42 Success
And like that, two more days passed. Edward kept cultivating while his arm healed, sometimes practicing drawing the magic, but this time without using his mana finger. He cursed himself for being impatient and not thinking of this before. His hair hadn't grown back, so he remained bald and without any facial hair.
When the other came back to the dungeon on the first day, they were surprised to see him all burnt up. Emma helped him clean his wound the best she could then everything went back to normal.
Leonardo's broken arm had healed completely, joining the other four to hunt. During this time, they had gotten to level 10, and the realization of this caused Edward to check the ranking board, finding himself pushed out of the top ten.
The only person he recognized in the top ten was Kasel Lord at level 16. Everyone else was new. That day, Edward found himself furious, a rare occurrence. He was once at the top of billions of people but soon lost that place due to his stupidity of blowing up his hand.
He tried to think of a plan to get back up there but he wasn't able to. The one in 10th place was a level 13, while he was a level 10. The gap between them was too great. As he levels up, they two would be leveling up. It would be almost impossible to pass them without skipping multiple levels by killing something that gave him a lot of EXP.
All this changed yesterday when the four came back from their daily expedition, announcing that they had found another dungeon. It was great news to Edward, something that solidified his plan to return to the top rank.
On the mid-day, Edward stood on the elevated platform, eyes closed and his right hand raised in front of him. Though they have healed, they left behind a disgusting burn scar, a constant reminder of his first magic accident caused by his stupidity.
Taking a deep breath, his mana circuits glowed blue as a mana brush formed at the tip of his right index finger. Without wasting any time, he kept his eyes closed and began to draw the rune of the explosion, the one that burnt his arm.
Two seconds later, a run with a red and black shade floated in front of him. Leaving the rune in the air, Edward moved on to draw another rune beside it. This rune was clear and bright, representing 'control.' Taking another breath, Edward finally opened his eyes, his finger moving and drawing a perfect circle.
Not waiting, he began to add little symbols to this circle, completing the glyph. With the glyph formed, both runes were drawn into it, turning into an orange-red magic circle in front of him. Directing his finger to a spot, he flicked at the magic circle.
The magic circle transformed into a little orange-red glowing orb, not much bigger than a ping pong ball, shooting forward at breakneck speed and hitting the still standing pillar more than 25 meters in front of him.
*Booom* On contact with the pillar, the orb exploded, sending a loud boom through the room. The force of the explosion sent spider webs cracks through the pillar.
"Huh," Edward mumbled, showing no other reaction to his first successful magic.
No one was here to celebrate his success with him. Even the injured Michael had left with Andrew, so he could leach off the EXP they hunt and reach level ten.
"Should I get an achievement for this?" He asked himself, deactivating his mana finger and opening his mail. Sure enough, there were three new mails.
\Congratulation on being the first to cast magic without the use of an Item\
\Congratulation on being the first of the [Sigil School] to cast magic without the use of an Item\
\Congratulation on being the first [Mage] on the planet Eden\
Noticing the word 'first' on all three mails, Edward smiled. Either he was very talented, lucky, or his Magical Language ability helped him learn magic quicker than the others. The realization that he was the first-ever magic caster in Eden, he burst out laughing in joy.
It was an accomplishment no one could ever surpass.
"My sacrifice for magic instead of hunting paid off," Edward mumbles while sitting on the ground. The thought of not being part of the top ten still hunted him, but soon, that wouldn't be so. Especially now he has learned magic.
_______________________
Reward: 5 AP, 3 SP, Random Tier 2 Magic scroll
_______________________
Suddenly, a tattered old scroll with a red rope tying it shot dropped in his hand. 'A Tier 2 Magic scroll?' He thought, picking it up as the status popped up.
[Arctic Blast(Low Tier 2 Magic): Activate the scroll using mana. Shoot a freezing cold beam, freezing anything in its path. When those frozen get hit with enough force, they will shatter. Those with a defense of 60 or higher will not be frozen, and those with a strength of 40 or higher can break out of the frozen cocaine in five seconds. When a frozen being breaks out of the frozen cocaine, it won't shatter]
Edward had to re-read it three times before he understood it. 'So if I use this to freeze someone and break the ice, they will shatter with the ice.' This reminded him of the way Brody died, causing a sigh. "So if Brody had high enough strength, he would have broken free before hitting the wall and shattering." He mumbles, going to the next mail.
____________________
Reward: 3 AP, 1 SP, Title - [Eden's First Sigil Magician]
____________________
"A Title?" Edward mumbled, surprised. He didn't know there were titles, especially when things title worthy didn't give him one, like being the second to reach level 1. "I guess they are rare."
[Eden's First Sigil Magician: Permanently increase Sigil and Runes learning speed by 10%]
"Huh." He had thought it would be more than that, but anything would do. 'Finally, the last mail.'
_______________________
[Reward: Title- Eden's First Mage]
_______________________
"Another Title? And no AP or SP?" This was the first time he didn't get SP or AP from an achievement mail, which came as a surprise. "Does that mean this title would be overpowered?" He hoped it was. The title sounded overpowered as it is.
[Eden's First Mage: 5% mana reduction while casting spells]
"..." Again, he had expected something more than that. "High expectations always lead to disappointment." He mumbled, still grateful for his 5% mana reduction.
Edward immediately opened his status screen, inputting his 8 AP into dexterity. With higher dexterity, he will have better control over his hands, leading to faster casting time and a lesser chance of accidents like last time.
Picking up his spear beside him, Edward gained the +4 dexterity that the spear offered, boosting his dexterity to 22. "Last time, it took me fifteen seconds to cast a simple explosion. I wonder how much it would be reduced by."
His mana circuits glowed, activating his mana finger. He started drawing, immediately noticing the difference in drawing speed and accuracy. He drew the rune of explosion and control, then combined them with glyphs. In less than five seconds, an orange-red magic circle floated in front of his finger.
"Seven seconds. That's a lot of reduction." Edward noted, flicking the magic circle and sending the orb of explosion flying toward a large piece of broken pillar, exploding on contact.
Though that was good, another problem arises. He couldn't move while casting.
Drawing the rune required a lot of concentration, so moving while casting would cause his hand to shake, messing up the drawing. Though it could be learned with practice, Edward won't risk his right arm once more. After all, tomorrow morning, they will be going to clear the dungeon.
So, he continued practicing. For five hours, he kept casting explosions, learning new things. First, how far the orb travels before exploding is based on how much mana he put into the control rune while drawing it. The limit a tier 1 control rune could handle was only 25% of his current mana, letting it travel 30 meters.
Once he sends the spell flying, he won't be able to control the direction because the control rune was a low tier. He assumed a higher level one would let him have more control over the spell, like its speed or make it homing.
Another thing was the scale of the explosion was based on how much mana was imputed into the explosion rune when being drawn. There was a limit to this, however. Edward could only put 25% of his mana into the rune when drawing it, and any more than that would cause it to tremble. It would most likely have exploded, killing him.
The explosive force of explosion magic with 25% of his mana was enough to blow up the entirety of the last standing pillar. "I assume a higher grade explosion rune would be able to handle more mana and do more damage. The higher the rune tier, the better it is." Edward noted, sitting down to regain his mana.
And so he continued practicing, reducing his explosion spell casting time to four seconds by the time the other six returned from their hunting trip.
