CHAPTER 17

Kopius examined the document several times, burning the numbers into his brain; not knowing if they were good or not. The ones can’t be good, he garnered. I’m an Air Elemental, so that sounds cool. Haste might explain my speed. No idea what Bumbly is. He pondered this way for a few minutes until Oh-jin cleared his throat.

“Would you like to ask questions first, or shall I go over it first?” he offered. Kopius considered going first but thought better of it. In the few instances that Cory had just kept his mouth shut, things had tended to go well. It should have been his go-to tactic, but resisting the urge to be a sarcastic asshole was too much to bear at times. Those situations were normally heated, wannabe alpha-male posturing. Whereas here, Kopius had the presence and calmness of mind to be a listener–for now.

“You go first,” Kopius answered.

“Very well then,” Oh-jin said, rubbing his palms together. “Understand that these things vary, and there are outliers. What I will be comparing you to is the average.”

Kopius nodded.

“At the top we have your name and level,” Oh-jin continued. ”Normally an individual at level 2 would be about two or three years old. Their Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence would look like your numbers, except they would have active intelligence.” The old chemist tried to keep the humor of it out of his voice but was failing. “Ahem, now, they would reach level 10 by roughly the age of twelve. At level 10, the Universe will offer you a set of Practices to select from, but that is a discussion for another time. You are, of course, wondering what the second numbers mean?”

Kopius nodded slowly, a bit struck that he was equivalent to a toddler. Not even a toddler, a baby! Kopius corrected himself.

“I was a bit confused until I referred to these notes,” Oh-jin said, holding up a notebook. “You may be a little special after all. There was one other instance of this, long ago, and what we came to learn was that the first set of numbers is what can be seen but the numbers in brackets are what you are. Let me explain further. There is a fairly common spell called Scan, a non-branch magic. Branch magic refers to your magical leaning, in your case, Air Elemental. Most anyone can wield non-branch or common magic. Scan would give the caster basic information, like your name, your personal level, Advanced tiers of Scan would also include health and mana levels. If someone were to Scan you, they would see the lower numbers.”

Oh-jin was very pleased by this.

Kopius looked at him blankly.

“This is why you have no intelligence, my boy. You are missing the value here. People will see you as weak, fragile, and stupid. You will be grossly underestimated, whether it be with brains or brawn!” Kopius had a brief flashback of his ex-girlfriend calling him those exact same things, just not in the same order. I think she started off with “fragile,” oof, Kopius thought, cringing internally.

“So, my weakness is my strength?” Kopius asked, ridding his thoughts of exes and their stupid words.

“No, no, no,” Oh-jin declared. “Your strength is your strength! Your weakness is a mask. You appear lesser than you are, so find a way to use it to your advantage.” Oh-jin had the cadence of a teacher lecturing his student for the tenth time on the same subject. “Your Strength is above average. A 13 in Strength would be above normal at level 10, but you are level 1. Same for your Dexterity, except that you are extraordinarily advanced there. At level 20, the second tier unlocks! I am getting ahead of myself. The rest of your profile is a bit self-explanatory. You are half-Human and half-Jinovian. Whatever blood Lexore used was that of our brethren.” Oh-jin bowed his head slightly and raised a closed fist to his chest. “Now, you have four Skills: Night Vision, that is always useful, Speakeasy, which you have figured out–”

“But if I am half-Jiovian,” Kopius interrupted, ”might that be the reason I can understand it?”

“Possible,” Oh-jin said, rubbing at his beard. “Possible indeed, but you understood Elvish just fine. Haste is haste and Bumbly, I am not sure. Sounds like falling. Did you do a lot of falling while you were running about?”

Kopius puffed up at the accusation that he would run away, run away and trip, of all things. Buuuut, Kopius thought to himself, reliving the flight from the allgitator. I did a lot of running. Maybe a little falling.

“I did some running, yes,” Kopius answered flatly. Oh-jin was tapping at his lips in thought.

“Skills can be odd,” Oh-jin stated. “You can acquire them in different ways. Someone teaching you is the best way, but there are others. Your Haste comes from more than just running aimlessly…” The old man trailed off into a mumble.

“Why don’t I have the Skill for walking or breathing or some other basic thing?” Kopius asked.

“Try to understand, Kopius. This is the will and machinations of the Universe, the framework of Gods. Maybe it–they, the Gods–did not want to overwhelm anyone with too much information at once.” Oh-jin gave a shrugging gesture. “Skills will show up after someone has shown some type of proficiency at them.”

