Welcome back random people who enjoy this tale. Origin 4 is up at Smashwords and Amazon, though as of right this moment it is still updating on Amazon. (I think those who are interested can purchase it, however.)

As it my custom, those of you who wish to support the arts but who cannot afford to buy a copy can either leave a review for it on either site, say nice things about the story to other people, or use this coupon on Smashwords that will allow you to get the final version for free. The coupon is good through October 10, 2015 So about two weeks, which is normal for this series.

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Those of you who do wish to purchase the story on Amazon, I thank you as well! Please remember to leave a review! I don't ask for 5 stars, but an honest review is always a beautiful thing to receive and it will help spread the love.

There were not many things to add to this volume, though I did expand a few scenes here and there. They are all mixed in to the story however. Most notably the last two chapters were retouched slightly to add a little more meat and description to the final reveals. Still, nothing major really changed outside of that so if you won't miss much if you choose not to buy it or use the coupon. :) Though, do tell people you know about it if you would please.

AN: What I am posting here is the full first chapter of volume 5. Chapter two will be out in two weeks, though I will have written at least another two or three chapters by then. I need to take care before posting them here as things have changed drastically in the storyline and game mechanics since the last volume due to being on a different but related game world. So, the first month will be a little slow in updating, but will pick up after that.

There are 6-10 chapters for this volume, but they are much longer than previous volumes. This one clocked in just shy of 12,000 words, so it's nearly 1/7 - 1/5 of the light novel size that I use. It's also around 3 - 4 times larger than previous regular sized chapters. Let me know if you would prefer smaller chapters. I can always just break them up for posting here, and then reattach them for publishing. :)

Chapter 1: Bless Your Little Heart - Volume V Start

The sweet scent of wildflowers, the brilliance of the bright blue sky, and the subtle music that played in the background of the mind. These were all beautiful reminders of a thing that the man known as Scott Jacobs had grown to hold dear in his heart.

“Welcome to the world of ARS, traveler.” said a voice that had the ring of familiarity, though it had been months since last he had heard it.

Scott looked up and smiled warmly at the presence that greeted him. “Hello Mid. It’s been a while.”

A beautiful woman with jet black hair greeted him. She wore an over-sized floppy hat and a low-cut robe similar to what one might think a traditional wielder of arcane magics might wear. Her name was Mid, sister to Origin, and the Great Sage who acted as guardian of the Field of New Beginnings.

“Dear Childe, it has been entirely too long. How are you and my little sister doing?” she asked in an overly sultry tone of voice.

Her appearance was a far cry from the one that she had shown him during their first visit. His first day on ARS had been spent in the company of an ancient old woman who was a bit of a troll in how she operated. Scott had not met her again until later at Victory Station where she was revealed to be the owner of a lore crystal enterprise. At that time she had been revealed to be the overly attractive woman who stood before him.

Scott smiled brightly. “We’re doing well. How about you?”

Mid made a rotating gesture with the head of her staff. “The world keeps on spinning.” She sighed softly then flashed him a dangerously intriguing look. “I don’t have a boyfriend to do well with.”

“I’m sure that’s by choice.” said Scott, not rising to take her far too attractive bait.

Amusement danced in her eyes. “You’ve changed a little, I see. My sister is a lucky girl.”

“We both are.” agreed Scott.

"You're both lucky girls?"

Scott offered her a wry smile and a nod of the head. "Sounds about right."

“Wonderful news. Will you make her an honest woman, soon?” said Mid while offering a bright smile of her own.

Scott laughed a little then nodded. “We’ve set a date, but we’re keeping it to ourselves for a while.”

Mid presented a sensual pout. “Such cruelty, must you tease me so?”

“Yes.” said Scott with a light tone of voice. “Doesn’t having a little mystery in your life make you happy?”

She tilted her hat down then quirked her lips to the side. “Now I’m jealous. My little sister has a man who understands me.”

Scott nodded then made a mildly dramatic hand gesture. “Finders keepers.”

Mid laughed in such a clear and bright manner that it sounded reminiscent of music. “Goodness, you’ve become dangerous. Do let me know if my dear sister ever takes up the family tradition.”

“Of course, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one.” replied Scott in an even-handed manner. The family tradition mentioned was polygamy. It took many forms. Their mother Era wanted to pretty much have sex with anyone who held still long enough. Shara on the other hand wanted to be with a Scott, any old Scott would do even a fat one, but desired lots of nice girl friends to share with. In short, she liked harem comedies. Mid played the field a bit, but as she spent a lot of time at the Field of New Beginnings she was often playing solo.

Origin, known as Rhea or Aria on various worlds, was a goddess of love and reincarnation. However, she was monogamous by nature. It marked her as the black sheep of the family, even if she was also the heir apparent to the gamine empire. It was even named after her when her selection as the future empress was announced.

Mid pouted again. She was quite skilled at pouting. Most men would not have a chance against such an expression and the desires of the one who presented it, but Scott had already earned and known the love of two extraordinary women.

"Mid used cute pout. It was not very effective." said Scott with a laugh. Mid’s pout attack was not very effective versus the power of three-way love born between a man, a goddess, and a fairy best friend. She should have done her homework and studied the resistances properly.

"My goodness. Such cruelty." Her smile widened three sizes as she said it.

Scott reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s OK. You’re a beautiful person. You’ll meet the right guy and poutify him into loving you forever.”

She blinked then drew back a little. Even under the brim of her hat he could see a slight blush creep up onto her cheeks. Mid was not one to blush frequently. Honestly, she was a bit of a pervert. Scott’s sincere tone and mild compliments were something she was unaccustomed to from a man. It would have been easier to deal with had he said something sexual.

The sage blinked once then took a breath. Her smile returned and she placed her hand atop his. “I guess I’ll be calling you big bro soon, huh?”

“I’m pretty sure I’d be the little brother.” said Scott with a laugh. She was a few thousand years too old to be his little sister.

“But… You’re so big.” she said lightly before eyeing him up and down.

Scott shook his head. “Well, there is that.”

Mid grinned. This was fun. “Shall I become your little sister then?”

“What, don’t want me to call you big sister?” asked Scott.

The light began to dance in her eyes. “Dear childe… I would adore that.”

“You’re crafty, Mid.” remarked Scott. He was pretty sure that entire exchanged had been designed to convince him to call her big sister.

“Well, I am good with my hands.” she agreed with a slight purr in her voice.

Scott unleashed a mirthful chuckle. “I don’t doubt that, big sister.”

She blinked twice then bit her lower lip. A joyful smile was unleashed and she moved forward to give Scott a warm hug.

He was a little uncomfortable at first, but she did not try to molest him or anything. He relaxed and waited till she was done.

