(3) The ultimate battle of the World 

 Day-2

After dinner, I could not sleep for long and keep thinking about the story told by Tuner. Was the story true? We have many Gods and Goddesses in this world, always looking after us. Nobody has mentioned how old I was exactly, but according to Tuner, I will soon be 18 years age and have a chance to experience the Gods and Goddesses. So, I must already be more than 17 years old. Since then, I would pray for good farming-related skills from Gods and Goddesses. While still mulling on what skill be my blessing? Slowly, I faded into the embrace of my sweet dream world that night.

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Day-3

As usual, the next morning, Rena was working in the Kitchen. But Pata was practicing his fighting stance with staff and called me to join him with the spare staff he prepared. After some practice, we went for cleaning. On our way back home, I saw a girl making hand gestures for me to stop. When I told Pata, he just looked for once and told me to take my time and left.

I did stay after this but did not know what to do? Still, I walked to the girl, who shouted at me angrily when I reached close to her, "Why have not you contacted me, if you are okay. Don't you know, I can not meet you in public. I was worried all this time about you." (The girl)

"I am sorry. It looks to me that we are supposed to know each other, but I do not remember you or whatever happened between us. So, could you first tell me who you are? What is the deal here? So, it will be best if you could re-introduce yourself." (Me)

As if I said something inhuman to her. She started to cry and said, "How can you be so heartless to make this cruel joke with me. Don't you know how much you mean to me? If you want to run away from the responsibility and fear of facing my family. Just say so, but why do you deny my existence." (The girl)

Saying this much, she runs away while crying. I was there standing there this whole time feeling like a criminal. From the way she was talking, was she my girlfriend? But I never saw her visit me and my parents did not mention it. No one told me about it, and she was claiming it to be something not better known to world. Then maybe it was not anything that will bring happiness to anyone. Perhaps this was a better way to give it a closer. So, while still little perturbed by this unusual encounter, I returned home. 

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Now that I know everything we are doing in the fields. I will actively help Pata, so it was my job to water the fields. Meanwhile, Pata went to the herb's area and was removing grasses. In the afternoon, Rena came with lunch. After lunch, She asked me, "I heard that Zuya came to meet you in the morning. How did it go?"

"Ohh! So, her name is Zuya. How was my relationship with her? She just started shouting at me, about some kind of responsibility to talk to her family, and then ran away while crying. I could not even comprehend what was going on and was there standing like a fool the whole time." (Me)

and hoped Rena will give me some more information or cross-reference on this matter.

"Oh, My foolish boy, why did not you told her about your memory loss." (Rena)

But before I could say anything, Pata interrupted and said, "I think this is for the best. Everyone knows that no matter what, we are not a good match for her rich family. Also, her father has a big ambition and will never accept you. So, stop dreaming about having a future together. This relationship will bring nothing but pain and sorrow for us all. Your only chance was if she has awakened no divine mercy skills like your mother and me." (Pata)

Pata again confirmed to me that my decision was right. Any relation which needs to be hidden is never good. But the fact she was awakened also shows that she will soon look for better prospects in the future. Then nobody spoke, and Rena left after collecting vegetables and firewood. Later we went into the forest for checking our traps and found three rabbits. We also placed new traps and returned home.

We cleaned ourselves, then Pata asked me to sell all the rabbit furs to Tuner we have accumulated. So, I have another excuse to visit Tuner. Tuner was surprised to see me standing at his doorstep again and asked, "Kola, what are you doing here? Was yesterday's story not enough for your empty mind? hahaha"

"Uncle Tuner, I wanted to ask a few questions, and also Pata asked me to sell these rabbit furs to you."

"Hahaha. It looks like from your accident, I am the only one who is benefited. Come in and give this old man your company for the evening." (Tuner)

After inviting me to the guest hall, Tuner went inside and returned with a glass of water, a wine bottle, and glass. He gave me a water glass and poured himself wine. Taking sips of wine, said, "Tell me, boy, what do you want to ask?"

As I was not here for water. So, I put it on the table and asked what was eating me since yesterday, "How will the new rules set by High God and High Goddess will prevent any new ultimate wars in the future if other deities wished it? As any God-Goddess can give many powerful magic skills for fighting to their chosen heroes on their 18th birthday."

"Good Question! It looks like your brain works and is not like others who accept whatever bullshit anyone says. So, I can not make you live with the half-finished story of yesterday. Actually, there are other rules than I mentioned, like,

1. No being will be given more than five divine mercy skills.
2. Even magic was not unrestrained like before, but will follow fixed templet. For example, water mage now has level-0 water conjuring, level-1 water bullet, level-2 water wall, level-3 water missile, etc.
3. The highest level in this world was limited by the land size on which living beings stayed, unlike the old continent's previous no limit.

