I couldn’t believe my eyes and almost thought it must be a trick. But no, no matter how much I denied the reality of the words floating in my vision, they were indeed there:
STATUS
NAME: CLONE #52
TIER: 1
LEVEL: 1
TIER 1 SKILL:
ESSENCE AWARENESS
-THIS SKILL FURTHER ENHANCES THE USER’S ABILITY TO SEE AND ABSORB ESSENCE IN THEIR SURROUNDINGS.
Further enhances? I thought.
Is that why I was able to see the streams of blue essence within me as I attempted to cultivate? Or when I’d seen it in the armor and had caught glimpses of essence floating around during the Nagari fight? If my Skill allows me to see it even better, that could prove extremely useful. I’d be able to take in more essence than anyone else around me during a fight–I could maybe even see stray streams in my everyday life and gather them as I would air to breathe.
My pulse quickened. This is incredible!
“Flip to the next screen, Master. There is more.”
“Uh, how–”
“You just will it to go to the next screen, Master.”
“Alright….”
Codex was right, of course. After just thinking about turning to the next page, the screen heeded my command.
STATS:
MIGHT: 3
AGILITY: 7
VITALITY: 4
INTELLIGENCE: 6
WISDOM: 5
WILLPOWER: 8
FREE STAT POINTS: +3
“What does all of this mean?” I asked Codex, reading over the words and numbers again and again.
“Those statistics represent your base abilities and how strong they are. For each level you advance to within a Tier, you will get three more statistic points and can allocate them in any category you would like.”
“Wait,” I said, “I’ve never heard of this. Drayek would have told me about this process. All he has to do is meditate once a day, then eventually advance to the next Tier.”
“Hold while I access information about Lady Euridice’s Erudition Collective….”
I waited for a while, my meditative state beginning to slip as I became more aware of the hard ground underneath my rear.
“Information found in my database. Lady Euridice’s people, the ones she Marks for cultivation, use essence similarly to you, but she steals about 20% of their essence and also allocates their statistics how she sees fit. The people in the Erudition Collective know nothing of this, and she has been growing infinitely stronger due to this arrangement.”
“That’s terrible.” My heart sank. The goddess was sounding less and less appealing to worship the more I learned about her.
“You are not Marked, Master. So, this will not be how it works for you. You will be allowed to use all of the essence you gather effectively and increase the statistics, or stats, in your base abilities as you see fit–with my guidance, of course.”
“But what do you mean by ‘levels?’ The screen says I’m Tier 1, Level 1.”
“Levels essentially show you how far into a Tier you are and how close you are to advancing to the next Tier. There are 10 levels in Tier 1, 30 in Tier 2, and so on.”
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I didn’t remember Drayek mentioning anything like this. “Do the Marked have levels, too?”
“In a way, yes, but Lady Euridice controls where all of their statistics go, and it takes much longer for those in her domain to advance.”
I studied the words on the screen once again. “I know the basic meanings of each of these statistic categories, like Might and Intelligence are pretty straightforward, but are there any underlying meanings I should know about before I choose where to allocate my new stats?”
“The first category, Might, dictates your physical strength,” Codex responded.
“I like the sound of that,” I thought back to Codex with excitement. “Maybe I can put all three stat points in there.”
“Not so fast, Master. Might is a very good category to add stat points to, but so are the rest, depending on what you are going for as a fighter and spellcaster.”
“Alright… what do the others do?”
“Agility governs things like your speed, reflexes, and precision.”
I breathed deeper into my meditative state and maintained my focus on the categories displayed on the screen.
“What’s next?”
“Very good, Master. Next is Vitality, which affects your health and resilience. Then there’s Intelligence, which betters your knowledge, logic, and problem-solving capabilities.
“Wisdom follows Intelligence, but it is not quite the same. Wisdom enhances your intuition and perception. It can even aid in resistance against mind spells and illusions.”
This was all great. At some point, I wanted to add more points to all of these categories.
“Last is Willpower,” Codex continued. “Yours is especially high for a brand new Tier 1. The highest one’s points can get in any category is 10 before they can increase the points by advancing through the Tiers.”
“And what does Willpower help with?”
“Good question, Master.”
I felt myself smile within my meditative state. It was an obvious question, really, but Codex was so intent on pleasing me from left to right. He could prove extremely useful–even more so than he’d already had so far.
“Willpower constitutes your mental strength and determination. Lord Solomon prized this ability above all others, and he said you performed well in this way during the tests in his facility.”
I thought back to what I had learned in the labyrinth and when we had all nearly drowned. At the time, I had felt like a mysterious being was attempting to determine whether or not I would give up due to my insecurities and mental exhaustion. But I hadn’t.
“Thank you, Codex. Um… what categories do you recommend I put these stat points in?”
Though all categories seemed equally important, I couldn’t help but feel the urge to put all three points into Might. The idea of attaining more strength with a spear thrust, for example, or the ability to carry heavier equipment, appealed to me.
I had always been a runt in size compared to everyone in Edrona. Of course, I knew now that it had to do with this Soul of mine–a “god’s Soul,” Lord Solomon had called it. My body hadn’t been able to handle it. But now, all of my inadequacies were about to change. I had my own Mark, for lack of a better word, and I hadn’t needed Lady Euridice’s help to receive one.
“I would recommend you follow the first Lord Solomon’s path as closely as possible.”
“But he died. Maybe if I did something different, I might succeed where he couldn’t.”
Codex didn’t answer for a long moment.
“I’m sorry, Master,” he finally said, “I cannot compute the meaning behind your words. As one of Lord Solomon’s clones, your purpose is to become who he once was.”
“Fine.”
I didn’t really like the whole idea of becoming someone I wasn’t, but I would take Codex’s recommendations. For now. The first Solomon had become a god, and I had many lifetimes before I would get to that point–if I’d ever get to that point. The thought of living hundreds of years like he had seemed incomprehensible to me, but at least I knew it was possible.
“Very good, Master. I recommend adding two points to Might and one to Vitality. Your stats are so low in both of those categories that it will only help you in upcoming fights as you wait to receive more stat points.”
“Great.” My eyes scanned over the screen. “Uh, how do I allocate them?”
“Just think it, Master, and the numbers will move.”
“I should have guessed.”
And move they did. The number of available stat points ticked down as I added two to Might and one to Vitality. As soon as the stats were added, the screen disappeared, but then I felt something. I felt a tingling in every muscle, and the warm sensation continued through my veins.
I dared to break myself from my meditative state and looked at my biceps and forearms. Yes, definitely a slight difference–dare I say, they were slightly bigger.
I glanced around the gulch and inhaled a sharp breath at the sight before me. Essence. It was everywhere. Like a blue-tinted wind swirling all around me. At least ten or so streams whirled around my head, and without even thinking, I absorbed each stream into my Soul and felt warmth as they entered. Even at that moment, I could see at least a couple dozen different lines of essence in the entire gulch. I couldn’t imagine how many there must have been after our Nagari fight before the Hunters naturally absorbed some of the essence as they passed.
After I sat and took in all of the essence I could see, I rose to my feet. The thought, I’m a Tier 1, kept running through my mind. Grinning, I attempted a sprint across the gulch, testing my new strength. It was almost imperceptible, but I could feel my legs propel forward slightly faster than they used to.
“Codex,” I called in my mind.
“Yes, Master?”
“This is going to be fun.”
“If you say so, Master.”