Chapter 149: Special Class Quest

Jaxir stood in the fading silver-blue light while the remains of the Drowned Willow Witch dissolved across the island. The notification awarding him Grand Archmage still floated in front of him, and after staring at it for another moment, he finally pulled open his full status screen. There had been enough changes over the last few days that he wanted to see exactly what the game thought he had become.

―

Name: Jaxir Chance

Class: Magic

Level: 8

Alignment: Bad

Experience: 24,302/40,000

Coins: 737,279 (Silver), 429,744 (Copper)

==

Marks: Jester

Titles: Grand Archmage; Rulebreaker; Physique Elite

==

HP: 210/210

MP: 514/3,800

==

Core Stats

Body: 21

Mind: 380 (+350)

Free Points: 0

==

Abilities

Body: N/A

Mind: Cast (Lv54); Channel (Lv53); Attune (Lv50); Wither (Lv43); Bind (Lv46); Fracture (Lv47); Entropy (Lv10); Unravel (Lv10); Drain (Lv12); Haunt (Lv13)

==

Divine Abilities: Encore; Luck of the Draw; Roll of the Dice; Sleight of Hand; Last Laugh

Divinity Points: 0

―

Jaxir’s gaze paused on the Mind Stat first, since replacing Archmage with Grand Archmage had added another fifty effective Mind and pushed his maximum MP all the way to 3,800. The L2 Hexes had all risen another five Levels as well, while the battle itself had finally dragged Cast past both Channel and Attune. More than anything, though, seeing all three Root Abilities sitting above Level 50 made the last several days of grinding feel considerably more worthwhile.

He focused on the new Title.

―

Title: Grand Archmage

Type: Contingent

Description: Four levels of comprehension beyond your peers. Your understanding of your Root Abilities has surpassed the limits expected of your Level to such an extent that even the highest ordinary standards of magical practice can no longer contain it. You are now a Grand Archmage amongst a world of magic practitioners.

[+100 Mind. +15 Levels to L1 Branch Abilities. +10 Levels to L2 Branch Abilities. +5 Levels to L3 Branch Abilities.]

―

[Your Title "Archmage" has been expunged by a greater Title]

―

"Not bad." Jaxir smiled and dismissed the screen, only for another one to take its place before his hand finished moving. The border was different from an ordinary quest notification, formed from thin silver lines covered in characters he couldn’t read, and something inside his Reflection Staff pulsed the moment it appeared.

―

[The Grand Archmage Crystal has recognized its bearer.]

[Special Class Quest Generated]

―

Quest: ???

Type: Special Class Quest

Grade: ???

Description:

In an age long since buried beneath ruined kingdoms and forgotten names, three mortal mages rose so far above their peers that they dared to claim titles reserved for the divine: the Mage Alchemic God, the Mage Formation God, and the Mage Combat God. None possessed Divinity, yet each carried the name of God openly, secure in the knowledge that no one powerful enough to challenge them was willing to try.

One transformed mana and matter until even the impossible could be refined, another engraved formations so profound that entire regions bent beneath their laws, while the last perfected magical combat until spell, movement, and instinct became one. At the height of their power, the three attempted to unite their Paths into a single inheritance that would surpass them all and endure long after their deaths.

They failed.

The Path they created consumed all three in their prime, shattering their legacies into scattered tomes, treasures, and incomplete remnants that preserved only fragments of what they had once achieved. No successor ever managed to reconstruct the whole.

Now, one of those remnants has chosen you.

The Grand Archmage Crystal, once cherished by the Mage Combat God, has recognized your talent and drawn Fate and Karma toward your path. Should you accept, you will be given the opportunity to pursue the same road that destroyed the three greatest mortal mages of their era.

Should you refuse, no punishment will follow, and the Crystal will simply await another worthy bearer.

Objective: ???

Rewards: ???

[Accept?]

―

Jaxir pursed his lips while the lights drifting over the lake slowly settled back into their old wandering patterns.

"That’s a terrible sales pitch." Jaxir chuckled. "Obviously I’m in."

How could he not be? It wasn’t just because of the pressure bearing down on him, but because the potential benefits were way too great.

The screen disappeared, and Jaxir immediately felt something change inside the staff resting in his hand. The Grand Archmage Crystal had already elevated his effective mana handling while he was an Archmage, but he had actually fulfilled its condition now, and its MP recovery had doubled from one hundred to two hundred per minute.

That alone doubled the ceiling of Perfect Mana Cycle, allowing the staff to gather enough mana to support two hundred MP of casting every minute before Jaxir needed to contribute anything himself.

Then another screen opened.

―

Name: Reflection Staff

Grade: Ultra

Level: 10

Abilities:

Simple Cast MP Cost Reduction: 100%

Charged Cast MP Cost Reduction: 90%

L1 Ability MP Cost Reduction: 80%

L2 Ability MP Cost Reduction: 50%

[Perfect Mana Cycle]

The Staff continuously gathers surrounding mana. Any Cast formed at or beneath the Staff’s current mana-gathering speed consumes 0 MP from the user.

Charged Casts may also consume 0 MP so long as the mana gathered by the Staff keeps pace with the charge.

[Grand Archmage Crystal]

MP Recovery: +200 MP/min

[L3 Imprint]

Select 1 L3 Ability ahead of its normal unlock requirements and permanently imprint it into the Staff.

The selected Ability may be stored as a completed Charged Attack and released once every hour.

[Grand Archmage’s Glance]

Observe an Ability belonging to another Magic Class user and reproduce it to the observed user’s level of control.

Only Root and L1 Abilities may be copied.

L1 Abilities above Level 20 cannot be reproduced.

―

Jaxir read the last ability once, then went back and read it again while his smile grew. His staff had already become ridiculous when he fused the Crystal Ball into it, but Grand Archmage’s Glance wasn’t another cost reduction or passive increase. If another Magic Class player used a Root or qualifying L1 Ability in front of him, the staff could simply let him reproduce what they could do at their own level of control.

The mist drifting across the lake caught the silver-blue light still running through the Reflection Staff, while loose willow leaves turned slowly across the water around the island. Jaxir looked from the new ability back toward the Special Class Quest now sitting among his active quests, then laughed under his breath.

"Yeah." Jaxir spun the staff once through his hand and caught it. "No question."

―

[Special Class Quest Accepted]

―