Month Broliy/ day 8/ Year 3200

Markus Age 8

Lv10 1,100xp to next

HP 300/300 +29HPM

MP 150/150 +34.8 (35.8) MPM

SP 250/250 +34.8SPM

Constitution 30

Endurance 15(25)

Perception 15

Strength 35

Dexterity 15

Insight 30

Willpower 15

Charisma 15

Luck 15

Divinity 16

Class

Farmer lv2 0 of 20 to next

1 star

+5Endurance per lv

Skills

Growth lv4 Grow 8 plants to maturity to next level

Passive

Utility Plants require (1/100th) normal growing time = Endurance (25) x Skill lv (4)

Hidden effect

Divine Influence

Description – Adds a bonus effect through divine power. This can cause plants to gain intelligence and seek to devour their creator. Warning grow things at your own risk.

Increased Lifespan (x16) = Divine (16) x skill lv

Harvest lv1 pick 1 plant next lv

Description – Gather the bounty you have planted with greater fortune increases the odds of a plant growing more than originally able.

Active

Cost 60SPM

Utility Increased bounty +25% =% Endurance (25) x Luck (15) x skill lv (1)

Class slot 2 open

Types

Light 1 0/15 small white crystals

Dark 1 0/15 small black crystals

Psychic 1 0/15 small purple crystals

skills

Archery lv5 Damage to next lv 3200

Phys DPS (2625) = STR (35) x DEX (15) x skill lv (5)

Till lv11 10kilometers to next lv

Utility phys DPS (9k) = END (25) x STR (35) x skill lv 11

Orb lv5 8min to next lv

L orb DPS (75) = WIL (15) x Light (1) x skill lv (5)

Cost 5MPS

Mana Manipulation lv1 create one pure mana skill to next

passive

MAG DPS (30) = (INS (30) x skill lv (1)

MPRM (+3%) = ((INS (30) x skill lv (1))/10

Telekinesis lv3 lift 400objects next level

Phys DPS (1.575k) = STR (35) x Wil (15) Psychic (1) x skill lv (3)

Cost 5MPS

Light Shot lv9 25,600DPS to next lv

Light DPS (14.85k) = (Telekinesis (1.575k) + L orb (75)) x 9

Cost 10MPS

Warm Body lv1 endure cold damage for 3hours to next

Cold RPS (30) = CON (30) x skill lv (1)

Today was the day I would finally earn the earth armor skill. This would be my first step in becoming defensively sound and I might even get the earth element in the process. Adding another element type to my arsenal wasn’t a bad thing. If I could find a way to snag ice that would boost my cold RPS to a new level. Right now, I could resist 30 in cold damage every second. I was thinking about snagging a night fairy, just one and force it to bite me all day. They do about 25 cold DPS each so one wouldn’t do enough to kill me no matter how long it bit me.

I’ve been thinking a lot about resistances. Ever since I started growing monsters that I always put down later, I’ve started looking into gaining some defense. I’m not talking about type resistance. That is more about ignoring damage rather than tanking it. Standing in my plot on the farmland I’m busily feeding my mana into the dirt waiting for something to burst from the ground and try to eat me. Nothing’s happening yet.

That hasn’t happened before. Every time I grow something, it always comes up and goes on the attack. Normally, I blast it with light until it either stops moving or turns to ash. Pa says its good for the soil to have so many monsters return to it. He takes some the other day and grew several high-quality squashes. They took less than a day to grow and look perfect. Not a hint of monster in them at all.

Small sprouts of green begin to rise from the ground. I get back while I can. But nothing violent happens, it doesn’t suddenly go on the offensive, it just stays there.

Markus’s Divine Broccoli lv3

HP 600/600

MP 75/75

SP 7.5/7.5

Perks

Divine Earth – This monster can eventually learn earth god type classes.

Divine soil – Though the deaths of many divine beings this soil has been increased to divine grade. +50% HP/MP/SP to plants grown in this soil.

Docile – This monster has no desire to eat living creatures to gain strength.

I knew right away that this one was a keeper. But I probably couldn’t grow that many of them. It had already began spreading. The underground river will probably be used next to increase the monster’s maturation. Killing it would only earn me about 30xp nothing in the long run.

Now that I really looked at my plot, I realized something. An orchard might be a better plan than a rotating field. If I can give a tree my divine status and get it to grow year-round that could make some profit.

While my latest crop was growing, I couldn’t just kill it and waste the docile perk. I grew another 8 of the same crops with it. Hopefully, it would give me a better turn out. I had some time before Thad or Toomas came to teach me.

