Hope stared, confused at the sudden prompts, but the dizziness clouded his thoughts.

  He sat down on the sand, closed his eyes, and tried to calm his mind. The headache wasn’t letting up.

  Seconds passed. Maybe minutes. Slowly, it began to ease. Only after a while did he open his eyes.

  He looked around—and sure enough, Eve was there. “That… what just happened?”

  Eve opened her mouth, then paused before speaking. "I’m not entirely sure, but… from what I just saw, it looks like you have a very strong affinity for Air Magika."

  “Affinity? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means it’s easier for you to control it compared to other types of Magika.”

  Hope narrowed his eyes. He was tempted to try again—but not yet. The headache had dimmed, but not completely.

  Still, he let himself watch the floating Magika around him.

  To his surprise, there were more sparks now. He could see them further out too. And among them, some stood out—hazy white dots, more prominent than the rest.

  He figured that was Air Magika.

  Affinity, huh?

  There was probably more to it than he understood, but whatever. The good thing was, he’d gained a decent chunk of Magia from the new skill. He’d give it a break for now and mess with it later—once his head stopped aching.

  Hope stood up and grabbed his spear. He stared at the desert ahead, then got back to it.

  The sandmaws were showing up more often the further he went, but they were all the same now. Easy enough to handle.

  One after the other, they fell under his thrusts.

  Level 26 ? 27

  Level 27 ? 28

  No new skills, but his body felt lighter. Stronger too. Each level made it easier to move, easier to fight. He was barely sweating now, and it felt like he could keep going forever.

  Damn, if I was like this back at the ol’ camp, I would’ve been king of the damn desert.

  But… well…

  Didn’t matter. His ambitions were bigger now. A warrior. The fabled legend the others used to talk about.

  Only… 80—no, wait—100 minus 28 is... 72?

  Yeah, yeah, that tracks.

  Hope stopped for a while. The hot breeze hit his skin. Felt kinda nice.

  Alright. Back to it.

  He focused on the Magika floating around him. The sparks drifted slow, light. He moved his hand to touch one, but his fingers slipped right through.

  Curious little things, these dots.

  He got serious then, raised his index finger, tried lining it up with one of the hazy white ones—

  Suddenly, a bunch of them started swirling around his finger. Hope’s eyes widened as a gust of wind spun up around it.

  Damn… that was easy.

  His focus slipped a bit, and the sparks scattered. He clicked his tongue, refocused—and just like that, a whole chunk of Air Magika started spinning again, forming a clean little vortex at his fingertip.

  He could feel the wind on the tip of his finger and couldn’t help but grin.

  This is dope!

  He pushed the sparks harder, willed them faster—and they obeyed! The wind picked up, forming a visible little whirl of air. He could even hear it.

  He kept it going, smiling like a kid with a new toy. But then came the nudge in his head. Pressure, not pain—not yet—but it was there.

  So that’s the limit, huh.

  He eased off but didn’t stop. Instead, he tried moving fewer sparks—let them wrap around his arm, then across his face and hair. The wind followed. A gentle tug here, a shift there.

  He focused on his face and let it blow across like a clean breeze.

  So the dots ain’t useless after all.

  After a bit, he stopped. He knew if he wanted real control, and less backlash, he’d need more Magia and higher leveled skills.

  Which meant only one thing—train it whenever he could. Hunt to level up. Keep both going.

  He nodded to himself twice. New plan—run, hunt, train Magika, repeat. Throw in some food and rest when the body starts bitching.

  And like that… he kept going.

  Rushing through the dunes, leaping over sandmaws, thrusting from different angles. Dodging. Rolling. Sliding.

  He enjoyed it—running wild and free.

  Level 28 ? 29

  “So let me get this straight. That Magika Prodigy skill means I’m pretty rad with Magika, right?”

  “Rad?” Eve tilted her head.

  “Yeah, like—pretty damn impressive, eh.”

  “Oh. I see. Apologies, I didn’t know that word,” she said, face serious.

  Hope grinned. So even the Citizen girl didn’t know every word after all.

  He sprawled onto the sand, resting his head on his hands, legs crossed and getting comfy.

  “In that case, yes. You are… rad with Magika,” Eve said, sitting beside him, both staring up at the blue sky.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Cool. So… what’s the max level of these skills? Like, how far can I take ’em?”

  “Ten,” Eve said. “But it’s not easy to reach that high. Most people rank up before that.”

  “Oh, do they?” Hope scratched his nose. “When you say rank up, you mean becoming a Warrior? Well, if I were them, I’d be in a hurry too. First thing I’ll do after hittin’ that juicy level 100—”

  “Well…” Eve cut in, smiling, “if you want to be that warrior fighting planet-sized monsters, jumping between galaxies, slicing warships in half with a lightning sword, punching through mountains, and riding fire-breathing space dragons while laughing like a maniac... then I’d advise you to reconsider.”

  “Huh?”

  Hope stared at her for a second. Damn, the girl was cheeky, eh.

  “You’ve got a good memory,” he said. “Alright, I’ll allow you to use my words—with appropriate quote to the original, of course.”

  Eve started laughing.

  Hope looked over at her and smiled too. Felt nice. Talking to someone like this.

  “So... reconsider what? Not to rush?” he asked once the laughter died down, a bit curious.

  “Yes. Like I said before—once you reach level 100, you can rank up. The System will offer you a class. But not everyone gets offered the same options, and not all classes are equal. If you want a better path down the line,” she paused, giving him a slightly more serious look, “then push your skills and feats as high as you can before ranking up.”

  “I see...” Hope frowned, trying to take that in. Push, huh?

  “So how far is good enough?”

