Prologue (4/4)

After Alexander had finished his story about what happend to him after they seperated everyone looked towards the house thinking they met an actual god.

"Is he truly a god? I've never heard of a god named Colt before" Gilbert said as he was in deep thought. Colt had used some very strange powers and non of them could sense and mana from him.

"He said he hasn't been in this world for eons? Thats millions of years, records of him has most likely been forgotten in time." Vez answered what he thought, he truly believed this man was a god. How else could he use those powers he did against the ant, teleport to the queen and back without using any mana.

Space and Time magic was known to be the rarest magic to learn. Sages that were masters of magic could at most teleport very short distances, or create another dimension to store items in, but these dimensions were based off the Mana of the caster and Mastery of Space and Time magic. To teleport several miles and back without effort is unthinkable.

"I want to know more about him." Lilliana said as she stood up and looked towards the house, thinking if she should approach or not.

"When i left, he had laid himself down on a couch and closed his eyes. I don't know much about gods, but he seemed tired.... or..." Alexander said and looked towards the house with an amused expression

"Or... what?" Said Lilliana curious about what he was gonna say.

"Bored. He is most likely bored." He said with a laugh.

"Bored? What? Oh..." They all said and thought back to the story Alexander told them, he sat down in that deep dark hole and wanted to chat, because he was bored.

Just as they were about to continue their talk, they heard the door open and saw Colt step out and walk towards them. They were silent and curious about what he wanted. But Alexander gave him a deep bow, waking up the others from their silence and they all bowed.

"Thank you Lord Colt for saving both me and my family!" Alexander said as he was deeply thankful to him.

"No problem, i didn't really have much to do anyway. Think of it as a fateful meeting." he said with a smile and then stopped in front of them.

"So... Do any of you know how to cook...?" He said in a slightly embarrassed voice.

'huh?' They were all surprised to hear him ask such a question.

"uhm, I got the [Cooking Skill]." Said Lilliana, thinking he might be hungry. But do gods get hungry?

"Cooking Skill?" Colt asked confused, which confused the others even more.

Skills were known around the world. Skills were rare talents that all races were born with. Every single life had at least one talent. The Knightmoar's were famour for their [Swordsmanship Skill] and [High Regeneration Skill] which made their swordsmanship almost unrivaled on top of the regeneration which made their stamina, health and mana regenerate 10 times faster than any other. This is what made the Knightmoar one of the strongest families in the Kingdom. But it did not mean that you could not learn to wield a sword perfectly without the skill, you could become a master swordsman without it, but against someone with the skill, you had to work at least 30 times more to reach that level. Same with the [Cooking Skill], everyone could cook, it can taste bad, good or very good. But the people with the skill could make the best food known to man if they had high enough level in it.

There are several types of skills (talents) that people get. [Basic skills] are such as [Cooking Skill], [Swordsmanship Skill], [Dagger Skill] or any other weapon skill. Mostly things that anyone can learn easly without the skill, but the skill would help alot. These skills could level up to 100. When reaching 100 it is said to evolve into a [Unique Skill], but only Elves would know about that, because leveling someone like swordsmanship from 1-100 would take at least 100 years of constant training to achieve.

But after [Basic Skills] comes [Unique Skill] which is very rare and people who have them would almost always end up in history. Knightmoars were known all around the continent for the skill [High Regeneration Skill] as it was an [Unique Skill]. There are also skills such as [Item Box] which is an huge dimension using Space and Time magic to store any non-living thing. But it did not use Mana as it was a skill. [Item Box] users were always sought after because of it. Armies could use it to move food supplies that would not spoil, yes this skill slowed down the time of items in there. If an item would take 1 day to rot, in the item box it would take at least 30 days which was extremely amazing. Some high level adventurers had someone with [Item Box] Skill, they could be out and hunt for weeks and return with all fresh bodies which would sell for a lot considering it was as fresh as newly hunted beasts. These [Unique Skills] could level up to 10, but it would not evolve after that.

But there are still skills above that, but some say they are just a legend, therefore they are called [Legendary Skills]. There are currently only one person who is said to have such a skill, but it's not confirmed to the public. That man has a skill called [Prophet], it's a skill that lets you communicate with deities. The Pope is said to have this skill. But many think it's a [Unique Skill] and not a [Legendary Skill].

And here was a self proclaimed god, now knowing any of this? Did skills not exist eons ago? Does skills not exist in other worlds? All these questions invaded the groups mind. Alexander started explaining about skills and what skills were and he looked very delighted as he learned new information which was very fascinating for him. The existence of skills, this made Colt wanna learn more about and could not wait to explore.

"What skills you do guys have then?" Colt asked in a very merry way as he was thrilled to learn this information and could not wait to learn more about it.