Mana manipulation was a skill I earned a few days ago. While I was waiting I sat back against a stump that escaped my destruction and thought about what I would do with it. I read that when mana is dense enough or enough of it is concentrated it can have a liquid characteristic. When liquid mana is condensed further it becomes clay like. There was something in that between clay and liquid that I could use. I’ve been thinking about using it like string.

For what I really want there is someone I needed to interrogate. There was still time to visit her and no one would have time to teach me until midday. The bog wasn’t that far away and there was a road.

I stared at the road leaving the farm. The same one that Toomas took to visit her. The forest between is dangerous and full of monsters of varying power. The strongest around by far is stan a lv 5000 chimera stronger than anything in this side of the valley. Pa is lv5400 and they both have classes that boost their stats by a high margin. Basically, my likelihood of escaping and visiting my brother’s girlfriend was zero percent.

“Hey Markus, want to come with me to visit Midra. Pa told me to teach you earth armor because I’ve been good at teaching you so far. I guess Pa is tired of having to repeat himself over and over.” I gave him a half-hearted glare. This was exactly what I needed. “Hey, you can just stay here, and I can leave you a note explaining how to use the skill, or we can go together. I’m sure Midra would give you one of her underlings as a pet. She’s been complaining about having too many recently.”

“Let’s go, I wanted to ask your girlfriend for some tips anyway.” I said. Toomas cracked a smiled and slung his bow over his shoulder.

“Get your bow our and string it. Better be ready for anything in the forest. A child at your level will agro the whole forest.” I wanted to tell him I wasn’t a child, but he had a point. With one of my brothers with me I had nothing to fear in the woods.

Toomas sat at a comfortable lv345 his dexterity was nearly 2000. Bonuses from skills, classes, and consumables have increased his dexterity to shocking levels. His archery skill alone was 25, his sniper skill was 40, and his barrage skill was 20 all three could be used in a single attack. All of them relied on dexterity and built off one another. His strength was a shocking 800 still excellent for his lv. A single arrow from my brother’s bow deals 40m damage. If you added his sniper skill which negates a targets defense by at least 40m and barrage which allows a user to fire 400arrows a minute, then you see what my brother can really do. Those are only the skills I know about. When you add in my brothers bow, the quality of his arrows, and his qi abilities well I would multiply ever one of his arrow’s damage by 10x at least.

My brother was good at what he did. He was an elite sniper and archer. Against opponents that are far away, he has nothing to fear. He can glass them with his arrows. No what made my brother the best was his hand to hand skills. He was a qi user after all. In the right light his aura was visible even when he tried to keep it suppressed.

“Markus, I was thinking about teaching you how to use qi while we’re out here. Would you be interested in learning it? I’ll only teach you if you can raise earth armor to lv5 before we reach Midra’s territory.” I nodded but, on the inside, I wasn’t sure. Earth armor was a new skill one I didn’t have yet. I’ve never worked with the earth unless you count tilling. My face must have been obvious. “I’ve seen that look before. I’ve worn it several times. Don’t worry about failing, just focus on one skill at a time and try to get the most you can out of them.”

“I’ve never used earth before I can barely use the types I have now.” I said letting out some of my insecurities. I was about to start spilling my guts when he gave me a nod.

“Yea, my first type was earth and I haven’t gotten another one since. It must be difficult having so many choices to when others have to specialize in what they have.” My shoulders slumped I began feeling like the worst. “I’m joking, you can’t pick your lot in life and trust me, I would rather be a sniper close range mix than a spell flinging softy. Now earth armor, you don’t have the type because you haven’t finished the farmer class. That can be fixed by finishing the class. But I can teach you a lesser version of the skill. It’s more mana costly but it’ll help you in the long run. Most call it mana armor. How you use it is simple. You take mana and stick it to your body like armored plates. Then you have someone poke at you with a stick and adapt the armor as you go. Same with most defense skills. This one is just all mana.” That was the vaguest form of instruction I’ve ever gotten. Pa’s grunts are more descriptive then that. I looked up for more guidance. But Toomas smiled like he had just given the best instructions ever. “Well get too it just grab a stick or something and hit yourself until you can’t feel it.”

Well, I had mana manipulation and it requires more pure mana skills to increase. But what he described was really complicated. I took a deep breath and remembered something from a math book Ma had us study. When something seems complicated divide it into steps. Armor was just a bunch of solid shapes strapped to the body to protect it from damage. Not exactly right but I’ve had all the guidance I’m likely to get.

