Chapter 19: Test 1 Rewards (2)

*Plop*

...

*Plop*

Deryn could not believe his eyes. This was the last thing he had in mind when he used the pet egg. He had considered many animals, both native to earth and mythological, yet a slime never once crossed his mind.

*Plop*

Deryn looked down to see the slime nestled on his feet. He had to resist the urge to fling the slime off of him. Picking it up in one hand Deryn got a better look at it.

It was a weird texture, similar to putty, yet a lot more... wobbly. It didn't leave a trail of ooze either or he might have thrown the poor thing as soon as he touched it.

The slime was an emerald green colour and was slightly transparent. It had two dots on its face... body? Deryn wasn't sure about the anatomy of a slime. The dots looked like two little eyes which brought a small smile to Deryn's face.

He felt a closeness to it like one would feel for a pet, albeit it was a weak feeling currently. With time he knew it would grow though.

Deryn decided to call it Squidge. It was a simple name but it felt right to call the creature so.

Deciding to use the inspect skill his eyes widened and a pain-filled look filled his face.

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< SLIME PET: SQUIDGE >

INSPECT: It's a slime. Has a single innate trait: passiveness. It cannot be attacked by any creature but also cannot attack any creature.

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Deryn had, in essence, got a mascot. He was torn between laughing and crying at the situation.

He didn't know what to do, so planted squidge back on the ground. With a 'plopping' sound, it slowly jumped around the training area before jumping back to where Deryn sat on the bench. Going right between his feet the slime slightly flattened itself before jumping next to him.

Looking at Squidge Deryn couldn't help but smile, a bit of stress seemed to leave his shoulders as he watched the slime.

After a few seconds, the slime didn't move again, so Deryn decided to open up the last of his rewards; his chests.

Rubbing his hands together he couldn't wait to see what he would get. The chests would give him items on the same rarity level of the ring of 4 elements and the elemental generator (prototype), yet whether the items would be unique items like them was to be seen.

He decided to open the two Elite Kobold chests first, placing them into his empty inventory so he could see the information of them once more.

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< ELITE KOBOLD CHEST >

DESCRIPTION: A chest gained for defeating an elite encampment of kobolds. Due to the user having kobold slaves, the chest will have a high chance to give items related to the contracted creatures.

Rarity: Very Rare (Blue)

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Opening them in his mind, two items replaced the two chests.

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< KOBOLD ENCAMPMENT BASIC CUBE (Upgradable) >

DESCRIPTION: A cube, which upon use, will create a basic Kobold encampment. Kobold's will live in the encampment. A Kobold you own must be appointed as chief of the tribe. Doing so will enable wild kobolds to defect from their tribes to join yours.

RARITY: Very Rare (Blue)

NOTE: Can only be placed in your owned territory.

INSPECT: A place for kobolds to live and grow as a tribe. Wild kobolds will pledge loyalty to the appointed tribe leader and by proxy will be loyal to you, the tribe leader's master.

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< KOBOLD TOTEM >

DESCRIPTION: A totem of a powerful Kobold Champion. Must be bound to a Kobold encampment for effects to appear.

RARITY: Very Rare (Blue)

INSPECT: This totem comes with two effects after being bound; bloodline aura and unity.

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Deryn wasn't overly excited nor disappointed about these rewards. It solved the issue of where all the kobolds would sleep and would be a big help with the increase in kobolds under his rule.

He was more curious about the totem and what the two effects were but decided to wait until Kev and Mummy woke up as he would choose one of them to be the leader of the tribe.

After using the inspect skill on the unconscious Kobolds, he found it would take them 46 minutes for them to awaken, enough time for him to open the 4 gold chests.

Deryn placed the four chests in his inventory and had a quick look at the description.

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< GOLD CHEST >

DESCRIPTION: A Regular gold chest. Holds a small chance to get rare items, a high chance of getting very rare items and a very small chance of getting unique very rare items. Has a normal chance of giving items that help the user's current situation.

RARITY: Very Rare (Blue)

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RECEIVED:

Large basic resource pouch x4

Small intermediate resource pouch x2

Intermediate Map (25km x 25km) x2

Mage class scroll: Novice x1

Random class skill scroll x2

(With 2x system reward already calculated)

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This time Deryn was ecstatic. The first two rewards would be useful but not overly so. With 5 kobolds and himself, he could gather resources 6 times faster than him on his own, and with his current stockpile had no pressing need for them. Though he supposed there was no harm in having more.

The map would be more useful than the resources as it would allow Deryn to continue his conquest of kobolds and explore the surrounding area further.

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< MAGE CLASS SCROLL: NOVICE >

DESCRIPTION: A one-time use scroll that allows the user to unlock the novice mage class, which will be recognised by the Doomsday advent world. Relevant knowledge will be directly transmitted to the brain and the body will be adapted accordingly.

