By the time Damian returned to his cottage, he felt more mentally exhausted than physically tired.
He entered, locked the door behind him, barely bothered removing his boots properly, and collapsed backward onto the bed.
The mattress caught him with a soft bounce as Damian stared at the ceiling.
"What a fucking day..."
There really was no better way to summarize it.
He had begun the day force-feeding himself enough Qi Nourishing Pills to traumatize his digestive system, pushed himself all the way into Level 6, become a Journeyman Mage, and acquired the <Skill Upgrade System>.
Afterward, he had visited the Mage Association, received magical nobility, spent a small fortune on new spells, and discovered exactly how obscenely expensive the Mage profession could become.
Then came the Trade and Commerce Guild’s commercial registration, product certification, and the realization that the random Shengyuan merchandise sitting inside his Exchange Storage represented thousands upon thousands of Gold Coins if properly sold.
Then, naturally, Damian had thought the day needed more excitement and gone into Moonveil Forest.
He fought thirteen Dark Goblins, killed a Level 5 Dark Goblin archer, found news about missing hunters, discovered a plot by a CR 8 Satyr concerning an ancient Fey crossing, learned the tragic fate of a magically controlled Dire Wolf from his wolf brothers, and finally...
Ophelia.
Damian covered his face.
Okay, that last one had been somewhat outside the expected itinerary.
Still, as the embarrassment faded, Damian found himself considerably less troubled than he expected.
He had never been the type to sit around agonizing endlessly about decisions he had already made.
If there was a mistake, learn from it.
If there was a consequence, handle it.
If something turned out well...
Then perhaps do it again with slightly better planning.
Damian’s lips twitched.
He certainly wouldn’t pretend the experience had been unpleasant.
Quite the opposite.
The compatibility between them had been rather...
Impressive.
Ophelia’s normally listless appearance had done an excellent job disguising just how dangerous that woman’s body really was.
Damian coughed and firmly redirected his thoughts.
The important thing was that he barely knew her, and that was the part he intended to fix.
Whatever this developed into, Damian preferred relationships built on more than physical attraction and one extremely questionable laboratory experiment.
He would talk to Ophelia more, learn about her, and figure out what drove that absurd research obsession and why she sometimes looked like she had not slept properly despite apparently spending half her life asleep.
And if that resulted in a second round somewhere along the way?
Well... Damian was a practical man.
He would bravely endure for the greater good!
"Right."
He sat upright.
"Enough degeneracy."
There was something far more important waiting for him.
Skill Points!
Damian opened the <Skill Upgrade System>.
The interface appeared immediately.
Unlike his Character Sheet, it resembled the strange record generated by <One Proof, Eternal Proof>, separated cleanly by realm.
[Skill Upgrade System]
[Current Skill Points: 19.]
[Valoria]
[Recognized Categories: Skills / Spells / Specializations / Techniques.]
[Shengyuan]
[Recognized Categories: Cultivation Techniques / Martial Arts / Daoist Arts / Techniques.]
Damian selected Shengyuan first.
The result was painfully short.
[Five Elements Harmonization Art — Entry.]
"That is embarrassingly empty."
Of course, it made sense as Damian had only just begun cultivating.
He had not learned any Martial Skills or Daoist Arts, and the Five Elements Harmonization Art remained his sole proper Shengyuan technique.
Then he opened Valoria’s side, and the panel expanded dramatically.
Spells filled most of the display, followed by Specializations and several miscellaneous magical abilities.
More importantly, something had changed.
Every recognized ability now displayed an actual mastery rank.
Damian immediately selected an old favorite.
[Name: Burning Hands.
Type: Level 1 Evocation Spell.
Grade: Novice.
Power: 40% Fire Damage.
Effect: Releases a short-range cone of flame. Targets struck suffer guaranteed Minor Burn. Damage scales primarily with INT and secondarily with SPI.
Advancement Cost: 3 Skill Points.]
Damian stared.
"Oh?"
This was useful, very useful indeed.
