Peter walked past the snow wolves territory. The trails split into two one leading to the border crossing and another to Eldercreek. According to the official sites, it was impossible to cross a country unless he is level 80.

The path ahead became narrower and rough as if people rarely travelled through. 'How far is this village?' Peter had been walking for nearly half an hour and he still had yet to reach halfway to the village. The path became windier and there was a biting chill in the air.

As Peter took a turn, something blasted him with an icicle. Startled, Peter quickly dodged out of the way. A little rat-like creature hid behind the bush noticing me dodge the attack.

Ice Rat LVL 70

HP: 35000

AP: 13000

DEF: 8000

Can attack using icicles.

'Why is it so high levelled?' A level 70 monster wasn't something Peter couldn't handle but there was a higher risk of running into stronger tier bosses.

The ice rats were faster than the show wolves. Their immunity towards the earth element was too high, which Peter realized after two landslides. The best option was to use fire blast. But the agile thing kept moving around easily dodging the attacks. The fact that they were too small didn't help either.

There were multiple rats running behind the bushes. Their fast-paced attacks made it difficult for Peter to concentrate on one rat. After attempting to kill them, Peter gave up and decided to run back. The ice rats followed chasing him.

With his superior speed, Peter outpaced the rats and was able to avoid the icicles. The party reached a clearing and it became easy for Peter to see the rats. Without the help of the bushes as cover, the rats became sitting ducks for Peter's attacks.

Flame blast

You killed an ice rat. You received 280 experience. You received an ice crystal shard, x2 tiny fangs, small blood vail.

The relentless attacks slowed down and Peter slowly gained the upper hand.

Flame blast

You killed an ice rat. You received 280 experience. You received an ice crystal shard, tiny fang, small blood vail.

The rest of the rats followed and soon the rats were all dead.

You levelled up.

Peter rested a bit to recover his lost stamina. Putting all the free points achieved to intelligence he went pushing forward to the fae village.

- 1( Peter)

An icicle grazed him not strong enough to break his defence. 'Another rat?' Peter checked around and saw one hiding behind a bush. He quickly sent out a flame blast and killed it instantly.

You killed an ice rat. You received 280 experience. You received an ice crystal shard, tiny fang, small blood vail.

You have unlocked burned.

Burned. (100/100)

Kill 100 enemies with flame.

Burned status effect

Your flames causes burned status infliction

Does 20 damage per second. Prevents regeneration.

Peter put it aside. A few more ice rats died as he got more accustomed to their attack patterns. The path became rougher and rougher as if no one had used it in a long time. The winding trail ended and a village became visible. Peter was suddenly interrupted by a strong looking ice rat.

Corrupt Ice Rat BOSS LVL 75

HP: 300000

AP: 30000

DEF: 15000

'What high attack power.' Peter had already started attacking with flame blasts. The bulky size of the boss made it easy for Peter to hit it. Running around and firing rapid flame blasts, Peter soon got its health to 0.

You killed a corrupt ice rat BOSS. You received 7500 experience. You received an ice crystal, x2 strong fang, blood vail.

You received still tome: icicle

You received a compatible mana crystal.

Would you like to absorb it?

"Yes."

You have attuned with an ice crystal.

Water affinity reached 40%.

Ice affinity reached 30%.

You killed five BOSS tier monsters. You unlocked mystery Boss Killer.

Mystery Achieved: Boss killer LVL 1

Reward: 5 points to strength

Mystery Unlocked: Boss killer LVL 2

Kill 20 Bosses (0/20)

Peter quickly used the skill tome adding another spell to the ice spellbook.

Icicle

Cause ice damage. Can penetrate physical armour.

Tier: 3

Rarity: Uncommon

Damage: 3*ice damage*mana cost

Range: Short

Mana cost: 50

The village was extremely small and extended through both banks of the small stream. A few wooden planks were placed across the stream to cross over. There were few buildings but they were all exuding a primitive look. Peter looked up the cliff sides on both sides to see carved caves which some of the tenants used as houses.

You have reached the fae village, Eldercreek. Fae is neutral to other races. Be advised not to provoke them as they value pride over life.

Peter arrived at the village front. The area was empty except for the few small NPCs. There were few shops around but there were no owners to be seen. Suddenly, a scream sounded from one of the huts up above, chipped out in the mountain cliffs.

"ITS A HUMAN!"

Screamed one of the little kid fae at the top of her lungs only to get reprimanded by her mother with a slight smack on her hand. She mumbled something to the kid but too silent for Peter to hear.

Peter walked into the shop to see their inventory. Almost all the fae in Eldercreek were wind oriented. There were a few with fire and earth elements according to his inspect skills.

There were multiple skill tomes available to purchase in the place and as expected, most of them were wind oriented. Peter went through and bought a few that piqued his interest.

Skill tome: Lesser flight

Req: Air Affinity, Mana 50/minute

Skill type: Active Magic

Type: Single-use

Cast time: instant cast

Cost: 3000 gold

Skill tome: Areal blades

Req: Air Affinity, Mana 100

Skill type: Active Magic

Type: Single-use

Cast time: 1 second

Cost: 3000 gold

Skill tome: Compressed shot

Req: Air Affinity, Mana 200

Skill type: Active Magic

Type: Single-use

Cast time: 3 seconds

Cost: 10000 gold

Skill tome: Hurricane

Req: Air Affinity, Mana 1200

Skill type: Active Magic

Type: Single-use

Cast time: 30 seconds

Cost: 50000 gold

Skill tome: Flame dash

Req: Fire Affinity, Mana 100

Skill type: Active Magic

Type: Single-use

Cast time: instant cast

Cost: 3000 gold

Skill tome: Fire pillar

Req: Fire Affinity, Mana 400

Skill type: Active Magic

Type: Single-use

Cast time: 10 seconds

Cost: 12000 gold

Skill tome: Overgrowth

Req: Earth Affinity, Mana 600

Skill type: Active Magic

Type: Single-use

Cast time: 20 seconds

Cost: 24000 gold

The purchases made the shopkeeper fae very friendly. "Do you know if I could purchase air crystals here?", asked Peter. "Air crystals are common here. You can get a few if you visit the elder mage's assembly. I'm afraid you will have to pay with mana crystals for it tho. Even the cheaper ones cost at least one mana crystal shard." He was very helpful and pointed Peter toward its direction.

