Chapter 26 - Travel (4)

<p>Finally, once we were about 8 miles away, the woods ended, turning into the classic grassy plains you see in a fantasy-type game. They were usually starter areas, so…<br/><br/> "What the hell is that?!" I yell, running alongside Raeki and Eniyala. Behind us, a slime the size of a semi truck rolls towards us, jello-y sounds bellowing from its center angrily. "Can't you burn it??"<br/><br/> "Fuck no! It's made of mucus!" Eniyala cries, clutching her rod as she runs fearfully. "You guys will just get sucked in if you try to attack it, so you can't!"<br/><br/> "Aaargh!" I scream. Honestly, I could be miles away from here by now, but I had stayed back with Raeki, who had the lowest Agility out of the three of us.<br/><br/> With an unsteady theory forming in my mind, I slow behind the others, causing the giant slimeball to be right on my heels. I turn abruptly, and like it's attached by a string, the monster changes direction with me. The siblings are running too hard to realize I'm not with them anymore, but it doesn't matter. I speed up, gaining a good bit of distance between me and the foe before spinning around. <br/><br/> "Analyze."<br/><br/>[Large Slime]<br/>[Age: 1 year]<br/>[Lv: 5]<br/>[Health: 15/15]<br/>[Mana: 45/45]<br/>[Stamina: 10/20]<br/><br/>STR: 2 MAG: 4<br/>AGI: 10 DEX: 18<br/>VIT: 1 INT: 5<br/><br/>ACC: 14<br/>DEF: 1<br/>POW: 4<br/><br/>[Skills: Rapid Regeneration (Uncommon), Dissolve (Common), Bound (Common), Mucus Build (Extremely Common)]<br/><br/> My mouth dropped. "This mob sucks."<br/><br/> While traveling, Eniyala had given me a lesson on the rarities of Puria. The rarest of all was Unfound, which was why she was so shocked I had two skills at that level. Unfound skills were also impossibly strong, and the higher the rarity in general the better the skill. It made sense; my Critical Eye had upgraded from Rare to Super Rare, and its effects had gotten better.<br/><br/> On the opposite side of the spectrum, abilities that were barely useful, if at all, ranked Extremely Common. Ironically, they were nearly as rare as Unfound skills, making the name extremely confusing.<br/><br/> "But if Mucus Build is Extremely Common…" I sighed. "If only I could Analyze Skills…"<br/><br/> Ding!<br/><br/>[The user is making a breakthrough.]<br/>[The World Lines is allowing a forceful breakthrough dependent on the user.]<br/><br/> I blinked. "If that means what I think it means…"<br/><br/> I leap away from the Slime as it barrels straight through where I was just standing. I had taken too long thinking; I would just have to try it.<br/><br/> "Analyze! Mucus Build!"<br/><br/> As I spoke the sentence, I pull the feeling of my Mana up into my eyes, filling them until the only color I saw was a dark purple.<br/><br/> Ding!<br/><br/>[User has made a breakthrough.]<br/>[Analyze will be forcefully upgraded to Analyze+.]<br/><br/>[Mucus Build (Extremely Common Passive Skill): This skill is granted to lifeforms that rely on slimy substances to uphold their forms. Allows full immunity to Physical, Fire, Water, and Illusion Attacks. However, DEF can only ever be 1.]<br/><br/> I choke on my own spit, jumping up into a tree to buy me some time to catch my breath. The Slime latches onto the trunk, slowly dissolving it. The Skill had looked insanely good until the last sentence, proving why it was ranked Extremely Common. With one Defense…<br/><br/> "This thing basically gets one-shot as long as it's not immune."<br/><br/> Hopefully, that meant what I was about to do would pay off.<br/><br/>[Slash+ Skill was activated.]<br/>[10% Dark Magic activated.]<br/><br/> As I wind up my attack, the Slime breaks a part of the tree's stout trunk off, causing the upper branches to shake violently. I windmill my arms frantically, attempting to keep my balance, before I ungracefully slip off the branch and fall right towards the top of the Slime, yelling at the top of my lungs. Subsequently, I bite my tongue as I swing the blade down. Blood spurts from my mouth as a dark purple Mana laced with black lines flows maliciously over the sword, ready to eat into anything.<br/><br/> Luckily, the blade cuts into the Slime's jiggly body, and rather than sink into it, it cuts straight through, popping it like a bubble. I land on the ground with a large SPLAT!, blood leaking from my mouth as the Slash effect slowly releases.<br/><br/>[Obtained 30 EXP from the Large Slime.]