Those farming situations continued over the course of two more days.
Athelei realised in the midst of the fights that if the Harmonic Knights and the survivors were not present, the hired hands would have fought like this for the entire trip. He also learned a lot more about the plains from chatting with the hired hands.
The trade routes they were on had easy fights like these simply because humans had been able to establish their 'territory' here. The beasts instinctually respected it, and only the weaker ones who get bullied out of their lands would cross through human lands. The beasts were forced, and not truly aggressive creatures.
The forest had a slightly different system, but the concept of humans holding territories still stood.
As such, if Athelei ever fulfilled his wish to be an Adventurer, straying from the beaten path would be an absolute must.
In fact, the hired hands had even recommended the next two villages they were to going to be stopping at. They said that the sister villages, Revillie and Zi, were essentially beginner Adventurer hubs.
It had been the go-to place for wannabe Adventurers from Aren and Avina to start out at. The monsters along the path were easy to battle, and the territorial system of the beasts was not as complex as the forests around Mist Pine.
That, and the two villages were only a day of walking apart.
Athelei had included these facts into his plans, but he would execute those when he was older. He was getting sick from simple travelling and training. Adventuring would be a long way off.
It was now the night before they arrived at Revillie. Athelei reassessed his current self, as per the routine.
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- Trinity Analysis Skill: Inspect (Level 3/5) (Exp 6/15)
- Race: Human (91%), Starless (2%), Unnamed Mutation (7%)
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'It seems like my growth has stagnated,' Athelei thought to himself as he checked these two simple pieces of information. 'Being in this state is... uncomfortable to say the least. I now understand more of that cycle of frustration and satisfaction that humans feel.'
Athelei glanced at a few articles he recorded from the Information Network, 'No wonder a lot of people seemed to adore breaking through the bottlenecks in their practices.'
The wall that Athelei encountered with Inspect was actually simple, but not so simple.
He had already found out the most important aspects of the Nefarious Icon, and Inspect no longer rewarded with experience. Now, aside from the badge in his possession, nothing else seemed to satisfy Inspect's requirements.
'Counting on the fact that the Nefarious Icon has so much history behind it, getting 3 Levels means that any normal treasure really wouldn't supply me much experience.' Athelei put his hand on his chin as he wallowed in the depths of problem-solving.
As he did this, though, he felt Irene call out to him.
As per the contract, Athelei let her borrow his wings once again.
"Hm?" As he did this though, Athelei was surprised to notice something weird.
"This wasn't in my calculations," He muttered to himself, as he noticed that he could use the same pathway his wings passed through to arrive at Irene's side. "I wonder, how and where had my assumptions gone askew?"
Athelei kept this thought in his mind as he let his whims control him. 'If I can travel to Irene through our connection, then returning to my physical body could be done in the same way... I think.'
Athelei narrowed his nonexistent eyes at the possibility of being stranded. He then left a mark on his own physical body as a precaution. After which, he popped out of existence.
When he reappeared, he was a thin fog that surrounded Irene Vistas. Athelei's summoner stood in the dark with a pair of grey-gold wings on her back. She was on a rooftop in an unrenovated portion of Aren City where the ruins of the past still lay.
"You called?" Athelei whispered in Irene's ears.
"It worked!" Irene exclaimed when she heard his voice.
Athelei manifested his humanoid form and stood before Irene. He tilted his head and asked, "What worked?"
"I did some research on what your species is, Angel." Irene answered with a proud smile on her face, "It took some digging, but I did find records of myths that used the word you said existed but I had no knowledge of."
"Oh?" Athelei was intrigued. He couldn't really find much about angels in Oxhor's myths through the Information Network. He knew the word existed because of the Cosmic Interface, and it seemed to be the most accurate representation of his preferred form so he decided to go with it. "To have records still present... that's great news for me."
Irene's smile grew, and took on a bit of smugness to it as well as she asked, "Which deity do you serve?"
Athelei blinked his nonexistent eyes, "Deity..? Angels serve deities?" It seemed to Athelei that the word 'angel' in his native tongue had slight differences when placed in the mystical planet of Oxhor.
"Wait, you don't?" Irene's smile froze, "But you responded to my prayer!"
Athelei thought about this some more. 'Interesting. So is the prayer the reason why I could appear before her? Prayers should be directed to gods, so perhaps the role of this world's angels are to deliver the gods' wills? Maybe messengers? Or could they be servants?'
