Athelei continued to browse the Information Network of Oxhor. He learned about how one would ask someone for permission before they used any Analysis Skills on them. People usually felt a chill run through their spine whenever an Analysis Skill targeted them. As such, asking for permission was more or less something that considered etiquette and consideration.
There was some variance to this rule depending on which country you were in, like nobles being free to use Analysis Skills on commoners while vice versa could lead to imprisonment and execution. It was a right given to nobles for they were the defenders of their lands. Having dangerous individuals waltzing around in their territories was bad.
On the other hand, in combat, or if you don't care about your target getting angry, using Analysis Skills again and again was a strategy. Knights and fighters usually trained against this by having Analysis Skills constantly executed on them until it no longer impeded them in battle.
'Ohh! Using Analysis Skills to mess with your enemy. That's smart,' Athelei was delighted to have a bit more answers to what had been bothering him when he was younger... but it was weird. The Information Network says that the effects of Analysis Skills were chills yet Athelei would get electrocuted instead.
He had yet to figure out the reason why, but he knew the answers will come in time.
After a while of browsing, it was now dark and only the light of the moon brought illumination. Athelei decided to head back to the others for dinner. As he walked, he cast Judgement where he could. he used it on mundane objects, rocks, trees, leaves, and everything that could catch his eye.
His repeated use of Judgement on the carriage had been the reason he got so motion-sick in the first place, but Athelei only regretted his actions a little bit.
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
Analysis Skill: Judgement has levelled up!
- Judgement is now Level 2.
(Current Exp: 2.5/2000)
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
Seeing the notification he had been waiting for, Athelei was pleased. There weren't any bonus effects given Judgement's uniqueness, but it was a step closer to its maximum amount. Athelei intuitively felt that once all three of his Analysis reached max level, it would unlock his Trinity Analysis Skill, Inspect.
This was his first priority as he prepared for life in the big city. Having excellent information-gathering abilities would help him a lot.
When Athelei made it back to camp, the smell of stew blessed his nostrils. Food was being prepared as he walked.
With his Cosmic Interface still open, Athelei looked around and was surprised that his earlier wager might have been mistaken. It looked like the number of orange Users was much smaller.
To be sure, he tried searching up 'Statistics of different Nebula Gem Users' but was disappointed. It seemed like such a concept hadn't yet made its appearance.
Nonetheless, he rewired his previous understanding and guessed that orange Users are most likely supportive characters. They had a grand Information Network to play with, but similar to what Athelei noticed with his Judgement, it was very dependent on that Information Network.
Athelei walked around and saw how the merchants, Harmonic Knights, and survivors went about with their Cosmic Interfaces.
A lot of people were crowding around the orange Users as they collectively browsed through everything. Athelei noticed the purple Users were keeping their interfaces open to record all the information they were reading.
'That makes sense,' Athelei noted and recalled the [Passive Effect] of Appraisal, 'It essentially gives purple Users near-photographic memory... So it's like purple Users are walking libraries.'
As for the cyan Users, Athelei could mostly identify them as the ones keeping their Cosmic Interfaces turned off.
This intrigued Athelei as he went on the Information Network once more and searched for a specific article he had in mind.
It took a few minutes and it wasn't composed of a single post, but Athelei found what he was looking for. He compared the information with what he had observed and summed up what he knew.
If he were to have written an article himself, it would've looked like this;
=o=o=o=o=
Cyan: Users here are very flexible, capable of adapting swiftly and utilizing situational circumstances.
Purple: Users are very dependent on their own competence, requiring preparation to ensure successful skill execution and resources to maximize skill performance.
Orange: Users are connected through the Information Network, making growth dependent on group contribution and interaction with others.
=o=o=o=o=
Athelei nodded to himself, as he kept these summaries in mind. 'Should I post this? It would be helpful for when I use Judgement in the future too, so I guess I could.'
And so, that's what Athelei did. He scribbled with his native language and constructed an abstract image that bore his summaries. The article was swiftly posted and Athelei switched his Cosmic Interface into the Illyasian language.
