Prismatic Education Begins With A Spark 38 (MTG/Multicross)

Prismatic Education 38

“Alright, it’s done,” Baldr announced quietly. 

He let me see my newly updated Status, once again transcribed onto paper.

Roy D. Staff
Lv. 1→2
Strength: SS-1132→ I-0
Endurance: SS-1199→ I-0
Dexterity: S-999→ I-0
Agility S-999→ I-0
Magic: SSS-1469→ I-0
Mage: I

Skills:
[Lightbearer] - Increases the effect and efficiency of all light-related abilities.
[Planar Link] - The user adapts faster to and is less affected by terrain conditions. Abilities increase the more connected the user is to the land.
[Prismatic Grimoire] - All spells gained are recorded in grimoire. Falna update is not required to unlock new spells.

Magic:
[Prismatic Grimoire]

According to my memories, the protagonist of the story set in this world had his first Level Up when he fought and defeated a minotaur, something that shouldn’t have been possible for a Level One. Me doing the same, against a monster that technically surpassed me in abilities, was remarkably quite similar.

If I recall correctly, the kid had unlocked Luck as his Development Ability… would have been nice, but I’ll just have to be content with my choice of Mage instead. I thought with some self-deprecation. 

The list of choices I had was a long and interesting one, a vague summary of all my activities after receiving my falna. Mage was expected given how much magic I made use of. My work on making magical tools for Lenoa to sell in her shop also unlocked Mystery, which enabled the creation of magical items and was purportedly rare. Magic Resistance from my dealing with Alfia’s spell attacks and attempts from others to test my skill with spells. 

There was Treatment for the effort I put into treating Zald and Alfia, and Healing for the amount of recovery I applied with Life-element magic. Apparently the former dealt with the removal of abnormal statuses from others, while the latter affected general health recovery.

The one that stood out the most was Strong Body, which Zald had. When I asked him about it, he said it made his body better at enduring everything in general. A mage shouldn’t even have unlocked it as an option, but I realized it was because of my body-tempering spell; its regular use was making my body stronger than it should be, and the falna recognized that.

Then there were a few exceptions. My efforts on working on Zald’s cure with Asana didn’t unlock Mixing as an option, but somehow my battle with the Red Minotaur offered me Fist Strike. I theorized the former was due to my distaste for potion-making, while the latter was because of the significance of that event. 

Speaking of absent choices, there were observations to be made about them as well. Hunter, an Ability that enhanced abilities against previously fought monsters, required one to have killed many monsters in a short period of time. Since I hadn’t really done that, it was no surprise that I didn’t get that. The same could be said for Abnormal Resistance, which most adventurers who dealt with the poison of Purple Moths unlocked. I usually took them out before they could poison me, so it could be said that I didn’t have enough experience enduring an abnormal condition.

Anyway, given the importance of magic to me, it was no surprise that Mage was the most optimal choice.

“Congratulations on your Level Up, Roy,” Baldr said to me, “I expect you to be the main topic during the next Denatus that’s happening soon.”

“Denatus?”

The god explained that it stood for ‘Meeting of the Gods’, and was meant as a way for the various deities to share information with each other, for the purpose of fostering cooperation between the familias and merchant guilds. However, most of the attendees were there for the naming ceremony, where they would award the adventurers who had Leveled Up with an Alias, a title to represent the recognition of their accomplishment.

I frowned, recalling some of the titles touted by the smaller familias. “It’s a way for the gods to make fun of each other, isn’t it?”

The admiration of the gods and recognition of their alien sensibilities coming together to have mortal races carrying their cringy-sounding titles with pride… in front of their familias’ gods who get mentally tortured by them doing so.

“As expected, you’ve figured it out.” Baldr nodded in confirmation. 

Entertainment can even be found in being petty…  I shook my head and dropped the subject. 

“But I’ll try to get a good one for you.”

“Don’t burn too many favors for it,” I said, knowing he could leverage his connections with all the other gods in the union.

Leon was waiting outside the room. “Hey, Mr Roy, time for me to return your words to you. Congrats on your Level Up.” He held a hand out.

I shook it. “Thanks.”

“Baldr,” He addressed the god, “I’ll go with Mr Roy to the Guild to let them know of his Level Up.”

Baldr smiled and nodded. “Go ahead. You two should take the chance to rest after your experiences in the Dungeon.”

