A short warmth washed through my mental fatigue as I stepped into a small clearing in the undergrowth. The trees weren't too tall, and the canopy covered the sky and blocked the wind. It all built a rather enclosed and relaxed atmosphere without being claustrophobic.
_How homely._
I gently smiled and squinted at the flickering crimson-gold flames illuminating the surrounding space.
_Where's Rena?_
_I'm not too worried, considering how undefended that village is and what we've experienced so far—the only thing worth worrying about is the Angels._
Not being "too" worried wasn't enough to stop me from turning my senses to the surroundings.
Even through the lucid green luminescence, the thin moisture coating the leaves would sporadically catch the light, causing me to look away; it was like a domed sea of fireflies, with the crackling and popping of flames acting as stones dropping into its calm surface, inducing a rippling lustre.
It was too difficult to see, so I focused on my hearing and stepped closer to the fire in the centre.
I held my breath...
The faint crunching of twigs and the soft compression of grass—_it's not too far away, and there isn't any panic._
I pondered on it for only a moment before looking away a little awkwardly and sitting at the fire, taking a few breaths to relax while I recalled some botanical words in my mind.
_Huh, weird... OH, it must be the new skill._
_The words feel more... colourful? Like the words themselves have a happier emotion attached to them that drew me in—happy to see me—but each word seems uniquely expressive, like they have a personality._
_I thought these fruits I'd picked up were just extra vibrant, but maybe I'm sensing them in a different way._
_Hehe, this is great; even the greatest Botanical geniuses will envy me in the future..._
Looking down at the fruits, I began the Botanical spell.
"Oliare"
The familiar ephemeral bubble appeared, and the ingredients neatly nestled themselves inside.
"Vinari, raekoa, inviol"
They deformed and dissolved in the grey light, breaking down into a spectrum of powders neatly separated within the sphere. Around half of it divided from the whole and collected at the boundary, swirling like the storms of a great gas giant.
"Oira"
The boundary slightly shrank, but the dust remained surrounded by a grey light. The colour shifted to black and began to shrink. I expected it to stop, but it didn't, and shortly after, it simply vanished as if it had never existed.
_Strange..._
I focused more intently on the process this time, and, although I found it beautifully profound, there was this lingering disgust in my mouth.
_It's as if the words are vile in a way I can't describe._
_This magic is like... like having a complex tool—it does the job for you, and you need to deconstruct it in order to make new tools that do different things; hah, but this makes the whole thing rather incomprehensible._
"Atrieuk"
Nothing happened that time.
_I left that a little too long..._
"Oχά"
The magic trembled and began drooping under gravity. It was like a ball of cold lava, now slowly melting away and submerging into the earth below.
Hastily, I picked up the two wooden bowls I had stol_—_borrowed, one by one, and let the mixture of powders fall into each of them.
I had checked a few of the buildings, and all of them had at least one large keg full of water with a faucet attached... which is where the third bowl comes in—the one I'd conveniently filled thanks to my unfathomable insight.
All in all, my mood was much better already. Getting my class had now sunk in, and having my body back felt like a done deal.
_I'm confident that Karin will be fine, and even if I don't manage to retrieve all of their items, it's not really a big deal..._
After filling both bowls with water, I swirled them around one after the other, taking a brief glance at the bushes to my side before staring calmly at the fire.
_I don't really want to leave her alone with this body again, but I'm not sure we're going to get a chance to rest..._
At that thought, the bushes rustled, and Rena awkwardly pushed her way through, her light hair covering her face.
She blew and shook her head while adjusting to the light.
When she turned to look at me, I'd already picked up the bowl and held it out for her to take.
I didn't need to look at her to know her expression had changed; her awkwardness faded away as she walked forward.
She reached forward and brushed the lip of the bowl with her fingers; using her other hand, she raised it from below with as much care as someone lifting a kitten for the first time.
I found it a little humorous, but she didn't seem to notice; she was too preoccupied with staring at the, honestly, rather bland-looking soupy mixture.
"You learned it..."
She sat on her knees, seemingly without thinking; the focus required to stand was too taxing when she could be immersing herself in the bowl she was holding.
_Cute..._
Her face scrunched with a slew of emotions, reminding me to turn away and pick up the spoon I'd conveniently found lying around.
"Here."
She brushed her nose and turned back to me, plucking the spoon from me with the same hand.
"This is too..."
She paused and turned away, her hair covering the side of her face and reflecting the crimson light of the fire.
"Thank you. I don't... I."
"You don't have to say anything, you know."
I hadn't seen any tears, but she let out a shaky breath and rubbed her eyes as if there were some.
_Saying thanks probably feels worthless to her at this point... And I don't really need it; it's not like I'm doing all that much anyway._
Finally, I caught a faint glimpse of a smile as she looked down at the bowl.
We remained quiet and ate for some time, merely watching the fire and feeling the warmth of its flames.
_It's about time I checked out the interface..._
[Framework acquisition has changed skill dynamics...]
[Recalibrating...]
_You what now?_
[Determining hierarchies...]
[Adjusting Skill Manifold...]
[Successful...]
