On the rocky ground of the hill leading to a large cliff face, the group of soldiers practiced with skills and sword swings, Commander Patch keeping a careful eye on all his new men out of habit, but paying particularly close attention to the new abilities they were practicing as he cataloged each person's class within his mind.
He felt like their most valued member right now was actually Lee, the South Korean field medic who had chosen a healer class, as she is their only lifeline in case of injury out here. Her ability to infuse others with speed and strength buffs is also a huge asset. It made Patch's strength skyrocket into the realm of superhuman might when he used his [Heavy strike] while being buffed. The nearby lone tree he swung at was completely cut in half like a hot knife through butter. It was honestly hard to believe that his body and sword could now dish out more damage than his guns.
Peter, their only archer, had given him the stink eye when he had done that, since the guy was intending to use the tree as his target, Patch giving him an awkward wave after accidentally chopping it down. But in his defense, he didn't yet understand his own strength, especially with Lee's buffs thrown on top.
Instead of annoying Peter anymore, he moved over to where the soldier previously stationed in Florida, who had introduced himself as Jonny, and another warrior called David were lightly sparring, both getting familiar with their new weapons at a surprising pace as their blades clashed. Both seemed like the ideal soldiers to Patch, remaining calm under pressure and doing their best to adapt to the situation. Both men also had warrior skills similar to his own, allowing them to empower their strikes using stamina for an extra burst of power, the skill leaving them momentarily weakened right after, so requiring that the skill be triggered at the perfect time to avoid being taken unaware by a counterattack.
Off to the side were Lue, the native american who had first warned of the incoming creature that had swarmed them, the man once more keeping a sharp eye on his surroundings as he seemed to have made himself their lookout. He had two daggers strapped to his hips and was clearly some sort of rogue class, but Patch had yet to see the man use any skills. Another person with twin daggers is the thug wannabe who was even now looking down on everyone as if he were the hottest shit around, a perpetual sneer on his face, and sulked in the corner.
But what really confused the former commander was the young mage soldier who seemed to have made friends with the civilian and was currently throwing fireballs at the poor guy. Patch was about to shout a warning when he saw the spell fly through the air toward the young man, ready to drag him over to Lee, and scowled at the mage for doing such a reckless and dangerous thing, but his words caught in his throat when that fireball neared the civilian and just... Disappeared.
Patch was rendered speechless as the two men cheered excitedly and the young mage continued forming and launching seemingly progressively stronger fireballs until the young man in the leather jacket suddenly exclaimed in shock and brushed himself off as a part of the fireball had finally managed to make it to him. It wasn't a lot, probably the equivalent of passing your hand over a fire, but it seemed to have surprised the young man.
The former commander simply stared at the unfolding scene with mild amusement as the two spoke energetically, the young soldier summoning another larger fireball, the process taking him a few seconds before firing it again, the flames once more managing to lick the civilian's jacket before being smothered out. Patch was a little confused about how exactly the young man was doing that.
He had seen those magical fireballs kill several primavendy and knew how deadly they could be, the mage not appearing to be holding back at all, yet still not managing to harm the civilian.
Since these two are the only mages in the group, he figured he would also try to figure out what their skills and abilities are in more detail. Using swords, daggers, or bows and arrows is pretty straightforward, even with the system's help, as that mainly just involves allowing it to do all the standard things, just hitting harder and faster. Magic, on the other hand, seems far more expansive in its applications.
Lewis had tested the limits of his anti-magic the best he could, trying to survive Matt's progressively stronger fireballs until they discovered his strongest version, which takes almost a full five seconds to prepare, was just about strong enough to make it passed his mantle and singe his clothes. In fact, the only reason that worked in the first place was that Matt had leveled up the spell to level 4 while they were testing its limitations, but his own skill only advanced a single time right after dispelling Matt's biggest fireball yet.
Skill: Anti-magic mantle has reached level 2Skill: Mana detection has reached level 2Skill: Mana detection has reached level 3
He had kept his mana detection active constantly, as it didn't seem to use up much mana, his mana pool only dropping when he used his anti-magic skill to counter the fireballs being flung his way, but Matt had finally run low on mana after that last big spell and was looking visibly tired, despite the goofy smile and his face never wavering.
As for Lewis, he had been playing with fire--quite literally in this case--by attempting to rapidly activate and deactivate his anti-magic skill, getting it only to appear right when the projectile is about to come into range and deactivating it immediately after. He had a few close calls but never outright missed his timing yet; this method allowed his mana to regenerate at a prodigious rate compared to before.
It had become necessary for Lewis to optimize when the skill was active, as it seemed to eat up a huge amount of mana, his pool constantly ticking down one percent at a time whenever the black shroud enveloped him and only gradually recovering when it was off.
Lewis still wasn't entirely sure if that was actually due to the skill burning so much of his mana, or if having the skill active was instead stopping him from recovering his mana at all. After all, mana was clearly all around them, the mana from Matt's body visibly evaporating into the air every time he cast a spell, so it stands to reason that their mana also recovers by absorbing that same energy back from the environment. But if that's truly the case, then his anti-magic mantle might be interrupting that process by cutting him off from all the mana outside of his body.
Still, I found that it regenerated fast enough if I only toggled the skill on for a few seconds, my mana pool barely dipping by one percent. But the fact that Matt couldn't see my anti-magic mantle meant that he had no idea about this.
