by Dakota Krout
Joe had an advantage over a normal student of the arcane, and he hoped that his hunch would pay off. He cracked open the first book and read over the first page. He smiled as alternating sections glowed either brilliant gold or a murky black. Joe sighed in pleasure; he loved the occultist profession. Being able to see the truth of written information allowed him to bypass the trial and error associated with determining the fiction and reality of magic. Joe pulled a scroll out of the box next to his table, increased the light in the room, and decided that he could put off the shower a little longer. Pulling out a quill and ink, he started copying the truthful information from the book onto the scroll.
Hours passed in what felt like an instant, and Joe looked down at the completed scroll. After putting on the final details, he attempted to cast the spell it contained. His hands formed the shapes needed, and he pushed his mana into the budding spellform. “Weak acid spray!” A cone of acid sprayed from his outstretched hands, settling to the floor when it didn’t encounter anything else. The ground became a bit pitted after a few seconds, and Joe wrote down a note of how much damage it had done.
Congratulations! You have learned a new spell: Weak acid spray (Novice I). This is a spell taught to the newest mages, usually used to dissolve garbage in trash heaps so that it takes less space than usual. Effect: Deals 5n points of acid damage to anything caught in the area of effect, where ‘n’ is skill level. Deals triple durability damage to equipment and weapons.
Quest updated: Playing your fake role II. As a mage, your job is to output as much damage as possible in as short a time as you can. If you want to be a believable mage, your ambition needs to be even higher than an actual spellslinger! Learn three mage spells 2/3. Get one mage-type skill to the beginner ranks 0/1. Kill five enemies within ten seconds by using spells 0/1.
Wonderful, it seemed that writing out the formula would work! It was possible that Joe could learn spells that no one else could manage, spells that had been lost to time because there wasn’t anyone who could work through powerful grimoires! He could- *Whoosh*. The scroll he had created went up in flames, turning to ash in an instant. He released a high pitched squeal, flailing as he stepped backward and tripped over his chair. Simply lying there for a moment, he looked over the notifications he had been ignoring.
Skill gained: Scribe (Beginner VI). After writing down sentences and formulae instead of single words and doodles, you have proven that your mastery over the written word is at least at the eighth grade level! +1% writing speed and writing accuracy per skill level.
You have created a spell scroll! A scroll allows anyone who reads it to learn the spell it contains. Caution! You do not have the skill ‘Words of Power (Written)’! Caution! You have not used a type of paper that can contain the magical truths written on it! Oh no! The ink and quill you have used do not have any mana containing properties! The scroll is unstable, chances of spontaneous conflagration, mitigated by materials and skill levels… 99.89%.
Well. That had been informative. He went to put away his items, but as he was packing up he found that his quill had fallen apart and his ink had boiled away. Dang. No more writing until he replaced those at least. Another notification appeared, and he stopped, surprised that it had taken so long. Normally notifications came in groups.
After review, you have been awarded the skill: Words of Power (Written). You had been able to create a scroll, even if it didn’t last long. Know that working with me means that you have someone advocating for you! -Tatum. P.S. You should find some information on skill rarity.
Skill gained: Words of Power (Written) (Novice I). Being able to keep bias and personal preference out of spellforms is nearly impossible, but you have managed to distill a spell to its most basic design! By writing out the spellform on a scroll, anyone who reads the scroll will have a chance to learn the spell. Base probability of learning spell from scroll: 20%. Each rank in this skill increases the chance of learning the spell by 2%, but personal ability needs to be taken into account. Each scroll will have a minimum characteristic score needed in order to learn the spell. The spell must be in the basic spellform for the scroll to be valid.
A one in five chance to instantly learn the spell from a scroll? Joe looked at the pile of ashes on his desk and sighed. It had taken a few hours to complete a single scroll, but it might be worth it to progress this skill. Learning spells was usually the work of multiple days, sometimes weeks or years for higher rank spells. Even if it only worked every once in a while right now, by the time he had brought it to a high level, he could sell massively powerful scrolls for a fortune. Now, he should… his stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn’t left his admittedly odious room all day. Did he leave yesterday? No, he was working on perfecting the area of effect for rituals. Really, he still needed to- *Rumble!* His belly was no longer playing around.
Joe sighed and ran his hand through his hair. It came away extra greasy, and he winced at his own filth. Sorry, stomach. A shower and clean clothes needed to come first.
***
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