The percentage did not mean an enemy possessed some convenient floating HP bar.
Rather, it represented the spell’s standardized magical power relative to Damian’s relevant Attributes.
Actual injuries would still depend upon armor, magical resistance, elemental affinity, where the spell struck and the target’s physical toughness.
Forty percent firepower against a naked Human and forty percent against a Fire Elemental were obviously not the same thing.
But now Damian finally possessed a proper framework for comparing spells.
He opened <Firebolt>.
[Name: Firebolt.
Type: Evocation Cantrip.
Grade: Novice.
Power: 5% Fire Damage.
Effect: Launches a ranged projectile of concentrated flame. Applies guaranteed Minor Sear.
Advancement Cost: 1 Skill Point.]
Then <Frost Ray>.
[Name: Frost Ray.
Type: Evocation Cantrip.
Grade: Novice.
Power: 5% Cold Damage.
Effect: Launches a ranged ray of concentrated cold. Applies guaranteed Minor Freeze, reducing mobility.
Advancement Cost: 1 Skill Point.]
So cantrips really were the bottom rung.
Cheap, reliable, and almost infinitely reusable so long as his Mental Energy held out, but comparatively weak.
Damian continued checking.
<Mage Armor> required three Skill Points to Advance whereas <Misty Step> required ten.
That made him grimace.
Then he opened his Specializations.
[Name: Arcane Knowledge
Rank: Journeyman
Effect: Improves one’s understanding of arcane principles, magical theory, spell structures and the practical application of magic. Also increases one’s ability to identify, analyze and manipulate unfamiliar magical phenomena.
Advance to Adept: 30 Skill Points.]
[Name: Survival
Rank: Novice
Effect: Improves one’s ability to endure and navigate dangerous environments. Also enhances one’s awareness of threats, resourcefulness, tracking, shelter-building and practical wilderness skills.
Advance to Journeyman: 5 Skill Points.]
[Name: Persuasion
Rank: Novice
Effect: Improves one’s ability to influence others through reason, charm, negotiation and carefully chosen words. Also increases the likelihood that others will accept one’s proposals when they are not fundamentally opposed to them.
Advance to Journeyman: 5 Skill Points.]
[Name: Valorian Overworld Language
Rank: Master
Effect: Grants complete fluency in the common language of Valoria, including advanced vocabulary, regional expressions, formal speech, written communication and subtle cultural nuances.
Advance to Grandmaster: 1,000 Skill Points.]
Damian stared at the last number in shock.
"One thousand?!"
The System though, did not care about his outrage.
Damian leaned backward in defeat.
Brother, most of his magical abilities were only Novice Rank at the moment!
How obscene would the costs become when he was trying to move important abilities from Journeyman to Adept, Adept to Master, or beyond?
At least now he understood why the System rewarded Skill Points according to monster Level.
He would need a terrifying number eventually.
Damian reached into his Bag of Holding and pulled out his newly purchased manuals.
The beautifully bound books looked considerably more attractive now.
He selected three first.
<Witch Bolt>.
<Scorching Ray>.
<Fireball>.
The System immediately recognized them.
[Compatible Spell Manual detected.]
[Learn Function available.]
[Level 1 Spell — Learn Cost: 1 Skill Point.]
[Level 2 Spell — Learn Cost: 2 Skill Points.]
[Level 3 Spell — Learn Cost: 3 Skill Points.]
Damian’s eyes brightened, feeling that this was far more reasonable.
He checked the remaining manuals, which were two Level 1 spells, three Level 2 spells, and two Level 3 spells.
That would cost fourteen Skill Points total to learn them all.
Damian smiled.
Versatility had always appealed to him more than dumping everything into one attack and praying it solved every problem.
"Learn all seven."
The Skill Upgrade System responded instantly.
[14 Skill Points consumed.]
Knowledge poured into Damian’s mind, actual foundational mastery.
Spell structures appeared within his understanding one after another.