“Are you certain there aren’t any more like you at home?” asked Mid in a warm tone of voice. She held him a little longer than necessary, but he did not mind. She smelled like wildflowers and was not being particularly handsy.

“You could always get together with Shara and flip through a catalog or something. You know, pick out a Scott of your own.” he said flippantly.

She chuckled sweetly then released him. “Oh my.” She placed a finger to the bottom her lip. After she thought about it for a moment she cocked her hip to the side and offered him an amused smirk. “Perhaps I’ll find a sporty model that has a lot of torque and handles dangerous curves with ease.”

“He’ll be a lucky man, Mid. I wish you both the greatest of success.” he said.

Mid glanced at him then looked away for a moment before reaching out and poking his shoulder in a strangely innocent manner. She puffed out her left cheek then made a weak hissing sound reminiscent of a small explosion. “P-ssht!”

Scott realized the truth about Mid with that one action. She was a sultry temptress. But she was also fairly shy when it came to interacting with a man outside of her immediate family who did not try to hump her leg like a dog in heat.

Mid pulled the brim of her hat down a little further than necessary then turned around and completely faced away from him. “Anyway, we should get you started on your grand journey, shouldn’t we?”

“If you’re done teasing me about my love for your sister, then sure.” He had enjoyed his chat with Mid. She was a fun girl and did not try to shove her breasts in his face. That was a strange thing to consider as a plus for a man, but it was something that he had found delightful about her.

A soft chuckle escaped her lips and she said, “Dear childe, I’ll never tire of that.”

Scott smiled at her back. She was a nice girl. Though, there was one thing he had to do before they continued. “Can you do me a favor first, Mid?”

“Hmm? Whatever could you want from little old me?” she asked curiously.

“Can you say bless your heart, just once?” he asked. Her accent was odd. It seemed to shift from an American Southern accent to something that attempted the version of British English that people on TV spoke. He had never actually heard anyone from the UK who had sounded like that, and he had met more than a few people from that part of the world. The change over for her seemed to happen whenever she moved from casual conversation to business mode.

The effect was something like a classic Southern Belle attempting to speak with a faux-British accent. Surprisingly it did not grate on his nerves in the slightest.

Mid laughed loudly then shook her head. “Goodness. What am I, a heroine from a classic Southern movie?”

“Gone with the Mid?” asked Scott.

She laughed again then pulled her hat down lower. “Bless your heart, Scott Jacobs.”

He smiled at her. That was awesome. He always liked how a classic Southern Belle could sweetly say bless your heart like it was an insult or an obscenity. Though, he supposed the current term would be a Georgia Peach, even if he was sure she wasn’t from Georgia.

After they finished poking fun at her accent, they made their way to a strange object. In the center of the Field of New Beginnings there was a large mirror resting atop a pedestal. Mid explained. “This is a salvation mirror. You can view your stats here.”

“I can’t just look at them normally?” asked Scott. He could not remember whether Rhea had mentioned this tidbit of information or not.

“You could in the past, but recently there have been a few updates for the sake of further realism. Some stats that were visible before are invisible now. Other stats that were invisible are now visible. A few other things have changed or been updated as well.”

“Like what?”

“Well, now, the biggest change is that all experience is acquired under-the-hood, so to speak. So you won’t know how much experience will be needed to level a skill or what have you. You also won’t know how much you will earn.”

“So, flying blind, basically?” asked Scott.

“Yes, and no. You can still see your basic stats in mirrors like these. We intend to upgrade the system further so that eventually any reflective surface can be used.”

“That would be useful. Where do I find mirrors like this when I’m out in the world?” asked Scott.

Mid said, “They are found in every town or city with a church or shrine. Your status is not saved until you gaze into one, so no matter how many levels worth of experience you gain it won’t be permanently saved until you gaze into a salvation mirror again.”

“Wait, so leveling only sticks when I look into a mirror? What if I die before then?”

“Your experience since your last salvation period will be lost, even if you are resurrected. That’s the main penalty now.”

Scott nodded. It was like an old school save system. He had to go to visit one of these mirrors regularly to make sure his progress counted. “Do I lose any saved levels if I die?”

“Only if you stay dead for more than three sun rises after you are killed. You lose all of them in that case and will have to visit me here in the field once more.” she said in a cheerful manner.

“So the three day thing is based on the number of times the sun rises in this world right?”

“Yes, it’s the best way to enforce dramatic tension as the dead won’t be able to log back in for four ARS days after their death, or until their avatar is resurrected. Even you will leave a duplicate corpse behind here when you’re booted back to Earth.”

“Damn, must be hell on solo players.” said Scott.

“Absolutely! Though, in more populated areas and common battlegrounds there are healers who specialize in finding and reviving corpses. So, it’s likely you won’t be forced to restart at level one. That counts as a reincarnation by the way.”

“Wait, it does? Isn’t it limited to three here?” asked Scott.

Mid nodded. “Yes. So, if you are killed and forced to restart three times your character will be deleted. In the case of players that means that they have to create a new avatar.”

“What about me?” asked Scott.

Mid looked to the soul mirror. “Scott, I highly suggest you don’t run out of reincarnations for now.”

“Are you…. If I have to restart more than three times I’ll die for real?” he asked.

“Yes. You aren’t actually a player. You’re considered something like an ascended local. They die and aren’t resurrected in time, they stay dead. They can reincarnate three times, but they aren’t protected by the restart system in case of death.”

She looked him in the eyes. “You die and aren’t resurrected, you restart. You’re limited to three restarts, though. You don’t have an existence outside of yourself, like a player does.”

“Probably best not to reincarnate at all then…” said Scott.

“For now, that’s best. Also, your class is set, but you can still choose a new race. You might want to consider a long-lived one even if leveling is slower.” said Mid.

“Is there no way to get more reincarnations?” he asked, nervous about the possibilities.

“Well, not easily. If you do enough work for one of the religious organizations, you can occasionally end up on quests that allow you to acquire to request a boon or a divine favor. You can save those favors up over time and trade them in for things like an extended life span, auto-resurrection, or even an extra reincarnation.”

“I assume I would have to do a lot of quests for a religious organization for either of those favors?”

“Yes. There is no doubt about that, though you at least have an easy in when it comes to that.”

“The whole champion of Origin thing?” he asked curiously.

Mid chuckled. “Why yes, exactly. My dear sister cannot show you any special favoritism of an official capacity beyond the little things that she has done, but she can certainly reward you appropriately for completing quests in her name. Even the board cannot complain about that.”

Scott nodded to her. “How likely are they to come after me?”

