Chương 9: Chapter 7 (Three Months Later)

My training time was simultaneously too slow and went by far too quickly. To spend hours upon hours a day training on everything from skills, to attributes, to magic was taxing. This was the ultimate training session and one that I would have gladly sped through, particularly at the end. Even after searching through the library, I only found one unique Skill, one that I learned greedily. New Skill Gained: Arcane Machinery (Teleporters).

With this skill you can learn how to create, repair, and repurpose ancient technology. In particular, you can learn how to repair teleporters. Beginner rating: F. Master Ranking: At C Rank and above, this tome allows the user to focus on the creation, repairing, maintaining, and interlocking of teleportation nodes. While I was ironically able to find not one but four unique paths forward for my Arcane Repair Affinity.

I say ironically, as I was able to find the evolutionary paths forward for each type of magic spell I could cast, but the Bolt. New Arcane Repair Magical Focus: Ancient Account Creation. Arcane Repair Account Creation: Learn how to create and modify family lineages and modify future bloodlines. Prerequisite: Arcane Repair Affinity rating of C. New Arcane Repair Magical Focus: Ancient Break In. Arcane Repair Break In: Learn how to break into any Ancient facility or device.

Prerequisite: Arcane Repair Affinity rating of C. New Arcane Repair Magical Focus: Ancient Factory Reset. Arcane Repair Factory Reset: Learn how to reset the functionality for any Ancient factory you enter. Prerequisite: Arcane Repair Affinity rating of C. New Arcane Repair Magical Focus: Ancient Disruption Field. Arcane Repair Disruption Field: Learn how to create and modify various types of Disruption Fields to throw off your opponents. Prerequisite: Arcane Repair Affinity rating of C.

Honestly, all four of those options seemed to be amazing. With the Account Creation path, it almost seemed like I could modify not only my own bloodline but the bloodline of others as well. Using that scenario I almost had the image of what really brought down the Ancients, where they began modifying people so much that they ended up thinking themselves to be Gods of the new world.

That or they ended up creating literal monsters that they eventually could not control, despite how prolific and advanced their society was. This would be an option if I want to establish myself as the queen of a new kingdom and have children or loyal servants that are capable of fully protecting me. The second option, that of Break In, is one that means that even some of the long-sealed labs and factories of the Ancients will be open to me.

This will be great if I intend to unlock further hidden mysteries but sadly is one of the least favorable options for me. Particularly as I want to have something that can have an immediate impact on my overall survival right now. The third option, Factory Reset, also seems to have far-reaching implications, as it seems that not only can I go into the different factories, but then I can modify them.

Meaning that I can with enough time and practice, bring to life an ancient factory that can create mechanoid monsters that can cut down and carve through entire cities as if they were miniature Terminators looking for John Connor. However, this is not an option that I want as these playthroughs tended to be resource intensive and would often require harder to reach and find resource and fuel components. This left the fourth option, that of Disruption Field, as the only other viable choice, next to Account Creation.

Unlike Account Creation seemingly offering a way to alter a person's very own genetic code, Disruption Field seems to imply that it will allow different uses. Namely with this, if the plans are to be believed, I can create either mana rich fields around me, where I and others I allow could regenerate mana more effectively. Similarly, I can create further dampening fields that can limit the recovery rate of stamina, health, or mana from opponents.

Basically, with this I can create constant fields around me that will either help me, or hinder enemies, or quite possibly both. Given that the Disruption Field is also the only choice that seemingly worked outside of an Ancient tomb, factory, or repository and it was the only choice. Had I found the advancement path for Bolt, this would be a different subject all together. Unfortunately, I cannot find that path here.

Also, I should note that the Bolt spell seems like it is the random throw in spell to keep Karen relevant, as all the others seem to deal with interacting with the Ancients in some way. While I can clearly see the same Arcane energy that went into Bolt going into the other spells, it seems far more concentrated in Bolt.

That is why, for expediency and a want to have at least one school of magic affinity above the C Ranking, I choose what I think of at the time as the best option available, namely choosing the fourth and final option of Disruption Field as my area of focus. Despite my want to be able to expand on the overall damage output capability of my unique magical affinity.

