Skill & Magic, A New Banner!?

Aleron and Darzax went back to the hall and looked around.

When Aleron spotted the big [Quest Board], he immediately said, "Dax, let's go and get a quest. I want to complete one after learning some skills and combat."

"That is a good idea, my lord," Darzax smiled, feeling happy as he looked at Aleron's face. 'He appears to be excited to learn and adventure. I shall serve him to my best.'

At the corner sides of the hall was a rest longue consisting of several tables.

The longue at the northwest had a filled-up table, consisting of five people.

This party noticed Aleron and Darzax and talked about the duo after erecting a barrier.

When Odar arrived five minutes later with adventurer cards and left the guild hall, this party also followed them quietly and naturally.

A short guy with bob-cut green hair said, "Boss Roxen, I've marked Odar. We can follow them leisurely now."

The party of five consisted of people ranging from their mid-twenties to forties. The leader was a woman in her forties called Roxen wearing a warrior's outfit—a red-brown armor set with a broad sword resting straight behind her back. She had braided long brown hair and was six feet tall.

Aside from her, the only other girl at the party was a peach-pale beauty in her early twenties with straight silky white-purple hair in a shoulder-length hairstyle.

She had a charming face and a shapely figure covered in a sleek and slender silver-white pattered mage robe, with her killer blue eyes only adding to her already beautiful appearance.

"Lady Rias, are you sure you want to check him out?" the green-haired short man asked respectfully.

"Indeed, my lady," the bald muscular man nodded, "He seems less impressive than others we've checked out so far."

"I think we should go to Nexusia. I heard it's better than this Falran Kingdom," said the third and last man in the party, black-haired and slim with over six feet in height. "We've wasted three days here."

"You all don't need to butt into Lady Rias's decision," Roxen snorted.

The hierarchy in the party became clear.

"We'll check him out since he meets the criteria for it—no harm in that," Rias softly said while looking in the direction where Aleron, Darzax, and Odar left after leaving the city.

"Ehh?!" the short green-haired man suddenly exclaimed as he checked the tracking he put on Odar.

Roxen frowned. "What happened?"

"This trio is already at Plemu Woods. Given this speed, that middle-aged man with that kid shouldn't be weak."

"He should be at least Epic rank if he crossed 20 kilometers this fast with two people. He must have used a powerful skill," the bald muscular man commented while rubbing his chin. "Should I move us there quickly?"

"Yes, Ragnar," Rias said with a soft sigh. "If he also doesn't trigger the artifact, we'll go to Nexusia Kingdom's capital and search there."

"Understood, princes- cough, I mean lady Rias," Ragnar awkwardly smiled as he received glares from Roxen. He immediately used a skill that caused golden-brown sands to cover everyone before they vanished into the Earth, moving through a protective Earth-elemental barrier underground at a breakneck speed.

"Ragnar, slow down. Or what, you want to compete with their speed?" the green-haired short man snickered.

"Earth Displace Drift. You're getting better at this," Roxen nodded as she saw Ragnar displacing the sphere of Earth covering them and speedily moving underground.

"Thanks, but I need to focus," Ragnar grinned with some sweat beads on his forehead. "I'm going fast and also need to look out for obstacles."

…

"What? You quit your job?" Aleron was startled before he wryly smiled.

"Yes, Boss!" Odar said while pounding his chest with his fist. "I shall accompany you as long as you require my assistance."

Darzax, Aleron, and Odar moved through the trees and greenery of Plemu Woods—an 80 square kilometer big forest area filled with magic beasts of D-rank and below.

It was a famous spot for rookie adventurers to complete lower-ranked quests of collecting materials or killing monsters.

"We've arrived at the spot, boss!"

Aleron and Darzax followed Odar through a thick bush wall before arriving at a secret area hidden by a hill, bush walls, and other greenery.

It had a sizable pond in the middle, with a horde of red-horned black deers with red patterns on their body at a corner. Some were resting while some were drinking water in the pond.

