Tom stood looking at his blank wall in his system room. He was about to start a trial and he wanted to maximise his contributions. He glanced around.
A new question was available, but it was way too valuable to use on a rank seven trail. Not that he had questions to ask.
With a sigh, he focused on the immediate.
“Show change in status?”
Attributes
Strength: 50 (+7 natural strength)
Vitality: 59 (+ 6 natural vitality)
Magic: 49 (+3 natural mana)
Mana Pool: Mana * 2 = 98
Tom nodded at those results. They were all expected. Vitality had exploded from his starting levels of 36 and met his requirements for the class that he was after, but strength was still seven away.
Spells
Low Light Vision: (4) (+3) (Tier 1)
Summon Playful Wisp (42) (+2 skill gain, +8 from class skill passives, + 8 from Trait: Elemental Summoner Passive) (Tier 0)
Skills
Elemental Whisper: (36) (+1)
Equipment
Mana Crystal (132) (+32)
Other
Ranking Points: 520 (+190)
Position on human ranking ladder: 11
Experience: 8,787 (+17,142 / -14,000)
He had eight thousand to spend and the costs of your first class under level ten increased by a thousand per level and above level ten each level only cost five hundred extra. He could afford three levels, but first he noticed that his Summon Playful Wisp had passed the important 32 threshold. He checked the spell to see if anything had changed.
Summon Playful Wisp
Summon a wisp elemental of desired nature. Strength and cost of summon depends on spell skill level. Elementals summoned may be upgraded tiers based on the casters familiarity with element and skill levels in elemental whisper and plane sense.
Base Mana cost:100
For upgrade to occur, burst casting must be able to supply the required additional mana.
Skill level 8 benefit - 20 mana reduction in cost of spell
Skill level 16 benefit - An additional 20 mana reduction in cost of spell, 50% increase chance of upgrading elemental tier
Skill level 32 benefit - A further 20 mana reduction in cost of spell. 40% discount in cost of upgrading elemental. A 30% chance of summoning an additional wisp.
The skill he had in the spell was starting to make a significant difference.
Tom smiled.
“Purchase three levels of summoner class.” While he would not get any bonus magic as that occurred only every four plus one level, he would still get the class skill points and the other bonuses he got for each level.
The class skill points went into the same passive to increase the skill level of his elemental summoner spells.
“Show changes in status.”
Attributes
Strength: 52 (+2 Title: Strength Spring)
Vitality: 62 (+ 3 Title: Vitality font)
Agility: 48 (+6 Trait: Fates Agility)
Fate: 97 (+6 Trait: Fates Agility)
Spells
Summon Playful Wisp (54) (+6 from class skill passives, + 6 from Trait: Elemental Summoner Passive) (Tier 0)
Other
Soul Space: increased to 5 slots (+3) and 0.16 (+.06) metres cubed
Experience: 2,787 (-6000)
Those changes made him smile, especially the fact that when he hit level five, he would get twenty-eight magic as a bonus.
Because of his traits and titles he was getting over eleven attribute points on average instead of the standard four for a standard class. Even on the levels up that his class did not grant him attributes he was still receiving five and a half attributes per level. Technically better than everyone else in his group, because he doubted they would have earned any useful titles.
Every single level he got would push him ahead of other humans. His build combined with the wasp experience bonanza was beginning to payoff. Despite having mainly invested in skills, his rank had moved from below four to six and a half. The maths was simple: every thirty-two points invested into the attributes excluding fate would boost you by a rank.
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Of course, skills mattered and no one would expect a rank 6 to possess a skill level of over a hundred in any spell or skill which made him far scarier than what would be revealed if someone only cast basic identification on him.
“Oh, stronger,” Everlyn praised him when he phased back to the real world.
“Only three levels and it’s deceptive. Going from level four to five will increase me a whole rank by itself.”
“Stop bragging, Useless” Keikain said, walking up to stand next to them and thumping him on the back good-naturedly. “I take it we’ll be going for the fastest clear?”
Everlyn almost growled at the mage.
“Sorry. I meant Tom.”
Everlyn beamed, “And absolutely we’re going for fastest clear.” Everlyn said immediately. “I suspect Useless,” she winked at him. “Has a plan to do that?” A small part of him wondered if he should get annoyed at her using that name. Then again he didn’t really care if anyone used it. She wasn’t using it maliciously just some light ribbing. Plus, after she had called everyone else out on the use of the name outside he wasn’t going to stop her from some light teasing.
“Yep,” Tom said hastily when he realised both of them were staring at him. “But it also depends on the crafter’s capability. Who is that?”
“Me.” A red-haired girl came up to him. “My name’s Sonya. This is for you.” She handed him a two meter long spear. “Eve’s said you’re experienced with spears.”
Wooden Spear (Tier 3)
This spear has been created by a high levelled growth mage to be stronger than steel. It will moderately grow with the user.
Tom ran his hand over the weapon. It was perfectly smooth. It’s weight was under what he was used to, but that was not an issue given that his style relied on speed and placement rather than power. The wood was fine grained, and it almost felt warm.
“This is a masterpiece.” He looked at Sonya more closely. She was around rank seven. “Did you make this?”
She blushed and ducked her head.
“What type are crafter are you?”
She glanced up. “I’m a living wood crafter.”
“Wow.” She looked embarrassed again. Tom had read manuals and options extensively, and living wood crafters were not wood workers. They were far more than that. “Isn’t that a tier four skill?”
