Syl

Chapter 94: Combust

"You created a spell that makes things easier to burn?" Dewi exclaimed in shock.

We were seated at the inn enjoying brunch after he had demanded some of my time to talk magic. I had been discussing with him some of my progress since we last spoke and all my spell tinkering. The rest of his party had vacated long ago.

"I think it can even overcome fire resistance with enough level and effort," I answered.

"Prove it," Dewi's voice was firm, his demand clear.

"On what?"

"On me."

I stared at him dumbfounded, "You want me to cast a debuff on you?"

He simply nodded and stared at me, unblinking. I sighed and reluctantly started casting the spell. As the spell was constructed, I saw him trying his utmost to glean as much knowledge as possible. His eyes were focused with deadly intensity as if he was trying to get the spell to break under the pressure and reveal its secrets. I even held it for a while to give him some more time with it before finally unleashing it upon him.

"Flammable! I'm flammable, Syl! This is amazing!" he cried joyfully, causing the other patrons to look at him with concern or annoyance.

"That burnt me! I can't believe it." He replied, chuckling like a lunatic.

"Yes... Fire burns." I replied deadpan.

"Of course, my beautiful protegee, but I have [Fire Resistance] after numerous cases of self-immolation." He explained, "Now, with enough power, you can overcome resistances, but this... this is elegant, something I didn't even know was possible."

"So far, only one thing has resisted it initially: the salamander. But after some trial and error, it eventually took the debuff."

Dewi pondered momentarily before responding, "The salamander probably had [Fire Immunity]... That's brilliant. I swear I could kiss you right now."

"No thanks." I immediately rejected his offer. "I also created a sort of poison... fire... It keeps telling me to name it when I cast it."

"That means your spell was truly unique!" Dewi smiled, then frowned, "You haven't named it yet... Then how do you keep casting it?"

"What do you mean? I just replicate the same constructed form."

Dewi facepalmed and groaned, "I don't know whether to call you brilliant or stupid. You're casting your spell completely unaided by the system. If you name the spell, it will be like any other you've learned through levels, and you should be able to call upon it through its name effortlessly."

"So that's why sometimes people call out their spells. I had wondered what the reason was. Originally, I had thought it was a requirement to cast a spell, but I've never had to shout [Water Orb] or anything like that."

Dewi looked distraught and sat in silence while he mentally recovered. "Okay." After taking a deep breath, he continued, "Firstly, saying your spell aloud can help your mental recollection of the spell, and call upon the system to aid you. This is especially useful for custom spells."

He paused, staring at me expectantly, and only continued when I nodded.

"Saying it mentally works as well, but if you haven't been doing even that, I can only assume you have amazing processing power between those pointy ears of yours.." He took a deep drink before continuing, "The second reason is for party dynamics, which I can understand you not knowing due to being solo. Kurt was rather lucky you didn't have any devastating spells when you partied up with him. Now imagine Roderick is in a group of enemies, and I just fling a [Fireball] out of nowhere. He's likely to get caught in the blast, but if I call out my spell, he knows it's coming and can raise his shield to protect his handsome mug."

"That makes sense." I nodded, "Although it would ruin my [Sneak Attack] and [Subtle Afflictions], not to mention likely break my [Vanish]."

Dewi paused to scratch his head, "Well, that would definitely suck. But it should be fine if you aren't casting giant spells that explode. Just let your party know that you cast silently so they don't panic when magic arrows of fire and acid are flung around."

"Well, I'm unlikely to cast [Nova]. I guess [Torrent] is my only real concern until I gain another level and unlock [Fireball]."

"Once you get it, you'll wonder how you got by without it. Your previous spells will feel like wet paper." Dewi said, grinning, "You'll likely unlock Pyromancer with it, which is a great option to swap if you want to specialize more."

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"What's the benefit of it over Sorcerer or Shadowcaster? I already have [Fire Magic], so it's not like I'd be receiving a new revelation."

"Now that is a good question. I'm surprised you didn't notice a difference when you swapped Sorcerer, but perhaps it's a little harder to notice with rogue skills."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when you are not the preferred class, your other skills are slightly less effective. The most notable difference is if you pick a specialized class like Pyromancer - you receive massive boosts to all Fire spells; they are faster, cheaper, and stronger. However, anything unrelated receives small penalties, so my Air spells are slightly downgraded. I overcome this by combining Air and Fire, which makes the system treat it as if it were still my preferred spell type."

"I didn't know this... I certainly didn't notice any difference in my rogue skills. Although, I can't say I was paying particular attention. Are there any other things I should know about with classes?"

"Swapping away from a caster role entirely can negatively impact your mana capacity and regeneration, and you'd be losing some of the spell potency bonuses. Let's say a spell does ten damage; as a Mage, it would deal twelve damage; as a Sorcerer, it would deal fifteen. So it's not really a penalty, but losing a bonus." Dewi paused briefly before continuing. "It's hard to confirm, but it feels like skills are easier to upgrade and earn if you are in the correct class. However, the benefit is so small that most people don't believe it's more than a gut feeling."

