"Finally done!"
Inyaki was happy that he couldn't feel fatigue anymore, and that as a god, his knowledge was vast. Or else he would have collapsed as a result of working to hard. But it all paid off, because he had finished one of the basic projects.
He packaged it and sent it to the system. He didn't take a break though, he decided to continue with his project making. Even though most of them wouldn't be used now, he liked to be prepared.
While he was working, every follower of his got a system message.
[Ding! New System Update: (1) Mages have been given new elements, they are; Space, Lightning, Neutral and Shadow element.
(2) Elements have been given Variables, that only extremely talented and proficient mages could sense (For example; the Earth element can produce a Lava or Metal element variable)
(3) When a mage unlocks the fifth skill of an element's skill tree, that element would become the mage's main and only element
(Note: if a mage accumulates enough skill points to unlock the fifth skill of all the elements at the same time, they would be able to continue using them all. But, if one element gets a higher skill count, it would automatically be the mage's main one and only element. A mage can also choose their main element anytime I want)
(4) Followers are now able to use Inspection.
(Note: When followers meet other followers for the first time, Inspection triggers for a brief moment and allows followers to see the name and class of the other).
(5) Followers can now use Storage space.]
[Ding! New Quest: The God of Origins sends his followers a very important quest; Follow the map and go meet The Overlord, your fellow follower. The God of Origins is building a new home for you]
(Note: Do not disrespect the Overlord nor the High Priestess, for they the closest to god)
"Whoa." David sat upright as he read the words. If he understood what he was reading correctly, he and his family would soon have a place to call home, a place just for the followers of the God of Origins! How amazing was that?!
And he also felt lucky that he hadn't unlocked the fifth skill of any element, unlike his brother George who wanted to quickly unlock some skills to see what they could do, now he was stuck with the Earth element. David could hear him whining about how he didn't even like the element and just wanted to see what [Seismic Shock] could do.
David already had enough points to unlock the fifth skill of the Water element, and was even considering using it as his main element, but he wanted to try out the new elements first. He first channeled the Shadow element, all the shadows in the area elongated towards him and his surroundings got a bit darker than everywhere else. He shook his head and stopped channeling; he didn't like the dark. Then he tried space, and was immediately given a headache. When a mage channels an element for the first time, they would immediately get a basic understanding of the element, and it seemed the Space element was so profound that his brain couldn't process the information. And sure, he could unlock a skill in the skill tree and he would be able to use it, but he wouldn't get proficient in it. Proficiency makes the skills stronger; everyone knows this.
After his headache cleared, he tried the Lightning element. All the hair on his body stood up as the air around him vibrated, he summoned lightning on his palm and watched as it moved like a cornered snake. It was very hard to control so he shot it at a rock, and the rock burst apart. Everyone checked what the commotion was then went back to their business, as everyone in the merchant group were followers now, explosions where a constant occurrence.
Wow, that was thrilling. David smiled; he just might make the Lightning element his main element. But he still tried out the Neutral element before doing that.
When he channeled the Neutral element, his eyes widen in shock, "Is it really…?" He raised his arms up and concentrated, if the information he got was right, anytime he channeled the Neutral element he would be able to use telekinesis, and it won't be a skill! He focused on the stones around him and willed them closer to him, and after a few seconds of intense concentration, they all rolled to his feet!
Oh my God! He immediately used his skill points to unlock the first three skills in the Neutral element's skill tree, they were [Forcefield], [Mind Shock] and [Illusion].
David's eyes sparkled as he saw the skills, "I think I just found my main element."
…
"Oh my gosh Sarah, you're the High Priestess?!"
After the message was sent Annie had tried [Inspection], then it was as if a formless energy covered her eyes, and everything had their identification floating around them. Most of the things she already knew like a rock, or a tree, but there was one bush which had [Poison Ivy Bush] floating on top of it. She didn't even know what that was! It felt surreal. Then she turned to look at Sarah who sat beside her and had a shock.
"Its not that amazing." Sarah blushed as Annie gushed all over her.
"Not amazing? High priests and priestesses are hard to meet, you know. They are highly protected, and when you finally see one, they are so holy and detached. While you're completely different from what a normal High Priestess I supposed to be."
"Oh, would they look more like this?" Sarah made a golden crown on her head and tried to look regal by pouting her lips. Her and Annie stared at each other for a few seconds before giggling.
"Yeah, I like you more like this. But our Lord said we should show respect to the High Priestess and the Overlord – whoever that is – so, should I be bowing right now?" Annie tried to kowtow.
"Stop!" Sarah said and they burst into another round of giggles.
Annie groaned as she rubbed her eyes, "My eyes feel really dry though, and they sting a little."
Sarah immediately felt concerned, "Oh, they do? Let me help you heal – wait a minute! You haven't turned off [Inspection], have you?"
