Regis wasn’t all that excited for the element of fire. Sure, it was an extra source of damage, but he didn’t know f if a magic staff could only hold a single element and he wasn’t keen on finding it out this way either. What he could do, was infusing his staff with a much needed 4th enchantment.

The rune of harm would have been his choice, since it gave a flat damage bonus to any weapon, but it needed Arcanite as its component. Lacking in said precious material, he had to settle with the second best option. Sharpness was a rune that affected all edged weapons and even if his basic staff wouldn’t gain anything from it, the bladestaff form should still be affected. He decided to capitalise on the chance of the damage buff, so he shifted the staff’s form before casting charlatan’s wisdom on it. The description that appeared while using charlatan’s wisdom was indeed different from the original.

{Soulbound sunstone bladestaff}

{Item rarity: uncommon}

{Item quality: well-made}

{Greater enchantments: 2}

{Lesser enchantments: 1}

{Durability: 125/125}

{Damage: 28/28)}

{Arcana cost reduction: 5%}

In its second form, the weapon dealt two more points of damage, but it still felt lacklustre compared to the iron broadsword in his loot pile or Amanda’s two-handed hammer. Regis re-read the leather parchment explaining the sharpness rune before he returned to the transmutation circle. He spent some time creating four ‘waste’ quality wind stones, of which he fused three into an ‘ordinary’ quality one.

After the preparations were complete, the young dark elf began to meditate with the elemental stone and bladestaff in hand. He followed the schematics to the letter, re-drawing the runic formation several times before the wind stone crumbled between his fingers and a new grey rune appeared on the staff. Charlatan’s wisdom revealed the obvious, if lacklustre change as well.

{Soulbound sunstone bladestaff}

{Item rarity: uncommon}

{Item quality: well-made}

{Greater enchantments: 2}

{Lesser enchantments: 2}

{Durability: 125/125}

{Damage: 30/30)}

{Arcana cost reduction: 5%}

‘Only two points? Why the hell is it so little compared to a direct elemental enchantment?’ He scratched his head as he stared at the small damage increase that seemingly disappeared into nothingness when he switched back to simple staff form. After huffing a bit about the unfairness of the world, Regis rested up a little and then decided to continue the important experiment by upgrading the rune to ‘ordinary’ quality. It took some effort and time to re-draw the grey coloured rune twenty times, but once the better graded wind stone crumbled as well, the sharpness rune turned white and he could finally breathe up. Casting charlatan’s wisdom on the magic bladestaff revealed yet again a dreary result.

{Soulbound sunstone bladestaff}

{Item rarity: uncommon}

{Item quality: well-made}

{Greater enchantments: 2}

{Lesser enchantments: 2}

{Durability: 125/125}

{Damage: 32/32)}

{Arcana cost reduction: 5%}

‘Another two points,’ he hummed to himself. ‘All upgradeable enchantments build on their predecessor, which means that the 1st one gave two points, and the 2nd one would give four if I skipped the 1st one. Does that mean that a straight up 3rd level enchantment gives six points, or does it double up?’ Since Regis had neither the right material, nor the skill to make it or enchant it, the question had to be thrown into the back of his mind for the time being.

For now, he had more pressing matters in the form of other items he had to create as well as sorting out his soul-space. Since power came first, he sat back down to meditate, so he could enter his soul-space. The sensation of falling only lasted for a split-second and when he opened his eyes, he found himself in front of his statue once more. He stepped closer to the soul-tome that lay on the pedestal, opening it with a thought. The pages furled onto the one with his character sheet and the young dark elf took a look at it to find some noticeable change.

{Name: Regis ???}

{Title: Beginner bladestaff wielder}

{Race: Dark elf/Sun elf/ Human}

{Age: 19}

{Amaranth: 13433}

{Caste: commoner}

{Path}

Neophyte spell weaver Trainee fighter

{Craft: Locked}

{Attributes}

Allure: 15 Deftness: 17 Erudition: 20 Faith: 8 Luck: 12 Might: 16 Mind: 17 Physique: 17 Spirit: 18 Willpower: 21

Health/Arcana/Stamina

{37/37}{57/57}{38/38}

{Status effects}

None

‘My willpower went beyond twenty.’ He thought as he saw the inhuman attribute score. With this, he had officially stepped on the path of legends. Now he just had to push the rest of his numbers a bit more.

After re-reading the contents of the page to make sure he didn’t miss anything important, he turned the pages towards the one recording his skills. There was little to see beside a few levels’ worth of increase in his weapon and crafting skills, but the page of his recorded spells had a few surprises.

