“To begin, Enchanting focuses on imbuing objects with traits and abilities. At its lower levels things such as enhanced fire magic, and mana control are your primary enchants. Once you reach advanced stages and beyond the effects are only limited by knowledge, materials, and an items capacity. Item capacity is an objects ability to contain mana. Many factors contribute to its total, but primarily item quality, materials used, and an enchanter’s skill, are by far the most important,” taking a breath Azarti continued.

“Runecrafting on the other hand is more personal. They can be used to argument your spells, abilities, and in some cases – passive effects. Before you leave, I’ll give create a primer on both, so that you can study them when you have time; once you’ve finished each, the basic ability should be granted. Furthermore, I couldn’t see much of your fighting, at least not directly. Care to give me a demonstration?”

“Sure, I don’t mind. Where should I aim?”, Marcus replied.

“Aim for me if you will, no sense in making a mess,” Azarti casually replied.

Figuring the giant Naga knew what he was doing, Marcus began to cast Scorching Rays. As he was preparing the spell, he missed Azarti eyes widen for a moment imperceptivity. Discharging the spells, they hammered into his reinforced scales, dissipating after inflicting no damage.

“Stop wait a moment, when did you learn to use mana? Typically, new races require their first class to discover mana, let alone specific elemental dispositions!”

“I..I felt an ocean of power the moment Integration occurred. Time felt halted somehow, and during that moment I heard a call; the call beckoned me to listen, and I did. At the same time, I unconsciously channeled fire aspected mana back into myself - miraculously healing my severe wounds. I’m not sure if you know what an airplane is, but it’s a flying vehicle; I had been inside of one when Integration began and that very same plane crashed; and if not for that healing, I’d be dead,” Marcus morosely finished.

“Fascinating, I’ve only heard of that kind of awakening from vague texts. I’m very interested at what other paths open to you soon.”

“Wait before you continue drooling over something I don’t even understand, why haven’t I unlocked any other paths? I’ve been expecting something like Pyromancy or Terramancy after all of my spell use, what gives?”, Marcus finished hopefully.

“Simple, typically, paths and classes become available after one full day has passed in normal time. Afterwards, classes evolve over time, adapting to how you develop. Oh yes, another important note I forgot to mention; time flows faster inside dungeons. Only several hours have passed outside, it should be dawn soon I believe, so no need to fret.” Azarti dismissively said before continuing, “The System provided little information after placing my dungeon here, but I do know we’re near a city called, Purgatory. I’d like to prepare some basic supplies and the promised primers before you go. Any further questions? If not I’ll begin getting things ready,” Azari said.

“No, I’m fine. What you’ve just told me changes my plans considerably. I had assumed I would be too late and too far to rescue anyone I knew. Purgatory is a resort several hundred miles from my home, but with my new physique the distance can be covered much faster than before; maybe I’ll even discover a spell for my trip. While you get everything together, I’m going to sort out my status - thanks for everything; truly, everything you’ve told me is invaluable,” Marcus sincerely declared.

Curtly nodding, Azarti moved out of the Mythallar chamber leaving Marcus to resolve his status.

[Level Up + 7 (+2 First Clear Bonus) Total: 9]

(U)Mana Manipulation + 5

(U)Elemental Manipulation + 5

(U)Elemental Sight + 4

(U)Scorching Ray + 12

©Tendrils of Earth + 1

©Mage Light + 1

(U)Mineral Synthesis + 4

®Inorganic Fabrication + 11

©Basic Melee Fighting + 10

New Miscellaneous Skill gained – © Trap Making – Level. 1->4 | Traps cover a wide variety of prepared attacks or terrain modifications. Common traps include pitfalls, dart traps, and nets. Increased levels make preparing traps faster and harder to detect.

New Miscellaneous Skill gained – © Improvised Explosives – Level. 1->6 | Explosives are an art of controlled destruction, but often don’t distinguish between friend and foe – beware. Increased levels allow progressively more complex devices and effects.

In addition to skill gains he’d also received forty-five free attribute points for leveling up. Marcus continued his trend of grabbing low level bonuses by adding thirty-five points into agility, hitting fifty; the remainder were placed into strength bringing the attribute closer to the first breakpoint.

Swift as the wind enemies chase naught but shadows in your passing. Nimbly moving through the environment becomes second nature, increasing maximum movement acceleration. Evading foes begins to become route habit, © Dodge gained.

New Miscellaneous Skill gained – © Dodge – Level. 1 | Avoiding blows is key for survival against overwhelming force. Dodging allows for rapid repositioning at the cost of stamina consumption. Increased levels reduce cost; effectiveness is heavily influenced by attributes.

Marcus felt amazing; this had been by far the largest influx of attributes he’d ever experienced. “The System must artificially make sensations derived from growth addicting, driving people to further improve themselves. It appears relatively harmless, but I can already see people dying to chase this feeling.”

