Cursed Explorer of the Arcana

I wake up feeling slightly dizzy and way more tired than I should be after an early light out. After wiggling out of my bed I peek behind the curtain for some reason instead of using the watch Mom gave me to check the time. Solaire isn’t even visible on the horizon and the sky is just starting to turn yellow so saying it’s early would be a damn understatement. I’m not a morning person, far from it.

[Congratulations, you’ve changed your Class to [Wielder of the Arcane - Arcane] lvl 19 -> 26, +2 Free Points, +1 Speed, +4 Mana, +5 Willpower, +3 Intelligence, +5 Focus.]

[Your Class Skill [Arcane Mastery] has reached lvl 19 ->25.]

[Your Class Skills [Mana Shield lvl 18], [Mana Bolt lvl 18], [Mana Blade lvl 18], [Mana, Spear lvl 18] have merged into the skill [Arcane Arsenal lvl 18].]

[Your class Skill [Arcane Arsenal] has reached lvl 19.]

[Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the skill [Versatile Weapon Proficiency lvl 1]. Would you like to assign the skill to an empty slot?]

Now I don’t know about you. Would it be nice to know how best to slap a beast in the face with a sword of fire? The Skill would correct my movements and all that warrior stuff, except I can wield a sword without even touching it… Holy shit, would this work even if I’m not actually touching the weapon?

It’s worth a try.

[Congratulations, you’ve acquired the Class skill [Versatile Weapon Proficiency lvl 1].]

Arcane Arsenal: Draw any weapon or shield from the endless weapon racks of mana and wield it in your name. Command sturdier constructs of mana with much more ease to never be outmatched and never find yourself on the back foot.

[Your Skill [Investigate Anomaly lvl 10], has morphed into the Class Skill [Mana Vision lvl 10].]

Did I even earn that? Not that I’m complaining.

Mana Vision: Peer into the hidden beauty of the realm of mana and see what otherwise remains unseen. Watch as the mana swirls and coalesces, observe others wielding it, and let this colorful world become a part of you like a sixth sense.

Ah, so this time it’s not just a tingle at the back of my head but a fully-fledged perception Skill. Love it, really, Investigate Anomaly was sort of useless in most cases because it had basically no range and no concrete feedback.

[The general Skill [Savant] has reached lvl 19 ->26.]

[The general Skill [Identify] has reached lvl 19 ->26.]

[The general Skill [Dodging] has reached lvl 19 ->25.]

[The general Skill [Premonition] has reached lvl 19 ->24.]

[The general Skill [Quick Witted] has reached lvl 19 ->26.]

[The general Skill [Serene Spellcrafting ] has reached lvl 19 ->23.]

Let it rain, this is what I’ve been working for. And the best part? Now I’m the second highest level right behind Kayla between us four. Supposedly there are kids with three times my number when you use Identify on them but for one I can’t confirm that and two I’ll humble those numbers in just a few years.

“I should really go back to bed, huh?” I ask myself. “And I’ve been strictly forbidden from playing around with magic without supervision, right?” I narrow my eyes and chew on my lips. “Yeah…”

So I comb my hair and get dressed in the usual training outfit. No way I can doze off after all these messages so let’s just sneak our way to the courtyard.

I execute the mission flawlessly, not even the cleaning staff noticing me on my way to the courtyard. When I arrive at the archway leading out I release a sigh of relief now that I avoided detection. It’s time to play safe and not almost kill myself again.

Confidently striding over to the Hadron crystal, I constantly remind myself to NOT overdraw mana, DO NOT use too much but when I’m halfway there-

“So, little devil. What Class did you get?” Asks the familiar voice.

I turn around and see Martha sitting on a windowsill one floor above, with a mocking smirk on her elderly face and a questioningly raised eyebrow.

I’m so fucked.

Martha expected to see the girl around this time since she went to bed relatively early. The real surprise would’ve been if Elyssia hadn’t appeared here before daylight and stuck to the rules. Maybe a huge selection of Classes could’ve caused her to stay longer in her soul’s realm but it seems she finished in an average time.

Punishing her would be a hypocritical move from Martha since without a doubt her younger self would’ve acted no differently. Rules are just vague guidelines with curiosity taking the helm for any great mage.

The problem with Elyssia is that her curious nature almost killed her already. More than once. The even bigger problem, in Martha’s opinion, is that the Journey Guide rewards her suicidal deeds with plenty of levels every single time. Pain and grief are fleeting deterrents when she can run up the steps of progress with every idiotic decision she makes.

Let’s hope she matures before one of her stupid stunts causes irreversible damage. For now, let’s see if my theory was right.

