Level 1 Fallen

The carving quest for Brianna was beyond simple. She didn't specify what I had to carve, or any level of quality that was required. All that specified was that I needed to carve something. I didn't even have to show it to her after it was done. Like Diane had speculated, it seemed they purposely made the quests as easy as possible.

With that in mind, I walked over towards the trees, keeping Ghost-X active to avoid needlessly fighting the four-armed, armored monkeys hanging in the branches above. After getting a particularly thick fallen branch, I carried it back to the wall and sat down. As soon as I got comfortable and relaxed, a timer started counting down from an hour.

That must be Clarissa's quest. I thought to myself. I had the feeling that they had set these quests up so that they could all be done at once. For Valerie's, I'd probably just need to throw my wood chippings. As for Jana, I didn't know exactly what skills she had to offer, since she didn't list any specifics.

With that in mind, I created a small blade of projected energy and began whittling away at the branch slowly. There was no need to rush, since I had a full hour for the other quest anyways.

I wasn't even entirely sure what I wanted to carve yet, and was mostly just stripping away wood while working on an image in my mind. Eventually, I settled on something basic, a wooden dagger. It had a simple shape, and would be easier to carve out than something complex like a person.

Thus, I began carving with a proper image in mind, keeping my body and mind as relaxed as possible while I worked. It took me less than fifteen minutes to make a simple wooden dagger that I considered passable, immediately completing the quest. Of course, I couldn't use this skill yet, given that it was a Magic skill that I needed to convert.

After I was done carving the dagger, I tossed it aside, leaning back against the wall and closing my eyes. I was still under the effects of Ghost-X, so I wasn't worried about some random enemy attacking me. As for the locals? With all the care they put into players, it would be a miracle for them to attack me before learning my secret.

I didn't move from my spot until I heard the notification from Clarissa's quest being completed. Once I had the Fortitude of Nature skill, I immediately turned it on to test it. My veins began glowing green, and a thin layer of bark covered my skin.

This was why I tested it before doing anything else. I needed to see whether it was a skill that I would be able to keep active at all times naturally, or if I would need to make modifications first. Seeing the visible effects, I relied on my False Identity-X skill to cover them up. To my surprise, even the texture of my skin returned to normal, though I could still feel the skill in effect.

It was getting late at this point, so I went ahead and returned to the inn, greeting the guard on my way through. I could feel the difference as soon as I stepped off of the natural ground and onto the well-crafted road of the city. Although the skill was still listed as active, I could not feel any effects from it.

How did things go on your end? I messaged Diane as I walked to the nearby inn, waving at Patricia before walking back to my room.

I asked them to come back tomorrow around noon. How about you? Was she right? Diane asked curiously after a moment.

Pretty much about everything. I answered honestly, sending Diane the picture of the four trainers Castellan tried to arrange for me. I've learned two new skills. One of them I want your help converting into a Martial skill. Do you still have enough vitality essences?

There was another brief pause. I should have enough left for one attempt. We'll need to keep the corpses the next time we hit a dungeon.

Mind if I stop by your room, then? I asked, and immediately began making my way over when I received a confirmation. In Diane's room, I could see a few scrolls pinned to the wall. A quick appraisal showed that they were anti-detection scrolls, which could protect an area from outside observation as long as a sufficient number were laid out along its perimeter.

Nodding my head, I smiled towards Diane. "Protecting yourself against Castellan's spymasters? Not a bad idea."

Diane cleared her throat, glancing away. "My player set them up to stop you from peeking in her room." She said, and I froze, eyes wide.

"I wouldn't!" I retorted, quickly shaking my head. The only reason I looked at Bella's room earlier was because I was suspicious of her. I wasn't the type to just randomly peek into a girl's room!

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Diane looked at me out of the corner of her eye, and then gave a slight smirk. "Anyways, let's get on with this. What are the skills you plan to use this time?"

Taking a deep breath, I focused on recalling my earlier plan. "Originally, I was just going to merge a downcast Ki Shaping with my new Basic Wood Control. However, while meditating for one of my quests, I had a different idea. I want to add a downcast Sand Shot and Ruby Rampart into the mix, while adding the restriction that the skill can't create materials, but only reshape natural materials already in the environment."

Diane arched a brow, confused. "Why would you want to make a skill like that?"

"That depends, do you want a reliable house, proper bed, and bathroom no matter where we happen to camp out?" I asked with a smirk, and her eyes widened. Immediately, she started pulling red essences out of her inventory.

