Melmarc sat down thinking about it, really thinking about it.
What did he really want to be?
“And please don’t say mana based,” Uncle Dorthna chipped in.
“I wasn’t going to,” Melmarc said. “But why?”
“Because you’re a [Faker] and an [August Intruder]. Your mana is going to increase by default from just being those. Unless your plan is to beat the record of having the highest mana count.”
“Can I be an all-rounder?” Melmarc looked to his parents. “Big, strong and fast. Can I do that?”
His mother shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I’m big strong and fast.”
Dorthna made a sound that was filled with disagreement. “I wouldn’t call a [Dreadnought] fast.”
“I’m fast enough.”
“Mel could be faster,” Dorthna said with a nonchalant shrug. “Just saying.”
“So that’s a yes?” Melmarc asked.
“I’m big, strong and fast,” Ark said.
Dorthna snorted. “Every [Demon King] is big, strong and fast. I’d be ashamed of you if you weren’t.”
“See,” Ark said, turning his attention to Melmarc. “You can be big strong and fast.”
Taking a deep breath, Ark knew exactly what he wanted to do.
He pulled up his stats and his [EP].
Stats
[Agility 4, Balance 6, Mental 3, Mana 5, Strength 5, Dexterity 3, Accuracy 3, Speed 2]
…
[EP 6503]
[1 stat point = 200 EP]
[1% Mastery = 250 EP]
He took his time making his allocations, pausing to think a little each time. Everyone in the living room sat quietly as he worked. He noticed how their expressions shifted in accordance with his own. On more than one occasion Ark had opened his mouth only to be hushed by a look from their mother.
Dorthna for most of the entire process looked intrigued, as if he hadn’t seen someone use up their [EP] before. Funny enough, sometimes he winced as if he thought that Melmarc was making the wrong decision, sometimes he nodded.
Finding himself uncomfortable about being read so easily, Melmarc started schooling his expressions as best he could.
Still, Dorthna reacted to every decision he made. Melmarc wasn’t surprised to realize that Dorthna could still read his expression, though.
He’s known me my whole life.
As for the allocations, it was quite simple. All he had to do was think of the stat he wanted and it came up automatically allocating the number of points he wanted to give it. With every allocation he made, the stat went up and his [EP] went down.
“Are you spending everything on your stats?” Dorthna asked.
Melmarc nodded absently.
“You sure that’s a good idea?”
It was the only time Melmarc paused to look up.
“He can use it on more than stats?” his mother asked.
“He should be able to use it on his skill mastery as well,” Dorthna answered.
Melmarc had already allocated about half the number of [EP] he had so far. He hadn’t really considered using it on his skill mastery because he had the five percent reward, and he wanted to increase the things that he knew didn’t grow naturally.
His skills could always grow with use but from what he knew, stats didn’t work that way.
“If you have anyone close to a threshold, I’d say toss some mastery their way,” Dorthna suggested. “Wouldn’t hurt to push beyond and see what happens.”
Melmarc nodded. Pausing on his allocation, he thought of his skills, and they appeared in front of him.
Skills
[Knowledge is Power (Mastery 19.99%)], [Bless Your Kindness (Mastery 16.84%)], [Rings of Saturn (Mastery 19.93%)], [Secrecy (Mastery 14.61%)]
Staring at the skills, he knew which ones were going to get the increment. Just knowing how fast everything was happening to him had him slightly bothered. In barely two months he had gone from a B-rank Gifted with two skills to a B-rank Gifted with four skills.
Could’ve been six, he thought, staring at [Secrecy] and [Rings of Saturn]. The former had given him no alternative skill option and the latter hadn’t even told him anything.
“Looks like you already know what you want to do,” Dorthna said.
Melmarc nodded. “I do, but shouldn’t I tell you what—”
“Only what kind of Delver you want to be,” his father said, interrupting him. “No more.”
“Your dad’s right,” Dorthna agreed. “Those you love should have a general knowledge of you, but no one should have the specifics. It’s smart thinking.”
It was, but it just felt wrong to know that his family wouldn’t know. Still, Melmarc understood the reasoning behind it. It sounded like nothing but ‘trust issues’ but it didn’t change the fact that it was right.
And I’m going to six skills in the blink of an eye, he thought to himself as he allocated mastery to two skills. That’s if [Rings of Saturn] complies.
