Carly was trying to hold onto the knowledge she had understood in that void place, as her bodies senses barraged her. Keeping it was like trying to hold water, and bit by bit slipped through, dribbled and dripped out of reach.

She felt the loss, it felt so profound. There was a weight to it. Not physical but to know and understand, then lose the knowledge, it created.., a burden. A longing, for what she lost. It was like waking up and finding out everything you thought you had, knew, and lived for, was gone. Stolen in the flash, between subconscious and conscious thought like a dream, an incomprehensible dream.

Carly was still considering her thoughts and feelings until a combat log message interrupted.

Carly followed the instructions, she was committed and didn't see much choice right now. Heading back into the safe room she sat on the ground next to the food and water she left just inside the doorway. She completed the purchase of the two spells suggested by the combat log hacker person.

The chest appeared, and this time when Carly opened it, two scrolls sat inside. Carly took the closest one in hand, unravelled it, looked at it for a moment as it disintegrated and absorbed into her mind, it was the meditation regeneration spell she called [Regen], which turned out was more like skill in Carly's opinion. She repeated the process gaining the [Melee] combat spell as the chest and scroll both fell apart together.

Pulling up the skill, Carly had a quick read of its details. She activated it, letting the magical guidance system take over. Carly closed her eyes while sitting comfortably yet relaxed, legs crossed, she focused on her breathing. The world outside narrowed, then disappeared, the last few minutes since starting lap-11 ceased to matter. There was only the skill, the meditation, Carly had never felt a depth like this whenever she did it herself. Sure it worked, it helped to calm her rage, relax and refocus her thoughts and emotions. That was just scratching the surface compared to this.

Her mana circled throughout her body, refreshing it, reducing her fatigue, while enhancing its recovery. Health, endurance and mana regeneration all doubled from her standard out of combat speed. That was the good news, Carly checked the skills status, the skills experience had only increased by 360 / 6,000. It was looking like it was going to take quite a while to level up the skill to upgrade it.

Standing up, Carly left the safe area. While doing so, she took a look at her other new magic ability.

Melee:

Using mental imagining, create a mana based, simple structure, construct usable in close range to your body.

[Purchase: 180 (Minutes)] Descriptors: Variables: Spell Type: Summon Construct Magic Type: Arcane Targeting: Self - Pinned Localisation Delivery: Body Extension Effect: Summon and Maintain a Construct Advanced Effect: N/A Special Effect: N/A Effect Duration: Toggle (or Until Mana Depletion) Cast Range (mm): 1mm Base, Variable Cast Time (Sec): Imagining Complexity Variable Cool Down (Sec): 0 Summon Mana Cost: 50 mana (per 600 sqmm) Maintaining Mana Cost: 1 mana (per 600 sqmm) Total Upgrades 0 / INF Upgrade Experience 0 / 3000 Upgrade: [Efficiency: Reduce Summon Cost]

[Efficiency: Reduce Maintenance Cost]

Carly moved to a few meters from the second Lachtressia Grub and activated [Melee]. Fortunately, with the guidance system what would have been impossibly hard, became moderately difficult. What Carly needed to do for this spell was to create an image to shape the raw mana into a manifest structure.

Without the guidance system in place, something that required this level of control over mana would take a long, long time to develop. Fortunately, for Carly, that was not the case right now. Closing her eyes and activating the skill, she tried picturing her mana forming a sharp blade. Guidance took over giving her an extension of mana beyond her fingertips. Looking at it, the magical guidance system created a short, thin mana blade which ran perpendicular to Carly's hand as she held it out straight. Changing to view the width of the summoned blade, it was only slightly wider than her fingers and about half her index finger length.

Carly tried closing her fist. She did so very slowly to see what would happen. The magical guidance system read her thought process and movement, adjusting the blade to track her closing fist and relocate always maintaining around 5-millimeters distance from skin contact to hover just off her middle fingers knuckle. Checking the mana decline in her pool, she could see it was using 1-mana per second to maintain the blade. When looking at the Lachtressia Grub's size, however, it seemed wholly unsatisfactory to try and cut apart this creature that was so many times larger than this tiny summoned blade.

