Reborn With a Magic System

Damion and Elicia continued their game of targeting each other's spells until Elicia ran low on mana. Once she was out of mana Elicia laid back on the grass and watched as Damion continued to cast Ice Shard. To her amazement he was able to cast Ice Shard fast enough to hit his own spell when he alternated the speed of the ice crystals with his casts.

As the afternoon began to fade Damion finally got up and headed towards his dormitory with Elicia following closely behind. He had spent the entire day training and was unsure if any of the professors were annoyed he did not show up for lunch, but he felt training was more important than socializing.

"This was fun today," Damion told Elicia as he opened the door to his dormitory. "I hope you can keep up tomorrow."

Elicia paused for a moment when she heard Damion. He was two Ranks above her. Trying to keep up with him was an impossibility, but Elicia remembered her conversation with Mage Teft and decided to give it her all.

"I'll do my best," Elicia told him. "You'll have to give me a handicap though."

The next day after eating breakfast Damion and Elicia started their morning run. This time he did not let Elicia set the pace. As soon as he started his run he easily left Elicia behind. She knew he was going to run several laps to each of hers. The goal she set for herself was to complete her lap before Damion completed four.

Elicia ran as hard as she could. Pushing herself much harder than she had the day before. She was not sure if Damion was pushing himself harder or not, but she was quite pleased with herself when she collapsed on the grassy area near the dormitory after finishing her lap before Damion completed his fourth lap.

As Elicia lay on the grass catching her breath Damion arrived and plopped down beside her. He could tell she was too exhausted to cast any spells, so Damion started casting his spells in sequence. When Elicia recovered he figured she would join in and start their game.

Just as Damion suspected, Elicia joined in his magic practice when she caught her breath. With their spells flying through the air and their focus on hitting each other's spells, neither of them noticed Headmaster Sorin and Mage Teft watching from the distance. Several of the other professors came and watched briefly, but the professors only stayed long enough to see the reason their newest prodigy did not show up for lunch again. When they saw Damion and how hard he was training, they left, satisfied that he was spending his time wisely.

Damion and Elicia continued this routine for several days before Damion was finally rewarded for his effort by the Magic System after he finished practicing for the day.

*Ding*

{Quest Completed}

[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit]

Checking the Magic System's spell menu Damion found that it was Ice Shard that had advanced in mastery. Now that Damion had a little over 800 store credits he took another look at the options available in the Magic System's store. In the end, he decided to increase his magic power, mana capacity and mana regeneration.

'System, purchase Increase Magic Power.'

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{Affirmative.}

{Increase Magic Power purchased for 22 Credits.}

{Magic Power has increased by 100.}

'System, purchase Increase Mana Capacity.'

{Affirmative.}

{Increase Mana Capacity purchased for 22 Credits.}

{Mana Capacity has increased by 100.}

'System, purchase Increase Mana Regeneration.'

{Affirmative.}

{Increase Magic Regeneration purchased for 22 Credits.}

{Magic Regeneration has increased by 10.}

After seeing the changes to his status Damion was satisfied with the increases, but he realized a pitfall of relying on the Magic System to increase his abilities. Right now, the boost was modest, and the costs were low, at least compared to the number of credits he now had. But those would increase as he purchased more upgrades.

The issue Damion was suddenly grappling with was that as he increased his abilities naturally, it would become harder and harder to advance. The Magic System offered him a shortcut, but one that would make it harder to advance later. However, if he worked hard now and raised his abilities through practice, later, when it became harder to increase his abilities he could spend credits in the Magic System Store and overcome any future bottle necks with the cheat that the Magic System offered him.

Damion was once again faced with the question, how many quests the Magic System would give him and how lucrative would the rewards be. If he wanted to ever afford the Attribute Anti-Regression Potion, he would need to save credits for a long time, unless he suddenly started getting quests that were much more profitable.

If Damion did start receiving quests that offered thousands in credits as rewards, should he start buying out all the upgrades he could to quickly boost his strength? The dilemma was real, and it consumed his thoughts to the point that Elicia noticed.

"What are you thinking about so hard?"

"What?" Damion asked as he snapped out of his mental stupor.

"I said, what are you thinking about?"

"Oh. Just wondering how I'll be able to keep up a good training schedule once classes begin."

Elicia could tell Damion was not being honest with his answer, but she felt it was still too early for him to fully trust her. Whatever it was that he was thinking about it was clearly more important than just maintaining his training regimen.

"You can run faster in the morning and get a lap in before breakfast and your first class and then in the evening practice your magic until dark. Also, don't forget once classes begin you will be granted two free hours in the battle simulator every week. I'm sure you will find training in there much more challenging than just your normal exercise and spell casting."

"That is true," Damion said as his mind began to wonder again.

Since Ice Shard had advanced, his other spells were sure to advance again soon as well, Icy Grasp was the only one Damion felt was not nearing advancement, since he hardly had cause to use it. Even True Sight felt like it might soon advance in Rank again as well. If his spells continued to advance he would be looking at quite a few store credits, but that was a short-lived gain if he did not start completing other quests.

Damion did his best over the days leading up to the start of term to advance his other skills in Rank but was sadly disappointed when none of them did. He felt that perhaps there was some element he was missing and hence had not advanced in Ice Shield or Ice Breath yet, but exactly what was missing Damion did not know.

The day before classes were due to start for the new term students began to arrive at the school. Elicia informed him that students would arrive throughout the day and in the evening there would be an opening ceremony for the new term to welcome new and returning students.

Damion did his best to go through the day the same as he had since he arrived at the school. His morning run was not interrupted, but he did receive a few odd looks from students arriving that caught sight of him. His and Elicia's spell practice, however, was interrupted by students arriving and either wanting to watch or join in on Damion and Elicia's game.

Not wanting to entertain these new arrivals Damion decided to return to his dormitory with Elicia, but his path was blocked by a group of elite students. He looked at the three young men blocking stairs and shook his head in frustration.

"Are you three sure you want to start off the term injured?" Damion asked trying to exude as much confidence as he could. "I doubt any of you want to risk losing your elite student status to a standard student because you were hurt by me."