He allocated the points to the skills but didn’t give them too much.
Just enough to push them over the threshold.
Then he looked at them with a touch of satisfaction.
Skills
[Knowledge is Power (Mastery 21.99%)], [Bless Your Kindness (Mastery 16.84%)], [Rings of Saturn (Mastery 21.93%)], [Secrecy (Mastery 14.61%)]
[Knowledge is Power] and [Rings of Saturn] had each gotten a two percent increase. Just enough to push them over the twenty percent threshold. As much as he liked to convince himself that he wasn’t expecting anything from [Rings of Saturn], the truth was that he actually was.
Melmarc found himself hoping that [Rings of Saturn] would give him something now that it was over twenty percent.
“Made your pick?” Dorthna asked.
Melmarc nodded, returning his attention to his stats. The fact that the increase to his skills hadn’t done anything meant that whatever he had done was yet to take effect.
It didn’t take long to be done with his stats. When he was, he looked at it, making sure he was satisfied with it.
Stats
[Agility 4 -> 8, Balance 6 -> 8, Mental 3 -> 8, Mana 5, Strength 5 -> 11, Dexterity 3 -> 7, Accuracy 3 -> 6, Speed 2 -> 5]
...
[EP 103]
[1 stat point = 200 EP]
[1% Mastery = 250 EP]
With the [EP] he had left, Melmarc believed he could still add to his stats. If [Bless Your Kindness] could add fractions to his stats, he was inclined to believe that his stats could grow in fractions just as easily as they could grow in whole numbers.
He shook his head as he considered. Let’s not go getting confused.
Even though a part of him knew that it didn’t matter, Melmarc wasn’t a fan of not being able to keep accurate track of his stats. It was easier to remember that you had four points in strength than remembering that you have four point two points in strength.
One last thing, he thought, pulling up his five percent mastery reward and allocating it too.
[Would you like to increase mastery of skill Bless Your Kindness? You cannot renege on this decision.]
[Y/N]
Yes.
As the thought of concluding everything came to mind, a new notification popped up.
[Would you like to conclude allocation of EP and skill mastery increase? Please note that you cannot renege on your decision.]
[Y/N]
“Did you add any new stats?” Dorthna asked, gaining Melmarc’s attention before he replied to his interface.
Melmarc shook his head.
“And you’re sure you wouldn’t like to add any new one?” Dorthna said.
Melmarc nodded. “I’m thinking that the ones I have are probably more fitting for me. I’ve got Agility and Strength already, which kinda works in my favor. I just think adding more stats could be me venturing into territories I don’t understand. I don’t want to go handicapping myself.”
Dorthna looked thoughtful before nodding. “Good point.”
Melmarc returned his attention to his interface only to pause as a thought came to mind. He looked through his interface to watch Dorthna.
He stopped me twice, Melmarc thought. I was adding points to my stat and he pointed out my skills.
He did his best to hide his expression, hoping that even if Uncle Dorthna could read it, he wouldn’t know what exactly was going through his mind.
Then he stopped me before I concluded everything. As impossible as the thought he was having was, with Uncle Dorthna, he was beginning to think that impossible shouldn’t apply to him.
Can he see my interface?
From everything Melmarc knew, no Gifted could view your interface unless you let them. There were no recorded skills that allowed a person to do it. No known historical knowledge that spoke of anyone ever being able to do it.
Surprisingly, it was very easy to believe that Dorthna could do it. He’d had his own special prison in heaven, after all.
Wait. Is he a [Demon King]?
Melmarc found it surprising how he and Ark hadn’t even thought of it. He already knew that the [Demon King] was up there in importance and power with the [August Intruder], Veebee had practically implied it when it had advised him to befriend a [Demon King].
And he had his own prison in heaven.
Everything Melmarc knew about Angels and Demons implied that they were sworn enemies. It would only make sense that a [Demon King] would have their own personal prison.
“Mel?” Dorthna cocked a brow at him. “Done?”
Melmarc nodded. “Just making sure I’m satisfied with what I’m seeing.”
“I could help,” Ark offered, only to be shut down by their mother.
“No,” she said immediately. “This is something he has to do on his own.”
Ark shrugged. “Fine by me. I’m just saying that he likes to double think and triple think things through. We might end up being here for a while.”