The Grub had noticed Carly heading towards her while forming the mana blade, to give herself some extra time she casually walked away from it leaving her far beyond its reach. It was just so slow, lengthening its body and planting its stubby little legs on the ground. It seemed they just held it in position while its expanding and contracting of fleshy body propelled it. All that mattered really, was that it had no chance of catching Carly.

Refocusing upon the blade, she willed it to become longer. It increased mana usage 2, 3, 4, 5, yes that was becoming more like it. Increasing the mana used to 7-mana, she now had a blade that extended from her fist almost as long as her forearm and fist combined. It wasn't the tiny sized blade now, though looking at it sideways, it was just as thin as it was before, only longer. Looking at it from the sideways perspective, Carly brought the blade closer and closer. She could see tiny swirls and eddies within the bluish coloured blade forming intricate patterns that always seemed to allow the mana to flow in a guided path forward at both edges and returning inward through the center. The whole process was fascinating and hypnotic, Carly became lost in the flow for several seconds before shaking her head to break away from such mesmerising patterns. 'That was almost like going into a meditative trance,' she thought while still looking at the blade, though with less focused intensity, returning her awareness to her surrounding environment.

With the blade consuming 7-mana per second, Carly looked at her rapidly declining mana bar and numbers. She had 900 mana with a full mana pool. After using the minimum summon cost and having a blade the current length, Carly did some calculations and figured she had a bit over 2-minutes of use, not factoring in natural mana regeneration, which wouldn't amount to much under combat conditions anyway. That she didn't start with a full mana pool and was standing around wasting time gaining understanding about how this [Melee] spell worked, meant she currently had about 80-seconds remaining.

< You have performed the action [Numeracy] for sufficient time and proficiency. [Numeracy] is now available for activation in the [Personal Skill List] >

< You have performed the action [Mathematics] for sufficient time and proficiency. [Mathematics] is now available for activation in the [Personal Skill List] >

'Honestly, these skills popping up that are completely useless and irrelevant during this loop event are beginning to get annoying,' Carly thought.

Satisfied with the length of her mana blade she closed and sidestepped the Grub to slice across the top of its fleshy body just behind the carapace head. The results were completely disappointing as she received a combat notification of a mere 12 damage after minor slash resistance. Carly disengaged stepping back from it, not at all concerned despite that the creature was aggravated from the attack now, it could still only crawl slowly toward her.

Feeling along the blade edge gently she was disappointed, it was thin, however more thin like a butter knife rather than sharp like a butchers knife. With such an inefficient cutting edge she was not surprised regarding such pitiful damage. Moving back further to give herself more time she focused on the shaping once more pouring her desire for the edges to be astoundingly sharp. So sharp she envisioned cutting through the hard shell of the Lachtressia Grub's head with ease. "Cut the head, cut the head, cut the head," she repeated several times hoping the diacope aided the interpretation of the guidance system.

Holding out her left arm, she lowered the mana blade on the top of her forearm. Gradually Carly added pressure to check its sharpness. Her advanced word skills must have been successfully interpreted by the system as Carly was rewarded with a thin cut upon her flesh. It soon brightened with red while receiving a self-damage notification. By the time all this had transpired, Carly had a mere 260-mana remaining in reserve. Meaning, she had little time until the blade would run out of mana fuel.

Carly attacked, moving past the head once more, she was far less gentle this time, punching the blade into the grub until fist hit flesh, before pulling down and out. The wound was penetrating and decently long. The grub thrashed around bleeding and in pain from the attack. Unlike the slime who's biology was utterly alien, this creature was flesh and blood. She repeated the attack. The gaping cut became more and more severe as Carly received very high damage notifications along with the bleed effect numbers on the combat log. It didn't take long for the Lachtressia Grub to die.

Releasing the blade, Carly sat down and meditated to restore her mana to full. Once fully regenerated, Carly summoned the blade again before moving to the next grub. This time the blade was shortened to a 5-mana per second length. Improving her attack technique, Carly started on its far side and sawing deep along its entire body. It only took a few seconds to cut across its full width. Carly sprinted to the next grub, leaving the creature bleeding but not dead. She hoped the damage inflicted would be sufficient to kill the previous one through the bleed effect. Doing this, if it worked, would save precious time and allow Carly to kill more grubs on a single pool of mana. Of course, it didn't take long to gain another new skill.

