"First, I would like healing magic," the boy told the goddess, after contemplating the list of skills for a good while.
"Good choice, which tier would you like?" responded the goddess, excited by his first choice.
Magic had tiers ranging from F to SSS. The same went for the other more common skills like sword skills. The tiers didn't apply to skills that didn't change with training. Like, a skill that instantly killed someone; whatever tier you're at, you're still going to instantly kill someone. Only skills that could get stronger the more they were practiced and honed had tiers, which were most normal skills.
The tiers worked like this: F, E, D, C, B, A, U, S, SS, SSS. With SSS being the strongest and F the weakest.
The tiers from F to A were self-explanatory, where each grade gets stronger and more versatile. As the tier grade went up, not only did the number of spells one was able to properly use expand, but the potency of the specific magic increased. It was like how if you had lit a fire using dried debris versus gasoline, the fire lit using gasoline would obviously burn better and easier since it was more refined. Similarly, the construction of the magic was refined more with each tier, however, it didn't mean the mana used was refined into a greater resource, just that the magic was activated in a more cost efficient way that utilized the same amount of mana while maximizing certain characteristics of the spell, making the spell's effectiveness greater.
The U tier was different from the previous ones. In some cases U tier was worse than A tier, but because it was a rare form of the skill it was regarded as more powerful than A tier. For example, regular healing magic heals the body, restoring wounds and curing illnesses. There was a U tier form of healing magic that could "heal" one's magic, effectively supplying magic to someone else and strengthening one's ability to use mana, which normal healing magic couldn't do. In that regard, it was regarded as stronger or more valuable due to low supply and high demand.
The final tiers—S, SS, and SSS tier—were above all the rest because they were simply supreme. The skills were far stronger than the other tiers and could be used for a wider range of circumstances. If healing magic were used as an example, normal healing magic of the A tier could heal lethal wounds, fix broken bones, and heal life-threatening sicknesses. Where S tier healing magic could virtually revive someone and slowly regenerate lost limbs, to a certain extent. If someone had their head cut off, SSS tier healing magic could reattach it even after the person was deemed dead and revive them. The only drawback to use such a godly spells was an equally large amount of mana. So, if one didn't have the mana supply to fuel the S tier spell, then they couldn't use it, even if they knew it.
"I would like SSS tier healing magic," the boy answered with a calm expression on his face.
[Magic - Healing Magic: Magic that allows someone to heal things. (What can be healed is determined by the tier and specificity of the tier)]
[Cost: F - 10, E - 50, D - 100, C - 150, B - 200, A - 400, U - 800, S - 933, SS - 1067, SSS - 1200]
"Aren't you a bold one, that's quite expensive, you know?" said the goddess in a doubting tone questioning whether or not he knew what he was doing. The price of the skill was around 25% of his points and she thought it was a waste to spend it on something like this.
"I'm aware the price is high," responded the boy in a queer tone understanding the goddess thought he was being foolish.
"Suit yourself... You have 3977 points left. For the next skill?"
"I would like the Evil Eye - Eye of Understanding," the boy confidently said showing that he was firm in his decision.
[Evil Eye - Eye of Understanding: Everything that is captured in your vision is "understood." (The "understanding" of things depend on the person's Intelligence)]
[Cost: 500]
"Mmm, good choice, most people choose this one. Alright, 3477 points left," said the goddess with a satisfied smile on her face now thinking the boy was actually choosing good skills.
"For my third skill, I'd like Evolutionary Body," the boy said, too caught up in pondering the many wondrous possibilities this skill contained to properly understand what the goddess had just said other than his final point total after the purchase.
[Evolutionary Body: Your body will be able to evolve into higher races. What skills you have and what you consume will affect the evolutions you may choose from, as well as other various factors*. WARNING: RUNS A HIGH RISK OF SKILL BEING NOTICED. BE CAREFUL WITH THIS SKILL.]
[Cost: 1250]
"Hmmm... you know this is a tough skill to have, right? Plus, it's easy to tell that you have it because it can change your appearance and it's quite expensive. I suggest choosing something different," the goddess said now reversing on her previous thought that the boy was making wise choices with his skills.
"Seriously, what is up with that? It's my decision as to what skills I pick. What are you, my mom? I don't need you telling me what's best for me, I know what I'm doing." the boy calmly asserted, thinking the goddess was making him out for a fool by treating him like a kid who only knew how to make impulsive decisions.
"Suit yourself. I won't try to talk you out of any other ludicrous skills you might pick," the goddess reluctantly said. "Well, now you have 2227 points left. What's next?"
By this point, the boy had been stuck between a few skills and couldn't decide which one to go with. Given the skills he already had, he thought to go for a skill that would go well with his Evolutionary Body skill. "I'll go with the skill Gluttony," said the boy with a ponderous voice, thinking about how the synergy between these two skills would turn out in the future.
[Gluttony: The ability to gain the skills of the things eaten. Note: Be careful what you eat because it may cause harm or kill you, in which case, you may be unable to absorb the skills since they were never digested or not properly digested.]
[Cost: 1500]
"Hmmm..... You're an interesting fellow I must say. Well don't say I didn't warn you," said the goddess frowning at the follow-up skill the boy had chosen. Obviously, she thought wasting so many points on a single skill was a waste, as well as purchasing Cursed Skills. If she didn't want him to purchase them in the first place, why put them on the list?
"Seriously? Do you need to give your two cents after every skill I decided on?" commented the boy, to the high-and-mighty goddess herself, not wanting to let her snarky comments go.
