The World Cataclysm

After they dealt with a group in front of their minimarket, they had concentrated on killing zombies in close proximity to their location.

After another day of hunting, both Adam and Brian increased their levels to level 3 reaching the same level as Dave. Unfortunately, they didn't get a Treasure Chest on that day.

Currently, they were resting in the storage room as each of them were busy with their own business. Adam still tried to meditate, while Brian was reading a thin book on a Small Fireball.

Truthfully, when Dave gave it to Brian, Brian had an urge to just learn it with a help of the system, but Dave strongly opposed him.

Brian tried to understand the content of the book, but it was hard for him to grasp what it wanted to convey to him.

Not only did it explain the principle behind the small fireball, but also had an incantation for the spell. Brian still worked hard on his pronunciation since it was more like speaking in another language without knowing it.

As Dave saw how Brian was trying to spell the incantation, he lightly smiled finding his attempts amusing. However, he noticed that Brian was getting better in it.

Not everyone had an aptitude towards magic since magic was more a sacrifice than direct control of mana. After the restriction on mana was lifted, the planet obtained mana, magical energy which can be used to recreate different natural phenomenons.

At the same time as mana flooded the world, sprites were formed from the mana, clusters of mana which had gained basic consciousness.

The ability to cast a spell was more related to how sprites responded to your calling rather than on your ability to control mana.

People who were able to contact sprites were able to cast a spell, while survivors like Dave, who had a poor affinity with sprites, were unable to learn spells based on incantation.

'But magic spells weren't only about incantations since it was only one way to use magic. There are also magic circles and innate abilities'

Some of the survivors had innate abilities with similar effects as magic while learning how to draw magic circles was more like science than magic.

As he recalled basic knowledge about magic type skill, Dave renewed his meditation. Through meditation sessions, he was able to increase his mana by another 2 points.

With each point, it became harder to further expand his mana pool. More it had been stretched, more resistance it put up against his efforts. Perhaps, he will be able to increase it to 20 mana points by the end of the month.

[Due to continuous meditation, your soul has grown stronger.]

[Your spirit has been increased by 1 point.]

As he continued to meditate, sudden system notification jolted him awake. He wasn't surprised by its content since he knew it would appear sooner or later.

Meditation didn't only help to gather mana but also helped to clear your mind and strengthen your soul. At the same time as the increase in spirit expanded your mana pool, sensing and absorbing mana through meditation increased your spirit.

It was the case when the result led to the cause. However, an increase in spirit wasn't followed by 10-point-increase in mana since it was gained by training rather than with a help of the system.

'Status'

[David Murckly

Level: 3

Class: None

Survival coins: 31

Mana: 7/7

Strength: 16

Agility: 10

Stamina: 9

Intelligence: 11

Spirit: 1

Free points: 0

Innate ability: Regression

Skills: Elementary Cooking (LVL 2), Gaming (LVL 8), Mathematics (LVL 7), Leadership (LVL 1), Meditation (LVL 3), Flash Step (LVL 1)]

As Dave looked at his status, he already wanted to gain the next level. His strength was highest, while his stamina was lowest from his stats making him weak in prolonged fights.

'Even though I can be regarded as powerful for my current level, my stamina is too low for my strength. The system is fair when it comes to the stats. More strength you use, more stamina it wastes. All body-related stats like agility, strength or even intelligence was dependent on the stamina.'

As he thought how his stats were growing further from each other, he grew more impatient to level up. Dave had already thought about a stat that he wanted to enhance.

Casting aside his worries about the status, he focused on his spirit stat.

'Perhaps, such an increase in spirit meant nothing to other people, but in my hands, it is deadly. Previously, I put all my stats into strength and agility since they were important for my survival. But the trickiest stat from all stats is spirit.'

In his previous life, Dave was one of the weakest hunters in the city, but due to it, he was one of the trickiest hunters.

Monsters were too strong for him, while he was far behind other hunters. Then, he thought what stat or skill was the most tricky when it comes to hunting.

'Absolute strength? No. Agility? No. Even now, I believe that ability to control mana is the most flexible among them.'

As his spirit had increased by one point, he tried to control mana inside him. He channelled it through his body as he gathered it on the surface of his hand.

He controlled the mana in his hands as he tried to change it into different shapes. If Brian saw how Dave was literally playing with mana, his eyes would pop out from its sockets.

[You have learned Mana Application (LVL 1)]

[Regression is reacting towards your new skill]

[Your Mana Application (LVL 1) have turned into Mana Application (LVL 3)]

[Your spirit stat is too low to further increase your skill level.]

As he saw three system notifications, Dave didn't stop on it. He made from mana invisible mana threads, a mana barrier and tried to gather it in one part of his body.

[You have learned Mana Threads (LVL 1)]

[You have learned Mana Barrier (LVL 1)]

[You have learned Mana Enhancement (LVL 1)]

[Regression is reacting towards your new skills]

[Your Mana Threads (LVL 1) have turned into Mana Threads (LVL 3)]

[Your level of Mana Application (LVL 3) is too low to further increase your skill level]

[Your Mana Barrier (LVL 1) have turned into Mana Barrier (LVL 2)]

[Your level of Mana Application (LVL 3) is too low to further increase your skill level]

[Your Mana Enhancement (LVL 1) have turned into Mana Enhancement (LVL 2)]

[Your level of Mana Application (LVL 3) is too low to further increase your skill level]

As system notifications flooded his vision, Dave was delighted to gain skills from his past life. Before regressing, Dave had reached Mana Application (LVL 5), Mana Threads (LVL 4), Mana Barrier (LVL 3) and Mana Enhancement (LVL 3).

Even though he didn't restore his skills to their previous levels, they were already useful for him. They weren't strong, but they greatly boosted the number of attacks he could perform

Mana Threads allowed him to make invisible threads attached to his fingers. Mana Barrier built an energetic barrier around him absorbing a certain percentage of the attack.

Mana Enhancement enhanced his body by a certain amount making his body sturdier and boosting all his base stats. Even though he still was short on mana, skills he obtained were irreplaceable for his survival.

Following standards of his previous life, it was praiseworthy that Dave was able to develop Mana Application to such a level. Even if his skill wasn't highest in level, it wasn't low at all.

Purely based on the level, his skill had rivalled to top hunters with innate abilities related to mana. His control over the mana was one of the things he was proud of, second was his swordsmanship skills.

'Having not been an awakener and starting later than most of the hunters, I had struggled desperately to learn everything I found useful for my survival. I never thought I will be rewarded for all my hard work'

As Dave recalled how Regression was able to transfer the skills from his past life, he smirked lightly starting another meditation session.