I was about to thank him for explaining before he continued, "There is one other benefit, which you've already taken advantage of. It can lead to unlocking a class progression early. Since I specialize in [Fire Magic], I will likely unlock Arch Pyromancer earlier than normal."

"I see... Thanks, Dewi. After I get Sorcerer to ten, I'll likely stick to Shadowcaster and whatever it progresses. I don't think I'd want to specialize in one element when I can access multiple."

"That's unfortunately true. While I would have loved for you to have followed the path of Pyromancy, you'll have to spread your flames in other ways." He abruptly stood up. "Now, let's go outside so you can cast your Fire spell on me. I want to experience it now that this flammable debuff has expired."

"What? The debuff is one thing, but I'm not casting a damage spell on you!"

"Pff. I've got so much [Fire Resistance] that it won't be much of a tickle. I've even got multiple health potions in case of emergencies."

"No way. Everyone will kill me if something happens to you, and it's my fault."

"I'll even detonate a [Fireball] in my face to prove it. How else do you think I trained my [Fire Resistance] so high?"

"You seriously cast spells on yourself to raise your resistance? That sounds-"

"Brilliant? Ingenious? Innovative?" Dewi interrupted.

"Insane."

"Bah! I'm hardly the only one who does it. Otherwise, you have to spend so many trait points." Dewi said, shaking his head, "Come now, let's go to the training ground so I can [Fireball] myself, and then you can show me your unique spell, and then you need to name it!"

I was dragged straight to the training ground, where we ended up in one of the unoccupied shielded areas. Dewi told me to stand back, and then he cast [Fireball], which was point blank, right at the ground where he stood. I could only stare in shock and awe as the area erupted into a fiery explosion. When the smoke cleared, there was a grinning Dewi with slightly singed hair and slight smoldering.

"See! I'm basically fireproof at this point. Hell, my clothes are actually fireproof. It was the best investment I ever made," Dewi said, laughing maniacally.

"You've got to be joking..." I said, shaking my head.

"No jokes. The public indecency fines were getting out of hand." Dewi laughed again, "Now cast your custom spell on me."

I cast the spell with extreme reluctance, ensuring it was completely unempowered.

"Are you absolutely sure?" I asked again.

"Yes!" Dewi shouted.

I sighed, finalized the casting, and saw the burning affliction appear on Dewi's profile.

"Combust."

"That's a good name!" Dewi said, grinning despite being visibly on fire. "This is a very interesting spell. It's a bit of a slow burn, but this duration would be amazing for boss fights."

"Aren't you in pain?" I asked, concerned.

"It's not comfortable, but I wouldn't say pain exactly. It's sort of like rubbing nettles against your skin." Dewi uncorked a potion bottle and took a small sip. "Now, I just feel uncomfortably warm, like being trapped in a sauna."

I could only sigh. I was starting to question all the previous advice he had given me. I knew he was a pyromaniac, but this was surely beyond reason. The worst part is that some of me wondered if I could do something similar to level up my [Magic Resistance (Lesser)] trait, and unlike him, I could borrow [Pain Suppression].

We then spent a large portion of the day going over the spells. Unfortunately for Dewi, none of his affinities gave him the concepts required to create the effect. From his knowledge, he would need to get access to Corrosion or Dark Affinity himself if he wanted to replicate the spell.

For all my effort, he gave me some personal tutoring in [Fire Magic]. He gave some pointers on increasing the efficiency of my empowered spells and suggested adding the [Heat] spell to all my existing fire spells to increase their damage.

"Raising the temperature of your Fire spells is a quick and dirty way to give them more bang." He explained, "I'm sure the opposite will be true when you get deeper into [Ice Magic]."

I didn't gain any direct skill-ups, but I was sure I had made a good chunk towards them. While the day didn't feel as fruitful as my activities with Whitney, it was still an interesting experience.

Before I left the guild, I asked if I could withdraw some money to keep on hand. I still wasn't entirely sure about the currency. Beyond that, it went from copper to silver to gold. To keep it simple, I just asked to withdraw a hundred gold. It sounded like a good round number to me.

"Are you sure, Miss?" The receptionist asked. She seemed a bit confused, and unfortunately, Luke wasn't available.

"Yes. Do I not have enough?" I asked, presenting my guild tag.

She seemed to be looking at something visible only to her when her eyes went wide. "Ah! No, you have more than enough. I'm terribly sorry, Miss Syl. Please tap right here, and I'll get your gold immediately!"

When she returned, I thanked her and deposited it promptly. Her expression visibly relaxed when she saw I was securely storing it.

'I guess she was worried about me walking around with cash on hand.' I thought curiously.

I thanked her for her help and wished her well before leaving.