"As i mentioned before, i have the [Basic Skill] [Swordsmanship Skill] which lets me master the way of the sword many times faster than people without it. Im currently 32 years old and i have been training with a sword for as long as i can remember. My father used to tease me that as soon as i could walk, i held a sword. My level in the skill is 57. which is astounding, as my grandfather was level 68 when he died at the age of 121. But as the level goes up, it gets harder and harder to level up.

My [Unique Skill] [High Regeneration Skill] is a skill that lets me heal myself both mentally, physically at a much faster rate than those without." He explained and then he took a small dagger he had in his boot and cut himself on his arm to show Colt.

"As my skill is fairly high level, it lets me regenerate fast enough to see with the eye." He said as he watched Colts overjoyed and curious face as he watched his wound heal. In less than 5 minutes the wound was completely healed.

"It is not known exactly how much faster than a anyone without it i heal, but at level 1, this wound would take me about 10 hours to completely hear without leaving a scar, it's now level 4 and it's already this fast. I have thought about what would happen at 10, but i can only speculate." He explained and wondered what would truly happen at level 10. Would be be able to regrow limbs? The healing rate at level 4 is already super fast. But then again it has the word "high" in it. Maybe there is a skill called [Regeneration Skill].

"I have the [Cooking Skill] as i mentioned, it's currently at level 24. High class cooks usually end up leveling it up to a bit above 50 before they die of old age." Lilliana said as she started mentioning her skills.

"I also have [Stamina]. It's also a Basic Skill, it lets me have more stamina than the average person, it also regenerates stamina faster than normal. it's currently at level 38." He said as she started thanking the gods for giving her the skill, without it she would have collapsed days ago while running.

"This is so fascinating! How do i see what skills i have? How do you get skills? Why are there skills?" Colt asked as he could not wait to find out more about this.

"We've always had them, we are born with some, some are inherited. Usually only basic skills would be inherited, but my family has had Swordsmanship and the regeneration skill for generations. We have been told that the gods are granting us skills. The skills are given at birth and one can not learn skills, they can not be taken or gifted away. As for why there are skills.... That i do now know." Answered Alexander, and then continued

"But [Skills] are not everything when it comes to a fight. If i were to fight someone without the skill in a sword battle, he could still win if he was high enough level compared to me." He said as he touched his shin a bit in wonder. Why do we have skills? He thought to himself.

"Levels? Whats that!?" Colt's eyes almost had stars in them, he learned a new thing that he did not know about!

"You don't even know about levels?" Lilliana asked in confusion.

They all enjoyed watching the mans expression as they could tell he very curious and truly did not know any of this. If he really is a god and has been gone for eons, maybe sometime after that this "system" was placed.

"Levels are a way to signify your strength in the world. Everyone is born at level 1, but everyone are born with different stats. Every level gives you stats depending on what you've done during your current level. If you were running for weeks before leveling up, you would get a lot of Dexterity, but probably not any Wisdom, Defense and such. You can level up all attributes by doing simple tasks before you level up, but [Luck] can't be leveled up and is fixed since birth. " Alexander answered him as he saw his eyes were almost shining now.

"Attributes?" He almost yelled.

"Whats that!?" He yelled out waiting for the answer. The others laughed at watching him act like a child learning about the world.

"Oh lord... there is so much you need to know." Alexander said and let out a small sigh.

"Honey, do you mind cooking the food?" Alexander asked his wife, as her food were the best in his book.

"Oh right, you had the [Cooking Skill], right? What are you gonna cook?" He asked, very curious.

"Gilbert hunted some rabbits, so i'll cook them." She said as she smiled towards Colt.

"Blaah, rabbits are boring, cook this!" He said as he raised his hand and wooden plates, with lots of different meat, vegetables and spices appeared out of nowhere, stunning everyone present.

"Do you have the [Item Box] skill?" Gilbert asked as he saw it appear out of thin air. Everyone watched and listened, waiting for the answer.

Lilliana started inspecting the new items as she had no idea how to cook any of them and she could not wait to cook them. She loved to cook, which only complimented her skill even more. But it was very hard to level up. But she didn't mind about it's level. She just wanted to cook and watch her family eat in joy of her cooking. Even though she was inspecting, she was still waiting to hear his answer as how he got it.

"Oh, i just created it." He said as if it was no big deal. The group were all shocked. No one could create things out of nothing. There was always an explanation. Not even gods could create things like that. But he claimed to have done it?

"What are you the god of?" Asked Vez as he had been quiet all this time, but was dying to know. Everyone else also wanted to know, but didn't really have the time to ask, but Vez asked at the perfect time.

