Chapter Fifty Two
Joe woke the next morning quite rested, although his mind seemed to dance spastically throughout the last evening and even into his dreams as his mind tried to understand the startling coincidence. When he’d heard the name Loki, he realized that several of the other gods and goddesses that were listed didn’t sound similar, they sounded familiar, and he recognized some of the names. This revelation left him a little out of sorts the previous evening, and the fact that Kukurnal didn’t show up for the evening discussion didn’t calm his nerves at all.
Despite that, he was well rested and drifted awake in almost as perfect transition as possible, his mind simple suddenly aware, rested and drifting into awareness of day, the dim light of the gas giant suffusing the room in dark brilliance, enough to see, but still dark enough to enjoy rest.
He spent quite some time in this state, simply enjoying the moment of perfect peace before some odd twinge in his left leg causing it to jump slightly and broke the moment, his mind suddenly remembering his urgency.
He smiled and stretched, deciding to continue to indulge and popped open his status as it had been some time sense he’d done a deep dive in everything he had. More and more, he found the status display capable of displaying everything he needed, and was less reliant on his books, but given how the status was changing, he felt uncomfortable trusting everything to that, so still kept meticulous records in his notebooks. The notebooks also allowed him to have quite a bit more detail and kept his theories as well.
He took a look at his main status page but found nothing new. Still, he took the time to consider it carefully, looking over his stats once again with caution and checking it against his notebook. He had a page just dedicated to the changes of his stats which was quite a mess with written and rewritten numbers piled on top of each other with crumpled wrinkles from the repeated erasures. He wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to use this page before it became useless, but he still could make out the numbers, so checked and double checked them, finding no difference in his base Earth stats, and only some minor differences in his new… what is the name of this place? The only thing I really remember is that first notice said that this was the Cradle of Aelthron? Hmm… too long, maybe Aelthron’s Cradle? Guess I can live with that, but from what I understand a cradle is… isn’t the gas giant? Wonder if they even name individual moons? Maybe I should ask Garnedell. Hmm…
Anyway, his new Aelthron’s Cradle stats were normal, with only changes coming from the new job change. He did smile brightly at when he noticed that his stats were now significantly better. He’d surpassed intelligence and wisdom significantly, and even was able to make it to his normal dexterity, which was a pleasant surprise. Why didn’t the system ask if I wanted to achieve equivalency again? Or… maybe I said no too many times now. That’s… going to be annoying… hopefully I can ask for it later!
Joe then looked at his other stats, but still found his attack and defense grossly lacking and while his health wasn’t as bad, any hit to health made him, uncomfortable. His speed and agility were close, especially his speed, but his endurance still had a good ways to go. His magic, on the other hand, was quite above the average now, although he wasn’t sure what it all meant. Finally, his physical resistances were significantly weaker than what he’d had on Earth, and he worried what it would mean if he ever got punched or even a splinter.
In any case, the huge pile of magical resistances that he’d gotten from the magus theorist job were very satisfying, and he found himself what all those meant in comparison to what magic was. That’s a lot of different kinds of… magic! That’s going to be very fun! Wonder what it all means though. I still haven’t seen many mages, so I’m not sure… Hmm… are they lost tech… knowledge? Or … are they forbidden… maybe I should ask, although Kukurnal never made in mention of it when I spoke about it, so… Joe’s eyes lost focus as he lost himself in what magic would mean and how it would look in this world and found himself daydreaming before finally returning to his next tab.
Status
Blessings
Current Job
Available Jobs
Current Skills
Available Skills
Log
Joe McConnell
Status
Physical Resistances
Magical Resistances
HP
106 (138)
Physical:
Wind
6.81
MP
131.8 (100)
Piercing
11.5 (48)
Water
6.31
Attack
109 (181)
Crushing
12.25 (132)
Earth
3.00
Defense
109 (158)
Slashing
12.5 (39)
Fire
3.50
Magic
137.8 (100)
Ice
6.06
Magic Defense
137.8 (100)
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Gravity
3.00
Strength
123 (148)
Magnetic
3.00
Dexterity
116.5 (112)
Light
3.00
Agility
112.5 (133)
Space
3.00
Speed
110 (115)
Spirit
3.00
Endurance
125.5 (193)
Mental
3.00
IQ
573 (132)
Sound
3.00
Wisdom
653.7 (105)
Electricity
3.00
Will
470.1
Learning
22273.66
Luck
30.63
Cool! Joe thought to himself, satisfied with his progress. These are my stats even with a level zero job! I feel much more comfortable about my future now. I’m going to be able to choose any job I want and not be suddenly handicapped when I swap jobs! Or, at least, I’ll be normal Earth human, anyway.