“At the moment they can’t really. You’re blocked from being searched out through divine magic and several other means as you originated from outside the system. They have no reason to bother you for the moment even if they could search you out, though.”

“I’m not sure that I’ve heard Rhea mention that.”

“Yeah, the only one who can really check your files in the system is Origin, though I suppose our father could order them pulled for his perusal.”

“So, they wouldn’t be able to find out where I am?” he asked.

“Well, now. It doesn’t keep people from simply following you around physically, or tracking your movements through something like survival lore. They could also just look at Origin’s work station without her realizing it, like that silly girl Shara did.”

“Shara did that?”

“It’s how she found you originally. Clever girl.” said Mid with a chuckle.

Mention of Shara caused him to think about the sweet, but slightly crazy, youngest sister of the family. They had not heard from her since they entered hardcore training mode in preparation for leaving the casual server. He hoped that she was doing well with her community service project.

His thoughts turned back to the task at hand after a moment. “How do I choose a race?”

“Look into this mirror, it has a unique function for class and race resets. That function only exists here since this field is outside of the same time-space as ARS proper.”

Scott looked at the mirror and several options appeared on it. It took a moment to realize what he was looking at, but the interface was simple enough that he did not take long to get an idea of what needed to happen. “Will I have the same appearance on Earth as here?”

“Yes. Keep that in mind when you choose.” said Mid.

“Oh! What about on Earth? Am I restricted to three reincarnations there too?”

“No, dear childe. That is a separate system. It was lightly recoded on your behalf. Die as much as you like there.”

Scott grinned at her. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

He looked at the mirror again then sifted through the various options. There were hundreds of race options, but most of them were not compatible with a human appearance or life on Earth. He dropped the number of options to sixty-seven by removing anything that did not have a humanoid appearance. That number was cut further by focusing on races that could pass as human in public.

Of the remaining races, Scott removed anything that had an actual limit to its lifespan. All that was left for him to choose from were races such as elves, certain undead like vampires, demons, and one race that caught his attention due to its divergence from the fantasy norm.

Scott looked the racial choice over for a moment then grinned. “This could work!”

“I don’t blame you. It’s a post-reincarnation only race as well, so you would not have been able to choose it on the casual server when you first arrived.”

“I think it would work out well for me as a sorcerer as well. It adds bonuses to health and mana growth.”

“Most reincarnation races do. Still, you’re right that it would help a great deal. That race is specifically tied to magic wielders of the sorcerer, paladin, and summoner classlines.” said Mid.

Scott made his choice then felt a strange shimmering sensation flow through his body. When it stopped he was registered as his new race. He was a Lunarii, a race of ascended humans who had developed an affinity for starlight and could use it to manifest unique racial abilities. All of his physical changes were internal as it was something like a second-tier human race upgrade.

He checked his status in the mirror.

Scott Jacobs

Race: Lunarii | Class: Twilight Master

Age: 18 | Max Lifespan: Ageless

Level: 1 | Title: The Reborn

Attack: 140 | Defense: 140

Strength: 100 | Agility: 100 | Vitality: 100

Intellect: 100 | Charisma: 100 | Attunement: 100

[--]

Racial Abilities

Health and Mana regenerates four times faster when under the light of the sun or the moon.

Improved Health Growth

Improved Mana Growth

Racial Power: Celestial Attunement (Sorcerer Only)

Racial Power: Starburst Sword (Paladin Only)

Racial Power: Summon Nova Beast (Summoner Only)

Ageless

Experience Requirements are Four Times Higher than a Human

[--]

Class Abilities

Improved Unarmed Combat Development

Improved Magical Development

Unarmed Combat Attack Power Base is Equal to 140% of the Strength Stat

Unarmed Combat Defense Power Base is Equal to 140% of the Agility Stat

Twilight Sorcery Development

Innate Synchronization

[--]

“That looks fairly badass for level one.” said Scott.

Mid chuckled softly then gestured with her staff. “You are definitely better off than the first time that you stepped out of this field.”

“What are those racial abilities that I’m seeing?” he asked. He had primarily chosen his new race for the fact that he would be able to regenerate his health rapidly instead of waiting solely for his enhanced vitality to heal his wounds.

“Well, yours allows you to attune to the energies that celestial bodies radiate. Basically, it works the same as your other elemental abilities except that celestial energy overshadows the four basic elements.”

“Overshadows?” asked Scott.

“Only celestial energy resists celestial energy. It’s something only reincarnated individuals with advanced classes or races can use.” said Mid.

“Are you saying that it negates all defenses?”

“No, there are defenses against it. You can develop celestial resistance, or avoid being hit by a celestial attack. Otherwise, you have to weather the damage inflicted.”

“Sounds awesome, but wouldn’t a lot of people try to develop resistance?”

“Most can’t due to race and class restrictions. They tend to use items that add such resistances, though those are rare.”

Scott thought that it still sounded a bit broken. Even in a generally imbalanced system like ARS had been on the casual server, there had to be a balance. “What’s the catch? Why wouldn’t everyone just play as a character with celestial abilities?”

“Well, for one thing you can easily kill yourself. Celestial attunement abilities drain mana and health simultaneously at a far more rapid rate than elemental abilities. Even a basic aura generation will drain you at first.”

“Well that makes sense. What do those other racial powers do? You know, the starburst sword and the nova beast?”

Mid smiled at him. “So curious. Well, the sword is a manifestation of celestial energy that a paladin can wield, a real sword of light. It works exactly the same as your ability except that it is manifested in a single way, and provides both perks and penalties to friend and foe.”

“I can see why a paladin would want that! A sword made of magic that can ignore elemental defenses would be hell to deal with on a battlefield.”

“Yes, but don’t forget that it bolsters the abilities of friends and weakens opponents at the same time. At higher attunement levels it can even occasionally produce an effect that instantly kills an undead opponent regardless of level or defenses.”

“Are all second-tier races like this? The overpowered abilities?” asked Scott.

“Yes, for the most part. Those locked races were unlocked for you due to your champion status, as well.”

“So, favoritism leads the charge.” said Scott evenly. Whatever he could do to get a little help in defeating the Lords of Destruction, he would take. Though it did seem strange to get such treatment when Rhea had implicitly stated that too much of that type of behavior would be construed as cheating. It would result in forfeiting to the board members before the entire ordeal even began.

“Usually a player or a local has to undertake a quest to unlock the races they are interested in prior to reincarnation.” She touched her nose with the tip of her finger. “You’re technically considered something along the lines of in-world system support so it was allowable. That’s not favoritism, that’s just the way the system works.”

Scott started to make a snarky come back about that, but stopped mid-sentence. If it was legit, he should just accept it. He was not a normal player anyway. If he died because he refused to accept whatever help he could get, he would be an idiot.

