Chapter 34 – Adventurer Arc
Having her mind going at the speed of light thinking on all possibilities she figures that she could attempt one last thing.
Aurora transforms into a grimoire and floats through the crack above from where the light is coming escaping, transforming back into human form as she gets on top of the roof looking at its surroundings.
"Phew, that was close if it was a closed room I would've died there or if it had some barrier of sorts blocking it."
She looks around doing a full turn of 360 degrees," just how big is this thing?"
'10, 20, 30, 40, estimating at least 50 rooms, this is a genuine maze, but seeing from above there's a peculiar tunnel far, far away. I wonder what lays inside at the end of it, it seems to go underneath the ground unlike the rest of the ruins.'
'It could easily go deeper to who knows how many more rooms...' She looks down through the hole and makes a surprised expression as she sees something quite unique.
'They're eating the soul stones from the ones I defeated? Does that make them stronger by any chance? Would that perhaps...'
As the skeleton eats one of the soul stones, the aura around him gets shinier and more intense.
'What would happen if I ate a soul stone? Can humans possibly eat them too?'
She turns back towards the direction of the entrance of the ruins and walks towards it from above.
50 minutes later, she arrives near Iris.
"Welcome back Aurora! I don't know what you were doing but I leveled up twice and my class ranked up, along with a title too!"
"Fantastic, to be honest, I almost died, I went 3 rooms deep inside the ruins, and then I got surrounded by 70 monsters, maybe more."
"How is it possible for a place this close to the village to have so many monsters!? More importantly, how did you survive?" I shout loudly surprised by the information she gave me feeling uneased as they could pour and destroy the village.
"I think that place is special so the monsters don't quite leave it otherwise they would already have done so."
"Special how?" My eyes glitter with curiosity relaxing my mind who was chaotic for a moment there.
"I'm not sure, but it feels like it's all surrounded by the same magic, I sensed something, but it's complex and very difficult to explain."
"I've gathered 40 herbs while you were away, and I've come up with an idea perhaps it'll be easier to get an explanation."
"Hum? What do you mean by that?" Aurora sits on the floor against a tree resting.
"You'll see soon enough, status please."
Notice: 10 mana has been deducted.
Status:
Level: 7 | Experience 0/700
Fame: 220 | Disgrace: 5510
Class: Witch | Rank 2 | Experience 100/4000
Race: Human | Name: Iris | 8 Years old
Health: 660/660 | Mana: 1700/1710
Status Points:0
Strength: 162 | Stamina: 66 | Agility: 85 | Dexterity: 107 | Intelligence: 95 | Wisdom: 165(+6)
Attack: 0 | Magic Attack:0 | Defense:0 | Magic Defense: 0
Soul: 3690
Titles: Reincarnated+(S), Mana(S), Mana Exhaust(S), Health(S), Beginner Reader(S), Purchase(E), Wisdom(C), Reader Series(B), Body Training(S), Animal Slayer(S), Intermediate Reader(S), Cooked Fish(S), Preyed Upon(F), Cheater (S), Heritage(S), Amalgam(S), Ice(S), Cooked Bird(F), Cooking Series (E), Slayer Series(F), Sale(E), Advanced Reader(S), Soul-bound(S), Element(F), Contracted(S), Peasant (F), Class(B), Monster Slayer(E), Slime Slayer(C), Skill Mastery(D), Tree Chopper(C), Tree Type(S), Tree Series(D), Log Maker(C), Tree Planter(S),? Book Thief(D), Criminal(D), Expert Reader(F), Herbs Gathered(S), Herbs Types(S), Potion Brewer(F), Potion Types(E), Status Mastery(D), Beast Slayer(D), Horned Rabbit Slayer(E), Potion Administered(F), Goblin Slayer(E), Orc Slayer(F), Assassination(S), Herbalist Series(D), Skeleton Slayer(F).
Completed Series: Fishing(S), Farming(S).
Skill Points: 4
Actives: Status level 50(D), System Library level 50(D), Mana Coat level 7(F), Mana Wave level 1(F), Ice Bind level 5(F), Ice Sword level 1(F), Icicle level 3(F).
