He awoke to the sound of loud snoring, his mind pounding against his skull as he became cognizant enough to recognize the familiar sores and aches of his worn and torn body.
Considering the past few months' events, Irwin would have guessed that his pain tolerance would have rosed past the normal threshold of humanity. Alas, it was all but wishful fantasies.
He scanned his surroundings, albeit carefully given the state of his form, and found the sleeping form of a Dean Winchester unceremoniously laid down on a beige couch with his brother, Sam, and Andy, the special child, missing from the picture.
He calmed his mind, still reeling from the fight with the vampire. An Elder one, he presumed.
He soon noticed a flashing blue light on the corner of his eyes, present not physically, but one that existed within his mind. His System had something urgent to discuss.
[ Character(!) | Skill(!) | Supernatural Record(!) | Status | Quest | Trade Store ]
He snorted in joy, the only act he was capable of at the moment that would not invite pain.
'Character sheet!'
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Name: Irwin Bellios / Richard Greythorne IV
Age: 23
Race: Baneblood (Human)
Blood Type: O Negative
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Level: 03 (!)
Job: Wiccan Apprentice
Last Hunt: Elder Vampire
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Congratulations! You have advanced to Level 3.
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The following skills have been upgraded:
▪︎ Human Magic (Lvl 03 -> 04)
▪︎ Arcane Resistance (Lvl 05 -> 06)
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You can now learn one (1) skill from these two (2) choices:
▪︎ Commune With Apostle (Lvl 01)
▪︎ Potioneering (Lvl 01)
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You can now learn one (1) spell from these three (3) choices:
▪︎ Spectral Tether (Purgatory)
▪︎ Summon Wildling (Fairy)
▪︎ Withering Blight (Human)
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It was such a magnificent sight to a heavily injured Irwin. To be rewarded for all his hard work may seem condescending, but, in the pursuit of power and survivability, dignity be damned.
He set about learning the effects of the skills first.
Commune With Apostle was an active Job Skill that would allow him to telepathically converse with the current apostle of a pagan god. No matter when or where they are, as long as they exist as the current apostle within the timeframe Irwin had activated the ritual, he and the apostle would be transported to a private dimension where they could talk or exchange information.
One downside of such a skill was that it needed a personal item touched by the apostle's pagan god and that each conversation currently had a five-minute time limit.
On further reading, the ingredients needed to activate the skill were astronomically rare. So much so that he doubted if Lady Anastasia's extensive storage even had some of these rare ingredients.
"Who in the fuck would have comet dust from the meteor that destroyed the dinosaurs?"
Potioneering, on the other hand, was thankfully more simple. Merely a skill that would impart knowledge on the creations of alchemical concoctions and witchcraft potions.
If chosen, he would gain a recipe every time he leveled up or, in lesser cases, advanced the skill itself.
Quite frankly, Irwin would rather take Potioneering for its relative simplicity, but the Commune skill had much greater versatility. Besides, he had an inkling he could gain the Potioneering skill from Lady Anastasia or, if he was lucky, from Charlotte.
That would make it a Personal Skill, instead of a Job Skill, though, which he frankly much prefers.
Giving it another round of thoughts, Irwin chose Potioneering.
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Congratulations! You have learned [ Potioneering (Lvl 01) ]
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For one, doing so would give him the skill and immediately impart wisdom he would have needed weeks or even months to collect and comprehend. He trained his body hard, yes, but he was not that into reading barely legible tomes written by a quack from the 13th century.
Second, this wisdom would allow him to start off as a fledgling potioneer, someone who had worked months in his foundational potioneering abilities. And not some rookie who could barely remember which vat of acid would metabolize a Chupacabra's stomach.
"Wait, what?" Irwin rolled his tongue around his mouth. "How would I know that a Chupacabra's stomach lining is ten times more resilient than that of a human and thus is used as a key ingredient for an extremely rare specialized potion made by Naga shamans? Whoa! That's neat."
It seems the effects of the skills were taking effect and, to his delight, does not hurt as much as the other information transplant.
Before he could proceed further, a sudden system message appeared in his retina.
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Due to the acquisition of the skill [Potioneering], the current version of the [Skill] sub-system will be updated.
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Update In Progress…
Update Done!
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Congratulations! The sub-system [Skill] has been overhauled. A brief introduction will be uploaded momentarily.
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Skills
[Contains a list of all known skills and abilities.]
Magik
[Contains a list of all known magik and spells.]
Recipes
[Contains a list of all types of alchemical and mystical recipes.]
