Day of Sunar, 6:58 am.
Graham's Lodge House, Luxen City.
Woo-sss…!
"Arrrggghhh…." Torr let out a weak groan as he bit down the twisted cloth between his teeth when a [Fire Arrow] burst out of Vivian's hand and shot through his forearm, leaving a hole and burning the flesh before dissipating when it struck the metal slab. His face was pale as a ghost, the eyebags under his eyes and his lips were dark purple, he was struggling to stay conscious, and his body was covered in sweat.
Had it not been for Felize and Gaze who were sitting on his sides and supporting him, he would've already fallen down.
[Heal].
A faint yellow light enveloped Torr's body and cured his wounds but he was still so weak.
Vivian knitted her brows.
This kid…
I don't think he can take it anymore…
She turned her head away and glanced at the windows. The rays of the sun were slipping through the curtains.
The sun is already up…
She returned her gaze to Torr.
"Did you open your [Fire Mastery]?"
Torr slowly opened his mouth and pushed the twisted cloth between his teeth with his tongue, and Gaze caught it.
"N-Not… yet… H-Honored… Priestess…"
Vivian nodded.
"I see."
Felize wiped the sweat on Torr's forehead with a piece of cloth and then turned to Vivian.
"Honored Priestess…" she said and then bit her lower lip.
Vivian raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
She swallowed and straightened her back.
"Torr, Gaze and I talked about this many times already before. But since we didn't have the means to really confirm it, we couldn't reach an agreement -- that is until we met you."
Vivian didn't say anything and let her continue.
"Since [Fire Mastery] is one of the easiest Magic Arts to open because a person only has to expose themselves to fire, we figured that Torr would eventually open his [Fire Mastery] one day as long as he keeps burning himself. But now that he hasn't opened it after 2 days despite your assistancce, we decided that he must have a [False Fire Mastery]."
Vivian raised an eyebrow.
"A [False Fire Mastery]?"
Felize cleared her throat and then swallowed once again.
"According to what I've learned back in the library at the Temple of Wizards building, although a person can find out what are his or her Magic Art Affinities with the help of an Affinity Crystal, they can't confirm if they have a True Magic Art Affinity or a False Magic Art Affinity. The only way for a person to find out if they have the True or False Magic Art Affinity is to expose themselves with the Element or Magic Art spells from the specific Affinity that they have at least a hundred times."
Vivian suddenly recalled the other three Adventurers that she fought and tried to ask compensation last time and then leaned back.
"Hold on. You guys are cursed as well?"
The hell…?!
I already have enough problems and secrets to deal with….1
A confused expression flashed across Felize and Gaze's faces. They looked at each other for a moment to figure out what Vivian was saying but found no answers so they returned their attention back to her.
"We are cursed, Honored Priestess…?" Felize asked.
"You said you have the --" Vivian said and then shook her head. "Please explain to me what is [False Fire Mastery], True and False Mastery, whatever."
Gaze glanced at Felize who was blinking, trying to figure out what Vivian said earlier. But in the end, she simply nodded.
"Yes, Honored Priestess…
"According to what I've learned back in the library at the Temple of Wizards building, a person can find out what are his or her Magic Art Affinities with the help of an Affinity Crystal, but they can't confirm if they have a True Magic Art Affinity or a False Magic Art Affinity. The only way for a person to find out if they have a True Magic Art Affinity or a False Magic Art Affinity is to expose themselves with the Element or Magic Art spells from the specific Affinity that they have at least a hundred times or through an Awakening Ceremony.
"And in Torr's case, since he has been constantly burning himself for days now and has also been exposed from your [Fire Arrow] for 2 days yet still hasn't opened his [Fire Mastery], then it could only mean that he has a [False Fire Mastery]."
There's such a thing…?
Vivian recalled the details regarding her Affinities at the Status Panel.
Not counting my x5 boost, I have Poison x1.4, Fire x1.2 and Dagger x1.2...
So what does a [False Fire Mastery] look like...?
Truth be told, if Torr had the power of the Status Panel and Vivian could view it, it would've looked like this:
***
Name: Torr L. Sander
Class: Warrior
Race: Human
Age: 15
Affinity:
• Spear - x1.5
• Dark - x1.6
• (Magic Art) Fire - x2.2
• (Body Art) Whip - x1.1
Stats:
• Str - 11 (+10)
• Vit - 10 (+7)
• Agi - 8 (+8)
• Int - 11 (+2)
Mana: 26/26
Skills:
• [Spear Mastery] - Level 1 (x5) (Max/67) - Power Thrust (10 mana points)
• [Spear Mastery] - Level 2 (x5) (Max/33) - +2 Str, +2 Vit, +1 Agi, +1 Int
• [Spear Mastery] - Level 3 (x5) (??/667) - +2 Str, +2 Vit, +1 Agi
• [Spear Mastery] - Level 4 (x5) (??/3,333)
• [Body Art Mastery] (Spear Mastery) - Level 1 (x5) (Max/50) - +2 Str, +2 Agi
• [Body Art Mastery] (Spear Mastery) - Level 2 (x5) (Max/250) - +2 Vit
• [Body Art Mastery] (Spear Mastery) - Level 3 (x5) (Max/500) - +1 Vit, +1 Int
• [Body Art Mastery] (Spear Mastery) - Level 4 (x5) (??/2,500)
• [Fist Mastery] - Level 1 (x5) (Max/100) - Power Fist (10 mana points)
• [Fist Mastery] - Level 2 (x5) (Max/500)
• [Leg Mastery] - Level 1 (x5) (Max/100) - Power Leg (10 mana points)
• [Leg Mastery] - Level 2 (x5) (??/500)
• [Body Art Mastery] (Leg Mastery) - Level 1 (x5) (Max/50) - +2 Str, +2 Agi
• [Body Art Mastery] (Leg Mastery) - Level 2 (x5) (??/250)
• [Sword Mastery] - Level 1 (x5) (Max/100) - Power Slash (10 mana points)
• [Sword Mastery] - Level 2 (x5) (??/500)
• [Body Art Mastery] (Sword Mastery) - Level 1 (x5) (Max/50) - +2 Str, +2 Agi
• [Body Art Mastery] (Sword Mastery) - Level 2 (x5) (??/250)
Lore:
• City Boy
• Sweet Son
• Adventurer
***
What Vivian didn't know is that although the average number of Magic Art Affinities a person possesses is 2, the Main and Body are random. However, in order for someone to open a Magic Art Mastery, they must possess the Main. If they only have the Body, no matter how much exposure and how many Awakening Ceremonies they go through, they wouldn't be able to open the Main. And in order to open the Body, the Main must be opened first.
