Azure: Gunner

The science is unclear on whether remnants are in fact directly related to the System, yet there is no evidence such a phenomenon existed prior to its arrival. Remnants are generally understood to be the physical manifestation of a concept, though this has never been conclusively proven.

What is known about remnants is that they are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to destroy permanently. They naturally draw on ambient mana to regenerate themselves at all times and may actually be a form of long-term conjuration. The scale of remnants is incredibly variable, from some which are merely a single wall or ancient sign, up to the enormous skyscraper at the heart of the quarantine zone that is known as the Remnant.

- Rufus Veres, Level 29 Prolix Historian, Oddities of the System

Once my mental ears had stopped ringing, I grinned. I can use those mods as soon as I… finish my Level-up, my face burning red as I remembered what that entailed exactly. Shaking my head, I looked at a visibly confused Elin.

<Elin, how about you? Any Levels?>

She shook her head once. <Nooo, I just hit Level 2, remember? I do have enough for an item, though. And I learned the Skill First Aid!>

<That’s great! OK, let me work on your cuts and then we’ll Level up one at a time. Zaire got his Level first, so he can go as soon as I finish.>

Surprisingly, Elin had very few injuries despite her lower Level. Maybe she was halfway decent with that shield of hers. It took a few minutes thanks to my inexperience – and she was happy to correct me whenever I did something wrong. She sat down to rest as I went back to leaning against the wall, my eyes looking into the dark tunnel. This cave seemed to be like the spider tunnel in the Tutorial, completely lacking in any kind of illumination.

<Go ahead, Zaire!>

I waited a few moments, then there was a muted flash of light, so fast that I wasn’t sure at first I’d actually seen something. I looked, and there was a System chest sitting in the middle of the tunnel. Zaire had a happy smile on his face as he opened it, the dim illumination from the Light Cantrips catching his golden eyes and making them glow vibrantly, contrasting against his grey skin and the dark shadows behind him.

His reward turned out to be an unexciting armor mod, but he was luckier with the weapon mod from Mason.

<It reduces my mana cost for casting offensive Spells!> he explained excitedly.

Raylan Leveled next, finding a shortsword in his System chest.

<Are you going to use it?> I asked curiously. <Does it even work with your Skills?>

He drew the blade experimentally and slashed the air with it a few times, the blade flickering in the dim light.

<It does,> he confirmed, <I can feel Swift Strikes working with it. But, it’s not much longer than my daggers, and I don’t have any mods for it.> He looked at me and grinned. <Your turn this time, Az – you should have a backup weapon of some kind, and you aren’t bad with a sword.>

I accepted the sheathed sword hesitantly, not sure what I was going to do with it. I ended up taking the small utility knife off of my belt and storing that away, then putting the sheath on in its place. I used a short piece of rope to strap the bottom of the sheath to my thigh, hoping that it would prevent the blade from clanking around.

<What Skills did you both take?> I asked, both out of curiosity and a desire to put off Leveling in front of my teammates as long as possible.

<I took Modifier Mastery, Gunner Az, so my Wall rune is now recognized by the System.>

<I’m still deciding,> Raylan added, <but I can take the watch while you Level.>

Zaire’s Skill was something I remembered hearing that all Mages needed. It would gradually let them learn more modifier runes as System Spell components as it Leveled up. That would let Zaire cast Wall incredibly fast, so he could switch between Earth Spike and Earth Wall without delay.

I sighed mentally, thinking about my own coming Level, then switched places with him. “PAST, show me any options related to Leveling up rewards.”

[Of course Citizen, here you go!]