With the mages not around me at this point, I just decided to focus on using [Heal] on Fuki. Eventually, all of the Illusive Demons around us were eradicated and the construction crew began working on the gate. No more Demons showed up, and the bodies were starting to be cleaned up by some of the soldiers, throwing their bodies into piles and igniting a fire to get rid of them permanently.
"That Demon over there dropped this staff, Anima. Would you like it?" The King asked me. He only handed me a wooden stick with bandage wrappings around it. It had only one skill attached, being [Bullet] again.
"I'll take it and find something to do with it, thanks," I said. I grabbed the staff and put it on my back just as I had seen the King do. Then, I was prompted with a new message.
[Max Weapon Capacity Held. Convert to Proficiency?]
[Yes] --- [No]
I clicked the [Yes] icon and I felt a resonation within my body. As a similar feeling my Yggdrasil Bone staff had once awakened within me, this staff did almost the same thing.
[Yggdrasil Bone Staff + 1]
Interesting... this staff had risen my proficiency on another staff. I sat down on one of the logs that were going to be used on the gate and looked at several stats I had gained.
I had only gained one level thanks to something defined as 'Assist EXP', and my stats rose by one each. It wasn't much, but I understand why. Using [Heal] required 60 mana, while [Raise] required 300. [Bullet] required 20 mana, so it would take a while to be able to use these skills at a higher level, but if I equipped armor like how some games work, maybe my stats would go up as well. I still needed 8 levels to equip anything the King had, though.
I hadn't thought about it, but proficiency level 1 increased my attack damage and all other skills. It was a slow improvement. I couldn't expect my stats to grow accordingly to the attack damage, but having more mana would be nice.
"Anima! Nice job out there with the healing and the buffs! Hey, what level did you make it to?" Fuki asked me.
"Only level 2, assist EXP didn't get me much," I told Fuki. He nodded and then told me his level.
"When I asked for my special skill, I got an EXP boost too! I made it to 12." Fuki said with a smile. My jaw practically dropped in jealousy.
"What?! That's amazing!" I replied. Fuki could now get armor from the King... lucky. That skill he got was really worth a lot... that was impressive. I bet using my skill would be just as well as Fuki's skill, I just needed to figure out how to craft things.
Fuki sat on the log next to me and stretched out his muscles. "Now, we just have to sit here on standby and wait for them to finish the gate. Say, what will you do when we get home?" Fuki asked me.
"Not sure. I'd like to explore the town, but I have some things I want to try with my skill. I don't know of any crafting materials or stations to help craft, but if I learn it, I could make some really nice stuff." I said to Fuki.
Fuki called the King over and he joined us on the log as well. "Hey King, how does crafting work in this world?" I asked him as he sat down.
"Well, there are three kinds of crafting, I guess. Enchanting, Alchemy, and Material. With enchanting, many stations are instantly broken on a chance most enchanters suffer from. It's a dead art, but alchemy is quite lively... Material, on the other hand, is dying out as well." The King said. It hurt to hear that 33% of my skill was rendered useless, but I could use alchemy to do a lot.
"I'd like to learn Alchemy and Material crafting, then. I think I might have an affinity for it." I told the King. The King nodded.
"As thanks for your service, I can appoint a trainer to you and they can teach you how to do it without an issue." The King told me. One of the construction workers called over Fuki to help with cutting some rope, and the King turned to me.
"What do you know about Yggdrasil's Bone?" He asked me. I sat in confusion for a moment.
"Yggdrasil's Bone? I'm not sure. I think it was the name of the staff in my room." I told the King. He nodded, looking over to the other mages.
"Sorry, that was the weapon of choice from the last Magic Hero. It's a whole history I can get into later, but the color of his [Bullet] skill was the same as yours, so I had to ask. Then, we'll meet back at the Kingdom and I'll find you a trainer." The King told me. He got up and walked over to the mages... how weird.
I guess the staff was the weapon for the last magic hero. It didn't have any proficiency attached to it before I got it, so it was a basic weapon. No, that couldn't have been it. There had to have been something I was missing, a stat raise that I didn't have that the previous hero did.
I scanned the area to see the King conversing with the mages and looking over at me, so I decided to walk away. They were still bothering me.
I looked up at the Tree of Life to see golden petals falling down to the ground. It was a beautiful sight as several golden petals in the sky looked like stars in the distance. I took a deep breath of fresh air and then turned back to the mages, to see several soldiers and the King walk up over to me.
"Magic Hero Anima, I have probable cause to believe that you are an Illusive Demon. Care to defend yourself?" The King asked me.
"Huh?"