Outside of the Dungeon, Orario’s streets were the same as ever. Adventurers coming and going, civilians carrying out their own business, it was so peaceful. Totally unlike the harrowing experience I had down in the Dungeon just yesterday.

“It’s a bit strange seeing you without a staff,” Leon remarked as he walked next to me.

“Oh. Yeah… I should use one of my spares.” No wonder I was feeling odd. “Later, when we get back.”

We walked for a bit more, before I finally spoke up.

“So, you look like you wanted to talk about something.” 

Leon chuckled. “Was I that obvious? But yeah, I wanted to talk to you about Development Abilities.”

“Wouldn’t you know more than me?”

He shook his head. “Not for this one.”

For Leon’s first two Level Ups, his choice of Development Abilities had been to help him grow stronger. Fist Strike because he thought he needed to hit harder to win, and Abnormal Resistance to handle the Dungeon’s poisonous monsters. For his most recent Level Up, his options had included a new one that wasn’t in the Guild’s records, which was pretty extensive thanks to the contributions of the Zeus and Hera Familias.

“It was called ‘Supreme Attack’, and I think it has something to do with the way I defeated the Amphisbaena.” Leon confessed, “At the last part, I was drawing on the empowering light, and it flew out with the swing of my sword, like how the Leviathan was defeated.”

“Sounds like it would make your finishing move extremely powerful.” I studied his face. “You didn’t pick it.”

“I didn’t. I chose Crush instead.”

“Zald has that one. It…” I took a moment to recall what it did. “Makes your attacks better at penetrating defenses.”

“Yes, that’s the one,” The teenager confirmed, “But I’m thinking of picking the other one the next time I Level Up. What do you think?”

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. “I’m not too sure… But I think I need to check the Guild’s records first.”

Our arrival at the Guild was nicely timed just as I said that, and there was an open counter right in front of the Guild staff I was looking for. 

“Roy?” The beastwoman looked surprised to see me standing in front of her. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in so long, and all your familia would tell me is that you’re alive somewhere!”

“Hi Lyna.” I greeted her. “I’m doing just fine, as you can see.”

“And you’re not going to tell me any more than that, are you?” She guessed in an arch tone of voice, before releasing an exhausted sigh. “So, what do you want?”

Lyna Katt was my Guild advisor, basically my main source of contact with the Guild and the person I went to for any services other than trading in the magic stones and drop items collected from a dungeon dive. The most common purpose provided by these advisors was to give information to the adventurers regarding the Dungeon and personal growth. That information came from the efforts of those who had mapped out such paths before, and in return, they asked for our own contributions to that accumulated wealth. Such as how one attained their Level Up in such a fast manner.

Lyna looked at me over the top of the paper in her hands after she finished reading it over again. “There’s no way anyone else can use this, you know that.”

“Sorry, but I’m not exactly normal, you know that.” I rebutted.

She sighed and set the paper aside. “To my mounting stress, yes… Normal Level Ones can’t summon up armies to escort them through the Middle Floors, let alone beat a Minotaur variant.”

I exchanged looks with Leon, both of us knowing that the body-tempering poem was largely responsible for the accelerated growth, and our agreement to keep that secret.

“So since I’ve given up on wondering, how can I help you this time? Information on the next few areas?”

“Not right now. Instead, I’d like to see the records on Development Abilities.” I requested.

Lyna eyed me with mild curiosity, then shrugged. “...I’m not going to ask why.”

She led the two of us to a reading room, then brought us several books’ worth of documents and left us to our slow perusal of them.

That girl needs a damn vacation, or she’s gonna burn out. I thought, before focusing on the texts before me.

Interestingly, there were actually two records of adventurers with the Supreme Attack Development Ability: Maxim and Zald, and they were both at I-Rank, having selected it at their most recent Level Ups. Leon wasn’t too keen on asking them, so we continued to research things the slow way instead. Two hours passed before I finally came to a conclusion I was confident in, and we returned to Baldr to consult him on it.

“So you believe that the hieroglyphs of the Development Ability are a clue about what it does?”

“Yeah. I’ve noticed a pattern like that. So what sort of meaning does the character for ‘Supreme’ carry?” I asked the god.

“The most common meaning is ‘supremacy’, but depending on the other characters it’s paired with, it can also mean ‘domination’, ‘leadership’, or ‘ambition’.” Baldr looked at me. “It seems like you’ve thought of something.”

“What is it, Mr Roy?” Leon asked.

