45. A Busy Mind
45 – A Busy Mind
Andy sat down in his trailer, stretching his feet out on the coffee table with a sigh. His wounds itched, and he scratched them idly as he looked at his attributes and skills again:
Perception: 8
Will: 7
Strength: 9
Vitality: 9
Speed: 8
Improvement Points: 3
Notable Skills or Spells:
(* denotes active bound abilities)
Tracking: 1
Spears: 4
Critical Mastery: 1
Sneak Attack: 2
Shadow Vigil: 3
Burnscribe: 1
Embertouch: 1
Rune of Extension: 1
Fire Tolerance: 1
Piercing Dusk – Bound: 1
Twilight Steps – Bound: 2
Veil of the Stalker – Bound: 3
*Kindlebrand – Bound: 2
*Scorchmark Glyph – Bound: 2
*Kindled Bonds – Bound: 1
He had at least one spell that scaled with his will, so he was tempted to put another point there. He also wanted to find his “soft cap” for that attribute, so he’d be killing two birds with one stone. The problem was that he had a lot of skills that he wanted to improve as well. He had an argument for that, too, however: his attributes were all nearing the caps, he was pretty sure. If he maxed them out, then, as he continued to gain levels and solve quests, he’d be able to focus more on improving skills and spells.
He almost did it, but then he remembered the little codex book in his back pocket, and he decided it might be smart to wait until he saw what it did. He reached back, tugged the book out, and gave it a good once-over. The black leather binding was devoid of markings. He opened it to the first page and was confronted with hundreds of strange, angular runic symbols. They reminded him very much of the ones that had been on the stone tablet he’d received from the System—the codex page that had contained his Pyroglyph Invoker class.
As he stared at the glyphs, they began to shift, and a System message appeared:
***You have found a Codex page that will provide an upgrade to one of your notable skills or spells. Would you like to absorb it? Yes/No***
Even though he knew better, he asked, “Which skill or spell?” As expected, the System didn’t respond. It said it was an upgrade, though, so Andy didn’t think he could go wrong. “Yes.”
The glyphs continued to shift on the page, but the speed of their movements rapidly increased. Just like before with the tablet, they began to lift off the page, floating toward Andy’s eyes. He tried to blink and flinch—it was only natural when something flew toward your eye—but he was transfixed, and soon the symbols were streaming into his eyes, into his brain, creating a hotspot somewhere behind his forehead.
It went on for several seconds, the pages flipping, the symbols streaming, and then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over. Andy blinked several times and read the System notices floating before him:
***Congratulations, Andy! You have unlocked an uncommon variant of the spell: Piercing Dusk. It is now Shadow Lance. The revised spell description is as follows:
Shadow Lance – bound: By channeling mana into your spear, you envelop the blade in condensed shadow energy, cloaking it with an impossibly fine, whisper-thin edge. The spear becomes unnaturally silent in motion, capable of bypassing some armor and striking with spectral precision. The effect persists until canceled. Mana Cost: 25***
Andy reread the description, whistling softly at the implications. The spell was a hell of an upgrade from the old version; rather than casting a spell with every strike, it simply improved his spear until cancelled. The problem was that he’d have to reactivate his Umbral Warden class to use it. He wondered about that mana cost. Would it be a one-time expenditure, or would he have to devote twenty-five mana to the spell as long as it was active?
He liked the idea of the new ability, but he’d begun to really enjoy his Kindlebrand spell, too. The added fire damage seemed pretty great, despite its punishing effects on the weapon. If he dropped his Pyroglyph Invoker class, he couldn’t cast that one. “Can’t have my cake and eat it, too…” He paused, thinking. The Kindlebrand spell didn’t need to be maintained if he used his Rune of Extension on it. The Rune of Extension had to be maintained, but it was an innate ability.