"I knew it," Odar said with a grin upon seeing the horde. "These Sanguine Deers usually come here to rest after their foraging and hunting."

Sanguine Deers noticed guests in their territory and immediately went alert as their eyes started glowing.

"Boss, can you quickly hide us with your power? They will attack us if they see us," Odar quickly said.

Darzax snapped his finger before a dark veil appeared around them before vanishing.

Aleron and Odar didn't feel any difference in their sight after the dark veil disappeared, but the Sanguin Deers suddenly looked confused. The ones already rushing at them stopped and looked around.

"Haha, they are cute," Aleron said with a laugh. He turned to Darzax, his eyes sparkling, "Now it's my turn. Teach me."

"Can you feel the Mana Pool in your body?" Darzax asked with a gentle smile.

"I can," Aleron nodded as he opened his palm. Soon, faint blue sparks appeared on his hand—Mana.

"Magic Potency determines two things, my lord. First, the quality of your Mana. If you use a Fireball with 10 Mana and I use a Fireball with 10 Mana, the difference would be massive because I have higher Magic Potency," Darzax began explaining the basics.

"Yeah, I figured it was that," Aleron nodded before curiously asking. "So what is the second thing it determines?"

Darzax smiled and waved his hand, causing a magic circle with another smaller circle inside it.

"The second thing it determines is the size of your Magic Board."

Odar laughed and said, "I bet your Magic Board is so big, we won't be able to see it whole."

But he suddenly realized that he was talking with an Exceed rank powerhouse, and coughed. "Sorry about butting in."

Aleron amusingly smiled, "It's fine. Don't be stiff and act yourself."

He then turned to Darzax, "So what does Magic Board do?"

"Magic Board is where you will draw your skill. When you visualize your skill, it will turn into symbols in the Magic Board. Whatever detail you visualize with your imagination and arcane knowledge you've learned, it will turn into symbols in Magic Board, which then you will arrange to your liking."

"However, if you visualize the execution of a powerful skill and the symbol it produces surpasses the limit of your Magic Board, it won't work. As such, the higher your Magic Potency, the higher the quality and power of your skill."

Aleron understood and nodded, his eyes sparkling," Interesting. This type of magic system is something I hadn't read before."

"Once you have designed a skill in Magic Board, you can easily turn it into a skill rune using Mana. From then onward, you can simply tap into your skill rune and execute the skill."

"Cool," Aleron grinned. "I can't wait to use a skill."

Darzax smiled and added, "I am sending you the method of a D-rank skill called Exploding Arrow. Follow the steps and use it."

Darzax's eyes flashed slightly and a mysterious ethereal white string emerged from his fingertip.

This short white string floated towards Aleron and entered his forehead.

In the next second, Aleron's mind received general knowledge of how Mana worked and the steps to execute a Skill through it using the magic board.

After a couple of minutes, Aleron opened his eyes as he finished creating the skill rune of Exploding Arrow by following the steps.

[Exploding Arrow]

-Rank: D

-Attribute: Flame.

-Effect: Release an arrow with condensed firepower that explodes upon impact.

'It was not hard…but let's see how I execute it,' Aleron pointed his finger at the Sanguine Deer drinking water.

He moved the Mana into the Skill Rune he created and triggered it.

Mana gathered before his finger that swiftly took the shape of a sleek flame-orange arrow.

Aleron felt his hand slightly shake as the control of this suspended arrow was within his hand, his mind!

"My lord, don't use too much Mana for now. Just use 10 or 20," Darzax suggested.

"Right," Aleron nodded.

After a second, Aleron's eyes shone as he fired the arrow.

*Swoosh!*

It shot forward and stuck the Deer he aimed at before exploding in a fiery blast, severely injuring the level 27 Sanguine Deer.

Right after Aleron used his first skill, a system notification rang.

[A new Gacha Banner has been unlocked: Myriad Spell Pool]