Eiden woke up on the practice room floor.
That was becoming a problem.
Not the floor part. The floors in The Open Gate were very clean, suspiciously clean even, like someone had invented a spell specifically to remove dirt from polished stone.
The problem was that he had not remembered lying down.
He pushed himself up, blinking.
“Where the hell am I—” he started, but the words cut off as his neck seized.
“Hah—! Fuck!” he swore while rubbing the muscle that had just locked up.
Memory clicked into place a second later.
A panel floated in front of his face.
Quest: [Before the Wave] — COMPLETE
Rewards received:
+2 Skill Upgrade Points
Max Mana +20
Spell Forge Access Unlocked
Fire Affinity Stage I Unlocked: Ember Core
Time remaining until the next Wave: ~90 hours
Current survival chance: 25%
He still didn’t know what “Spell Forge” or “Fire Affinity Stage I Unlocked: Ember Core” actually meant, and the uncertainty gnawed at him.
He sat up, rubbed his face, and winced when his neck cracked.
"Okay," he muttered. "One thing at a time."
He looked at the panel again.
"Explain Ember Core."
The panel changed.
Fire Affinity Stage I: Ember Core
Type: Fire Affinity Advancement Trial Path
[Ember Core is the first Fire Affinity trial path available to you. Completing Ember Core trials will gradually increase your Fire Affinity.]
Higher Fire Affinity affects:
Fire-aspected mana conversion efficiency
Fire spell stability
Fire spell output ceiling
Fire spell learning speed
Fire spell evolution compatibility
Advanced Fire-type spell access
Stage I Completion Reward Preview:
Ember Core Formation
Ember Core is a permanent internal Fire Affinity core.
Once formed, it allows the user to absorb residual Fire-aspected mana from nearby flames, burning surfaces, and recent fire spell impacts.
Absorbed fire mana is converted directly into usable mana.
Initial Effect:
Automatically restores mana from nearby residual Fire-aspected mana.
Future evolutions may allow absorbed fire mana to:
Reduce the mana burden of Fire spells
Stabilize unstable Fire spell structures
Improve long-combat endurance
Support advanced Fire spell evolution
Current Fire Affinity: Out of standard measurement range.
Functional Control: Poor.
Trial Access: Available.
Eiden read the words twice.
Then a third time, because "Current Fire Affinity: Out of standard measurement range" still looked like a compliment wearing a warning sign.
"So I already have weirdly high Fire Affinity," he said. "But my functional control is poor."
No answer.
"And if I pass the trial, I get an internal core that can pull fire mana from nearby flames."
He looked at the practice room floor, then at the scorched marks left from yesterday's training.
That was pretty good reward. In a short fight, it might not matter much. But in a long fight, when his mana started running low and everything around him was already burning...
He could keep going.
He tapped the air where the words "Trial Access" glowed.
A new panel appeared.
Ember Core Trial Path
Trial Entry:
You will be transferred to an isolated trial space.
Trial format may include:
Fire manipulation tasks
Heat endurance tasks
Precision ignition
Flame suppression
Combat trials
Environmental survival
Affinity pressure tests
Failure:
No permanent penalty.
Trial may be attempted again after one day.
Warning:
Trial difficulty increases with each stage.
Later trials may exceed your current survival expectations.
Recommendation:
Do not begin while exhausted.
Eiden slowly lowered his hand.
"Pocket dimension fire tests?" he said. "That’s new. But not today."
The panel vanished.
Eiden pushed himself to his feet and stretched. His body ached.
"Spell Forge," he said.
The air in front of him folded.
A large translucent screen appeared, blue-white and neatly divided into sections. At the center was a square crafting grid, four by four, each slot empty. Around it were labeled panels.
SPELL FORGE
Create, modify, or prototype spells using existing spell structures.
Required Inputs:
Base Spell
Desired Shape
Trigger Condition
Mana Structure
Essence Component
Theory Basis
Practical Test
Available Base Spells:
Fire Bolt
Big Fire Bolt
Summon Water
Available Essence:
Monster Essence (lesser): 7
Other materials available but unrefined.