[[Remnant of the One: System Interface] > [System Properties (+)]
[Name: Syrin] [Level: 12/20 (0/2367 exp)] [Exp Store: 2052]
[Health: 503/503 (470/470 +7%)] [Mana: 243/243 (227/227 +7%)]
[Skill Manifold:
[Stat Points: 10]
[Enyin: 31 >
[Bloodline: [λ-Pride Demon] ]
[Soul-type: [Inner-world (Grade I: Garden)] ]
[Class: [Emulser] ]
[Special Class: [Contractor] > [Paths of the Contractor (+)] ]
[Titles:
[Synesthesic] [One Against Many (+)] [Monster Slaughterer] [λ-Pride] [Outclassed] ] ]
[Exyin: 50 >
[Abilities: >
[Stealth lvl4] [Ambidextrous Manoeuvring lvl4] [Spatial Awareness lvl4]
[Pain Tolerance lvl3] [Breath of the Soul lvl2] [Synergism lvl1]
[Martial Arts (Bloodletting Style): lvl2] ]
[Mind: 58 >
[Abilities: >
[Phantic Mana Sense: lvl1] [Basic Mana Control lvl1]
[Disintegration Dark Magic lvl1] > [Wisp of Decay lvl1]
[Botanical Magic lvl1] > [Green Fingers lvl1] ]
[Lightning Magic lvl4 (+) >
[Thunder Faculty lvl1] [Lightning Scale-Cast lvl3] ] ]
[Agility: 115 (Principle of Pride +55) >
[Boost lvl1] [Thunder Flash lvl1] [Dark Step lvl1] ]
[Strength: 12] ] ] ]
_Huh?_
_Well, that's extremely confusing... and what's with all the plusses?_
Taking in all the subtle details, I looked over the list a few times.
_Ah, so that's what it meant by hierarchy. Bloodline, Soultype, titles, and the classes are all under Enyin, since Enyin is the foundation for all of them._
_I wonder..._
_If I focus on it..?_
[[Remnant of the One: System Interface] > [System Properties (+)]
[Name: Syrin] [Level: 12/20 (0/2367 exp)] [Exp Store: 2052]
[Health: 503/503 (470/470 +7%)] [Mana: 243/243 (227/227 +7%)]
[Skill Manifold:
[Stat Points: 10]
[Enyin: 31 ><]
[Exyin: 50 >
[Abilities: ><]
[Mind: 58 >
[Abilities: ><]
[Lightning Magic lvl4 (+) >
[Thunder Faculty lvl1] [Lightning Scale-Cast lvl3] ] ]
[Agility: 115 (Principle of Pride +55) >
[Boost lvl1] [Thunder Flash lvl1] [Dark Step lvl1] ]
[Strength: 12] ] ] ]
_It worked!_
_That's definitely much more readable, so when I open it intending to look at something in particular, it'll open up only what I need to see. How neat._
_Okay, but what do I have the time for... It might be more careful to look over the skills first, then use the soul, and then everything with a plus._
_Yeah, I'll go with that._
So, from the bottom:
[Boost:
At the cost of 1% mana, decreasing by 0.1% per level, allows the user to near instantly achieve their maximum speed. If willed, there will be a mana cost to changing the user's current momentum.
Mana can be used to further increase speed up to a limit of 2x, with the mana cost approaching infinity; however, this approach will slow depending on the level of the skill.
Cannot be used in the air.]
_This has more going on than I expected... It's a bit like monumental shift, but for agility. If I can decrease that percent cost down to near 0, then it'll completely change how I approach a fight._
_The extra speed is great as well, but I'll have to play around with its costs. I imagine it'll be most useful in sudden bursts or used gradually if my opponent has a slightly higher speed than me._
_But it's a shame it can't be used in the air; I imagine that means terrain will effect it slightly; water would be much harder than ground, I imagine._
Moving my eyes to the next skill, I smirked grimly...
[Thunder Flash:
Temporary augmentation of Opase alignment subtly shifts the user's state to that of one more similar to lightning. Some properties are obtained, most notably, a sudden burst of speed nearing 250% at maximum.
Cannot change direction, and will drain mana until the user wills it to stop.
An exhaustive skill, reducing the user's maximum speed by 10% per use for 5 minutes, decreasing by 1% and 12 seconds per level.]
_So this is the one I used, huh. The system seems to mostly care about giving numbers when it's a percentage... So, can I assume this isn't?_
_Even though it's a speed skill like the other one... I suppose that's what the explanation is for, but I still don't know anything about Opase alignment or anything, but I do know about alignments, so I feel like it's related somehow._
_Though it is limited in its own ways... that speed decrease is awful no matter how I look at it, but if I use it at the right times, it could be quite terrifying against groups like the one I just fought._
My lack of an arm suddenly became painfully apparent to me as I carefully sipped away on the food.
I thought back to the group battle_—_at how disadvantaged I was.
_I really don't like the idea of running away, but it is 'per use' meaning if I get into the air, I can get away extremely fast. Hehe, the skill doesn't mention anything about not working in the air._
With this, at least I have an escape.
Lowering the rapidly emptying bowl, I looked at the final agility-based skill I'd gained.... Dark step.
_Hm, agility-based? They seem more magically based to me, yet the system placed them here. Is it telling me that the agility requirement is more foundational or something, or is it just assuming my preference somehow? I guess you can't categorise everything perfectly._
_Anyhow..._
[Dark Step:
Varies depending on your alignment. For Annihilation Dark Magic, Dark Step allows the user to disintegrate qualities of movement, be it noise, light, scent, or even magical traces. The more subtle the quality being annihilated, the cheaper it is, with light and magical traces being the most expensive.
Less abstractly, the skill can be used to leave behind a dark magic spell as long as the right amount of mana is supplied.
Levels will decrease the mana requirement for all effects. ]
_Wow, this has a lot of potential. Here I thought I'd locked myself into a bad alignment, but it's actually this fantastic. I'm still not sure what it all costs, but I'm glad I put so many points into mind earlier, that's for sure._
Turning my head, I looked to the window next to the fire, the one with every sub-plane open.
_Huh, I guess it did say 'disintegration', I didn't even notice..._