“Don’t just gawk at me like that,” Martha teleports beside the girl. “out with it already! Was my guess spot on?” This is really what it's all about.

Elyssia seems to get over her surprise pretty fast, getting used to the shenanigans of the centuries-old war mage.

She’s too sharp, I won’t have my fun much longer.

“So what do I get if the guess wasn’t so spot on?” She asks hesitantly.

Impossible, was I wrong? Did I just waste months of a child's life?

“Oh, dear I’m so~o sorry. I’ll… uhm… I’ll help however I can help you climb back your levels.” Martha is in total panic mode. “I’ll take you to the market, so we can get you some equipment. Maybe that can aid your progress a bit when I take you more often to the forest. Okay?” She pulls the girl into a hug, trying to console a disappointed heart.

“Damn, that sounds sweet… I almost regret choosing the right Class then.” The muffled voice responds from the embrace.

Martha pulls away, shock and realization passing through her mind. “Say that again if you dare!” She says in an even tone with her eyes narrowing to slits, challenging Elyssia to repeat the words that left her mouth.

The girl in question visibly shrinks, an innocent smile and puppy eyes finding their way onto her face.

“Uhm… It worked. The Skills merged and I just wanted to very carefully give them a try. Are you curious too, Granny Martha?” The deception almost works, especially since it's the child she’s raising and is constantly on her mind calling her what every older woman dreams of.

Awww, if it weren’t for you trying to weasel your way out of what’s coming I might’ve even melted. I always wanted children and grandchildren. A small smile appears on Martha’s face. If only she didn’t try to deceive me like this… And the smile continues to grow. If only she knew the consequences...

I don’t like that smile. That’s a very concerning smile, one that makes a cold shiver run down my spine. I try to wiggle my way out of her embrace but her hold on me is rock solid, way too strong for a mage.

The grin reaches its crescendo and Martha releases a small “Hihi” Before she teleports me away. Not anywhere inside the castle or the courtyard, oh no… upwards, far upwards.

My heart leaps into my throat as I start to plummet towards the ground while shrieking in fright. “Kyaaa, help me, Martha, help!!”

She just waves at me, pleased as punch and smiling like a gremlin. “Okay okay, I’m sorry, I’m sor~ry!” I cry desperately while flailing in the air. She does nothing.

It’s clear I overdid the whole mess with your teacher thing. This is probably the finding out part after fucking around.

Fuck it, if Martha doesn’t do anything then I will because I don’t feel like dying today. Not with my new untested Skills.

Just like when I made that stupid leap with Kayla chasing me yesterday I sprawl out and use wind magic to increase my drag as much as possible and slow my fall.

It does slow my fall, a bit, before I start spinning and feeling nauseous. With that plan out of the window, I just close my eyes as the ground gets closer and closer while screaming loudly. How embarrassing…

However, instead of a deadly impact, all I feel is a tug before falling onto my rump and hearing a certain someone laugh herself ragged. There’s nothing else I can do but indignantly wait for her to catch her breath and give her the death stare which just makes her laugh harder.

“Oh Eli, that was hilarious. Your face, and when you started spinning.” She loses it again, kneeling on the ground by now.

Almost a minute passes.

“Your prank was a good one,” Martha finally straightens up and takes a deep breath. “but you’re too young to play me like that. Only make jokes on someone of your own level, else they might make you cry.” She says with a mocking grin. “Enough of the jokes, what do you have?” I feel like the roles are reversed here. I should be the one all pumped up and bugging her not the other way around.

Although I sulk and frown, I know I had this coming. “Wielder of the Arcane, a Class that merged the four Skills you mentioned and focuses on controlled combat.”

All the previous jabs and pranks are shredded to bits in Martha’s mind at the mention of my Class and Skill. She just leans forward with gleaming eyes like an excited child, nodding for me to continue.

“So I had a few cyan options and-”

“What? Cyan at your level, that’s incredibly rare. Just what could’ve…” Her face darkens. “That explosion?”

“Yeah, that and the fire against the locusts, the Class-”

“So you got a cyan Class already, that's a huge upgrade, what is the merged Skill called? Wait, let me guess… Arcane Squire?” Her enthusiasm just keeps on rising.

“I hate to break it to you but I didn’t take any of the cyan Classes, mine is just blue.” I say it quickly before she can interrupt me again. Seeing the confusion on her face I clarify. “One of the cyan Classes was called Shepherd of Fire. It was really good actually, except I didn’t want to lose the versatility of the arcane element and melee just isn't my style.” Although she still seems unsure she nods. “The other was Divine Kindle. As a servant of Althea, I would’ve-”

“You did well.” She pats my shoulder. “The Classes bound to Gods are very restrictive. They offer great power in exchange for basically becoming a glorified lackey. Good job resisting the temptation of power and don’t worry she won’t hold a grudge. It would be unjust to force something onto you.”

