"The true use of my magic? Huh, I see. Well, I don't mind even if I can't really use it in combat, that's not my priority after all. But I wonder… what kind of uses does it have for crafting?" Eisen thought to himself while scratching his beard with his non-transformed hand, then looked down at the piece of Iron that was lying in front of him. "It's slightly more bent than it usually should be, even if the blacksmithing skill makes it easier. Interesting!" While Eisen was thinking that, a new status message popped up.
[Do you want to add Flame of the Earth Transformation Spell to the Spell Library?]
Without even needing to think about it, Eisen chose to add it to the Spell Library. If he was able to activate this state more easily, it would no doubt be useful. But now it was time to test the effect of this tranfsormation!
The old man looked down at his hand and smiled. If the hammer that was partially coated in his element was more useful than usual, then what about other tools?
Thinking that, Eisen grabbed a small carving knife as well as a small block of wood that he wanted to casually carve on in his spare time, and then activated tool connection with the knife in his transformed hand.
The transformation immediately shifted to cover the knife's handle as well, and Eisen excitedly began to carve the small block of wood. Compared to before, it was definitely far easier for the blade to move through the soft wood, which was more than enough for Eisen to come up with a theory, or rather two different theories.
The first theory was his tools changed through the effect of the transformation. For the hammer, it would have been that it became harder, while the knife would have gotten sharper.
The second theory however was that the transformation changed the effect of his skills directly, meaning that Blacksmithing or Woodworking simply became easier. His hands definitely seemed a bit more nimble, although that shouldn't make too much of a difference when it came to simply hammering onto metal or cutting into wood.
The first option seemed to be more likely, considering that the transformation covered his tools as well. Either way, for now, Eisen knew that this would allow him to more skillfully craft things from now on. And he was quite curious about trying something else out as well. Usually, it seemed like skills in this game have a specific name depending on what area they affec, so usually Eisen would have expected the spell to be called something like 'Flame of the Earth Hand Transformation'. Although it was kind of lengthy, that was the naming scheme this game usually had.
But it wasn't there this time, and since Eisen could transform parts of his tools as well, he wondered if it was applicable to the rest of his body as well!
So, Eisen focused his mana and turned it from its raw state into a semi-solid, the same as he had for his hand just now, and filled his whole body out with it. He then slowly let the element from the center of his heart spread outward to mix with his mana.
Soon enough, Eisen noticed the change in his body. It started at his torso, and spreading outward his skin turned into the state that only his hand was in until now. That state that was neither flames nor dirt, but somehow both at the same time.
"So it does work, huh?" Eisen exclaimed and looked down at his body, moving his fingers across his body to feel its changes and to confirm that every part of it truly turned into that different state.
"Truly interesting! I wonder if this will change how I can move my body overall, then!" Eisen muttered to himself, turning and twisting his body to get a better look at himself. He moved his arms around, and saw that he actually had a little bit better flexibility overall.
Now there was something else that Eisen wanted to try. Slowly, Eisen concentrated on his body and decided to change the state of his element toward the earth side. As he did, the lightly glowing cracks all over his body disappeared, and his skin became more solid.
In this state, his body significantly slowed down and became far heavier than it was before. On the other hand, when Eisen tried a few different things out around the room, he noticed that his strength increased in return.
"I see, this- huh?" Eisen was slightly startled for a second, as his voice seemingly became quite a lot deeper than it was before. But that surprise was just there for a second, and Eisen snapped out of it nearly immediately.
Once this was the case, Eisen got excited to see what the other form of his element would look like during his transformation. So, he carefully changed it from earth over to the flames. He did this quite slowly, so that he could make sure he wouldn't accidentally burn his clothes, but it seemed like his equipment was protected from such effects.
Not long afterward, Eisen stood there with his body turned into flames. This time around, his body felt far lighter than usual while at the same time having sped up significantly. In return, it seems like he has lost some of his strength. "So it's like that, huh? And my voice in this state sounds just ridiculous…" Eisen muttered out lowly. He expected his voice to have changed again, but it was kind of like his voice was a few pitches higher, and even Eisen couldn't take himself serious like that.
But either way, Eisen felt like he figured out what he should use which transformation for. The flame state should be used in case he needed a lot of precision, while the earth state was perfect in case simple brute strength was needed.
