Redo: Grimoire System in the Apocalypse

Thinking up to this point, Geth steeled himself and chose a direction.

'For now, we need to know all of the Uncommon and Rare Skills that could come out of a potential Common Skill.'

This world was still young. They were running around blind, using their hard-earned Skill Points to Level up Skills in a random path.

What if the paths were known ahead of time? Wouldn't this help lower Levels and future generations become even more powerful than their predecessors?

Geth already had the mind to start a school in Valhalla. Providing the proper paths for his citizens would heavily reinforce their future military strength.

He could picture multiple different textbooks that could be unlocked through merits or...

"Albus? Can Points be traded?"

'It... should be possible. The Tower has many mysterious abilities.'

Geth's mind raced. Just how indomitable could one become if they were to monopolize others' Points?

It was honestly terrifying.

'Spreading knowledge to our people is what's important right now. If it's possible to trade merits for Points and vice-versa, then so be it.'

He reached down to one of the stacks of cards. This was the Mend Skill, the first Common Skill he thought could become Restoration.

***

Mend (Lvl 0)-

Cost (5 MP) Casts a healing light over target. Can heal shallow wounds, at most without scarring. Instantly heals for a set amount of HP based on User's Intelligence. Takes 10 seconds to cast.

Healing = 5+ (Int x 5%)

***

He had a few hundred of these, enough to make two Rares and a few Uncommons. Most had come from loot crates and dropped from Goblin Shamans.

He placed 12 copies of the 'Mend' card in their respective slots. It wasn't until he was done that he realized he didn't know how to use the table.

Geth waited expectantly.

...

.....

....

"...Albus?"

'If you were waiting for me, you're out of luck, kid. We didn't need gadgets like this in my day.'

Geth was speechless. 

"Didn't you basically design the entire system for Humans in this timeline..?"

'Well, I didn't do every damn thing. There were thousands of us working on this project.

I came up with the Grimoires, the Attributes, and some Dungeon and Tower Functions. The Skill Cards were someone else's idea.'

Geth frowned.

"Fine, I'll just figure it out."

'Ahh, I can tell you one thing. If that card does happen to be the Common Rarity of Restoration, you won't be able to learn it.'

"...and why not?"

'You can't learn a spell if its Runes overlap with part of another spell. You could take a Rare Skill Card and have it upgrade a Common or Uncommon Skill.

However, if you try to place a Common Skill on top of a Rare Skill, it will simply absorb it. Nothing will happen.'

"I see..."

'You can relearn a base Common Skill a second time after getting the original to Legendary. The Legendary Skill will not absorb the Common, so you can choose a different path the second time.

Also, you can learn, at most, two Legendary Skills that branch off of the same Common. Anything beyond that and the Runes will start to break down since they are too similar.'

*Sigh*

"Isn't this all information that you should have given me before?"

'I only remember things as they come to me. I admit, the System is flawed, but... our memories weren't supposed to be part of the deal.'

Geth thought about it for a moment. He couldn't imagine a lifeless Grimoire that just spoke to him like a machine.

"A machine..."

He looked at the Transmutation Table before him again.

"Why would there be a dial for the Common Skill Card? That doesn't make any sense."

Each gem was a different color; White, Green, Blue, Purple, Gold, and finally, a Grey gem that seemed to be filled with mist.

Geth reached for the white gem and found that he was right. It was a button rather than a dial like the rest.

He pressed down on the gem until it locked in flush with the table's surface. The tablet before them sprung to life.

Sindri jumped beside him, startled at the sudden movements of the stone.

The outer rim of the table began to spin wildly. As it did so, Mana poured into the sides of the table and lit up the massive Formation that was carved on it.

The twelve cards he'd placed in the open slots seemed to dissolve into the Formation. It reminded him heavily of the potion-making process.

The melted-down cards flowed through the circuitry and made their way to the center slot. After one more flash of bright light, the table's edges stopped spinning, and the Mana in the Formation dispersed.

The process hadn't taken any more than a minute. Geth reached into the center of the Transmutation Tablet and pulled out the new Skill Card.

Frost drifted from the card as if it had just been pulled from a vat of dry ice. 

***

Minor Healing (Lvl 0)-

Cost (15 MP) Casts a healing light over target. Can heal some deep wounds, but scarring will remain. Instantly heals for a set amount of HP based on User's Intelligence. Takes 10 seconds to cast.

Healing = 15+ (Int x 10%)

***

"Hmm, Maybe Restoration is the other option?"

Sindri took the Minor Healing card from him and looked at it in awe. The concept of saving Skill Points until a higher Rarity was very appealing.

Geth switched the dial for the Uncommon Transmutation from 1 to 2. He pulled out twelve more Mend cards and tried again. 

***

Mending (Lvl 0)-

Cost (20 MP) Casts a healing light over target. Can heal some deep wounds, but scarring will remain. Instantly heals for a set amount of HP based on User's Intelligence. Instant cast.

Healing = 25+ (Int x 10%)

Requirement: Caster must be touching target.

***

Geth raised his eyebrows as he looked at the two spells.

"So... If Mend isn't the Common of Restoration.... does that mean I'm free to learn one of these Skills?"