Chapter 30: Plant spells/ Ghost spells

As Ramie chose ' unlock new spell,' new lines of information popped up to him.

From the knowledge ha had acquired, he knew that his bloodline had two distinctive aspects; one was the plant part, while the other was the ghost part.

The plant spells were unsealed right from the beginning, because they didn't require special conditions aside from the bloodline. As for the ghost spell, they were not the same. And every single spell in the ghost criteria has its own level restrictions. So, as long as his level is sufficient to unlock any spell in the ghost criteria, then, the term 'sealed' will be lifted. However, it still wouldn't mean that all of the spells will become available for the exchange, but just the spell with met conditions. The rest of the spells in the ghost criteria will still be sealed.

Wanting to see what kind of spell he'll get, Ramie chose the 'plant spells' immediately.

Following which, yet another line appeared.

Unhesitant, Ramie chose 'yes' mentally, as he knew that his artifact does not display the list of spells, nor let him chose. And all he had to do, is to level up, acquire skill points, and either use them to exchange for spells immediately or accumulate them in order to advance the rank of the spells he had.

Since he had no spells that he can cast at the moment, he naturally chose to exchange for spell. And as expected, another lines appeared.

- Name: Ramie

- Lv.2 Magic Artifact (7%)

- Path: Bloodline Magician

- Class: Subterranean Ghost Tree (Special)

- Magic Energy: 29

- Innate Spell: Unknown

- Spells: Morphing (permanent), Green Vine (Rare)

- Unused skill points: 0

Seeing the stats, Ramie focused on the green vine spell with intent. In response, the artifact displayed its description.

Having seen the words 'active' in the spell's description, Ramie's mood underwent a significant change.

'Finally… an active spell!'

He had finally gotten an active spell similar to Neil's fire burst! And what did active mean…? Simply, it meant that unlike his one-time use, passive morphing spell… he can cast the active spell as many times as he wants to… given that he has enough magic energy of course.

Anxious to test out his new spell effects, Ramie rose up to his feat, then, similar to what Neil had done when he wanted to cast his spell, Ramie called out in his mind with intent.

Green Vine!

Immediately, a flash of new knowledge flashed through his yellow eyes as information regarding how to practically cast the green vine spell flowed smoothly to his mind.

Few seconds afterward, Ramie's eyes lit up, and a slight smile of relief broke on his well concealed face.

Finally, he got something he can use to fight the creatures!

However, he did not completely relax just yet. First, he had to test out its effect to see how it could benefit his chances of surviving.

To him, the best outcome would be getting a spell similar to Neil's fire burst… which is simply point and shot, simple enough and highly effective. However, even if he's not lucky enough to end up with that kind of outcome, then as long as he get a conveniently spell, he'd still be grateful for it.

Which is why, he had to see its effect with his own eyes.

When Neil got his fire burst spell, they didn't want to use it inside the apartment back then, because it had flashy name, and because they hadn't seen anyone use a spell in front of them before. Besides, they had no idea at the time on what kind of noise or explosive effect that the fire burst spell might cause. So, not wanting to alarm other beasts to their hideout, they decided not to test it unless they had no other way.

However now, it was easy to figure out this green vine effect. If not from the spell's plain name, then from the description, where there was no hint of a flashy or noisy effect. Besides, the green vine spell was plant based spell, so explosive effects and noise were not something that comes in mind when pondering over its effect.

Above all, he now knows that casting a newly acquired spell for the first time doesn't actually mean casting it, but instead it's akin to requesting the practical casting method from the artifact. As the spell's description and the practical method of casting isn't exactly the same thing.

And indeed, the casting method was transferred to his mind in flash.

Looking at the four people across the room, Ramie warned: "be careful, am going to try out my new spell! Don't worry, it won't cause ruckus!"

Green Vine!

Willing it in his mind, he controlled his magic energy, and injected it into the artifact, and mentally chose his right forearm as the target of the spell.

According to the casting method, this spell was not to be casted at a distant target, but on his own body. But first, he had to fuel his artifact with the required magic energy first.

However, knowing that he had 29 magic energy points stored in his body did not mean that he knew how much 1 magic energy point really was.

Although he had control over the magic energy in his own body, and if he wanted, he can inject half of this energy inside the artifact or quarter of it, but dividing it on 29 was beyond his perception and his control over this energy.

So, he supplied a large volume of the magic energy inside his body toward the artifact and let it absorb the required amount for casting the spell.

And the moment he done so, he felt a slight itch at his forearm. Then…!

Rip!

From the middle of the forearm area, his sleeve rose up like an erected tent, as a protrusion that was as thick as his wrist area tore its way through the sleeve fibers and stuck out like a snake.

It didn't stop there and kept growing longer and longer. And after few seconds; a four meter, green whip-like vine was projected from his forearm.

It wasn't only that, the green vine wasn't just lying still on the ground, but was slithering around on the floor like a living snake, as if it was looking for a target, which was kind of scary to the onlookers.

However, none of the present four was terrified, as they were already warned beforehand.

"This…!"

"Wow! This is cool…! Quickly, tell me, what can it do, what can it do?" Reem actually got excited by the terrifying sight, and couldn't help but to blurt out audibly. After all, Ramie was with them, so, the more fearsome his spell is the better for them.

