Mindful Mouth and Swift Consumption were quick to be dismissed. TJ would like either of them, but compared to the other three, they just weren’t worth it, at least for now. The next decision, though, was effectively between Wind Manipulation or the other two Skills. Crushing Body and Shredding Bite, though different in form, would serve the same purpose for TJ right now. Both would serve to immediately grant him 6 Strength, and as he continued to grow, even more. As a coatl, that would be 12, and TJ knew that if one of his doubled attributes received such an obvious buff, it would be immensely impactful.
On the other hand, Wind Manipulation would serve to broaden the scope of what TJ could do without providing any attribute bonus. He’d seen what Wind Manipulation could do, but he suspected that even at the Dirt tier, the Skill would be immensely useful. At Copper and beyond, the Skill could become one of the key ways TJ functioned inside and out of combat. Kukulkan has flown in his vision, and TJ suspected that the series of small wings patterned down his back were not the sole reason he’d been able to. Then, TJ asked the System the question that made his decision for him.
“If I go and learn the Wind Manipulation Skill through practice instead of this selection, how will it manifest? I mean, I know it will never quite compare to the System-granted one, but how close will it get?”
An ability acquired through practice will be impossible to have ever reach your own tier of Divinity. The only exception to the impossibility of said Skill progression can take place at the time of seizing True Divinity at the Ruthenium (VII) Tier. If you dedicate the primary domain of your initial godhood to the domain of the skies, the Wind Manipulation ability you have acquired through personal practice will be able to reach the same tier as your Divinity. If you instead have the Skill Wind Manipulation and progress to the Ruthenium (VII) tier while devoting your primary domain to be the skies, your Skill will evolve to be one tier above your own. If you have a stipulation within the Skill that allows it to surpass your current tier, that stipulation will remain valid, thus, in your case, at the Ruthenium (VII) tier, your Wind Manipulation Skill would be at the Iridium (VIII) tier while under the influence of your Divine Transformation Skill, your Wind Manipulation Skill would reach the Osmium (IX) tier.
TJ couldn’t begin to say what he would do when he reached the levels of a lesser god, but he suspected that the stronger he became, the more he would depend on the influence of his Skills. Of course, his attributes would be the vehicle that carried his Skills, but there was something that told him that Skills would be the true determiner of power.
“Select Wind Manipulation.”
As when he’d gained the Primal Savagery Skill, TJ’s body seized up, though differently from with his Occupation Skill, there was no tingle down his spine. Instead, his vision swam as suddenly he could perceive winds like they were white wisps of mist, and TJ’s mind fought to understand what was happening. The air somehow spoke to him, asking for his next command, for his blessing, to bless him, and so much more. It was flighty, constantly emoting, begging for attention. TJ’s mind opened to the somehow living wind, his sense of self slipping away. The wind moved, through the trees, through the broken windows, through his hair, through a cave, through TJ’s nostrils. It stopped there, gently frozen in the warm body. The heartbeat quickened, afraid of something. That was no concern. He was the wind, the movement through the eons, that which tore down trees and carried their seeds, that which pushed the birds and carved stone. What did the breathing of one individual matter to him?
With a gasp, TJ fought to slowly close his perception of the wind’s voice to allow him to hear his own. Feeling himself flow through his body was disturbing, to say the least. Though the new Skill drew him in and promised power, growth, and, most importantly, a path back to his son, it wouldn’t mean anything if TJ was no longer himself on that path. Usually, TJ would go through a breathing exercise, but for now, he felt that would be a bad idea. Instead, he moved consciously, grounding himself by touching the walls, which were wooden, or feeling the carpet underfoot, which was shag and worn. Then, TJ took a deep drink from his water, feeling the cool liquid all the way down his throat as well as the chilly porcelain cup in his hands.
It took a couple of minutes, but TJ eventually found himself feeling like a human again, instead of a breeze. He opened his eyes and looked around the sitting room. Stanton stood with his head cocked to the side, looking at TJ.
“You good, son?”
“I… am now.” TJ blinked hard a couple of times.
“Your Skill do something?”
“I guess you could say that. Made me feel like I was the air I breathed while I breathed it.” He didn’t elaborate.
Stanton grunted.
He couldn’t help it. TJ laughed at the stoic man, but quickly gathered himself, instead asking, “Are we nearly ready to go?”
“Once you finish packing.”
Only then did TJ realize that Stanton had taken half the supplies and packed them carefully into his own backpack which sat next to the door. The other half of the supplies, TJ’s, he assumed, were scattered somewhat neatly around the other bag, the bag itself laid limply on the ground, unloved and forgotten. Without complaint, TJ set to filling his pack with the heaviest things first, trying to keep it as balanced and comfortable as possible. As he finished and tossed his old backpack on the top for good measure, TJ asked, “Those goblin things called you blood of the Morrigan. That your Bloodline?”
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Stanton grunted in response, then seemed to decide to actually answer. “Yeah. Crow goddess of death and war or something. Supposedly, this gun is blessed by her.” He held the luminescent pistol up, again immensely careful with his trigger discipline as he did so. “Don’t know anything else about her. You?”
