I spent a few minutes looking around, but the human had truly fled. At the same time I still had to stick by the Prophecy.
I decided against using my attribute points, instead opting to save them for later. Thinking about it I just felt lost on what to use them on, and it was better to simply wait, rather than using them without thinking too deeply about it — which was what I had been doing. It was better for me to focus on quests and other things, that said Ecology Dissection III was in a weird spot. First, there was the notification of killing the Knell Boar.
[For killing a being of a higher order bonus experience has been rewarded. Bonus added to Quest targets.]
And then there was the quest itself.
[Ecology Dissection III (Uncommon E) — Progress (5/15)]
I certainly didn’t remember killing so many level 10+ enemies. I had only killed the snake guardian and that was about it. So between two enemies that gave quest progress — which I felt that the Knell Boar shouldn’t give me progress — I was already about one-third done with it. That just seemed wrong?
[Don’t worry Blair!] Glim chimed in. [The Knell Boar is a D rank beast after all, so even if it is lower level, it is stronger than you. For example, if you tried to tackle it head on, the first thing that would happen is—] it paused. [Your shoulder blade would break, the shock would travel to your clavicle and expand to your body, perhaps your spine would suffer severe damage, the pain would be so crippling that you’d need to drink a health potion! Something you currently don’t have! And if you didn’t then you’d be near dying after the fact!]
I paused. “I guess so?”
Glim bobbed. [So, yes! It is totally fair!]
Aha.
[Anyway, it’s not relevant. Prophecy time!]
I shook my head and turned to the tree stump in the distance, the ground was split and messy, the trees around it had fallen, but in spite of everything, it remained there. A golden flower of no flaws, amber and golden, transparent, glittering, charming. It was as if it were glass, sparkling with a dozen colors from the starlight of the night.
I approached it and the first thing I did was inquire it.
[D ranked Prophecy: Blossoms of Harvest
“Things were always bleak, but if I can at least make a small difference, then I will be happy.” — ???
Trial grounds: No.
Conditions: Yes (Touch to expand).]
A sigh left me and I briefly considered not touching it — it was D rank too — which Glim seemed to take offense to.
[You must touch it! The conditions can always be minor, any type of clause or request must be stipulated as a condition! So even if they ask you to simply bow before them, it is considered a condition. If they ask you to drink with them, it is considered a condition! Such are the things of The System!]
Hearing Glim’s reasoning I begrudgingly reached my hand. Glim was right in a few ways, perhaps it was a simple condition to fulfill, and I would miss it simply because of a sour experience with a previous Prophecy. I could always try to make my own. As Glim had mentioned it was possible, but I didn’t have the time to do so.
My hand paused. “Glim, what is a Prophecy?”
It bobbed. [Did I never— You— Huh… I never told you…] It seemed to ponder. [Well, for starters a Prophecy is a sort of calling? It’s like your destiny if you will. Though perhaps that is wrong, it’s more like a set of skills that branch from the same concept, this concept tends to be very specific and branches outwards. So eventually a lot of fire-based Prophecies will share similar traits for instance. But that’s not what you’re asking. Hmm…]
Glim went silent for a second.
[Okay, okay, ok! I got it!] It spun. [A prophecy is like a specialization of combat, though they are not all combat related it’s basically a gift from The System, it allows a mastery of a concept though well, as you’ve seen with the bird, this concept is very loose. The visions are akin to guidance, or the core of this concept. The Guardian of The Last Flame and the Undying Wisp, both are from the same thing, but different. How a Prophecy works for you is also interpretation. After all, it’s called Undying, but the Guardian is very dead.] It chuckled. [I hope that answers your question Blair.]
I nodded. “So to make my own Prophecy I would need to discover this concept?”
[That is right! You’re learning so fast! It must be thanks to me—]
I ignored Glim as soon as it started to speak about unimportant things, and finally decided to grab the Prophecy. I knew I could create my own, but definitely not in the amount of time left in the Skirmish. I had to be stronger. And for that. I needed help. A final look at the Prophecy gave me the valor to do it. I grabbed the stem of the flower.
