by Jamey Sultan
A stream of fire shot from her fingers and hit the wood, which burst into flames.
Under normal circumstances, James might have been worried about starting a forest fire, but magical fire didn’t spread in the same way that normal fire did. Conjured flames needed Mana to stay alive. Even though they’d set up the pyre, Nidra still needed to maintain her concentration and stay in a meditative state to keep the flames going. The pyre was there to dramatically decrease the drain on her Mana. Instead of using her Mana to fuel the flames, she would be using it to control them.
Panicked squeals erupted from the cave as the orange flames bathed the clearing in flickering light.
James hit the first one out with a burst of Arcane Missiles, and it exploded in a blast of blue energy.
You have killed Infant Spike Thrower.
+ 43 experience points
James saw Nidra sink into the Lotus position to meditate out of the corner of his eye, but he ignored her. More Spike Throwers were emerging from the cave only to find out that there was nowhere to run. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. He killed three more of the Infant Spike Throwers before an angry roar came from inside the cave. James could feel the stone he was sitting on vibrate.
A massive beast lumbered out.
Spike Thrower Matriarch (Level 34)
The Spike Thrower Matriarch was at least fifteen feet from the tip of her snout to the end of her tail and as thick as two men standing abreast. She was covered in a thick layer of long brown fur with a dappled green pattern. All of her hair stood on end, making her look even bigger than she already was. Hidden underneath the fur were thousands upon thousands of spikes.
James took a quick peek at his Experience bar. The barest sliver of grey remained. He needed less than fifty experience to reach Level 25.
With one hand, James retrieved Merlin’s Black Heart Class Advancement Potion from his pouch. With the other, he wove his energy into a series of Arcane Missiles. The potion tasted sweet and fizzy. Sort of like a grape soda, but fresher. James could feel it trickling down his insides like the first glass of cold water on a hot morning. His Experience bar flashed black.
You have drunk [Merlin’s Black Heart Class Advancement Potion].
- Duration 00:05:00
All class advancement options will be boosted for the next five minutes.
James sent a barrage of Arcane Missiles down onto the Matriarch. Each one hit with the force of a sledgehammer but was unable to penetrate her thick fur.
The Matriarch chittered angrily and spun around, looking for her attacker. Her eyes locked on James, and she flicked her tail, sending a slew of spikes straight at him.
The spikes were lightning fast, too fast for James to react in time.
The first spike bounced off his Mage Armor, the following one shattered it, and the third sank deep into his shoulder. James felt a pulse, and then a burning pain spread from the wound. Behind him, Nidra screamed in pain, and the flames flickered out. Then everything went dark.
You have been poisoned with [Chance’s Lucky Break].
Random Debuff added:
You are affected by Blind for 15 seconds.
All James could see was the timer in the corner of his vision ticking down the precious time he had left on his Class Advancement Potion.
While he couldn’t see, James could hear. There were screams and snarls from the front of the cave as Arik fought with the Matriarch.
When James regained his sight, he rushed over to Nidra. Her pulse was strong and her breathing regular, but she was laying prone, unable to move. When James tried to bend one of her fingers, it was stiff as a board.
With Nidra not in mortal danger, James turned his attention to himself. Only one of the quills had hit him, and it was embedded deep within his shoulder. When he tried to pull out the quill, the barbs dug deep into his skin and caused him to blackout for a second from the pain.
Below, Arik and the Matriarch were engaged in combat. His ability to manipulate the metal in his hammer was working to his advantage. He formed a shield and blocked a burst of quills aimed at his head. He responded with a crushing blow that was entirely absorbed by the creature’s natural armor.
While the two fought, James summoned a tough piece of leather from his pouch and clamped down on it hard with his jaw. This was going to suck.
James pushed the quill deeper into his shoulder and out the other side. He let out a muffled scream as it burst out his back.
While James was busy removing the quill, Arik and the Matriarch were still fighting. Their fight might have been even if Arik still had both hammers, but he didn’t. Without his second hammer, Arik could only attack or defend. He could not do both simultaneously. So when the Spike Thrower slapped him with her tail as he attacked, the Dwarf went down hard.
James still had a lot of Essence left. The spike, while painful, hadn’t done a massive amount of damage. The danger from the spike was more the ability to incapacitate.
With Arcane Teleport, James scrambled down the rock face and joined the fight. He’d recast Mage Armor and positioned himself to protect Arik from the Matriarch when he had a thought.
The Matriarch’s natural armor was strong against both magical and non-magical attacks. He still didn’t know what her weaknesses were. He had a Spell designed to sense the area around him. Sure, he’d designed it to help with Stealth, but why couldn’t he use it alongside his anatomical knowledge to find weaknesses in a monster?