And many more such rules were put forward to limit the power. Apparently, even our Indus continent has an upper of level-5. I have only seen one earth dragon, level-5 in a deadly encounter, and have to run for my life in my whole life. Many of my friends died there to help us earn time to run away. These Earth Dragons love to live in mountain areas. Else they will kill many people day night. Even the mountain they live in is named grief mountains due to all the adventurers and people killed there, as they do not like any other species entering their territory. Giving grief to everyone." (Tuner)

"Tuner, my parents do not have divine mercy skills. Does God really not give everyone divine-mercy skill? Will this affect me?" (me)

"It is sad but true that like your parents, the majority of humans do not get any divine mercy skill from God-Goddess. Truth be told, the church does not explicitly mention this phenomenon of people not getting any divine mercy skills, but you have to remember they say that Gods and Goddesses, when to interest in mortals' war, gave them skills power to their chosen heroes. Never did they say that power given by deities was for all.

Many scholars think that High-God has limited the divine-mercy skills' quota for each God and Goddess, which is only equal to the number of their followers reaching coming-of-age that year. This limited their resourced skills to give as mercy skills and force Gods-Goddesses to decide between providing everyone with a single mercy skill or to pick their preferences and give them more skills. The first approach is followed by the High Goddess for plants, animals, and monsters. But the second approach is followed by other Gods and Goddesses for Human, Demi-humans, and Devils." (Tuner)

Then, Tuner stopped for a few sips and asked, "Do you know how people decide who is noble or royalty ?"

To me, it was like a no-brainer type Question. So, I answered it, " By birth!"

Tuner smiled, giving me a look, as if telling, 'I was expecting you would say that.'

This puzzled me, and I could not wait to hear his answer.

"You are right, but also wrong. As this is only half the story. Do you remember how I just told you about Gods' and Goddesses', preferring a select few over others for divine mercy skills? This idea is the root of everything. This has made people believe that people with divine skills are Gods' or Goddesses' chosen hero. Hence, if someone gets more skills, then noble houses and royalty will integrate them into their family. In the name of strengthening their family and giving the chosen heroes their deserved respect. This ideology cement the idea that Noblemen and Royalties are favored ones." (Tuner)

Then he stood up and went to the fireplace.

The candles were costly, so we use firewood for light, heat, and cooking. People use magic lamps in the cities, but they are much more expensive and are luxury items for any villagers. But I am sure that Tuner can afford one or two magic lamps, but why does he not use them? I am sure. Maybe, it is his preference. 

Tuner was not there to rekindle the fire but was deep in thoughts about some distanced memories. So, I kept my mouth shut and give him space for remanence of the past. After some time, he continued the story from the fireplace. "There is also another lesser-known theory, that these skills come from our bloodlines, which get thinner with generations and lead to a generation with no skills. Therefore, the number of skills depends on the body's capability as a vessel for bearing the load of the bloodline's skills. The more the number of skills a person has, the better their lineage and body are as a vessel. This theory is said to be the reason why noblemen and royalties seek out high divine-skill anomalies among commoners to join their family and improve their bloodline."

As if these theories have some deeper meaning for him. He would stop from time to time and then continue, "Therefore, the moment you get your mercy skills at your coming-of-age. Your place in this society is set in stone, and as 5 skills-royalty, 4 skills-noble, 3 skills-high-class citizens, official, etc., 2 skills-middle-class citizens, official, etc., 1 skill-low-class citizen, official, etc., and others with no skills are godforsaken, commoners, human with no rights. These people with no right can live as bottom feeders in the cities, but their best shot for a peaceful life is to leave the cities and towns for villages."

This was very troubling for me. Now, I know my father's plight when he told me that we are not wealthy people. But what he wanted to say that nobody, with any skills, would wish to associate with us. Love is a word that will have no meaning in front of the interest of prominent and influential families.

This also means that any child can change their parents' fate as long as their child gets better or more divine-mercy skills. So, putting my mulling on all these things aside. I asked, "Tuner if you do not mind, can I ask you a personal question?"

"Oh Boy! Are you now scared shitless. Hahaha, ask plebian, what question is infecting your pea brain to this great me? Hahaha" (Tuner)

Tuner did manage to lighten the heavy atmosphere built by this story with his laugh. It really did put me under lots of pressure after knowing that I was interacting with Tuner without caring for anything. With his standing in society, he could kill my family or me without batting an eye, and no one will ask why? Even imagine, this had me perspire and drenched my back. I bowed to Tuner and said, "Tuner, thank you for being kind and telling me all the things. I thank God that I only asked you what I asked. If any other person, I might have got my family and myself killed multiple times." (Me)

"You can bet that with me. But don't worry, your father knows, that's why he brought you to my home yesterday. In the future, never be this naïve to blindly say anything without knowing about the person, okay. Now, let's get back to asking your questions."

