Lukas had woken up quite early on his third day in this world. He had a look through the notifications from the previous night and was reminded that he had completed a task.

Opening his inventory, he found the reward for the Chosen Few task. It was the crystal focus.

[Crystal Focus. A tool meant to be used to increase spell casting speed by 50%. It can be used to upgrade the potency of a Source spell permanently, but it will be shattered after use. This is the first magic tool of its kind in the world!

Completely useless to host!]

WHATTHEFU-?!

If he was tired beforehand, all of it was shed the moment he saw the comment left by the unreasonable system. Audacious! He was scammed!

[Will gladly dispose of items that the host deems useless. Are you sure?]

“It’s useless? You’re useless! I’ll keep it!!” Lukas huffed and exclaimed in aggravation.

He was still upset with his previous rewards of the watering can, but he convinced himself that it could with the mysterious seed. He accepted it then, but wasn’t this crossing the boundaries of trust between system and host?!

This item was something he couldn’t even use and it ticked him off. Its effects seem incredible and its very existence was special too.

Lukas continued to silently mutter unpleasant things about the system under his breath and continued to look in his inventory.

Besides his reward for the main task he just finished, there were the rewards from the optional task relating to his family also.

[Runes & Variations by Faust XX. A book containing the knowledge of object enchanting and rune-making. A standard in any magical world and the real deal. Compatible with Source energy!]

This was an interesting reward to be sure. Did that mean he was capable of creating his own magical tools?

And the author of the book, Faust XX; a pseudonym of a being from another world or a reference to an all-powerful being that he heard of in his previous life?

The book definitely raised some questions about the origins of the system.

“System, where do you come from?” He asked.

Of course, there was no response.

Moving on, he found that he also received a small version of the essence orb. There was still no hint about how to properly put those into use. It could be used probably to help him break through.

Once he looked over his other items again, he closed his inventory to get a start on a new day.

While washing up, Lukas pondered his next actions for the day for a while before getting up to check on his father.

He went into Gareth’s room and found him soundly asleep still. The wounds he had healed the night before left no traces. Even the brand burns on his face had healed nicely, it looked a bit fresh and pink, but the swelling from the night before had faded.

Picking up a piece of paper, Lukas left his father a note that said he would be at the library. Finished with the note, he took to their living area and started to concoct a hearty soup to aid his father’s recovery.

All the while, Lukas used the time to create some new spells to help with the production of the soup.

He crafted a few basic spells and named them accordingly.

[Mage Hand. 1st order magic. Summon a hand, made of magical energy that can carry up small objects that don’t weigh much. Strength, range, duration, and size can be modified by source output.]

[Bubble.  1st order magic. Gathers a bubble of water the size of an adult human head. The water disappears 5 seconds after the bubble is burst. Volume can be modified.]

Quite happy with the end result of the soup and spell-crafting session, Lukas left the house and made his way toward the library.

There was a lot of information for him to ponder and consolidate.

The best location for that would probably be the library since that’s where all the Source related books were and its quiet atmosphere.

Merla might be there as well and she might have some insights that he didn’t.

Source was still a new thing after all and the system didn’t give him any omniscient knowledge over it, unfortunately.

His stroll to the library was uneventful, the morning bustle in the streets seemed to be routine for the town. Lukas took this time to gather some information about the incident at Grizzly Birch.

Through many people, he summarized the whole ordeal as a brawl fight gone incredibly wrong. One of the major gang bosses in Phyranhol was deemed to be the culprit of the whole incident and most people seemed quite happy with the fact that he seemed to have been one of the casualties in the fire.

Lukas started to sweat a bit when the gang boss was mentioned. His mind went back to the moment where he controlled the fires that surrounded him to completely burn Logan into an unrecognizable charcoal man.

Before he knew it, the library’s stone exterior was in front of him. Beside the door, a familiar figure was sat down with an open book on her lap.

“Good morning! Didn’t expect you to come here so early.” He greeted Merla.

“Oh- Hello Mr. Eliott!” She beamed.

Merla stood herself up and dusted off the dirt from her clothes. The book was held close to her chest the whole while.

“I didn’t know when you were going to open or even if you were going to open today because of the incident last night, so I figured I’d just wait here anyway.”

Her explanation seemed logical.

Lukas shrugged in agreement and opened the doors. He used a quick flourish of Prestidigitation to sweep out any dust near the entrance and light up the wall sconces within.

He smiled to himself and also made some small illusions of small birds fly around the library. The scene would have almost replicated an iconic story in his past life, unfortunately, the illusions didn’t make any noise.

They eventually disappeared as he made his way over to the librarian’s desk and tidied up the surface before looking up at the girl standing silently nearby.

She seemed to be in awe at his small display.

He coughed gently.

“So Merla, what did you need?  I noticed that you seemed to have attracted the attention of Source now. It flows around you.”

“Did you make any headway with that book?” Lukas asked, while also wondering if that one [World Record] update was about her.

Merla shook her head in a daze before she nodded and grinned.

“I did! Yesterday I read the book and learned quite a lot about Source.”

Her mind wandered to the Prestidigitation spell she was using on herself on the way over to the library.

“I also have some questions about a few things in the book that I didn’t quite understand.”

Her face scrunched up as she rattled off a few topics that seemed related to Source. She almost resembled a schoolgirl from his past if it wasn’t for the somewhat ratty clothes.

All of this, of course, flew over Lukas’ head as he had never read the book nor opened one. He did catch a few terms he was familiar with and could probably answer.

Even if he didn’t have omnipotent knowledge over the area, it was born from his ideas in the end.

“Well let’s start from here…” He gestured Merla over to talk about his understanding of Source.

