Chapter 84 - Advancement (Patreon)

Arien woke with a splitting headache and no idea how he had gotten into bed.

Only after soothing some of the pain with Life mana did the events of the previous day begin returning to him. He remembered leaving the hall furious, then collapsing somewhere outside.

When he had received Serig Voltorey’s invitation, Arien had expected threats hidden beneath polite words and enough money to make yesterday’s incident disappear. The offer to end his friendship with Reyna had already gone further than expected. The mental attack had crossed an entirely different line.

He was furious with Reyna's father.

Arien had no idea what Skill Serig had used, but it had been nothing like Sir Samwell's Command or Velyn's subtler influence. Even thinking about it made him feel dirty. His will had been bent under pressure, and throughout the entire struggle he'd known with absolute certainty that if he gave in, he would lose some part of himself.

He had never fought so desperately against anything inside his own mind. Serig's influence had pressed in like grasping tendrils, tearing at the defenses around his thoughts while Arien clung to them with everything he had.

He had known that Faction conflicts involved assassinations and worse, but those struggles had always seemed distant. At the Academy, it was easy to believe that people outside them could live under some basic protection of law and status.

Serig had proved otherwise. He could have killed Arien, and very few people would have cared enough, or been powerful enough, to do anything about it.

If Arien wanted that to change, he needed either someone powerful standing behind him or enough strength to stand on his own.

He thought of Ramsy's superior smirk and of Serig speaking to him as though he were barely a person at all. One day, when Arien was strong enough, he would repay them in kind.

For now, at least the last two days hadn't been entirely wasted. Surviving Ramsy and Serig had produced some impressive gains.

Level: 23Experience: 2060/2400 (+1280)

Assigned Skills: 8/9

Mana Sense (Uncommon): lvl 39 → 40First Specialization: Hawk Eye

Mana Manipulation (Rare): lvl 54 → 56First Specialization: Magic ResearcherSecond Specialization: Mana Weaver

Lightning Aspect (Rare): lvl 33First Specialization: Lightning Mage

Fire Aspect (Uncommon): lvl 47 → 50First Specialization: Fire Mage

Unshakable Mind (Rare): lvl 30 → 40First Specialization: Blissful Sleep

Life Aspect (Rare): lvl 55 First Specialization: HealerSecond Specialization: Guardian of Life

Earth Aspect (Uncommon): lvl 29 → 31First Specialization: Earth Mage

Words of Magic (Rare): lvl 28 → 29First Specialization: Inner Voice

Ten levels in Unshakable Mind was absurd, even by the System’s tendency to reward extreme situations.

More importantly, Fire Aspect had finally reached level fifty.

Whether the breakthrough came from watching Ramsy, defending against him, or Arien’s own desperate attacks hardly mattered now.

Possible Skill Specialization – Fire Aspect, Level 50 I Specialization: Fire Mage II Specialization:

Pyromaniac: Burn, world, burn. You enjoy seeing everything around you engulfed in flames. Increases the range and power of area-of-effect Fire Magic spells.

Firefighter: Take the matches away from children before they burn themselves. Increases the effectiveness of defensive spells against Fire Magic and allows easier influence over foreign spells.

Battle Flame: Fire was always meant to be a weapon. Significantly increases the damage of combat-oriented Fire Magic spells.

Fire Adept: A hotter flame is useless if half your mana goes to waste. Reduces the mana cost of Fire Magic and increases its overall efficiency.

Fire Researcher: Fire is not only destruction, it is life. Significantly increases the efficiency and control of Fire Magic in non-combat spells.

Four advanced specializations was a respectable result. His first advancement had offered six, but the initial choice usually provided the widest range of paths. As they had learned in Introduction to the System, later options depended partly on his other Skills. How he had actually used Fire Magic mattered as well.

Arien read through the four choices again.

Fire Researcher was easy to discard. It pushed the Aspect toward academic and crafting applications, neither of which interested him. Firefighter was useful, but he wanted Fire to remain one of his main offensive tools.

That left Battle Flame, Fire Adept and Pyromaniac.

He spent a long time comparing the three before settling on Pyromaniac.

The name was unfortunate, but the specialization fit what he wanted from Fire. Battle Flame offered greater raw damage, while Fire Adept would have continued along his current, more versatile path. But with his Second Specialization, he knew he couldn't keep choosing the safest option every time.

If Fire had been his only offensive Aspect, he probably would have chosen differently, but Lightning already gave him another option against powerful individual opponents.

That left Fire free to fill a different role. Arien could already imagine waves of flame clearing weaker enemies during a Portal raid while Lightning dealt with whatever survived. Childish, perhaps, but still useful.

He assigned Pyromaniac.

Warmth spread through his body as unfamiliar configurations and applications of Fire Magic settled into his thoughts. Then another notification appeared.

Profession Advancement Available.

Arien grinned. He had expected it, but seeing the words still felt extremely satisfying.

Elemental Mage (Rare) - You are one with magic and the elements. The elements obey you, and anywhere in the world feels like home. As an assigned Profession, it increases your instinctive understanding of magic, allowing you to cast far more complex Aspect-based spells. Increases your bond with Aspects and the chance of acquiring new ones. Average number of Profession variants upon the next advancement.

Per level:

+2 Perception

+2.5 Intellect

+2.5 Vitality

+1.5 Endurance

Battle Mage (Uncommon) - Your life is battle, and your weapon is magic. As an assigned Profession, it increases your instinctive understanding of magic, allowing you to cast far more complex combat spells. Increases their effectiveness and reduces their cost. Additional experience gained from combat. Increased number of Profession variants upon the next advancement.

