Origin ARS 5 (13 page)

[Special Options]

Elemental Lightning Mastery I

Elemental Earth Mastery I

Elemental Water Mastery I

Elemental Fire Mastery I

Elemental Wind Mastery I

Celestial Mastery I

[—]

After checking through the selections his
eyes lit up. "This... This is what I was waiting for!"

Each of the masteries would allow him to
improve his overall ability to develop and utilize that specific
element. His general twilight sorcery skill would improve all
elemental masteries by a small amount, but these individual
specializations would improve a specific elemental mastery further.
They also increased magical defense against that element
slightly.

"It would be easier to develop one of the
five basic elements, but celestial mastery..." Scott felt a strong
pull toward that specialization. From what Mid had said, few
classes or races had access to direct training opportunities for
that sort of magic. If nothing else a slightly higher defense
against it would be a good idea since it bypasses normal elemental
and magical resistances. Scott chose to specialize in celestial
mastery.

[Specialization: Celestial Mastery]

Through tireless work in the development of your
magical might and your racial connections to the power of the
celestial bodies you have unlocked your hidden potential for the
mastery of celestial energy.

Your ability to develop celestial spells has slightly
increased.

Your defense against celestial energy has minutely
increased.

Your celestial spells will require slightly less mana
to develop and utilize.

You have obtained the basic celestial spell pattern
[Radiant Starlight]

[—]

"A spell pattern?" That sounded promising!
His biggest problem when it came to spell development was that he
was uncertain how any of it actually worked. He had stumbled across
the three spells that he had learned, but without an actual magic
tutor he was lost. He understood intuitively why master mages were
depicted as studying for a life time to create powerful spells.

He could feel the knowledge of the pattern
unfolding within his mind. It also appeared on the mirror under a
new subject heading [
Spell Patterns
].

[Celestial Spell Patterns]

Radiant Starlight

A spell pattern designed to generate an energetic
phenomenon that spreads outward in all directions starting from a
singular point.

Minimum Creation Requirements:
2 Mana threads,
4 Celestial Mana threads, Attunement 40

Process:
The pattern is created by utilizing
two threads of mana in a cross pattern. While holding these threads
of mana, draw celestial mana to the convergence point at the center
of the cross from four directions that bisect the right angles
created by the cross. Once the threads are tied, draw the energy
into a tight sphere at the center.

The sphere created will begin to radiate a steady
flow of celestial energy in an omni-directional manner and will
continue to do so for the duration of the applied spell.

Application:
This pattern is best applied to
area of effect spells and used in conjunction with other elemental
forces that emit a radiant effect.

Suitable Sub-Elements:
Fire, lightning

Unsuitable Sub-Elements:
Earth, Wind,
Water

[—]

"Threads of mana?" asked Scott. He rubbed his
head for a moment, but his question was answered by the knowledge
that had been unfolding within his mind. He decided to give it a
try immediately.

Scott lifted his right hand and pointed with
his index finger. He touched the center of his power, his mana, and
focused on moving it up through his body to the tip of his finger.
After that he willed the power forward to a point just beyond his
finger tip. It caused a slight lightning-like energetic effect
where mana skittered out from his finger and stopped in the air
before him.

He drew his finger to the side and the mana
hovered in place after he moved. Scott drew a thin horizontal line
of mana roughly the width of his palm. He then moved his hand up
and drew a similar vertical line that inexpertly bisected the
horizontal line.

The glowing energy floated in the air and
made a slight crackling sound. The hard part began when he tried to
touch the celestial energy within the area. There was little to be
found due to the enclosed space. However, he did have a little of
it housed within his spirit due to his connection to the heavens.
It was a struggle, but Scott managed to draw four more lines of
energy each of which bisected the right angles formed by the mana
cross.

This is where his attunement stat shined. He
had more than twice the minimum required to attempt this process.
It proved to be difficult to use, but that was primarily due to the
low amount of celestial energy in the area. If he had been outdoors
it would no doubt prove simple. His attunement stat made up for
that lack nicely.

Scott drew the energy together in a sphere
and watched it begin to glow. Every few seconds a pulse of light
would occur that lit up the whole room.

He had created the pattern, but a pattern was
not a spell. It was something that could be used to develop a
spell. The next step was to combine this pattern with the one spell
that he knew could fit well with it. He went through the process of
casting the
[Stable Orb of Brilliance
] spell that he had
cast so many times before.

Once the spell was cast he took a moment to
try and merge it with the spell pattern that he had created.
Unfortunately, it did not work out well for him. He ended up losing
both the spell and the spell pattern.

Scott tried again with similar results.
"Probably can't just merge a current spell with it. What if I..."
he said.

He drew up the spell pattern once more then
studied it for a moment. He could not combine an existent spell,
but that did not mean that he could not recreate the effect while
using the pattern. He could not use the system to cast the spell if
he wanted this to work.

While the pattern of celestial power hovered
in the air, Scott performed the steps to the [
Stable Orb of
Brilliance
] perfectly. Sadly, they did not merge at that point
either.

He rubbed his chin for a moment then blinked.
"Could it really be so simple?"

Scott dismissed the [
Radiant
Starlight
] pattern and took a deep breath. He began the process
to cast his orb of brilliance spell but just before the point where
he spoke the name of the spell, he envisioned the creation of the
spell pattern in the air before him. The energy of his spell flowed
into the imagined pattern and a sphere of light emerged. It was
weak and wobbled in place like a drunk on holiday, but it was
there.

