Liam turned to get a good look at his surroundings.
He and Cindy were standing on the edge of a forest. A river ran out of the forest from their right into the wide open water. On the other side of the river was a small mountain with an open cave next to the river.
As Liam stared at the river and cave he noticed something strange start to happen. Pools of water the size of a small dog suddenly emerged from the river.
At first Liam had thought the water was just overflowing in the areas this was happening, but after the pools got further away from the river he notice they didn’t spread out but collect into a blob-like form. Liam assessed one of the blobs.
“Small River Slime. 100/100 HP. 80/80 MP. Level 5.”
A River Slime huh? I haven’t seen a creature’s health that low since the second floor of the Black Dungeon back in the Tutorial Area. Liam thought to himself.
“Those are Small River Slimes,” Cindy informed. “There are many different types of Slimes. They usually take the element of the area they inhabit. You’ll be able to tell the Slime’s element by the color of their gelatinous body. For example, any water type Slime will have a blue-like color like the Small River Slime.”
Liam nodded as he looked back at Cindy.
“Slimes also come in different sizes,” Cindy continued. “There are small, medium, and large size Slimes. Their size is determined by how many Slimes have come together.”
Liam gave her a confused look.
“That’s another thing about Slimes,” Cindy smiled. “If a bunch of them get together they can meld into one another to make a bigger version of themselves. It can also do the opposite too. For example, if you fight a large Slime and get its health down to a certain amount it will split into six Medium Slimes. If you get a Medium Slime’s health down to a certain amount it will breakdown into twelve Small Slimes. As they break down their health won’t go back to full, but will be properly distributed amongst the other slimes.”
“That’s good to know,” Liam said as he looked back at the several Small River Slimes. He counted them to see how many there were and was only able to find six.
“Another couple of things to note about when fighting Slimes,” Cindy added. “As far as monsters go the smaller ones are generally weak, especially when they are by themselves. However, if there are a bunch around you will have to be careful. Depending on how many there are they can swarm you as one. You never want any kind of slime monster to get too close when they try to swarm you because they will try to cover their bodies over yours and try to drown you. So always keep an eye on your surroundings when fighting Slimes.”
Liam nodded. “What else can you tell me about them? Do they have any weaknesses, immunities, strengths?”
“While all slime have similarities like physical attacks are weak against slimes and magic is stronger; The weaknesses, immunities, and strengths to a Slime depends on the type and size of the Slime,” Cindy started to explain. “For example, against a water type slime you will have less effect with water magical abilities while lightning and plant magical abilities will have a stronger effect against them. The size of the slime also determines how much of an effect your attacks will have on them.”
Liam nodded.
“Also, a thing to note since you are a crafter is the materials you can gather from them are used in crafts like Alchemy and Blacksmithing,” Cindy stated. “Depending on the materials harvested, they can be used for physical attack absorption for armor or which even element the slime you harvested from. For Water type Slimes the alchemy materials are used in salves, balms, or ointments to help absorb poison through open wounds or prevent blood from escaping the wound to stop blood loss. It really depends on what else you mix them with. Slime Liquid is versatile in crafting.”
Liam looked surprised. He didn’t think that Slimes would be so useful like that.
“So magic is the best way to kill a slime?” Liam asked to reconfirm.
“Magic, Magical weapons, physical attacks could kill them it would just take longer,” Cindy said. “Do you have any Lightning magic?”
Liam nodded.
“Okay, use it on those Small River Slimes, but before you do that go ahead and use Perception of the Control Tower so you can level it up,” Cindy instructed.
Liam thought about what she had just said. He had just remembered that Perception of the Control Tower could see a person in your party’s health, mana, stamina, buffs, and debuffs. After remembering that he remembered his current Debuff Stat Shatter. He then looked at Cindy and asked as quickly as he could, “About that ability. Can only one person in the group have it activated at a time?”
Cindy shook her head. “No, everyone who has it in the group can use it. However, for some reason having multiple people using it in a group will hinder the experience given. I’m not too sure why that happens, but I figured for now you can use it so you can level it up.”
Liam internally sighed with relief. He didn’t want to have to explain why he had gotten the debuff due to the events it was tied to.
Liam then looked at her and activated the ability. He was shocked at what he saw as he looked at the stats next to her picture.
“Cindy. 2,323/2,323 HP. 1,910/1,910 MP. 2,010/2,010 Stam. Level – 21.”
Liam was impressed with what he was seeing. He never had a real idea what the health, mana, and stamina pools would look like as you grew in levels, but this was really impressive to him.
“What’s with that look?” Cindy questioned as she stared at Liam.
“Sorry, I was just impressed with your HP, MP, and Stamina bar,” Liam commented.
