Regis stared baffled at the descriptions of his possible choices. The 20% decrease in spell casting was always a solid choice, but it was clearly outclassed this time. Attuning one’s arcana threads to a chosen element sounded like a serious boon. He could strengthen any spell of the same attribute, while essentially turning any other spell into either an infused or a dual element one. Sure; opposing elements would weaken each other, so he’d have to consider the choice of elements seriously.

Still; as cool as the elemental threads sounded, his eyes always wandered back to the last possible path. Permanent weaving was as ominous as it sounded. From the small fragments of knowledge stuck in his mind regarding the actual skill of spell weaving, it felt as if it was just another way of casting magic incantations. It was just another way to channel one’s arcana to generate immediate effects. Wards were an entirely different story. His grandfather’s books only mentioned them once or twice, but he still understood the gist of it.

A ward was a permanent spell that stuck around until it finished its task, ran out of arcana or until it got destroyed. It was the equivalent of permanent magic without having to waste materials on actual enchantments. Put the necessary runes in the right order and you could create a detection boundary around an area. Form solid arcana barriers at any given spot, or create mock enchantments on the road. Regis never knew from where did the first wards originate from, only that it was a type of magic created from the deep and unwavering study of runes.

It was a form of power all of his ancestors coveted and he was going to beat all of them to it. He made his choice with a calm and firm heart, bearing the pain of a thousand memory shards piercing his mind. As the pain and the ringing sound in his mind lessened, a newfound understanding settled in along with the glowing words that flared into life before his eyes.

{You have reached ‘novice’ rank in the arcane skill-line of spell weaving. Your mind and spirit attributes have been permanently increased by 1.}

While he suffered through the rush of knowledge regarding his chosen specialization, his soul-space began to shake at an immense rate. His soul-tome closed itself and floated upwards, stopping about half a meter above the small pedestal. At the same time, both his acolyte and fighter constellations began to glow brightly with his enchanter star formation joining in with a subdued rhythm. The golden stars began to shed motes of light through the dark sky, all off the motes floating down towards the soul-tome.

Regis gritted his teeth as he watched the events unfold with rapt attention. His soul-tome absorbed the golden light before its pages furled about wildly, spitting out a bright sheet of light that soon dimmed and floated towards the dark elf while the book lowered itself back on the pedestal. On the page, he saw a sword, similar to his fighter constellation’s, but this one seemed to have runes along its blade with small stars on both sides.

A set of dark black ink lines formed ‘Runic Spellblade’ above the drawing. ‘Runic Spellblade? It sounds like a variant of the regular spellblade class, although I’ve never heard of this one before. It’s best to ask Valerie about it. She said that her family had an extensive record regarding many local classes and star charts.’ The young spell weaver noted to himself as he still struggled to subdue his racing thoughts and his newly acquired memories regarding the permanent spell weaving methods.

Infusing his will into his threads to forge them into a permanent magic was similar yet vastly different from how he created enchantments. This new specialization was mainly about creating a unique coating around his weaves to insulate them from the influence of the ambient arcana. After calming himself once again, Regis took a look at the shifting ink of his re-opened soul-tome to see the changes his advancement brought.

{Spell weaving}

{Weave your arcana into a thread that can be used to create temporary or permanent runic circles, runic spells and wards. Each level decreases the focus required to create and maintain your creations by 0, 25%. Every tenth rank grants a minor perk that is gained after specialization. Every twenty-fifth rank allows you to choose a specialization.}

{Focus reduction: 6, 5%}

{Skill mastery: 26/100}

{Mastery progression: 0/30}

{Specialization: permanence}

{Perks: attuned 1, speed 1}

{Attunement: pending}

‘I think I’ll pick an element after it’s actually worth specializing in one.’ He decided as he looked below his newly upgraded skill-line, finding another one he hoped to advance before reaching East Fork.

