Titan: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 4) by Jez Cajiao (free ebooks for android .TXT) 📕

a good amount, true, but not with regards to losing the five HP per second. The Lich might have been able to get around that with being technically undead, and whoever Ivanna was, she was clearly a kinky fucker, and didn’t expect to be wearing the ring long-term…

I shrugged and dumped it into a bag, looking at the last series of notifications, realizing that there were five more left.

At a mental flex, they rearranged themselves into easier reading, and I scanned over them, dismissing the majority of the extraneous details.

Congratulations!

You have practiced enough to raise the following skills:

Unarmed: Level 9

Shields: Level 7

Medium Armor: Level 9

Staffs: Level 12

Mace Wielding: Level 7

Small Blades (Daggers): Level 8

Continue to practice and learn to increase these skills further.

Once these skills reach Level Ten, you may choose their first evolutions. For skills that surpass this marker, additional evolutions will occur every ten levels.

“Hey, Oracle...” I started to ask without thinking, then stopped myself, realizing that she was already out of my range, never mind her being able to speak to me when I spoke out loud.

“Can I help, Jax?” Yen offered, walking back over and I shrugged.

“I was going to ask Oracle a question about the skill evolutions; just forgot where she, and I, were, that’s all,” I admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck.

“I’ll answer, if I can?” she offered again, and I grinned awkwardly.

“Thanks, Yen. I’ll be honest, I’m used to asking Oracle, mainly because so many of my questions are so… obvious to the rest of you. You grew up with these systems, after all. Makes me feel a bit stupid at times.”

“I can understand that, Jax. Honestly, ask, and if I can answer, I will,” she reassured me.

“Okay, I keep getting skill notifications, like my daggers reaching level eight, that kinda thing, but I don’t seem to be getting many spell ones; why is that?” I asked, half expecting it to be a really obvious answer.

“Do you use many standard spells?” Yen asked, smiling gently. “I’ve seen you use dozens of variations on spells, but hardly any over and over…”

“Well, yeah I use what I need. We usually adjust a spell on the fly, so that…” I said, my voice trailing off as I realized what she meant. “Wait, so because I’m doing that, using spells we’re making and adjusting, I’m not leveling?”

“You are, just slower than you would be if you were using, say, Fireball exclusively. You’re spreading yourself around all of these spells. Have you examined them individually?” she asked, and I shook my head. “I think you should, then… you might get a nice surprise, after all. Has Oracle explained about the various Schools of magic?”

“I think so?” I said, unsure, as I looked around the room. “Okay, everyone, grab whatever you’ve got; it’s time to move on,” I called, before turning back to Yen.

“There are many schools. Fire, Water, Earth; basically, any of the basic elements is classed as a ‘school’, and if you leveled up the spell, for example Firebolt, ten times, you get the first evolution to that spell,” Yen explained, and I nodded. “Well, once you reach that, you gain a single point in Mastery of Fire. It doesn’t sound like much, and most people just ignore the little gains like that, as it seems like it takes forever to grow them. After all, a one-point gain in Fire Mastery gets you only a one percent reduction in the cost of the spell, and a one percent resistance to the element.”

“I remember my teacher back in my realm talking about this… vaguely,” I admitted.

“Well, think of it this way: one percent of say, ten mana cost is nothing. You’d never notice it. Hell, ten percent, even, would only be one point of mana… but… the higher you go, the more it stacks. Once you reach fifty percent, your Fire magic costs are halved, and any Fire based spells that hit you are only half as effective as they should be. Hit one hundred, and your Fire spells are free, and you’d be able to bathe in lava fields. Hit the Grandmaster ranks at one hundred and fifty, and you’d be gaining mana whenever you cast the spell, and you would be healed by anyone that tried to hurt you with Fire. You could literally stand in a fireplace and heal yourself!” Yen said excitedly.

“Yeah, but it’d take forever…” I countered quietly, as the others joined us and we set off, clambering across the rubble and piled bones. Grizz, Stephanos, Jian, and Ty’Baronn worked together to carry Lydia on a stretcher that Stephanos had built from the longer leg bones and some leather he could find.

We took turns helping to carry Lydia, moving at a fast walk as Yen continued to explain.

“It may seem like it’ll take forever…” she agreed. “But you’re doing it anyway, so just keep going, really. Maybe try to limit yourself to a set few spells, and you’ll see the increase sooner. Plus, it doesn’t really take that long, and there are ways to ‘cheat’ the system, as it were. If you get, say, ten low-level fire spells, and advance them all to the tenth level, that still gives you ten points in fire mastery, after all. Also, for example, that water fountain spell; what level is it?” I pulled it up, checking it over, confident in Tang and Bane to keep us safe as we went.

“Uh… level nine?” I said, surprised. “I didn’t think I’d used it enough, but…”

“And the explosive spell you’ve been using?” she asked.

“Level three,” I said, nodding my head in understanding. “So basically, keep spreading myself thin, and it’ll slow my growth in a specific spell, but eventually, I’ll get them all; or I can cast the same ones over and over, and they’ll level fast?” I clarified.

“Basically, yes,” Yen agreed. “It’s one of those things where a little change can make a big difference, after all. Did Oracle explain about complimentary spells?”

“No?” I said, then