Spell Weaver-Chapter 84: Rank Advancement

Alex’s boots dragged across the front steps of his fancy mansion steps. He looked down at his shoes as he trudged up the stone stairs, unable to pull his thoughts from Rylan’s words at the Voss Estate.

‘…your progression will plateau once your luck runs out. Mine won’t.’

Alex made a frustrated sound as the words rung through his head. He grimaced as he thought back to his original thought about wanting to help his friends and he knew it was true, but didn’t lessen the sting of feeling like he was going to start falling behind if he didn’t start progressing again.

He went to open the heavy wooden door, only to have it open in front of his hand before it even made contact. Stumbling, he paused for a moment, then noticed Edwin standing on the other side of the door.

“Master Moore,” he greeted.

“Thank you, Edwin,” Alex said as he entered. He removed his jacket, and the butler stepped up smoothly to offer a hand and take the coat.

“Samuel is waiting for you in the living room. I believe he has something that he’s excited to share with you.”

“Hmm? Alright, thanks.” Alex answered distractedly.

Moving to the living room, he thought back to Rylan’s smirk and the shoulder check that he’d taken in the hallway. His mind couldn’t help but daydream about how he could have responded differently in the situation to at least come out more on top. He’d been so surprised by the larger warrior’s change in attitude and demeanor that he hadn’t even been bracing for the physical contact.

If it had been a punch, would I even have reacted quickly enough?

An idle, more childish part of his brain thought through how he’d like to have slipped the shoulder bump or stuck his foot out and tripped the larger man. Then, he would have been able to look down at Rylan and make his own snarky comment.

The worst part of the situation was that Alex didn’t feel like Rylan was all that wrong. He hadn’t gained a level since returning from the Epic Rift over a month ago. Sure, he’d improved a few skills here and there, but his overall power had remained largely the same.

The Teams Event shouldn’t even matter that much. Rylan clearly thought it was a competition for his team to win, but Alex hadn’t been thinking about it like that at all. His focus was on helping his friends grow stronger, making sure they could handle themselves, and trying to get the group to work together. He hadn’t even put much thought into how they might win or place high on the board. They were just going to try to get into the Rifts that they could and gather points while helping everyone progress.

So why does it bother me so much?

“Alex! Alex!” Sam’s excited voice cut through his brooding. The teenager practically bounced up from the couch and over to Alex. His face lit up with an enthusiasm that was hard to ignore in the normally quiet young man. “Something amazing happened today!”

Before Alex could respond, a blue window materialized in front of Sam as he shared the System window with Alex.

Congratulations, Awakened! You have reached level 30.

You qualify for advancement to D Rank.

Upon accepting this prompt:

Your Race will be upgraded, and your physical and magical form will undergo enhancementAccess to Epic Rarity Classes will be unlockedYour body’s affinity for mana will increaseDo you accept? Yes/No

Alex felt a complex mix of emotions surge through him. The pride he felt for Sam warred with a hint of jealousy that he quickly tried to suppress. Sam was looking at him with such excitement, clearly seeking his approval and sharing the moment of triumph with him.

Don’t be that guy. He deserves this.

“That’s incredible, Sam,” Alex said, forcing a big smile on his face. He stepped forward and pushed his hand through the glass-like window to ruffle the teenager’s hair. “What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to accept it? This is a huge step forward.”

Sam smiled and dismissed the window. “I just wanted to show it to you. Also, Edwin and I were talking before you got home, he has read up on this even more than I have. I’m- I’m going to accept it now.”

“Nice, do it!” Alex said, the teen’s nervous excitement rubbing off on him.

There was a pause, and Alex knew Sam was navigating his System window. Alex took a step back and wanted to witness the advancement through his Heavenly Eye, interested to see if there was mana involved in the process.

The effect was immediate and spectacular.

Golden motes of light materialized around Sam’s body, swirling in complex patterns that reminded Alex of a more complicated version of the motes he saw around his own body during a level up. But something was different. He could see the lights around Sam. Normally the motes of experience, regardless of if it were from a kill, a level up, or a token, could only be seen by the person who they were for.

Can I see them because of the Heavenly Eye?

That made little sense to Alex. He hadn’t seen Sam level up his [Rejuvenation] earlier in the week.

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“Master Moore,” Edwin’s voice came from the doorway to the foyer. “I can see the lights as well. How peculiar.”

The golden particles began to spin faster, lifting Sam several inches off the ground. Most of the motes spiraled up to his head and then fell lazily down like snow. Sam looked around with wide eyes and his shaggy hair and green sweat shirt lifted around him, floating as if under water.

