Chapter 437: Meeting Erik in-game

"You-you will train me?!" Eldrian asked, unable to accept what he heard. 

"Yes, I will. You need to take some time to firm your footing. You have experienced and learned a great deal, but how much of it have you truly absorbed. How much can you retain, remember, and put into action?"

Zamia's question stunned Eldrian, he realized he couldn't put into action even half of what he had discovered. Heck, he was sure he had already forgotten at least 10% if not more of what he had discovered. 

"We will take our time to ensure you become much stronger. Do you agree?"

[Quest Received: An Alicorn's guidance]

[Quest Description: Zamia has offered to train you in order to prepare you for the invasion. To ensure that you will be able to reach your potential and not be a hindrance to her only son, Cephaphyr.]

[Quest Aim 1: To have you reach Rank 3 in all spells you would require, including spells you have yet to learn.]

[Quest Aim 2: To have you cast a true dynamic spell (Optional - Rank SSS)]

[Quest Rank: S]

[Quest Reward: 3 Levels, being bonded with Cephaphyr]

[State whether you accept or not]

"Of course I do!" Eldrian shouted with joy, the tea not able to contain his joy. He jumped up and gave Zamia a hug, ignoring status and whatever else there might be. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Zamia returned the hug, and then said sternly, "This isn't going to be easy. I expect you to master at least seven Tier 3 spells fully, and you will have to train until you can make use of them instinctually."

Hearing this Eldrian didn't back down, instead, he pumped up his chest and declared she bring it on.

"Not now, there are still two hours until sunrise. Get some rest, even if you aren't tired now tomorrow you will wish you took the opportunity."

Hearing this Eldrian didn't argue, he thanked her again and logged out. Set an alarm, and jumped into bed. Even going so far as to use his old headset to get himself to sleep immediately. 

...

When Eldrian logged in again, he saw a dryad going by his business. Rushing forward, Eldrian immediately greeted his friend. "Erik! What's up?"

"Eldrian?" Erik turned around and looked at the elf in shock. He knew that Eldrian had decided to come to Avgi, but he had expected it would take him a few more days. 

"How are you? Gosh, seeing you in here is completely different than..." Eldrian stopped, remembering where he was. Instead of speaking, he used mana sense to get a feel of what his friend should be capable of. 

"Amazing, you really reached Tier 1 in your hidden class. Come one, show me what you are capable of!" Eldrian was filled with enthusiasm. Eager to see what the hidden class called a Fysi Guide was capable of. They had never gotten a chance during the battles, naturally. 

Erik's stats were far lower than Eldrian's, but surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, he had far more intelligence. At least his attribute of intelligence was higher, it was even higher than Eldrian's agility. Though granted, Eldrian had 20 free attributes and Erik none. 

Unlike when observing NPCs, when Eldrian used mana sense on players he got all the juicy details. 

[Faust Statistics:]

[Level: 22] (Eldrian: 32)

[Hidden Class: Fysi Guide Tier 1]

[Normal Class: Magic Tier 3; Alchemist Tier 3]

[Attributes:]

[Constitution: 110] (Eldrian: 206)

[Strength: 100] (Eldrian: 198)

[Agility: 120] (Eldrian: 284)

[Spirit: 206] (Eldrian: 202)

[Intelligence: 273] (Eldrian: 225)

[Stats:]

[HP: 116] (Eldrian: 415)

[Mana: 320] (Eldrian: 686)

[Stamina: 110] (Eldrian: 453)

Eldrian still had far more mana though, thanks to his unnamed Rank B legacy. 

The reason why Eldrian was so excited to see what Erik was capable of, was, he was curious what other hidden classes meant. Eldrian's was more just a massive stat boost in all regards, but Eldrian also felt certain he would have never been able to unlock it without his ability to control mana. 

While it wasn't the hidden class that had given Eldrian the ability, it was linked to it. And Eldrian just had to see what Erik's was linked to. 

"Sure, follow me." Erik replied after taking a second to comprehend Eldrian's enthusiastic request. 

The two didn't walk far, just towards one of the Rank 2 trees around the glade. "It takes some time, but bear with me." Saying this, Erik placed his hand against the tree. 

At first, nothing happened. But after a minute a small bud appeared on the bark. Slowly turning into a sapling and 10 minutes later there was a bright flame-colored flower. A mixture of bright red and orange.

Naturally, Eldrian had to use mana sense. He had been using it since the start, observing how Erik's mana flowed into the tree and how the tree fed from the earth and air, sending mana corresponding to Erik's to form the flower in a matter of minutes. 

Now, they had before them a Rank 2 flower. Capable of amazing things in the right hands, up to even Tier 7 consumables. Be it in the form of potions, salves, ointments...

[Burning Thress Flower (Flower - Rank 2)]

[A flower born from the Thress tree through the magic of a Fysi. A tree highly resistant to flames, and whose flowers are filled with the fire element.]

"That's amazing!" Eldrian shouted, easily recognizing that for Erik this was the perfect ability. His time and effort in becoming an alchemist was clearly being rewarded. 

"Thanks, but it really takes a lot out of me," Erik said, that one flower having taken 300 of his mana to form. He now had to rest for nearly 10 minutes to recover the mana cost. Which, truthfully wasn't a bad deal at all. 

Zamia had him doing just this every day for the past week. Erik had found his limit was actually six times. At that point, magic fatigue would set in and reduce his mana below 300. He could then push on to form Rank 1 flowers/herbs at the outskirts of the forest.

Instead, Zamia had him then reflect on what he had learned and take time to learn more spells or practice his alchemy. For which he had to gather his own magical plants in the forest. He couldn't make use of Rank 2 plants, not without wasting them. 

"Still, it means you can literally turn your time into money. How much would the flower sell for?" Eldrian asked, having no idea of the market value of magical plants. 

"A rank 2 flower? Players wouldn't know what to do with it, you need to be at least Tier 5 to not just destroy it during processing. As for if you find the right person, it should sell for anywhere from 1 to 5 gold. Depending on if the person is in need of the flower or not."

"Why such a large difference?"

"Because it can only be used to make certain consumables related to fire. Its highest sought-after ability is that you can make fire-resistant potions from it. But naturally, the cost is so high that no one would use it just because. The potions normally sell for 15 gold at the cheapest."

That was indeed one heck of a price, especially knowing that Tier 2 magic items cost anywhere from 15 to 30 gold. The potion in comparison was just a 1-time use item. 

{AN: A big thanks to everyone who continues to support this novel on WN. Truly a wonderful thing to have it be constantly in the top 100-150's.}