Andy stood up and grabbed his spear, then, in rapid succession, he sketched a Kindlebrand rune on the metal spearhead and, beside it, a Rune of Extension. As the two fiery glyphs faded into the metal, he sat back down on the couch, called up his status sheet, and concentrated on his active class line. He leaned back on the couch so he wouldn’t fall over, and then he activated his Umbral Warden class.
When the dizziness and disorientation faded, Andy shook his head, blinked several times, then picked up his spear, studying the spot where he’d carved his glyphs. Sure enough—both glyphs were still there. “Hell, yes!”
Smiling, he stood up, concentrated, and cast Shadow Lance on his spear. As the tingling mana flowed from the center of his guts, out through his hands, and into the spear, he watched, wide-eyed, as dark shadows coalesced along the haft, sliding up to the metal spearhead where they coalesced, seeming to solidify around the metal, turning it inky black with an edge too fine to see.
“Cool,” he breathed softly, before checking his mana:
Mana: 70/145
“So, 40 for the glyph out on the trail, 10 for the Rune of Extension, and 25 for the Shadow Lance.” On the bright side, it seemed that, since the mana for the Scorchmark Glyph was still missing, he could keep even bound abilities going through a class change. He couldn’t recast them, though—not without lying down and becoming helpless for a few minutes.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on NovelFire. Report any occurrences.
Sighing, Andy leaned the spear against the wall and sat back down on the couch. Once again, he looked at his three unspent improvement points. He had so many spells and skills he wanted to improve, and he’d just gotten another one. The question was, did he want to do that more than to learn about his attributes and their soft caps? With the thought, he reflected on his last expenditure, bringing his strength to nine.
Andy flexed his right arm, frowning as he studied his biceps. It wasn’t much bigger, if at all, than when he’d bumped his strength to eight. In fact, he didn’t recall feeling anything but a lot of tingling and heat. Did that mean each point in an attribute was different, or did it simply mean the System improved strength in more than one manner? Maybe it had to build up the physical muscle mass to a certain degree, and then it could enhance the fibers or…
Andy shook his head, chuckling. He was simply speculating, and it wasn’t doing anything but waste time. Thinking about the point he’d put in strength brought to mind ways to test it, though, and he silently fumed at himself. He should have found a weight set and tested the before and after. “Next time,” he sighed, though if there would be a next time was not a given; he had to figure out a way to get past his plateau.
Rather than beat himself up about the missed opportunity, he decided to learn from the lesson. He was soft-capped on strength, vitality, and perception. If he was going to improve his will or speed any further, he ought to try to think of a test. He racked his brain, but he couldn’t think of any plausible way to test his will. Scorchmark Glyph supposedly did damage based on his will, but he didn’t know how to test that.
The idea of magic damage scaling based on an attribute got him thinking about video games he’d played, particularly RPGs, and he remembered that some “mental” stats often had secondary magical effects. It didn’t seem like will affected how much mana he had because he’d gotten a certain amount for each of his levels. The System had even told him how much each class would provide—five for Umbral Warden and ten for Pyroglyph Invoker—and it hadn’t changed when he’d improved his will.
“What if it affects regen?” The idea came out of left field, but Andy grinned as he gave it voice. He could test that. He stood up, grabbed his spear, and then opened his status sheet, focusing on the mana line: 70/145. He steadied his breathing, then canceled his Shadow Lance spell. Immediately, he began counting aloud, “One Mississippi, two Mississippi…” and so on, watching the mana slowly tick upward.
When it read 95/145, he’d counted to 193. His counting wasn’t perfect and wouldn’t replace a stopwatch, but it gave him an idea. Roughly, it took him a little more than three minutes to regain twenty-five mana. “Here goes nothing,” he said, putting another improvement point into will. A warm, tingling sensation spread through his skull, then down into his chest. It persisted a little longer than the last time, and when it faded, he felt good—almost like he had a buzz.