When time resumed, James hit the Spike Thrower with a punch to the face that sent her reeling backward. The creature hadn’t been prepared for someone to appear out of thin air and punch her. While she was stunned, he extended his Sphere of Influence toward the monster. When his Essence met her skin, he encountered resistance.
He pushed harder.
His Essence started to drain at an alarming rate, but he could feel the creature’s defenses breaking down.
Your spell Sphere of Influence has ranked up!
Sphere of Influence (Spell Rank 2):
You can extend your Essence to sense everything within a sphere around you.
Range: Dependent
Cast time: Instant
Cooldown: None
Cost: 10^(Radius/11) Essence per second
James cut off the spell. He’d used almost 600 Essence in an instant and hadn’t even been able to penetrate the creature’s skin. Still, he’d learned enough. By concentrating on how the Essence penetrated the creature’s skin, James better understood its outer armor.
Behind him, Arik groaned and got back to his feet.
The Matriarch had recovered from James’ punch, and her head flicked between James and Arik, trying to gauge which one was the more significant threat.
James forced his breathing to slow and concentrated on circulating his Essence slowly and smoothly through his body. He could have used Arcane Teleport, but he wasn’t convinced he’d be able to cast it in time for what he needed. Instead, he sped up the Essence circulating through his body.
Blue light flickered under his skin as the Spike Thrower raised her tail.
This time, James was able to see the spikes coming.
He dove between the creature’s legs and rolled behind her. Then he attacked.
There were only two spots where the creature’s armor was weaker, and her mouth was closed.
This time when James’ Arcane Missiles hit the Matriarch, they didn’t explode against its skin.
The monster burst apart; its body consumed from within by crackling Arcane energy.
You have killed a Spike Thrower Matriarch (Level 34).
+ 357 experience points
Level up! You have reached level 25.
Chapter 41
James let out a whoop of joy. His Essence bar flashed dangerously low, and he felt terrible, but he’d done it. He’d reached Level 25.
A slew of notifications blinked in the corner of his vision, but he left them untouched. He wanted to get back to Hess’ farm befo
re opening any notifications.
“Nice job.” Arik clapped James on the back.
“Thanks,” James groaned. It felt like his entire body was on fire. He needed to pay more attention to his Essence when he fought. He kept cutting it way too close. “How’s Nidra doing?” he asked, looking around for the mage. She waved to him from the top of the rocks.
“She’s been busy.” Arik pointed to a pile of charred Spike Thrower corpses by the cave entrance. “While you fought the Matriarch, she destroyed the nest.”
With slightly more difficulty than James had, Nidra climbed down the rock face and joined the two of them. “Did it work?” she asked James.
“I think so,” he said. “I’m going to wait until we get somewhere safe to review my messages.”
“Good idea.”
James searched for a Spike Thrower corpse to dissect before heading back to the farm, but there wasn’t a single intact one left, so after a few minutes, he gave up. He was too excited to see his class advancement choices to spend much time searching for a usable corpse.
It was early afternoon when they arrived back at the farm. They went straight to the farmhouse, where Kevin answered the door and brought them all into the kitchen. “How’d it go?”
“We got the Matriarch and destroyed the nest,” James replied.
You have completed the quest: Full of Holes II
+ 71 experience
5 Gold
“Thank you for your help,” Kevin said and slid five gold coins across the table. James took one while Nidra and Arik each took two. It was only fair after he got most of the experience.
After completing the quest, James excused himself to the room he’d slept in the previous night. It was time to go over his notifications.
Before opening his status screen, James took a couple of deep breaths to calm his excited nerves. Then he mentally clicked on the blinking notifications in the corner of his vision.
A wall of text assaulted him, blocking his vision.
Congratulations on reaching Level 25. You may now choose your Journeyman class. The offered choices are based on your actions and achievements so far.
Arcane Knight
Why be a warrior or a mage when you could be both? The Arcane Knight combines the best parts of Swordsmanship and Sorcery to dominate their opponents. This class focuses on using Arcane magic to boost your close combat Abilities.
Pure Arcanist
By giving up the sword, you can focus all of your efforts on mastering the arcane arts. While physically weaker than the Arcane Knight, a Pure Arcanist has an instinctual grasp of the Arcane that allows them to wield their powers with devastating results. This class focuses on improving the power and efficiency of your Arcane Spells.
James wasn’t impressed. He’d been expecting… more. Not only had he only been offered two choices, but neither of them was particularly special. Arcane Knight was just a more advanced version of the Arcane Warrior class he already had, and the Pure Arcanist class looked like a regular Mage class, only with Arcane magic instead of a typical element.