"Sheeeeeesh. Whatever. Now, you have just 727 points left. What would you like?"
After this, the boy picked out a few more skills. He picked some cheap ones used for daily necessities and the like, as well as a few others to help with combat.
"Alright! That's all your points used! So now you're finally ready to be set off. I must say I'm excited to see what you can accomplish in this new environment. I'll sure be free from boredom for a while!" the goddess said giggling from excitement over the prospects of all the chaos to come. "Alright then, this is goodbye. It's kinda sad we have to part after only just meeting, but that's how it has to be."
"Yeah, yeah. I don't care about the cheap sentiments of this long-winded relationship," said the boy with an annoyed face over how the goddess only treated his life like it was some drama or funny toy to play with.
"Humph, whatever! I don't care about you anyway!"
'What is this goddess a bipolar child or something? Talk about a mood swing,' the boy thought agonizing over the annoyance that is the goddess.
"Alright, any last words?"
"No. Just hurry up already, you annoying hag."
"How dare you! If that's how you're gonna act after my benevolence, fine! Good luck making your way to other humans then!" spat the goddess in a rage obviously spurred on by the boy's scornful words, feeling she was above all others and wouldn't take even the slightest abrasive word.
"Si Sheng! Have fun suffering from your disgraceful attitude!"
'This old hag really is a bipolar bitch!' Si Sheng thought in a panic. "So what? I can survive without humans. You're probably doing me a favor. Thank you, your godliness," Si Sheng said in a sarcastic tone. If the goddess was going to go on a tirade after a slight jest at her age, he was going to milk it for all it's worth to enjoy this moment instead of agonizing over his future isolation.
"YOU!" the goddess was enraged even further by the impudent attitude of the boy. She wasn't going to go easy on him even though this would seem petty in hindsight. She was determined to get back at Si Sheng by any means necessary. She decided that on his arrival to his new home, she would send Si Sheng to an uninhabited forest far from human civilization.
"Have fun in your new home all by yourself you impudent brat!"
A sudden light shone with the intensity of a sun blaring in Si Sheng's face. It was a blinding, white, holy light and it swallowed everything around him. There was only the sound of a high pitch explosion sound, the likes of a concussion grenade, radiating out from the light. Even when Si Sheng shut his eyes it was not enough to block the light out; the light was as bright as ever even with his eyes shut.
He felt like his head was spinning as he was consumed by the light. He lost all sense of being, he felt like he was floating in an empty white space. He didn't know what happened but he knew that he could only wait until it was over.
After a minute or so of the light blinding everything around him, it finally started to recede. What Si Sheng saw as the light finally receded was a grassy knoll in the middle of a vast forest. The hill was devoid of trees and shrubbery and he could look above the treetops with relative ease.
It was just like the goddess had said, he was nowhere near a human settlement and was dropped into the middle of some forest. The situation had quickly gotten out of hand and Si Sheng's lack of tact only made the situation worse.
'The goddess actually went through with it? I didn't think she had it in her. Well, whatever, it's not like I care about that bipolar bitch anyway. This situation isn't too bad in itself,' Si Sheng thought as he stared at the wide expanse of foliage.
"Hmmm, since I'm out here alone I should try seeing my status."
When Si Sheng got his Evil Eye, his mind was flooded with the knowledge it provided. One of the things it provided was the "Status" chant. With the chant, he would be able to observe himself, its counterpart "Inspect" did the same thing except on other things. However, Si Sheng wasn't going to use that just yet.
"Status," Si Sheng said, activating the Evil Eye using a negligible amount of mana, not even registered by the understanding function of the eye.
Wung!
A sound like that of a computer starting up was heard and Si Sheng's status appeared before his eyes in a bordered window. It wasn't too dissimilar to that of a pop up on a computer.
[Name: Si Sheng | Age: 18 | Race: Human]
[Status: Healthy (Indifferent)]
[Level: 1/10 | Experience: 0/1000]
[Titles: The Sin of Gluttony, Supreme Healer]
[Stats]
[HP: 100/100 | MP: 150/150]
[Strength: 10 | Intelligence: 15 | Defense: 5 | Agility: 10 | Vitality: 10 | Luck: 15]
[Attribute Points: 0]
[Skills]
[Evil Eye (Eye of Understanding), Evolutionary Body, Fire Magic (D), Gluttony, Healing Magic (SSS), Repair (A), Swordsmanship (D), Water Magic (D)]
"...Why is my level cap so low? Aren't I supposed to be able to level up to, like, infinity?"
Si Sheng couldn't understand why he could only level up to level 10. To him, this was an incredibly low level. In most games he knew about that had statuses, there wasn't a limit on the level of the character, and if there was, it would be a high level, something like 200. He thought the goddess must have done something to him and limited his power out of spite. Overall, though, he was satisfied by his status. For one, he already had two titles, which would make him stand out even at such a low level. Along with the numerous skills he owned. He was abnormal, to say the least.
"Well, I can figure out the problem with my level later. First I need to find a suitable place to live or I'm gonna be caught with my pants down. I think a cave might be best for now," Si Sheng said as he observed the area.
There were mountains to, what he thought was, the northeast of his current position. He figured there'd be an adequate cave there and decided to start trekking through the vast forest in between him and the mountains.
He knew nothing about this world other than his own inferences. If he was right, finding somewhere safe was crucial because creatures empowered by magic would be able to kill Si Sheng was just a wave of their hand. He wouldn't even have an opportunity to grow if he couldn't get to a safe-haven first.