UFF: Chapter 30 (Patreon)

Chapter 30

True to form morning came, just as I finally managed to wear out my mind enough so that I could finally go to sleep. I awoke at that odd time where you know you still have two hours left before your sleep. It was also that weird time, where if you took those two hours to actually sleep, then you would wake up excessively tired, but eventually recovered. Whereas if you woke up now, you would just remain at that same level of tired for the entire day.

Fortunately, my last few years of constantly working, then playing this game until I passed out were like old hat to me. Thus, I decided to wake up.

The first thing I did was stretch, then involuntarily I reached up, trying to take off the VR headsets that would be strapped around my head by this point. Muscle memory brought on by having to both pay for new power cords that always got snapped off when I awoke too early, and self-preservation instincts from not wanting the accompanying zap from snapping said cord.

Though to my surprise the cords were not there, and then I remembered where I was. Pausing for a moment I blinked about why today felt so off.

It took me a full minute to realize that somehow I once again awoke to my dream scenario, one where I was still in the dream world. Playing quite possibly my best game ever, even without the ability to save off my progress so I could start again.

Again, odd, but still just as amazing as ever.

To test myself, I even opened my eyes and stared at the back of my left hand. It was plumper than I was normally used to, but more then that, I saw it.

The really cool tribal tattoo that proved I was somehow able to pass the extremely hard tests of the Ancients, and then not only that, but I got certified.

When I got out of here, I made a note that I would get that tattoo. Well the tattoo with the glowing green energy swirls showing it was active.

Just to prove the true design and purpose to myself, I cycled a bit of mana through my hand and focused on forming the basis for my newest attack spell Arcane Burst, which was really just a continuous and streaming version of my Arcane Bolt spell that I had known since the main game went live.

Now that I was here on this day, things felt off.

Though to be honest, I couldn’t exactly explain why everything felt off. Just that things felt somehow important. Mentally I wondered if this was one of those staging points.

What many would consider a point of no return. Somehow, I knew, that after this point I would be set with my choices thus far.

Normally, this would be the moment when you would spend three real world days running around solving last minute quests, doing final turn ins, or trying to advance your Abilities, Skills, and most importantly, your magical proficiencies as much as possible.

Pausing for a moment, went through my list of things to do or avoid.

Somehow, despite being truly inept at her role, Claudia had avoided the direct route to the Dark Saint route. Which was also why I used all of my items as a way to reset her standing back to square one. I also avoided the insects in the room hassle by keeping a store of chocolate in your room for too long, making it so you temporarily lose your room privileges.

“We are training to be nobles, not animals. Nobles live in nice rooms without insects, animals wallow with the insects.” I say, repeating the line spoken by the head housekeeper.

Getting up, I get out of bed and quickly make it, a process that used to get bonus reputation with the head housekeeper. A faction you needed, if you ever lost your room and wanted to get your room privileges back.

Normally, this was unnecessary, but I do find coming into the room and seeing it pristinely made somewhat comforting.

Odd that I keep my imaginary dorm room cleaner than my real-world rooms. Not that I was a slob, but I often forgot to make my bed, often choosing just to stumble into the bed and pass out once my head hit the pile of comforters and pillows.

I even did my pre-workout stretches, my mana shaping and circulating exercises provided by Magister Carthwright.

Crackle.

With each movement, with each final push, I saw the night slowly dwindle away, giving way to morning. But more importantly, I felt more and more of my C-Rank maximums mentally shatter.

This was the part about breakthrough points that no one fully stressed, that these were the times when you could make your breakthroughs.

Which was why, I was pushing everything I had into my exercise and shaping routines. Fortunately, my Intelligence and Magic Attributes were both above the C Ranking already, meaning that aside from pushing my limits with Combat Support magic, and Spatial magic exercises I couldn’t do much.

Though I did make sure to cast and practice in one Perfect Disruption Field. I even focused on minimizing the range of the spell so that it only filled the chambers of my room and no further.

To practice my Combat Support magic, I cast Perfect Lesser Rejuvenation. This way my muscle tears and exhaustion kept pace with my rate of exercise in a nearly perfect burn cycle.

As for Spatial Magic, I thought about casting spells on Marie and Rydel, but thought it would be kind of creepy to use magic to spy on people while they slept. Son instead I cast Perfect Far Viewing, and set up a view from the side of my room.

Most people couldn’t do this, as they would often need to be an expert in Spatial magic to not feel dizzy looking at themselves and effectively moving reverse to what you were seeing. However, I played the game so many times from this very view that after the first few miscues, I was able to workout just fine.

In fact, better than fine, as I could see my form and instantly correct deficiencies in my movements that I wasn’t normally aware of.

Realizing this new utility for Perfect Far Viewing, I figured I’d probably keep it as part of my workout routine in the future. Not only would this help me correct my forms, but I could use this to see anyone sneaking up on me.