This element really was perfect for Eisen! He was able to change his speed or strength quite easily during crafting now! However, there was one problem.
"I'm feeling quite drowsy… This drains a lot of mana, doesn't it?" Eisen muttered out and immediately deactivated this spell, causing his body to change back to normal. In order to get his mana back as quickly as possible, Eisen placed some of the mana pills into his mouth, ate some regularly until he had enough mana, and then changed other pills back into regular potions inside of his mouth since they would give more mana back this way.
"Whew, this was quite close… But this is really interesting as well. I'm glad I practiced magic this much then. And would you look at that, my Flame of the Earth Magic will probably rank up again soon!" Eisen exclaimed happily once he looked at his status, until he heard a familiar voice groan behind him.
"Is that so?" The Monkey Beastperson Jyuuk grumbled lowly as he stood up from his bed and stretched in response to the long time that he spent in his wood-state again.
"Ah, Jyuuk! Great that you're back. Listen, we need to talk about something." The old man said with a smile as he turned around.
He began to explain the rough situation, that he and Bree are going to be leaving quite soon, and then talked about his most recent new finding about the magic element or that fanatical religion that prays to the 'Five that peaked', as well as Caria's newest skill 'Plant Control'. Since Denmir mentioned that the 'Master of Life' of the five that peaked was able to make forests grow, it was quite probable that Jyuuk would be able to make amazing use of something like this as well.
"Oh, really? Do I just need to put my mana into seeds to get that skill?" Jyuuk asked surprised, and Eisen simply nodded while scratching his beard. "At least that's what Caria is doing. It wouldn't hurt to try anyway."
"Thank you, I will try this out soon. That is actually quite useful for me to know. I just reached level 99 before going to sleep the last time. There is apparently a level advancement quest. The message said that because of my status as an original and my playstyle befitting that status, the quest is harder than it usually would be. There's a list of things I need to do. For example, reach at least rank 1 in a few skills, some of which I haven't even learned yet including 'Plant Control'. I am sure you will get a similar quest once your level is high enough." Jyuuk carefully explained, and Eisen sat down on his bed while closing his eyes in thought.
"I see… I feel like this may be the first real downside to being originals. Or did you experience another situation that became harder because of it?"
"No, not yet. I will keep you updated about what I find out. And I will also tell you if I will get any rewards that might be in your interest. But until then, I think I should try and see if I can change my occupation somewhere, to one that supports both taming and necromancy. And possibly even skills such as 'plant control'. Do you know of any place?"
Eisen sat there in thought for a few seconds, but didn't really know any specific place, although he at least came up with a few places to start looking. "I don't think so, but you should go and see my friend Morrom at his shop 'Everything Magic'. It's not hard to find, don't worry. And if he can't tell you anything, then I would consider looking around at the guilds in the upper area of town, there may be one that can help you in your situation."
Jyuuk nodded in response and smiled thankfully. "I will do that, thank you. So, when are you and Bree leaving?"
"Haha, why? Want to get rid of us?" Eisen laughed loudly and stood up, slapping Jyuuk's back before heading toward the table where Caria was still practicing her plant control.
"N-No, that's not it! I just-"
"Don't worry, I was just joking. Come on, let's get Bree and then I'll show you the carriage." While Eisen was saying that, he cleaned up the table and got rid of the soil, patting Caria's head when he saw that he managed to actually make quite some progress with her skill.
"Okay!"
---
About an hour later, all preparations were officially done. Eisen showed Jyuuk the carriage, and then the two of them talked with Bree for quite a while, until the Fey-Kin and the Giant-Dwarf Halfling decided to set off.
This past month that Eisen has spent in Melroe was deeply etched into his mind. The new friends he made, and all those amazing things that he saw and experienced brought him out of the hole that was his life for the past few years, after that damned robber broke into his house. For two years, day after day he lived a hollow life, in which he couldn't even lift some of the tools he used for weeks on end sometimes, and wasn't capable of properly cleaning up in his own house until a few months after his operation.
And not to forget the numerous scars on his arm coming from that incident that kept reminding him of his own incompetence every single day that he opened his eyes.
He had lost his happiness, the thing that accompanied him throughout his whole life. He had lost his reason to live.
Now, Eisen was able to regain his life in this new world.