Chapter 19: Testing Magic!
After leaving the Alchemist's Workshop, Kaiden handed Golan some Venom Potions and Stamina Potions, then dispatched Golan and his former elite soldier team on another expedition — this time with new instructions.
He then opened the World Market and without hesitation, listed 5 Stamina Potions for sale, with an exchange price per potion of roughly ten times the value of its herbal components. In other words, selling a single potion would earn him enough components to produce approximately ten more — and for the entire deal, enough components for roughly fifty potions.
Naturally, the monster blood required for the process needed to be sourced from within his territory. But he had no shortage in that department whatsoever. He still held a large stockpile of various monster bloods. Furthermore, since implementing his monster-luring strategy and increasing his combat units, kill notifications had not stopped coming since this morning — his forces had slain three Prairie Lizard monsters, netting a total of 10 Origin Points and 3 Residential Building Blueprints.
As for the remaining Venom Potions and Antidote Potions, Kaiden didn't have many to begin with. Had it not been for the requirements of the first quest, he wouldn't have even considered selling any potion at this early stage.
Kaiden had no idea that by listing the potions on the World Market, he had triggered yet another wave of shock among the Lords — and this time the shock was more intense than the mad water-buying spree he had caused that morning. The name "Lord of the Fertile Lands Territory" was beginning to circulate widely among the human Lords. But even if Kaiden had known, he had no time to waste caring about such things. He was far too busy.
At this same time, the blacksmith had finished crafting a new plow and gained some experience points. The carpenter had finished turning another batch of handles and gained some experience. The butcher had finished dissecting another monster carcass and gained some experience too. Adding this accumulated experience to what had built up since morning, the total reached 930 points. Then, at that very moment, his forces killed another monster — and the cumulative experience crossed the one-thousand mark.
Two consecutive notifications appeared before his eyes:
[System Notification: Your forces under Ethan's command have slain a Common-tier "Prairie Hyena" monster. You have gained ×4 Origin Points — Residential Building Blueprint ×1. Gains have been deposited into the Lord's inventory.]
Immediately followed by:
[System Notification: Territory residents' cumulative experience has reached 1,000 points. You have gained 100 experience points.]
Then a third notification that made him smile:
[System Notification: Your level in the Nascent Mage class has been upgraded to Level 2. You have gained +10 Intelligence points, +5 free trait points.]
Kaiden immediately felt a wonderful sensation wash over his mind — as though the world around him had become cleaner, more beautiful, and clearer. The source of this feeling was undoubtedly the ten Intelligence points he had just gained. It felt as though a fog had lifted from his mind. He took a deep breath, then opened his status board to see the changes:
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Name: Kaiden
Class: Nascent Mage (Earth Affinity: 85%)
Level: 2 (0/200)
Race: Human
Traits:
- Health: 13 (HP: 130)
- Strength: 12 (STR: 120)
- Speed: 14 (AGI: 140)
- Endurance: 14 (STA: 140)
- Intelligence: 28 (MP: 280)
- Free Trait Points: 5
Skills:
- Mana Sense (Passive)
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"Hmm…" Kaiden thought for a while, studying the free trait points he had gained, wanting to distribute them wisely. After careful consideration, he decided to balance his capabilities: two points into Health, two into Strength, and one into Speed. He immediately felt a slight improvement take hold across his body.
"Time to learn the Epic skill," he murmured under his breath. He took the orb of light representing the Earth Manipulation skill from his inventory and looked at it. He drew a deep breath to prepare himself for the possibility of agonizing pain during the process — as had happened before — clenched his jaw, and selected "Confirm Learning."
[System Alert: Injecting selected skill information into the user's mind…]
Contrary to expectation, this time there was no pain whatsoever during the process. Kaiden felt as though someone was injecting memories related to Earth Manipulation directly into his mind. The memory injection wasn't painful in the slightest. Instead it felt as though a hidden teacher were showing him how to use the skill thousands of times over, until his mind was saturated with it and it became like second nature. Throughout this process, he learned how to control, circulate, and compress mana in order to cast the skill in various shapes and sizes.
[System Alert: Complete. You have learned the skill: Earth Manipulation (Epic).]
"Good lord — it truly is an Epic skill!" Kaiden exhaled in shock and admiration. After the skill's memories had been injected, he felt its true power. Unlike ordinary earth skills such as "Earth Spike" or "Earth Wall" — which come in fixed, predetermined shapes and sizes — this skill was the master of all earth skills.
He could do almost anything with it. Rather than launching a single earth spike, he could conjure an entire cluster of spikes in whatever sizes he chose. He could even create a spike that erupted from the ground, then launch another from its upper end. As for an earth wall, he could freely control its height and thickness, or even open a window in it if he wished. And all of this rested on a single condition: available mana. Activating the skill alone consumed 20 mana points per second, with the amount varying based on the complexity and size of what he wanted to form.
Kaiden extended his hand forward. He focused his thoughts and took hold of the mana particles around him. The ground before him trembled suddenly, and an earth spike emerged — sharp and pointed, like a stalactite hanging from a cave ceiling. Kaiden experimented a little, moving it, elongating it, sharpening it further. His command of the skill improved noticeably. But then he suddenly glanced at his mana bar — and his eyes went wide.
More than half his mana had vanished.
He deactivated the skill immediately.
"Good lord — what terrifying consumption! Thank goodness I didn't get carried away," he exhaled with simultaneous relief and concern. At his current low level, he could sustain the skill for only about ten seconds or so. This was what happened when one acquired an Epic skill while still in the lower levels.
"But… how do I recover mana points?" Kaiden realized he had completely forgotten to think about this before. He opened his status board and watched his mana bar for a while. He discovered that every few seconds, he recovered a single mana point — approximately 10 points per minute. He felt somewhat reassured.
While Kaiden was occupied with testing and analyzing his magic, the six villagers were busy planting. And at that very moment, one of them pressed the last seed into the freshly improved red earth. A new notification appeared before Kaiden:
[Quest "Age of Farming!" Completed! Reward dispatched to the Lord's inventory: Common Crop Seed Bundle ×1.]
"First quest of the day completed~" Seeing the notification, Kaiden murmured with mild satisfaction, feeling his mood lift. He looked at the Common Crop Seed Bundle in his inventory and opened its information. It contained 1,000 seeds each of: wheat, barley, and corn.
"I hope I acquire another Land Improvement Voucher soon," Kaiden thought as he studied the precious seeds. Having witnessed the enormous benefit of fertile soil, he found himself hoping to acquire more of those vouchers. It was worth noting that his territory's population had doubled today and was approaching 50 people. And while monster meat was currently plentiful, with numbers growing at this rate, meat alone would never be enough no matter how abundant.
At that moment, a militiaman came running. He stopped before Kaiden, bent slightly and breathing hard, then reported:
"My lord! The suitable monster you ordered us to notify you about… it's here now!"
Upon hearing this news, Kaiden felt a conflicting wave of emotions surge through him. He was a little tense — but far more excited. That morning he had ordered his forces to notify him immediately upon finding a low-level monster — specifically so that he could kill it himself and complete the "Nascent Mage" quest.
Just two days ago, he had trembled before monsters so badly that his legs had given way beneath him from pure terror. Today, he had the power to kill one. What an enormous shift in the balance of things.
"Let's go!" Kaiden said with resolve. He set off behind the militiaman, his heart beating with a mixture of anticipation and excitement. Three full levels in his class were on their way to him, and he intended to claim them — and to prove himself in this world.
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— End of Chapter Nineteen —