Ark wasn’t wrong. However, he was wrong about them being here for a while.
Yes, Melmarc thought in response to his interface.
His interface winked out of existence, surprising him. Well, I can’t say I saw that—
Melmarc’s hands shot straight for his head. He gripped his head, pinning it together on both sides even before the pain came.
It erupted inside his head like a terrible thing. It was like falling from a high place and having your head bounce off a solid surface. It was horrible.
Melmarc gritted his teeth against it, unwilling to cry out.
He heard movement around him, but his eyes were pinned shut. He wanted to open them and see what was happening but found himself unable to for fear that diverting even the slightest attention to opening his eyes would give the pain some level of leeway to undo him.
What is it this time? he groaned in pain. What did I do?
In the distance someone was shouting his name. Something took him by the shoulder and tried to lift him. Melmarc fought against being lifted off the ground. Moving upwards felt as if he was fighting against gravity and losing.
It worsened the pain.
His head grew heavier and there was suddenly a ringing in his ears. Then something warm trickled down his cheeks.
Melmarc bit down harder, clenched his jaws as tight as he possibly could until he feared that his teeth might shatter under the weight of their own force.
His mind went to the time he’d gained his skills, and he knew that the pain had been easier then. This was far worse than it had been back then.
Why?
“Mel, stay with us.”
It was his mother’s voice. He could hear it as if it was echoed from across a great distance yet shouted through something that had muffled it.
Your hands, Melmarc thought. You’re covering your ears.
But knowing what the problem was didn’t mean he could suddenly control himself enough to solve it. One thing kept him going, though. Kept him fighting.
The pain had passed once upon a time, disappeared as if it had never been very abruptly the first time.
This too will pass.
As certain as he was of it, Melmarc found himself praying that he wasn’t wrong.
Then it was gone.
Melmarc’s hands fell from his ears. He sucked in air through widened nostrils, yet his nostrils drew it in very gently, slow and purposeful. It was almost as if his lungs were acting with a deep level of intelligence.
It drew in enough air to calm his beating heart but not so much that he would be panting.
Melmarc gave it a moment before he finally opened his eyes. When he did, he found himself in Ark’s arms.
Ark smiled down at him. “Just like old times.”
Melmarc and Ark were not the kind of brothers to hug often or remotely be in each other’s arms, so it took Melmarc a while to realize what Ark was talking about.
The attack.
For some reason, thinking about it in this moment made him smile. “Like old times.”
The smile on Ark’s face eased slowly and Melmarc noticed that he hadn’t released him yet. “You good?”
Melmarc’s nod was slow. “I’m good.” He looked around at everybody else. “Now, be nice enough to put me down.”
Ark chuckled and released him, returning him to the ground very gently.
Melmarc had no idea how he’d gotten to the ground, but he couldn’t say that he was surprised. He pushed himself up to his feet while everyone watched him carefully. His mother’s face screamed worry. His father had discomfort.
As for Uncle Dorthna, the man merely looked skeptical.
Melmarc returned to his chair and pulled up his interface. “I’m fine. I promise.”
“You’re not fine, Mel.” His mother shook her head. “You’re bleeding.”
Even though his interface was up, Melmarc ignored it to check on himself. A quick glance didn’t reveal any injury or blood.
He looked up to tell his mother that he saw nothing when he saw his uncle. Dorthna had a finger gently placed against his cheek.
Slowly, Melmarc touched his cheek. It was wet. When he took his hand from his cheek, it came away bloody.
That’s new.
“I promise you I feel fine,” he said to his parents. “I don’t feel anything wrong.”
“That doesn’t mean that nothing’s wrong,” Ark said with a worried voice.
Melmarc was a bit surprised by that. Ark was the one who never batted an eye no matter how many times Spitfire had bitten him when he’d gotten the demon.
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Still, Ark was always prone to treating him like some kind of fragile egg. As children, Ark had always had a problem with Melmarc’s legs hanging off the side of the bed when they slept as if there was some monster under the bed that ate feet.
Shaking the thought, Melmarc turned his attention to his interface. “I promise I’m fine.”
“What’s your mana stat right now?” Dorthna asked.
The notifications on his interface took his attention before Melmarc could check on his stats.
