Looking at the status screen in front of him, Ojero mentally focused on his first ability.
[Echo of Abilities]
[Touch]
[When you come in contact with a mage who has bonded to a gem, you gain access to one of their abilities for twenty-four hours]
[Current Limit: 1]
Ojero read it again, and then a third time, the wheels in his head slowly turning.
'This ability… is fantastic! It basically gives me access to any ability so long as I can touch the mage! This is awesome!'
The first ability usually gave insight into the kind of skillset an elemental gem granted. For example, Orpham's ability inferred he would gain access to combat abilities in the future. This comes from his revelations being seconds into the future and not long-ranging like an Oracles.
Another important trait of the ability was that it pointed new mages in the direction they should explore when choosing their class.
With an ability that allowed him to copy other powers, he would most likely work best as a spy. Alternatively, the Academy may determine him useful as a way to double the output of a Sorcerer, slinging spells at a distance with great effect.
As far as first abilities came, the one he gained seemed to be a foundational ability. These were usually representative of the kinds of abilities he would gain in the future.
With this one, Ojero felt confident he would receive other abilities tied to mimicking the skills and powers of those around him.
He grew increasingly excited. With this ability, he could become whatever was needed to accomplish his goals!
If he wanted to guide himself out of a difficult situation, he could copy Orpham's passive! Or if he wanted to defend himself, he just had to use Jason's! He couldn't think of how to use Anastasia's ability yet, he wasn't sure it could be used on the caster, but there had to be a use.
All this inferred that he would be staying around them, which he had to acknowledge wasn't a guarantee. He felt confident in Orpham always being around, but the others were wild cards.
There was also the difficulty of always having access to abilities to copy. Spending just a day away from any mages would make him as strong as a non-magical citizen, which was a huge disadvantage for any mage.
One he hoped would be fixed through ranking up.
Turning his gaze back to the main screen and focusing on his second ability, unlocked through Dr. Dan's gift, another box appeared.
[Echoes of Chaos]
[Passive, Modification]
[All copied abilities are corrupted by the touch of Chaos]
'What?'
Ojero felt a chill run down his spine.
Modification abilities were very rare and would alter the effects of another ability. The most famous example was the hero, Ghostburn, who had a modification ability that allowed all his flames to hurt spirits.
The problem with them was that they were one of the few ability types that could be a detriment to the user.
They could modify an ability to be incredibly niche or nearly useless. His father had told them a story of a mage he had met at the Academy once, who had the modification ability that converted any ice he conjured into water. The issue in this was that the mage had no aspect related to water, so he would just summon falling water whenever he tried to use his abilities.
This mage eventually found use as part of a team of water mages, where he operated as a mana battery to conjure water for the other mages to use.
Ojero's ability being twisted by the Chaos element did not seem good at all.
Chaos was fickle and led to random results. Depending on the degree of change, the abilities he copied could become useless, or have entirely different effects than the original!
That one ability could ruin his entire combat potential!
No one wanted an ally that had unpredictable abilities, especially when fighting Beasts that would exploit any weakness.
Ojero was praying to whatever gods would listen that the copied variant was the same every time he copied an ability, otherwise he would never be able to master his element.
Every time he tried to use an ability, a different result would appear. That was simply not going to work!
Turning to the aspects, Ojero was in a very poor mood.
[Chaos]
[Unpredicable, ever-changing, and untamable. The power of Chaos has no form, nor does it possess intent. There is simply Chaos everlasting]
What in the abyssal hells was this supposed to be? It explained nothing! It could barely be considered a definition!
The system might as well have told him the aspect didn't exist, which he knew couldn't be the case!
There had been a handful of heroes who had possessed a Chaos aspect, and all of them had specific abilities, if a little odd.
They were notorious for being difficult to understand and were arbitrary in their values, but were unwavering in their humanity and effectiveness against the Beasts.
This aspect was difficult to understand, but there was nothing of substance to go with it!
His mood growing worse by the second, Ojero turned to the next aspect and began hoping it would be better.
[Echoes]
[Nothing lives or dies without leaving behind a remnant of who they were. These remnants become Echoes, and within them lay the power left abandoned]
'That's more like it!'
This aspect seemed far more attractive! It seemed to be the bread and butter of the gem, reflected even in the name of the stone.
Although it seemed vague now, Ojero knew it would be more important at higher ranks. All he had to do for now was be patient and wait to see what it became.
The next ability seemed to be similar.
[Reflection]
[Everything has a Reflection, a variation trapped beyond reach. Some can access these Reflections, becoming the variant]
The description made Ojero think it was a mix of the previous two aspects. It had the variation of power like Chaos, but was also dependent on the existence of something else.
A worrying theme he noticed was the repeated mention of trapped and lost power.
If his future abilities relied on him killing other mages to take their powers, he did not know if he could do that.
Sure, he could justify killing murderers and other awful people, but killing someone just to take their abilities felt wrong.
He knew Orpham would never stand for it, and neither would his parents.
He wouldn't betray them like that. He wanted to be better than that, someone who could look them in the eyes and see pride, not disappointment.
If the abilities did try and force him to kill, he would just have to ignore them. He was the mage, not the aspect.
He was in control of his actions, and his fate.
The last screen appeared behind the others:
[Adaptation]
[The art of becoming what is needed. Growth is an endless journey, beware those who walk the path. You often lose yourself when trying to become another]
Adaptation seemed to be the most basic of the aspects, but that made it more reliable.
It was most likely going to lead to abilities relating temporary changes to himself or others, allowing him to fill a role needed.
Ojero did notice the warning at the end, however, but didn't know how it would show itself.
The system never gave an aspect that would harm its wielder, but that did not mean power came freely. There could be a cost or an instinctive danger involved.
Fire was often an example of the dangers involved in young mages, as almost every fire mage had stories of burning themselves.
At higher ranks, they gained resistance to their abilities, but before they reached that level they had to learn to control themselves.
The best guess he had regarding Adaptation was that if he spent too long copying things, he may forget how to revert the changes.
Right now that wasn't an issue as his only ability only let him replicate powers for a day, and after that, they would vanish.
Did that mean in the future he could permanently copy abilities? Or would he only be able to keep other copied things?
As far as he remembered, there had never been a hero who focused on copying other magics.
Whether that was due to it being rare or if they all died before doing anything notable, he also did not know.
Overall, his aspects and abilities seemed to be pretty powerful, but it was very dependent on how large of a hindrance the Chaos aspect was. If it allowed him to maintain the foundational effects of copied abilities, he would still be very useful in almost any situation, but the more distance between the original and the copy there was, the more limited he would be.
One thing Ojero knew for sure was that he would have to learn each and every ability his friends wielded, and their copied variant. If he was able to do that, he would have a far larger amount of options than any other Initiate, even if he was limited to one ability at a time.
Still, many questions remained unanswered, questions he would need to figure out if he hoped to do well at the Academy.
That reminded Ojero that he would have to hide the origins and real strength of his newfound power during his stay there, or else he could gain enemies out of his depth.
It also reminded him that Orpham, Jason, and Anastasia had been staring at him for a while, their hunger for information clear.