Chương 18: Omnimancer BONUS Chapter: Jax's Descent (4 of 5)

Flyboy Welcome to the School of Space. For entering into this school, you have gained a permanent 100% boost to spell range. Congratulations! You have reached Level 100. Few Mancers ever attain this vaunted achievement. For your persistence, the goddess Luxor grants you [Luxor's Boon]. Luxor's Boon: All magic is now 25% more potent. Lux cost is unaffected. Congratulations! You have reached Level 250. For attaining this rare and impressive achievement, the Goddess Luxor grants you [Luxor's Wrath].

Luxor's Wrath: Each consecutive spell cast reduces the cost of the next spell by 5% (up to a maximum of 75%) Jax whistled at that. Blasting past level 250 was better than he could ever have hoped, and those boons? Yeah those would come in handy. Between the levels and the sheer magnitude of points, Jax figured this system had to be as inflated as the Venezuelan Bolivar, and mentally prepared himself to encounter people in the world with levels in the thousands. The high costs didn't end there, either.

The [Flight] spell cost another 300, 000 on top, and that was for the [Lesser] variant, whose description mentioned limitations to duration, maximum altitude, speed, and inefficient Lux consumption. None of that gave Jax much confidence for avoiding the many terrifying flying predators that covered the mountain, so he sprung for the [Apex] variant, costing 1, 500, 000. To get that, though, the System forced him to purchase the 'Greater' version at 600, 000 first. But Jax had 27, 130, 960 credits left.

He could afford a splurge or two, even if it meant eating up 4. 9 million of his 5 million allowance. Speaking of… Teddy Tooturial! Quest: Get off the mountain (Part IV of???) Descend 20, 000 ft. Reward: Credit Tranche II Unlocked. Right on time. Understanding surged into Jax with all the force of a tsunami. Laws of magic were dumped into his brain. Information about the deep and subtle connections that forged the fabric of this universe, of infinite power that lurked just beneath.

When it was done, Jax felt like he'd lived through a hundred years in the span of what couldn't have been more than ten seconds. A quick check of his Status Screen confirmed what he had already felt, but seeing the ludicrous number still made Jax chuckle. Five Hundred? Seriously?

Name: Jackson Collins [Human] Gift: Omnimancer [Transcendent] Level: 527 Vitality: 163/163 Lux: 5/400 Lux Credits: 24, 730, 960 Peaks Ascended: — Luxspire Peak (Altitude: 101, 301 ft) Spells: — School of Fire: — Fireball: Lesser, Greater, Apex — School of Life: — Heal: Lesser — School of Space: — Flight: Lesser, Greater, Apex Passives/Boons: — School of Fire: +25% Offensive Magic Damage — School of Life: +25% Vitality Gain — School of Space: +100% Spell Range The screen was followed by another. Congratulations!

You have reached Level 500. Only a handful of humans have ever reached this high station, or even come anywhere close. For this monumental lifetime achievement, the Goddess Luxor grants you [Lux Compressor]. Lux Compressor: Consume more Lux to boost the magic power of any spell. Boost percentage is directly proportional to the percentage of Lux consumed.

"Naming magic after yourself… I'm all for self-love, but goddamn." Thunder cracked just then, despite there being not a cloud in the sky, and Jax's hair stood on end. That had to be a coincidence… right? Coincidence or not, a final message killed any levity he had over the situation. Warning: S oulfire output exceeds local threshold. Concealment not currently possible. Jax read the line twice. He wasn't sure what a 'local threshold' was or what happened when you exceeded it, but he got the message loud and clear.

So much for the level meaning nothing… The teddy's words played in his head, but this time, the warning was far more real.

"Guess I'm one of the fat ones now, huh?" All the more reason to keep his head down. All the more reason to get the hell off this mountain. Letting out a long breath, Jax buried himself in sorting through the wall of text he'd just received. [Luxor's Boon] was no small perk, but it was [Lux Compressor] that made Jax do a double take. If there was no upper limit to how much he could overcharge a spell… And with the current exchange rate… Boosting the output of a spell by 10x seemed quite doable.

Possibly far more, if he really dumped points into it. Thinking it over, he idly thumbed over to his inventory, looking for a water bottle, but stopped when he noticed icons for food and water he definitely hadn't carried up the mountain. Water so delicious that he couldn't stop himself from wolfing the whole thing down like a feral beast.