[Anomaly detected]
[Foreign mana detected]
[August Intruder, Melmarc Jay Lockwood is mana poisoned]
[High levels of pure mana detected]
…
[Purge in Process]
[Purge failed]
…
[Seeking alternate solution]
…
[Alternate solution found]
[Attempting alternate solution]
[Attempting to convert mana source]
[Conversion is in effect]
…
[Conversion is in effect]
…
[Conversion complete]
Melmarc almost laughed as he read his notifications. Once upon a time he had assimilated foreign mana.
Now I’m converting pure mana.
[Due to detected and resolved anomaly, re-calculations have been made]
[Melmarc Jay Lockwood, due to high levels of pure mana detected conversion has occurred?]
…
[Congratulations! You have gained Pure Mana.]
Melmarc’s brows drew together in confusion as he read the message. Did that mean that whatever mana he used to have had been changed to pure mana?
If yes, then what did that mean for him? How did this affect him?
Mana stats, he thought quickly, pulling up his stats.
Stats
[Agility 4 -> 8, Balance 6 -> 8, Mental 3 -> 8, Mana 5 -> 21, Strength 5 -> 11, Dexterity 3 -> 7, Accuracy 3 -> 6, Speed 2 -> 5]
His stat update had yet to take effect, but his jaw almost dropped at his mana stats. Sixteen points.
Melmarc couldn’t believe what he was looking at.
But wh—
His mind shot straight to Norman, the man from the other world, and what Veebee had done. He’d taken a bite from the man’s ring of mana and had given something to Melmarc before he’d returned home.
Was this it? A boost to his mana stat?
Veebee had acted as if whatever he had done would give Melmarc more than just a boost to his mana stats.
Melmarc ran a hand through his hair. A lot of things just keep happening.
[Pending upgrades to stats and skills detected]
[Would you like to finalize upgrade?]
[Y/N]
Melmarc stared suspiciously at his interface. Are you going to make me cry blood again?
Unsurprisingly, no answer came.
Melmarc took a deep breath. “My mana increased,” he said, answering Uncle Dorthna.
Uncle Dorthna made a sound that implied that he was not surprised. “I don’t know if you should be worried or thankful. That void-beast of yours has been taken risks. Calculated risks, but risks, regardless.”
Melmarc opened his mouth, then closed it. He frowned before opening it again.
“What kind of risks?” he asked, hoping Veebee hadn’t been risking his life.
“Well,” Uncle Dorthna said, “what you just experienced isn’t something that you should be going through at B-rank. So either the thing just risked your life or it… It could’ve just had you drink your enemy’s blood, instead,” he muttered almost to himself. “That would’ve been safer.”
So, it was whatever it did with Norman.
“It did,” he said.
“Let me guess,” Dorthna sighed. “You said no.”
Melmarc shivered visibly at the thought of drinking someone’s blood. “I’m not a cannibal.”
Dorthna shrugged. “True. Well, let’s just be happy you survived.” He got up and placed his empty mug of hot water on the table. “Let’s get this over with and move on to the next part of this whole thing.”
Patience was usually one of Dorthna’s strong points. His lack of patience today was slightly worrying. It was as if he’d had all the patience in the world during their entire life but now suddenly had no patience at all.
Melmarc didn’t address it, though. Instead, he faced his interface and finalized everything. The moment he agreed, all the notifications winked out of existence and he got a new one.
[Congratulations!]
[Base mastery is at 20%]
[Knowledge is Power (Mastery 21.99%)].
[Would you like to upgrade your skill or acquire a new skill?]
Acquire a new skill.
[Melmarc Jay Lockwood, a selection of skills you have proven efficient in to some degrees over time have been listed out for you. Would you like to view them?]
[Yes/No]
Yes.
[Echo Location]
The Gifted releases a pulse of mana that grants them knowledge of every living thing within a specific distance
[Mana Dilation]
The Gifted releases a pulse of mana that increases the cooldown time of active skills used by the enemy by 50%.
[Mana Lock]
The Gifted has a 60% chance of delaying an opponent’s skill activation by one second for every successful blow dealt.
[Echo Location] was basically the same thing as [Knowledge is Power] so there was no way he was picking it. That left him with two options.
“One of my skills has hit twenty percent,” he said to everyone present.
His mother sat up with a proud smile on her face. She looked like a mother who’d just witnessed her child take their first step.
