Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 38 - Core Skill!
Three hours in, Lumi was exhausted but improving. While his own skill was increasing by the slightest negligible bit, the real improvement was from the system slowly willingly increasing his control over the mana.
His casting time had dropped to 1.5 seconds consistently, occasionally hitting 1.3 when everything aligned perfectly. For a First Rank mage, it was exceptional. By Alice’s standards, it was barely acceptable.
"I want your mana to flow like I showed!" Alice commanded. "Anyone who deviates too often does a lap around Herene. Yes, the entire island! Begin!"
This was different from just rapid casting. Alice’s body began to glow faintly as she made her internal mana visible, a teaching technique that required significant control. Lines of power traced through her form, following specific pathways.
"See the convergence points?" Alice appeared beside Lumi. "Your primary channel runs from core to hand. But watch." Her own channels lit up, revealing a complex web. "Seventeen secondary channels. Each adds maybe five percent speed individually. Together, they are the gap between a nobody and an expert."
She had him attempt the visualization. It was harder than it looked. Making internal mana external required precise control that the system just wasn’t ready to give him. His first attempts produced only flickering glimpses. But gradually, the patterns became visible.
"Your secondaries are actually more developed than most." Alice observed. "But you’re not using them. It’s like having extra muscles you never flex. Here." She placed her hand on his shoulder, her magic flowing into his channels. "Feel the flow. Copy it."
It was invasive, uncomfortable, but undeniably educational. Lumi felt how her mana moved, the way it split and merged, how she maintained multiple streams without collision. When she withdrew her magic, he tried to replicate it.
The improvement was immediate. Not dramatic, but noticeable. 1.4 seconds became 1.3 became 1.2.
"Better." Alice said. "Still slow enough to make me weep for the future of magic, but better. Knights! Pattern Gamma. Lumi, watch and learn."
What followed was a display of coordinated casting that bordered on artistic. Twenty knights moving in perfect synchronization, spells launching in precise patterns. Not just rapid individual casting but rapid group casting, creating overlapping fields of fire that would devastate any enemy force.
Within dozens of meters, not a single spot was left untouched. This was done without any communication with each other other than Alice commanding ’Pattern Gamma’.
"This is why we train speed." Alice explained as they watched. "In real combat, the side that establishes fire superiority first usually wins. One second faster per cast, multiplied by twenty knights, means twenty extra spells in the enemy’s face before they can respond. That’s the difference between victory and ash."
She had Lumi join the formation for the last hour, placing him between two patient knights who helped him match their rhythm. It was exhausting, maintaining the casting rate while moving in formation, while avoiding friendly fire, while keeping his channels stable. Sweat poured down his face, and he was forced to chug mana potions.
It was all recognized by the system. The constant pressure, the repetition, the expert instruction, it was carving new pathways in that little body of his.
[System Notification: Through rigorous training under a master, you have developed a new capability.]
[Core Skill Acquired: Casting Control.]
[Effect: Spells can have mana flow manually controlled. Depending on skill, increase casting speed.]
The notification appeared just as Alice called the session to an end. After four hours of extremely intense magical training. His casting time with Light Shower had dropped from 2.3 seconds to a consistent 1.2 seconds.
Not only had that Core Skill massively increased his casting speed, since he could finally use some of his actual casting skill, but he had actually learned. Just a bit, but he had never talked to Alice like this in his previous life. The insights of such an accomplished magician were truly useful.
"Acceptable progress." Alice announced, which from her was high praise. "You’re still slower than a generic sloth, but at least you’re a generic sloth with potential. Knights, dismissed for thirty minutes. Hydrate, meditate, or collapse quietly. I don’t care which."
As the knights dispersed, Alice approached Lumi.
"Thank you for the instruction." Lumi said sincerely.
"Don’t thank me yet. This was basic speed training. Real combat casting involves maintaining that speed while under pressure, while moving, while half your channels are disrupted by enemy interference. But..." she paused, studying him. "You have potential. Your channels are unusually clean for someone your age. And you don’t flinch when I flood your system with foreign magic. Most people vomit the first time."
