Mars felt like an absolute buffoon; it was Ozen Raw who had saved him all along. A True Goddess. It also unnerved him somewhat, as he thought that the deal was undoubtedly going to cost him certainly.
He shrugged it off for the time being and canceled his transformation.
Orlilin was still gushing over her pupil and could only praise him right now. "You don't think you can keep learning, do you!?"
She knew the answer was yes, but she was in disbelief. In 429 years, she had not witnessed such scary learning ability, but she had never trained one of Ozen Raw's projects before.
"Of course, let's do this!" Mars surged with energy as the feeling of gaining power at such a rate was terrific!
Ozen pondered a moment while mumbling to herself. "Hmm, he's got two zero's a one and two-tier as well..." Her eyes flashed and glowed a brighter violet than her eyes usually did for a moment while she looked at Mars. She had activated her ability to see someone else's power.
"Eh!?" Orlilin rubbed her eyes for a moment, 'The fourth level? I could swear he was only third level yesterday...' Orlilin's mumbling continued for a moment before she began to speak once more. "Alright, I had better teach you some sort of defensive magic. Watch closely."
Orlilin pulled out a piece of cured leather and chanted "Mage Armor!" while her left hand stuck straight out, making a simple stopping motion.
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Spell learned, Tier 1 "Mage Armor I." 1 - "Tier 1" skill point used.
Greed activated 8000xp
6500/6500xp Lvl 5
Lvl 5 achieved
gained 2 additional Tier 3 skill points
6750/14000xp Lvl 6
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Orlilin's jaw dropped; she still had her unique talent activated and witnessed Mars Level up again. "!!!?" She tried to speak but merely emoted with facial expressions. After she composed herself, she calmed down and squeaked out a "Five? How are you leveling up? Are you aware of what's happening?"
Mars nodded and explained, "Yes, it only began after you had saved us yesterday, but now some sort of system is alerting me each time something dies. If I learn a new skill or language, I also get more "experience." It also seems to be speeding up."
Orlilin looked at Mars with a confused expression. "A screen? Speeding up?"
"Yes, it seems every time I learn a new language or magic, the "Exp" doubles from the last time."
Orlilin got dizzy and sat down, would she have her dream Lvl 20 student today?
Hagar interrupted the moment, "Hey Mars, could you ask her if I can get another one of those Breakfast sandwiches?" Mars relayed the message to Orlilin, who laid back laughing.
"Hahaha, Create Bacon Breakfast Sandwich!" once again, the sandwich appeared, and she tossed it over to Hagar.
"Thank you!" Hagar bowed gratefully and began devouring the sandwich. She stood back up and looked to Mars "Let us see just how much you can learn!" Mars nodded and observed.
Orlilin pulled out a feather and chanted, "Fly!" She began to lift off the ground slowly.
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Spell learned, Tier 3 "Fly I." 1 - "Tier 3" skill point used.
Greed activated 16000xp
14000/14000xp Lvl 6
Lvl 6 achieved
gained 1 additional Tier 3 skill point
8750/23000xp Lvl 7
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Orlilin gasped mid-air as she watched her pupil raise to the 6th level. Before she could explain to Mars, a component was needed; he chanted the word as well. "Fly!" Mars began to lift off the ground.
His excitement was palpable as he continued to rise higher, and he began to fly over to Orlilin and exclaimed out loud. "Woah, this is fucking awesome!" Orlilin interrupted his moment of joy with a statement.
"Y-y-you don't need spell components?" Her eyes were even more full; her heart could barely take it. A small tinge of jealousy began to develop in her heart.
Mars shrugged, "I guess not?"
"Be careful as the spell will only last, roughly ten minutes." Mars gave a half-hearted nod as he zipped around the trees. He flew up higher and higher until he was overlooking the entire forest. Hagar was waving to him from the ground and called up to Mars.
You never cease to amaze me, man!" Mars smiled back and decided to review the Spell screen once more.
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Known Spells
Tier 0; "Prestidigitation I"
Tier 0; "Create Bacon Breakfast Sandwich I"
Tier 1; "Magic Missile I"
Tier 1; "Mage Armor I"
Tier 2; "Alter Self I"
Tier 3; "Fly I"
Spells Available
Tier 0; 2 available
1st Tier; 2 available
2nd Tier; 2 available
3rd Tier; 2 available
Unique; 1 available
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Then Mars continued to whip around the trees and was having the time of his life. He temporarily forgot all about his problems and felt like he had just found his new hobby. Orlilin laughed a little and had flown alongside him for a bit while she chatted.
