Attributes List:

Strength: 11

Dexterity: 10

Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 10

Vitality: 12

Health: 60/60

Mana: 0/0

Stamina: 13/53

Sam took in all the information eagerly.

His intelligence was his highest attribute with dexterity and wisdom being his lowest. Having intelligence made sense to Sam because he liked to think he was quite clever and he never was the strongest or fastest kid in any sport.

He assumed all his attributes were considered very low in comparison to others. He was way weaker in strength than Jerald and Jeremy. He wondered what Jerald’s strength would be.

At the bottom of the attributes he saw his health, mana and stamina. He could have mana? He wondered about mana. What was it made up of? Was there some scientific explanation behind it? He was eager to find out, especially if he could have the chance to use Water magic with mana.

Sam was surprised seeing that he had a quarter of his stamina left. He felt really tired but his attributes told him he could go longer.

He kept checking his stamina until he noticed it decrease by one. It had taken ten minutes. After doing some calculations, he could stand there for at least two more hours before it was depleted. He wondered if it was true, he didn’t think so. The rate of the stamina decreasing may become greater over time. Sam had no intention of standing there for another hour, let alone two.

He didn’t have much time before Jeremy’s [Lighten Load] ability would run out so he moved quickly to the Masteries.

Masteries List.

This time he didn't shout it, just thought about the words.

He closed his eyes as the list appeared.

Masteries List:

Chosen

Water

Labour

Knowledge

Mana

Sam grinned in excitement. There was so much to go through! After seeing the Mana Mastery, he was very tempted. He decided to reign in his temptation and go through the masteries in the list order. He skipped the Chosen Mastery because he had gone through it before.

Water Mastery!

The Water Mastery was very different from the Chosen Mastery. The background colour was blue in comparison to the dark grey of the Chosen Mastery. It also didn't have the vertical lines of Chosen Mastery. The wall of blue seemed to go on forever was only split by horizontal lines, with each tier numbered the same as the Chosen Mastery.

There were 3 skills that were available to him and they were all in Tier 1. Like he had done before, he focussed on the names of each skill or abilities and information on each appeared.

[Water Attunement] [MAX]: Allows the user to touch water and gather information from it. Requires user to be in physical contact with water.

[Water Manipulation] [0]: Allows the user to change the flow and destination of water. The greater the volume and force of water, the greater the difficulty and cost.

[Water Clarity] [0]: Gives the user benefits and bonuses whilst in water.

Sam was pleasantly surprised that [Water Attunement] was on the maximum level. He wondered if it had caused the feeling he had had whilst looking at the stew.

Sam noticed that [Water Attunement] was different from the other skills. It did not have a halo of blue but instead had a halo of gold, signifying it was complete.

What he also noticed were the lines that trailed from the Tier 1 skills to the Tier 2 skills. Sam guessed that the Tier 1 skills were required for the Tier 2 skill. He would have to confirm once he unlocked Water Mastery Tier 2.

Sam looked on the left axis which said Tier 1. It showed a requirement of 'Water Baptism'. He looked at Tier 2. The Tier 2 requirement was '30 Water Mastery points in Water Mastery Tier 1. Progress: 10/30'.

Based on the requirements of the Water Mastery Tier 2, he needed to level the remaining two abilities to level 10. Since he already had 10 out of 30 Mastery points, it meant that ‘MAX’ on [Water Attunement] was level 10.

Sam remembered he had been awarded 20 Water Mastery points so he could use those to level up [Water Manipulation] and [Water Clarity].

Sam frowned. Where did it show his Mastery points?

There had to be another screen that showed the Mastery points. Sam wondered how much information he hadn’t seen yet just because he didn’t know what they were called.

He would have to ask Jerald, Annabelle or Jeremy when he saw them.

He looked over the Water Mastery for a few more minutes until the log’s weight suddenly reverted back to its original weight. Sam gritted his teeth in pain. The muscles in his shoulders and arms were burning from the weight.

The log was much heavier now and he didn’t think he could hold out very long. He went back to the Masteries to distract himself.

Labour Mastery!

The Mastery was a wall of sandy brown. The abilities and skills were a darker shade of brown compared to the background. Much like the Water Mastery, only Tier 1 was available to him. Of the three available skills and abilities, Sam already had the first level of [Hardship] after holding the log all day. He inspected [Hardship].