I picked up two rocks, they looked basically the same. Using one I concentrated on my mana and formed a bubble. A blue gas like cloud expanded from my body and formed around the rock. I forced it to shrink and thicken. Then taking the other rock I slammed it against the first one. I tore a hole in the first cloud of mana and it dispersed in the air. Just like that, I was out 30MP.

New skill

Mana Shield lv1 tank 100DPS to next lv

Active

Description – Using your mana manipulation you have begun the long journey of becoming a buffer. Knight’s pay out the nose to afford a powerful buffing mage. Adventuring parties will adore you and other mages will want to be you.

Defense (930) = CON (30) x INS (30) x skill lv (1) + Mana manipulation (30)

Cost 10MPS

Class unlock at lv 10 tank mage

Apparently, mana manipulation worked on all pure mana skills. That was impressive and probably the reason why shielding was so expensive. To hold the shield always I needed 600MPM or a ton of perks. When I used it next the defense rating on the rock was 930, improvement. The mana wasn’t quite as cloud like it was more flowing.

I tossed the rock in the air and blasted it with a L shot. A highly condensed orb of light smashed into the rock and obliterated it.

Mana Shield lv up x1

I picked up another rock and applied mana shield to it. This time the defense of the shield was 1,860. Tossing it up I blasted it again.

Mana Shield lv up x1

We were in a field about half an hour our from the bog. Spiders were everywhere, and I couldn’t quite focus on them when I finally found a way to gain defense. 2,790 defense, was nothing to sneeze at in my humble eight year old opinion. The fact that I was slowly wearing down the amount of DPS my light shot needed to get to the next level may have had something to do with it.

“I’ll leave you here for now, come on into the next if you want to talk or just run out of mana. Midna’s spiders will keep you safe from wondering monsters.” Toomas said. I looked to my left to see a massive spider larger than I was. Its armored carapace looked sturdy. It chittered to the equally large and deadly looking spiders around it. Venom dripped from its fangs and melted the grass below.

I tossed two rocks in the air and blasted them with two L shots for double the score. The stunt cost me 40MP and would take a full minute to recover. But I was getting closer to what I needed. My shield wasn’t so cloudy anymore. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was getting there.

Mana Shield lv up x1

I tossed another two and destroyed them earning my fourth level up. Now I needed to tank 1600DPS to get to the next level. It was only getting harder from here. The spiders paced about as I worked two hours pass and my level is 7 my total defense is only 8,100 with mana manipulation. Now mana manipulation requires double the skills to reach its next level.

I wait five minutes to let my mana recover fully. I toss five shielded stones up and blast each one with L shot. They are dusted, and I get another pop up. A limb crashes and I turn at the sound. The massive spiders around me are already moving from their posts preparing for an attack. I’m down to 50MP and I’m recovering slowly. I prepare to shield myself and raise my bow. Arrow knocked I prepare for whatever is coming this way.

More crashes, whatever is heading this way is large and there is a lot of them. Ten more massive spiders with dark elf riders creep from the nest. They are mounted on the massive arachnids’, spears in hand ready to kill. They take one took at me and turn their heads ignoring me.

“Human are you really the other human’s kin? Why would a youngling be so far from home?” One of the dark elves asked.

“He promised to teach me some defensive skills.” I said lamely.

“We are at war with the orc tribe. I hope you are as great a fighter as him.” The elf woman says. I prepare for a battle I’m unprepared for. But there is also a chance I’ll get a lv in light shot and snag a new class. That does change the situation.

Warg riders burst through the clearing. Their clubs smash into the nearest spider splattering its brains, it crumples down in a heap. The nearest dark elf stabs her spear into the warrior and I fire my arrow into the a warg’s eye.

I string another arrow as I was trained and shoot at one as it breaks the tree line. The arrow bounces off it armor. My hand flies up and I launch all 5 of my remaining L shots. Five white orbs smash into the rider before exploding. I see the earth armor covering the orc begin to flake away as the light eats away at his defense.

My heart is beating a mile a minute. One of the elves stabs through the remainder of the armor and rips through the warg rider’s chest. The warg snaps its jaws around the giant spider mount’s head and tears it away. More wargs are appearing with orcs riding them. All of them are lv50 and above. I couldn’t even break one of the lv 20 warg rider’s shields.

Toomas stepped through the clearing from behind me. He placed hand on my shoulder then raised his bow. His hands moved like lightning. Arrows flew so quickly they created booms. When one hit a warg rider, the rider’s body seemed to disintegrate. In less than ten seconds the orc raiding party was no more. Only broken bodies and half melted orcs remained. Toomas calmly walked up and started retrieving his arrows.

