Over the course of the next few hours, August spent his time being briefed on what little Alia had actually found out.
Firstly she told him that the clearing was the only safe place in the forest. The stench of death— what she curiously decided to call the sour, rotting odour coming from the corpses around them, made the monsters that lurked nearby especially cautious.
That was another thing, the monsters. According to Alia, the things that lurked in the shade of the forest ranged from familiar animals to grotesque horrors. Though none ever dared to follow her into the clearing, and the horrors seemed to have gone missing.
He was not sure if that was a good thing yet.
He also learned that she had been watching over him for the past two months, since she had woken up before him. For that he thanked her profusely, as he couldn't fathom the effect that all this would have had she not been there, though after noting his strange sense of calm, he wasn't sure it would even have an effect.
She also noted the fact that she no longer seemed to need food, though she had scavenged and found countless edible fruits and berries.
"So if you need to eat, we can go grab a few of those, my skill is pretty useful for climbing!" She had said casually.
"What? A skill?" August asked in confusion.
The girl looked at him quizzically then slapped her forehead as if remembering something.
"I almost forgot" she muttered before speaking up "Did you hear a voice when you first woke up?"
It took August a second to recall what she was insinuating, but he eventually remembered the unfamiliar voice.
"Yes, I did. And it was unsettling"
She nodded before speaking.
"I missed it the first time, I thought I was hallucinating, then it repeated itself to me the next day. Telling me to open the organizer."
"The organizer?"
As soon as the word escaped his lips, a screen manifested itself, bursting forth in a swirling stream of lavender dust. August jumped back instinctively, though it followed him, hovering only a foot away.
"Pioneer August Cross, would you like to begin the [Tutorial]"
After studying it, the screen seemed harmless. It was also semi-transparent, which allowed him to see Alia begin talking through the words.
"Yes, it seems that when we came here, something gifted us with abilities, and this 'organizer' from what I can tell, it seems to be a management apparatus to tell us how to use them."
August recounted something he had read once in the attic of his old home, it was a book about writing tropes. Somewhere in the book he recounted reading about the advent of the 'System' in online media like Anime and Korean Manwha.
"So, something like stat points and skills? Allowing me to grow stronger infinitely?"
Alia shook her head.
"From what I've seen, it doesn't provide you something as straightforward as that, it seems to only quantify the skills you already have."
August looked between her and the screen in front of him. He wanted to ask more, but felt as though the girl wouldn't be able to answer any of his questions, especially since she has less help than him when figuring out just what it was.
Instead, he chose to relay what was on his screen.
"It's asking if I'd like to begin a tutorial."
"Say yes, or think it, direct thoughts seem to work on it as well." She stood up and turned around, walking away "I'll let you finish your tutorial, there might be something useful there."
August nodded before focusing his attention back to the floating lavender screen, not wanting to inquire as to why she had decided to move away.
'Start the tutorial' he thought.
Immediately the screen changed, new words accompanying the voice once again.
[Checking skill count- passive skills, two. Active skills, one. Skill breakdown has begun…]
August watched and listened intently as letters and words formed.
[Passive skills: [Master of None] [One among Many]]
[Active skill: [The Great Collector]]
[Select skill for breakdown]
August stared at the words in front of him in complete awe, thinking about what this meant for him.
'Actual superpowers… I can't believe it, just what is this?'
He focused intently on the options in front of him, but decided to go down the list from first to last.
"Master of None" he said, barely able to contain his glee and anticipation.
_____
[Unique skill [Master of None- The talent you long for will forever elude you, but the knowledge you cast away will embrace you with open arms.]]
[Passive- You are forever cursed to be unable to reach above average in any one thing.]
———-
August's smile dropped.
'A curse? This isn't what I was expecting, and this is quite debilitating at that. Though that does depend on how you look at it. '
He had never been particularly talented physically, he knew that much. But he had expected his newfound power to change that, not make it set in stone.
This felt like a direct stab to his heart. Usually accrediting his lack of physical ability to the circumstances he grew up in, telling himself that when he began to work hard he'd be as physically gifted as everyone else.
Now his dreams were crushed.
Trying to hide his anger, he moved on to the next Passive skill.
"One among Many"
He watched- this time with a much lower expectation- as the organizer shifted and changed, revealing the description of his second skill.
—-
[Unique skill [One among Many-your power and knowledge belongs to you and you alone, never to be taken or stolen. ]]
——-
There was no second line, it seemed the organizer had determined the skill to be self explanatory. August had no doubt in his mind that it was.
This would have been an amazing skill, had August any power that anyone would want to steal.
'Well this seems a bit unfair, giving me a curse and then taking away any chance of removing it. Don't you think?'
He decided not to think too soon, since there was one skill left to look at. August hoped that this skill would at least be useful for the future.
He turned his attention back to the screen and uttered the name of his final skill.
"The Great Collector"
The organizer began to shuffle once more.