After weeks of terrible mountain food, every sip filled him with an explosion of flavor, and every chew seemed to melt in his mouth, revealing a depth of spices and umami nuance he never thought possible. When he was done, he was both full and completely energized, like he could tackle anything. Well, maybe not Sun Bears…

"Divine Stew has temporarily enhanced your existence with the divine. Incoming damage is reduced by 20%. All attacks are now 20% more effective. Movement speed increased by 20%. This effect lasts for six hours." Jax cursed himself for not paying more attention to the 'Divine' in the name of the stew. The other nine were strictly for special occasions. He couldn't go around wasting such precious food. In addition to the stew, Jax had twenty liters of water in one liter bottles.

The water didn't claim to be divine, and he confirmed that it was just ordinary water, albeit some of the best he'd ever tasted. Appreciative of the teddy's foresight, Jax turned his attention to his [Flight] spell, and the housekeeping that had to be done before attempting a takeoff. Apex Flight (School of Space) The ultimate Flight magic, this spell manipulates gravity to allow the caster to soar without limits, for as long as the caster has Lux to fuel it.

Though this spell is more Lux efficient than its lesser variants, be warned that its consumption is still quite high. Lux Consumption: Very High The efficiency bit was key. Some spells would absolutely gain from [Lux Compressor], but Flight didn't seem to be one. Jax dumped ten Credits to unlock an extra hundred Lux. The tiny puddle in his chest ballooned into a slightly larger one, but still nowhere near enough, so he added Lux in increments of 100 points until he hit five thousand.

That seemed to be the absolute minimum required for the spell to activate. As the description said, though, the spell burned Lux continuously. It was likely that every spell he ever learned would use Lux, so there was little point in pinch pennies here. Not like having more fuel made him more threatening to the monsters and more visible to Luxor. It was the spells he bought he'd have to watch.

Which did make him reconsider getting [Apex Flight], but the spell would genuinely get him away from said monsters faster than anything else. A worthwhile compromise, he thought. He dumped 1, 000 credits into it, granting 10, 000 Lux. Jax immediately regretted that decision. The tiny puddle in his chest ballooned into a pond—a vast reservoir of unbridled energy that filled every inch of his core. The energy struggled to be contained within his flesh, pushing and shoving against his chest, desperate to break free.

While not exactly painful, it was still the most uncomfortable sensation Jax had ever felt. Like swallowing a meal without fully chewing it, only for it to get stuck going down the throat. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Thankfully, the worst was over in a few seconds, and he was soon back to normal. The new normal, that was, for Jax knew he would never feel the same again. That torrent of energy flooded his every vein, artery, and pore.

Burgeoning Lux leaked out of his body, like a radiator venting excess heat. In short, he felt like a god with an infinite well of power just begging to be used. He obliged. Voth'ai spa'nav rek, vo'laan te'lem vaan, spa'vothaa ko'rek zholen! The rush of [Apex Flight] was completely unlike the lower-tier spells. Ten times as many magic circuits flared to life within his body, completing a spell that was incomparable in both complexity and Lux consumption.

Space folded and bent in a million points around his body, forming pockets of anti-gravity that reached out, connecting with each other with each word chanted. Like a maestro directing the world's largest orchestra or an organist opening all the stops on a giant pipe organ, it felt good. Better than good. He felt like a fucking god. That was, until a certain presence fell over him. His hairs stood on end, and his gaze shot up to the sky, past the clouds, to the miles-long snake that drifted high above the peak.

But nothing had changed, and he could barely even see the thing from here. Had his newfound power been detected already? But when nothing came for him and the spell completed, his attention was pulled back to himself as the magic enveloped his body in a skin-tight bubble of distorted space, his boots lifting off the snow. He was flying. Actually flying! Once he got over the rush of being the first Earthling to fly without any assistance, he noticed just how steep the slope truly was.

Funny how his brain had nearly convinced him it was almost flat after seeing it hours on end. One wrong move and he'd go tumble to his death. Just like the sun bear. Luckily, his hover was near-perfect, and it didn't seem to require much effort beyond visualizing what he wanted his body to do. A bit like flexing a muscle he hadn't used in a long time. The knowledge was all there. He just had to dust off the cobwebs.

While convenient, it did mean he had to put in some effort to make sure everything ran smoothly, at least until he got the hang of things. Jax crawled forward, heading uphill. If he fell, the crampon spikes on his boots would dig in and stop him from sliding too far. Hopefully. It was truly convenient how the spell let him hover and move at a snail's pace, though. It really did seem to manipulate gravity, rather than affecting the wind.

Jax kept a keen eye on his Lux consumption, glad he'd invested so many points into Lux. At this rate, his seemingly vast reservoir would only last another thirty seconds. Like someone had uncorked a giant drain plug at the bottom. He didn't need the numbers to tell him. The godlike feeling swiftly disappeared, and he didn't like that one bit. As the Life spell had shown, fully draining his charge would not be pleasant.

