[Notice] [You have learned a new skill! Photo Reading!]
[Photo Reading]: You can instantly process an entire page of words. You can completely comprehend and retain an entire page of information with just a glance. This is a passive skill that can be toggled on or off.
'Holy crap! It has been a while since I created a new skill. This skill might not help me in a fight but it will be definitely handy having the ability to read anything at a glance and remember it word for word.'
This was the first skill Ben had gained that did not have a level. The way it was developed there was no way for it to improve. He could only look at one page at a time so the skill could not improve by allowing him to read multiple pages at once. The only way it could be better is if he could place his hand on a book and scan every page without opening the book.
The new skill was not the only gift he was awarded from reading through the boxes of parchments. Ben also began to raise his intelligence and wisdom as he rapidly scanned through the boxes of records.
[Notice] [You have increased an attribute! Intelligence +1!]
[Notice] [You have increased an attribute! Wisdom +1!]
Ben happily used his new skill to devour the boxes of parchments and watched as these two attributes slowly increased. When he had finished reviewing one wall of the shelved boxes, Ben moved to another section of the room and began to find they were explanations of the nature spells they developed over the centuries of living here.
This box held pages of parchment which were hand stitched together into thick manuals that described the development stages and uses of each particular spell.
He reached into the box and brought out the topmost pamphlet in the box and read the title.
"Terrain Forming"
Ben rapidly read through the manual with Photo Reading and found it explained the ways of using elemental earth mana to reshape soil. This discovery developed into elemental earth magic spells that allowed these people to raise and lower the land. Near the end of the manual, it stated the [Terrain Forming] spells were used by the settlement's people to create the multi-tiered rings which surrounded the tree.
When Ben read the last page a menu prompt popped open before his eyes.
[Auto_Notice] [You have discovered a spell-book! Do you wish to learn these spells?] [YES] [NO]
'A spellbook!? I didn't even know this was a thing! This is straight out of an RPG game. If I can learn spells from books it must be the same for skills or professions! It looks like I need to start reading more.'
When Ben choose [YES] and his notification icon began to flash.
[Notice] [You have learned a new spell! Raise Earth: Apprentice Level: 1!]
[Notice] [You have learned a new spell! Lower Earth: Apprentice Level: 1!]
[Notice] [You have unlocked a hidden structure now available in the build menu!]
[Wizardry School]: By linking students to the system with system-link chairs they can unlock their latent magical talent. When their talent is unlocked the system will create a link and teach the students spells added to the school's database.
[Learning is not instantaneous and takes time to learn each spell given its complexity.]
[unlocks after the host learns ten spells] [Costs: 2000g]
[Magical Turret]: Tower or wall mounted turret that shoots a large explosive fireball. Turrets must be charged with mana to function. It is possible to upgrade a turret thus providing it with a Mana gathering array to supply itself with Mana upon depletion.
[Locked until hidden wizardry school is built, engineers guild built]
[requires: iron-stone-wood] [consumes: mana] [costs: 500g]
"Huh?... What? I can actually train mages if I build this school and/or send people to it!? There are not that many mages on this continent and now I can make them like regular troops?"
*Ding!* [The Wizardry School will give you the option to buy recruits or send regular people to this school. It will function the same as the military school by teaching spells with the system-link chairs.]
Ben stood rooted in place with a look of shock as the corners of his mouth slowly raised into a smile.
'This is a complete game changer! Imagine the extra firepower a division of mages can provide in a battle. I could just form a defensive line and allow my elven archers and mages to rain destruction down on any army reckless enough to charge at our lines! The way my military strength keeps increasing I almost want to have a battle when my troops are completely trained just so I can see them walk all over anyone dumb enough to fight them.'
There was another new build option which became available when the hidden Wizardly School was unlocked. Ben read the description about the Magic Turret and asked Athena for more details.
'Athena, do you have any information on this Magical Turret? How do I use it and what are its capabilities?'
*Ding!* [From my scan of the novels you had brought from Earth the Magical Turret is fashioned after the Dwarven magical turrets of the fantasy genre. It can be mounted on a wall or tower and after being charged with Mana it will automatically target any person or creature deemed hostile. It launches a 36-inch ball of fire up to 400 yards which detonates on impact igniting the targeted foe and their surrounding area on fire.]
'That..sounds pretty nasty. If they are dealing area damage then they must be much better than standard ballista which can only shoot out a single heavy bolt. It looks like if I upgrade the turrets they will also have the ability to recharge themselves with Mana making them the same as having a high-level fire mage on the wall that never runs low on Mana.'