Peter walked along the stream and soon reached a makeshift amphitheatre. A few guards were around guarding the place. Inside were a few stalls that looked like medieval huts from the outside. Peter asked one of the guards about the air crystals and was pointed to one of the larger huts. There were two guards stationed outside.

"Hi, I'm looking to buy a few air crystals if you have any." Peter walked in and asked one of the female fae. "I'm Fem. We have a collection of air, wind, earth and fire crystals. Which ones would you like?"

"The air crystals."

"The lady picked up a box from behind the counter and placed it before him. "This is a crystal dropped by a level 100 Silpfus Bird. We are selling it for 4 mana crystal shards." She explained the properties of the crystal and how powerful it was.

"Yes, about that, I would like to purchase one with this crystal I have." Peter took out the beast crystal from his inventory mentally planning to buy more once he reached back at the city.

"A beast crystal? I will have to take it inside to verify it's strength first. May I?" She took the crystal and went inside. 'Did she just leave me alone with these crystals?' Peter felt the faes were too unreliable. To his surprise, she came back immediately with an offer.

"Master says beast crystals are not worth much and this is from a low-level beast. He has offered a price of three mana shards. Will that be alright?" "Yes, it's fine." Peter sold the crystal there.

"Can I get an air crystal for that instead?" Peter asked.

"Air crystals are pricy but I can give you two wind crystals if that's all right. They possess less mana. "That works finely for me." Peter took what he could and took the two wind crystals. He thanked the lady fae and left to attune to the crystal's mana.

On his way out, he asked the guards if he could meet with Vayazi. "We're sorry. No one has seen the elder in a few months. She left for Alderriver forest a few months ago."

'Strange? Didn't she ask me to come and meet her here?' Peter left and walked a bit further to find a quiet place to attune to the crystals and learn the recently purchased skill tomes.

After reaching a safe distance down the stream, Peter took the wind crystals out of his inventory.

You have a compatible mana crystal.

Would you like to absorb it?

"Yes."

You have attuned with a wind crystal.

Wind affinity reached 25%.

He took the other crystal and attuned to it as well.

You have attuned with a wind crystal.

Wind affinity reached 55%.

'These must be some superior quality crystals.' Peter thought.

"Attuning with crystal mana?" Peter suddenly heard someone speak beside him and turned around to see a familiar fae.

Vayazi(U) DEVATA LVL 999

Grand Elder of the Fae

"You almost gave me a heart attack. Yes, I need it to complete my race promotion."

"Yes, that's why I'm here." She moved closer to Peter and started checking his body. "Illicote race is hard to control. And you have completed the basic needs for the class promotion. There is something else that you were planning to do, right?"

Peter took out the skill tomes that he purchased from the vendor. After a few seconds, Peter had a whole lot more skills to choose from. Vayazi stepped in and started giving a rundown about what's going to happen next.

"The biggest issue with your race is mana control. Since illicote is a pure mana race, I'm afraid you won't have too much physical strength for anything. There is a very high chance you might lose your blacksmithing skills." Vayazi said as she sat down on a nearby boulder while Peter stood and listened attentively.

"There are many issues with the race but in terms of magic and elemental affinity, they don't have any restrictions in place. Even the high races like us have a limit to our elemental affinity, we do compensate it with our superior intelligence, but illicit were always element blessed. From what I can remember they had a tier lock instead. Don't worry too much you will understand once you complete your evolution."

"So, ready to meet the makers again?"

"Yes"

The world around Peter faded and was replaced by white space. Another familiar voice called out to him.

"Welcome back Peter." It was Al. "Surprised to see me? You don't feel wobbly do you?" "No, I'm good thanks." "So tell me how did you feel with the race change? Did you get used to the new speed and strength?" "I feel pretty normal. It just feels more powerful. There isn't anything special about it."

"Oh, all humanoid species feels the same. Would you like to change to a different race then?" "No"

"You will feel more differences soon after the next unlock. Let me show you what a true illicote looks like." Al projected an image of a creature beside her. Peter looking at it and was stunned for a few seconds but soon recovered.

"Can I change to some other race please?"

"Sorry, no going back now."

*****

Profile

Name: Peter

Race: illicote(L)

Title: Creative Artisan II(R), Knight

LVL: 34

Gold: 1.8M

Credit: 11.4M

Available points: 0

STR: 672(+5)

VIT: 200

AGI: 50 (max: 50)

INT: 358

AP: 6770

HP: 2000

SPD: 100

MANA: 35800

DEF: 5920 90%

Weapon damage: 510

Sword mage(L): T2 L11 (16,500/16,500)locked

Elemental mage(U): T2 L24 (8536/48000)

Blacksmith: T2 L21 (22050/31,500)

Alchemist: T2 L12 (5560/6000)

Herbalist: T1 L13(1060/6500)

Miner: T1 L10

World fame: 170

Blacksmith fame: 1050

Swordsman fame: 10

Elemental affinity

Fire: 35%

Water: 40%

Earth: 20%

Air: 55%

Ice: 30%

Mana manipulation: 2.3%

Magic damage base values

Fire damage: 133.53

Water damage: 151.434

Earth damage: 79.834

Air damage: 205.134

Ice damage: 115.634