End of the Grind
"Once you capture it and give it to me, I'll make sure to give you a lot of gold."
...
On the other side of the crystal, a muscular man who had multiple scars on his face couldn't help but laugh at the words spoke by Dane. Every movement done by this muscular man showed clumsiness and joy, but whenever he's in battle, these movements exuded strength, fear, and a power to destroy everything. This man was Artan, a Rank 2 — Battle Warrior, a person who moves for money, and of course, Dane's acquaintance.
"How much gold we are talking about here? 200? 500? Since it's just a stick, think of it as a discount from me!" Artan continued to laugh as he talked in a boisterous manner.
On the other side, Dane thought about the words Prince Vanadir told him before searching for the Wind Walnut Branch that now evolved into a Spiritas of the Wind element.
...
Around a week ago...
"The Wind Walnut Branch," Dane replied.
"The Wind Walnut Branch? Is it any different from the Wind Branch?" Prince Vanadir inquired because he wanted to add as much special effects to the sword he was going to craft as possible.
Dane then said, "As I've said before Your Highness, the Wind Walnut Branch is a mana-infused Wind Branch, which means..."
"Not only does it contain the Wind element that allows your future sword to swing faster, it also contains mana which could be used to affix runes on the sword so it could cast spells!"
Vanadir's eyes glistened as he listened to the words Dane said from the other side of the crystal. Thinking about it for a bit, he was shocked as he asked, "Wait...does that mean that the possible rarity of the sword with the Wind Walnut Branch as the catalyst would be Magic grade?!"
"Not just Magic grade," Dane lightly chuckled. "There's also a chance for it to become a Grand grade weapon."
Normal, Magic, Grand. These are three most basic grades of weapons found within the world of Erudinia. Nonetheless, they still hold immense power that could easily kill sticks.
"Grand grade..." Prince Vanadir was drooling at the thought of having a Grand grade weapon as a Rank 2 Junior Windwalker. Wanting to make sure that the branch was obtained, Vanadir then said to Dane, "Dane, I'll give you access to 40% of my current assets. Use it wisely so you could grab the Wind Walnut Branch and help me win the throne."
Being a loyal servant of Prince Vanadir, Dane was going to make sure he would capture the Wind Walnut Branch as fast as possible and even add in special items which could help boost the weapon to Grand grade.
"I shall follow your command, Your Highness!" With an excited expression, Dane replied and hastily ended the call.
...
Dane, who was talking to Artan, was reminded of the assets His Highness gave control to him, which amounted to more or less 100,000 gold. This amount would let any person live a carefree life from birth to death. But Dane was already a successful High Mage of the Arcana Tower, earning hundreds of gold every day. Hence he replied to Artan with the number, "5000."
"5000?" Artan's eyes widened on the other side of the crystal, not believing what Dane just said. A figure that large would be equal to the amounts he obtained after killing a Rank 2 or Rank 3 beast and extracting their important parts already! Thinking that the number Dane said was too big, he asked, "5000? Are you talking about 5000 silver?"
1 gold was equivalent to 10 silver, so Artan was basically asking for 500 gold, a value he asked earlier.
"Nope," Dane denied Artan's question as he mentioned the number again. "5000. I'm paying you 5000 gold if you catch that weird branch."
"5000...?!" Artan couldn't believe what he was hearing. Capturing a branch for 5000 gold was like a godsend to him. Artan went back to his boisterous manner of talking and then said, "I got it. I'll make sure to capture that branch for you."
Dane smiled and said his thanks before ending the call, leaving Artan to dream about the amount of gold he could possibly from a simple mission like this. Dane then couldn't help but mutter as he infused mana into the orb, "I wonder how long it'd take him to grab that branch."
...
Ding!
After Aurus commanded the system to evolve the max leveled skills he grinded along the way, two notification screens appeared in front of his field of vision, basically telling him that two skills that had a direct evolution path were easily evolved.
'[Lowest Spirit Spell Core (Wind Variant)] has been evolved to [Low Spirit Spell Core (Wind Variant)].'
'[Form Morph] has been evolved to [Greater Form Morph].'
"I'll check out their details later," Aurus mumbled to himself as three more notification screens appeared in front of him. Now these three notifications all had one thing in common.