After reviewing the information on the school and the turrets, Ben began searching through the sealed wooden boxes and was lucky enough to find a few more Spell Books. Every pamphlet which explained a spell in detail was designated a spell-book which Ben could learn from.
[Notice] [You have learned a new spell! Ensnare Level 1!]
[Ensnare]: A 20ft x 20ft target area will grow thorny plants that grab and entwine around the enemies feet creating an area difficult to surpass. These thorns will also bite into and tear at the legs of any enemy not wearing armor on their feet and lower legs. [Ensnare is active for two minutes afterward the plants will wither away and return the terrain to its original state] [As the spell level increases the targeted area will expand to a cover a greater area.]
[Notice] [You have learned a new spell! Barkskin Level 1!]
[Barkskin]: The caster will grow a coating of bark over the top of their skin providing them some protection against injuries. [Barkskin is active until deactivated. It will use the caster's mana to remain activated.] [As the spell level increases the toughness of the bark will grow to the point in which it could replace iron armor at high levels]
[Notice] [You have learned a new spell! Weather Control Level 1!]
[Weather Control]: The caster can change the nearby surrounding weather. Extreme changes use more Mana and decrease the area that can be controlled. [As the spell level increases the caster will gain the ability to change the weather over a greater distance.]
[Notice] [You have learned a new spell! Reverse Gravity Level 1!]
Reverse Gravity: A twenty-foot unseen radius is created at the targeted location that will cause any person or creature who enters to fall upwards. Any foe not secured to the ground will fall upwards for one hundred feet and is then ejected from the radius to plummet back down to earth. [As the spell level increases the targeted radius will expand to a larger circumference.]
[Notice] [You have learned a new spell! Wind Control Level 1!]
[Wind Control]: The caster can create strong winds in a 20ft x 20ft targeted area. The direction of the wind can be controlled for many uses. It can spread or extinguish fire push away dangerous gases or vapors. At higher levels, it can even be used to stop the flight of ranged projectiles. [As the spell level increases the targeted area can be made over a larger area and the wind's force will increase.]
[Notice] [You have learned a new spell! Fire Bolt Level 1!]
[Fire Bolt]: The caster can shoot out a ranged bolt of fire that damages the targeted foe and ignites any flammable materials being worn or carried. [As the spell level increases the bolt will do more damage and ignite fire over a larger area.]
After searching the entirety of the ruined library Ben had learned six more spells. Ben's spell list had almost doubled in size from the contents of these records.
Each of these dusty wooden boxes was carefully repacked with the ancient parchments and stored away into his inventory. There were now 179 wooden boxes that contained the history of these people saved away from the elements now in Ben's possession.
When Ben had closed the last of his notices the notification icon began to flash, prompting Ben too curiously open it.
[Notice] [You have now unlocked Classes!]
[Notice] [You have learned enough comparable spells to unlock a Class! You have learned the Druid class!]
Druid Class:
The Druid class provides boosts to healing, weather, animal summoning, nature, and elemental based magic. This class will not provide you with Druid spells but it will increase the damage, effects, and decrease the mana usage of Druild type spells..
'I hadn't thought about it but I guess these people are just like Druids. They may not have been the protector's of nature like Druids were in fantasy games and novels but they used Druid type spells and even live in a Druid grove with a tree of life. Either way, this ruined settlement has turned into a gold mine for me. I just keep learning from what these people left behind. Now that I have searched this underground library I should check the other buildings as well. I may come across more forgotten knowledge or spells if I am lucky.'
When Ben left the underground room he found it was already getting late into the day. He had been underground for the remainder of the day completely losing track of the time.
This wasn't going to stop him now, he was much too excited to head back to the fortress for the night and this settlement seemed to still be free of profound beasts thanks to this mysterious tree that somehow protected this area.
After looking over the towering tree and its massive canopy that spread across the top of the entire settlement, Ben made his way over to the next largest building next to the one he had found the records inside of.
It was a shame that so many years had passed before he had discovered this place. The persistent elements of mother nature had rotted away everything in these buildings once the roof had begun to leak and eventually collapsed in some sections.
The only reason those parchment records had survived so many hundreds of years was due to the fact that they were stored in a dry underground room that remained untouched as the years passed by.
Each building followed the same pattern of decay and loss. Ben had only come across ruined furniture and the skeletal remains of the final people who outlived the remaining survivors.
Everyone else had either died or moved on with the other factions so there wasn't anyone left around to bury the last survivors when they had passed away.
Ben took their skeletal remains down to the base of the tree and buried them there so that they could peacefully rest next to the tree which was such a dominant part of their lives.
After he had buried them he placed his hand on the tree and asked it to take care of them.
