Windblast sneaked into the list of mastered spells without him realising, the air elemental stones he was making lately being the most likely reason for that.

{Windblast}{Specialization pending}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: elemental}

{Spell type: verbal}

{Spend 10 points of arcana to compress the air around you in 3 seconds and then propel it forward in a 3 metre cone blast to deal 5 points of physical damage while knocking back your enemies. Every level increases damage by 0, 5 points.}

{Arcana cost: 10}

{Damage: 7, 5}

{Cast time: 3 seconds}

{Range: 3 metre cone}

{Spell mastery: 5/5}

{Mastery progression: 50/50}

{Efficient casting}

{As a proof of your mastery over this spell, you can achieve the same results with less effort. Cast windblast for 20% less arcana than before.}

{Faster casting}

{As a proof of your mastery over this spell, you have grown accustomed to its incantation, allowing you to word it with greater speed. Cast windblast one second faster than before.}

{Word of gale}

{Sometimes a change in a syllable is all it takes for a word of power to have a higher meaning. Through your mastery of Windblast’s incantation you’ve gained a glance into its inner workings, granting you a vision of change. This change brought along an evolution of the spell from a simple gust of wind into a manifestation of a furious gale, changing your initiate ranked spell into that of a novice ranked one.}

There it was; the rare occurrence of spell evolution through mastery. It was a special kind of information that was unknown by most Earth-born people, even if they did have otherworldly ancestors. Some spells had the ability to grow to higher ranks, but one had to fully master the current rank before they could gain the chance at stepping to the next one. This had one great flaw however. Well, two.

The spell caster had to start mastering the spell from the very beginning. If you were given the second or third form of the spell to use right away, it would work at a greatly reduced effect. Only by mastering rank after rank could one turn the once simple spell into a force to be reckoned with. Most people simply wouldn’t waste the effort and time it took to grow it into a spell of great might, especially back on Earth where magic thinned out to the extreme.

The second great flaw was that not all spells could evolve and even those that could had different heights they could reach. Static spells lacked something fundamental towards their higher counterparts that one couldn’t overcome through mastering the spell itself. Lesser healing for example was one such static spell and although one could specialize in one of three boons once mastering the spell, it would never grow further from being an initiate ranked one.

Its novice ranked counterpart was known as minor healing, but their incantations were supposed to differ as minor healing introduced entirely new words into the chant instead of simply changing a syllable or two. Regis caught himself drifting in his thoughts, but he just shook it off and chose the option of evolving the spell. The ink of his soul-tome stirred, revealing the new form of the spell, its former self vanishing from the tome.

{Gale blast}

{Rank: novice}

{Spell class: elemental}

{Spell type: verbal}

{Spend 15 points of arcana to compress the air around you in 3 seconds and then propel it forward in a 4 metre cone blast to deal 10 points of physical damage while knocking back your enemies. Every level increases damage by 1 point. Gale blast affects small and medium sized opponents.}

{Arcana cost: 15}

{Damage: 10}

{Cast time: 3 seconds}

{Range: 4 metre cone}

{Spell mastery: 0/5}

{Mastery progression: 0/50}

The change was quite substantial compared to the lower ranked windblast, increasing its damage and range along with the spell’s cost. The mastery progression however seemed to jump to a higher start than expected. Still, this new ‘gale blast’ was obviously better as it clearly stated that it was now able to affect medium sized opponents as well. Although it wouldn’t do much damage against an armoured knight, at least it would knock back the bastard. Sadly, no other spell reached the edges of mastery just yet, although the runic spells he used to fuel his transmutation circle did come pretty close to it. Not wasting more time on such things, Regis turned the pages towards his kill and boon list.

{Foes slain}

{Level 1 Blight touched rat}*14. You have gathered 210 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Elven outlander}*2. You have gathered 1000 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Orcish outlander}*2. You have gathered 100 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 3 undead wolf}*2. You have gathered 120 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 3 fallen archer}*3. You have gathered 60 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 3 fallen infantryman}*52. You have gathered 3120 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 4 fallen swordsman}*34. You have gathered 4080 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 5 fallen berserker}*2. You have gathered 480 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 5 fallen earth mage}*1. You have gathered 240 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 5 fallen squire}*2. You have gathered 480 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 6 fallen ghoul}*3. You have gathered 1440 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 7 fallen bladedancer}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 7 fallen priest of malice}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 7 fallen geomancer}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 7 fallen aeromancer}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 8 fallen knight}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy as a reward for assisting in slaying it.

