Chapter 60 – Wind Sister

  Elizabeth woke up a few hours later. Jack was in the middle of making more arrows when she came to. She joined him by the fire and started working on fletching the arrows with him.

  “What classes did you choose?” Jack asked, striking up a conversation. “We’re pretty sure you got the Akashic Craftsman class.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “I did as you mentioned. Chose Akashic Duelist as my combat class. It’s an Advance class. The best I unlocked. But it also increased my status with the Order. After that I was able to choose the Akashic Craftsman class. The System said I was able to choose it thanks to the permission of the highest-ranking member of the Order on this realm. Guess that means you’re our Elder.”

  “Glad it worked out for you,” Jack laughed. “Though the Elder part is a little disconcerting. Did all your stats pass the first threshold in the process or were they already there?”

  “I had some at the first before I got the class. Now all of them are. I reached something called Open Pathways in Mana cultivation as well. Is that good?”

  “First stage in Mana cultivation,” Jack nodded. “It’s good. Saved you some time. Got anything interesting for your other class skills?”

  “A few new skills: Survival, Skinning, Heat tolerance, Gather’s Sense, and Alchemical Fire for Alchemy,” Elizabeth said. “Will Elaine help me with that?”

  “Yeah, I don’t think she will mind teaching you,” Jack assured her. “Is that all?”

  “I received mostly items, or skill increases for the others,” Elizabeth said. “I got a cooking grill, sewing kit, a few blueprints for buildings, and something called a conduit, not sure what that is for, but it came from the Enchanting class.”

  “Daniel told me about those. It should help with enchanting,” Jack said. “I still need to get one. Looks like you got a few different abilities than I got and a few similar ones. What blueprints did you get?

  “I have the blueprints for a basic Longhouse, Bridge, Aviary, Laboratory, Workshop, Well, Watchtower, Warehouse, Kitchen, and a Wall,” Elizabeth listed off. “You have a bunch already though. Do any of those help?”

  “I have blueprints for some of those already, but several are new and we can compare the duplicates to see if they are different. Savgar told me we might be able to improve on the design to create a higher rank version.”

  “It’s a lot to take in at once,” Elizabeth sighed.

  “Well, if you aren’t planning on going to the next realm, I don’t think you need to worry about leveling all of them,” Jack said.

  “I am interested in getting stronger,” Elizabeth said. “I just think that if I don’t end up being able to make it to the next realm, that would be okay.”

  “We have time if you decide you want to” Jack said. “Afterall, I’m in the same situation as you and I intend to get to the next realm.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Elizabeth said. “For right now, I think I’m just going to enjoy the freedom. Perhaps later we can compare skills and notes?”

  “Sure,” Jack said. “If we ever get through making all these arrows. There has to be a better process than this.”

  “How many have you made,” Elizabeth asked.

  “About thirty more I think,” Jack said. “I stopped counting. It’s slower now that I don’t have my flame spell.”

  “What happened to it,” Elizabeth asked.

  “I changed it,” Jack said, summoning his Dark-fire Flame for her to see.

  “Cool!” Elizabeth said. “But if you need fire, then perhaps I can use my new Alchemical Fire to handle this part, and you can do the next part.”

  “That could work,” Jack agreed.

  They worked together making arrows over the next few hours. They were joined by Victor and Elaine as the others recovered from the fight. Splitting up the process helped to speed up their creation speed. The pile of arrows soon doubled and then tripled in size. Jack even managed to increase his Fletching skill.

  *Skill increased: Fletching (Novice)*

  -Increase speed of crafting arrows.

  Elaine wasn’t wearing her armor right now, having switched to simple leather clothes that Rayne had started making. Her armor had a self-repair enchantment and needed some time to fix itself before it was useable once again. Jack made a note to add that enchantment to his armor as well. He had the enchantment now and even if it was slow, having your armor repair naturally could be crucial until they were able to make new armor.

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  As they worked, they talked about the different rewards everyone had gotten from the quest. Victor received a set of leather armor that let him use his Mana to harden himself. Elaine received a set of dual wielding blades that could convert Mana channeled into them to add an electric aspect to all her attacks.

  Teresa was resting, but Victor informed them that she received a growth weapon capable of shifting its shape into any weapon the user had proficiency with. It was something she was hoping to get eventually, but she didn’t expect to be able to find or afford one anytime soon. It was something all weapon masters needed to invest in eventually. Getting one now and especially one that was a growth weapon was vital to her future path.

  “She unlocked the Weapon Master Class as well,” Victor informed them. “She already used the crystal to change over to it. She’s back to level one as a result, but still just as strong.”

  “It can already offer class changes?” Jack asked. “Is it going to cause any issues? That class change curse thing?”

  “Yeah, it works. Used it myself,” Victor said. “Upgraded my Fighter class to a class called Juggernaut. It’s a small upgrade, from a common base class to an uncommon one unlike the Weapon Master one which is a Superior rank. Basically, a heavy weapon specialized fighter focusing on overwhelming strength. Also gives me decent bonuses to my Constitution. Don’t think either will cause any issues, but we didn’t really change our class, we upgraded them so it shouldn’t cause that problem. We talked to Daniel about it to confirm that, and he mentioned much the same.”