"All." He simply answered.

"Eh..?" They all turned their heads and looked as if an question mark appeared over their heads.

"All?" Alexander asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could call me the God of All." He simple said. Making the others widen their eyes in surprise. Out of hundreds of known gods, no one could claim to be a God of All. This meant that he was also a God of Gods, a God of Life, a God of Death and the list could go on.. The fact that someone like this existed did not even cross anyone's mind.

"Doesn't that mean... That you're basically a God of Gods?" Alexander answered as he was truly amazed to have met someone that could claim this.

"I guess so..." He said as he scratched his head a bit before continuing.

"Do you know the ranking of Gods?" He asked the group.

"What we know is..." He started going on about what he knew about gods.

The lowest ranking god was known as a Minor God. These gods were mostly insignificant gods, such as Goddess of Dancing, Duvia. Then we have the regular Gods, such as God of Night and Day, Hibris. These gods usually represents things that are constantly there, such as day turning night, and so on. Goddess of Love, Ulene is also a God. But there are also the God of Knowledge, Phallotl, this is also the god that most Magicians pray to.

Then we have the High Gods. These are gods like the God of Darkness, Cephin who most demons pray to. He represents an element. Every god who represents an element is a High God. The Goddess of Light, Duvia is also a High God, she represents the Element: Holy, which is used to heal and support. Above that there are Arch Gods, Arch Gods represents things that no one can stop, such as Death. Moohr is the God of Death and Reincarnation, he is one of the few Arch Gods there is. Usally the Gods of Life would also be an Arch God, but somehow they have gone beyond Arch God here.

Elo, The God of Life and Godia, The Goddess of Life are a husband and wife pair of gods are at the pinnacle of gods, called True God. They are also the people who is said to rule the heavens.

"Oh, yeah! Elo was a True God. Now i remember!" Colt said with a smile and looked towards the sky in a bit.

"Well, if you put me into those rankings, I guess I could be called an True Arch God. But I don't even think I belong to that one. I've met True Arch Gods, but they are truly nothing to me. But I haven't heard heard of anyone mentioning anything above it." He said trying to think of the last truly powerful god he met. But there hasn't ever been someone to challenge in in terms of power.

This information of course stunned them all. Lilliana stopped with her cooking and froze in place upon hearing the information. Alexander who were sitting in front of him, listening also completely froze. Gilbert who were helping Lilliana cut the meat and vegetables also stopped completely. Vez was the only one who move, he started laughing loudly. After a few seconds everyone else returned from their frozen state because of Vez's laugh.

"And here we thought True God was the pinnacle... But.... God of All, can you do anything? This name represents that, doesn't it?" Alexander said and kept wondering what insane man they just met.

"Well, anything I've tried doing I have done. But just because it can be made doesn't mean it's perfect. The reason i went out and asked if you could cook was because even if I create cooked food, it's still better to cook it myself. But i'm very lazy and usally don't feel like cooking." He said and looked towards the stew that Lilliana were making.

"That is.... just insane" Alexander said as he looked at Colt with widened eyes.

"I guess, but it gets boring you know... I mean, what do I do? I don't have a goal. My goal before was to see everything i could, because i knew it would take me eons to do that. But now that I've seen anything i can even think about, i'm bored. This is also the reason why this new information of Skills, Levels and Attributes intrigued me so much" He said and he could not take his eyes away from the stew, it smelled amazing.

"Now, tell me more about these attributes and levels!" He said, still keeping his eyes on the stew.

Everyone had 10 diffrent attributes.

Strength - Represents physical strength - Having high Strength means stronger attacks, stronger body.

Constitution - Represents Stamina, Vitality, Endurance - Having high Constitution means that your stamina, life force and the amount of damage you can take without passing out / dying.

Defense - Represents Resistance, Fortitude - Having high Defense means higher resistances to all elements, poison and more, also high cold you feel in winter or how hot you are in the summer. It also means you could take a sword directly on your skin and with high enough defense if would make it hard to cut all the way through.

Dexterity - Represents Agility, Reflexes, Quickness - Means how fast you are in almost all aspects.

Intelligence - Represents Intellect, Knowledge - Having high Intelligence means higher Mana and Stronger Magic.

Charisma - Represents Charm, Social and the Presence you give off - Having high Charisma usually means you're a leader of sorts. You can easily talk to anyone, people would like and trust you faster.

Wisdom - Represents your Wits, Sense - Having high Wisdom would make you think faster, be able to sense people nearby without seeing them and cast spells faster.

Willpower - Represents your Personality, Resolve - Having high Willpower means you usually have a you are not easily distracted by taunts of others and more.

