The skill Rina chose was a simple skill, but of ‘SSS’ rating.
Not that they know that at this point.
After all, ratings are a new world thing, still ten years away.
However, Rina knew that the skill orbs with black edge, encasing orange glow are all superb skills.
She crumbled the skill expectantly.
[ Inch Blade ]
[ a blade the size of an inch that could cut through anything. ]
The skill explanation said.
No more.
Nothing other than that.
What the ?!
Isn’t this an SSS skill ?
What in the world is she supposed to do with a blade the size of an inch ?
Rina was in tatters inside, but she did not show it outside. After all, this is an SSS level skill. This is still far more than what she would get when she attends the royal academy.
“ Thanks, Sir. “ She said, and moved aside.
Edam came up.
He looked at her as he selected the skills.
His hand moved to ‘otherworld search ‘.
Rina frowned.
He moved forward.
His hands moved to the other skill that’s glowing slightly orange. Rina smiled in approval.
Edam picked it up.
The principal has given up on them by now, as well as his yearly bonus.
After all, there are no bonuses to be had for someone who lost skills.
At this time, something unexpected happened.
Another student stood up to accept the skill.
Rina looked at her in surprise.
Hedle is not the sort of girl who goes against the authorities.
The principal wanted to say something, but this is not something he could change. If he denies the girl who clearly says she wants a skill, then not just losing bonus, he will lose grants as well.
So, he let her choose a skill too.
Hedle has chosen the only skill on the board with no light.
Rina had no idea what the skills with no light represented, as not even the royal archives have any information on them.
She planned to ask Hedle later.
“ Any more, who wants to activate zero level skills ? “ the principal dejectedly asked the class dejectedly, at the same time, looking like he would devour the student who dared to stand.
No one did.
So, the class ended there.
In seven days, they have to return to the school to submit their forms of acceptance or rejection of the royal academy.
Almost all students accept the offer.
In the commotion to submit their forms, Rina held Edam’s hand and dragged him away.
“ We will submit it on the last day, with almost no time to delay. “ She told him.
If they were to submit early, then she is sure some sort of mage will come out from the royal entourage to check both of them for the curse, then completely abolish their magic. Ofcourse, all of this is off the record.
However, if they submit at the very last moment, then chances are the mages of capital will not make any allowances just to harm them.
Ofcourse, the opposite is also possible, but Rina wanted to bet on them getting away with this.
If nothing else, she knows the attitude of mages from the capital. More importantly, she knows the cost of travel from her village to the capital.
The moment they gather all the students who agreed, they would have to set off.
The arrangements would be made for as many students as the school reported, that is, if they could be called arrangements.
The students suffer, while the travel guards are safe and secure.
That’s the first lesson they will learn in this life.
Their status will not change just because they got some magic.
If it really does, it’s going to be an exception rather than norm.
Rina rushed home with Edam. just before they parted ways, she asked what his skill is.
Edam flashed the skill description slip at her.
[ Power Settings ]
[ You can increase or decrease the amount of power you use, the area it applies to, time period to apply the magic for, the spell that power is being applied to, etc. This skill is most useful to craftsmen, yet, it could also be used for combat, as long as you have the correct combination of mana, spell and control. ]
This is actually very practical for someone like Edam.
In last life, she did not know what his skill was, and why he was given over to the eleventh prince.
In this life, they could find it.
She went home.
As expected, her father went ballistic at her.
“ It was three skills with skill augmentation. Why would you change it for a single skill ? Are you an idiot ? “ he asked her.
Rina was pissed off.
If there’s any idiot at home, it would be him.
He made almost all the wrong decisions dealing with people, he almost always took short cuts for easy money, and all the repercussions are always born by their mother and siblings.
It stayed the same when they went to the capital.
Rina was only the first of their siblings to the capital.
Her father always wanted to pretend in the neighborhood about his children being mages.
But it was the capital.
It would be strange a random rock you thow did not hit a mage.
He offended her boss, her sister's boss, her brother’s tutor and their landlord within five minutes of his arrival into the capital.
