The burrow’s hall was as peaceful as the grave and its occupants, doubly so. 

Ash was seated cross-legged upon a leather cushion, his expression one of focus as he slowly cycled mana from his channels into his true flesh and blood body at a steady pace. Levelling up was a delicate and involved process, he had learnt. In fact, it was strangely like stitching a new shirt or sweater or the sort. He had to condense his mana into thin strands and thread it into his skin, thus reinforcing his mortal self with an ounce of the bountiful magic that flowed through his channels. 

That was the gist of the process. Levelling up was in of itself an attempt at becoming more magic than man, thus surpassing the limitations of mortality and reaching for something approaching the realm of transcendence. 

Or that was what the book had taught him. 

Clawing up each tier involved bridging that gap further. For the first tier, his task was simple. Thread mana into every inch of his skin. It was easier said than done but he was getting the hang of it and every level he earned was a sign that he was getting closer to the end, until he’d finally hit the peak at level five. 

And then came the next stage, where he’d need to thread mana into his flesh itself. 

He hardly needed to worry about that just yet. His goal was level three, and he was so close. 

Ash rallied as he felt himself brush against the intangible barrier that barred any further progress. It was like a thin film bubble pressed against his spiritual senses, and yet it stood with the strength of an iron wall, rejecting the touch of his mana. Ash would have been daunted by the obstacle it presented to his progression, but he’d conquered it once before and it would be no different the second time. 

He gathered himself using what he’d learnt and with an effort of will and mana honed into a precision point, broke through without complication. There was no loud noise or shower of light in the wake of his success, though a notification shimmer did pop up to make it official. 

___________ 

You have levelled up! 2 >> 3 

____________ 

Ash exhaled with exhilaration as his eyes fluttered open and he exulted in the feeling that suffused him from head to toe. He felt like a million-bucks, and only the feeling of being wrapped in the warmth of his inner self could even compare to the happiness roiling in his heart. 

He raised a hand up to his face and clenched, watching as the muscles coiled and flexed beneath his far clearer and more lustrous skin. For all that it was a major pain in the ass to achieve, the sense of accomplishment that followed the final break-through made it wholly worthwhile. The palpable sensation of growing stronger, faster and more fluid of thought in real-time was a nice bonus too. 

He amusedly wondered what the Ash who’d awoken naked and afraid all those many days ago would think if he’d seen him now so proud and able and filled with expectation for the future. Well, he’d probably have thought that he’d become crazy, and maybe he had, but Ash was willing to swallow a little craziness in the name of progress. 

‘And it’s all thanks to you.’ he thought as he stared lovingly at the book that was laid by his side. 

Dimple’s Novice Guide to Magical Theory read the title in faded ink. It had been a gift from Myr who had purchased it from Wixxacks before his unfortunate encounter with the elderly goblin, and thusly, it was also yet another addition to the growing mountain of debt that he felt that he owed her. 

A part of him had almost wanted to reject it for that alone, for he’d already taken so much of the woman’s time and effort with his mere presence, but the allure of the arcane knowledge contained within had been far too tempting for him. 

He’d justified his actions by convincing himself that he’d need to grow strong enough to pay her back anyway, though the thought failed to fully quench his guilt. 

Fortunately, Myr had stated outright that the tome had hardly been an expensive purchase which lessened his sense of being a burden just a smidgen. He supposed that he should have figured that it was so judging by the state of the thing. The pages were leathery and there were an ample number of stains and tears across its length and breath. 

This was not a book that hadn’t seen its fair share of use over the years across many, many hands. 

Hell, he was almost annoyed that Wixxacks had charged Myr for it at all considering its state. Still, whatever its looks may be, the information contained within had been entirely unspoilt and in that, it served as a godsend that had done wonders in smoothing over the admittedly rough education that he’d received from Myr. 

His understanding of magic and nexii had been completely overhauled in the wake of his reading of it. 

For example, Ash had been surprised to learn that every spell to have ever been conceived and would likely ever be conceived all related to one of the four primal elements: earth, fire, wind and water, in one way or the other. It was why Myr had gone through the effort of having his elemental affinity tested. 

