Spell 02 : The Ages

  Just as I was about to climb up the stairs, I received a message.

  'Is that you, Julius? Oh my God, this game is so cool! I'm in a town right now. I can see everything! You won't believe what I can smell here! I think I-'

  'Yes.' I said.

  Benedict can be really over-enthusiastic sometimes. My friends immediately got game subscriptions for themselves when they heard I was playing Royal Road, and it looks like Benedict got into the game first.

  But I'm too excited to entertain them now. Have to focus on the task at hand.

  The gigantic doors, though massive, weighed as light as feathers. I gave them a gentle push, and they swung inwards easily.

  Inside the chamber was a grand study of some sort. The chamber was split into two floors; the first containing mostly shelves stocked with books and scrolls. There were many desks lined up against the walls of the chamber with various trinkets like alchemy sets, statues, wands etc. The second floor looked more like a bedroom. There were closets and study tables as well as a four-post bed.

  'Welcome! Enter please, and make yourself at home. Do not touch any of my magical artifacts and you will be fine. Take a seat on the armchair by the fireplace, if you will. I will be with you shortly.' An aged voice reverberated around the room.

  I looked around for the source of the sound, and only managed to see the speaker by craning my neck upwards. A cloaked figure was floating on a magic circle of some sort near the ceiling. I walked towards the armchair and took a seat. Next to the armchair was a small round table with another wand on it. Being the naturally curious person I was, I reached out for it. I mean what could go wrong?

  As my fingers neared the wand, I immediately felt a static shock that felt almost like frying my fingers had I not pulled my hand away.

  I let out a rather audible gasp, which did not go unnoticed.

  'A rather inquisitive one, huh? Excellent for studying and learning hidden secrets, but fatal for a fool who does not learn how to protect himself.' Said the same voice earlier, but much softer and less echoes.

  That was because the speaker had suddenly materialised on the armchair right next to me!

  Seriously, can mages really teleport around just like that? Like so effortlessly?

  I turned my head to study the figure. He was rather short for an Elf, and to be honest, he looked so frail that a punch looked enough to kill him.

  'I know I am not much to look at, but I can assure you my HP is nearly 30,000, and I can easily cast shields on myself that block up to 100,000 damage, so don't even try.' He said seriously, as though reading my thoughts.

  I must have looked pretty sombre, and he laughed.

  'Sorry, I did not really mean to be this hostile. Well, let me introduce myself proper then. I am Ghanda the Really Old, as what the dear Elves calls me. I am an archmage, and the head of the Grand Enchantium below. The library assistant, whom you met earlier, is Leyla and she used to be my apprentice until she has learnt all she wanted to know. Now she just helps me manage the Enchantium.'

  He then summoned a crystal ball, and as I looked at it, I could see the Enchantium within! It was like watching a surveillance camera.

  'I have been watching you as you passed each and every single trial. I must say, you really surprised both me and Leyla here. We have not met anyone who passed all our tests.'

  So this old fart was the one that was spying on me all the while!

  'You have shown great fortitude and determination. Many hopefuls like yourself have hoped to see me to take on my apprenticeship, but both Leyla and I knew that only a person of great aptitude can become not just a mage, BUT the mage. Of course, Leyla and myself have ventured far into the path of the magi, and we both found secrets that no other mage has found. I can offer to teach you basic magic all mages will know, as well as magic that nobody else knows. Do you want to become my apprentice?' He finished.

  Sweet! I immediately reached level 5, and I received stat gains as well! Those 3 days I spent cooped up in the library was worth it.

  A class in RED! This means that if I complete his training, I will immediately receive a new class! Possibly one of the hidden class from the looks of it!

  'Yes. I will become your apprentice, Master Ghanda.' I promptly replied.

  'Right. To begin your training, I am going to teach you two new spells. Given your Intelligence level, this is extremely possible. Without those readings you did, this would have been impossible. The two spells are Fire Strike and Ice Bolt. I want you to practise your spells on this training dummy here until they are both level 5. I will also bestow on you a buff to increase your learning speed. Why spend more time than you actually need to? Now, begin!'

  Ghanda smiled, and just vanished. Excited to begin, I immediately turned to face the dummy. Hands facing the dummy, I shouted.

  'Cast Fire Strike!'

  A fireball materialised in my palms and I released them at the dummy. It caught fire, but the fire died almost immediately.

  'Open skill window : Fire Strike!'

  A whopping 15% increase to expertise level just by casting a single Fire Strike?! Ghanda's buff is really handy. I quickly cast more Fire Strikes at the dummy in succession.

  'Cast Fire Strike!'

  'Cast Fire Strike!'

  'Cast Fire Strike!'...

  This went on till the skill leveled up.

  I continued casting until my mana ran out. Then Ghanda's voice reverberated in the chamber again.

  'Ran out of mana? Simple. Drink from the mana spring. Your mana will be restored in no time!'

  I turned around and looked for the spring. I found it next to a statue of a beautiful Elven woman.

  As I refilled my canteen from my inventory with the mana water, I read the description on the statue.

  My heart went out for the poor guy. Even though they are NPCs, but in this virtual world, their emotions are very real. Sometimes, even a virtual love like the one between Ghanda and his wife can be more real than the love between couples in reality.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I drank from my canteen, and to my surprise, the mana water tasted like a very interesting mix of fruit! I suppose the Mana Addiction trait of the High Elves enhances the taste as well as the effects of such mana regenerating items. My mana instantly refilled, and I started my training with the dummy again.

