ALL NOVEL Chapter 43: First Spell
"Hey Mary~ are you going to join the event?"
"...what event?"
"Unitale's first ever in-game event, silly!"
"Oh?"
All the teachers and staff were currently having a meeting so the students were put into a self-study session. Of course, no one was studying so it was basically free time for everyone.
Maria currently had her head down on top of the desk when Lizzy asked her about the event. She of course didn't know about it since she was busy with something else.
Lizzy explained all the ins and outs of the game event to Maria. The game company behind Unitale wanted to spice things up for the global release which would be happening a week later alongside with the update.
The event that Lizzy was talking about was a gathering and drop rate bonus for in-game currency, crafting materials, and equipment. Special boss monsters would also spawn randomly in the field and dungeons which will drop random gift boxes of different grades for the players to collect.
There will also be a ranking for whoever obtained the most special boss kills displayed on the game's main website and the number one to ten spots will receive an exclusive prize from the game company.
"How come I've never heard about this?"
"It was broadcasted in the [World Announcement], Mary! What exactly have you been doing for the past couple of days? You told us that you were finished with your [Study Time] quest, so why haven't you contacted us in-game yet?" Lizzy said a little unhappy. She looked forward to playing again with Maria.
It wasn't every day that this friend of hers would pick up interest in a game so she wanted to make sure that Maria was still hooked into playing and not give up mid-way.
"...Ugh...I was imprisoned again..."
"What?!"
This was bad news for Lizzy. If all Maria ever did while playing the game was getting imprisoned then she might quickly lose interest in the game!
"Explain! How'd you get yourself into another mess?"
"Y-you see...after the library quest..."
Maria began explaining all about what happened after the [Study Time] quest to Lizzy. The girl was appalled when she heard about the very demanding quest that was generated from the Magic Tower's Arch Mage.
[Quest: A Mage's Path
Learn the way of the mage from the number one mage of the north, Arch Mage Paimon. Under his tutelage you will walk down the proper path of a first-rate magus!
Objectives:
- Follow all of Paimon's instructions (9/10)
- Acquire [Magic Comprehension] (1/1)
- Acquire [Magic Deduction] (1/1)
- Acquire [Magical Affinity] (1/1)
Rewards: +1000 FAV with Paimon, Paimon's Magic Tome, +100 INT, +500,000 EXP, Spell Book: Ruin
Penalty: -1000 FAV with Paimon, Ban Entry: Northern Magic Tower, -100 INT, -1 Level, Spell Book: Random Toad
Time Limit: None]
Maria had connected her Unitale Account to her phone's Unitale App. The app was basically just like a Unitale newspaper. It contained all the new updates and events while also granting easy access to the forums.
You could also access your in-game characters stats, quests, and everything on the app as well. Maria had opened up her [Quest] menu on the app and shown Lizzy the quest she got from Paimon.
"Woah! What's with these absurd rewards Mary?!"
Lizzy was pretty infuriated earlier upon knowing that her best friend was once again trapped somewhere because of a quest, but when she looked at the quest rewards, she felt a little envious.
"500,000 EXP is enough to raise my level by 1 or 2! Also, what's with this way of learning skills? You get 3 passives from completing the objectives and you get a spell book as a reward!"
Lizzy was totally floored with the quest rewards. The plus 100 to INT stat was also very much appealing, that was like getting 10 free levels for a normal player! She also deduced that Paimon's Magic Tome was likely a special item that was bound to have incredible effects. After all, it was a Magic Tome from the Arch Mage himself!
"And what's with that 1000 FAV?! That's enough to raise your relationship with the NPC to [Like] or above!" Lizzy exclaimed in shock.
"What's that?"
Lizzy began explaining to Maria about the NPC favorability function and ranks. There were 9 ranks in total. From the lowest it was: [Nemesis], [Enemies], [Dislike], [Indifferent], [Neutral], [Amiable], [Like], [Friend], [Intimate].
Every player started with a [Neutral] relationship with all NPCs of their factions and the neutral faction. As for their opposing faction it started out with [Dislike].
A player could raise the FAV stat by completing quests and interacting with an NPC regularly. This applied to every NPC in the game, which means a player could raise the FAV stats for NPCs of opposing factions if they wanted to.
Having a higher FAV stat with an NPC allowed you to get more benefits when you talk to them and if you have a high enough FAV stat, you could actually have them accompany you on quests or hunts for a period of time!
"Oh! That's neat!"
"It sure is! I think I'd be okay with this kind of quest...but how're you holding up, Mary? You think the game's boring?"
"What? No way! I think it's actually pretty fun! I get to learn new things and interact with many people; I also got a new in-game friend y'know! I also have fun teasing and talking to Paimon too!"
