Marty’s POV

After a depressing breakfast of cold cereal, I logged into the game to find myself suffering from a hunger debuff. Of course, I didn’t bother eating before I logged off, so I wandered around for a bit looking for a restaurant. Instead of a sit down place, I found a food cart of all things selling sausages on a stick. Three of the greasy sticks later, and I was finally full. Now that I had a moment to myself, I decided to head to the barracks to get some practice in. It wasn’t like any of my skills were lacking, I just felt like I didn’t have enough of them. While mine were powerful, the cooldown required by them meant that I couldn’t string together multiple chains of skills, and that would be deadly against the upper tier opponents.

Once at the barracks, I went to a secluded corner and thought about what I actually needed. My initial barrage was usually from range, and the sneaky devs had limited me to one initial shot. Well, that would be my first attempt: create a skill that is useful from range. I started out with shadow manipulation. Was there a limit to how much shadow I could compress into an area? I drew in the darkness surrounding me, adding my own mana to the mix. The form I required was simple, it was a crossbow bolt. Closing my eyes, I mentally pictured everything it would need. Starting with the tip, I gave it a piercing tip. I modeled it after a bodkin tip, which was a simple square that is filed down to a point. Behind that was a shaft, along with some fletching. In the end, I dropped the fletching as superfluous. It was there to give arrows stability in flight, not something that I needed to be worried about with a magical projectile.

Taking my foot-long shadow bolt, I pointed it at a stone target I conjured a few feet away and willed it to fly forward. Instead of a bolt shooting forward and piercing through the target, I ended up with a bolt that sauntered forward before dropping to the ground point first and shattering. Time and time again, I went through the same thing. I tried targeting different areas, but that didn’t work. I forced more and more mana into it, but it kept shattering. Each failure gnawed at me, and I was growing rather frustrated. With my next attempt, I let my frustrations out and changed things slightly. I wanted a bolt that could pierce damn near anything, and by golly I was going to get it. Pointing my finger at where the bolt would go, I imagined a bolt of pure darkness cutting through the air, slicing though the stone target, and burying itself in the ground behind. To my surprise, it actually worked, though it left an odd trail of darkness behind it.

New skill created!

Arrows that pierce the day

Beginner level 1

By giving shape to shadow and infusing it with your will, you have created a potent attack. This bolt has a range of fifty feet, and will fly in a straight line instead of a ballistic trajectory. The dark trail left behind will give away your position, but it’s piercing power is worth the tradeoff. Higher mastery will increase the number of bolts that can be fired at once, as well as their damage.

Mana cost: 40

Range: 50 feet

Damage: 75-100

Cooldown: 3 seconds

Chant (doubles damage, increases mana cost by 1.5x):

Arrow of darkness, cleave your way.

Beware the danger, of Arrows that pierce the day.

I smiled at my new skill, and test fired it. Once it had clicked into place and the system generated the skill, everything became much easier. Looking up, I was surprised to see that I had spent over half of the day on this one skill. Without the amount of time necessary to generate another skill, I settled in for grinding this one. By the time it was too dark to see, I had raised the skill level to beginner level 9, and could fire it within two seconds of a shot from my arbalest.

Mentally drained, I returned to my deplorable little house and set up the basic kit I had ordered. I was now the proud owner of a basic bed, table, and two chairs. I was no Martha Stewart, but I could always create my own stoneware with my skills so I was fine with it. Maybe tomorrow I would do some hunting, until then I simply ate one of my dwindling rations and went to bed. Maybe tomorrow I would check in with the gang, and see how close we were to getting together in game.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The next morning I woke up and thought about the next skill. Some type of magical blade, that I could use in close range or fire off at a distance. Flexibility was going to be key. Once again I claimed a deserted area of the training grounds, but had to sit and think about how to properly go around it. I already had a way to enhance blades, so the skill would have to copy those skills. I also needed it to be free formed, and able to move away like the bolts I had created yesterday. In a perfect world, it would form a crescent moon shape that would fire off until it sliced the target. Shadows just wouldn’t to the job, and something as heavy as earth wouldn’t have the range option I needed. So, how do you boost shadow magic?

Shadow corrupts. That’s it’s nature. I needed something that would rend. I wanted it powerful enough to slice through anything. So, Marty, what is powerful, intangible, and malleable? I started poking and prodding around with my shadow magic, having it form a blade on the outside of my left hand. Concentrating the shadows didn’t seem like the way to go. I started exploring the feelings I got from shadow mana. It was endless, ever changing. In a constant cycle of construction and destruction. For a second I felt a flash, something almost, empty. Chasing that feeling, I looked for the hunger. It too, was endless, but the hunger was sharp. It didn’t care what it consumed, so long as there was something for it to consume. This endless drive, the voracious appetite, that was what I took and infused into my blade.

