Anti-Mage

“So Skill Points represent potential knowledge or fixed knowledge depending on the state they’re in?” Anton clarified with Vie who was leaning on the counter as she looked over her tablet.

“Yes, No, and Yes,” she said.

“Huh?”

“Think of Skill Points as a measure of your ability to learn something new and lock that knowledge in. The ability of your mind to focus on different things at the same time. When you learn something from scratch you start at the lowest level and when the basics of that skill are known and the skill becomes second nature the skill point is released to be used again.”

“Then why can skills be purchased at different rarities and rank levels?” Anton asked.

“The simple answer is because they can also be found and learned at those levels. If a master of a skill were to teach you that skill it increases the speed at which you learn the skill or decreases the time it takes to learn the skill. Think of it this way, though this is not the actual amount of times something would need to be done, I’m just making a simple example,” Vie said.

“Okay…” Anton hedged.

“Let’s say you have a Master Trainer who is trying to teach you how to wield a sword. You have no skill in the weapon and he needs you to learn now. Let's say to reach Common Level 1 rank in that skill you need to spend 10 hours practicing that skill. Because you have a teacher it only takes 1 hour. The master continues to train you and after two more hours of continuous training, you reach Level 2.

“I see…” Anton started.

“That’s actually an awful example. A Master teaching you would be able to help you level all the way to Scarce level 1 in just under 20 minutes, as long as they had a teaching skill and wanted to take the time to teach you,” Vie explained.

What level could such a trainer get me to?”

“No teacher can teach you above 10 levels lower than their own. A Master would be able to help you learn to the same level at the Advanced Rank. If they were teaching you a skill they possessed at Master Level 4, they would not be able to teach you above Advanced Level 3.”

Anton looked thoughtful for a moment and then asked, “And the skill points?”

“To lock the skill in you would be offered the ability to learn the skill when you received enough training to learn the skill at Common Level 1. Once you spent the skill point it would remain locked into that skill until you reached Common Level 2 at which point the lessons of Level 1 are ingrained and you’ve built upon the knowledge of that skill. When you earned Common Level 2, the Skill Point would be released and the skill would progress through use normally,” Vie said.

“Okay, that seems easy enough to understand, I buy the skill at level 1, and once I know level 1 I get the skill point back. So what about skill points that are used to learn skills at higher rarity, like the skills that are for sale in the Shop at the Rank Rare Level 10,” Anton asked.

“And we finally get to what you wanted to ask me. First, you must understand that there are multiple ways to learn a skill. You can find a trainer who will allow you to learn a skill fast, a lot faster than normal. Then there are three other ways you can learn a skill. It can be Gifted, Purchased, or Stolen?”

“Stolen?”

“Yes, Stolen. There are some abilities, spells, and skills out there that allow the user to reach into the mind of someone else and rip that knowledge away.”

“That sounds Horrible,” Anton said thoughtfully and then asked, “How do Skill Points work in those three cases?”

“First, the rank of the Skill does not matter in any of these cases. Only the level. A level 1 Skill will cost 1 Skill Point to learn. A level 10 Skill will cost 55 Skill Points to learn. The cost is the sum of the levels. Level 3, 6 Skill Points. Level 5, 12 Skill Points, and so on.”

“And the Rarity of the Skill doesn’t increase the cost, so a Common, Level 1 Skill and Rare Level 1 Skill both cost 1 skill point to lock in?” Anton asked.

“Yep,” Vie agreed. “Now, Skills can be gifted by Magical Books, Tomes, Scrolls, Potions, Spells, Skills, and Abilities. When the Skill is available a prompt appears, you accept it and the Skill Points are spent if you have them. If you don’t have the necessary Skill Points you cannot learn the Skill. In some cases like potions and scrolls, the item is destroyed in the process and the skill is lost.”

“So you’re saying if I found a Legendary Level 10 Potion for the Skill Stealth and I drank it and I didn’t have the Skill Points to lock the skill in, the potion…” Anton said as his voice trailed off.

