19 Magic Training
Jim was suddenly startled awake by notifications going off, it was as though the system had glitched.
[Congratulations Host, Someone Has Enjoyed Your Work, 257 Points Awarded]
[Congratulations Host, Someone Has Enjoyed Your Work, 281 Points Awarded]
[Congratulations Host, Someone Has Enjoyed Your Work, 242 Points Awarded]
[Congratulations Host, Someone Has Enjoyed Your Work, 293 Points Awarded]
[Congratulations Host, Someone Has Enjoyed Your Work, 267 Points Awarded]
An unknown number of notifications appeared, 'System, did you break?'
[Negative, System Fully Operational]
Jim couldn't think of why this would happen, he had stayed indoors practicing for almost the entire day, checking the shop window he found himself with over 20,000 points, it had to be said that he had used up almost all over them from buying skills, spells, tools, and food over the past few days. 'Hmm, might as well'.
[Max Skill Gift Pack x 11 Opened]
[Congratulations Host, System Upgrade Module x 22 Obtained]
[Congratulations Host, 110,000 Points Obtained]
[31, 42, 130,986]
Jim was satisfied with his earnings, 'Alright, let's get to training', Today's practice was magic, he had just bought several spells and wanted to test them out.
[Lifestyle Magic Skill Obtained]
[Lifestyle Magic Level Up]
[Lifestyle Magic Has Reached Level 8]
[Water Magic Skill Obtained]
[Water Magic Level Up]
[Water Magic Has Reached Level 2]
[Earth Magic Skill Obtained]
[Earth Magic Level Up]
[Earth Magic Has Reached Level 5]
[Wind Magic Skill Obtained]
[Wind Magic Skill Level Up]
[Wind Magic Has Reached Level 2]
[Light Magic Skill Obtained]
[Light Magic Level Up]
[Light Magic Has Reached Level 7]
[Spellcasting Level Up]
[Spellcasting Has Reached Level 5]
[Verbal Casting Level Up]
[Verbal Casting Has Reached Level 9]
[Somatic Casting Level Up]
[Somatic Casting Has Reached Level 9]
[Magic Circle Level Up]
[Magic Circle Has Reached Level 8]
[Mana Efficiency Level Up]
[Mana Efficiency Has Reached Level 7]
Heading out back, he began testing the new spells. Create Fire had about half the power of Flame, the difference was it didn't fly forwards and stayed above his hand. Create Water literally just made a few drops of water that fell down to the ground. He couldn't even see the effect of Small Gust, it was blowing around air after all.
Jim grabbed an old potting plant that was deep in a closet and set it next to his computer, Using Parallel Processing he watched the new anime releases while he casting Create Soil and letting the small amounts of dirt drop into the pot until it was nearly full. Light Orb was then cast, he had trouble believing the tiny speck of light that appeared could be useful at all, eventually light magic stopped increasing.
Next was testing Clean, he tried it on the potted plant first but nothing happened, he had an idea that the lack of effect was because dirt being in the pot is considered normal and thus doesn't need to be cleaned. He got a broom and tried casting Create Soil and letting it fall on the floor, Clean caused the soil to suddenly vanish so he put the broom away, he started cleaning his clothes, sheets, the walls, everything he could, it took hours due to the 2 minute cast time and small effect area. After his room was spotless, he began casting Deodorant, it literally just removed scents from the target object.
Jim started pondering on the Mana Control skill, it hadn't leveled up since obtaining it despite hours upon hours of spell casting, what was missing? He tried feeling within his own body, Qi was flowing along steadily and calmly through every blood vessel, muscle, and bone, but there was another energy he could detect. If Qi was like a gas that condensed into a smoothly flowing liquid along pre-determined paths, then this other energy was like molasses, it was thick and moved slowly without order. Jim figured this was mana and tried controlling it, it was far more difficult than Qi, like he was dipping his hand into honey but when pulling out there was nothing left. 'How can I guide this stuff? It's like ordering around a pool of water.'
Jim didn't give up, twelve hours passed while he mentally poked and prodded the viscous Mana, finally just a tiny bit of it quivered and moved along with his intentions.
[Mana Control Level Up]
[Mana Control Has Reached Level 2]
It became easier, he didn't want to stop for fear of losing the sensation. Eventually he could move small clumps of it, then large clumps, then he could seperate it into threads and move them independently, he moved them around and tied knots, upon letting go they just melted and reformed into a pool.
[Mana Control Level Up]
[Mana Control Level Max]
[Mana Control Derivation Skill - Mana Sense Obtained]
[Congratulations Host, Host Has Achieved Maximum Level In A Skill, Skill Max Gift Pack x 1 Awarded]
[Mana Thread Skill Obtained]
[Mana Thread Level Up]
[Mana Thread Has Reached Level 4]
[Magic Mastery Level Up]
[Magic Mastery Has Reached Level 7]
[Parallel Processing Level Up]
[Parallel Processing Level Max]
[Parallel Processing Derivation Skill - Epiphany Obtained]
[Congratulations Host, Host Has Achieved Maximum Level In A Skill, Skill Max Gift Pack x 1 Awarded]
'Ooooh' Suddenly it was like something pulled away a curtain in front of his eyes, he could see, touch, and smell mana, it was everywhere, floating about slowly. He understood it like it was a part of himself, he began manipulating the surrounding mana, pulling it apart, mashing it together, separating it into threads, tying it together, weaving it into shapes.
[Mana Thread Level Up]
[Mana Thread Level Max]
[Mana Thread Derivation Skill Failed, Requirements Not Met]
[Congratulations Host, Host Has Achieved Maximum Level In A Skill, Skill Max Gift Pack x 1 Awarded]
[Mana Sense Level Up]
[Mana Sense Has Reached Level 4]
[Magic Mastery Level Up]
[Magic Mastery Has Reached Level 9]
"Guuuuu" His stomach was complaining, kicked out of his fascination he found that he had lost track of time, it seems he had been playing with mana for over a day now, he was absolutely starving. 'Let's go for it', Jim bought a Dragon Haunch and placed it in the Cooking Assist. Only two minutes were needed until a thick sizzling piece of lizard meat was in front of him, the smell was astounding, like an illusion pulling him in, he didn't hesitate and took a large bite.
