Chapter 8: Skills? What Are Those?

Saiba wakes up in the same room he was in when he first met Lily. This time, Lily is standing over him. She asks,

"You finally up?"

Saiba lets out a loud yawn while stretching. She walks back a bit to give him space while saying,

"You had a me a bit worried back there you know? But congrats on beating Coroner... By the way, what was that skill you used to finish him off?"

Saiba puts on a smug face and says,

"You were worried about me? That's a surprise"

His expression changes into a confused one as realizes something. He asks,

"Wait, a skill? When did I do that?"

Lily replies,

"You know, the red thing you used. I think you shouted something like 'Ginger Strike' while doing it."

Saiba's eyes light up as he shouts,

"I... Used... A skill....? Heck yeah! I'm finally cool now! Right...?"

Lily looks at him sarcastically while saying,

"Yeah, yeah... Can you just check what the skill you used was?"

Saiba calms down and says,

"Uh sure but... I don't know how to do that."

Lily says in a tired tone,

"You don't even know how to do that? How did you even become a Hero?"

She explains,

"Nevermind that, just open up your SI and go to the [Status] menu. There should be an option at the bottom called [Skills]. Just click that and it'll show all your skills."

Saiba follows her instructions and ends up at the list of skills. As expected, he only has one skill. It's called [Crimson Strike]. Saiba hovers over it and some information about pops up. It says,

"Sword-Type Skill. User gathers [Dark Energy] and releases it in the form of an expanding crimson wave."

Saiba shows it to Lily and asks,

"What does this mean?"

Lily looks at it as her expression becomes surprised. She goes,

"D-Dark magic? That's pretty rare! I guess you might actually have what it takes to be a legendary Hero."

Saiba replies,

"Dark magic? What does that mean?"

Lily sighs and explains,

"Since you have a skill now, I guess it wouldn't hurt to explain... First of all, skills are basically a special attack that you can gain from battle experience. There are lots of skills that you can get and they can vary in weapon type. Skills can also vary in magic type. There are 7 main magic types: [Fire], [Water], [Lightning], [Earth], [Wind], [Light], and [Dark]. These types all have there strengths and weaknesses. Study this chart so you can know what's each one is weak and strong against."

Lily hands Saiba a piece of paper with words and arrows. According to the paper, Saiba can decipher that Fire is strong against Wind and weak to Water, Water is strong against Fire and weak to Lightning, Lightning is strong against Water and weak to Earth, Earth is strong against Lightning and weak to Wind, Wind is strong against Earth and weak to Fire, Light is strong and weak against Dark, and Dark is strong and weak against Light.

Lily continues with her explanation,

"Use this to your advantage and fight your enemies with their strengths and weaknesses in mind. Next, the skills you gain will be based on what kind of person you are. You must be a shady person which is why you got a Dark-type skill. Well, that's basically it about skills. The one you have is pretty rare so make sure to put it to good use."

Saiba somehow understands everything Lily says as he becomes an expert of 'Skill Basics'. Lily says to Saiba,

"Now that that's out of the way, tomorrow we're heading to the next town over. Right now we're in [Estrelia City], the capital of the Kingdom and the town where the Castle is located. To get to [Hogback Town], we have to pass through Slime Hills and a thick forest."

Saiba thinks to himself, trying to stop himself from laughing,

"Hogback Town? What kind of a name is that!"

Lily shouts at Saiba,

"We're leaving at noon! You better not be late this time if you wanna make it their before night!"

Saiba nods in agreement and lies down in his bed getting ready to fall asleep again. Lily starts heading towards the door while saying,

"I'll let you get some more rest now I guess..."

While exiting the room, she adds with a smile,

"I'm counting on you Hero!"

Saiba stares at the ceiling while thinking as he falls back asleep getting ready for the next day of adventure.