[You have chosen your name to be ‘What the hell is this’. Is this correct?]
“…”
Kazen was speechless. It was clear that was not what he meant, then why were these words seemingly mocking him?
He waited for a short moment, and only then did the words suddenly fade away, before the previous question appeared once again.
[What would you like to name your character?]
However, this time…Kazen vaguely felt as if the words were ever so slightly dimmer than before.
As he saw these words, he thought back on the previous messages. It had said it was initializing his body…which made Kazen feel hopeful. Perhaps he could get back his previous body after all.
In the case that he didn't...he certainly couldn't use the same name he previously had. After all, he did plan to make enchanting a major source of his strength after returning to Alethea. If he had a different body, and he had the same combat style and enchanting prowess as Kazen did...he felt as if he would somehow land himself in trouble.
People would link him with 'Kazen', and would possibly try to take advantage of his knowledge.
And so, after some thought, he finally decided on his name.
"...Julius."
And the silver words reformed themselves once more.
[You have chosen your name to be 'Julius'. Is this correct?]
He didn't feel much attachment to his previous name. After all, he only had a single dream since he returned to the Forsaken Continent, and barely remembered anything about his past. He was certainly happy to keep it this way, but...he felt sympathy for the 'Julius' he used to be, whom had lost his identity.
And Goddess Serena had also mentioned that I...he had given himself up for the sake of humanity.
And so, if only for the man named 'Julius' to live on through Kazen, he chose this name once more.
"Yes."
Then, the sound of a chime rang once again, and new words appeared.
[Your name has been chosen!]
[Welcome Julius, to the world of Alethea!]
[Commencing fusion of the Player's soul with the body...]
And Kazen jolted as he suddenly felt himself sink, as if he were being pushed into the depths of the ocean.
His soul felt heavy, as if there was some invisible pressure trying to squeeze him into an opening, and suddenly...the world became bright.
He opened his eyes, as he was greeted with the sight of a field of grass stretching into the horizon, with the morning sun shining upon the world. He squinted his eyes, as he took in a deep breath of fresh air.
His spirit became revitalized, and he felt a gush of joy at finally having returned...home.
Then his spirit dimmed a little, as he noticed his body certainly felt different from his original body.
So...I didn't get my body back...
He felt somewhat depressed, but the fact that he had made it back to Alethea comforted him.
After all...now I have quite a few years to find my original body, and see what I can do about this...
The bodies of those who had undergone their third awakening wouldn't decompose for at least 3 to 4 years. However, Kazen knew that the real problems were the beasts or other Hunters that might have potentially gotten his body. However, he ignored this thought for now since he'd only feel more depressed.
And so, he started to look around to gain his bearings, when he spotted Lyla, about a hundred meters east of him.
Kazen wanted to call out to her, before he paused.
Lyla was staring at the sun, with her eyes squinted as she held a hand in front of her face as...tears were in her eyes. Kazen didn't know how to approach her, and was at a loss.
That was when Lyla wiped her eyes, then started looking around in fascination. Then, she spotted Kazen...and froze. Just a second later, she put on a grin as she waved her hand, skipping over to Kazen.
"This is Alethea?! You didn't tell me it was this amazing! So that's what the Sun looks like...it just feels so warm."
Compared to earlier when he'd had the briefing with Aileen, this time...Lyla's smile seemed to be genuine. Kazen grinned, feeling a little pride at her liking the world he'd been born in. He couldn't help but speak up,
"...Yeah, and especially when you climb the mountains in the center of Alethea and look into the distance as the sun shines, it's even more amazing!"
"Really?! Then we have to go there after our training is over!"
Only hearing this did Kazen finally cool down a little, remembering their task at hand.
"Our training...yeah. We do have to report to Baldin, don't we?"
And Kazen wanted to start trying to get an idea of where they were, when a chime suddenly rang out in their minds.
Kazen saw Lyla flinch for a moment, and at moment, a translucent blue panel suddenly appeared in both their visions, and the silver words they'd seen in the void suddenly started forming on the blue panel in front of them.
