OVERPOWERED CHAPTER 8: THE TEST
THE MONARCH'S TANTRUM, OUTER REALM OF MONSTERS AND BEASTS
It seemed that Felix spoke too soon with his passionate declaration as his new mentor proceeded to pop the ego of his overzealous student with further training regarding his magical ability. While casting Tier Magic itself is an amazing feat, there lay another discipline to the mysterious art that sets apart the novices flinging around spells from the capable practitioners of magic.
After coming down from the high of being a "mighty wizard", Jasper once again pulled Felix into a study session on the advance courses of magic. Now that he is certain his new apprentice can follow the same magical training he once did, the old traveller wants to tutor his student on the theory of Tier Magic.
While having the ability to cast Tier Magic is something most people could only dream of accomplishing, it will still take a considerable amount of time for even the best and brightest students to reach heights unseen and become full fledged masters of magic. Even Fluder Paradyne considers himself a novice in the mystic arts and despite studying it for most of his life in over 200 years, he confesses to only scratching the surface of Tier Magic's true potential.
Jasper proceeded to teach Felix the various magic types that each spell would be categorized in. A prime example is the recent spell that he casted which would fit into the category of arcane for the straightforward manner that the spell operates as well as the subcategories of [Fireball], which is an elemental and offensive type spell. The other topics focused on were the enhancements to existing tier spells such as increasing the potency of a spell with [Maximize Magic].
After the mind racking lessons on the foundation of Tier Magic, Jasper once again wanted to test Felix's physical combat abilities. However, it seems that a minor query arose to the equipment needed for said sparring as Felix lost his sword after overloading it with magic which proceeded to make the weapon explode.
Felix lamented losing the last of his possessions when he arrived here. He knew he would eventually ditch his starter equipment as time passed and it would succumb to wear and tear, but he thought he would have them around for a few more years instead of a few days.
"Guess I'll have to use a stick in the meantime before I can get another sword." Said Felix as he looked around for any branches to use as a makeshift sword. Jasper appeared to be in deep thought before walking to his pack and reached for one of the spare swords he had in his possession. He grabbed the sword and held it for a short while looking pensive before walking back to Felix and handing him the sword sheathe and all.
"Its alright lad. I think its time to cement our apprenticeship with a gift wouldn't you agree?" Jasper reassured Felix's worries on being weaponless and handed him the spare sword. "This sword has been with me for quite a while and saved my life many times over the years. It doesn't look like much, but the weapon has an enchantment that prevents it from being destroyed or worn down. She's quite the reliable one! And another plus side is the sword can be used with only one hand."
Felix took the sword by the handle and felt a bit of warmth in receiving the gift. He has never gotten a gift before in his whole life and this will be the first time someone has given him something in good faith without expecting anything in return. The novice adventurer unsheathes the sword to examine it.
True to Jasper's words the sword was nothing special once he looked at the blade. It was an exact replica of his starting sword with the plain blade that doesn't have any etchings or runes to the slightly worn leather handle at the base. The sheathe as well was nothing more than a standard leather sheathe with a sling to equip and carry on your back. It looked just like a run of the mill sword for anyone starting out their journey and need a basic weapon to protect themselves, nothing like the legendary weapons that heroes use to vanquish monsters and clash with villains.
But despite the sword's plain appearance and minor enhancements aside from being more durable than an average sword, he would treasure it for the rest of his hopefully long life as he goes on more adventures outside this forest. Felix turned to face Jasper and thanked him for the gift.
"You know they say the best weapons have names for them. How about giving one to this here sword for some good luck in your future adventures?" Said Jasper after accepting the thanks he got from his apprentice with a smile.
Felix looked down on the sword. Nothing more than a sharpened piece of metal wrapped in old leather and being carried around by someone who would be lucky to survive long enough to use it in a real battle. So far, his life here has been hell on earth, with him failing once he took a few steps and only surviving because of luck. Maybe this sword would change his luck and become a reliable piece of equipment that would help him have a few more steps of good fortune.
"I think I'm gonna go 'old reliable' seeing as this sword kept you alive so long to save me, then it can continue to be a reliable lifeline to pull my ass out of the fire every now and then." Felix declared the name for his new sword to his mentor before getting ready for his next torture/sparring session.
The days seem to pass by fast as Felix trained rigorously under the guidance of his new teacher. His new sword lived up to its name as it was able to withstand the same spell that shattered his old one as he sparred more against his mentor. The edge of the blade not even wearing down from clashing against another blade with a force to split apart a boulder.
