Cursed Explorer of the Arcana

I stand on the same sandy beach as last time, the only differences this time being the absence of an old black cat and the number of clam shells washed ashore. They appear in many colors and shapes, all of them representing their element and orientation. Some are bulky and gray, others sleek, thin, and light green.

I crouch and pick up the first one, bright red and slightly spiky shell. A small one with a rough surface.

[Barely Mageling - Fire]

Requirements: A curious mind looking for answers in mana, seeking to shape reality. Quick Witted lvl 5, 20 Mana, 20 Intelligence

The first step towards becoming a fully-fledged wielder of the power of mana. Your desire for destruction is only overshadowed by the ever-burning passion inside your heart for greatness. Release those flames and scorch your path forward, as it is your destiny.

[+1 Free Points, +2 Mana, +1 Willpower, +2 Intelligence, +2 Focus per level]

This description sounds almost as cool as it is ominous but it tells me very little. Would this Class make me into a mad pyromaniac or just turn me into an acceptable fire mage? Actually… I can sort of feel what it’d allow me to do, like when you close your eyes and inspect an object by only touching its surface.

This one is… pretty shit.

I step over to the next shell, this one blue-colored with a smooth, curvy surface.

[Envied by Wisdom - Dark]

Requirements: Possess knowledge that Laplace might covet.

Knowledge so unique and well shielded that even Wisdom itself can only yearn for that great prize. To draw not only the eye but also the jealousy and longing of something so much greater than yourself is as much an honor as well as a death sentence. To try…

Okay, stop please, no! I don’t care if it means I can become wealthy or powerful or whatnot, please take this away from me. A Class connected to the Gods is rarely a wise pick and one this doomed… No, I’d be stupid and very dead very soon.

[+5 Free Points, +4 Might, +7 Speed, +5 Endurance, +12 Mana, +12 Willpower +12 Intelligence, +12 Focus, +7 Fortitude per level]

Argh…. no, resist it Eli! I like taking risks for a greater reward but this would be so dumb, it literally says ‘death sentence’ right there, also I had something else in mind. I’ll just forget about that voice in the temple, this shell, and everything related. I chose life, go next!

[Barely Mageling - Water]

I read through it, and while the element and the description are different, the stat bonuses are the same. This one makes no mention of mental disorders, so I guess the previous one is also more rhetorical than actual mental influence. Next to the first two are their earth and air-type siblings, none of which incite any desire to choose them.

[Slowpoke Sprinter - Wind]

Requirements: A fervent runner, sprinting and dashing as much as their legs allow them to. Running lvl 5, Stamina lvl 3, 10 Speed

You run with all your might to feel the winds blast against your face. You are only truly free when you are in motion and the wind carries you throughout your path. Be faster than ever before, leave everyone else in the dust and race the winds of the worlds as no one else can contend with you.

[+1 Free Points, +3 Speed, +2 Endurance, +1 Dexterity, +1 Mana, +1 Willpower, per level]

I find a few more interesting ones like [Theory Crafter - Water], this one focuses on thinking more and thinking better without doing much else. Honestly not a useless one, just very different from what I need. There's also the weird [Can’t touch This - Wind]. I don’t get the naming sense but the Class focuses on dodging attacks with literally nothing else involved. There’s also a basic [Novice Fighter - Earth] Class, which should be the bare minimum fighter variant if I’m not wrong. I have neither the interest nor the stats needed for a quality Warrior option.

Then there are the ones reflecting my effort.

[Curious Kindle - Fire]

Requirements: A personality as passionate, as explosive as the fires keeping the night bright. Quick Witted lvl 9, 20 Mana, 20 Intelligence, 30 Focus

Staring into the flames you ponder why they burn, how hot they are, and what drives them to keep looking for more. Wielding the inextinguishable kindle of curiosity deep within your soul you scorch the covers hiding the truth from your eyes until the flames have nothing more to consume.

Nice, already something worthwhile.

[+2 Free Points, +3 Mana, +2 Willpower, +3 Intelligence, +2 Focus per level]

The stats are also a bit better than the other, darker-colored ones. More requirements equal better quality, that’s just how it is.

[Seaside Soon-to-be Sorcerer - Water]

Requirements: A home close to the sea and the sea close to the heart. Inner Peace lvl 5, 20 Mana, 30 Willpower, 30 Focus

Your life flows in a calm and harmonious rhythm like the currents of the sea. Joy comes and goes as do the ebbs and tides yet the water never truly disappears, tomorrow always promises more. Find peace in the water and become one with the sea.

Okay, I feel like that description is a bit of a miss. Harmonious? Calm? Are we still talking about me? Description aside I do like the sea and fell asleep more than once with the waves licking my feet.

[+1 Free Points, +1 Endurance, +2 Mana, +2 Willpower, +2 Intelligence, +4 Focus per level]

A bit less super magic-focused. I don’t mind.