“Ah, well my stats are nothing to be impressed with for my level. They are relatively low compared to others who put their points into sub-stats like Vitality, any of the endurances, Knowledge, and Magic Practicality,” Cindy said as she gave him a slight smile. “I put most of my points into the Dexterity sub-stats, Resilience, and the Recovery sub-stats.”
“Good to know,” Liam said.
Thanks to her bringing up points, he remembered he had a lot of points he never spent. He wasn’t sure where he should put them since he was still trying to figure everything out. Once his Stat Shatter Debuff disappeared he would take some time into figuring it all out.
“I will give you some advice though about spending points you get from leveling up,” Cindy started back up again, remembering he was new to it all. “Don’t waste points into a sub-stat you know you’re going to be using a lot of. For example, if you are a speedy type of fighter then it is not good to put them in any Dexterity sub-stats since you use movements or techniques that will help raise them.
“Instead use them on stuff like Vitality or the Recovery sub-stats since it is harder and slower to raise them up. I learned this the hard way and have to catch up some of my other sub-stats, because I was dumb and too hard headed enough to listen to anyone’s advice.”
“Duly noted. Thank you for the advice,” Liam said as he gave her a smile of appreciation. “Alright let’s get this show started shall we?”
Liam started walking towards the river while looking for a Small River Slime to attack. He watched as they slowly moved forward towards the mouth of the cave. Their movement speed wasn’t really fast from what Liam could see.
Liam thought about attacking the closest one to him, however, after making a careful consideration to not attack the slime so close to the water with lightning magic, he aimed for the second closest one a bit farther from the river.
Liam channeled some mana around him before he started chanting, “O orb of sparks form before pure and true. Shoot fast and engulf the one in your path. Ripple through the muscles and make them lock. Electro Orb!”
A small baseball sized electric orb manifested in front of his open palm. After he finished chanting and forming the orb, he shot it at his target. As soon as the orb struck, webs of lightning arced around the gelatinous body, causing it to stop moving and ripple all around.
He took a look at the creature’s stats above its head and saw it had only done seventy-five damage to it. He was confused at why he hadn’t been able to kill it with one Electro Orb especially with the type advantage against it and the amount of mana he had channeled, but then thought about the one thing that could effect it. The Stat Shatter Debuff.
Damn it. Liam thought as he stared at the slime that was rippling in place. I knew my stats would be affected, but I really didn’t think it would be this bad. I thought since my magic levels weren’t affected then it wouldn’t be a problem.
That’s because your stats and sub-stats affect everything you do and why it is not good to receive any debuffs, Eri suddenly explained in Liam’s head.
This surprised Liam for a moment since he had gotten used to reading the notification texts that would appear whenever the chaotic goddess would speak to him.
So, you’re saying that my sub-stats affect my magic even though my magic levels weren’t affected. Which one is it? Liam asked her. Also, it is good to hear your voice. Glad to see we can talk normally instead of having a notification block my view.
Yeah I guess my theory was right. I can talk normally while you’re in a dungeon, but not when you’re out of one. Eri stated. And to answer your question, I believe it can be a combination of Magic Practicality which helps with your understanding on how and when to use a spell properly and Knowledge which helps your Magic Practicality. Both of those help you get a better understanding on how much mana to channel into a spell to how much damage you can do. I think we have had this conversation before, but your sub-stats connect to each other and can affect everything you do.
Liam nodded, starting to get a better understanding. I vaguely remember the conversation, but I guess we will need to have it again so I can understand which sub-stats are intertwined with one another and how they affect both my magic and physical skills. For now though, I need to finish this dungeon.
Agreed, just know that until your Stat Shatter Debuff is gone…you will need to channel more than you used to to your spells. Eri informed.
Got it. Liam replied back as he channeled his mana once more while chanting his Electro Orb spell.
After he finished chanting he sent the electrified orb flying over at the target. After it slammed into the Small River Slime, the creature shuddered all over before deflating into a small pool of its form.
“Congratulations! You have defeated Small River Slime!”
“Warning! Due to Debuff Stat Shatter, all experience earned related to stats from killing monsters will be collected but not allocated until Debuff has disappeared!”
Liam frowned at the last notification, but had a feeling it would appear.
Also, I will give you one more piece of advice, Eri chimed back in. Try channeling your Lightning Mana when using your Lightning Magic. It’ll serve as good practice to level up your understanding on how to manipulate it and it will add a small amount of damage when using those spells.
Liam mentally kicked himself for not thinking about that. With everything that had been going on he had forgotten about channeling different Mana types into spells to raise the levels.
Liam looked at the remaining Small River Slimes in the area. A couple had made it into the cave, but three remained outside moving around.
Liam closed his eyes as he started to channel his mana. He focused on the bits of Lightning Mana that was mixed in with his Arcane Mana. After pulling it forward to cover his hands he started the chant back up for Electro Orb.
“O orb of sparks form before pure and true. Shoot fast and engulf the one in your path. Ripple through the muscles and make them lock. Electro Orb!”