A tingle spread through my fingers along with information, I closed my eyes just like last time. My vision became an infinite void, and just like before— there was light. Visions. A never-ending field of flowers with a golden luster, a plantation of the same kind of flower. Everything was the same. No matter where I looked, where I saw, the same kind of flower. The mountains encroached and rose from the horizon, once more, the same.
My vision changed. Sun streamed down from a window, the insides were barren, dirty, warm and brown. Straw flooring, high temperature. In front of me were two beings, ones who I could not recognize or clearly see. Their figure was pitch-black and the only recognizable features were their burly arms and spiked backs. One of them was laying on the ground, and the other was slouched looking down.
The slouched one shifted and reached into its form, bringing out a small flower— golden and sparkling. The other one that laid seemed to be weak and frail, the flower was brought closer, it seemed to emanate some sort of warmth for as soon as it was close, it stopped shaking. Then the flower was pressed onto its chest, and it disappeared.
A golden glow enveloped the being, and its body seemed to relax. The effect seemed familiar to me somehow. A brief second later its muscles bulged, and it stood up as if nothing happened. It gave a happy hug to the other shadow, and then everything returned back to normal.
The information from the start came to me.
A Prophecy to heal others…
The conditions however…
{Never cause intentional harm.}
Yeahhh— Nooo…
There were a few others but all of them were like the previous one, however in this case, the race that gave the Prophecy simply wanted the occasional help. So instead of being a slave you’d be an acquaintance of sorts. It didn’t seem that bad to me all things considered, but the condition was… it was something I couldn’t take, not something I could even consider for that matter.
I shook my head and simply left the flower there. Well not like I could do anything. The pillar coming from the Prophecy changed from a red to a golden color. I didn’t really understand the significance of the pillars of light, but at least for now I couldn’t really rely on the colors to make a choice. I simply turned and went back into the forest in search of Matt and the others. Thankfully it didn’t take more than a few seconds to find them.
Matt looked at me, he seemed a bit anxious. “Is everything okay? What about the Prophecy?”
“Yeah everything is okay, as far as the Prophecy goes. Well, it allows you to heal people, but one of the conditions is to never harm anyone?” I shook my head.
Matt scratched his head. “Yeah that sounds kind of rough, I heard fighting are you alright?”
“Yeah, some Human full of mud tried to get me killed by a Knell Boar, he fled after getting injured,” I said feeling a tinge of annoyance.
Matt frowned. “Must’ve been Dante.” His voice was surprisingly hostile.
I recalled his attempt to try to get me killed followed by the fact that I had nailed his leg. I took a look at Matt’s expression only to see him expectantly looking at me with a hardened face. I had already gotten some sort of revenge, plus I had also leveled up, so with that in mind, I didn’t feel too annoyed about his actions any more.
“I shot his leg with an arrow.”
Matt nodded. “Good for him.”
Not knowing what to do about Matt, I moved on. “Well, let’s get to the next pillar,” I signaled.
The two girls shifted awkwardly, and Andrea pushed the other one— Samantha was it? She spoke a bit nervously. “If it’s not too much to ask, can I claim the Prophecy?”
I paused. “You won’t be able to hurt anything, you know?” Granted I didn’t know the punishment for failing to comply, it was something better avoided.
[Oh, the punishment is death!] Glim hurriedly explained. A sigh left me.
“You’ll die from breaking the agreement with the Prophecy,” I added.
Samantha nodded with a steel-like will, which surprised me. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I still want to be useful.”
“Sure then, it’s not like I own it.”
Hearing my approval she instantly lit up and hugged her friend in an odd display of affection. Were humans that affectionate with each other? She squealed with glee before finally calming down and hurrying towards the Prophecy, all of us following after her— the sooner the better after all.
As she approached and her friend watched, Matt stood by my side.
“Are you okay with this?”
“With what?” I raised my brow.
He scratched his head. “At this rate all of us might get a Prophecy before you, does that not bother you?”
