The First Archmage

(Gavin)

"There you are," I say, and Kade jumps, spinning to face me. "I completed the spell several hours ago, but promptly passed out due to… stuff. It is stable and will work."

"What is it?"

"A sort of pocket dimension," I answer. "Where time passes slower. At Level 1, it'll pass at the same rate. However, growth for Skills is increased while within."

"That won't be of much use," he says. "With the rate at which people regenerate their Mana."

"Actually," I say. "One of the reasons it's such a powerful resource is because everyone's Mana Regeneration will be using the Mana Regeneration of the creator of the space for it while within the space. Considering how much it takes to sustain the space if I don't set an amount of time immediately, that would mean the creator would have to have a rather large RRN. Otherwise, they would have to just set it for a set period of time, and it'd only last for that, and it would be limited by their Maximum Resource Pools for each Resource. Due to my absurd rate… it would be beneficial.

"The downside," I say. "Is that it can only hold two people other than myself per Level, and it's currently only at Level 1. Time will pass at the normal rate until it goes up a Level. If you would like to enter it with another magician in your party, or send in two magicians, then we can see if I can't Level it sooner, so that we can double that time and increase how many can go in while still having growth."

He nods, thinking.

"There are two magicians," he tells me. "Who could benefit from it. They're among the weakest in the area. With the proper formulas not having nasty backlash for failures, it will be safe to practice."

I nod, then tell him we can start now, or in the morning.

"Why don't we go for a few hours now?" He asks. "If you're up for that, then we can do more in the morning."

I nod, then tell him that we'll need to use somewhere more private than my inn. He leads me to his home, and tells me that we can use the spare room for it, then leaves to fetch the other two.

While in here, I put up defensive barriers and runes, to protect the space from intruders and eavesdroppers. I'm not sure if passing through it or not will reveal my true form, and want to be safe.

After a few minutes, Kade returns with two female magicians around our age. They kind of stare at my body, probably because I'm currently in just my pants and boots.

"When we enter the training space," I tell them. "It may force me into my true form, akin to when I pass through Rifts. If it does, it may also force my Aura of Power into activeness, which will cause a powerful, overwhelming sense of fear and awe, similar to what you'd feel if you were in the presence of a Divine Being. Be prepared for that. If I'm forced into my true form and the Aura of Power comes out, I'll deactivate it immediately and revert back to this form, though you'll still be affected by the flux for a moment. Are you two ready?"

The girls nod, then I focus on a space in front of me, channeling my powers and Resources, weaving the spell. A few moments later, a black doorway with emptiness beyond it appears, standing around seven feet in height and three and a half in width.

"After you, ladies," I give them a slight bow, and the two magicians enter the Training Dimension, though a bit cautiously.

Once they're inside, I let Kade know that I'm not sure how it would react if a third person tried entering, and he assures me he'll make sure no one does. Once he says that, I enter, and feel myself revert to my true form. Immediately, I shut off the aura, though the magicians have already felt it.

"I did warn you," I tell them as I disappear my wings and the weirdness to my eyes.

I suppose after seeing me with my full CHA, seeing the Human form with a much, much lower CHA isn't that useful, and training doesn't really affect me much if I'm not doing it in my real form. Increases don't carry over through Formshift.

At least, not yet. Not sure if it can at a higher Level or not.

"We will remain in here for three hours," I tell them. "Your Mana Regeneration will be nearly-instantaneous, it will seem, while you are in here. This means that your training will be based upon your stamina amounts.

"And before you begin," I say. "I would like to bestow upon you two a Gift.

"Come now, and dance with me, dance your way up-up high, learn and live and never forget, never fade away. Come, now, and dance with me, dance your way to endless heights, no matter the form of your fights. Come, now, and dance with me, dance your way to eternity!"

The moment I finish the chanting for the Gift in Silvar, my remaining Spirit drains a fair bit, and the two magicians glow with a golden light that fades a few moments later, and their eyes widen.

That particular Gift grants an All-Experience bonus of a thousand percent to each Target. Anything that is All-Experience affects learning and Leveling all Skills.

In other words, they're receiving an even larger bonus while in here than just the training room provides. The bonus itself lasts for three hours. Once Training Dimension reaches Level 2, I can test to see if it relies on real time or current time.

Of all the Spirits I interviewed during my search for Kade, that particular Spirit caught my attention, as did its range of Gifts.

The Training Dimension I created stretches over ten miles in space, and currently has the appearance of plains. I wave my hand, and a mile out, a shimmering wall appears, blocking visibility and access to the other side.

With another wave of my hand and weaving of magics, a variety of targets appear in the area. Some are still, some are moving, and several of golem-like constructs.

"I will be in the other portion," I inform the two magicians. "Practicing my own magics."

They nod, then I fly into the air with a gentle touch of Air Manipulation, then through the barrier, where I spend the next three hours using what Resources I can working on my spells.

This is my first real attempt to Level things in quite awhile, and adding on the boosts and my innate bonuses and bonuses from my Classes and Bloodlines and Species, it becomes somewhat easy to do so. I start with the lower-Tier Spells first.

The first spell I master is Firebolt Chain, and the moment I do, a notification appears in my vision.

You Have Mastered a Tier III Skill (Firebolt Chain IV)!

+3,000 Experience!

