"Hmm. I guess my hunch back then was correct." Taking a look at the skills he had gained after his class had ascended to Rank 2, Valyr nodded in slight satisfaction, recalling the thought he had in the past when he had just met Arcenne for the first time. From what he could remember, Arcenne was deftly wielding her spear through the pure manipulation of her mana, prompting him to think that her level of control was quite fine even though she didn't have a skill like [Mana Arm].
Which eventually led to him thinking about the possibility of gaining a similar skill once he had ascended to Rank 2.
"I wonder what differences exist between the normal version and the current version." With this thought in mind, Valyr commanded the system to show him the description of the first skill he had gained, causing a small screen to appear in front of his field of vision not long after.
"[True Prodigious Mana Arm], huh."
Ding!
[True Prodigious Mana Arm] (Level 1/10)
Rarity: Common
Almost all blacksmiths rely on their two arms to forge their works, with some transforming into items that would be remembered by the masses for the ages to come. However, there are those that feel constrained by being limited to only using their two arms to forge their craft, causing them to find various ways in order to alleviate this problem.
Most of those with this problem took on drastic measures to gain their solution, transforming into a species that deviated from their original path, all for the sake of gaining more arms to work with. Fortunately, one man had gained inspiration from the plight of the previous generation and found a way to form more appendages that would aid one in the crafting process without having to sacrifice one's original path.
Through the usage of mana.
Due to the user being a true prodigy, this skill allows the user to form two additional arms made out of mana that extend out of their body. The level of fine control one could obtain from their mana arm is reliant on the user's DEX and PER stat, while the cost to maintain the arm is reliant on the user's DEX and INT stat. Utilizing the skill during the crafting process increases the chances of the resulting forged item to be one minor grade higher than originally intended.
Note that this skill could also be used outside a forging setting, though the success one might find using the skill in these other fields may vary.
Number of mana arms: 2
Cost: 25 MP (initialization), 3 MP per second (maintenance)
Cooldown: 2 minutes
"I see." Once Valyr was done reading through the skill's description, he faintly nodded as he took note of the substantial changes the current version had over the normal version, with the most important one being the number of mana arms he could create, as well as the scaling his stats gave towards the level of fine control he had with the skill.
Deciding to check out the skill for himself, he went ahead and activated [True Prodigious Mana Arm], causing a slightly translucent arm each to appear slightly above his actual arms, their bases being located near the top of his shoulder blades. Becoming slightly mesmerized by the azure color the mana arms emanated, Valyr then willed for the mana arms to move, quickly finding the task surprisingly easy to do.
With how the mana arms were positioned, their range of motion was slightly limited, though he eventually came to the conclusion that the range of the two additional arms would be more than enough for him to work with in a forging setting. Eager to try them out in forging as soon as he could, Valyr stopped himself as he recalled that the normal version of the skill had the ability for the arms to form at a distance from the user's body, giving these arms a wider range of motion.
Though the ability only came about once the skill was upgraded to a higher rarity, Valyr was inclined to think that there was a possibility for it to be a hidden part of the current skill, considering that it was a variant based on his class. With that, Valyr willed for the arms to detach themselves from his back, only for the two to dissipate at the very moment he had done so.
"Welp. I tried." Bitterly smiling at the outcome of the experiment, Valyr shifted his attention to the only other skill he had gained from the ascension, bringing up its description in front of him sometime later.
"It would've been nice if I gained a skill from the subclass," he muttered to himself as he read through the contents on the screen before him. Surprisingly, by the time he was finished reading through it, his eyes glimmered with excitement, becoming eager to test the second skill out in a forging setting as well.
"I wonder if this effect stacks with Jekyll's skill."
Ding!
[True Prodigious Blacksmith's Sight] (Level MAX)
Rarity: Mythic
A normal prodigy takes the norm and ascends it to a level few can reach. On the other hand, a true prodigy takes the norm and transforms it into something greater, becoming something even prodigies yearn to achieve.
Becoming the trailblazers of their own path, true prodigies gain insight on various aspects of forging that would normally be ignored by most blacksmiths. This insight might appear within their control over heat, their method of hammering metal, or perhaps their method of tempering their forged items to become more durable. However, amongst all true prodigies in the field of blacksmithing, there is one aspect of forging that all of them have an insight towards.
The harmony of materials.
This skill allows the user to gain the ability to see the areas where the materials used in the forging process are not unified, giving them the ability to resolve the problem and enhance the quality of their craft to a higher level as long as they have the ability to. If the user is successful in harmonizing all of the materials into one unified entity, the resulting item shall be one minor grade higher than the originally intended rarity.
"It seems I have a lot of experimenting to do once I find a place to start forging again." Closing up the screen before him, a slight grin crept up onto Valyr's lips as he took a look at the remaining notifications he had left, which amounted to two. With that, he read through the first notification, only for a thought to pop up in his mind not long after.
'Hmm. I guess I need to start looking for Skill Keys then.'