As he opened his eyes he saw the small baseball sized electrified orb had grown a bit and sparked a little more than it had done before. As he studied the orb he saw some subtle changes in it. It was different than when he created it with normal Arcane Mana. It felt a bit more powerful and was filled with more…electricity…lightning?
He never really studied the differences when he had done this before especially when he used his Shadow magic. He just used it and never thought about why there was a possibility of manipulating different mana and what changes they would bring to the magic they were associated with. He wasn’t sure, but he came to a decision that he would have to study the changes using Mana types into spells later. For now, he’ll just have to use this method.
Liam looked for a target and saw there was a Small River Slime in between two others. He aimed for it and threw it.
Liam and Cindy watched as the Electro Orb slammed against the Small River Slime. As it did, four sparks suddenly arced out from the middle Small River Slime and zapped the other two.
Liam was surprised as he watched this. The targeted monster died instantly while the other two took small damage. About ten points of damage each to be precise.
Cindy looked back at Liam and quickly asked, “Did you channel Lightning Mana into that spell?”
Liam nodded as he looked back at her.
“Interesting,” Cindy responded. “Judging by your look, this is the first time you have done that right?”
Liam didn’t want to say that it wasn’t his first time since he had done it with Shadow Mana, but it was his first time using it on a Lightning type magic ability. So instead of lying he just went with a half-truth. “This is my first Lightning spell using Lightning mana yes.”
“Okay,” Cindy started. “Something you need to know about using different types of mana into their associated magical spells. Every mana type has a different effect when using it like this. For Lightning base abilities, as you just saw, it will create wild sparks. Depending on how much mana is channeled into the spell, your level of Magical Practicality, Knowledge, and the level of spell, it will help determine the amount of sparks that arc from landing the spell and how much damage they will do. There are more effects it can help with, but for now that is all you need to know.”
Liam was shocked to hear this. He was starting to feel glad that Cindy was here with him since she was providing him with so much information. He looked back at the remaining two Small River Slimes and saw they were now making their way towards him. Their slow leisurely pace they had earlier was a little faster as they made their way towards him.
He didn’t want them to reach the riverbed, so he channeled another small amount of Lightning mana to replenish what he had used earlier and chanted his Electro Orb spell again. He did this once more after firing the spell at one of the two creatures to kill the last Small River Slime.
After they had died both he and Cindy made their way across the river over to the slain monsters. As they walked he looked at his Mana Pool and noticed the amount he had was less than usual. He was at eighty-two out of one hundred and three.
He thought about it and tried to think about why it had dropped more than when he regularly used the spell. The only factor he could draw upon was him channeling Lightning Mana to use on his spells. After thinking it over he thought it was appropriate that having to channel the Lightning Mana and then cast his Electro Orb since he was essentially using more mana on top the mana used to create the spell.
Just another thing to consider when using different mana types. Liam thought as they reached the first slain monster.
“Before you harvest the Slimes make sure you loot them to collect the cores you’ll need to show proof you defeated them to complete your Slime Hunting Quest,” Cindy explained.
One of the Monster Hunting Quests Don had suggested required him to slay fifteen slimes. He was told the type of Slime didn’t matter since there were different types in some of the dungeons.
Liam looked at her. “Slimes have cores in them?”
He looked back at the puddles of gelatinous slime but didn’t see anything in them.
Cindy nodded as she explained, “You can’t see them when they are alive because the color of the Slime hides them, but yes. When you kill them the core is destroyed, but you can still loot them. Don’t ask me how that works because no one has ever given me a straight answer about it.”
Liam shrugged before looting the first creature.
“Congratulations! You have received Small Water Slime Core x 1!”
He went around to the other pools of slain slimes and looted them, netting him three more Small Water Slime Cores. After he finished with that he walked towards the middle of all the defeated monsters placed a hand out and chanted, “Harvest.”
He waited for the notifications to show he had harvested all the creatures within the range he was in, but nothing appeared. Confused he looked at his hand. He then saw Cindy give him a weird look.
“What are you doing?” Cindy asked.
“I’m trying to harvest all the dead slimes,” Liam stated with a confused tone in his voice.
“Then why aren’t you pulling out one of the vials from the Harvest Bag I loaned you?” Cindy questioned.
Liam was about to say something, but was stopped as he heard Eri start laughing in his mind.
What’s so funny? Liam asked Eri.
The way you confidently tried to use Harvest in the same fashion you would when it was your class skill. Eri replied. Adding the confusion when it didn’t work and your little friend there clearly thinking you are stupid.
What do you mean tried to use Harvest in the same fashion I would when it was my Class skill? Liam inquired feeling a bit embarrassed.
