When Raul first obtained the Skill Codex, he had high hopes. An “All-Master” player capable of using every skill.
How fantastic that sounded!
A flawless player who could wield weapon skills, psychokinetic abilities, magic, and divine powers with equal prowess, seemingly unbeatable.
However…
“Fireball!”
The quintessential fire-based attack spell, a 4-circle magic, materialized at the tip of Bae Dohyun’s staff.
Whoosh.
A fireball the size of a human head seared the air as it flew menacingly toward the target. And at the moment it struck the target…
Fsssh.
With a hissing sound, the fireball fizzled out like a spent matchstick.
“Seriously, why isn’t this working? Is it the staff’s fault?”
Bae Dohyun muttered in dissatisfaction, examining the magic staff in his hands, but no amount of fiddling would suddenly change its properties.
Rabel, who had been watching with folded arms and a pitiful expression, sighed deeply.
“Wasn’t there someone who said a master craftsman doesn’t blame their tools?”
Bae Dohyun winced. It was the same advice Raul had given Jake, not long ago, after he had blamed his sword for his defeat in a sparring match with Philip.
“Thinking about it, it’s really hard to understand. You’re so sensitive to mana and control it so well when using a sword, so why do you turn into an idiot with a staff? Tsk tsk.”
Rabel’s clicking tongue made Bae Dohyun’s shoulders slump even more.
“Well, the mechanics of using a staff are completely different from using a sword. It’s natural that breaking ingrained habits isn’t easy.”
Bae Dohyun tried to defend himself, but it didn’t sway Rabel in the slightest.
“I wonder where the guy who boasted about understanding the flow of mana and the activation principles of any skill went. And sticking to something that clearly doesn’t work—can that stubbornness suddenly make it work?”
Bae Dohyun’s head drooped. Tower of Graduation, Magic Test Course, 3rd floor. It was a basic test stage that anyone who knew how to use magic could pass, yet the judgment screen in front of him displayed a gigantic 『FAIL』 message.
Fortunately, since he was below the 5th floor, which was the basic test stage, he didn’t get kicked out immediately as he could retry. But Rabel’s intense gaze through her glasses was terrifying.
“Now that you know it doesn’t work, please use the skills properly, Mr. Bae Dohyun!”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
The cause of this predicament was Bae Dohyun’s stubbornness.
Thanks to the Skill Codex’s deceptive characteristics, Bae Dohyun could assign spells to the three slots in the skill compendium and use them.
As he completed the Skill Codex’s random quests, he had raised many such spells to intermediate level 1 proficiency.
But what good did that do?
Raul believed that mastering skills personally was meaningful, so he wanted to master magic without relying on the system’s assistance. Thus, he stubbornly attempted to pass the test by using spells without system assistance.
Magic, which he could barely cast successfully once in three or four attempts without the system’s help, was failing him today more than ever.
“Let me make it clear once again, Raul has absolutely zero talent for magic. So please stop with this reckless idea of mastering magic. Instead, use that time for other training!”
“But I still have dreams of becoming an ‘All-Master’….”
The open Skill Codex snapped shut with a loud clap. Seeing Rabel’s increasingly stern expression, Bae Dohyun quickly corrected himself.
“But, it would be better to give it up now, right? That’s what I was going to do anyway.”
He realized he’d have to set aside his cherished dream for the time being.
“If you really want to use magic, just use the system’s assistance like other players and treat it as a ‘skill’. You know how ludicrous and stupid it is to try and master every skill yourself, right?”
Bae Dohyun silently nodded his head in agreement. There wasn’t any need to obsess over magic, as Rabel had pointed out. Even though the manifestation methods differed, many aspects of magic and psychokinetic abilities overlapped.
The effects of Fireball, for instance, could be reproduced with the psychokinetic ability ‘Pyrokinesis’.
The short-distance teleportation spell ‘Blink’ could be replicated with the psychokinetic skill ‘Flicker’, and flying, akin to the Fly spell, was achievable through Raul’s psychokinesis.
And Bae Dohyun’s aptitude for psychokinetic abilities was second to none.
‘Why is it not working? I understand it all in theory, though.’
It seemed CONNECT’s magic was destined to be a sore spot for Bae Dohyun. The subsequent tower climb proceeded smoothly without any issues. Yielding to Rabel’s nagging, Bae Dohyun used the system’s assistance to activate magic spells, and the spells he had already reached an intermediate level with didn’t disappoint.
Furthermore, what was merely an auxiliary skill for other mages, ‘Staff Combat (Bludgeoning Arts)’, became something menacing in Bae Dohyun’s hands.
In fact, from the 6th to the 9th floor combat tests, almost half of the monsters met their demise not from his magic but from being bludgeoned to death by Bae Dohyun’s staff.
‘Well, in the movie Lord of the Rings, Gandalf also used his staff to bash monsters, so it’s not cheating, right?’
Though Rabel’s stern gaze was scary, Bae Dohyun felt justified. And finally, he reached the 10th floor. There, waiting for him, was a stereotypical mage instructor with a long white beard and a robe.
“Welcome, challenger.”
The old mage, spouting the same lines as previous instructors, suddenly widened his eyes in astonishment.
“Oh, the owner of the Grimoire! You’ve learned a very rare magic, challenger.”
However, the one who responded wasn’t Bae Dohyun. Floating before his chest was the open Skill Codex, and atop it sat Rabel, holding a miniature staff.
“Mind if I take this one? Human mage.”
The instructor, momentarily taken aback, nodded in acknowledgment.
“I don’t know why you’re confined there, but I recognize you as a servant of the mage.”
“Indeed. What now?”
At Rabel’s question, Bae Dohyun stepped back, spreading his hands.
“I’ll leave this one to you. I’ll cheer from the sidelines.”