[Name: Entangle
Type: Level 1 Conjuration Spell
Grade: Novice
Effect: Causes grasping vegetation to erupt across a targeted area of 15 meters, creating difficult terrain and attempting to restrain affected creatures.
Advancement Cost: 1 Skill Point.]
[Name: Witch Bolt
Type: Level 1 Evocation Spell
Grade: Novice
Power: 35% Lightning Damage on initial strike, 10% Lightning damage per second.
Effect: Establishes a sustained lightning tether with one target. Subsequent maintained pulses inflict reduced Lightning Damage while the connection remains intact.
Advancement Cost: 1 Skill Point.]
[Name: Scorching Ray
Type: Level 2 Evocation Spell
Grade: Novice
Power: 30% Fire Damage each.
Effect: Fires three independent concentrated rays that may strike one target or be divided among several. Each successful hit may apply Minor Sear.
Advancement Cost: 2 Skill Points.]
[Name: Barkskin.
Type: Level 2 Transmutation Spell.
Grade: Novice.
Effect: Temporarily hardens a target’s skin into bark-like magical armor, substantially improving resistance to ordinary physical damage for up to 10 minutes.
Advancement Cost: 2 Skill Points.]
[Name: Web.
Type: Level 2 Conjuration Spell.
Grade: Novice.
Effect: Creates a broad field of dense magical webbing surrounding an area of 25 meters. The affected terrain becomes difficult to traverse and creatures may become restrained. The webbing is also extremely flammable.
Advancement Cost: 2 Skill Points.]
[Name: Counterspell.
Type: Level 3 Abjuration Spell.
Grade: Novice.
Effect: Interrupts a compatible spell during formation. Particularly reliable against Level 3 and lower magic. More powerful magic may require greater magical output or Upcasting.
Advancement Cost: 3 Skill Points.]
Then came the one Damian had been waiting for.
[Name: Fireball
Type: Level 3 Evocation Spell
Grade: Novice
Power: 150% Fire Damage
Effect: Launches a condensed sphere of flame that violently detonates over a broad area of 5 meters. Survivors struck directly suffer guaranteed Moderate Burn.
Advancement Cost: 3 Skill Points.]
One hundred and fifty percent, huh?
Compared with the forty percent of <Burning Hands> and the five on <Firebolt>, the gap was not small at all.
"Heh, so that’s why everyone loves Fireball." Damian remarked with an amused expression.
There were apparently ancient truths shared across every fantasy civilization.
Damian checked his remaining balance.
[Skill Points: 5.]
He could save them for later, which might be the responsible option.
Then Damian remembered that tomorrow he was entering Moonveil Forest again, and saving everything indefinitely was how people died carrying ninety-nine healing potions because they were waiting for the final boss.
"Meh, just spend them."
One point entered <Firebolt>, and another entered <Frost Ray>.
[Firebolt advanced.]
[Novice → Journeyman.]
[Power: 5% → 10% Fire Damage.]
[Status: Minor Sear → Moderate Sear.]
[Frost Ray advanced.]
[Novice → Journeyman.]
[Power: 5% → 10% Cold Damage.]
[Status: Minor Freeze → Moderate Freeze.]
Three remaining.
Damian placed them into <Mage Armor>.
[Mage Armor advanced.]
[Novice → Journeyman.]
[Protective strength increased by 50%]
[Barrier stability increased by 30%]
[Resistance against concentrated physical and magical impacts improved by 10%]
[Skill Points Remaining: 0.]
Damian smiled.
He got seven new spells, boosted two combat cantrips by double in baseline power, and now, his most reliable defensive spell had been strengthened.
Not bad for one expedition!
Tomorrow, if Moonveil Forest really contained eighty-plus Dark Goblins...
Damian’s smile became somewhat predatory.
"Maybe they’ll be generous enough to fund the next round, hehe!"
He closed the System, fell backward onto his pillow and barely managed to pull the blanket over himself before exhaustion finally won.
Within minutes, Damian Baines was asleep, dreaming all night of endless Skill Points.
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