"Tuner, Thank you! I will be careful in the future. I wanted to know how many skills you have and why are you living in this village?" 

"That is quite a personal question. I have three skills, and I do not fit in the cities or towns. No more personal questions, Kola."

"Okay, Tuner. I will keep that in mind. So, how does anyone level up their levels and skills?" 

"These are the questions I was waiting for you to ask. It is actually simple by collecting the blessings of Gods and Goddesses. And before you ask anything like how to collect blessings and whatnot. Let me proceed. You remember how I said before that new Gods-Goddesses filled the world created by High-God and High-Goddess with their powers as soon as they come into existence. Therefore, this world is already filled with the blessings of all Gods and Goddesses. But the amount we can have in our body is decided by our level and limits how often we use our skills. 

Therefore, learning a new skill is done under the apprenticeship of the skill-master. Because our body is always taking in-out the blessings from surroundings suitable for our skills and thereby morphing our local environment to suit us. So, if a person learns under the skill-master, then learning will be faster by 10-110%. This increase in the speed of learning will depend on skill-masters' skill level. 

But even under a skill-master, it takes at least ten years for people to learning a skill. Therefore, learning a skill without proper guidance is out of the question. People can dedicate their whole life without any success. But not having skill does not mean you can not do anything. It means your finishing and the final product will be less perfect than someone with skill. See how your father is doing farming, and your mother is cooking food for you daily, but they both do not have skills. Everyone needs more than five skills to live.

So, the only difference you can see is how a farmer with skill will produce more than twice the crop in the same fields as your father. Even if you start at a younger age and train in a skill, you will not get the skill before 18 years. This is due to the children's body's unique nature of not being receptive to blessings. This could help you shorten the time needed to understand skill after the coming-of-age ceremony if you did not get the skill as a divine-mercy skill and still wants to learn. 

As for leveling, it like each time you kill an animal, you get a portion of the animal's blessings in life. This portion of blessings animal you get is decided by the level difference in you and animal."(Tuner)

By now, Tuner was quite exhausted. I could feel that our Q&A session was nearing the end. So, I asked the essential question as my last.

"How does this portion of blessings from the killed animal is decided? Can you elaborate and not farmers be high level as they cut tens of thousands of plants each year. While other professions like blacksmith, do not kill anything?"

" I initially said that the level difference in you and animal is important. If you are a higher level than an animal, you get less blessing and vice versa. You get 1/10,000th part of blessings in the body of an animal if there is no level difference. In case there is a difference in level, then the blessing you receive from killing is enhanced or diminished by a factor of '10' to the power (your level, y-animal level, a). 

Therefore, a farmer of level-0 will level up from cutting 10,000 plants of level-0 to level-1. For the next crop, the same farmer will get one-tenth of blessings earned last time, but blessings needed to level up will raise 10 times to level up to level-2. Therefore, assuming that farmers harvest two crops per year, he would need to gather about 100 such crops or need 50 years to level up to level-2. In short, he will reach to level-2 by the age of 69 years. But to be level-3, imagine that he gets one-hundredth of blessings from the first time, but he needs a hundred times more blessings for level up to level-3. So, he would need to harvest 10,000 crops, i.e., 5,000 years, while his life is only 200 years, which is impossible to achieve.

Therefore, even if this continent has an apparent upper limit of level-5, it is rare to encounter 1 or 2 level-5 beings in whole life. Unless you are actively seeking them."

After the end of his explanation, I stood up and asked a funny and teasing question while half walking, half running away.

"Tuner, are you a level-5 adventurer protecting our village? You can trust me. I will keep it a secret." 

Due to his drunken state, he did not realize that I was already at the door and was not actually asking but teasing him. As he has already told me earlier, no-more-personal-questions.

"No, hell no. I am merely a level-3 old adventurer. Who enjoys his peaceful retirement." (Tuner)

But as he looked up trying to find me after saying this, I was already out of the room running for the home for dinner.

But Tuner first looked shocked at the opened door and started to laugh...."hahaha, stinky brat! This Boy. If I were a level-5 high leveler, then you would be the last guy I will ever tell this. You succumb-mouth!"

He closed the door and kept smiling satirically on how lonely he has become that even pranks of some little boy are bringing happiness and filling color to his bleak life. To think one day, he would look forward to the visits of a lousy boy.

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