV 26

HP: 1500

MP: 700

STR: 97

AGI: 31

MAG: 22

DEF: 78

+++++