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[Player Stats]
Name: Kazen
Level: 10
Class: Channeler
Mana Attribute: Pure
HP: 1000/1000 MP: 1200/1200
Strength: 20 Dexterity: 20
Intelligence: 50 Endurance: 30
Charm: 2 Faith: 4
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Stat Points: 0
Authorities: Control, Perception (Degraded), ???
Skills: Channel: Earth (Lvl 1), Channel: Flame (Lvl 1), Seed of Potential (Lvl Max)
Shards: Domain of Control (Lvl 1), Sensory Enhancement (Lvl 1)
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"Kazen, did the screen also appear in front of you?"
With amazement in his heart, Kazen nodded.
He looked at the panel with fascination, as he tried to press his hand onto the screen. However, his finger just passed through the stat panel, as the part where he'd poked his hand through had disintegrated into mist.
"What exactly is this?"
He looked at Lyla, whom he knew was aware of what was taking place. After all, aside from flinching from the sudden appearance of the words, she did not seem all that surprised.
Lyla smiled, and explained to him, "These are your status points. It basically represents how...good you are at each particular stat. For example, strength influences...well, your strength. The higher the number is, the stronger it means you are."
Hearing this gave Kazen enlightenment, as he observed his player status more carefully.
While looking through his stats, he noticed that his mana attribute was pure, and Kazen exhaled a sigh of relief. This would mean that he would still be able to use his skill of transforming properties to elements.
Then, he looked at the 6 different stats that were on his screen. As he continued observing the final two stats of charm and faith...his eyebrows twitched.
What's with my charm stat only being 2? Am I really that unattractive?...
Kazen vowed to find a reflective surface to confirm this as soon as he could, as he pondered upon the stats. Strength, Dexterity and Endurance were stats he could understand to an extent, but he was confused about two stats in particular.
He asked Lyla, "Lyla, what does having higher stats in Intelligence and Endurance mean?"
"Having higher intelligence means you're able to learn spells more easily, and your maximum mana, or MP increases as this stat increases."
Then, Lyla skipped over to the other side of Kazen as she stared into the distance and continued, "Endurance affects how much HP, or health points you have. It also increases your stamina, although it's not shown on your status bar."
Kazen's next question was going to be about what 'HP' and 'MP' meant, but now he had gotten his answer.
His attention next went to the bottom part of his status screen, where there were 4 sections that intrigued him the most.
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Stat Points: 0
Authorities: Control, Perception (Degraded), ???
Skills: Channel: Earth, Channel: Flame, Seed of Potential (Lvl Max)
Shards: Domain of Control (Lvl 1), Sensory Enhancement (Lvl 1)
----------------------------------------
I can understand Authorities, but what are the stat points and skills?...
He wanted to ask Lyla, but she responded before he could even ask, as if she knew what he was thinking. He found out that his stat points would increase each time he levelled up, and he would be able to distribute those point into the stats of his choice.
So we level up by completing tasks or killing monsters huh...
For now, he had a rough idea of how the mechanics worked. He was still fascinated that his entire essence, his entire strength, could be condensed and displayed as mere numbers.
Perhaps the Arithmetic Mages of Galina really are on to something...
He shook his head, brushing away the thought of becoming a numbers addict like those mages, and thought about the other 3 rows of information.
Glancing at the Authorities, he pondered to himself.
Authority of Control...I wonder if there's a way to see more information on the Authority?
Then, Kazen's eyelids jumped. The words on the panel in front of him were replaced with a new set of information.
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[Authority of Control]
Passive Effect: You have an innate understanding of mana. You can gain proficiency in any tasks that involve manipulation of mana much more easily.
Shards: Domain of Control (Lvl 1)
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[Shard - Domain of Control]
Lvl: 1
Type: Active
Cost: 40% of maximum mana
Cooldown: 5 hours
Effect: For 20 seconds, you can control all mana in your surrounding environment and bend it to your will. You can cast any skills you have from any location in your domain if there is enough mana concentrated in that area.
