“That’s it, I need to move faster.” Joe was getting crabby and annoyed from the constant exertion and several days of no sleep. His stamina was flickering between empty and a lil bit full, but what else did he have? “Full mana bar. Gotta. Figure out. How to cheat!”
Skipping was fine, and used a speck of mana at a time, but he was a Master Jumper! He should be able to cross vast distances, shoot into the sky, leap through open areas like a gazelle! Joe stopped running and let his stamina build up a little. He was slightly embarrassed that he would be testing this next to the Legion, but he couldn’t go off in the distance right now. Not only was this the most direct route to Gramma’s Shoe, the Legion was also dealing with all the threats that dared to come close to them. If Joe wandered off, he was going to be moving even slower.
After catching his breath, he started sprinting again, but this time as soon as he got to his top speed, he shifted down and jumped, pouring mana into his legs. He hadn’t really tested the limits of his body, especially not like this, yet he wasn’t totally surprised when his leap carried him a full thirty feet forward before he touched down again. Only his high skill levels in both Jump and Aerial Acrobatics kept his feet under him, though he stumbled before moving forward to do it again.
On the third attempt, it got easy. Joe landed and went again, seeing a notification that made him smile.
Through a special action, you have managed to generate a skill!
Skill gained: Leap (Master 0). At the cost of 8% total stamina and 7% total mana pool, you are able to leap forward at great speed.
You have managed to generate a skill by using three other skills in a combined fashion. (Jump, Aerial Acrobatics, and Jump Around). As you created all of these skills with no system help or guidance, you have the option to instantly and freely combine these and the newly generated skill ‘Leap’, along with three ranks in Mana Manipulation, to create a higher-ranked skill.
No more details are available. If you choose not to combine the skills, you may still do so at a later date. Note: each person can only combine a skill in this manner once. If you wish to use other self-guided skills, please make sure to say ‘no’.
Combine (Jump, Aerial Acrobatics, Jump Around, Leap, and 3 ranks of Mana Manipulation) into higher rarity skill? Yes / No.
“Not what I was expecting, but I’m still happy to see that happening…” Joe looked at the options, hesitating before hitting ‘yes’. These skills represented his only Master ranked abilities, and letting them go was… tough. “I need to remember what I was told. Not every skill can get into the Master ranks, and, well, I’ve seen no movement with this one. Maybe a higher rank will let me reach the Grandmaster ranks someday.”
Joe had been continuing to move, his body practically on autopilot as he played around with his movement. Thus, he didn’t think much before accepting the changes, and he was in the air when he did so. He crashed to the ground painfully as the skills vanished and reformed into a new, more potent version.
Exquisite Shell: 9,782/9,842
Guild (The Wanderers) bonus from having a Mastered skill has been lost!
Skill decrease: Mana Manipulation (Student V).
Skill combination successful! New skill gained: Omnivault.
Omnivault (Expert VII). The ground has never been your friend. You have only ever seen it as something you must use as a launch pad to reach greater heights. Now, you are getting ever closer to a higher form of movement! You can now jump upward Strength/10 feet directly upward from a standstill, or leap forward (Strength/10)*3 feet forward while moving. Your sense of balance in the air is unsurpassed. Each empowered leap now costs 1x% stamina and 2x% mana, where x is each consecutive leap. At double the x cost, you may leap or jump a single additional time while still in the air. ‘Consecutive’ is considered any jumping or leaping within 3 seconds of the previous one.
That had been a lot of changes in an overly fast time, but Joe was amazed by the implications of the skill, as well as how he received it. “I can combine only a certain amount of ranks of a skill? That’s… game changing! How many possible skills are there? Oh, I can’t wait to try this.”
But he did have to wait. Almost four minutes, to be exact, since he wanted a full stamina bar when he started trying out the new skill. As soon as it peaked, he took a running start and vaulted into the air, travelling forty-three feet in a beautiful parabolic arc. At the top of the leap, he somersaulted perfectly. At the end, he smoothly transitioned into a second leap forward. After eight total leaps, traveling three hundred and fifty feet in practically the blink of an eye, Joe collapsed to the ground and started dry heaving.
“Mana… gone… already?” He gasped for air, staring in shock at his mana bar. “Eight vaults cost… four thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven mana?”
His dreams of bounding through the open plains vanished like fog on a hot day. “There’s gotta be a way this is usable. I… right! Okay, let’s try this again.”
Joe waited a few minutes to be back in peak shape, snarled viciously at a familiar red-mustached Dwarf, then started running and leaping again. This time when he landed, he ran for a few seconds before leaping again. “Ha-hahh! Non-consecutive. One hundred thirty five mana per leap, each time. My mana regen can handle that. Time to get a jump on catching Havoc.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
Joe had been getting some overly-wide smiles from the Legion as he got closer to the front of the line. He was sure that they were waiting for a chance to ‘broaden his horizons’