< You have performed the action [Sprint] for sufficient time and proficiency. [Sprint] is now available for activation in the [Personal Skill List] >

While Carly was attacking the fifth mob the first one she attacked finally died. 'Good, the damage she was inflicting was sufficient that the grub can't recover,' Carly was delighted with the combat log death report. She didn't let the log report slow here down, aggressively sawing through her current grub target. Reaching the eighth Lachtressia Grub, her mana was too low for continuing to a ninth. Instead, taking a different approach to sawing, she attacked using multiple slices across the same spot along the grubs width just behind its carapace head. It turned out to be quicker and more effective than how she had been attacking with the sawing technique on these creatures. The results spoke for themselves, making both a deeper cut and taking just over half the time as previous. Being the last mob Carly could fight with her current mana pool, she kept slicing until the creature died nearly decapitated before sitting to meditate once again.

The improved technique for attacking meant that the next go round, Carly was able to kill eleven mobs before needing to stop and rest. Finally, Carly completed the first lap of the Lachtressia Grubs, at 47-minutes, 12-seconds the lap turned out to be incredibly slow. Adding on the three 180-minute purchases for the blue ball of energy, spell item she ate, and the two other spells she purchased. Plus the two regen potions she was forced to consume. Carly was getting worried this was all a big mistake. Reaffirming such by taking a look at her [Loop Data].

Loop Data [Lap] 11 [Boundary Start] 309:18 [Boundary Timer] 475:18 [Last Lap Time] 47:12 [Lap Position] 4,241 [Boundary Position] 11,717 [Remaining Competitors] 15,638

Her lap position was still reasonable despite the last lap taking so long. Her real worry was the massive expenditure she had just outlaid, giving the less than stellar results so far.

Not wanting to waste more time Carly continued to push on, her only real hope was she could last long enough to accumulate sufficient experience for the [Regen] and [Melee] spells to become more effective.

She completed the second lap; it was much improved over the first taking 22-minutes, 21-seconds. Carly was still running at a considerable deficit in time currency. These laps should be taking just 16-minutes to break even against the elimination boundary.

< You have performed the action [Mental Construct Imagery] for sufficient time and proficiency. [Mental Construct Imagery] is now available for activation in the [Personal Skill List] >

On lap-13, Carly received a skill notification she considered would be useful. Going into her [Personal Skill List] she took a look.

Personal Skill List:

All activated and available skills, both general and combat oriented.

[Customise] DP Activated Skills: Available Skills: [Evaluate] Understand the intrinsic value held within specific information. [10] [Jog] A movement with relatively low endurance expenditure. [5] [Mathematics] Perform basic arithmetic [5] [Mental Construct Imagery] Construct 3D simple structures with Mental Imagery [20] [Numeracy] Read and understand numbers and their metric value [5] [Plan] Deciding a course of action to achieve a goal before taking action [10] [Read] A skill of reading text [5] [Reading Comprehension] Processing text and understanding its meaning [5] [Sprint] A forward movement with relatively high endurance expenditure [5] [Stomp] Slam your foot down on a small or prone enemy to inflict damage [5]

With such a high cost it Carly assumed it implied it would be advantageous under present circumstances. It also implied a relationship between it and the [Melee] spell. The price though was a little daunting for Carly, 20-DP to merely activate the skill. It seemed like a substantial investment. Still, after another mana pool draining round of dead grub's, she decided to go with it, preparing to activate the skill.

To this point, Carly had accumulated a lot of DP, with a deep breath she decided to invest. Selecting [Mental Construct Imagery], Carly hovered over it waiting for a response from her mysterious 'maybe' benefactor, 'maybe' saboteur. After waiting for 20-seconds, no answer came, Carly proceeded with the skill activation anyway.

Mental Construct Imagery:

Reduces difficulty and enhances definition associated with creating a simple shape within the mind. Descriptors: Variables: Skill Type: Mental Sub Type: Imagery Activation: Passive Effect: Reduces the difficulty of creating and maintaining a shape by 20% Effect: Enhances the clarity of a simple shape by 10% Requirement - Control: 100 Requirement - Wisdom: 100 Experience: 0 / 8000 Upgrades: 0 / 80 Upgrades: [Effect: Reduce Difficulty]

[Effect: Enhance Clarity]

After regenerating her mana, Carly began the cycle once more, casting the [Melee] spell. Leveraging off [Mental Construct Imagery] working in collaboration with the [Melee] spell, creating the blade was most definitely easier. The focus required was less, and the shape of her constructs image became easier to define.