Joe slipped to his blessings tab and looked through it but immediately noticed a difference, his eyes flinching at what he saw. There were several new blessings or titles which Joe wracked his mind trying to figure out what he’d done to gain them as his finger went up to the first one.
Star Wanderer:
You have somehow arrived on this plane by wandering through the depths of space. You are an eccentric wanderer who explores depths most never tread. You are not under the lordship or command of the cradle or the Lord of the cradle. Gain one year before your stats are forcefully standardized to this cradles standards.
Synergistic gain - Jack of All Trades - Somehow, the void seems to hold no power over you. Penalty to all resistances negated.
OK, That’s… a lot of dropped hints. How on earth is anyone getting here if they aren’t traveling through space? And, what penalty to resistances? Even as he finished the thought, the description updated itself, wriggling even as he watched and the portion that stated he had wandered “through the depths” was replaced with “through the depths of space.” Well, if I ever needed proof that it is responding to me!
Joe smiled at that, although he wasn’t surprised because he’d noticed the change with intelligence to IQ, although, now that he’d seen its effect, he tended to agree with the original statement more, although it still wasn’t really about intelligence as so much as speed of thought. Or maybe the intelligence below the average for any given people is a debuff on speed because if their intelligence… uh… IQ… was truly as debilitating, they literally wouldn’t even be able to live, their brain incapable of actually controlling and even running the body.
Joe sighed at the intelligence conundrum and then went through the other titles quickly, bringing them all up at once, as he didn’t want to waste too much time. I still need to work on my forms.
Scholastic: You hale from a scholastic society. You are able to more easily remember your training, knowledge, and education. Your natural curiosity is free to explore and delve into the underlying purpose of society and cradle.
Synergistic gain - Jack of All Trades - increased capability to learning and growing in all things and also training others outside the constraints of the system.
Gain one hundred percent to mental stats; -1% per day on this plane until the bonus is lost.
Manaless:
You hale from a society that has no mana of any kind, truly a strange being. You are able to resist, to a lesser extent, the forces of the cradle upon you as you hearken back to your original biology and skills.
Synergistic gain - Jack of All Trades - ironically, increases capability to learning and growing in magic outside the constraints of the system.
Synergistic gain - Jack of All Trades - having lived without, mana seems to have little affect on you. Penalty to all magic resistances negated.
Gain one hundred percent to physical stats; -1% per day on this plane until the bonus is lost.
Martial Warrior:
Somehow, you are also a martial warrior, capable of great feats of physical strength and skill relying purely on physical force; truly extraordinary. You have learned by beating your body into submission and forcing it to your will. Gain increased benefit to your combat prowess.
Synergistic gain - Jack of All Trades - increased capability to learning and growing in martial combat outside the constraints of the system.
Gain one hundred percent to martial skills; -1% per day on this plane until the bonus is lost.
Well, interesting, but where did I get all these? I didn’t do anything really… Wait! Joe remembered his race with Kilniara and the shock that all three had with him being able to easily keep up with him. Did the system realize I didn’t know what we were all getting because of our races? So it added the details? But then what about the other things like Star Wanderer and Scholastic? Shouldn’t they have shown up at the very beginning? Or… are they just… known?
Sapient:
You are sapient, capable of intelligent thought, tool making, speech, and environmental manipulation to your own benefit.
Mental stats multiplied by two.
Jack of All Trades:
Base humans have no great benefits, but few detriments, either. They are able to accomplish anything adequately. They have no racial superiority.
Resistances reduced by ten percent.
Able to equip any job or item without constraint.
Joe found himself struggling to understand, but the only thing that seemed to really click was learning that different races have different capabilities, which only made sense, in hind sight, but why did these other three show up? Unless… is it an intrinsic ability or … property of who I am? Like… I understand the Jack of All Trades. If everyone know what the strengths and weaknesses of each race were, would it need to explicitly state it? Maybe that’s the same thing for me about the other things. I know I traveled through space. I know I’m much more educated that the average, even the scholarly here. I’ve never seen magic, so I naturally continue to use my body without magic. I know I’ve been trained in martial arts, and I’m sapient… self-evident. Huh… maybe that’s all it is?
Joe let the curiosity pass and delved into what he’d learned, but then grew a bit frustrated as it really didn’t change much except to let him know extra information that ended up being … not too useful. He already knew he didn’t have a penalty to his resistances, his stats told him so. He didn’t know humans had that detriment, but simultaneously, he didn’t know that he’d negated it either. It was interesting and eye opening, but really changed nothing. Well, except I know that I can abuse the ten percent bonus to base stats, so… Joe grinned at this then closed all his open windows and moved on before an idea hit him. Wait, will I get to see some detailed information about races now with Zilnek and Kilniara?
Joe’s eyes widened at this and he looked towards Zilnek before grimacing. He’s still asleep! Let him sleep. You can ask later.