I didn’t know how long I spent in that passage, having long since closed my eyes to avoid the constant flashes of light in the dark corridor. Every now and then, I would check my progress on my skill, dreading when it would be time to actually leave. The reason that I was dreading it was that I did not have a fire resistance potion. Nor did I have the power to make a fire resistance potion. I didn’t have any herbs that cured burns. I didn’t have any healing potions… In fact, I didn’t even have any water.
That last one was going to become more of an issue down the road, I felt like, but the others were far more immediate concerns. My plan was to leave once I had evolved my Fire Bolt skill. I didn’t know exactly what skill would come from that, but hoped it would be something with an area effect that I could put on my new sword.
However, that meant enchanting my sword… which meant suffering the backlash of the spell. I didn’t think this through very well. My arm had been completely charred the first time that I enchanted my armor. Even if my sword had a higher compatibility with fire magic, or attack magic in general, the upgraded spell would only be stronger.
Honestly, I would not be at all surprised if I lost a limb from this next enchantment, which would be bad. Limbs could heal as long as they were still attached, but the injury would become a ‘disability’ if the limb was completely lost. And a disability could only be cured either by suitably powerful healing magic or by dying and respawning.
I really didn’t think this through enough. I thought to myself, before noticing that I had a message from Diane. It seemed like she had gotten on and noticed what her chosen had left.
I’m at the village. When are you going to mail the poison?
Ah, right… if it’s a mail trade, the person sending the item has to initiate it. When I made that suggestion, I hadn’t really planned to go dungeon diving. That idea only really settled in when I got my magic.
Sorry, I’m stuck in a dungeon right now, training a skill. I’ll need to evolve it once before I can get out. Once I’m out, I’ll head up to the village to send the mail, if you want to carry on towards Arcanhide.
Dungeon? Diane’s response was quick, and I doubted that she even read the rest of the message. You found a dungeon?
Yeah, its location is recorded in public books. You could even ask soldiers where it is. The monsters inside are only about level ten or fifteen, but the ones right outside are around thirty-five, vine snakes.
There was a long moment of pause before Diane spoke again, asking for the details on dungeons in this world. Shrugging my shoulders, I explained what I knew, from their spawn patterns, to how monsters could escape, and the treasure chests. All the while, I continued idly firing the Fire Bolt as if it had become second nature.
I’ll be there in eight… no, six hours. Diane said in a firm tone, causing me to blink.
You’re coming here? It’s not worth it at your level, is it?
Easy gear and level farming before other players occupy it. Any supplies needed?
I thought about it for a moment. Every village should have basic potions made from local herbs. Healing potions made this way cost one silver coin, so I’d suggest getting two of them for yourself. If you can grab me a fire resistance potion, I’ll trade you the numbing poison for free.
Fire resistance? Is it a fire dungeon? She asked in confusion, causing me to chuckle dryly.
No… my negative trait prevents me from using magic. However, I can enchant magic onto items. The downside is that the magic quite literally explodes out of me when I’m done. Left me with a blackened arm for over an hour yesterday. Since I’m training the skill now, the next time I do it, it will be even harsher.
Got it. Fire resist potion, and two healing potions. She responded shortly, before going quiet.
“So, she’s on her way, huh?” I chuckled, having not expected to form a party with anyone here. Diane could probably get past the snakes without any issue, but I’d need to guide her to where I found the secret passage.
I pulled an apple out of my inventory and began to eat it, noting that my fire bolts hadn’t gotten any stronger since the first time I used them. That confirmed, at least, that my proficiency didn’t take effect on them. Still, that skill was steadily climbing, together with the Fire Bolt skill itself.
At this point, my Fire Bolt skill had already reached level nineteen. Just one more push, and I would meet the condition to evolve it. Unfortunately, the experience was coming very slowly at this point, with every usage offering only one hundredth of a percentage. Which meant that I still had a while to go before its evolution… But not long enough for Diane to arrive.
I should have asked her to grab some water for me, but I don’t really plan to stay here that long after she gets here. With that thought in mind, I returned to the mindless repetition of pointing at the wall and shooting off small arrows of flame. Over two hours later, I finally received the notification that I had been waiting for.
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Fire Bolt has reached level 20! Would you like to evolve the skill? |
“Yes, please!” I practically shouted, happy to finally be done launching meaningless fire bolts at the wall.
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Fireball (Magic – 8☆): Evolved from Fire Bolt. Sends forth an orb of flames that detonates on the target. Mana Burden: 0. Level 1(0%) – Cannot Cast |
I let out a sigh of relief, finally lowering my stiff arm. Now… I had a few hours until Diane got here, so what was I going to do in the meantime? I could nap, use that to pass the time. Going out of this passage without being able to use my new skill was simply suicide. Theoretically, I could continue to just fire Fire Bolt at the wall to train my proficiency. However, my arm ached just from thinking about that.
In the end, I just laid back in the cave and closed my eyes, thinking about what enchantments I wanted to apply to my new equipment. For the sword, it was definitely Fireball. If I was able to do so, my second would be the proficiency, hoping it would make the Fireball stronger. If not… the Brawn skill?
