Liam sat there holding a cup of warm tea in front of the fire. Uncle Naro sat beside him, a mug of the same liquid in his big hand and a hand on his knee. They sat in silence for a few seconds enjoying the taste of the tea. The area around them was a lot quieter than it was earlier in the night.
After taking a few sips Uncle Naro asked Liam to tell him what he had found out. Liam talked about how he skirted his way around, avoiding areas that were heavily filled with fights. He didn’t explain how he did it, but just that he took a route that didn’t have anyone around. Uncle Naro didn’t say anything as he said this, just stared at him.
Liam then explained that he came to a halt after feeling his Danger Sense activate in a weird way. This prompted Uncle Naro to ask what he meant by feeling his Danger Sense activate in a weird way. At first, the bear of a man looked surprised that Liam even had Danger Sense, but felt like his way of moving around made a lot more sense if he had that.
Liam explained how he had understood the ability. That it would only activate if there was a powerful attack that could hurt him and where it would vaguely hit as well as the different feelings he would get from it between if it was an attack he could handle versus one that he wouldn’t survive from. He did admit he wasn’t entirely sure on that one since he’s always tried to avoid taking hits whenever it flared up. After explaining that he told him how his Danger sense had flared this time round, Uncle Naro nodded and looked like he understood what Liam was unsure about.
“It seems like this is the first time you have come across something we like to call Aura Pressure,” Uncle Naro stated as he looked at Liam. He saw the confused look on the young man’s face and continued, “Aura Pressure is a force that spreads from either one or a group of people who carry the same aura. This aura is powerful and affects the surrounding area. Depending on the type of aura it can either be good or bad. The one your Danger Sense felt was a bad one. Can you tell me what you saw around the area this pressure was coming from?”
Liam explained what he saw. From the deterioration of the Dungeon Tower he saw with his Spot Frailty, to the way the clothing look and the red spots on the bodies that were laid across the ground.
Uncle Naro’s face deepened as a frown formed. He looked to be in thought and was thinking some things over, but Liam felt like he needed to add the part about his fight with the cloaked individuals. He explained his fight with them and what he experienced with the leader of their group, but didn’t say exactly how he had gotten them to stop. He only said they came to the realization that he wasn’t an enemy and they stopped.
Uncle Naro looked even more confused as Liam explained all of this. After a few seconds he finally asked, “Did you receive any new Ailment Resistances after that fight?”
Liam nodded his head. “I reached level five in these two new ones. They are called Hex and Decay.”
Uncle Naro looked like he was taken aback by what he said. This made Liam feel uneasy. So much so he asked without thinking, “What’s wrong? Have you heard of these two before?”
“I have heard of Hex. It’s an evolved version of Curse Magic. It amplifies Ailments, physical or mental, type spells as well as allows the user to duplicate it again by passing any cooldown the spells have,” Uncle Naro explained. “However, Decay…I have only heard the name and the fact that no one should ever have that.”
It was Liam’s turn to be taken aback. “What do you mean? Why is it a fact no one should ever have that?”
Uncle Naro turned his gaze upon Liam. He looked like Liam was stupid for a brief moment before letting out a breath of air. “I forgot that you are new to this world and are still ignorant of this world. however, at the same time I also forget that there are somethings even natives to this world have forgotten…”
Liam stared at Uncle Naro. He was growing confused. It was one thing if it was something that he wouldn’t know right away since he was a New Arrival, but if this was something that the natives had forgotten…what did that really mean? The look on Uncle Naro’s face, coupling with his demeanor, told Liam this was something important. However, if the natives had forgotten this then how important was it really?
“The reason why I said it was something no one should have is because it belongs to a group of fields called the Lost Fields,” Uncle Naro informed with a serious look on his face.
Liam felt his mind stir. He didn’t understand what he meant by that. However, when he heard the words Lost it made him think about the craft he had unlocked recently. It had also made him think back on his talk with Eri about his Main Class. She had called it a Lost Class.
“Uncle Naro,” Liam started, feeling slightly nervous to ask the question he wanted. However, he felt this was a good time to ask since he seemed to know something about Lost Fields. “Why are they called the Lost Fields? Also if there are Lost Fields then are there other things considered Lost? Like classes, crafts, skills, etc.?”
Uncle Naro eyed Liam for a long moment. After that moment had passed he finally said, “It is good that you are curious about things. I will warn you that there are some things you shouldn’t allow your curiosity to lead you down. Luckily, for now, this isn’t one of them. Sometime in the future we will touch more on this with everyone else, but for now I will sate your curiosity so you can understand the extremities of your findings.”
