Chapter 5: Tier 1

Chapter 5: Tier 1

Ember felt no joy once his advancement came. He had been looking forward to it for days, and yet who could have imagined it would cause such terrible pain, almost making him regret living again? It was so horrifying that he even fell unconscious.

Even after he regained consciousness, the weariness lingered, fatigue settling deep into his tender bones. Ember wondered how much of it was due to the advancement and how much to his relentless grinding of skills. Anyhow, his mood was finally lifted when a notification window expanded in his view.

[Congratulations. You have reached Copper – Tier 1.]

[Your body’s predisposition towards skills and mana has improved. Your potential has risen.]

All that was well and good, but Ember did not believe he could survive another advancement like this.

[+6 skill slots.]

Well, maybe I can manage.

[Would you like to learn: Pain Tolerance (Common)?]

[Required Skill Slot: 1.]

His brows arched, almost accepting the skill. Pain Tolerance could help him endure these advancements.

If accepting the skill would settle the matter, Ember would have taken it in a heartbeat, but he suspected that, like any other skill, he would have to train it. How did one train Pain Tolerance? A cold shudder ran down his spine just imagining it.

Before Ember opened his status page, his eyes darted to his mother. She was talking with a young woman, a healer she had brought to check on him.

“Em, are you feeling pain anywhere?”

A sense of guilt welled up in his heart. As much as the agonising advancement had scared the life out of him, it seemed to have terrified her even more. Although he had been occupied with enduring the pain, he had caught a glimpse of her sobbing face.

“No, mom,” he answered, chewing the inside of his cheeks. “I’m just hungry.”

Yes, he couldn’t have known that advancing would come with such pain. The system hadn’t even given him a minute to prepare, not that he could have done much anyway. But he could not help it.

As his mother hurried to serve him a meal, Ember finally opened his status.

Of course, the race advancement did not end at Tier 1, though he was not too delighted to find it would take him double the EPs to advance another step.

But at least he had gained six more skill slots. With new skills, perhaps it wouldn’t even take that long.

There was finally something new in the Mana Foundation section. Ember had some suspicions about what both mana circuits and Breath of Mana meant, though it would require some experiments with his Mana Sense to confirm them.

The growth in his attributes was another thing he was delighted to see. Might and Speed were still lacklustre, whereas the biggest gains were in Will, Insight, and Mystic. Maybe it was related to the types of skills he trained? All his skills trained either his mind or magic.

With all that out of the way, Ember decided to see how astonishing the sixth step in Mana Sense was. He peered inwards, towards his internal mana.

Yes, he could do that now. Once he reached the sixth step, it became possible to glimpse the threads of mana within him. One breath of mana. Was that what it was? Could it be used to fling a fireball?

Now that he could sense his internal mana, Ember considered for a moment before deciding to see if he could grasp it. Mana was ethereal. He had no clue whether it was pure energy or if there was some spiritual component to it—whatever that meant.

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Anyhow, with his mind made up, he conjured two metaphorical hands over the elusive mana and tried to grasp it.

The process was nerve-wracking and strange, almost like trying to hold water in his palm. Although he could get his hands wet and perhaps even bring some water out, most of it would drain away. The same seemed to be true for mana.

After keeping at it for a few minutes while his mother fed him, Ember was left both embarrassed and exhausted.

Still far away from flinging spells, he deemed.

Then the familiar window expanded before his eyes.

[Would you like to learn: Mana Circulation (Copper)?]

[Required skill slots: 3.]

Ember would have liked some information on the skill. Although its name alluded to what it entailed, it would still have helped to know more. Unfortunately, the system only provided information once the skill was learned.