Detesting The System: Sundering Fate

"You're telling me… the only reason my Magic Manipulation proficiency has stagnated at Level: B is because there just isn't any truly superior quality Magic on the surface?!" I nearly fell over as Destiny explained it to me. God, I hate all the apparent measures this world took to force me through adventures…

"I can feel your resentment, so to spare you of another moment like this one… Here's a bit of sad news. To raise your Magic Manipulation to Level: S You're going to have to travel deeper… much, much, …, much deeper." Though I understood she was attempting to drag out all my resignations here, it felt like she was making fun of me through hidden jabs.

"Che! Whatever… I need to master Magic Manipulation at Level: A before even thinking of reaching the next level," I dropped the matter there and returned to massacring droves of monsters with Aisha's support.

Eventually, the time to eat lunch came, so we sat by the stairs and ate our boxed lunches in silence. Aisha, at least in my imagination, was still quite reserved around me — either taking this whole pseudo slave thing too seriously or because she was still unused to her current position, I didn't know. However, she didn't seem to mind all the boring work I put here through, which surprised me as I tried to lift her supporter backpack during our lunch together and actually had to strain to pick it up.

Feeling a bit guilty afterwards, after knowing how much weight she had to carry around even if I knew she barely exerted herself as a Level 4 adventurer, we continued our escapade in the tenth floor until her backpack was packed to the brim with Dungeon Resources.

[Skills

Name: Chain Sickle Basic Mastery

Level: E → B

Effect: If this were karate you'd be a red belt. All levels of chain sickle moves are well understood and in most cases, you'll easily be able to perform them. Though still far from perfection, your technique could only be matched by a regular — non-adventurer — person who's trained for years.

Name: Light Flames

Level: I → H

Effect: Creates a mild small flame of pure light which can be shot or infused into the user's weapons or limbs. Causes triple damage to Darkness-type entities and increases the success rate and potency of all the user's crafted items by 15% that are made with this skill.

First Iteration Incantation: Mastery 1%]

Looking at the improvements my skills had made, my eyes went wide, "Light Flames, mhmm… Looks like this will be a pain to improve," I thought to myself after seeing the First Iteration Incantation Mastery barely increase by 1%. After my Light Manipulation had reached Level: D proficiency, I had unlocked the ability to use the First Iteration Incantation for any Light spells and abilities unlocked; both currently and in the future. Increasing the mastery my first iteration incantation for the Light Flameling was hundreds of times easier; especially after considering that I was now using Superior Magic and had a much larger pool of Magic to my name.

Though a bit embarrassing, having to chant out incantations aloud, the effect said incantations had on my spells were worth the slight humiliation. During a tough battle in particular, a single incantation powered spell was enough to turn the tides; something I'd personally experienced over a dozen times just today. However, chantless magic was always faster, so there was an obvious trade-off every time I went ahead and cast magic.

Eventually, my party of two reached the surface; it was around three or four in the afternoon. Heading first to the Guild to turn in the monster cores we earned today, I stood a bit disappointed after we only received 1.1 Million Vali even after trading most of the monster drops and even some of the rare ores I'd harvested.

'Tsk, even if it's less profitable, at least fighting and adventuring isn't boring...' With that insight in mind, Aisha and I returned home. There, after setting our things we returned to the outskirts of the church on the surface to commence phase two of the day's training; body cultivation training. Aisha had her Formless Tyrant method and I had my Gold Star Killer technique. I also had a bottle with three Bone Tempering Pills which just the thought of made me smirk in both anticipation and trepidation paradoxically.

'What will Hestia think if my reset skills skyrocket several hundred points?' This thought alone kept me from hesitating as I took out one pill and popped it into my mouth. The very next second I came close to regretting it as an unbearable itch manifested in every cubic millimeter of bone mass I had on my body. It took a while for me to understand in that state, but the source of my discomfort was actually because I'd begun channeling the Gold Star Killer method with Superior Magic. Needless to say, it made the tempering experience both a horrid experience, but a productive one at that.

Fortunately — or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it — even after I ran out of Superior Magic which supposedly didn't exist on the surface, through my Magic Manipulation, all it took was a bit of time and fusion to make slightly superior Magic which did exist into fully fledged Superior Magic. As a direct consequence, the next couple hours equated in uncomfortableness to the boredom I experienced whilst potion-making for over a week straight.

Even worse, the gains I could have received from my Delusional Inclination never came; probably because I couldn't concretely say I was fully obsessed with the activity. Unlike when I was in the Dungeon the first time the Innate Skill manifested, or when I was engaged in potion-making to meet a deadline, I subconsciously knew there wasn't a dire need to torture myself as I'd just done. It was unfortunate that I was not able to make the most out of my three Bone Tempering Pills, but then again, I think I accomplished more than most would think was reasonable…

After withdrawing the Bad Tier Magic Stone I'd chosen from the list of rewards redeemable for reaching Level 2, I did the equivalent of body tempering with my Magic stat and finally looked at my Status. As I felt a tear of sweat drop from the side of my face, I thought, 'This is disconcerting...'

[Status

Name: Nathanial Keter

Level: 2

Power: I 0 (E 420)

Endurance: I 0 (E 450)

Dexterity: I 0 (E 425)

Agility: I 0 (E 433)

Magic: I 0 (D 515)

Skills

Name: Gold Star Killer Constitution (Bone Section)

Level: Null → E

Effect: The user's bones have reached a tempered completion rate of 37%. Reach 100% completion to unlock a new passive ability.]