Andy stretched his neck, arching his back, and then he recast Shadow Lance. He couldn’t stop grinning as he watched the shadows coalesce on his spear, coating the blade and then solidifying. The blade was a little longer, and its edges were decidedly scarier-looking. Once again, he called up his status page and then canceled the spell, watching the shadows break apart into tatters that faded to nothing. “One Mississippi…”
He was careful to try to keep the same pace and rhythm as before, but when he finished, he shook his head. “It can’t be that much better…” He’d only counted to 119. What was that—something between thirty and forty percent faster? He’d need a piece of paper and a pencil to get more precise. The takeaway was that a single point in will had been a significant improvement, and he’d only had four when the System first arrived.
Andy refocused on his status sheet and tried to add another point to his will.
***You have reached the current natural limit of your Will. Though your resolve remains unshaken, your capacity for further mana-driven refinement is restricted. To surpass this boundary, you must deepen your inner discipline. Seek spiritual techniques, uncover natural treasures that resonate with control, or endure trials that challenge your mastery over the primal forces within.***
He felt a mixture of relief and disappointment when he saw the message—relief simply because he only had two improvement points left, and he wanted to try some other things. He shifted his attention to the last attribute to reach a soft cap: speed. He could think of a few ways to test that, but he didn’t trust himself to maintain a steady count while sprinting or testing his reflexes. He jumped up, grabbed his spear, and jogged up the lane toward the dog park.
He was early to meet Lucy, but he wasn’t looking for her. Eduardo was into this kind of thing, and he and Violet lived close to the park. Several people waved to him as he jogged by, and when he got close to the park, Bella jogged over from the doublewide she was sharing with some other rescuees from Construction City. He noticed she was carrying a spear, and he slowed down to give it a proper look. “James make that?” he asked, studying the sturdy wooden haft and bolt-attached knife blade.
She nodded. “Yep. Not as fancy as your blade, but it’ll work. Speaking of things working, Brian and I were sparring, and we both got the Warrior class. Did he tell you?”
Andy shook his head, shifting his gaze from the spear back to Bella’s face. “No, but damn, that’s cool. Any skills or spells yet?”
“Spears for me, Axes for Brian. I’m only level one in the class, which sucks because I have four levels in ‘unclassed,’ whatever the hell I’m supposed to do with that.”
“Well, I think, if worse comes to worst, you can earn some improvement points by leveling up that unclassed…class.” He shrugged, chuckling.
She matched his shrug. “Anyway, where are you going off to in a hurry?”
“I wanted to test my speed. I’m about to put a point into it.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Eduardo’s been doing stuff like that all day.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, you goof. You think you’re the first guy to think of that stuff? He’s got a weight bench and all kinds of stuff in his little testing zone.”
“Testing zone?” Andy laughed, shaking his head.
“Come on, I’ll show you. It’s near the spring in a vacant lot.” She turned and started walking without waiting for an answer.
Andy followed, surprised, pleased… and a little annoyed by what she’d told him. It made sense that it was Eduardo doing the testing, and Andy supposed he should have thought to talk to the man before trying to answer all these questions himself, but, in a way, he felt irrationally left out. People could find him and talk to him, couldn’t they? Why did he have to learn all this stuff after the fact? Was it his fault that he was out saving kids from goblins, scouting enemy encampments, or rescuing people from psychopaths?
“You got quiet all of a sudden,” Bella said, laughing as a gust of wind blew some of her dark, curly hair into her face. “This wind!”
“Heh, weather’s been wild, huh?” Andy faked a smile, but it was only a little fake. He wasn’t one to sulk, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was mostly his fault. He needed to spend more time talking to people. When he was gone all day, he should have gotten a few folks together and asked what he’d missed. “No big deal,” he whispered with a soft chuckle.
“What?” Bella looked at him sideways.
“Nothing.” He shrugged again. “Just talking to myself. I do that a lot.”
“My dad used to say that was the sign of a busy mind.”
Andy laughed. “Good! Because I thought it meant I was losing mine.”