  When my Fire Strike leveled up to level 3, the dummy began to morph as I struck it with fireballs. As my Fire Strikes landed, it promptly changed to a fire figure, thus absorbing my Fire Strikes. I realised this must have been something Ghanda came up with in order for higher levels of spells to advance. Hitting a solid dummy all the time with spells can increase its expertise level, but it grows less effective. This time however, it seems I have to find a weak spot on the dummy in order to hit effectively.

  Eventually, my Fire Strike leveled up to level 5. Rather satisfied, I opened up the skill window to check the skill.

  It seems as I level up the skill, the skill gets stronger. Not to mention the manacost is also lowered.

  I decided to train on Ice Bolt tomorrow, and I logged out.

  Stepping out of the capsule back in the real world, I reached out for my phone next to my bed. Opening up the Whatsapp app I have on my phone, I realised my friends have been communicating a lot in our group chat while I was in RoyalRoad.

  Next morning, I immediately logged into Royal Road again.

  Ghanda was nowhere to be found. But the dummy was still there. I immediately continued with my training. This time, when my Ice Bolt hit level 3, the dummy morphed like before, but it became an ice figure instead.

  Man, Ghanda really isn't a simple old man.

  After about 3 hours game time, I leveled up Ice Bolt to level 5 as well.

  'Open skill window : Ice Bolt!'

  This time, however, Ghanda didn't appear. Leyla appeared instead. She was, as usual, with her papers. And her glasses revealed that all too familiar glint.

  'Ghanda wants you to try out your skills on actual foes. Take this portstone, use it, and it will teleport you to a tree dungeon. Clear all the foes inside, and another portstone will appear in your inventory. Use it to get back here. Good luck!'

  She handed me a stone with weird symbols engraved into it. It seemed to be runes somehow. I looked up, and she was gone.

  'Use portstone!' I shouted.

  Immediately, I felt the sensation of teleporting. It wasn't really comfortable to be honest.

  The place I was in now looked like a dungeon alright. It was more like a cavern where there were walls made up of tree stalk. There only one way forward so I began walking. I met my first foe at a crossroad. It was a treant, slightly taller than me. Treants were moderately weak monsters, plus I had a level 5 Fire Strike spell at my side. This should be a piece of cake.

  'Cast Fire Strike!'

  The familiar sensation of intense heat built up in my hands, and three fireballs were formed. I shot all three at the treant.

  The treant went down almost immediately. I looted the treant, and found only green moss. Hardly valuable at all. I ignored the loot and continued walking. This time, I met 3 treants. However, they saw me first, and charged at me on their spindly legs.

  'Cast Fire Strike!'

  'Cast Fire Strike!'

  On the second Strike, an additional fireball was released, killing the treant. Without a critical hit, it took two Fire Strikes to take out a single treant. I proceeded to attack the other two treants as well. I lost some HP as I could not take them out fast enough. It couldn't be helped. I looted the treants and found a magician's glove, amongst the moss. I equipped it on and found it to give additional 5 Intelligence.

  As I slowly cleared the dungeon, I had to stop and wait twice for my mana to regenerate even after finish my entire canteen of mana water. Being a mage really used up a lot of mana.

  After clearing about 50 treants, I was already at level 10. And my Fire Strike had reached level 7. Then I heard a great growl. It seemed the boss monster had appeared. And to my horror, it was a giant treant that was 4 times as tall as I was! It looked at me with its mean little eyes and seemed to be taunting me.

  I checked my HP and mana. All was good. I was ready to take on the boss.

  I immediately attacked it with Flame Strike, but the boss seemed unfazed. And I didn't realise it was also casting a spell. I felt something slimy trapping my legs and I looked down.

  Crap! I was ensnared by the treant boss' Entagling Root spell! Slowly, I felt my HP draining.

  The boss took this chance to strike. It hit me with a punch that really hurt! I took a whopping 150 damage! My maximum health was only 550 at that point, so 150 damage was quite a lot.

  I had to act fast. Recalling I had Luminous Light, I cast it and looked away while flaring it so bright that the treant boss was blinded. While it was dazed, I cast Fire Strike on the roots eating away at my health. The roots died, and I was free finally!

  I took many steps back and considered my options. I knew the boss was tough, but it had to have a critical spot, just like the training dummy. I observed the treant and realised that its thick bark did not protect its eyes. All I had to do was aim at its eyes, but with the boss moving about so much, it was difficult to aim. I have to immobilise it first.

  'Cast Ice Bolt!'

  No effect.

  'Cast Ice Bolt!'

  Again, no effect. And the treant boss was slowly getting back its vision. It was enraged, meaning it dealt 20% more damage now!

  'Cast Ice Bolt!'

  Lucky hit! The 20% chance of stunning the target came into effect!

  I took this chance while the boss was stunned to rain its eyes with Fire Strikes.

  After an onslaught of Fire Strikes, the treant boss finally gave a groan and collapsed.

  I took a deep breath and sat down. My mana was almost empty. Fortunately, most of my Fire Strikes generated enough extra fireballs to finish off the boss.

  Ghanda really isn't just a simple old man...

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