"I know you have prior knowledge regarding us but that didn't it was the whole of it. Well, what I'm about to say can be considered as not whole either since there are some mysteries that I was even incapable of knowing."
Back within his hut once more, the figure, who had forewarned me of the impending journey, now prepared to impart the final tidbit of wisdom before my foray into the wilderness.
Nothing he did to me had ever put me on the losing side so it would not be bad to give my trust once more, especially since I think knowing about Horrors is as much important as the rest.
"What do you think Horrors are made of?"
"…"
When posed with that inquiry, my response faltered as my understanding of the subject matter was not extensive enough to provide a straightforward answer.
"Right, you don't know. Well, how could you when we also don't? But according to the very forefather of our kind, the first of our species had speculated we all came from the very nature itself, yet a very bad one because there is a lot of fighting when Horrors are with one another."
Frowning, I can't help but raise a concern, "There's still a lot of things you don't know about sir?"
"Huh?" An annoyed groan left out from the figure's mouth as he replied, "The world is vast and endless. Of course, there will be kinds of things that I'm unsure of or didn't know about yet that doesn't mean my knowledge is inferior to others. In fact, if we're talking about being average regarding this, I'm just higher than those Horrors."
"Yea, yeah. You can stop being smug about it. Teach me what Horrors are or why a Horror had the title of a 'King' on their name like Lupire. You've left a lot of clues for me to learn and given me knowledge because you see us fit in your plan. So just tell me!"
Growing impatient at how his going in circles, the figure sensed that I was in a hurry and started scribbling down his finger on the wooden paper hung on the wooden wall.
/Fiend, Wretched, Malignant, Terror, Titan, Paramount, King/Queen, Monarch, Malevolent, Mystical/
"As you can see on the board, these are what we call Horror Classifications. Fiend of Fire, Wretched of Water, and so on are lame titles bestowed to the Horrors once they've reached a certain degree to be called that way. Horrors can have the same title but the glaring difference one can have is that their powers will be slightly different from others, whether strong or weak."
The figure slowly traced his long claw at the /Fiend/ classification and stated, "As for how we classify it, we do it by the abilities of the Horror. It didn't matter if they have thousands of hundreds of passive ones, the power of a Horror is defined through his attack skills."
That makes sense, I guess. In their food chain where the strong rules it all, a passive skill wouldn't deal damage unless the skill itself can inflict damage.
"Some passive skills may deal damage but not as lethal as the attack ones. And that's what defines a classification of Horror."
An ability-based classification?
It's not shocking but there is still a surprise mixed on it. If that would've been easy to see, we wouldn't have been suffering much losses.
The reason we didn't get this kind of information since Horrors, even the contracted ones, never really cared about sharing it once at least, for me.
"So, does that mean that Horrors can only have ten abilities maximum?" The figure paused, "No, the beings who managed to surpass these ten abilities is something I'm not even sure that I could explain. Simply short because I didn't even manage to bypass that kind of level, nor near yet."
Raising my hand, I questioned, "Then, how many abilities do you have when you are in your prime?"
The figure raised five fingers as he explained, "Adding my five main abilities, I also have five soul cores which are all refined. Well, let's not dwell on my abilities since you'll just get confused. Let's move on to the one Horror you managed to defeat on your team."
/King of Familiars, Lupire/
Writing the name of the Horror I've fought with, the figure continued.
"As you can see, he had the title 'King' that even your powers recognized based on the description given to you, meaning he had seven abilities. Can you tell me what abilities it used?"
Holding my chin to think about the abilities he showed, I continued, "That Horror can make another Horror his familiar, he can teleport using these familiars, inflict fear through his minions, cloak himself with a mist, release this black mist, and I don't know if this can be counted, but his black mist has somehow had a poison yet it only affected the Horrors itself."
"That's only six."
Did I forget something?
Contemplating what I missed out, I slowly refreshed my mind before an answer came right after a minute.
"Ahhh, shared vision!"
"Tsk, weak."
The figure's voice trailed as if disappointed once more, thinking his perception regarding this Horror had become solidified.
"The notable abilities he only had are two. The making of familiars and used it as a teleportation. The rest is either incomplete or passive. Hahh, such a waste."
'He said abilities again… Is it me or are these abilities he's talking about as if this is like an ultimate skill?'
For some reason, the figure replied as if to answer the questions plastered on my face since it was clearly there.
"As you can see, what I'm talking about is not just any ability but their 'Caliber'. For example, the Horror had a fire essence. They can practice all fire combination spells, whatever or how it was structured. In the end, one of their skills will become prominent and become their 'own' skill."
'Huh!?'
Shocked at this information, I clarified, "So, using that as an example, does that mean a Horror can have thousands of fire abilities?"
"Yes, that's why your own essence is important. You will be the ones wielding it, unlike us Horrors who can only upgrade it to a certain degree."
"That… that doesn't make any sense. Uhm, what if the essence of Horror is very complicated, does that mean that Horror can have complicated spells."
The figure looked blankly as if I was stating the obvious before saying, "Are you really listening to my lessons? All I discussed is for this!"
Infuriated by how I reacted, the figure began to explain it in a more detailed manner, "You grow your strength and you also decide what you will take yourself. Lupire, for instance, is an example of a rushed Horror. These Horrors usually didn't care what ability they got as long as they could go with it and pushed their titles above. For us veterans, it's better to take it easy."
He paused, "And better find a suitable ability that suits your caliber! Don't rush to find what fits you, no matter how long it is. And once you find this caliber, you must hone it and embed it to your subconsciousness where your complete soul is placed, before practicing another ability. That's how a Horror is known for their titles and names."
He sighed, "Hahh, though, it wouldn't make sense if you have fewer or zero soul cores as it is something that supports these abilities. In the end, acquiring soul cores and refining them will be needed."
'Essence… from the very start I knew this when studying soul, I knew this would be a big deal but… horror classification, caliber, soul cores, are a new profound knowledge itself. And they are so wide topic!'
I understand that these lessons are only the surface of it. The tip of the iceberg as underneath is more mysterious and profound knowledge that only I could discover.
"Please teach me more about Horrors, sir figure."
He fervently nodded his head as he continued, "Of course, that's the reason we're doing this in the first place."
For the next few days, the curriculum meshed around soul, battle techniques, and horror classification and the Horror themselves.
It was all worthwhile and beneficial on my part.
On the day of receiving my initial task, the assigned figure appeared as I delved into absorbing fresh knowledge gleaned from our previous interactions.
"A month. That will be the time limit of your clearance. Fail to do so, well, nothing in particular as I knew you would succeed."
The figure confidently gave me a tap on the shoulders, "Do you know the reason I'm doing this right?"
"Is it because it is important for me once I venture outside or because of the deal we made?"
The figure shook his head, "I guess that's important as well but no, I'm not talking about it. Yes, I want to see your improvement. Yes, I want to see how great heights you are going to reach in the future but I want you to etch this to your mind."
The figure paused as his cold eyes looked into mine, "I want you to remember how scary the real world is."
The figure halted, his icy gaze penetrating mine, and he uttered, "I need you to keep in mind just how harrowing the actual world can be,"
After staring at him for half a minute, I nodded once, "I will remember it. I will go now."
With nothing to do, I rode a boat and moved towards the path that led to the fourth area of the dreaded swamps, the largest island with the first area, the one where me and I the figure were staying coming in second.
With no tasks at hand, I embarked on a boat, charting a course toward the path leading to the fourth sector of the dreaded swamps. This vast island, eclipsing the one housing the initial area where the figure and I were stationed, held the position of the largest area in this menacing expanse.
With that, my journey towards the largest area comes now.