Mathew placed his hands on yet another ritual circle. The intricate symbols that shaped mana into a specific result started to glow with power as the summoner pushed his mana out into the ritual to start it. Items that were placed in specific spots deteriorated as they were absorbed by the ritual.

Visuall, nothing else happened. Mathew stood up and took three steps back from the ritual. Both of his wisp summons floated high in the air and bobbed away as well, following him.

He opened a notebook and began to write in it. Words appeared on paper thanks to his ability. “Mana cost was higher than I expected for a Novice ranked ritual. Even with my benefits of being Apprentice Ranked and that all the mana is drained from The Workshop, it’s on par with my Beginner ranked rituals. Which means matter might be created and not transposed.”

With a single thought, the ritual activated. A small wall of rock appeared directly in the middle of Mathew’s private crafting room. A ten-foot wide, five-foot high wall appeared. Mathew had no clue what kind of rock it was, but it was smooth. Not perfect, but smoother than what is natural without water constantly running over it.

Mathew went back to taking notes. “Wall is within measurements labeled. I wonder if I can change the placement in relation to the ritual. I do know if I bump it up to Beginner rank, I can make the wall larger in all three directions. Now to-”

The wall made a cracking sound as it crumbled into nothing. Not a single speck of dust or gravel was left behind. “Lasts for maybe a minute. There go my plans for using it to build something.” Mathew grumbled.

This was a ritual he had high expectations for but is finding it lackluster at the Novice rank. Mathew tossed the notebook on the desk and started to draw yet another ritual. His [Mana Text] skill quickly created the Beginner ranked ritual that had more complex symbols.

Once he added the required items, all except the mana core, Mathew activated the ritual. He took several steps back before mentally triggering it.

A twenty-foot by five-foot wall appeared. “Wider, but not taller,” Mathew mumbled. He checked the ritual that he sketched out on a piece of paper. “I don’t see a height limiter anywhere, so why stay five feet tall?”

Mathew reached out for his cup of tea and took a drink from it. Empty air met his open mouth. He looked into it and sighed. “Great, I’m both confused and out of tea.”

Another hour went into breaking down the ritual piece by piece. After that, he rebuilt the ritual from top to bottom, double-checking what each symbol did compared to what he knew. There were two symbols he didn’t know but was absolutely sure they were not restricting the wall to a height of five feet.

The first symbol was directed between the mana, the ritual rank, and the material of the wall specifically. He had a few guesses as to what that symbol did, and none of them were related to size.

The other symbol connected the ritual trigger to the wall size. At first, he thought that was what the restriction was. When he removed it, the ritual just fizzled and never worked. It was a core component of creating the wall, not the size of the wall.

Mathew started to chew on his fingernails since he had no tea to drink. “I’m coming back to you. You are lucky I have other new rituals to test out to not put all my focus on you right now.”

There were two other new rituals Mathew had. Ritual of Purification, which removed any disease, dead parts, or poison from food and drinks. This ritual started off at Beginner rank. Mathew noticed several repeating symbols and noticed how similar it was to a Novice ritual he had called Ritual of Crystal Wash.

He filed the purification ritual away to experiment with. If he could create a longer-lasting one that could target himself, he could remove poison from himself. However, he had no knowledge of how to change the ritual like that right now.

The last ritual he purchased was luckily a combat ritual he saw a dozen uses for. Ritual of Garble. The problem was the materials. He required a piece of his target. The ritual would place a curse on whoever was his target. Making them unable to speak properly for several hours.

Mathew imagined using this on someone to prevent them from speaking ill of him. As a punishment. Even to use it to stop someone from talking in combat if a spell or other power required it.

Rituals were slow. The main time cost was creating them. Luckily, his proficiency is now limited to how well he can visualize what he wants to create for a ritual since he can do it all with his mana.

He didn’t draw out that ritual at all. There was no point. He had no target to practice on right now, but one will come up soon. He wouldn’t target random people that could need to talk to do their job. Future enemies will be great targets.

More hours and more investment into understanding the new rituals went by. Mathew’s [Rituals] skill didn’t go up in level. He was only messing with Novice ranked rituals, so it made sense.

Mathew decided to take a break from testing his new rituals. After all, he had unique items to identify with the ritual.

From his personal storage, he pulled out several items. The box with the red and green wooden object from the Kobold Dungeon. The potion with a pink liquid inside from a challenge reward. The core of the Golem Dungeon boss was another item he pulled out. Lastly was the robes he was wearing, a reward from The System itself.

Mathew established the novice-ranked ritual and placed the potion inside the circle. This ritual luckily was straightforward. A blue screen appeared with information on the item.

Beginner Ranked Alchemical Concoction: Potion of Body

This potion will give boosts to physical cultivation.

Mathew expected a simple description. It was a Novice ranked ritual. With ease, he upgraded the ritual to Beginner rank. The mana required to use it increased by nearly triple. The intricate symbols were drawn with more precision. Mathew included an extra part that would hopefully put more focus on the item and give a better description.

Beginner Ranked Alchemical Concoction: Potion of Body Flexibility (Rare)

This potion will give a boost to physical cultivation that allows for fluid motion. +25 Dexterity and +10 Strength

Mathew raised his eyebrows with curiosity. “Now that is a nice reward.” There was no reason to assume it was poisoned or bad. It was a System reward. If anything, not taking it would be worse for him. Free stats were free stats. A number of stats equal to a Novice ranked Axiom was even better.

The potion was thin and had a coppery taste. Mathew didn’t feel pain, but he felt his muscles flex and release. The entire process took less than two minutes. After which, Mathew felt like he just finished stretching. On the other hand, it could be a placebo.

