The Reluctant Hero - Vol. 1 - Chapter 6

The next room was about the same size as the previous one and contained two skeletons as well. Axel quickly crushed the two of them, gaining a few more levels and some more bone powder. With no exit to the room, he was left with only taking the last remaining path from the entry.

In less than twenty feet he found another path on the right leading into another hallway. It was a short walk, some more skeletons, and some more experience. Axel was actually starting to enjoy himself. It was a little tedious to walk so much for such short fights, but the experience he was gaining was excellent. He was already over level twenty and still going strong. He knew it would continue like that until he reached level thirty or so. After that, his experience gain would be normalized.

Axel explored an entire wing of the dungeon killing dozens of skeletons over the course of a few hours. As he had expected, once he surpassed level thirty, the rapid level gain slowed down dramatically. Killing monsters that were at a significantly higher level than him gave bonus experience for the extra ‘effort’ it was supposed to take. It was just another aspect of the world that his Special Trait allowed him to exploit.

With the first wing of the dungeon cleared, Axel came upon his first safe room. He’d been hoping to come across one for a while now. With his levels, he’d gained access to his class abilities, Spellcraft and Metamagic. He wanted to take the time to go over them without having to worry about possible wandering monsters. There was also no telling how long it would take to craft his spells.

Spellcraft - Rank MAX

A mage is only a mage after developing their own spells and casting style. Create your own spells using this ability to develop your own magical path.

Any spell you create will have its own costs and damage values determined by the parameters you design.

You may develop one new spell at level five and every five levels thereafter. Any spell you develop can be taught to others.

Level 05:

Level 10:

Level 15:

Level 20:

Level 25:

Level 30:

Metamagic - Rank MAX

Metamagic is the art of modifying spells as you cast them. The choices for Metamagic are many and each choice will allow you to modify your spells in a specific manner for a specific cost. Multiple Metamagic abilities can be used on any spell cast. You may select one Metamagic ability at level twenty and every twenty levels thereafter.

Level 20:

Axel already knew what he wanted his first spell to be. He’d been thinking about it for a while and he wanted a spell to create weapons made of shadow. How fitting would it be for a Rogue to create weapons of shadow and use them to dispatch enemies? Not just daggers though, any weapon he could imagine. Mostly for small blades though. Daggers, throwing knives, shortswords, those kinds of weapons. Yet, he would also like to be able to create hammers and mauls for dealing with dungeons like this where blades aren’t the most efficient means of dispatching the monsters.

Please describe the spell you wish to create. Be as detailed as possible to get the best results. Once you finish the system will generate a description for you. Once you confirm that the spell will function as you desire, the remaining details, such as damage and cost, will be detailed.

He was about to describe what he wanted before pausing. Creating a weapon out of the shadow element was awesome, but there was a problem with overspecialization. The same as sticking to only blades could be bad, so could sticking to only a single element. If he came across something resistant to shadows his created weapons would be worthless. With that in mind, he described the spell he desired.

Elemental Weapon

This spell allows the user to conjure up a weapon made from an element of their choosing. Choices include: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning, Metal, Light, Shadow.

Is this the spell you desire?

Axel could barely contain his excitement as he confirmed the creation of his first spell. It would fit his desires perfectly and would be useful in many situations. The perfect kind of spell for a Rogue! Flexible!

Elemental Weapon - Rank 1 (0%)

This spell allows the user to conjure up a weapon made from an element of their choosing. Choices include: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning, Metal, Light, Shadow.

Weapon lasts for [Skill Rank] minute(s).

Cost: 1,250MP

Weapon Damage: [Int+Skill Level]*5

It was impossible to resist, “Elemental Weapon, Shadow!”

Just as he had imagined, the shadows around him seemed to condense into a long-bladed knife that was just short of becoming a short sword. It felt solid in his hand and looked blacker than black as if it was trying to absorb all the light within the room. It felt comfortable and light, ready to use as he saw fit.

Conjured Shadow Blade

Weapon Damage: 840 Shadow

Time Remaining: 36 seconds

The damage the weapon he conjured could do was impressive, but so was the mana cost along with a short duration. A regular Mage would only be able to cast the spell once and would be nearly out of mana after they did. They would have to wait out the duration of the spell, and then some, in order to cast it again. It would be a while before he was spamming this spell all the time.

Now, the obvious next step is something to do with stealth. After all, one of the big draws of a Rogue is its ability to sneak around to scout, find traps, and ambush enemies. A spell to add to the stealth of a Rogue would be invaluable. Now, his next skill could be completely shadow-based.