Mid took a breath then pointed the head of her staff toward him. “I know that seems like favoritism to you anyway, but look at it from the perspective of someone who has to do tech support.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Do you think every single new avatar made to manage the system’s upkeep should have to level manually to level one hundred and go on multiple quests just to do the job of system maintenance?”

“Well, no…” said Scott.

“Exactly. Despite what you are starting out with, you are not a game breaker by any stretch of the imagination. Besides that, there are still locked races for you to discover. The ones you can choose here are simply those that are easy to unlock.” She poked her staff toward him again in order to emphasize her next point. “If anything, you are fairly weak for someone who just reincarnated because you are forced to deal with the limitations of transferring from the casual server.”

Scott smiled at her. “I should work on that.”

Mid tapped the brim of her hat then pointed her finger forward. “Sounds about right.”

A moment of confusion arose. Scott had a general idea about the process of skill creation, but he did not know the actual process. His look of confusion caused Mid to roll her eyes gently then gesture at him with her staff. “Just think clearly about all of the skills and spells that you had when you were on the old server. They all still exist in memory. Use those memories to create unique new abilities as your starting skills. You can also use the mirror to select miscellaneous skills not related to your class.”

“Miscellaneous skills, I can have up to four right?”

Mid nodded. “That’s true.”

Scott moved back over to the salvation mirror and looked for an option that mentioned skills. “Is it true that I can only increase the number of miscellaneous skills when I reincarnate?”

“Yes, but they can be activated or deactivated at any time, unlike class skills. Those are permanently added.”

“Oh, so it’s four interchangeable skills that I can use at any time?”

Mid nodded. It was a fairly simple concept. “You have to use a salvation mirror to change skills. Otherwise, that’s the way it works.”

“How does that work, though? If I change skills do I just forget how to do something?” Scott was used to his brain being toyed with by now, but he wanted to keep his memories intact at least.

“Ah no, you merely lose any bonuses from that skill. They increase through use and comprehensive development, so you would still know how to use a skill even if it would be incredibly weak without the system support.”

“Ah, good.” Scott looked through his options for a moment, but only a moment. He only had three miscellaneous skills to put into a slot. He placed [Survival Lore] and [Boomerang Mastery] into active slots then nodded. The third skill [Dual Boomerang Specialization: Novice] would not activate in a slot.

He decided to check the information for each of his previously mastered skills. He knew that they would start at a low level, but not exactly what they would do here.

[Skill]

Survival Lore

The ability to survive in the wild. This skill governs activities such as foraging for food, identifying poisonous items or venomous animals, setting traps, fishing, general observation and various other outdoor activities such as climbing.

This skill is a pre-requisite skill for the development of specialization in various survival activities. Development of this skill does not increase visible statistics but it does allow for the development of survival specializations through trial and error.

Development Speed: A

[--]

[Skill]

Boomerang Mastery

The ability to effectively wield thrown items that return to the thrower. This skill governs the development of raw mechanical skill in Boomerang usage, as well as the ability to develop special techniques for use with a boomerang.

This skill is a pre-requisite skill for the development of specialization in various types of boomerangs. This skill improves the hidden variable [Accuracy] and increases the base damage dealt by boomerang weapons by a small amount per skill level.

This skill’s base attack power is based on a combination of [Agility] and [Strength].

Development Speed: E

[--]

“I assume A-Rank development speed is better than E-Rank?” asked Scott.

“Yes, considerably so. Only S-Rank is higher. That is for class specific skills.” said Mid.

“Do development speeds for miscellaneous skills vary by the person?”

She shook her head. “They are set by the system. Combat and magic related skills tend to develop much more slowly as miscellaneous skills when compared to class skills. Crafting and survival type skills tend to develop only a little more slowly.”

“Can I increase the development speed at all?”

“Certain quests can do that, though you’ll be unable to remove the skill from your skill slot until after reincarnation if you undertake that route.”

Scott stared at the mirror for a moment then asked. “How come I can’t add Dual Boomerang Specialization to my miscellaneous skills?”

Mid laughed softly then shook her head. “You answered your own question, childe.”

“Hmm?” asked Scott curiously.

She smiled at him then whirled the head of her staff around. “It’s not a skill. It’s a specialization. When your skill at using boomerangs reaches certain level intervals you can choose specializations that you have previously developed.”

“I see. Does survival lore work the same way?” he asked.

“All basic skills do. First comes the basic skill, or pre-requisite. Afterward you develop and attach specializations to that skill.”

“Neat.” said Scott. “How do I develop a specialization?”

“Train with someone proficient at a certain specialization or use your skill in a specific way often enough to develop one. You won’t receive any sort of notification about developing them, though. Check with a salvation mirror now and then to see if anything new has become available to you.”

“So knowledgeable!” said Scott brightly.

Mid tipped her hat toward them then chuckled softly. “I do try.”

Scott grinned at her for a moment then rubbed his chin. He now had to decide on his initial skills. He already had basic class skills including the ability to use primordial water magic. What he needed to choose was his starting spells and skills that he would custom create. He thought of them as spells and skills, but technically they were all spells.

“I can custom create six starting spells, right?” asked Scott. The limitations placed on him for reincarnating after a transfer were fairly high. If he lived long enough to reincarnate again, he would keep all of his previously developed spells and gain even more spells slots as he leveled up.

“You have the knowledge of how they work, but you can only create spells that you are able to develop with your attunement capacity, combat skill levels, and twilight sorcery level.” said Mid. “Just remember how the spells and skills from before felt when you used them. Go from there.”

“Alright. I will.” said Scott.

He walked away a short distance and thought strongly about his previous spells and combat techniques. He could combined them in any fashion that he liked, as long as he could properly attune that level of magical power.

“Keep it simple…” thought Scott. He needed a few simple spells that would be easy to rapidly cast and would have a short cool down period.

Scott thought about one of his first combat skills, the rapid strike ability. As a twilight sorcerer his path was to combine his martial skills and his elemental magic. If he wanted to mimic rapid strike and create a new twilight sorcery based on it, he would need to find the element that best lent itself to rapid movement.

Two elements readily sprang to mind, lightning and wind. However, there were five elements that he had access to at the moment. Actually, six if he included celestial attunement. He was not certain what to do with the latter ability yet, but he would find out in due time.

“It should be lightning…” Lightning was an element that traveled through things, while wind was a force of forward motion. The first would pierce, penetrate, the latter would bash or force something away.

Scott closed his eyes for a moment and sought out his connection with the world around him. The secret of the power that a twilight master possessed was his connection with nature. By utilizing the energies available in the environment he could increase the potency of his spells and reduce the drain on his spiritual power when using those spells.