Opening my eyes, I saw a violet tinged black along the edge of my arm. Pulling it to my opposite shoulder, I swiped it and let the magic flare off my hand. A blade so thin it was nearly two dimensional rocketed off, striking the stone target. I saw the blade slide right through the stone, and leave a line along the ground. When nothing else happened, I got curious. Perhaps it was something that would only cut mana? No, there was definitely a mark on the ground. Pushing on the stone, I saw the top slide off the bottom, leaving a perfectly clean cut.

Boosted element discovered!

Each element in this world has a boosted form. Congratulations on finding the void that hides within the shadows! This terrifying power endlessly hungers, so take care that your ambitions don’t exceed your skills, lest you find yourself on the menu.

New skill created!

Reality slash

Beginner level 1

Create an incredibly thin blade of void energy, and watch as it sunders the very fabric of reality. Beware, as the void cares not who summoned it, only that it can consume. There is no friend, there is no foe, there is only food.

Mana cost: 100

Range: 30 feet

Damage: 500-650, ignores armor

Cooldown: 1 minute.

Well shit. I ended up with a fantastic skill that had a long enough cooldown that I was only going to get one use in a normal fight. Looking around, it was strangely silent. Huh, it was already dark out. Had I truly sat there for an entire day? Heading back to my house, I decided to see what the gang could help out with.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Evenin’ guys.” I said, strolling up to the table. “Sorry I missed out yesterday, had a crazy day.”

“It happens.” Derrick said. “Heard about the innkeeper, sorry about the loss.”

“Thanks.” I replied, plopping down into a seat.

“You seem a bit better.” Phoebe said. “Find something to take up your time?”

“Yeah, trying to create some skills so I can chain combos. I got one skill that’ll help, and one that will be a one off in a fight.”

“Oh?” Jon said, sitting up. “Sounds like this could be fun. Come on, tell us. Gimme gimme gimme.” He even made grabbing motions with his hands on the last part, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You’re incorrigible.” Phoebe said, smacking him in the arm. “At least let him have a chance to answer.”

“Naw, it’s fine. One shoots a bolt of shadow energy, has a three second cooldown. The other sends a wave of void energy that cuts whatever it hits, one minute cooldown.”

“Void energy? You managed to boost an element?” Phoebe asked, shocked.

“Yeah, you seem like you’ve come across this before?”

“Everyone who runs a mage has. Usually either an intensive meditation session after seeing a grandmaster cast the spell or a ten quest chain is required to unlock them.”

“So what are the boosted elements?” Derrick asked. “And can I still cut them with my fancy new sword? By the way, I really love that fancy new sword.” He chuckled.

“Gimme a second. Violet lightning, it paralyses and drains stamina. Clear ice freezes and drains mana. Azure flame will cause massive burns and lower durability. Earth gets boosted to metal. You can sense it as well control it so long as it is unowned. I’m not sure if anyone has managed to boost air yet, but if they have it is probably that knowledge guild.”

“Shadow gets boosted to void, but what about light?” I asked.

“Light becomes blessed. This is different from divine, as that comes from the gods themselves. Paladins use divine light. A mage uses blessed light. Both will do massive damage to undead and unnatural things.”

“So these just do extra damage?”

“Well, yes. But they also have a much higher chance for status effects. The mana costs are higher, but it is worth it.”

“Alright, well it might be something I can look into. But do you guys have any skills that I can learn quickly? I really need something here.”

“I don’t really think you should.” Derrick said, holding up a hand before anyone else could talk. “Hear me out. Marty, your class focuses on dealing massive initial damage, so much so that you effectively eliminate the enemy’s ability to fight, correct?”

“Um, yeah?”

“So why would you want skills to prolong a battle? That’s not your class strength, and not what has gotten you so much success so far. You always go for a decapitating shot and hide, don’t you?”

“I see where you’re going with this.” I said. “It makes sense, so what else do you think I need?”

“Let’s see. You’ve got a long range killer with your arbalest. Assuming the initial attack causes a bit of confusion, you will likely get a second critical from your new bolt spell. That’s two attackers down, then you can get two more with your crowd control. At this point, everyone knows they are under attack, and can probably tell where you are, right?”

“Definitely. The bolt spell leaves a dark trail, so unless it is used at night it will give away my position.”