“How many skills do you get to pick from?” she asked, a little excited. “Or do you want to evolve the skill?”
Melmarc definitely wanted one of the new skills. The two he had to pick from sounded interesting. Like [Secrecy] they fell into a category of skills known as disabling skills.
“I’m getting new skills,” Melmarc answered.
Ark leaned forward, too. “What options do we have?”
Melmarc read all three out to them and Ark snorted.
“We’re definitely throwing [Echo Location] out the door,” Ark said.
“Don’t be in a hurry to discard skills,” their mother said in opposition. “It might sound boring, but a good scouting skill can save your life in a portal.” She paused then smiled fondly. “I can’t believe the day I’m helping my kids pick a skill is finally here.” She trembled visibly with excitement and one hand grabbed their father’s lap and squeezed. “I’m so excited.”
Melmarc caught the pained wince on his father’s face when their mother grabbed his lap. Their mother released him almost immediately, turning to him with an apologetic look.
“I’m so sorry, babe,” she apologized quickly. “I didn’t—”
Their father placed a gentle hand on her face, silencing her. “It’s fine.”
Their mother’s smile returned. It was warm and soft. It was like a scene from a romance movie.
“Children are present,” Ark said, breaking whatever moment their parents were experiencing. “I’m too young to be traumatized.”
Their mother made a face at him but chuckled at the same time as she turned away from their father.
“As I was saying,” she said. “While the other two sound good, the [Echo Location] is a good skill to have.”
“He’s already got one, though,” Ark interrupted. “Right, Mel? What was the name, again?” he snapped his finger, trying to remember. “Something about knowledge.”
“[Knowledge is Power],” Dorthna said.
“Oh,” their mother muttered. “What does that one do?”
“It allows me know what is around me, within a certain radius,” Melmarc answered. “While it’s active I can’t be damaged. It also gives me a basic knowledge of a person’s name, class and rank. They get indicators, too. Red for enemy, green for friend, grey for neutral.”
His mother’s lips pursed in interest. “I’m impressed, sounds like a powerful skill. Does a lot of things while keeping you safe.”
“It’s also a tricky skill,” Ark said. “Even though he can’t be damaged, he actually feels the pain of whatever is done to him.”
Their mother’s head tilted in understanding. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”
“I also can’t damage anything as long as I can’t be damaged,” Melmarc offered.
“Then I guess [Echo Location] is out of the picture,” his mother agreed with Ark. “That leaves us with [Mana Lock] and [Mana Dilation].”
“Each works for a different style of fighting,” their father said. “Proactive or reactive.”
Their mother nodded, patting his leg absently as she looked at Melmarc. “Which one would you say you are?” she asked. “Would you like to stop your opponent from using their skill in a fight or delay how long it takes them to use it again?”
Melmarc knew which one he was. He was a [Faker] so it stood to reason that he would benefit more if his opponent used a skill during the fight. It increased the chances that whatever skill he copied from them would be more fitting to a combat scenario.
Besides, [Mana Lock] is a probability skill, he thought.
Unless it told him when it took effect, it was little weak on dependability. Also, it implied that for it to work, he had to land a successful blow on his opponent.
What if I can’t get close to them or I can’t land a blow?
So [Mana Lock] had him dealing with the probability of probabilities. He had to first find the chance to land a blow. Then just to be safe, he had to land at least two blows to be guaranteed of it taking effect.
I guess that answers your question.
“He’s a [Faker],” Dorthna said, echoing Melmarc’s thoughts. “The answer sounds obvious.”
Melmarc, Ark and their mother exchanged a look.
“[Mana Dilation],” they said in unison.
“It only makes sense,” Ark said. “If your opponent uses a skill, then you have a skill to pick from.”
“And why bother trying to hit someone when you don’t have to,” their mother said.
It was a rare enough occurrence, so it caught Melmarc by surprise when his father smiled fondly at what had happened.
Melmarc couldn’t help developing a smile of his own. Ninra’s missing.
[Would you like to choose Mana Dilation? You will not be able to renege on this decision.]
[Yes/No].
Yes.
[You have selected skill, Mana Dilation. This has been permanently added to your skill list.]
Curious to know what other hidden perks the skill had, Melmarc didn’t dismiss it when it popped up.
[Existential Designation August Intruder is in effect]
[Effect: +3% Mastery to all skills.]