<br/>[EXP: 282/800]<br/>[Obtained Amorphous Shape from the Large Slime.]<br/><br/> "Klum!" a young boy with dark blue hair calls out, running over to my slimy form laying motionless in a green puddle of the monster's remains. He throws his hands over his mouth as he sees the blood falling from my mouth. "Sis! Heal him please! Pwick!"<br/><br/> "Quick, not pwick," the girl pants as she catches up with him. She may be faster, but her Stamina is much more lacking than his. Looking at my Health, she knows I don't need to be healed, but she obliges her brother's pleading look with a small groan. <br/><br/> I slowly sit up, leaning back on my hands and kicking my legs out as I sigh heavily. "Who's a prick?"<br/><br/> Eniyala shoots me a look. "Why don't we focus on the important part?"<br/><br/> I puff my chest out proudly. "Ah, yeah, how I beat the Slime. So, about that—"<br/><br/> "Don't play dumb. How can you use dark magic when you're the Sword Saint's disciple?" A dangerous feeling was emanating from her, and this one felt a lot more serious.<br/><br/> "It's just an effect of the sword."<br/><br/> "Yeah, right." She scoffs, before her eyes glow a brighter crimson. "Magic Eyes."<br/><br/>[Eniyala Ignios has used Magic Eyes on the user.]<br/>[The Affinities section has been unlocked due to the effect of Magic Eyes.]<br/>[Eniyala Ignios can see your Affinities.]<br/><br/> "Affinities?" I mutter, immediately opening my Statscreen. Sure enough…<br/><br/>[Name: Klum]<br/>[Age: 18]<br/>[Lv: 6]<br/>[Health: 44/45]<br/>[Mana: 36/45]<br/>[Stamina: 21/45]<br/><br/>STR: 8 MAG: 5<br/>AGI: 14 DEX: 10<br/>VIT: 7 INT: 11<br/><br/>ACC: 12<br/>DEF: 7<br/>POW: 8<br/><br/>[Skills: Klum's Reincarnation (Unfound), Sword Saint's Sigil (Unfound), Critical Eye+ (Super Rare), Underdog (Super Rare), Erratic Movements (Rare), Slash+ (Uncommon), Sprint (Common)]<br/><br/>[Affinities: Lightning, Light, Dark]<br/><br/> "Woah," I said, seeing the new information. "I have three of them. Is that good?"<br/><br/> Eniyala gives me a small glare before responding. "Mages usually have at least four. Debuffs, Buffs, Healing and an Element or the Arcane. Now, why do you have an affinity for Dark magic? That shouldn't be possible."<br/><br/> "Uh, I didn't even know I had the other two."<br/><br/> The woman sighs. "You're so hopeless."<br/><br/> "So? You wanna explain the whole Magic thing to me?"<br/><br/> "Not really."<br/><br/> We sit in silence for several moments. I stare at her, and eventually she can't handle looking at me covered in a green muck. With an annoyed growl, she begins drawing in the dirt with her rod. When she finishes, she gestures to it, and I unsteadily get on my feet, attempting to make it over. I slipped and fell on my face twice, to the amusement of the previously irritated mage. Finally, I make it over to see… a circle. It's incredibly simple, with circles periodically drawn around it, and lines drawn outside it with two more circles. Each of the circles has an image crudely drawn inside it, and I notice a few immediately. An ancient flame sits inside one circle, and on the opposite half, one with a heart sits in another.<br/><br/> "So, Affinities are split up into two main categories. The Elements, and the Arcane. Each has a God that rules over them; Meinzer is the God of the Elements, whereas Cala is the God of the Arcane." As she explains, she points to the two outer circles, which have the names 'Cala' and 'Meinzer' written in strange English.<br/><br/> "There are 5 Arcane Magics and 6 Elemental Magics. The 5 Arcanes are Healing, Illusion, Enhancements, Diminishings, and Divine. Only Mage and Cleric Saints can really use Divine Magic, but anyways. On the Element side of things, there's Fire, Water, Land, Sky, Light, and Dark. There's also subcategories, like Lightning, but those aren't important right now. Most people have an Affinity for one or two Elements, and one or two main Arcana. But Dark is rare… even rarer is the fact that you have two opposites in Light and Dark." She frowns. "You should be fine, but… don't let the Dark Magic consume you, okay?"<br/><br/> I don't understand at first, but remembering Reniel at the end of our fight causes me to shudder. "I won't. I promise."<br/><br/> She still seems conflicted, but she nods in agreement.<br/><br/> "Well, should we get going?"<br/><br/> Raeki jumped up, finally speaking. "Let's go see the town!"</p>