“I didn’t think about it,” I admitted. “But even if it bothers me, I need a Prophecy that suits me, this one does not.”
Matt was silent.
“I know what you mean… I want something that allows me to remain by the side of the humans.”
“You must really love Humans, huh?”
He nodded. “The more I think about it, the more I want us all to survive. Sure there are shitty people out there, but I think we got something special. I want to help preserve it.”
“I see.”
“I want to be strong,” he paused and turned to me, making me meet his gaze. “I want to be strong like you.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, his words were silly to me, but it didn’t matter too much.
“It doesn’t change my thoughts,” Matt declared. “That said, I hope you and I can find our Prophecies.”
I absentmindedly agreed, turning to the sky.
Being honest… It worried me.
Being unable to find a Prophecy.
But at least, I still had one in case of having no options…
I stared ahead, Samantha reached the flower and in an instant, she shone. A warm light enveloped her as the flower disintegrated into golden globes of light, small like specks of ash. In just a few seconds the flower was consumed. Her body remained enveloped with warmth for a second, before she finally stood up and turned to us.
Her eyes had changed to a golden honey color, though she seemed mostly the same.
“So, this is a Prophecy…” she said with doubt looking at her hands.
“Well?” Andrea asked expectantly, though was promptly ignored.
She walked up to me with slow and measured steps before standing in front of me.
“Blair,” she bowed deeply, which made me raise a brow. “Thank you for this opportunity. I don’t know elven customs, but this is my appreciation. Please accept it.” She stood up, and extended her palm towards me.
A small blob coalesced, and slowly detached from her. It was golden and transparent. It reached me with its floating incorporeal body, and as soon as it did, it spread into nothingness on my chest. A feeling of warmth soon came. It extended throughout my body, soothing all of it in an instant, relieving my fatigue and pain.
Samantha smiled, but her smile froze as she opened her mouth with half doubt.
“I leveled up from that?”
[Human. Lvl. 8]
She was the same level as Matt now. Huh.
Her voice drifted into a whisper. “And I got bonus stat points from it?”
I spent a few minutes looking around, but the human had truly fled. At the same time I still had to stick by the Prophecy.
I decided against using my attribute points, instead opting to save them for later. Thinking about it I just felt lost on what to use them on, and it was better to simply wait, rather than using them without thinking too deeply about it — which was what I had been doing. It was better for me to focus on quests and other things, that said Ecology Dissection III was in a weird spot. First, there was the notification of killing the Knell Boar.
[For killing a being of a higher order bonus experience has been rewarded. Bonus added to Quest targets.]
And then there was the quest itself.
[Ecology Dissection III (Uncommon E) — Progress (5/15)]
I certainly didn’t remember killing so many level 10+ enemies. I had only killed the snake guardian and that was about it. So between two enemies that gave quest progress — which I felt that the Knell Boar shouldn’t give me progress — I was already about one-third done with it. That just seemed wrong?
[Don’t worry Blair!] Glim chimed in. [The Knell Boar is a D rank beast after all, so even if it is lower level, it is stronger than you. For example, if you tried to tackle it head on, the first thing that would happen is—] it paused. [Your shoulder blade would break, the shock would travel to your clavicle and expand to your body, perhaps your spine would suffer severe damage, the pain would be so crippling that you’d need to drink a health potion! Something you currently don’t have! And if you didn’t then you’d be near dying after the fact!]
I paused. “I guess so?”
Glim bobbed. [So, yes! It is totally fair!]
Aha.
[Anyway, it’s not relevant. Prophecy time!]
I shook my head and turned to the tree stump in the distance, the ground was split and messy, the trees around it had fallen, but in spite of everything, it remained there. A golden flower of no flaws, amber and golden, transparent, glittering, charming. It was as if it were glass, sparkling with a dozen colors from the starlight of the night.
I approached it and the first thing I did was inquire it.
[D ranked Prophecy: Blossoms of Harvest
“Things were always bleak, but if I can at least make a small difference, then I will be happy.” — ???
Trial grounds: No.
Conditions: Yes (Touch to expand).]
