Eremi knocked on the office door and waited for the expected 'Come in' before entering.
The [Ranger] Captain sat at his office as usual. Eremi had seen him there many times and yet, the man looked a bit weary today. His grey eyes locked onto hers and she knew that he knew that he had been right.
Rak had led the Rangers of Hamfield for many years, long enough to span her whole time as a Ranger and she was one of the elite members of Hamfield.
Rak wasn't very good at managing people, he was too straightforward and not very patient but he had something invaluable.
A unique skill.
Some unique skills were terrible because as their name described, they were unique. They catered to a problem that the person wanted to solve. It could be as simple as keeping a person's clothes always dry or ensuring that no one could ever lie to them.
It took a certain type of person to create a powerful and useful unique skill but Rak knew what was required because he had one and he had helped Eremi create hers. They were both powerful individually but together, they were incredible.
From what Rak had told her, his unique skill allowed him to get strong hunches if something bad was going to happen. It was vague and most people could argue that it wasn't good but Rak's mind decided what was considered 'bad'. It was a very good skill for a Ranger Captain to have because he would be able to foresee problems.
That was until Eremi's unique skill was added to the situation. Her unique skill called Eremi's Foresight allowed her to see what would happen three seconds into the future, once a day. It was extremely powerful and very few people knew she had the skill because powerful people would want to abuse it for their own gain. Like Rak's unique skill, Eremi had some control over her skill and as she practised, she got better at using the skill. For the longest time, she had thought her skill was straightforward but Rak had helped her discover the true hidden features of her skill. She could feel when using her skill would be 'impactful'. It was fleeting and impossible to feel unless she was concentrating.
"So? What happened Eremi?"
Eremi nodded as she cleared her mind of her wandering thoughts. "Yak was bullying a younger boy which is..."
"Terrible I know, I will deal with him..." Rak frowned and began grumbling to himself.
Eremi waited a few moments to see if Rak would say anything more before speaking again.
"He was bullying a boy and it was very one-sided. The younger boy was throwing balls at him and was missing. He must have gained a skill, probably [Throw Ball] because he suddenly got much better. It was then that had the feeling. I immediately used my skill and I watched Yak step on a knife and disappear... it is different to explain but he just turned into dust and his clothes fell to the ground."
Eremi felt unsure saying the words because they were so unbelievable. She didn't understand how it had happened but she knew what she saw.
"So my hunch was correct regarding Yak. I will keep him at home for the next few days and I will get someone to guard him. Can you tell me about this boy? Do you recognise him? Did he cause Yak to die?"
Eremi frowned at the questions. They were all questions she wanted the answers to as well.
* * *
Head Priest Harold left the church to head to the infirmary. One of the teachers, Erik Pann, had found one of his students badly wounded and there was some talk of a Divine skill. It made sense to Harold why he was called but he doubted it to be legitimate. Even as he thought those words, he smiled to himself. Now the chances of it being legitimate were greater. The gods were fickle and strange to understand but he had taken on the challenge of understanding them a little bit better so that the town of Hamfield was not smited into the endless void.
When he reached the infirmary, he saw the young boy on a bed surrounded by manastones that were glowing brightly. He knew the high cost of the manastones but life was more precious than simple wealth even if getting funds for repairs was difficult.
Each situation was not the same and if this young boy was blessed with a Divine skill then their actions up until now would be applauded.
The double standards of the world brought a smile to his face which he used to greet the boy.
"Hello, I am High Priest Harold. How are you doing, young man?"
'Young man' was probably the better way to describe the large boy and he was far too youthful for the boy to be passed sixteen. He would grow quite large and reminded him of the largest man in the town. Before the boy could respond he spoke again.
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"Are you Len Manafield's son, by any chance?"
The young man smiled which only showed his youthful feature even more and smiled happily to be recognised.
Harold felt his [Priest] skills at work, helping the boy feel at ease in the situation. He offered the boy his hand so his [Truthful Presence] could get maximum effectiveness.
"Ben, you look like you are going to be as big as your father."
Ben beamed and Harold was glad he remembered the boy's name correctly.
He paused before he frowned slightly and spoke in a more serious tone.
"So Ben, can you tell me what happened? I have heard some mutters of a Divine skill."
Ben's face mirrored Harold's in its serious as he nodded.
