Matt's brain hurt after the lengthy explanation by Emma. Nonetheless he was still excited to try doing some magic. 'OK, I think I understand everything for now, but when do I actually get to do some magic?' Matt asked practically ready to fire off a spell right now.
'You gotta learn to have some patience kid. First we gotta get out of this hole. Or are you planning on having the roof come down on us? It's best if you try your magic outside where you won't cause any collateral damage. Speaking of which, that magic storm should be over by now. You should go and check.' Emma responded nonchalantly.
Hearing her say that, Matt realized that he really couldn't hear the storm anymore, not only that, he couldn't hear any noises whatsoever. He looked around and realized that he was the only one still awake, his parents and little sister probably went to sleep while he was talking to Emma. He truly didn't know how long they had been in there. Not only had he been unconscious for who knows how long, but he had also been talking to Emma for quite a while.
Matt went up the stairs and opened the gates to the shelter, ready to look at the sky and breathe in some fresh air after being underground for so long. As soon as he opened the gates, he could feel the cool evening breeze. The night sky was full of stars, it was incredibly beautiful, Matt felt like he was seeing the real sky for the first time.
When his amazement at the night sky had passed, Matt began to look around and could not believe his eyes. So much of the farm had been destroyed, tears flowed from his eyes at the sight of his home, reduced to rubble. In the back of his mind, he knew this was a possibility, a class 3 magic storm could destroy an entire village, their little farm wouldn't stand a chance, he just didn't think the damage would be this bad. Their house had collapsed in on itself, the barn had a giant hole down the side from an apple tree falling down on top of it and the stable had burned down.
Matt was obviously distraught by the state of his home, he was frozen in place, tears rolling down his cheeks. 'Hey, cheer up kid. I know it hurts seeing your home destroyed, but look on the bright side, all of your loved ones and all of your animals are there in that shelter, safe and sound.
Emma said, trying to cheer him up. 'And now you have me and the system, I'll make you a great mage and you can use the money you get to help your parents rebuild the farm, maybe even make it better. so lift that head up and let's make some magic, that's why we came out here in the first place.'
Emma's words actually made Matt feel better, it wasn't something he expected from her. He had only met her a few hours ago, but from what he had seen of her attitude he thought they might not get along in the long run. But now he was glad she was here. He definitely didn't want to be alone with his thoughts at a time like this. 'You're right. There's no point in wallowing in self pity.' Matt said, a serious expression on his face. 'Let's do this!'
'OK, since you can't create your own lightning and the sky is clear, let's work on your basic earth control. For now rather than taking a chunk out of the ground and moving that around, try picking up a rock with your magic. Choose a rock and focus on it. feel the energy in your body move outwards and grab onto the rock, almost like your arms are stretching and you are physically grabbing the stone. pointing at the rock can also make this process easier.'
Matt followed Emma's instructions step by step, he emptied his mind and focused only on the rock in front of him. He felt his arm stretch out further and further until he had grabbed the rock. The small rock was now floating in the air just in front of Matt. 'Perfect, now try to move it around, keep the feeling in your mind and feel your hand move the stone through the air. Once you feel comfortable with one rock, try lifting other rocks and moving them as well. It might be difficult at first but you'll get the hang of it as you practice more and more.'
Matt was listening intently, everything Emma suggested was done slowly and carefully, eventually Matt was able to have 3 rocks spinning in circles around his head. He tried adding a 4th rock but it was too difficult for him, so he continued practicing with 3, until eventually all the stones fell to the ground simultaneously. Matt had used up all of his MP and would need to rest before trying again.
'It looks like you finally ran out of magic, which makes this the perfect opportunity to try out your other skill "magic Absorption". As I mentioned before, this skill allows you to absorb magic to make yourself stronger. It's time I give you a more detailed explanation about how it actually works. This skill allows you to absorb the raw magic in your surroundings as well as the magic used by other humans. Now you can't just grab someone and suck the magic out of them, instead you would be absorbing the magic from any attack thrown at you. If you manage to absorb a form of magic you can't use yet, you'll be able to use that element in the future. For now let's focus on absorbing the raw magic around you. Think of this as the opposite of earth control, instead of bringing your magic out to the object in order to control it, you will be bringing the magic into your body. If done correctly, this will replenish your MP.' Emma explained.
Matt did as he was told, pulling the raw magic from the surrounding area into his body where it was absorbed and turned into MP. in an instant he felt less tired, he hadn't realized how much energy he had used while moving around the stones earlier. Suddenly, something unexpected happened, A small screen popped up in front of his eyes.
| Level up! |
| 1 Free stat point received |
| Next level up at 120 Exp |
'Oh, that was faster than I imagined, I didn't think you'd level up after just one training session. As I mentioned before, your level measures your experience as a mage. You're still very much a novice, but this is a definite improvement from how you were this afternoon. You also received a free stat point, you can use this to upgrade one of your 6 characteristics. I recommend you use it on intelligence, not only will it increase you maximum MP, but it will make magic easier to use in the future.' Emma said, actually sounding excited for once.
Matt thought about it for a while, not only did Emma's words make a lot of sense, but intelligence was also his lowest stat, it would be best if he increased it whenever he got the chance. So that's exactly what Matt did. He added the stat point to intelligence and he could see his Bio and Status Bar had changed accordingly.
| Bio |
| Name: Matthew Arber |
| Race: Human |
| Age: 17 |
| Level: 2 (0/120) |
| Class: Mage (Novice) |
| Path: None |
| Strength: 12 |
| Constitution: 12 |
| Intelligence: 9 |
| Wisdom: 9 |
| Dexterity: 10 |
| Charisma: 10 |
|Skills: Basic Earth Control Lv.1, Basic Lightning Control Lv.1, Magic Absorption Lv.1|
| HP: 24/24 | | MP: 18/18 | | S: 20/24 |
Matt looked at his new stats satisfied, it had been only a day since he had received this system and he was already improving himself. If he kept this up, he really would go on to do great things in the future.