{Grow cluster}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: elemental}

{Spell type: verbal}

{Spend 10 points of arcana to grow a 4cm long and 1cm wide quartz piece in 10 seconds. Each level of mastery increases the size of the crystal by 1 centimetre in length and half a centimetre in width. The quartz crumbles away if the spell fails or you cancel it before completion. You can cast grow cluster on the same quartz piece to increase its size.}

{Arcana cost: 10}

{Cast time: 10 seconds}

{Range: touch}

{Spell mastery: 2/5}

{Mastery progression: 1/30}

{Lesser mend}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: arcane}

{Spell type: verbal}

{Spend 10 points of arcana to reverse the flow of time for a manmade or naturally occurring item, restoring 2,5 points of durability to it. Objects below 80% durability are mended at a 1:10 ratio and objects below 50% are repaired at a 1:20 ratio. Every level of mastery increases durability repair by 0,5 points.}

{Arcana cost: 10}

{Repair done: 3,5}

{Cast time: 5 seconds}

{Range: touch}

{Spell mastery: 2/5}

{Mastery progression: 17/30}

{Runic arcana bolt}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: arcane}

{Spell type: runic}

{Weave your arcana into the required runic sequence and form a bolt of condensed arcana in 4 seconds for 15 points of arcana and fire it towards your enemies. The runic arcana bolt deals 7,5 of arcane damage. Each level of mastery increases your base spell damage by 0,5. The spell fades away after fifteen meters.}

{Arcana cost: 15}

{Spell damage: 8}

{Cast time: 4 seconds}

{Range: 15 meters}

{Spell mastery: 1/5}

{Mastery progression: 11/20}

{Runic searing touch}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: elemental}

{Spell type: runic}

{Weave your arcana into the required runic sequence and cover your palm with fire in 2 seconds for 15 points of arcana. Your touch deals 2,5 fire damage per second, up to 5 seconds per spell cast and can cause the enemy to catch on fire. Each level of mastery increases your spell damage by 0,5 per second}

{Arcana cost: 15}

{Spell damage: 3-15}

{Cast time: 2 seconds}

{Range: touch}

{Spell mastery: 1/5}

{Mastery progression: 9/20}

{Windblast}

{Rank: initiate}

{Spell class: elemental}

{Spell type: verbal}

{Spend 10 points of arcana to compress the air around you in 3 seconds and then propel it forward in a 3 metre cone blast to deal 5 points of physical damage while knocking back your enemies. Every level increases damage by 0,5 points.}

{Arcana cost: 10}

{Damage: 6}

{Cast time: 3 seconds}

{Range: 3 metre cone}

{Spell mastery: 2/5}

{Mastery progression: 7/30}

It looked like spending his time fighting and crafting earned him a steady progress and eight levels of spell mastery spread out over his most used spells. The ones he only used on occasion also showed improvement, but it wasn’t enough to gain a new level. For a moment, Regis wanted to add some much needed spell practice to his schedule, but he had too little time to spare for now. To not waste any time, he touched the black bookmark at the side of his soul-tome, turning its pages to the one recording his kills and earnings.

{Foes slain}

{Level 1 Blight touched rat}*14. You have gathered 210 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Orcish outlander}*2. You have gathered 100 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 3 undead wolf}*2. You have gathered 120 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 3 fallen archer}*3. You have gathered 60 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 3 fallen infantryman}*52. You have gathered 3120 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 4 fallen swordsman}*34. You have gathered 4080 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 5 fallen berserker}*2. You have gathered 480 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 5 fallen earth mage}*1. You have gathered 240 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 5 fallen squire}*2. You have gathered 480 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 6 fallen ghoul}*3. You have gathered 1440 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 7 fallen bladedancer}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 7 fallen priest of malice}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 7 fallen geomancer}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 7 fallen aeromancer}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Level 8 fallen knight}*1. You have gathered 960 Amaranth from this type of enemy as a reward for assisting in slaying it.

{Level 10 fallen entitled knight}*1. You have gathered 7980 Amaranth from this type of enemy so far.

{Shards and other bonuses}

{Arcana shard}*1 Your maximum arcana was increased by 1 through absorbing arcana shards.

{Fortitude shard}*5 Your maximum stamina was increased by 5 through absorbing fortitude shards.

{Vigour shard}*4 Your maximum health was increased by 4 through absorbing vigour shards.

{Spell mastery}*13 Your maximum arcana was increased by 13 as a result of gaining greater mastery in your spells.

{Meditation}*8 Your maximum arcana was increased by 8 due to prolonged meditation sessions.

‘My arcana reserves grew by eleven points through meditation and spell mastery. That’s a big win.’ The dark elf admitted to himself as he checked his gains, although the fact that he somehow managed to harvest the fallen entitled knight’s Amaranth before dying was an even greater surprise. It was almost eight thousand points, making him gain more with that single kill then the rest of that night’s earnings. That also explained how he had over thirteen thousand Amaranth recorded on his character sheet.

With such a big sum at his fingertips, Regis was ready to splurge. He closed his soul-tome and walked over to the pathway of his fighter constellation, buying both the vigorous and the tireless feats. As he placed his hands on the colourless crystal plates, one slowly turned blood red while the other into a light grassy green. Both plates floated downwards, becoming stepping stones in his journey. As soon as the now coloured plates fell in place, his soul-space began to shake.