Marcus basked in the experience - after another minute it was over. A sense of loss flashed over him, “Yep, definitely habit forming, but why not? After risking life and limb why not receive a temporary award?” he spoke aloud to himself. Giving his status one last look over, Marcus closed it as Azarti reappeared.

Name: Marcus Diamandis Level - 18

Class - None Health: 1110/1110 Regeneration 11.1/Minute 1.2 x Multiplier

Stamina: 800/800 Regeneration 115/Minute 1.0 x Multiplier

Mana: 1500/1500 Regeneration 214/Minute 1.2 x Multiplier

Free Attributes: 0 Path Points: 68 Race: Crystal Forged Human Movement Speed Multipliers Casting Speed Multipliers

Damage Multipliers

5% 10% 0% Basic Statistics Total Strength 45 Constitution

70 Agility

50 Perception

106 Intelligence

125 Wisdom 107 Charisma

9

Luck

10

Azarti looked over Marcus before nodding, “It’ll have to do for now, don’t worry about the Level-up high, it become tolerable as your body adapts. I won’t try to stop you from risking your life to save others, in-fact it confirms I made the right choice by taking you in. With that said I implore you to be cautious; don’t attempt something out of your league – please be patient and choose your first class beforehand. With that in mind have you made a decision on what you may work towards?”

“My progress is driving me towards a path focused on Offensive Casting with supportive magic. I really need something to act as buffer between myself and hostiles; In that aspect I was hoping for either barrier spells, or if they exist, summons. Speaking of summons, do they exist, and if they do, how do they function?” Marcus asked.

“Yes, on both accounts – for barrier magic I unfortunately can’t tell you much, it was never my forte; while you’re gone, I’ll search the archive for more information. Summoning on the other hand is…complex. From my understanding it requires several steps, starting with molding mana into the desired shape of the creature if you want something specific. Otherwise that same step can be left up to chance by leaving the mana unshaped. The second step, for both types, is to imbue the mana with an aspect or aspects. Careful, when you attempt this step, you need to avoid adding contrasted elemental combinations such as Fire to Water; the resulting summon is often unstable,” Azarti said with scholarly air about him.

“More priceless advice, I’ll keep it in mind when I make my attempts,” Marcus announced.

“I’ve gathered everything, are you ready to leave?” the Naga said. Following the question to Marcus’s surprise, a stuffed rucksack appeared in front of him; looking from the bag to Azarti he asked, “How?”

“Magic of course, you’ll need to study abstract elements for it to work, which takes time. Something you’ve repeatedly mentioned couldn’t be spared, “Azarti said in a self-satisfied manner.

“Fine keep your secrets,” Marcus laughed aloud, “I’ll pick your brain empty eventually.”

“Haha, I’m sure you will in time,” Azarti paused, “Unfortunately, you’ve likely noticed your spear is missing; whatever you did destroyed it completely - not even dust remained. Buuuut, I took a little time to shape something appropriate for you. It’s not much, I was never a creator, nor do I possess any exceptional materials, but it’ll work for now,” Azarti smirked.

The weapon appeared identically as the rucksack had, grabbing it from the air Marcus looked it over. Azarti was assuredly downplaying his skills, the stave was beautiful. It was made of the same grey/black granite composite he’d originally used for his spear, but that’s where the similarities ended. Nearly 2.5 meters long and threaded with a silver substance intertwined with crystal it looked like a mage’s weapon. The two materials entwined its length before weaving around an amethyst gemstone set near the end. The gem glittered brilliantly, tying the piece together – of course he inspected it.

Adept Mage’s Warstaff – A finely crafted weapon comprised of sub-optimal materials, but Masterfully molded to the extreme. Silver alloy acts as a focus while being held - spells cast through this medium more powerful and efficient. Manastone functions as a capacitor, which can be discharged at will to boost spells. Arcane reinforcements elevate durability far beyond normal standards, hardening the staff for melee combat.

+150 Mana Adds 1.5 x Modifier to Mana Regeneration (Applies after other bonuses) Capacitor Discharge (1500/1500) – Enhances next spell at the cost of 500 stored mana per instance.

“I’d kiss you if I could reach your face you magnificent bastard!” Marcus shouted after reading what his new weapon could do.

“You’re most welcome, but let’s avoid kissing – we’ve only just met,” Azarti dead panned before cracking a small smile, “I’ve done what I can, the rest is up to you. Good luck, and safe travels.”

Marcus didn’t further drag the conversation out - shouldering his rucksack he began to backtrack through the dungeon.

