Choosing Initial Skills
My initial reaction was a lot like Arthur's. Which was to say that we were both confused. I had never heard anything about skill points or levels before. There was nothing like that in the practice simulations. I mean, I did receive points, and I was told that contributed to some kind of score that I would eventually be graded on. I also got virtual loot from creatures I killed in the simulations, but I never got anything like levels or Skills I could buy with points. Still, this all sounded somewhat familiar. I was never all that into video games, but even with just my limited knowledge, this struck me as more video game-like than even Gilda's simulations.
Arthur had never played a video game at all, and he'd never been in one of Gilda's simulations anyway, so he was understandably baffled by what was going on. I tried to explain to him the idea of points being used as a motivational tool for training. However, that opened up another whole can of worms regarding what I'd been training for. Eventually, our conversation got so sidetracked and confused that I decided to just ask Cordelia for help getting to the bottom of this situation.
"Cordie? It'd sure be nice if you could come out and explain what the hell is going on here."
I knew Cordelia followed everything going on in any area she claimed as hers, so I figured she was watching. Sure enough, after a moment, she faded into view. She was wearing a different outfit than what I last saw her in, but it was still her usual pink color scheme.
"Is that any way to address the future queen of the universe?"
Apparently, she'd decided to be a pain in front of Arthur. I would've humored her at another time, but I was already too exasperated from trying to explain this stuff to a bird. Arthur, however, took her sudden appearance in stride, calmly regarding her from my shoulder before whispering a bit too loudly.
"I say, is this pink trollop actually royalty?"
I tried very hard to keep a straight face as Cordelia raged at the apparently fearless bird. I wasn't sure if he was suicidal or he just really enjoyed having fun at the expense of others. But he clearly enjoyed having her chase him around the clearing, loudly cawing in a way that felt like laughter.
Eventually, she got fed up and ignored him, stomping her way back over to me.
"I'm ignoring that stupid bird. What do you want, Willie?"
"Well, it actually has to do with that bird. Arthur got a notification about reaching level 2 and getting some skills. Can you explain what that's all about?"
She gave me an exasperated look like I was stupid.
"That's nothing special, just your ordinary dungeon functions. The dumb bird helped fight some of those goblins and, as a result, earned enough points for a level-up. Just pick a few skills and move on already."
"Uh, that's what I don't get here. What does it mean to go up a level, and what are these skills all about?"
By this point, Arthur had gotten brave enough to land back on my other shoulder. Cordelia continued glaring at him as she spoke to me.
"Levels signify you have successfully defeated a required amount of enemies to demonstrate a particular level of battle proficiency. You already know what skills are... you already got a bunch of similar stuff when you downloaded information on martial arts or DNA editing from the computer. The only difference here is the skill is delivered magically, instead of through technology."
"And you're saying these are just dungeon functions... like, you always had this ability?"
Her frustration was turned from Arthur toward me. Clearly, she thought I was being dimwitted.
"Of course! How else do you think the Demon Lords could train their soldiers? I mean, I'll admit that I was able to improve a few things up now that I'm free and with Gilda's help, but this is still my dungeon we're talking about. I can make whole landscapes from mana... did you think inserting a few skills into somebody's thick skull was that hard? I've already done it to you with the storage skill. That was a freebie, by the way... You'll have to earn any other skills you get."
Her smirk at the end irked me a bit, but regardless, the woman had a good point. Mana was literally the stuff of magic. Almost anything was possible with enough mana and the right set of skills. I had already noticed that many of Cordelia's abilities mimicked what Gilda's ship and computer could do. I couldn't believe that was just a coincidence considering the common ancestry of the Nordics and Demon Lords.
"Okay, but Arthur is just a normal raven. Shouldn't something like that be impossible for him?"
"That bird brain wasn't supposed to be in here. I don't even know how it wandered into this section of the dungeon anyway. So, I had to quickly put together a skill tree tailored to fit the species. You both should be thanking me for my hard work! ~ Sigh ~ Anyway, there are similar magical creatures on other planets, so I just used them as a starting point for his possible evolutions. Honestly, if you did any research on the other planets, you would know all of this already!"
She had me there. I hadn't really spent any time researching other worlds. I'd actively avoided looking into them because I was concerned about being influenced regarding my magic development. However, Arthur and I were both looking at each other with another concern.
"Evolutions? Does that mean he'll change physically?"
"Yeah, but didn't you change a lot when you edited your DNA? It's the same kind of thing but with magic."
Arthur decided to jump into the conversation again.
"Mistress Cordie, if I may call you that... Are there any dangers to accepting these skills?"
"Well, duh! That's the reason why you have to level up before getting access to new skills. Your level demonstrates that you're physically strong and stabilized enough to handle the next step. It could be dangerous to get a skill your body can't handle. Every being has an upper limit to how much power their body can safely contain."