RARITY: Rare (Light Blue)

INSPECT: A scroll that enables the user to step on the path of magic. The scroll comes with the mage novice class and a single level 1 spell: Meditation.

SYSTEM NOTE: This is one such way for the hosts wish to use magic, without relying on tools, to come true.

NOTE: To use this scroll one must open it with both hands before sending mana into it.

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< RANDOM CLASS SKILL SCROLL >

DESCRIPTION: Use this scroll thinking about a class user owns. It will randomly give a skill-based upon the class rank, specific to that class.

RARITY: Very Rare (Blue)

INSPECT: A scroll that enables the user to learn random class-specific skills up to very rare rarity.

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Deryn couldn't wait to use the novice mage scroll. Pulling it out of his inventory, he held it in two hands before sending his mana into it.

His mind instantly was overcome with vast amounts of knowledge. It wasn't a painful experience yet definitely an uncomfortable one. Different memories and information appeared in his mind as his eyes started to get brighter and brighter.

Finally, the digestion of knowledge came to an end a few minutes later and Deryn pondered over what he had just learnt. Whilst it was the extreme basics of magic, he had at least now come to an understanding of what being a mage was.

It was much different to the knowledge presented by the spearman trainee book he had used recently. The mage class gave him more knowledge about what mana actually is.

It was the life force that made up the entire world. It was present in all energy and whether one could use it or not was dependent upon if they could recognise it with a suitable method. In Deryn's case, the suitable method he had was the system, whilst without it, he would perhaps never have touched upon mana.

The class also grew a lot differently than the spearman class did. The spearman class could be advanced with further training books and the user's experience. Whilst this was also true with the mage novice class, it required his mana and intellect to be at a satisfactory level before he could advance it.

The knowledge so far had given him the requirements for the next level. This being a novice mage required his intelligence to pass 5 and required his mana to be 150 points to form a mana core which would allow him to step into the next level. If he didn't meet the requirements he would never be able to progress the class, even if he had further scrolls to advance his class.

According to his newfound knowledge, 50 mana points were stored in the brain whilst 100 points were the prerequisite to forming a mana core. The mana points stored in the brain could not be used in the formation of a mana core, although he didn't know why the information he gained hadn't given him a reason.

The mana core was of the utmost importance and upon its conception, it would be stored in his body around his epigastric region, just below his chest.

He was also aware upon reaching the next level of mage, he would gain a talent, although his newfound knowledge hadn't had anything more about talents.

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< MAGE CLASS SCROLL: NOVICE, HAS BEEN CONSUMED. STATS GAINED >

+1 INT

+0.3 ALL STATS

+25 MANA

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Deryn opened his eyes and called upon his character sheet to see his stats. He gasped as soon as he laid eyes on his new stats.

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< CHARACTER SHEET >

Name: Deryn Adams

Race: Human

Health: 380/380(170) (0.34 Regen per minute)

Mana points: 130/130(105) (0.4 Regen per minute)

Strength: 2.8(1.6) < SYSTEM REMARK: STRENGTH INFLUENCES ATTACK STRENGTH AND WEIGHT CARRYING ABILITY >

Vitality: 3.4(1.7) < SYSTEM REMARK : VITALITY INFLUENCES HEALTH (100X3.4) AND RECOVERY OF HEALTH (3.4/10) >

Agility: 4.5(1.6) < SYSTEM REMARK : INFLUENCES SPEED, NIMBLENESS AND REACTION SPEED >

Intelligence: 4(2.5) < SYSTEM REMARK: INTELLIGENCE INFLUENCES MANA (4x20), MANA REGEN (4/10), THOUGHT SPEED, AND PROBLEM-SOLVING >

< CLASS >

Spearman (Trainee)

Mage (Novice)

< COMABAT SKILLS >

Mage Skill: Mana Shield

Spearman skill: Phantom Lunge

< OCCUPATIONAL SKILLS >

Inspect level 1

< SYSTEM REMARK: HOST HAS GAINED: +1 INT, +0.3 ALL OTHER STATS and +25 MANA >

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Deryn's mind had never felt so clear. The boost of 1 intelligence was the most noticeable stat change that Deryn had experienced. Whilst the ring of 4 elements also had given Deryn 1 entire INT when he had equipped it, it was a piece of external equipment so the stats weren't actually part of him, merely buffing him.

Whilst the stats gained from the class change had truly moulded Deryn's body and more importantly his mind. His thoughts were extremely swift and tasks that had muddled him in the past, which may have taken him a few hours to figure out before could now be done in under half an hour.

