Chương 52: (Book 2 Chapter 3)

I conveyed my intention of opening the boss chest excitedly. The chest had a lot of fanfare associated with its opening, something that I hadn't seen from any other chest yet. There was a shower of purple and white pinpricks of light as the chest did an entire theatrically slow opening of its lid before vanishing. It took a couple seconds for the light-show to end, after which the dark and gloomy atmosphere returned to the hall. Not opening that when I'm trying to hide…

I opened my inventory with anticipation, thinking about the numerous items I would see. Rare elite loot boxes had given me a maximum of two items, so I was hoping for three, if not more, from this one. However, there was just one new item inside the inventory. A wave of disappointment spread over me for a brief moment, before being replaced by curiosity. The item in question looked like a stone, much like a skill stone or a stat stone. However, there were two key differences.

The first one was that it was glowing radiantly with multi-coloured lights, a new hue passing through the stone before another one took its place a split second later. The second difference was something I hadn't seen yet within the inventory. Each item inside the slot appeared as a miniature version of itself when I opened the inventory. It was a small snapshot of the item, like a thumbnail.

The skill and stat stones also had lights when I held them, but never in the inventory, where they appeared as a still picture. Not this stone. This one was moving. It was slowly rotating in place in the inventory slot whilst shining with its ever-changing lights, and the boundary of the slot was lit up slightly with a purple shade. I excitedly conveyed my intention of taking the stone out, and felt its weight in my hand instantly. Closing down the inventory, I admired the stone that was on my hand now.

It was a small stone, slightly smaller than my palm and had too many sides to count, but it felt heavy. Its weight wasn't much; it was something else. It had a certain aura around it, like its presence weighed down on the world. It was still glowing with different lights, which were mesmerizing to watch. I sat there just admiring the stone for a few seconds before shaking myself from the stupor. I mentally focused on the stone, and a system screen lit up. Would you like to use Ability Upgrade Token (Epic)?

An Ability Upgrade Token? Wow! And it's an Epic item! My ability was amazing as it is, but it didn't have much use in a direct manner. Instead, it shined indirectly or as a form of distraction. If I could upgrade it and use it in a more direct manner, it would immensely help with combat! Thinking about all the possible ways a stronger ability may help me, I conveyed my affirmation to the system.

However, instead of the stone disappearing, another screen lit up in front of me, this one glowing with a light shade of red. Error! Ability Upgrade Token (Epic) cannot be used by User. Requirements not met. Requirements…? What requirements? Do I need to first get more familiar with using the ability and cross some kind of 'threshold'? Or is it something simpler, like a level or grade requirement?

Or it could even be something incredibly esoteric, like being more familiar with the concept behind the ability or something like that… I tried to use the token again, but it gave the same error message. Frustrated, I put it back inside my inventory. My mind immediately went to one thought. I had become lazy…

My assumption that there were established factions waiting for us outside the tutorial had led me to slow down on experimenting with the system, thinking that I would be able to learn everything I needed to once the tutorial ended. However, that was clearly not the case. My focus on getting through the goblin threat instead of learning more about the system had come to bite me.

I could have made progress if I had kept at it, and maybe I would have been in a better position to understand what the requirement could be. Now, I was stuck being as ignorant as I had been inside the tutorial, and I now had a potentially life-saving item on hand that I had no idea how to use. Learning more about how this system works takes precedence from now on. I'm done being distracted. I took another quick look over my inventory to see if I missed anything.

I saw the Rare Skill Stone and the Rare Skill Upgrade Token I had received as rewards from the system due to the tutorial. I wanted to use them immediately, but I really wanted to get a skill related to magic before I used them. My thinking was that the Rare Skill Stone would then be more open to giving me another skill related to mana or magic. Whereas the Skill Upgrade Token I just wasn't sure about... I needed more time to think about them before making a decision.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Finished with the inventory, I started making a mental list of some of the basic questions I had about the system. I thought about starting with just ten questions for now, and then building it as time went on. Putting a limit of ten would help keep my focus on questions that actually mattered right now instead of something that needed answering, but which was not relevant at the moment.

So, something like the question of what exactly is the system, or did someone make it, and if so, who, were immediately thrown out. Sure, they were good questions, but not really relevant to me at this moment. I kept thinking about the questions for some time, the shadows lengthening across the building entrance and the hallway steadily getting darker. Soon, I had my mental list ready, in no particular order. How do abilities evolve? And what are the requirements for their evolution?