Passives: Bleeding Resistance level 10(F), Swordsmanship level 21(E), Sword Mastery level 12(F), Mana Control level 22(E), Ice Control level 14(F), Slight Wisdom Boost level 6(F), Slight Mana Recovery level 7(F), Acid Resistance level 1(F), Ax Art level 1(F), Ax Mastery level 1(F), Corpse Dismantler level 1(F), Brainwash Resistance level 6(F).
Class Actives: Dark Alchemy level 6.
Class Passives: Dark Alchemy Mastery level 3, Witchcraft level 3, Curse's Mastery level 1, Ritual's Mastery level 1, Magic Control level 1.
Unique: Appraisal level 42.
Cursed: Unidentified Skill.
Rare Element: Ice.
Cursed Soul-bound(Grimoire Rank F: 72/100)
'Well then, I finished the herbs types and herb gathering titles, but seems like I have a long way to complete the herbalist series, meaning I'll have to keep gathering as many herbs as I can in the future.'
'Sister said something about a special magic, and I think I had something related to it that could prove rather promising perhaps.'
'Show me the skill list of my class please, all of them.'
Notice: Loading witchcraft skill tree list...
Witchcraft Skill Tree:
Actives:
Dark Alchemy?[Crafting potions with limited effects and that only last for so long, starts at 10%, 0,5% per level.]
Mana shield: 0.25% Damage is absorbed to MP instead of HP, 0.25% per level.
Drain HP: Absorbs 1 HP per minute from enemies around healing itself, +1 per level.
Decay: It'll rot slowly something it touches, 0,25% chance of success, 0,25% per level.
Magic Analysis: Can analyze the properties of the magic, of a magic circle, or the area itself, 0.5% chance of success, 0.5% per level.
Curses: (It requires casting time, the higher the proficiency the faster it'll be.)
Frog: May transform the target into a frog for a period of time, 0,25% chance of success, 0,25% per level.
Delirium: Makes the target have a random illusion for a period of time, 0.5% chance of success, 0.5% per level.
Mute: Makes it so that they can't speak for a period of time, 0.5% chance of success, 0.5% per level.
Blind: Makes it so that the vision for a period of time, 0.5% chance of success, 0.5% per level.
Deafen: Makes it so that the hearing for a period of time, 0.5% chance of success, 0.5% per level.
Taste: Makes it so that they lose palate for a period of time, 0.5% chance of success, 0.5% per level.
Smell: Makes it so that they lose the sense of smell for a period of time, 0.5% chance of success, 0.5% per level.
Paralysis: Paralyzes a random part of the body, 0.5% chance of success, 0.5% per level.
Fear: Induces fear towards the target, 0.5% chance of success, 0.5% per level.
Confusion: Causes confusion towards the target, 0.5% chance of success, 0.5% per level.
Rituals: (Require spending mana to create a magical circle, needs tremendous amounts of mana, can accumulate every day.)
Memory Loss: Makes targets inside the magical circle lose some memories, 0.25% chance of success, 0.25% per level. x (ritual)
Sleep: Makes targets inside the magical circle fall asleep, 0.25% chance of success, 0.25% per level.
Snow Falling: Due to Ice element snow will fall, everywhere that snows will be Iris mana territory, 0,25% chance of success, 0,25% per level.
Cursing Objects: A random curse will be applied in an object, 0,25% chance of success, 0,25% per level.
Taint: It'll taint users inside the magical circle in some way, 0,25% chance of success, 0,25% per level.
Magical Barrier: Defends a place inside a magical circle from magic damage.
Physical Barrier: Defends a place inside a magical circle from physical damage.
Detection Barrier: Detects anything that enters inside a magical circle.
Passives:
Witchcraft: Increases the whole skill tree proficiency by 0.1%, per level. May affect personality.
Curse’s Mastery: Increases curse chance to activate by 0.25%, per level. May affect personality.
Ritual's Mastery: Increases ritual chance to activate by 0.25%, per level. May affect personality.
Dark Alchemy Mastery: Increases alchemy chance by 0.2%, per level. May affect personality.
Magic Control: Increases specified proficiency by 0.25%, per level.
Magic Attack Slight Boost: Increases specified proficiency by 1 per level.
Magic Defense Slight Boost: Increases specified proficiency by 1 per level.