“Can we go back to the Attribute numbers?” Kopius asked, to which Oh-jin nodded. “I get it for the most part. The world will see me as a level 2 in Strength, but I am really a 13. Won’t it be a little strange for a grown-ass man to have baby numbers?”

“Yes,” Oh-jin said with a chuckle. “They will not see you as a baby, though, more like a dainty, pampered noble. Someone who has been catered to their entire life”

“That doesn't seem much better,” Kopius interjected.

“Now you are starting to see the big picture, my boy!” Oh-jin said. “This will not always be the case. Those numbers will eventually agree with each other. Once you increase through your levels, that is.”

Kopius felt his temperature start to rise. Every bit of new information brought ten more questions to his mind, and then he would stumble over what to ask next. He slid off the shelf and started to pace. ‘Dainty’ is a new one, Kopius thought to himself, trying to get his mind right.

“Have you read anything about getting me home?” Kopius asked, figuring it was the most important of all the questions.

“No,” Oh-jin said with some regret. ”Nothing yet. There are still many, many notes that I need to go through. I also recall having these talks with Lexore in the past, and he was of the mind that, in theory, one could return the soul to its original vessel.”

“Ok then,” Kopius perked up. ”Can I help you read through these? Where do we start?”

“Ha, thank you, but you will need to help yourself in another way,” Oh-jin replied.

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“How so?” Kopius asked with reservation.

“To begin with, you are curious enough that questions would abound and we would never get through all the readings. Secondly, and more importantly, you need to increase your level. From what I can recall of Lexore’s theories, he suggested that certain items and artifacts would be needed. Items and artifacts that would require an adventurer to have a Form at a minimum. A Mastery, if possible. You do not even have a Practice!”

Oh-jin had a point about the questions, Kopius conceded to himself. My questions have questions, Kopius lamented. There is that ‘Practice’ and ‘Form’ thing again… Mastery is new.

“I understand that leveling up is important, but how? I have random blank windows popping up. Some are gray, others bronze. Sometimes they glitter or sparkle, and other times they don’t. When you sent me for the flowers, it was glittering bronze, and I couldn’t close the window until I thought ‘yes’. Yet, when you gave me the gloves, it was a gray border, and I was able to close it no problem.” Kopius finished, obviously flustered.

Oh-jin just nodded his head before answering.

“Gaining experience can come in many ways,” Oh-jin began. ”Accepting quests, finishing tasks, or engaging in battle are the most common. We gain experience for advancing Attributes and developing our Skills. Until you reach level 10, the powers of the Universe allot you experience just like the accelerator distribution. From what I can gather, this is a check and balance. The Universe’s way to stop the potential for power leveling. It stops–or at least slows down–people from trying to over-power their offspring.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Kopius replied, unconvinced. Oh-jin shuffled the books he had placed to the side before pulling one and showing it to Kopius.

“I have a few books for you to take with you, but this one will be the most informative,” Oh-jin said. “In here you will find a guide of sorts, an outline of basic functions, and meanings of your profile.” He handed the book to Kopius. It read:

Handbook of Universal Definition: Volume 1

“Did everyone that came through here get one of these too?” Kopius asked while flipping through the book.

“No,” Oh-jin answered. “They all had full functionality of their profile. I was able to explain what they were seeing. Your profile goes a lot deeper than what we have discussed, but until you can see it in full, we are left with the basics. This book and these other three,” Oh-jin continued, gesturing to the other books at his side. ”You will take these with you and read them when you can. They will cover things like your profile, common and branch magic, Attributes, known Practices, and Forms. There is also a part about the color of the borders as well as equipment tiers.”

“Do these come in audiobooks?” Kopius said with a laugh. “Maybe Steven Pacey or some Nick Podehl? Jeff Hays? You say Jeff Hays and I’m all in.”

“I do not understand.” Oh-jin relied.

“Sorry,” Kopius said, shaking his head. ”Wishful thinking. I just don’t understand why I can’t stay around here, read, and level up. You gave me a quest, I think. Can’t we just do that a couple hundred times and be done with it?”

“These books will explain a bit better, but I will say this.” Oh-jin returned to his teaching cadence. “Numerical values only appear for levels, whether that be your personal level, Attribute level, or magic. Progression to the next level is displayed by a slender, sliding bar being filled. Furthermore, as an example, if a level 40 warrior were to slay a level 20 ice wolf, he would receive less experience than a level 15 warrior killing the same beast. There are many factors that account for progression. To answer your question, yes, I could send you to pick flowers, but such a simple task would be like emptying the ocean one drop at a time, in terms of experience.”