'You must have watched the entire rise and fall of these people. You provided them protection allowing them to live and they squandered it all away. I know that they wasted the gift that you gave them but please watch over these people buried beside you. They remained here to the end and must have truly appreciated what you had provided.'
As Ben began to pull his hand away from the tree trunk he felt something that reminded him of his first encounter with the system. It was almost like the tree tried to respond to him. There were no words only a slight pressure comparable to when the system would download skills or information directly into his brain.
Before his hand left the tree bark he pressed it back against it and began to focus on the tree while blocking out the forest sounds surrounding him.
The feeling of pressure returned and like a dam suddenly bursting images began to flood into his mind. Standing there with his hand against the tree Ben saw glimpses of these people when they had first found this place.
They had been hunted for weeks on end and were on the move as they aimlessly escaped through this forest. Everyone of them looked injured and exhausted from fleeing.
The images quickly changed and Ben watched as they settled down here building crude shacks. They also began farming with seeds provided by the nearby trees and plants.
The entirety of their civilization's history played out in ever-changing images as if he were watching a rapidly played slideshow created only for him. It was just as he had imagined this tree that had stood alone for eons had coexisted with a species it had never come into contact with before. It watched over them and their children and then their children's children for hundreds of years.
As they began to quarrel and later kill one another Ben could feel anguish and confusion from the guardian tree. It could not understand why they were killing each other and it was now wistful over the companions who had kept it company and cared and nurtured it in return.
This entire event only lasted five minutes in real time but Ben could see it all. How they shaped the land and coaxed the plants and trees with their magic to create beautiful gardens and a picturesque town that would make even elves envious of how it was so intertwined with nature and man-made structures.
When the images ceased, Ben spoke to the tree again and explained soon in the future he would have the ability to rebuild here and he would bring others to form a small community on this spot. His people could learn more about this area and the guardian tree would also not be alone in its sorrow any longer.
He removed his hand from the tree and stood in wonderment at how this ancient tree had developed sentience.
'What a magical place this is here. I just keep learning more and more from it. I am also curious about how this tree can keep the creatures away from it. I am sure it doesn't even know how it happens. It might be an aura, odor, sound, or something not immediately recognizable to human senses. One day I will create a group of Druids and bring them out here to learn the secrets of this special place.'
Ben continued his search of the area as he thought about what other secrets could still be buried here waiting to be discovered.
He soon arrived at the upper part of the tiered land after having searched every standing building and found what appeared to have once been farming plots. The fields were now overgrown and reclaimed by the forest but the telltale signs of plowed rows were still noticeable from how the land looked like a large washboard.
With one final push, he made his way around the top section of overgrown plots not expecting to find anything he just wanted to know that he had physically searched the entire settlement.
When he had made his way around to the other side he noticed a large glowing area. Ben had forgotten he had left his passive Herbalist Aura Vision activated from earlier and was now seeing the glow of spirit plants!
He increased his pace and soon found another overgrown plot but this one must have once been used for growing spirit plants. The forest growth had hidden them over the years but the glow from his skill told him they were there. These plants were either hundreds of years old or some had gone through seasonal growth cycles year after year.
Ben did not know that much about gardening but he was sure that these would be called perennial plants back on Earth. They were the type of plant that would continue to grow back after winter passed as long as they had enough sunlight, water, and nutrients.
Bending over onto his hands and knees Ben began to wade into the brush and pick out the glowing plants one by one that he could see shining through the common forest plants that hid them from sight.
With a big smile on his face, he did not mind crawling around in the dirt. This was a hidden treasure that he could use to advance his Spirit Farm database.
This would allow him to copy or create more pills that could help him and his people grow stronger. From the pills that he had previously bought, he was only able to recreate two of them but now that he had this new skill his sad and empty Spirit Farm was now becoming an impressive sight.
It was four in the morning when he had collected the remaining plants. Ben now had one hundred and twenty-eight new types of plants and herbs in his inventory.
He stood up and looked around as he brushed the dirt off of his hands and armor. With a final glance around he decided it was time to leave this place behind for now.
He thought about using [Zoom] to head directly to his store office but decided against it. He wanted to add the new plants to his farm first and wasn't expected to be back at the store until the morning.
After a full one minute wait, he was directly teleported to the Spirit Farm after casting Zoom and he began to scan the newly acquired plants.
'Now I only need to wait for them to be scanned and I will know if I can copy any of those pills I had bought in Goldcrest or possibly create a new pill.'
Ben took out his crude wooden chair and sat down and patiently waited on the Farm to inform him it had scanned each and every plant.