Chapter 36: Off to Maroon City
Our ride finally arrived at the front of the guild.
It was a wagon pulled by two horses with wings, otherwise known as a pegasus.
For some reason, they were both afraid of me and Ravyn, but I think it''s because we have a dark aura around us. Luckily Kiyomicked that so she managed to get a feeling of their wings which we wanted to touch.
But to think that adventurers heading to Maroon city get treatment like this. Looks like my hard work paid off.
Inside the wagon, there was plenty of supplies for us tost during the trip. If I recall it takes at least 2-3 weeks to get there so this amount is plenty enough.
We were provided with a wagon, however, we didn''t have a driver and that was something we needed to take care of. The pegasi won''t go near any of us except Kiyomi, so we already knew who was going to be taking care of them.
Anyway, we began to head out before I noticed something from the corner of my eye.
When we exited through the gate, I heard a familiar voice pass by. And when I turned my head, entering town was a ck-haired beauty followed by others.
I thought it was Risa until she turned around and she was a different woman.
My hopes immediately became suppressed and I sat back down.
As much as I wanted to meet up with her right now, I couldn''t. There is no doubt that she is still following that king''s orders. They are probably still trying to kill or capture me. However, I know Risa won''t kill me, at the very least though she will try to capture me.
Tch, the thought of her being used angered me. But for now, our little reunion will have to wait.
As of now I''m tired.
I was just about to fall asleep before I was suddenly pped in the head with a book.
"Ack! What the hell was that for?!" I yelled at Ravyn who tossed me a book.
"Start studying, you did want us to help you, right?"
"Oh right."
I forgot that I requested this. I haven''t learned the basics of mana and I need that in order to unlock the skill Sage Arts which hasn''t been unlocked yet. The process is going to be difficult because of two reasons.
One, it''s not easy to understand the basics of mana and master control of it. It takes more than a month to master the use and Sage Arts is the highest form of mana concentration, therefore I''ll know if I mastered it when I unlock that. The second reason, well it''s studying, of course! I believe I''ve said this before, I am not one to study my subjects. But right now I will make it an exception at least that is what I think.
"By the way, why do you need us to teach you? This is basic stuff you learn in school." Ravyn asked curiously. I was going to answer but Kiyomi answered for me.
"Master is not of this world. He is a hero, one from a different world."
"Wait, really!?"
I nodded and Ravyn froze.
"Wait, which hero are you? The Mage Hero? The Assassin Hero? Or are you perhaps-?"
"I''m none of those."
There was a long pause before Ravyn asked again.
"So... which hero are you then?"
"...just think of me as a hero that''s not associated with this kingdom. Now, are we going to do this or not?"
"Uh...r-right..."
Anyway, Ravyn and Kiyomi will be taking shifts to help me. Ravyn''s shift is from the morning to the afternoon and Kiyomi is after that before the evening. Basically 6 hours from both of them.
And so the lesson begins.
Oh yeah, that reminds me, I had gotten some skills from our... session.
[Passive Skills in Store: Necromancy]
[Skills in Store: Reanimation, Ice Armor, Frost Bolt]
I noticed I had gotten the skills that I shared with Kiyomi. Now that I think of it, I could have Kiyomi learn it and then copy them as we-wait I''m not a pervert kinda.
I''ll think about it but anyway, I''ll be iming these skills.
[Passive Skills Obtained: Necromancy(Locked)]
[Skills Obtained: Reanimation(Locked), Ice Armor(Lvl.1), Frost Bolt(Lvl.1)]
[ss Learned: Necromancer(Locked)]
Wait, why is the ss locked? I''d understand the skills but why the ss?
[The Necromancer ss is extremelyplex as there are many types of them. Their evolution processes are different from the others since they all start from a branch. For example, Ravyn''s Necromancer ss is "Avenger of the living dead" which is thebination of three branches. The reason it is hidden is that Analysiscks the power to do so. The skill required to see every stat of a target is Appraisal.]
An extremelyplex ss? Well, you could''ve told me this earlier. Oh well, I should get used to this now.
"Hey! Are you paying attention!"
Whack!
"Aaah! What the hell!? When the hell did you learn to be so violent!?"
"Who else?"
She looked away with bright red cheeks and I clicked my tongue as I rubbed my head.
Jeez, maybe I shouldn''t have asked for help from Ravyn if she is gonna hit me like that. Kiyomi wouldn''t do that probably.
As Ravyn continued to help me study, I was looking over their stats. Since they were part of my party, I was able to take a peek at them. Not that it was pretty obvious already.