The young mage believed that he was entirely invulnerable to magic, a misconception Lewis didn't plan to clarify right now, enjoying the starry look in his eyes.
While Matt was recovering, Lewis knew testing his Anti-magic further would be difficult, so he moved on to the last spell in his arsenal, arguably the only one that would help him dish out damage as he triggered [Spiritual alignment].
But right as he felt the world sharpen before him and power infuse his body and mind, footsteps from behind him indicated the arrival of the older man who seemed to have become their defector leader.
Turning swiftly, Lewis faced the man, his gaze instantly identifying things he would never have previously noticed, like the man's seemingly relaxed yet tensed posture and the way his gaze took them all in as if scrutinising their every move. Nor did he miss the way his hand twitched near the pomelo of his sword when their eyes met, an understatement that Lewis could tell he was being watched closely, but neither of them showed any reaction to the stare off, both simply hyper aware of each other.
"Hey guys. You two seem to be our only mages, so I was wondering what you could do with your new abilities so that we can better plan our next steps." Patched said, looking away from Lewis's intense gaze as he faced Matt.
He hadn't actually seen Lewis use any obvious magic skills or spells like Matt's fireball, but had said that was the class he had picked when recounting what had happened in the system shop about them training their skills.
"Oh, sure. I can't believe magic is real. It's incredible to be able to casually shape the mana within me into different spells, but it feels like I've barely even scratched he'd the surface of what it can do." Matt replied as usual, with a huge grin and childlike enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, Lewis was taking stock of as much as he could while in this state, noting the changes this hyper-alert and focused state put him in with this spell.
The last time, he had used this spell in the middle of combat and had entered a sort of battle trance. This time, however, he found that not only did he feel stronger, a power permeating his body like he had been reinforced, but also the fact that his mana detection had suddenly been boosted, Lewis now able to see the mana motes from Patch's body without needing to look for it.
Yet this had been a fairly expected outcome based on the short skill description. What was more interesting was the shift in his brain pattern as his mind accelerated noticeably and started processing information in a far more optimized way than before.
For example, he could now actually see what he was looking at without having to specifically focus his mind on that effect.
That may sound a little silly and underwhelming at first, but it meant that he took in the whole picture of what his eyes were feeding his brain instead of a specific subject.
In other words, while he immediately noticed the small signs that indicated Patch was assessing them, he simultaneously noted that two warriors were clashing swords in the distance, while Lee, the healer, was talking with their sole archer near a tree stump.
Such details would be fairly trivial, but the fact that he was able to take it all in without purposely looking their way or thinking about it is the huge difference he noticed in hw his brain pattern had been altered.
If he somehow managed to keep this spell up indefinitely, then the overall boost to himself would be massive. But that wasn't likely to happen anytime soon, his brain already feeling rather raw and tender as it struggled to process all this information. His mana detection skill seemed to severely tax him as it flooded his mind with packets of information he had never experienced the first time he used the spell.
After only a handful of seconds, he was forced to deactivate the spell to avoid giving himself a migraine. The moment he did, that jarring sensation of his mind slipping into lower gear was a lot more noticeable; his mind and senses now seemed blurry when compared to the glimpse he got of what they could be.
It took him a few moments to reorient himself as he let Matt explain about his two spells and how he had already managed to push their levels up a few times.
"And Lewis has an awesome Anti-magic skill that makes him near invulnerable to magic attacks," Matt exclaimed loudly.
Lewis didn't exactly like the fact that he was telling them about his skills, but they had all likely seen him dispel those fireballs, so it's not like they wouldn't have guessed; it's just that his skills seemed like something that shouldn't be wildly advertised. He felt that skills were deeply personal and shouldn't just be told to just anyone.
"Hm, don't you have something other than that magic shielding skill?" Patched asked him directly, appearing deep in thought.
"Well, my last spell is like an overall boosting skill," Lewis replied hesitantly, thinking he understood what the man was thinking.
"So how do you plan to take down monsters then?" The commander asked, his brows raising.
Lewis just smiled weakly, shrugging his shoulders lightly as he looked down at his kitchen knife.
"Not much of a mage, are you. You sound more like a mage counter, your skill set allowing you to shrug off magic attacks, so you should try and increase your physical attributes to compensate for not possessing any normal mage spells." Patch said, nodding along as he clearly tried to imagine how I would fare in various scenarios.
Lewis deflated slightly, but the man's words didn't surprise him in the least. In fact, he had the very same thoughts but really didn't want to admit it.
Becoming a magic slinger sounded so awesome, and with the discoveries he and Matt had just made about the underlying function of their spells, it had only made him even more excited to try out some spells of his own.
He had hoped that purchasing spells from the system shop would be the answer to his problems, but according to the system guide, that simply wasn't an option for him. And so it seemed his only path to surviving this ordeal was to do the exact thing he had hoped to avoid: fight up close like a warrior.
Without any other solution, he released a long sigh and finally opened up his status, reluctantly assigning the three free points from his level up.
Strength has increased +2Speed has increased +1
Feeling power coursing through his body, reminding him of his spiritual guidance spell, he suddenly wondered if this boost would stack with that boosting spell.
He deactivated mana detection so as not to have his mind overheat and mentally triggered [Spiritual guidance] a second time, but instead of the sharpening of his body and senses, he instead got a new system message.
Spell: Spiritual alignment is on cooldown for 2:56