Warning:
[Spell Forge does not grant instant mastery. Spell Forge assists in constructing a viable blueprint. Blueprints must be tested, stabilized, and learned through practice.]
He stepped closer to the menu.
"Create new spell."
The crafting grid lit up.
[New Spell Prototype]
[Enter Concept Name:]
Eiden did not hesitate.
"Floor Boom."
The words appeared on the screen.
For two seconds, nothing happened.
Then the panel flickered.
[Name rejected.]
[Reason: Insufficient seriousness.]
Eiden's mouth fell open.
"Excuse me?"
[Name rejected.]
[Reason: Insufficient seriousness.]
"That is discrimination against honest naming."
No response.
"Floor Boom describes exactly what I want the spell to do. It is a boom. On the floor. That's perfect."
The panel did not care.
Eiden crossed his arms. "Fine. Fire Mine."
The words changed.
[Concept Name Accepted: Fire Mine]
"Fine…" Eiden said.
The Forge menu expanded.
[Define Spell Concept:]
Eiden took a breath.
"I want a fire spell I can place on the ground. It waits there. When something steps on it, it explodes. Big damage."
A pause.
Then the system responded.
Concept: Fire Mine
Possible.
Basic idea: Place a fire mine into the ground. Keep it there. Make it explode when something steps on it.
Estimated Mana Cost: 50
Explosion Radius: 5 meters
Duration: Until triggered
Risk Level: High
Main problems:
It may explode immediately.
It may leak fire before it is ready.
It may fail to notice pressure.
It may damage the caster if placed too close.
Warning:
[This spell will damage everyone inside its radius, including allies and the caster.]
Eiden blinked.
"Fifty mana?"
The number stayed there.
"Fifty?" he repeated. "For one mine?"
No answer.
He rubbed his chin.
Eighty max mana.
One Fire Mine cost fifty.
That left thirty mana, which meant three Big Fire Bolts or a lot of normal Fire Bolts. If he placed one mine before a fight, he would still have enough to fight. If he placed more than one, he would need to meditate between them.
No limit.
That mattered.
If the mine stayed until triggered, then he could prepare the battlefield in advance.
The quarry flashed in his mind. The narrow cut. The big pit. The broken platform. The sky where the rupture would open.
If creatures fell through the sky and landed in a prepared zone...
And later, if Ember Core became real, every explosion might leave something behind for him to take back.
Fire mana. Mana, once the core converted it.
He was not just placing traps. He was preparing fuel.
"Okay," he said. "How do I make it?"
[Spell Forge can help shape the idea. You must still learn it by testing.]
[Select Base Spell:]
Three options appeared.
Fire Bolt
Big Fire Bolt
Summon Water
Eiden clicked Fire Bolt.
The grid filled one slot with a small orange icon.
[Base Spell selected: Fire Bolt]
[Reasonable.]
"Reasonable?" Eiden repeated. "Don't sound so surprised."
The Forge asked for a shape next.
Projectile, cone, sphere, field, anchor, or custom.
Eiden selected Anchor.
A second icon appeared in the grid, this one like a small rune pressed into stone.
Then came the trigger.
Manual release, timer, impact, pressure, mana proximity, or custom.
"Pressure." Eiden said.
The third icon appeared.
The last choice was how the mana should behave.
Immediate release, delayed release, active field, stored mana, or repeating effect.
"Stored mana," he said.
The fourth icon dropped into the grid.
[Select Material:]
Monster Essence (lesser)
Toad Tongue
Toad Eye
Swamp Toad Skin
Stoneback Hide Fragment
Troll Marrow Core
Acidic Bile Sac
Monster materials: assorted
Eiden stared at the list.
"How am I supposed to know what to put in a spell?"
No answer.
"Do I look like a magic chef?" Eiden pointed at the first item. "What does Monster Essence do?"
[Monster Essence (lesser)]
[A weak monster remnant. Commonly used when creating or modifying spells.]
[Recommended for spell prototypes.]
"Okay," Eiden said. "That sounds less disgusting than toad tongue."