“I think she’s Celtic?”
A grunt.
“Sorry, grouchy. Didn’t know anything else.”
Grunt.
TJ chuckled under his breath as he continued to fill his pack with the necessities that he’d initially grabbed in his mad dash. “You get anything else that might help us on our journey towards Pine?”
“Not really. You got most of the good stuff already.” There was a grudging sense of appreciation in Staton’s reply this time, and TJ smiled as he finished his packing. Content to leave in silence, Stanton surprised TJ when he asked, “If you end up becoming that God or whatever, what’ll you want to do?”
“Just be with Junior. I don’t really care about the rest of whatever deification offers me, so my focus isn’t on the Throne, just getting to the point that the System will let me hold my son again.”
Stanton levelled a gaze at TJ that let him know he’d forgotten something obvious, something that would make him feel exceptionally foolish.
“What?”
“You wouldn’t bring back your wife?”
The thought, something he’d so long shoved aside, stabbed into TJ. How had he never thought of that? Even so, he already knew the answer. He’d been so focused on getting Junior back that TJ’d never thought of what the position and power of a god could offer him. Mari being back. Her sweet hazel eyes crinkled up while laughing at something stupid he’d said. Junior’s uncontrollable giggles from the other room as his mom tickled him. The feel of her lips as she kissed away his teasing. Waking up to her listening to jazz while she cooked pancakes and bacon. Putting his hand on her thigh as he drove. The laughs. The joy.
A happily full life.
Tears stung at TJ’s eyes, and he let them fall without resistance. He missed her desperately. To see her with Junior now, to watch her make up for lost time would be glorious. They’d both always wanted to be parents, and they could be that again.
“System. Could I… bring Mari back? The real her, not some illusion or whatever? Really… be with her again?”
Once one climbs to the Orichalcum (X) tier of Divinity, death no longer holds the same permanence that it does for mortals. If one sits upon the Divine Throne, then they rule all of creation. The Ascension to the Throne changes the mind and body of the Participant, but once one becomes God, their power is unlimited and limitations nonexistent.
“Yeah.” TJ choked out. “I’d bring her back.”
“It was the first thing I ever asked the System.” Stanton answered, his own voice soft. “We got to live our lives, though, so I’m mostly ok with life going the way it goes.”
“You’re not going to try to ‘win’ this thing? You don’t care about anything else? You’ve thought more about this than I have.”
“I’m not gonna go out like a wet fart. I’ll fight whatever tries to stop me. But I’m rooting for you, kid. You’ve got so much more to fight for, so much of life you’ve missed. You young’uns are the future and so on. You don’t have the same past and so on as me. So, see if you can’t help me and Marva out if you get to the top.”
TJ scoffed. “I'll help you out, you coot. Just walk with me as far as you can go.”
A grunt. “Ready?”
TJ almost answered in the affirmative, but then he remembered that he had yet to explore his newest Skill, as well as the restrictions on his other. Before that, though…
The younger man bowed his head and clasped his hands. “Kukulkan. Um… thank you for giving me this… opportunity, I guess. Glad you’ve given me the Skills I have, they’ve been helpful. Please help me keep going. Like, I know Junior needs me, and that vision I had before was pretty helpful in guiding me to make this choice. So, thank you, and keep helping, if you can. Amen.”
He felt like he should say some sort of prayer but he stumbled over the words, and felt stupid. Even more so when the System chimed in with a response.
The Divines are all dead, even the final god who ascended to the Divine Throne. There is nobody to listen to your prayers. If you desire to listen to and bless others who pray, ascend to the lowest tier of true Divinity (Ruthenium (VII)), at which point you can truly become the object of worship of your followers.
“Not what I was getting at.” TJ grumbled, but he left it aside. Even if Kukulkan was beyond existence and couldn’t hear TJ’s words any longer, gratitude was just polite. Now, he wanted to begin to explore his Wind Manipulation Skill, but for now, he was too afraid to dive back into the Skill before he’d grounded himself. Thus, TJ began testing how Primal Savagery functioned.
It didn’t take long for his rudimentary scientific method bore results: the Skill was wholly unaffected by regular clothes. TJ could keep the boxers, shorts, socks, and shirt on and never have a problem with the Skill’s activation. His shoes and jacket, however, kept him from benefiting from the Skill. Near as he could figure, it was because they protected him from the weather and rocks and whatever else he’d step on, and so became equipment.
“We have the materials for moccasins.” Stanton said as they decided to do something about TJ’s situation. “The jacket’s easy enough to put on and take off, but the shoes are important. Even with however tough your feet are, walking around this forest without shoes will suck at best. Might lose toes or something else if you’re unlucky.”
TJ remembered following some pre-cut slipper design at scout camp decades ago, but he remembered nothing about it. Stanton read it in his eyes and sighed. “I don’t know how much of it will count, so we’ll make the string and thread your new shoes with it.”
“How am I supposed to make the string?”
“It’ll be dirty. Get your good clothes off and follow me.”