"I hate this character!!"
"Everythig about him is the worst!" A shadowy figure obscured by the darkness of his own room complained at the screen of his single monitor.
"He's built like a fucking twig and is allergic to dealing damage! His magic is absolutely abysmal. Like, I'm in the fucking end of the mid-game! Why are you still in the first fucking circle!"
A pixel art render of a brown-haired boy was displayed on his monitor, showing his stats, equipment and other info the game presents.
"And your dexterity and speed! Those are supposed to be your best Stat! But everyone outspeeds you and you can barely wield those daggers!"
On this run, the shadowy figure decided to try out leveling up the three worst characters in the game and get them to the end-game alive.
But leveling up this particular character was a more difficult task than he expected.
"No wonder you're stuck on the worst class in the entire game!"
With a large sigh, the shadowy figure closed the info on this character and continued playing on the map.
"And what's with all these weird bugs you have!?"
One of the reasons [Dragon's Roar] is considered a god-tier game, is it's low amount of bugs.
Almost none.
"Magnus' skeletons don't attack or target you for some reason! Khyle uses a weapon with disadvantage. Why? He can use every weapon and always has the advantage!.."
The shadowy figure continued complaining while playing through the game.
Even at the dungeon he currently was in, a dungeon known for being there to train your lower level units, this character couldn't be left alone.
"And what's with your dialog!? I'm tired of reading those three dots. Are you mute or what!?"
While the absolute gamer rage the player was feeling would've made most people quit their attempt way before the point he finds himself in, he couldn't give up.
He needed to achieve that secret ending no one has gotten to before.
But seeing the pixel art animation of that character dying to a low-level enemy again made him rage-quit te game.
There's a save file, so he can resume that attempt some other time while he tries other strategies.
Or maybe he could play another game, he has gotten really good at achievement hunting. But no game felt the same like [Dragon's Roar]
With a long and tired sigh and a slow movement of his hand, the shadowy figure opened the game again, not to keep attempting the same trash-tier character run. But to have a chill and relaxed playthrough of the game he enjoys, his favorite game of all time.
____________
"Huh?"
I slowly opened my eyes, it's already night time, and I'm still at arena six.
"Oh, he woke up"
"He still has a couple of minutes left today" the blonde director covered her mouth to hide a chuckle.
"Wh-what happened?"
The last thing I remember doing was that I created half of an inner circle.
And then that dream about my time before transmigrating.
"You were asleep for two hours"
"Two hours!!"
"I won't accept more attempts today Goldenlaw! He's clearly incapable of getting to the second circle"
"Wait! I have a couple of minutes left... let me try one more time today" if I fail, then my chances of being directly trained by them will vanish.
"I already agreed to teach you, why do you also want a special class that focuses on training you on other aspects?" Kafka's tones clear to me, utter disbelief. He doesn't understand why this is happening.
"I... want to get stronger..." I can't tell them that I need to get stronger because I want to avoid the world to follow a bad route that leads this story to an apocalypse that kills every human, elf and demi-human.
"I need to get stronger" to protect my family... the [Crescent Moon]
I could feel their gazes on me, expecting me to say something else. But I can't say a lot.
"I... will become strong"
I don't know why I'm so different from game Alen, he belonged to the F class, the worst class in Aurum Academy. He never talked, his only dialog is three dots. And he's weak.
But I feel different than him.
Is it because I'm a mix of Alen and my previous self? But that wouldn't explain why I'm stronger than game Alen.
Killig goblins and orcs by myself? Fighting against enemies alone and holding my ground against them?
Those are things game Alen could never do...
But I can...
"Then do your thing" Goldenlaw interrupted my thoughts "You're clearly different with those hidden talents of yours. You have tools in front of you, use them to become stronger"
...
____________
Yesterday, on my first ever dungeon clearing, something weird happened.
I chanted the incantation for sandstorm, but there was a pause between the end of the incantation and the actual cast of the spell.