He called to the lightning that danced along the edge of his consciousness. It was amazingly easy to discover it here in this place. Scott did not cease concentration to ask a question about that. This place was designed to assist new players entering the world. It made sense that skill creation would be easiest in the Field of New Beginnings.

Scott felt the lightning outside, and knew of the lightning within himself. These forces, the outer and inner lightning element joined together and began to resonate. His inner lightning elemental essence grew and radiated outward from his spiritual core. It was easy to radiate an aura of lightning in this place. Soon electricity crackled all around him. Little spider legs made of lightning creeped out from his body for short distances.

Scott punched the air before him experimentally. He heard a hissing, crackling, sound that made him nod. He punched again, and then once more. With each punch he felt the lightning surge through his body.

It took him a moment to realize that his concentration on the lightning surge caused him not to notice the fact that his fist shot out just ahead of it. He already knew how a rapid strike was supposed to be executed. This was different. The lightning caused his fist to surge ahead of it.

If he wanted to punch faster, punch harder, the lightning surge was the key. Scott concentrated on the surge for a moment then urged it to go faster. His punches became wild, uncontrolled, but they were fast and strong.

Scott practiced his lightning surge focus for what seemed like hours due to his level of concentration. It was not until he opened his hands and tried the same surge focus technique that he noticed a marked improvement. He tried it repeatedly after that then his eyes widened. “Of course!”

He drew on his connection with elemental lightning and used it to enhance the surging power that flowed forward unrestricted. His closed fist had prevented what the lightning needed most, a way through. His closed fist blocked the power from finishing its movement. His open palms allowed the surge to properly flow.

In the end, he was able to develop a simple spell that had a lot of room for further development. For one thing, the attack power would be on the level of an accidental static shock. Utilizing only his elemental connection was not yet enough to create a powerful technique. His new ability needed fuel.

Scott began to focus on the core of his being, the place where his spiritual power resided. As he did so, he created an image in his mind. That image was of open palms rapidly striking the air while electrical force flowed to the center of each palm.

The hardest part of developing the spell was holding that image in mind, while also remaining in connection with bother the lightning and his spiritual center. It was the reason why magic types needed high intellect. That stat allowed for greater ability to multi-task. His attunement was not a hidden stat in this world, and it was vitality for maintaining strong connection with the parts of his ability.

He began to sweat a little as he surged his palms forward. His body temperature had begun to increase at an alarming pace as his palms moved faster, and then faster still. Lightning arced all around his body for a moment then drew inward and flowed toward the rapidly moving palms of his hands. In the space between where his palms struck the air, sparks began to fly.

An arc of electricity surged from his right palm to his left with each repetition. Scott began to pant a little, and the sweat poured freely down his face. However, he was soon able to maintain the arc of power.

The arc of power was the key to the spell. Mastering the motions would allow him to rapidly strike an opponent while generating an electrical current that would pass through their body. The damage from the electrical component would be low, but it should have a decent chance to paralyze the nervous system. Using his mana to increase the power of the electricity surging through his palms, increased the speed of the strike until the arc of power was completed. Scott was not certain that electricity was really supposed to work that way, but it did in this instance.

He named the spell [Surging Palms] in his mind because he could not think of anything more appropriate at the moment.

“I think I’ve got something, but I’m not sure how to make it an official spell.”

“Check the salvation window. You’ll have to continually use the spell pattern you created until you have developed enough proficiency that it becomes automatic.” said Mid.

Scott checked the mirror and sighed loudly. He had no spell yet. “Man I’m beat. I wonder how much mana I used.”

Health and mana were hidden stats in this world for the sake of realism even though there were plenty of fantastic things to see or do. He would only know how badly he was injured by noticing his actual injuries. There was no handy health gauge to distract him from the pain, though he did have health points hidden from his view.

Mana was something that he could feel. It was a quasi-physical presence that responded to his thoughts. He sensed that it had diminished slightly, but not as much as he would have thought. Mostly he was tired from punching the air so much.

“Lie down on the flowers and close your eyes. You’ll regain your strength quickly if you rest here.” replied Mid gently.

Scott looked at her for a moment then quirked his lips. “Not going to cast a sleep spell on me?”

She shook her head. “No, nothing so humorous. Though, I might draw on your face if you fall asleep on your own.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, before he stretched out on the ground and closed his eyes. Training would prove to be quite a bit different in this world. Combining physical and magical abilities was quite difficult. As he began to drift off to sleep, despite the fact that Mid had claimed she wouldn’t cast a sleep spell, he thought that perhaps development of an even simpler ability might be in order first.

Scott awakened a short while later, refreshed and ready to try again. In this place outside the actual world of ARS, restoring health and mana was much easier.

“That was a nice little nap…”

“Wasn’t it, though? If you lie down in this field anywhere, you’ll go to sleep and heal at a rapid rate.”

“This is a little harder without being able to see my health and mana.” said Scott before rotating his shoulders experimentally. There was no stiffness. His short rest had completely healed his body and refreshed his mind.

“That’s part of the point. It allows for a more dynamic and realistic world.” said Mid.

“I heard that serious injuries can take weeks to heal through rest alone.”

Mid nodded. “Potions, healing abilities, and the like can drastically reduce the time that it takes to recover. Your natural ability to heal from damage will rely on vitality and skills. The extent of the injuries are an important factor as well.”

Scott checked the salvation mirror since something he remembered something that he had heard from Rhea before reincarnating. “Sweet! Unarmed combat and twilight sorcery increased!”

“The experience pulse must have caught up. Good job.” said Mid.

Experience in this world did not accrue instantaneously. It pulsed slowly and filled invisible experience pools. It was possible to fill those pools and not know it. If that happened someone would waste time and energy if they continued to grind a specific skill or spell. A person’s class level determined how large the various experience pools were, while intellect determined how much experience was absorbed during each pulse.

It all happened behind the scenes. Only things like the development of a headache or becoming incapable of concentrating effectively would give a clue that such a point had been reached. Again, it was to simulate realism.

Those pools of experience were important to remember, as there were actually three of them for his character level. He had pools to fill for skill development, combat actions, and social interaction. He could not simply murder fluffy woodland creatures and rocket up the level ladder. He had to actually interact with the world and develop his skills. In short, he had to live an actual life instead of hunt all of the time.

Luckily taking and completing quests counted as social interaction. He could work on everything at once if he took on a lot of jobs, and spent a little down time hanging out in various places in town.

He could also gain social interaction experience from coming to a personal understanding, or rather mental and emotional growth counted as social experience as well. Expanding general knowledge of the world through literature and listening to stories could also work. Basically, social experience was acquired during moments of living life outside of skill and combat development.

