Unlocking

"30%, so that's… 8 stones, and you get to keep the rest of the materials we gathered. Is that fine with you?" Jax asked.

Loma looked at the amount with some shock. They had returned to the city after stealing the kill for the boss. They had to leave, or else they would have been targeted by those other fighters, and by themselves, they would've certainly lost.

Upon returning, they immediately began splitting the loot.

"That's fine. That's… more than fine," Loma said, unable to believe just how many stones Jax had gathered in a single day. Nearly 30 stones in a day, all by himself, was a crazy amount.

Even not counting the boss, he would've had about 20 stones. That was still an absurd amount for someone to collect all by themselves.

"I never expected to get so much following just a single man," Loma said.

Jax grinned. "You wanna go with me again?"

Loma actually considered it for a second before shaking his head. "I would rather do it safely. I don't want to get killed in an accident."

"That's fair," Jax nodded. "Especially given the fact that I will most likely prepare to go to the Cobweb Forest in a few days. I'm more or less done with the Dead Woods."

"Isn't that a bit too early?"

"Maybe, but I need to. There isn't much time before I need to go to the maze," Jax said. "And I want to leave this carriage as soon as I can."

Loma felt somewhat envious hearing him. He too wanted to do the same.

"Will you be coming to my shop later today?" he asked.

Jax thought for a moment and shook his head. "I'm afraid this is it. If you want to work with me again, I will let you know. But if not, I will have to start taking things more seriously. I think I've learned all that I need from you. Thank you."

Loma accepted that. "Just keep practicing. I'm sure you'll get good at it."

Jax left Loma and headed back to the training center. With the amount he had earned today, he could afford to laze around for a few days without any consequences. Of course, he didn't plan on lazing around. He had work to do.

Upon returning to the training center, Jax immediately returned to his room and closed the door. He quickly sat on the bench and brought out the one thing that had been on his mind for the entire way back.

He brought out the spell scroll.

Since he had the restriction 'Single Spell Sorcerer,' he wanted to see what would happen if he tried to learn a new spell. He opened the scroll to the spell 'Poison Spores' and looked at it.

The language the spell was written in was still the same. They were texts that Jax simply didn't understand at all. However, they were supposed to be automatically translated for him within the Celestial Express.

And yet, no such translation came.

And without the translation, without the ability to know how to use the spell, Jax could do nothing at all. The scroll with a spell within it was but a single piece of paper that did nothing for him.

"Well, I expected as much, and yet I feel disappointed," Jax said.

"You can't learn any other spell, Jax," Gemma said from the side.

"Can you tell me what sort of spell this would've been upgraded to?"

"Uhh… let me check."

Gemma blinked out of existence for a few seconds before returning. "The spell you would've gotten would be a poison spell called 'Divine Poison.' It would be a spell where you could create the type of poison you want for each situation, such as one that burns, one that blinds, one that makes you lethargic—anything. You would also be immune to all poisons."

Jax looked at the scroll before him, not entirely sure if he would've liked that spell. Perhaps, perhaps not.

"No point in getting sad over something I was never meant to get," Jax said and put the scroll away. It was a good enough spell that people would want to learn, so he could earn around five stones for that spell.

He would have to sell it later on, though.

For now, there was something else he needed to do. Putting away the scroll, Jax brought out two stones with a hint of greenish-blue color to them. These were the two Elemental Navi stones that he had received from the kill.

"Okay, what do I do again? Do I just absorb and use my spell?" Jax asked.

"Yes," Gemma explained. "First, empty your sea entirely, and then absorb all of this element. Then, make use of your spell using that element. Your spell will automatically make use of that particular element, in this case, Poison."

Jax took a deep breath. He didn't have much Navi after today's hunt, so emptying his sea took no time at all. Once his sea was completely empty, with the threads gathering next to him in a pile, he began absorbing from one of the poison stones.

It took him over 15 minutes to fill his sea completely, at which point he could absorb no more without spilling away the rest of the energy. If he were to stop, the stone would leak energy on its own until it was fully used up.

The Poison Elemental Navi was a precious commodity that Jax didn't want to let go to waste. So, he began using the same method he had practiced the last time.

He used the spell while drawing in more Navi at the same time. The Navi he drew desperately wanted to go to his spell, which Jax couldn't let go there. He needed to absorb the Navi that would then be used by his spell.

Furthermore, if he sent it to his sea first, it would also count for absorbing Navi, which sent him closer to being in the next Navi stage. And because Jax wanted to go to the next carriage as quickly as possible, he wanted to waste no opportunity.

The threads Jax created from the Poison Navi were a pale-green color, similar to the Navi stone. A certain notification came at the same time.

<'Divine Threads' has been used with 'Poison' Navi>

Jax continued further as the spell asked, desperately doing all he could to keep the energy from the stone from going directly to the spell instead of his sea.

As Jax struggled, the energy in the stone slowly lessened until there was no more. He continued with the energy in his Navi, but even that emptied.

Jax grabbed the second stone and started again. He didn't stop for his sea to fill up this time. He directly used what he had gathered with the spell.

The threads that appeared at his feet were so much that they completely filled his ground, and yet he continued.

And after continuing for what felt like a very long time, Jax saw the notification he had wanted to see.

Jax smiled, continuing to draw in more Navi, this time to fill his sea.

He was excited by the spell and wanted to let Gemma know that he had done it. However, as he was about to, there came another notification.