If such a tiny pool had left him with a painful headache, what would draining this massive reservoir do? As such, Jax landed as softly as he could manage, canceling the spell when it dropped to a third. Despite his caution, he tripped over his crampons, barely catching himself with another activation of [Apex Flight].

Jax sat back down, realizing he'd need orders of magnitude more Lux to fly around as long as he wanted, but dumping a hundred thousand Lux Credits might very well kill him if his earlier experience was any indication. And so, Jax began the laborious process of spending a thousand credits at a time until he'd spent his remaining 100, 000 credits to reach a full million Lux.

Either the sensation became less uncomfortable over time or he was just getting used to it, because he was able to add more and more credits without adverse effects. Maybe it's a percentage thing? he wondered. That first infusion had multiplied the size of his reservoir severalfold, while the more recent ones contributed far less. With one million Lux, Jax estimated he'd get about an hour of flight time. Not exactly a long-haul flight, but plenty to start and he had more where that came from.

Jax repositioned his snow goggles, cinched his oxygen mask, and took to the sky. — — — He never saw it coming. Screaming, Jax plummeted toward the ground, smashing face-first into the snow, tumbling end over end.

"Goddamit," he cried, spitting out a mouthful of snow as he drove his ice axe into the mountain in a desperate attempt to slow himself. The axe strained against the snow and the ice, struggling to find purchase as Jax picked up speed. Agonizingly, after what felt like forever, the axe began to slow his descent, gouging deeper and deeper into the snow. When he slowed enough, Jax began driving his legs into the snow as well, his crampon spikes digging in with each step. He didn't dare relax yet, though.

If his boots dug in too hard while he was still in motion, the sudden traction would flip him end over end. He could feel pain bloom from his shoulder and ribcage, and he hadn't even stopped yet. This was the exact situation he had been trying to avoid. Pressing down on his axe with all the force he could muster, he finally managed to slow his descent, eventually coming to a stop.

"I'm… alive?" he gasped, staring up at the sky where a massive snake-like creature flew. The very same creature that had head-butted him mid-air, currently flying away without a care in the world. One of the hundreds that patrolled the skies, attacking him one after another, forcing him to dodge. Eventually, his luck had run out.

"One day, I am going to come back and wreck you!" he shouted after it, throwing it the finger. Sitting up, Jax checked over his backpack, finding it miraculously intact. The modern wonder material had lived up to its reputation of being 'unrippable', though he didn't doubt this world would continue to put that to the test. His body hadn't been so lucky. Touching his ribs made him wince. Probably at least one broken, likely several, and he hurt in so many places he'd lost count.

The impact had hurt unlike anything Jax had ever experienced. He'd heard the bones crunch before he felt it.

"At least I've got the remedy. Handy, that." Ven ko'nav ma'ai! Jax uttered the blissfully short chant of [Lesser Heal], which covered Jax in a dim green aura and flooded him with that soothing sensation he'd come to love, erasing much of the pain that wracked his body. His ribs were another story. The pain had subsided somewhat, but they were still very broken, irritating him whenever he moved. The same went for his chest.

Trying again with [Lux Compressor] adding ten times the amount of Lux did run through its effects far quicker, but ultimately yielded the same result. The soothing sensation bathed him for a shorter duration, but to little actual effect. Broken bones, it seemed, were beyond the capabilities of Lesser Heal, no matter how compressed the Lux. That was alright, as Jax's Lux pool was dwarfed only by the ridiculous number of credits he had to spend.

Freshly recharged, after having descended low enough to unlock his next tranche. This time, it gave him a full 10 million to play with. Not that he was about to light himself up with a flashy spell like that, of course. But Greater Heal for 30, 000 credits felt more like a candle than a bonfire.

Unlocking it granted him another 3 levels, bringing him to 530, though aside from the milestone levels—which, admittedly, were quite significant—they seemed to be more of an indicator of his overall school and spell progress than anything that bestowed benefits on their own. The number had gotten so large that even double-digit levelups were barely a drop in the bucket now. And the day wasn't even over. Ven ko'nav ma'ai, ve'zheen te'lem vaan! This time, the healing sensation was closer to a full day at the spa.

He felt rejuvenated, full of vigor, and blissfully warm and fuzzy. Even better, his chest, shoulders, and ribs were fully mended without a trace of lingering pain. Unfortunately, it did nothing to stop the Lux leaking out of his body. Though likely a natural phenomenon, the loss of efficiency still irked Jax. The leakage was tiny, sure, but every little bit added up.