Perception - Represents your Awareness, Cautiousness - Having high Perception means you can easily detect traps, clues, hiding enemies or the even the strength of your opponent.

Luck - Represents Fate, Chance - Having high luck means you could easier win in places such as casinos and also your Fate.

"These are the 10 attributes and the average adult male has around 5 in each attribute. Those who work with physical labor usually have a bit above 10 strength. The average soldiers usually have 10 in Strength, Constitution and Defense, it's usually demanded to have those to officially become a soldier. But a soldier can wary a lot, you could have a rookie with 10 in those, but then you have a veteran soldier with up to 25 in at least one if not all three of them. Scouts usually have higher Perception and leaders such as Captains has to have higher Intelligence and Wisdom. Wisdom also helps plan strategies and to better understand the oncoming battle." Alexander explained as he tried to think if he forgot anything.

They ended up walking about that for hours, when they finally ate, Colt was surprised by the amount of flavor it had.

"This is probably the best thing i've ever eaten!" He said, and he meant it. Was this the magic of Skills? He wondered as he kept eating in joy.

"If you guys want, you can sleep inside the house. It's not like there isn't enough space in there" He said as he gulped down the food.

The group looked towards Alexander, awaiting his response.

"I'd be glad to just let Lilliana and Lucy sleep inside the warmth of a house. If you're offering, then i'll gladly accept." Alexander said as he was truly happy now. His wife and child was safe, his two most trusted friends and knights were here with him. But he could not stop thinking of who attacked them that night.

"Anyway, how do you know your stats and skills?" Asked Colt as he finished up his food, laying on the grass outside in bliss as he just finished the best stew he'd ever eaten. What would someone with 100 in cooking be able to cook? Would it evolve? What kind of dish could they make?

"The gods left behind Magical Tools that measures people stats and shows only the person holding the tool the stats." Alexander said as he looked towards Vez. Vez then took out a small orb from his bag. The orb was small enough to hold in one hand and looked like it was misty inside. Vez gave the orb to Alexander.

"OK, all i do is channel mana into it and it will show me my skills in my mind." He said as the orb started glowing a bit before it became dark and misty again. He then told the group his stats

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Alexander Knightmoar

Male

32 Years Old

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Level 43

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Attributes:

Strength - 57

Constitution - 71

Defense - 43

Dexterity - 29

Intelligence - 19

Charisma - 24

Wisdom - 12

Willpower - 30

Perception - 21

Luck - 8

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Skills:

Swordsmanship Skill: 57/100

High Regeneration Skill: 4/10

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(AN: Might make changes to how this works later.)

This appeared in his head as he read them out, the others did the same. (Not gonna show all their stats now.....)

"Let me try!" He said as he reached for the orb. They gave it to him, but before he started he inspected it for several minutes before he opened his other hand and suddenly another orb appeared.

"Try this first." He said and gave the orb to Alexander, who tried it right away and was amazed when it worked perfectly.

"It works!" He said which shocked the others. This was an ancient item that the gods had left behind millennia ago, they left behind very many, enough for every city and village to have several in stock, but in the passing years many has been stolen by bandits, hidden away and then the bandits died before getting it back, some has been destroyed as they can still be broken. It takes a bit of force, but anyone over 50 strength could crush it in their hands. Now it was pretty rare, the ones who has the most currently are the Adventure Guild which is known to have on in every guild they have. They have an office in almost every major city or town.

"Good" He said as he tried putting his energy into it, the orb shattered.

"As expected, huh?" He said as he laughed, watching the orb melt away slowly in his hand and on the ground.

This didn't shock the group as much, they kind expected something like this. I mean, he is a god...

They continued talking several hours before he showed them inside the house and created beds for them to sleep in, even a small crib to put little Lucy. Time went by as they spent the night and then another night, they ended up staying with Colt, in his house for two weeks before they decided to leave, hopefully by then, thinks have cooled down and whoever was after his life thought he was dead by now.

To save the almost a weeks trip through the forest, Colt quickly teleported them just a few kilometers away from the city of Rimebell, the city governed by the Knightmoars.

"Thanks for keeping me company, i'm always alone so it was nice to talk to someone. And i learned a lot of things!" Said Colt as he said his goodbye to the group.

"No, we're the ones who should thank you for saving our lives and keeping us safe for weeks as we got to enjoy a carefree life for a while." Said Alexander and everyone else nodded to his words.

Lilliana went for a hug and thanked him, this move surprised Colt the most, he was not used to that at all. They went towards the town and he teleported back to his house. When he arrived he suddenly realized that it was very quiet and lonely here. He usually liked it that way, but those people were fun to be around. Maybe he should go say hi every now and then, he thought as a book appeared in his hands and he lost himself in his reading.