Magic Knowledge Slight Boost: Increases intelligence by 1 per level.
Charm: Increases charm by 1, attracts generally the opposite gender, 1 per level.
Mp Absorption: If damaged by an enemy magical skill heal Mp by 0.25% of its total mana cost, 0.25%, per level.
Fire Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Water Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Earth Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Air Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Nature Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Poison Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Acid Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Ice Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Explosion Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Lightning Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Spirit Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Summoning Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Light Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Dark Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Time Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
Space Mastery: increases specified proficiency by 1%, per level.
'That's the one I want to get magic analysis, magic knowledge so I can contribute more to the analysis, snow falling because I've been looking to get it, to understand the territory thing better, and ice mastery for sure!'
Notice: Skills have influenced each other, magic knowledge due to appraisal in combination with magic analysis changed the way it affects intelligence.
Notice: Skills successfully learned; Status updated.
'Skills have influenced each other? That's amazing it seems like getting different knowledge skills was the right choice.'
"Alright sister I'm done here, take me to the ruins since you know where they're exactly."
"Sure, but in a bit, let me recover my mana, you can keep gathering herbs."
"Then let's go to a different place in the forest, I've left the immature herbs to grow and took the good ones only."
"Let's head closer to the ruins, you can gather near the entrance, but if monsters come out we're running, I'll keep on the lookout."
After a while, we arrive near the entrance.
"By the way Iris after I killed a few monsters I saw one of them, a skeleton eating one of the soul stones."
"Monsters eat soul stones? Why would they do that? Are they tasty?"
"Yes, they ate them, and then it looked like mana started getting stronger around the monster, at least more brilliant."
"I understand what's going through your mind right now, you want us both to try eating a soul stone don't you?"
"Pretty much, there's bound to be things that other people haven't tried or that they deemed crazy to try."
"Maybe those who tried died due to it," I reply suspicious of such effects.
"Without trying we won't know, personally I don't get titles so as an item I need to find a way to become stronger, I almost died," she punched the ground angry at her powerlessness.
"I know how you feel, I too felt like an ant when I saw the goblin warrior guy, even if I had full mana the chances that he'd kill us would be certain, even if goblins are smart or not, with enough statuses they can do whatever they want, we have been fighting very low-level enemies, so yeah..."
"We're level 7 if there's a max level at some point it'll limit our capability to grow."
"That's true... Though as far as I know, we have something that others don't have, our contract which isn't far from being complete, just 28 more, perhaps that will allow us to grow a bit more compared to other races."
"Yes, but it could give something useless, I'm a fucking rank F grimoire," she punches the ground again angrily this time with both hands lifting some dust in the process.
"An evolutionary type said appraisal, so you're bound to reach a little higher, not sure how high or if you only rank one time," Aurora sighs hearing me as she feels insecure with the low amount of information we possess.
'Appraise information regarding humans eating soul stones consequences.'
Notice: 200 mana has been deducted.
[Humans are a weak species usually with very low soul power thus their not able to absorb soul stones thus dying or becoming a different creature like a skeleton or a zombie.]
'Is that so? Then how about me I have a lot of soul power I think? Appraise me eating soul stones consequences.'
Notice: 200 mana has been deducted.
[Soul stones are a piece of everything the being consisted of, even if absorption goes well you may keep your personality but lose your human race slowly in the process.]
"Aurora, I tried to appraise the information and it seems that I may be able to absorb them since I have a strong soul, however, I could lose my human race."
"What race would you become then?" She asks curiously feeling a faint sense of hope.
'Appraise the race I could get if I consumed soul stones.'
Notice: 200 mana has been deducted.
[The race one would transform to would depend on the race type and rank of the soul stones the individual would absorb.]
"Seems like it depends on the race and the rank of the soul stones."
"Meaning you'd become a skeleton if you ate their soul stones, I guess that's why humans don't do it, they'd be killed by the soldiers and other adventurers."
"True... I'll refrain from attempting it."
"It's not a bad deal for me though, after all, I have the unique skill transformation I can keep your appearance."
'How would it affect Aurora if she ate soul stones? Appraise it please,' I look at her blue curious eyes as I wait for the answer.
Notice: 200 mana has been deducted.