"So anyway," Jax muttered, " [Greater Heal] mends bones and stuff like internal bleeding, but probably won't help if I'm on the brink of death." Not to mention the chant—significantly longer than its lesser counterpart. That trend seemed consistent with his other spells as well, which could be a problem. Apex spell chants took several seconds to chant, and there seemed to be a limit to how fast Jax could rush the words.

Too quickly, and the magical pathways in his body wouldn't fully draw, thereby failing the spell. Not an issue normally, but in the middle of a fight? That was an eternity. There was another issue, too. Assuming others in this world learned the same spells, it stood to reason the chants would be the same. Which essentially meant he and all the other Mancers basically announced to the world what they were about to unleash. Far from ideal. Jax wondered if there was a way around that.

Sure, he could mutter the spells, but the length alone was still a giveaway. Still, that was no reason not to maximize his healing capabilities. At 75, 000 credits, Jax happily shelled out to unlock [Apex Heal]. After experiencing the heal spells in action, obtaining the best health insurance plan available seemed like a no-brainer. Jax picked himself up and dusted off the snow that covered his body. Somehow, his clothing and gear had all made it through intact.

He shut off the oxygen flow and stowed it in his pack before realizing he could put it in his inventory, along with his backpack and its contents, cursing himself for not thinking of that earlier. Getting used to life being so convenient was going to take some time. Jax glanced at his current Lux. His reserves were rapidly ticking up, recovering steadily. He counted out the seconds on his watch, waiting until a full minute passed, and found it would take about twelve hours to fully recharge.

Which it'd take a day if he completely drained it. Given how there was still plenty of daylight, Jax once again launched into the air, hoping to cover more ground. He didn't dare go as high as he did last time, flying just barely high enough to steer clear of any creatures lurking on the slopes. He'd ended up going higher when he'd spotted more of the sun bears—a mistake that had nearly cost him his life. He now understood just how lucky he'd been during his earlier descent.

The monsters down here didn't seem nearly as strong as the ones that patrolled the summit. Not one had that crushing aura, for instance. If those creatures had attacked him when he'd yet to unlock his powers… A damned good thing they'd given him that invisibility. To think it had been almost as an afterthought. Jax shuddered to think of the hundreds of ways he would have died without it. Most of them ended with him being chomped in half by superpowered monsters.

During the half hour of his earlier flight, Jax had spotted hundreds of creatures ranging from midsized to colossal, all roaming the snowy terrain. Most had white coats, blending almost perfectly with the snow, and some even had some kind of active camouflage that made them practically invisible if they weren't moving. Others didn't even seem to be made of anything physical, their energy translucent and almost impossible to see. It was little wonder why no one had made it up here.

Each beast Jax encountered was every bit as terrifying as the Sun Bear, to say nothing of the ones that roamed the summit or the miles-long snake that floated high above it. It sounded like suicide to even try. Unless, of course, you could fly. [Flight]'s absence from the School of Wind suddenly made a lot more sense.

"Lightning," he mused, now familiar enough with the mechanics of the spell that he could let his mind drift.

"Now that would be a fun elemental power." Quick, and hard, if not impossible, to avoid. Jax's [Apex Fireball] spell had shown its limits in his encounter with the flying snake. He'd activated the spell on instinct, coming face to face with its worst shortcoming. Fireballs were slow. Too slow to hit an aerial target except by sheer dumb luck. Worse—they fired in a ballistic arc, forcing Jax to get his aim angle correct if he wanted to hit anything. Lightning, though? That was pretty much the exact opposite.

Its speed would greatly offset whatever chant it required, too. The image of himself cackling as he seared his helpless foes with lightning bolts shot from his fingertips made Jax giddier than it ought to have. It would only take a few seconds and a mental click to unlock it, too. There was just one problem. Jax had no clue if Lightning attacks would do anything against those worms. What if he bought it, only to have it fail on him when he needed it most?

There were hundreds more of these things between him and the bottom of the mountain, if not thousands. And while ground-based threats could be countered by flying higher, these fast-moving aerial monsters had proven harder to dodge. Luckily, Jax didn't need to guess. Not when he had better options. Like witnessing a fight between two worms. With how many worms patrolled the sky, it was only a matter of time before he found two that were in the middle of the fight. He didn't have to wait long.

Jax landed a safe distance away, allowing the spatial distortion that enveloped him to collapse. He'd watch their every move. He'd learn from their magics. And then, when he had all the information, he'd obtain the spell they were weakest to. Teddy Tooturial! Quest: Get off the mountain (Part V of???) Descend to the base of Luxspire Peak. Reward: Final Credit Tranche Unlocked.