The second to last is an interesting one…

[Dark Crimson Squire - Void]

Requirements: Be born under the Crimson Comet, don’t back down from a fight

You’re a child of the calamity of Aelion. You are the embodiment of the chaotic fight that is birthed in its wake. Tear through everything in your path, and disintegrate those who oppose you. Take your first steps toward becoming a walking calamity, a name whispered in fear. Be unpredictable, be explosive, be… chaotic. Slaughter your way through any battlefield as carnage is the only state worth living in.

[+2 Free Points, +2 Might, +1 Speed, +2 Endurance, +2 Mana, +2 Willpower +1 Intelligence, +1 Focus, +2 Fortitude per level]

If I previously thought that the Fire Mageling was ominous, then this one feels straight-up evil. Although it says nothing about me being influenced in any way to do anything, I hate the fact that it has something closer to do with the Crimson Comet than necessary. Like, my first class is fine, it's just because of the way I was born but this one means I chose slaughter. A big nope, even if the stats are great.

Then I arrive at the last shell, colorless and plain. [Inept Magus - Arcane] and a smile stretches across my face. Is it time for the coin flip?

Luna and her husband are preparing lunch while their daughter, their biggest source of pride, is making great strides in life toward her bright future. They want to celebrate this occasion, to reward her for the persistent work she has put in the past few days.

“How fast did you manage to make your way through those levels?” Asks Lucious sitting at the kitchen table.

“Hmm, when I was her age I couldn't wait to leave the Tumarth Highlands, so I worked my ass off to reach a decent level as quickly as I could. Leaving the place to explore the land was a good motivation. If I remember correctly it took me maybe a day or two longer than Eli. I don’t know which skill she managed to exploit to progress this fast but she’s done well.” There's some smugness in Luna’s voice as her progress was also quite respectable.

“She might look every bit like me on the outside, however when it comes to personality and mentality there’s no denying she’s your blood. Like a little you,” He quietly adds. “the poor girl, she’ll never find herself a man.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing darling, I’m just contemplating how awesome both of you are. The level nine grind took me at least a week, and that was over fifty years ago.” The poor husband tries to divert the topic.

“You better.” She growls before taking a deep breath. “You know there are probably others like her, born under the Crimson Comet…”

“Oh, believe me, that thought has been torturing me ever since she turned nine. She’s unique but her secret is not. Do you think we should seek help?” The husband shares her concerns.

“She should be allowed to do things at her own pace. If she wants someone-” Luna never finishes the sentence as a squeal from their daughter’s room breaks the order in their home.

They throw everything in their hands aside and rush to their child with their hearts beating in their throat. As they tear the door open they find little Elyssia with a small red kindling at the top of her palm and a huge goofy smile stretching across her face.

“It worked!” She squeals again in delight. “Holy shit just imagine how cool it’ll be when-”

“Elyssia!” Luna furrows her brows as her worry morphs into irritation. “You made our blood run cold a moment ago, why in the Abyss did make a noise like that?”

Lucious joins his wife, waiting for their daughter’s explanation with crossed arms.

“Sorry, sorry,” Eli throws an apology without meaning it. “Let me show you, I- this is- I can’t… Just wait.”

She makes a small fire appear in her hand again before falling silent and concentrating on something.

“You picked fire, a basic but solid choice.” Lucious comments before his child shushes him.

Just a second later the fire disappears and a gust of wind begins to play around the room. The parents’ eyes widen and their jaws drop as they stare at the spectacle before Elyssia takes it to a new level. From a glass at her bedside, the water flows out like a snake right into her mouth only for her to gulp it down greedily.

“By the Gods.” Luna mutters doubting her eyes. “What did you do?”

“Eli,” Lucious takes a deep breath before continuing. “Is that arcane?”

“Yup,” The child smiling ear to ear nods and chuckles. “I didn’t have to pick an element after all.”

As I open my eyes I feel like I just woke up from the best sleep of my life. All the energy and the lack of buzz in the back of my head… It’s something different.

[Inept Magus - Arcane]

Requirements: Knowledge about the nature of mana, familiarity with the arcane, a desire to rule them all. Quick Witted lvl 9 20 Mana, 30 Willpower, 30 Focus

You've caught a glimpse into the inner workings of the forces of nature, the cogs spinning tirelessly to keep the world in motion. Knowledge is your master and mana is your guide, now use these two to shape the world around you. Let mana run through your being and help you on your path, may the Arcane unite all.

[+1 Free Points, +3 Mana, +4 Willpower, +2 Intelligence, +4 Focus per level]

It’s just mana, simple unattuned mana ready to be shaped so I had an idea, I guess why nobody was ever able to bring out its true potential… and my guess was spot on. I gambled a month of work, risking a reset and throwing this Class away because I’d rather waste my time than live with the prickling thought in the back of my mind telling me I missed out on something, something… incredible.

“It worked.” I mutter again, playing with the fire in my hand without the flames harming me.