Hours passed as the two animatedly chatted and debated over the various uses and existence of the magical energy. Lukas dodged several of her questions about his knowledge about Source and attributed it to some mysterious figure he met by accident.

It was a cliché answer that he mocked in the past, but it really does work in worlds where information can’t be verified quickly.

Over the many hours, Lukas gradually learned that Merla had some talent with wind-related spells. She showcased this by accidentally blowing a whole shelf of books to the floor when she tried to show off her mastery of the Prestidigitation spell.

After another few hours of workshopping the ins and outs of making basic spells, she succeeded in making and naming two new spells.

[Gale. 1st order magic. A strong blast of wind is generated from the caster’s hands; unlethal. Potency and range can be modified through energy output.]

[Coat of Air. 1st order magic. Summons condensed winds to surround the caster, protecting them from projectiles and blunt forces. Stronger winds or force can nullify its effects. Lasts for 5 minutes.]

Merla was ecstatic that she had a way to protect herself and the basic knowledge of making simple spells. Unfortunately, she was exhausted and her Source reserves ran low after modifying the spells so many times.

Luckily, Lukas used this time and brought in some benefits for himself during her experimentation of spellcraft.

He was able to find her name in the [Champions] tab and see some of her information as well as gain some idea in how to advance forward in his magic tier.

 

Name: Merletta

Title: ---

Tier: Source Opening- Apprentice (Peak)

Innate Source: [Birds of Probability]

[[Spells]]:

(First Order- Prestidigitation, Gale, Coat of Air)

(Source- Winged Embrace)

Evaluation: Incredibly talented young woman! Her future is limitless if given the platform and proper nurturing.

 

[Birds of Probability. Innate Source. Can summon Source birds that can faintly alter probability and Fate to benefit you in the moment. The birds can also be used to change the fate of others at the cost of your own lifespan and power.]

[Winged Embrace. Source order. A spell that willed itself into being to protect the being, Merletta. Source, in avian forms, will fly around her and actively shift probability to protect her.

This doesn’t cost her any of her Source reserves or lifespan.]

 

When he first read her information, Lukas was fairly surprised that the world itself seemed to know the potential of Merla.

Then he felt peeved, neither he nor Eliott got that treatment.

In melancholy he sighed about the unfairness and injustice in the world but bore no ill will towards Merla. She was bound to have a good future whether or not he arrived with the system.

It just seemed like he gave her the platform much earlier than originally intended, but it wasn’t all for naught. He found that she had a few things, his own information didn’t have.

Innate Source was apparently a manifestation of a person’s soul which was born after the special energy was introduced into the world. Each individual being had one and could gain more depending on certain circumstances.

Lukas happened to enlighten himself after reading through Source: The Beginning while Merla was on the last hour of perfecting her spells. That was the explanation for it, with his own insights mixed in.

He then assumed that the only reason he didn’t awaken was that his soul had changed through the introduction of the system and drifted over into a new world.

There was still a way forward that he wanted to try to help awaken his Innate Source and it was one of the special circumstances that he gleaned from the book.

Merla couldn’t stay to watch though as it was a personal methodology and would possibly reveal his origins of being a body thief.

“Hey Merla, I think we should end our lesson for today. It’s already getting quite late see?” He motioned to the doorways and windows; the skies had darkened and the streets were quietly shifting to make way for the night market.

She gazed outside seeing the evening sky.

“Oh wow! I didn’t expect it to get so late so fast.”

“Thank you again Mr. Eliott for teaching me about Source and spellcraft today! I’ll come here tomorrow and pay you back with a nice meal.”

She clasped her hands together and bowed towards him.

“No problem, it was nice to have some company in the library.” Lukas chuckled in response.

Helping her tidy up the mess they had created throughout the day. He eventually saw her out of the library, making sure to remind her to be safe and mindful about her use of magic.

Merla obliged and once again said her thanks and left towards her home.

Once her figure disappeared in the streets, Lukas immediately went back inside closed, and locked the doors behind him.

With a flick of his wrist, the wall sconces were extinguished and the fading sunlight remained, dimly lighting up the library interior.

Lukas was buzzed with excitement.

After he read the book earlier, he’d been wanting to try a few things that he felt could help him awaken his Innate Source.

Innate Source seemed like an important factor in advancing through the stages of Source magic since it directly linked the soul to the foundations of the energy.

A better way to look at it would be like how tape needed a surface to stick. In this sense, Source couldn’t stick to his body until he provided it a place to be bound. His soul was the surface and Source was the tape.

He couldn’t think of a better way to explain his thought process. Even in his past life, he wasn’t the most exceptional.

The first step in this process of his was to look inwards, at himself.

What did he want?

What were his goals in this new world?

What would he use his magic for?

It was a philosophical sort of thought process, but it was the best way to understand what makes up the essence of the being, ‘Lukas’.

Lukas’ mind wandered, his consciousness falling into a deep sleep. This was the conclusion he had come up with, self-induced hypnosis. The act of deep-diving into the depths of one’s soul to search or manipulate the very existence of an individual.

A series of changes started to occur under his sudden act of introspection, all of it was unknown to Lukas.

[The Innate Source is being stimulated.]

[Multiple errors within the system database have been found. Fixing…]

[Original Innate Source template has been damaged!!!]

[Analyzing Innate Source template for repair.]

[Analysis complete!]

[Original Innate Source template has been modified and denied!]

[Soul [Lukas] has experienced incredible change!!!]

[Analyzing Innate Source template for modification.]

[Innate Source template has been further modified and approved!]

[Congratulations host! You’ve awakened the Innate Source: Chronicler of Epochs!]