{Level 10 fallen entitled knight}*1. You have gathered 7980 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Shards and other bonuses}

{Arcana shard}*1 Your maximum arcana was increased by 1 through absorbing arcana shards.

{Fortitude shard}*5 Your maximum stamina was increased by 5 through absorbing fortitude shards.

{Vigour shard}*4 Your maximum health was increased by 4 through absorbing vigour shards.

{Spell mastery}*24 Your maximum arcana was increased by 24 as a result of gaining greater mastery in your spells.

{Meditation}*9. Your maximum arcana was increased by 8 due to prolonged meditation sessions.

The only change in his kill list was the addition of the Argent family’s two elven outlanders; earning him one thousand Amaranth. Other than that, the only other noteworthy change was in his bonuses. It looked like the ranks gained from his now fully mastered spells along with the few tagalongs and an addition due to meditation added up to that nice twelve points’ worth of arcana reservoir increase he saw earlier on his character sheet.

Dismissing any further thoughts regarding the baleful meeting with Etienne and Natalie, the young dark elf looked at the scroll in his hand depicting the enchanter’s constellation. He didn’t hesitate and began to channel his Amaranth into the eighteen nodes that made up the drawing, not stopping until it glowed with a golden colour. The dark sky lit up above him a bit as the new constellation formed, golden motes of light falling from it towards the edge of the solid surface in the void. The light specks fused into a floating colourless crystal plate with the same symbol carved into it as the one that now hung on the sky. As the ordeal ended, golden word burned through the air in front of his eyes.

{You have gained the ‘Novice enchanter’ title.}

It was a plain and simple title, nothing more. The scroll in his hands however proved to be a bit more expressive as he looked at the golden ink blots stirring and settling into a new description before fading into a regular black hue.

{Enchanter Constellation}

{Rank: Gold}

{Nodes: 18/18}

Mind: 2

Spirit: 2

Willpower: 2

Enchanter constellation pathway is now available.

The enchanter’s constellation was made up of eighteen nodes. Three nodes more than his ancestral star chart, and it increased his attributes by 2 points. This boggled Regis’ mind. It didn’t make any sense. He remembered that the constellation charts made up from twelve nodes gave 1,4 points to the attributes. His ancestral chart with its fifteen nodes gave 1,75.

Doing simple math, he deducted that a chart with 3 more nodes should have given 0,35 points more compared to his ancestral chart instead of 0,25 points. This brought up the theory that constellation charts with higher node count would give diminishing returns based purely on node to attribute ratio.

Shaking his head about the absurdity of his anger over some stupid mathematical equation, he placed the now filled scroll on the bookshelf behind his statue and walked over to the glass like plate with the enchanter’s sigil on it. As soon as he touched it, the crystal began to turn into a dark blue hue with specks of dim golden light swirling in it. It lowered itself to become a stepping stone that was followed by three more before a new crystal appeared in front of the dark elf. Touching it brought up a faintly glowing description.

{Disenchanting}

{On the road towards mastery, many enchanters come across another’s handiworks. Focusing on the unknown runes left behind by others, slowly unravel them to learn the method of their creation. Be warned though; repeated trials and errors in solving these puzzles will degrade the enchantment until it gets destroyed.}

{Cost: 1500 Amaranth}

{Do you want to gain this feat?}

‘Disenchanting others’ works to increase my collection of runes? Absolutely.’ Regis mused as he went ahead and bought the new feat. A strained migraine wormed its way into his head as the bare knowledge necessary for disenchanting was planted into his mind. When it was over, he tried to step forward, but an invisible wall prevented him from going further. Shrugging, the young spell weaver returned to the centre of his soul-space to check the changes in his character sheet. The tome opened up, revealing the new numbers that made him nod in an almost satisfied mood.

