Implode ~ 27!

The Ritualist did his best to concentrate on the changes that he was enacting, but it was very difficult to concentrate with a swarm of Dwarves ransacking the building behind him. Clearly whatever they had been finding was extremely exciting, because the shouting had not reduced for the last hour at the minimum. Even so, Joe found it wonderful to be back in a Ritual Hall.

Taking notes and putting his thoughts in order were so much easier now that he was connected to the… goo? “Never did figure out what this stuff actually is. It's part of the building, and it works, but the building would probably not let me reduce it into aspects…”

An ominous rumble came from the structure around him, the Legendary building informing him that no, destruction of even a small part of its matter would not be tolerated. He amiably took that in stride and continued working. Mathematical formulae, circles of varying sizes, compass roses, geometric shapes; anything in his head was perfectly matched by the malleable substance.

“This would be so useful if I were an artist.” An evil smile crossed his face as he recalled all of the times other people had wished they could create exactly what they saw in their mind's eye. For him, that was presently a reality. It went without saying that the material couldn't come with him, but just the simple fact that he could perfectly replicate anything he could think of… it was intoxicating. Ideas for rituals, the new enhancements that he had learned, all of it soared into the air around him, and he started plotting his new path forward.

“The real issue with this circle combination is figuring out why it shifted in the way that it did.” While he waited on the Council, he was attempting to replicate the whitelisting ritual which the door had used to grant him entry. It was only a Beginner ritual, which meant he should be able to create the exact same thing in no time flat. The problem was, it wasn't behaving how he expected a Ritual Circle to behave. “If anything, this is acting like an enchantment, in that it can make determinations based on new information, instead of preset information the way a ritual does.”

Enchanted Ritual Circles has reached Beginner VII!

Enchanting Lore has reached Student I!

“If that doesn't confirm it, nothing else would.” Instead of feeling excited about the breakthrough, it slightly aggravated him. A double skill-up was extremely beneficial, but he was not entirely certain what he was missing. Taking a break for the first time in… it could have been a couple hours, he was uncertain… Joe wrestled his focus back to the physical room and found that he was not alone. He had been aware that other people were moving around, but once he shifted and met the knowing eyes of the Grandmaster, he somehow knew that she had just been waiting for him to require assistance. “Was it so obvious that I wouldn’t know what I was doing?”

“It is the burden of a Grandmaster to be a guide for Masters,” she told him simply, moving closer to take a look at what he was working on. “Oftentimes, people will forget that although they may be treading on a path most others have not walked, it is very unlikely that the path is entirely parallel in all ways. There will almost always be intersections, places where our knowledge meets. It is at these nodes of understanding that we can discuss and ease the burden of walking alone.”

That brought a question to Joe's mind, and while he truly wanted the answer, he didn't know if asking it was going to be rude. “You are only called Grandmaster, whereas the other Masters are called by what they are masters of. Like Master Stu Sarcasm, for instance. What are you a Grandmaster of?”

“My name is Snow-on-the-Mountain, at least translated into the modern common tongue.” When Joe didn't comment, she seemed relieved, though he was uncertain why. “Most people only call me Grandmaster, because of the difficulty of saying the entire title, name, and skill. If we went by the same conventions as the others, I would be ‘Grandmaster Snow-on-the-Mountain Mana Manipulation’.”

That got Joe's attention, and his interest in her opinion on things instantly tripled. “Havoc told me that particular skill is absolutely crucial for supporting almost all other forms of higher skills; anything using mana is going to be impacted by it. Is that why you chose the skill to specialize in?”

“It just worked out that way.” She humbly waved off his questions. “I can tell you that at my skill level, there is very little I cannot replicate when it comes to skills and talents under the Master ranks. Even there, I can usually outperform the Masters when it comes to Mana circuitry or efficiency. So tell me, young Master, what is it that has you looking so bleak?”

Understanding the evasion of his query for what it was, Joe decided to use the proffered help as much as possible to advance himself. “The issue boils down to the fact that I am trying to replicate the magic that allowed us into this building, and as an Expert in Ritual Circles, and a Student in Ritual Lore—one moment… Knowledge, Alchemical Lore.”

Alchemical Lore has reached Apprentice VI!

“What in blazes was that?” the Grandmaster grumbled as the ambient mana in the room was impacted as though a depth charge had been dropped into it. Before Joe could proudly explain his skill, he deflated under her barrage of complaints. “It was so inefficient… created so much akashic noise… ugh.”

“That was a skill from my deity.” Joe only answered after she paused in clear expectation of an actual answer instead of spouting rhetorical questions. “It allows me to increase a lore skill that I have access to.”