Maria began fiddling with her phone and showed the screen to Lizzy, "Here, this is how he looks like!"
On the screen was Paimon's character menu.
"Woah! He's so adorable!"
"I know right! Hihi~ he tries to act like a grownup, but you can easily please him if you just listen to whatever he says, make him tea, and give him sweets!"
"Ahahah~ what's with that? It says here he's over 1000 years old, but from the way you say he acts, he sure doesn't seem like an old grampa!"
******
"So, my friend and I were talking about how cute you were Paipai!"
"...you really are a disrespectful apprentice...just like that Hella girl."
"Hihi~ so, what're we doing next?"
"Magic Combat... since you already have all 3 of the basic mage skills we'll have you learn the basic [Fire] spell and defeat some monsters while only using magic."
[Magic Comprehension (10/10,000)
Rank: C
Intermediate mastery of magical equations, incantations, spell formulas and structures, enables the comprehension of C ranked spells and below
Provides a 5% increase to INT and 10% increase in Mana Recovery outside of combat
Upgradeable: Magic Mastery E
Requirements: Magic Comprehension S, Magic Deduction S, Magical Affinity S]
[Magic Deduction (2/1,000)
Rank: D
Low-level mastery of spell construction, invocation, and execution, enables the casting of D ranked spells and below
Provides a 5% increase to Mana Recovery while in combat
Upgradeable: Magic Mastery E
Requirements: Magic Comprehension S, Magic Deduction S, Magical Affinity S]
[Magical Affinity (0/100)
Rank: E
Basic affinity with the elements enabling the use of basic fire and water elemental spells
Provides a 10% increase to all Elemental Resistance
Upgradeable: Magic Mastery E
Requirements: Magic Comprehension S, Magic Deduction S, Magical Affinity S]
After looking over all three of her newly acquired skills, Maria cheered happily, "I can finally learn magic, yay!"
"Here's the [Fire] Spell Book. Since you aren't a Mage, you'll have to learn it manually."
Maria immediately took the book from Paimon and thanked him. She quickly opened the book and began reading.
Maria didn't even bother to find a chair to sit in before reading. Ever since she began reading in the library, she would unconsciously start flapping her wings and float in the air and just read her book like that. Airborne reading was now one of Maria's favorite past times!
The door to the research room opened and Lilith walked in.
"Oh? She's at it again?"
Paimon turned towards his in-name apprentice and said, "Yes, she's finally reached the last phase to her basic training...and what are you here for, Lilith?"
"You know, Arch Mage, I may just be your in-name apprentice, but how come you treat the two of us so differently?"
"I treat you both how I want to! It's just that you're easier to deal with than that clueless airhead of a fallen angel! It's really hard to deal with a halfwit!"
"...Somehow, I feel kind of defeated...anyways, I'm here to turn in the quest from last time."
"Ah, thank you for this. Here's your reward."
Paimon waved his hand and a Spell Book flew from one of the bookshelves towards Lilith. She stretched her hand and grabbed it.
"Phew...finally got [Levitation], is there anything else you need from me, Arch Mage Paimon?"
"Hmmm...you're still a little low in level...come back when you're level 50 and I'll give you another quest as well as your class ascension quest!"
Lilith nodded before backing out of the room. She took one last look at Maria before walking out.
"Phew, she's been like that for almost 10 in-game days...doesn't she get bored?"
******
Back in the room, after Maria finished reading through the book and chanting the incantation she found within, she was able to learn the Fire spell.
[Spell acquired: Fire Lv.1
Fire Lv.1 (0/100)
Rank: E
Ignites enemy with fire, dealing 50+(INT x 0.5) M.DMG with a small chance to inflict [Burn] for 5 seconds.
MP Cost: 100 MP
Cooldown: 10 seconds]
"Hooray, my first spell!"
Maria activated [Fire] and a large flame was conjured on top of her hand. She stared in marvel at the ball of flames in her hand and just as she was about to throw it, Maria thankfully remembered where she was.
"Oops, better not. Paipai will yell at me again!"
"You got that right! What were you thinking, trying to throw that fire spell while indoors?!"
"Ehehehe~ sorry Paipai~ let's continue with the Magic Combat!"
"Sheesh...you're so troublesome...Hey, you better not thoughtlessly use magic from now on! I do NOT want to hear about some idiot fallen angel burning down half the city, okay?!"
"Hey! I'm not that stupid! I'll only use it on the monsters!"
"You better! Come over, we'll teleport to the site."
Maria flew over next to Paimon and the Arch Mage waved his hand, teleporting the two out of the room.