Rogue Ascension 2. New Realm and Spell Picks

It was like stepping into a fantasy. The night sky was covered in many moons. Behind the moons was a watercolor backdrop of a starry cosmos. Yellows, pinks, and purples swirled together up there. The artist Van Gogh came to mind.

Joey couldn’t help but stare with his mouth hanging open.

Awestruck.

[You’ve entered the Tidal Moon Realm. Review your profile and prepare for a great adventure, Joey Eclipse of the Shade Dragon Rogue Path.]

Joey closed his mouth and squinted. Again, I have two options. Call shenanigans or go full tilt.

The decision wasn’t too hard. It was better to believe what he saw and treat the danger of being a great adventurer seriously. He didn’t want to screw up and become a commoner if this was all real.

All in? He thought to himself.

All in! He nodded.

First, Joey observed the nearby area. Seeing was one thing. Feeling and hearing was another. Right away, the rocky sensation under him caught his attention. He noticed the sound of flowing water next.

He was on a wooden platform in the middle of water. Looking back, he saw more of the platform, water, and moon-heavy night.

The tunnel he’d come from was gone. It was as if it had never existed.

The platform was more like a steady raft. About thirty feet wide in both directions. No railings. But the rocking sensation under his feet was soft. Only calm waves, if anything.

The next notable thing was the wooden crate in front of him. It contained one book. It had a thick black cover and some runic writing on the surface. No glow.

Joey crouched and carefully picked the book up. He cracked it open. Colorful runes leaped from the pages. They weren’t uncomfortable to look at, thankfully.

A system message filled in the gap in his understanding.

[Congrats! You have the opportunity to learn the Analyze Skill!]

[Analyze (Basic): Some levels, qualities, creatures, text, languages, and signs can be analyzed through a system message. Your profile runes can be examined deeper. Knowledge isn’t always power. But it’s nice to know which ancient dungeon pathway has a sign saying “safety is this way” and which one says “you’re going to die if you go this way.”]

“I’m going to need that. But let me check my other options first.”

Joey closed the book and snuffed out the colorful runes. The Analyze messages disappeared. Looking around again, everything seemed fine, if only very odd.

The Tidal Moon Realm might not work based on the natural laws he’d known. He would check that out later after scanning his profile.

“Profile,” Joey said, calling out on gut instinct. It worked. But not in the way he’d expected.

Runes floated out from his body and gathered in front of him. Without the system’s extra help, he could read them. They were his runes.

Great Adventurer: Joey Eclipse

Race: Basic Human

Age: 18

Path: Shade Dragon Rogue lvl 1

Skills:

Spells: [Please select three spells].

Semblances:

Essence: 300/300 EP

Mind: 11 (+2 per a level)

Body: 12 (+2 per a level)

Spirit: 7 (+1 per a level)

Free: 3 (+3 per a level)

Joey blinked at his profile. He scanned up and down. His eyes stuck on the spell selection request. But he held back to get a better understanding of everything. The runes wouldn’t explain themselves further.

Yup, getting the Analyze skill.

Joey cracked open the book again. Once the runes hovered out and the system message popped up, he willed to have the skill. The book faded away. The skill runes flew straight into his face, nearly shocking him.

[Congrats! You’ve learned the Analyze Skill!]

Joey looked back at his profile and noticed a difference. He started with the bottom five rows since stats were always important to understand right away.

[Essence: Your inner power source made from your Mind, Body, and Spirit stats. Used for fueling offensive, defensive, and utility based abilities. Might have extra uses for you to explore.]

“That’s uniquely different.” Joey sat with legs crossed in the middle of the raft. “So there’s only one status bar to worry about. No Health, Stamina, or Mana. That puts an emphasis on managing your one resource.”

Joey could see how that was both beneficial and detrimental. Bad resource management could wreck someone’s magical fuel and leave them vulnerable. But all of the stats poured into essence, so it would grow fast.

And is it safe to assume the abilities include everything on the profile?

Probably.

[Mind: This stat governs intellect, focus, perception, and essence control.]

[Body: This stat governs toughness, strength, agility, and essence recovery.]

[Spirit: This stat governs willpower, fortune, alignment, and essence power.]

