The world seemed a blur to Lewis as he sat panting on the tunnel floor, his mind rocked with a big headache, and he felt exhausted, a sense of emptiness within him from the area in his chest where he could sense his mana, which seemed practically empty by now. Knowing that he had leveled up during the fight, he opened the system notifications he had been ignoring, hoping he had received some free points to spend and recover from his current state.
Congratulations! You have reached Level 4 (+3 free points available)
Congratulations! You have reached Level 5 (+3 free points available)
Skill: Mana detection has reached Level 4
Skill: Mana detection has reached Level 5
Skill: Anti-magic mantle has reached Level 3
Skill: Anti-magic mantle has reached Level 4
Skill: Anti-magic mantle has reached Level 5
Skill: Anti-magic mantle has reached Level 6
Skill: Anti-magic mantle has reached Level 7
Willpower has increased +2
Spell: Spiritual alignment has reached Level 3
Spell: Spiritual alignment has reached Level 4
Spell: Spiritual alignment has reached Level 5
Lewis was taken aback by the surprising number of notifications, both his skills and levels having surged, but he ignored his upgraded skills for now as he focused on the free points he had gotten from reaching levels four and five.
He was about to dump them all into constitution like the last two levels, but stopped himself right before he confirmed his choice. His body wasn't actually the issue here. He had been forced to toughen himself to withstand the effects of his boosting spell, but the issue now felt more ethereal, his spirit likely being pushed beyond its limits. What he needed to improve was his magical stats. The only issue was that he didn't know which stat corresponded to what.
Playing it safe, he put half his free points into spirit to see what would happen, saving the other half for after. Right away, he felt the strain he was feeling lessen, like some of the weight had been lifted from him, his empty mana pool already beginning to refill as his condition stabilized. Whatever overusing his spirit and mana had done, it was no longer worsening. Lewis still didn't feel in good shape, but a bit of rest would make him as good as new, so he said as much to the others.
With that, he considered dumping the rest of his free points into spirit, but that message about his willpower having increased had intrigued him. He vividly recalled the feeling of resistance he felt when trying to manually override the anti-magic mantle skill and how his sharpened mind had been able to push past it. When he did, he felt his ability to control the mana reach new heights, allowing him to fill the entire tunnel with it and blocking off all the flames.
The issue was that it shouldn't have been possible. Even with all the mana he had forced out of his body at once, nearly overwhelming him, he shouldn't have been able to stop the flames entirely.
He had noticed it from the start, but anything containing enough concentrated mana can pass through the anti-mana, and those flames were more than enough to avoid being fully suppressed. At least that would have been the case if he hadn't controlled the anti-mana into the form of a flat disc with him at the center instead of leaving it to spread out evenly. He wasn't even aware that it was something he could do, but in the moment, he seemed to tap into some deeper connection to his mana that had allowed him to shape it even outside of his body.
It was nothing like the control Matt has on his mana, being able to shape it into barriers and the like, but it was a start at least, something more than just releasing it in the air and allowing its magic-destroying properties to do their thing.
He couldn't help a small thrill of anticipation at the idea that he may yet still be able to use magic, even if it's in his own limited capacity.
Screw it, I'm not going to give up on using magic so easily, not when it's finally become available. It may be just out of reach, but I'll just have to figure out my own path to using magic, even if I have to invent everything as I go. Magic is more amazing than I ever dreamed possible. It's the one thing I had wished for more than anything in my life; I'll die before giving it up to become another brawny warrior.
With that newfound determination, he decided to add two points to intelligence and one to willpower. He didn't know what intelligence would even do, but in games, it had to do with the potency of one's magic, so he figured it would probably help here too. His anti-magic could only handle so much mana before it's overwhelmed and a spell is let through, so perhaps increasing his intelligence would amplify his anti-magic's power too.
With all his free points spent and him gradually recovering, he decided to inspect his entire status window to see all the changes.
Name: Lewis Caddwell
Race: Human (G) Age: 23
Class: Mage lvl 5
Exp: 98%
Titles: Forerunner
Health: 98%
Stamina: 70%
Mana: 19%
Stats:
Strength (STR): 9
Speed (DEX): 9
Endurance (END): 8
Constitution (CON): 13
Perception (PER): 5
Intelligence (INT): 11
Willpower (WIL): 15
Spirit (SPI): 32
Free points: 0
Skills:
[Universal tongue], [Identify - lvl 2], [Mana detection - lvl 5], [Anti-magic mantle - lvl 7]
Spells:
[Spiritual alignment - lvl 5]
Coming along nicely. I'm surprised how close I am to the next level, too. I should probably go after those last few goblins and finish this.
"Hey, easy there. Are you sure you're alright?" Patched asked, giving him a steadying hand as he got to his feet.
"It's alright, I just felt a little weakened from using so much mana at once; it really took a lot out of me, but I'll be fine. In fact, I'm better than fine; I'm even stronger than before." He told the man, giving him a wide smile.
