'I didn't know, just advancing one grade could unlock so many abilities.'
Zeno is amazed by the powers within these small lifelike Gifts. If he could constantly get abilities like this every time he graded up, it would be better.
[This is just a one time event.]
[Inbuilt skills stored within a Gift are unlocked when they are executed by its user knowingly or unknowingly for the first time without the guidance from the Gift.]
[Since Profile isn't same as other Gifts, Profile can unlock its abilities everytime it makes a huge breakthrough without needing user's intervention.]
[However that won't happen again anytime soon as the next barrier is a long time away.]
[Therefore, Profile suggests user to familiarise with the current skills and try to advance as much as possible.]
Even though what he had assumed cannot happen, he was happy with what he got. But it would have been better if he could get rid of this cast. He first clicks on the 'Title' part in the Status screen that he summoned, in response to which a new holographic screen appears.
[Title: A name of honour assigned upon a player by a higher being which may or may not hold a significance]
Next he clicks on the 'Transmigrator' part after swiping away the previous screen.
[Transmigrator: A title awarded to people who have undergone transmigration after achieving a huge accomplishment. This title enables user to remember and recall all the memories, visions and experiences user had in his previous life without forgetting a fraction of it.
This title was awarded by The Gaia to player 'Zeno Lockhart/ Noir Rivera' as a reward for accomplishing the feat of escaping from the control of a Fragment of the Abyss.]
Next he clicks on 'Scanner Vision', 'Virtual Processor' and 'Hidden Codex' on the status screen almost at the same time.
[Scanner Vision:This skill is a combination skill of two sub skills
Scan: Allows user to scan objects and store its info.
View: Allows user to view the status of a target.]
[Virtual Processor: An active skill that helps to conduct complex analysis and solve problems faster than a quantum computer and also act as an interface for user.]
[Hidden Codex: A passive skill that maintains a Digital library within user's Mindspace which will contain all the information obtained from the
Reading through all of it, Zeno could only imagine the extent of these abilities. He could not find out the appropriate extent of his abilities without trying it on someone.
~*Creak* Creak*~
Zeno hears a creaking noise from the front gate of the compound. Looking through the window, he finds it to be Adam bringing dinner home as he is carrying some bags with him. Zeno hurries to the door of his room as fast as possible. But however he tried, he could only move at a penguin's pace.
He manages to reach the door by the time Adam entered the house.
"I am home." Adam says out aloud to let Zeno know he has returned.
"What happened? Why were you late?"
Zeno asks out of blue almost scaring Adam who didn't expect Zeno to come near the entrance dressed like a mummy in shorts and a t-shirt like clothing.
"I had some matters to attend to. The villagers had decided to hold a prayer at the church in honour of our father during the evening. Just had to show my face there."
Adam answers without getting into too much detail. The fact that the guardian of the two children died yesterday is not something that can be forgotten in a small time.
"Come sit down, I have brought some dinner. Is everything alright? What did you do today?" Adam enquires with a charming smile on his face.
"Nothing much, just going around the house." Zeno answers not explaining anything further.
Both of them sits down and Adam distributes the food between them. It is some sort of spicy noodles like dish. They dig right into it without saying too much. This is the first dinner they are having without their father. Therefore nobody was willing to talk for a long time.
However after some time, Adam decides to break the ice.
"I was just thinking that even if your bones get repaired and the cast is removed, you would still not be able to walk like before and would have to continue your bed rest for 2 more weeks. That is, you would be spending around one month in the house itself."
Adam says it as a matter of fact.
'Shit! I didn't think that way.'
Zeno feels stupid for not considering that train of thought.
'I don't want to spend a whole month penned up here. I need to get out there if I have to find a living for myself.'
Zeno thinks to himself while slowing his pace of eating.
"I think I have a solution for that."
Adam says so when he noticed Zeno was interested in it.
"What do you have in mind?"
Zeno asks to find out what is going on. Adam must have meant something when he had brought this up.
Adam had finished his meal by the time Zeno responded back. After that, the former takes out a small packet of something from his pocket. It was tightly wound from all sides, most probably to not let what is inside to diffuse out. He throws it to the latter's side of the table.
"What is this?"
Seeing something thrown towards him, Zeno understood it was something meant for him. However in order to be safe, he decides to check it with a skill.
"View"
[Item name: Pill of Minor Healing
Tier: Uncommon
Description: A pill formed by condensing an inferior version of a healing potion. Able to cure wounds, mend tendons and repair broken bones in closed wounds within immediate effect.
Manufacturing Cost: 5 Silver coins
Market Price: 1 Gold coin]
'You gotta be shitting me. That is one heck of an Inflation in price.
Ofcourse, it is a healing item and all healing items are pricy even in video games.
Moreover this is real world, here people can't just refill their health bar easily.'
Being a thrifty person, Zeno couldn't handle seeing such an over inflated price.
A meat loaf costs 3 copper coins. 100 copper coins are equivalent to a bronze coin and 100 bronze coins are equivalent to a silver coin and similarly 100 silver coins are equivalent to a gold coin. With 1 silver coin, a middle class family of four can live well fed and furnished for a month.
"Well, It is a healing pill I got. I can let you have this, if you can accept..."
Adam continues to talk to which Zeno no longer pays attention since he was focused on tearing open the sealing with his teeth. He does so effortlessly and threw the pill into his mouth.