Slowly, all the motes pushed toward the surface of his skin and held there for a moment. They caused Sam’s skin to glow a bright and golden yellow and moved along with his arm as he lifted his hand in front of his face for a better view.

Without warning, the lights exploded outward and floated at varying distances around Sam in a sphere. It caused Alex to take a step back, though there was no damage done to any of the surroundings. Sam gasped as the golden lights hung, suspended like a small cosmos around him.

He hung frozen in the middle of the round lights, suspended, and just as he opened his mouth to say something, most of the lights rushed together in a stream and directly into his chest. Those that didn’t join the stream, about twenty percent of the total motes, all shot directly up and through the high ceiling of the living room.

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The entire process only lasted seconds, but when Sam’s feet touched the ground again, there was something distinctly different about him.

“I feel…” Sam rolled his shoulders and his eyes were wide with wonder. “Everything feels clearer somehow. I feel… lighter? Like I’ve been wearing heavy clothes my whole life and just took them off.”

Edwin cleared his throat. “If I may, Samuel. I recently read an article about Rank advancement, the one we were discussing before Master Moore arrived. While this transformation doesn’t directly increase your stats, it fundamentally improves your body’s ability to handle physical and magical energies. You’ll find yourself more naturally resilient, and your future training will yield better results.”

Sam looked at his hands in amazement. “So, I’ll get stronger faster?”

“It’s more that your body is now better equipped to handle the increasing demands of higher stats and magical abilities. This is particularly important as you’ll soon be choosing to evolve or advance your class, which will cause you to gain more stats.”

Alex watched the exchange, trying to focus on Sam’s joy rather than his own feelings of stagnation and thoughts of doubt that Rylan has fanned to life. His friend had earned this moment, and Alex wouldn’t let his personal frustrations taint it.

He spoke up, reminding Sam of something they’d spoken about a week before. “Remember those advanced rituals I was telling you about? It’s making more and more sense why they want people to wait to use them. Now, I guess with your new and improved Rank, your body will be more receptive to get actual gains from the body tempering rituals.”

Sam’s eyes lit up further. “Oh, man. I forgot about that!”

“We’ll need to put some thought into what you want to do, though. They don’t look pleasant. Almost all of them look like some sort of mental or physical test, and stopping halfway through could ruin the potential to do it in the future.”

The warning seemed to temper Sam’s excitement some, though Alex saw him gripping his hand and making a fist.

“I want to try one of them,” Sam said firmly. “I’m sure it’ll be hard, and we can take some time to pick one. But I want to get stronger, too. I feel different now. Better. I- I really don’t know how to explain it.” He flexed his hand again while looking at it closely. “It’s like… everything is more real somehow.”

Alex nodded, thinking that he had a good idea of what Sam was trying to describe.

His mind drifted to Val sleeping upstairs in his office. The Mana Pearl had been sitting in his spatial bag for over a month now, waiting for the “right moment” or in case something better appeared on the Auction House.

Maybe seeing Sam was the push I needed.

“Come on,” Alex said suddenly. “ I want to show you something.”

Sam followed him up the stairs as Alex led the way to his office and opened the door. Val was curled up in his favorite spot on the cat tree behind the door, at head height. His translucent fins rippled gently as he slept as if pulled by some unseen current.

Alex put his hand down by his side and reached into his personal spatial pouch while willing the Mana Pearl to his hand.

“Is that…” Sam’s voice dropped to an excited whisper. “Are you going to use the Mana Pearl?”

He lifted his hand, and the orb glowed with an inner light, casting soft blue reflections across the wooden floor. Even in his sleep, Valtherion’s fins twitched at the presence of such concentrated mana.

“Yeah,” Alex said softly. “I’ve been holding onto it, waiting for the right time. But seeing you advance today…” He trailed off, a slight twinge of guilt mixing with his feelings of anticipation. Val would likely become stronger than him after this evolution.

But isn’t that the point? We’re a bonded pair. He’s my companion and just like my strength is his strength, his is also mine.

Fuck, why am I feeling so greedy? I owe so much to my friends, and they are the entire reason that I pushed so hard to make it out of the Rift. Without Valtherion and Sam, I wouldn’t have gotten out, anyway. They deserve everything I can give them… and then some more.

He took a step toward Val’s sleeping form. “Hey buddy, wake up. I’ve got something for you.”

Valtherion’s eyes fluttered open, immediately focusing on the pearl in Alex’s hand. The mana wyrm’s head stretched up and out, his fishlike nostrils twitching as if smelling the mana radiating from the material item.