"Yes, High Priest, I received a Divine skill. It is called [Throw Ball]"
* * *
Harold listened to the boy talk for over an hour. The story was over quite quickly but the fear was still there. The boy had put a lot of pressure on himself to gain [Throw Item]. He would need to check in with his teacher, Erik, to ensure that Ben was informed to not push himself too hard. Harold doubted Rak or any of the more combated-oriented individuals would share his thoughts on the matter though.
Regarding the Divine skill, Ben was speaking the truth as far as he understood it. Harold knew that [Truthful Presence] could be tricked and even overpowered in some situations but he didn't think it was the case. To remove any doubt and because of the seriousness of the situation, Harold had discreetly used [Divine Eye] on the boy. It was Harold's most powerful skill and despite its name, it was not a Divine skill. It was a class skill, a very powerful one, that was arguably the more powerful [Inspect] skill except for the very large drawback. It was inconsistent because it depended on the Gods to provide the information. Harold had long learned that the Gods have their own politics, agenda and whims which meant that he often didn't get a full Status. For this very reason, he didn't use the skill very often and when he used it, it was for serious situations.
He was a devoted follower of the Gods and as Head Priest, he had lots of respect and had the power to much done. Despite all this, [Divine Eye] only provided him with one line.
Throw Ball (Divine): A Divine variant of [Throw Ball].
It was exactly what he needed and nothing more which made him very wary of the situation. There was something at play here. The skill was not named after any God or affiliated in any way which only fed his suspicions that one of the Gods was doing something but didn't want it associated with them. It made him curious about what Ben would go on to do but he quickly controlled his thoughts as everyone had been waiting for his verdict for some time.
"Ben has a Divine skill. I will be sending word to one of the cities to gain support and funding. Erik, we will need to revise Ben's studies to allow him time to work on his Quest."
Ben seemed happy with the news and Erik was surprised. Harold didn't blame the man, Divine skills were not common at all and almost always were given to champions. Based on the evidence, Harold didn't think the boy would be a champion based on the skill alone and the circumstances. With his verification of the Divine skill done, he took his leave back to his small office. He had lots of letters to write.
As he reached his door, he chuckled to himself as he imagined a Divine Champion that had [Throw Ball].
It was quite amusing. Far too amusing that he feared that Gods were playing games with a young boy's life.
* * *
Ben couldn't believe it. He didn't know where to start.
He was being healed magically which felt really weird. Some of the other kids had been to the infirmary but only for small cuts or bruises. Ben had thought he was going to die and now, all he had to do was rest for a couple of weeks. They had said he couldn't run or practice combat skills which made him realise how boring it would be.
On the plus side, he had a Divine skill. It had even been confirmed by the High Priest who his father had said was an important person.
Ben took a look at his new skill.
Throw Ball [2]: Provides the user with an improved proficiency with throwing balls. Dexterity is 2.02 times more effective when throwing a ball. Has a 5 percent chance of applying Divine Fragility to the target. Attributes (Primary/Secondary/Tertiary): Dexterity / ???? / ????
From what he had learned about numbers, it was really good. The chance to apply [Divine Fragility] was really low and after looking at it, he was glad.
Diving Fragility: Curses the target to immediately die on receiving any damage. Lasts for 10 seconds. Cannot be dispelled.
Ben didn't want to kill anyone and the skill seemed dangerous. He would need to talk to his father about it.
Besides the Divine skill, he had also received a Divine Quest and a few others quests.
Chosen (Divine): Quest: Do not gain a class and complete all associated quests and you will be greatly rewarded.
Progress:
* Do not gain a class (✓)
* Complete all associated quests (0/?)
It was all a bit overwhelming but Ben knew he needed to read through it all so he could spend time thinking about what to do. Also, no one else could read his Status so he would have to read it anyway.
He had received three more quests along with his Divine Quest.
[Throw Ball] Novice: Level up [Throw Ball] to 25 and rank up to Novice Rank. This Quest is part of the Chosen Quest and thus no rewards will be provided.
Detect Curses: Gain a skill that will allow you to detect Curses. This Quest is part of the Chosen Quest and thus no rewards will be provided.
Absolute Damage skill: Gain a skill that will you allow to deal Absolute Damage at range. This Quest is part of the Chosen Quest and thus no rewards will be provided.
It felt weird to Ben to see all the words that Mr Pann had spoken about in his classes. He would need to read more and ask more questions so he could understand what types of skills the Quests wanted him to gain and if they would be easier to learn.
As long as they were easier than [Throw Item], he didn't think it would be too bad.
He sighed as he felt a pang of sadness.
He would never be able to learn [Throw Item].