Many months passed, as Endyr transitioned from a new born to a toddler. His body grew bigger and chubbier, and his hair started showing up too. Like his mother, he had flaming red hair but his eyes were a strange, molten gold. The two colours formed quite the contrast, but only added to his charm.
During his time as a baby, Endyr had learned several things. For one, his mother was named Raphaniel and she was apparently a relatively important person. He didn't know the specifics, but she seemed to be a figure of authority in the surrounding area.
The second thing was about his father: he had none.
After several weeks of living in his mother's mansion (yes, they lived in a huge mansion fully serviced with maids and butlers) he saw no sign of a father and assumed he was either dead or absent. Seeing how his family didn't bring him up, Endyr went with the former.
The third thing Endyr learned was about the changes to his Status and the System in general. He learned more about Ranks and what they signify, and could not help but take a deep breath.
The principle behind Ranks was simple enough: Ranks were divided alphabetically from A to F, with special S Ranks above A. The higher your Rank the more EXP you got from killing others and the easier to level up.
The concept of Levelling was present in the greater Universe already, so that was easy enough to understand. But things got strange with the introduction of Skills.
In the greater Universe, you earned Skills through either buying them from the System using Privilege or practising the act until it is ingrained in you. Skills had no Rank and you could have an infinite number of them.
But here, your number of Skills was limited by your Rank. Furthermore, Skills were graded now and you can only learn Skills as high as your Rank would allow. For instance, as an E Rank, Endyr could only learn E Rank Skills. He also only had 3 Skill slots, one of which was taken by [Language Comprehension (E)].
From what answers Endyr could gleam from his System, each Rank allowed you 2 new Skill slots, with SSS Rank (the highest) having 19 Skill Slots.
The odd number ticked Endyr off a little bit, but he ignored that. 'Its strange though. Usually the System is quite symmetric in assigning values...'
The last thing Endyr learnt was that trouble was brewing on the horizon. He wasn't certain, but as the days passed and he grew older, he became more aware of the tension in the air. The servants would whisper to each other in the corridors, while Raphaniel almost constantly wore a grimace that deepened week by week.
The heavy atmosphere also affected Sia, his sister. She would frequently enter Endyr's nursery to cuddle him, likely for comfort. At times, she would simply stare into space while holding him. Being treated as a teddy bear was strange, and Endyr found it vaguely annoying.
It was during one such cuddling sessions that Sia decided to speak out. "Hey Altair...do you miss dad?" she whispered. Endyr tilted his heed quizzically in response. "Oh right, you never met dad, did you...of course you wouldn't miss him" she rectified to herself.
'I'm also too young to speak fool' Endyr sneered in his mind. But despite his snarkiness, Endyr felt a slight sense of discomfort at Sia's obvious sadness. "Goo, gahh" he gurgled, holding onto her arms as a gesture of comfort. Sia smiled softly in response and squeezed him tighter.
'That wasn't what I wanted you to do' he bemoaned as he was completely stuck now. But as Endyr was tightly pressed against his sister, he noticed something strange about her body. A strange light was glowing in her stomach and heart, one Endyr could see with the naked eye.
Yet Sia gave no indication of seeing anything, confusing him. As Endyr tried to peer deeper, he was started by a notification from his System.
[Congratulations Host! You have discovered a Seed of Ascension within {Sia Atrazark}. Authority points have been added.]
[Congratulations Host! You have earned enough Authority to access your Status in greater detail. Please check your Status at the first opportunity!]
Upon seeing the notifications, excitement bubbled up within Endyr and he opened his Status.
=================<<♉︎♉︎>>================
Name: Endyr/Altair Atrazark
Age: 3 Years
Level: 1 (Mortal Tier)
Rank: E
Species: Denizen of Infinity (former), Human
Titles: Former Denizen of Infinity, Creator of the Infinite Universe, First of his Kind, Endless Spring of Potential, Cute Toddler (evolved from [Cute Baby] Title)
Skills: Language Comprehension (E)
Authority (New!): 5 pts
Remark: Our resident Denizen has started to grow up! Lets see where he goes from here...
=================<<♉︎♉︎>>================
The [Cute Baby] Title had changed to [Cute Toddler], likely because he had grown past the baby stage. Also, his Rank had increased from [E-] to simply [E] Rank. 'I must be passively absorbing Mana' he thought fleetingly.
As for Authority, a new part had indeed been added to his Status. Endyr didn't know how much 5 points was worth, since Authority in the Main Universe was incredibly abstract and unable to be quantified.
As far as Endyr knew, Authority was directly tied to one's Domain as a God. A Fire God with higher Authority had greater mastery over 'Their' flames than another Fire God with less Authority. For Gods and above, Authority was the real decider of who is stronger.
Endyr then chose to focus on what he had discovered in his sister's body. 'What's a Seed of Ascension?' he pondered. Thankfully, his System answered for him.
[A Seed of Ascension is what allows someone to Ascend, awakening their ability to use Mana and the System. {Sia Atrazark} has nearly awakened her Seed, which should bloom within the next two or three years]
'How very interesting...do most children awake their System around 12?' Endyr asked.
[Yes]
Endyr furrowed his eyebrows. 'But I'm only 3 years old. How come my Status is working?'
[Host has special privileges awarded to him as the Creator of the Infinite Universe. One such privilege is early access to the System. Please note however, that the current Status available to you is a lesser one. For instance, you cannot see your Stats nor use Mana despite being able to sense it. You Language Comprehension Skill (E) is an exception, as it is passive and requires very little Mana to operate.]
'Out of curiosity, how good is my Rank compared to others at my age?' Endyr asked
[Most babies would be F Rank, but Host is E Rank. This is not too unnatural however, and can be excused as either Host being talented or having a superior Bloodline. The Host should note that he shall not advance to D Rank without undergoing proper Ascension however.]
'Bloodline? Whats that?'
[A Bloodline is a special lineage passed own by powerful Ascenders to their offspring, giving them a portion of the Ascenders' power and potential. Host has a moderately powerful Bloodline inherited from his mother and a slightly superior one from his father.]
'Can I see my Bloodlines?' Endyr asked excitably.
[Unfortunately, Host's current Status cannot display Bloodlines. Please wait until you undergo Ascension.]
At being shut down, Endyr felt frustrated but had no choice but to swallow it. 'I am just a 3 year old toddler right now...I need to remember that and go with the flow. It's all I can do really'.
Endyr's conversation with his System had taught him a lot of things, all of which was quite useful to know in advance. Endyr was also slightly shocked by how knowledgeable the System was. Or perhaps a better way to phrase it was Endyr was confused as to why the System was allowed to tell him all this.
'Aren't you meant to be impartial? Why do you answer all my question?' Endyr couldn't help but ask.
[Host has sufficient Authority Points to know such knowledge. After all, it is considered common knowledge for basically every living thing in the Infinite Universe, so there is no reason for you to be excluded.]
But then the System added to that. [But be aware Host, that the System will not always answer your questions. Things you are unfit to know will be barred from you until you have sufficient Authority Points. At your current state, the System can only answer simple questions and provide definitions.]
'That's fair enough' Endyr conceded. It was more inline with what he remembered of the System in the Main Universe, which seemed to hold endless potential but only ever gave small pieces of it away at a time.
With that, months flew by and Endyr grew to be 4 years old. Sia was now 11 and her Seed of Ascension grew brighter every day. Unfortunately, the flickers of conflict grew alongside the siblings, with their mother spending more and more time out of the house and returning less and less frequently.
It was on one such day, when the mother was away, that Endyr became aware of the dangers that lurked around him