Looking at it from an overarching point of view, it seems that Bolt is the equivalent of an intense electrical discharge, while the others are more refined applications of the energy. Almost like it taught you how to ground yourself or discharge a current before playing with electrical wiring. Then somewhere along the lines someone learned that this initial discharge can be weaponized to fend off certain threats.

Of course, these could just be the mad ramblings of a person pushing themselves too hard to have a perfect start. The more I train, the more I find the words of the Ancients seeming to make more and more sense. Call it language immersion, or what have you, but the effect is real. The more I am surrounded by the gears of the facility, the more I see the readouts for what they were. That is also how I find the system timer letting me track the days.

I have been going by the times when I use all three trail rooms as a daily marker. My skill, attribute, and magical affinity training can all only be performed for two, three, and three hours each respectively. This leaves me with roughly sixteen hours a day that I can use to read, sleep, shower, and eat. At first, I try to push myself to rush through all three as quickly as possible. Only to find that if I give myself a bit of time between each set, I actually learn more and don't feel as mentally fuzzy.

That is the term I use to describe the thick fog that seems to coat my brain for the first month of my training. That is also when I find the calendar telling me the month and day. Well, the old name for the month as the months have apparently gone through semantic shifts. Going from the ancient Augentar, to the modern Augusto. Followed by Sepentar, to the more recognizable Separatus. Then finally the month that will forever be ingrained in my brain.

The month of Octovio is oddly the same in Ancient as it is in the modern tongue. Octovio is also the month when everyone would travel out to the Magical University to have their magical capabilities tested to see if they are in fact worthy of attending. Auditions will be held on the final day of the month of Octovio, the 31 st. During this time, I also find the ancient teleporter that shows a number of broken nodes that can be used to access from this primary hub's location.

Words cannot express how relieved I am at finding what is an active teleportation node in the center of the continent. Right where the Magical University sits, a spot that sits right in the middle of the Great Divide River that split the continent. Also, of interest is the fact that there are dozens of other node points that showed spots around the world. Unfortunately, it seems that most of those additional node points will need to be explored manually and likely repaired.

Some of the nodes even hint at the existence of not one but two additional continents that have not been explored in the original game. Seeing those locations, and how much larger those other sections seemed to be in comparison to all of the nodes on the continent that I am on, seemed to show just how small and petty the war of the Von'Roseblades really is. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Seeing the other markers, I decide that for at least this playthrough I will have a few major goals. Goal 1: Go to the Magical University, unlock all skills, attributes, and magical affinities above the C Ranking that I can. Goal 2: Explore the rest of the Ancient tombs and ruins. Discover the second and likely third continents, and ultimately solve the question of what happened to the Ancients.

Goal 3: Avoid being brought up in any land wars being conducted by the different noble families attending the Magical University. That's it, short sweet and something that I can hopefully do, especially if I can manage to go around and actually reactivate all of the old teleportation nodes, not just so I can leave from one of these ancient facilities, but so I can also eventually teleport back. Especially with my new skill that focuses on repairing the nodes themselves.

During this time, I even manage to slightly alter the clothing creator. Now not only am I able to create nice leather, or quite possibly pleather boots. But I am also able to create full body suits with gloves and even a mask that help to hide my eyes as they continue to make their strange transition through yellows to gold, and finally to dull silver and to their current form of bright silver.

Of course, the bright silver only comes when both my Arcane Repair affinity and my Ranking for my new skill Arcane Machinery (Teleporter) both go above the C Rankings. This is also around the same time that the languages and words that are used as part of the Ancient's language and that flow across everything suddenly begins making more and more sense. Whether there is a correlation between my eyes changing color and my overall understanding of the Ancient language is hard to tell.

The only thing I know for certain is that my AI was apparently wrong about one or two of its 85% probability guesses. Take for instance where it said the message over the odd closet likely stated Auxiliary Supply Closet. That was completely incorrect, as it was actually an Auxiliary Toilet Chamber. Yeah, not quite certain how it got that wrong, but that was a huge surprise for me when I went digging around in old hard dirt in a room that I thought had always been a closet in the game.

