Going down the list of information, Roy was astounded by the sheer clarity of his supposed abilities, which he cannot feel the presence of at all. With his many lives lived, he had already learned that he was not fully human anymore, even upon resetting, but having it not only confirmed but also named pleased him somewhat. He also had an inkling of what the Soul Tether condition was, but only so much so that he knew it was what was keeping him from permanently dying. If this new interfacing ability of his could tell him more about it, he would be very pleased.
His focus, however, was set on his Remembrance ability. This was the first time he has ever seemingly retained powers from a previous world. They seemed to be locked behind Karmic points, which were conveniently being presented as rewards for the goals he had been shown earlier. He wondered who or what was specifying what a goal was and how many points it was worth. He had anyways wanted to reach the mountain and wondered if the goal given to him was a coincidence or if the goals were based on his own.
Looking over the goals again, he theorized that perhaps they remained hidden until his own aligned with them but dismissed it since he had no idea what reaching Tier 1 meant. The different goals also seemed to have unique prefixes, with the bonus one being odd in that it had a hidden agenda with a cryptic reward rather than having both be denoted by question marks.
Finally feeling satisfied with his own examination, Roy decided to try and test how much this so-called guide will tell him.
"So what is a tier and how do I increase it?"
Tier
A milestone rank achieved by raising the average level of your stats beyond increments of ten, at which point your skills will evolve and your body reinforced.
"So that's the gimmick this time. And how do I increase the levels?"
Experience
Gained through the slaying of denizens of the Underworld, colloquially known as demons, and is determined by a combination of their overall and current strength.
"Oh, come on, only combat? And, what, I gotta kill them quickly and cleanly?"
Roy was starting to get worried at seemingly being denied the option to train to make meaningful headway, marking this life as potentially being one fraught with danger. A month was the most he could get away with not improving himself before Atulla decided to smite him, which was not a pleasant experience of feeling yourself getting burnt from the inside out before disintegrating, remaining conscious the entire time. That was a very unpleasant side effect of the Soul Tether, as even if he was physically unconscious, he could feel everything while his soul was getting detached, like a second consciousness waking up during the process.
It was just another reason for him to not want to die, another motivator from the Goddess to force him to get stronger.
"Okay, so what are these goals? What do the prefixes mean?"
Primary Goal
The main objective you have been tasked with.
Secondary Goal
An objective that will lead to the completion of the Primary Goal. There may be multiple per Primary Goal.
Sub Goal
A recommended objective that will assist in the completion of the Secondary Goal. Not always available.
Bonus Goal
An optional objective, which is typically high in difficulty. May lead to great rewards based on not only the performance but also how one makes the best use of the opportunity. Not always available.
The wording of the primary goal description made Roy suspicious that someone is giving him these goals, presumably Gaia. The secondary goal was straightforward, and in this case, reaching that mountain might reveal what the primary goal is. The sub goal is what worried Roy the most out of the four, as it was currently recommending him to get stronger before reaching his destination, implying there were dangers present there. As for the bonus goal, it sounded like it was best to avoid it at this point, should it reveal itself.
Next, Roy decided to ask what he had been curious about since finding out a Gaia was giving out powers here similar to the world he had just arrived from.
"Who or what is Gaia?"
Error
Classified Information.
This response caused Roy to frown in frustration, so he changed his question to why he received these skills, only to be met with the same message. He went on to ask about the Soul Tether, the previous Gaia, Atulla, and even how he could reach civilization, all with the same result.
When one of his questions finally got through, he was unsure how he felt about its implications.
"What are karmic points? Are they just for my remembrance skill?"
Karmic Points
A reward granted by the Gods of this world that can be exchanged for favors from the Gods.
"Oh boy. Great. More Gods."
Not wanting to spend too much longer standing around, he picked up the nearest rock and hoped it would count as a projectile, so he threw it, unsure what to expect. What surprised him as he went through the motion to flinging it was that he felt something begin to coalesce within the rock, only to dissipate as soon it left his hand. It felt similar to the many forms of magical energy he had encountered in the past, each possessing a slightly unique flavor in the way it is wielded. As he possessed a body that was more sensitive to such magical energies he had no problem grasping control over the mana. This was a result of his body having to be reconstituted with magic every time he died, thus the pseudo-human racial profile he had been given.
Having failed to use a skill, the mana had retreated to where it came from, where he found within himself a small puddle, the size of which he could only tell when he poked at it as if sending out ripples.
Feeling more confident this time, he repeated the process of throwing a rock, and this time an effect manifested. It was as if he loaded in a prewritten script or command into the mana, telling it what to do. Unsure which one he had selected, he watched the rock suddenly split into two as it soared.
Satisfied with the result, he opted to try out all of the variations he possessed to identify which was which, and in the process, found variables he could adjust, such as the direction for the projectile to ricochet after it lands.
This was when Roy realized a slight flaw in his abilities. He only had a mere moment to adjust those variables to what he wanted before he sent the rock flying, meaning he would need a lot of practice to get it right every time.
The issue he had now, however, was that his already small puddle of mana was quickly being drained, and he had no idea how long it would take to replenish. After firing off each skill once, he felt as if he had already gone through half of his reserves.
Even then, Roy felt very pleased with the abilities he had been given, seemingly accommodating his expertise and preference for the bow. If these abilities could also evolve with him reaching higher tiers, all the better.
Looking once more down the canyon spanning below him, he heaved a sigh and continued his trek, on the constant lookout for a way down to the stream as well as for potential dangers lurking on the open rocky plains.
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