Joey frowned. All the stats were important, but it hurt to know his spirit was the lowest of the bunch. Thankfully, free points were a thing.

[Free: Use these points to raise any main stat.]

Before Joey inserted his free points, he scanned his profile quickly. He noticed a peculiar thing with his new Analyze skill.

[Analyze lvl 1 (Basic).]

It has levels. Joey figured that would be important to train up.

[Great Adventurer: This one is Joey Eclipse from a new universe with newly integrated people. He has potential and was given a chance to choose the path of adventurous greatness. Perhaps he will bear fruit.]

Joey stared at the part about the new universe and newly integrated people. That was too much for him to think about so he moved on quickly. He paid more attention to the next sentences.

Was there a chance that I wouldn’t have a choice? Were there people with so little potential they couldn’t choose to be a great adventurer? Or even a steady one?

Joey gulped.

[Basic Human: One of the most common racial templates in Multiverse Z. Perhaps it could be improved in an interesting direction.]

[Age: This human has lived 18 years according to his former solar calendar. Thankfully, this matches the multiverse core calendar.]

[Shade Dragon Rogue: This path might be one of a kind. Shade grants shadowy, necromantic, and dark powers. Dragon grants incredible power at the cost of emboldened vices. Rogue improves on focus, agility, fortune while having an affinity for short blades, stealth, and dishonesty.]

Joey smiled. It would be interesting being one of a kind. And the potential power combinations filled him with excitement.

Shade Dragon Rogue for the win!

[Skills: These abilities can be learned from books, mentorship, or dedicated practice. They tend to be subtle abilities that are general or specific to classes.]

[Spells: These are personal powers of your class or path. These are raised from within you or gained through special circumstances.]

[Semblances: You need not always face a battle alone. With good fortune, a semblance would arise from the death of an enemy creature.]

Joey’s excitement peaked. This was an interesting RPG set up. And he was his own character. But there were a few issues.

He saw nothing else on the raft with him other than the empty crate. He was still in his comfy home clothes. And he had no more information.

“I’m a lone man on a raft.” Joey looked up at the watercolor night. He felt more whimsical than concerned. I should be scared, but I’m not. I’m … in a new universe. I have new opportunities. If this is real, this could be everything I’ve dreamed of.

He glanced at the water and spotted something passing through the surface. It disappeared before he had a good look.

Ah, there goes the reason to be scared. Joey’s heart sped up. He shoved his free points into spirit.

[You’ve raised your spirit from 7 to 10!]

Joey felt something inside him swell weirdly. It felt like inner strength. And more. He shook his head and dug into his spell selections.

[Select three spells: Dark Dash (Superior), Shade Dragon Tail (Epic), Shade Blade Extension (Superior), Phantom Phase (Superior), Spectral Hands (Superior), Shadow Clone Magic (Epic), Shade Dragon Claws (Superior), Dark Fists (Superior), Death Echo (Epic), Bigger Backstab (Basic), Cloaking (Basic), Simple Unlock (Basic).]

Joey gawked at the twelve spells to choose from. Nine out of the twelve sounded great to him. Why can I only get three, dammit? This is unfair!

Something bumped against the raft. Joey clenched his jaw to keep from shouting. He rushed through the list of spells using Analyze.

[Dark Dash (Superior): Release darkness in a burst from your lower legs. Propel yourself like a projectile. The more darkness, the more potent. Wait a minute. Isn’t this fire dash but with darkness instead? Ah, whatever. Dark types are too busy brooding to dash around like crazies.]

[Shade Dragon Tail (Epic): A ghostly dragon tail extends from your tailbone. Most won’t notice it while it’s passively there. Channel your essence to actively use its power, flexibility, and reach. Beware of the dragon price for power. Have you ever been struck by a dragon’s tail? Most don’t see it coming. This version is so sinister the lords and ladies should ban it. ]

[Shade Blade Extension (Superior): Coat a blade in your hand with shade. While attacking, the shade will extend to attack the victim’s essence directly. Slashed essence can sometimes fall out of a victim for collection. This is why light, radiance, and other similar aspects exist. To beat back scary powers like these.]

[Phantom Phase (Superior): Become like a ghost, intangible and translucent. Then phase through solid objects and physical attacks. Some magic may have a stronger effect during this phase. Ah! Who goes there? Oh, it’s you. Har. Har. Can you stop phasing through everything to spook me. I’m going to call a cleric sooner or later.]

