I grabbed the card and wondered for a moment how I would use it. But, the moment I wanted to, it worked.
I was greeted by a completely different sight in an instant. It was like a room made of clouds, except I couldn't tell where the walls were.
I'd known what to expect in general, but what I was seeing still shocked me. There are no concrete descriptions out there of what this place actually looks like. Supposedly, there's some kind of power that prevents you from revealing details.
In front of me, there was a tall hearty man who donned a beard and clothes both made of clouds.
It was like a generic depiction of heaven.
…With one main difference.
At the side of who I could only assume to be a God, there was a colorful wheel embedded into a stand made of clouds.
The wheel was divided into 5 color-coded sections of equal size:
S, A, B, C, and D.
I naturally assumed that this was how the skill tier was decided.
The man looked at me and spoke in a booming voice.
"Congrats! You found yourself a skill card. Right now, we're gonna spin to see how good of a skill you got!"
If the abrupt scenery change wasn't enough, his nonchalant demeanor was completely off-putting. It wasn't at all what I'd expected from a "god".
The man put his hand on the wheel and spun it. The wheel instantly became a blur. I couldn't make out any of the colors I'd seen on it; I wasn't even sure that it was the same wheel.
And then the wheel suddenly stopped… Well, perhaps "stopped" is too light of a word. It went from spinning at the speed of sound to being completely still in an instant.
The wheel itself had also changed. The only letter it displayed now was "S", and it now took up the whole wheel.
"Hey, you're pretty lucky! Your skill is gonna be S tier! Now let's find out what that skill will be."
The wheel instantly changed into a list of names. These rapid-fire changes almost distracted me from the incredible news my ears had picked up on - My skill was going to be S tier, the kind of skill that's guaranteed to change your life.
Every single time these changes happened, my brain took a few moments to process what was happening.
Before I could read any of the names on the list before me, it started spinning horizontally. It behaved in the same abnormal way as the wheel.
The list stopped on the word "Steal" and the other names disappeared.
"Ah, this skill is one of my favorites. Let me give you the rundown."
At this point, the fast-paced, ever-changing environment had done a number on my brain. I was barely following what was happening.
"If I had to summarize your skill in one sentence, it would be as follows: by imitating someone else's skill, you can take it from them."
…
There was a brief pause. It seemed like he was giving me time to catch up to reality.
"Now, the skill itself is a bit more complicated, so I'm going to walk you through it."
A brown, leather-bound book appeared in his hands.
"This is going to be how you'll use your skill. Don't lose it, okay?"
He opened the book to its first, and only page.
"This is called a skill page. It's how you're able to keep track of your skills and get new ones."
The page in question had [Steal] printed at the very top, but I wasn't given time to read the rest.
"Lemme show you how it works."
I still couldn't make out where the walls were, but it seemed like they moved back. And in that new space, a gray silhouette of a person appeared.
"Let's say this guy has the skill [Flight], and you want it. All you gotta do is get within proximity or sight of them, and then express that you want his skill. It doesn't have to be out loud."
Another page appeared in the book, this one see-through.
"And voila! Here you have the skill page for [Flight]!"
This time I could read the page in full. It went as follows:
________________________________
[Flight]
A Tier
This skill lets you fly through the air at speeds up to 60 mph. You will be exempt from any wind pressure or other such forces, and you will be guaranteed a safe landing.
________________________________
He flipped the page to the backside. There was nothing but an empty line at the bottom of the page.
"Now, if you read the description of the skill and it strikes your fancy, then you'll sign here at the bottom of this page to accept pursuit of the skill. Once you've done that, the page will tell you what you need to do to get that skill."
The back of the page magically filled in with my signature, and then text filled the remainder of the page.
________________________________
Imitate Condition
Time limit: 24 hours
Spend 3 hours in the air without stepping on any surface.
Progress:
(0/180 minutes)
________________________________
"There are two ways to get any skill. One, as you can see, is the imitate clause. Long story short, you just have to mimic that skill based on the description given by the book. In this case, you basically have to fly for 3 hours. The other way is called the agree clause, and all you have to do is ask the owner for it. If they agree, then you'll get their skill. If not, then you'll have to try the other way. By the way, they have to wholeheartedly relinquish control of the skill, so don't bother threatening them to agree. And you can't ask if they'll give it to you until you accept pursuit of the skill."
From what I was hearing, I was amazed. It seemed like it was ridiculously overpowered.
As if reading my mind, the god said,
"Pretty good, right? It's better than a skill like [Transfer] because you can give skills to yourself instead of others. And unlike [Borrow], the skills you have are completely yours instead of using others' skills temporarily. All in all, a sweet deal, huh?"
I verbally responded to the godly being for the first time.
"…Yeah. It seems really useful."
"But of course, such an awesome skill has some drawbacks. Do you remember that time limit you saw earlier? Once you accept pursuit of a skill, you need to complete either one of the clauses before that time runs out. Otherwise, the book will light aflame, and you'll go with it."
"So… One mistake, and I die?"
"Yep. That's the way it is, I'm afraid. Even so, I think you've got your hands on a bargain here."
"…"
It was definitely a good skill, but it was way too risky. But he was right, it was a fair risk for the amount of rewards.
"There's one last thing. The book and its pages are completely indestructible, for the most part. The most you can do is tear out skill pages. Once torn from the book, you can't use that skill anymore. But don't worry, just hold it back in place and it'll mend itself into the book again. Oh, and [Steal] itself can't be torn, so no worries there."
"That doesn't seem like too much of a problem, I can just keep the book on me."
"I'm glad you think so. Well, that's all I've got to say on that front. Enjoy your new skill!"
He extended the book to me, and I anxiously took it. In that same instant, I was back in reality.
Skills stolen (0)
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