‘I believe that we acquired gold many days ago, Mother Carapace,’ the Core sent back to the Queen, not quite sure what she was talking about. A lot of materials had been attained back when she had shown off the bag of coins so why exactly was she so excited about finding it again? If she needed more of it, she could have just asked the Core to create some for her.

‘I know we did, you idiot!’ the Queen retorted. The words were harsh but the tone was… happy? Just what kind of situation was this again? The Core couldn’t recall that many points were being rude and happy about it happening. They were stepping into an entirely new situation never tried before. ‘It’s a metaphor.’

Oh, that made slightly more sense. Metaphors. The Entity had never been too happy with those. Just saying things outright would be much easier and streamline conversation perfectly. Perhaps it could even increase the efficiency with newer beings such as itself. Being expected to know the infinite amount of variations was quite hard to live up to.

‘If it is a metaphor, and since gold is looked at lucratively in many societies, I can only interpret that you have found something of equal value?’ the Core questioned. Putting away the project of levelling creatures up, the Entity went back to look at what the two other intelligent beings had been doing in its absence.

The answer to that was not too long. They were standing just about the same place, neither looking too dishevelled. The man had calmed down but did seem slightly tense, though that could have been due to the long silence. The Queen was busy talking with the Core, after all. Conversation among equals was known to take a rather long time.

‘I suppose you can call it something like that,’ the ant said rather smugly. ‘I suppose that memory of yours should allow you to remember that tidbit you wanted me to question the Druid about. The whole out-of-body experience that you had trouble explaining makes a lot more sense in context.’

‘Then I would appreciate that you give me the context,’ the Entity requested, not liking how long the truth was taking to come out.

‘How about you just look at the kid’s [Skill Screen] and tell me what you see?’ the Queen advised, her tone rather smug. ‘From what he’s been hinting at, I think it might be longer than we had initially expected from him.’

That… did sound rather enticing. The Core wasted no real-time before opening up the screen with the help of [Appraisal]. The findings within were something quite new. A high [Rarity] in a new skill at the very least.

Skill-Name

Rarity

Description

Cost

Astral-Projection

Very Rare

Allows the user to project their soul outside their physical body

Passive

Mana-Sense

Rare

Allows for the user to sense [Mana Currents]

Passive

Mana-Manipulation

Rare

Allows for the user to manipulate [Mana Currents]

Passive

Animal-Call

Uncommon

Allows the user to emulate animal calls previously heard

15SP

Knife-Mastery

Common

Allows the user to wield knives with more proficiency

Passive

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Herbalism

Uncommon

Allows the user to cultivate plants with more proficiency

Passive

Call of the Wild

Rare

Allows the user to call the Wild to his aid

40MP

It was quite the long list, though the Core supposed that any humanoid that had lived for long would know at least a few skills good enough that the [System] would reward them for it. With the skill as a [Druid], it was obvious that the [Mana-Manipulation] and [Mana-Sense] were there and the [Animal-Call] did fit in well with the class as a whole. Perhaps [Herbalism] as well, though the Entity wasn’t too sure what that meant. [Knife-Mastery] likely had some less precise origins though the man had seen quite adept at slitting the throats of others.

Now… [Call of the Wild] and [Astral-Projection] were the two that the Core was most uncertain about. Being able to make the so-called Wild do anything at all did sound impressive yet the low cost made the Core think that it likely meant something else than what the Entity thought it did. Questions about that were most likely needed.

The first skill on the list, however? Its presence made a lot of sense, the description most certainly bringing things into perspective. To [Project] one's soul outside of one's body seemed quite powerful. With how the man had been able to interact with the world while in that state, the Core knew that it wanted to learn it if possible. There was some wondering if it would be possible to use other spells in that state as well… That would be powerful.

‘I think I see what you mean,’ the Core confessed to the Queen after a few more moments of looking the skills over. Most of them were passive but that meant little. Sending the information over to the Queen, she didn’t seem too surprised by it. ‘Are there any you want to know more about as well?’

‘The [Astral-Projection] is just about what I expected but [Call of the Wild] is entirely new to me,’ the Queen confessed. ‘Since we don’t have any concrete time limits on either, though, I think I’ll just run through the most important bits.’