Only to realize a month later that I have been trying to dig through what was presumably fossilized fecal matter of the ancients. Shudder. Just thinking about that mistake now is disgusting. I am really glad I decided to try to find some tools to help dig and ultimately got sidetracked by other observations.

Still, I am at the point where I have met all of my primary and most of my secondary objectives for this adventure as I can now only improve one of two attributes, one magical affinity, or one skill, as everything else has met its current maximum rating and requires me to specialize. I even managed to improve the potency of my bloodline, which was a lot harder than the playthroughs seemed to imply. As in the quick playthroughs it was just a matter of being here for thirty days.

While that was a component of the transformation process, there was slightly more to it, as I needed to eat the Ancient foods and attempt the advanced features of Account Creation. This didn't mean that I began learning two specializations for my Arcane Repair affinity, but rather that the most updated version of the Account Creation spell could be used to alter my own personal bloodline.

I didn't have much to work with, but I was able to use what was there to double the potency of my fat, making me even more manalicious with the focus. At least that is what most people took to calling this eventual transformation of Karen in the game. Where she went from being frumpy with sickly yellow eyes to a powerful chunky goddess.

Looking at my changes that occurred over the last three months I can't help but feel that I got the most out of this hard start opportunity and am as ready as I am going to be to try to enter the Magical University.

Name: Karen Laurain Age: 14 Gender: Female Magical affinities: Current Rating Maximum Rating Primary: Combat Support F -> C S Secondary: Spatial F -> C S Tertiary: Arcane Repair (Disruption Fields) E- -> A+ SSS Here we can see that my primary and secondary magical affinities are stuck at the C Rankings, but my Arcane Repair is already at the A+ rating.

Attributes: Current Rating Maximum Rating Strength: E- -> C B Dexterity: C B Stamina: D -> C B Perception: D+ -> C A Intelligence: B -> B+ S Magic: (Linking Multiple Spells) B -> A S Here is where all of my attributes quickly reach the maximum. Most like Perception only had a partial increase to go, while dexterity was at the highest, I could get without finding a specialization.

Fortunately, my Intelligence and Magic are already at the B rating, as such it is just me focusing on certain aspects that make my specializations for both attributes come to life. Abilities: Death Sight: Can see and talk to spirits (might cause minor problems when interacting with people). Perfect Combat Support Caster: You managed to cast a perfect form of a Combat Support spell. All Combat Support related spells are cast as if one Rank higher. Current Rank: F. Effective Rank: E.

Note: this can cause your spells to be cast at a proficiency rating above your maximum rating. Perfect Spatial Caster: You managed to cast a perfect form of a Spatial spell. All Spatial related spells are cast as if one Rank higher. Current Rank: F. Effective Rank: E. Note: this can cause your spells to be cast at a proficiency rating above your maximum rating. Perfect Arcane Repair Caster: You managed to cast a perfect form of a Arcane Repair magic spell.

All Arcane Repair magic type related spells are cast as if one Rank higher. Current Rank: F. Effective Rank: E. Note: this can cause your spells to be cast at a proficiency rating above your maximum rating. Precision Caster: You managed to cast one perfect spell in each of your magical affinities. All magic spells related to your affinities are reduced in terms of mana cost by one Ranking. Note: Minimum mana required per spell one unit of mana per cast.

Perfect Caster: You managed to cast your first spell in all affinities perfectly. Your luck attribute (Hidden) has increased by one Rank. Current Rank: <Hidden>. Precision Dual Caster: You managed to cast multiple spells from different schools of magics at once. All attempts to cast spells from multiple schools of magic do not incur the typical increase in mana costs. Instead, you will just have to pay the base costs of each spell.

The Abilities all stayed the same, the only difference is the new Precision Dual Caster, which I completely forget removed a times two penalty that normally comes with linking spells from different schools of magic together. This will be huge, as it means I can continue to keep casting spells with reckless abandonment in the future, without any additional penalties to consider.