What exactly are Stats and Grades? And are there any hidden stats like Luck or Charisma? Are Grades connected solely to levels, or are there any other requirements? Can I advance to D grade before I meet the next level requirement? What are the next thresholds for Stats and Grades? How do Skills actually work? If the System does everything for a Skill, can the same effect be replicated manually? How does Mana work? And what exactly is needed to unlock a Spell? How does the Store expand?

Is it tied to levels, or Grades, or will it open up after the tutorial ends for everyone else? Or is it simply that the System hasn't completed it yet? What determines Loot? Is it tied to the nature of the monster, or based on a hidden Luck stat? How does exp work exactly? Will a lower-levelled but harder to kill monster give more exp than a higher level but extremely easy to kill one? Are there any more System Events that will come now that the tutorial is finished?

Especially one that involves the other four planets that had been merged? I was satisfied with the questions for now. I was sure something would come up and make me prioritize that situation instead of focusing on these questions, but I hoped I would be able to keep on track. I should find a pen and paper and write these things down… I got up and stretched.

The system had mentioned that we would be close together, so I wanted to try and find Lucas and the others as soon as possible, before we started working on this list together. The hall was much darker now, and I moved to the entrance of the building to see that the sun had almost set. The evening sunlight lit up the new flora beautifully, creating different shades I hadn't seen before. Well, I remember I was going to go see the spring flowers. Guess I got my wish…

The thought made me pause, and think about something else I hadn't focused on for a while – my family. My tutorial was done, so was there a chance that they would be done soon as well? The system message had mentioned that the tutorial had ended five days early, so hopefully in five days I can start trying to find them. Having added yet another goal to my ever-growing list, I concealed myself and stepped out onto the darkened street.

Looking in both directions, I couldn't spot anything apart from the street lined by buildings on either side. The intersection to my left looked closer, so I headed there. I should keep an eye out for anything that can help me. I reached the intersection after about a minute of slow walking, and spotted a large supermarket across the road. I looked in either direction before crossing the road, then had to pause in the middle of crossing it to let out a chuckle at me looking out for traffic as a subconscious habit.

I reached the market, and stepped through a broken window, being careful not to step in glass to avoid making any noise. Immediately, the smell of rotten food hit me with force. I gagged and stepped back out again, taking deep gulps of the fresh air. Increasing perception really has two sides to it! I looked back inside the market. I didn't want to go in, but I would need to find something to eat and drink eventually, so, I took a deep breath and held it, before stepping back inside.

I hurried along trying to find the canned food section. My eyes didn't have any problem navigating the darkened store, and soon I found what I was looking for. I grabbed as many cans as I could and started stacking them inside my inventory, not bothering to read their labels. I was still holding my breath, and I still needed to find some water. Figuring out that the dozens of cans I had already stacked in the inventory were probably enough for now, I started hurrying along the aisles in search of water.

I soon found it, and placed a few of the large bottles of water into my inventory. Running out of breath, I ran back outside and gulped the clean air greedily. Well, I did just learn that I can now hold my breath for much longer, so that's something… I made another three passes within the supermarket to get things I needed, before continuing towards the direction I had been heading in. Night had fallen now, and things were eerily silent.

Being in the forest, there were always insects buzzing or the wind rustling leaves. But here, there was absolute silence. It was even more jarring than usual, as the familiar sounds of traffic, conversations, and music were missing. I kept moving, neither seeing anything nor hearing a sound for more than an hour, only pausing for my mana to regenerate before concealing myself again. I was just about to give up and find somewhere safe to spend the night when I finally heard something.

A loud blast sounded out, and I saw a bright flash of light from around the corner ahead of me. I started running towards the sound, with the unmistakable sounds of combat now reaching me clearly. I turned the corner and saw the large, broad shoulders and familiar outline of Omar, getting ready to blast something as usual. Up ahead, there was someone holding a shield, grunting as multiple somethings kept impacting against his shield. I couldn't quite see who he was clearly, but I was sure that it wasn't Lucas.

Omar let go of his spell, and through the spell's light I saw the horror that they were fighting against. Omar's spell was easily dodged, something that was quite the feat considering the speed of his spells now, and the spell crashed against the road, creating another blast sound and lighting up the entire street. That brief flash of light cleared two things for me. First, they were fighting monstrously large spiders. Second, I wasn't the only living thing that had been attracted due to the sounds of this fight.