A sigh left me and I briefly considered not touching it — it was D rank too — which Glim seemed to take offense to.
[You must touch it! The conditions can always be minor, any type of clause or request must be stipulated as a condition! So even if they ask you to simply bow before them, it is considered a condition. If they ask you to drink with them, it is considered a condition! Such are the things of The System!]
Hearing Glim’s reasoning I begrudgingly reached my hand. Glim was right in a few ways, perhaps it was a simple condition to fulfill, and I would miss it simply because of a sour experience with a previous Prophecy. I could always try to make my own. As Glim had mentioned it was possible, but I didn’t have the time to do so.
My hand paused. “Glim, what is a Prophecy?”
It bobbed. [Did I never— You— Huh… I never told you…] It seemed to ponder. [Well, for starters a Prophecy is a sort of calling? It’s like your destiny if you will. Though perhaps that is wrong, it’s more like a set of skills that branch from the same concept, this concept tends to be very specific and branches outwards. So eventually a lot of fire-based Prophecies will share similar traits for instance. But that’s not what you’re asking. Hmm…]
Glim went silent for a second.
[Okay, okay, ok! I got it!] It spun. [A prophecy is like a specialization of combat, though they are not all combat related it’s basically a gift from The System, it allows a mastery of a concept though well, as you’ve seen with the bird, this concept is very loose. The visions are akin to guidance, or the core of this concept. The Guardian of The Last Flame and the Undying Wisp, both are from the same thing, but different. How a Prophecy works for you is also interpretation. After all, it’s called Undying, but the Guardian is very dead.] It chuckled. [I hope that answers your question Blair.]
I nodded. “So to make my own Prophecy I would need to discover this concept?”
[That is right! You’re learning so fast! It must be thanks to me—]
I ignored Glim as soon as it started to speak about unimportant things, and finally decided to grab the Prophecy. I knew I could create my own, but definitely not in the amount of time left in the Skirmish. I had to be stronger. And for that. I needed help. A final look at the Prophecy gave me the valor to do it. I grabbed the stem of the flower.
A tingle spread through my fingers along with information, I closed my eyes just like last time. My vision became an infinite void, and just like before— there was light. Visions. A never-ending field of flowers with a golden luster, a plantation of the same kind of flower. Everything was the same. No matter where I looked, where I saw, the same kind of flower. The mountains encroached and rose from the horizon, once more, the same.
My vision changed. Sun streamed down from a window, the insides were barren, dirty, warm and brown. Straw flooring, high temperature. In front of me were two beings, ones who I could not recognize or clearly see. Their figure was pitch-black and the only recognizable features were their burly arms and spiked backs. One of them was laying on the ground, and the other was slouched looking down.
The slouched one shifted and reached into its form, bringing out a small flower— golden and sparkling. The other one that laid seemed to be weak and frail, the flower was brought closer, it seemed to emanate some sort of warmth for as soon as it was close, it stopped shaking. Then the flower was pressed onto its chest, and it disappeared.
A golden glow enveloped the being, and its body seemed to relax. The effect seemed familiar to me somehow. A brief second later its muscles bulged, and it stood up as if nothing happened. It gave a happy hug to the other shadow, and then everything returned back to normal.
The information from the start came to me.
A Prophecy to heal others…
The conditions however…
{Never cause intentional harm.}
Yeahhh— Nooo…
There were a few others but all of them were like the previous one, however in this case, the race that gave the Prophecy simply wanted the occasional help. So instead of being a slave you’d be an acquaintance of sorts. It didn’t seem that bad to me all things considered, but the condition was… it was something I couldn’t take, not something I could even consider for that matter.
I shook my head and simply left the flower there. Well not like I could do anything. The pillar coming from the Prophecy changed from a red to a golden color. I didn’t really understand the significance of the pillars of light, but at least for now I couldn’t really rely on the colors to make a choice. I simply turned and went back into the forest in search of Matt and the others. Thankfully it didn’t take more than a few seconds to find them.