{Name: Regis ???}

{Title: Novice staff wielder}

{Race: Dark elf/Sun elf/ Human}

{Age: 19}

{Amaranth: 3180}

{Caste: commoner}

{Path}

Neophyte spell weaver

Trainee fighter

{Craft}

Novice enchanter

{Attributes}

•Allure: 15

•Deftness: 19

•Erudition: 21

•Faith: 8

•Luck: 12

•Might: 18

•Mind: 20

•Physique: 17

•Spirit: 21

•Willpower: 23

Health/Arcana/Stamina

{39/39}{75/75}{40/40}

{Status effects}

None

‘I’ve got six more points of arcana and my spirit stepped over the twenty point boundary. That extra point health and stamina is also welcome. Overall, it’s not bad.’ He admitted as he focused on his character sheet to change his title to novice enchanter. He then sat back down to meditate in order to leave his soul-space. A brief sensation of falling took hold of him and when he opened his eyes again, he was back at the camp, surrounded by his companions

“Are you alright Regis?” Sophie asked with a worried tone, mirroring the expression of the rest of the group.

“Of course I’m alright,” the dark elf stood up, dusting off his pants. “Why do ask?”

“It’s just that while you were sitting, we felt…”

“We’ve been sensing waves of arcana pulse outwards from you in a worrying rate,” Valerie took over the explanation. “We thought that something went wrong during your meditation.”

“I’m perfectly fine,’ the dark elf smiled. “I’m better than fine, actually. I’ve got a lot of stuff sorted out in my soul-space and I even got my spirit attribute go over twenty.”

“Oh,” Osmond patted him on the back. “I guess congratulations are in order then. Still; we have little time to celebrate your advancement as we are almost ready to head off.”

“Shit! Sorry for making you wait.”

“It’s fine,” Quentin said as he handed over the dark elf his knapsack. “What matters is that you’re okay and we can go.”

Everyone nodded in agreement as they all gathered their belongings.

“Regis,” a soft voice called out to the young spell weaver and as he turned around he found Letty standing there, fidgeting a bit as she held out a dark cloak towards him. “Quentin said that this belongs to you. He told me that you’ve covered me during the night and… thanks.” She handed the cloak back with a meek word of gratitude before hurrying back to the others.

“Not bad my man,” Khan patted Regis on the back as he eyed up Letty. “She’s a bit on the thin side for my liking, but to each their own I guess.”

“Fuck off.” The young dark elf shook off his companion’s hand with a mock anger before joining the rest of the group.

They boarded the large boat and pushed it away from the jetty as Khan untied the ropes. Once the Mongol youth jumped into the boat as well, they’ve began to row in a near perfect rhythm. It went well for a good hour or so before large droplets of rain began to fall in a slow and monotone tandem. The cold rain and the heavy atmosphere was weighting down on everyone in the boat until an almost squealing voice broke their monotone silence.

“I’m singing in the rain; just singing in the rain…”

“That’s it,” Amanda growled as she let go of her paddle. “I’ll throw him into the river!”

“Oh come on,” Khan protested. “It fits perfectly to the occasion and it’s not like any of you would talk or Saints forbid, sing something. I’ll go insane in this quiet.”

His words prompted a new wave of silence to take hold on the group of outlanders as the rain kept showering them. As Amanda sat back to reach for her paddle, an unexpected noise caught everyone’s attention.

“My mother told me…”

“You’ve got to be shitting me!” Khan stared eyes wide at Regis’ back as the spell weaver began to sing in a slightly baritone voice.

“Someday I will buy…”

“Is he really…” The Mongol youth stuttered in disbelief.

“Galleys with gold oars…” Fabien joined in to the song with a wide smile.

“Sail to distant shores…” Cruz finished the verse with a chuckle as Osmond tapped with his feet as if he was pedalling a drum.

“It does fit the occasion.” Quentin laughed as he too joined in, coupled with Letty and Valerie.

“Stand up on the prow…” The three voices added into the choir as their rowing rhythm further fell into synch.

“Ah, fuck it,” Khan relented with a laugh. “Noble baroque I steer…”

“Steady course to the heaven…” The group sang as one, their feet drumming the rhythm.

“Hew many foe-men…” The lads of the group took charge with the last line with a harrumph.

“Hew many foe-men.” The women echoed, grunting as they pulled on their paddle with renewed force.

The song went on for at least another five minutes, repeating the lyrics over and over as they rowed in perfect tandem, their boat cutting through the river with a steadily increasing speed.