Overload Stack
The dummies froze in mid-air, followed by a metallic twang as they continued shattering a second later.
The last dummy twitched and collapsed in a blackened heap, smoke curling from its torso. The lightning arc faded.
Noah stood still in the cracked training square, the air around him heavy with the smell of scorched metal and sweat.
He wiped the sweat off his face as a big grin appeared on his face.
[Radial: 1 / 100]
Five seconds. The time he needed to unleash this spell now.
Better than before. Still not good enough. If possible, he wanted to continue training. But there weren't enough dummies for him to practice.
For a moment, he considered something looking at the columns of the building. He shook off that thought with a shrug.
'Can't survive a building collapse. Anyway, it's already midnight…' he thought, exiting the training hall. He had not forgotten to put some coppers as compensation for the dummies.
Not needed actually, since he gave them monthly rent for training. Still, to feel a little less guilty, he did it.
The sun had already disappeared into the horizon, the low hue of magic bulbs floating in the street reflected the surroundings.
Noah returned to his room, which was in the outer city. It wasn't big, just enough for a bed and an attached bathroom.
After washing and eating, he jumped into the comfort of the bed. Rolling in the soft mattress, he thought about the findings today. Then, taking a diary from the small bed shelf, he started to write.
'What is Origin? — have no idea.'
'My Radial regeneration rate — 10 / minute.'
'The flaw of my first spell — Predictable arc pattern.'
'The error in me — Movement.'
He had believed his high Agility would help him with his movements. It was sure helpful. However, while using the spell, his speed greatly affected. He became almost unmovable. There were two reasons he found for this error.
First, the buff of the spell activates the moment he started burning Radial and stops the moment the spell released. His control over the spell wasn't that great for him to move during the spell casting.
Second, as the time of his spell casting decreased, the time of buff by the spell also decreased. So even if his control reached extreme, unless he held the spell in him a little longer, he couldn't utilise the buff at all.
'There goes my dream of having a spell with both offensive and movement…'
He had to sacrifice either one of the properties of the spell, and he didn't want to increase the spell cast time. So, to remove the error from his side, he had to have extreme control over the spell and obtain a spell for movements.
'It will be better if I get a passive skill…'
However, passive skills were highly sought after by countless because of their lesser cost of Radials. Unlike active skills, passives didn't need to form a base or structure, as they used a fixed object as base and structure.
Some passive spells weren't available even with money.
Noah thought for a moment. There was another way to obtain spells for free—by following the purpose of his Star.
"When death shadows over those who are not meant to be its victims, be the brightness that erases that shadow," he murmured, staring at the ceiling.
"Be some kind of hero, I guess." He snickered.
He had to follow this purpose anyway since the only possible way to increase one's Radial was by following their purpose. If they couldn't fulfil it, even if they improved ranks and levels, their Radial capacity would remain the same.
Noah pulled another book from his shelf.
'The Compendium of Principles of Spell casting' ~ Mordich.
To buy this book, he sacrificed his two months of savings. Most of his knowledge about Spell Masters came from this book. So this wasn't a loss.
He was sure for a beginner Spell Master like him, this knowledge was enough until they evolved their Star to another stage.
Most never reached that stage anyway. The City Lord in this city was a Tier 9 Nebula. He was the strongest in their country.
With Noah's current strength, he could join the City Guards, and within a few years of service, could reach up to One Star Officer.
But he wasn't planning for such a life.
He wanted to enter Evershade, the biggest human settlement in the Star Network.
In this small city in the Walking World, a Tier 9 Nebula would be rare. But there, they were everywhere.
Mordich was a Tier 7 Giant, someone two entire ranks above Noah. Still, he had written that before horrors in the endless void, he was nothing but a speck of dust.
If a Giant Star called himself a speck of dust, then what was Noah, a Nebula?
(Star evolution ranks: Nebula, Protostar, Sequence, Giant, Hypergiant, etc.)
The strongest human ever reached was a Hypergiant. The Walking World now stood on one of his Element Globes.
Noah shuddered recalling that again.
The first time he read about this, he almost died of a heart attack. Knowing your life entirely depends on a stranger wasn't something one could accept without panic.
This was also the main reason he wanted to quickly move into Evershade.
Perhaps that place might be filled with dangers and deaths. Still, it was better than passively living at the mercy of others.
Noah attentively flipped the pages. Memorising various principles of spell casting was his favourite thing. He had learned almost every principle for his rank, nevertheless, it never hurt to solidify knowledge.
'I have to reach Tier 2 if I want to trigger my Purpose Missions.'
Ten levels in Tier 1 wasn't that difficult. He just had to hunt ten Feral Monsters in Tier 1 of each levels. Regions with these monsters were in Green Zones, so he didn't have to worry about safety.
'But which plane should I start?'
There were a total of five planes in Evershade. He could teleport into any of these planes for free the first time and plant his Anchor there.
If he chose a plane, and later wanted to change it, he had to pay a hefty fee. So choosing a suitable plane for his fighting style was as important as chosing a spell, because spells do wonders in suitable environments.
'Let's see… Sungrave is a desert. Not suitable.'
'I don't have a flying spell, so Abysswood is a no-no—unless I want to die falling.'
'Then there is Mistgrave. Sure, water is a better conductor and my spell would be ruthless there, but the elemental backlash is almost certain.'
Spiregrave was a mountain range with large rocks falling constantly. The monsters there were strong in defence and low in speed. It was suitable for him, sure.
However, there would be no versatile fights. With his current spell power, he might overpower the enemies there.
This was the safest option for him, but there was a chance of stagnation in his fighting style.
He wanted enemies versatile in fights…
…and so he chose a plane.
Frostgrave.