There is a difference between your old Class ability Harvest and the one you received from the Gathering Craft Focus Point. Eri started to explain. The way they operate are completely different. The one from the Focus point doesn’t automatically harvest materials from harvestable objects like defeated creatures. You have to gain knowledge on the harvestable target to know what you can harvest and manually harvest them to get the materials. It is only after having the right amount of knowledge on the harvestable target would you be able to automatically harvest them.
For example, take these slimes. In order to get the materials, you will need to place an empty vial into the pool of its dead body and fill it up. After you get a better understanding on how to harvest them you’ll be able to hold the vial close to it and say harvest and watch the liquid enter the vial. Then when you have complete understanding on how to harvest each material from its body then you’ll be able to use it like how you did when you had it as a Class Ability.
Wait, but I was able to level it up before the class skill evolved. Liam started to argue. Why did it level up if they are fundamentally different?
That is because they both had the same name and theoretically the same ability. Eri started. However, as a class ability it was better than just its normal version. Now that they are separated you will have to use it as it was intended as a Focus Point ability.
That’s stupid. Liam complained. He really didn’t understand why it was so complicated, but he did understand complaining about it wouldn’t get him anywhere.
He looked at Cindy and thought about what he could say in order to make her not question him. After thinking about it he said, “I was just trying something out. It didn’t work the way I wanted to though.”
Cindy slowly nodded as she eyed him. “Were you trying to use an advanced form of the ability to help save time? Is this your first time harvesting a slime?”
“Yeah,” Liam said as he gave her a sheepish grin. “Is that going to be a problem?"
Cindy shook her head. “No, it’ll just take a little longer, but after harvesting enough Slimes in this dungeon you should be able to get a better idea on how to harvest them which will help save us some time.” She then let out a sigh before adding, “I guess this can also help with your training on the ability. I’m going to go scout the cave to see how many slimes are in there. I’ll be right back.”
Liam nodded as he pulled out the Gatherer’s Bag of Harvest. Before he looked in it to grab an empty vial, Eri suddenly said, Before you start harvesting them you should take this time while she is gone to harvest something else.
Harvest something else? Liam thought as he tried to think about what she meant.
He looked around and realized what she was talking about as he watched the soul orbs floating not too far above the killed River Slimes.
He had forgotten about collecting the souls. A thought suddenly popped in his mind as he looked to his hip. The Spectral Lantern wasn’t there. He was both relieved and slightly panicked as he didn’t remember where he had placed it.
However, as he thought about it, it had suddenly materialized on the side of his hip.
Liam blinked a couple of times as he stared at it. He wasn’t sure how it manifested like it did or why it wasn’t there in the first place.
Seeing the confusion on Liam’s face Eri explained, That item is attached to you. It wont leave your side, however, it can go incorporeal and make itself stay out of sight until you need to use it.
Is that so? Liam thought as he stared at it. That’s both convenient and helpful since I don’t want to explain it to anyone right now.
Agreed. Eri said while nodding her head. The less amount of people who know, the better right now.
Without wasting time, Liam pulled the Spectral Lantern away from his hip and chanted in as low of a whisper as he could, “Soul Harvest.”
The Spectral Lantern lit up with the creepily ghastly green light that was inside. A glass section suddenly opened up on its own allowing the light to shine even brighter out from it.
Liam watched the four soul orbs that were hovering around the area shudder. Then after a moment had passed the orbs shot towards the lantern in one swift movement. When the last orb entered the lantern the glass door shut.
After the glass door shut, he heard footsteps coming from the mouth of the cave. He released the Spectral Lantern, allowing it to return to his hip. He tried to will it to disappear as he pulled out a vial from the Gatherer’s Bag of Harvest and crouched down next to a pool of gelatinous liquid and placed the vial into it.
“What was that?” Cindy asked as she rushed out from the cave looking around.
“What was what?” Liam asked as he looked at her.
Cindy looked back at him after not finding anything. “I felt a strange type of magic out here. Did it come from you?”
Liam gave her the best confused look he could muster as he replied slowly, “No. I didn’t feel anything out here.” He then raised the vial he had in the dead slime. It was completely full. “I was just collecting the materials from this creature.”
Cindy still had a look of confusion on her face, but gave up as she muttered, “Maybe I was just imagining it.”
Liam let out a sigh of relief as she re-entered the cave. He didn’t know that others could feel the magic of his new Class ability when he used it. Knowing this now would help him in the future as he would need to know when and where he could use it.
A notification suddenly appeared, bringing him out of his thoughts.
“Congratulations! You have Harvested Slime Liquid!”
“Congratulations! You have a small amount of understanding on how to Harvest Slimes. Tracking of such knowledge can now be seen in a drop down window under Field of the Craft - Focus Point – Gathering Craft Ability – Harvest.”
Liam sighed. This was going to be a long day for him and not because he wasn’t able to automatically harvest everything. He was beginning to understand how spoiled he was with the ability as he continued the process, getting some of the slime liquid over his fingers.