He selected Monster Essence (lesser).
[Monster Essence (lesser) selected.]
[Material role: Helps the spell hold its shape while being tested.]
[Weak quality detected.]
"Good," Eiden said. "Finally, the dead things I killed become useful."
The grid now held five icons.
A sixth section glowed.
Theory Basis required.
Known:
How to make fire
How to make fire tighter
How to reduce wasted heat
How to shape an explosion
Not known well enough:
How to leave fire in the ground
How to make it wait
How to make it react to pressure
Eiden stared.
"That's a lot of insufficient." Eiden rubbed both hands over his face. "Okay. What do I need to understand?"
Fire Mine cannot be created by throwing fire at the ground.
You need to:
Make a small fire.
Keep it from exploding.
Push it into the ground.
Leave it there without losing control.
Make it react when something steps on it.
Move away without setting it off.
Current predicted success rate: 3%
"Three percent?" Eiden asked.
He looked at the practice room.
"That is not a success rate. That is a dare."
He stepped into the center of the room and crouched, placing his right palm flat against the stone floor.
"Okay," he whispered. "Fire Mine test number one."
The practice room wall immediately lit up.
Unregistered spell prototype detected.
Practice Room A-2
Emergency Suppression: Active
User Distance Warning: You are too close to the spell origin point.
Eiden glanced at the wall.
"I have to touch the ground to place it."
User Distance Warning: You are too close to the spell origin point.
"Very helpful."
He closed his eyes and formed a Fire Bolt, but he did not let it appear above his palm. Instead, he tried to push the spark downward, through his hand and into the floor.
The mana resisted.
Fire wanted to go outward.
Eiden forced the spark down anyway.
For one second, he felt something catch beneath his palm. A tiny ember lodged inside the stone.
His eyes opened.
A faint orange dot glowed under his hand.
"Oh," he said. "That worked."
The dot pulsed.
"That is probably bad."
The dot flashed.
Eiden had enough time to say, "Wait—"
The mine exploded.
Not a full explosion. Not the five-meter death circle he wanted. More like a furious firecracker.
A burst of orange flame slammed upward, hit the emergency barrier, and wrapped around Eiden's arm.
The room flashed white.
Suppression magic hit him like a bucket of invisible water.
Eiden flew backward, rolled twice, and landed on his back.
For a few seconds, he stared at the ceiling.
Then he raised one smoking hand.
"Test successful," he wheezed. "I found one thing not to do."
He stood, flexed his fingers, and winced. The burns were not serious. The suppression system had stopped the worst of it, but his palm felt like he had slapped an angry stove.
"Again."
This time, he did not force the Fire Bolt into the ground immediately.
He formed the smallest possible flame in his palm first, a compressed dot of fire. He pulled the heat inward, the way Neris had explained. Not less fire. Tighter fire.
Then he pressed his palm to the floor and tried to lower the dot into the stone slowly.
The ember sank halfway.
A thin line of flame crawled across the floor like a very confused snake.
Eiden stared at it.
"That is not a mine."
The flame line reached the nearest target dummy and fizzled out.
He sat down cross-legged and opened the Spell Forge again.
The crafting grid remained, now with a rotating warning symbol over the Fire Mine prototype.
Fire Mine Prototype
Status: Incomplete
Missing:
A way to make the fire wait
A way to make it react to pressure
A clear explosion limit
Eiden tapped the first missing part.
A simple diagram appeared. Fire in the middle. A thin layer around it.
"So I need to hold the fire in place," Eiden said.
[Correct.]
"See? Simple words. We can do simple words."
He tried again.
This time, he formed the fire, made it smaller, and tried to hold it together before pushing it into the stone.
It was harder than it sounded. The fire kept pressing outward, looking for a way to escape.
"Stay," Eiden hissed.
The core sank into the ground.
A faint orange glow appeared.
It lasted one second.
Two.
Three.
Eiden's eyes widened.
Then he forgot to breathe, got excited, and the shell cracked.
The mine exploded.