“I see,” Kopius said. It made sense that the lower-level warrior would have a more difficult time killing the beast, hence receiving more XP. He cringed internally at the idea that there were no numbers to reference. It was always nice to know that you only needed 1000 XP to advance to the next level. It was even better knowing that he could kill, say, ten ice wolves to reach it. A sliding bar indicator was just the worst, and it seemed gaining experience had a sliding bar too. Not that I can see any of it!

“Any idea when I can see all of this? When will my profile show up?” Kopius finally asked.

“That is still a mystery,” Oh-jin answered. “Possibly when your Intelligence comes to life. If not then, it may be when your Practices are presented to you. The Universe seems to think you are but a baby, yet here you are looking like a strapping young lad. I believe you will see your profile in time, and in that time, you should focus on increasing your levels.”

“But how do I do that?” Kopius asked in annoyance. “Am I just going to go walk aimlessly killing things and hope I don’t die in the process? Is there a quest board somewhere?”

“Yes, yes, ”Oh-jin said in soothing tones, ”I am not going to just release you into the wild, my boy. I have some items for your travels; rations and remedies.”

Oh-jin began to remove empty vials from random shelves. They were all the familiar, circular, hand-sized glass potion bottles that one would expect, complete with a wedged-in cork stopper.

After collecting enough of the identical bottles, Oh-jin made his way to the back science stations and started to fill them. He filled five vials per station, producing three different sets: red, blue, and yellow. Oh-jin then placed down the four books and several pieces of orange stalk that resembled carrots. Last, from yet another shelf, Oh-jin brought out a pair of shin-high, leather boots.

Kopius eyed the boots longingly, thinking of his exposed toes and all the stubbing, poking, and splinters he had managed to endure along the way. The idea of having protection on his feet gave Kopius a sense of relief that he never would have expected. Cory wouldn’t be caught dead without a pair of shoes on. Unless sleeping or bathing—shoes were on. The sandals Kopius wore were a far cry from being barefoot, yet he’d missed the protection of real shoes more than he had realized.

“Are those for me?” Kopius asked with glee in his eyes.

“Indeed, all of it,” Oh-jin said, smiling as he handed the boots to Kopius.

He willed away the blank window after being handed the gear, and then dropped to the ground to untie his sandals. Once he had both feet in the large boots, he stood and anxiously hoped for the boots to shrink to his size. Thankfully they did, and Kopius paced about to get a feel for them.

“This is so much better!” Kopius beamed.

“Very good!” Oh-jin said happily. “These will be useful for two reasons. First, it will indicate if your Intelligence has come to life, and you will know this by the second reason. These boots can use a portion of your mana to produce fire when you strike something.”

Kopius immediately stopped his pacing and craned his neck towards Oh-jin.

“My boots will start fires?” Kopius asked in concern.

“Not while you are walking,” Oh-jin said with a laugh, ”Or while you are running or doing any kind of remedial task. Some aggression is involved–and mana.”

“I am going to need you to elaborate on that for me,” Kopius replied, unwilling to move.

“Your Intelligence is not active, so you do not have to stand there,” Oh-jin lectured. “Even if you had accessible mana, you would still need to push it into the boots for the fire to activate. This book will cover how to do that.” Oh-jin picked up one of the four books before saying, ”Read this one first.”

Manabolism: Flow and Function

“Now, if we can move on to the how,” Oj-jin stated, moving the conversation along. “I will need more cyanins, optical-quartz, and eyebright in case we need to look at you again. Cyanins and eyebright are found easily enough in the wild. The optical-quartz will need to be purchased at a blacksmith or a weaver. These people can be found in most towns or villages, and you may be able to barter a quest from them to pay for it. These will help with your growth. Since you can see your level, return here when you reach 10.”

A blank window with a bronze, glittering border popped into view, and Kopius thought, Yes. It disappeared and was quickly replaced by another blank window with a glittering, bronze border.

“Two quests?” Kopius asked.

“Yes,” Oh-jin replied. ”One for the cyanins and eyebright, and the other is for the blacksmith or weaver.” Kopius nodded and accepted the quest. Looks like my tutorial is coming to an end here, he thought.