As Yomera took a breath, I sighed. I knew what was coming, and unfortunately I would have to listen to the whole thing before I could learn anything new. There was nothing I could do in the meantime, so I chose to listen, trying to ignore my growing horror at the setbacks I had just faced.
“As you can probably see,” Yomera started, “There are two perks. One dictates the energy you may harness, and the other is your most valuable friend in the coming days. You will need to learn to control both, but your soul weapon will come much easier to you. In fact, try calling it out now. You should feel some sort of connection with the weapon in your lower abdomen. Pull it out.”
I nodded to him, and felt for the area with my hand. I shifted slightly, and pulled. Bit by bit, a long, jade-like staff grew from my stomach. As the Bo Staff grew, I realized it wasn’t made of jade. It was a clouded jade color, but the staff was made of a intricately carved wood. The wood look familiar to me, but it was not an earthly wood. No, I could tell this Staff was made from Jade Wood. It came from the mid-tier floors, and I was surprised to see it here. As the end of the Staff came fully free, I placed the butt down, fully examining it. The Staff was 6 feet long, with a thickness of around 1.25 inches. The carvings themselves were difficult to make out, as though there was a fog moving through them.
Yomera looked at my staff, amazement clear on his face. “Soul weapons can be made out of many different materials,” he said, “but I have not seen Jade Wood being used as a first stage soul weapon in many years. This can be a great boon to you, or an even greater curse. Especially since this staff has rare markings on it. The Staff will likely grow more powerful if you can learn what it needs from you, but it can also hinder your growth, unlike most weapons. It is unfortunate, this staff, while made of high quality material, has such a murky seal on it. The first few trials will be a great challenge. That is, if you can make it with such a weapon.”
I frowned at the creature. It was right, of course. This staff was a bigger curse than I had originally thought. Maybe I could just find a spear for myself..? No. That would be the pinnacle of stupidity. If I forsook my Soul Weapon, especially one like this, I would only be dying a fool's death. I had to make do with what I had. I had to learn the Bo Staff.
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Yomera sighed. “If it helps any, the staff itself is a truly fine specimen. If you could learn to use your Energy with it, you could likely unlock much more of the weapon. But therein lies the problem. Energy. Every being in the Tower has it, but, especially at the beginning, there is great difficulty in calling it out. Even in the middle levels, only one in ten has the ability to correctly wield their Energy. Most find it easier to use it through their Soul Weapons, especially those with higher True Masteries. It lets many channel True Energy easier, and incorporates it into their moves. But that is nearly impossible earlier on. So for now, you will have to make do with the Staff. But enough on that, I need to move on to stats. Although honestly, I should have started with that.”
I grew frustrated. I knew all these things. I needed time to think, without hearing things that I understood likely better than this blubbering frog reptile hybrid.
With that in mind, I closed my eyes and said with as much patience as I could muster, “Let me guess. STR stands for strength, and measures one's overall physical power, showing the force someone can put behind a blow. DEX stands for dexterity, and measures the speed at which someone can move, and their reaction time. PER is perception, and measures sight, and the ability to notice things around you. INT is intelligence, and is how much knowledge someone can retain, and how much Energy they can call forth. CON is constitution, and shows how well the body is put together, and how well it can stay together when being beaten. Finally, WIS is wisdom, and it shows how someone uses the knowledge they acquire, as well as how well energy can be handled outside the body. Did I miss anything?”
As I finished my tirade, I opened my eyes to find Yomera staring, stunned. “Y-yes. That… that’s right. How did you know all that?”
I shrugged. “I played quite a few video games back on my home planet, many of which have a very similar layout to this Status.” And I lived through this hell once already, I thought to myself.
Yomera paused, then nodded. “That makes sense. Then I guess that is it. I can’t really tell you anything else, besides that you will have around an hour to test yourself with a training dummy over there, to see if you can get used to the staff before you are dropped into the beginning trials. Other then that, make sure to try and work towards gaining True Mastery in the staff, and look out for achievements, they will help you much more than you may know. Also, try to not die immediately, it just makes me feel like I wasted my time. Good luck!”
As Yomera vanished, I looked over to the worn looking mannequin, ignoring the last few words he had left me with. I would survive, I knew. But first, I needed to use the knowledge I had to my advantage.