"...one condition of mine. This was a gift from an influential person who wanted to rope me in. However I can turn it down if you cannot...." Adam stops his talk midway only to notice that Zeno had already eaten it. He was just planning to negotiate with Zeno to accept a condition of his. However he didn't expect such a behaviour from him.
A mildly fluctuating feeling of both hotness and coldness pervades through Zeno's body. He felt like he was being alternatingly transferred from a hot sauna to cool beachside. He notices that all the pain he felt have vanished within a moment's notice.
"Did you say something?"
Asked Zeno having not heard what Adam had said.
By this time, steam was rising from Adam since he is so pissed off. He hadn't thought that the other guy would be so shameless to eat it even without hearing what it was completely. He raises his tone and declares in an absolute domineering manner.
"You are going to school!! That is final and no more discussion.
That was a gift from the school representative to rope me into the Reedling Basic Academy. I had agreed that if you are allowed to enter, I would think about it. They agreed and gave me this as a gift. I was planning on returning it since you weren't interested in going either.
However you ate it shamelessly, so you got to pay for it, you stupid buffoon."
Adam approaches Zeno as he conveys all of this. Even though he is angered at his brother's shamelessness, his face looks adorable as an angry puppy. However Zeno was now in no mood to notice that.
'Shit! I messed up.'
Even though Zeno got healed, he was now being tightened by the cast. He felt himself being wound up and caged all around. He felt suffocated and was choking all over.
Adam noticing that Zeno wasn't paying attention due to the cast, places his hand on the cast and vibrates it constantly with just his palm. When the frequency of his palm matches with the natural frequency of the cast, which is insanely high, the cast starts to cracks from the palm print. The crack spreads around untill the whole cast appeared to be breaking apart.
*Crack* *Crack* *Crack*
The cast falls off from Zeno's body freeing him from his constraints but also surprising him. There was no appearance of any soul gift or inbuilt skill used. Just pure strength and technique. This was the first time Zeno gets to see childlike Adam's strength. If it had missed by a mark or if his control had deviated by a little, it would have been Zeno's bones getting cracked.
The fallen cast ends up powdered as Zeno falls back on his buttocks. White powder litters the chair and its surroundings with most of it covering Zeno himself and his outer clothes.
"Uhhhhhh....."
Zeno is shaken up and so scared by the sudden expression of affection from his brother, that he swears upon all names of the gods he knew from his previous life to never ever provoke Adam.
"Did you hear what I just said?"
This time, Adam asks with a little bit more of coldness.
"Yeah.., uh yeah school right? Ofcourse I will go and thanks for the assist there."
Zeno gets up from his position to clean himself. He had not expected he would trigger the kid Adam this much. He was responding to him as an adult instead of as a child. No matter what, he is now living under Adam's expense. Therefore by law, Adam has every right to kick his ass.
"You will be the one cleaning all of this. And you have to be ready by 8:30 am. Do not be late otherwise I will find you and I will make you suffer.
Good night."
Saying so, he washes only his plate and leaves for the bedroom upstairs to sleep.
Even though he wished good night, it was a long night for Zeno since he could only sleep after cleaning himself and the floor.
~Next day, 8:00 am~
Today is 02-Februs-5012 in Dominus Continent. It has been more than 5012 years since the Gifts appeared in the world. But today's speciality is that today is the starting day of the academic year. 6 year olds would be enrolled into their primary classes. The successive classes are the secondary classes, intermediate classes, higher secondary classes and the senior classes. A person is said to have graduated if they could pass in all subject or surpass atleast the cosmic grade of 5 before competing in the final year examination.
Zeno gets up early and is preparing for going to school. Even though he agreed to go to school, what he hadn't remembered at that moment was the fact that his predecessor Zeno was not that adept in studies and was dismissed from the school for being a failure. Well nobody could blame the school since he couldn't study nor advance at that time. He was not that accepted even among his friends either.
The reason why he is allowed to start once again from the bottom is the fact that Adam is an Advancer of exceptional talent. Recruiting him as a student is going to be a waste of his time since there is nothing they can teach him so they provide a chance for his failure of a brother. They didn't try this move before because their guardian was still alive and well and he would be pissed if they tried this.
"Anyway, I also need to get out of here. Going to school once more as a kid is a dream for many adults in Earth. If I think in that way, I could consider myself lucky."
He dresses himself as best as he could and packs everything into an old school bag lying around the house. He didn't have to buy anything new since all the old textbooks were still there in their house.
Even though Reedling village is such a backwater village, it has some good social structures nonetheless. There is a church, a school, a local library, a Guard station, a busy thriving market etc..
Reedling Basic Academy is the school Zeno is currently planning to attend and also the school he was dismissed from. It is situated in the inner section of the village and most of the children in the village goes there for their education.
Zeno was waiting for Adam when he noticed a note left by Adam which tells him to go by himself.
"Isn't he getting cockier, lately? First he tempts me giving me a pill, then he threatens me to go to school as if he is my babysitter, now he leaves me alone after telling me to get ready by myself."
Even though Zeno complains it out aloud, he was internally glad that he doesn't have to go along with him since Adam is much popular and would only bring trouble for himself.
"Anyway, its showtime."
Saying so, he goes out into the streets running, dragging his bag along with him.