On top of that, he had the audacity to tell them they would get cheated out of their entire lives of labor if not for him.
The next day, he got involved in a feud between nobles, and Rina had to solve it by sacrificing her career to stay in the archives.
If nothing else, it gave her respite from her annoying father.
After that, the only one who visited her was the youngest brother, who was a student at the royal academy.
Rina just handed her paycheck to him every other month, to be done as they wished.
It would be quite possible her brother was doing drugs with that cash, but she did not care at this point.
They will do what they please.
The world was doomed anyhow.
However, this time, she was reborn like this, she would change what she could.
In last life, she lived for the words of others, in this life, she would live for none other than herself, no matter how hard it gets. Atleast, she would die for her own mistakes rather than cleaning up after thousands of others.
Then came the words as she expected.
“ If you could not listen to my wisdom, then get out of this house. We do not feed rebellious idlers here. “ Her father scolded.
Rina wondered if he knew how much work she does around here.
She looks after her siblings, helps her mother and does half the tasks men handle in other homes.
Rina decided to walk out.
In her last life, everyone in her family has taken her efforts for granted.
Ofcourse, all the while hating her for not finding a rich husband in the capital as soon as she landed.
Perhaps early awakening will help them figure out things better.
Rina walked out, with nothing in her hands.
With her soldier training, she could more than live in the jungle.
Despite looking scary, and being part of a demon tide three years after, the forest has no strong predators in it.
Thus, she simply walked out.
After all, the wild is not too different from their leaky hut.
However, it’s only three in the afternoon.
Thus, she wanted to go hunting in the jungle. After all, she has skill now, she had to determine how to use it.
Before she left for the jungle, she went to find Edam.
He was home, seated in their stinking yard in a meditation pose.
“ Edam “ She called out.
He opened his eyes readily.
“ Are you trying to find your magic core as the exercises described ? “ She asked.
All mana exercises say you close your eyes, and try to feel for mana to find your mana core. However, demons do not have mana cores as their magic use is instinctive.
Even if Edam had a mana core, there’s no need for him to sit and find one. He could just try to use magic straight away, then he would be able to find it naturally.
“ Don’t worry about the mana core. Come with me. “ Rina said.
Their village is located on a mountain plateau.
Edam’s shack is on the lowest rung of the buildings, right in front of a swamp, where the sewage of the village accumulates.
Ofcouse, when the rain comes, the little swamp becomes a pond, and then it overflows downwards, joining a river. However, that means Edam’s house is stinking awfully, while being damp for a good part of the year.
However, this is the only place the village is willing to give an unwed girl who became pregnant.
Had Edam been strong, he could have hunted to add the income, but he was not. He is far weaker physically. So much so, Rina wondered if his father was an entirely spirit being as some demons tend to be.
They arrived at the pond.
Edam frowned, looking at Rina in question.
“ Look at the pond, and release all of your power, commanding it to decompose.” Rina told him.
