Chương 29

I looked at the screen in a state of shock. The last minute or so had so much packed in that I was unsure of what to think. That is assuming I could even think in the first place, as the sensations of reaching E Grade had yet to completely recede from both my body and my mind. Still, the system had graciously given me a moment to collect myself, and I used it to ensure that I was sufficiently hidden away and that there was nothing around. I had barely done that when the screen morphed in front of me.

An Ability has successfully been generated for you. You have gained the Ability: Subtle Influence I dismissed the screen and felt a small shift deep within me, like something slotted into place. I suddenly felt as if I had a new body part, or a new sense, or a new energy…? It was difficult to describe, but it felt natural. Almost as if it had always been there. And unlike skills, I knew about this ability instinctively. It allowed me to very minutely affect my surroundings.

I also knew that it was very limited currently. The limitation being my mental strength. The 'Influence' part of the ability was also interesting – it was almost like a strong suggestion that I could give out that my surroundings would listen to. Again, it was currently limited, and I knew that I couldn't suggest a monster to kill itself and it would just do it. Instead, I could suggest the wind to blow in a certain direction, and it would, depending on the volume of wind and how far I asked it to blow.

Extremely useful! I was immensely satisfied and my mind was already racing at the numerous ways with which I could apply this ability. Immediately wanting to test it out, I suggested to the wind right in front of me to blow a bit to the right, and immediately it worked! Although the wind moved quite slowly, a light breeze at most, I was satisfied and excited at the same time. Next, I tried to make a leaf on the bush right next to me to shift slightly to right, and it did!

Feeling excited and just a bit ambitious, I asked the whole bush to rustle slightly, and immediately a sharp pain assaulted my head! Ow! My head throbbed with the backlash of the ability not working. I knew it was due to a lacking mental strength that I couldn't influence a whole bush currently, but I didn't realize the failure would be so immense. I was expecting the same feeling of wrongness that I had come to associate with a skill not activating, but it was clear that I was mistaken.

I rubbed my temples in an attempt to make the headache go away, but it persisted. I also knew that in this state, I wouldn't be able to use my ability till I recovered from the backlash. Instead, I took a deep breath and opened up my Status to see the changes. Admittedly, there weren't many. Apart from the stat changes granted due to levelling up, my Grade now showed E, and above Skills, a new line showing my Ability had been added.

I would have thought that advancing a Grade would have increased my stats somehow, but I guess that was wishful thinking. I now had 6 free stats points, and I knew where 2 of those were going immediately. Now, more than ever, I needed more intelligence and wisdom, and just adding one to each of them would bring them to the 10 mark. I noticed my mana was a bit too low for my liking, and I had a long way to cover before I could reach back to the base.

I was still under concealed presence, somehow the skill persisting through both, reaching E Grade and getting the new ability. I stood up and walked a bit around the bushes I had chosen to hide within, searching for anything that could be a danger to me. I took careful note of everything, looking for anything that felt out of place. Satisfied that I was not in immediate danger, I nestled deep within the bushes again and cancelled the skill.

As I waited for my mana and my head to stop throbbing with pain, I thought about the ability I had gained. The question within my mind was why had I been granted Subtle Influence. The notification said it was generated based on everything I did during F Grade… and just thinking about it a bit made me realize that this ability made perfect sense for me. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Starting right from the snake, I had nudged it in the woman's direction so I could escape. Next, I had given directions to a group of us against that goblin party, though I wasn't sure if that would count as 'influence'. However, I had definitely influenced that night goblin raid, that much was clear. Recently though, against the kobolds, that didn't seem like influence, more like using an environment to suit my needs. Perhaps that also counted somehow…?

My mind continued wandering till my headache had receded sufficiently and my mana was back to full. Going back under Concealed Presence, I got up and moved toward the river. Time to get back and tell the others.

I reached back and saw the group was still hard at work. Knowing that invisible enemies are watching you at all times sure does light a fire under you. I was just about to go and greet them when I thankfully realized that I was still under Concealed Presence. Chastising myself at almost giving my one advantage away to the little goblin that was keeping an eye on the group, I went to the longhouse to undo the skill and came back to the group again.

Visible now, Ben, who was resting off to the side, immediately noticed me and shouted out a greeting. The group looked up as one, and stopped their sparring at my gesture to gather around. When everyone was within earshot and I had greeted them, I got straight to business.

"I reached level 10." My declaration was met with a mixture of reactions. Omar started complaining that it isn't fair in mock outrage, Lucas immediately clapped me on the back and congratulated me. Marcus, Ben, Mason, and Madelline had a neutral reaction, whereas Sara's eyes just sharpened.

"Congrats!" she said.

"Anything we need to know about that level?" Direct, as always.

"Yes. First of all, we reach E Grade when we get to level 10. Secondly, everyone gets an ability that is representative of their achievements during F Grade." At my statement, everyone looked a bit surprised.

"Explain" stated Sara. And explain I did.

I watched the group head towards the forest. The discussions had gone on for a long time, but reaching level 10 now took greater precedence than learning how to fight. The group had also theorized on how they could take steps on the abilities to get, with Omar fantasizing loudly at becoming a spell-slinging maniac with a giant axe, cleaving through hordes of enemies and laughing along the way. Others had much more realistic expectations, and I was particularly interested in what Madelline would get.

She remained quiet usually, speaking only when her words had merit. And instead of theorizing and fantasizing like the others, I had noticed she kept silent and had a thoughtful expression throughout. The group had then immediately abandoned their attempt at learning how to fight, and had gone off to level up to reach the milestone as soon as possible. They had asked me to come along, but I had declined; I had something important that I needed to do.

I turned about and headed back into the longhouse, quickly finding an empty room and closing the door behind me. Once I was settled down as comfortably as I could in the barebone room, I took a few deep breaths and mentally prepared myself. Then, I opened up my Status, and assigned a point to Intelligence. My brain electrified. A lightning shock went through my spine as nerves all over tingled before a searing pain lit up everywhere. Thankfully, it was short lived, and soon everything snapped back into place.

Breathing heavily, I closed my eyes and tried to relax a bit. Mentally psyching myself up again after a minute had passed, I put a stat point in Wisdom. This time, the change was much gentler. It felt like my brain expanded and thoughts suddenly had more space and freedom to move about at a much faster rate. It actually felt amazing, and this time I was a bit miffed when the feeling ended. Opening my eyes back up, I couldn't feel much of a difference.

Maybe my thoughts felt a bit smoother somehow, but other than that, I couldn't notice much else that was different. Still, I was happy at finally being done with something I had been putting off for some time. The next part I was a bit apprehensive about, as each attempt had resulted in an utter failure. However, I wasn't about to give up. Going past the threshold in perception had allowed me to see the goblin scouts, and I believed going past Intelligence and Wisdom would definitely help with my next attempt.

So, without further ado, I closed my eyes and started trying for something I had wanted since I got here – sensing mana. I tried feeling within me for anything new that I could feel, and immediately, perhaps due to my newly enhanced mind, I could sense something different. There was something swirling all over my body, barely giving me a fleeting chance to sense it before it vanished. I kept trying to sense it, when I noticed it appeared more commonly and at a higher intensity right in the center of my chest.

I tried sensing closer, repeatedly catching a glimpse of it now. Is this mana…? I thought in wonder. Almost as if it had been waiting for me to make the connection, the System announced its presence. Ding! Congratulations! You have acquired a new Skill.