{Transmutation alchemy}{Specialization pending}

{Change the shape of different materials, fuse them together or create items from them using a transmutation circle. Every level decreases transmutation cost by 0, 25%. Every tenth rank grants a minor perk that is gained after specialization. Every twenty-fifth rank allows you to choose a specialization.}

{Arcana cost: varying}

{Cost reduction: 6,25%}

{Skill mastery: 25/100}

{Mastery progression: 30/30}

{Arcane transmutation}

{Throughout your practice you’ve gained a greater understanding of the fundamental altering capabilities of transmutation alchemy. Create, fuse and graft arcane materials to greater extent. The path of arcane transmutations also opens up the possibility of new or improved arcane and elemental essence crystallization.}

{Organic transmutation}

{Throughout your practice you’ve gained a greater understanding of the fundamental altering capabilities of transmutation alchemy. Gain an insight to the basic concept of vital energy, along with the ability to manipulate it through alchemy. The path of organic transmutations opens up the possibility of creating, fusing or grafting living creatures to suit your needs.}

{Spiritual transmutation}

{Throughout your practice you’ve gained a greater understanding of the fundamental altering capabilities of transmutation alchemy. Gain an insight to the basic concept of divine principles. The path of spiritual transmutations opens up the possibility of new or improved divine essence crystallization.}

‘Okay… this is new.’ Regis blinked with his eyebrows furrowed. His transmutation alchemy was different compared his other skills or spells that offered minor bonuses along with a possible path forward. Here, he had three clear-cut paths to choose from. Debating his options, he began to rule them out with ruthless efficiency.Spiritual transmutation was a no go, since his faith attribute was low and it was unlikely that he’s going to become a fervent believer in the future either. He’d let that role to Quentin.

Organic transmutation was a taboo in his eyes as well. ‘Nope. Just… NOPE!’ He didn’t want to end up like a certain bastard he read about in his younger days, who went ahead and turned his family into chimera abominations. That moment when the child chimera called out ‘Big brother’ in the story still clenched at his heart every time he thought about it. That left only one path forward.

Arcane transmutation sounded to be a decent enough field of studies and since Regis himself was an infusion enchanter, as well as a die hard nerd with a heavy adoration towards arcane knowledge, it was an ideal path for him. As he chose the path he wanted to set for himself, the ink of the page further shifted, presenting a new sub-set of choices.

{Perks}

{Efficient transmutation}

{Efficiency is key in the world of crafts where every speck of arcana and ingredient must be utilized for the best result. An efficient alchemist is capable of doing more with less; each transmutation costing 5% less arcana than it would otherwise.}

{Fast-paced transmutation}

{Efficiency is key in the world of crafts where every spare moment must be utilized to the fullest. A fast-paced alchemist works with a frenzy and speed unmatched by his concurrency; each transmutation taking 5% less time to form than it would otherwise.}

{Preserved transmutation}

{Efficiency is key in the world of crafts where resources might be scarce. An experienced alchemist is capable of retaining more resources when recycling items or materials; each fusing and recycling transmutation preserving 5% more resources than it would otherwise.}

‘These perks sound nice.’ The dark elf nodded to himself as he immediately picked the efficient and preserved transmutation perks. That 5% craft speed boost was negligible, since he only worked when he had time to do it, but any cost reduction and extra material was a must have. As he finalized his choices, the ink began to stir once again while a torrent of knowledge wormed its way into Regis’ mind.

Feeling his soul-space shake once more, the young dark elf looked up, seeing that the light of the apprentice’s constellation began to thump like a beating heart. Motes of golden light rained down on the tome in front of him. The soul-tome once again rose from the altar, its pages furling about before it spat out another glowing parchment.

As the tome fell back on the pedestal, the light surrounding the sheet of paper faded as well. It revealed a sketch, that depicted a cauldron of sorts with a circle on the middle that had an upside-down triangle in it, making it obvious that the star chart meant to represent alchemists. Regis grabbed the parchment, smiling as golden words appeared in front of his eyes.

{You have reached ‘novice’ rank in the craft of transmutation alchemy. Your mind and spirit attributes have been permanently increased by 1.}

As the words faded from his view, he stared at the drawing on the parchment. This was a long time coming. He began to channel his Amaranth into the eighteen nodes on the scroll, not stopping until they went from bronze, all the way into gold. The new constellation appeared on the sky of his soul-space, drizzling down motes of golden light that formed into the familiar sight of a crystal sigil at the outer end of the solid ground of his soul-space. Golden words flared to life in his vision for a few seconds to inform him about a small and obvious change.

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

Nodding out of instinct after seeing the words that burned through the air, Regis looked down at the scroll in his hand, the ink finally settling in.