Edam did as Rina said.His eyes widened in surprise as he felt the magic move. Rina moved back, allowing Edam to have his moment. First, the smell intensified, turning into a sharp tang of chemicals. Then, the water turned almost black. The reed in the middle of the swamp started growing extremely fast. Just as the water turned clear, there was a boat load of dead frogs and tadpoles floating atop the water. Then, even the dead frogs started decomposing. The water turned slightly murky, then extremely clear. There were blind white fish swimming all over in the water. The reed has grown to the height of two storied houses, with a gigantic leafy foliage atop it. Rina watched the entire process in fascination. As the reed grew and grew, she recognized what it was. It’s elephant reed. The elephant rope, which is used to tie the elephants and hanging bridges is made out of this reed. It’s a bit of a rare plant, given it’s considered a crossover from the demonic continent. She d
With the help of her inch blade, it was easy to make the rough basket with vines. She first sharpened a small thumb sized branch into a wooden nail. Then she split the bamboo branches into perfect two and half foot pieces, and arranged them on top of one another, forming a nine pointed star. She made a small hole on top of the nail, and inserted a small branch through it so her nine branches wouldn't move. Then she started threading the vines through the branches circularly, like a spider weaving her web. Half way through, she combined two branches into one to create that basket structure. In the end, she threaded the last vine through all the branch ends to close it. In the end what appeared in front of her was a rough tote bag style basket, which may not hold fine stuff, but could carry plenty of rough things. In the end, she trimmed off the wooden dowel she used for the center, and placed a rough bamboo chip on top of that, so that pointy end won't hurt anyone. Her basket read
Rina worked in silence. She leveled up once by the time she finished elephant reed, despite not cutting as many times as she did when mining lime rock. She paddled the raft all the way to the front, then got off the boat, stepping right on the reeds. She jumped on the reeds all the way, to create some bruises on the reed. Then, with a vine, she started threading the reeds into a bunch, one reed in twist. She pushed as much of the reed's body in the pond as she could, then she started working on the tops. Elephant reed, as the name suggests, does bear some resemblance with the elephants. Especially the gigantic man sized leaves at the end of the reed. Only, these leaves could not be cut without burning off one’s fingers, or melting metal. Fortunately, she has a blade which is neither metal, nor mana. She cut through the membrane exactly in half. She repeated it with all the reed, once she’s done, she pushed off all the reed into the pond, leaving only an edge of the vine sh
Bright manor was a surprisingly small, yet lavish place. The gardens that lead to the manor are full of greenery, yet, one could see almost all the plants in the gardens are functional in one way or another. There are fruit trees full of foliage. They were cut and made to look pretty, but they serve half as decoration, half as food source. The hedges are full of lavender, which is currently in bloom. Sure, they could be called ornamental plants, but this variety is a special honey producing kind, which is full of nectar. The bees buzzed around the bushes, yet, the main walkway is free of insects. The principal of the town school trudged the walk way dejectedly in his best suit. He is thinking over the excuses he could make to the lord so that he could mitigate the effect of two students taking up skills before attending royal academy. At present, the school principal’s only saving grace is that he had never discussed the performance of students in front of the lord beforehand.
Elora looked at the shell shocked ballroom, gleaming with pride.She had always known that she was the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, now the kingdom will know the same as her.She could see it in her mind’s eye. The day is not far when princes compete for her favor.The ladies of the capital, who were ever so proud of being the first to buy any fashion on the street, will compete to copy her dress, only to realize they could never match her beauty.She will bestow her token to the choice of the champion in the joust, she would have a knight who is eternally devoted to her, the crown prince will serve her breakfast in bed, for he could not bear to let her walk to the dining hall o
Mordi immediately picked up one of the garnish leaves on the plate, and put them in his mouth, spreading them on his teeth, giving him a rotten teeth look. He turned around with a leery and ignorant look, looking like a hillbilly villager, even more uncivilized than a random tenant of the village. “ Hallo ! The Mastah chef told me to take these upstairs. He’s short on man powah ! so, me is helping out. It’iz a secret.“ he whispered. “ You .. ! “ The guard said. Mordi gentry probed the guard’s mind, suppressing the fright on his mind. Just a little bit of leak of the emotion is enough to raise the guard’s suspicions. ‘ Did I see this guy in the stables ? ‘ the guard was wondering. He needn’t have worried at al. Mordi gave a sigh of relief before continuing. “ Brotha’h ! Nex’d time you come, I will give ya a bettah horse ! Do me a favor. “ Mordi whispered, pushing the champagne glass towards the guard. The guard looked around, and stole one of the goat cheese canape on the plate
“ However, not starving is one thing, growing up with power and riches is another. I love being a noble, little brother. I think I am very suitable for enjoying the luxury and power of the world. Don’t you think so ? “ Davina asked him. Morde stayed silent. “ The girl ! you just bring me the girl. I will dissolve the debt between us. How about it ? “ Davina asked, pointing at Rina’s picture. Morde disagreed. He may not know what was the exact power of his family, but he does have a hunch. Now, looking at the paintings and Davina’s lavish quarters, he could fine tune it even more. However, as someone who studied the mystic arts, there is one thing he will abide by, even when all other principles are lost. ‘ one must not meddle with time ‘ Whatever power his sister has, it has something to do with prediction. He will do as she asks. He will find Rina, and tell her to run. Run to a far and remote place, so that no one will be able to find her again.