This was a huge increase in both his raw processing ability and his problem-solving skills. This made him look forward to further increasing his stats as the feeling was quite honestly addicting to him.

At this point, Deryn realised he had an addiction. It wasn't a bad one to have; he was addicted to getting stronger. He would just have to be careful to not let the feeling rule him and instead use that feeling as motivation.

Due to the mana fluctuations, Deryn gave off during the body moulding process, Squidge had started to jump against his leg.

Picking it up Deryn played with it for a few minutes absentmindedly while he further consolidated the knowledge in his mind. During this time he also looked at the meditation skill which came with the novice mage scroll.

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< MEDITATION LEVEL 1 >

DESCRIPTION: A skill that allows for the user to enter meditation. Meditating an hour a day will allow for total mana to increase by 1 point (due to the 2x reward system a single hour will yield 2 points).

RARITY: Uncommon (Green)

INSPECT: The act of meditating allows one to commune with the surrounding mana, increasing the body's own mana capacity.

NOTE: Mana can only be increased once a day.

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Deryn smiled. He now had to train using the weights for 10 days consecutive days and train his mana for the foreseeable future daily. The meditation gain of mana would be negligible for a single day, yet added up over time it would become a monstrous amount, especially with his 2x system reward.

Putting Squidge down Deryn took the other two scrolls out of his inventory.

These were the random class skill scrolls. He was in a slight mental dilemma on how to use them. He could split them evenly between his two classes or use them both on his mage class in hopes of getting an offensive skill/spell. (AN- Mages skills are just spells.)

Contemplating in his head Deryn jumped up once more before choosing to use them both of his mage class.

His reasoning was simple, he needed an offensive skill he could cast on his own without equipment. If he got it on his first try he would still use the second book on his mage class just due to the versatility multiple skills/spells would give him.

Using the first scroll it disappeared with a flash of light, sending a rune made of mana directly into his brain.

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< PASSIVE SKILL: RAPID INCANTING LEVEL 1 >

DESCRIPTION: This allows for spells to be cast repeatedly with no cast time. The cost of the spell is increased by 100% upon the use of this skill. Only works for skills with an activation time of fewer than 10 seconds.

RARITY: Uncommon (Green)

INSPECT: A way for mages to overcome casting times at an extreme cost.

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< ICE ARROW >

DESCRIPTION: Shoots an arrow made of ice at the target. The spell has a piercing effect. It has a cast time of three seconds.

MANA COST: 5 MANA

INSPECT: An offshoot of water magic that is a higher difficulty to learn, ice magic is extremely powerful in the aspect of piercing and freezing targets.

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Deryn punched the air in joy. His gamble had paid off and he now had his very own first offensive magic spell. Whilst one could argue that the spearman skill: Phantom lunge was the first. Deryn had completely forgotten about that, he had barely if at all used it after he received the ring of 4 elements so it wasn't a surprise.

Deryn went outside right away to try the new spells he had just picked up. He cast and threw an ice arrow first and found it travelled at full speed for around 30 metres and flew steadily for another ten after that before it merely glided to the 50-metre mark.

"Ok, the effective range is around 30-40 metres. After that and it loses pretty much all damage potential" he muttered to himself.

He next tried the rapid casting. He summoned the first arrow after three seconds and a following two before trying to summon a fourth. Upon doing so the rest of the arrows dropped to the ground before turning it into a puddle of water, soaked into the mud shortly after.

Deryn found he could only control three spells at once. Although it was the same spell, it had been cast three times and that was the maximum amount of spells Deryn could focus upon at the same time.

Deryn had an idea before summoning a fireball (using the ring of 4 elements). Upon the first appearing in his hand, he used rapid incanting to summon two more in quick succession, shocked that it actually worked.

< ALTHOUGH THEY ARE EQUIPMENT SPELLS, THEY ARE STILL SPELLS NEVERTHELESS AND THEREFORE ARE COMPATIBLE WITH HOSTS SKILL >

With three fireballs in hand, Deryn had an idea. He dissipated one of them to get the mana back before throwing the two fireballs out in a curved manner. They flew for 10 metres before slowly meeting up in the middle before colliding.

The resulting explosion was massive, almost 3 times bigger than a single fireball alone. Deryn grinned at the resulting damage that the spell had caused. It was just an offhand idea he had but it had proven effective. For the price of 10 mana, he got the equivalent of 15 mana of damage.

The only difficulty was accurately throwing the fireballs in a perfect curve for them to meet and explode upon contact with one another. He could do it with no problem outside of combat but in combat may be a different story, he wasn't too sure yet.

Deryn was about to continue testing ideas before he heard a loud growling sound come from inside his shelter.

He panicked and rushed inside, as the only other creature that sounded like that was the elite Kobold warrior he fought this morning.