PftA Book 5 - Chapter 36 - Training

A/N: I'm still tweaking my worldbuilding for the next series, so I've made a few minor changes in the last few chapters. Basically, the zones limit how many spells a challenger has access to, in addition to suppressing the system's assistance with skills.

“Again!” my virtual trainer shouted as my opponent rushed to reclaim his staff.

I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I adapted to fighting without the system’s assistance. But after giving it some thought, I realized that my mind and body still remembered what to do without the system’s gentle prompts.

And it wasn’t like I’d lost all of my skill in stave fighting. I’d genuinely learned the skill and trained it for well over a century. That experience wasn’t going to disappear just because I no longer had the system’s training wheels to rely on.

The rest of my combat skills were much the same, though I struggled a little more with some of the general skills that I wasn’t as accustomed to using.

We’d made enough money from our crafting to purchase a DIVE capsule after a single month. So far, the single device was sufficient for both of our training needs.

We split most of our days between hunting, crafting, and training, though we’d still yet to go beyond the third zone. That would likely change with our next excursion since we both felt pretty confident with our combat skills.

Now, the challenge would be getting used to having access to a limited number of spells.

Though Direct Casting had given me a major edge during the ninth floor’s trial, I’d already determined that using the skill was much more difficult with the system being suppressed. It wasn’t impossible, but it certainly wasn’t something I’d be able to use quickly.

Still, it was an advantage I planned to make use of. It was also one of the primary skills I wanted to train since I was hopeful the knowledge would improve my transition when I eventually ascended.

When I disarmed my opponent after only a handful of exchanges, I called an end to my training session.

I felt the shift in mana as I disengaged from the capsule. The obvious presence of Space mana made me suspect that the capsule functioned quite differently from the headgear I was used to, though getting a look at the enchantments that made the device function was impossible, given the method of enchantment.

The door slid open silently, and I stepped into my living room.

“Capsule’s open!” I called out, letting Kai know I was finished with my training session.

In the months since he joined me in the dungeon, our relationship had shifted to something between roommates and coworkers. It was still a little more professional than a true friendship, but I felt like we were getting there.

I cast a quick Cleanse, even though I knew there was probably nothing for the spell to remove.

“How was your training?” Kai asked just a few seconds later when he crested the top of the stairs.

“I feel like I’ve bridged the gap as much as I’m going to without actual combat,” I replied as I headed toward the MealMaker sitting on the counter.

I was really going to miss losing it when I eventually ascended. I’d have to focus on improving my Cooking skill – without the system – as much as possible before then.

I probably wouldn’t dedicate a skill slot to it since I’d likely need every skill slot I had access to. But just having a strong, mundane cooking skill should be enough to keep my palate happy.

“So, you want to move into Zone Four?”

Though Kai didn’t need to gain any additional experience, he still joined me for several hours of hunting each day. It had only taken my mentor a single session focused on swordsmanship before he no longer seemed to struggle with his weapon of choice.

Though I was a little jealous, I realized that the man had more than a thousand years of experience with sword fighting. It only made sense that he was able to adapt quickly to the loss of the system’s assistance.

The blonde mage stopped next to the opening to the capsule. It was positioned upright, much like a standing tanning booth might have been back when such things were used on Earth.

“That was the plan,” I replied. “I’d like to practice Direct Casting, especially with some of the elements I don’t have an affinity for.”

I’d given a lot of thought to which skills I’d try to gain when I eventually ascended. Even with the primer, it was impossible to truly know what the next realm was going to be like.

I thought I’d be able to regain Enchanting easily, and through it, the manatech weapons I’d come to rely on so heavily.

However, there was a chance I wouldn’t be able to easily recreate my standard weapons and gear. If that happened, I wanted to be prepared, and part of that preparation involved having more than a passing familiarity with a few offensive spells beyond Space, Time, and Arcane.

Though using Arcane mana to emulate other mana types gave me an advantage, it wasn’t as significant as I initially thought. During my skill training for Direct Casting, I’d learned that neutral mana could also be used to do the same thing once a mage reached Tier Ten.

It cost a lot more, of course, but that was nothing new. General spells using neutral mana had always been more costly than their comparable elemental spells.

In fact, neutral mana had always been used to mimic the effects of other elements, just like Arcane. I wondered why it was only at Tier Ten that mages could freely manipulate the non-element.

It was one of the many questions I doubted I’d ever get a real answer to.

= = =

“I’m not going to freeze them this time,” Kai informed me when we appeared outside the large wolf den.

