But soon, I encountered somebody much more talented than I initially thought.
"What are you doing? Light magic should be used as support, not the main DPS… Unless you're super strong and actually use a sword, what you're doing right now is useless," I said as I walked up to an elven girl only a year or two older than me.
She had long green hair, sharp golden eyes, and a pretty well-built body… she might've even been a bit more muscular than me.
That doesn't say much, but it's still pretty impressive, considering she's a mage.
"Oh, you're the dude going around helping everybody… Well, how about you shut the fuck up and let me do my thing. You have no idea what I'm trying out anyway," She said, and her crude words were a bit surprising as her presence was very noble.
"Well, damn, my bad," I muttered and went on my way, but I was still intrigued by this girl, so I stuck around her, killing slimes occasionally while keeping her in my peripheral vision.
She continuously kept using the most basic light magic to try and kill a slime, and her constant use of it was painful to watch.
The amount of mana she wasting on just tickling the weakest monster in existence made not only me cry tears of disappointment but everybody else who caught a glimpse of her… it was truly sad to watch.
Over the next few days that I came to this dungeon, I saw her time and time again, trying and trying to kill a single slime.
"What is this girl trying to do- oh? Finally… It was about time this thing was completed," I muttered to myself before reading the few panels in front of me.
[Mana Mastery has been completed | 100% Complete]
[Skill Granted] | [Some Skills Have Reacted With Your Mastery]
『Status』
[Name: Cyrus]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Water Magician]
[Level: 13/25] (47/100) XP Needed
[HP: 35/35 MP: 10/10 SP: 15/15] - Normal Human
[Strength: 5] - Normal Human
[Defense: 3] - Normal Human
[Magic: 13] - Normal Human
[Speed: 3] - Normal Human
[Aether: 5] - Non Human
[Skills: [Tidal Strike] [Water Magic] [Water Ring] [Poison Murky Water] [Mana Control]
[Aetheric Infusion]
[Passive Skills: [Water Body] [Trait: Lightning]
…
I was satisfied by the new skills I had acquired as they were now the bare minimum for me to get started with becoming a great mage… but there was also this other skill that I had never seen in my life before.
But first of all, [Water Manipulation] had evolved into [Water Magic], meaning I didn't have to continuously use a rampage of water from [Tidal Strike] to create spears of water.
Plus, this method would also use much less mana than activating two skills at the same time and controlling both of them at the same time… any normal person wouldn't have been able to do it, but of course, yours truly… is built different.
Next, [Mana Control] evolved into [Mana Manipulation], which sounds strange as is there really a difference between them? Well, kinda.
[Mana Control] allows you to sense most types of basic bitch blue mana around you, and you can influence it as if it is a living being.
This method is extremely slow, but with [Mana Manipulation], you can bend the mana to your will as long as it is not part of somebody else's skill or is part of a monster's body or skill.
It is also a much faster use, and your sensing of mana becomes incredible if you aren't already used to sensing it in the first place.
Then… there is [Aetheric Infusion], which I'm sure is related to my Aether stat but its usage? I have no clue.
I'd rather use it in a more private place in case it does something eye-catching or something too powerful that I won't be able to control.
So, I decided to store this skill for later and continue… monitoring… this… girl… what the fuck.
Suddenly, the girl's staff began to glow an even brighter golden light than before, and bright gold mana swirled around her like she was a spirit of light herself.
"Her… skill is evolving naturally? Did she use it that many times? What the hell?"
I was in awe as I stared at the girl's staff, which began to create a ball of light bigger than her head, and once it had finished forming… it disappeared.
"Oh, shit…" I muttered, but before I could run away, a bright golden light enveloped the entire dungeon, causing hundreds of kids to scream their lungs out.
Oh, calm down. A skill like this won't hurt a human…
Once the light had died down, I saw a few kids had fainted from shock or fear or some other thing, but the others who were still conscious just stared at the girl with awe.
Suddenly, she turned towards me and gave me a smug look, and I couldn't help but smile back as she actually had a plan.
Evolving a skill isn't that uncommon, but it still takes tons of hard work as you need to continuously do damage to a monster… and depending on the damage, the amount of "XP" your skill gets can range from tons to just a minuscule amount.
"What did it evolve into?" I asked the girl as I was very curious as to what she managed to achieve with this ball sweating amount of work.
"[Glimpse of Heaven]..." She smiled, and I gave her a large smile as well.
"Oh? That's pretty good, but it only works on monsters,"
"Why would I need a skill that works on humans as well? I'm planning on being an adventurer, not a bounty hunter,"
"Well… uhhhhhhh… not everybody is as nice as you might think, and your family might be able to back you up… but even then, there are some crazy people,"
"Like you?"
"Yeah, sure. Anyway, it's best to get a skill stone from your family for an attack skill that also works on humans. Can never be too safe,"
"That's the problem… why do you think I put in so much effort for a single skill?"
"Ah… My bad,"