29 Chapter 29 Intermediate Level! (1/2)
(DUE TO CONTINUED TRAINING AND EFFORT, EXTERNALIZE MANA HAS REACHED INTERMEDIATE LEVEL. SUB SKILLS MAY NOW BE TRAINED TO INTERMEDIATE LEVEL. DUE TO INCREASED EFFICIENCY EXTERNALIZING MANA, THE COST OF ALL SPELLS WILL REDUCE BY 1 TO A MINIMUM OF 1. IF YOU WISH TO REDUCE MANA TO 0, YOU MUST ACHIEVE BASIC MANA ABSORPTION.)
Joseph could literally make his eyes glow as he concentrated his mana in them. He had expected the notification that he had successfully finished gaze emission, but he hadn't expected the others.
”What happens when Externalize mana reaches advanced? Advanced is after intermediate, right?”
(CORRECT)
(INCOMPETENT -> BASIC -> INTERMEDIATE -> ADVANCED -> MASTER)
(MASTERY CANNOT BE ACHIEVED WITH SIMPLE TRAINING. IT REQUIRES SPECIFIC INSIGHTS AFTER ADVANCED UNDERSTANDING.)
”Why did finis.h.i.+ng Gaze increase the level of externalize mana?”
(SUB-SKILLS ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE BASE SKILL LEARNING AT VARIOUS RATES. CERTAIN ADVANCED SPELLS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO MULTIPLE RUNES, BASIC SPELLS NORMALLY CONTRIBUTE TO ONLY 1, ALSO THE AMOUNT CONTRIBUTED VARIES. ALL SUB-SKILLS OF EXTERNALIZE MANA PROVIDE FULL TIME TO BOTH THE EXTERNALIZE MANA SKILL AND THE APPROPRIATE SUB-SKILL.)
”How many hours were needed to reach intermediate versus advanced?”
(NORMAL TRAINING TIME IS REQUIRED TO REACH BASIC TIME. THAT AMOUNT OF TIME DOUBLES IN ORDER TO REACH INTERMEDIATE. IT MUST DOUBLE AGAIN TO REACH ADVANCED. SO BASIC IS TIMES 1, INTERMEDIATE IS TIMES 2 AND ADVANCED IS TIMES 4.)
(WHEN EXTERNALIZE MANA REACHES ADVANCED RANK, MANA RUNES MAY BE DRAWN INTERNALLY AND ACTIVATED WITH THOUGHTS. DOING THIS BEFORE ADVANCED STAGE IS REACHED, HAS THE POSSIBILITY OF CAUSING DAMAGE TO YOUR INTERNAL MANA PATHS. AT INTERMEDIATE LEVEL, RUNES MAY BE DRAWN ON THE SURFACE OF YOUR BODY. MISSILE SPELLS MAY BE AIMED MORE ACCURATELY, IF THE RUNE WAS DRAWN ON YOUR PALM RATHER THAN YOUR ELBOY, FOR EXAMPLE.)
”Then what use was learning to inscribe mana to the world?” he asked in exasperation.
(NORMAL MAGES IN THIS WORLD ARE TAUGHT THIS TECHNIQUE. IT IS NORMALLY CONSIDERED THE SCRIBE SCROLL ABILITY, AND IS UNIQUE TO THIS WORLD THAT RUNES ARE DRAWN IN THE AIR.)
”So, it wasn't useless but nearly useless.”
(CORRECT. UNTIL YOU HAVE APPRENTICES OF YOUR OWN TO TEACH IT IS LARGELY POINTLESS, CURRENTLY AND WILL BECOME MORE SO, AS YOUR SKILL ADVANCES)
”Why didn't you tell me?”
(1. YOU DIDN'T ASK. 2. AFTER REACHING YOUR MAGE KING GOAL IT IS EXPECTED YOU WILL TRAIN MANY APPRENTICES. AS LONG AS GOALS ARE STILL IN LINE WITH YOUR GOAL AND YOU AREN'T WASTING OUR TIME, I DON'T FEEL THE NEED TO CORRECT YOU.)
Joseph sighed and decided to change the subject before he started to think bad words at the system.
”Can I train all of the sub skill to intermediate right now?”
(CORRECT)
Running the figures in his head, he saw that area and missile still needed fifty hours each so that's 100 hours, then all of them again for 50 hours each would be another 300 hours.
(CORRECT)
An additional 400 hours of training sub-skills would unlock all the bonuses for intermediate sub-skills, and reach advanced externalize mana. Would that be worth it?
(IT APPEARS TO BE AN EXTREMELY UNCOMMON LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY IN THIS REALM. IT WOULD ALLOW YOU TO THINK OF MAGIC IN ORDER TO ACTIVATE IT WITHOUT THE LABORIOUS SCRIBING PROCESS, AND ALLOWS A LARGE SNEAK ATTACK VALUE. HOWEVER, YOUR CURRENT SPELL IS ONLY TEST FOOD. ADVANCED EXTERNALIZE MANA ALSO ALLOWS YOU TO HIDE YOUR MAGE AURA FROM ALL NORMAL SENSES. ONLY SPECIFICALLY DEVELOPED SPELLS WILL DETECT THAT YOU ARE A MAGE. AT INTERMEDIATE LEVEL SIMILAR LEVEL MAGES WILL BE ABLE TO DETECT YOU. THIS LEVEL IS ALSO RARE IN THIS WORLD AMONGST HUMANS. DETECTING 14 IN THE CURRENT KINGDOM.)
Joseph needed to talk to his dad.
x.x.xxX
He was standing outside his father's carriage, waiting for him to finish with several messengers that had arrived in the night. The early morning bustle of the slaves didn't distract him as he thought over each sub skill while he waited.
Regular mana emission at intermediate level, halved the distance penalty to target. Jet mana emission at intermediate level, allowed jets from each hand or whips instead of the normal sword or club forms. Breath mana emission at intermediate level, adjusted the spread of cone spells. It also allowed him to draw 1 mana from the air surrounding him as he cast spells and he could regain 1 mana from breathing for a minute. He was right, he definitely wanted all of these higher.
Gaze mana emission at intermediate level, allowed him to see magical auras and freely aim at anything he could see in spell range. Missile mana emission at intermediate level, allowed him to fire without aiming, with no penalty or select-to-aim for additional accuracy. Apparently advanced would let him make the missiles homing. Area mana emission at intermediate level, allowed him to select both areas and/or targets inside an affected area. Acid rain may not fall on his excluded target, but they could still end up in a pool of acid if the rain kept up.
As the messengers left, they didn't even glance in his direction, instead they hurried to climb onto their horses and ride off. Sticking his head into the carriage, his father waved him inside.
”I'm sorry, Joseph. I hope you weren't waiting too long?” His eyes were sunk and he looked like he hadn't slept in the last couple of days.
”Have you thought about taking reduced sleep?” asked Joseph, suddenly more worried for him, then about what he had come to talk to him about.