Kyros had just arrived back to his room, and the first thing he did was to lock his door. He then ran over to sit on his bed and hurriedly pulled out the fireball scroll from under his pillow. Opening it up, he read over the parts that didn’t make sense.

So I now know what it means when it says to transmute… but how do I change the World’s Presence into a ball of fire?

‘Fire is the result of a chemical reaction, called combustion. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are produced. Flames consist primarily of carbon dioxide, water vapour, oxygen and nitrogen…’

The scroll went into a very in-depth and complicated explanation of many things that had to relate to the Fireball spell.

Whoa… this is… intense.

Kyros rubbed his eyes as he tried to make sense of what he read. He had actually been very smart in academics in his previous life, however due to reasons he ended up secluding himself in his room playing games. So although he was very smart, his brain was still rusty in regards to these things.

He studied for a few hours, totally forgetting about sleep. It had been worth it though, because he eventually made sense of a part of it.

I see! So that’s what it means when it says that. So if I were to … and do …

Kyros started to do some practise experiments in his head, and when he figured it out…

Improved knowledge. +1 Intelligence

Ah so it works like that. Wait, did this scroll just get easier to read? I wonder. Unfortunately, it’s late, and I better get to sleep and figure this out tomorrow.

Kyros was on his way to go train with James, however he really wasn’t looking forward to it. It turned out he had stayed up way to late last night, studying the scroll. He woke up resembling something closer to a zombie than that of a person. He had a very strenuous day yesterday, with being beaten by James and all, so he had really needed sleep.

It wasn’t all bad though, he made good gains with his mining today. He was now level 9 intermediate mining, only 2 levels away from the next rank. Also he levelled his overall level, now being level 24, however he hadn’t spent the 5 status points yet, he had a plan with those.

Kyros saw James leaning against the cave wall, waiting.

“You’re late, anyone would think you weren’t excited to get your beating hahahaha” James stood with sheathe in hand. Kyros grimaced at that comment.

“Of course not, how could I not be excited. I'm just a bit tired, had little sleep is all." Kyros replied sarcastically.

“Ah well that wasn’t smart. Lucky I’m here to wake you up.” James started his practise swings already.

This sadistic bastard, he’s totally enjoying this.

What Kyros didn’t know was that this was the first thing all new students learned from their master. James had only been 8 when he had started the training, it was true agony. James was having fun being on the other side of the sheathe now, all masters did. Finally able to dish out the pain, instead of receiving it.

“Actually, I’m not feeling to well ahaha… I think I might sit this one out.” Kyros scratched his head and said sheepishly. James however had gone into instructing mode, no longer his smiling or laughing self. Kyros noticed a flicker in James’s eyes.

Ah it was worth a shot…

-5hp

And so a repeat of yesterdays events continued until James would suddenly stop and return to his normal self.

“Well, that should be enough for today. I don’t want to be late for work hahaha” James laughed as he started to get ready for his duty.

Kyros however was currently laying on the ground, blood dripping all over him. His perseverance stat was now 6 and it did help with the pain, but only at small degrees with each stat point. He did feel he was getting used to being hit, however he still couldn’t stop himself from closing his eyes whenever he got hit. It was a natural instinct to do so, to try and stop it was going to take a lot of work. James had said that the passing grade was when Kyros could do so.

“Okay lad, I have to get to work. Say hey to the healer for me. Remember, same time tomorrow… I can’t wait already hahaha” James ran off laughing.

I better make sure I never make an enemy out of James…

Kyros was now standing out front of his masters door, waiting to be let in. The door opened revealing his masters frowning face.

“I swear Kyros, you better be practising your meditation more so than this fighting business.” His master said.

“I am master, I think I’m starting to build a good foundation of World’s Presence.” Kyros wasn’t lying, he now had 24 wisdom which equated to 240 mana. How much 240 mana is compared to this worlds standards, he didn’t know.

“Haha is that right… Well, let’s get you healed up and then we can test how much progress you’ve made.” His master was now noticeably happier since he heard his student was practising diligently.

“Wait, you can test that? I thought you said you didn’t have the equipment.” Kyros was excited at the prospect of having his affinities tested.

“Affinity testing and testing for World’s Presence are two different things Kyros, and why would I need affinity testing equipment when I already know my affinities.” His master explained.