Speaking of another blade, Jasper's other sword he packed looked quite intricate. His personal sword was most definitely the weapon of a seasoned adventurer, with runes on the side that glowed with power and a fancy hilt that looked like it has a sapphire on it, not to mention the ornate handguard that also had some runes etched to it. The sheathe for the sword was resting on a tree next to his own, and the differences are like day and night as Jasper's sheathe was embodied with depictions of leaves from a tree, the end of the sheathe capped with gleaming bronze.
"Hey old man how about switching up weapons. Maybe I can practice how to use weapons that aren't mine so I can better improvise in a fight?" Said Felix in a cheeky attempt to handle such an awesome looking weapon before getting his answer in the form of his master quickly disarming him and making him fall on the ground painfully after swiping his feet.
"OOF… I guess that's a no? Felix wheezed out as Jasper went to grab some refreshments. He took a swig of his canteen before handing another one to Felix. "You can get all the fancy toys once you earn or craft them. And I confess to being attached to this rune sword of mine to just give it to someone else no matter how much I like them."
Felix felt disappointment in receiving the answer to his request before asking more questions. "Runesword? More magic stuff that now includes fancy weapons, why am I not surprised. Does this mean there are other stuff that have those sick runes your sword has, what about stuff with magical effects like what I did with my sword sometimes?" Asked Felix on the topic of magical items.
Jasper finished drinking his water and started another lesson for his inquisitive apprentice. "Its good to see my apprentice always having questions for his wise master. We are going to have another history lesson to better understand this story." Jasper then gestured for Felix to follow as they finished sparring for the day to continue the impromptu history lesson of magic items.
"The history of Runecraft date back to the time before the appearance of the Six Great Gods and others that practiced tier magic. It was an invention and traditional magic of the Dwarves, a race of short beings who have a fondness of drinking and spending their time mining in the mountains for precious ore. Runecraft is basically the inscriptions of magical alphabets with mana called 'runes' hence the name to imbue certain items with properties like old reliable's durability. And no lad your sword doesn't have any runes, its just an enchantment made with tier magic."
"Unfortunately, that's where the decline of Runecraft came to be. Tier magic proved to be superior to not only Wild Magics but Runecraft as well, as it was able to enchant items in less time than it takes with inscribing runes. It didn't help that the Dwarves are starting to abandon Runecraft to focus on learning Tier Magic to enchant their items."
As Jasper already told the story of magic items to his apprentice earlier when they met, he decided to end the history lesson and went to prepare lunch before an idea came to him. "say Felix how about you start doing the cooking from now on as part of your training? You won't have me feeding you all the time and being able to cook is an integral skill to have as an adventurer." Jasper then gestured for Felix to follow him and showed the various tools to begin his culinary journey.
It turns out his cooking skills largely remained the same from his old world, meaning it was quite an accomplishment that anything he made was edible. To be fair, cooking itself is only reserved for the wealthy as being able to afford produce was something no one working a factory job earning minimum wage can do. The only thing he could afford was nutrition gel and the occasional flavoured pack meal on discount when he was able to earn a little more from his job.
His first attempt in the culinary arts was fish roasted over a fire, but the fish now resembled two sticks that were dipped in tar before drying out and hardening. He served one fish for himself and gave the other to his teacher who was struggling to not laugh or cry.
"It looks… good. Not everyone gets good results on the first try so don't beat yourself up too hard lad. At least the fish isn't raw and can be consumed safely without having to worry for parasites!" Once again Jasper tried to soothe Felix's wounded pride with consoling words that felt as good as pouring salt and lemon on an open wound.
Master and student prepare to have one of the worst meals they would eat in their lives when they peeled back the charred skin of the fish, to reveal perfectly cooked white meat. Surprised, Jasper and Felix tore off a piece of the delicious looking morsels of fish and consumed it. The taste of the fish was amazing.
The charred skin served as a buffer against the roaring flames that turned the outside into blackened soot, while also infusing the sweet flesh of the fish with some bitterness that enhanced the sweetness of the fish. The fish itself was quite juicy on the inside while remaining flavourful despite the charred state of the entire fish.
It seemed that Felix spoke too soon in his self-deprecation and heartily ate his first and successful dish. Jasper himself also happily tucked into his meal, for once his optimistic words to Felix rung true. "A fine seafood meal that has got to be one of the best I have ever eaten. The presentation needs some work, but with enough time your dishes will be the envy of master chefs!"