Kiyomi
[Level 444; ss: Mage/Assassin; Level Cap: 594]
{Abilities}
Passive Skills: Sage Arts, Ninjutsu Proficiency, Fox Fire Maniption, Bloodlust, Sprint, Extreme Might, Water Maniption
Active Skills: Transformation
Skills: Swift sh(Lvl.8), Soaring Dragon Fist(Lvl.6), me Pirs(Lvl.7), sh Step(Lvl.4), Stealth(Lvl.5), Wolf''s Blood(Lvl.3), Ice Armor(Lvl.1), Frost Bolt(Lvl.1)
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Ravyn
[Level 369; ss: Necromancer; Level Cap: 567]
{Abilities}
Passive Skills: Darkness Maniption, Reaper''s Evil Eyes, Reaper''s Favor, West God Martial Arts, Undead Domination, Necromancy, Pain Negation, Curse Resistance, Bloodlust
Active Skills: Bane Mist
Skills: Reanimation(Lvl.Max), Boneyard(Lvl.Max), Shadow Harvest(Lvl.9), Shadow Puppet(Lvl.8), Necrosis(Lvl.4), Dark Armor(Lvl.5), Shadow Fist(Lvl.7), Shadow Shift(Lvl.6), Tartarean Shackles(Lvl.5)
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I noticed that their level caps were significantly higher than what I remember them to be
It''s best that I don''t think about it as it''ll be distracting me from my studies.
After hours, we eventually stopped and set up camp in an open field. I used Wolf''s Blood, which now covers up at most 80 meters. The only thing that was around us were birds, wolves, and other critters.
Then there were giant frogs.
For some reason, I was ticked off and I killed it. I just had the feeling that I was going to end up getting swallowed up by it if I hadn''t taken it out.
Anyway, after eating breakfast and everyone went to sleep, I walked over to a vacant area.
"Good, no one''s around. Let''s try this..."
I umted dark energy into my right hand and a Stygian presence clouded the air.
[Host has attempted to use Necromancy]
[Host has failed]
I heard from the distance that the pegasi were waking up and I immediately stopped.
Crap, from the books, necromancy requires a heavy amount of dark energy to perform, but it seems that I am still incapable of using it.
I attempted once again but this time I was further away from the camp. I eventually settled by doing it on top of the hill.
Over a period of time, I continued to vent dark energy over and over again, but to no avail.
"Crap, why is this so difficult?"
"That''s because you are doing it wrong!"
I turned and Ravyn was watching me from a distance.
"Ravyn, what are you doing here? How did you even find me?"
"Well, it''s not that hard considering you have clouded such arge area with dark energy. Anyway, you are doing it all wrong and also, you don''t have the aptitude to-"
"No, I do. Borrowed it from you."
"W-what? How?"
"Oh yeah, I didn''t tell you, did I? Well..."
After exining what my skills Allocation and Exceed do, she understood before having a flushed look on her face.
"S-so you got it from... doing it?"
"Precisely."
"I-is it possible for you to get unique skills though?"
"Hmm, I don''t know myself."
[It is possible for most, but not every skill. The unique skills that you are able to attain from Ravyn are Reaper''s Evil Eyes]
Interesting. I see.
"Some, but not all."
"Aah, I see."
"So you said I was doing necromancy wrong, correct? You mind helping me?"
"Sure..."
I ced my hand on the ground once more and began amassing dark energy, but Ravyn stopped me.
"You are doing it all wrong! Did you even pay attention when I was teaching you?"
"Well, all I remembered was I had to collect energy and then unleash it at the same time."
"The word is umtion!"
"Look I don''t know the terminology alright? Just tell me what I''m doing wrong."
Ravyn took a deep breath before sighing.
"First, you are venting out too much dark energy and absorbing too little. You need to know how to control your mana flow."
Huh... that would make sense why my mana is decreasing so fast.
[Mana: 53,420,369/100,000,000]
"You need to concentrate. Concentrate on discharging your energy but don''t do it so forcefully. You are going to have to bnce discharging and absorb power. The best way is to discharge energy on one arm and absorb it in the other. Try it though I doubt you would get it on the first try."
I followed her instructions and began collecting energy in my left arm while releasing it into my right arm. It took a while for me to get used to the energy flow as it left my body and got absorbed at the same time.
Eventually, I got the hang of it and I was umting energy perfectly.
"Impressive, you did it in such a short span of time. It took me about a week to do that."
"Huh, that was easier than I thought. You know Ravyn, you''re a good instructor. If you hadn''t ''died'' then you would''ve been a great teacher."
Ravyn blushed at myment.
"I-is that so...? Teaching others is well not really my thing unless it''s you... and maybe..."
"Hmph, maybe once I get the hang of this, I''ll give you a reward."
"That reward being...?"
"I think you already know, but that''s only once I master mana control. Don''t worry, I''m a quick learner."
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