Chương 38: QUIET PREPARATION (2)

A notification popped up. —----------------------------------------------------------- [Skill Successfully Created]'Repair' – Acquired. Total LP: 92 —-----------------------------------------------------------"Alright…" he muttered. Jimin didn't waste time celebrating. He picked up one of his daggers. He whispered, "Repair." Faint bluish mana flowed from his hand to the dagger. The dagger glowed a faint blue, the light pulsing once… twice… then fading after a few seconds. He immediately appraised it.

[Durability: 62/100 (+10)]"Damn…" His eyebrows lifted.

"It really increased." Ten durability in one go was significant, especially on gear this early. He tried again. And then once more. By the third attempt, the system refused further improvement for the day; just as it stated. [Durability: 85/100]"Cool." He rolled the dagger in his fingers, testing the balance. The edge looked cleaner now, fewer micro-cracks and nicks along the blade. But the cost was hard to ignore. It cost me almost one-third of my total mana to repair one to this extent…

He exhaled slowly, then repeated the process on the second dagger. Three uses again. It was the same result. [Durability: 83/100]"Huff… all done." His shoulders loosened a little as he stored both daggers back into his inventory. The room fell quiet again, broken only by his breathing. Then his expression shifted. Now that the immediate task was done, his mind naturally moved forward. He leaned back slightly and stared at the ceiling.

"What do I actually need next…?" The past few days replayed in his head in fragments; training, the chaos of real combat, the way his body reacted under pressure, the moments where he'd barely scraped by. Telekinesis had carried him hard. And so had barrier and dash. But there were gaps. Clear ones.

"I think I should start with a healing type skill." He didn't hesitate after that thought settled. He opened his skill creation window and filled in the details. A skill window popped up A window popped up. —------------------------------------------ [Skill: Heal] Category: Active Type: Support Rank: Uncommon Level: 1 / 50 Description: Casting immediately restores a fixed amount of HP. Channels mana to close wounds, knit flesh, and restore more HP over time.

Higher levels allow for the treatment of internal injuries, blood loss, and organ or mana vein restoration. Scaling: • INT → Healing potency • WIS → Efficiency of mana use Heal: Immediate 50 + Overtime (INT × 1) Cooldown: 1 min Cost: 50 MP per use Required LP: 500 【Create】 【Edit】 [Draft] 【Delete】 —-------------------------------------------- Jimin stared at it.

"That seems usable…" His gaze drifted to the LP requirement. Though the LP requirement is high. He tapped his finger lightly against his leg. Any less and it won't be effective. Let's leave it at that. He drafted the skill without further changes.

"If 'Heal' costs that much, regeneration will be beyond my reach right now," he muttered.

"I'll try that later." The window closed. Almost immediately, another thought followed. He sat up straighter. It's not like I can have my daggers on me all the time.

"Retrieving them and attacking with them will still take a few seconds," he said quietly.

"I need an attack skill." I need something fast. Something effective enough to buy me time. The teacher's lectures surfaced in his memory. She told us that among basic magic skills, fireball is the most effective. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. As it has range, power and burn status effect. And most low-level monsters are weak to fire.

"It should work," Jimin muttered.

"I just need to tweak it a bit." He filled in the details for a skill. A new window appeared. —-------------------------------------------------- [Skill: Fireshot] Category: Active Type: Offense Rank: Common Level: 1 / 50 Description: Shoots an immediate burst of flame. Deals low fire damage but has very low casting time. Has a low chance of applying the [Burn] status effect. 【Status Effect: Burn】 Inflicts continuous fire damage over time for 10 seconds.

Reduces the target's current HP by 1% every second for the duration. Stackable up to 3 times. Scaling: • INT → Fire damage potency • LUK → Burn triggering Range: 25 m effective range Cooldown: 20 Seconds Cost: 15 MP Required LP: 200 【Create】 【Edit】 [Draft] 【Delete】 —-------------------------------------------------"This looks usable." He leaned back slightly, a grin tugging at his lips. It makes up for telekinesis's range limit and preparation time," he murmured.

"Plus, it has the burn effect. His thoughts were already racing ahead. I can even upgrade it in the future with higher damage and less cooldown." He paused.

"Maybe even an explosion effect." He drafted the skill. Then, without pause, he opened the skill window again. Another idea had been lingering in his mind ever since he'd experimented with gravity manipulation. Back then, the concept was too vague for him. But now… He began filling in the details. The first attempt wasn't right. Neither was the second. He edited values, rewrote the description, and refined the limitations. Then, the window finally appeared.