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Personal Skill
▪︎ Marksmanship (Lvl 02 -> 03)
▪︎ Alcohol Tolerance
▪︎ Natural Order (Lvl MAX)
▪︎ Unarmed Combat (Lvl 03)
▪︎ Swordsmanship (Lvl 02 -> 03)
▪︎ Krousurgy (Lvl 01)
Job Skill
▪︎ Human Magic (Lvl 04)
▪︎ Arcane Resistance (Lvl 06)
▪︎ Potioneering (Lvl 01)
System Skill
▪︎ Natural Immunity (Lvl MAX)
▪︎ Enhanced Physique (Lvl 02)
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Personal Magik
▪︎ Mind Guardian (Lvl 02 -> 03) (Human)
▪︎ Flame Whip (Lvl 05 -> 06) (Human)
▪︎ Blood Scry (Lvl 05) (Fairy)
▪︎ Blight Hex (Lvl 01) (Human)
System Magik
▪︎ Ward Of Obviation (Lvl 01) (Pagan)
▪︎ Age Transfiguration (Lvl 01) (Pagan)
▪︎ Energy Shield (Lvl 01 -> 02) (Human)
▪︎ Vessel Immobilization (Lvl 01) (Human)
▪︎ Solitary Immolation (Lvl 01) (Human)
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Potions
▪︎ None
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"I'll be damned." Irwin relished the newly vamped sub-system as he went back to choosing from the three spells.
Spectral Tether creates an incorporeal tether, one that spirits or creatures of higher order - angels, demons, pagan gods - and some powerful creatures can only see. Irwin can hook the tether into a creature and use it to track the marked creature, no matter how far away they are.
There were multiple downsides to the spell, however. One being marked creatures could unhook the tether if they were magically powerful enough or knew someone who was.
Second, the spell had a twenty-four-hour time limit, so the caster would need to recast the spell. Thankfully, recasting will not unhook the tether, merely reinforce it.
Third, and most important of all, he would need the target creature's body part. Be it blood, hair, skin, eyes, fingernail, or anything that was once part of the creature's being.
Summon Wildling was a spell that could conjure a Fae from Avalon, the realm of Fairies. 'Could' being the operative word, as one would need sufficient affinity with Fairy Magik and the Fae creatures themselves.
One would need to cast the spell dozens of times and offer bounties that would entice a Fae from entering the portal one has created. A hefty endeavor, one that would take time, but if one succeeded, then one would have a Fae of unimaginable strength and ability at one's disposal.
"I feel like I'm being scammed?" Irwin muttered as he read the introduction of the spell. "Yeah, this spell might make a hole in my pocket."
He read the next spell, Withering Blight. A fairly powerful spell by the words on the introduction, one that operates like the spells shown in the television show.
A ritual with relatively simple ingredients was needed to create a hex bag. The hex bag would then need to be placed somewhere it would not be found, for a simple fire could destroy the magik binding the spell together.
Once activated, the hex bag will slowly, but quite surely, absorb the vitality of any living thing in the spell's range. The bag will store all the vitality until a certain threshold and, once retrieved, the caster could consume the vitality for themselves.
"Hmm… it doesn't say what the effect of consuming it would be. But it might function like a healing spell. Oooh, god knows I need that." Irwin hummed in contemplation. "It's certainly a powerful spell, but the need to be stationary and its gradual absorption hampers its ability a bit."
Since he was in a hospital room being healed from his injuries yet again, he figured that the Withering Blight would be his best choice in the future. But another thought soon popped in his head.
He returned to the main menu and clicked on the Trade Shop.
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Trade Store
▪︎ Item Trade
▪︎ Point Store
▪︎ Trade Counter
▪︎ Store Credit: 173
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▪︎ Armors & Mystical Items
▪︎ Weapons
▪︎ Spells & Rituals
▪︎ Flora & Fauna
▪︎ Potions
▪︎ Materials
▪︎ System Consumables
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He searched for the spells listed in the level up choices.
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▪︎ Spectral Tether (100)
…
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▪︎ Summon Wilding (150)
…
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▪︎ Withering Blight (120)
…
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"Oh, that's… that's a lot of credits." Irwin puffed up his cheeks, before choosing Summon Wildling from the level up.
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Congratulations! You have learned [ Summon Wildling (Fairy) ]
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Irwin dismissed the spell messages, for he saw Dean Winchester awakening from his slumber.
The hunter rubbed his eyes, opening up his mouth for a yawn as he, too, noticed that Irwin was awake. "Hey! You're awake!"
"Yeah. Where's Sam and Andy?" He asked softly, careful not to aggravate any of his injuries.
"They're in the room below. Man, that warding of yours sucks." Dean shook his head with a soft laugh. "Doctor couldn't even get in without vomiting."
Irwin chuckled. "Side effects of the spell, I'm afraid."
"Tell me about it." Dean donned his leather jacket. "Are you ready? Andy's been jittery since he came to."
Irwin nodded, his retina flashing blue as he searched for the item. "Yeah. Why don't you head on in and give me a few? I'll follow after I create the spell."