This time, the explosion was stronger. The barrier flared, the floor shook, and Eiden was thrown backward hard enough that his shoulder hit the wall.
He slid down and landed sitting.
A small smoke trail rose from his hair.
He touched it.
"Ow."
Eiden stared at the spot where the mine had been.
"Okay, now it's definitely personal."
He lay there for a moment, then laughed despite himself.
Not because it was funny.
It was funny, but not only because of that.
He was making progress.
Bad progress. Painful progress. But progress.
He sat up and opened the Spell Forge again.
"Show current prototype."
Fire Mine Prototype
Concept:
Fire placed into the ground. Explodes when enough weight presses down on it.
Current Parameters:
Mana Cost: 50
Radius Target: 5 meters
Duration: Until triggered
Placement: Direct ground contact
Trigger: Pressure
Visibility: Faint glow
Concurrent Limit: None detected
Stability: Unstable
Progress:
Making the fire: Partial
Putting it into the ground: Partial
Keeping it there: Weak
Pressure reaction: Not formed
Explosion limit: Not formed
He stood and started pacing.
The issue was not explosion. Explosion was easy. He had proven that with his body.
The issue was waiting.
It had to sit there without releasing anything until something stepped on it.
Eiden crouched again.
"Pressure trigger," he muttered. "How do I make fire understand stepping? Or waiting."
He placed his palm on the floor, but this time he did not start with fire.
He pressed his fingers against the stone.
He imagined the mine as a sleeping eye under the floor.
He formed the fire core.
Wrapped it.
Pushed it into the ground.
The glow appeared.
Faint. Almost invisible unless someone looked carefully.
“Good.”
Now the trigger.
He imagined the shell as a thin glass cup.
Pressure would crack it.
The crack would release the fire.
The fire would expand.
No, not expand.
Explode.
A panel appeared directly over the glowing dot.
Pressure reaction detected.
Warning:
[Sensitivity is not set. Set how much weight is needed.]
Eiden blinked.
"Oh. Uh."
He looked around.
"What counts as stepping? A person? A squirrel? Dust?"
No answer.
"Do not explode because of dust." he told the mine.
The panel updated.
[Trigger threshold adjusted: Minor contact ignored. Moderate weight required.]
"Great."
The dot glowed.
One second.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
It stayed.
Eiden slowly lifted his hand away.
The dot stayed.
"Okay…" he whispered.
He very, very slowly backed away.
The glow stayed on the floor.
He picked up a broken stone fragment from near the wall.
"Test."
He threw the stone at the glowing dot.
The stone hit the floor beside it.
Nothing happened.
"That was my fault."
He picked up another stone.
This time he aimed properly.
The stone hit the glowing dot.
For half a second, nothing happened.
Then the Fire Mine detonated.
The explosion bloomed outward in a circular burst, bright orange and fast, reaching almost the full marked radius before the practice room barrier caught it and compressed the heat upward.
The nearest stone target flashed red-hot.
Eiden raised both arms.
"Ha!"
A Spell Forge panel appeared.
New Spell Blueprint Generated
Fire Mine
Type: Fire / Trap / AoE
Status: Unstable Prototype
Description:
Places fire into the ground through direct contact. The fire stays there until enough weight steps on it. When triggered, it explodes in a circle.
Prototype Parameters:
Mana Cost: 50
Target Radius: 5 meters
Current Achieved Radius: 3.3 meters
Duration: Until triggered
Placement: Touch ground
Trigger: Pressure
Visibility: Faint orange glow
Requirements to Learn:
Keep the fire stable while placing it
Control the explosion radius
Repeat successful pressure test: 0/10
Reduce fire leakage
Complete one controlled field test outside practice room
Warning:
Unstable Fire Mine may detonate early, fail to trigger, or explode during placement.
Eiden stared at the blueprint.
If he could place enough of these before the Wave, he could turn the tide before the Wave even began.
Eiden paused.
"Turn the tide," he muttered. "Against a Wave."
A tired smile pulled at his mouth.
He crouched, pressed his hand to the floor, and began forming the next mine.
[Time remaining until the next Wave: ~89 hours]