No, I shook my head at that. If I was going to enchant status skills onto these new pieces of equipment, I’d wait until they evolved first. So, whatever Brawn evolved into would likely go on the sword. Meanwhile, the pants would probably get either Stealth and the evolved form of Endurance, or the evolved Endurance and evolved Sprint. Honestly, I’d rather have Stealth on a pair of boots. Rather than pants.
Thinking that far, I simply groaned, opening my eyes and rolling over. I needed those skills to evolve, so I might as well spend the next few hours on that while I waited for Diane to arrive.
I did push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and even shadow boxing. Every time my stamina reached its limits, I rested for just a few minutes before getting right back into it.
Even with all of that, though, none of my other skills evolved before Diane sent me another message. Granted, Endurance had gotten all the way to eighteen, so it was at least close. I’m in the cave. Her response came through, catching me by surprise.
I blinked, almost stumbling. It had only been five hours, right? She must have leveled up her agility or some related skill while running. Shaking my head, I explained to her the layout of the cave, as well as where I had found the hidden passage.
With that information in hand, I didn’t need to wait long, returning to the spot where I had entered. After a couple of minutes, I heard a light cry from the other side, one of the moles dying. Then, the wall opened and Diane stepped inside, not bothering with the swarm that flooded the outer cave in response to the cry.
My eyes widened slightly, and I stepped back, thankful that the door closed again before they could reach it. “Well… that path is going to be guarded when we head back out.” I said with a faint chuckle, though Diane seemed unconcerned.
Reaching into her inventory, she brought out a light orange potion to hand it to me. “Herbal fire resist, like you asked for.” She explained, and I nodded, handing her the poison. Really, I could have asked for more, because poisons were a lot harder to find on the market, even if they were cheap. Legal issues and all that.
“Are you leaving now?” She asked, and I shook my head, popping the top off of the potion and chugging it down at once.
“Ugh, bitter… no, not yet. I need to do the enchantment first.” I said, pulling out the Magic Ruby Scimitar. It was hard to tell in the dark, but Diane’s eyes seemed to widen slightly when she saw my sword. Of course she has better night vision than I do.
“Want to watch.” She said firmly, and I nodded.
“Just stay a safe distance back. I don’t know how explosive this will get.” She blinked, moving further into the cave while keeping her eyes on me.
At first, I didn’t plan to use another ritual for the enchantment. With the power difference between a Fire Bolt skill and a Fireball skill, I didn’t think I’d be able to handle the backlash. However, I now had a fire resistance buff that would last for five minutes. In others words… it would hurt like hell, but I would at least be able to survive it.
Kneeling down, I cut my palm with the crystal blade, smearing my blood over it. I had taken off my armor already while exercising, so I wasn’t worried about it getting damaged. Entering Channeling mode, I took a deep breath, drawing patterns on the blade with my blood. This became far easier when the magic circle illuminated the cave.
“Sovereign spirit of flame, grant this weapon your blessing. Scorch my foes in a crimson blaze.” I muttered, the blood on the weapon seeming to glow. I didn’t have any extra catalysts to use this time, so I hoped that the blood of the caster was enough. I continued the channeling, carefully drawing out several runic patterns that felt like they should represent fire in my mind.
Once I was done, I braced myself. It had been three minutes since I took the potion. The magic circle beneath my hand shattered, my entire body ignited in a pillar of fire. “The potion was not enough! The potion was definitely not enough!” I cried out, feeling the searing pain cover my entire body. My skin burned, my vision going black.
However… I didn’t die. That was a positive, right? Because it sure as hell didn’t feel like one at that point. Once the roar of the fire subsided, I heard Diane rushing over to me, uncorking a potion bottle. I tried to raise my hand to stop her. I had taken a resistance potion, so the damage wasn’t as bad as it looked. It’d probably even recover faster than the first time that I did this.
However, just the act of trying to move my arm sent tremors of pain that forced my mouth open in a silent cry, before I felt the liquid entering my mouth. Good gods, even that burned. Still, I forced myself to swallow, as the alternative was choking to death on a healing potion.
The first thing that returned was my sight, as I had only temporarily been blinded by being engulfed in fire. It hadn’t actually damaged my eyes themselves, thanks to the potion. I saw Diane standing over me, a grim look on her face. Next, my throat healed, being the first thing the potion really got to.
“Pain.” She said in a flat tone. “Fallen feel pain? Players don’t. Not like that.”
I let out a light cough, trying to work up enough of a breath to speak. “Chosen… do.” Diane’s eyes twitched wider at that, but she gave a firm nod of her head.
“You do that every enchantment? Or just magical?”
“M…Magic.” Gods, please stop making me talk for the next… thirty minutes? Oh good, not as long as I thought. Thankfully, I had an idea on how to change the topic. “Treasure… chest. Down hall. Alcove… right.”
Diane blinked, seeming to get the hint that I didn’t want to speak with a scorched throat, and turned to head down the hall. At least the enchantment succeeded, right? Right?
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Enchantment applied! |
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Fireball (Magic – 8☆): Evolved from Fire Bolt. Sends forth an orb of flames that detonates on the target. Mana Burden: 0 |
Yaaaaay….
