Michael woke up exactly where he'd fallen asleep. His head still hurt, but he was alive and the Ottowan snake was in the cage beside him. He received several weird looks from other students, but nobody bothered him. Fortunately, nobody had interfered with him or his hydra, or else he would have had to start all over again.
He picked up the cage and lugged it the remaining distance to his room. As he did so, he realized his uniform was completely dry, unruffled and undamaged. After what he had been through, it must have been magic. Maybe that was why Master Robin had him buy needles?
Michael had so much to do and so little time to do it. He had less than a day and a half of free time, but he needed to turn in the snake, have a chat with Al, get Master Robin to teach him about magestones, enchant his inkstone, and show him how to enchant the needles. If not for his exemplary performances and the ease of the first week of classes, Michael would have been berated for his lack of a proper writing utensil. He had memorized the spells and manipulations done in class, but he was sure that professors like Master Silksen would require everything be written down in a spellbook.
Opting to begin with the easiest task, Michael sent out a mental note to Al. "Hey Al, I could use your help. Mind telling me about the system?"
Mind? It's what I'm here for! I've just been waiting for you to ask!
Al didn't waste any time, immediately delving into what Michael was reminded was the Superior Intelligence System, not the Superior Intellect System as he kept calling it.
So, basically, the system has some hefty requirements to use it. You gotta have some level of talent with precognition and you gotta have a sufficient goal. In your case, that goal is your vendetta. They system detects your intended will and, when able, will offer a solution for a cost, determined in Intelligence Points. The basic functions— close range search, assigning unspent ability points, and the like— come free.
Other functions, such as restoring health, learning observed techniques without practice, or increasing ability points when you don't have any unspent points, cost IP. As you've probably realized, you earn IP when you improve. What you probably don't know is that that improvement is tied to both improvement of the body and improvement of the mind. Your body is already freakishly strong, so it's harder for you to gain points that way.
The system has assignment me, Al, as your personal interface for accessing the system. I make your life easier, explaining the complicated stuff and doing the grunt work for you. I'll never make a purchase without your consent and I'll never go against your wishes. If you'd like, you can tell me of preferences in advance and I can automatically apply them when needed.
Host—that's you— currently has 5 IP that can be spent, though you've made the wise call of saving them for now. They're harder to get the further you go, and there are some real goodies when you've upgraded the system.
"Wait. Wait. You're telling me these are a limited resource and I've been using them just to feel better?" Michael was horrified! He had wasted such a valuable resource. He had be far more careful in the future. "You mentioned ability points. Is there somewhere I can see those?"
Afraid so, boss. And yeah, I'll pull it up right away.
A green screen popped up in Michael's face.
[Ability Point Distribution:
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Wisdom: 7
Intelligence: 11
Luck: 4
Will: 15
Unspent Ability Points: 0]
Seems you haven't leveled up to level two yet kid. You'll find that the average adult individual will have stats between 10 and 15, so you're on a good track. Luck and Will can't be improved naturally, though. If you want to improve them, you'll need to spend points. If you'd like, I can make an experience bar for you to show you how close you are. How's pink? Pink's a good color. Here ya go, kid.
A small pink bar appeared in the corner of Michael's vision. To the left were the words, "Level 1". He had no idea why Al chose pink, but he had no real reason to question it.
"Thanks, Al. I really appreciate you taking the time to tell about all this. I'll let you know if I need some more help once I reach level two."
Though he was excited to use the system, he needed IP. And how did he get IP? Learning new things! It was time for him to finally learn how to enchant. Boy was he looking forward to this.
...
Three hours later, Michael hated himself for asking Master Robin to teach him how to enchant. The theory was simple— stuff a whole bunch of the right kind of magic into the object, usually a magestone, and see if it worked. Unfortunately, the application was far harder.
So far, Michael had broken six magestones trying to imbue a simple water shield spell. He knew how to cast the spell and he knew how to enchant the stone, but for some reason it either kept failing to stick or it burst the stone. He knew it was possible because Master Robin had produced three in a matter of seconds, even taking the time to show him that they worked.
It felt like the stone was accepting the Water magic, but refusing Michael's application of it. If he didn't know better, he'd think his Master was purposefully letting him use the wrong spell. But he knew this spell. He could USE this spell.
Michael's failures continued, one after another. The system was taunting him, offering him the solution for the low, low cost of 50 IP. He ignored it, planning to do this himself. When he had destroyed his tenth magestone, Master Robin stopped him.
"It is clear you have misunderstood my explanation. Watch again and feel my magic as I imbue the stone." Master Robin took a Quartz from the pile and slowly enveloped it with his magic. Michael closed his eyes, focusing only on the shape and movement of the magic.
It entered the stone slowly, circling the edges until it fully outlined the gem. Master Robin paused here, and the magic seemed to settle down, enjoining itself with the structure of the stone. Then, he slowly allowed more magic into it. When it was full but before it settled down, Master Robin changed the structure of the magic to resemble the water shield spell Michael had learned. That, too, settled and Michael was left looking at a perfectly-enchanted Water Shield Quartz.
Before, Master Robin had gone too fast for Michael to truly register the process of steps. As far as he could tell, his master had been imbuing the stones with the spell from the start, but he couldn't have been more wrong. It was no wonder the quartz kept breaking— he did everything wrong!
This time, he'd get it right. Maybe then he could learn to enchant the Inkstone and the needles.