It determined the path of least resistance insofar as learning spells were concerned, and the path of greatest resistance for – as Myr so enjoyed saying – everything had its opposite. With his affinity being fire, his opposing element was rather predictably water. 

Even spells that he’d have assumed had no relation to any kind of element at all were still affiliated somehow, such as Kozzack’s Menacing Cackle, a spell that emitted a hideous laugh that disabled or weakened enemies within range. It, apparently, was a sound-aligned spell which in of itself was a sub-element within wind, or Poison Spray, which belonged rather obviously to poison, a sub-element of earth. 

As such, there were hundreds of sub-elements spread across the domains of the four elements, including some truly strange and startling ones. Emotions were also elements that could be manifested into spells. Rage was a sub-element of fire and calm a sub-element of water. Colours too were elements, with green an obvious sub-element of earth. Ash wasn’t sure what a colour spell would look like and the book didn’t elaborate, but it still earned a chuckle from him at the thought. 

Concepts such as space, time, authority, leadership and many, many more all related to one of the elements in one way or the other, and all conceived spells that could be learnt by him, though the book did recommend a minimum tier before even attempting to try and learn some of the more esoteric spells available. 

The revelation had left him lost in thought for a good half hour, and though he’d hated to waste the time that could have otherwise been wisely spent training, he couldn’t help but day-dream about the millions of magical paths that laid before his feet, just awaiting his first step. 

The book had also revealed onto him the existence of sets that served to empower his spells. If all his ability-slots within a nexus were filled with spells of the same element, their total power would be boosted by a sizable degree. That boost could be doubled again if they were also from the same sub-element. The book explained that it was the reason why niche specialist mages whose narrow focus often robbed them of variety and adaptability still managed to remain competitive against their more varied peers. 

Ash wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to follow that route, but it was an idea to consider. 

Nexii also could be boosted by sets, though a mage needed three nexii of the same nature in order to activate that set bonus and he was a long way from that just yet. 

His time well-spent poring through the book eventually culminated in his first successful casting of Burning Hands, though there had been more than one mis-cast in the interim that had left his hands not quite burning, but rather slightly seared. Fortunately, the medicinal green paste that Myra had ample stores of did wonders in soothing his aches and pains, as it had the cut inflicted by the goblins on his arm. 

A thin white scar was all the reminder of that attack that remained on his person, and the memory of it served as ample drive for him to gain strength to ensure that he’d never be placed in a situation like that again. 

The third spell he chose to learn was not a fire spell per se. Thunderous Wave was, as the name suggested, far more aligned to lightning than it was fire, but lightning was a sub-element of fire so it still worked out in his favour. 

The spell was an area-of-effect explosion of lightning and sound centred around himself that served to both blind and electrocute enemies within a small area around himself. It also had a hefty knockback effect which he no doubt could make use of. It was taxing on his mana reserves to use and likely to harm allies within range but its multi-pronged attack on both an enemy’s body and senses made it the most useful of all the tier one spells available in the spell-book. 

It was also, appropriately enough, harder to learn than Burning Hands had been. The conversion of an element from its base state to that of a sub-element took an extensive amount of time and effort to accomplish, though he suspected that his school-taught understanding of what lightning truly was had aided him greatly in that endeavour. 

And though he’d electrocuted himself a non-zero number of times over the course of the day he’d spent learning it, he found every zap and sting to have been more than worth it after his first successful cast of the spell. Ash had laughed with glee and joy for a long while after. 

Well, until he’d been bodily smacked by an irate Myr, her hair positively alive with static from his efforts. He’d laughed again, and the pain that followed had been, again, worth it. 

But magical training hadn’t been his only undertaking. Ash was loathe to abandon his body in his pursuit of magic, and Myr had been in complete agreement, and she’d thusly agreed to train him in the combat-forms that she knew of. 

There wasn’t a combat-mage worth their robes that didn’t know at least one combat art, she’d told him before the days of pain truly began. She had made him push his body to the limits as he underwent strenuous exercises that proved both familiar and not. 

Running laps and weight-training, he understood. Running through the forested area around the burrow with her casting Earthen Shields to try and trip him up whilst the occasional rabid monster chased after him, he did not understand. 