The pair finished up their meals and cleaned up before continuing his training. These past few days of back-breaking workouts and lessons have made Felix's mind and body scream for relief. But through sheer force of determination Felix took on the toll with a grimace and gave everything he had to improving himself. The determination of his apprentice unfortunately galvanized Jasper to also put in effort to push his young student to his absolute limit.
Doing some warm-ups and preparing to spar again with his teacher, Felix took a stance but was stopped by a gesture from his mentor. "Hold on lad. You've come a long way from the novice that got thrashed around by some wolf pups and I think you're ready to leave the forest and set out on a real adventure. By my estimate you are as strong as a low-level orichalcum adventurer, you blew my expectations yet again! Seems like a common theme for my amazing student thanks to of course his amazing teacher." Said the old traveller, giving a pat on the back for Felix and a mental one for himself.
Felix toned down the excitement welling up in him to hear his teacher's full assessment. He wasn't naïve enough to think that they were going to leave the forest without some test to prove his ability to handle the dangers outside the forest without Jasper needing to intervene.
"But as a final test to see your capabilities, you will have to fight one of the great monsters in this forest before we leave and head out to the greater world. Luckily for you I already tracked down the strongest monster in this forest, who also happens to be the same one that snacked on the alpha direwolf you lost your arm to!"
The one-armed adventurer could only chant a mental prayer for the monster not being another wolf or worse… a bug. "Please don't be a bug, please don't be a bug, pretty please universe I really don't need more trauma after losing an arm I was attached to. Aside from wolves, bugs have got to be the absolute worst thing I have to fight!!" Felix's hopes were dashed yet again as Jasper made his reveal of the monster his student will have to defeat in order to pass his test.
"The monster you will be facing is called a Steel Mantis. These nasty critters can grow over 10 feet tall, with exoskeletons hard enough to withstand a blow from the strongest adamantine adventurers. The Steel Mantis' main weapon are their sharp forelegs that can cut through even enchanted armour like butter as well as specialized magic inherent to all insect-type monsters like sensory magic that can't be hidden from with low-level tier magic. Also, they have the unique ability of absorbing memories of their consumed prey so watch out. These guys probably have a good look of your face and have deterrents to your earlier fight pattern, but your recent training probably changed up your style so no worry! These critters are at the strength of a mid-level orichalcum adventurer and are vulnerable to fire so you'll be fine."
"Oh noooo…" Felix's guts felt like it had a stone passing through it and his legs slowly turned to jelly as he struggled to remain upright. Jasper continued to blissfully list out the characteristics of the horror his student will face.
"Don't get too excited now! Insect monsters also have very fast growth in comparison to other monsters, so they grow up rapidly as well as spawning an entire brood quickly. From what I could gather, the Steel Mantis that ate the alpha direwolf was a Queen Steel Mantis so you're going to have to fight through a horde of Steel Mantis to reach her. But like I said before you've come a long way from the start of your adventure, so this probably won't be too hard for you! Jasper finished his lecture with a bright smile and a thumbs up to his still frozen student.
"…………….."
"…………….."
"…I hate you." said a resigned Felix who could only wonder if the Steel mantises will leave a body behind to bury after tearing him to shreds.
"Good luck lad!" Jasper giving his student some encouragement with a smile still on his face.
The one-armed adventurer made his way towards the nest of the Steel Mantis, having been given directions by his teacher/executioner along with casting a [Compass] spell to help him pinpoint the nest more accurately. Don't ever say Felix walked to his death half-heartedly and delayed it with poor navigational skills.
After some time has passed and the sun beginning to set, Felix reached his destination of the Steel Mantis nest inside another cave like where he woke up from in his last fight against the direwolves. How ironic that he once woke up in a cave after eluding death only to face the reaper's scythe again now.
Felix slowly made his way into the cave, noting how much wider and deeper it was compared to the first one where he and Jasper made their first shelter. The light slowly began to fade, and he couldn't see in the cave before casting a modified [Sunlight] spell to serve as his source of light through the darkness.
Now he finds himself surrounded by nothing but darkness and an eerie silence. His senses prickled slightly at the unnatural stillness the cave had before hearing a hiss from all sides. He launched the [Sunlight] spell above and it exploded, illuminating the entire cave and revealing his hissing companions… he dearly wished he didn't.
The bright light revealed the creatures as giant praying mantises who seemed to dwarf the wolves he fought earlier in his journey through the forest. The were coloured with a mix of grey and green, with the sharp forelegs mentioned by Jasper. It seems the name "Steel Mantis" is very fitting to the creatures he must fight, their colour scheme matching steel and sharp forelegs that could slice through steel as well. But the worst sight he saw was the Queen Steel Mantis herself.