Matt looked at me, he seemed a bit anxious. “Is everything okay? What about the Prophecy?”
“Yeah everything is okay, as far as the Prophecy goes. Well, it allows you to heal people, but one of the conditions is to never harm anyone?” I shook my head.
Matt scratched his head. “Yeah that sounds kind of rough, I heard fighting are you alright?”
“Yeah, some Human full of mud tried to get me killed by a Knell Boar, he fled after getting injured,” I said feeling a tinge of annoyance.
Matt frowned. “Must’ve been Dante.” His voice was surprisingly hostile.
I recalled his attempt to try to get me killed followed by the fact that I had nailed his leg. I took a look at Matt’s expression only to see him expectantly looking at me with a hardened face. I had already gotten some sort of revenge, plus I had also leveled up, so with that in mind, I didn’t feel too annoyed about his actions any more.
“I shot his leg with an arrow.”
Matt nodded. “Good for him.”
Not knowing what to do about Matt, I moved on. “Well, let’s get to the next pillar,” I signaled.
The two girls shifted awkwardly, and Andrea pushed the other one— Samantha was it? She spoke a bit nervously. “If it’s not too much to ask, can I claim the Prophecy?”
I paused. “You won’t be able to hurt anything, you know?” Granted I didn’t know the punishment for failing to comply, it was something better avoided.
[Oh, the punishment is death!] Glim hurriedly explained. A sigh left me.
“You’ll die from breaking the agreement with the Prophecy,” I added.
Samantha nodded with a steel-like will, which surprised me. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I still want to be useful.”
“Sure then, it’s not like I own it.”
Hearing my approval she instantly lit up and hugged her friend in an odd display of affection. Were humans that affectionate with each other? She squealed with glee before finally calming down and hurrying towards the Prophecy, all of us following after her— the sooner the better after all.
As she approached and her friend watched, Matt stood by my side.
“Are you okay with this?”
“With what?” I raised my brow.
He scratched his head. “At this rate all of us might get a Prophecy before you, does that not bother you?”
“I didn’t think about it,” I admitted. “But even if it bothers me, I need a Prophecy that suits me, this one does not.”
Matt was silent.
“I know what you mean… I want something that allows me to remain by the side of the humans.”
“You must really love Humans, huh?”
He nodded. “The more I think about it, the more I want us all to survive. Sure there are shitty people out there, but I think we got something special. I want to help preserve it.”
“I see.”
“I want to be strong,” he paused and turned to me, making me meet his gaze. “I want to be strong like you.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, his words were silly to me, but it didn’t matter too much.
“It doesn’t change my thoughts,” Matt declared. “That said, I hope you and I can find our Prophecies.”
I absentmindedly agreed, turning to the sky.
Being honest… It worried me.
Being unable to find a Prophecy.
But at least, I still had one in case of having no options…
I stared ahead, Samantha reached the flower and in an instant, she shone. A warm light enveloped her as the flower disintegrated into golden globes of light, small like specks of ash. In just a few seconds the flower was consumed. Her body remained enveloped with warmth for a second, before she finally stood up and turned to us.
Her eyes had changed to a golden honey color, though she seemed mostly the same.
“So, this is a Prophecy…” she said with doubt looking at her hands.
“Well?” Andrea asked expectantly, though was promptly ignored.
She walked up to me with slow and measured steps before standing in front of me.
“Blair,” she bowed deeply, which made me raise a brow. “Thank you for this opportunity. I don’t know elven customs, but this is my appreciation. Please accept it.” She stood up, and extended her palm towards me.
A small blob coalesced, and slowly detached from her. It was golden and transparent. It reached me with its floating incorporeal body, and as soon as it did, it spread into nothingness on my chest. A feeling of warmth soon came. It extended throughout my body, soothing all of it in an instant, relieving my fatigue and pain.
Samantha smiled, but her smile froze as she opened her mouth with half doubt.
“I leveled up from that?”
[Human. Lvl. 8]
She was the same level as Matt now. Huh.
Her voice drifted into a whisper. “And I got bonus stat points from it?”