This takes a huge weight off my shoulders. I was honestly worried the Goddess might take offense to that. I did just reject her and nobody likes that and hopefully, I’m probably not that important on a godly scale.

Unjust… wait, does that mean the other Gods would get mad?

“Okay, so your Class is blue, that’s still very good. At your age probably only one percent of kids have something similar, even though that rate is a lot higher here… but peasants don't need a strong Class to grow potatoes.” She dismisses it.

That sounds slightly degrading even if factually correct…

“The Skill is called Arcane Arsenal and I also got something called Mana Vision.” I read the full description of my Status screen.

“Huh, nice, I only expected Mana Sense or something even less dedicated,” Martha taps her chin. “I guess your attribute increase per level is not that impressive?”

“Yeah,” As expected, she put the pieces together right away. “I also picked up Versatile Weapon Proficiency to-”

“That’s useless.” She flat-out dismisses the Skill. My head tilt and raised eyebrow combo makes her talk but only after I hold it there for a second and a long sigh from the old hag. “Elyssia, how do you wield your weapons? Let’s say… a Mana Blade.”

“I make it… and I cut?” What the hell is she on about?

“Something like that. It’s not a sword duel, you don’t clash weapons with your opponent, and you definitely don’t want to end up in close quarters.” She walks over to a weapon rack and grabs a sword. “The Skill you picked fixes your mistakes, gives you the basics, and makes sure even an amateur like yourself can block and counter with the weapon of your choice, that’s all it does.”

She does a few slashes and thrusts with the weapon. Her moves are sharp, confident, and definitely more professional than some of the Warriors I’ve met in my life. And all that without a Skill?

“No sharper sword, sturdier shield, or any of that nonsense, leave that to the Warriors.” The sword gets thrown to the side like a piece of junk. “The only situation where that Skill of yours could shine is if you were forced into a melee. Although if it ever came to that then you’d need much more than some weapon proficiency.”

Okay okay, damn, message received. It sounded like a good idea in my head at first but she’s right, every weapon of mana I make just gets launched and forgotten. I’ll still keep it until something better appears.

“Mana Vision is a difficult-to-get General Skill, quite a useful one mind you. Although you got it as a Class Skill…” Martha starts tapping her chin. “I wanted you to acquire it later on so this just makes my work faster. Arcane Arsenal is completely new, although it does sound similar to a few Skills I’ve heard of before. How does it work?”

Does curiosity make her stupid? That’s why I’m here, duh. It’s as if Kayla’s spirit has settled into her body with all this talking…

“Why don’t I test it?” I suggest, and that's what we do.

The Skill description was pretty accurate, I can create almost any weapon using mana with surprising ease. The constructs are pretty sturdy and require very little mana to maintain, although it has its limitations. Numbers, size, and visualization to name a few. Arcane Arsenal is still restricted to my attributes and let’s not even mention its level so that’s that. The image in one’s head is one of the most important things when it comes to wielding magic and the main issue here is that I don’t really know what differentiates a master-crafted sword from a garbage one. The size of the blade, its thickness, length, the guard, the tip and so many other things… Even more stuff to learn.

“Why do I need this Skill, Martha? Didn’t you say that anything we can do ourselves is a waste to get a Skill for?” I ask seeing how the Skill just helps me out with something I can do myself.

“Read the description well; ‘Command sturdier constructs of mana with much more ease.’ This means anything you’re trying to make will form faster and more solid than if you did it by yourself. This is a huge boon, not being the one to fire the magic first can cost you your life.”

That makes a lot of sense. Maybe this Skill is why the Class gives fewer stat-points. It’s just stupidly powerful in the way she describes it.

Mana Vision is even more wonky. When I turn it on it siphons mana incredibly slowly, like 0.1/second, but the sight… It’s beautiful. The air swirls green, the ground radiates brown, wherever the sun shines mana appears more brilliant, and anything in the shadows is more hazy. Fire shows dancing red mana clouds and water is just a mass of blue particles.

What a sight. What a headache, damn.

I quickly turn off the rainbow vision, on the edge of throwing up and with injured enthusiasm towards magic. By the looks of it, my little head isn’t made to comprehend this sight for too long, not with my current attributes that is.

“Say,” The new goodies need further testing, on live targets. “can we maybe go to the fore-”

“No, the outing is tomorrow.” Martha shoots down my proposal, almost as if she knew what I was about to ask. “Besides, now that you’re level 26 you’ll have plenty of opponents to try yourself against.”

“Oh, right,” The good old fiendish smile returns to my face. “I can now climb the rankings.”