But he had to grant it to her, nothing facilitated a burgeoning familiarity with one’s repertoire of spells quite like shooting off Fire Bolts whilst running for your life did. 

The muscles and physicality that he’d maintained for years but never built on slowly started to bulge and expand like a house left unfinished finally receiving the work it was so due. Brick by brick, day by day, Ash felt himself grow stronger and faster, and his shimmer had changed to represent his gains. 

___________ 

Ash Flynn 

Tier: 1 | Level: 3 

MGT: 16 | CON: 14 | REGEN: 4 | PERC: 10 | AGI: 11 | MYST: 15 | CHA: 11 

Active Nexii:- 

Might Nexus: 3/3 

(Primary Set Bonus Active) 

Fire Bolt • Burning Hands • Thunderous Wave 

____________ 

He grinned at the sight of it. His attributes had grown slightly since his last viewing, but none more so than his might which had gained a whopping four points over the past few days. Ash knew that he had his nexus of the hands to thank for that. Having three spells of the same element had also activated his elemental set bonus, which lent his Fire Bolts a particular punch upon impact. 

If he’d bothered to learn another primary fire spell rather than a lightning sub-elemental spell like Thunderous Wave, he’d likely able to double that bonus easily enough, but there were no other spells worthy enough to steal the spot, so one bonus was what he’d have to be satisfied with. 

And satisfied he was. 

“You hit level three?” asked Myr as she rose from her place seated across from him where she too had been deep in meditation. 

“Yeah, and damn does it feel good.” 

“Well, you better soak that feelin’ right up and commit it to memory as best you can ‘cuz it’s only harder goin’ from here on out.” 

And didn’t he know it. He’d managed to reach level three within a few days, and level four wasn’t looking too far off either. And as soon as he hit level five, he’d be able to forge his next nexus and hit tier two. Tier three would come at level fifteen and then every tier that followed demanded a doubling in both the levels required and the time, effort, talent and resource cost involved in clawing through each hard-won level until you eventually reached the plateau of your ability, the book had told him. 

He glanced at the woman who was slowly setting off to her wrap up her myriad mundane tasks. That plateau was why Myr had been stuck at the second tier for the past few years despite her best efforts. Talent was a cruel thing, as most magic-able humans had bitterly learnt. 

Would he be one of them? 

Ash straightened his back. 

Not if he had any input on the matter. There would be no stopping him until he clawed his way to the top or died trying. Figuratively, of course, he hastily amended for the benefit of any divine forces that may have been listening. 

You never know. 

◆◆◆◆◆ 

The duo strode back towards the burrow at an easy, unworried pace. His second expedition to the goblin township had met a slightly colder reception than the first. The guards had allowed them inside, though with a magnitude more suspicious stares following them inside. Wixxacks had also been a smidgen less welcoming upon Myr’s entry, though neither had he been hostile. 

Soraxx had largely been the same excitable fireball she had been the last time, though with a million more questions regarding his relationship with the elder shaman. Maxxine, fortunately, ignored him enough for the both of them. 

Ash had felt bad about the damage he’d done to her reputation as they’d left with a sack filled with traded goods carried with a casual ease over Myr’s shoulder. 

“How long do you think it’ll be before they forgive us?” he asked softly. 

Myr simply shrugged, seemingly unaffected by their wavering relationship with the goblins. “I dunno. A few weeks, maybe.” 

“Aren’t you worried?” 

“Nah. I may not know everythin’ there is to understand about goblin culture but I do know that the elder who spoke with you was a big shot, kid. A big, big shot, an’ she obviously wants us to keep visitin’ so we’ll keep visitin’. The others can stuff it until they cool down. Besides, worryin’ about it ain’t gonna change anythin’ so why bother.” 

Ash sighed, wishing he could share in the woman’s carefree nature for the moment. He supposed that she was right enough in the end. They couldn’t change anything so they would be far better served simply buckling down and hoping for moods to shift. 

However long that took. 

The rest of the journey back was carried out with Ash lost in thought and Myr disinterested about the whole thing until they were but a few meters off from the burrow. And then, they heard a scream. 

Ash froze mid-stride. It had sounded childish, feminine and... human?