[Do you wish to transfer the right over the Skill Book: Small Fireball?]
'Yes,' Leo verified his decision as he handed Willie the Skill Book. "Here, take it. However, do not learn it through the system. Read the book and try to learn it yourself. It will disintegrate once you learn it."
Willie was caught off guard by Leo's gesture of goodwill, exclaiming eagerly, "Are you serious? Can I simply just... take it?"
"What? I mean, if you can figure it out, you can take it. Only you meet the conditions for learning it. But if you want to study it another way, you'll have to pay the whole amount." Leo smiled at Willie.
Leo had no intention of taking anything from Willie because he thought he had anything worth the value of a Skill Book. Furthermore, Willie had a slim probability of learning the [Small Fireball] skill on his own.
However, if Willie was smart enough to earn the skill via his own hard work, why not give him the Skill Book? He would consider Willie to have learned it because he was capable of doing so rather than because he provided it to him.
Willie gulped, reconsidering his decision after seeing Leo's frightening grin. However, he did not want to pass up such an opportunity, so he told Leo, "You can have my word."
Leo did not lie to Willie. He honestly planned to hand up the Skill Book to him. He did not want to study it because Leo knew he couldn't. He lacked the magical capacity to learn it. He would have given it to Adam, but it required the spirit to learn it.
So Willie was the only choice. Furthermore, Willie's [Life Pulse] was an innate talent related to mana; therefore, he should have had some affinity for it.
Leo stated that [Small Fireball] was a fundamental magic skill with no versatility, thus he advised against learning it through the system. It was not worth learning it and devoting a talent point and a skill slot to it.
After dealing with a bunch in front of their minimarket, they focused on killing zombies near to their location.
After another day of hunting, Adam and Willie reached level 3, matching Leo. Unfortunately, they did not receive any Treasure Chests on that day.
They were relaxing in the storage room because each of them was preoccupied with their own business. Adam continued to meditate, while Willie read a brief book on a small fireball. Only the person with authority over the skill book could read it.
To be honest, Willie felt a need to just learn it using the system when Leo handed it to him, but Leo strongly opposed him.
Willie tried to understand the book's content, but he couldn't figure out what it was trying to say.
Not only did it explain the concept behind the little fireball, but it also included an incantation for the spell. Willie continued to work hard on his pronunciation because it was similar to speaking in another language without knowing it.
When Leo saw Willie trying to spell the incantation, he grinned lightly, finding his attempts humorous. However, he noted that Willie was growing better at it.
Magic was not for everyone because it required more sacrifice than direct control over mana. After the ban on mana was relaxed, the planet gained mana, which is magical energy that can be used to reproduce many natural events.
At the same moment that mana invaded the world, sprites emerged, who were mana clusters with primitive consciousness. You could only detect them if you had a strong enough mana affinity.
The ability to perform a spell was more dependent on how sprites responded to your summons than on your capacity to control mana.
People who were able to communicate with sprites were able to cast spells, whereas survivors like Leo, who had a low affinity for sprites, were unable to acquire even basic spells through incantation.
'But magic spells were more than just incantations, as that was only one way to wield magic. There are also magical circles and natural powers.' Some of the survivors have intrinsic powers with similar effects to magic, although learning how to make magic circles was more scientific than magical.
Leo resumed his meditation as he recalled fundamental knowledge of magical abilities. He was able to raise his mana by two points through meditation sessions.
With each point, it grew more difficult to expand his mana pool. The more it was stretched, the more it resisted his attempts. Perhaps he will be able to raise it to 20 mana points by the end of the month.
[Your continued meditation practice has strengthened your spirit].
[Your spirit has improved by one point.]
As he continued to meditate, unexpected system messages startled him awake. Because he anticipated seeing the content sooner or later, he wasn't surprised by it.
Meditation not only helped you gather mana, but it also cleared your mind and strengthened your soul. Simultaneously, as your spirit rose, so did your ability to sense and absorb mana via meditation.
It was the case when the outcome determined the cause. However, an increase in spirit did not result in a 10-point boost in mana because it was obtained through training rather than the system.
