NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16: Guidance (1)
He wasn’t sure what he should be looking for, exactly. Was the house the wizard lived in different from all the others? Sullivan hadn’t given him more information, so it should be easily identifiable, at least. Michael walked, treading the village’s path. Not long after, he saw a house that was decidedly different.
That’s got to be it.
It wasn’t made of different materials – it was made of stone and wood like all the others – but the most defining thing about was the large tree right in the middle of its courtyard. He didn’t know how such a thing was possible. All he had seen since he went underground had been mushrooms and tree roots from the trees above. The blue-leaved tree he saw was an anomaly that shouldn’t exist so deep within the ground. Of course, the leaves indicated that it wasn’t an ordinary tree.
He walked straight toward it, reaching the house in a short time. In the courtyard, on a big block of stone, a dark elf sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. He was dressed in tattered robes and had an unkempt beard. His graying hair was long, looking as if he couldn’t be bothered to take care of it. His robes even had a few tears.
Michael looked at him but saw no reaction. The moment he stepped through the house’s threshold, however, the dark elf spoke.
“Stop,” he sighed, “Haven’t you learned that you shouldn’t bother people who are resting?”
Michael replied with a firm voice.
“I’m sorry, but I need advice. I must become as powerful as possible as quickly as possible. Are you Tairy?”
“…Yes.”
The dark elf looked as if he wanted to say more, but had held back. He opened his eyes, surprising Michael. Tairy’s eyes were milky white. It was obvious even at a glance that the dark elf was completely blind. He spoke.
“…Level 8? Now that’s real interesting.”
Tairy uncrossed his legs and stepped on the rocky ground while barefooted. He walked until he was less than a meter in front of Michael, who felt increasingly uncomfortable. Being inspected by those white eyes was disconcerting. The wizard continued.
“You’ve got so much mana that I wouldn’t be surprised if someone told me you were considerably higher-leveled. Even if only on mana terms, you are ready to explore the Consumed Territory. Yet, you are only Level 8. Analyze can fail, but I don’t believe it is the case. Are you-”
At that moment, a blood-red rectangular window, just like the one that had appeared when Michael spoke to Sullivan, came into being in front of them.
“…Fuck. Alright, alright, I won’t cross any lines.”
Tairy’s disappointment was palpable, but the red window floated in the air uncaring of his feelings. It disappeared after exactly two seconds. The dark elf continued to speak.
“Looks like I can’t even ask you how you’ve managed that, kiddo. Either way, color me officially interested now. At the very least, you’re way better than all the useless people who drop by regularly.”
Michael kept his wits.
“I can’t explain why I have so much mana, anyway. Sullivan told me that you can help me develop my abilities as a Mage.”
Tairy scratched his chin, looking him up and down.
“There certainly are things to develop,” the dark elf turned around and sat back in his previous place, “Since you don’t even have a Circle. Can’t even call yourself a proper caster yet.”
Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel. The conversation could now develop into something useful. If Tairy could explain to him what Circles were, this visit would have been worth it. He latched onto this possibility.
“Please, can you tell me what a Circle is? How do I create one? How can I-”
Michael stopped when Tairy raised his hand. The old wizard’s voice was firm.
“You’re lucky to have met me before Level 10. Once you reach it, come back here without spending your Skill Point. I’ll help you then. You must have received a quest from Sullivan. Go do that first.”
With a conflicted expression, Michael nodded. Since the only one who could help him was telling him to do the quest first, that was his only option. He didn’t say that he had access to more Skill Points, as he got them at every Level. The more he saw how precious Skill Points were for all the others, the more he realized how incredible this bonus was. He should keep it a secret. This was also a way of following Sullivan’s advice.
“Alright. I’ll be back once I reach Level 10.”
As he was about to turn around, Tairy stopped him.
“And, kid, one more thing,” the dark elf tapped his temple, “Don’t stop thinking. About your Skills, about how they work, about ways they could interact. All of that. The more you think, the easier it will be. Never stop thinking. Internalize that.”
Michael nodded. It was something he had realized a while ago. From the moment he started using Mana Sphere for lighting, he learned that Skills weren’t limited to their descriptions and intended usage. It was the same for when he expanded his Mana Shield. He could tell that his increased Intelligence and Wisdom had improved his mental faculties and ability to store and recall different memories. All he needed to do was to stop and take the time to ponder about his abilities properly.
I’ll try to do that on the way to the snakes.
He replied out loud.
“Of course. Thank you. I’ll be back.”
“I’ll be anticipating your return, kid. Don’t die out there. Finally, something to look forward to in this shitty place.”
The last sentence was muttered instead of spoken, but Michael managed to hear it anyway. He let out a light chuckle.
“Don’t worry.”
He left the courtyard, going straight toward the village’s entrance. He looked at the window in the corner of his vision. Rose’s HP bar was halved but seemed to be recovering steadily. Michael didn’t know what her quest was, but since his own was five kilometers from the village and he hadn’t spent much time talking to Tairy, it was likely that she had come across some enemies on the way.
Focus.
Rose would be fine. She had already undertaken quests other times before. It was rough being a melee fighter, but she could clearly handle herself. He should worry about his own quest. Tairy’s words went through his mind as he walked toward the entrance. It played almost like a movie in his head.
He said that in terms of mana, I’m ready for the Consumed Territory. What is that?
Was it like a trial ground? Or maybe a place where more difficult enemies awaited? Since only his mana was up to par, it was certain that the place was very dangerous at this point in time. He was better off leveling up a bit first. His most immediate goal was to reach Level 10, while the most important one was to find his mother and protect her. Sullivan said he remembered every person that went through his hut, likely due to his high Stats; asking him after some time would be far more effective than blindly searching for her on his own. It bothered him a lot, but the only half-decent course of action was to hope she was safe and wait for her to meet Sullivan.
Alternatively, he could try and ask the Chief to get in touch with other settlements and look for his mother, but he didn’t command nearly enough influence for that. At the very least, he should complete a few more quests. Michael decided that he would regularly ask the Chief about her, especially as more people arrived, and talk about it with Sullivan in detail once his standing rose.
Please, be safe.
He hoped for this from the bottom of his heart. He was worried about his friends and the others, but his mother took precedence over everyone else. She was the single most important person to him.
Lost in his thoughts, he barely noticed as he left the village. Five kilometers north of the main hut. Taking a deep breath, he tried to concentrate. Running over there would just make him more tired. Instead, Michael walked, trying his best to turn his thoughts from his mother to his Skills. Naturally, the more one tried not to think about something, the more one thought of that very thing. It was only after two kilometers of walking that he managed to change his focus.
Deep breath after deep breath, he deliberated on his Skills, a Mana Sphere hovering above his left hand.
Mana Spheres can be held instead of shot. The Mana Shield can be expanded beyond its default effective range. I haven’t thought of anything for Mana Wave.
He still had the same three things set as his most important goals for his Skills: dual casting and being able to utilize more mana when casting, as well as being able to decrease his casting time. Dual casting’s usefulness had already been made obvious while being able to empower his Skills with more mana could only be considered beneficial; other, ordinary Mages might not be able to sustain such a thing, but he had a vast mana pool for a reason. A diminished casting time was also incredibly important.
Casting my Skills while moving would also be pretty useful.