“You do that.”
Bae Dohyun’s decision to attempt the magic test was based on his trust in Rabel. Though he had easily won the previous two tests, defeating an instructor wasn’t an easy feat for a typical player.
Even with levels and proficiencies set equally, that didn’t mean the skill levels were equal.
Beating an instructor who has trained in magic for decades with spells practiced through system assistance without mastering them yourself?
It was illogical, even from a common-sense perspective.
‘Unless using the staff techniques…?’
That thought crossed his mind, but it might violate the additional objective of using only “magic”.
Rooting for Rabel silently was the best approach here.
Whoosh!
Boom!
Rumble.
The magical duel, already in progress, dazzled Bae Dohyun’s vision with its vivid effects. Like a battle of pride, both Rabel and the instructor fought without moving a single step, their lips alone dictating the flow of combat.
“Summon Wind Arrows. Multiply!”
Rabel’s incantation quickly conjured over ten semi-transparent arrows of wind. Thanks to the proficiency cap, the number was reduced, but they remained threatening.
In response, the instructor twirled his staff and muttered softly.
“Earth Shield! Wandering flames of mana, respond to my call and transform into sharp arrows that pierce my enemy. Fire Arrows, shoot!”
Whether it was memorized spells (spells stored before combat) or artifacts, the instructor swiftly created a large stone shield from the arena floor.
Following textbook spell casting, he launched about five fire arrows.
“Elemental Shield!”
A light green shield, Rabel’s signature defensive spell, materialized to block the fire arrows.
Simultaneously,
“Summon Lightning. Strike down!”
Crack.
A bundle of lightning bolts descended from the clear sky onto the instructor’s head. Yet, a blue shield had already formed above the instructor, grounding the lightning.
While the rapid and fierce magical exchange continued, Bae Dohyun conducted an internal, hypothetical battle in his mind.
‘The instructor probably has about ten memorized spells due to proficiency limits. The strategy should be to exhaust those spells first. The fastest spell should be Magic Missile, right? Oh, if a Fire Arrow comes, should I use Water Shield? What was the incantation… Oh, my head.’
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t keep up with the pace of the magical exchange. Attempting to fight using only magic was futile.
‘This is annoying. I could just use psychokinesis to throw daggers, wear down his shield, close in, and finish with a few sword strikes.’
Finally recognizing that magic wasn’t his forte, Bae Dohyun gave up the notion and focused on observing the duel. It was clear who had the upper hand after exchanging dozens of spells.
Rabel was steadily gaining ground, her mastery and flexibility in spellcasting becoming evident.
“Rise, stone Spikes! Heavy Winds, Press Down!”
Having exhausted the memorized spells and artifact incantations, the instructor couldn’t keep up with Rabel’s incantation speed.
Even demonstrating ‘move casting’ by dodging spells while casting, his defensive spells were shattered one by one by Rabel’s continuous attacks.
Finally, all his magic barriers were broken, and the battle concluded as the instructor was caught in Rabel’s vortex spell, lifted dozens of meters into the air, and then plummeted back down.
“Took longer than expected.”
Rabel adjusted her glasses, still sitting in the same position on the Skill Codex as when the duel began. Bae Dohyun gave her a thumbs-up in admiration.
With this, Bae Dohyun had passed all three tests he challenged: ‘Melee Combat,’ ‘Psychic Abilities,’ and ‘Magic’.
Moreover, he had achieved all additional objectives in the ‘Defeat the Instructor’ event, fulfilling his personal goals for the Tower of Graduation.
‘I’ll check the rewards later.’
Returning to the starting room, Bae Dohyun organized the complex system messages that had popped up and then left the tower.
As he stepped out of the tower’s entrance, the eyes of numerous players gathered in the plaza turned to him. Though he had passed quickly, completing three tests had taken him half a day.
The sun had long set, and the time was nearing midnight, with the plaza illuminated by magic lamps.
‘Why does it seem even more crowded than before?’
He had timed his exit to avoid such a crowd, but it seemed his caution was unnecessary.
“How did it go?”
“Did you pass the tower?”
“You took the ‘Psychic Ability’ test, didn’t you?”
Players, who had been hesitating, began bombarding Bae Dohyun with questions. Typically, it took around six hours to fail and return from the tower.
Having spent nearly half a day inside, it was natural for the players to be curious. Instead of answering, Bae Dohyun opened the postponed system window.
Congratulations on successfully passing the graduation exam. Will you graduate from the Beginner City and challenge the real world of CONNECT?
YES (Automatically selected after 24 hours)
Bae Dohyun brought his finger to the blinking YES icon and clicked it without hesitation.
At that moment.
*
Whoosh!
Like fireworks exploding, blue beams shot up from the Tower of Graduation, splitting into twelve and spreading in all directions across the sky.
Above Mira, a previously unseen translucent blue barrier briefly appeared, shimmering before dissolving into fine dust of glowing light particles.
『Notice』
Congratulations! Player Bae Dohyun has become the first to pass the 『Tower of Graduation』 exam.
This achievement signifies that the once-alien players now hold the credentials to be the saviors of the CONNECT world.
From this moment, 『Free City Travel Restrictions』 are lifted. Explore the continent of CONNECT freely and protect this world from looming threats.
As you’ve proven your worth, players will no longer be protected outside designated safe zones. Exercise caution to avoid conflicts with residents.
The continent continues to suffer from Gate invasions. Until the next scenario begins, experience points and rewards from ‘Gates’ and ‘Dungeons (stabilized Gates)’ are doubled.
The player-exclusive main quest 『The Savior’s Advent』 will now officially commence. Explore the continent and accumulate contribution points for the residents. Worthy rewards await those who achieve the most outstanding results.
This marked the moment when players would officially start intervening in the world of CONNECT.
(To be continued)