—------------------------------------------- [Skill: Weight Distortion] Category: Active Type: Utility Rank: Rare Level: 1 / 50 Description: When cast, distorts the gravitational laws of all equipment or object, currently used by the user. While active, the object's weight is halved for the user. Conversely, the weight doubles upon impact with any external target or surface. Limit: Cannot exceed 40 kgs in total original weight of objects. Scaling: Scales with level Output: 0. 5x Weight (User) / 2.

0x Weight (Impact Receiver) Duration: 1 Minute Cooldown: 30 Seconds Cost: (0. 5 - 2) MP / second (depends on total original weight) Required LP: 400 【Create】 【Edit】 [Draft] 【Delete】 —------------------------------------------------------------"Now that's more like it." Jimin nodded to himself. Not only will this increase my attack speed, he thought, but also the power behind my attacks. His mind leapt ahead again, imagining variations.

And it'll be even more useful when I include chakram and shields into my arsenal. He drafted this skill as well. The window closed. After that, he leaned back fully and let the mattress take his weight.

"By looking at my upcoming roster of skills," he muttered, "I'm definitely going to be needing more MP." He glanced at his hands.

"Anyways… it should take some load off of my PE." Without delay, he opened his status window and spent his remaining free statpoints. One into INT. One into WIS. The refreshed window appeared. —-------------------------------------------------- 【STATUS WINDOW】 Name: Sam Jimin Age: 16 Rank: E Level: 3 HP: 355/355 STA: 195/195 MP: 185/185 PE: 300/300 STATS: STR: 9 AGI: 10 END: 11 INT: 14(+1) WIS: 12(+1) VIT: 11 CHA: 4 PSY: 21 LUK: 10 FREE STATPOINTS: None UNIQUE SKILL: Skillmaster SKILLS → Telekinesis (Lv. 5) Telekinetic Spin (Lv. 4) Telekinetic Barrier (Lv. 4) Meditation (Lv. 4) Growth (Lv. 3) Dash (Lv. 3) Appraisal (Lv. 6) ………………………. ……………………… —--------------------------------------------------"Good…" His eyes flicked to the MP value. My MP increased by 15. Then he sighed.

"But it still isn't enough." He closed the status window slowly.

"I need more stats," he said quietly.

"I should meditate more." He took a deep breath and sat down properly. His breathing slowed as he slipped into meditation, the familiar calm settling over him. Time passed. Then- His eyes snapped open suddenly.

"Wait…" He frowned; his mind suddenly sharp.

"What if…?" He opened the skill creation window again almost instinctively. He filled in the name & the description. Then he confirmed it. A window with full details appeared. —-------------------------------------------------------------- [Skill: Overtime] Category: Passive / Active Type: Contract Rank: Custom Description: A self-restriction skill for gaining buffs. Activated: Combat stats get capped at 80% and time accumulation starts. Deactivated: Returns stats to 100%, but no time is accumulated or spent.

Passive: Combat stats are limited to 80% all time. On: Boosts all combat stats to 120%. Duration: Overtime = 20% of total time spent with limited stats. Accumulated time resets every 24 hours (count starts from first ever activation). Cooldown: No cooldown (As long as overtime is available) Cost: No extra cost Required LP: 1100 【Create】 【Edit】 [Draft] 【Delete】 —------------------------------------------------------------- He analyzed everything on the window.

"A contract type skill?" he muttered.

"That's new." He read it again. And again. After checking everything, he decided not to edit it. Any less and it will be useless Then, he began breaking it down. So… if I activate it, my stats drop to 80%, he thought. And time accumulation starts. His fingers twitched. And the conversion rate… He paused. If I stay at 80% stats for an hour, I get twelve minutes of overtime. His eyes narrowed.

"And when I turn it on... my stats will jump to 120%. And my stats will return to 100%, if I just choose to deactivate it?" He leaned back and let out a long breath.

"Damn…" This is my most complex skill so far. He glanced at the LP cost again. But the effects are really something. He drafted the skill. Then, he took a deep breath and leaned back on his bed. Suddenly, he snapped open his eyes but his eyes remained unfocused. His thoughts spiraled.

"Contract…"

"Contract…" His lips parted slightly.

"What if…"