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Chapter 58- You Should Watch What You Eat
🕑 Added 2023-02-07 23:59:01 +0000 UTCArthur looked over the latest skill he had gained as well as his first-ever achievement. From what he'd learned in the Serako assembly, they were rewards that the system handed out as an impetus for people to do certain things. They could be gained for a variety of reasons, from killing a particularly aggravating being to making inroads in ether usage. It looked like he'd managed to gain his first one.
He'd been a little hesitant to learn the translation skill from Alyssia. It would take up one of the five skill slots he had for general skills outside of his affinities. Sure they had restrictions and they couldn't be entirely combat-focused but a general skill was a general skill. They were how mages and warriors rounded out their builds and sacrificing one was painful.
In the end, it had been Alyssia's sound reasoning that persuaded him. As she'd mentioned, it was standard procedure across the universe to use one for a translation skill. Getting one that hailed from another dimension was sure to be pretty damn amazing.
He couldn't say he was disappointed.
Myriad tongues (Unique-Rare) - A strange yet effective way of using ether has led to the creation of a skill that can be used to both speak and understand most languages. Be warned though, the skill's circuitry is far from a perfect match with the system.
Secondary effect: Will help host tell when they are being lied to. This scales with Charisma and Wisdom.
Congratulations, you have gained the achievement:
System Teacher I- Introduce some new information and/or method into the system. Grants host ten Unassigned attribute points.
Alyssia smiled at the obvious joy on Arthur's face.
"I'm not sure what the system is telling you but it looks like it's pretty great right." She gushed excitedly.
"Wait, what rarity is it. It's one of my less proficient magics but I want to see how it ranks here. Is it uncommon? No, better. It's rare, right? Right?"
Arthur chuckled at how eager the alverin woman was, finding it hard to compare the bubbly woman to the terrifying individual he'd first thought of her as. He'd learned during the duration of their conversation that was simply not the case. If anything, she reminded him of Elizabeth with how carefree she was.
Arthur felt a momentary pang of guilt at the thought. It'd been a few days since he'd last checked up on her. She couldn't be feeling too great with her looming expulsion from the planet.
"Don't laugh at me okay," Alyssia complained, blushing a darker shade of green. "You have no idea how revolutionary this system of yours is."
"I'm sorry for getting so excited."
Seeing how contrite she was just made Arthur laugh harder and he had to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye. It wasn't really that funny at all, but the high tension of the situation and the initial fear he'd walked into the room with just made everything seem so silly. Alyssia frowned, her eyebrows scrunching in frustration.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be laughing at you." Arthur apologised shaking his head. "Your skills a Unique-Rare. It's the first time I've seen the unique designation on a skill, but rare's pretty damn amazing for a translation skill. They tend to be uncommon. I guess that lie detection helped push it to the next tier."
Alyssia bobbed her head in agreement. She moved so fast her head almost blurred in Arthur's vision.
"That's amazing." She said. "I didn't expect it to rank so high. That means my pinnacle skill should be Epic at least. Maybe even Legendary."
Arthur was a little surprised by that. Sure he recognised that Alyssia was strong by virtue of her learning free-form ether manipulation but Legendary? Wasn't that supposed to be insanely rare? Like high-noble, generational talent rare? His surprise must have shown on his face because Alyssia just smirked knowingly at him.
"What, shocked you're not so special." She teased.
She stuck her chin up in the air mock-imperiously. "I'll have you know, I was pretty hot shit back home. Three different archmages wanted to take me on as an apprentice. I was the jewel of my tribe. Second-princess of the Rivertha tribe."
Arthur just shook his head in bemusement. A princess too. This situation was almost starting to feel cliche. Alyssia's next words quickly put a damper on his good mood.
"All jokes aside, the main reason I gave you this skill was so you could trust my next words a little more. You are strong. You have experience in the ways of this universe, at least far more than me." She looked down for a moment, seemingly coming to a decision when she looked back up with resolution in her yellow eyes.
"I need allies. I need a friend. My brother and I are all alone in this new world and I'm not so naive to believe these people will respect my silence for much longer. I need help, people I can trust. In the past half hour, we've gotten to know each other a little. I hope that friend can be you." She said.
Arthur's latest skill helped him understand the sincerity of her words. It scaled with charisma and willpower, two attributes he had respectable values for. Of course, being the owner of said skill, Alyssia probably knew of ways it could be deceived, but his gut was telling him she wasn't trying to deceive him.
In all honestly, Arthur just didn't think Alyssia had it in her to try and manipulate him. Unless the past half hour was an elaborate act, she was if he wasn't feeling charitable, an airhead. There was a reason her parents had pushed her down the role of an imperial scout. It was a job that didn't require too much social acumen and meant she wouldn't offend people who were too important.
"So I guess now is when you tell me why I'm gonna die and all that," Arthur said gravely. He didn't think she was lying to him, but he couldn't help but be a little sceptical. Something that Alyssia obviously picked up on.
"You don't believe me do you," Alyssia said with a raised eyebrow. "No worries, you'll have little left to doubt after what I'm about to say. And don't worry. I've warded this room so that old man outside and anyone else can't listen in. Your secrets are safe here."