[Hardship][1]: The user’s body can become more powerful when enduring through hard labour and difficult conditions. 10% increase to strength and stamina.

Sam hoped he would be able to achieve the second level of [Hardship], he wasn’t sure how much more standing he could endure.

His thoughts brought his pain to the forefront of his mind. He groaned and looked at the other abilities whilst trying to ignore the pain.

The next ability in the Labour Mastery was [Labourer’s Virtue]. It gave a temporary 10% strength and stamina bonus to all people in a small area whilst the targets were doing labour.

[Labourer’s Virtue] didn't seem very good to Sam. He understood why it was useful if there were a group of people carrying logs or digging in a mine. Being restricted to labour related activities undermined the usefulness of the ability. He would have to ask Jerald and Jeremy what the definition of ‘labour’ was in the Labour Mastery. His guess was that combat was not considered ‘labour’ and if he couldn’t use [Labourer’s Virtue] whilst defending himself, it was less useful.

Sam frowned in thought. What did he want to use the Masteries for? Did he expect to fight people? Just because the books and movies he had seen had shown evil wizards and witches, it didn’t mean that this world had them.

He smiled to himself. He was no longer on Earth anymore and was in a world of magic. People from Earth had been evil and killed many people. If you added magic to mix, he was sure it could get much worse. Even if he used Jerald as an example, a man with that amount of strength could probably stop armed vehicles.

Sam had to make sure he was strong, physically and magically. If he had both to help him, he could definitely keep himself alive.

He would also need to find a way of getting money. He couldn’t live with the Underwood family too long. Maybe they would let him but he wanted to explore and find out more about this world.

Focussing back on the Labour Mastery, Sam realised the importance of [Hardship]. The skill had three connections to other skills. Two of the connection lines disappeared into Tier 2 while the last connection was a Tier 1 skill. Sam found it strange that he couldn’t see any information on the connected Tier 1 skill. After focussing on it a few times and getting nothing, he moved on.

The next ability was [Lighten Load]. It was a Tier 1 skill which he thought was quite good but it had some restrictions that were very specific and limiting.

[Lighten Load]: Greatly reduces the weight of an object. Limited to one object at a time. Can only be used once a day. Lasts 30 minutes.

Sam understood the restrictions, without them, the ability could revolutionise manufacturing as well as other industries. His desire to see the world grew as he wondered how people incorporated the magic into their buildings and other parts of their lives.

If he were to think from a combat perspective, he realised [Lighten Load] could be quite useful in reducing the weight of a weapon or even a person. The inability to use it more than once a day made it not feasible unless it was used as a trump card. He guessed that the restrictions might be reduced when the ability was the maximum level.

After a few minutes, he moved onto the last available Tier 1 skill on the Labour Mastery tree. It was [Endless Vitality], which increased the vitality attribute and gave a small boost to the recovery of skin damage.

Sam could understand the usefulness behind recovering from skin damage. He already had small cuts and splinters on his hands from holding the log.

[Endless Vitality] was a great general skill to have. He wasn't sure if more vitality meant a person lived longer or was just healthier and less prone to illness.

A mental light bulb lit up in his head. He didn’t know what the definition of vitality was but maybe he could find out. Sam quickly called up his attributes and focused on vitality like he had done with the skills.

Vitality: An attribute which directly affects the user’s health and stamina as well as the recovery from illness and disease.

Sam felt excitement well up inside of him. There was such more to learn. He quickly focussed on each of the attributes and read through them. He summarised them in his mind.

Strength gave him physical strength and toughness.

Dexterity allowed him to move faster and allowed more body flexibility.

Intelligence affected memory, problem solving and other cognitive functions.

Wisdom allowed him to make better decisions and improved understanding of mana.

He had lots to think about and Sam decided that it would be better to do it with a stomach of food and after some rest. He took a step towards the pile of logs.

His left leg collapsed under his own weight. The log was dislodged by the movement and hit Sam in the back of head.

He fell forward and landed face first in the dirt. He lay there for a few moments before sitting up with a headache. The exhaustion rolled over his body. He needed sleep.

After a few minutes, Sam got up and slowly walked over to the log. After trying to pick it up and failing miserably, he rolled it rolling it until it was next to the other logs.

His stomach growled as he stood back up. He was eager to get some food and lots of rest. Sam headed towards the house.

As he slowly shuffled his feet forward, he pulled up his attributes and looked at his stamina. He managed a tired smile.

Stamina: 3/53