{Alchemist Constellation}

{Rank: Gold}

{Nodes: 18/18}

Mind: 2

Spirit: 2

Willpower: 2

Alchemist constellation pathway is now available.

Before he could walk over to the bookshelf to store his new star chart however, his soul-space began to shake once more, this time with a serious intensity. Both of his crafting constellations hummed with power, along with his acolyte star formation. The light they released fell on the soul-tome, raising it into the air as its pages went rampant, furling like a tornado. A glowing parchment got spit out from the tome, floating towards Regis, its ink stirring to form a sketch and a title which the young spell weaver never would have thought to see in his soul-space.

‘Loremaster.’ Regis read to himself with his hand slightly shaking as he stared at the rough sketch of book with an inkwell with a feather pen on top of it. He carefully held the still glowing page as if worried that he would damage it.‘I can’t believe that I actually managed to unlock the loremaster path. I… shit, calm down! Picking a spell caster path is a serious matter, so I’ll have to think this through. Maybe the others will have some ideas regarding the requirements of other paths. For now, let’s just stash it.’ With his mind somewhat settled, the dark elf walked over to the bookshelf and put the star charts into their separate shelves. Once done, he returned to the soul-tome, taking a look at the changes to his character sheet.

{Name: Regis ???}

{Title: Novice staff wielder}

{Race: Dark elf/Sun elf/ Human}

{Age: 19}

{Amaranth: 930}

{Caste: commoner}

{Path}

Neophyte spell weaver

Trainee fighter

{Craft}

Novice enchanter

Novice alchemist

{Attributes}

•Allure: 15

•Deftness: 19

•Erudition: 21

•Faith: 8

•Luck: 12

•Might: 18

•Mind: 24

•Physique: 17

•Spirit: 25

•Willpower: 25

Health/Arcana/Stamina

{42/42}{89/89}{43/43}

{Status effects}

None

‘My spirit willpower attributes got maxed out for this tier and my mind is just a step away from it as well.’ He mused while reading about the changes. The eight points of arcana increase matched the combined eight point increase of his mind and spirit, putting him quite close to his limit. With the fourfold multiplier of his spirit attribute, he would now be able to push towards the max limit of one hundred points of arcana.

That was a considerable number given the cost of his current spells. Although his knowledge regarding class progression differed somewhat to the one Fabien and Valerie possessed, he still understood the most important part. Everyone would have to max out the primary attribute of their classes before they were able to step into tier two. For a spell caster, that meant a whooping twenty-five points in spirit. The only real hurdle of his arcane advancement was now gone.

Letting out a somewhat relieved sigh, the young spell weaver decided to let the matter for the moment and consult about his options with his companions later. Turning the pages of his soul-tome towards the one recording his skills brought no important news, so he went on to the one regarding his spells. Apparently, he maxed out two of his runic spells, however, there was little to no change in them beside a slightly increased damage. His slowly expanding knowledge on the subject of runic spells reminded him of their one truly glaring weakness.

Since runic magic was built on one’s knowledge of runes and their skill of spell weaving, they didn’t have a mastery a personal mastery upgrade. This meant that there were no bonuses to choose from when he mastered a spell, or a path to upgrade them further. If he wanted stronger runic spells, he would have to possess the necessary knowledge to create them for himself. ‘Ain’t that a bitch!’ He cursed to himself as he looked for any possible mastery upgrades, but he found none. The dark elf shrugged defeated while he turned to the last page of importance, checking the details of his kill list and his bonuses.

{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}*55. You have gathered 3300 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 4 fallen swordsman}*38. You have gathered 4800 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}*8 Your maximum stamina was increased by 8 through absorbing fortitude shards.

{Vigour shard}*7 Your maximum health was increased by 7 through absorbing vigour shards.

{Spell mastery}*30 Your maximum arcana was increased by 30 as a result of gaining greater mastery in your spells.

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

‘Slow and steady wins the race.’ The young dark elf thought as he did the math. He killed three 3rd level infantrymen and four 4th level swordsmen since he last checked this part of the tome. The three fortitude and vigour shards were also recorded, along with six points of arcana increase due to the levels he gained in different spell masteries. Even though he had a new constellation pathway, he now lacked the funds to get any new feats from it.