Liam turned to get a good look at his surroundings.
He and Cindy were standing on the edge of a forest. A river ran out of the forest from their right into the wide open water. On the other side of the river was a small mountain with an open cave next to the river.
As Liam stared at the river and cave he noticed something strange start to happen. Pools of water the size of a small dog suddenly emerged from the river.
At first Liam had thought the water was just overflowing in the areas this was happening, but after the pools got further away from the river he notice they didn’t spread out but collect into a blob-like form. Liam assessed one of the blobs.
“Small River Slime. 100/100 HP. 80/80 MP. Level 5.”
A River Slime huh? I haven’t seen a creature’s health that low since the second floor of the Black Dungeon back in the Tutorial Area. Liam thought to himself.
“Those are Small River Slimes,” Cindy informed. “There are many different types of Slimes. They usually take the element of the area they inhabit. You’ll be able to tell the Slime’s element by the color of their gelatinous body. For example, any water type Slime will have a blue-like color like the Small River Slime.”
Liam nodded as he looked back at Cindy.
“Slimes also come in different sizes,” Cindy continued. “There are small, medium, and large size Slimes. Their size is determined by how many Slimes have come together.”
Liam gave her a confused look.
“That’s another thing about Slimes,” Cindy smiled. “If a bunch of them get together they can meld into one another to make a bigger version of themselves. It can also do the opposite too. For example, if you fight a large Slime and get its health down to a certain amount it will split into six Medium Slimes. If you get a Medium Slime’s health down to a certain amount it will breakdown into twelve Small Slimes. As they break down their health won’t go back to full, but will be properly distributed amongst the other slimes.”
“That’s good to know,” Liam said as he looked back at the several Small River Slimes. He counted them to see how many there were and was only able to find six.
“Another couple of things to note about when fighting Slimes,” Cindy added. “As far as monsters go the smaller ones are generally weak, especially when they are by themselves. However, if there are a bunch around you will have to be careful. Depending on how many there are they can swarm you as one. You never want any kind of slime monster to get too close when they try to swarm you because they will try to cover their bodies over yours and try to drown you. So always keep an eye on your surroundings when fighting Slimes.”
Liam nodded. “What else can you tell me about them? Do they have any weaknesses, immunities, strengths?”
“While all slime have similarities like physical attacks are weak against slimes and magic is stronger; The weaknesses, immunities, and strengths to a Slime depends on the type and size of the Slime,” Cindy started to explain. “For example, against a water type slime you will have less effect with water magical abilities while lightning and plant magical abilities will have a stronger effect against them. The size of the slime also determines how much of an effect your attacks will have on them.”
Liam nodded.
“Also, a thing to note since you are a crafter is the materials you can gather from them are used in crafts like Alchemy and Blacksmithing,” Cindy stated. “Depending on the materials harvested, they can be used for physical attack absorption for armor or which even element the slime you harvested from. For Water type Slimes the alchemy materials are used in salves, balms, or ointments to help absorb poison through open wounds or prevent blood from escaping the wound to stop blood loss. It really depends on what else you mix them with. Slime Liquid is versatile in crafting.”
Liam looked surprised. He didn’t think that Slimes would be so useful like that.
“So magic is the best way to kill a slime?” Liam asked to reconfirm.
“Magic, Magical weapons, physical attacks could kill them it would just take longer,” Cindy said. “Do you have any Lightning magic?”
Liam nodded.
“Okay, use it on those Small River Slimes, but before you do that go ahead and use Perception of the Control Tower so you can level it up,” Cindy instructed.
Liam thought about what she had just said. He had just remembered that Perception of the Control Tower could see a person in your party’s health, mana, stamina, buffs, and debuffs. After remembering that he remembered his current Debuff Stat Shatter. He then looked at Cindy and asked as quickly as he could, “About that ability. Can only one person in the group have it activated at a time?”
Cindy shook her head. “No, everyone who has it in the group can use it. However, for some reason having multiple people using it in a group will hinder the experience given. I’m not too sure why that happens, but I figured for now you can use it so you can level it up.”
Liam internally sighed with relief. He didn’t want to have to explain why he had gotten the debuff due to the events it was tied to.
Liam then looked at her and activated the ability. He was shocked at what he saw as he looked at the stats next to her picture.
“Cindy. 2,323/2,323 HP. 1,910/1,910 MP. 2,010/2,010 Stam. Level – 21.”
Liam was impressed with what he was seeing. He never had a real idea what the health, mana, and stamina pools would look like as you grew in levels, but this was really impressive to him.
“What’s with that look?” Cindy questioned as she stared at Liam.
“Sorry, I was just impressed with your HP, MP, and Stamina bar,” Liam commented.