“But then why didn’t you test me for my magical powers in the beginning?”

“What use would that do? You’re not born with World’s Presence inside you, you have to absorb it. Now let me heal you.”

Kyros however was born with World’s Presence inside of him, otherwise known as his mana stat. Only a few species are born with World’s Presence inside of them, giving them an advantage in magic. Not even Elves are born with World’s Presence inside of them, thus why his master made his assumption. Elves were known to be one of the best with magic, but actually they held no innate advantage over other species apart from having stronger affinities to their element. The reason Elves seemed to be so advanced with magic was because they held near immortal lives, thus giving them plenty of time to meditate and study.

Kyros decided not to mention about being born with the World’s Presence inside of him. Sometimes knowledge could be a deadly thing, and although Kyros trusted his master there were still too many things that could go wrong.

While Kyros pondered on this, he had walked into his masters chamber and sat down while his master healed him. After that feeling of bliss left, Kyros noticed how weak his master now looked. He had drops of sweat running down his forehead and he was breathing raggedly. His master tried to take a step but his leg didn’t have the strength and he dropped onto his knee.

“Master! Are you alright?” Kyros stepped up and supported his master.

“Ahh I’m quite alright. Take note, this is what happens if you drain your World’s Presence to its empty point. This happened because I was doing a few experiments earlier today and already drained quite a bit.” His master even in this pitiful state was still lecturing.

“But wait, didn’t you say you’re not born with World’s Presence. So why would it effect you to this state from simply draining it?”

“Fine question. Remember Kyros, as soon as you gain your first essence of World’s Presence it becomes ingrained into your very being. It becomes just as vital as your stamina. This is why we must meditate, to give us more energy to not run out.” His master answered.

Kyros stared at his master fondly, as his master was meditating to help himself recover some World’s Presence.

He clearly didn’t have to heal me to full health, he could’ve left himself some World’s Presence so he didn’t get in this state. Yet, he still chose to do it…

Kyros had grown to think of his old master as a grandfather type figure. Although they hadn’t even known each that long, deep bonds are formed quickly when in a master and student relationship. The old master had even gone the extra mile to make sure Kyros hadn’t felt any reoccurring pain from his wounds, at the expense of himself.

“Alright, well that was rather embarrassing of me. Let’s get to testing how much World’s Presence you’ve managed to collect.” His master seemed to have regained some of his strength as he got up to go fetch the equipment.

His master came back carrying a small glass orb. It had a small amount of a dirty white coloured mist rolling through it.

“Here it is. We call it a mages orb.” His master announced.

“So how does it work master?” Kyros was intrigued.

“Simple, it measures how much World’s Presence is inside you and reflects it by showing it with the colour and amount of mist. Now take it.” His master handed it to Kyros. As soon as it left his masters hands and fell into Kyros’s hands it changed from the small white mist into a slight larger amount of a very smokey grey.

“No way.” His master said with a look of disbelief on his face.

“What is it master?”

“I knew you were talented with how fast you sensed it, but this is something else. You really are too talented to learn under me Kyros.” His master said with a hint of sadness or self-pity in his voice, Kyros couldn’t quite make it out.

“Don’t say that master. I’d never have even gotten this far without you teaching me.” Kyros truly did feel gratitude to his old master.

“Haha kid, no need to try and console me. I’m just upset at how talentless I am, but you are what every master wants. A talented disciple to take my knowledge and improve on it.” His master smiled fondly at Kyros.

“I’ll try master, but I feel it may be tough to get your level of knowledge.”

“Talented and humble, truly I am lucky to have you as a student.”

“But master, how much World’s Presence is this? I don’t understand how this works.” Kyros asked, since he had no clue what the colours or amounts signify.

“Haha it takes a while to get used to how this works. Basically the colour signifies what class magician you are, and the size shows how far into the class you are. Once the mist fully fills the orb, it’ll then change into a slightly purer colour but return back to a small amount. By your colour, you already have the necessary amount of World’s Presence to go for the class 1 exam.” His master explained.

“Wait, than is this a lot?” Kyros asked.

“Is that a lot? Seriously kid, if only I had your talent. It took me around 1 year studying under my master until I was around a similar level.”

