Gonna grind like there’s no tomorrow!
The most important thing to grind? Of course, it’s magic!
This was the most frustrating thing Beyn had enlightened me of. I’d thought I’d made use of an awesome hack in using my free magic gland on Gravity Mana, and in a way I had.
If I’d used it on fire, water, earth or something basic, it would have been a massive waste since I’m now able to produce those Mana types without too much stress. The problem is that having the gland doesn’t give me access to what I really need to make use of it, which is the spell forms. I have the generic spell shapes I’ve been using, but according to Beyn, every Mana type has particular spells that make best of its attributes. The more advanced the Mana type, the more specialised the spells will be.
Even though he’d never seen Gravity Magic before, he was sure it was a particularly advanced form of Mana, which means the Skill I want, Gravity Mana Affinity, will be deep in the Skill tree somewhere.
In order to get access to it, I have to Level up my basic affinities, which will unlock the next rank of affinities, and so on until I finally get to Gravity.
Once I get the Water Magic affinity to the third rank, the next wave of affinity Skills will unlock. That is my most immediate goal. Apparently, the exact types of Mana that unlock are not necessarily set, and can vary from individual to individual. With a bit of luck, I might even see Gravity Mana in the next rank. Though Beyn thought it was extremely unlikely.
There’s apparently a powerful Skill fusion available by Levelling all of the basic affinities to the third rank, and then fusing them to form the Skill Elemental Mana Mastery, which gives powerful boosts to the basic elements. Despite most local mages aiming for this elemental path, it seems like a waste to me. The higher ranks of magic will surely also have more potent fusions available. I don’t want to waste my time on the lower-level stuff anymore.
Rush to the top!
Tiny, Crinis and I settle in to grind our Skills, repetitively, endlessly, mind numbingly. For me, that means forming and releasing the ice Mana construct over and over again, casting water and ice spells at everything. The walls, dipping into the Dungeon and launching them at monsters, at Tiny once by accident, and the odd rock.
Using Skills in combat situations against monsters gives a much faster boost than just hitting the walls, but being as mentally exhausted as we are, I don’t want us diving into frenetic combat. Keeping to the upper tunnels and picking on some plants is as much as I’m willing to commit to at this point.
Just like this, we grind, and grind, and grind.
Crinis is focusing on her tentacle Skills, grappling, shredding, dismembering. After much persuasion, I eventually get a mortified Crinis to attempt to use her Skills on me. My thinking is that she’d get more experience using her Skills on a highly evolved monster like me.
She was reluctant to say the least, which resulted in one of my stranger conversations as a monster.
[Dammit, Crinis! Cut me!]
[Nooooo…]
[Don’t you want experience? Don’t you want some of these juicy Levels!]
[I do… but!]
[Then hit me, dammit! Get those tentacles on this carapace. I order ** you to try and carve my bum off!]
[WHAT! I… Noooooo!]
Unable to deny my direct order, a screaming and weeping Crinis was forced to attack and attempt to dismember me. Her sawing limbs and intense crushing strength were powerful, to be sure, but they couldn’t crack my shiny carapace.
She did get a few Levels out of the experience, only… the trauma it caused her wasn’t worth the effort.
10. Grinding all Day, Grinding all Night
The next few days pass in a blur. Crinis, Tiny and I continued to use our Skills over and over again in the search of those elusive Levels. In order to push harder, we forego sleep. No true training montage includes sleep!
This does mean things got a little hazy after a while.
Tiny and I took the next group of villagers who changed their classes through the shortcut in order to power Level them through the transition. Supposedly, this boost will help the most, since they’re switching from such weak classes to something with a non-horrific stat gain. These first ten Levels or so will give them the oomph they’ll need to accelerate to the point they can fight monsters on their own.
After the humans returned to their village, it was back to the grind for us. I eventually switched to grinding on my Bite Skills. According to Beyn, it’s highly likely that a fusion of Bite Skills exists if I can get them to the same rank. I currently have three Bite Skills, the highest being my Shattering Bite, then Splintering Chomp, and finally Shredding Bite. If I can get all three to the same rank, then the option to fuse them will likely become available. The higher they get before that point, the more potent the fusion will be. I’m going to push and see if I can get them all to rank four. That would be the best outcome.
And all the while, those twenty pupae sit still, somewhere above my head, like ticking time bombs. It should take them roughly a week in pupal form before they hatch.
The next two days bring more grinding until we collapse in a heap, too exhausted to continue any further. Some sleep is in order.
Before we rest, I check our statuses to bask in the fruits of our labours.
Tiny’s gained four Levels in Expert Ape Boxing, two in Brutal Uppercut, advancing the Skill to Severe Brutal Uppercut, three Levels in Fancy Feet, increasing in rank to Dazzling Fancy Feet, and his Smash Skill has become Heavy Smash Level three.
His punching Skills have all Levelled up, making his fists even deadlier in combat. I still have no idea what Fancy Feet does, but I suspect it has something to do with balance and footwork, as opposed to actual dancing. I have no proof though…
All in all, a respectable boost to his strength, but Dr. Anthony recommends further grinding.
Crinis has also reaped some fruits.
Her Advanced Shadow Flesh Manipulation was the main beneficiary, raising it to the third rank, Expert Shadow Flesh Manipulation Level one. Advanced Grappling gained three Levels to reach Level seven, Enhanced Tremor Sense raised two Levels, her Tentacle Walking reached the second rank, at Smooth Tentacle Walking Level one. Crinis also showed her dedicated attitude by obsessively grinding her Mana Manipulation and pushed it to Mana Shaping Level two.
With her flesh manipulation reaching new heights, combined with her enhanced mass, Crinis is now able to manifest a truly ridiculous number of tentacles, and her control over them has grown impressive. Razor thin tentacle wires, tentacle nets, you name it, she can do it. As a shadow puppeteer, she is without equal.
As for myself…
Heh… heh-heh… Gwehehehehehe.
BEHOLD!
Mana Scrooge, two Levels up to Level three. Cerebral Endurance upgraded to Advanced Cerebral Endurance Level two. Deep Meditation up four to Level six. Stamina increased in rank to Advanced Stamina Level two. Mana Transformation went up three to Level nine. Shredding Bite up four to Level five. Splintering Chomp up two Levels to Level six, and Shattering Bite rocketed up to Level twelve!
Most importantly, Advanced Water Magic Affinity gained a whopping seven Levels to ten and advanced to third rank—Expert Water Magic Affinity!
MUAHAHAHAHAAA!—GASP—So tired… Phew.
MUAHAHAHAHAAA!
It nearly melted all of my brains together, but I did it. How many thousands of water and ice spells did I have to cast? Don’t ask! I don’t want to think about it…
According to Beyn, reaching the third rank should unlock the next set of magical affinities. No sooner do I spend the Skill Point to advance the Skill, than I pop open the menu and see what my options are.