Maverick looked at the Blessing in his hands and the system spoke.
"Blessing of Tigers Eye has been Awaken." System
A light force of percussion with a barely discernible orange hue emitted from the marble. Mavericks hair and clothes swayed in a small moment, caught in a unseen wave.
In that moment a dull sound of a gong rang out. The sound faded as the orange hue sunk into Mavericks eyes.
"Well, well it looks like you just awakened." - Jonah
"Yes, and a pretty good trait if its what I think it is. Maverick do you feel different?" - Annika
He stood there and tried to notice any changes. Moving his arms and lifting his legs he looked at his hands and feet and responded.
"I do not think so. What should I expect?" -Maverick
Annika frowned and grabbed Mavericks wrist. Reaching back into her pouch the closed her eyes and whispered a chant while pulling out a milky clear marble.
"Blessing of Truth give me insight." - Annika
Opening her eyes showed orbs of grey swirls with no pupils. She stared at Mavericks marble while murmuring to herself. Raising and lowering his hand she moved his arm around,
making Maverick lean forward and backwards as the process continued.
"This is another skill I have which allows me to see the truth of anything that I touch as long as I can see all of it. Well, most of it. From what I can see it looks like this abilities first
layer is not a passive one but a activated one."
"Oh, that is interesting. Let's have him test it." - Jonah
Sitting down cross legged Maverick focused on the marble. Jonah and Annika had him focus on the marble. They informed him that most awakened abilities start out as passive abilities that are always active. In some rare occasions you could see an ability either activate or have a on/off activated status.
His first ability appeared to have an on/off trait.
Annika's ability of insight gave her more of a feeling than an absolute answer. It would guide her thoughts towards the truth but relied on her being able to contemplate the possibilities and have the
ability cling to the truth.
His ability only let her know that it was either triggered or a switch. She sat him down and had him focus on the blessing and wait.
New abilities would either show the user how they worked or would reveal themselves as they were needed. Annika and Jonah knew of awakenings where the answers were instant while others took a few days to reveal themselves.
Maverick sat staring as Jonah packed up the table and seating. Strapping it back to the wagon he waved Annika to the horses and walked over to Maverick.
Jonah called to him but heard nothing in response. Seeing that Maverick was in a trance he took out a small sheet of paper and placed it under a pebble at Mavericks feet.
The wagon pulled away as the boy with a Tigers Eye sat focused in the near distance. Some time passed while Maverick waited for some type of feedback to happen. Some thought or prompt should display soon, he thought.
At some point his thoughts went from intense and directed towards the marble to fuzzy and lost.
A vision or dream like state took over his mind as he saw himself throwing punches into the air. One after the other. He saw himself change his footing and start again. This time with lower shots and a few light kicks.
Another stance, another bout of kicks and punches. He counted 12 sets of coordinated stances. They played out over and over again. The fuzzy vision faded. In his place he witnessed sweat fling from his fist. The sound of breathing and quick 'Huts' came from his mouth. The vision of himself transitioned from 3rd person to first as he witnessed himself performing the stances. Slowly he regained control of his body and sat back down. The day somehow went from mid day to just passed sunset with the vibrant glows of the setting sun fading. Sight maintained by the now lit street lights. Oil wicks burning and flickering.
"Blessing of The Tigers Eye -Trial of conquest completed." -System
"Tigers force is now added to all combat attacks. Elements will be activated in tandem as stances are completed in succession." -System
"All new combinations will be added as they are created. Refer to ability notes for more information." -System
Maverick was out of breath and trying to comprehend the notifications as they prompted. He opened his character sheet to find that a highlighted portion labeled abs was glaring back at him.
Ability Sheet
Luck
The outcomes may lay unfairly in your favor. The outcomes may also unfairly lay in your grace. Adds a mighty chance that you will succeed in both chance as well as opportunity.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Tigers Eye
Trial of Conquest
Add essence of the Tiger into your combat. The Tiger is revealed in the hunt. Chain fighting stances to achieve new essences. Each essence will persist for a duration of the hunt.
essence 1. Tigers Fang: Your reach extends beyond your domain. Enhanced Cognitive reaction while adding force to each strike. Each strike is 150% stronger than the effort put in. The added force is 30 percent and fades off over a short distance.
unlock new essences to add to this list.
Gift of Tongue
All languages learned. This includes the written and oral of all languages. You must hear at least 3 words or read at least 10 words to unlock the language witnessed.
Author
???
Maverick closed the menu and calmed his breathe. Holding the marble felt like he was holding on to something solid. A path to understanding his situation. Refocusings he took note of the time change and the fact that he was now sitting on the ground alone at night. Standing up he noticed the pebble holding the note. It was simple, a symbol of a mug with a knife stuck into the handle. Grabbing the parchment Maverick felt at his waist where his pouch of marbles were and started walking back towards town. Not only did he find a path forward with this first marble, This path had many roads.
The clinking of marbles in his pouch felt like opportunities waiting to be explored. He just wished awakening them didn't hurt so much. His head was pounding and his stomach felt empty as he headed towards the inn known as KnivesMead.
The pain of holding the marble was immense. When he pulled out the marble from his bag without doing the enchantment mimicking Annika he felt something inside of him grow hot and burn. It reminded him of the time he fell from his bike riding down the hill and lost control. Throwing himself to the ground skinning his knee felt like fire on his skin. This was the same but on the inside yet nowhere specific. The pain was on the inside but the throbbing in his head grew while the pain dulled on the inside.
He found that focusing on the marble lessened or numbed the pain. Maverick mentally went over the experience as he walked towards the center of town. Glancing up he noted the building signs looking for the matching knife and mug symbol. He thought about all the marbles in his pouch. The thought that he held so many marbles that he didn't know the name of worried him. Would he have to endure this pain with each one?
For know he thought about mastering the Tigers Eye first before dwelling on the pains that awaited him.
The bell chimed as he pushed through the inns front entrance. Looking around he noticed the others were not here and took a seat in a corner. The bars maid walked up.
"Hi, I'm Jess. Can I start you off with a drink sir?" - Jess
Maverick requested some water as he waited for his friends. now that he sat down and leaned back he opened his quest log.
Quest Log
For the King [0/??] Chain Quest Reward [Starter Gear] [0/3] Defeat 3 knolls Reward [Traveling Goods] [1/1] Collect fruit Reward[Gift of Tongue Blessing] (+) [???] (+)[Save the Caravan Princess]
Looking at his quest log he took another sip. At first he thought nothing had changed. But it appeared that his last quest had changed in the wording since he thought he completed it. Then it struck him! The group on the caravan were not here, the quest was not completed, and the request changed.
Pondering this he closed the quest menu and focused again on the bust that showed a web of his abilities.
He saw the web like structure that Centered around the Tolley again. "The Expanse" was titled over the center tolley. Next to the Tolley was a familiar purple coin. The line connecting it to the center marble was bright like before. This time he noticed a few more labeled marbles with similarly bright lines connected to them. It seemed that the ability sheet matched his marbles somewhat. Where the ability sheet listed the ability and details this was just the marble and its title.
"The Expanse"
"The Blessing of Luck"
"The Blessing of Tigers Eye"
"The Blessing of Tongue"
"The Blessing of Author"
They sat like points around a spiders web. All of them connected identically except the last one.. Author. The threads going to this marble changed from a bright white to a dull greyish gold. Maverick added this to his hypothetically growing list of things to figure out before too long before it was too late. Then added a todo for a better name for the list.
Closing the menu Maverick saw Jonah and Annika stepping into the bar. Thinking back to the change on his quest which linked him to them, he planned to bring up the issue of saving a princess.