Shadow Cloak - Rank 1 (0%)

This spell wraps the user in a cloak of shadows making it easier to blend into shadowy and darkened areas. While active, the user is [Skill Level]% harder to locate in such areas. The spell ends the first time the user attacks.

Cost: 25MP/sec

“Shadow Cloak.”

Once again the shadows around seemed to move toward him, however this time they wrapped around him in a soft embrace. His whole body was covered in scintillating darkness that let him blend into the background of the dark dungeon a little better. Granted, the spell was still only rank one so he still stood out like a sore thumb and wasn’t very stealthy at all… Yet.

He canceled the spell to keep from wasting mana. Two hundred and fifty mana a second was a lot to be spending while just sitting around. Now, he had the weapons and the stealth, obviously, he now needed something for backstabbing! Another Rogue signature ability, backstabbing allowed Rogues to deal devastating damage to unaware opponents. Now he just needed to emulate that to some degree.

Elemental Strike - Rank 1 (0%)

Coats the user’s weapon in the chosen element to deal additional damage on their next attack.

Choices include: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning, Metal, Light, Shadow.

Cost: 500MP

Damage: [Int+Dex+Skill Level+Weapon Damage]*5

Alex practically vibrated in place as he read over the spell. If he combined it with his Elemental Weapon spell the damage would be phenomenal. Granted, so was the mana price tag but it would be worth it.

Now, there was just one last spell he wanted to create. This one was based on one of the spells he saw back in the Wizard’s Emporium. He fully expected it to cost a literal fortune in mana and be something he wouldn’t be able to really abuse until later in his career. Still, it was something he didn’t want to risk forgetting.

Greater Create Magic Item - Rank MAX

Allows the user to create any magical or non-magical item they can imagine. The cost of creating an item varies based on the size of the item, the materials it’s made from, the power of the magic imbued in it, and more. Even the smallest and simplest magic items will have a prohibitive cost.

Cost: Varies

Well, he had no idea how much anything would cost to make using the spell, but it wasn’t something he planned to try right away anyway. If he did and it cost him all of his available mana, he’d be screwed and stuck inside of this room until he recovered enough mana to fight his way out. He still had a bunch of minions and the final boss to deal with.

For now, it was time for some dinner and sleep. It had been a little after noon when he arrived at the dungeon and he’d skipped lunch in his excitement. His stomach wasn’t too thrilled about that and was demanding to be fed. First dinner, then some sleep, then back to killing skeletons and leveling up.

Axel retrieved several items from his Magic Box, including a portable stove, pot, containers of water, and a packet of dried food. He set the pot on the stove and fed some mana into it to get it going. The stove was a seriously common magical item that anyone could get. This one was given to him by his parents, it was one of their from their adventuring days. While it got warmed up, he poured some water into the pot and let it sit to heat up.

Once the water was boiling he opened the packet of dried food and poured the entire contents into the pot. The single most common and easily purchased type of preserved dried food is stew. Just add hot water and presto, full meal. He carefully stirred the stew to make sure everything was properly rehydrated. Once it was, he pulled a bowl and some fresh bread out of his Magix Box. It was still hot and fresh from when he bought it earlier.

The most amazing thing about the Magic Box was its ability to stop time for items placed inside. He would have bought a bunch of fresh food to carry with him but… Well, he wasn’t the greatest cook and the dried stuff wasn’t terrible tasting. It was also cheaper and with limited funds price was a concern.

After filling the bowl with stew, Axel began to eat his dinner. Today had been so wonderful. He could feel how much stronger he had become. Gaining over thirty levels in just a few hours would do that. While eating his bread and stew, Axel pulled up the information on Metamagic. He was curious about his options. He would only ever get five so he had to be pretty picky with them. Luckily he could just look for now and choose later. Much later if he wanted.

Metamagic

Choose One: Chain, Delay, Elemental Substitution, Enhance, Enlarge, Extend, Invisible, Quicken, Repeat, Split

Axel let out a soft whistle at the options. All of them looked interesting and had potential. It’s just that none of them seemed like they would apply to his limited spell set at the moment. Though, Elemental Substitution looked like a good candidate for his first choice. It would be perfect for spells he paid to learn. Especially common elemental spells like Fireball and Ice Lance. Being able to swap them for other elements on the go would be very useful.

He would definitely keep that one in mind for the future. Until then, he needed to get some sleep and finish clearing the dungeon. He cleaned up his dinner supplies, pulled out a sleeping bag, got comfortable, and went to sleep. His last thought was to hope that he could finish the dungeon tomorrow.