Arthur nodded his head. Professor Jhonson had already complained to him about this apparent 'silence barrier' of hers.
"Before you told me about your experiences under the system I was only half-sure I had you figured out. Now I'm certain. And lucky you, I think you have a path to recovery set in your very near future. So near, in fact, it's almost suspicious. Like someone using high-level divination spells on you and knows what you need."
Arthur was more than a little unsettled at her cryptic statements and her conspirational tone didn't help matters. Something she definitely realised going by the knowing smirk she had on her face.
"As an Imperial scout, I've been trained extensively on all things aura related. Hiding mine, reading others, attacking, defending, you name it, I know it. Honestly, you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone from a tier-three world with my skills." She boasted.
Seeing the irritated impatience on Arthur's face, she quickly continued.
"Anyway, master aura-reader and all that. I don't even need to be halfway decent to read the story yours tells. Honestly, you're insanely lucky you've not been figured out yet. You've been using monster cores haven't you?"
The shock on Arthur's face was answer enough.
"Honestly, I have no idea how that's possible. I've never heard of it before. But then again, I've never heard of a tier one defeating an apocalypse beast either, baby be damned. It's impossible. Insane. That's the shadow panther I'm talking about by the way." She said in answer to the puzzlement on Arthur's face.
"This whole system is whack for heaven's sake. For all I know, you probably actually ate the goddamn things."
"Wait, wait, wait. You're shitting me right. You actually ate them? She whispered. "Like munched it like a friggin apple ate them. You're messing with me."
Arthur didn't know what gave it away but it looked like she'd figured it out. Maybe it was because his mouth was hanging open in shock. Yep, that's probably what gave it away. Or the fact that he'd lost the smidgen of control he'd managed to hold over his aura.
Alyssia massaged her temples mumbling something under her breath.
"This is crazy. Fucking crazy. You actually ate an apocalypse beast's core and didn't die. You're supposed to make stuff with them, not friggin eat them. Mother help me." She wailed in exasperation.
"How are you not dead yet. How many have you eaten since."
Arthur scratched his head sheepishly.
"Well, after I ate the panthers core, I got a title that says I can gain attributes by eating the things so I guess I just carried on eating them. It's worked so far." Arthur explained.
Alyssia just moaned in frustration, pulling at her hair.
"Don't they teach you anything here? How can you just trust a title outright like that? That's the first thing we teach our children. Surely the system must have given you some warning?"
Arthur nodded his head.
"Of course, you didn't listen. Men are the same even across dimensions. Long story short, eating those cores, especially the panthers, has done a real number on your soul shell. It's the part of you that interacts with the physical, the stuff that makes you who you are. My aura reading tells me it's at 68% capacity. People tend to go into comas at 55%. They die at 45. It's a miracle you can even use your skills at this point. Anything mildly intensive should be beyond you."
Arthur was reeling at the revelations. So many of his questions and fears had been answered in the past minute and he didn't even know what to say. Was he going to die? Is this why his soul magic didn't work. How was he going to fix it?
Taking mercy on the panicked expression on Arthur's face, Alyssia decided to quickly cut to the chase.
"Thankfully, instead of imploding, your soul looks like it's going to undergo some qualitative change. Probably your title working double-time to keep your dumbass alive. It's up to chance right now. All you need to do is shift the odds in your favour."
Arthur nodded his head and gulped audibly.
"What do I need to do?"
Alyssia smiled wickedly at him.
"Well, all you've gotta do is eat some more. I've been scanning this underground bunker constantly since I arrived here. I've sensed a beast core so potent, it's every crafter's wet dream. I think it might've been a dragon hatchlings."
"I suspect it's already been planned that you'll receive it as a reward for your actions in helping take down shade, but no matter what, you need to get your hands on it. It definitely came from a tier-three planet or above. Whoever brought it here, somehow knew you'd need it."
"Here's what you're going to do."
It was ten past eleven O'clock when Arthur finally left the room; about an entire hour since he had entered it. He felt dizzy with all the crazy amounts of information he had learnt from Alyssia as well as the skill she had given him. She had more than paid him back for his explanation of the system with the wealth of information she had given him about what life was like without it governing reality and how difficult it was to properly use the ‘one source’ as she called it.
He shuddered at the memory of the stories of the ‘lost ones’ she told him about, lifeless abominations that were almost impossible to kill and even harder to forget.
If Shade was anything like that, he questioned whether or not it was a wise decision to even go after the man in the first place. With Alyssia's aid, perhaps, though he had yet to ask the woman, thinking it would be much better to wait until he healed her brother before asking her to undertake such a monumental task. He was certain she'd love to join them on the mission and it was only her injured brother that held her back. Heck, it was the only reason she was still imprisoned in this facility.
Arthur looked up when he heard someone clear their throat. Professor Jhonson was waiting for him and the old man looked like keeping his mouth shut a second longer would probably kill him. He sighed wearily, having already expected the tirade of questions he would have no doubt had to answer after leaving Aliyssia Sil’vorken.
He had a soul to fix.