"Something's missing... but that's close."
said Scott.

After a moment it became obvious what the
problem was. Scott waited for the weak and wobbly sphere to
dissipate then tried again. This time he drew out the spell pattern
in the air and concentrated on the mental image of the eight-point
symbol but did not complete the action of causing it to become a
sphere. He then performed his orb of brilliance spell and stopped
just short of manifesting it by way of speaking its name aloud.

The power of his spell merged with the
pattern. He then caused it to draw together at the central point.
It became a sphere of energy roughly the size of a tennis ball. It
was still wobbly and unstable, but it was also far more intense in
its brilliance.

Scott fiddled with the spell creation
mechanics of his new concept design until his mana ran out. After a
lengthy rest period he went back to work. Developing his new spell
into a workable power completely drained him several times, but he
eventually stabilized the energy enough that the sphere of light
did not wobble.

The system called his new spell
[Scott's
Orb of Radiant Starlight].
He changed the name to something
simpler and easier to call out in a fight. The name he chose was
[Starlight Flare]
since he could not just name it Radiant
Starlight due to the fact that he had a pattern by the same name.
It would contaminate his memories according to the name selection
screen.

[Spell]

Starlight Flare

A celestial spell that radiates a series of energetic
pulses that both lights up the surrounding area and damages those
not in the caster's party. It does extra damage versus dark aligned
or demonic entities.

Spell Type:
Twilight Sorcery

Nature:
Continuous effect - Pulsating

Current Maximum Effective Range:
4
yards/meters

Area-of-Effect:
4.7 yards/meters
[Spherical]

Force:
I

Responsiveness:
38% [Below Average]

Efficiency:
14% [Low]

Stability:
26% [Weak]

Mana Drain:
Exorbitantly High

[—]

He assigned the spell to the fourth slot in
his spell slot arsenal then grinned. The effective range of the
damage.

Now that he had satisfied his desire to work
with his newfound celestial spell, Scott turned his attention back
to his arcane mastery skill. He had to choose a specialization
there as well.

[Specialization Options]

Improve Mana Regeneration I

Improve Attunement Efficiency I

Reduce Casting Time I

Increase Spell Pattern Creation Efficiency

Increase Mana Pool

Increase Magical Resistance

Increase Magical Power

[—]

He immediately noticed that only three of the
options could be chosen multiple times. After reading the little
blurbs for each option he nodded. It made sense. They were one-time
increases, but he could find ways to increase them again through
further training. He got the impression that he would need to find
a trainer to increase them further.

Each of the specializations played an
important role, but he could only choose one. Ultimately, he chose
the specialization that would allow him to develop more powerful
spells easier at the moment. He chose to improve his attunement
efficiency.

[Specialization: Increased Attunement Efficiency
I]

Your training and mastery of the arcane has allowed
you to develop an improved capacity to safely draw on more of your
mana. You can also more easily attune to all of the elemental
energies in which your class and race is aligned.

Attunement efficiency has increased slightly.

Elemental attunement efficiency has increased
slightly.

Celestial attunement efficiency has increased
slightly

Maximum safe mana usage potential has increased
slightly

[—]

Scott grinned at the mirror then immediately
began to work on his newest spell once more. He wanted to see if
there was any difference. After working with the spell for a moment
he could already feel a slight difference. Certain aspects of
creating it without the system help were slightly easier than
before.

He spent several rotations of training and
sleep working on his new spell and managed to tweak it to the best
point that he could manage with his current stats and skills.

[Spell]

Starlight Flare

A celestial spell that radiates a series of energetic
pulses that both lights up the surrounding area and damages those
not in the caster's party. It does extra damage versus dark aligned
or demonic entities.

Spell Type:
Twilight Sorcery

Nature:
Continuous effect - Pulsating

Current Maximum Effective Range:
4.5
yards/meters

Area-of-Effect:
5.2 yards/meters
[Spherical]

Force:
I

Responsiveness:
38% [Below Average]

Efficiency:
22% [Low]

Stability:
35% [Below Average]

Mana Drain:
High

[—]

The changes to his spell were not incredible
or particularly potent, but he was able to increase the area of
effect by half a yard, and decreased the mana drain. Those two
capacity upgrades alone would help a great deal he was certain.

Mana drain was a little confusing for him at
first. It seemed to have dropped an entire grade, but when he cast
the spell it felt like he used the same amount of mana. The only
thing he could see as a likely answer was that the mana needed for
the spell remained the same despite the slightly increased
effectiveness. It probably linked back to efficiency.

"I doubt it is particularly powerful, but
it's a start. Let's go see what the big red bastards think about
it."

Scott left the safety of the safe room and
slipped quickly down the hallway. It was unnerving to be in the
corridor after so long. The safe room had been a place where he
could exist with absolute safety. It did not take long before
memories of the horrors that he had faced began to well up within
him.

He did his best to calm himself by focusing
on his breath control. Death was a likely outcome from what he did
within the next few minutes. It was the most likely outcome. All he
needed to do was be prepared for the pain that came with it and
everything would be fine.

Through the first large room he silently
stalked, and into the next corridor. Normally there would have been
at least one hellion in that room, but there was none today.
However, it was not long before he reached the double doors that
separated this side-section of the authority building with the main
area. He could sense two hellions beyond his current location.