Vie continued his train of thought,” The last Legendary Level 10 potion I saw for sale in the SYSTEM Shop sold for 450 Billion Credits. In your example the potion would be a very expensive drink,” Vie said with a wry smile.

“Yeah, expensive,” Anton said with a sigh, ”And that’s the same for Purchased or Stolen Skills as well?”

“For the Purchased skills from the SYSTEM Shop, yes, though the Shop won’t take your credits unless you learn the skill, that would be bad for business. As for Stolen Skills, I would wager that whatever power is allowing the user to steal the skill wouldn’t work unless they had the Skill Points available to learn the skill.”

“The system for Skill Points seems complicated,” Anton observed.

“It can be, but remember everyone earns more Skill Points…” Vie started to say before Anton interrupted her.

“Wait, How long would it take to unlock the Skill Points so they could be used to learn a new skill?” Anton asked.

Vie smiled, “And that is why we are talking. I can see from your Status Screen that the SYSTEM has that you currently have 56 unspent Skill Points. Let’s use a Master Level 1 skill as an example. To purchase and lock a Master Level 1 skill would cost 1 Skill Point. Just the other day I read a report that stated that it had been verified that three skills had been leveled to Master Level 1 in approximately 100 days of continuous use. Continuous use is defined as 6 times every minute for 100 days straight.

“Who could use a skill or ability for 100 days straight?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Vie said. “What matters is that it’s the first verifiable data we have obtained for how long it takes to reach Master Level. Now, if you were to purchase a Master Level 1 Skill and use one of your Skill Points that means that you would lock down that Skill Point until you used the Skill as much as you would need to reach that level normally.”

“So if Purchased a Master Level 10 Skill and locked 55 Skill Points it would be at least 100 days before I unlocked the Skill Points. That would leave me with only 1 Skill Point to learn new skills if I were to come across something later?”

“Exactly! Well, except that it would probably bee a lot longer than 100 days,” Vie said.

“So you're suggesting that I always keep 55 points in reserve just in case I find something I like so I can learn it then?”

“I am not suggesting anything,” Vie admonished, “ What I am saying is that most SYSTEM Users leave a pool of Skill Points, Spells Points, and in your case Psionic Points available for the purchase of skills, which you seem to have already done.”

Anton smiled, “Actually, the only reason I have saved up Skill and Psionic Points or slots, whatever they’re called, is because I was busy worrying about other things. I only purchased what I needed at the time. Additionally, there was a credit issue, not so much anymore.”

“Do you have an idea of what kind of skills you’d like?”

“I unlocked a Class Skill at Level 20. I still need to review my available choices. Additionally, I need skills in both short blades and swords and maybe a skill in dodging or at least deflecting blows.”

“There are quite a few Skills at Rare Level 1 for 100,000 credits each. They would tie up your Skill Points for a bit but as they only cost one Skill Point you’d still be able to learn any skill you came across up to level 9, at least until you level a couple of times or free up the Skill Points.”

“Well, I do want to keep a couple of Skill Points in reserve just in case so let's take a look at the list of skills. While I’m looking at those skills could pull up the psionic skills for me. Specifically, I’m looking for skills that enhance investigation, analyze or identify things. Also, the ability to use telepathy would be nice.”

“I can do that, though I would suggest that you look at your Class Skill choices first, there may be something there that is useful.”

Anton nodded opened his Notifications and found his Class Skill Notifications

Congratulations! You have reached Specter Level 20.

New Class Skills Are Now Available. You may choose 1 of the following skills.

Manifest – You may now manifest into a visible representation of yourself on the Plane your body entered the Spectral Dimension from. There is no cost. While Manifest others can see you but you still cannot hear, smell, touch, or taste them nor they you. There is no cost to use this skill, nor does it level normally.