He then studied the translations of the words he used and the way it was written—he was still considered illiterate before he gained his Cosmic Interface, after all. He knew a few words, like 'people' and could identify the difference between names and regular words which allowed him to have his suspicions, but that was thanks to the Cosmic Interface helping in two ways:
The first way it helped him was when the Trinity Gem first uploaded the basics into his mind. It had taught him the meanings and the way to write the words that the Cosmic Interface used most often. Examples of these words are level, tier, analysis, skill, and many others.
The second way it helped him was when Athelei would switch his languages back and forth. The format was usually easy for Athelei to convert. He knew where certain words were and what they were likely to be, so it was just a process of compare and contrast.
As such, his studies of Illyasian reading and writing made leaps and bounds. It was, however, difficult to make compositions of his own because he required words that the Cosmic Interface did not consider to be 'commonly-used.'
"You're working hard to learn how to read, aren't you?" A chin rested itself on Athelei's head accompanied by those spoken words.
Athelei, who was lost in thought, was surprised when he realised someone was behind him. He swiftly turned around and took a few steps back to see who had talked to him.
The person was female: that was the easiest to see. She carried a sword by her waist and her short brown hair framed her gentle, yet cunning facial features. Her eyes scanned him with a mix of intrigue and playfulness—like a big sister about to tease her little sibling.
"...Miss knight?" Athelei identified the lady as Captain Thallium Yan of the Harmonic Knights.
"Hi, Orien. I believe this is the first time we get to talk, yes?" Thallium Yan asked as she squatted down to meet Athelei eyes.
"Uh, yes. T-thank you for giving me the scroll and the orange Nebula Gem." Athelei was quick to display what etiquette he learned and expressed his gratitude.
"Don't worry about it," Thallium Yan smiled as she ruffled Athelei's hair, "And you can call me Sister Yan if you want, okay?"
"Okay, Sister Yan." Athelei allowed the lady knight to play with his hair as memories of his older sister, Alice came back to him.
A tear involuntarily dripped from his eyes and Athelei was quick to wipe it. Thallium Yan noticed this, however, and was slightly surprised. She had pulled back her hand thinking Athelei did not like being touched but she remembered that this was the same kid who went through the loss of his entire family.
"Are you okay, Orien? Do you want to talk about it with your Sister Yan? Did I do anything to make you sad?" Thallium Yan helped Athelei dry the tears that stealthily fell.
"I-it's nothing, Sister Yan." Athelei sniffled and smiled, "You just reminded me of my older sister, Alice. She likes to make my hair messy too."
Thallium Yan saw this and gave the little boy a good hug. It was easy to forget that the boy had just lost everything. 'Orien' never stopped smiling and was always doing his best to learn about as much as he could. It really made it hard to associate him with sad emotions.
Thallium Yan heard about the boy's plans of trying to go to Avina and to be honest, she was tempted to accompany him there. But it was difficult for her to do that, and it would make it difficult for the child as well. She came from a noble household, meaning she had endless responsibilities when she counted her role as a Captain from the Harmonic Knights.
"Uwa~" Athelei groaned as he was lifted off his feet in the hug, "Sis.. Yan... Sister Yan... You're choking... me..."
"Ah!" Thallium Yan loosened her hug as she kept carrying Athelei with one of her arms. "That's my bad, Orien."
She then gave Athelei's cheeks a soft squeeze, "I heard you wanted to go to Avina. I'm curious about how you plan to do that."
"I actually don't know how, exactly." Athelei replied, "But the Information Network has given me a few ideas..."
Athelei chatted with Thallium Yan and asked her about his plans. The lady knight was able to help him refine his plans and even contributed to a few answers for the curiosities he'd had.
While they talked, Athelei admired the view while he was being carried in Thallium Yan's arms. It felt good to be tall, despite the lady knight not being the tallest around—she was above average when compared to women and stood near the heights of average Illyasian men—she was tall enough. That, and she was strong enough to not seem to tire while carrying him.
Athelei had asked about this and Yan simply replied with a laugh, "You're lighter than a few of the greatswords I had been allowed to practice with."
Athelei was in awe when he heard that answer as his little child brain thought, 'Why are adults so amazing!?'