Especially with my Perfect Disruption Field activated, no one would be able to sneak up on me.

I worked out all morning, taking occasional breaks to ensure that my school work was all accomplished and up to date with everything that had been assigned.

Then I went through the training manuals provided by both of my mentors Lady Von’Graysing, and Magister Carthwright both, to make sure their lessons were imprinted.

Crackling.

Again the sound of shattering glass was both felt and heard within my mind. These were the game’s way of telling you that you broke a milestone, and were no longer bound.

In my case, this could be two fold.

First, I could break my current ranking of C for most of my Attributes and skills. The other breakthrough I could have would be on breaking my Physical or Mental barriers that my body had before acquiring the teachings of Lady Von’Graysing or Magister Carthwright.

While breaking through the C Rank would mean I could progress until I reached my current overall maximum rating for an Attribute. My overall maximum rating for that Attribute I was increasing could only go up by a full grade rating.

A prime example of this would be the reason everyone always tries to get my character, Karen to be taught by Lady Von’Graysing, as her weakest Attributes are her physical attributes.

Attributes:                   Current Rating  /  Maximum Rating

Strength:                             C                             B

Dexterity:                            C                             B

Stamina:                              C                             B

By pushing myself as hard as I can now, I could be able to increase both my Current Rating and my Maximum Rating at the same break point.

For it would suck to push myself this hard to push my way to a C+ ranking in all physical attributes, only to find that I was capped at just half a ranks growth after that, which is what would be required to go from C+ to my current maximum of B Rank.

To make sure I pushed myself as hard as I could mentally, I did the same, often working on the harder shaping and channeling exercises, while actually exercising.

Honestly, I am glad I never showed Magister Carthwright that I could do this, as I am certain he would have me pushing myself this hard every time. Lady Von’Graysing as well, for that matter, as this would be difficult to pull off normally. The only reason why I can, is mainly because I am in that odd Zen like state, where I am almost too tired to not be able to realize why I shouldn’t be doing what I am in fact doing.

Shatter, crackle.

More and more minor components in my mind break, as I slowly work my way through everything. I even focus on dual casting by casting Perfect Factory Reset on my identification card. Where a quick glance shows that the card is now free of all my modified data. Then I focus on once again imprinting my data onto the card, while using the kinetic form of Perfect Far Viewing to physically touch the slab of metal through a minor magical portal.

Keeping an active portal open is extremely tough, especially as I know any lapse in concentration on keeping the two active spells going at once will result in the loss of a finger at best, and the hand at worst.

I’m fairly certain that I can either reattach the limb, or possibly regenerate the limb, but that will not negate the fact that I would have to do so while bleeding out, and then have to clean up the subsequent mess later on.

Like that I am able to work on Dual Casting, Focused Casting, Mana Exertion Casting, and Mana Circulation all at the same time.

Fortunately, my card is made out of copper, meaning it is slightly easier to erase, update, and solidify than the other metal plates would be.

Shatter.

I work until the rays of the sun crest over the lip of the window, bathing my room in light and showing that my special time to practice has finally drawn to a close.

Ever so carefully, I first remove my hand from the temporary portal, then check the data on my card. And take a moment to exhale at the progress that I’ve made.

True to form, both the shattering in my mind were the mental barriers that were in place. Additionally, I did manage to make it through my boundaries in all Affinities, Attributes, and Skills.

Name: Karen Laurain

Age: 14

Gender: Female

Magical Affinities:                   Current Rating  /  Maximum Rating

Primary: Combat Support             C+                                           S

                (Healing Spells)

Secondary: Spatial                           C+                                           S+

                (Rifts)

Tertiary: Arcane Repair                  A+                                           SSS

                (Disruption Fields)

Those were remarkable increases for all of my Affinities. Even my specializations were exactly what I would have hoped for with each. Healing allowed me to survive longer on my own. While Rifts were the category of Spatial magic that led to better travel distances. Also, it was nice that all my maximums, aside from Arcane Repair also increased.

Attributes:                   Current Rating  /  Maximum Rating

Strength:                             C+                           A

Dexterity:                            C+                           A

Stamina:                              C+                           B+

Perception:                        C+                           A+

Intelligence:                      A                             S+

Magic:                                  A+                           S+

For my attributes they all increased by half a grade, showing that I pushed myself as hard as I could for this first part of the semester. Even my Maximums went up by one in almost all categories. Only Stamina, Intelligence, and Magic only had the maximum go up by half a rating.

 Abilities:

Death Sight – Can see and talk to spirits (might cause minor problems when interacting with people).

Perfect Combat Support Caster: You managed to cast a perfect form of a Combat Support spell. All Combat Support related spells are cast as if one Rank Higher. Current Rank: C+. Effective Rank: B+. Note: this can cause your spells to be cast at a proficiency rating above your Maximum Rating. 