Before James could make a decision, black flames engulfed the prompt and burned away the text. New words formed from flickering flame, replacing the offered classes.
Your use of Merlin’s Black Heart Class Advancement Potion has boosted your Class Choices. You have been given three additional options. You may also choose one of the options you were offered previously, although that is not recommended.
As the flames faded away, a new prompt appeared. The first two options were the Arcane Knight and the Pure Arcanist, but there were three new options. As James read them, his jaw dropped.
Ghastly Surgeon
Your obsession with the dead knows no bounds. Only by cutting up a creature are you truly able to understand it. Fight smarter, not harder, by targeting an enemy’s weaknesses. This class provides massive bonuses against creatures that you’ve previously dissected.
His first option was already insane. James could only imagine how substantial the bonuses would be if even the system was using the word ‘massive’ to describe them. Still, the Ghastly Surgeon class had glaring weaknesses. Mainly the fact that he had to dissect an enemy to gain any class bonuses against it. He wasn’t discounting the class, but it wasn’t his first choice.
James read on.
Speed Runner
You are able to gain temporary bonuses by rapidly circulating your Essence throughout your body; however, this is a costly process. Through training and dedication, the Speed Runner has learned to circulate Essence with 100% efficiency. This class turns the Essence Circulation Skill into a passive bonus at the cost of your magical abilities.
That was… tempting. Essence Circulation provided a percentage boost to James’ Stats. Because it wasn’t a flat boost, the bonus would get stronger as James did. Not only that, but the stronger he got, the higher the percentage boost would be. On the other hand, he wouldn’t be able to use magic. What was the point of being in a magical world if he couldn’t use magic? It was what made everything that’d happened to him worth it.
The first two of his new options had been much more powerful than his initial choices, but both came with heavy drawbacks, so James was a bit worried going into his last choice. If it was as powerful as the others but came with serious downsides, he wasn’t sure what he’d choose.
Arcane Devourer
Somehow your body is able to reduce Mana to its purest form: Essence. By taking advantage of your knowledge of anatomy, you can use Harvested components to modify your Arcane magic. This class gives you the ability to Enhance your Arcane spells with materials cut from monsters.
James wanted that class. Still, he needed to consider his other options. Of the other four classes, the only one that truly interested him was the Ghastly Surgeon class. Most of his trouble so far had been with Dwarves and Orcs. A massive boost against them would be really helpful.
After a moment of consideration, James shook his head. Even though the Ghastly Surgeon class would probably give him bigger bonuses, it was an easy decision to choose the Arcane Devourer class. He wasn’t sure what the bonuses would look like, but the class’s versatility was insane.
James accepted the Arcane Devourer class.
Congratulations! You have upgraded your class Arcane Warrior to Arcane Devourer.
New Level-up bonus:
+ 9 Intelligence/level
+ 9 Wisdom/level
+ 1 Strength/level
+ 2 Endurance/level
+ 1 Dexterity/level
+ 5 Free points/level
+ 5 Ability points/level
Most of his level up bonused were the same as before, but there were a few notable differences. Instead of 3 Intelligence and Wisdom per level, he was getting 9. The boost to his Intelligence and Wisdom was balanced with a drop from +9 to +5 free points per level.
James was okay with that, though. He’d have less choice in his growth, but Intelligence and Wisdom, which boosted his magical abilities, would be stronger.
The bump to his Intelligence and Wisdom increases was nice, but he was focused on the Ability point per level increase. He was going to get 5 Ability points per level now—a veritable fortune.
The first thing James did was pull up his character sheet.
James
Shakti (Arcane Devourer)
Level: 25
Essence: 973/3080
Stats
Strength: 26(77)
Dexterity: 29 (68)
Constitution: 44 (58)
Intelligence: 58 (73)
Wisdom: 59 (79)
Endurance: 44 (58)
Charisma: 0 (1)
Luck: 0 (5)
Resilience: 5 (19)
Spells
Arcane Teleport (Rank 4)
Sphere of Influence (Rank 2)
Abilities
Death’s Stare (1/7)
Spirit of the Sword (n/a)
Of Body and Mind (n/a)
Blood of the M
ountain (1/1)
Solar Powered (1/1)
Absorb (1/1)
Arcane Mastery (23/30)
Arcane Missile (5/5)
Mage Armor (10/10)
Graceful Oaf (n/a)
More Missiles (2/15)
Brands
Mark of Sytar
Divine Quest (Minor)
Liberator
Titan
Achievements
Dumb Luck
Clumsy I
Solo Dungeoneer
Mad Dash
Why Not?
Dumb Luck II
Ancient Mysteries
David and Goliath
Obliterator
David and Goliath II
Pure Blood I
Baby Steps
Not a Moron
Glutton