  “Well… depends. If you want to truly follow a fighter’s path, I’d advise maxing your Weapon Handling skill. If you’re leaning more toward the mage path, then aim to do the same with Magika Handling. I know it’s hard. Some people delay ranking up for a year or two and never reach level 10… but give it a try, okay?”

  She looked at him. “It’s better to be a great warrior than just one more warrior, right?”

  Hope paused at those words. Somehow, they reminded him of one of the last things Mano ever said to him. “Don’t waste the name I gave you, kid.”

  He went quiet for a moment, staring at the scar on his fist.

  “A great warrior… ok. I’ll do that, Eve. Thanks.”

  The silence dragged a little too long for his taste.

  Too serious. Time to fix that.

  He smirked and glanced her way. Then, real smooth, he focused on the Air Magika around him—called a few sparks together and willed them forward. Just a little nudge. A harmless breeze, aimed right at Eve’s face. Nothing big. Just a prank.

  But right before it reached her, the damn things twisted.

  The sparks veered off, sliding clean around her like she had a shield or somethin’.

  Eve looked at him and smiled—way too calm.

  That’s when it hit.

  A sudden gust blasted into him like a back-alley ambush. One second he was standing, the next he was airborne, spinning through the air like some kicked-up tin can.

  He tumbled down the dune, hit the sand hard, rolled a few times, and came to a stop flat on his back, coughing and spitting sand.

  “What the hell, Eve!” he shouted, patting the sand off as he glared up at her—and her refined little giggle.

  Shit, this girl. How the hell is she so good with that? What happened to my damn Magika Prodigy?

  Hope exhaled, shaking his head.

  He’d get his revenge. Sooner or later. No doubt about it. Heck, that was extra motivation right there.

  He took the chance to practice a bit more with Magika Handling—this time trying Heat, Earth, and Water for a change. He could tell he was improving, his control getting smoother across the board.

  But still… the difference with Air Magika? Clear as night and day.

  Hope stood up with a quick kip-up and kept moving, cutting straight through the desert without stopping. The sandmaws were getting too easy, and this place sure as hell wasn’t good for resting.

  He aimed to reach the next region.

  And yet…

  A couple of hours passed—just sand and more damn sand.

  He leaned back, dodging a sandmaw’s swing, then stepped in close and rammed his spear straight through the muscle gaps, tearing deep into the thing’s flesh.

  He yanked the spear back out before it could react, stepped away, then lunged again—two more quick thrusts.

  The creature collapsed with a heavy thud.

  ?? Hunter (G4)

  You’ve tracked, fought, and brought down 250 living creatures. The body begins to harden with repetition.

  ? +100 Physis permanently.

  Oh, the hunting-a-lot one. So 250 already? Damn…

  How much more would he have to kill to reach level 100? This fuckin’ System really was all about killing, eh.

  Hope shook his head and then resumed his practice of Magika.

  He held a rock in his hand, focusing on the Heat Magika in the air and concentrating on it. He felt the temperature slowly increase, but still not to the point it actually burnt his hand or anything.

  He kept going at it for a while, not just moving the Magika toward a point, but trying to control the dots in different ways here and there.

  After a while, the System prompted him with an upgrade: Heat Handling (Level 1 ? 2)

  He knew it would help ease the headache from handling Heat Magika, but the second effect was just flat-out useless. His Air Magika was already miles ahead at Level 5 and that decided the % increase.

  So, he spent the rest of his time messing with that instead—moving the Air Magika around his body, playing with it, getting a better feel.

  Then a curious thought slipped in, and yeah… he kinda liked where it was going.

  He got up, raised his spear, and thrust it through the air while channeling Air Magika around it.

  It felt… off. Like the wind didn’t move how it should.

  The difference was subtle, but it was there. Just enough to make him stop and think.

  Could he actually use this in combat?

  He glanced at Eve, thought about asking her, then shrugged it off.

  Nah. This one’s on him. Not asking every damn time.

  He closed his eyes for a second, then started moving again. Thrust after thrust, smooth and sharp, letting instinct carry the motion while his mind focused on the Air Magika around the shaft.

  He tried syncing them—spear and breeze, arm and air.

  It was tricky. Even when he got close, it didn’t quite land the way he hoped. Like the wind lagged a step behind.

  Still, he kept at it. Tried different timings, different angles. Pushed it until his head started buzzing again, telling him to cut it out.

  He exhaled hard and got moving again. The desert wasn’t gonna cross itself.

  The grind continued until Hope suddenly stopped, feet grinding to a halt. His eyes narrowed as he stared ahead.

  ID: 763266

  Level 25

  ID: 128754

  Level 26

  Two Crawlers on the horizon. They looked like they had some fur on their skin, but he couldn’t quite tell from this distance. Eve had told them the furry ones were called Yvernis, which he still thought was a weird name.

  Shortly after, they noticed him too. Hope cursed. He had been running non-stop. How were they still ahead? Were they not sleeping?

  He stared at them for a moment.

  They seemed to have no intention of going after him.

  And so… he ignored them too and went on his way. He kept track of them for a while, but they did not follow.

  Maybe… not all were like the ones before. With that thought, and with them no longer visible, he resumed his hunt.

  Level 29 ? 30

  Hope wanted to stop and practice Magika control, but the pressure from still seeing Crawlers ahead made him question if his frequent stops had been a good idea or not…

  His stamina was rocket high and he could go for ages, but… so could the other Crawlers out there. And now they were teaming up. Second pair he found, and last… last paid the price for messing with him.

  Hope clicked his tongue and decided not to stop. It was risky, but… he’d just have to practice Magika while running and potentially—

  He sidestepped fast as the sand burst beneath him.

  Sandmaw

  Level 28

  —fighting.