"To begin with, I want both Attributes, but as I requested before, along with the ability to switch which one is active," I remarked, as we began my customization.
"Already done, no need to repeat yourself. That takes care of your Elemental types too, so we can move straight on to Skill selection."
"Wait, do certain people have different affinities for each Elemental type?" I asked her.
"Sort of, but here's the thing, that's usually a mental restraint. See, to use an Elemental power, you need to possess a clear understanding and visualization of it. For instance, some people might understand how Fire Spells work perfectly, but then struggle to figure out how to effectively cast Lightning Spells.
It also takes a lot of practice. Those with poor focus or concentration, and those who lack the ability to put in that real effort to master their powers, end up with an inability to use any powerful attacks without losing control," She explained in response, "In fact, the vast majority of people are like that.
Especially Commoners, who have a much lower average education level than Nobles do, and therefore struggle to understand the intricacies of casting Spells.
There are plenty of instructional books available for learning how to cast Spells, but most Commoners find them very difficult to understand. Therefore, most Commoners rely on their Skills and Soul Weapons while neglecting their Magic.
You should be fine though, your education level is really high by the standards of this world, even compared to the Nobles."
Huh, guess all those study sessions I was forced into ended up being beneficial, after all.
"Alright, then. In that case, reincarnate me into a Commoner family that possess plenty of books on spell casting. Oh, and also...I don't want to have ADHD in this world, so could you like, remove it?" I requested sheepishly, before adding, "But, uh, let me keep my photographic memory. And naturally, I want to be born healthy with no issues whatsoever."
"Sure, that's not a problem at all. In fact, I intended to do just that. I've already found a suitable family to reincarnate you into. Well, there is one small issue that might-...no, it's probably irrelevant as nothing's come of it for over a decade, so never mind."
Hm? I'm a little concerned, but whatever.
"Great. Oh, and regarding my appearance, can I have different colored eyes? Like, say...one blue and one purple?" I asked hopefully.
"Uh, sure, I guess, that's a simple matter. What about hair color? In this world, there's a wide variety of hair colors, green, purple, blue, orange, pink, and so on," She informed me.
"In that case...how about dark blue?" I replied, after mulling it over, "Yeah, I think that's all I want to add to my appearance, don't want to overdo it and stand out too much, after all."
"Got it. Now, then...time for the longest part, Skill selection. This is gonna take a while, so let me know when you're done," She remarked, as a massive list formed in front of me.
Oh, man...I, uh, I might have underestimated just how much a million is. She wasn't kidding, this is gonna take ages. Okay, I can do this, time isn't a factor here, so let's go nice and steady with this process.
Huh, wow...it's just like she said, a lot of these Skills are pretty useless. Like, this one here gives you a heightened sense of taste...which is cool, I guess, but as a superpower, it kinda sucks.
Ooh, this one gives you the ability to have 'lucky accidents' with people whom you find attractive...tempting, really tempting, but I'm gonna have to pass on it.
Hm, these ones aren't bad...invisibility, transformation, teleportation. I'll add them to the list, I can always remove them if I find something better.
Hey, this is actually kinda fun...there's such a wide variety of these Skills, so much to choose from. Let's keep going through the list and see what other powers it has to offer...
...
...
I'm, uh, not sure how long it's been since I started, but it's definitely been at least a few hours since I began going through this list.
On the bright side, I think I'm getting towards the end of the list...so far, I've selected over a thousand Skills, narrowing all of them down to just three is gonna be tough.
I don't feel tired or anything though, so yeah, I can keep going, no problem...probably because this isn't a real body I'm using.
Hm? It's not scrolling anymore...i-it's not scrolling anymore, hell yes!
I...I did it. I really did it! I reached the end of the list! Finally! For a while there, it was starting to feel like it was endless.
I then glanced at my short-list as I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled...now, then, time to narrow it down. There's exactly one thousand, two hundred and seven Skills I selected. And I've got to remove one thousand, two hundred and four of them.
It kinda reminds me of how I used to build decks in fantasy card games online, I often had a lot of trouble creating a perfect deck, there were a lot of cards I'd be hesitant to leave out.
Though, whenever I felt like I'd finally created the perfect deck for me, I'd soon lose interest in the game and eventually stop playing it.
Alright, I've got this list down to five hundred...it's turning out to be pretty easy, though I'm guessing it'll become a lot more difficult once I get it down to double digits and less, there's a lot of Skills I really don't want to leave out.
"Hm...don't need this one. Or this...I'll get back to this one. Why'd I even include this one? Definitely gotta have this one...," I muttered to myself, as I continued to narrow down the list.
"Oh, you're still at it? At least it looks like you'll be done soon," Remarked God, as she walked over and peered over my shoulder.