Enemies defeated Warg lv40

Warg(40) x lv30 = 1,200xp

Lv up

Markus lv11 1,100 next

+5stat points

Light shot lv up x1

Light Shot lv10 51,200DPS to next

Class unlocked Light Mage

Archery lv up

Archery Lv6

I had 30 class points from my skills. Light Mage was a 2star skill, so it took 20class points to unlock and 10 to level up. I purchased it immediately

Light Mage lv1 0/10 to next

Star x 2

Willpower 10 x class lv

Description – A powerful wielder of light magic. This user will learn every foundation skill in the light magic type. Higher forms of this mortal class are Light Battle Mage, Light Sage, Star Light, and Light Seeker.

New skill

Light Seed lv3 Learn 3 light skills to next

Description – a seed from the eternal light tree has taken root within you. Despite your inability to learn light or dark god classes the mortal, knight, and hero classes are available to you. With this seed your journey into light magic has truly begun. It shall sprout and become the power behind your light.

Passive

MPRM when using light skills (+75) = Willpower (25) x skill lv (3) x light (1)

Hidden ability

Description – Due to the divine nature of your power the the farmer growth ability a new passive ability has been obtained.

Defense when using Light shield skills (2,250) = WIL (25) x CON (30) x skill lv (3) x light (1)

That was perhaps the best class for me. My mana pool alone nearly doubled, and I had enough to lv up in the class and gain another skill. This time something with teeth. As I was dealing with my screens Toomas picked me up and dragged me into the nest.

“I know you probably have more skills now or stats than you thought possible. I’ve been there. But your life is in danger so wake the fuck up. The orc warband a few kilometers away has more raiders than its had in a century. We were just hit by a wing of the invasion force. The real threat is heading for the goblin tribe west of here and the skeleton dungeon even farther west. I’m going to take care of it. You stay with Midra while I take care of business.” Toomas said and threw me in the arms of a dark elf.

“I want to go with you I’m stronger now, I can help.” He looked at me like I had said the stupidest thing ever. Then shook his head. “Knock him out and make sure he doesn’t follow me.” The dark elf didn’t waste any time. An orb of darkness fell on us and then I looked into a large purple eye.

I was out like a candle seconds later. As I came to I was laying in a web of black silk. I looked over to see Midra weaving something with the silk. Thinking I was being sneaky I eased up and tried to fall between strands in her web. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. There are dozens of nests under my own. Some won’t hesitate to sink their fangs into you.” Midra said without turning away from what she was working on.

“Yea, I guess it was stupid thinking I could help Toomas. He’s so much stronger than me.” Midra was beautiful in a fatalistic way. Her spider body was sleek and clean, clearly built for moving at high speeds. Its black carapace looked to be covered in small scars from various battles. A crisscrossed pattern of black mana covered her body in the mana spectrum. Channeling mana to his eyes was still a challenge the the skill hadn’t appeared yet. But the more he looked the more he was sure she was heavily shielded. Several layers were always kept up. Her mana reserves must be extensive, or she has a bunch of perks that help or skills that lower the upkeep. Her human half has light purple skin and she has four arms. Two wands sat holstered on her waist. Instead of hair she had dreads of a chitinous material. Her eyes, she had six of them and they were purple.

“I heard you wanted some help with something. What was it?” Midra asked. Right to the point, he liked that it saved time.

“I want to make strings with mana, but I don’t know where to begin. I know that mana can be condensed to liquid and then clay, but how do I begin.” I asked. Midra tilted her head to the side. She stopped what she was doing and skittered across her web to him. Two powerful hand gripped his face.

“You look nothing like your brother, but I can still see similarities in the two of you. Always searching for a way to rise above. I’ve helped him, and he has helped me in return ten times over. I will help you and maybe you will do the same.” My eyes were wide open, I was ready for her instruction.

She moved and shot a line of sticky black web upon me. I didn’t have time to move before she started to spin wrapping me in a cocoon. Then she placed me on the web. “Use your mana to break my web and I will show you how to make it with mana alone. If you can’t before your brother returns, then I won’t teach you.” I was in shock, I didn’t have a chance she snatched me up and now I was in a cocoon. “Now, I’m going to continued making your brother’s new pants.” Midra said with a huff. “Don’t make too much noise I have to concentrate on my stitching.”

To start things off, I needed more mana. This cocoon was dark, but my vision was perfect in the dark. There was nothing to fear. But I needed something that cut. My five points had already gone to Insight. I used the last of my class points to purchase lv2 in light mage.

Light Mage lv2 0/20 to next

Description – The seed of light within you has begun to sprout and with it comes new powers. Never are you more vulnerable than when you take your first steps on this path. A way to damage your enemies is needed.