Liam stared at Uncle Naro. His mind was buzzing loudly. He was right that his curiosity could one day lead him down a path of no return, but at the same time he also believed that what was the point of wanting to sate your curiosity without taking risks. Of course his past experiences could give him the answer to that question, but he was trying to ignore that…for now.
“Yes, there are things like Lost Classes, Lost Crafts, and even Lost Skills. However, the reason as to why they are lost is different from the Lost Fields. We will touch base on those a different time. As for the Lost Fields, like the name implies, it is lost. It’s not called a Lost Field because no one knows why it can’t be unlocked, unlike the other Lost things. No, everyone knows exactly why these Fields can’t be unlocked. It is called a Lost Field because the way to unlock the fields is lost to everyone forever.”
The answer Uncle Naro gave him about the Lost Fields was…underwhelming. He was expecting a complicated answer, not something as simple as the way to unlock them is lost to everyone forever. Hiding the slight annoyance he felt brewing, Liam pushed, “Okay, but why is it lost to everyone forever?”
Uncle Naro stared at Liam. Liam could feel the seriousness in his eyes and even more so in his voice as Uncle Naro responded, “There are two reasons for it. Some are lost because those who had the knowledge of how to unlock them died out many years ago and the others…” He paused for a long moment. Unsure if he should say this next thing. After coming to a decision he finally said, “The others, like the Field of Decay, you can only get from a Deity. And the Deity that you can get it from is one of the Lost Twelve…”
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Liam felt alarmed as Uncle Naro suddenly looked like he was in pain. Liam swiftly stood up and was about to reach a hand out to Uncle Naro but stopped as Uncle Naro raised a hand telling him he was fine. “Sorry, I just received a warning from my Patron Deity warning me to stop.”
Still slightly panicked, Liam asked, “What do you mean? Why did your Patron Deity warn you to stop? Is the information that confidential?”
Uncle Naro let out a breath of air as he leaned back a back allowing his head to look towards the sky. “It never was. It was common knowledge, but I guess now I understand why many have forgotten about it.”
“What do you mean?” Liam asked.
Uncle Naro shook his head as he looked back at the young man. “I can’t say. Not now at least. I was just informed that I am not allowed to talk more about the subject and should drop it for now.”
Liam noticed the annoyed look on Uncle Naro’s face. He could also see slight traces of concern and worry. He then heard Uncle Naro mutter quietly under his breath, “What the hell is going on? You’ve never interfered like this before you damn hammer brain.”
Liam wasn’t sure who or what Uncle Naro was talking about, but he could feel a pair of eyes on him, making him swiftly look around the area. No one was around or moving about from what he could see, but the feeling he felt was still there. He then felt a familiar pressure wash down on him, making him clench his teeth as pain pounded against his head.
Uncle Naro quickly looked at Liam as he let out a grunt of pain. Anger filled his voice as he growled, “You are going too far Usar. Stop this at once or I will revoke my blessing from you!”
The pressure and pounding pain quickly disappeared shortly after that, the sudden disappearance made Liam feel light and caused him to drop to his knees, dropping his cup of tea to the ground. He took in gulps of air as he panted. The feeling of eyes on him disappeared with it as well.
Uncle Naro placed his mug down and reached for Liam. He placed his large hands on Liam’s shoulders and asked with a lot of concern in his voice, “Are you alright? How do you feel?”
Liam took measures to control his breathing and calm his heart down as he stared at Uncle Naro. A chime sound echoed in his mind as a notification appeared in front of him.
[Congratulations! Mental Resilience – Divine Eye has reached level 16! Progression to level 17: 56%!]
Liam closed the notification and then responded, “What the hell was that about?”
Uncle Naro sighed before responding, “That was Ursa, my Patron Deity. I don’t know what he was doing, but from the pressure I was feeling I think he poured in a good amount of mana to do it.”
The notification he received about his Mental Resilience leveling up told him exactly what the so called Deity was trying to do. He had felt and gone through the same ordeal through what he later found out was a champion to another Deity. This Deity was trying to look into his stats and information. However, thanks to the Primeval Veil Eri had gifted him with, the deity had a hard time scrying every bit of his information. That was probably why the Deity channeled as much mana as he did. He probably believed that if he just threw in more power he would be able to get what he wanted.
“Do all Deities do that? Do they all do whatever the hell they want?” Liam asked, surprised at the growl that was underlying his voice.