…
[Mana Dilation (Mastery 3.00%)]
While skill is in effect you gain +2 points to Strength stat.
Conclusion of skill will end increase to Strength stat.
Conclusion of skill grants decreases the effect of enemy skill by 20% upon next use.
Affected enemies are highlighted for three minutes.
Skill perks:
Strength +1 Balance +1 Mental +4 Mana +3
A slow smile split Melmarc’s lips.
This is awesome.
Not only did the skill disable the enemy, but it also made him stronger for the duration of its activation and still granted him stat increases as its perks.
“I take it you like what you got,” Dorthna said.
Melmarc nodded.
He felt powerful. It wasn’t an actual physical feeling but a psychological one. Knowing he’d grown stronger made him feel stronger.
When he told them what the skill did, Ark started laughing.
“Oh, God.” He wiped at his eyes even though there were no tears. “I’d hate to be the one that gets on your bad side.”
“Did you get another one?” his mother asked enthusiastically.
Melmarc dismissed the skill and wasn’t surprised when another notification popped up.
[Congratulations!]
[Base mastery is at 20%]
[Bless Your Kindness (Mastery 21.84%)].
[Would you like to upgrade your skill or acquire a new skill?]
Acquire a new skill.
[Melmarc Jay Lockwood, a selection of skills you have proven efficient in to some degrees over time have been listed out for you. Would you like to view them?]
[Yes/No]
Yes
[Appreciate Your Lenience]
Conclusion of skill Mana Dilation deals low level mana loss on affected target overtime for eight minutes.
[Not So Fast]
Conclusion of skill Mana Dilation deals 0.5 stat decrease to all speed related stats of affected opponents for one minute.
[Wake Up To Reality]
Conclusion of skill Mana Dilation increases the focus of the affected target on their interface pop ups by 50%.
Melmarc wasn’t very sure about the last option. At a glance he could assume that it was designed to make the opponent’s interface serve as a distraction which would grant him an advantage in a fight. But it seemed like something that would only be useful against other Gifted.
Wouldn’t work against monsters.
That eliminated it from his choices.
“I’ve got [Not So Fast],” he announced. “[Wake Up To Reality] and [Appreciate Your Lenience].”
“They all sound worrying,” Ark said. “Except that last one. Please tell me that first one has some oomph to it.”
Melmarc shook his head. “It just increases my opponent’s focus on their interface.”
“A distraction.” Their mother stroked her jaw thoughtfully before looking at their father. “What do you think.”
“Useful against people,” he answered without missing a beat. “Not monsters.”
“More Gifted police than Delver,” Ark said. “Hard pass.”
Melmarc agreed with them. When he told them what the other two did, everyone in the room grew contemplative. It brought some silence to the living room.
Silence that Dorthna broke.
“It really boils down to if you want to kill your opponent or not,” he said. “If [Appreciate Your Leniency] leads your opponent to mana fatigue then you’ve got a helpless enemy. You can kill them or leave them after that. But that’s if you’re alive long enough. With the other one, you can just turn and run if you’re fast enough. It also gives you a fighting chance.”
Ark winced. “I definitely don’t want to find myself going into mana fatigue during a fight.”
“The person might not go into mana fatigue, though,” Melmarc said. “And eight minutes is a lot of time even if it could take less.”
“And there are some monsters that don’t have mana,” their mother said. “And some have mana but don’t experience mana fatigue.”
“In truth, humans are the only ones that get hit so hard by mana fatigue,” Dorthna supplied. “Something about over-dependence on mana.”
With the information he now had, Melmarc knew what he wanted.
[Would you like to choose Not So Fast? You will not be able to renege on this decision.]
[Yes/No].
Yes.
[You have selected skill Not So Fast. This has been permanently added to your skill list.]
Alright, moment of truth, Melmarc thought as he dismissed the notification. Fingers crossed.
There was a moment of delay that lasted no more than a second when his interface popped up again.
[Congratulations!]
[Base mastery is at 20%]
[Rings of Saturn (Mastery 21.93%)].
[Would you like to upgrade your skill or acquire a new skill?]
“Yes!” Melmarc celebrated, unable to stop himself. He’d been hoping to get something out of it, and he had.
“What happened?” Ark and his mother asked together.
“The skill that didn’t evolve at ten percent just did at twenty percent,” he told them.