Rina was shocked with the revelation she had. In her past, this entire wall would have been gone, being blasted off by the dimensional crack. Even if one were to say some official is touched in the head just enough to try and save citizens, thus, treks through the flooding waters to reach their village ! then ? ! By then, the water level would have released, by then, the buoy wall would float down to its stand, resembling a real wall. Even if Sherlock Holmes himself came to investigate, unless they are investigating the flood as a deliberate accident caused with ultimate malicious intent, not a single person would see the clues at all. The Villain would get away with it all ! If not for herself. ‘ Damn ! Doesn’t this make me a savior ? ‘ Rina grumbled. She worked diligently to open the valves opposite to the village side. This way, water will flow out into the desert of demons.Opening these valves is very easy for her as a space-mancer. However, there are too many of them, so it
Rina was shocked with the revelation she had. In her past, this entire wall would have been gone, being blasted off by the dimensional crack. Even if one were to say some official is touched in the head just enough to try and save citizens, thus, treks through the flooding waters to reach their village ! then ? ! By then, the water level would have released, by then, the buoy wall would float down to its stand, resembling a real wall. Even if Sherlock Holmes himself came to investigate, unless they are investigating the flood as a deliberate accident caused with ultimate malicious intent, not a single person would see the clues at all. The Villain would get away with it all ! If not for herself. ‘ Damn ! Doesn’t this make me a savior ? ‘ Rina grumbled. She worked diligently to open the valves opposite to the village side. This way, water will flow out into the desert of demons.Opening these valves is very easy for her as a space-mancer. However, there are too many of them, so it
“ However, not starving is one thing, growing up with power and riches is another. I love being a noble, little brother. I think I am very suitable for enjoying the luxury and power of the world. Don’t you think so ? “ Davina asked him. Morde stayed silent. “ The girl ! you just bring me the girl. I will dissolve the debt between us. How about it ? “ Davina asked, pointing at Rina’s picture. Morde disagreed. He may not know what was the exact power of his family, but he does have a hunch. Now, looking at the paintings and Davina’s lavish quarters, he could fine tune it even more. However, as someone who studied the mystic arts, there is one thing he will abide by, even when all other principles are lost. ‘ one must not meddle with time ‘ Whatever power his sister has, it has something to do with prediction. He will do as she asks. He will find Rina, and tell her to run. Run to a far and remote place, so that no one will be able to find her again.
Mordi immediately picked up one of the garnish leaves on the plate, and put them in his mouth, spreading them on his teeth, giving him a rotten teeth look. He turned around with a leery and ignorant look, looking like a hillbilly villager, even more uncivilized than a random tenant of the village. “ Hallo ! The Mastah chef told me to take these upstairs. He’s short on man powah ! so, me is helping out. It’iz a secret.“ he whispered. “ You .. ! “ The guard said. Mordi gentry probed the guard’s mind, suppressing the fright on his mind. Just a little bit of leak of the emotion is enough to raise the guard’s suspicions. ‘ Did I see this guy in the stables ? ‘ the guard was wondering. He needn’t have worried at al. Mordi gave a sigh of relief before continuing. “ Brotha’h ! Nex’d time you come, I will give ya a bettah horse ! Do me a favor. “ Mordi whispered, pushing the champagne glass towards the guard. The guard looked around, and stole one of the goat cheese canape on the plate
Elora looked at the shell shocked ballroom, gleaming with pride.She had always known that she was the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, now the kingdom will know the same as her.She could see it in her mind’s eye. The day is not far when princes compete for her favor.The ladies of the capital, who were ever so proud of being the first to buy any fashion on the street, will compete to copy her dress, only to realize they could never match her beauty.She will bestow her token to the choice of the champion in the joust, she would have a knight who is eternally devoted to her, the crown prince will serve her breakfast in bed, for he could not bear to let her walk to the dining hall o
Bright manor was a surprisingly small, yet lavish place. The gardens that lead to the manor are full of greenery, yet, one could see almost all the plants in the gardens are functional in one way or another. There are fruit trees full of foliage. They were cut and made to look pretty, but they serve half as decoration, half as food source. The hedges are full of lavender, which is currently in bloom. Sure, they could be called ornamental plants, but this variety is a special honey producing kind, which is full of nectar. The bees buzzed around the bushes, yet, the main walkway is free of insects. The principal of the town school trudged the walk way dejectedly in his best suit. He is thinking over the excuses he could make to the lord so that he could mitigate the effect of two students taking up skills before attending royal academy. At present, the school principal’s only saving grace is that he had never discussed the performance of students in front of the lord beforehand.
