The Sovereignty System

"Activate the minimap and health points bar."

At first Ben thought that the two new options did not activate. Once, he began to think about how he couldn't see them they flashed into his field of vision. The minimap could be seen in the upper right corner and the health bar was straight up above his eyebrow height.

When Ben stopped focusing on them to look around and see if these new options would hinder his sight they became transparent until he could no longer see them.

"Why did they turn themselves off?" Ben asked in confusion to why the new options vanished.

When Ben began to wonder why the minimap and health bar faded away they both snapped back into place allowing him to once again see them.

*Ding* [Any options that provide information in the host's field of view will be seen when the host focuses on it. Once the host looks away from the display the visual aid will fade from view so it is not a distraction.]

Ben began to test it out by looking straight ahead then back to where the minimap and health bar was located. Just as the system said they would fade away until he looked for them then they would instantly snap back into place so that he could once again see them with perfect clarity.

Now that, he knew how these visual displays worked, he looked at the health bar and saw numbers printed on it.

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380/380

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"I have a total of 380 health points? System how are the health points determined?" Ben asked while thinking of how the health points were distributed.

*Ding!* [The host has a current total of 38 in Vitality. For each point in Vitality, the host will acquire 10 health points. 38 vitality multiplied by 10 provides the host with a total of 380 HP.]

'Then this means it's possible to continue increasing my HP. If I cultivate or find a training method to increase my Vitality I will gain more Health Points.' Ben concluded as he reflected on what the system had just told him while thinking of ways to improve himself.

'Maybe I should think about adding the Gym? Hmm, it looks like I will need to build a Power Plant, Steel Mill, and a Glass Maker to unlock the Gym. Even though the Gym is not a crucial structure that will help me make money or defend this place, it will help me get stronger.' Ben thought as he weighed his options.

'Well, either way, I need more money. I only have 279 gold coins left from all the building I have already done. I think I should work with my Mana manipulation and cultivate for the next week and let my farms build up a decent stockpile of food. I can then take my food to the city and sell it at those vendor stalls in the city square.' Ben decided as he made his way into the keep and sat down on his bed.

He put the potato back into his inventory and closed his eyes. Raising his right hand he began to draw in the Mana that surrounded him. Above his palm, a whirling blue mist like energy tossed and turned without taking any particular shape.

Ben focused on the twirling Mana and began to try to condense and encapsulate it into a round sphere. It was difficult to accomplish, but he kept at it for near an hour and gained a few advances.

[Notice] [Spell: Mana Manipulation has increased! Mana Manipulation: Apprentice: Level Two!]

Right after gaining Apprentice level two he could finally create a perfect circle of Mana.

[Notice]: [Spell: You have created a new spell! Mana Ball: Apprentice: Level 1!]

[Mana Ball]: A compact ball of Mana with a solid outer shell. It can be thrown at an enemy as a weapon that will do blunt force damage on impact and while causing a minor explosion from the compacted Mana within the ball. [Damage dealt will increase with your Intelligence and the spell's level.]

Ben removed a few wood planks and stone blocks from his Warehouse. He pushed a wood plank into the soft soil next to the keep and stacked up a couple stone blocks and stepped back about ten yards.

Casting his new [Mana ball] spell he first tossed it at the upright plank. The Mana ball produced a sound as if a large rock had struck the plank and then a small explosion detonated. The wood plank shattered in half leaving a splintered half of it stuck still in the ground.

Next, he used the stone blocks as a target and tossed out another Mana ball. The ball once again detonated on impact, but this time it only knocked over the stone blocks without doing any visible damage.

'It seems this spell is pretty weak. I think an arrow or spear shape would do much more damage. If I were to lengthen and thin out the shape it should do piercing damage instead of blunt damage on impact.'

After cleaning up his makeshift targets, Ben went back inside and began to experiment with Mana.

Once again he made a Mana Ball, but this time he pulled out the compressed Mana inside of it leaving behind a thin Mana shell.

Focusing on the circular Mana shell, he slowly fed it Mana until it grew to the size of a beach ball. Happy with the size, he began to try and change the shape by stretching out the top and bottom.

With a little practice the Mana shell was soon modified into a column shape. Ben tinkered with the shape by increasing the width until he had a tall oval shape.

