Chapter 114: Reboot

With a flash of white light, Akash was back in the Initiate's room and I had a bone to pick with him. 

"You weren't kidding when you said your powers let you do pretty much anything you wanted with your body, were you?" I asked, suppressing a scoff that probably would have turned the conversation nasty fast. 

"Why would I have joked about such a thing?" Akash asked, dismissing the drone that emerged from the wall to scan him before sauntering over to join the only two remaining initiates- myself and Yr'Arl. 

"Turn of phrase, mate," I replied. "What I'm saying is, you've been holding out on us ever since the battle royale, and I guess a little piece of me is just sort of wondering why." 

Akash sat down on one of the beanbags and remained silent for a few moments, clearly pondering his next move. 

"It is honestly quite simple," Akash said. "This is a tournament, and it has been ever since the battle royale. At the time I didn't want to give away all my tricks. Seeing as not many species will have seen an Eldrani in the flesh, nor what they can do, I deemed it a smart move to keep my abilities firmly under wraps." 

I wanted to be angry with him, but the explanation he gave made sense. If he was trying to go all the way in the tournament to get himself a solid position in the Guard then he would obviously want to keep at least some of his more powerful abilities under wraps so that he could whip them out when he was in a pinch, just like he had done today. 

"I'm sure that even you have abilities that we have not yet seen," Akash went on. 

"Uh, yeah, maybe," I replied with a thick swallow. I'd have new and interesting abilities in the future, sure, but with my level not having increased for a while it was safe to say that I was thoroughly unable to generate any new abilities and skill-

[Secondary system rebooting]

<Well that was unexpected,> BB said warily. 

[Secondary system online]

[Welcome to Stage 2]

[Current Status

Jacob Lyre

Red Mage

Level: 20

Title: None Equipped

XP: 2000 / 32000

Age: 19

HP: 1700

MP: 7000

Stamina: 575

STR: 750

SPD: 750

VIT: 800

INT: 40

WIS: 30

CHA: 20

Unspent Ability Points: 9

Unused Passive Points: 4

Cash: 0 Cred]

[Rebooting Job system]

[Error...]

[Error…]

[Fresh boot engaged]

[Job System Erased]

[Available skills reverted to base]

[Populating updated ability and skill sets]

[Skills:

BB Infusion (Passive) - Lv. Max - Thank god for that little floating ball!

You have been granted a BB unit to help regulate your frankly insane levels of Manna. Without him, you would have gone pop the moment you tried to use your magic!

Observe - Lvl 1 - Monkey see monkey know.

Using Observe you will be able to uncover information about those around you, ranging from their Manna levels to much more. 

Cost: 1MP

Manna Bolt - Lvl 10 - Magic Missle!

A projectile of pure Manna. Damage increases with charge time. 

Damage Uncharged: 100

Damage fully charged: 1500

Cost: 100MP

Enhance (Adept)  - Lvl 10 - Kaio-Ken! Kaio-what? KAIO-KEN!

Increases your effective strength, speed and resistances by 10% per level with this technique from a base of 50%. Does not increase actual points of vitality or stamina. Improved control means that weaker usages of Enhance are within your grasp for lower costs. (200%)

Cost: 1 Stamina every 2 Seconds +  1 Manna every 2 seconds

Subskill: Item Enhance

Increases the quality of non-living items in your possession, increasing their sharpness, durability and hardness. This form of reinforcement can be used on non-living substances for a quality increase of 250%, with each level improving the bonus by 30%. 

Current bonus: 750%

Cost: 1 Stamina every 5 seconds + 1 Manna every 5 seconds. 

Corona Shield - Lvl 15 - Keeps the squishy bits inside nice and safe. 

A thin layer of Manna will surround your body while you are in combat, nullifying most forms of damage until an upper threshold is breached. Any damage above the threshold will be inflicted in full. 

Cost: 5 Manna per second

Propulsion (Adept) - Lvl 10 - I am speed…

Use a short burst of speed to blast away from, or toward, your opponents. 

Cost: 10 Manna.

Subskill: Propulsion Cognition

When travelling at insane speeds, your mental state will catch up automatically to compensate. 

Cost: Free

Basic Anti-Gravity Fields - Lvl 8 - Gravity shmavity, who needs to be tied down to the ground?

Project up to two anti-gravity fields, allowing your target to hover at its current elevation. 

Cost: 5 Manna Per Second Per Field ]

[Abilities: 

None Generated]

My mind exploded with knowledge, the very system that had been dictating my abilities rewritten in a moment so powerful it made my stomach twist and turn. What the hell had just happened? It was like someone had just flipped a switch, realising that my system hadn't been working the way they intended and so they changed it entirely. 

<That was… unpleasant,> BB said, sounding just as woozy as I felt. 

Fortunately for me, it seemed as though most of the abilities that I had already been using had transferred over to whatever my secondary system had become, the only notable exception being the kinetic shockwave that I had gained while I was back in the time loop. That was okay, too, seeing as I didn't really use it all that much. 

The question of the matter now became, how was I going to upgrade or gain any skills going forward? Was I suddenly like a Pokemon, only gaining abilities when I levelled up? Or was something stranger going on? Only time would tell, which meant I was basically going to rediscover just about everything about my ability set while fighting against Yr'Arl, right after I had told him not to go easy on me during our conflict. 

Was I beginning to regret that request? Maybe just a little bit.