* You cannot control mana with residual ‘will’ in it.
* Your ability to manipulate mana is dependent on the strength of your mana core and soul power.
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This...just who is able to analyze and understand my abilities so thoroughly that they can show it like this?...
Looking at this, Kazen was truly shocked this time. If right before this, he'd been amazed at seeing how strong he was through numbers...this was something that could physically affect the state of battles he would encounter.
Normal Hunters in Alethea would always be pushed to the limits in combat. There were many who did not know their limits and ultimately perished during their pursuit of riches and glory.
However...having access to this information, knowing exactly how much of his mana reserves he was using, as well as knowing exactly how long it would be before he could cast a spell again...
As long as he mastered the skill of always being aware of his skill timings...he would gain a much bigger advantage in combat.
Regardless, goosebumps ran down his spine as he thought further about the implications. For something to be able to analyze Authorities to this extent and display information this thoroughly, how powerful must the 'System', or whatever it was be?
He turned his attention to the Authority of Perception, which had the [Degraded] label attached behind it.
----------------------------------------
[Authority of Perception (Degraded)]
Passive Effect: The sense you are using the most at any given moment increases in sensitivity by 5%.
Shards: Sensory Enhancement (Lvl 1)
----------------------------------------
[Shard - Sensory Enhancement]
Lvl: 1
Cost: 10% of maximum mana
Cooldown: 1 hour
Effect: For 60 seconds, boost the power of any single sense by 20%.
----------------------------------------
Kazen grew thoughtful. He never remembered getting this Authority from any Gods of Alethea. However...
Perhaps I gained this Authority during my Third Awakening...which was what helped me sense the outflow of mana from Alethea in the first place...
What puzzled him was that he had never heard any whispers or sensed the presence of any Gods during his Awakening. The only difference he felt aside from his growing mana channels was his unusual increase in perception.
He simply gave it a slight thought, before he put it aside. It would not be too useful to ponder about it right now.
Besides, there was something that drew his curiosity even more.
----------------------------------------
[???]
Lvl: ??
Type: Passive
Effect: ???
----------------------------------------
Did something go wrong during my entrance into Alethea? What's with all these question marks?
Kazen realized that [???] was classified as...an Authority.
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't remember nor think of any reason why he'd suddenly have another Authority all of a sudden.
He thought about asking Lyla for a moment, before he rejected the thought. He was afraid...that they'd somehow eject him from Alethea to check on this 'System', and this was the last thing he wanted at the moment.
And now...he felt a little reassured.
It seems that there are things that even this 'System' cannot analyze...
Kazen rubbed his glabella, as his eyes turned to glance at Lyla. She was staring in front of her with focused eyes, and Kazen realized that she was likely reading through her own skills and Authorities.
He finally turned his eyes to the last row, which had his skills.
----------------------------------------
[Channel: Earth]
Lvl: 1
Type: Active
Cooldown: None
Cost: 50 mana
Effect: You are able to freely convert between the properties of 'Density' and 'Earth'.
----------------------------------------
[Channel: Fire]
Lvl: 1
Type: Active
Cooldown: None
Cost: 50 mana
Effect: You are able to freely convert between the properties of 'Flexibility' and 'Fire'.
----------------------------------------
Well, at least this skill is exactly as what I already know.
Although the descriptions of the skills were put quite simply, Kazen knew that their strengths lay in their versatility.
Still, it'd be nice if I could learn to channel more elements...
Finally his attention turned to the final skill that he currently had. And when he saw this skill, his mind went blank, as his breathing grew rougher. This skill...
Earlier, he had truly been depressed at having lost his body. How could anybody truly accept such a fate easily? His training, and all the effort he had put in through the years had simply become wasted. However, if he had this skill...perhaps it wouldn't take him that long to rise back to his peak after all, or even above it.
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[Seed of Potential]
Lvl: Max
Type: Passive
Effect: You have experienced lives in both worlds, and have glimpsed into a part of the 'truth'. You gain 500% experience from all sources.
* When certain conditions are activated, the effect of the passive permanently decreases.