Spectral Combat – You may spend 1 Psychic Energy per Combat Turn to enhance your Combat abilities and Defenses. Your body now exists in a state of constant flux that will allow normal attacks that you are aware of to pass through you while you may continue to attack your target. Note: Magical Weapons and Area of Effect attacks do full damage as do any attacks that you are not aware of. Combined with a very strong marital skill the Specter becomes death incarnate on a battlefield as no normal attack can hit them.

Spectral Touch – On touch drain 1 health per Skill Level per attack and convert it to an equal amount of Psychic Energy. This attack requires a successful touch attack.

Anton looked over the three skills. Previously he’d just earned skills but now at level 20, it looked like he was able to choose the order he learned them. Anton wondered if he’d be able to choose another one every 10 levels because he could use all three. Spectral Touch would be extremely useful for getting Psychic Energy back but he needed to be able to touch his target without the worry of being attacked. Spectral Combat would be a game changer but first, he needed to learn how to fight. So Manifest was the way to go. Anton made his choice and hit “Accept”

Congratulations you have learned the Class Skill Manifest. Skill Level Unique.

Anton closed his notification and immediately looked up and purchased the Common Level 1 Skill, “ASL” for 100 credits. ASL allowed him to use and understand American Sign Language (ASL). That would be very useful when he activated Manifest. He could purchase other versions of sign language, and he probably would, but he figured being able to use Sign Language in English would be his best bet for now.

The Class Skill didn’t cost him any Skill Points. ASL cost him 1 Skill Point. Next, he looked through the various Combat Skills and found three that seemed to be what he needed. The first skill was Short Blades, which included daggers, knives, dirks, and even Short Swords. The Second Skill was Long Blades which included a lot of sword types that he recognized from gaming including Long Swords, Great Swords, and the like. The Last Combat skill he found that he wanted to pick up was the Two-Weapon Fighting Style. The fighting style allowed him to use two short blades at the same time and reduced the penalty in his off-hand from -50% to -10% initially and further reduced and then improved his ability to use two weapons when the penalty was removed at Scarce Level 1. At Rare Level 1, The penalty was an 11% bonus to hit with both weapons. One of his favorite fictional characters had been a specific dark elf that loved to use two scimitars, now if he could just find a black panther….

Anton looked over the 4 skills. ASL was a common skill but the other three were all Rare Level 1 with a cost of 100,000 credits each. Now it was time to look for ranged weapons. He thought about getting crazy and choosing futuristic weapons but in the end, chose weapons he could easily understand; Bows, Crossbows, and Long Range Firearms. The Skill Bows allowed him to use any Bow. Crossbows allowed him to use any crossbows. Long Range Firearms focused on rifles, sniper rifles, and the like which was exactly what he wanted the skill for. Each skill increased his chance to hit by 1% per skill level. At Rare Level 1 that was a +21% bonus to hit. Each skill was also Rare Level 1 and would cost another 3 Skill Points and 300,000 credits

“Vie, hold on bringing all purchases out yet. I’ll get them at the end.”

“Very well Anton.”

Anton went back to the tablet and pulled up long-range weapons. He purchased 3 Berrett M82 Sniper Rifles and 1,000 rounds. For 100,000 credits, which he knew meant he was getting fleeced but he didn’t care. It wasn’t like it was his money anyway.

Then he went back to the skill list and looked for a skill that improved his personal storage and also made it harder for someone to try to use the skill Snatch on him.

After looking for a bit Anton found a skill but he wasn’t exactly happy with the level or cost.

Maggen’s Exceptional Storage

Rarity: Master

Level: 5

Skill Point Cost 15

Cost: 15 Million Credits

This Skill increases the size of the Personal Storage Perk to 20 cubic Feet. Also, there is no longer a weight limit. Additionally, as long as something is within the user's Personal Storage this skill will continue to increase in level normally. Invested Skill Points will be returned to the User approximately 314 days after initialization. Master Level 6 will occur 70 days after that and will continue to increase at a slower and slower rate, but it will increase. Please Note, Master Level 6 increases the area within the user's Personal Storage to 27 cubic feet.