“If I’m right, I think a Development Ability like that would make one’s attack more overpowering. For example, if two fighters were to strike at each other,” I illustrated by poking my index fingers together, “The one with Supreme Attack would be like this.”

I curled my right hand into a fist, and repeated the action, with fist against finger. This time, the lone finger bent, and that side was pushed back. 

“That does make sense.” Baldr agreed with my theory.

“Now that you mention it, my last strike cut through the Monster Rex’s fire breath to slay it!” Leon recalled. “And Maxim’s finisher on the Leviathan was similar too.”

“Just don’t be reckless about trying to cut through attacks to train this up,” I advised him.

And yet, I suspected it would not be so.

…

By every account, going up in Level was a significant difference. And now that I got to test myself, I could confidently say that they were right.

I moved faster, I hit harder, my perception was sharper, and most of all, my spells were stronger!

Earth. 

With a single second’s worth of charging time, I flicked the single element at the bunch of orcs in my way. 

The fist-sized rock blasted through two of the orcs’ thick bodies before lodging deeply into the third, causing it to go limp and keel over dead. Previously, the first one would have been heavily bruised, but still capable of fighting.

And the same boost applied to everything, even my personal summons. 

Lyric hissed triumphantly as it clawed out monster throats with unexpectedly sharp ink blades, while Marill shot down the flying monsters with precise and deadly jets of water. Both of them had previously struggled with the tougher hides of the beasts of this depth.

Too bad the enhancement only makes the clockwork automatons cost less to summon… I thought as I watched the ruin grinder push against a stacked-up bunch of minotaurs. Enhancement spells, on the other hand…

[Prismatic Magic: Sparkling Yellow Activation]!

My grimoire pulsed as it channeled the spell, causing the ruin grinder to glow a sparkling yellow. It suddenly moved faster, punting the minotaurs into the wall and finishing them with a heavy fist, all in the span of two seconds. The rest of the monster horde was similarly dispatched. 

“Hmm…” I murmured out loud as I twirled my new staff, expressing lightshows of magic with the movements, “Still got some rough spots to work out for this.”

I was still testing out artificing techniques, and while they were adequately functional, I couldn’t help thinking that they could be better.

Reaching into my pouch, I produced a trio of knives, which I flicked into the air. Instead of falling, they floated above the ground, and promptly went to work carving out the magic stones. Meanwhile I kept an eye out for any more monsters making an appearance. Having multiple Unseen Servants was very convenient.

The Goliath should be respawning soon… Then I’ll get my first taste of facing a Monster Rex. An approaching presence shook me out of my thoughts. That’s fast… Level Four? Five?

“Oh, Roy!” A familiar ashen-haired man with red eyes came to a halt nearby. 

Five. “Hi, Cymba.” I greeted the Zeus Familia supporter, who wasn’t carrying the usual large bag of his role.

“You’re alone? I mean, you’re not with any other adventurers?” He amended his question in the face of my summoned creatures.

“Yep. What about you? Did you come up from the Lower Floors?”

“Mm hm,” Cymba nodded, “Denatus is happening soon, and I was curious about whether my Alias changed.”

I suspected he had another ulterior motive for retreating from the frontlines, but considerately didn’t mention it. Instead, I offered to accompany him up to the surface, since I had been down in the Dungeon for quite some time already. Cymba accepted, and we slowly made our way upwards, talking about various topics. Though to be honest, it was him that was doing most of the talking.

“By the way, I’ve heard from Meteria that you’ve been helping to heal her? Thanks a lot for that.”

“Those Valgang Dragons are really bad news! I almost died three times down there!”

“Do you know that the 60th Floor is super cold? Our water was freezing in their bottles!”

“Oh, recently, my Endurance and Agility Status has gone up, and my Escape Development Ability went from I to H,” Cymba remarked, something that made me pay closer attention, “Isn’t that amazing?”

Isn’t it because Alfia keeps trying to hit you with her spells and you keep running away? “Wow, that’s impressive. Keep it up, and I’m sure you’ll reach Level Six soon.”

“Please, no. Maxim and the others would make me fight even more!” He sounded panicked at the thought of that.

‘Some are born to greatness, some achieve greatness… and others have greatness thrust upon them’. This guy is definitely the last one. I briefly wondered where that quote came from, before dismissing it as unimportant. And he didn’t ask for the luggage that came with it.