Scott moved back to his training spot and started to work on developing his spell once more. This field was in a place outside of normal time and space. He could take as long as he needed to develop his initial abilities and no sense of time would actually pass.

He took a moment to calm himself and to begin to control his breathing. With each breath he became more in touch with his inner thoughts. He was able to focus on connecting with the lightning in the world around him and within his soul. It took a moment to recreate the blurring palm strike image he had used before, but once he did the rest of the spell pattern clicked into place. The surge began once more. His palms shot out at a rapid pace.

After a while he started to add his mana to the flow to further empower the spell. The weak skitter of electricity increased in intensity. Soon it became a steady arc of power that snapped and buzzed.

It became obvious after a while, however, that he was missing something in the equation. His aura was what actually maintained the electrical arc. His palms were merely used to maintain circulation of his aura. They were more of a concentration tool at this point that an active part of the spell.

Scott concentrated on the pattern of his spell, the movement of his hands, and the circulation of the lightning. It was not enough. He needed more power, more mana. “Could it be so simple?”

He stopped for a moment and changed tactics. Instead of merely repeating the pattern constantly, he focused entirely on drawing his mana to a single point within his body. In this case, that point was within his chest. He continued to focus on increasing the concentration of mana at that point until he could not draw more, until it became difficult to even hold it there. He could feel some of it start to slip away as his concentration scrambled to keep up with the flow.

A lot of that mana was lost when he tried to split his attention and focus on the lightning energy, and his spell focus. As that mana drifted away in large amounts Scott began to feely strange. It started as an itch along his spine and a sensation of his body heating up. He ignored it at first, as that was something he had felt before when he had used his new spell for a lengthy time period.

He became alarmed when things rapidly changed. In the space of a few seconds, his fingertips became numb, his vision blurred, and his heart began to beat erratically.

Scott gasped loudly then clutched at his chest. The rest of the mana he had drawn erupted outward and flooded his body system. He could not even scream due to the sudden pain overwhelming his senses.

He fell to the ground and gasped like a fish. He could not speak and could barely move. His body could not determine if it was burning hot or freezing cold. Soon, it no longer mattered.

[System Notice]

You have died.

You will resurrect in five minutes. Death penalties will not apply due to your current location.

Please be more careful with your precious life. I am lazy and would prefer not to take your soul to meet my sister in the afterlife. (She has a boyfriend now anyway, but don’t tell her that I told you.)

~ Silence, God of the End

[--]

Scott awoke in a dark, lonely, place. It was not his house on Earth. It was nothing really, just black space with neither light nor sound. He was barely coherent, but the few minutes that he spent in that omni-present darkness were distinctly uncomfortable.

He awoke again, this time with a start and a jerk as he bolted upright. He blinked rapidly then felt at his body.

“Welcome back.” said Mid in an amused tone of voice.

“The hell was that?” he asked.

Before Mid could say anything a little blue screen rose up, surprising the man once more. He had seen many of them in his recent life, but this was something new.

[Achievement Unlocked]

This. Is. ARS.

[--]

There was an image of Scott clutching his chest, a ridiculous look of terror on his face, positioned below the apparent achievement. “What the hell is this?”

Mid laughed musically. “You gained your first achievement.”

“Achievement?”

“Yes, you died doing something stupid so you earned the achievement: This. Is. ARS.” said Mid, as though that really explained anything.

“This… Are those worth anything?”

“They’re just fun things that people like to collect. You only get bragging rights for them.” she said.

“So, only fun. No stat boosts or anything?” asked Scott. He was aware of the concept of achievements. A lot of games had such a system. He just hoped he would get something out of his first death other than a goofy picture of himself clutching his chest in terror.

“That’s why they show up on a menu screen. They can be turned on or off, though they are still earned regardless of that fact.”

Another thought occurred to him then. “I’m naked?”

“Oh yes.” said Mid with a mischievous grin.

Scott nodded slowly, his thoughts had already turned to what had happened. “Why did I die?”

Mid stared at him. “You don’t know?”

“No, if I did I wouldn’t need to ask that question.”

“Ah, that’s right. You spent so much time on the casual server where everything is done through system assistance that you never really learned how magic works.” said Mid. “It’s a common problem.”

“OK, so what’s the solution to that common problem?”

“Time and training. You might also want to stop charging your mana as high as you did. There is no possible way that you can hold that much power while trying to cast an incomplete spell.”

“I killed myself because I overloaded my body with mana?” he asked.

“Yes, you fried your nervous system and your organs failed. You probably developed a lot of internal burns and bleeding to go with it. Go see for yourself.” Mid pointed to an object nearby and Scott turned to look at it.

His eyes widened. “Shit, it’s me.”

“Oh yes, that is the well-cooked corpse that you left behind. When you are resurrected outside of a holy place, or a low-quality resurrection spell is used, a new body is generated in the closest system designated holy place.” said Mid.

"Is it really resurrection if I get a new body?" he asked slowly.

"What's life without a little arbitrary whimsy?" she asked lightly. "In order to restore your old body, the one doing the restoration would have had to use either an extremely intricate resurrection spell, or multiple lesser spells."

"Why?" he asked.

"Dear childe, look at your corpse."

Scott walked over to the overdone corpse of his former life. His body was a mass of bruises and cuts, the eyes were a disturbing ruin, and his fingernails had fallen off for some reason. He looked like he believed he would look like if he had been microwaved just enough not to burst.

“That’s just morbid.” he said.

"It's also extensive damage. A healer would need to protect your body from being possessed by spirits, heal the damage to the extent that it can be re-invigorated, call your spirit from the beyond, reinitiate the silver cord that connects-" Mid rattled off a list of things that a healer would have to do to resurrect his corpse on the spot and Scott drew a mental blank. It sounded like a lot of work.

"So, basically, resurrection is easier if the one doing it simply casts a spell to have a new body prepared?" asked Scott.

"Absolutely. It is mostly used by priest or monk type characters with a divine connection. Basically, the system just generates a new body for the deceased's soul to inhabit, and the resurrecting party loots the previous corpse."

"Corpse looting..." Scott muttered. This was all a convenient way to force people to traipse through dangerous areas to try and regain their stuff after they died! Unless there was a dedicated individual in a party who can resurrect the dead, there was no point in even bothering with a corpse run as anyone else would just take what they wanted from the person they had resurrected.

That was the major reason behind the fact that player killing was more common on the classic server. There was no system in place to protect your items. If a person was killed, the killer could loot them with impunity and all in the name of realism.

“You might want to loot your corpse dear. I don’t mind seeing your business, but my cute little sister might become jealous.” said Mid while eyeing the imagery before her.