Purchasing that skill would take him below the ability to purchase a level 9 skill but it couldn’t be helped. A skill that allowed him to carry more would be very useful. Another skill from the same entity was listed right below it which Anton quickly pulled up and read.

Maggen’s Gift

Rarity: Master

Level: 1

Skill Point Cost 1

Cost: 1 Million Credits

Prerequisite: The user must also have Maggen’s Exceptional Storage

Any skill that attempts to pilfer or steal from the user's Personal Storage receives a pre-chosen item of the user's choosing. If no item chosen by the user is present the thief's skill, ability, or perk works normally if successful.

WARNING. This Skill is only considered in use when preventing the theft of items from Personal Storage. There is no way for the creator of his Skill or the SYSTEM for that matter to know when the Skill Point tied up in this Skill will be released.

It sucked that the Skill Point would be tied up for who knew how long but the skill was perfect. Anton converted 10 Credits into 1,000 Copper pieces and deposited them into his inventory and chose “1 Copper” as the reward anyone who tried to steal from him would get. He laughed to himself. 7 Skill Points for seven Level 1 skills and 15 Skill Points for Maggen’s Exceptional Storage. That left him with 34 Skill Points. He could spend 6 more Skill Points and still have 28 Skill Points which would let him purchase any skill up to level 7. He would need to earn at least 27 more Skill Points to get back to 55 Skill Points in reserve.

Anton searched through the defensive skills and decided to just go with a Rare Level 1 Dodge Skill. That would increase his base Defense by 1% per Skill Level and 5% per skill level against any specific attack he was trying to dodge. That couldn’t be too bad and could come in quite useful.

Next, he looked up the skills to help him recover attribute pools, specifically Psychic Energy, and found Battle Meditation.

Battle Meditation - Increase All Resource Regeneration Rates by 1 per Skill Level per 1 turn or 10 seconds. This state can be maintained for a number of Combat Turns equal to the Skill Level. While in Battle Mediation the user is vaguely aware of their surroundings and will not react unless attacked.

Battle Mediation may only be utilized once every 100 turns or 16.66 minutes regardless of Skill Level.

This Skill was also available at Master Level 1 and would cost another Skill Point and 1 million credits. If he was reading the write-up correctly at Master Level 1 he could enter a state of Battle Mediation and regain 41 points of Stamina, Mana, and Psychic Energy back every 10 seconds for 41 turns which was just about 7 minutes. His current pool of Psychic Energy was only 252. That meant that in just over a minute he could be back to full Psychic Energy and ready to go every 17 minutes or so. 1 Skill Point and a million credits? Yes, please!

Anton decided to stop there for now. He had some combat skills and the weapons to use them. He also had a couple of defensive skills and even a new skill that would help him recover his Stamina and Psychic Energy quickly. He didn’t worry about mana, but if he had any mana it would recover faster now too. His purchases would leave him with 32 Skill Points which would allow him to learn any Level 7 skill he found as well as 4 Level 1 skills if he ran across any he liked. Now it was time to look for Psionic skills.

“Vie, did you find any Psionic Skills?” Anton asked.

Vie looked up from her tablet and smiled, “Of course, though there wasn’t as big of a selection as I’d like.”

“What do you mean?”

Vie hesitated for a moment before she said, “Well, the highest level skill the Shop has available is Common Level 1, on any of the skills. There are skills but no one has sold anything that would allow you to purchase any skills at higher than Common Level 1.

“That’s Fine, so what did you find?” Anton asked.

“Here take a look at this. I made a list with the highlights of each psionic skill,” Vie said as she turned the tablet around so Anton could see it.

Anton looked over the list

The following skills utilize 1 Psychic Energy per Combat Turn or use.

Eagle Eyes – Magnify visual target within Line of Sight by 10% plus 10% per skill level.