He’d used Pause on the last two beast dens we’d attacked, making the fights trivial for both of us. Since the point wasn’t to just mindlessly grind levels, I understood his decision.

The dungeon mobs were all Tier Ten, though the highest-level creature among them, the alpha, was only level ninety-four.

Going ‘deeper’ into the floor didn’t mean the mobs got stronger. Just like the welcome notification said, there wasn’t much of a difference at all aside from the dungeon’s limitations.

That wasn’t to imply the five zones were the same. Like any world, there were variations in flora, fauna, and environments. Each zone was truly its own little world, independent of the others, aside from the portals that connected everything.

Every zone had creatures ranging from level ninety-one to boss monsters at the absolute peak of level one hundred. A couple even felt like they could be half-step ascended creatures with the way the worlds seemed to bend around them.

Kai and I had agreed to give those creatures a wide berth. There was no reason to challenge such a creature when it provided little aside from an increased likelihood of serious injury.

Maybe when I got close to the pinnacle myself, I’d reconsider. But for now, we planned to steer clear of the overpowered dungeon creatures.

“That’s fine,” I replied. “I want to try manually casting an area of effect spell first. Then, if anything survives, I’ll try to stick with Direct Casting and combat skills for the rest of the encounter. The added pressure would probably be good for me. Maybe it’ll help me figure out how to use Direct Casting fast enough to be useful beyond the initial attack.”

“You’re able to use it pretty quickly with spells that match your affinities,” Kai pointed out. “Maybe you should meditate on the elements you’re trying to incorporate?”

It was a good suggestion, and I’d probably do just that once we finished hunting for the day.

In Zone Four, we were only able to retain full use of four spells each. I’d gone with Teleport, Restore, Barrier, and Compressed Space Bolt.

I also wasn’t using any of my standard enchanted items, which was why I’d picked Restore and Barrier as two of my choices. Without my normal setup, the spells were necessary.

I’d implemented the additional restrictions because I’d developed a deep reliance on manatech and artifacts as part of my combat style. Even at my worst, I’d never been without the tools and weapons to defend myself.

Even in the Assassin’s Challenge Rift, I’d had access to a cache of equipment within my unevolved [Inventory] that allowed me to survive when I should have otherwise perished.

Though I’d started moving away from such reliance, manatech was still an important part of my kit. And since I needed to be combat-capable as soon as I ascended, it only made sense to incorporate such limitations.

I was also oscillating between Teleport and Haste in our excursions. Every time I thought I’d made a decision, I second-guessed myself. If having a healing skill wasn’t so important, I would have easily kept both of them.

I really wanted to keep all three: Restore, Haste, and Teleport. If the next realm was generous, I might even manage it, especially if my demesne didn’t count against my ‘one-per-affinity’ choices.

The primer had said keeping soulbound artifacts took up at least one skill slot, but it didn’t specify that it would definitely take a core skill slot. I assumed it would because it made more sense that way, but the ‘at least’ part had made me reconsider.

In any case, as long as I understood how to cast the spells myself, I should be able to regain whichever one I didn’t get to keep. And it wasn’t like I didn’t have plenty of time still. Even with the experience-boosting ring, it would still be several decades before I even came close to the pinnacle.

Knowing it would take nearly a minute to manually cast, I started working on the largest AOE attack I had access to: a combined Space/Time Distortion Field.

Since I hadn’t kept either version of the spell as one of my four uninhibited options, I had to do everything manually, which meant I had to truly understand how each of the spells worked, as well as how to combine them.

Normally, Direct Casting did not require a full understanding of a spell’s effects to use. But with the system barely helping to fill the gaps…

“Okay, it’s cast,” I said with a wince.

It was my first time casting the combined spell manually, and the mana cost was a bit higher than I expected. Sensing this, Kai handed me a small mana potion.

I downed the blue liquid and sighed as my depleted reserves quickly refilled. “Thanks.”

“I’m not sure there’s going to be anything for us to do once the spell runs its course,” Kai commented with a smirk as the wolves began howling.

After observing for a moment, I agreed.

Mixing Space and Time distortions in a small area had basically turned the den into a blender. Unless the creatures remained perfectly still until the effect ended – which they wouldn’t – few, if any, would survive.

And those who did would be so injured, they wouldn’t put up much of a fight.

“So, I guess I should tone it down for the next one if I want to get any actual combat training in,” I said with a smile.

I’d largely gotten over the necessity of death in the dungeon. It helped that the creatures were mere dungeon spawns and not real, living beasts. But even if they were, the years of grinding had desensitized me to killing such creatures.

People were still difficult, but as far as I was concerned, that was a good thing.