Ainen blinked in surprise at the thing he got.
—> You can mark a target within your vision at the cost of 50 Mana. You can see a special trail left behind by the target in the air, allowing you to chase your target. The mark will stay for 10 hours unless erased by someone who manages to detect it. The mark's obscurity depends on the user's proficiency in this skill.
—> The first attack that the marked target takes from you after getting marked deals 20% more damage.
[This is a trial-based skill. To learn it, you have to complete a trial. If you fail, the scroll will be destroyed.]
'Huh?' Ainen blinked in surprise. 'This is some new shit, alright. So I have to pass the trial or I won't get it.'
He grabbed the scroll and opened it.
[Do you wish to enter the trial? It is recommended to enter if you are level 20 or above.]
Ainen put away the scroll. He wasn't going to enter the trial before becoming stronger. This was a good skill, and he didn't want to lose it by entering the trial willy-nilly.
And so, Ainen continued his adventure.
Naturally, he didn't travel on foot.
He travelled from tree to tree, using a little bit of Flight skill. This way, he could gain proficiency in Flight as well and improve.
Moreover, he only used a little bit of it, consuming minimal Mana, which was enough for his natural Mana recovery rate to recover.
He exerted more energy on jumping and physically moving, so he consumed more Stamina than Mana, but thanks to the bow's perk that increased his Stamina recovery by 30% while equipped, he also remained rather energetic. This update is available on novᴇlfire.net
With his current pace of movement, he was maintaining his tip-top condition so he could fight whenever he encountered monsters.
After moving roughly one hundred and fifty meters, Ainen saw a herd of Water Spirit Deers at a pond.
There were roughly twenty of them, from level 5 to level 30. Children and adults.
'Yeah, no. This looks like a bad idea.'
There were ten Water Spirit Deers above level 25 in that herd, and two level 30.
It wasn't wise to clash against them.
'Or maybe…' Ainen blinked, a bulb lighting up in his head.
He looked at the bow and aimed at the deer.
Taking a deep breath, he consumed 10 Mana to conjure the Mystic Arrow.
He also transformed the Mystic Arrow into Flame Arrow, as that was the power of this bow.
—> Mystic Arrow: Conjures an arrow at the cost of 10 Mana. This arrow can acquire any attribute depending on the user's attributes. +10% extra elemental damage.
'Interesting.' Ainen could grab the arrow as if it were solid.
He could also turn his flame into condensed form with a certain density to it, but this Mystic Arrow was way denser. It was literally solidification.
'I have to be able to make my flame into solidification.'
His flame knives were condensed, but not solid. The only reason they pierced goblins was because they were too weak against his flames.
On the other hand, only Warhog's eyes were damaged by his Firestorm spear, which was better condensed. It couldn't penetrate further.
He needed more practice in that area of manipulating fire. But for now, his goal was something else.
He didn't pull the bowstring just yet, but focused as flame flickered in his eyes before materializing outside, gathering in front of the tip of the Mystic Arrow.
This flame-attuned Mystic Arrow was surely powerful, but it was still like a normal arrow.
However, Ainen wanted to make it more powerful.
So, he decided to make a bow-style fire spell.
'For now, I have two options. An arrow that can violently explode upon impact or envelop the target in a storm of fire.'
Explosive Arrow or Firestorm Arrow.
Compress or Condense.
Compress = force energy into a tighter space, building violent pressure. This was how he made areas in his spells, small points where he compressed flame energy for his flame knives or other spells to explode.
His Great Fireball had the highest compression point and size.
Condense = gather and densify the flame. Have more heat per volume. Flame Wall, Firestorm Spear, the shape of Blaze Bird, and all other spells were made with his condensation at varying degrees, which he weaponized more with his latest invention—Firestorm Spear.
Ainen made his decision.
The flame at the tip of the arrow turned into an orb as he began refining it, compressing it.
'A compact explosion should be more lethal against these deer.'
Monsters with more defensive physical structure could defend against Explosive Arrow, taking lower damage, though they could also break out their defense if powerful enough.
On the other hand, Firestorm Arrow could invade its flames through their orifices and cook them inside and outside.
So against these deer, who were not defense-oriented, Explosive Arrow could make quick work of them.
A few seconds later, the bead at the tip of the arrow was like a beautiful orange marble worth 50 Mana.
This was the highest level of compression he had ever done. Well, feeling this flame-attuned Mystic Arrow did help him achieve this proficiency.
'My proficiency went up to 71%? Nice.'
Ainen smiled and closed his one eye, ready to aim and pull.
The bowstring was still hard to pull, though not as much.
Still, pulling the bowstring to its maximum limit was taking all of his effort at the moment.
'Damn. This should be pretty powerful.'
Ainen realized that this much force gathered was going to be very powerful.
'Yeah, this is a Rare-grade bow, alright.'
He aimed at a level 30 Water Spirit Deer.
'Adding on the 10% extra elemental damage, this should be able to one-shot it even if these water-attributed deers have some fire resistance.'