“Ah, well my stats are nothing to be impressed with for my level. They are relatively low compared to others who put their points into sub-stats like Vitality, any of the endurances, Knowledge, and Magic Practicality,” Cindy said as she gave him a slight smile. “I put most of my points into the Dexterity sub-stats, Resilience, and the Recovery sub-stats.”
“Good to know,” Liam said.
Thanks to her bringing up points, he remembered he had a lot of points he never spent. He wasn’t sure where he should put them since he was still trying to figure everything out. Once his Stat Shatter Debuff disappeared he would take some time into figuring it all out.
“I will give you some advice though about spending points you get from leveling up,” Cindy started back up again, remembering he was new to it all. “Don’t waste points into a sub-stat you know you’re going to be using a lot of. For example, if you are a speedy type of fighter then it is not good to put them in any Dexterity sub-stats since you use movements or techniques that will help raise them.
“Instead use them on stuff like Vitality or the Recovery sub-stats since it is harder and slower to raise them up. I learned this the hard way and have to catch up some of my other sub-stats, because I was dumb and too hard headed enough to listen to anyone’s advice.”
“Duly noted. Thank you for the advice,” Liam said as he gave her a smile of appreciation. “Alright let’s get this show started shall we?”
Liam started walking towards the river while looking for a Small River Slime to attack. He watched as they slowly moved forward towards the mouth of the cave. Their movement speed wasn’t really fast from what Liam could see.
Liam thought about attacking the closest one to him, however, after making a careful consideration to not attack the slime so close to the water with lightning magic, he aimed for the second closest one a bit farther from the river.
Liam channeled some mana around him before he started chanting, “O orb of sparks form before pure and true. Shoot fast and engulf the one in your path. Ripple through the muscles and make them lock. Electro Orb!”
A small baseball sized electric orb manifested in front of his open palm. After he finished chanting and forming the orb, he shot it at his target. As soon as the orb struck, webs of lightning arced around the gelatinous body, causing it to stop moving and ripple all around.
He took a look at the creature’s stats above its head and saw it had only done seventy-five damage to it. He was confused at why he hadn’t been able to kill it with one Electro Orb especially with the type advantage against it and the amount of mana he had channeled, but then thought about the one thing that could effect it. The Stat Shatter Debuff.
Damn it. Liam thought as he stared at the slime that was rippling in place. I knew my stats would be affected, but I really didn’t think it would be this bad. I thought since my magic levels weren’t affected then it wouldn’t be a problem.
That’s because your stats and sub-stats affect everything you do and why it is not good to receive any debuffs, Eri suddenly explained in Liam’s head.
This surprised Liam for a moment since he had gotten used to reading the notification texts that would appear whenever the chaotic goddess would speak to him.
So, you’re saying that my sub-stats affect my magic even though my magic levels weren’t affected. Which one is it? Liam asked her. Also, it is good to hear your voice. Glad to see we can talk normally instead of having a notification block my view.
Yeah I guess my theory was right. I can talk normally while you’re in a dungeon, but not when you’re out of one. Eri stated. And to answer your question, I believe it can be a combination of Magic Practicality which helps with your understanding on how and when to use a spell properly and Knowledge which helps your Magic Practicality. Both of those help you get a better understanding on how much mana to channel into a spell to how much damage you can do. I think we have had this conversation before, but your sub-stats connect to each other and can affect everything you do.
Liam nodded, starting to get a better understanding. I vaguely remember the conversation, but I guess we will need to have it again so I can understand which sub-stats are intertwined with one another and how they affect both my magic and physical skills. For now though, I need to finish this dungeon.
Agreed, just know that until your Stat Shatter Debuff is gone…you will need to channel more than you used to to your spells. Eri informed.
Got it. Liam replied back as he channeled his mana once more while chanting his Electro Orb spell.
After he finished chanting he sent the electrified orb flying over at the target. After it slammed into the Small River Slime, the creature shuddered all over before deflating into a small pool of its form.
“Congratulations! You have defeated Small River Slime!”
“Warning! Due to Debuff Stat Shatter, all experience earned related to stats from killing monsters will be collected but not allocated until Debuff has disappeared!”
Liam frowned at the last notification, but had a feeling it would appear.
Also, I will give you one more piece of advice, Eri chimed back in. Try channeling your Lightning Mana when using your Lightning Magic. It’ll serve as good practice to level up your understanding on how to manipulate it and it will add a small amount of damage when using those spells.
Liam mentally kicked himself for not thinking about that. With everything that had been going on he had forgotten about channeling different Mana types into spells to raise the levels.
Liam looked at the remaining Small River Slimes in the area. A couple had made it into the cave, but three remained outside moving around.
Liam closed his eyes as he started to channel his mana. He focused on the bits of Lightning Mana that was mixed in with his Arcane Mana. After pulling it forward to cover his hands he started the chant back up for Electro Orb.
“O orb of sparks form before pure and true. Shoot fast and engulf the one in your path. Ripple through the muscles and make them lock. Electro Orb!”