The Core had no real objects to that, instead just sitting back and enjoying the show. It could perhaps have continued the project in the background but it decided to put a wait on that for now. It didn’t want to miss any parts of the current conversation.

“You could just have called it what it was instead of trying to explain it badly, you know,” the Queen said out loud to the [Druid]. “While you might not think it, you are not the first person I’ve met who could use [Astral-Projection]. It’s not too rare in the eastern countries.”

“I find both of those statements hard to believe,” Buck the humanoid said, rolling his eyeballs in a manner the Core couldn’t think healthy nor could find any reason for. “Weren’t you meant to have been created just ten minutes ago?”

“This body was created ten minutes ago,” the Queen corrected. “My soul is older than that of your mother’s.”

“You realize my mother was the elf, right?” the half-elf questioned.

“You realize I already searched through your genetic makeup, right?” the ant who had been in the market for a long time retorted. “I know more about your ancestry than anybody else. As a fun fact to prove it. A great-grandfather of yours was either part-lizard or had an [Scale-Disorder].”

“Yeah, my…” the also half-human began to say but stopped when he realized how much the Queen knew. The fact of silent shock and acceptance was something the Core didn’t see often. It was quite humorous. “You've proven your point. What do you want to know about it?”

“I want to know how proficient you are,” the Queen said. “How far a distance can you go safely?”

“My record a year ago was five meters,” the Druid confessed, not sounding too happy about that fact. “But since I increased the skill level just a bit ago, I think I might be able to do more.”

“See to it that you try. Training this skill will be vital for your importance here. Get good at it and we might have more orders for you,” the Queen ordered. “Going over to the history part, however, how exactly did you learn this?”

“I didn’t learn it. I could do it as a kid,” the druid stated, his facial features contorting for a few moments. “Almost died from it when I was five. I tried to leave the house without realizing my body was still in the bed. If a mage nearby hadn’t noticed, I would most likely have turned into an [Apparition].”

“So it’s natural?” the ant surmised with a small nod to herself. The man grunted an affirmation to her words. “It’s quite rare among elves. To be quite honest, I don’t think I’ve heard of a half-elf having it.”

“That’s because most of us are killed before we get born,” the Druid explained. “Gotta keep the elven bloodline pure and all. You’d think such a peaceful race would be more inclined in the acceptance of others but they truly have no love towards anything but themselves.”

A rise in blood pressure was noted there along with brows furrowing. Anger was the Core’s guess. It wondered if it was due to a more personal history rather than a general one about the race. It swayed towards the former.

“They like to keep quiet about the wars they started a few centuries back,” the Queen agreed. “Most people living these days don’t even know about it.”

“... I did not know about that,” the man said, tilting his head up in thought. A new perspective seemed to have hit him harder than normal. “When we get the time, would you mind talking a bit more about that? I am kinda curious about it now.”

“Glad you asked. And, yes, I could at a later time. For now, I think I still have to ask a few things about another skill of yours,” the Queen accepted, taking things back to the original point. The Core knew it would be listening to both conversations along the way.

“Oh, sure. Which one do you need to know about?” the Druid asked.

“[Call of the Wild]. I can’t say that I have heard about that skill of yours before,” Mother Carapace stated. The words were quite weird to hear, the Core having grown accustomed to her knowing just about everything. “Would you mean explaining to me just what it’s supposed to be?”

“That’s my general offensive ability,” the [Druid] explained. “It’s relatively weak when compared to other abilities with similar Mana-Requirements but its versatility is pretty high. I mainly use it for the wind-pushes that it can do but it can also make nearby leaves cut a target, can make the earth shake to some degree, and can increase the power of a water stream for a limited time. The level at which it does it depends on how much energy I put in but the effects don’t scale linearly with the costs. After some point, putting in more Mana doesn't do anything but make me empty my energy quicker.”

“Increasing the skill makes the effect larger while also allowing you to put in more?” the Queen guessed, clearly expecting herself to be right.

“Exactly,” the Druid answered. “It did nothing at the start but a few years of encounters has allowed me to get it up a few times. While I can’t kill outright, I can most certainly work it as a utility.”

“And that would be great if you were in a group,” the Queen continued for the man. “But you are going to be working alone soon. I suppose we should set up some form of a training regimen for you.”

The look of defeat on the man’s face was once again completely unlike the Core’s expectations. Who didn’t like an improvement?