CHAPTER 14 (Patreon)

My encounter with Vorok had been valuable. Following the encounter, I threw myself into the study of magic. It wasn’t so much about my reputation. At this point in the village, I was established as someone important because of my work with the potions. And it wasn’t even about Vorok personally. He was an aggressive kid raised by an asshole father. Only some of the blame was his. 

But the Moon Festival was about proving a point. I didn’t want magic to lose to someone like Vorok. I knew what magic could do; I had seen the Immortals battle in the sky. Magic was awesome and I didn’t want to fail magic. I would be the ambassador of magic in the festival. I knew it was kind of a childish reason, but in my defense, I was a child!

There was a practical reason to perform well at the tournament, although that was more of a long shot. Anyone who won the competition of their own age bracket was permitted to join a melee gauntlet. Those who performed well in the gauntlet would be sent to the archipelago capital, Aligapa, to compete in the Silver Sea Tournament. Usually those who won were boys from a nearby village with the Hunter class. They would demolish any classless people in the competition. At this rate, I could expect to win the next time or the time after that the Tournament would be held, which was every five years.

But if I managed to convince my mother to take me to the ruins and found something interesting there…

I was certain the capital would have more magical opportunities, and I was an impatient little baby. I was turning three years old soon, and I still wasn’t the master of the arcane? Inconceivable!

Days passed and the Moon Festival got closer. With some help from Danek and Piraka together in deciphering and cataloging the individual symbols in the booklet, I managed to break my bottleneck and make progress again. It took six weeks of absolutely ceaseless training, but I had improved my magic with raw study and hard work enough to have some newfound confidence. I was about to give my parents a little magic show, and continue my earlier conversation with my mother. While I waited for father to come home from fishing, I admired my Status.

Name: Luka

Attributes:

Perception 81

Focus 17

Mana Flow 58

Magic Power 30

Skills:

Meditation (uncommon): 17

Mana Sight (mythic): 16

Mana Manipulation (uncommon*): 17

Spellcrafting (rare): 9

Total Level: 59

Skill Slots: 4/5

Perks:

Sage, Contemplative, Unique, Magical Insight, Arcane Convergence (16%), Mana Weaving

Special Achievements: Awakened Mind

Achievements: First Skill, Unique

I had gained a level in Meditation, two levels in Mana Sight, two levels in Mana Manipulation and a whopping five levels in Spellcraft. I could feel that I was close to a breakthrough to level 10, and acquiring a perk, but I felt like I was strong enough to venture into the jungle already. 

Additionally, I had gained an empty Skill Slot at total level fifty. I didn’t have plans for it yet, but I liked the feeling of having options.

At this point, I should be able to cast useful magic to at least distract the jungle beasts if we ran into any. Honestly, I was getting pretty good at casting magic, but the problem was that I was running into an entirely new bottleneck. Despite Arcane Convergence’s increased efficiency, and my exceptionally high Perception giving me unnaturally acute precision, there just wasn’t enough mana in the village. My Mana Flow was not the limiting factor anymore. I asked about this from my mother in my preliminary Super-Secret-Negotiation-Scouting-Scheme™. Patent pending.

She said that the jungle had thicker mana, which is why mana beasts emerged. Mana beasts were simply beasts whose being was infused with mana. They would eat other mana beasts and grow bigger and more monstrous than natural beasts. When they got strong enough, they became Awakened Beasts, and were officially classified as monsters, because they had a monster core.

There were no Awakened beasts on the island, but the Silverback was apparently close to that threshold.

If the mana was indeed denser in the jungle, I was likely to have an easier time casting stronger spells in there. I made a mental note to use this in the dreadful war against my mother’s iron will.

When father came home, I took them to our backyard where I asked father to set up an empty barrel. I prepared the spell in just a few seconds and gathered force. I had been able to decipher some kinetic components from other spells and had added those to the Basic Water spell. That had almost immediately given me a level up. The System seemed to reward implementing new ideas. New good ideas, at least. When I tried to add a symbol for combustion from Basic Fire, it didn’t work out as well…

Either way, I showed my parents the pinnacle of my spellcasting, as I launched my original Water Bullet spell at the barrel. This was a nifty spell that used a fistful of water. The rest of the magic formula I used to shove in as much of the kinetic elements as I could to launch it. It had taken unfortunate amounts of water splashing directly into my face to finally get the components right.

The water bullet shot out from my open palm and crashed into the barrel. It wobbled and eventually toppled. I grinned at my parents in triumph with hands on my hips. “If there’s more mana in the jungle, like mama said, I can do a much bigger spell there!”

They looked at each other and then at me in utter, slack-jawed shock.

“That… was a real spell.”

“I have never seen Elder Piraka do anything like that.”

“How did you— Little gem, that was amazing!”

They picked me up and kissed me and demanded that I show them again. I did, many times until I got tired.