“1 year…” Kyros couldn’t believe how fast he had progressed in terms of ability. It had to be known though, that Kyros was born with 100 mana and had only risen it by 140 points in 8 days of training. So really, 1 week of training was roughly 8 months of training for his master.

“Don’t get cocky though, every class takes much more World’s Presence to achieve than the last did. I might only be a class 6 mage but even if there were 50 of you, than just maybe could your combined World’s Presence equate to mine.” His master was looking very smug, something he's quite known for when talking about magic.

“50…” Kyros was now astonished.

Wait 50 of me, I have 20 wisdom stat points, than… does that mean master would have a wisdom stat of 1000? No way right? that’s ridiculous… he has to be exaggerating.

Kyros was quite sceptical of that comment, because in no game he ever played did someone have a stat of over a 1000. It was just unheard of. Also looking at his master, his level was only 47, so there was no way for that to be correct.

“Don’t be surprised with just that though, I’m not even worth a hair to some of the old hermits out there. Some of those freaks use a different sort of mages orb, supposedly even a class 10 mage barely registers on it. At their level, they are no longer given classes but have their own unique titles. That’s how fearsome they are… An example of one is the queen of your people child, she has been alive for a long time, and they say her magic is at a terrifying level. Supposedly she was born with World’s Presence already inside her.”

Kyros had returned to his room shortly after that, still trying to figure out all the new information he just found out. Especially the part about the Elf Queen, he had to meet her because he now suspected her of being a high elf. While he was sorting out the information, he saw a bit of the scroll sticking out from underneath his pillow, jolting him into remembering what he had planned.

Oh yeah that’s right…

Kyros pulled it out and studied it again, and as he thought there were still a few parts he couldn’t make out. He now opened his status screen.

Status Screen

Name:

Kyros

Level:

24

Race:

High Elf

Mana:

240/240

Health:

540/540

Stamina

500/500

Titles:

Gold Class Slave

Stats

Strength:

63

Intelligence:

11

Agility:

49

Wisdom:

24

Vitality:

54

Dexterity:

10

Stamina:

50

Luck:

10

Perseverance:

6

Alright, my intelligence is currently 11. Now let’s see what happens when I put those 5 status points I got today into it.

Stats

Strength:

63

Intelligence:

16

Agility:

49

Wisdom:

24

Vitality:

54

Dexterity:

10

Stamina:

50

Luck:

10

Perseverance:

6

Kyros now tried studying the scroll again.

Huh, this part makes so much more sense now. And this part, If I were to do this... and then that… Ah so that’s how it works! It makes so much more sense

Improved knowledge. +1 Intelligence

New Skill Acquired - Fireball

Skill Name:

Skill Rank:

Skill Level:

Skill Experience:

Fireball

Class 1

1

0%

Shoots a ball of fire. Standard temperature is 450 Celsius.

-50 mana per cast.

At the cost of more mana, flame size and temperature can be increased.

Yes!! I finally did it! Let’s try it out.

Kyros had finally figured out this scroll, if his master had known how quickly Kyros had figured it out, he would’ve probably gone crazy from jealousy. Although it’s not like Kyros was amazing smart, yes he was smarter than most but it would have taken him a lot longer to figure the scroll out without his cheat like ability.

Kyros held his hand up towards the wall, striking the pose of a jedi using the force. He used his new skill without needing to say a chant or anything, however it did take some time while he transmuted his World’s Presence into a fireball; about 15-20 seconds. What shot out wasn’t a small ball of fire but a giant fireball of about half a metre in diameter, capable of doing serious damage or even killing a person.

The ball shot through the small space of his room instantly and slammed against the cave wall, making massive shockwaves throughout the cave. A massive heatwave slammed through the room and into Kyros, making him sweat almost instantly. The part of the wall which had received Kyros’s vicious attack was now charred black, differing to the natural earthy colours of the rest of the wall.

Kyros could hear the slaves in the other chambers start to cry out in alarm, some even screaming that it was an earthquake.

Okay, not a good skill to use underground… It’s powerful though. It’s only a class 1 spell as well, I wonder what stronger spells look like as well. I also received some experience towards the skill, which means it can level up. I wonder how that works.

Deep down underground in that chamber with no doors, stood a figure in the dark.

“So the little high born has only just learned magic, he must be recently born… How fascinating.” That feminine voice spoke to itself.