Choices.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
________
Please choose the skill you would like [Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)] to evolve into:
[Efficient Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)]
[Condensed Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)]
[Flux Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)]
________
"System, identify all of these possible skill evolutions with the most straight to the point information as possible," Aurus commanded as he had a feeling that the choices were similar to the SP Storage skill evolutions.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
________
[Wide Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)]
Grade: B (Mortal)
Gaining proficiency in the condensing of Stick Points into Spirit Points, the core needs less Stick Points to condense into Spirit Points, thus having a larger amount of Spirit Points while having the same potency.
> The amount of usable SP has been decreased by 1/4
> All skills and spells that utilize SP now use SP, thus dealing 10% increased damage
> All skills and spells that utilize SP are imbued with the Wind element
________
________
[Condensed Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)]
Grade: B (Mortal)
Instead of using less Stick Points to make one Spirit Point, the core has gained a new method of condensing Stick Points into Spirit Points, wherein the amount of Spirit Points stay the same, yet their purity and potency has been increased.
> The amount of usable SP stays the same
> All skills and spells that utilize SP now use SP, thus dealing 15% increased damage
> All skills and spells that utilize SP are imbued with the Wind element
________
________
[Flux Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)]
Grade: B (Mortal)
Instead of focusing on expansion or potency, the core finds a way to hasten the recovery rate of Spirit Points instead of relying on recovery rate of Stick Points, thus allowing the core to replenish its Spirit Points faster.
> The amount of usable SP stays the same
> All skills and spells that utilize SP now use SP, thus dealing 10% increased damage
> The recovery rate of Spirit Points has been increased from 0 to 1 SP per minute.
> All skills and spells that utilize SP are imbued with the Wind element
_________
Since Aurus was following the path of the mages in ISE wherein the purer the energy, the better, Aurus didn't hesitate to choose the [Condensed Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)].
Ding!
'[Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)] has been evolved to [Condensed Spirit Energy Core (Wind Variant)].'
"Okay. With that done, let's move onto the first offensive skill that hasn't disappointed ever since I got it."
Ding!
________
Please choose the skill that you would like [Spirit Lance of Three Worlds (Special)] to evolve into:
[Supreme Spirit Lance of Three Worlds (Special)]
[Spirit Trident of Four Directions (Special)]
[Five Melancholy Spirit Spear (Special)]
________
"Hmm...at first glance, I could already see the effects of the first choice, which is just boosting the power of my current skill so I'll skip that. System, identify the two remaining choices."
Ding! Ding!
________
[Spirit Trident of Four Directions (Special)]
Grade: S (Mortal)
An offensive skill based on the four cardinal directions of the world: North, South, East, and West. Each of these directions have their own special effects, only known after evolving to this skill.
SP Cost: 2 SP per second (Sanction form), 8 SP (Judgement form), 5 SP (Law form) -> 10 SP (North, South, East, and West direction)
Cooldown: 15 seconds -> 25 seconds
[Note: The skill boasts the four basic elements of the world: Fire, Earth, Water, and Air.]
________
________
[Five Melancholy Spirit Spear (Special)]
Grade: S (Mortal)
An offensive skill based on the stages of melancholy throughout a person's life, the skill's five forms could be used consecutively, allowing each consecutive form to grow stronger in power or allow each form to stand alone, with each having their own special effects.
Previous SP Cost: 2 SP per second (Sanction form), 8 SP (Judgement form), 5 SP (Law form)
Current SP cost: 10 to 50 SP (Usage from first form to final form), 50 SP (Denial form), 5 SP per second (Anger form), 25 SP (Bargaining form), 25 SP (Depression form), Maximum amount of SP (Acceptance form)
Cooldown: 15 seconds -> 15 seconds
[Note: Please check the special effects of the individual forms afterwards after evolving to this skill]
________
After reading through the two skill evolutions, Aurus easily made a decision as the skill allowed him to be more flexible than when he used the Spirit Lance. It also doesn't increase the cooldown unlike the other one, which made Aurus choose this skill.
Ding!
'[Spirit Lance of Three Worlds (Special)] has been evolved to [Five Melancholy Spirit Spear (Special)].'
"And finally onto..." Aurus was eager to see the possible evolutions for the last skill but then he remembered the skill he max leveled after looking at the choices. "Oh. I don't have to think hard on this one."
Ding!
'[Revitalising Anima Creation] has been evolved to [High Rejuvenating Anima Creation].'
Afterwards, after checking his skill screen one more time, Aurus started to roll once more towards the Tempest Ruin. Not only was he going to roll towards the Tempest Ruin, he was also keeping a look out for any possible punching ba—branches to test his skills out on.
"Are there any branches willing to be my target~?"