In Torr's case, he has the Main of the [Dark Mastery] with Dark - x1.6 and the Body of the [Fire Mastery] with (Magic Art) Fire - x2.2.
Because he has the Main of the Dark Affinity, Dark - x1.6, he would be able to open [Dark Mastery - Level 1], making it a True Magic Art Affinity.
On the other hand, since he only has the Body of the Fire Affinity, (Magic Art) Fire - x2.2, he won't be able to open [Fire Mastery - Level 1], hence why it's called a False Magic Art Affinity or [False Fire Mastery].
So basically, although the average number of Magic Art Affinities that a person is born with is 2, because it's random, only barely half could open a [Magic Art Mastery].
"I see," Vivian said and then turned to Torr who was looking down on the floor, ashamed and crestfallen that one of his Magic Art Affinities turned out to be a False Magic Art Affinity. "Raise your head and look at me."
He slowly raised his head and met Vivian's eyes.
"Whether you have the [False Fire Mastery] or not, I don't know. But I want to hear your decision. Do you want to continue one more night or we stop here?"
Torr glanced at Felize.
She was looking at him with a concerned look as he recalled how she was able to open her [Wind Mastery] after two nights.
Next, he glanced at Gaze.
He was looking at him with a look that said he was going to support his decision no matter what.
And finally, he returned his gaze to Vivian but didn't meet her eyes. Instead, he stared at her body as he thought about what to do for a moment before finally meeting her eyes.
"Like Felize said… the [Fire Mastery] is one of the easiest Magic Art Masteries to open… A person just has to expose themselves to fire… Thank you… Honored Priestess… But I don't want to inconvenience anyone here… especially you…" he said and then lowered his head.
Felize and Gaze also lowered their heads.
"Thank you for all your help, Honored Priestess…!"
Vivian nodded.
"Torr, I respect your decision. Also, you kids don't need to be thankful. After all, I also got [Light-- you helped me with my experiments. And once you've opened your [Dark Mastery], come to me. I want to perform another experiment."
The three teens raised their headss.
"I promise to gather the coins as soon as possible… so that I can open my [Dark Mastery]… and repay you for your kindness…!" Torr said.
"We swear in the name of the Elemental Gods, Honored Priestess!" Felize said.
"We promise, Honored Priestess!" Gaze said.
"By the way, how much coins does it usually cost to open a mastery or an Awakening Ceremony?" Vivian asked.
The three teens looked at each other with a confused look for a moment because the price was common knowledge, not to mention Vivian was also a member of the Temple of Priests. In the end, they simply dismissed it as nothing but Vivian asking strange questions as usual and was probably just testing their basic and common knowledge about the world.
"The price is 50 gold coins, Honored Priestess," Felize replied.
Vivian's eyes widened.
"50 gold coins?!"
The teens were startled by Vivian's reaction, causing them to flinch and lean back.
Vivian quickly cleared her throat.
"Sorry about that."
Felize hurriedly raised her hands and waved them.
"No, no, no, it's fine, Honored Priestess! There's no need to apologize!" Felize said and smiled.
Gaze nodded enthusiastically.
Torr nodded weakly.
"So 50 gold coins, huh," Vivian said.
Felize nodded.
"Yes, Honored Priestess."
"And that's just for one Magic Art Affinity?"
"Yes, Honored Priestess."
What the fuck…
So I threw 100 gold coins at these kids…?!
Well, I did get [Lightning Mastery] so it's 50…
But still…
She recalled the time when she had her [Light], [Fire] and [Wind Mastery] opened for free.
So the Temple of Priests is really different…
"What about Physical Arts? Is there an Awakening Ceremony for that?"
Felize shook her head.
"I never heard of anyone going through an Awakening Ceremony for a Physical Art Affinity."
"Me neither," Gaze said.
"Same... here…" Torr said.
Vivian nodded.
"I see."
"But…" Felize said.
Vivian looked at her but didn't say anything.
"...maybe someone from Ruling Class, like the Nobles, Aristocratic Nobles and Royals do...?" Felize continued and then noticed that everyone was looking at her, causing her to lower her head. "I mean… I don't know anyone from there… but… I'm just guessing…"
Vivian nodded her head once again.
"I see, I see. Not a bad assessment."
Felize jerked her head up.
"Really…?!"
Vivian let out a warm smile.
"I don't know if it's true or not. But isn't this what Adventurers do? Share ideas?"
Gaze nodded.
"That's true," he said and then turned to Felize. "Great assessment, Felize!"
Torr nodded weakly.
"Great assessment…"
Felize's cheeks turned to red and she rubbed her nose with her finger.
"I mean, I was just saying…"