“Of course it was.” She blinked a few times, then shook her head. “Well, I certainly am not going to tell you not to use such a generous gift. I can warn you, however, that if you do not figure out how to use it more quietly, someone is going to throw you into a dungeon and force you to write technical manuals for a few centuries.”

“I knew it.” Joe whispered harshly to himself as his daydreaming fears were spoken aloud by someone else. “I'll... try to figure that out.”

“See that you do.” The Grandmaster seemed to settle herself down, then motioned for Joe to continue.

“As I was saying, I am an Expert at these circles.” Joe turned his attention back to the ritual circles and matrices he had left hovering in the air behind him. “This is a variant circle, and it uses just a hint of enchantment, but somehow, that aligns it with a totally different branch of magic? I feel like I should be able to look at this and understand it without any issue, and yet it is eluding me.”

“You say you are an Expert in Ritual Circles.” The Grandmaster was waiting for him as he turned back, a coy smile on her face. “Do you think that you could create an enchantment at the Expert ranks right now?”

“Well, no-”

“Do you have any spells that you cast which could be said to be in the Expert or Master ranks?”

“Only my Omnivault-”

“Hush. That is not a spell.” Grandmaster Snow took in a deep breath and shifted into a warm teaching tone. “It is clear to me that you have figured out one of the keys to advancing your base class further. There is no single class skill. By explaining that you have a lesser understanding of one portion of your class, do you feel that you will be ridiculed?”

“No, and even if I was, I wouldn't care.” Joe tapped the floor with his foot, and a small table generated in front of them, where he placed two cups that were filled with coffee in an instant, thanks to AutoMate. “The issue I am having is that I don't understand why it is so slow to progress, even though I feel it should be faster.”

“I see.” Snow accepted the coffee with good grace, taking an appreciative sip. “The fact of the matter is that you only have half of the convergence that you need in order to achieve a rapid-growth skill.”

“Oh. So… you mean that if I had raised enchanting to Expert ranks, as well as my Ritual Circles, then the combination skill ‘Enchanted Ritual Circles’ would increase much faster?” Joe rubbed at his chin as he stared at the swirling galaxies in the walls. He didn't miss the fact that the Grandmaster was nodding, keeping silent in an obvious attempt to have him explain further. “I also admittedly haven’t put a ton of effort into increasing what I have considered as side skills up until this point. I know these spawned off of my main Ritual Magic skill, but… I suppose it is true that I have not really been looking at them as class skills.”

“I can tell you this…” Snow set her coffee cup down on the table with an audible *clink*. “You can become a Master of a single skill within your skill set. But mastery is not being a Master. Tell me if I have this correct: Ritual Magic contains a small criteria informing you that no other sub-skills can be higher than it is. Correct?”

“That is true.” In fact, it had been an issue for him as he had increased his Ritual Circle skill almost instantly whenever he managed to raise the governing skill to a higher level. “It is getting in the way of my progression-”

“Stop right there. No, it is not getting in the way, it is telling you that your foundation of Knowledge is patchy at best.” The Grandmaster muttered something to the effect of ‘every time’ under her breath, then started to clarify. “You can reach the low Master ranks off of one of your skills. However, you will absolutely stagnate at that point, unless you also bring your other skills up to an acceptable level. Early in that tier, it would make sense if you left some of your skills lower-tier. Yet, who would believe that a high-ranked Master is still a Beginner, or even a Novice, in some of the supporting skills?”

“Ah. That makes… yeah, that makes sense.” It appeared that he would need to spend a few more chapters of his life working on improving his skills. He certainly wasn't opposed to that, but it had taken him this long for just one; what would it look like to raise all five to where they needed to be? “Follow-up question: would it be faster for me to train these skills specifically, or should I attempt to boost the main skills, such as enchanting and alchemy, to a higher skill rank? If my general knowledge is higher-”

“I think you know the answer.” Snow gave him a look that told him she wasn't just going to blurt out every solution, though she did seem willing to give him a nudge. “Think about it this way: while specializing will allow you to climb to higher heights quickly, if you place your ladder on a low ledge, how far can you climb before it becomes too dangerous or difficult to move higher?”

“General knowledge is still going to be pertinent for achieving the higher ranks.” Joe wasn't super happy about that, as it likely meant learning for decades before he… the Ritualist cut off that line of thinking before it could take root. It was important for him to walk the path to completion, and surface knowledge just wouldn't cut it. “All right, I will take that under advisement, for certain. While I have you here… any tips on Mana Manipulation?”

“Ha!” The Grandmaster didn't seem to mind his audacity. “Certainly. Let's discuss what you have been doing to progress it, and…”

For the next several hours, she put him through the wringer to test his current abilities, as well as giving him tips and strengthening exercises that he could use as he reached higher ranks. Thankfully, it was an enlightening experience, proved by his resulting increases in theory and skill level.