“That’s even better. You still have a mid-range spell to catch them by surprise with, and you should aim for limbs with it. So that is three down, two controlled. Most players tend to go in groups of five anyway, so you can relax at this point. Kill the closest one, or reload your arbalest to get another shot at one of the bound ones. They will be in a hurry to close, as you already have shown strong ranged attacks.”

“And that’s when he unleashes his close range strikes, ending the fight.” Jon finished. “Though, you only have two edged attacks, right Marty?”

“Yeah, that and only one for the hammer side. I’m starting to feel like that portion of the weapon is being neglected.”

“What’s your skill?” Phoebe asked.

“Mana shockwave. Charge the head of the hammer, and let the force explode out with the next strike.”

“Ever tried it in reverse?” Jon asked.

“Say what now?”

“Yeah, instead of releasing it on the swing with the hammer, use the explosion to add force to your slashing strike. Or use your slash attack, have the explosion trigger giving them a bit of a hit while you use it to spin around and bury the scythe portion into their side again.”

“Not bad hun.” Phoebe said, “but I got one better. Store up earth mana in your hammer, and when you have it hit the ground you can see if it will unleash spikes in a circle around you. Always good to have a close AoE attack.”

“Derrick? You got anything to add?” I asked hopefully. “We can see whose idea does the most damage.”

“Alright. If you want damage, I want you to practice an overhead swing. When you get to the top of your swing, start conjuring as much stone on top of your weapon as possible. You’ll have the momentum from the lighter swing, and the bonus mass to multiply your force when it connects.”

“Ooooh, I like that one.” Jon said, eyes lighting up. “Too bad you don’t have access to fire mana, you could have a fire boost from the scythe end and conjure magma. MAGMA SMASHER!” He yelled, as we all chuckled.

“Sorry, he’s a bit of a skills nerd sometimes.” Phoebe said, shaking her head.

“No worries, if I could pull off that move it would be amazing.” I said. “Almost like an up close and personal meteor attack.”

“Oh meteor, such wanton destruction.” Derrick said wistfully.

“Can’t you learn it?” Phoebe asked. “You seem to be the more magically inclined since this evolution.”

“I might be able to eventually. It would fit with my projected build. Before you go nuts Jon, I’m planning distance magical mayhem with up close swordsmanship.”

“Yeah, even if you can’t get the boosts from enchanting it, having a massive orichalcum blade will make you almost unmatched for physical damage. How are you going to learn it though?” Jon asked.

“Quests. I have a peace brokering one that I chose, and I get to go see the fire giants soon.”

“They have a city here?” Phoebe asked. “I didn’t recall that in any of the lore.”

“No, the most all types of giants have is a large village with the occasional hermit roaming about on the mountains. But each village is attached to a plane, and I get to visit Muspelheim.”

“Oh, that’ll be fun!” I said.

“Yep. They are the masters of weapons for giants. I’m also looking to see if they can craft a mithril gauntlet to channel magic through for my left hand.”

“Dear god, you are gonna wreck some shit.” I said with a chuckle.

“So you are going for meteor with your fire spell, what about your other elements?”

“Tough call. I’m not too sure what I can get to be honest.”

“See if you can get what that bastard used on me.” I said, and everyone looked at me a bit confused. “The guy from the knowledge guild.”

“We didn’t see that fight hun.” Phoebe reminded me.

“Oh.” I said, slightly embarrassed. “What did he call it? Thundering something. Blast? Oblivion? AHNILLATION! That’s it, thundering ahnillation.”

“That’s a good one. I’ve seen the videos of them using the upgraded army killer to create the Shattered Plains.” Jon said.

“Ok, that’s fire and lightning taken care of. Anyone know a good ice spell?”

“I’ve never known anyone with the mana capacity to use it, but there is a legendary spell out there you should look into.” Phoebe said. “Instead of attacking directly, it causes an incredibly large area to change, as if you were transported to another plane. The one for ice is Descent of Cocytus.”

“Oooh, that just sounds epic. Are there ones for other elements?” Derrick asked, thoroughly intrigued.

“Ugh, of course you would ask me that.” Phoebe said, then sat for a second. “Gimme a bit, it’s been a long time. Abbadon for fire, Eversea for water. I can’t really remember the rest, sorry.”

“No worries.” Jon said, rubbing her arm. “We now have a lead on them, and just knowing the names can give him a boost.”

“Haaaaaaah.” Derrick let out a long yawn. “Sorry all, you aren’t boring me, I’m just exhausted.”

“It’s fine, we should be heading off as well. Goodnight all.” Phoebe said, getting up with Jon.

“Later guys.” I said, and headed home for the night after getting a goodbye from Derrick as well. I had some idea of where to take my skills for tomorrow, and was looking forward to it.