Ding! dong ~ Ding! dong ~
Rain hears a bell ring, and he's confused because he doesn't own an alarm clock.
"F*ck!" he curses inside. "Whose alarm is that?!"
Turning around, he sits up, rubbing his eyes and scanning the unfamiliar room.
"Oh right, hahaha, I'm not on Earth anymore." Rain chuckles, finally remembering his new surroundings.
Day 7 officially starts~
Rain breathes in deeply, saying good morning to himself.
'Now that I think about it, the energy in this city is so dense, almost a hundred times thicker than in the forest,' he reflects.
When Rain was exploring with Laura yesterday, he didn't gather mana casually from the atmosphere to avoid anyone noticing the sudden concentration of energy. It would've looked suspicious. Now, Rain realizes he needs to change his appearance again to remain anonymous while gathering mana.
He activates the skill "Body Reconstruction," feeling his mana being consumed as his appearance alters. His eye color shifts to blue, and his hair turns ash blond. He transforms into a man in his 50s.
'This looks good,' he says while looking at his profile in the status window.
He adjusts his fake identity again, changing:
[ Doran "The Explorer"
Age: 21
2-star Aura user
No criminal record ]
To:
[ Gandolf "The Hermit"
Age: 351
Magic Circle: 8th (Arch Mage)
Mana Circles: 3
No criminal record
Stats:
Strength: 84
Dexterity: 82
Constitution: 88
Intelligence: 2755
Wisdom: 2662
Charisma: 9/10
Mana: 10000
Abilities:
Fire Magic: 8th Circle Mastery
All Elemental Magic: 3rd Circle Mastery
Magic Language: Complete Mastery
Titles:
The Hermit
The Shadow
The Unseen One ]
"Yes, this should do it," he praises his own work.
'I modeled this after what I saw on Laura's status window,' Rain thinks. He recalls Princess Nara's slight frown when she saw his previous profile for "Doran," and it dawns on him that his status window wasn't as unique as he thought.
"I assumed the status window was something only I had, bestowed by Goddess Tyriel," he mutters, realizing it might be a public feature of this world. 'Just to be safe, I need to check random people's status windows.'
But first, Rain alters the appearance of his clothing to make sure he won't be recognized as Doran. Using his "Sorcery" skill, he adjusts the intricate magic circles engraved on the fabric.
As he works, it suddenly clicks. "I can understand these magic circles on my clothes. Does that mean the circles appearing when casting are different from the engravings?"
Curious, he tries to test it. Summoning the clothes from his ring, he uses his "Global Translation" skill and thinks of the magic circle for "Self Repair." He draws it in the air and applies it to the garment. To his surprise, the magic works perfectly, and the clothes begin to mend themselves, stitching together while drawing mana from the atmosphere.
'Upon closer inspection, the engraved circles look more like symbols than intricate casting circles,' Rain observes.
Satisfied with this discovery, he mentally classifies the symbols as text, realizing his "Reader" skill can likely interpret them.
Ding! [ Understanding of Magic deepens: Increasing mana circles to 3! ]
'Wow! I put three mana circles in the fake status, but now I actually have three!' Rain cheers inwardly.
Bzzt [ Error! Insufficient Mana. Please gather sufficient mana to increase your mana circles. ]
"What? Insufficient mana?" Rain groans, disappointed. "Do I need to be at full mana?"
Chuckling at his mistake, he sets off to gather mana again. He uses light magic to bend the light around him, rendering himself transparent as he leaves the building. After jumping down to a nearby alley, he drops the light magic and begins scanning the passersby.
'Now I can check their status windows more freely,' he thinks. Using magic and Qi, he focuses his vision, intent on bypassing any restrictions.
Suddenly, he's flooded with information, status windows of everyone in the vicinity appearing at once.
"Ouch!" Rain's eyes start bleeding, and he quickly stops the spell.
Ding! [ Ability "Unhinged - SS Rank" Blocked Mind Corruption from peeking into The Akashic Records ]
'What was that?!' he winces, realizing the overload of data came from seeing too many long status windows. Closing his eyes, he reflects on the sudden influx.