Their mother’s brows furrowed for a moment, a frown creased her lips. “Hold up,” she said. “How many skills did you have before this?”
“Four,” Melmarc answered.
“And how many of them were over ten percent?”
“All four.”
“And your growth potential is…?”
“Unranked.”
She turned to their father. “I’ve never seen any Gifted grow so fast. What do you think it is? An SS-rank?”
Their father shook his head. “Unbound’s growth potential is SS-rank.”
“And he didn’t grow this fast,” their mom said. “Wow.”
“[August Intruders] grow fast,” Dorthna said casually. “It’s nothing to worry about. And he was in a portal and literally has the ability to choose what he wants to grow and in what direction. Ranks don’t apply to his growth rate.”
While she didn’t say anything, Melmarc’s mother looked worried.
Returning to his interface, he chose to acquire a new skill.
“Just out of curiosity,” Dorthna said. “Are you not interested in evolving any of your skills?”
Melmarc didn’t even need to think about the answer. “Nope. I’m going for variety right now.”
“I feel you,” Ark said. “The more the merrier.”
[Melmarc Jay Lockwood, a selection of skills you have proven efficient in to some degrees over time have been listed out for you. Would you like to view them?]
[Yes/No]
Yes.
[Breath of Venus]
The Gifted lets out a breath of contaminated mana.
[Weight of Jupiter]
The Gifted increases their weight by multiple folds, growing constantly over time.
[Touch of Uranus]
The Gifted reduces the temperature of the affected target with a single touch.
Planet skills, Melmarc noted.
It had him wondering if all the alternate skills he would get from their increase in mastery will still have something to do with planets since they all originated from a skill that had something to do with planets.
“What do we have?” Ark asked.
Melmarc told them and everyone nodded in appreciation. It seemed like they liked all the skills.
“I say we remove [Touch of Uranus],” their mother said.
Ark laughed a little. “Touch of your anus.”
He laughed some more, and their mother gave him an exasperated look. “I swear the day you grow up is the day I’ll do thanksgiving at the church.”
“Why, though?” Melmarc asked. “The skill, not the thanksgiving.”
“Because it involves coming close to your opponent,” their mother answered. “It’s always preferrable to not have to get in physical reach of a monster if you can avoid it.”
Dorthna snorted. “Like he’s going to be fighting only monsters.”
“Contaminated mana can be a deadly thing,” his mother continued, ignoring Dorthna. “And an increase in weight can give you some advantage in a fight.”
“So can a cold touch,” Dorthna said. “You have no idea how cold Uranus can be.”
Melmarc watched Ark visibly stop himself from making a comment on the name of the planet a second time.
“So [Breath of Venus] and [Weight of Jupiter],” Melmarc said.
Dorthna shrugged. “Either one works.”
“So what’s it going to be?” his mother asked.
[Breath of Venus] sounded deadly when he thought about the contaminated mana. He remembered the pain he’d just been through and was sure of how much advantage it would gain him if it inflicted that level of pain on his opponent.
Kind of unfair that I don’t get to see everything about it before choosing it.
On the other hand, however, he’d always wanted to fight more like a juggernaut. And [Weight of Jupiter] seemed like something that would grant him that.
I thought I gave up on a strength-based class long ago.
Looking at the skills in front of him, he guessed he’d been wrong. Still, there was also something else he would have to consider when he picked the skill.
How he would activate them.
[Rings of Saturn] had already shown him that he would need an activation trigger. Off the top of his head, he could guess that [Breath of Venus] would have something to do with breathing.
Probably my nose or mouth.
[Weight of Jupiter] was the one he couldn’t wrap his head around off the top of his head.
Maybe strengthening my muscles?
He shook the thought aside. He would have time to figure out what the trigger was, so he didn’t think picking based on the possible trigger was a smart decision.
“I’m taking [Weight of Jupiter],” he announced.
“Why?” his mother asked.
“Because he’s always liked the idea of being physically strong,” Ark answered before Melmarc could. “In the comics and the movies, he’s always liked the guy that smashes through walls and takes people down with a single punch over the guy that uses ten entertaining moves.”
“So, you’re going for a strength build?” his mother asked.
Melmarc nodded.
“I guess that works,” she said.
Dorthna snorted in amusement. “A family a strength builds. You’ll all fit in with the tanker stereotypes.”