Scott closed his eyes. That was right, he did feel a refreshing breeze at the moment.

He bent down, while ignoring Mid’s sweetly proclaimed, “Oh goodness.” He then set about stripping his corpse of valuables. He was thoroughly disgusted by what he saw after pulling his pants off.

“Oh god. I am not putting those things back on.” Scott turned away from the ruination that his underwear barely kept in check. He had lost all control of his bowel and bladder during his idiotic death.

Mid chuckled. “A soldier going commando, such a rarity.”

Scott could not help but laugh at the silliness of that comment. He put on his simple noob clothes. They were plain white items which consisted of a cotton tunic, loose cotton pants, cotton socks, and a pair of cream colored shoes that were not made of cotton in any form. The cotton underwear had been left in place due to extenuating circumstances. He then turned to face Mid. “Alright, guess I’m ready to try again.”

“Take your time dear. I’m enjoying myself.” she grinned at him then leaned against her staff.

“I bet you are.” he said with a smile.

Scott stepped away from his corpse then took a deep breath. He winced immediately afterward. “Damn.”

He moved away from his corpse to find a more pleasant location. His old body had started to stink, though the scent that assailed his nostrils had mostly been from what his old cotton underwear had held at bay.

Mid laughed at his plight for a moment. The situation was too funny.

Now that a decent distance had been gained from his former body, Scott was able to try again. He could not die for good here, so it was best to work out the kinks in his magical knowledge before he left. The same sort of process would happen for Ero and Herbert as well. The three of them were separated for the duration of the opening tutorial, but they would all arrive in ARS proper together at the same time. By the time they stepped into the world for real, they would know exactly what they needed to do in order to use their skills and abilities.

He began to center himself and focus on breath control once more. He had died before because he had taken on too much, too soon. This time he decided to try increasing the mana charged and stored in small increments.

Scott centered the mana in his chest once more, and drew on just enough to maintain the energy stored there. He then connected with the lightning element and began the process of surging his energies once more.

The twilight master experimented with several things. He tried creating the surging palm spell pattern first and then shoving the mana into the spell. That had resulted in an agonized scream as his arms sped forward uncontrollably. He had been forced to lie down and rest away to restore his torn muscles and ligaments.

After he recovered, he tried a similar tactic. Except, instead of dumping the mana into his spell pattern all at once, he released it in small increments. The results were better, but a bit lackluster.

He tried a few other things. Most efforts lead to results that were nothing special. A few, not nearly few enough, resulted in extreme pain.

Eventually, he hit on a worthy thought. What if he focused on using the mana in the same way as the lightning? Instead of a solid knot of concentrated mana, he would focus on sending it along his arms. The worst thing that could happen was that he might die horribly. It was worth trying.

Scott drew on his mana and concentrated it within his chest for a moment then began to strike the air with his palms without connecting to the lightning. As he punched the air, he focused his mana in a slow circulating pattern that mimicked the arcing lightning. It was much easier to manage as he did not need to keep his hands moving at a high rate of speed. The mana in his body wanted to circulate, to flow. It was natural to move instead of sit in one spot.

His arms began to move faster and then faster still. His palms moved in a rotating manner, fluid, powerful. When one palm struck out in that circular motion, the other had already begun its backward movement. His entire body easily moved with this flow.

A circular flow of mana appeared within his mind and the blurring hands image from before shifted form to match. It was no longer a frenetic attack at the air. It was a rhythmic motion that was simple to maintain.

Once he felt comfortable with that rhythm, he connected with the lightning element once more. It took a moment to properly synchronize the mana and the lightning, but once he did there came a moment of realization. He was definitely on the right track, but for the wrong spell!

As the lightning and mana circulated, an electrical discharge built up before him. Lightning flowed between his arms, a small amount at first, but with greater force after a time.

It was more by some sudden instinctual awareness that practiced skill that he worked his body into a different movement pattern. He stopped trying to move his arms fast and instead focused on the intensity of the building energy. Scott slowed his motions to a casual speed and then shifted his hands at the end of the movement so that his palms faced each other instead of punched at the air.

A sphere of mana and lightning began to form between his palms. He slowed his motions even further. The sphere grew in intensity as more of the energy was collected there. It radiated a soft, gentle, light.

The little ball of lightning and mana grew slowly from the size of a volleyball to the size of a basketball. Scott thought about the situation for a moment then made an attempt to concentrate the energy. It resisted his attempts at every turn, but he slowly did just that. The soft light increased to a bright light, and then became a brilliantly luminous object so bright that he could not look at it.

That was when something undesirable happened. The mana flow cut off. He had ignored the growing sense of unease and the gnawing emptiness that had begun to appear within him in favor of working on his spell. His mana had run out. For a brief second nothing but pure elemental lightning flowed through the bright sphere of light. It began to shake violently and looked as though it might explode.

Scott instinctively threw his hands over his eyes, but the expected explosion did not occur. The ball of brightly shining energy merely flickered and shook violently in the air. He lowered his arms and looked at the ball of energy. He studied it for a moment then stepped back a few paces. It followed after him in a sluggish manner.

“Congratulations.” said Mid in an amused tone.

“Huh?”

“You created a spell.” she said. “Let it run its course and then go check the mirror. You’ll see what I mean.”

“How long do I have to wait?” he asked.

“Let me check. You’re a little lacking in knowledge of such things at the moment.” She walked over and eyeballed his new spell. “About three more minutes with the amount of mana that you used.”

“Thanks. I wish I knew how much of my mana I have to use to make spells work.”

Mid chuckled. “Doesn’t everyone? You have to feel it out and practice. Over time you will be able to do this same spell both better and with greater efficiency.”

The violently shaking ball of light continued to float in the air. Scott chose to walk around and watch as it followed him about the area. It was kind of neat. Once it dissolved in the air, he walked over to the mirror and checked it to see what had happened.

The first thing he had noticed was that his unarmed combat skill was still at two, but his twilight sorcery had increased to three. “Skills level quickly, don’t they?”

“Early on they do. Your stats are much higher than a new level one character, so it’s easier to train. Your class level will act as a bottle-neck once you leave here.”

“Yeah, I see your point. There’s no way I would have developed that spell already if I’d been stuck with the stats I had the first time I was level one.” he said.

“Probably not. Rather, it would have taken a lot longer to do it. There are reasons that the sorcerer class is not that popular on this server.” said Mid. "Most who try it actually do what you are doing, and reincarnate into the class in order to make it a little easier to train since even basic sorcery is mana intensive during spell development."

“I never understood why it wasn’t popular before.” he said.