The reason he added two points to intelligence instead of dumping them all into willpower was due to the fact that he had pushed himself past his limits and discovered he could gain stat points that way. It's probably the same with all the other attributes, the same as working out, but he figured repeating what he had done here today could likely increase his willpower for free again. It wouldn't be pleasant, the feeling of his spirit straining like nothing he had ever experienced before, sort of like the combination of a massive headache and full-body strain, but on a level deeper than flesh so that there was absolutely no escaping it. And that was only a mild and temporary strain that soon disappeared. He really didn't know what permanently damaging his spirit would do and had no intention of finding out.
Looking around, he found the others looking over the bodies, Jonny comparing obsidian weapons while Matt appeared to be looking for spell stones. But even as he briefly used his mana detection, he couldn't see Lue anywhere.
"Where's Lue?"
"Ah, he went to deal with the stragglers; he should be back soon," Patch said casually.
Lewis's horrified face seemed to catch him by surprise as he did a double take before his own expression turned concerned.
"What? What is it? Is he in danger?" The commander asked urgently, but Lewis was already rushing off.
"He can't kill all the goblins; I need one more to reach level 6!" He called back, rushing for all he's worth down the tunnel, hoping he wasn't too late. He didn't dare use his spirit alignment, wanting to give himself time to further recover, even if the immediate effects had passed. Still, with nine points in speed, he was already plenty fast, his higher constitution meaning he could maintain a sustained sprinting speed without his feet hurting at all. The bigger issue would actually be his lower endurance and stamina reserves, but he didn't bother addressing that issue in the near future, deciding to focus fully on developing his magic and brute strength.
He heard Patch release an exasperated sigh as his steps came to a halt, the man not following now that he knew why Lewis was in such a rush. With the goblins now cleared out, they were not only free from their attacks and potential future threat but also had access to all their carved obsidian blades, things that Patch was very happy to take off their hands and bring back to the group.
As Lewis returned to the large chamber, he looked around frantically, only to find the corpses of the last goblins near the middle of the camp, all of them having been cut down by the rogue, not even the goblin mage having managed to pull some last trick to survive. His face dropped as he realized he was too late.
Dammit, I shouldn't have spent so long reading my status window.
Angrily stomping his way over to the unconcealed Lue, he found the man standing at the far end of the camp as he stared up at the wall with his back turned.
"Oy, I needed one of them to level up!" He called, some heat entering his voice as he stomped over.
Lue only turned his head for a moment as Lewis spoke, but quickly looked back towards the wall. Lewis was about to get even madder at the guy for ignoring him when he finally looked past the rogue, towards the wall he was staring at, and realized it wasn't a wall at all. It was a door.
Seemingly carved into the very rock itself, a massive carved door stood at the end of the cave, its huge size making it appear as part of the cave at first glance.
"Whoa, what is that?" Lewis asked, walking past the rogue towards the door.
"Don't know, but it definitely wasn't made by these green fucks," Lue replied.
Lewis couldn't help but agree. Even without his mana detection, he could almost feel an ancient aura about this door, a sense that it was older than he could imagine. Reaching out his hand, he touched the carved rock, brushing his hand against the cold stone until he reached a circular pattern in the center. But unlike the rest of the door, this part seemed to be some sort of mechanism, as it clicked inwards, the protruding circular stone becoming flat with the rest of the door as it began to creak and move, the large set of doors spinning inwards with dramatic slowness, the sounds of their rumbling movement echoing across the entire chamber, reverberating in his bones.
Lewis had backed up a few steps when the large stone doors had begun to move. Standing beside the rogue, they both stared into the space beyond the doors as they crawled open, eventually revealing the other side. Soft blue light illuminated the space as glowing crystals lined the walls and ceiling, the path ahead nothing like the cave they stood in; not even the rocks seemed the same as he tentatively approached, passing through the now open doors.
But as soon as he breached the threshold, a new message appeared.
You have entered the [Spire mines (F rank)]
The Spire Mines is a survival and harvest dungeon where powerful beasts and valuable treasures can be found. As part of the tutorial, gathered valuables from within dungeons can be sold directly to the system shop in exchange for TP, but this only applies to valuables you have acquired under your own power. (This feature is tutorial-specific and only applies to dungeons within the tutorial space.)
Oh, I almost forgot about dungeons being a thing. And one that contains treasures at that? This could be a great way to get more TP and buy the information I need about what a spirit is and how it relates to my skills.
"Lue, it's a dungeon. Go get the others and tell them to get down here. I'll go take a look around and see what's inside." Lewis called.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? We don't know what might be waiting in there." The rogue replied, with clear hesitation in his tone as he looked about the crystal-lit walls from the other side of the door. The space was massive, far more spacious than the goblin den, Lewis not even being able to see the ceiling, as large glowing crystals the size of two-story houses shot up into the air like an archway next to the open stone doors.
"Don't worry, I'll just peek around. I won't go far. Besides, I get the feeling that this place is massive. I doubt there's anything in the immediate area." He said, not even looking back as he stared at the enchanting scene. Reaching out, he touched the crystals and immediately got a strong sensation. Without even using his mana detection, he instantly knew that these things were full of mana.
A smile crept onto his face at the realization.
Alright then, anti-mana, let's finally see what you can really do.