It’s a general rule that your own mana can’t do harm to you, it does not bite the hand that feeds it, and even so, it’s a bit frightening to have something so destructive this close. I let the flames go again, cutting off my mana, and they dissipate as they should before I try making them again.

I call on the mana resting inside me, grabbing it and pulling like it’s a piece of string before turning it into heat and creating the fuel to burn.

Is mana gaseous, liquid, a cloud of tiny balls or a bundle of strings? I don’t know, nobody does, but it still behaves the way I command it to, so what does it matter?

I start vibrating the arcane at a ridiculous speed, almost as if shaking a fistfull of sand in a cup instead of dice, before letting part of the mana ‘boil away’ like water on a heating stone. My mana reacts violently and I feel it trying to rage out of my control, morphing and tuning into what people describe as fire magic, no longer the arcane I originally brought out.

The whole process is fast despite being pretty hard to control and eating away a lot more mana than the results would warrant. But I’ll take it, it's a small price to pay for… for basically giving me everything.

For wind I rely on even the slightest difference in temperature using the same method as fire, while also mimicking the movement of air currents. I thought of mana as a form of vapor while lighting a spark but now I wish for it to behave like a line. A string of spider web blown by the wind except there are hundreds if not more of them and they are not just carried by the whims of the air but create the gusts themselves.

Water again requires a different approach, very similar to both the sneeze-like cloud of mana and the countless thin strings of power. You can’t compress water, unlike sneeze and strings don’t just naturally flow to take up the available space around them. Peas do. A bowl of peas incredibly small behaves just like that. The balls are small, the balls stick together and the balls can flow in any way I want them to.

Now earth is a bit of a problem child. Every element is made up of a bunch of different things, just like air isn’t only… what is this? Ox-igen, yes, the stuff we need to breathe. Or how water isn’t just water. Dirt and stone and all that is taking this to a whole other level. There’s blocky stuff, column stuff, sand-like stuff, platy stuff, air, and even water in there. It’s a shitshow and it’s not even the same material everywhere… With that said I can treat it like a bunch of tiny clumped together irregular-looking balls. Or in the case of stone a lot more orderly, solid structure.

[Your Class [Inept Magus] has reached lvl 10 ->11, +1 Free Points, +3 Mana, +4 Willpower, +2 Intelligence, +4 Focus.]

[The general Skill [Savant] has reached lvl 10.]

[The general Skill [Identify] has reached lvl 10 ->11.]

[The general Skill [Running] has reached lvl 10.]

[The general Skill [Reflexes] has reached lvl 10.]

[The general Skill [Quick Witted] has reached lvl 10 ->11.]

Okay okay, stop telling me about Skills just reaching my level cap over and over again, only what is relevant and not a week of work finally bearing fruit. Dumb System.

[Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the class skill [Arcane Mastery lvl 1]. Would you like to assign the skill to an empty slot?]

Arcane Mastery: Wield the arcane to your heart’s desire as it follows your commands whatever they may be. Mana in its purest form is yours to shape and the results are limited only by your own mind.

[Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the class skill [Mana Shield lvl 1]. Would you like to assign the skill to an empty slot?]

Mana Shield: Call for the arcane to protect you and make a solid defensive layer of mana, shielding you from harm.

[Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the class skill [Mana Bolt lvl 1]. Would you like to assign the skill to an empty slot?]

Mana Bolt: Mana formed into a projectile to be launched at a high speed.

Hand them over!

[Congratulations, you’ve acquired the skill [Arcane Mastery lvl 1].]

[Congratulations, you’ve acquired the skill [Mana Bolt lvl 1].]

[Congratulations, you’ve acquired the skill [Mana Shield lvl 1].]

Elyssia

Age: 9

Celestial Elf

Mana: 290/290

Free Points: 2

+38/hour

Might: 7

Intelligence: 24

Mana: 29

Speed: 11

Focus: 38(+1)

Willpower: 38

Endurance: 8

Dexterity: 10

Fortitude: 8

General Skills:

Savant lvl 10

Identify lvl 11

Running lvl 10

Dodging lvl 9

Pain Tolerance lvl 3

Reflexes lvl 10

Stamina lvl 9

Quick Witted lvl 11

Inner Peace lvl 6

I. Class: Inept Magus - Arcane lvl 11

Arcane Mastery lvl 1

Mana Bolt lvl 1

Mana Shield lvl 1

II. Class: *Locked*

III. Class: *Locked*

“Eli, we need to have another talk.” My father finally speaks again after about a minute of just standing in my doorway and watching me fool around.

Duh, of course we need to, this is fucking insane. I bet it’s gonna be one of those ‘You need to keep this a secret, you know how people are blah blah blah…’ This time I do agree with them though, because I don’t want to get swarmed by old farts looking for the answers, my answers. Am I greedy because of it? Maybe but rich people don’t share their wealth either so it’s only fair.

Man, I wanna go out there and try everything right now, although I’ll settle for some food in the meantime.