Author’s note:

Uh...it’s been a month since the last update... there’ll be no daily/semi-daily releases any time soon but I’ll try to write at least 1 chap/week...

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The voice slowly fading, I confirmed that I was once again at the city’s central square.I began to walk towards the main building...suddenly, a weird sensation invaded my head.

Naturally I dismissed it as I thought it was just another sign of being dazed after the teleportation, but the feeling quickly grew in intensity until...I felt something akin to a presence.

(Who...are you?)

After a few seconds of no reply I began to doubt my sanity...but the answer eventually came:

(I am the spirit that watches upon those lands...as my Chosen,thou shall spread my word)

Altough I was startled,the words of the genderless-sounding entity quickly made me realize the being’s identity...

Spread The FaithMission Difficulty:SpecialLocation:N/AObjectives:Failure Conditions:Convert people to [Divine Wind] faithThe Spirit of Divine Wind ceases to existMission Rewards:The guardian spirit will grow in power with every follower.

(...)

The spirit continued:

(As a gift towards your people I shall bestow my blessing upon an object of your choosing...think carefully, as the only opportunity for me to manifest will be through this sacred item...Look for me at the [Divine Wind Cathedral] when you are ready.)

After this,the being cut what I assume what was a mental connection.

(Okay...so the fact that I just created a deity aside...what should I choose?A weapon?No,if it was lost it would be terrible...it would also be of no help to the nation as a whole...an armor is also not the right choice for similar reasons…)

(Wait...maybe...yea that could work...I would need some rare materials for it though...anyways,lets go read the records…)

As I entered the [City Hall] I was,as you might expect,recognized by the clerks...its good to be the king..,

Searching the library for the books I wanted didnt take long.With three tomes before me,I sat on a chair and began reading.

The first was [Introduction to Magic]...although I bought the [Magic Knowledge (Basic)] while in the void,the information didnt directly enter my brain like I expected it to but rather got stored as a book in the city’s library.That was better in a way as I could make copies to place in the academy....

As I opened the book,a loud {DING] sounded…

So it turns out I dont even have to read the book itself...I began reading…

Magic is the art of energy manipulation, be it external or internal.

The beginning of magic lies in the simpliest of energies that fill the world - [Mana].

While Its origin is unknown, one thing is certain - everything produces small quantities of mana.

In case of “dead matter”,it releases an extremely small but constant stream of energy into the world.

As for “living beings”,their very body is created with a tiny, normally dormant,

[Energy Center].The body then proceeds to slowly absorb the atmospheric mana,gradually turning it into its own.

The whole process is often called the [Great Cycle of Mana Absorption].

At birth,a living being has an extremely small quantity of pure energy and is easily capable of absorbing mana of every element.The speed of absorption depends on many factors:

Race determines the overall mana capacity (i.e the quality and size of the [Energy Center]),

Talent determines the individual ability to gather and manipulate mana of particular elements.Naturally,people born with high magical talent will have an easier time improving,which causes their [Energy Centers] to be abnormally large for their age.

Environment determines what the innate internal mana element, for example someone who grew up as a son of a blacksmith will probably have fire or earth as their main element,while someone living near a large body of water is more likely to have water affinity.

Age determines one’s overall capabilities at learning various elements.

The internal mana consists of all 7 basic elements,namely:

Earth

Fire

Water

Wind

Lighting

Light

Darkness

As a being lives and trains close to the elemental essence,they will gradually absorb that particular element into their body,giving it more and more of it’s properties....however,there is a price one must pay…

The higher one’s overall elemental affinities,the harder it is to train in different elements.

.A good example would be imagining the body’s internal mana as a sphere- the more certain elements grow,the more overall space in the sphere they take,until they take so much that absorbing energy of other elements becomes nearly impossible.

This is why the age at which one begins their magic training plays such a big role-if one wishes to control multiple elements,it’s best to train in all of them since the youngest age possible.

The local atmospheric mana will most likely become the main internal element,impacting one’s accomplishments in other basic elements,unless training is performed in all of them.

Other than the 7 basic elements,there are certain “fusion elements’.The most commonly known include:

-Nature Magic, commonly used by elves and nature spirits is a fusion of Light& Earth.

-Twilight Magic = Light&Darkness

-Magma Magic = Fire&Earth.

-Shadow Magic = Darkness&Wind.

Even all those fusions are but the beginning,as it is possible to fuse various fusion elements together(...)

[Mana] is in fact just the most basic type of life energy.

As one’s mana capacity and elemental affinities approach a certain level,one will get a mage’s most basic skill - [Mana Manipulation].

There are various ways it can be used...the most important part though is that it’s the very skill that allows perceiving and actively interacting with the world’s mana.

It is precisely what is used to create all the spells - from the most basic,to the most advanced,all of them are created through [Mana Manipulation].

To use a spell,one must understand its specific mana flow.The comprehension is commonly bypassed by using incantations.While they do have their good sides,the cast time is incomparable if someone actually understands the spell.

The next major step in a mage’s life is [Awakening].It represents the activation of the previously dormant [Energy Center].While it does not sound that hard,it is precisely the reason for the small mage population - it is impossible for the [Energy Center] to awaken under every-day circumstances...the only way is an emotional shock at the level of a life or death experience.

The fact that the mage is completely unable to defend himself for the next few dozen minutes after the awakening often results in their death,especially amongst those of common birth,as they do not have guards to protect them.Should one survive however, a bright path opens up before them.

After the [Awakening],the 9% affinity bottleneck is naturally surpassed and one can officially join the ranks of the [Mage Circle] - an international mage-gathering organization, as a First-Circle Mage.They will be provided guidance and taught various spells in return for an oath of loyalty.

