"I can definitely not use Fire Arrow even if it means that it will have its power boosted. No matter how good my talent is, beginner skills are beginner skills. They are trash. No matter how much a scrap is upgraded, it will still be a scrap"
This was a point everyone in Lidora agreed. No matter how much one invested into a beginner skill, it will still be scrap in the end.
Just a single common skill could be so much better than it.
It would be better to just buy a common skill with the amount of money wasted on it.
So he has two choices now. Either pick a defense skill from the skill library and then buy an offense skill from the market outside, or get an offense skill from the library and buy a defense skill from the outside.
The choice was easy. He didn't need to think much about it; he would pick the first option.
The reason was that magical defense skills were always rarer than magical offense skills which also meant that they would be more expensive.
So he would obviously pick the first option.
...
Now, in front of him was a wide variety of skill books. It was neatly organized into rows and lines by their categories.
It dazzled one's eyes even though all of them were Common grade books. Just imagine selling all of them, it would create a whole fortune that could make a person go from rags to riches.
However, no matter how much there were, if they were to be divided by the categories, only a few would remain of each. All the skill books were divided into four major categories. It basically defined the nature and the quality of the book. They were quite obvious.
It was by grade, type, usage, and attribute.
One could generally see what the categories meant. Just giving an example for each type, it would be - Common for grade, Mana for type, Summoning for usage, and Water for the attribute.
So since he was aiming to be a fire magician, he would obviously go to the fire section of the mana division. Since the library's collection wasn't so big, it didn't have the option of picking by the usage of skill.
All of the skills were just jumbled up together into a few rows.
These were the options he had.
[Fire Ball]
[Thunder-Fire ball]
[Fire rain]
[Lava Mud Creation]
[Steam Arts]
...
[Poison Fire Arrow]
[Fire Skin]
There were many books related to fire magic here so the choice had obviously become hard. There were many skills he wanted here, however, he could only choose one. Therefore, he had to think hard about his decision in case he regrets it later.
So after some time of contemplating, he chose his skill.
[Fire Barrier (Common grade)
Level: 1 (1/15)
Sets up a visible barrier made out of fire with a radius of 1 meter from yourself. Casting time: 20 seconds. Can block up to 50 damage and lasts for 10 minutes. Attacks from the user can go through the magic barrier freely. Uses 20 mana.]
Even though it spent a lot of mana, it was a good choice for the current him who was thinking of soloing the hunts.
First, it could last for long - 10 minutes. This was enough time for him to enter into a den of wolves and escape. Second, it could block up to 50 damage. Although it meant that it could only block 5 or so attacks from lvl. 10 wolves, he was sure that once he levels it up, this 50 damage limit could be increased further.
With his talent's participation in the skill, it could be strengthened even further.
With this, he was sure he could escape a few deadly blows from wolves easily and then counterattack with a skill. As long as he doesn't overdo himself by picking a group of ten wolves or higher, he could escape the battle pretty easily.
It was the most suitable skill for him.
...
"Lightning Ball!" following his words, two lightning balls came out simultaneously, directly hitting the head of a small goblin nearby.
The goblin who had been hit let out a shriek as it fell down to the ground, twitching in pain continuously. It even went as far as to dig out what was remaining of its eyeballs because of the pain inflicted upon it.
The scene was gruesome but it was common.
This wasn't the 24th century where there were no murders or kills. This was the 4th millennium, the 40th century where cruelty was everywhere and the law of the jungle took place.
Humans had slowly grown to be more like monsters, indifferent and rational except that their desires may have just multiplied in size.
Humans are social creatures from the start.
They are defined by their society and the place they live in.
At first, the law of the jungle was unacceptable. Everyone would yell out 'rights' and show anger at the federation and the various organizations monopolizing the resources.
However, all of them became quiet when a mass murder occurred. A mass murder issued by the federation. Ever since that day, they became quiet and started to slowly accept this system created by them.
The system that solely depended on one's powers.
However, they were still against this law of the jungle within their hearts. When the moment came, when the righteous heroes came out to subdue the federation and create a new society, they would follow along their footsteps and once again set a democratic society.
However, this opposition and annoyance about the system soon vanished as the next generation came. As children who had grown up in such a society, they had of course accepted this from the start.
They weren't worried about the right or wrong, they were worried about their own benefits. Whether they would get bullied or not, they cared about that. Not the nonsensical morals of the past.
So even if the righteous heroes were to come out and create a new society, the law of the jungle would still remain due to the people inhabiting it being as such.
Well, no matter how crueler humans became, sympathy would never vanish from their hearts.
Sympathy was a thing one was born with. Not a thing cultivated by the people. Sympathy could only increase or decrease or change standards. It would never vanish from people's hearts.
Therefore, even though the morals have considerably changed, it still remained.
There were heroes that followed the morals of society, however, there was never a villain.