He hurried back onto the larger platform to search for the reason of the continuous shaking. Looking up on the night sky, he noticed that both his fighter and neophyte constellations were pulsing with power as motes of light began to fall down. The light scraps floated towards his soul-tome that rose into the air after absorbing them. Its pages turned over at a breakneck speed for a few moments before it spat out a single page. Regis saw golden ink blobs churn on the page before forming into a drawing that quickly turned pitch black. The page then slowly drifted down on the ground.

Regis walked over to pick it up; trying to understand what caused the sudden phenomena. The page had the drawing of a sword crossed with a magic staff in the form of a constellation with the words ‘Arcane Warrior’ written above it. It didn’t take a genius what it was about, especially since Regis recognised it. Arcane warrior was recorded in one of his family’s tomes. It was a common Tier one hybrid combat class that was meant to infuse a melee fighter with arcane energies.

You could say that it was one of the most basic semi-caster classes out there. Of course, classes had a system of rarity as well, starting from common and ending up at legendary. The one good thing about such a basic specialization was that it was highly compatible with the many fighting styles and other classes one could come across. This couldn’t be said with the rarer, more specialized paths. Arcane warrior would have been a solid pick to start with, but Regis was unable to commit to it just yet. He surely had the Amaranth to re-create the constellation, but he had other things to spend on.

His first and foremost goal after gaining the tireless and vigorous feats was to form his ‘Apprentice’ constellation. The dark elf walked over to the shelf behind his statue and placed the new chart on the middle shelf before searching for the scroll of the right drawing. Once he had it, the youth began to channel 2100 points of Amaranth into the scroll, turning it into a golden hue. His soul-space shook as the golden constellation appeared on the dark sky, along with a familiar description on the scroll.

{Apprentice Constellation}

{Rank: Gold}

{Nodes: 12/12}

Deftness: 1,4 Erudition: 1,4 Might: 1,4

Apprentice constellation pathway is now available.

Golden light motes fell from the sky, turning into another colourless crystal plate at the edge of the large platform. Regis put the scroll on the third shelf beside the other completed charts and walked over to the crystal seal. As he touched it, he felt his mind go blank for a moment as his memories about enchanting and transmutation rushed through his mind. The crystal turned into a dull grey one, floating down to become the first stepping stone of this new path. He began to walk forward, only taking four steps before another floating crystal stopped him from moving forward. Regis routinely reached out to touch it and golden words appeared in front of his eyes.

{Focused mind 1}

{A scattered mind and the lack of attention are the worst enemies of any craftsmen or craftswoman. The focused mind feat allows you to centre your attention into a single-minded obsession towards your current work. This feat lowers the chance of failure during any crafting process by 5% while simultaneously increasing your crafting speed by 5%.}

{Cost: 1000 Amaranth}

{Do you wish to gain this feat?}

‘Yes.’ Regis thought to himself and he felt the soul-space slightly shift around him as the crystal turned grey and fell down to become the next stepping stone. When he tried to move forward, the same invisible hand stopped him that prevented his advance in his other paths before. ‘Looks like I’ll have to hone my crafts before I can move forward.’ He mused before heading back to the central platform.

The fighter pathway was a no go, since he had advanced very little in the department of health and stamina. His neophyte pathway however became much friendlier than before, allowing him to move all the way to the ninth stepping stone where a new crystal awaited him instead of the tenth step. The golden words that appeared after touching the crystal were a pleasant surprise.

{Arcane acumen 1}

{A sharp mind is essential for anyone wishing to thread the path of magic. The arcane acumen feat allows one to master spells and arcane crafts 5% faster.}

{Cost: 1500 Amaranth}

{Do you wish to gain this feat?}

The description of the feat was short and on point. It gave a flat bonus to his learning speed related to arcane matters. Given the fact that Regis had two magic related crafts and needed to master his spells as soon as possible, getting the feat was a no-brainer. He accepted the trade and the crystal sigil turned into the familiar dark blue hue, becoming another stepping stone on his path. After he stepped on the eleventh one, he had to stop once again as he ran out of potential. ‘I guess that’s all for now.’ He sighed as he walked back to his soul-tome to have a look at the changes. As the tome opened and his character sheet appeared in front of him, he couldn’t stop himself from frowning.

{Name: Regis ???}

{Title: Beginner bladestaff wielder}

{Race: Dark elf/Sun elf/ Human}

{Age: 19}

{Amaranth: 6833}

{Caste: commoner}

{Path}

Neophyte spell weaver Trainee fighter

{Craft: Unrecognised}

{Attributes}

Allure: 15 Deftness: 18 Erudition: 21 Faith: 8 Luck: 12 Might: 17 Mind: 17 Physique: 17 Spirit: 18 Willpower: 21

Health/Arcana/Stamina

{38/38}{57/57}{39/39}

{Status effects}

None

‘Shit.’ He cursed as he noticed the change in his crafting section. It wasn’t locked like before, but it was now unrecognised instead. His frustration about the matter overshadowed his happiness towards his second attribute that went beyond twenty, especially since he didn’t feel more knowledgeable at all. Regis sat down in front of his statue to meditate, preparing to leave his soul-space for the time being.