"Active skill breakdown complete, starting usage tutorial. "
Watching the screen intently, August noticed bright yellow glows coming from the corpses around him.
"Extract aura molds? Yes/No (six available)"
'Aura mold? What the hell is that?'
As if answering his question, a string of words appeared below the original question.
"Aura mold: the embodiment of a being's Aura, can be used as material to create whatever weapon or armor the user wishes, within reason. "
August stared blankly at the screen, wondering what would happen if he punched it.
'This is a cruel joke, it has to be.'
The organizer had taken his ability to be above average with a curse, which it had then followed up by removing any opportunity to dispel said curse. And then finished the trifecta by giving him the ability to create weapons, which required skill to use, coupled with heavy armor which would further slow his physically limited body.
He sighed and chose to create the six molds.
Suddenly six streams of yellow energy swirled from each of the respective corpses- which he himself had assumed to be from people who failed to handle the traversal from the rifts. All the streams coagulated into his lap, turning into six palm sized, reflective balls of what he thought looked like black steel.
"Pioneer, hold an orb and imagine to give it form."
Reading these words repetitively, he thought back to some of the descriptions Alia had given him of the beasts that lurked in the forest.
'I have to get out of here, and find a way to find Hart.'
He had no doubt that he would come into contact with the monsters lurking in the forest, but he was never a confrontational person, preferring to run and hide when danger presented itself.
In which case, there was only one option. A weapon that could slaughter from a distance.
August slowly picked up one of the orbs, and began to picture a gun.
[Error: chosen weapon has too many complex facets. Please choose another]
August frowned.
'It seems like the ability I have is limited. What other options are there?'
He could create a bow, but such a weapon required immense skill and precision, along with the time for reload being truly daunting.
It seemed it would take time before he could use any ranged weapon. August was forced to rethink his plans.
Opting for something more simple, he decided to create something that he quite disliked using himself. Closing his eyes once more, he pictured the weapon he had in mind.
He felt the orb change in his hand, within seconds, he was holding the handle of a pristine longsword.
He had seen these quite often in the books about knights of old that he used to read, and as such had an amazing grasp of how a sword worked.
The pommel looked like the head of a golden lion, the grip was leatherbound and stable, while the handguard was a slick silver curve.
The blade itself was straight and pristinely even, even showing his reflection, and the reflection of Alia's agape mouth.
Suddenly and without warning, the sword disappeared in a flash of light. Leaving him immensely confused.
"Your weapon has been stored, you may summon it anytime with a thought command"
'That is quite amazing, saves me the trouble of carrying these things around'
The organizer shuffled once more.
"Summoning options: Direct, Indirect, Gift, Fire"
'There are different ways to summon it? I should test all of these'
Firstly, August attempted a direct summon. The sword's hilt was placed perfectly in his palm.
Then he attempted an Indirect summon, which had the sword placed directly beside him, floating until he grabbed it. As soon as his hand touched it, he found it was no longer suspended against gravity.
A gift summon saw the sword floating right in front of Alia, it was safe to say the red haired girl was more than a little frightened.
'Now the last one, firing'
August summoned the sword back to wherever it was originally stored, then thought about Summoning it in firing mode.
The sword appeared beside him, pointed directly in front of him.
"Firing mode selected: Release?"
Without hesitation, he chose to release the weapon.
The sword rocketed across the clearing in a stream of yellow light, releasing a gust of wind as it whistled past his ear, and embedded itself into a tree, stopping only when the handguard made contact with the bark.
"Holy-" Alia stared at the sword, then turned her gaze to him.
"What was that?"
August paid her no mind, enamored by the ability he had just displayed, then he turned his head back to the lavender screen of the organizer. Which had already changed.
"Unique skill [The great collector]- This world hears your call for protection and security, and will not turn it's back on you, all that you collect may be stored here for future use."
As soon as he finished reading the final description, the lavender screen disappeared from his view.
August then returned his sword to the place he had affectionately decided to call his inventory. Thinking to himself that he may have thought too soon, and maybe, he wasn't so cursed after all.
He turned his attention back to Alia with newfound jubilation, grinning.
"The tutorial is done"
The red haired girl looked at him in disbelief, quickly composing herself before responding in a monotonous way.
"Tell me about it, will you?" She asked.
"Yeah, it's a long story."
~~~~~
After briefing Alia on his tutorial— leaving out a good bit of information he has not fully processed, the girl nodded and seemingly relaxed into thinking.
"Something on your mind?" He asked.
"A few things, but first and foremost, you need some actual rest. The strange sleep you were in doesnt seem to have helped, whatever that is." She gestured to his body.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" August didn't feel particularly tired at the moment, so he had zero clue what she was talking about.
Then the redhead yawned.
"Are you just using this as an excuse for you to-" August was cut off by a yawn of his own, at which the girl grinned.
He suddenly felt intensely sleepy, and then he remembered that the redhead didn't need sleep. Then he glared at her in frustration.
Still smiling, Asks gave him a thumbs up "Yawning is contagious, even if it's fake, now lay down and get some rest, it's going to be a long couple of days."