"What, did you get bored or something?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Not exactly, but it's pretty rare for a reincarnation process to take this long. Well, once you're done with this and decide on a Soul Weapon, you'll be all set."
"Cool. Hey, is the power system the same for the Demi-Humans, or does it only apply to humans?" I asked her in response.
"Oh, it's the same. Although, unlike humans, Demi-Humans don't discriminate each other based on Attribute. Though, to be fair, they're all endangered species, so they can hardly afford to fight amongst themselves."
"How long have the humans of this world been discriminating based on Attribute, anyway?" I inquired curiously.
"About two hundred years. It's been about a hundred and twenty years since this current situation with the Light and Dark Continents was established."
"I see. By the way, are there, like, aliens and stuff in the universe that this world is in?" I asked her, as I continued narrowing down the list.
"Oh, funny you should ask, because yes, there are. The universe of your old world also had aliens, FYI. Though, there's no world in this universe that's invented space travel yet...that said, there are a couple that are close, they should achieve it within two or three decades of the time period I'm going to reincarnate you into," She informed me, before adding, "But then, there's a pretty low possibility that they'd visit the world you'll be in."
I should keep that in mind, just in case she's wrong about that last part.
"Cool. Alright, it's done! I've narrowed it down to three Skills...there were a lot that I had trouble leaving out, but I think these are the best ones for me," I remarked triumphantly.
"Oh? Let's see...ahh, Universal Resistance, Magic Eater and Pocket Dimension, huh? Yeah, those are some powerful Skills, and pretty rare ones too. I'm a bit surprised that you didn't go for any healing related Skills though, that seems like an obvious choice for most," She responded, as she peeked at the list.
"Yeah, those were hard to leave out...but you said the Light Attribute has healing abilities, right?" I pointed out in response.
"Well, yes, but it won't be easy to master Light Attribute techniques in the Dark Continent."
"It's fine, I'll figure it out, I want to have Skills that won't be duplicate abilities of what's possible with Magic Spells. You said the requirements for using a Spell are visualization and understanding, right? Should be easy enough."
"You'll also need a chant to trigger a Spell. Of course, there can be a few different variations of a chant for a particular Spell, like two different people could come up with the exact same Spell but with different chants.
That said, the most effective chants for most existing Spells have been documented in instructional books. Also, chants don't necessarily have to be said out loud, you can say it in your head too," She explained in response.
"Could you give me an example of a chant?" I requested as clarification.
"No need, you'll find out soon enough. You did request to be reincarnated into a family with access to the instructional books, after all."
"Yeah, fair enough, I guess. So, now that I've selected my Skills, what's next? The Soul Weapon thing you mentioned?" I responded expectantly.
"Not yet...first, I'll randomly assign two common Skills to your remaining two slots. Okay, done."
"Hm, let's see...oh, Monster/Magical Beast Thought Communication and Super Hearing? I mean, they wouldn't have been my first picks, but I certainly wouldn't call them useless," I remarked as they appeared in the list, reasonably satisfied with them, "I saw plenty of way more useless options in the Skill list."
"They're relatively common Skills though. Alright, time to pick a Soul Weapon. What kind would you like? There's a ton of options."
"Hm...how about a whip?" I requested, after thinking it over.
"Ah, that's a pretty fitting selection for you. There aren't many whip options, but this one's definitely the best...it can extend endlessly, can cut through steel easily and can even shrink and stiffen like a piercing blade," She remarked, before adding, "Oh, and all Soul Weapons are named by their users before they can properly be used. Want to pick a name now, or wait till you turn ten and then decide?"
"Nah, it's no big deal, I'll pick a name now. Hm...how about Dragon Whisker? That's pretty cool," I suggested with a grin.
"Alright, Dragon Whisker it is. And with that, your customization is pretty much concluded."
"Wait, really? What about stuff like my quantity of whatever counts as MP in this world?" I asked her.
"Magical energy is called Mana, and everyone starts off with a similar capacity at birth. The more you use your powers, the greater your capacity becomes, though it's a slow process. Kinda like working out, you won't see results immediately, but you'll notice a difference over time. Well, anyway, we're all set now. I'll start the process of reincarnating your soul into a new body."
"Oh, wait, one more thing. Could I have the ability to switch the active Attribute of other Heretics too? If I'm ever outed as a Heretic, my best bet will probably be to befriend other Heretics. So, you know, just as a safety precaution," I made one, final request.
"Sure, I don't see why not, it's a simple addition to make. And, done. Okay, without any further delay...let's begin the process. You're gonna start to feel a drowsy sensation, let yourself succumb to it and you'll soon find yourself in your new world."
"Awesome. Gotta say, I'm pretty excited to see for myself what it's like..."
_____________________________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP