Elfin was also fidgeting, clearly eager to try out the shield-casting I came up with.
- We should go test the shield and do some basic questing at the same time. The best herb money-wise would be Royal Aloe, I think. Gathering other stuff seems more complicated. Let us do an easy first quest!
She nodded very quickly. Someone was very eager indeed. We did the usual teleportation routine to an area abundant with those Royal plants. Filthy peasant adventurers were probably still commuting back and forth to their assignments. Meanwhile we of noble birth would simply teleport there.
Were those plants related to some human royalty or simply the rulers of the flora kingdom?
Poof and we were standing on a large meadow. To our left there was a rocky cliff. Our right was occupied by a lush forest of both coniferous and deciduous tree species. There was a sky above us and below us..
I seem to have teleported us right on the plant we were looking for.
- You cannot fail those gathering quests, right?
- I think we just need to harvest them without damaging. It should not be that hard, master.
I pointed silently to our feet.
It was mainly me, but Elfin stood on several leaves likewise.
- I think this one is dead.
We mourned the plant in silence. That was our 3 silver coins saying “Arivederci, mon amour!”
- We should still collect it. Maybe it is worth something?
Elfin was so eager to help that she immediately snatched the shovel I took out of storage. She dug it out roots and all. We shook the earth ball until most of the dirt had fallen. I guess this would be a perfect harvesting had we not trampled on the above ground part.
I had even more perfect method planned for harvesting the rest of the plants. That said there also a few things I would need to teach my companion. Though, the word “teach” was maybe not the most appropriate one. In essence I was going to Grant Skill to her a lot.
- Dear. Before we harvest any more I need to teach you something.
- Yes, master. I will learn.
- First of all it would be nice to share some quality of life, GUI skills like Minimap.
I have created a skill orb for this fake skill and “took” it out. Fake because the skill was just me giving read access permission to a part of Throne System. The creation happened right on my palm in the Storage. The real location of my hand was in my Heaven’s storeroom. Bizarre.
- You need to hold the orb and absorb it.
She took it.
- Next are the three basic information gathering skills. Identify will allow you to identify items.
She took another orb and was holding them both in one hand.
- You can also swallow them. Those are balls of pure mana, so they might digest faster inside your belly.
So she did so. Of course fake skills only had to show and imprint how to use the newfound access and thus could be digested in mere seconds unlike real complicated skills and spells.
- Next is Appraisal. A skill spin-off of Identify so to say. It returns the price range of a n item. This price range will depend on your location and prospective traders. If people value an item greatly the appraisal price would increase. Similarly useless items would see their price decreased. Surprisingly appraisal also works on slaves and livestock, but no other sentient living beings.
I handed her the third orb.
I got a little curious and appraised her myself. What? I mean, I joked about using entire available currency to sell her. Why would the price change to exactly that? No, it is even above it. Did they mint more coins today? Did the price increase automatically?
I was certain of two things. I held the only supply of Elfin in the whole world and a weight of the Word of God must be greater than any other mortal merchant. I smiled at the thought.
- Last of the triad is the skill for checking information about your body and others. It can be used on both friendlies and enemies likewise. Higher levels allow one to see even through the soul of the person. It works on monsters and anything alive for that matter, but might fail regardless of its level when used on otherworlders. Like the demons.
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- Master, but I am a half-demon. Will I not be able to use it on myself?
- Do not worry. You are only half blood and have pretty much naturalized yourself on Thrope. There might be small details missing, but nothing to worry about. I just wanted to warn you it might not work in a crucial moment when we encounter a demon. The skill is called Status Check. Now please swallow obediently.
There was something mildly erotic in the way she swallowed them. Her face was also flushed for some reason. I guess I am a pervert and she is too pretty.
- You need to work hard to protect your chastity, dear – I dropped the line casually.
I meant mostly from myself, but had another man even entertained the thought of laying hands on her.. I would have one less worshipper since that day.
- In a while you should familiarize yourself with those skills. We will keep the existence of skill orbs, a secret, alright? It is not that there are unique artifacts, but they are very, very expensive. On my last ruin raiding trip I have stumbled upon a hidden stash full of them. Having that said would it not be useful to hide how many skills and how high our proficiency levels in them are?
- I do not know, Lynx. Why would it be useful?
- Well. For one high-level skills are difficult to achieve. Secondly the skill orbs.. they have unique property to them. You see.. all they offer you is level 1 in the skill. If you have two level 1 orbs you could combine them into a single level two orb. You could also ingest the two separately and the effect would be the same. Now to get level 3 you need two level 2 orbs or four level 1 ones. Single level 1 orb is already a rare find and expensive to purchase. Basically it follows the formula y=2x-1 for the orb cost of desired level x.
Elfin had a look of utter incomprehension on her pretty face. Come on, it is a very simple and intuitive system. Later on I would find out I was a little tiny bit wrong. To reach second level you would need to actually absorb level then level 2 orb resulting in 3 (1+2) orbs of total expenditure. To get level 3 you would need 7 (1+2+4). To get Level 4 – 15 orbs, while 5 would take 31 and so on. So the actual formula was y=2x-1, which results were significantly larger. Easy mistake to make when you never had to depend on that mechanic to get necessary skills.
Oh wait. Something dawned on me.
- Do you know arithmetic?
- I know addition and sub-, sub-..
- Subtraction?
- Yes!
- I guess it is pretty impressive for a slave.
I petted her on the head.
- I will have to teach you multiplication, division and approximation at the very least.
- They sound like very powerful spells!
- Well they are parts of basic arithmetic. I do not think it would be useful to learn those via skill orbs. We do not want you to be a calculator, but to understand what the hidden beauty of mathematics is. Oh, how I wish I had my calculator with me. I could call it “In another world with my calculator”.
- I do not understand the last part, master. What is a calculator?
I have said that last part out loud, have I?
- Never mind that. Sorry for confusing you.
- Master need not be sorry for anything.
- Well. What were we speaking before that? Ah, yes. So to get level 5 of the skill you would need 16 orbs. If you count I have already given you four skills, three of which are level 5. This is equal to 49 orbs. And we are not even finished yet. Do you understand the need for secrecy?
- Yes. Master is amazing and rich. I will work hard to repay master.
What an emotional rollercoaster of an elf. If you continue uttering such words you might find yourself on my relationship route.
- Okay. I have two more skills that I would like you to have. They are important in regard to hiding stuff. Just keep it in mind they only work against the three skills you have just learned. Someone observant or with different skills could see through it. The skills are Fake Status and Forgery. First one allows you to change what can be seen on your status and the latter falsifies information about items including their prices.
After she ate them I explained it further:
- If your faking skill level is same or lower than your opponent’s corresponding information gathering one than it will also be seen through. For example you have Fake Status of Level 5 and meet a guard with Check Status of Level 5 like you. That guard will see through your fake status. Now then the other guard with only a Level 4 will not.
I took a deep breath and re-checked her status.
- Hmmm. You are still not done digesting those? I will continue my lesson then.
- I feel nauseous.
- From digesting the skills? Does your head hurt?
- A bit.
- You might be reaching your absorption limits. You should not learn more today. Fortunately those two were the last ones.
I petted her head for a while.
- It is better now.
- The skills are now yours, indeed. Now concentrate for a bit. The level cap of those skills for a mortal is 8. Celestial beings have Level 9, while this World’s God is all the way at 10, which is the highest Level available. You cannot cheat Celestials with any of your skills. Also I am not sure if you have noticed that level 1 faking skills are useless, but still show up as a stain on your status. I once read that most of the populace avoids those skills and the orbs for them are rarer and more expensive. Any questions?
She shook her head.
- You can always ask me later. Just remember that most of this knowledge is taboo! Do not speak about it with or around strangers. With how strict and fanatic the mortal believers under Heavens are, it could be even considered blasphemous. After all it closely relates to the Divine.
- Does it, master?
- Forget I brought it up. It is sometimes better not to know.
I smiled awkwardly and fortunately she nodded. I have just told her indirectly that even Heavens can be fooled by otherworlders. It should be rare, but non-zero possibility.
She was not baptized, but I felt she herself was a believer. Such information would not show up in anyone’s Status, but I could feel it as the target of mortals’ belief.
I knew “The Man Up There” so to speak, but was not willing to alter her worldview and faith for no good reason. Believing in something would bring your heart solace. All I could believe in was some invisible pink unicorn. And myself.
Ehh?
Apparently there are rare subspecies of pink unicorn on Thrope. Just not invisible. Just you wait! With some genetic engineering and magic everything is possible!
- Well. Try using your Status Check on yourself.
She yelled “STATUS CHEEEEECCKKK!” at the top of her lungs. I could feel my ears bleeding. Not really, but it felt like it.
- Girl, you can invoke those skills silently. There is no need to yell their name. So how did it go?
Instead of answering she frowned.
I quickly opened her point of view into Throne System’s windows. Nothing was inherently wrong with it. Some details I already knew of were missing. Was she simply too astonished with it? I guess a slave would never experience anything similar. A slave would never afford a single skill orb. Not that most people would.
- My name is truly Elfin, master.
Oh. So that was the cause. I ruffled her hair.
- Elf is a very dear and gentle word in the Language of Heroes. It is Thropians’ fault for misusing it.
That did not dispel that frown. I guess I needed a stronger spell of higher tier for that.
- I just thought my mother would give me a different name. I guess she did not.
- You are very dear to me, my little Elfin. I do not think she ever had a chance to give you a proper name. It is not like the slaver could simply erase that. I will look into changing your name if that is what would make you happy.
- I am already happy.
Dispel successful. I was both on the way to achieve and simultaneously lose the status of the wizard.
- Now then, what would you hide away from others?
- My half-demon status.
- Huh, I guess. It is already an information that can only be obtained by skill level of 5 and higher. It is better to be safe than sorry. Demons do not have the best of reputations for a reason. Anything else?
- Faking skills.
- Yes. Hide them away completely.
- Should I hide anything else, master? I cannot think about any more candidates.
- Indeed there are still things to hide. The investigation skills are too high. Set them up at Level 2.
- It is done.
- Let’s see!