"It's so rare I get to enjoy flying with someone. " Orlilin smiled kindly at Mars as they whipped through the air on the warm Spring day. They were moving fast enough that the air was cooling them down despite the heat. "Thank you, Orlilin. I promise I will not forget your kindness!" Mars could not express the gratitude he felt but continued.
"So about how I had met Ozen Raw." Orlilin nodded and motioned for Mars to Continue. "She saved me from endless death, but with conditions." They both slowed down and hovered high in the sky as they talked.
"What do you mean? Reincarnation?" Orlilin was genuinely trying to understand the situation.
"Yes, at the end of this life, I will suffer for eternity. So since magic exists, is there any way to extend my life?" Mars looked at Orlilin, who was surprised. "What kind of deal did you make Mars!?".
Mars sighed and explained further. "I had suffered for what felt like years, but it was only days. Ozen offered me a new life with a price to pay later," Mars explained everything that had happened, she too did not understand the concept of space and high tech equipment, but she did understand the deal for the most part. The only thing he kept from her was the "unique 1 available". That would be his secret.
They both began to descend and landed near Hagar.
Hagar looked at them in astonishment. "You Wizards sure are amazing!"
Mars laughed at his cousin's excitement. Orlilin had decided to show Mars another spell and agreed upon the Tier 0 "Message" so that they would be able to communicate easily.
Mars received a message from Orlilin, but this time his vision slowly faded to black, and he simply collapsed.
He saw a message as he fell, saying.
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Error Overload
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Orlilin was stunned. She grabbed hold of his shoulders and began to shake him while calling his name.
"Mars! Mars! Are you ok!?" He did not respond and simply laid there. The panicking elf quickly cast a teleportation spell and motioned to Hagar to get closer. The three of them disappeared into thin air.
*****************************
Mars regained what seemed like his consciousness, but it was all too familiar. The Black nothingness. Had his new life been a hallucination? Time passed slowly. The questions were building up, and he had no idea what happened.
(15 minutes in) Marston could feel once more. 'Oh, NO! Please no! NO! NO! NO! I have not lived my life yet! It was a dream!?!' His brain was just about entirely created now. At first, he could feel a faint sense of warmth. But he knew what was coming endless agony and torture and loneliness that would last for all eternity!
(23 minutes in) His skeleton completed, and various organs were forming, such as his stomach, liver, kidneys, etcetera. Now his sense of feeling was much more present. His headache grew far more robust, and now his back started to get sharp bolts of pain suddenly. They were not unexpected, but if he had a body, he would have wept and wailed as he was back in the cloning bay. He could not see yet, but he knew the sensation that the evil machine caused him.
[33 Minutes in] his blood vessels and muscles began spreading over his body. Now the pain was amped-up like teeth getting drilled without any sedatives. His headache progressed further just as he had felt those hundred other times.
[44 minutes in] everything except his eyes, hair, and skin were formed.
[54 minutes in] his eyes had finished forming, and here he was with 100 of his cloned corpses rotting in his busted spaceship. He was the 101st.
Like every other time, the pain had ceased.
[55 minutes in] the cloning had finally ended. Mars dropped to the floor in his old body. And he began to suffocate as he had every other time.
The room was cramped, and indeed, if there were air to breathe, it would stink. No smells were present though Mars simply grasped at his neck as he died slowly. He preferred suffocating to being cloned, but he had no choice in the matter as everything returned to black once more.
Why had he died? Error Overload? There was no warning, he simply keeled over and died? He tried to look on the bright side and thought back fondly over the last five years. He'd had the beginning of a beautiful life, and even experienced the fantastic feeling of magic.
The nothingness continued until it was interrupted by those initial warm feelings, that goddamned cloning was starting up again. Had Mars' mind simply created an alternate reality all this time as some sort of coping mechanism? If so, why was he suddenly back?
'Come on brain, make me dream up some beautiful Goddess again!' He pleaded to himself.
****************************
The bodies continued to pile up as time slogged onward. Once again he lost count of how many times he experienced this hell.
The bodies became so numerous that he no longer died from suffocation but from the insane amount of pressure he would feel each time the cloning process was completed. He was literally crushed each time it finished and would instantly perish in a room so packed full of corpses that they had been squeezed into a red paste of blood guts and bones.