"Could you say your prayer again? I did not hear your voice at all. I just noticed an open pathway and I walked through it for fun." Athelei took several steps away from Irene after he saw her nod.
Athelei stood out of earshot, but he then felt the exact same calling he got earlier. He could also see Irene's delicate lips moving in a manner that anyone could easily tell that she was praying.
He then stepped through what seemed to be the opened pathway and reappeared instantly before Irene.
"That's pretty neat," Athelei commented nonchalantly as he set the conversation back to the original topic, "Let's put that thought behind for now though... Why did you call me? It can't be that you simply wanted to experiment, right?"
Irene wiped the casual expression on her face when she heard that. Her face assumed that business look Athelei had seen her adorn once before.
"I would like to ask for your help," Irene said, pulling out a weird object from a small chest beside her.
"Oh?" Athelei studied the object that Irene held gently in her hands.
It was a shallow bowl of weathered brass. The dim torchlight was enough for Athelei to see that it was completely consumed by the bluish tinge that time had dealt to it. The bowl had a thin wall and looked delicate.
"What do you think of this item?" Irene asked, extending her hand towards him.
This shallow bowl had stumped all of their Analysis Skills, and all they received were descriptions so vague, they might as well have been unable to use their Analysis Skills in the first place. The bowl had been found in one of the ruins of the Nightwalkers' raid. It had emerged unscathed beneath the leftovers of a large house in the Middle Ring, so it was weird how it had been rusted and damaged despite its durability.
Many had tried to cut into the bowl or strike it with all their strength, but they gained nothing. No dent, no crack, no nothing.
Athelei saw this and creased his brows. "Hmmmm," He gave a little hum before dispersing into a fog.
Irene kept her hand still as she let him check the item out. She wondered just what Athelei could be doing when she noticed the shine of Cyan in her eyes.
'Angel has a Cosmic Interface!' She inwardly exclaimed and nodded to herself, 'Cyan does suit its personality.' The two of them shared similarly coloured Nebula Gems.
=} Executing Analysis Skill: Examine {=
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Weird Object
- Of unknown origins.
[ +0.1 Exp to Analysis Skill: Inspect due to Inspect's [Passive Effect] (Current Exp: 6.1/15) ]
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Athelei was pleasantly surprised. The object was indeed worthy of being called weird if his Inspect reacted.
He then executed Examine a few more times, as he covered the entire shallow bowl with his fog. Athelei began a performance of the techniques he had used to rush the levels of his Analysis Skills. Irene watched his rapidly blinking Cosmic Interface appear with different abstract scribbles every time.
After the barrage of Skill executions, Athelei received the screen below. The same limitations of the Interface Authority Level still bothered him, so he decided to later ask Irene for help with this.
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Mystical Weighing Pan
- One part of a whole.
- Ancient.
- Has many hidden properties.
[ +0.3 Exp to Analysis Skill: Inspect through Inspect's [Passive Effect] (Current Exp: 8/15) ]
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It was barely informative, but it was better than nothing. There was a name and three lines of clue-like characteristics.
Athelei memorised the relevant information, created an information packet of it, and sent it into Irene's mind through their connection.
"Ah!" Irene was jolted by the sudden influx of memories until she realised that they contained exactly what she wanted. Her eyes sparkled despite the dim surroundings and her cheeks reddened in elation.
"Is this good enough?" Athelei reappeared as a humanoid figure once more as he created lips to show a smug smile.
"Yes! It's so much better than our efforts. How did your Examine do that?" Irene asked as the excitement inside her hyped her up.
"I'm made out of smoke and fog." Athelei pointed to himself as if that explained everything. He teased, "Guess how~"
Irene narrowed her eyes as she examined the Mystical Weighing Pan in her hand. She noticed how the material was not entirely consistent in every place. Despite the item's immense durability, it had damaged parts that could've let air inside.
She recalled what she knew about Examine's effects and then nodded in understanding, "I see... Then, I'm going to report our findings. Since you're here, do you want to come with me?"
Athelei nodded. Irene seemed to understand how he functioned quite well. "I would love to. I can imagine their reactions already~" He giggled as he became a part of Irene's aura.
His laughter prompted a chuckle from Irene, as well as an excited smile that spread on her face, 'Those arrogant pricks are gonna have it! I should have enough contributions after this to once again use the Mystic Artifact. I can finally advance my Dictator rank.'