"Yes!" Liz jumped up with joy flinging the locket high in the air.

'Oops'

"So am I right in the assumption that you got something?" the locket grumbled after being caught by Liz.

Liz relayed the information.

"That is very intriguing indeed. Three classes and even a mage with a focus! Normally it would take until an evolution to bring a focus to emerge. I guess the high affinity had a part in that..." the locket observed, continuing to mumble to himself about being considered an experienced and wise mage scholar.

"Are there any downside to taking [Arcane Mage] compared to [Mage]?" Liz asked, having easily dismissed the [Mage Scholar].

"Not really. You will simply have a more direct connection to the arcane. All other magic forms still respond to you like if you have the mage class. But since you mostly only had dealt with arcane magic until you triggered your coming-of-age I would surmise that your type affinities for anything aside arcane is practically non-existent. So specializing early and selecting [Arcane Mage] only has benefits for you"

"Ok, then I will take the arcane mage"

-- You have adopted the class [Arcane Mage] : --

+5 Vitality; +4 Endurance; +2 Strength; +4 Dexterity

+5 Perception; +10 Wisdom; +10 Intelligence

Arcane magic uses less mana

Your understanding of magic deepens and your mana pool becomes accessible while fully conscious

+4 class skill slots

-- You have learned the active class skill [Arcane Blast]--

-- You have learned the passive class skill [Runic Intuition]--

Her status now looked like

Name: Elisabeth Larson

Class: Arcane Mage - lvl 1

Title: Wanderer

Status:

Health: 156/156

Stamina: 121/121

Mana: 368/368

Vitality: 13

Endurance: 11

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 13

Perception: 16

Wisdom: 23

Intelligence: 22

General skills:

Eastern Plains Common - lvl 8

English - lvl 7

Identify - lvl 2

Mathematics - lvl 1

Meditation - lvl 2

Pain Tolerance - lvl 4

Class skills:

Arcane Blast - lvl 1

Runic Intuition - lvl 1

-empty slot-

-empty slot-

Identifying her new skills brought her

Arcane Blast - lvl 1

Quickly expend mana in a directed blast of pure arcane energy. Damage scales with Intelligence. Resistance penetration and control increases with skill level

Runic Intuition - lvl 1

Your instincts guide you in reading, understanding and creating runic frameworks.

'Well that isn't helping a lot. Where is the manual? Runic Intuition sounds quite ominous. Does that mean I suddenly understand runes or will I just get a headache more quickly?'

After relaying the new details together with her question to Garuna, he in turn described what he knew about the skills.

"A Blast is a very common skill among mages. It can be most effectively used as an offensive maneuver. Though one using arcane magic is quite often more powerful and less likely to encounter a natural resistance, except in this region this might not hold true. Skills similar to Runic Intuition are normally only found in first evolution and therefore more specialized classes. I would attribute this early emergence to either your wanderer status or your high affinity, or both. Regarding the Runic Intuition I would suspect that you will still need to learn the basic runes themselves but the connections between them should come to you by instinct. I encourage you to experiment with it"

Eager to try her new skills Liz distanced herself from the wall she had studied, pointed her right arm towards a wall without enchantments and stopped.

"Ehmm, how do I do this now?" Liz asked sheepishly.

"You should be able to feel your mana pool now, even when not meditating. For a blast simply draw mana from there and think about directing it into your arm and out your hand!"

When Liz started feeling inwards, she indeed found the already familiar feeling of power. Drawing from it was also easier than she thought, causing her to draw an immense amount of mana into her arm. One second there was nothing and the next a purple ball erupted from her hand. Except that wasn't all.

Immediately, her entire arm erupted in excruciating pain. Along the inside of her arm the skin blistered and cracked, shining with purple light. This path of destruction extended over her shoulder, ending somewhere under her clothing.

Liz, in shock, just stared at her arm. Then the pain reached her brain and she doubled over.

"QUICKLY. Drink a healing potion!" Garuna urged, for once not his calm self.

Unable to consider anything else, Liz just followed the instruction and managed to use her left arm to pull herself towards her supplies. After a time that felt like ages to her, she reached the chaotic stack of loot and potions. Unable to really care for any of it, just wishing for relieve from the pain, she flung away anything blocking the potions. After another eternity of pain, she found one of the clear liquid vials and with great exertion managed to open the cork and gulp it down.

After half a minute the pain had lessened to a degree that allowed her to regain her senses.

'Holy hell, that was as painful as the fountain itself.'

"What. Was. That?" she rasped out, coughing up blood and healing potion.

"That is a problem" Garuna surprised Liz again by sounding truly desolate.

He kept silent afterwards. Liz used the ensuing peace to regain her composure. She inspected her surroundings and arm. The wall had a small crater where she had aimed. Her arm on the other hand had lightning like patterns of fresh scabs down the entire length, concentrated on her wrist and hand. Testing both she found that no permanent damage seemed to have occurred, despite the same wounds on Earth most likely requiring skin grafts if not amputation.