Additionally, I also prepared a potato which I placed on top of the barrel’s lid. This demonstration was to purely win my father over to my side of the argument. I prepared something of a freestyle spell that I had tested earlier. I supposed it could be called a Kinetic Burst. It was merely me using the kinetic spell components in a clever way in conjunction with destabilizing clumped mana particles. The result was a big pop, and chunks of potato flew all over our backyard. Father cheered while mother rolled her eyes.

Then we went inside to eat and I was ready to launch my trap. We sat down at the table, and mother’s Sixth Sense must have flared, or maybe she just knew me that well.

“The answer is still no.”

“Mamaaaa!” I pouted. “Weren’t you impressed?

“I was very impressed, little gem.”

“I’ll say,” father said.

I sighed. Again I needed to use my powers of negotiation with dangerous individuals. And mother’s iron will was the toughest boss fight I’d faced so far.

“I’m getting stronger, but I keep telling you, it’s getting harder.”

“That’s normal,” father said. “Early levels are always easier.”

“Maybe you should just use that free Skill Slot of yours on something to give you an edge in the Moon Festival,” mother said.

“I’m not lacking in firepower,” I said. “Like I said, I could cast bigger spells if there was more mana in the air.”

“Then how would going into the jungle even help you?” my mother asked.

“By giving me more information,” I said. “Elder Piraka only has smudgy and incomplete sketches of the real spell formulas. The real spellbook is in the ruins. There’s no proper explanations and I am working on guesses and luck here.”

“So far that has been enough,” mother said.

“It won’t be enough against Vorok,” father said to which I nodded.

“You too?” mother sighed.

“I’m just saying how it is.”

“Additionally,” I said. “Nobody before has reached the inner sanctums of the ruins. There is apparently a puzzle in the room with the spellbook.”

“And where are you going with this, young man?” mother asked with suspicion.

“With my Mythic skill, maybe I can solve the puzzle,” I said. “That might benefit the whole island, or even the whole archipelago.”

“Hmmm…”

“I’m just trying to make you proud, mama,” I said in a saccharine voice.

“You little scamp,” father said and laughed.

“You make me proud every day, little gem. That doesn't mean I'm feeding you to a panther.” 

I needed to try another tactic.

“Wellll,” I said again. “It sure would be nice if I found some ancient magical tools to deal with that little ogre called Vorok. Sure would be terrible if I didn’t have an advantage to leverage against him in the Moon Festival…”

That landed. My parents slowly turned to give each other a meaningful look. I mentally pumped my fist. A critical hit!

Father shook his head. “Did you teach him to talk like that?”

“No…” mother said and gave me a glare. “He is too smart for his own good.”

“He’s been learning tricks from his friend Danek. He is a smooth talker, when he isn’t too shy,” father said.

“And Konako,” mother muttered. “But no amount of smooth talking will save you from a mana beast.”

“You don’t think my magic will be enough? Even if it’s strengthened in the jungle?”

“You’ve seen the fish your father wrangles?” mother asked. “Imagine a panther like that.”

I distinctly did not like that image. But I wouldn’t show that. Instead I steered the conversation to my strengths.

“But I’ve shown you I can fight.”

“I don’t think splashing some water on a mana beast is going to deter it,” mother said wryly.

Hmph. That was only because there wasn’t enough mana here to cast the really cool spells. But that wouldn’t fly. I tried another tactic.

“So you’re saying you’re not skilled enough to deal with the beasts of the jungle, even with my help,” I said solemnly and patted my mother on her arm. “I understand mama.”

My mother hiccuped, and my father hid a snort.

Then she narrowed her eyes at me. “Oh, you’re good.”

“It should be fine as long as you don’t directly confront the Silverback,” father said. “With your Sixth Sense, it should be fine.”

Mother sighed. I gave her my cutest pleading baby face, because I’d be damned if I didn’t use every dirty trick in the book. I saw her armor crack as she stifled an adoring smile.

“Please?” I asked.

“So let me get this straight,” mother said. “You want me to escort you to the ruins, so you can research magic there?”

“Exactly,” I said.

“To study the ancestors’ spellbook?”

“To beat Vorok in the Moon Festival,” I added immediately. “And the other thing.”

“The other thing meaning you think you will find something there that a fully trained Shaman wouldn’t?”

“Welllll….”

“It is so crazy that I am even entertaining the thought,” mother muttered.

“I mean he is… you know… him,” father muttered. “And he has a Mythic skill. Maybe it is like the fables, and we should support him on his— erm, quest?”

“Since when do you believe in the fables? Why are you taking his side suddenly? Just because he managed to explode a few potatoes?!”

“Ramona,” father said seriously. “Did you see that potato explode? It was magnificent.”

Mother double-facepalmed and groaned into her hands.

“Fine! But the moment it gets too dangerous, I’m taking us back home.”

I grinned. We would be going into the jungle.