Azarti watched Marcus leave forlornly, he already missed the sound of conversation. He’d told Marcus a partial lie about how long he had been inside the dungeon. Five-thousand years indeed had passed - outside that is. The total time wasted in this prison totaled exactly 20,429 years, with each additional second pressuring at Azarti’s mind. Whispering, "I'd have told you more Marcus, but knowledge comes with a price. Telling you about paths or classes would've opened many doors for you, while utterly barring others shut. I, no, we, need you to grow powerful; for you to reach that peak taking shortcuts won't do," Azarti paused, “Soon my brothers, soon. I finally found the one I’ve been searching for.”

The trek through the dungeon was much more peaceful, and if it wasn’t for the darkness, would’ve been pleasant. Marcus had long since retrieved food and water from his pack which he continuously snacked on as he walked.

Reaching the entrance an hour later uncovered a familiar scene. Rubble continued blocking the exit, but it wasn’t an issue now; Stone Shape was much more powerful. Light broke through into the tunnel sometime later, followed by fresh air. Stepping outside Marcus was able to witness an idyllic sunrise before finding his bearings, heading North-West towards Denver; hopefully he wouldn’t be too late.

Ancient pines lined the trail providing shade, but also a sense of safety. Forests used to amalgamations of natural wonders, containing rich ecosystems, and mostly they still were. Marked trails filled natural parks, pre-Integration they provided locations for people to visit nature without getting lost while also making the hike much easier by having a cleared route. Marcus was following one such trail and setting a much better pace than he would have otherwise. Hiking through heavily forested areas had been dangerous before monsters started populating them, not to mention now. And while Marcus believed he could handle himself; he wasn’t strong enough to be careless. True beasts roamed the area now, things such as Forest Wyverns would still slaughter him with little effort.

If Marcus could maintain his current pace, he’d reach Denver within two days; a blistering speed for traveling on foot. Taking a break to let his stamina regenerate provided time for experimentation; primarily on summoning. The cycle of jogging, rest, and practice repeated for hours, for the most part nothing had attacked him; maybe they could sense his strength and avoided him instead? Marcus certainly wasn’t one to complain about good fortune, but as night began to near, shelter was once again in short supply. Searching for a good location to sleep yielded nothing, so with no other choice he’d have to build his own.

His trail had been following a rock face, providing amble space for construction. Marcus wouldn’t need much room to rest; no need to get fancy for temporary shelter. Eventually he chose to mold a 6x6x3 meter room into the cliff face, decision made, mana flowed from him as Stone Shape shifted parts of the mountain aside. With the displaced resources he blocked the trail hopefully dissuading beasts from coming near. Furthermore, Marcus sealed the entrance behind himself – leaving several openings for ventilation. One-meter deep was sufficient for his purposes, and he began to mold outwards. After finishing the room, he laid out supplies for the night and began to practice.

Creating mana constructs for summoning purposes felt impossible. All day he’d been hammering at the problem making progress, albeit slowly. Marcus had tried using ‘strings’ and ‘nets’ of mana, but neither could sustain itself for very long. Nets of mana formed vague shapes he could observe with Mana Sight, they’d form correctly, but mana continued escaping from loose ends too fast for him to complete anything. So far, he’d also tried bundles, squares, and other 3D shapes with no luck – he was missing something crucial. Letting power flow outside of himself once again, another attempt began.

Many tries later, Marcus spoke aloud, “Maybe instead of three dimension I use two? Forming the entire summon of one mass with my level of mana control isn’t feasible. Perhaps I should consider using small pieces applied to a wireframe model as a kind of ‘skin’ to hold everything together,” he shrugged, “Can’t hurt to try.”

Turns out if very much CAN hurt to try. On the first attempt the model had imploded, throwing Marcus into a wall, but he’d make more progress.

“Alright the underlying principle works, I just need to apply supplementary mana on the wireframe skeleton, so that its integrity remains stable. Let’s just try again.”

A familiar scene repeated itself, mana filled the air momentarily before immediately being siphoned away to a solidifying mana construct. Empty limbs coagulated first, followed by its torso and finally a head. Sheets of skin-like mana began to cover the wireframe, further strengthening the creation - soon thereafter his mana hit empty, but by drawing on his staffs reserves he was barely able to finish. Marcus’s passive regeneration sustained the lifeless creature, while additionally slowly refilling his Mana pool. The entire thing glowed in Marcus’s Mana Sight, ready for the final process.

“According to Azarti, the next step involves introducing an aspect to the molded mana construct. Should I go with Fire aspect or Earth aspect? Wait who am I kidding, if this works, I’ll end up making more than one. For now, Earth is safer to start with; much less likely to spontaneously combust.”

Earth Aspected mana began to convert the model, creating distinct features in its passing. Light flooded the sealed room, preventing Marcus from directly observing the progression, but he never stopped fueling the alteration. With a burst of inspiration as the process neared its end after several minutes, Marcus activated Capacitor Discharge, and with a final wumph the light faded leaving behind something incredible. He could only read its name before continuing to stare: Quartz-Plated Ursine.