Perfect Spatial Caster: You managed to cast a perfect form of a Spatial spell. All Spatial related spells are cast as if one Rank Higher. Current Rank: C+. Effective Rank: B+. Note: this can cause your spells to be cast at a proficiency rating above your Maximum Rating. 

Perfect Arcane Repair Caster: You managed to cast a perfect form of an Arcane Repair magic spell. All Arcane Repair magic type related spells are cast as if one Rank Higher. Current Rank: A+. Effective Rank: S+. Note: this can cause your spells to be cast at a proficiency rating above your Maximum Rating. 

Precision Caster: You managed to cast one perfect spell in each of your magical affinities. All magic spells related to your affinities are reduced in terms of mana cost by one ranking. Note: Minimum mana required per spell one unit of mana per cast. 

Perfect Caster: You managed to cast your first spell in all affinities perfectly. Your Luck attribute (Hidden) has increased by one rank. Current Rank: <Hidden>. 

Master Casting Dominance: You have managed to cast a perfect spell at the S Rank. With this, your spells will have magical dominance over lesser spells cast around you.

The abilities all stayed the same, but again I made sure to keep those off my final template.

Bloodline: Yes, awakened

Advanced Survivor’s Bloodline: Your body has been tempered to be able to gain nourishment that is twice as effective at generating fat that can be used for extra mana. Every percent of body fat increases your overall mana pool by two percent per point of body fat. Current Rating: 24% Body Fat (48% bonus Mana)

Blessing of the Virgin Bestowed: This blessing is bestowed upon one who is pure of heart, mind, and body. So long as the bearer of this blessing remains celibate, they will receive a permanent increase in their overall Magic Power, Magic Capacity, Magic Range, Magic Accuracy, and Magic Abilities. Ratings increase by 1% per year that blessing remains pristine. Current Permanent Rating: 1%.

As for the bloodline notification and the blessing, I kept both on my card, but took away the description of each.

Skills:

Dual Casting (Mixed Casting):  Rank: C+

Mana Exertion Casting (Tireless reserves): Rank: C+

Mana Circulation (Progressive Increases of Mana Absorption): Rank C+

Sneak Attack: Rank C

Focused Casting (Laser focused): Rank C+

Camouflage: Rank C

Arcane Machinery (Teleporters): Rank B+

As for the skills I couldn’t be happier with them. Yes, I was showing a far easier understanding of the magical skills I was being taught than the spying skills, but for now that was what was most important.

All in all, I think both professors would be proud of my success.

Stillness.

There was still the odd sensation that everything as being paused for this very moment. Knowing that this was nightmare mode, and that there were apparently no save spots, I went through a mental catalog of everything I have done, and still needed to do.

I’ve known the choir songs as they were the ones always sung and played in all cut scenes.

The schoolwork was easy as I’d taken these same tests hundreds of times up until now and never had an issue with the curriculum on any of the four years of school.

As for the magic, well I’ve proven that I could learn and adapt to that. Even with the new wrinkles caused by my Arcane Repair mastery, I was easily able to overcome and match the progress.

I even had what had to be a peak year two staff, maybe mid-year three staff already in the first year of school.

No, I was good. I even had money from selling different Ancient goods to the campus’s resident geek on all things Ancient. Money that I used to by specific character items. Which only consisted of the items I, Karen, would want, and the items for Marie. Everything else was left for the annoying paramours.

Odd, I don’t remember when they became annoying exactly. Maybe this is from having played this so many times and finding their personalities to be too finite.

Well every character but Daren, who has seemed to come to life recently. Though his brother is still the one I would want to spend more time with, especially with how powerful of an attack mage he is.

Still this game seems hell bent on making me a solo character, which is a role that I have easily accepted for myself.

I pause, calming myself down, going through all of my mental and physical To Do lists. Though I’ve made it a habit of not writing down my To Do lists, lest I get called to be a Seer like Claudia.

While I do know the future, or most of what will or should happen, I don’t have any way of proving what will happen. Which is why I am trying to keep a relatively low profile.

Taking one last look at my room, I gather all my materials I would normally need for class, and set out.

Click-clack.

The moment I open the door, I feel a mental barrier break. It is something small and infinitesimal. With the game console, this would be the part where the gears and internal cooling units burst to full speed as multiple calculations were being performed, marking your progress, work done, and most importantly how much further you still had to go.

Normally, I would barely get to the D Ranks at this point, but now here I was. Year one and already breaking into future breakout roles and specializations.

I could already feel my future class selection and ranking both expanding and contracting all at once. The higher I increased my Affinity ratings, Attributes, and Skills, the more powerful classes of mage I would unlock and be provided a degree for. With certain degree paths, I could unlock any border by merely presenting my credentials. Also, the better I scored in class, the closer I would be to be able to choose my intended class first.

These thoughts and more filled my mind as I went out, only to have my morning stopped as I was presented with an image I never expected to see in a million years.

For there, waiting patiently outside my door, was the last person I expected to see.