"Oh, that's right, I haven't." Annie stopped the skill and everything turned back to normal, she blinked rapidly and as her eyes gained back their wetness. "I guess you can't use if for long, huh. It kind of makes sense."
Annie laid down and stared at the swaying leaves, "I am a little bit jealous that the Warriors didn't get anything new, only the mages did."
"Is it something new though? The mages always had elemental power, adding a few more elements wouldn't change anything. Plus, they can now only use have one power source, just like everyone else."
Annie still wasn't convinced, "But what if someone chooses to use everything at once– "
"They would be a huge disadvantage, there's too many elements to use, that would be very confusing in a battle. And, they'd grow slower than everyone else." Sarah explained.
"Okay. That kind of makes me feel better." They giggled again.
Annie's father, Mathew, passed by them, he seemed to be worried about something. Annie called him but he didn't answer, he was lost in his thoughts, so she had to stand up and walked in front of him.
"Dad!" she screamed right in his face.
"Dear god, why would you do that?!" he startled.
"I called you but you didn't answer. What's wrong, why are you brooding?"
He sighed, "If the map is correct, the place the God of Origins asked us to go to is in the Forsaken Lands."
Annie gasped, "The Forsaken Lands?"
"Is that place dangerous?" Sarah asked as she walked up to them.
"Very." Mathew said, "I don't understand why the God of Origins wants us to build a home there."
"Well, the quest wasn't said to be compulsory, so you don't have to go. But me and my family will go there, I have to go there." Sarah said in a serious manner, and her name and class flashed for a few seconds.
"High Priestess…" Mathew breathed when he saw her class. "No, no, don't get me wrong. I have always wanted to go to the Forsaken Lands but did not have considerable strength to survive there. But its different now, now I am stronger and can get stronger still. And I'm sure a god as amazing as the God of Origins wouldn't let his followers face perils on such a quest. I believe he will protect us."
"Wow, dad, you've become quite the devout believer, and you've only gotten the system for five days." Annie nudged him with her elbow, he smiled but didn't say anything.
"Mr. Culade, you seem to have some knowledge of the place we are going, can you tell us what you know?"
"You see that's the thing, what I know about the Forsaken Lands is nothing at all. I mean sure, I've heard that people live there, but they don't live too deep in the lands, that's one of the reasons why I'm sure we'll be okay traveling there. Everyone knows that there are dangerous things living there, but no one knows what they are. There is a legend about why it's called the Forsaken Lands though, in the story, a god banished beings there and named them the Forsaken."
Sarah frowned a bit, "That's not really anything…"
"Well, what do you expect, people were too sacred to dive deep into the Forsaken Lands because anyone who went in never came out. So fewer people try to explore it now." Mathew shrugged.
"Hmm, makes sense."
"One day, when I get stronger, I will explore that place." Annie said with conviction.
"I also have that thought. Imagine the things we could find there, and imagine the price we can put on top of them." Mathew said.
"We'd be world renowned merchants!"
"We'd be loaded!"
Sarah shook her head helplessly as she watched the father and daughter duo talk about money.
…
"So, which one are you going to choose?"
George, Henry and David were strolling and talking when the conversation steered to elemental powers. Since he and David had already chosen their main element, George wanted to know which Henry would pick.
"Well, I've been thinking about it and… I want to use them all."
"What? You're not going to pick? But then you'd grow slower than everyone else!" George said.
"I don't think of it like that, this just means I would have more arsenal than everyone else."
"It's your choice," David just shrugged, "But damn, you'll need to save up a lot of skill points to pull this off."
"I know." Henry smiled.
"I could never do that; it would be so confusing in battle." George said.
"Well, that's you," David said in a smile that shows he was about to make fun of him, "And everyone knows you're not very smart."
"I am too!"
David and Henry guffawed while George sulked behind them. After walking for a while, they realized they had walked quite a bit far from the caravans, but they weren't to bothered by that since they could always find them in the map. Then George brought up the idea that they should spar, which they agreed to.
"Hey, whoa, why are you attacking me first?!" George panicked as he raised the earth, using it as a shield to protect himself from the fireball Henry threw at him.
Henry laughed and tossed another fireball at him, "Stop whining, I'm not even using a skill, just an itsy-bitsy fireball."
"Itsy-bitsy? As if!" George grumbled and used [Earth Spike], the earth shot up in front of Henry, and the spiky tip rushed towards his abdomen, of course George held back a lot, if he put all his energy to it the [Earth Spike] could grow as big as a small hill. But before the attack hit him, Henry did something unexpected; he dropped into his shadow and appeared under a tree a few steps away.
"What the hell?!" George eyes were as wide as they could get, "W-w-what did you just do?"
"[Shadow Movement]," Henry smirked, "The first skill of the Shadow element skill tree."
"Whoa, how did that feel?" David asked.