Like the rest of her children the Queen had a similar colour scheme and dangerous looking forelegs, but she obviously had the advantage of being bigger. Not just big, but so massive that the alpha direwolf the size of a bus would look like a puppy when compared to this bug.
Acting quickly, Felix enchanted his sword with [Fireball], the sword ignited with roaring flames ready to melt through the insect monsters. He followed up with a quick [Haste] and [Greater Strength] to help him execute the surrounding monsters. The blade withstanding the blistering fire that engulfed it as Felix proceeded to slice one Steel Mantis in half, cauterizing the corpse in the middle before the two halves fell to the ground. He was a bit regretful at igniting his blade as the smell of burning guts reached him.
"Don't have to worry about dinner after this since I lost my appetite." Thought Felix before quickly dashing to the other Steel Mantis present. He became a fiery blur of death as the once green adventurer executed monsters like a seasoned veteran of monster hunting. The Steel Mantis brood was exterminated, until only the Queen Steel Mantis remained.
Felix felt his spells slowly wear off and his fire enchantment on his sword fizzled out. The Queen Steel Mantis let out a loud screech. The screech had a profound effect on Felix, making him freeze up and giving him a debilitating headache. With the one-armed adventurer stunned, the queen went in for the kill with a swing of her deadly forelegs. Casting a panicked [Dimensional Move], Felix evaded the killing blow and found himself outside of the cave.
The young adventurer slowly picked himself up and shook off the effects of the Steel Mantis Queen's paralysis screech, looking around his surroundings to see the dark forest illuminated by moonlight. The weary adventurer didn't have much time to admire the moonlit scenery as the Queen Steel Mantis angrily barrelled out of the cave.
Felix barely had enough time to duck as the queen performed a slashing attack with her forelegs, condensed air of force acompanying her attack that sliced off a huge portion of trees behind him and would have bifurcated him if he didn't duck in time. He quickly jumped to his feet and casted the previous enhancement spells earlier with the added spell [Greater Dexterity] to aid him in parrying the queen's rapid slashing attacks.
Once again, Felix used [Dimensional Move] to put distance between him and the enraged monster before lifting his hand. Foregoing flame based magics in fear of setting the forest on fire if he missed, he casted [Lightning] towards the queen. It proved to be quite effective as electricity danced throughout the queen's giant form. As the spell finished it's duration, the still form of the Queen Steel Mantis had arcs of electricity coursing through it. The spell also served as a magical bug zapper it seems.
Not taking any chances and delaying the fight for the queen to recover, Felix focused intently in his mind to gather as much mana for the spell he was about to unleash. A magic circle appeared on the palm of Felix's hand pointed towards the fallen insect queen, it glowed with a menacing orange light as Felix shouted the incantations; [Maximize Magic: Grand Fireball]!
The magic circle itself expanded to encompass the large frame of the Steel Mantis Queen before a giant ball of fire formed and consumed the insect monster. The giant flames were visible from miles away, the heat of the fire drying out any moisture in the surroundings. Felix continued to watch the fire incinerating his final foe in this godforsaken forest as the fatigue of the fight caught up to him.
He turned away from the bug bonfire he started and walked a few steps before collapsing to the ground, face into the dirt. He let out a muffled groan and let his body and mind shut down, the exhaustion too much for him to ignore with sheer willpower.
As he was beginning his literal dirt nap Jasper floated down from the sky, having used a [Fly] spell to linger close by in the skies to observe Felix's progress in his final test to exit the forest. Jasper was filled with more pride than he thought possible and proceeded to congratulate his victorious apprentice.
"That was spectacular! Beyond what any seasoned adventurer could have done! Not only did you defeat an entire full-grown brood of Steel Mantises capable of even giving a team of veteran orichalcum adventurers trouble, but you also single-handedly defeated the Queen Steel Mantis that would have needed a team of adamantite adventurers to neutralize let alone get out of the fight alive! We're leaving the forest first thing in the morning, but for now we need to celebrate! How about we use the Steel Mantis you fried up to make some mantis stew?"
Jasper's cheerful exuberance at his student's performance was lost on Felix as he continued to drift between consciousness and unconsciousness, his mentor's voice serving to keep him lucid through sheer annoyance. But the final comment giving the final blow to Felix's mental faculties and knocking him out.
"I mean it might be a bit morbid, but your fire spell burnt out any poison that might have developed in the Queen Steel Mantis, not to mention adding some smoky flavour to the meat! Jasper continued to ignorantly list the ways to prepare the rare delicacy of charred insect meat as Felix slumber face first in the dirt.