Lance, Neil, Jeffry and Reem were practically at the edge of their nerves, as Ramie took a lot of time processing the absorbed knowledge, and maintained a relatively long silence, which gave a bad feeling that his new spell might be lousy and of no use.

However, now that they saw this slithering, vicious looking vine moves and coils about vigorously, they felt a bit better, and wanted to ask him about its effect. However, before they get to ask, Reem jumped up first and spoke: "Wow… can you control it?"

Ramie nodded to her in response…he can indeed control this vine.

This spell came as a surprise to him. After all, this vine felt to him like another limb, and even controlling it came to him naturally. It was as if he had it right from the beginning. And he held a large degree of control over it, and can move it as precisely and easily as any of his two arms. More ever, even despite its obviously frightening snake-like moves, Ramie didn't dread it in the least; instead, it felt familiar to him.

Following his will, the vine moved, curled, and twisted itself about. It gave him the feeling that this vine can exert a greater strength than his own muscles.

'This is good… very good. This might be of real help in these times…! I better test this vine's limits!' Ramie thought to himself.

And so, he proceeded to test out the vines to see its limits… How long can he extend it for? How much of strength can a single vine exert? And more ever, the spell description implied that he can project more than just one vine. So, how many of these vines can he produce? How much magic energy required for maintaining and moving these vines?

His spell was not as simple and direct as Neil's fire burst… which was simply point and shoot. As such, and since this spell could potentially save his life… he wanted to use as efficiently as possible, as soon as possible. Preferably, before the night fall, where the beasts emerge, starts their battles and go into hunt mode.

After only few short while of testing, almost all of his magic energy was exhausted. But the result was beyond his imagination… to the point of almost making him happy about his morphing spell.

Anyhow, after playing around with his spell for a while, he now had a basic understanding regarding the green vines he can now project.

First, and as mentioned in the spell description, to project a single vine; 5 magic energy points are required, as for maintaining its existence after projecting it, further magic energy consumption is needed over time. The moment he stops supplying the vine with magic energy, the vine then separates from his body, coil up, and dries after awhile, turning into an ash when the magic energy in it is completely used up.

As for the vine's strength, speed, and durability… Ramie had tested these aspects against Lance. And the result was simply fantastic.

The vine moving speed was actually faster than Lance's reaction speed while powering himself up with life energy, and so was the strength this vine can exert. As for the vine best quality, then it would undoubtedly be its durability! As Lance couldn't tear it apart when Ramie coiled it up around him, even despite using all his strength while using life energy, which made Ramie elated.

When it comes to how many vines can Ramie project… he was a bit hesitant. As the night was about to descend, and Ramie wanted to save some of his magic energy in case something sneaks into the building. However, at the time, Reem told him a certain shocking piece of news that had him change his mind, and continuing his testing.

Still, he was unable to figure out his numerical limit of the vines, as he had summoned and controlled three of them before his magic energy almost runs out. So, he decided to test this aspect when he has more magic energy reserve.

When it comes to the control efficiency, he found out that if he projects a single vine, then he can control it with the greatest efficiency. As for two vines, although the efficiency decreases a bit, but he could still control them almost as good as controlling his own arms.

However, when he projects three vines, then it becomes a mess, and controlling them becomes hard, sluggish and slow.

As for the length issue… it was practically similar to the strength and speed; it was associated with how much of magic energy he's willing to spend. For instant, merely maintaining the presence of the vine consumes magic energy, albeit at slow rate. However, if he was to move the vine, then the magic energy consumption increases more. And if he was to exert strength or move the vine at a fast speed, then naturally the consumption rate will soar to crazy levels. And that's only in the case of a single vine, not mention two or three vines.

As such, unless the situation is extremely dire, with no other alternative… it is preferred not to use this spell wantonly, and conserve his magic energy as much as possible.

At first, when he learned that it only requires 5 magic energy points to project a vine, he felt excited by the thought of projecting a lot of them in one go to overwhelm whatever beast comes his way. However, now, it turns out otherwise… as merely maintaining a single vine requires the consumption of magic energy, not to mention moving it.

This was evident by how he had exhausted almost all of his magic energy points in merely short while when he projected three of them.

This meant that in any future confrontation, he had to be extremely careful to not wantonly use up his magic energy, in order not to fall in a defenseless state. After all, even if there were people with him… he had no real relation with any of them and thus shouldn't expect any of them to risk his life for him.

Even though his aura detecting bloodline ability is very crucial to the group, not to mention his high perception… it still doesn't mean that others would throw themselves in the way of danger for him, if the risk outweighs the benefit.

This conclusion was something he engraved in his mind.

Anyway, after almost exhausting his magic energy reserve, he now had a basic understanding of his green vine spell. Also, after projecting the first vine from his forearm, the second one from his leg, and the third one from his back… he had concluded that casting this spell on his back would project the vine in the shortest period of time, which is a very important point, as in a life and death confrontations, every second matters!

Thus, he added a mental note of always projecting the vines from his back henceforth. There was another reason for this decision… which was; to keep his hands free and use them to hold other weapons, to better defend himself and maximize his survival chances.

…