Ding! [ You've peeked into the Akashic Records while still being a mortal and lived! ●Gains Causality - 10 points ]
Bzzt! [ Error! Causality Points are devoured by a stronger law! ]
"Aaagh!" Pain shoots through his body. "F*ck! It's like my whole body is cramping!" His stomach knots as he sweats profusely.
After a few agonizing seconds, the pain fades, replaced by a sense of strength.
Ding! [ Martial Power: 85 + 1087! You've reached Foundation Building, 10th Realm! ]
Realizing what happened, Rain grins. 'A cultivator defies heaven and earth. No wonder I absorbed the causality points! I feel like I could break through to Golden Core... but I also sense thunder would strike me if I did.'
With "Body Reconstruction's" passive healing ability, his eyes recover quickly. Determined, he narrows his focus, using magic and Qi to only view a few people nearby, limiting the field of vision. He carefully observes their status windows without overloading himself this time.
[ Name: John Douglas
Age: 30
Race: Human
Job: Guild Office Worker
No criminal record
Stats: (Hidden)
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 15
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 5/10
Abilities: (Hidden)
Calm Mind - E Rank: Slightly calms the mind ]
[ Name: Al nya "The Brave"
Age: 25
Race: Werewolf (Hidden)
1-star Aura User
Job: Adventurer - Rank 2 stars
Stats: (Hidden)
Strength: 25
Dexterity: 30
Constitution: 35
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 25
Charisma: 8/10
Mana: 150
Skills: (Hidden)
Stealth - 1 Star
Tracking - 1 Star
Magic - 1 Star
Abilities: (Hidden)
Strong Bones - D Rank: Slightly increased bone resilience and density
Muscle Control - E Rank: Slightly increased muscle control
Title:
The Brave ]
Rain smirks. "Now I know what to show and what to hide," he mutters, making adjustments to Gandolf's profile.
[ Gandolf "The Hermit"
Age: 351
Magic Circle: 8th (Arch Mage)
Mana Circles: 3
Title:
The Hermit ]
"That should do it," he says, satisfied. 'I didn't know you could hide details in the first place. I should edit my real status window sometime too.'
Rain continues walking, gathering mana and Qi from the atmosphere while planning to grab breakfast at the restaurant Laura introduced him to.
Ding! [ ● Martial Power: 1172 + 1 ]
After five minutes of gathering, his mana is full again. He attempts to form his third mana circle but fails.
'What? Still insufficient?'
He realizes he's only storing mana in his body. 'I need to gather it in one place… Oh, right! A mana heart! I forgot to create one!'
Laughing at his oversight, he starts gathering mana into his heart. The difference is immediate. His mana circles begin compressing the energy inside the heart while his body draws more mana from the environment.
By the time he reaches the restaurant, his heart feels full. Deciding to compress the mana further, he pushes it to its limits, allowing him to absorb even more from the air.
After paying for his meal, Rain relaxes. His heart brims with mana, ready to attempt forming a new circle.
'Let's see if it works this time.'
Ding! [ ● You obtain a Mana Heart! Mana Heart: Multiplies mana capacity by the number of mana circles. ]
Ding! [ ● Gains Mana Stat! Base mana stat: 10. +80 for having 3 mana circles. ×10 mana capacity for elven bloodline. ×3 for Mana Heart = 2700 ]
'Wow! My mana increased so much! But why did my old mana feel like only 1/7 of this?' he wonders, thrilled by his new power.
After leaving the restaurant, Rain continues strolling through the city, checking people's status windows one by one, trying to learn more about their stats and ranks.
He quickly concludes that an adult human with:
1-star Aura or magic circle usually has stats between 20 and 39,
2 stars: 40 to 79,
3 stars: 80 to 159,
4 stars: 160 to 319.
'It doubles per tier, and other races seem to have even more mana. Elves, for instance, have ten times the normal mana,' Rain reflects.
Lost in thought, Rain suddenly feels a pat on his shoulder...