Arthur was considering what she had to say, but I was thinking about something completely different. What if I'd accidentally developed magic that was too powerful for my body? In retrospect, I was happy to have learned in my own way. But thinking back on it now, I'm sure there was some real danger involved in just winging it with something potentially lethal. It made me realize that maybe this was the real reason for the codified systems used when learning magic on other worlds. The slow and steady approach, via incremental growth, was much safer than meeting an early end from being an idiot and playing with a loaded gun you didn't know how to use.
That line of thought made me wonder how much Gilda must have taken that into account during my own development process. It was certainly something I'd never given a thought to. So I had to think the reason I didn't accidentally self-destruct was that she had subtly guided me away from the dangerous stuff. Or maybe I just got lucky that my groping around in the dark didn't end with self-immolation.
While Arthur was still thinking, I had one final question.
"So, won't it be a problem for Arthur to evolve? If he changes, he won't be a normal raven anymore, right? Wasn't the whole point of him being taken to keep a sample of normal Earth creatures alive at all costs?"
Arthur seemed alarmed at what I said, but I wasn't sure how much of it was the idea of him changing or if it was the revealing of the purpose of why he was here in the first place. Cordie just waved her hand dismissively.
"Nope, not an issue. Arthur here has already successfully passed on his genes."
I looked at Arthur. He seemed rather proud of himself.
"You dog, you. So where's the lucky lady?"
"Ahem, well, the reason I found you in the first place was I was concerned about building our nest without knowing exactly where we were and if it was dangerous. So, I left my darling ~Caw~ behind, for the sake of her safety, and went in search of answers."
It sounded like his mate didn't have a human name, so the auto-translate function failed. Despite his seemingly relaxed attitude, I found myself impressed by Arthur's determination to protect his family.
"Yeah, I can see why you'd do that."
Cordelia was obviously uninterested in our male bonding time. Or, who knows, maybe she was just jealous.
"Hey! I answered your questions. Can I get back to what I was doing now?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure... thanks."
"Good. I can't spare too much time for you peons. I have my empire to run after all."
I just shook my head, but Arthur seemed to read the atmosphere and did his little bow maneuver.
"Farewell, your majesty."
That seemed to put Cordelia in a better mood. She nodded at him and then looked at me with a twinkle in her eye.
"Don't forget why you're here. That reward isn't going to just claim itself."
As she faded out, she left me with a wink and a smile.
Once she was gone, I turned back towards Arthur.
"So you heard the lady. It looks like you can evolve if you want to."
"Quite. Being stronger would most certainly seem to benefit the safety of my family."
"Yep, I'm basically in the same boat. There are more gals like Cordie in my life that I want to protect. So I need to be stronger too."
"Well then, I suppose now would be the right time to keep calm and carry on. Shall we?"
"Yeah, you heard the lady. I've got to get a move on anyway. So let's take a look at what skills you have available."
I showed Arthur how to navigate his interface. All he really understood was which Icons to activate, but that was enough to get us to the available skills section.
Available Skills:
Wind Magic 1 - allows you to learn basic wind magic skills.
Earth Magic 1 - allows you to learn basic earth magic skills.
Dark Magic 1 - allows you to learn basic dark magic skills.
Mind Magic 1 - allows you to learn basic mind magic skills.
Summon Magic 1 - allows you to learn basic summon magic skills.
Body Enhancement 1 - allows you to learn basic body enhancement skills.
Mind Enhancement 1 - allows you to learn basic intelligence enhancement skills.
Razor Beak - enhance the penetration power of all beak attacks (requires Wind Magic 1).
Steel Talons - enhance the hardness and sharpness of your talons (requires Earth Magic 1).
Accelerate - enhance your speed in flight (requires Wind Magic 1).
Eagle Eye - your vision becomes clearer, enabling you to perceive more and further (requires Body Enhancement 1).
Feather Armor - automatically harden your feathers on impact, providing a natural form of armor (requires Earth Magic 1).
Trickster - create illusions to fool your enemies (requires Mind Magic 1).
Shadow Stealth - disappear into shadows (requires Dark Magic 1).
Summon Minion - create duplicates of yourself, which obey your will (requires Summon Magic 1).
Languages - learn to read and speak languages (requires Mind Enhancement 1)
Authur only had three skill points right now. I really wanted him to choose the Mind Enhancement 1 and Languages skills. He could then read the interface on his own, but instead, Arthur opted to get skills to help in fights more. He argued that if he could contribute more to the battles, then he could level up faster. Then use skill points from those levels to get the languages skill later. We had no idea if these options would still be available next time, but Arthur was stubborn about it, and I was willing to continue translating for him for now.
Once we had eliminated those skills from contention, it was a matter of determining which skills would be best in a fight. I thought either wind magic or earth magic was the best bet because he could learn two additional skills right away. But Arthur seemed to get really stuck on the idea of having minions. Some nonsense about it being a suitably royal skill for him. In the end, I couldn't talk him out of it, so he chose Summon Magic 1 and Summon Minion using two of his skill points. He saved the last point for the time being since nothing else seemed helpful to have right away.
