Universal Power System

[Mana Understanding]

[Mana Understandings displayed the user's current understanding of the intricate and complicated path of pure mana manipulation]

[Current Understanding: 1%]

The mana understanding tab had a very simple explanation and as soon as Mako read the description, another notification popped in front of his eyes.

[Hidden Quest Complete]

[Learn the secret of manipulating mana]

[Reward: +20,000 EXP]

Gaining experience points nowadays was quite difficult for Mako as he hadn't been getting any big quests and he would gain minimal EXP from completing his daily quests so the big boost in EXP was heavily appreciated; however, the system wasn't done.

[New Multi-Layered Quest Received] =

[Practice and Learn the ways of mana manipulation and increase your understanding.]

[Level 1: .Gain 10% understanding]

[Level 2: Gain 25% understanding] 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

[Level 3: Gain 50% understanding]

[Level 4: Gain 75% understanding]

[Level 5: Gain 100% understanding]

[Rewards: ???]

Mako was quiet by this sudden and brand-new type of quest. The quest itself was quite simple to understand however, he didn't understand the different tiers that were placed alongside it.

He clicked on the information button next to the quest to get some answer as to what exactly was this type of quest.

[Multi-Layered Quest] >

[A Multi-Layered Quest is a quest meant to be completed over a long period of time with multiple tiers to act as checkpoints along the way the user reaches closer to finishing the quest altogether which is by completing the final tier of the quest. The system incentivizes the user by adding additional rewards for each tier so that the user remains focused on completing the quest as there is no time limit for these types of quests.]

'Multiple rewards from a single quest... now that's more like it,' Mako thought to himself with a smile as he read through the description of the multi-layered quest.

Mako was already aiming to fully understand and master Mana manipulation if he were able to do so, he would have almost unlimited options with what he could do; however, he knew that the road to that dream would be long and hard, but now he would be getting additional rewards as he reached a certain milestone which was nice.

*************

Moving on from the quests, Mako turned his attention back to the mana understanding tab, more specifically the button labeled "Mana Skill Tree".

'Open the Mana Skill Tree,' Mako commanded the system.

A beautiful web of lines appeared in front of Mako with 4 core roots that spread out and with tiny circles connecting multiple roots to other roots.

[Mana Skill Tree] =

[The mana skill tree is a unique interface crafted by the system that displays all the possibilities of advancement of the user in the path of Mana Manipulation.]

[The skill tree has 4 core roots, each representing a major part of the power of Mana Manipulation and it is entirely up to the user in which direction they would like to advance and master.]

[The 4 core roots are ECHANTMENTS, CURSES, MANIFESTATION, and MANIPULATION.] [ENCHANTMENTS are buffs that can be temporarily or permanently applied to living and non-living things.]

[CURSES are debuffs that can be temporarily or permanently applied to living and non- living things.]

[MANIFESTATION is to convert pure mana into matter. The conversion requires several components such as sufficient mana, complete knowledge of the thing the user is trying to create, and enough Mana Understanding to bring it to fruition.]

[MANIPULATION is to convert pure mana into ability aura and utilize a skill with the converted aura. The conversion requires several components such as sufficient mana, complete knowledge of the aura the user is trying to produce, enough Mana Understanding to bring to fruition as well as acceptable skills to utilize the produced aura.] [The mana skill tree provides the user with all the mana-related skills that are stored in its codex; however, there are many more that the user can find and learn on their own.]

[In order to unlock skills and progress down a path in the mana skill tree, the user will have to spend Skill Points (SP).]

Mako paused the stream of description notifications as not only was he absolutely amazed by what he had read so far but now the system had introduced a brand new resource which he wanted to learn about first.

[Analyze]

[Skill Points]

[Skill Points is a system unique resource that the user can earn through rewards by completing various quests. The Skill Points can be used to upgrade the Mana Skill Tree and can also be traded in by spending attribute points]

[The number of Skill Points received as rewards is dependent on the user's current level of strength and Mana Undestanding. As the user masters and gains a greater understanding of mana and raises their level, the number of Skill Points in rewards will increase.]