"I don't have any essences for the other skills. Is it good enough to just use Vitality?" She asked hurriedly, and I nodded my head with a light laugh.

"Yeah. The main goal on your part is just to help me tilt the scales of the skill to Martial rather than Magic. I'll do the rest myself."

Diane gave a nod, dropping to the floor and drawing a large ring of Vitality runes, placing an essence over each one and the book in the center. "Do you think you should add the Create Water skill, that way you can draw water with your new skill, too?" She asked, and I hesitated. I was already combining four skills, and we only had a single attempt with her essences. "If it fails, my player will buy more blood. I'll make sure of it." She insisted when she saw my hesitation.

I could only nod with a resigned sigh. "I'll make it Water Shaping instead of Create Water, though. If only to help push it more towards Martial and manipulation."

Diane seemed satisfied with this, gesturing for me to begin. I took a deep breath, sitting down and placing my hand on the book. First, I began channeling the skills I had in mind, preparing the enchantment. Next, I began to visualize use cases. Reshaping stone to form a wall. Twisting foliage into a net. Drawing water from beneath the ground.

I didn't immediately jump to building a house. A skill like that would definitely be intermediate level, at least. Even if it didn't have other combat uses, just the complexity of the construction would qualify for that rank. Instead, I kept it simple. Arrows, staves, wells… simply moving various natural materials while being careful to avoid any images of creating those materials from nothing.

Each mental image layered over the last one, forming a portfolio of the skill's intended uses. In my time enchanting, I typically found that this helped a lot when establishing an enchantment.

I wasn't sure how long I was focusing, before finally the activation process began. I hissed in pain, eyes shooting open. The skin on my arm split open, small flowers budding from my veins. My blood rolled down the arm, before tightening like a grasping vine. Honestly, the hardest part of this was maintaining my image of the skill through the pain, but that was a process I was all too familiar with at this point.

Granted, my arm sprouting flowers was new, but I'd unpack that later. For now, I had to focus. And a few moments later, the book began to glow beneath my hand. The red essences dissolved, forming lines of blood that seeped towards the book and sank into it. The runes lit up, shining with a bright red light.

Finally, the glow faded. I pulled my arm back, hissing as I yanked out the plants growing from my arm and immediately healing myself. "Did it work?" I asked with gritted teeth, clutching my arm.

"I don't know, you tell me." She said, holding up the book for me to inspect. "At the very least, it wasn't a total failure."

I nodded my head, looking at the book. The title was appropriate, at least. Material Manipulation… I went ahead and learned the skill, relieved to see that it was a Martial skill. And, as I had intended, the effect was to allow me to manipulate various natural materials in my surroundings. However, when I saw the seven star rating, I was concerned. "Can I have a demotion book?" I asked, and Diane handed one over to me.

I tried to use it on my new skill, thinking that I had created it at the intermediate level. However, I received an error message that a basic skill could not be demoted. "Huh… guess the system places a high value on this skill…" I said, returning the book to Diane.

"Probably because you went to such lengths to make sure that whatever you created was persistent. Eventually, that means that you would be able to create entire fortifications with that skill." Diane pointed out, wiping away the runes she had drawn after stowing the book in her inventory. "Now, let me guess, your next course of action is…"

I winced, knowing that my thoughts had been that transparent from the start. "Yeah… I'm heading back out to train it. As it is now, there's no way that I should be able to make anything useful in any decent amount of time. I have to find out what the current limits of the skill are to improve it."

Diane nodded her head slightly. "Honestly, with a skill like this, it would have been fine to create it straight at the intermediate level or higher. It's not like you planned to use it much in a fight. Though, I can certainly see some uses, depending on how it works. You're actually starting to fit my player's nickname for you."

"Nickname?" I arched a brow, and Diane smirked.

"You keep converting Magic skills into Martial ones to overcome your innate defect. According to my player, that makes you a Muscle Wizard."

I froze, blinking at the title. "I want to retort to that. I really do. But… shit, she's right." I admitted, laughing. I couldn't even be mad at that nickname if I wanted. "I'm stealing that if anyone asks for my 'class'."

Diane nodded her head with that same smirk as I turned to leave. This time, I let the guards know that I probably wouldn't be back until morning, since I was pulling an all-nighter to train. They seemed concerned, but quickly accepted my decision. Thus, I left the city and made my way out towards the plains in the opposite direction of the trees I visited earlier.