"Incredible! If he hadn't signed this with blood, I would have thought Gerald came up with something akin to lunacy! A ten-year-old boy almost single-handedly breaking a siege of about 300-some bandits using a self-made C-grade magic weapon. On top of that, he somehow managed to summon a dragon for a familiar before he left!" A stout and portly man stood over a table, reading the scroll Luca had borne, amazed at its contents. The written accounting of Luca's capabilities, along with the detailed description of his successful slaying of Gadric the Bear, a well-known bandit with a Double Copper bounty on his head.
Lydia was likewise astounded of learning of the small youth's prowess, "An unprecedented genius..."
Austin coughed pointedly, "City Lord, focus on the information at the end. We finally have the location of the Mammoth Bandits."
Dominic, the City Lord of Bristol, the capital city of the Grens Province on the frontier, cleared his mind of less important information as he nodded, "Right, these pests have been making it harder for the frontier to develop at all. We need to exterminate them immediately. We'll need help from the guilds, of course, along with our little friend here."
Luca calmly stated, "Lord Sheridan wasn't able to reward me for the bounty, but I would not have gotten my partner if he hadn't let me go through his library, so I am very grateful for him. If I want to be of more use to the subjugation force, I will need the reward. If possible, magic silver would help me enhance my weapon and create a long-range version. That way, I can survey the battlefield and pick off important targets. Otherwise, spellbooks would be incredibly helpful. Also, I can only participate with approval from all three of you, and Lord Sheridan would like a message of confirmation if it happens so that he can tell my mentor. After all, I don't think anyone needs an angry Lv. 4 mage with 100yrs of experience knocking on his door."
All three officials laughed at that, with Dominic chortling, "That's a certainty. He might have gotten old, but nobody wants to deal with Ysmir the Tempest when he's mad. Well, with how Gerald has emphasized your capabilities so staunchly, not to mention the bonus of your familiar, I would worry about a genius like you in active combat. The loss of such a brilliant child would be devastating."
Austin agreed, "Indeed, that would be one of the worst losses from such a venture. So, on the Mages Guild's behalf, I will allow you to take some materials from the storage, within reason, and no more than 3 hours without rank restriction in the archives. After that, you will be registered as a Lv. 1 Mage. If the materials cover a portion of the bounty, the archives will be the Guild's investment in your talent."
"While you haven't completed any quests, since you have accomplished a bounty collection alone, you will be immediately instated as an E-rank Adventurer later today. We don't have a lot of things of value for Mages, but there are several skill manuals and such. We'll offer the same as Austin with our library, 3 hours with no restrictions," Lydia pondered momentarily before deciding that an investment in Luca would be profitable in the long run."
Luca bowed gracefully, "That's more than enough, much more than I expected. Also, if I can see the provincial maps, I can help with more plans. If there's a good location around the hideout for me to attack from, then my safety will be less threatened and relieve a bit of the burden." Even as a Mage, Luca would still learn the skills, as very few were class-specific. Those that were, Luca naturally could not use yet.
Dominic gave an affirmative nod before dismissing the young boy, as a strategy meeting needed to be done immediately, and Luca would be more helpful in the respective libraries. Lydia and Austin both wrote quick notes for him to take to the guilds for his rewards as he headed out, both guild cards stuffed into a pocket.
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Just shy of six hours later, the white-haired mage boy was finishing up his time in the archives of the Mages Guild by going through and organizing his numerous gains. Overall, his acquisitions encompassed several things, and most of them were useful. With his original skills, he now possessed quite a repertoire.
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Skills - Warrior
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[Battle Stance]: Overall offence increases by 10% with a fixed cost of 10sp (stamina points)
[Defensive Stance]: Overall defence increased by 10% with a fixed cost of 10sp
[Tiger Stance]: Imbues the ferocity of a tiger into every move. Barehanded or one-handed required
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Skills- Rogue
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[Evasion]: agility and movement speed increased by 15% for 15sec
[Escape Artist]: Once per day, the user can escape any debilitating trap. Does not affect AoE spells, curses or poison.
[Disguise (Minor)]: Mimic a different person's features, voice and aura for 5min.
[Stealth]: Erases users presence by fading into the shadows. Light level, skill, location, etc affect the skill
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Skills - Priest
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[Light's Blessing (Passive)]: Reduces the influence of dark forces by 10%.
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Skills - Mage
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[Child of Mana]: Mana regenerates 5% faster. A percentage of hostile spells is absorbed based on the level difference, spell level and power, etc.
[Siege Mode]: Offensive spell power is tripled at the cost of immobility and incapability to defend
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Skills - Unique
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[Magic Bullet]: User can compress and create bullets from the mana of different elements or individual spells. Various effects.
[Firearm Specialization I]: User is beginning to be proficient in the use of firearms, improving usage results by 5%
[All-Seeing Sight]: User becomes able to see the truth of any situation within their sight. Immunity to illusions and both natural and magical sight-interfering effects. Can also designate a particular object, living or dead, to be highlighted according to the users' commands.
[Devour]: Within 300m, any souls from beings killed by the user will be drawn to them and absorbed. 1min Cooldown.
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