Light Thorns lv1 1000DPS to next

Active

Description – A light orb is made sharp to pierce the darkness in the world. Those that would seek to devour you must contend with wounds. Fire these thorns to cause maximum damage. Using mana manipulation and light shot.

DPS (28k) = Light Shot (28k) + Mana Manipulation (70) x Skill lv (1)

Cost 15MPS

This skill sounded op. It wasn’t, while the web covered my body I couldn’t fire them and gain max velocity with my Light thorns. No max velocity no high damage. It was a nice skill but I’m no further to getting out of the cocoon than I was moments ago.

The 350MP was awesome though. No, I had to make something that cuts, if I wanted out. Or I could just unravel the various strands. I focused on my psychic powers and touched the silk.

New skill

Mind sight lv1 1min to next

Description – Use your telekinesis as something more than force. Feel the objects you touch and get a feel for the world around you on a new level.

Range (5.25m) = Willpower (35) x Perception (15) x type (1) x skill lv (1) x 1 cm

Cost 5MPS

The second the skill activated, I knew the individual strings were made of smaller strands of silk. Was that the secret. Make something small and easy then wrap them in the hundreds of thousands. Even the weakest skill could be made strong in high enough numbers. But there were diminishing returns. For instance, my Light thorn skill was much 10x harder to lv than my light shot skill. Thought skills before it was the same. Honestly the silk reminded me of wood fibers in a way.

Insight increase increase x5

It hit me so quickly I barely noticed the pop up that said I had only 5 more stat points to put in this lv. Normally I like these things in strength. I could do something like chop through the strands but where was the fun in that. I needed to increase telekinesis anyway.

Closing my eyes, I used Mind Sight. I took every stand in my telekinetic fingers and began unraveling all of them.

Telekinesis lv up x3

Telekinesis lv6 lift 3200 objects to next

Phys DPS (7,359) = STR (35) x WIL (35) x Type (1) x skill lv (6)

Cost 5MPS

Telekinesis was one of the strongest powers I had, and it was rare for it to rise above lv 10 for some reason. There were so many ways to complete the levels too. She looked up at me her purple eyes blinking in unison.

“Well, I guess you earned a lesson. Let me see your hands.” I held them up and she held them. I felt her take hold of some of my mana out of my control. “Relax this is normal when someone with far more mana manipulation or a higher skill like mana control. If you don’t like when it happens to you then increase your mana manipulation or gain a new skill.” She took what mana I had, condensed and separated it into tiny strands, and then she wound them together in a way that made them like silk.” This is all you need to learn it. But it will never be like true spider silk. I nodded my head and continued to think about the subject.

Toomas returned, and I went back to the clearing to experiment with my mana shield skill. The last 25k hump was difficult to get through but I did. With the shield skill at lv 10 I began changing it into a crisscross pattern on my body like chainmail. It was a blatant copy of Midra’s skill.

New skill

Mana Chainmail lv 1 Tank 1000 DPS next

Description – The user made a new skill out of an old one. Slightly more advanced than mana shields it will defend best against slashing damage.

Defense (13,500) = ((CON (30) x INS (40)) + Mana Shield (12,300)) x skill lv

Cost 10MPS

Just like that I had another toy to play with. Toomas showed up and we left to head back home. Where I still didn’t have mana armor but that was ok, I would get it and earth armor eventually. To truly increase the power of armor you had to take damage and adapt to it. Getting a powerful elemental protective skill would just make me lazy.

Weeks passed

Month Califlery/ Day 1/ Year 3200

My broccoli was finally coming in. I watched massive heads of the vegetable poke from the ground. All nine heads were massive in size easily a meter in diameter. I was level 12 now. Today was my birthday. I’m finally nine. Pa said if I can increase my mana regen to allow me to hold a defense full time I could leave the farm whenever my chores were done.

So, I had a new plan to ensure I could finally travel. After watering the broccoli, I was going to go to our book shelf and get one of the books on mana siphoning. If I could find a source to drain mana from, I could practically hold my skill forever right.

Right now, I had a map out and was staring at a dungeon nearby. The skeletal hall, a dungeon that hosted thousands skeleton enemies. Dungeons were if nothing else full of xp. If I could kill a few hundred of them, my power would increase to insane levels.

I looked up to see Pa looking over my shoulder. “Well I was wondering what you wanted to do for you name day. It looks like I don’t have to wonder anymore. Load the wagon I’m sure Thad will come too.

“You mean it?” I asked Pa, he nodded his head and I ran out the door.