Mental Gains and Void Tooth
"The system didn't mention any affinities that were classified as 'Transcendent'," Drew said in deep thought.
"Though it shouldn't matter in the short run,"
He motioned towards the status screen and mentally commanded the descriptions of the two new additions to appear.
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[Mana Burn: Lv: 1]:
"Magic is a Blessing, but I can make it a curse," - Unknown Legend
This skill is a Branch Skill of [Mana Reaper]. This skill further improves on an aspect of the parent skill and acts as a support type skill. This skill allows you to burn those whose mana you have Reaped. They take a small amount of Death/Slayer Magic damage based on the amount of mana you reaped. This damage persists over a period of 1 minute. They have decreased mana regeneration during this time. (Note: Is transferable, unlike Mana Reaper)
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[Dispel (Trancendent Magic Type): Lv: 1]:
"Magic has no Owner, so why wouldn't your spells listen to another?" - Unknown Legend
Dispel is a magical spell that resides underneath the [Trancendent] Branch of magic. No current information is available for the root affinity or creation of this spell. Dispel is a magical spell that consumes the caster's magic to negate the casting of an enemy spell or destroy an already existing spell. Countering the casting of a spell costs less mana than removing an existing spell. Non-Transferable.
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"What the hell are these stupid quotes in here for?"
"Ugh... The system seems to be getting poetical for some godawful reason,"
"So Mana Burn..." He said while reading the description in depth.
"It's transferable... Interesting... It shouldn't work without Mana Reaper so there wouldn't be any use in transferring it in the first place,"
"Seems like another skill based on punishing mana users,"
"Though the system said I didn't have to follow Mana Reaper... it seems like it is really trying to get me to go down that path,"
"Dispel seems to be a way for me to instantly nullify a mage's spell,"
"That would help me get into melee range to activate the rest of my skills. It would mean instead of draining a mage's mana through their spells I could just destroy their spells and get right to the source,"
"So overall a great addition to my skills," He said while dusting his hands off.
"But now it's time to do something very important," He said while reaching his hand out to the space in front of him.
His tattoo on his arm wriggled and in a flash of blue and white light Flux appeared in the Eternal Meadow alongside Drew.
Though his appearance was drastically different...
Instead of a towering 5-foot-tall wolf showing up, a small dog version of Flux flopped onto the ground with confusion filling its eyes.
Drew saw Mini Flux and froze in place, his body refusing to move at the sight of the tiny wolf sniffing around his new environment.
"Flux... Why are you so... Cute!" He yelled before running towards the mini wolf and hugging him towards his chest.
Flux looked at its massive master with both fear and curiosity as it instinctually nuzzled into Drew's chest.
After talking to Flux for a while and trying to explain the situation, Drew decided to give up and start training.
"I can take breaks whenever I start getting bored or frustrated, and during those breaks, I can play with Flux!" He said excitedly.
"These two years can't be too bad!"
---
Nearly two years had passed in the Eternal Meadow and both Drew and Flux had grown tired of it. But with no choice other than to remain here, they spent far more time training than playing.
Not a 'day' had passed in this infinite world as the sun remained frozen in one position, unmoving no matter how hard they wished it to move.
The world hadn't changed a bit since they got here... but they had.
The air rustled the field as blades of wind tore through the sky. Drew stood in a puddle of his own sweat as he held his two Scythes forwards.
His breathing was rhythmic and his heartbeat unchanging as he stared forwards with focus.
He pivoted his right leg and spun lightly across the field while slicing through the air with the moonlight scythes, his muscles shaking at the sheer force he has forced onto them.
As the curved blades sliced through nothing, a wave of wind followed its path and arced forward into the distance.
Drew continued this dance while tensing his muscles harder and harder the longer he persisted.
But when he was shaking so bad that he could barely hold his weapons, he did not give up. Instead of dropping to the ground in exhaustion... he spun one last time and tossed his Scythes through the air as hard as he possibly could.
They moved in perfect sync as they followed an invisible path that only Drew could see. But as they flew away Drew still didn't ease up.
Instead of ending his dance and relaxing his muscles, he held his hands stretched into the air and a look of deathly concentration filled his steely face.
His body shivered and spasmed for a moment before half of his shadow disappeared and formed into 8 inky black hands that raced through the air towards his blades.
In the blink of an eye, the hands had reached the Scythes and curved them back perfectly. They traced the exact same path they had taken through the air the first time and headed straight towards Drew.
His face was dripping in sweat as he focused on the minute movements the Hands and Scythes made as they arced through the air and his hands moved as if controlling strings of puppets. The blades came closer and closer until they crashed into Drew, sending him flying backward.