Melmarc didn’t mind, not that his uncle was making fun of them.
[Would you like to choose Weight of Jupiter? You will not be able to renege on this decision.]
[Yes/No].
Yes.
[You have selected skill Weight of Jupiter. This has been permanently added to your skill list.]
…
[Existential Designation August Intruder is in effect]
[Effect: +3% Mastery to all skills.]
…
[Weight of Jupiter (Mastery 3.00%)]
While skill is in effect you gain +10 points to Balance and Density stat.
Conclusion of skill will end increase to Balance and Density stat.
Activation of skill grants 15% increase to physical damage resistance.
Activation of skill causes 80% decrease to all speed related stats.
Skill perks:
Strength +2 Balance +3 Constitution +4
“I got a speed decrease on activation,” Melmarc announced.
“Oof,” Ark said. “That’s got to hurt. So, you’ll be heavy and slow… makes sense.”
Their mother nodded. “It does. So, is that all? Anything else?”
Melmarc pulled up his interface.
[Name: Melmarc Jay Lockwood]
[Class: Faker – Call of The Wild (Mastery -08.19%)]
[Rank: B]
[Growth Potential: Unranked]
[Existential Designation: August Intruder +3% mastery to all skills]
Skills
[Knowledge is Power (Mastery 21.99%)], [Bless Your Kindness (Mastery 20.84%)], [Rings of Saturn (Mastery 21.93%)], [Secrecy (Mastery 14.61%)], [Mana Dilation (Mastery 3.00%)], [Not So Fast (Mastery 3.00%)], [Weight of Jupiter (Mastery 3.00%)]
Perks
[Optimum Existence (09.19%)]
The August Intruder draws on all necessary traits to achieve a perfect form.
Stats
[[Agility 8, Balance 12, Mental 12, Mana 24, Strength 14, Dexterity 7, Accuracy 6, Speed 5, Constitution 4]
Traits
[Purified]
You are a repository of pure mana. All skills cast are cast using pure mana. All mana poisoning effects are reduced by 50%.
[Calculating…]
…
[Total EP 103]
[Optimum Existence] went up to nine percent, Melmarc noted, while it had been six percent when he’d woken up this morning.
Then there was the [Trait] he’d developed. Apparently, he had not only gotten a boost in his mana stat but his mana had actually been converted to pure mana.
I guess I have Veebee to thank for that, he thought. Now, if only I can figure out what [Calculating…] is actually calculating.
“Everything looks fine,” he answered his mom. “I got a trait called [Purified].”
Dorthna nodded as if he was impressed. “I guess your void-beast’s gamble paid off. Welcome to the big leagues.”
“What do you mean by big leagues?” Melmarc’s mother asked.
“For starters,” Dorthna said. “All the void-beasts will want to give you harder quests since you’re using pure mana that’s already difficult to come by. Then anyone that has reached the peak of their existence and knows anything about anything will want to harvest you since pure mana can help break the wall.”
“Harvest me?” Melmarc gulped.
Dorthna dismissed his worry with a casual wave. “You won’t have to worry about that. Unless you’ve really pissed off very powerful people, I don’t see any reason why you’ll be running into people that powerful at your current rank.”
“But it’s possible?” their mother asked.
“Yes,” Dorthna confirmed. “But it’s also possible for a bus to drive in here and destroy the entire house, but it hasn’t happened. You can’t spend your life worrying about what is possible just because someone pointed it out.”
Their mother scowled at him but didn’t say anything. Instead, she got up from her chair and their dad did the same, as if on cue.
Melmarc looked up at her. “What now?” he asked.
“Now, we train your skills.”
With a high level of enthusiasm, Ark popped up from his chair. “Sparring with mom and dad? I never thought this day would come. I’ll go put on something more presentable.”
“No need.” Their mother waved him down. “We aren’t going anywhere. Just the backyard.”
“The backyard?” Ark looked as confused as Melmarc was. “We’ve got neighbors, mom.”
“I’m very much aware.” She offered Melmarc her hand. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Melmarc took his mother’s hand, their first physical contact since she’d returned, and let her pull him up.
He froze when he got to his feet.
[Dormant Oath detected]
[Detected Oath: War]
[Would you like to reactivate the Oath of War?]
[Y/N]