As he opened his eyes he saw the small baseball sized electrified orb had grown a bit and sparked a little more than it had done before. As he studied the orb he saw some subtle changes in it. It was different than when he created it with normal Arcane Mana. It felt a bit more powerful and was filled with more…electricity…lightning?
He never really studied the differences when he had done this before especially when he used his Shadow magic. He just used it and never thought about why there was a possibility of manipulating different mana and what changes they would bring to the magic they were associated with. He wasn’t sure, but he came to a decision that he would have to study the changes using Mana types into spells later. For now, he’ll just have to use this method.
Liam looked for a target and saw there was a Small River Slime in between two others. He aimed for it and threw it.
Liam and Cindy watched as the Electro Orb slammed against the Small River Slime. As it did, four sparks suddenly arced out from the middle Small River Slime and zapped the other two.
Liam was surprised as he watched this. The targeted monster died instantly while the other two took small damage. About ten points of damage each to be precise.
Cindy looked back at Liam and quickly asked, “Did you channel Lightning Mana into that spell?”
Liam nodded as he looked back at her.
“Interesting,” Cindy responded. “Judging by your look, this is the first time you have done that right?”
Liam didn’t want to say that it wasn’t his first time since he had done it with Shadow Mana, but it was his first time using it on a Lightning type magic ability. So instead of lying he just went with a half-truth. “This is my first Lightning spell using Lightning mana yes.”
“Okay,” Cindy started. “Something you need to know about using different types of mana into their associated magical spells. Every mana type has a different effect when using it like this. For Lightning base abilities, as you just saw, it will create wild sparks. Depending on how much mana is channeled into the spell, your level of Magical Practicality, Knowledge, and the level of spell, it will help determine the amount of sparks that arc from landing the spell and how much damage they will do. There are more effects it can help with, but for now that is all you need to know.”
Liam was shocked to hear this. He was starting to feel glad that Cindy was here with him since she was providing him with so much information. He looked back at the remaining two Small River Slimes and saw they were now making their way towards him. Their slow leisurely pace they had earlier was a little faster as they made their way towards him.
He didn’t want them to reach the riverbed, so he channeled another small amount of Lightning mana to replenish what he had used earlier and chanted his Electro Orb spell again. He did this once more after firing the spell at one of the two creatures to kill the last Small River Slime.
After they had died both he and Cindy made their way across the river over to the slain monsters. As they walked he looked at his Mana Pool and noticed the amount he had was less than usual. He was at eighty-two out of one hundred and three.
He thought about it and tried to think about why it had dropped more than when he regularly used the spell. The only factor he could draw upon was him channeling Lightning Mana to use on his spells. After thinking it over he thought it was appropriate that having to channel the Lightning Mana and then cast his Electro Orb since he was essentially using more mana on top the mana used to create the spell.
Just another thing to consider when using different mana types. Liam thought as they reached the first slain monster.
“Before you harvest the Slimes make sure you loot them to collect the cores you’ll need to show proof you defeated them to complete your Slime Hunting Quest,” Cindy explained.
One of the Monster Hunting Quests Don had suggested required him to slay fifteen slimes. He was told the type of Slime didn’t matter since there were different types in some of the dungeons.
Liam looked at her. “Slimes have cores in them?”
He looked back at the puddles of gelatinous slime but didn’t see anything in them.
Cindy nodded as she explained, “You can’t see them when they are alive because the color of the Slime hides them, but yes. When you kill them the core is destroyed, but you can still loot them. Don’t ask me how that works because no one has ever given me a straight answer about it.”
Liam shrugged before looting the first creature.
“Congratulations! You have received Small Water Slime Core x 1!”
He went around to the other pools of slain slimes and looted them, netting him three more Small Water Slime Cores. After he finished with that he walked towards the middle of all the defeated monsters placed a hand out and chanted, “Harvest.”
He waited for the notifications to show he had harvested all the creatures within the range he was in, but nothing appeared. Confused he looked at his hand. He then saw Cindy give him a weird look.
“What are you doing?” Cindy asked.
“I’m trying to harvest all the dead slimes,” Liam stated with a confused tone in his voice.
“Then why aren’t you pulling out one of the vials from the Harvest Bag I loaned you?” Cindy questioned.
Liam was about to say something, but was stopped as he heard Eri start laughing in his mind.
What’s so funny? Liam asked Eri.
The way you confidently tried to use Harvest in the same fashion you would when it was your class skill. Eri replied. Adding the confusion when it didn’t work and your little friend there clearly thinking you are stupid.
What do you mean tried to use Harvest in the same fashion I would when it was my Class skill? Liam inquired feeling a bit embarrassed.