Bloodline: Yes, awakened Survivor's Bloodline: Your body is exceptionally good at taking every ounce of resource from food converting it to fat, that can later be turned into extra mana. Every percentage of body fat increases your overall mana pool by an equivalent percentage. -> Advanced Survivor's Bloodline: Your body has been tempered to be able to gain nourishment that is twice as effective at generating fat that can be used for extra mana.

Every percent of body fat, above a baseline 12% increases your overall mana pool by two percent per point of body fat. Current Rating: 39% (Rate calculated 39% - 12% for 27% Body Fat. Bodyfat over maximum threshold of 24% extra (48% bonus Mana)) - MAX. Again, the bloodline is nice as it just doubles while effectively setting a maximum on the overall bodyfat percentage I can have.

While it is enough to be considered chunky by most of the emaciated standards of the super models who attend the Magical University, it ultimately gives me a lot of curves that go in all the right places. Also, the fact that I had a three percent body fat cushion meant that I could train and exercise without too many concerns of losing the full 48% bonus. As I still had a three percent body fat buffer to burn off, before it would start affecting my overall reserves.

Skills: Dual Casting: Rank: E -> C Mana Exertion Casting: Rank: E- -> C Mana Circulation: Rank: E- -> C Sneak Attack: Rank: E- -> C Focused Casting: Rank: E -> C Camouflage: Rank F -> C Arcane Machinery (Teleporters) Rank F -> B+ Finally, the skills are the last ones to all be maxed out, well all except for Arcane Machinery (Teleporters) which again wre the only one that I find a skill book for that offers a natural progression path beyond the C Ranking. And like that, I am done.

Looking at the countdown timer I see that I still had some time before it becomes the 31 st. Date: Octovio 30 th. Time: 23: 47 The more I watch, the more I realize that I am just wasting my time. I know that the actual registration and try outs for the Magical University will be held sometime during the day time of the 31 st, but when and where are still to be determined. Additionally, I don't know how far away my teleportation node will actually be from the academy proper.

That and the fact that I have over twenty hours left before my chambers will reset and allow me to try to improve one of the few minor things left to improve and it is clear that if I waited too much longer, I will go stir crazy. That was why, I decide to go thirteen minutes early to try to sign up to attend the Magical University.

Taking one last look at myself in the mirror I see a pleasantly voluptuous figure in form fitting black leather clothes, complete with a hood and a drawn black mask that only show two mysterious and glowing silver eyes that denoted magical energy. On my waist I have an Ancient's beginner's sword, complete with Ancient smelted metals. The sword comes with a belt with a sheath. Additionally, I earn a black backpack with food and water containers that look more like plastic canteens from my actual timeline.

There are also a few odd and end trinkets that I was pretty sure that I can sell, denoting that the items have come from an Ancient facility, and I am done. I have everything I need to go on with a fresh and overpowered start to this new life. Idly I see the old threadbare clothes I had worn when I first entered here and decide to leave them. For the longest time they served as a near constant reminder of the life that awaited me if I didn't keep pushing myself.

But now after three months of time, I am finally ready to leave the ease of this training facility and see what horrors await me in this hard mode playthrough of the game. A game where hopefully once I get to the academy, I can finally be able to log out successfully and rest. Though I will first need to get in on a complete scholarship program, as I cannot expect the Von'Roseblade estate to fund my education, as I will not be Claudia's retainer in this go around.

Meaning unless I provide everyone around that I am the best choice and deserving of a free scholarship, I might be handicapped with my current rate of progress for a long time. This is of course, what I could afford to have happen. Which also played into why I trained so hard, as I feel I can compete against most, if not all of the incoming students for this scholarship. Exhale.

Letting out one final breath, I close my eyes and center my mind and my consciousness, before I activate the long-lost teleportation node to the middle of the continent, right where the Magical University exists. Then focusing on a spot that should be roughly a few hundred meters away from the entrance of the grand academy, I center my mind and then inhale as I feel the world shift and turn around me.

When the world finally stops moving, I find myself in an open field overlooking a large walled off city that all but glows with magical wards and enchantments. Seeing the place, I realize I am finally where I am supposed to be.