[Spectral Hands (Superior): Conjure multiple hands around you. These hands can manipulate half the weight you can. Spend more essence to make them invisible. Well, we’ll know who to turn to when we need extra hands. Just don’t get too handsy, okay?]

[Shadow Clone Magic (Epic): Conjure copies of yourself. They will have less of your potency, but can use your abilities, copy some of your gear, and think independently and as a team. Oh, goodness gracious, you really can’t get enough of yourself, huh? Well, at least we know who will trigger the traps. You, yourself, and your reflection.]

[You’ve leveled up Analyze from 1 to 2!]

Joey cut off the analysis after the system’s level-up interruption. From the corner of his eye, he saw something dark and slimy rising beyond the edge of the raft. It had tentacles as thick as tree trunks, too.

Oh, no, no, no!

All around the raft, the water quavered and splashed with rising tentacles. Joey struggled to stay steady at the center of the raft. He forced his attention back on the spells he’d read.

Gut instincts took over. He willed for the three spells he figured would help him survive. The system responded.

[Congrats! You’ve learned the Dark Dash Spell!]

[Congrats! You’ve learned the Shade Dragon Tail Spell!]

[Congrats! You’ve learned the Shadow Clone Magic Spell!]

Strange sensations shivered through Joey’s body. He felt each spell go from a potential idea to an actuality.

He stumbled forward as a twenty-foot tail extended from behind him. It was ghostly and dark. It ended with a sharp point. It made serpentine movements on its own until he willed it to the side and back. It responded to his thoughts and shifts.

I barely feel the weight. It’s like it’s there and not there at the same time. Joey hoped he made the right choice with the tail.

“You better back off! Or I’ll tail whip you! Hard!” Joey tried to sound as menacing as possible.

His new tail rose up behind him like a viper. He had no idea what he was doing. He had no idea how to respond when the dark tentacle creature made weird flute-like noises.

The shrills had a melodic pattern to them. When he listened harder, a system message appeared.

[Help me! Help me! The snappers are hurting me!], translated the system.

Joey froze for a second before using Analyze on the big tentacle creature.

[Tidal Moon Denizen: Voyager Kraken: Trader lvl ?]

A denizen as in an alien? No, I’m the alien, here! It’s a local to the realm! And it’s able to speak to me through the system. Joey’s panic mixed with confusion and amazement. But he snapped out of it when the kraken kept making more flute noises.

[Please help! I will trade for assistance. I hate it when the snappers keep eating me], the kraken pleaded.

“You better not be lying to me!” Joey shouted as he stepped closer to the kraken’s main body.

It was the size of an inflated air balloon. Each of its chaotic movements bumped the raft hard and nearly pitched Joey off his feet. His rogue class kept him upright, if barely.

[Not lying. There’s more than usual. Three snappers. Three trades! Help me, adventurer,] the kraken begged.

“Try to lift one for me. I’ll see what I can do!” Joey ordered before rethinking his decisions. What can I do against a monster that can hurt a kraken?

It was too late to back out now. The kraken did as ordered. One thick tentacle rose out of the water.

Under the bright moonlight, a greenish creature stood out against the dark skin of the kraken. It was humanoid and had a shell-like body. It reminded Joey of a man fused with an ugly turtle with a rabid appetite.

Joey analyzed.

[Tidal Moon Monster: Man Snapper: Grunt lvl 12.]

The snapper shook its head like a rabid dog and ripped a chunk of kraken flesh from the tentacle. Dark blood poured from the wound.

The snapper’s attack was too small to endanger the kraken wholly. But Joey could recognize this was a painful assault.

“Move it closer.”

The kraken shrilled. [Ow! Ow! It hurts!]

The tentacle with the snapper swung away. The raft jerked. Joey barely kept his feet on the wet wood floor.

“If you want help, get it together. Move it closer to me!” he yelled.

[Okay, okay!] The kraken shifted the tentacle with the snapper closer to Joey. Fifteen feet separated them.

Joey let imagination and instincts take over. He thought of his essence and willed for it to push into his tail. He inhaled sharply when he felt the magic happen.