Rina worked in silence. She leveled up once by the time she finished elephant reed, despite not cutting as many times as she did when mining lime rock. She paddled the raft all the way to the front, then got off the boat, stepping right on the reeds. She jumped on the reeds all the way, to create some bruises on the reed. Then, with a vine, she started threading the reeds into a bunch, one reed in twist. She pushed as much of the reed's body in the pond as she could, then she started working on the tops. Elephant reed, as the name suggests, does bear some resemblance with the elephants. Especially the gigantic man sized leaves at the end of the reed. Only, these leaves could not be cut without burning off one’s fingers, or melting metal. Fortunately, she has a blade which is neither metal, nor mana. She cut through the membrane exactly in half. She repeated it with all the reed, once she’s done, she pushed off all the reed into the pond, leaving only an edge of the vine sh
With the help of her inch blade, it was easy to make the rough basket with vines. She first sharpened a small thumb sized branch into a wooden nail. Then she split the bamboo branches into perfect two and half foot pieces, and arranged them on top of one another, forming a nine pointed star. She made a small hole on top of the nail, and inserted a small branch through it so her nine branches wouldn't move. Then she started threading the vines through the branches circularly, like a spider weaving her web. Half way through, she combined two branches into one to create that basket structure. In the end, she threaded the last vine through all the branch ends to close it. In the end what appeared in front of her was a rough tote bag style basket, which may not hold fine stuff, but could carry plenty of rough things. In the end, she trimmed off the wooden dowel she used for the center, and placed a rough bamboo chip on top of that, so that pointy end won't hurt anyone. Her basket read
Edam did as Rina said.His eyes widened in surprise as he felt the magic move. Rina moved back, allowing Edam to have his moment. First, the smell intensified, turning into a sharp tang of chemicals. Then, the water turned almost black. The reed in the middle of the swamp started growing extremely fast. Just as the water turned clear, there was a boat load of dead frogs and tadpoles floating atop the water. Then, even the dead frogs started decomposing. The water turned slightly murky, then extremely clear. There were blind white fish swimming all over in the water. The reed has grown to the height of two storied houses, with a gigantic leafy foliage atop it. Rina watched the entire process in fascination. As the reed grew and grew, she recognized what it was. It’s elephant reed. The elephant rope, which is used to tie the elephants and hanging bridges is made out of this reed. It’s a bit of a rare plant, given it’s considered a crossover from the demonic continent. She d
The skill Rina chose was a simple skill, but of ‘SSS’ rating. Not that they know that at this point. After all, ratings are a new world thing, still ten years away. However, Rina knew that the skill orbs with black edge, encasing orange glow are all superb skills. She crumbled the skill expectantly. [ Inch Blade ] [ a blade the size of an inch that could cut through anything. ] The skill explanation said. No more. Nothing other than that. What the ?! Isn’t this an SSS skill ? What in the world is she supposed to do with a blade the size of an inch ? Rina was in tatters inside, but she did not show it outside. After all, this is an SSS level skill. This is still far more than what she would get when she attends the royal academy. “ Thanks, Sir. “ She said, and moved aside. Edam came up. He looked at her as he selected the skills. His hand moved to ‘otherworld search ‘. Rina frowned. He moved forward. His hands moved to the other skill that’s glowing slightly orange.