While the skill made it easier for Carly to shape the image, she also gained insight toward the process behind shaping mana. As understanding grew, the guidance system would reduce its aid in accord, keeping a balance the system deemed appropriate.

The skill and spells gained experience bit by bit, [Regen] accumulated a point of experience per second that Carly was in her meditative state. The [Melee] spell gained 100 experience per cast and 1-experience per 5-mana points expended. During lap-15, the fifth lap while killing Lachtressia Grub's turned out to be very rewarding. Both spells finally accumulated sufficient experience to be upgraded and Carly had plenty of DP gathered to do just that.

Carly spent the maximum upgrade amount, 5-DP on both spells.

For the [Regen] spell, Carly upgraded the [Increase Effect] option, raising it from 200% to 205% regeneration speed while in use.

For the [Melee] spell, Carly upgraded the [Maintain Summon], improving it from 1 mana cost per second for 600-square millimeters to 700-square millimeters. To Carly, this was a fantastic improvement. She summoned

the blade as it started draining the obligatory 1-mana to maintain.

Carly then began to lengthen it with greater mana expenditure. Stopping at 4-mana per second, admiring the result, the blade length was 18-centimeters, slightly shorter by 2-centimeters to the mana blade Carly used prior to the upgrade while saving 1-mana per second.

The conservation of mana allowed Carly to go from killing 11 to 13 of the grubs with a single pool of her mana. It may not seem like much but in a race to be the last person still traveling the loop ahead of the elimination boundary, and with time as currency, every second saved had value.

Currently, Carly was not feeling rich with time currency, just the opposite, with less than 448-minutes ahead of the elimination boundary. She was losing about 6-minutes every lap, not a situation she could be satisfied. She needed to find a way to extend her fighting time and reduce her downtime. Right now her Health and Endurance were in good shape, but that was now, she needed to look further ahead. From experience, she knew these creatures were going to get tougher. The bunnies and rats she was used to fighting in the loop, they always progressed in difficulty the more laps completed. Though this particular loop event had confused everything, Carly expected that each time the mob type changed the difficulty would increase.

Ross always told Carly, if you want to progress efficiently in an RPG, you needed a character or class that minimised downtime. It didn't mean they were better once they hit the level cap or the so-called endgame. It also didn't mean they were better in groups, not that Carly would know about that, she never played an RPG with anyone, always stuck in her TME alone. However, solo with a new character, less downtime pretty much always meant faster progression. Right now, she had way too much downtime with these Arcane spells. She had to do something about her mana obviously, but she didn't wish to neglect Endurance, Health nor Fatigue. Fatigue especially was beginning to accumulate, sprinting to each mob was starting to take a toll even with the easy kills and rest breaks every three minutes. With 441-minutes of currency, Carly felt as though she had extremely limited potential to solve this problem.

Firstly, she decided, she needed to boost her mana regeneration, but how? Carly currently had 51-DP unspent, so, she could drop them into her mana regen stat. Alternatively, she could get an enhancement spell that would boost regen. While progressing through lap-16, she was staring intensely at her mana bar and considering the two choices.

Mana Regeneration:

Mana Regeneration functions at 20% efficiency during combat, using the below formula.

Note: Other factors can affect this formula. Mana Regeneration (min) = (Potential Stat *0.5) + (Attunement Stat *0.02) + ((Control Stat + Focus Stat + Wisdom Stat) *0.01)

Well, how convenient, Carly couldn't believe it was so easy to discover such a valuable piece of information. The first thing she thought was how many of the MDP competitors had found this, she assumed all the beta testers would know this information was available. Probably many even knew the formula without having to buy the [Personal Status] upgrade. 'Total bullshit!'

With her current stats, Carly could regenerate 55-mana per minute while out of combat, and with the [Regen] spell that doubled, while in combat it was down at a depressing 11-mana per minute. If she dumped 50 points into her Potential Stat, that would go up a wapping 25-mana out of combat. It would shave off 2 minutes to refill her mana bar with [Regen] in use. Not bad! She would reduce her lap times to 18-minutes and some seconds roughly and be in deficit by 4-minutes less each lap that right now.

So what about those enhancements from the store, especially a customised one?