When he felt the new oval shaped shell was stable he stepped inside of it and began to slowly walk around while making sure he remained inside of it.

Ben walked back and forth across the floor until he saw the flashing notice icon.

[Notice]: [Spell: You have created a new spell! Mana Shield: Apprentice Level 1!]

[Mana Shield]: A spell that surrounds you with a protective field of Mana. [The higher the level the more damage it will block.]

When he cast the new Mana Shield spell it covered him in a clear hard shell which is hard to the touch.

Ben could now walk around with the Mana shield surrounding him without needing to hold it in place. It seemed that even though it had a hard outer shell it was porous enough to let oxygen in because he had no problems leaving it in place and he wasn't struggling to breathe.

'It must be a fixed amount of mp needed to cast this shield and once it is shattered I will need to recast it again?'

But found out he was wrong a few minutes later the Mana shield began to flicker a few times and then vanished leaving him feeling a little tired.

'Crap I must have run out of Mana. It would be nice if I had a Mana bar like my health bar.I guess this Mana Shield spell ruthlessly gobbles up my Mana while it is active.' Ben thought as he laid down on his bed.

As Ben laid on his bed waiting for is Mana to regenerate so he wouldn't feel so drained, he came up with an idea. Using his Mana Manipulation, Ben began to draw Mana into his body wanting to see if he could quickly recharge his Mana reserves.

The problem was he was not sure on how he could store Mana within himself so he began to saturate his arms legs and torso with Mana. He could feel the Mana flowing through all the muscles of his body and it felt like his strength was slowly increasing.

He became curious from this sensation and began to experiment. Not having any way to measure if the Mana was truly increasing his strength, he decided to focus the Mana only into the muscles of his arms and legs.

When the Mana was not so dispersed throughout his entire body, he could infuse the muscles of his arms and legs with larger quantities of Mana.

Ben opened his eyes to find his arms and legs were glowing and seemed to be bulkier than they were normally.

He now felt much more energized and decided to stand up while still charging his muscles. Full of energy he threw a couple punches and could actually hear the wind from his fist and sleeves as the punches cut through the air.

His notification icon began to blink again after he tossed out a few punches and kicks. Ben curiously opened it to discover what he may of discovered.

[Notice]: [Spell: You have created a new spell! Enhanced Form: Apprentice: Level 1!]

[Enhanced Form]: The host will receive an large increase in strength and dexterity for the duration of the spell. Bonuses to strength and dexterity will increase with the level. [remains active until deactivated.] [continues to consume Mana while active.]

Curious to also test out this new spell, Ben took out a stone block again and cast [Enhance Form]. Once he felt that familiar increase in strength again, Ben threw a hard punch into the stone block.

*Smack!*

He was amazed when the stone block sent flying against the wall with a small indent the size of his fist in the face of it. While, he was admiring how hard he hit the stone the pain from what had he just done began to creep up on him.

His knuckles were now scraped raw of skin and swollen. They slowly began to throb with increasing pain.

'That was a stupid idea I'm lucky I didn't just shatter every bone in my hand with that brilliant move!'

Ben sat down on the edge of the bed and began to wrap his knuckles in cloth while reading the notice that began flashing.

[Notice]: [Skill: Pain Endurance has Evolved into Pain Suppression Level 1!]

[Pain Suppression]: The host can think clearer and is more mobile in situations where pain would disable a person. This is a passive skill that will help block pain at all times.

"This looks like an upgraded version of [Pain Endurance]. At least something good came out of me busting up my knuckles on this stone block." He muttered while investigating the skill he evolved by smashing his fist into the stone block.

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To take his mind off the throbbing pain in his hand, Ben began thinking about how he could improve himself to aid in the sale of his goods. Thinking their might be a skill to help, he decided to look for a skill in the System Store that might help his cause.

After searching through the Skills section he found one that cost 100g and purchased it.

[Notice]: [Skill: You have learned a new skill! Mercantile Skill: Level 1!]

[Mercantile Skill]: This skill aids the host in buying low and selling high. The higher the skill level the more money will be saved or earned through negotiations. [This skill is dependent on the host's charisma and the skill level.]