[Your Aura has reached 300 points!]
[You have unlocked a Passive Ability: Advanced Aura Manifestation!]
[Passive Ability: Advanced Aura Manifestation]
[You can manifest bigger and more complex forms of aura. Example: Aura Weapon]
"Oh, I got...Advanced Aura Manifestation," Max said as he stood on the head of a red-furred mini-boss monster.
"Huh? Even I don't have that," Eliyah said. "Just how high is your level, Max?"
"It's not the level, but the titles I got that boost me."
"Wow," Eliyah said.
Max had technically had access to aura projectiles and reinforcement ever since his aura passed 100, though he rarely used either. The projectiles couldn't compete with a blade already in his hand, and reinforcing the others would only pull aura away from his own attacks.
"Hmmm. Let me try manifesting a sword."
He willed a sword into being, shaped like Virtonia.
"Hmm. I lost 3% of aura because of just this. Even my aura slashes waste less."
Max sent the levitating blade flying at a rock. The aura dispersed the moment it struck, leaving a hole behind.
Even the firing of the sword wasted 1% of his aura.
"Now let me try piercing with my real sword," Max said as the squad watched.
He did it without imbuing Virtonia. Only his body was enhanced with aura. The hole was bigger and deeper. Not by much though.
So the aura sword's piercing power is about the same as Virtonia's would be if I didn't enhance it with aura.
"Not bad," Manuel said.
I could do much more than just summon a sword, Max thought.
On the way to Rinea, he experimented with various things and concluded that the ability had its uses, but that it wasn't going to be used too much.
It was still limited. Perhaps as the stat rises the possibilities will increase. It consumes quite a bit of aura and aura is a precious resource, extremely precious, and takes a while to recharge.
"It's the twin mountain pillars. We're here," Eliyah said.
"How long did it take us? Thirteen days?" Thomas asked.
"Something like that," Manuel answered.
"Well, we've still got over two dozen days to go. Let's have some well-deserved fun," Thomas said excitedly.
The road went straight to the edge of the cliff and then down into the city. The squad stood at the edge, looking at the city below.
"It's beautiful," Max said.
The glowing blue sea, the clear weather, the sun-bleached buildings stacked close together along the cliffside. Colorful houses packed tight, red roofs catching the light. Ships docked at the port.
People moving through the streets below. And beyond it all, the surrounding cliffs and natural stone pillars.
The town was shaped roughly like the letter U, wrapped around an inlet where the sea cut into the south shore of the continent.
Flying monsters drifted high above, either friendly or simply too wary of humans to come closer.
"Let's go eat that Rinea's specialty, guys," Thomas said.
"You know it?" Max responded.
"Yeah, their horned fish! I heard NPCs talking about them even in Trianca."
"Alright," Max said.
Max had plenty of time to spare before he needed to find Lovrin. This was where the squad would stay for the next few days.
***
"Make me a sword with these poisonous shards."
The tall, bald-headed blacksmith examined them.
"That'll be 750."
"Deal." Max paid up immediately.
Money wasn't a problem — he'd sold plenty of drops from monsters he'd killed along the way: hides, claws, tails, horns.
There were few things among those drops that he actually needed — the poisonous shard was one of them. He'd gotten it from the flower field boss back in the desert.
"And I also want you to insert this into my sword."
Max showed a gem to the smith.
"Is that a..."
"Yes, an attribute gem."
"Hm, how did you even get it? You don't look like a noble."
"Found it on a corpse."
"Okay... well, you chose the right guy. I've already done this for a few warriors who found them."
Max knew this balding NPC was skilled — good enough that he'd turned down offers to work for the royal family and nobility, content to stay independent in his hometown.
"Can you tell what attribute this gem will give?"
The blacksmith looked at it carefully.
His face betrayed his uncertainty.
"I'm afraid not. I've never seen this one."
"That's fine. As long as you can insert it."
"This will be expensive. 3000."
Max reached into his coin pouch and counted out six coins, each worth 500 — most of the money he'd earned from selling drops.
The gem insertion didn't take long — only fifteen minutes. Max stayed to wait.
"It's done."
Max grabbed the sword and immediately checked its description.
Besides the previous information, he saw something else.
[Attribute: Chaotic Energy]
[This weapon now carries the energy that destroyed most of the old continent. It is a chaotic energy that inflicts random effects upon a hit.]
Old continent, huh, Max thought.
That was the secret area Max was already thinking about exploring.
"Thanks. When can I come for the poison sword?"
"Come tomorrow morning."
"Alright, thanks." Max left the shop.
In front of him was a wooden railing and a view of the port below. He leaned against the railing and admired the scenery around him.
Max noticed the ships unloading. He smelled fish as he gazed at the port.
Ships came and went constantly here, trading with the island just offshore and the other port towns along the coast. The smell of salt and fish hung over everything — seafood was the city's staple; sweeter things came in by boat from elsewhere.
I should go to the city's springs and relax, the player thought as he started walking.
And then...
Max turned a corner and collided hard with a woman trying to balance three stacked boxes.
The woman said something Max couldn't understand, worry creasing her face.
Then the woman decided to speak another language, guessing that the tall man in front of her was a foreigner.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said.
Max could understand this. It was Virtonian.
Even though her apology came out in a synthesized language, Max understood every word of it — Virtonian had been downloaded straight into his brain when he first logged in.
"It's fine, don't worry. My fault."
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, let me help you."
What the hell is wrong with me? Am I actually stupid?