'Magic, especially healing magic is truly wonderful! Or destructive, in the case of whatever that was!'

After a few minutes in which Liz's heartbeat returned to normal and a few scoops of healing potion to her skin let the scabs vanish without a trace, she spoke up.

"But what exactly happened? I mean that probably shouldn't happen, right?" Liz finally asked, done waiting for the wordless locket.

"That is a good question! However, my theory is that your magic affinity has become a disadvantage. Your soul has access to incredible amounts of mana and is able to near instantly release the power. Your body on the other hand seems unwilling to bend to these forces. I would guess that you either only have very limited mana conduits if any at all, causing you to have no real control and damaging your body when forcing mana through it."

'What the hell are mana conduits? He never mentioned them before!'

"But isn't that to be expected? I mean you said I'm not the only one who has a high affinity" Liz responded, keeping her other question to herself, not willing to risk derailing the conversation.

"But you're the only one whose body has grown up in a completely mana-free environment." the pendant responded.

"So I am doomed to not be able to ever use magic, else I cripple myself, just because I grew up on Earth? So all our work in the last days was for nothing? What other classes might help me survive? Is a class change even possible?" Liz began to chatter in panic.

"Slow down, lass. A class change is possible, but I wouldn't go that far just yet. An affinity of 16 is too rare to just throw away." the locket tried to calm her.

"An affinity isn't going to do me any good, if I don't survive whatever monster surge happens here in the Summer or starve to death before" Liz shouted back.

"You don't need to worry. Your body should adapt to it over time. Mana conduits are usually fully developed by the age of adulthood. In your case however I would rather expect 7 years..."

"But I don't have 7 years. If you remember, my food runs out in less than 2 moons" Liz interrupted, still shouting.

"If you would let me finish... This isn't even truly necessary. The control for a simple Blast should even be possible after just a year. You are however correct, that we won't be able to wait the full 7 years nor the one year. So you should just force your body. If you simply cycle mana through your body parts, it should accelerate the development of mana conduits. It would however be painful to use these immature conduits. But the levels of Pain Tolerance from the training should make it acceptable. Maybe you even evolve the skill to ignore pain altogether!"

'That sounds just awful. I don't want any more of that pain, especially not constantly. Even the fountain was enough. This is a magical world. There should be something to help me!'

"Is there no artifact that can help me? Maybe develop the conduits painlessly?" Liz asked the locket, hope tinging her voice.

"An artifact wouldn't be able to interact properly with your body... however... yes, that could work...there may be an experimental solution!"

"Yes! What is it?" Liz shouted again, this time not in despair.

"You could infuse your body with a runic framework that could potentially do exactly that. However, it is highly experimental and Wulfram only ever tested it on Storm-mice. It would not be without pain either, placing the enchantment will certainly hurt."

"So you are suggesting a tattoo?" Liz asked, slumped from what Garuna had said.

"To some extent, yes. Should this not work, you should still be able to go the other route. Or change your class. Then however I won't be able to help you, as you wouldn't be able to fulfill your side of the bargain"

"So either I abandon magic to get out of here and lose your support in the process, inflict immeasurable pain repeatedly and cripple myself or get an enchantment and endure pain once?" Liz asked.

"Mostly, yes!"

'The only real choice is the enchantment. I won't subject myself to more of this pain willingly. If it is only just once, maybe, but constantly? No, definitely not. And losing the locket, as difficult to deal with as he may be, would be devastating. I don't know jack shit about this world...Ahh, there goes my promise to never get a tattoo...'

"Then I will go with the experimental enchantment, and if it doesn't work out we will discuss this again" Liz said, sitting up from her slumped crouch on the ground.

"How are we doing this then? Must I ink myself? Is there even a needle and ink here?" Liz asked.

"We will not need any needle. The enchantment should be done with Quicksilver and will be drawn on the skin."

"You want me to smear mercury on myself? Are you out of your mind?" Liz shouted.

"No, not mercury. Quicksilver. Quicksilver is one of the best mana conductors. Some kingdoms can't afford to possess more than a few grams of it. So you see, what I'm suggesting is 'smearing' one of the most valuable materials known to man on yourself! One could indeed say I'm out of my mind for wasting material like this" the locket practically spat out.

"Ok, I get it. I'm stupid. But if Quicksilver is so expensive, where would I even get it?" Liz placated the locket.

"This fort was used to annually collect the abandoned shells of snails in the valley. These shells contained minuscule amounts of the metal and still they are the best source of the material and the biggest reason this fort was so profitable. Since they were processed here and my new body was made using Quicksilver, there should be some in the workshop. But it is possible that you will need to go out and find some more shells"

"Into the monster filled valley without a means to defend myself? That is suicide!" Liz exclaimed.

"I would recommend trying yourself at repairing a few weapons first. There should be some enchanted arrows in the workshop, so if you're able to acquire a bow, you would have a formidable ranged weapon. But before you do any of this, you should see how much Quicksilver is left!"