Sonya nodded. “Yes, I could only afford the one skill and a magic attribute boost.”
“The rest of your stats are below forty?”
“Except fate. I got a chunk of that as it helps with crafting.”
Tom re-assessed her further for to feel like a rank seven. She had well over a hundred magic and he focused. Connecting with that bit of him that let him assess people’s fate pool. Hers was about sixty. She was not holding everything back.
“Clever, we’ll make sure we protect you. This,” he hefted the spear. “Is a masterpiece.”
Everlyn coughed.
“What?”
“Maybe you should pay for it?”
“Of course, how much?”
Sonya looked confused. “I, haven’t.”
“Ten thousand.” Everlyn said quietly.
“Really?”
“That’s too much,” Sonya protested.
“It’s what she would have got in the auction house.” Everlyn informed him. She had obviously known this was coming.
Without hesitation, he grabbed Sonya’s hand and transferred the auction credits across. Everlyn was on his side. If she was suggesting ten thousand, then the true value of the spear was probably significantly more than that. Plus, the spear did suit him.
“Let’s go?” Keikain said in sudden annoyance.
“What about wraps?”
“Bah,” Keikain said, throwing a hand over Sonya’s shoulders. “The wasps hate Useless.”
“Tom,” Everlyn interrupted annoyed. “His name’s Tom. Only his inner circle can call him anything else.”
Keikain looked confused. “I’m going into a raid with him. Doesn’t that make us …”
“No. I put up with him. I get special rules, plus I don’t use it very often. You calling him Useless is rude.”
The earth mage did not look upset at being put down. “As I was saying,” he continued to Sonya. “The wasps hate Tom. I don’t know what his enmity is at, but they’re not stinging anyone else when he’s around.”
They walked out together and instead of going straight to the trial Tom went to Harry’s mana recharging ritual space.
“What are you doing?” Keikain asked, the frustration rising once more.
“Summoning lightning elementals?”
“Your thing’s Spark isn’t it? Wouldn’t diversity help?”
“Of course. But we’re aiming for fastest clear aren’t we?”
“Exactly. If we have to pause for you to summon a new elemental type, there is no way we’ll get the record. The faster team took only four and a half minutes to blow through it.”
“But Tiny’s team?”
Keikain touched his temple to indicate knowledge. “Trial gives a variable layout. Legan’s team went all out and got an easy run. They’ve got the speed record. Which is why you should do something other than lightning. We need diversity.”
“Over-rated because we’re going to fate bomb.”
The earth mage looked thoughtful. “I guess that could work…”
Tom tuned him out.
With a shiver, fifty fate left his body and was directed at helping him with the next spell. He could feel it leave him some of it flowing toward the elemental plane and other bits sinking into him.
Good, he thought to himself, but now it was time to see if it worked.
The power of the wisp summoning spell engaged. Internally, all of his relevant skills activated to prepare for what was happening, and he punched through at the bottom energy level where only wisps were. His spark proficiency leapt at the opportunity to be involved, supplementing all of his other skills while he was here. It was exhilarating to be surrounded by lightning. He was there incorporeally, but he wished his body was there to bathe in the rampant energy.
His senses tuned to Fate were screaming at him. The strange substance was all around him, prompting him to do something risky. It was time to gamble, and he felt his whole body buoyed by enthusiasm, his skills sharper than they had ever been. Rather than feeling out wisps he ignored them and shot straight upwards. His mind entered the minor elemental area, but rather than trying to find one to pact with the right personality he swam higher.
There wouldn’t be an opportunity to check what he was contracting with. To meet the minimum requirements, he would have only a single chance.
Mana bled away, burned to elevate him to near the top of the minor elemental area.
Too fast, he thought horrified - he could see this attempt ending with nothing.
A waste of both time and fate, but he pushed onwards.
He had been hoping to summon an actual elemental, but he would not reach high enough. Even with his lightning affinity via Spark, the atmosphere was too oppressive. Then he felt an elemental from higher up randomly dip lower. It was chasing a lesser elemental, some form of game whose rules only the elementals knew.
That one.
His mana was bleeding out. There was no time to assess it for fit or even to negotiate terms. He only needed it to help him for a small amount of time.
He pushed the contract across, confident that Fate would carry him.
No.
The word shook him and almost blew him out of the elemental planes, which would have terminated the spell.
What?
Too long.
Impressions came with the words. The summoning time was too long for the resources Tom was offering. It would take?
New terms formed in his mind. The same as the first offer, but four minutes instead of fifteen.
Done.
The contract was agreed.
All of his mana washed out, leaving him wincing with the pain of mana draining. The air crackled around him as the elemental formed. Dimly, he thought he heard trumpets going off around his head, the type that often accompanied achievements and the awarding of titles.
There was no time. The elemental was only here for four minutes.
He was back in the real world. His legs were unsteady, but there was no opportunity to pause. They had to do this now.
“Run,” he yelled, and turned to sprint toward the trial. “No time to talk. Everyone put all your fate into improving the trial, focusing on the group.”
Even as he gave the orders, Tom followed them. The rest of his fate drained out of him. Then the sphere was right in front of him. Tom launched his mana and his hand dropped to touch the surface.
Trial…
Yes. he thought.
More information started scrolling.
Accept, Accept, he yelled as each prompt came into being as there was not time to read it through.
The world distorted, and he found him in the familiar blackness of the trial for a split second before they dumped him down into the start.