"According to the skill, I basically dropped into the Shadow Realm. It's very cold there, everything is the same, but no color exists there. The interesting thing is, where they are shadows in the real world there would be a bright light in the Shadow Realm. So, I just step into that and appear back in the real world."
"What? But if all that happened, why did you disappear and appear so fast?"
"Oh, time moves slower in the Shadow Realm." Henry said, a little smugly.
George groaned, "If I knew I wouldn't have used that skill point to unlock the fifth skill of the Earth element, I could be using the Space element right now."
"Your brain is too tiny to comprehend the Space element." David said.
"Shut up, you!" George tossed a rock at him, but the rock stopped mid air before it could touch him.
George was shocked, "How did that–?"
"Oh, I guess I forgot to mention what element I chose," George felt something push him and soon found himself on the ground, "It's the Neutral element!" David laughed.
"Whoa, I haven't checked that out yet, is moving things with your mind the first skill you get?"
"It's called telekinesis, and it's not a skill."
"Wow! I can't wait to use that."
George stared at the sky in a daze as he heard David and Henry's conversation. He was suddenly jealous – although it wasn't real jealousy, and he would probably forget about it in a few hours – and he wanted to show them that he had an awesome element too.
He jumped to hit feet and screamed, "You guys think you're so cool, lets see you handle this. [Seismic Shock]!" With George as the epicenter, the ground cracked under his feet and a shockwave blasted out. Everything 10 meters of him was blasted backwards, and some of the trees toppled.
George looked at the damage around him in shock. 'Oh, shit. Did I overdo it?'
"Henry? David!" He cried out for his brothers; it wasn't until after the dust settled that he saw David. He had a translucent shield around him that protected him from the blast. George sighed in relief when he saw that.
"But where's Henry – ow!" He felt a knock on his head and looked back to find Henry glowering at him.
"Henry…" He said tentatively, "I'm so glad you're okay…"
"Do you know how hard it was for me to find a shadow to pop out from?!"
"I– "
"Every shadow I tried to use kept getting destroyed because of the destruction your skill caused!"
"You almost seriously injured us." David said when he got closer to them.
George lowered his head, "I'm sorry. I just wanted to– "
"Show off, right? Sometimes I forget you're the youngest." David sighed and ruffled his hair, "Don't worry little brother, everything his forgiven."
"Tch, you're just one year older…'' George grumbled.
"Whatever, lets just go back to the caravans. I'm getting hungry." Henry said, then they started to walk back, but the walk through the area of George's blast was troublesome, they had to maneuver through the cracks and climb over falling trees.
"Damn, that's one powerful attack though, if he was stronger would have caused an earthquake. That's a natural disaster!" Henry said as he jumped over a larger crack.
"Yeah, lucky us." Said David.
George was low-key happy that he was praised also a little but shaken. He didn't really have to use himself as a center, he could throw the [Seismic Shock] in any direction. Thank god he decided not to throw it in their middle or else the really would have been seriously injured.
When they got back to the caravans, they had just finished cooking lunch, David joked that Henry's other power was knowing when the food is ready. After they got their servings, they found Sarah and went to sit with her. She was with Annie and, surprisingly, Mary. Sometimes Mary disappears, no one knows where she goes.
"So, are we still going to the Black Stallion Duchy?" Henry asked with his mouth full.
"Yes, father wants to first the materials he has, then after stoking up again – mainly with food – we would then travel to the Forsaken Lands." Annie said.
"And how long will that take?"
"About a month."
"Do we have to go with you guys?" George asked.
"W-What?"
"I mean, a month sounds to long for me. The merchant thing is for you and your family. Why do we have to go with you?"
"You said you would! Remember the day we first met?"
"That was because your father deemed the forest to dangerous to call a home," George stretched his palms out, "Now that we have a real home to go to, I don't feel like making a detour."
Mary nodded, "Hmm, I want to go now."
"Yeah, we should really get going if we want to get there early." David said.
"Wait, wait, wait," Annie raised waved her hands, "Aren't you guys making the decision to fast?! You seriously want to leave?"
They all nodded their heads.
"Sarah, you too?" Annie said with a sad face.
"Look, I really appreciate everything you guys have done for us, and I appreciate our friendship, but I really want to go." Sarah said. "And you guys can come later, and we'll all still have adventures, a home isn't a cage, it's a place you can always come back too."
Annie pouted, but nodded, "I understand, so you'll be leaving tomorrow?"
"No", Mary stood up, "We're leaving now."
"What?!"
"Yeah, we are too excited to wait for another day. The sooner we leave, the faster we get there." Henry said and him and the rest stood up.
Annie wanted to stop them, but Sarah suddenly hugged her, "I am going to miss you so much. Don't take too long before coming, okay? Tell Mr. Mathew we're sorry for leaving without telling. Tell Unique that I'll miss her cooking and tell the twins I'll miss them too."
As she spoke, her and her family walked away, soon Annie was standing alone, trying to hold back her tears.
"We'll meet again soon."