Did Karla and Milly noticed? Does Magnus know about this? That wasn't something possible in-game.
____________
"Ahoy matey! Be somethin' weighin' on yer mind?" the crude but well-meaning leader of the group that composes my family asked me.
"I just... feel really dumb... like I have ideas on my mind... but they're all weird"
Barret simply let out a loud and raspy laugh while slapping the table "Arrr, matey! Ye be havin' much to learn still!" he simply left without giving me a real answer.
"I think those ideas are important"
"Ah!" I jumped from my place as Milly sneaked behind and scared me
"I'll tell Khyle to make your training harder, you shouldn't be sneaked on" he started walking out, her usual calm and expressionless face still made her hard to read for me.
"Give those weird ideas a try Alen"
___________
I let out a sigh and closed my eyes.
"This is your last attempt today brat! So you better make it worth it" Kafka, with his angry but expectant tone crossed his arms.
I let a log sigh escape from my lips.
The same feeling... I'm there... surrounded by water.
And this tiny circle, so small it wraps around my index finger.
And this other amount of mana, barely enough to create a second circle.
Use my will to move it around, use my mind to create a second circle.
Despite magic related stuff being studied, there are some things that no one talks about. Is it because it's common knowledge? Or is it because there's no answer?
No, there should be some answers.
Magic and mana is an extention of your own body.
Studying magic is like studying how to move a single muscle of your body, how to crawl and walk.
It feels like studying the human body and applying that knowledge to train. The correct way of doing an exercise, what exercises train which muscle.
But what about external stuff. What you eat, how much training you can do, your own mental state when training.
I'm no expert on that. But I can see a resemblance between body training and magic
Magic studies lacks that studying of things outside you. Always learnig about oneself, always about the inside. But mana is everywhere, and it affects a lot of things.
Mana is used and we run out of it. But where does that used up mana go to?
It's a dumb question, but something that's not answered.
Now that I'm here, on this relaxed space inside me. Submerged in my own mana.
I can know where it goes...
"Northern winds, attack"
"[Wind Ram]"
To the outside... as if it were steam coming out of me, it leaves my body to become one with outer mana.
And recharging mana? It happens instinctively and automatically.
It seems that my body absorbs mana from the outside at a slow pace. But because my mana pool is so small, I get filled up really fast.
___________
"Magnus, I don't understand this" I pointed at a line of text in the book he gave me.
[basic magic 1. kid's first spell] the book that teaches people younger than me how to learn the basics of magic.
The line I pointed at reads: "... mana pools are determined by various factors that vary depending on the person"
"This book doesn't say anything about increasing them"
"Because... it's really unpredictable. While training helps, increasing mana pools is thought to be something based on genetics"
Then I got the short end of the stick with my genetics...
___________
Nothing is like that just because. There has to be a reason, because the world has to work.
Why is there mana in the air if we can't do anything with it?
I felt something last time.
I controlled it.
And I can do it again.
______________
"I think those ideas are important"
"Give those weird ideas a try Alen"
______________
All the mana around me...
It was mana that was inside me before, and it's mana that'll be inside me.
I have to do the same with my current mana, turn it into a line that races around me... trying to form a circle, but failing because of my lack of mana.
And my first ring... it's there for a reason. With that one I won't faint.
"Alen!"
Kafka Crowbell's yell made me lose my concentration.
"You seem to be at a dead end! No matter what you come up with, nothing leads you to an answer."
"W-wait... I ca-"
"You may have te tools in front of you, but you don't know how to use them"
I can't just... waste this opportunity.
"Attend my next magic class! There, you'll learn how to use all the tools you have in front to you"
He turned around and began to leave.
"Goodnight teacher Crowbell" the blonde woman waved her hand at a Kafka didn't say anything back.
"I-i..."
"It seems you have more chances student Alen" she smiled and also began to walk towards the exit "goodnight student Alen"
"Uuhhh... goodnight"
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