"I’ve had worse experiences." Lumi said dryly.
"Haven’t we all." She turned to leave, then paused, turning to give him a grin. "If you want more torture... well. Remember, you’re welcome back here anytime."
"More aggressive than this?"
Alice’s grin was sharp enough to cut. "Boy, this was the gentle introduction. But that’s for later. Go rest. Your body can’t take much more."
As she walked away, Lumi found a shaded spot to collapse. The core skill was exactly what he’d hoped for, a permanent improvement that would benefit every spell he cast for the rest of his life. The experience gain was pitiful compared to monster hunting, but that was expected. Training gave consistency, not efficiency.
He was just about to consider his next plans.
[System Alert - Player "JimmyApple" is the first player to visit all major cities in Mantel Island. Extend our congratulations to "JimmyApple" for his feat!]
Lumi frowned. He didn’t remember this achievement from his previous timeline. Who was JimmyApple? The name meant nothing to him, and he prided himself on knowing every significant player from his past life.
Is this another change in the timeline? It can’t... hmm... It stands to reason that the achievements are the same. Which means I don’t remember this achievement because... it’s truly meaningless.
Visiting all major cities wasn’t exactly a major accomplishment. Someone had probably just spent their entire first few days traveling instead of leveling. The kind of player who’d explore every corner of the map before killing their first monster.
Either I don’t recognize the name because this achievement is nothing, and they accomplished nothing else, or I changed the timeline with the guide.
He pushed the concern aside. There were more immediate issues to deal with. Whilst his companions were already in, given by the timeframe he stated, he still had time to himself. That meant he had decisions to make about how to use his remaining time on Herene.
Being stuck on Herene was great, but it was frustrating in some ways. No monsters meant no efficient leveling. That wasn’t the most important thing, but whenever he didn’t quite know what to do, he could always think while monster farming. Unlike talking or planning, killing monsters required no thought from him. All the battle instincts were engraved in his mind.
It wasn’t a complaint, however. The opportunities here were equally significant. Access to Chief Knights, potential core skills, and proximity to future legends formed just a few.
He pulled up his friends list to check status. He very quickly sent messages through Nitro.
Lumi: "Status update? We’re meeting the Empress this afternoon, at 18:00 Herene time. Don’t be late."
The responses came quickly:
Lena: "I’m here! I am! I had dreams about you, they were violent and romantic! Anyways, you gave me a bunch of info, so I’ve been going around Herene doing stuff based on that info. You all but told me to go find hidden treasure and I have most of it already. Just been a bit bummed out since I got hit, but whatever."
What...?
Lumi read over the message. He was unsure what exactly she meant. Sustaining damage was quite common in Masteria, but he still sent her a reply asking what exactly happened. He hoped it was nothing serious.
He read over the others who responded.
Ryan: "Hey! I’m still training with the Eclipse Knights. I think I feel that skill you told me about forming? I don’t know really."
Gabriel: "Yeah I’ll be ready! Say, you think there’s a way for me to record in-game footage?"
HazyNova: "Hey... I’ll be on time."
Good. They’d all be there.
Okay enough of that.
Instead of replying to his question, Lena instead sent a message. "Yo come to Trainee Grounds IV. I have the treasure."
"I’ll be there."
Lumi quickly mobilized.
Moving around in the outskirts of Herene let him see the marvelous landscape of Herene. It was full of natural beauty. Azure grass and plants filled every step of dirt, as if a landscaper had personally taken care of every inch.
White pillars of stone held up arches which served as luxurious gates separating zones. Trainee Grounds I was an open field with several artificial animal dens, designed for monsters to quickly repopulate. It was a breeding ground for low level monsters so that trainees could train themselves against.
"Mi!" Out of a bush, a small birdlike creature appeared. It held cyan features and a yellow beak as it squealed up defiantly. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
[Mi - Level 3]
Watching the human completely ignore it, running past it, the Mi got angry. "Mi! MI MI!" It attempted to chase down the figure, but its short legs could never catch up, having to watch the human repeatedly teleport away.