[Conversion Rate: 100 Attribute Points --> 1 Skill point]

'Ouch! That's really expensive...' Mako said to himself as he learned about the conversion rate of Skill Points.

Attribute points were already becoming rare as Mako wasn't able to acquire them as easily as he did before t this just reaffirmed to him the value of these skill Points he was so excited to see what his first skills from the Skill Tree would be.

He resumed the description notification...

[The Mana Skill Tree is assembled in a descending order with the cheapest skills of every root being the first available to be unlocked with more expensive and stronger skills locked

down the road.]

[The user cannot directly purchase a skill from the Mana Skill Tree; they must first acquire all preceding skills before the desired skill becomes available for purchase.]

[Only the next available to-purchase skill will be displayed for the user to preview while all others down the road will be hidden and cannot be previewed.]

[The 4 core roots expand into multiple pathways and sometimes even converge together so there might be multiple paths to unlock a skill and only a singular path is required to be unlocked for the user to unlock that skill.]

Mako was familiar with this type of format thanks to all those old RPG games he used to play with Gary at his gaming bar.

The skill tree would lead down multiple different paths and each path would make it so that the character has certain strengths and weaknesses making it far more fun to build unique and creative characters and then try them out against others.

However, the 4 main paths that he could upgrade in the Mana Skill Tree would enable him to have different capabilities that would define his fighting style.

Mako had a very small idea of what was an enchantment or a curse as Rose had never mentioned it. She had also never manifested anything into existence so Mako assumed that Rose had gone with the manipulation route as it explained all of her various abilities.

Mako was tempered to just follow in Rose's footsteps but knowing that Skill Points would also become a precious resource, he opted to first read out all the available skills and then make his decision on which he wanted to proceed with.

[Mana Skill Tree] =

[Enchantment Route]

{Weak Enchantment of Resistance} --> {???}

[Weak Enchantment of Resistance] =

[A weak enchantment that can be placed on any piece of armor, granting the wearer a 5%

percent resistance to any one debuff damage of the user's choosing such as burned,

poisoned, frozen, etc.]

[The enchantment is temporary and will wear off after 1 hour]

[Cost: 250 Energy]

[Unlock Cost: 1 Skill Point]

[Curse Route]

{Weak Curse of Fatigue} --> {???}

[Weak Curse of Fatigue] =

[A weak curse that can be placed on any person, giving them a 5% decrease in Strength,

Agility, and Stamina.]

[The curse can only be applied to people weaker than the user and the curse will wear off

after 1 hour.]

[Cost: 250 Energy]

[Unlock Cost: 1 Skill Point]

[Manifestation Route]

{Manefestation (Stage 1)} --> {???}

[Manefestation (Stage 1)] =

[The very first stage of Manifestation allows the user to create a small non-living object

from pure mana with a mass of no more than 25g.]

[User cannot create power weapons, armor, or items at this stage of manifestation.]

[Cost: 250 Energy]

[Unlock Cost: 1 Skill Point]

[Manipulation Route]

{Water Manipulation (Stage 1)} --> {???}

[Water Manipulation (Stage 1)] =

[This is the very first stage of Water Manipulation, allowing the user to be able to convert

their own mana into the Water ability aura.]

[At the current stage, the user can only generate aura that of a Level 1 Water ability user.]

[User can now learn skills of the Water ability without possessing the physical ability.]

[Cost: Double the amount of Energy required to cast the Water skill]

[Unlock Cost: 1 Skill Point]

***************

Mako wasn't exactly blown away by the description of the starter skills from the Mana Skill

Tree but he wasn't disappointed either.

He already knew how this was going to go thanks to those old RPG games.

At first, he would get mediocre perks with lots of restrictions but as he progressed down the

tree, the restrictions would slowly be lifted and he would gain some real overpowered perks that would definitely be a great addition to his expanding arsenal of skills and abilities. With that Mako thought for the future where he would have a lot more skill points to play

with, Mako didn't worry too much about the skill tree and just began training to increase his understanding, opting to save his one skill point that he had earned with unlocking the mana understands tab for a rainy day.