The most important milestone in a mage’s life is at the time of attaining 20% affinity in an element.There are two separate paths one can take:

The first is the mage’s path- simply continue using mana in higher and higher quantities.This is the path that most people take.

The second is the cultivation path- purify your mana until it transforms into pure vital energy- [Qi] and proceed to form your [Qi Center].This method is rather unpopular due to it’s high difficulty and various other reasons.

The mage’s path possesses the following advantages:

-Suitable for mass combat,as higher-ranked spells are often just higher-magnitude versions of basic spells.

-Has high and easily sustainable energy source-[Mana] can be easily replenished,be it through absorbing the atmospheric energy or storing it in [Mana Crystals]

-Formations are easier to create for mages than they are for cultivators

There is only one real disadvantage to the mage’s path:

A mage’s body is frail,and although it can be augumented or enchanted,it’ll never reach the same degree of toughness or flexibility as a cultivator’s or even a fighter’s.Because of this,mages are severely disadvantaged at close-quarters combat.

The cultivation path possesses the following advantages:

-Suitable for single combat, as a cultivator’s body is refined through the usage of [Qi], being naturally tougher and more flexible than even a purely-physical fighter’s.

-Cultivators tend to live much longer than others - altough longevity always comes with power,it is especially evident for cultivators,as even the weakest, [Purification] stage practicioners tend to live twice as long as regular people.

-Although formations are a mage’s strong point,a highly skilled cultivator might be no less capable of using them.

Similarily to the mage’s path,there is only one real disadvantage to the cultivation path:

A cultivator willingly severs their connection with the world’s mana and can only rely on their own small and hard to replenish [Qi] reserves.Because of this,cultivators,although more powerful than mages in single combat,are easily tired-out in mass-combat and thus are not as highly-sought by armies as mages are.

There’s also another reason for the cultivator’s path rarity,and that is the [Mage Circle]...the oath given to it by First-Circle Mages clearly states that the magic path is what they’ll choose in the future...obviously,breaking such an oath is not an option for the vast majority of members.

Regarding futher stages of training,reaching them is very difficult and thus,the details are not common knowledge.

One thing that is worth adding is that at some point,a cultivator will have to face [Heavenly Tribulations] to advance,which is yet another reason one might find for not pursuing such a path(...)

The codex also recorded various basic methods of energy gathering...all in all,it was certainly very useful.

The 20% Affinity milestone was still quite a distance away though...I opened the second book before me,the [Basic Knowledge of Endless Lands]

[Power Levels]

Existences are ranked to be within the following stages:

F,E,D - Novice

C,B - Intermediate

A - Expert

S - Master

M - Saint

Each stage can be further broken down into entry,low,mid,late and peak phase.

Generally speaking,regular people are of Novice stage.

Trained soldiers are of Intermediate stage.

The elite within the army are of the Expert Stage,and so are First-circle Mages

The strongest within a Kingdom are of the Master Stage

Existences of the Saint stage can be counted within dozens and are worshipped as supreme beings.

[Currency]

The world’s countries use copper,silver and gold coins as internal currency and various crystals for trade of international importance.

1 Copper Coin = A commoner’s daily salary

1 Silver Coin = 100 Copper Coins = Typical Merchant’s monthly merchandise

1 Gold Coin = 100 Silver Coins = A noble house’s monthly savings

1 Crindum Crystal = 1000 Gold Coins = A kingdom’s monthly income

1 Dixiam Crystal = 1000 Crindum Crystals = A kingdom’s net worth.

[Races]

The seven most-numerous races within [Endless Lands] are:

-Humans

-Orcs

-Dwarves

-Gnomes

-Elves

-Goblins

-Beastmen

According to overall martial and magical capabilities,races can be separated into various grades:

Grade 0: Includes all existences that are mostly harmless to anyone but other at their level,such as ants,small birds etc.

Grade 1: Includes all existences that pose a moderate threat towards most of the main races,such as wolves or goblins.

Grade 2:: Includes all existences at the level of power similar to the main races.

Grade 3: Includes all esistences that individually surpass most of the main races.

Grade 4: Includes beings vastly more powerful than ordinary races,existences of this level are commonly referred to as blessed-beings.

Grade 5 : Includes beings that wield nearly-divine power,such as most dragons or phoenixes.

(...)

As I finished reading,I opened the third and last book before me,the [Dimorth Chronicles]

This time,I didnt get a codex entry,so I could only read the book...from what i discovered,all main races previously present in [Dimorth Kingdom’s] vicinity were still going strong,even the kobolds managed to reestablish their country,altough it was not quite on the same level of power as the rest.

This kind of information was not what I was looking for though…I needed some rather specific materials for the divine relic and those were not commonly found…

Finally,something caught my attention- an abandoned mine where several rather strong monsters were spotted - there were even notes about dwarven expeditions going there but never returning which meant it was very likely what I was looking for - a dungeon!

That said,It was already night time and I’d have to wait some time before going there…

Oh,thats right I didnt check out the [Identity[ skill yet right?

I used it on myself…

EldrithGrade 3,55Health:560/560Mana:1416/1416Stamina:624/700Vitality: 38Strength: 36Agility: 52Intelligence: 39Magic Affinities:Light(12%), Wind(12%), Earth(0%), Fire(0%), Water(0%), Lightning(0%), Darkness(0%)Resistances:Physical:62Elemental:65Poison:60Mind:ImmuneInnate Traits:Champion's Body (VIT/STR/AGI/INT x2)Prodigy (Stat/Affinity growth x3)

(...)

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