Per level:

+1 Perception

+2 Intellect

+2.5 Vitality

+1 Endurance

+0.5 Agility

Mana Master (Uncommon) - Everything around you is magic. Mana is the water of this world. As an assigned Profession, it increases your instinctive understanding of magic, allowing you to cast far more complex non-combat spells. Increases their effectiveness and reduces their cost. Increased number of Profession variants upon the next advancement.

Per level:

+3 Perception

+2.5 Intellect

+1.5 Vitality

Life Mage (Uncommon) - The world bleeds, and you can heal it. As an assigned Profession, it increases your instinctive understanding of healing magic, allowing you to cast far more complex Life Magic spells. Increases their effectiveness and reduces their cost. You gain experience from healing others. Reduced number of Profession variants upon the next advancement.

Per level:

+1.5 Perception

+1 Intellect

+2.5 Vitality

+2 Endurance

Fire Mage (Uncommon) - Let everything finally burn, and from the ashes let a new and more beautiful world arise. As an assigned Profession, it increases your instinctive understanding of magic, allowing you to cast far more complex Fire Magic spells. Increases their effectiveness and reduces their cost. Additional experience gained from combat using Fire Magic. The Fire Aspect will become eligible for transformation. Reduced number of Profession variants upon the next advancement.

Per level:

+2 Perception

+2 Intellect

+1.5 Vitality

+1.5 Endurance

Magic Explorer (Rare) - Why travel the world when magic could put so much of it right at your fingertips? As an assigned Profession, it dramatically increases your instinctive understanding of magic, allowing you to cast far more complex non-Aspect spells. Increases their effectiveness and reduces their cost. Additional experience gained from magical skill levels. Average number of Profession variants upon the next advancement.

Per level:

+3.5 Perception

+3 Intellect

+2 Vitality

Mage of Vengeance (Rare) - You have one goal: kill them all. As an assigned Profession, it increases your instinctive understanding of magic, allowing you to cast far more complex combat spells. Increases their effectiveness and reduces their cost. Additional experience gained from combat. Reduced number of Profession variants upon the next advancement.

Per level:

+1.5 Perception

+2 Intellect

+3 Vitality

+1 Endurance

+1 Agility

Seven choices.

That was more than he had received during his first Profession selection, partly because he had chosen the broad Mage path rather than one of the rarer specialized alternatives.

He immediately crossed out Fire Mage, and Life Mage. The Academy had covered Profession advancement often enough that none of those surprised him.

Most students began with Mage Novice, later advancing into Mage or a more specialized Profession suited to their Skills or family traditions. 

Profession advancement was a favorite subject of speculation among students, but Arien preferred the Academy’s simpler explanation. Future options were believed to depend on level, Skills, Specializations, and Traits,  but the Masters deliberately avoided teaching detailed advancement trees, warning that trying to manipulate the System too directly could narrow or distort later choices.

As far as Arien knew, the advancement he was aiming for required at least three second-tier magical specializations, one of them in Mana Manipulation, along with several developed mental Skills. He had expected Battle Mage, Mana Master, Fire Mage, and Life Mage. Elemental Mage was a pleasant surprise, though he already had more discovered Aspects than available slots.

The final two were completely new to him.

Mage of Vengeance was almost certainly connected to his Avenger Trait and looked like a more specialized version of Battle Mage. The only concern was what might happen to the Profession if he ever lost the Trait.

Magic Explorer was harder to place. It overlapped somewhat with Mana Master, but the Rare tier, additional attribute points, and bonus experience made it difficult to dismiss.

Arien had spent years wavering between Battle Mage and Mana Master, though lately he had been leaning more and more toward Battle Mage. Its bonuses to combat magic seemed like the safer choice for someone who expected to spend at least part of his future in Portals, expeditions, or anywhere else where a mistake could get him killed.

The two Rare Professions changed that completely, turning an already difficult choice into a nightmare.

He could wait and ask Lamaral. Over the years, she had become one of the few people whose judgment he trusted on matters like this. The problem was that he was already close to another level, and advancing before choosing a Profession would cost him several attribute points. The miser lurking inside him practically writhed at the thought of losing between three and a half and four and a half attribute points.

He was also certain she would immediately figure out where the whole revenge theme had come from. After that, she might start steering his development away from combat-oriented paths, justifying it as concern for his safety.

His practical choice was Mage of Vengeance. The combat bonuses suited his current priorities, while the additional Endurance and Agility would help address some of his weaknesses. Before today, he probably would have chosen it without much hesitation.

Instead, his attention kept returning to Magic Explorer. The Profession was less focused on survival and probably less useful in a direct fight. But it matched the reason he had wanted magic in the first place.

Arien had not spent all these years learning mana simply because he wanted to become difficult to kill. He wanted to understand it. To discover what else it could do. To see the places and magic he had only read about.

Choosing purely for safety would have been sensible.

It also would have been familiar.

He had already rejected safer paths before: leaving Sir Samwell by the roadside, choosing to develop without Spellcasting, refusing Serig’s money when accepting it would have made his life much easier.

Those decisions had not always been smart, but they had been his.

Years ago, carried in Terry’s arms beneath a sky full of unfamiliar stars, Arien had promised himself that this life would belong to him.

His eyes returned to Magic Explorer.

How would you guys build Arien’s class based on his current Skills?

Also, EoN just had an Advancement of its own: 5,000 followers! So tomorrow we’ll have a bonus chapter!