I thought he would have received a new one during my absence, but Hera had thrown a tantrum over her loss and refused to attend the last Denatus that happened during that period, somehow convincing Zeus to be absent as well. None of the gods wanted to incur their wrath by giving them bad nicknames, so all those members who had Leveled Up after the Leviathan fight and the War Game had their Alias update postponed, retaining the one they had before.

Despite his reluctance to fight, Cymba’s ability as a Level Five was far beyond mine. By the time I raised my staff to attack, he already wiped out four monsters with a simple knife. Weakest member of the two strongest familias, but still monstrous compared to the rest of Orario. 

As envious as I was, that emotion was dampened by my inner light. As long as I progressed at my own pace, I would eventually reach the same heights, that’s what it was telling me.

After turning in my collected magic stones, I joined the crowd that was eagerly appreciating the new titles given out this time. As expected of this world’s language, the titles came in two flavors, the first being the pronunciation, and the secondary meaning. For the latter, some of them were cringe to say out loud.

‘Blazing Bad Burn’, ‘Hard Irongate Guardian’, ‘Bouncy Hare’, ‘Macho Muscle’, among others… Yet the glow of pride and inspired fervor from the adventurers made it clear what they thought of those nicknames.

Now, where’s mine…  I scanned the list, only to be interrupted.

“You!” I turned my head to see a slender redhead pointing at me. “How dare you upstage my Riveria! You and your stupid magic staff! Trying to copy her, aren’t you! You should be ashamed!”

From the feel of this squinty-eyed person, I could tell that I was being addressed by a god, but my attention was on the companions. A blond pallum, a green-haired elf, and a heavyset dwarf… I recognized them as the Loki Familia, which meant…

I met the pallum’s eyes, and pointed at the redhead. “What’s with this sassy… lost boy?”

The god jerked as though my words had stabbed like literal daggers, curling up into a whimpering ball.

The person I was addressing chuckled. “Have some mercy on our goddess, she’s sensitive about her body.” He stepped closer, holding out a hand in introduction. “Finn Deimne, of the Loki Familia. With me are-”

“I can introduce myself just fine.” The elf interrupted, giving me a curt nod. “Riveria Ljos Alf, likewise.”

“Gareth Landrock, the same.” The dwarf followed.

I knew that these three were Loki’s first familia members, though they weren’t the top of their familia as that role belonged to some veterans Loki recruited to help train and guide them. Perhaps that would change in the future, but for now…

“Roy Staff, Baldr Familia.” I likewise introduced myself to them.

“Of course, we know who you are.” Finn said, smiling goodnaturedly. “Only two people have been able to cast more than three magic spells, Riveria here being one of them.”

“That’s right!” Loki suddenly popped up, her previous depression nowhere to be seen. “That’s why her Alias is Nine Hell! Because she can mix and match her chants to cast nine different spells!”

“Though I wasn’t expecting to be surpassed in the field of magic by a human,” Riveria remarked dryly.

Our conversation had drawn some attention, and people were starting to realize just who I was.

“Hey, is that…?”
“Yeah, it’s him. The Record Holder.”
“The human with dozens of spells.”
“Damn, I’m envious…”

“So how’d you do it?” Loki demanded, but I was saved from answering by the arrival of another person.

“Now, you know you shouldn’t pry, Loki.” 

“Tsk… so you came, Baldr. I really hate you, you know that?” The redhead grumbled.

Despite being told as such to his face, my familia’s god just laughed softly with his beatific smile. He then turned to me, leaving the goddess seething.

“I believe you will be pleased with your Alias.”

“What is it?”

“Lux Magus, which means ‘Herald of Enlightenment’.”

That second part must have been due to the knowledge I brought to the union, I guessed, And as far as Aliases go, it’s not too bad. 

It also affirmed my decision on what I intended to do next. I was going to try searching for clues to my fragmented memories, whether it was on this plane, or various others. 

After all, it wouldn’t do to be unenlightened about who I used to be, right?

Afterword: The last part felt a bit rough to me, but after the spurt from the excitement of the last chapter, my muse kind of got drained towards the end, and I couldn’t picture a better way for it. Maybe because I spent too much creativity thinking of Development Abilities in deeper detail than what Omori provided, and then trying to come up with cringey Aliases next.

So what would be a good way to encourage it back into activity? Go on a new adventure to find a stimulating experience! Of course… it won’t be right away. Roy has another short-term objective first… 

Thanks to all those patrons who contribute! It really helps my writing mood.