There is a difference between your old Class ability Harvest and the one you received from the Gathering Craft Focus Point. Eri started to explain. The way they operate are completely different. The one from the Focus point doesn’t automatically harvest materials from harvestable objects like defeated creatures. You have to gain knowledge on the harvestable target to know what you can harvest and manually harvest them to get the materials. It is only after having the right amount of knowledge on the harvestable target would you be able to automatically harvest them.
For example, take these slimes. In order to get the materials, you will need to place an empty vial into the pool of its dead body and fill it up. After you get a better understanding on how to harvest them you’ll be able to hold the vial close to it and say harvest and watch the liquid enter the vial. Then when you have complete understanding on how to harvest each material from its body then you’ll be able to use it like how you did when you had it as a Class Ability.
Wait, but I was able to level it up before the class skill evolved. Liam started to argue. Why did it level up if they are fundamentally different?
That is because they both had the same name and theoretically the same ability. Eri started. However, as a class ability it was better than just its normal version. Now that they are separated you will have to use it as it was intended as a Focus Point ability.
That’s stupid. Liam complained. He really didn’t understand why it was so complicated, but he did understand complaining about it wouldn’t get him anywhere.
He looked at Cindy and thought about what he could say in order to make her not question him. After thinking about it he said, “I was just trying something out. It didn’t work the way I wanted to though.”
Cindy slowly nodded as she eyed him. “Were you trying to use an advanced form of the ability to help save time? Is this your first time harvesting a slime?”
“Yeah,” Liam said as he gave her a sheepish grin. “Is that going to be a problem?"
Cindy shook her head. “No, it’ll just take a little longer, but after harvesting enough Slimes in this dungeon you should be able to get a better idea on how to harvest them which will help save us some time.” She then let out a sigh before adding, “I guess this can also help with your training on the ability. I’m going to go scout the cave to see how many slimes are in there. I’ll be right back.”
Liam nodded as he pulled out the Gatherer’s Bag of Harvest. Before he looked in it to grab an empty vial, Eri suddenly said, Before you start harvesting them you should take this time while she is gone to harvest something else.
Harvest something else? Liam thought as he tried to think about what she meant.
He looked around and realized what she was talking about as he watched the soul orbs floating not too far above the killed River Slimes.
He had forgotten about collecting the souls. A thought suddenly popped in his mind as he looked to his hip. The Spectral Lantern wasn’t there. He was both relieved and slightly panicked as he didn’t remember where he had placed it.
However, as he thought about it, it had suddenly materialized on the side of his hip.
Liam blinked a couple of times as he stared at it. He wasn’t sure how it manifested like it did or why it wasn’t there in the first place.
Seeing the confusion on Liam’s face Eri explained, That item is attached to you. It wont leave your side, however, it can go incorporeal and make itself stay out of sight until you need to use it.
Is that so? Liam thought as he stared at it. That’s both convenient and helpful since I don’t want to explain it to anyone right now.
Agreed. Eri said while nodding her head. The less amount of people who know, the better right now.
Without wasting time, Liam pulled the Spectral Lantern away from his hip and chanted in as low of a whisper as he could, “Soul Harvest.”
The Spectral Lantern lit up with the creepily ghastly green light that was inside. A glass section suddenly opened up on its own allowing the light to shine even brighter out from it.
Liam watched the four soul orbs that were hovering around the area shudder. Then after a moment had passed the orbs shot towards the lantern in one swift movement. When the last orb entered the lantern the glass door shut.
After the glass door shut, he heard footsteps coming from the mouth of the cave. He released the Spectral Lantern, allowing it to return to his hip. He tried to will it to disappear as he pulled out a vial from the Gatherer’s Bag of Harvest and crouched down next to a pool of gelatinous liquid and placed the vial into it.
“What was that?” Cindy asked as she rushed out from the cave looking around.
“What was what?” Liam asked as he looked at her.
Cindy looked back at him after not finding anything. “I felt a strange type of magic out here. Did it come from you?”
Liam gave her the best confused look he could muster as he replied slowly, “No. I didn’t feel anything out here.” He then raised the vial he had in the dead slime. It was completely full. “I was just collecting the materials from this creature.”
Cindy still had a look of confusion on her face, but gave up as she muttered, “Maybe I was just imagining it.”
Liam let out a sigh of relief as she re-entered the cave. He didn’t know that others could feel the magic of his new Class ability when he used it. Knowing this now would help him in the future as he would need to know when and where he could use it.
A notification suddenly appeared, bringing him out of his thoughts.
“Congratulations! You have Harvested Slime Liquid!”
“Congratulations! You have a small amount of understanding on how to Harvest Slimes. Tracking of such knowledge can now be seen in a drop down window under Field of the Craft - Focus Point – Gathering Craft Ability – Harvest.”
Liam sighed. This was going to be a long day for him and not because he wasn’t able to automatically harvest everything. He was beginning to understand how spoiled he was with the ability as he continued the process, getting some of the slime liquid over his fingers.