"I will see what is possible" Liz replied.

Having decided on a course of action, Liz started looking for the Quicksilver in the workshop. What she found was a small vial near the unfinished bone-golem. The vial was only half-full. Garuna concluded that they would need at least three times the present amount. And so Liz spent until the early evening looking for more Quicksilver. She looked in the suite, the workshop, multiple ruins on the forts grounds and even crawled through sections of the other towers rubble. In the end she found no more, making a trip into the valley necessary.

Spent from her earlier failed try at using magic and crawling through rubble, Liz went to bed early. Lying in bed, she was undecided how to judge the day. For one she was happy that she got a supposedly rare class but also crestfallen when thinking about her failure and the upcoming trip into the valley.

That night her dreams were a nightmare of purple lightning, silver snails and unimaginable pain.

Drivas opened the tent flap and stepped down from the carriage. Despite the hunger and sleep deprivation gnawing at him, he had patrol duty this night. But right now, he still had some time until his shift in the makeshift guard squadron began, so he breathed in the fresh air and took in the bustling of the refugee caravan setting up camp.

They were a truly sorry bunch. Despite all their priests trying to keep the monsters at bay, they still had lost three more of their number this morning. How much were lost when he was asleep, Drivas didn't know and also didn't want to know, but his wants were no good in this situation.

And now when night came and the priests were all exhausted, some probably already passed out from overexertion, it would only get more dire.

He moved through the dense arrangement of tents and carriages and greeted all the familiar faces along the way. Just by seeing who looked especially somber, he could already guess where the newest losses had occurred.

He stopped in front of one of the biggest and outermost carriages. Out here nearly all had reinforced wooden sides, not that it really helped against the serpent-like beasts that inhabited the underbrush in their current location.

Drivas knocked on the door, the voices he heard from inside stopping when he did. A small hatch in the door opened and a voice demanded "Blood!"

Drivas reached inside the hatch and felt and saw a small needle poking in his finger. After three drops of his blood fell in a bowl he withdrew his hand. After several seconds in which a mana crystal was placed in his blood and nothing happened, the door opened fully and before he could enter, a big burly man stepped through the door. While the big figure struggled to get his wide antlers through the small doorframe, the voices behind him resumed.

"Hey, Drivas! Good to see you! Good luck tonight, I won't be coming along. I have priest duty" the giant rumbled, while clapping the much smaller Drivas on the back, causing him to stumble.

"Good to see you too, Alindris! Be careful to not anger any of them with your heresy!" Drivas replied while stepping through the door. Behind the door was the voice that had demanded his blood earlier, it was a small hunched-over man with a crooked nose and eyes which despite his old age still scrutinized Drivas with a clear focus.

"Is this really still necessary? We haven't encountered a Doppelgänger since our third day!" Drivas spoke to the figure while pointing at the bowl filled with blood and mana crystals.

"It doesn't matter when we encounter them! The last one cost us thirty of our own! So let those older and wiser than you do their job and you do yours!" the elder replied while baring his tusks.

With a shrug Drivas continued his way into the wagon of the guards.

"....the scouts reported even more amounts of monster to the west. And with the Empire's troops closing in on us, we have no other way than to go into the mountains, else we will only lose more of our own! Good to see you, Drivas!" a hoarse voice, Elder Indras, spoke while Drivas entered.

After all present mumbled their respective greetings, another voice spoke up. "But haven't our seers sensed a great mana surge in this direction? We can't seriously enter the mountains during a monster surge!" it exclaimed.

"Neither can we stay here with the serpents. In the south and west only sure death or slavery await our own. In the east the kin of old will certainly drive us away, not without losses for sure! So the mountains in the north are the only ones still holding hope for our clans!" the elder retorted.

"And me and the other elders have already decided on this. So this isn't a discussion, I was simply informing you early before we announce it tomorrow!" he continued, while rubbing his cracked horns.

His statement caused the assembled kin to erupt in murmured discussion.

"We will change our course in the morning! With that I will take my leave! Good luck and may Dunas be with you tonight" the elder stood up and left the carriage.

The murmuring continued until the another voice spoke up and assembled them in teams of three to patrol around the camp and regularly set distractions, away from the caravan. A direct fight with the monsters or directing them to the camp was to be avoided at any cost.

Drivas was assigned to scout from the roof of one of the carriages. His keen eyesight helped him identify intruders nearing their camp. He only had to send out the two boar-kin assigned to him twice that night. By the sounds he heard, other sections of the camp weren't so lucky.

He saw the healers already up and rushing through between the tents and wagons, when the sun had barely crested the horizon. The gatherers were also starting their foraging when his shift finally ended and he was able to get some of the stew from the day before. While eating he heard the reports of the other groups. They surprisingly had no losses that night and even fought off two of the serpents, despite all of them having only makeshift weapons and no true combat oriented classes in their whole camp.

In the early hours of noon, Drivas went to sleep. While he slept, the elders proclaimed their new course and the caravan set out for the nearest mountain pass.