Uncle Naro let out another sigh before replying, “Most do, yes. However, Ursa has never done this before. He’s also never been one to stop one of his own followers from talking about stuff unless it has to do with secrets from his clergy.”
“Does he also always have eyes on all of his followers as well?” Liam asked, realizing he had never considered this before. He was trying to keep a low profile while trying to get stronger before he set out to do as his own Matron Deity has tasked him with. Well, she hadn’t tasked him with whatever she was truly planning yet, but he knew she was waiting to do it.
“That’s the part I am confused about,” Uncle Naro stated. “He isn’t one to do that. This random moment of his is truly puzzling.”
Liam could see the confusion on the man’s face. He understood that Uncle Naro had no idea what was going on. However, now another issue had presented itself. Since this Ursa Deity had tried to look into Liam’s information using the Divine Eye, he must have noticed that certain information was sealed off from his sight. He could either pass it off as insignificant or something suspicious. He was really hoping for the former instead of the latter, but he’d have to wait and see.
“Let us end this discussion here for now,” Uncle Naro suddenly stated.
It was subtle, but Liam felt the man’s body suddenly tense for a split second through the grip of his hands. The tension had come and gone so fast he had almost missed it, but from the look in the man’s eyes, the distant expression one would get after receiving a notification, Liam knew something was up. He didn’t like that. Like how Eri would send him messages through notifications, there was a chance Ursa could do the same. He didn’t know for sure, but if he had to guess if that was the case then he would throw all his eggs in that basket.
I’ll need to prepare some countermeasures in case something goes wrong after this. Liam thought to himself after slowly standing back to his feet. He noticed Uncle Naro’s gaze was now focused on him. There wasn’t any signs of the man wanting to hurt him or restrain him, so he readied himself for whatever the man would say next. The words that came out of the bear of a man’s mouth was not ones he was expecting.
“Get some rest. I’m not sending you into the dungeon today, after all that had happened last night I am sure everyone is confused and tired. I’ll have everyone work on some things to train for the day. After you have rested though I have a lot I want you to get through today. Majority of it will be crafts and the other part will be getting your Mana Hands levels as high as we can get them. It seems that you have sparked an interest in Ursa, and he wants me to get you to ready to learn…a certain fighting skill.”
“What?” Liam spluttered. He was ready for the deity to try and convince Uncle Naro to either attack him or restrain him so he could pry open the sealed information. However, the deity was interested…in him? What did he find interesting about him?
Before Liam could ask this, Uncle Naro sensed the question coming and beat him to it by informing, “He finds it interesting that you are a Crafter looking to learn how to fight. He sees the potential you could have especially since you are similar to me in that aspect. He is also allowing this because you have some Beast-kin in you. And as a fellow Beast-kin you should have this fighting skill. As a half Beast-kin it will be tough, but it could come in handy for you.”
“Uh,” Liam stupidly responded. He really wasn’t sure what to think about this. However, he felt this was a good opportunity that he couldn’t pass up. Even Eri agreed with that feeling as she sent him a message saying to accept it. After taking a moment to collect himself, he finally said, “Alright. Tell him I said thank you for allowing me to receive this opportunity.”
Uncle Naro let out a laugh as he said, “I wouldn’t go thanking him yet. This fighting skill isn’t easy and will have some backlash if done wrong. However, your first hurdle to even start learning this fighting style will be whether or not you can unlock the Field required to learn it.”
Liam’s curiosity peaked at this. What could this field be that he would need to gain in order to learn what this Deity was offering him? Not only that, but it was something he could receive only because he was half Beast-kin. If he was thinking right, that meant this was a racial field of study exclusively for the Beast-kin. That made him even more excited.
Liam nodded his head. “I will do all that I can to make sure I get that field,” Liam said confidently.
Liam’s confidence and words made Uncle Naro laugh out loud again. “Then get some rest so we can get you to that starting point.”
Liam turned away and made his way to his tent. Upon his way, a smile grew on his face. That smile didn’t have anything to do with what he was just told or offered. No, it was there because through his heightened hearing he could hear his teammates making their way back to their beds from their tent entrances. It seemed that they had felt a disturbance and were ready in case anything happened.
Even if Uncle Naro was a lot more powerful than they all were, they were ready to fight back and make sure he was safe. He couldn’t help but smile at that. Even though his old friends were ready to disregard him as useless, he had made some really good friends that were ready to stand and either protect or fight alongside him no matter who their opponent was. He couldn’t have asked for better friends.