Grass and dirt flew up in the air as he skidded against the ground harshly. After tumbling a few dozen times he finally managed to stop rolling.
He breathed deeply and quickly as his body went limp from exhaustion. The grass and dirt finally settled into the ground and all that remained was Drew lying on the ground completely flat with his arms and legs spread out like one big 'X'.
The Scythes were firmly grasped in both of his hands and other than some nicks and scrapes from his tumble he was completely uninjured.
"Finally-" He gasped in between breaths.
"Did it-"
He kept gasping for air for quite a while before Flux tried tumbling like Drew did and ended up crashing into him.
"Ugh- Little buddy... Your lucky your not big right now or I would have been in a world of hurt," He said while finally managing to sit up.
[System Overhaul has been complete!]
[Returning the User to Lune]
---
His eyes blinked open to the same scene as when he left off. The man was wrapped in darkness, sitting in a chair gesturing towards the wooden box with one hand and his head tilted slightly as if in confusion.
"Erm... Sorry about that," Drew fumbled.
"I'll open it right away!"
He moved his no longer sore body towards the box and gently lifted the wood lid.
The inside of the box was just as simple and unassuming as the outside but what lay within it was anything but unassuming.
Small black silk cloth was tightly wound into a bundle on the right side of the box while the left had a beautiful set of black armor elegantly placed within.
"This is my gear...?" Drew asked hesitantly as he stared at the sleek combat-ready rogue armor.
"Hmm," The man grunted in confirmation.
Drew rubbed his hand along the leather armor and was amazed at how tough yet flexible it was. He picked it up slowly and found that it seemed to be custom fit for him. It was amazingly light while also providing a great amount of protection from the various leather plates inlaid within it.
"How did you all get my size?" Drew asked puzzledly.
The man tilted his head up towards drew and made a small gesture of pointing two of his fingers towards his eyes and pointing them back at Drew.
"We Watch," He said gruffly.
"You... were watching me?!"
Drew hadn't seen a single person during his week of training and if someone was watching him you would think that you would have at least seen a trace of them.
"We," He corrected.
"More than one... cool,"
"Well, thank you for the armor, it looks magnificent," He said while running his hands along the chest piece.
'I can't see exactly what it looks like without laying it all out... but it already looks pretty badass as it is,' Drew nodded with appreciation.
"Hmm," The man grunted while gesturing towards the bundle of silk.
Drew nodded in understanding as he picked up the bundle and slowly unraveled it.
The silk peeled off to reveal a beautiful black dagger with a steel blue handle and a pure white gem socketed into the bottom.
The armor had glowed subtly with magical light when he held it, but this dagger... it was like a floodlight of energy.
He held it in his hand and found that the blade was sharpened to perfection and a small line of blue metal lined the edge.
He was lost in the uniqueness of the item before the man spoke once more.
"Void Tooth," He said while pointing towards the blade.
"Hmm... Its name is Void Tooth," Drew murmured as he ran his hand along the length of the blade.
"Companion Blade," He grunted once more.
The man slid his hand towards his side before withdrawing a simple and crude dagger that glowed with an even more powerful magical energy than his own blade.
"Mine," He uttered while holding it aloft gently.
"Serenity..." He murmured while seemingly getting lost in its beauty.
[Magic Blade detected within range. Would you like me to try and examine it?] The system dinged lightly.
'I guess?' Drew asked while staring at his own dagger with anticipation.
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[Serenity: Rarity: Legendary(Growth)]: A dagger that brings peace and beauty into the world. A cut from this blade will render the target mute for 10 minutes. The user of Serenity is silent at all times unless the user chooses elsewise. The impact caused by Serenity is silent. A kill with this dagger increases the local area's affinity with the magic nature element.
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'A legendary blade! That is what he meant by serenity...' Drew thought as he stared at the description.
'And that's why he is as he is... or maybe the blade is how it is because of how quiet he is?'
'Either way Data Collection seems to already be coming into use,'
'But I wonder what my dagger does?' Drew asked as his gaze went back to his black dagger.
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[Void Tooth: Rarity: Masterwork(Growth)]: A Dagger meant to bring annihilation upon your enemies. This blade is much more effective against armor, shields, and arcane protections. A cut from Void Tooth causes a life force dampening effect on the target, causing them to not be able to heal as efficiently for 10 minutes. The User of Void Tooth can use the [Void Slash] skill once per 10-minute period.
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"These are... powerful," Drew said in a low tone as he stared at both of their descriptions.
"Hmm," He grunted in acknowledgment.