Aura Sight – Allows the user to see the auras of living creatures within 10 feet plus 1 foot per skill level multiplied by 10 per Rarity class

Detect Magic – Allows the user to see magical auras within 10 feet plus 1 foot per skill level multiplied by 10 per Rarity Class.

Mental Refuge - The user has honed their mental abilities to the point where they can create a Mindspace that they can retreat into. While in this state the user is cut off from their normal senses. Also, the user may speed up or slow down the passage of time as they see fit to factor equal to their Willpower Attribute Bonus.

Hyper Focus - Allows the user to dilate the passage of time mentally factor for each level. At level 1, two turns in the user's mind will pass for every turn in the physical world. This skill is very useful when trying to solve puzzles quickly or have a conversation mentally with another.

Analyze – Allows the user to determine the Race, Class, and Tier of the target if they have a class. More information can be obtained. Base chance is equal to 10%+1% per skill level + Intelligence Attribute Bonus.

Identify – This Skill Allows you to determine the rarity level of an item.

Telepathy - Establishes a link between two minds and allows conversations and sharing of memories between both.

Establish Link allows the use of other mental skills and perks.

The following skills have a variable Psychic Energy Cost.

Quickened Healing – This Skill will allow the user to heal 1 hit point per psychic Energy spent. The maximum that can be healed in a single combat turn is equal to the user's skill level.

Telekinesis – Lift up to 10 pounds + 1 Pound per skill level x10 per Rarity Class. Objects may be moved up to 1 foot per skill level per combat turn. Psychic Energy Cost equals 1 Psychic Energy or Psychic Energy equal to 10% of the weight of the object to be moved, whichever is greater.

“Is this it?” Anton asked.

“That is it,” Vie said, disappointment apparent in her voice. Unlike, spells and normal skills, psionic skills or powers are few and far between. Also, Their current rarity has increased their cost tenfold. Sometimes some psionic skills of higher levels come through the SYSTEM Shop but more often than not, the only skills available are some common ones.”

“That’s fine Vie and thank you for getting them and please add them to my list. Now how do we add the skills and equipment I’ve ordered.”

Normally, I’d say Magic, “Vie said with a laugh,” but, your situation makes it so that we need to convert and implant the knowledge. It doesn’t take any longer but might be a little disorienting.”

“Does that cost extra?” Anton asked.

“It could, but you are spending 16,710,100 credits so I’m waving the installation fee for all skills”

“Thank you Vie”

“Don’t mention it, my commission for this transaction is 501,303 credits. I’m getting a very pretty penny for just helping you.”

Anton nodded and followed Vie as she led him to a door and into a room with what looked like a dentist chair at one end, “If you would sit down and make yourself comfortable we’ll get his tarted, Vie said as a skull cap lowered from a panel that had opened in the ceiling. Anton shrugged and sat down. A moment later Vie was beside him and attaching the skull cap to his head as she talked.

“Because of your immunity to magic, the spells we would normally use to impart knowledge into you do not work. This device is from a technologically advanced society that mastered skill downloads. While The SYSTEM deems this method of training as ‘safe’, I need to say that there is a very slight chance that use can lead to death. Again in your case, it doesn’t matter, though if the process does kill you, the specific skill you purchased will not be available to you from the shop ever again. Still, the SYSTEM Shop will offer a full refund for the unlearnable skill.

Anton nodded as Vie brought a piece of rubber toward his mouth, “To bite on so you don’t bite your tongue.”

One portion of Anton’s mind wanted to say, “No, don’t use the crazy brain-frying machine.” The more pragmatic side of Anton’s mind told that side of his mind to “Shut the hell up and enjoy the ride.”

Anton nodded as Vie put the piece of rubber into his mouth which he bit down on. He watched as she stepped back and a moment later Anton’s mind was flooded with information. Thankfully, at least he was thankful, his mind overloaded and everything went dark.