Noah stepped through the glowing archway into the Spell Archive, squinting as the starlight streaked marble bled into dark corridors of crystalline data shelves.
The air smelled like burnt copper and paper. The hallway curved like a spiral shell, yet he saw no end.
However, a layer of thick, transparent membrane blocked his path just ahead, about a hundred meters in. Beyond this membrane were the higher level spells, the ones he wasn't qualified to obtain. For now.
He narrowed his eyes, staring past the membrane, locking his gaze on the spell shards buzzing gently in mid air. Each pulsed with its unique elemental colour, dancing like spirits waiting for someone to choose them.
With great difficulty, he ignored them all searching for the streaks of lightning among them.
'I doubt other than common fundamental elemental spells, there will be anything else here.'
He wasn't complaining. Common fundamental elements only required 2 Radials for their element cost. However, abstract elements, next to the cheaper after common fundamental elements, demanded 5 Radials and a base cost of 15.
Unless a Spell Master had more than 50 Radials, it wasn't worth choosing them. Besides, common fundamental elements were more versatile.
A fire spell was more suitable to fight a monster than to defeat it with love. Noah smirked at his own joke.
'Fireball, Earthrise, Gale Step—all reliable. Not for me.'
He walked past them like a man scanning menus he already hated. Then—
Crack.
He turned his head. There it was.
A shard made of broken glass and thunder. No symmetry. Just a pulse-violent, rhythmic, like a ticking bomb trying to seduce him.
[Thunderlash Refrain]
The name crawled into his ears like a whisper that didn't need to speak twice.
He raised his hand. The shard floated to his palm, searing him with its cold numbness. For a moment, nothing happened. Then:
[Thunderlash Refrain]
Tier: 1
Level: 1
Element: Lightning
Base Cost: 10
Structure Cost: 18
Element Cost: 2
Cooldown: 2 seconds
About: Summon a crackling lash of volatile lightning from your palm, sweeping in a wide arc. The lash arcs to up to three additional targets within 8 meters. On repeat casts, each target struck gains an Overload Stack. At 3 stacks, they're stunned.
[Do you wish to imprint this spell?]
[Cost: 10 Radial]
[Warning: Lightning element has erratic flow properties. May cause muscle disruption or nerve backlash during early usage.]
"Wouldn't be the first time I've burned myself touching something unstable," Noah muttered, remembering an unpleasant memory.
He confirmed.
The shard cracked into pieces and surged into his veins.
It didn't just enter-it stabbed its way in, branding something across the inside of his arm.
Noah gasped and stumbled forward, nearly falling onto a rune-inscribed pedestal. A bolt of raw lightning zipped through his muscles before it settled, like the spell wanted to greet every organ personally.
"Well, fuck. That felt like being kissed by a lightning charged snake."
The first evolution rank of a Spell Master was Nebula. It had a total of a hundred levels divided into ten stages. Levelling up from each of these stages unlocked a single slot in the body to imprint a spell.
Noah was nowLevel 1 in Tier 1. So he had only one spell slot, which was now occupied by this spell.
That didn't mean he could only use one spell. Spells imprinted on the body were called Innate Spells. They could evolve together with the user, unlike ordinary spells.
Innate spells didn't need outside materials to trigger. So when Spell Masters found better spells, they always imprinted them on their bodies.
However, once a spell was imprinted, unless one was willing to lose a percentage of their radial capacity, they couldn't remove it.
Noah wasn't worried about that now. He believed the spell he had was powerful enough to carry him for long.
"Status…"
Name: Noah Walker
Star: Preservation
Grade: Origin
Evolution: Nebula
Radial: 90 / 100
Tier: 1
Level: 1 / 10
STR: 10, VIT: 10, AGI: 15
Health: 100 / 100
Spell Power (SP): 100
Spells: Thunderlash Refrain
The lightning spell could improve his reaction time, allowing him to move freely in battle. He didn't have to worry about skill backlash much, because this spell was mid-range.
'I have to buy some equipment though. Preferably something with lightning resistance.'
Unless one reached Tier 3 and started forming elemental globes inside their Star, their body wasn't immune to the damage inflicted by elements.
During casting, the spell would protect the body. But after releasing, the body was still exposed to the element's aftermath.
The last thing Noah wanted was to hurt himself with his own spell. After all, lightning could flow even through air.
'However… silver is an issue.'
An ordinary lightning-resistant equipment cost several silvers. For someone like him, who earned ten coppers a month, even entering a blacksmith's shop was impossible.
'But…'
A smirk appeared on his face as he exited the archive. He raised his right palm, watching as a light-blue vein stretched along his forearm toward his chest.
The Star Line. With this key, he could enter the Star Network. Even an ordinary monster there was worth several silvers.
That also came with dangers.
But Noah believed that if he stayed near human settlements and hunted in safe zones, he could grow stronger while stacking wealth.
He rubbed his palms together as his amber eyes flickered with gold.
Outside, the sky was still glowing like a prideful bruise. The streets buzzed with celebration. Freshly bonded teenagers cried, hugged, vomited, or screamed.
Pride Month specials. Bleh.
Noah moved past them, silent, unbothered. A side alley opened into an old training square. Cracked tiles, faded warding sigils, and a couple of training dummies made of iron.
This was the only place he could afford with his current wealth.
Noah stepped into the centre.
It was better to get accustomed to his spell before blindly rushing into a fight. Mordrich had written:
Every spell has a flaw. When a spell's flaw aligns with your own, it becomes an error. In lower tiers, most Spell Masters used common spells.
Therefore, the catalyst to win a fight between them was to use the opponent's error as your advantage.
Noah figured it was better to find his own error's first, before someone else did.
"Let's see how you sing, Refrain."
He held out his hand. Veins in his arm flared as Radial pumped from his chest. His vision shifted, the world pixelated slightly as the spell interface formed.
With a thought, he constructed the base, then burned the radial to build the structure. The spell manifested in his mind, he simply had to project it onto the pixel where the dummy stood.
Sizzle. Boom.
The first dummy shattered. Metal arms flew one way, the torso another.
Then the lightning arced again, jumping to the second, and third.
Noah exhaled, breath shaky with excitement. He looked down at his palm and the damage he had caused.
But that excitement quickly faded into a frown.
'Almost fifty seconds…'
In a real fight, he'd be dead.
He silently thanked Mordrich. Without his books, he would've rushed straight into fighting monsters.
'Maybe that's why beginner mortality is so high…'
Especially for people like him without guidance.
"Again…"
He triggered the spell again. And again. Each time, faster. Each time, more precise.
Each time, closer to the battlefield he would soon face.