“On the casual server it is unpopular because it requires too much effort in the late game in order to stay a threat. At the level you were at, it is actually a little overpowered. It is almost the opposite of this server. Some choose to be a sorcerer first in order to become more capable at a different hybrid class like a dark knight or a paladin, even a monk.”

Scott nodded. “It’s not popular here, either though?”

“Not at all. Most people go for the simpler classes that use incantations. All they need to do is project a proper image, create a proper chant, and use their mana to fashion it into reality." She tapped her chin. "That is all class dependent of course. There are rules about what can be created as well, but generally speaking magic is a bit more freeform here.”

“That does sound easier!” Scott had to wonder why anyone would be a sorcerer in that case. He liked the class, but a little mental masturbation and a few pretty words sounded like a much easier magical practice method.

“Yes, but it is flawed in a critical way.”

“How so?” he asked.

“Those classes can use magic, but they don’t develop the fundamental knowledge necessary to truly master it. They end up with dozens of spells that each do one specific thing and they have to remember the exact words and imagery for each one.” said Mid.

“How is that different than what I do? I have to remember the image I use and how to make the energy flow.”

“Yes, but look at what you did. Mid-training you shifted from one pattern to another and created an entirely different spell. Most classes simply cannot do that. It’s one-shot, all or nothing, for them.”

“I think I understand, but…”

Mid smiled at him. “When most other classes create a spell they literally do that. They make a spell. You, however, generate a flow of mana and elemental energy that can become literally any related spell you want simply by mastering how that energy flows.”

“Wait, I get it…. You’re saying I could start casting a spell, see that I need to do something else, and shift the pattern to generate a more relevant attack as long as the energy flow is similar. But other classes can only cast the spell they are casting.”

“Hey, he gets it! Good job. Yes, once a class other than those related to monks or sorcerers begin to cast a spell they either finish it or lose the mana they drew up.” She pointed her staff at him. “You can do a lot of damage to a caster if you interrupt their casting. The concentrated mana would flow through their bodies.”

“That’s why mages stay in the back and don’t fight upfront! Interrupt their spell-casting and the mana concentrated to power the spell erupts and damages them!” Scott’s eyes widened and he grinned like a moron who had finally learned something cool.

Sorcery was difficult, but once he mastered a spell he would be a lot harder to interrupt since the main game related purpose of his class was to develop the ability to actively fight in hand-to-hand combat while powering up his spells. It would also be harder to defend against properly trained monks and sorcerers, since it was more difficult to determine what sort of spell he was creating since he did not need to chant.

“The easiest way to kill a powerful magic user is to goad them into using a strong spell then interrupt their concentration. They can resist minor distractions if they are high-level and well trained, but there are few mages capable of maintaining their focus when they take a boot to the head.”

“I would wager a guess that they use a lot of shields and things like that to prevent people from putting their shoe upside their head?” he asked.

“Absolutely. Shields, wards, guardian beasts, mercenaries. Anything to give them the time needed to charge their mana and blast the landscape.” she said.

They chatted amiably about the path of sorcery and other magical paths. Mid played as a great sage, or as a lore sage in the casual server, so she had great knowledge of the non-sorcerous path. She liked incantations as a means of playing around, but she had long since moved to silent casting if she had to do anything serious. She basically willed her most practiced spells into being with a thought.

Scott looked at the mirror then rubbed his chin. “That’s the name the system chose for my spell? Seriously?”

[Spell]

Scott’s Unstable Orb of Brilliance

A lightning spell that is created in the shape of a sphere. It provides moderate levels of illumination and follows the caster.

Spell Type: Twilight Sorcery

Mana Drain: High

Efficiency: Low

[--]

Mid glanced at the mirror then chuckled. “Yes, that’s how the system shows things. You can change the name any time.”

“I see.” He rubbed his chin. He knew how the spell was done now. Should he try to create more spells, or practice the one that he had? “Man, I wish I had more spell slots.”

“You only use those for your most commonly used spells anyway. You can cast any spell that you can remember step-by-step, you just won’t have any assistance in its creation. In that regard it is similar to the casual server. Call out the spell name while focusing on the pattern. The system takes care of most of the necessary work.”

Scott liked the sound of that, though he would still practice and train his spells without the assistance so that he would master their usage on the fly. During an actual fight it would be useful. He had to be certain that he was right in his current training plan, however. “Is it like the miscellaneous skills?”

“Hmm?” she asked.

“Can I switch them in and out of my spell slots whenever I want?”

“Ah yes, but only at a salvation mirror. Think of those slots as sort of like hot buttons, or quick slots in a console game.”

“That’s good to know!” Scott liked that answer quite a bit. He could rotate his spells into and out of the slots at need.

“Yes it is, but you’ll probably want to write your spells down in a notebook or something. If they are not slotted, they aren’t held in memory by the system.”

“Oh! I see, so I need a grimoire.” That made sense to him. The spell slots held information about his spells and if he concentrated on those spells that were slotted he could use them easily. His other spells would need to be done step-by-step. It would be both inefficient and mana intensive, but he could have access to all the spells that he wanted.

“How does that work though? The new spell isn’t in a slot. It’s still up there, though.”

Mid shook her head. “Add it to a slot and you’ll see the difference.”

Scott did as prompted and the spell information changed. The basic blurb was the same, but there was a short section regarding the various bits of information that he need to know in order to cast it properly. There was even a little video of his creation of the spell for the first time.

“That’s definitely an improvement.” he said.

“Yes, it is. Non-sorcerers merely need to write down information about the projected image and their incantation. You need to remember each body movement and the way that the power flows. You have a lot more versatility, but it is more difficult.”

Scott nodded. The lack of popularity for sorcerers was starting to make more sense. It was a class that required perfection of mind and body alongside great personal effort in order to advance. Most people just wanted to get on with things and go on an adventure, probably.

“Thanks for putting up with all of my questions.” Scott smiled at Mid then yawned a little.

“Dear childe, it’s what I do. I answer these questions frequently.”

“You don’t ever get tired of it?” he asked.

She smiled beatifically at him. “Not if the one asking the questions is reasonable. Unfortunately, I do occasionally have to deal with unreasonable people.”

He could understand why that would happen. Not everyone would be willing to treat her respectfully. Her position was basically that of a tutorial sage. They were often considered annoying because they wanted to force-feed a lot of backstory. Players might not care for it, and even treat her like some sort answer machine without any concern for her feelings.

They spent a little time discussing the situation, proper training methods, and how to advance his skills. They also spoke of Origin, Ero, and even Herbert. Scott eventually stretched out on the grass intent on properly resting. He had to practice his spell and then work on creating new ones. There was a lot to do and he wanted to do his best to get it done.