  “That’s good to know,” Jack said. “What did the others end up with?”

  “I think Savgar got a Cultivation pill for Body cultivation,” Elaine said. “He said he was going to wait on using it though.”

  “I got something similar,” Jack said. “A fruit. Ended up just eating it though.”

  “I thought there was something different about you,” Victor said. “Couldn’t put my finger on it. Spirit?”

  “Yeah,” Jack confirmed. “Saved the seeds though. Who knows, might be able to grow some in the future. Won’t work for me again, but others might be able to benefit. Why did Savgar decide to wait?”

  “Apparently, you can reach up to the third stage of cultivation on the First realm,“ Elaine said. “But you can only reach the first two stages through normal means. The Ambient Mana on the First Relam isn’t enough to Cultivate any future than that. If you want to reach the third before ascending, you need the help of things like pills, fruits, special items.”

  “What is the mortal limit then?” Victor asked.

  “Second stage,” Elaine answered.

  “Is it?” Jack asked. “I managed to open my first Node recently but didn’t get any notifications telling me I reached the mortal limit on it.”

  “That’s the issue with Mana cultivation,” Elaine sighed. “Got to unlock four Nodes to reach the Mortal limit. Third stage should be eight Nodes.”

  “That is going to take some time,” Jack said. “And a lot of luck finding things to increase it to the third stage.”

  “I think you will have your hands full just trying to reach the limit with your class,” Elaine said. “You can still work towards the third on the next realm.”

  “Are you going to try and unlock a bloodline?” Victor asked.

  “That’s Body cultivation, right? When can you start to do that?” Jack asked.

  “Between stage one and three,” Elaine said. “It goes from Iron, to Bronze, to Steel Body by the terms of the System uses. If you are going to do it, that is your only window.”

  “Guess I’ll figure it out when we get to that stage,” Jack said.

  “Any plans of what you want to do?” Victor asked Elizabeth.

  Elizabeth shook her head. “I got Opened Pathways now, but I hadn’t thought about it all that much.”

  “She’s already surpassed me,” Victor groaned. “How fast they grow.”

  “You need to catch up,” Jack said.

  “I’m working on it,” Victor said. “If anyone has any thoughts on Body Cultivation techniques, I’m all ears. Just not dwarven techniques. Don’t think they agreed with me.”

  “I have a few ideas,” Jack said. “At least I have an idea I plan on trying. Going to need to unlock more Affinities first though. What Affinities do you have already?”

  “Fire originally,” Victor said checking his System. “I think I got Earth recently… Yeah, Fire and Earth now.”

  “We’ll talk,” Jack said. “Apparently dwarves use an Earth cultivation technique, so maybe it will work for you now. I think I am going to try for a mixed Affinity body cultivation.”

  “You can do that?” Elizabeth asked.

  “I talk to Rayne and Sylvian about cultivation options,” Jack said. “And Ciao is a mix of Darkness and Light constitutions. She and Jasper mentioned it might be possible.”

  “Not going for the poison constitution then?” Elaine asked.

  “I thought about it,” Jack admitted. “But after hearing what some of the Affinities can grant, I think that might be the better option for me right now. I already have poison resistance and that Purge spell.”

  “If any of those help me fly, I’d consider them,” Elizabeth sighed. “I really want to fly.”

  “You have the spell,” Jack said. “Have you tried it since you gotten stronger.”

  Elizabeth lit up at that. “I haven’t! I’ll do it now!” She jumped up and ran a few feet away to give herself some space.

  “Just be careful,” Elaine called to her.

  Jack watched as green energy filled Elizabeth as she started channeling the spell. She lifted off the ground hovering a few feet in the air, her feet dangling awkwardly. “It’s working!”

  “Yay, sister!” Zephyr came floating down to join her. “Can you move? Come dance with me.”

  “I’m not sure,” Elizabeth said. “How do you move?”

  “How? You are one place then you are another. Come, I’ll show you,” Zephyr said, grabbing her hand and dragging her away. Elizabeth floated along a little wobbly as the Sylph pulled her. They passed Rayne coming down from her nap.

  “Where are they going?” Rayne asked, taking Elizabeth’s spot at the fire.

  “Just trying out a spell she has never been able to use before,” Jack explained. “Help us with the arrows?”

  “I forgot to tell you,” Rayne said, pulling out a quiver from her storage. “My reward for the quest. This quiver allows you to make arrows by supplying it with Mana. Only basic arrows and they disappear a few hours after leaving the quiver, but it can make roughly fifty at a time.”

  Jack looked down at the pile of arrows they had worked to make, then back at the quiver in Rayne’s hands before turning back to the pile of arrows for a long time.

  “I’ll start cooking some food,” Elaine sighed, getting up.