For an uncommon class, Ronan had been expecting the class infusion to be less painful than for a rare class. When the first icy sting lanced through his flesh, he concluded that he'd been correct in his appraisal.

However, he hadn't accounted for one important difference between sorcerer and most of the other classes he'd tried. This was a class directly intended to grant the user power beyond the system, via magic.

He thought back to the class infusion for mage, and how it seemed to be carving out channels through his body. Sorcerer felt similar, but far more intense.

For what felt like hours, Ronan twitched and writhed as the invisible scalpel of the system cut into his flesh. When it finally subsided, he didn't immediately move.

Class infusion complete! You have become a [Sorcerer (Uncommon)]!

Panting, he lay on the ground of stage 2 of the tutorial, and watched as the timer counting down to stage 3 began to tick once more. The first thing he did, once he had the presence of mind to do so, was check out his new class skills.

You have received the class skill [Internal Mana Manipulation (Uncommon)]!

Internal Mana Manipulation (Uncommon): This skill provides the user with the basic energy channels required to cycle mana through their body, and manipulate it internally using their willpower and mind. This skill is a baseline for all internal mana manipulation, but how much the user can accomplish is purely down to their own creativity and talent.

You have received the skill [Sorcerer's Insight (Uncommon)]!

Sorcerer's Insight (Uncommon): Sorcerer is a term used to describe mages who have learned to break free of the system's constraints, and cast magic using only their own mana and intellect. As such, they have developed a certain level of insight into the workings of magic, and can mentally deconstruct spells they witness, and natural magical phenomena. This is dependent on their knowledge, intelligence, and stats.

Bonus stats for class have been retroactively applied

The two skills were roughly in line with what Ronan had expected from the class. If anything, they were even more bare-bones than he'd hoped for. Neither of them gave him much of an immediate advantage, if any at all, and he would be forced to rely entirely on his own genius and ability to progress.

The flames of passion within him flared, and a grin appeared on his face. This was exactly the sort of challenge he'd been waiting for.

Until now he'd mostly faced the obstacles in his path with his body and combat ability, but now he would need to rely on his mind and his creativity. They were both areas that had been neglected in recent times, but there was a reason he used to earn the biggest bonuses in his company come Christmastime—when it came to numbers, he was a genius.

Whether those skills were transferable to the practice of magic—or sorcery, in this case—remained to be seen. Ronan was confident, and it showed as he shot to his feet and stretched out his muscles.

Glancing at the timer, he saw that he had a little over a minute until he was yanked out of space and sent flying into stage 3. Gurz'krax waited for him, but this time he wouldn't be facing the elite goblin as a fellow warrior, but a sorcerer. With the remaining time, Ronan wanted to start experimenting with his new internal mana manipulation, and figure out how things worked.

Beginning with the basics, he threw his focus inwards, towards his heart. He had discovered very early on in this whole integration mess that the source of his mana was his heart. Now that he was embarking on a journey towards mastering magic, Ronan intended to begin at the source.

Previously he had needed to use a skill in order to manipulate his mana. The only skills he had used in the past to do so were magic strike, and mana bolt. With no access to mana bolt, magic strike was his only option. He took up a combat stance and was about to throw a mana-infused punch, when he suddenly stopped.

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No… If I'm going to do magic, I'm going to do it properly, he admonished himself. No mana punches and kicks, just pure spellcasting!

Arguably his decision might make figuring this out a little more difficult, but he felt that if he got into bad habits early on, they would become a lot harder to shake down the line. So, he began a sort of meditation, reminiscent of cultivation, as he focused on his heart and the tingling feeling that accompanied the surge of mana.

He sat there for the remainder of the time he had in stage 2, but all Ronan managed to accomplish was giving himself a migraine. It was the first time he'd been yanked into the shifting void while sitting down, and the experience was a novel one.

When he fell out of it, he tumbled onto the grass and did half a roll on his side before pushing himself back into a sitting position. Ronan was grateful the goblins hadn't been lined up to watch that rather embarrassing entrance, but if the distant rumbling sound was anything to go by, they would soon arrive.

In his inventory he only had a spear, and with the sorcerer class, he hadn't gained any particular advantages to use against the goblins. This would be a test of his raw skill with the spear. With the spear mastery sitting at tier I, he didn't have a problem with that.

It was a perfect opportunity to tier up, and relieve his frustration at failing to even sense his own mana. When the first wave trampled down the hill, Ronan didn't even wait for them to reach the bottom of the valley before charging into the fray.

You have killed [Elite Goblin Warrior Lv.20]!

+169 Copper Credits

+14 [Spear I] Mastery

+9 [Stamina II] Mastery

+4 [Perception] Mastery

+3 [Pain I] Mastery

+11 [Mana I] Mastery

+16 [Health] Mastery

+Goblin Toes (Common)

+Elite Shard Lv.20 (Body)

You have leveled up to Lv.21!

You have leveled up to Lv.22!

You have been restored!

+2 Vitality

+2 Endurance

+4 Wisdom

+4 Intelligence

+6 Acuity

+4 Free Stat Points

You have reached the mastery cap for [Spear]!

Spear I has evolved to Spear II!

Gain mastery over spears and spear-like weapons minutely faster. Gain a 10% chance to restore stamina equal to 50% of a blow when that blow is parried while wielding a spear or spear-like weapon. Successful strikes with spears gain a 20% increased chance to deal a critical hit.

You have reached the mastery cap for [Health]!

Health has evolved to Health I!

All health costs are reduced infinitesimally. Vitality efficacy is increased by 5%.

Another double mastery tier-up put a big smile on Ronan's face. These hard difficulty iterations might not be giving him much progress in terms of chronos merits or his multipliers, but they were giving him huge improvements to all of his masteries.

By the time he was able to actually complete the hard difficulty tutorial, he expected to have raised all his masteries to at least tier I, if not tier II.

Investing his free stat points had been a decision Ronan had been putting off for most of this iteration. He'd spread 6 points between strength, agility, and dexterity simply because he needed it to keep up with the goblins, but the rest were waiting for him to make a decision.

Without knowing the full effects of all the 'magic-related' stats, which so far he had narrowed down to wisdom, intelligence, acuity, and possibly even tenacity, it was difficult to know which would allow him to master system-less sorcery most efficiently.

He suspected he would have a better idea once he was able to actually feel his mana and begin to manipulate it. So, putting the decision off again, Ronan gave Gurz'krax his customary moment of silence. This iteration, it was even more deserved, given how damn hard it was to defeat the warrior without charge of the juggernaut. Still, perseverance and brute violence had won out in the end.

Now, with just under two minutes of time to himself, Ronan settled into a meditative sitting position and turned his focus inwards once more, towards his heart. He wondered if his initial approach had been wrong, and he needed to take a more active hand in 'producing' the mana. Before switching tacks, he wanted to give this meditative method another shot.

Settling down, he focused on his heart. He remembered the feeling of mana crackling down his arm as he used magic strike. The tingle in his flesh as it passed through the… What is it passing through? The class skill mentioned energy channels, but did I have them before the class, when I used magic strike? Ronan thought to himself. He wasn't really sure.

In any case, his sheer, stubborn determination and single-minded focus eventually produced results. With fifteen seconds left on the break timer, he felt his heart tingling, and pumped a fist in the air as a single tingle of mana was pushed out into his body.

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