“Mana?” Val asked hopefully, his body slowly unfurling from his perch.

Alex couldn’t help but smile. “Better than a Mana Stone this time, buddy. Way better.”

He held out the pearl and Val circled it curiously before opening his mouth and gently picking it up with his teeth. Val’s eyes went comically wide, and he zipped around the office in excited loops with the pearl glowing between his jaws.

“Good! Good mana!” Valtherion’s voice was giddy with excitement, and Alex winced at the internal volume shared between their link.

“Val, you need to eat it, not just carry it around,” Alex said as he tried not to laugh. His companion did another loop around his head, and he turned from left to right to try to keep him in his view.

Val paused mid-flight while hovering in place as he considered the statement. Then, he tossed the pearl up in the air and caught it in his mouth, swallowing it whole.

The effect was almost immediate. Val’s usually graceful movements became wobbly, and he started to drift sideways like a balloon losing air. His fins waved lazily, and his eyes had a distinctly unfocused look.

There was a keening in Alex’s mind that reminded him of Val’s early method of communication, sounding like an animal calling out underwater. Slowly, words came through in a slurred voice. “Room… spinning…”

Sam tried to stifle a laugh as Val attempted to right himself, only to do a slow backward somersault instead.

“You okay there, buddy?” Alex asked while reaching out to steady the wyrm.

Val’s response was a happy but drowsy purr that reminded him of a happy cat. Then, he slowly began to drift upward, weaving back and forth like a leaf falling in reverse. He made his way to the highest platform of the cat tree, occasionally bumping into the pillar before managing to curl into a tight ball.

Alex and Sam shared amused looks.

“Well, that was…” Sam started.

“Something?” Alex finished, shaking his head with a huge smile.

They could just barely see Val’s curled form at the top of the cat tree, but what caught their attention were the two golden motes of light that began to drift lazily around his form. They were visible to each of them, similar to Sam’s transformation. Every few seconds, another mote would appear and float slowly through the air before absorbing into Val’s sleeping form.

“How long do you think it’ll take?” Sam whispered, watching another light materialize.

“The article I read said it could be a few hours or a few days at the most,” Alex replied. He watched the motes of light, and a part of him wanted to use [Feather Step] to jump up and watch the process more closely. “His evolution isn’t instantly like your rank advancement was. But the end result is supposed to be really similar, since they’re both essential advancing the Race, but since he’s a creature, it’ll be tracked in the System as going up a tier.”

Sam nodded, still studying Valtherion. “What do you think he’ll turn into?”

Alex remembered the mental image Val had shared with him last week, that of a massive building-sized creature that had made Alex’s heart skip a beat. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “But, the article said he can only change small amounts each evolution, so I hope it’s not too drastic. I like the way he is now, and I’ll miss it if he can’t ride on my shoulder anymore.

They stood in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the motes that slowly appeared and disappeared.

“Alex,” Sam said hesitantly. “I know you haven’t leveled much lately, and I was worried you might be…”

“Hey,” Alex cut him off gently. “My goal has always been to help my friends get stronger. That includes you, and it includes Val.” He smiled genuinely this time, and a memory rose to the surface of his mind. “Besides, remember what Eura said? About taking time to build a proper foundation? You spent a lot more time using your skills and gaining your experience; mine all came to me really quickly. It’s not bad for me to stay here and keep training for a bit longer.”

Sam’s eyes lit up with recognition. “Oh yeah! He said rushing to gain power could cause problems later. That it’s better to really understand what you have first.” They both thought back to one of the first conversations that Eura had with them when Alex had arrived in Tianluo.

Alex nodded, feeling some of the day’s frustration ease. “Exactly. And, speaking of mastering things…” He grinned. “The Teams Event starts tomorrow, and we should probably see what that new D Rank body of yours can do.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mark’s probably still in the gym. Want to go surprise him? I bet he’d love to see your advancement firsthand.” Alex’s grin widened. “Plus, you’ve got to be one of the first people to advance to D Rank. That’s huge, Sam. We should celebrate with dinner after a workout. We can talk to Gabby and make whatever you want for dinner.”

Sam groaned at the idea of being put through a workout, but Alex could see the excitement in his eyes. “Really? A workout is your idea of celebrating?”

“Well, it won’t all be a workout. But we should test out your reflexes, your endurance, even your balance.”

They took one last look at Val’s sleeping form before heading out. As they walked down the hallway, Alex found himself genuinely excited about the Teams Event starting. Maybe he wasn’t advancing as quickly as before, but he was watching his friends grow stronger.

That’s its own kind of progress.