Max couldn't believe he hadn't seen the collision coming.
"Where do you want these?"
"Just down there. I'm making a store there."
"Oh? What for?"
"Flowers!"
"Oh, but why are you carrying three heavy boxes by yourself?"
"Oh, I'm actually a mage, aura helps with carrying," the beautiful girl with long brown hair said.
She had a white flower with a dark blue ovule on the side of her head.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I used to be an adventurer," she said with a smile.
"Oh, same. I mean, I'm an adventurer now."
The two of them walked down the wide wooden walkway along the cliffside, past stores, cafés, and restaurants built into the rock.
"Right here." The woman stopped walking.
"I'll open it," Max said.
He shifted all three boxes onto one arm without any visible effort and used his free hand to open the door.
Inside was a plain room with a door leading to another in the corner, and a counter — presumably for transactions. That was it.
Max and the woman set the grey boxes down by the counter.
"Thank you. In return, I can inspect your aura to see how strong it is, if you want."
"Oh, you don't have to," Max said politely.
"I insist," she said, "I'm interested!"
"Uh, okay."
She took his hand in both of hers, and something in Max's chest gave an unexpected, embarrassing flutter.
She closed her eyes...
...
Then her eyes opened wide.
"Wow, you must be someone important!"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you a high noble?"
"No. I'm not. I'm just a commoner."
"You must have slain a great number of monsters to become this strong."
"You could say that."
"What's your name?" the girl asked.
"I'm Max, you?"
"I'm Berlona." She extended her hand and Max shook it with a slight smile.
"I like your hair. All the other men have short hair, slicked-back hair, or long hair. Yours covers the forehead. I've never seen that."
"Hahaha, I've been rocking this for ten years now."
"Keep it that way. It makes you... stand out."
"Sure."
There was a brief pause.
"If you want, come by here during daytime and I'll buy you a nice drink. I'll be here."
"Haha, okay," Max said, smiling. I'll see you again, Berlona, he thought as he turned to go.
He gave her a small wave and stepped back out onto the walkway.
She was pretty, Max thought. It's also been a couple of days since I genuinely smiled.
He gazed at the blue sea as he walked.
What about the language of the second floor?
He frowned, turning the thought over. A new language would probably be installed the moment he entered Floor Two — there was no way the system would let players spawn there clueless, right?
***
"Five misses in a row..." Thomas said and sighed.
He stood atop a cliff he'd flown up to earlier, practicing archery. The young man was trying to shoot down birds in the sky.
He'd put a fair distance between himself and the city — the last thing he needed was a stray arrow falling on someone below.
"I'm getting better though. I have to be, for the time when I get to the second floor..."
He sat down on a rock and cracked his knuckles.
Was choosing to be an archer the wrong move?
He shook his head.
No, don't think about that. There's no going back.
***
"Ugh, you're pretty strong," a knight said, with respect. He was on one knee. Manuel stood straight.
"Anyone else wanna spar?" Manuel asked as he cracked his neck.
"I will!" a red-haired man in training armor answered.
Manuel had asked to spar with the town's off-duty guards at their training ground, hoping to sharpen his skills.
They used training weapons that caused minimal damage.
"Don't think I'll be as easy as the rookie you just lectured!" the red-haired knight said playfully.
"Alright, what's your name?" Manuel asked.
"I'm Levent Ivor, an Awakened."
Manuel's eyebrows shot up as he clenched his spear.
"Wow, I'm Manuel. Don't go too hard on me."
Levent closed the distance without warning. Manuel got his shield up just in time. The impact drove him back two steps.
He hits like a wall, Manuel thought.
Levent came again with his spear, high then low. Manuel blocked both and threw a spear thrust at his ribs. Levent turned his body and let it graze past him.
"You're fast for a mundane," Levent said.
"You haven't seen fast yet," Manuel replied, rolling his shoulder.
The watching guards had gone quiet.
Levent planted his back foot and thrust twice in rapid succession — one at the throat, one at the knee.
Manuel deflected the first with his shaft and absorbed the second on his shield, then immediately countered with a wide sweeping strike aimed at Levent's lead leg.
Levent jumped back, grinning now.
The two circled. Spear tips tracing slow arcs, each waiting for the other to commit.
Levent feinted left and drove forward hard. Manuel read the feint late — the tip caught his shoulder and spun him sideways.
"Good eye," Manuel said, steadying himself.
"You held your ground well," Levent replied, lowering his spear slightly.
Manuel rolled his struck shoulder and raised his spear again. He wasn't done. "Let's keep going."
***
"Mmmm..."
Eliyah was relaxing at the town's popular swimming pool — circular, ringed with trees in colors from blue to red.
There was a ten-meter diving platform off to his left. Someone jumped headfirst, but Eliyah didn't even glance over. He stared at the sea on the horizon through the pool's glass fence.
"Where are you from?" a blue-haired man asked him.
"From another world," Eliyah replied.
"Your purple hair makes it believable."
Eliyah chuckled as he closed his eyes.
"Look at your own hair, haha. I did it to match my aura color."
"You're an adventurer or something?"
"Yeah," Eliyah said, glancing around at the women nearby. All that time on death row had left him hungry for more than food.
I should dye my hair, he thought. Word of the escape would reach here eventually, and his hair made him too easy to spot.
"I'm from the Lake Islands, been here for a few days for a job. I'm gonna dive, you coming?"
"Sure." Eliyah smiled.
Thank God I didn't die that day...