More Experience bonuses…

Considering that Firebolt Chain is actually Tier VI right now, I suppose the bonus is based on its base Tier.

Shaking my head, I get to work on mastering my other -bolt Chain Skills. I manage to bring them up to Mastery as well, and so begin working on Ice Lance. I'm not doing it for the Experience bonuses, as those… are pretty useless to me, but rather, to get them out of the way.

When the training period ends, I have brought four total spells to Mastery, and Ice Lance up five Levels. I probably could have brought it to Mastery, except that I was dividing my focus between it and watching the two ladies train, making sure to adjust their targets as they did.

I don't think they realized I could hear them talking. Other stuff aside, they're amazed and impressed by their ability to cast spells repeatedly without worrying about running out. I'll need to make sure everyone understands that they need to be careful out of the Training Dimension, as their Mana won't be regenerating that quickly.

As soon as the bonus fades from me, I remove the barrier and fly towards the girls, landing in front of them as their training targets disappear.

"You two make progress?" I ask.

"Quite a lot, thank you," they say at the same time, blushing.

"Good," I say. "Let us leave. You two are likely exhausted, and I will need to rest before doing this throughout tomorrow and the day after for the rest of the party."

We leave the Training Dimension, and as soon as we're through, I shut off my aura and end the spell, then revert back to my Tyler form, yawning. This form doesn't have my absurd CHA, because it wasn't designed to basically seduce everyone into doing what I wanted, and it's become a bit more comfortable for me.

"How did it go?" Tyler asks them.

"We both brought some of our Tier I Skills up to to Level 5 or higher," one of the girls answers.

"Though Tyler was hiding himself from us the entire time," the other tells him.

"I was training in my real form," I state. "The level of power contained within it is immense, and were it not for the Training Dimension's ability to restore the damage to the landscape, you would have seen the results of that training everywhere."

The two girls look confused.

"He's Advanced his Species," Kade explains. "His base abilities are much higher, so his spells are much, much more powerful as a result."

"I am exhausted," I tell them. "So I will be heading back to the inn. You three have a good night."

"You can stay here," Kade tells me. "Rather than walking all the way back while exhausted. I'm sure holding that open was draining."

"It was," I tell him. "And I don't need to walk."

A moment later, I am back at my room in the inn. I strip and lie down, passing out immediately.

When morning comes, I take a long soak in the bath, then eat breakfast, dress, and Teleport to Kade, who jumps when I appear next to him. He's speaking with a young Knight. The warrior has blond hair and ice-blue eyes. Judging by his status, he's not far from Tier III.

At least Kade was able to easily move on. Michael and Warren… still have their times.

Such as the tackle-hug Michael tries to give me every time he hasn't seen me in awhile. I understand it's partly from his wolfish nature, but… it's also kind of annoying.

"I am refreshed," I inform Kade. "And will be able to sustain it for awhile, though I would much prefer to do it in batches of three real hours with an hour's rest between."

"Alright," he says.

"That includes once I can hold it open for longer."

"Alright," he laughs. "I already have the next two trainees selected. Henry, can you go grab Samuel? The two of you will be training within it next."

Henry nods, then I head to the training room, returning to just wearing pants, then waiting. Once the three of them have arrived, I give them the summary of what to expect once we enter, then I summon the Training Dimension, and the three of us pass through.

After returning to my more Human appearance, I give them the Spirit's Gift, then manifest their training targets and the golem-like constructs before flying through the barrier I summon and get to work.

I bring Ice Lance to Mastery, and then work on Shroud of Gardens and Mysts of the Lake, using both of them in the space I created, which now contains a lake. Then, once they're summoned, I generate more golem-like constructs and begin attacking with Black Holes and Blood Smites, mixing in some Spears of Frozen Lightning and Voids a few times.

When the three hours end, we leave the Training Dimension, I pull back my form and cancel the spell, then rest for an hour while Kade has Henry fetch two more soldiers for the third round. When this one ends, I receive a pleasant notification.

Training Dimension (Mana) is Now Level 2!

Learning and Leveling Bonus: 200%

Time Dilation: 2 Dimensional Hours per Real Hour Maximum

Non-Casters Contained: Up to 4

Tier X Skill Leveled Up!

+1,000 Experience!

I feel like everything is made to mock me, now, considering how little I can actually do with Experience, personally.

Not that it will matter. I will give them all a Quest for the kill when it's time to run against that thing, to burn up some of this extra Experience I have. Two thousand each should be satisfactory.

Maybe. How many are there?

"Twenty-two of us," Kade answers when I ask. "Why?"

"Just thinking," I answer. "Is that including you?"

"Yeah."

So 37,400 Experience for me to spend for that. Perfectly fine by me, even if I weren't increasing that extra Experience amount on what now seems to be a frequent basis.

Wait. Tier X Skills grant 10,000 Experience immediately, and probably another 1,000 every Level. Possibly more when it hits Level 10. Does that mean Tier X Skills are almost as difficult to Level as – or just as or more than – restoring Jozan to power back when I first obtained the Blood Oath Quest?

It truly isn't meant for normal beings, is it?

The rest of the day passes fast, and when I return to my inn, I pass out fast. The next day passes fast for me as well, and on the eighth day, the final day my Fear Ward will be active, Kade gathers his party to go over the plan.