'Status'
[Leonard Wright]
[Level: 3]
[Class: None]
[Survival coins: 31]
[Mana: 7/7]
[Strength: 16]
[Agility: 10]
[Stamina: 9]
[Intelligence: 11]
[Spirit: 1]
[Attribute points: 0]
[Innate ability: regression]
[Skills: Elementary Cooking (LVL 2), Gaming (LVL 8), Mathematics (LVL 7), Leadership (LVL 1), Meditation (LVL 3), Flash Step (LVL 1)]
As Leo looked at his status, he already wanted to gain the next level. His strength was high, but his stamina was low, making him vulnerable in prolonged fights.
'Even though I can be regarded as powerful for my current level, my stamina is too low for my strength. The system is fair when it comes to the stats. The more strength you use, the more stamina it wastes. All body-related stats like agility and strength were dependent on stamina.
As he thought about how his stats were growing further from each other, he grew more impatient to level up. Leo had already thought about a stat that he wanted to enhance.
Casting aside his worries about the status, he focused on his spirit stat.
While others may not value a spirit increase, for Leo, it significantly broadened his combat strategies. Previously, he put all his stats into strength and agility since they were important for his survival. But the trickiest stat from all stats is spirit, which opened the doors for magic combat.
In his previous life, Leo was one of the weakest hunters. However, even the weakest had their own ways of achieving victory.
Monsters were too strong for him, while he was far behind other hunters. Then he thought what stat or skill was the most tricky when it comes to hunting.
'Absolute strength? No. Agility? No. Even now, I believe that the ability to control mana is the most flexible among them. After everything, mana is still the cause of the 2nd Holocaust.'
As his spirit had increased by one point, he tried to control mana inside him. He channeled it through his body as he gathered it on the surface of his hand.
He controlled the mana in his hands as he tried to change it into different shapes. If Willie saw how Leo was cautiously playing with mana, his eyes would pop out from its sockets.
[You have learned Mana Application (LVL 1)]
[Regression is reacting towards your new skill]
[Your Mana Application (LVL 1) has turned into Mana Application (LVL 3)]
[Your spirit stat is too low to further increase your skill level.]
As he saw three system notifications, Leo didn't stop on it. He made from mana invisible mana threads, a mana barrier, and tried to gather it in one part of his body.
[You have learned Mana Threads (LVL 1)]
[You have learned Mana Barrier (LVL 1)]
[You have learned Mana Enhancement (LVL 1)]
[Regression is reacting towards your new skills]
[Your Mana Threads (LVL 1) have turned into Mana Threads (LVL 3)]
[Your level of Mana Application (LVL 3) is too low to further increase your skill level]
[Your Mana Barrier (LVL 1) has turned into Mana Barrier (LVL 2)]
[Your level of Mana Application (LVL 3) is too low to further increase your skill level]
[Your Mana Enhancement (LVL 1) has turned into Mana Enhancement (LVL 2)]
[Your level of Mana Application (LVL 3) is too low to further increase your skill level]
As system notifications flooded his vision, Leo was delighted to gain skills from his past life. Before regressing, Leo had reached [Mana Application (LVL 5)], [Mana Threads (LVL 4)], [Mana Barrier (LVL 3)] and [Mana Enhancement (LVL 3)].
Even though he didn't restore his skills to their previous levels, they were already useful for him. They weren't strong, but they greatly boosted the number of attacks he could perform.
[Mana Threads] allowed him to make invisible threads attached to his fingers. [Mana Barrier] built an energetic barrier around him, absorbing a certain percentage of the attack.
[Mana Enhancement] enhanced his body by a certain amount, making his body sturdier and boosting all his base stats. Despite his mana deficiency, the skills he acquired were crucial for his survival.
Following the standards of his previous life, it was praiseworthy that Leo was able to develop [Mana Application] to such a level. Even if his skill wasn't the highest in level, it wasn't low at all.
Purely based on the level, his skill had rivaled that of starting mages, which was quite unusual for a swordsman. His control over the mana was one of the things he was proud of; second were his swordsmanship skills.
'Having not been an awakener and starting later than most of the hunters, I have struggled desperately to learn everything I found useful for my survival. I never thought I would be rewarded for all my hard work. As Leo recalled how [Regression] was able to transfer the skills from his past life, he smirked lightly, starting another meditation session.