Mathew moved his arms around, and couldn’t tell how much of an increase in range he had. The real test would be in actual combat or some sort of physical test. For now, he would move on to the next item.

The item from the Kobold Dungeon was the only one he had no idea what it could be. At least with the golem core, he could use that in an obvious way. Mathew redrew the Beginner Identify ritual and placed the root-like object inside of it.

Student Ranked Soul Item: Heart of an Ettin (Awoken)

The heart of an Ettin that was harvested just before it split during its metamorphosis. Twin energies of two beings radiate from this item.

Ever so carefully, Mathew placed the heart back in the box he found it in. He closed it and sent it back to his personal storage. He took a long breath and nibbled on his left thumbnail.

“Awoken is the highest rank an item can have. Just why did a Kobold have it?”

Mathew was pacing around the room as he was in thought. Should he sell it? Use it? What would he use it on? It’s a heart, but it’s wooden. Some sort of dual pair of weapons? Two damage-type staff or wand?

He continued to pace as he noticed the stairs slide open and Ragnork’s stone head poked in. “Hey kid, you look like you were just told your child was given a quest by The System. Anyways, Agnox and Cherry are here, so I’m sending them up just like you asked!”

The two summons walked up the stairs and Ragnork left the room without another word. Mathew looked at his two summons and shook his head. “You are early.”

“Actually, we were late,” Cherry said glaring at Agnox. “He wanted to pick up snacks.”

“I can’t work on an empty stomach. Not everyone can just eat sunlight,” Agnox said, pointing at Cherry with a half-eaten breakfast bar.

Cherry rolled her eyes, “I eat normal food too you idiot.”

“Hey, just because you have a higher intelligence score does not mean you get to claim you are smarter than me.”

Mathew clapped his hands, “No bickering. Who cares about the food thing anyways?” Mathew shook his head in annoyance.

Agnox floated over and sat down on the desk. Cherry looked around, she looked up at the wisps, “And hello to you two as well.” Cherry walked over to the marble slab in the middle of the room. “So, this is where you do your private business I take it?”

“Yes. A reward from The System.” Mathew said as he drew another Identify ritual. “You know much about Rituals Cherry?”

She shook her head, “Not really. Just that they are a form of magic. Much slower and unreliable for combat.”

“Well, let me tell you what I know so far.” Mathew pointed to the circle. “This is an Identification ritual. It allows me to know what an item is and does. Now, typically I would have a Mana Core to fuel these things, but this room allows me to draw ambient mana from the area and fuel my rituals.”

“Can you use it for other things?” Cherry asked.

“Yes. It’s more potent up here, but those down on the other two floors use it to fuel items and inscribe enchantments.” Mathew placed the golem core into the center of the ritual and activated it.

Apprentice Ranked Item: Golem Core (Rare)

A Mana Core that has been enchanted to fuel and control a golem.

Additionally, this core has been modified to function of minor free will.

“Minor free will? How is there anything different than free will or none? How can it have partial free will?” Mathew asked aloud.

“What’s that Boss?” Agnox asked from the desk.

“Nothing Agnox.” Mathew sighed, “Just, hang out, I’m almost done here.”

Cherry crouched down and poked the Golem Core. “Interesting. I know there are plants with a small bit of free will, not much since their instincts take over more often than not, but they can convey some measurement of emotion. Wants. Needs. The feeling of a personality is faint, but it echoes in the plants Mom made.”

“Well this isn’t a living thing. Golems are robots basically. They only do what they are told to do.”

Cherry smiled, “Just like instinct. You do what you are created to do. Sounds like someone could mimic the same thing for a Golem.”

“Maybe.” Mathew picked the core up, thinking of what Ragnork was going to say. Did he know it had free will just by holding it and looking at it? He was zapped by The System for almost over sharing. “Just what makes you special.” Mathew asked the core.

There was no answer. “It’s a magical orb Mathew, it can’t respond.” Cherry said. She looked confused at her summoner.

“Hmm? Yes I know that. It’s just…” Mathew shook his head, and the core vanished as he stored it in his personal storage. “One last item and we can move on to why you two are here.”

Mathew removed his robes and placed them on the marble slab. He was wearing a layer of tight under clothes. It showed his lean body with muscles that never were as pronounced as they were now.

Student Rank Item: Robes of Eternal Dawn (Unique)

Robes of Eternal Dawn were sewn by at least an Expert Rank craftsman. The fibers are silky smooth, coming naturally from a cold aspected creature. These robes were purposefully created for one person: Mathew Valrix McGonald. These robes have the following enchantments:

1) Self Repair

2) Soul Bound

3) Cold Resistance 20%

4) Internal Shielding [Activatable]

Robes of Eternal Dawn are both a Soul Bound item and a Growth item.

Mathew let a whistle. “Custom made for me? The System went all out. Not only Student rank, but soul bound and made by an Expert ranked individual.”

Cherry let out a soft gasp. “Mathew, these are a Growth item! This is extraordinarily rare!”

“I take it that these robes can grow in power over time?” Mathew asked, picking up context clues.

“Yes. Oh we had two growth items for sale on Gaia’s domain. They were expensive. We didn't’ suggest one for you since both were for people more aligned to her religion and followership. Even with all the extra points you had, you couldn’t have purchased both.”

“How exactly does it work?” Mathew asked as he picked up his robes and sat them to the side.

“Growth items grow with the owner. They are always soul bound, and will die with their owner. As you grow in power, the robes do as well. You can feed them items to control how it grows. Keep in mind they are robes, so it’s impossible to have it become a weapon, or at least, not a very good one. I have no idea what to use or what the robes would even want.”

Mathew nodded, “That’s fine. We can learn about that later. I imagine Di would have information, but make me pay an arm and a leg for it.” he complained.