The theory of innate abilities

"Of course, my friend. But one thing you should know is that before you get to experience my teaching, you have to know why it is that this all happens."

Well... great.

"Ahem... throat cleared, fire burning, tea- Oops, I forgot the tea, one moment my dear Kai."

Failure prances over to his kitchen and starts boiling water in a pot, it's not like there's any electricity in this forest for a kettle. Once the water is boiled, he pours the steaming liquid into two mugs and adds a tea bag into both, though the tea looks comparatively different to the ones on Earth.

Picking up the mugs by their handles, Failure walks back over with his signature smile and hands one to Kai.

"Drink up Kai. A nice, hot cup of tea does wonders when listening to a story, makes you appreciate the finer details more."

Taking the cup of tea from Failure, Kai looks down at the murky, brown drink and inwardly sighs.

I don't even drink tea...

Bringing the mug up to his lips, Kai takes a sip of the tea, then gags and spits it back into the mug.

"Ah, Kai... you're meant to take the tea bag out of the mug, not try to eat it, unless that's what you're into, of course, I won't stop you then."

Kai glares at the smiling man and scoffs:

"I know how to drink tea, thank you very much, I drank much of it back on my planet, I just... I'm not thirsty right now."

Carefully placing the mug down on the table in between the two armchairs, Kai watches as Failure takes a sip of his own tea, a small, sombre smile appearing once he does.

"Alright then, my dear Kai. What exactly is it that you want to learn about?"

There are a few things that he wants to learn about, each being something important or useful for the future. Learning how to use Mana, the theory of magic, and the backstory of the world, could be useful in the wider scope of everything going on. The only thing is that theory is only useful if you're alive long enough to learn it.

"Are you able to teach me how to use my innate ability better?"

Failure blinks a few times, a hint of shock visible on his attractive face. He ponders for a few moments, also taking a sip of his tea.

"Well... I could try... but I can't promise anything, it's your innate ability after all, yours and yours alone."

Kai nods his head, a smile growing on his face as he leans forward in his armchair.

"That's good enough, what can I do to use it better, because it really hasn't been going well for me lately."

Failure raises an eyebrow and looks down at Kai, judging him slightly.

"You do know I don't know what your innate ability does or even how many aspects it has, right?"

Oh...

"Yeah, I knew, I was just getting to that." Kai scoffs dismissively, trying to change the topic away from that.

"It's a two-aspect innate ability, one aspect allows me to command things below my level or up to five levels above depending on my luck stat, and the other aspect allows me to borrow the power of 'other-worldly creatures' with Mana, the stronger the creature the more Mana it costs to maintain."

Kai thought long and hard about this conversation over the last day. An innate ability doesn't seem like something you should share with anyone, but Failure isn't just anyone. He trusts Failure, the charismatic man has no reason to turn on Kai, Kai is probably worth little trouble to someone like him. But if Kai can get stronger by telling Failure about his innate ability, he'll take that chance, he wants to stay alive after all.

"Hmm... A pretty good ability, a two aspect is always looked upon favourably by people. Both aspects are a bit lacking now, but once you get stronger and gain levels they will truly show their capabilities. The only downside is that each aspect needs a different stat.

What you would see normally is someone focusing on one main stat, that stat is the one that their innate ability uses. Strength, Mana, Stamina and Dexterity are the main ones, innate abilities that use Luck and Will are less common.

You are going to have to focus your unassigned stat points on your Luck and Mana-"

Failure's face pales while mid-sip of his tea as if realising something.

"Kai, my friend, what stats do you gain from levelling up? Sure stats like Strength and Dexterity might be useful short term, but it could hinder your development later on since you'll have to mainly rely on Luck and Mana.

Deciding to hold nothing that could possibly be a detriment to his future, Kai's going to be completely honest to whatever question Failure asks.

"I get eighteen unassigned stat points per class level, and another three from being a human, so twenty-one altogether."

Failure blinks a few times, he then opens his mouth but remains silent for a few moments.

"Huh... I thought you were an apprentice- Oh... I get it, Ever-changing, gives you only unassigned stat points so you can constantly change... yeah, it's creative, I'll give them that."

"I've been meaning to ask, how do you and Aldred know about The Ever-changing?"

Failure shrugs nonchalantly and finishes his mug of tea, but then promptly refills it from the still-hot water in the pot.

"Who doesn't? Well, except for the new groups of course. Once you complete the tutorial, you'll learn that Gods aren't that uncommon. They vary in power though, the more well-known ones are more powerful, but they lose power if they lose followers or start to be forgotten.

The Ever-changing was one of the strongest back in the day, but who knows now? It's been a long, long time since they went missing."

Kai frowns and is about to speak up, but that's when it all clicks together.

That bastard's scent, Ever-changing, Catalyst... missing? I nearly fucked up. Failure must think it's because of my class I have that scent or whatever, they don't know I've spoken with The Ever-changing. But why does Failure say they went missing if they've actually been locked up? If they were one of the strongest... who could've possibly locked them up?

"I... see. That explains some stuff, but not really how you or Aldred know them though."

"Oh, you know, passing stories and tales of their glory, or the odd fanatic you would hear preaching, different ways to hear about various Gods."

Sighing, Kai gives up on that topic and brings the conversation back to the main issue at hand.

"Right, back to my innate ability, what should I do?"

"Well, for starters, let me ask you this, how has it worked so far?"

Kai shrugs and thinks back to the white room, remembering all the times he's used his abilities.

"The first time I used it was in a fight against Noelle, it gave me the skills of a Goblin, but it took away nearly all of my Will stat so I don't even remember the fight. The second time I made someone who attacked Noelle and me drop their weapon, and the third time I used it to fuse with Umbra when we were attacked by a group of people, and the fourth time was when I killed the gibbous abomination and the fifth time I got the powers of a Wraith when I fell from a tree.

I'm not telling him how I apparently lost to a fish, too embarrassing.

Failure's face twitches a few times throughout the summary as if thinking about something interesting.

"You said fuse with Umbra, how?"

"She has a skill that allows me to use her as a base for my innate ability."

Failure frowns.

"That shouldn't be possible."

Kai smirks slightly.

"I guess I got lucky then."

Failure gives up and dramatically sighs, he also seemingly doesn't want to stand anymore so he relents and shoves his wooden copy out of his armchair, taking his seat by the fire.

"I swear, anyone who even somewhat knows The Ever-changing either causes problems accidentally or creates them accidentally and trust me, there's a difference.

"Which is?"

"One is them being unaware of the problem they created, the other is them being the catalyst of the problem."

At the mention of the word catalyst, Kai tenses and asks:

"Which am I?"

Failure smiles slightly, takes a sip of his tea and lets out a small chuckle.

"Definitely the Catalyst, I've lived long enough to know that much."

Kai's jaw drops and he has an offended look on his face.

"I don't cause trouble, I'm always just stuck in the middle of it! Like the group that attacked us, I... was technically the reason they attacked us."

It isn't really my fault though, technically I did lead them to Noelle... Huh... do I cause problems accidentally?

Failure bursts out laughing as he holds his gut, placing his mug on the small table beside his armchair in case he drops it. Once the laughing stops, Failure wipes a tear from his eye and sighs.

"Oh, Kai, I wish well-being on anyone who gets to know you, they'll need all the help they can get."

Kai scoffs and crosses his arms, he rolls his eyes and says:

"Back on topic again, please. Innate ability, help, speak."

"Honestly, I don't think there's much I can do. You're first aspect is simple enough, just continue to level up and increase your Luck. But your second aspect... It's a bit strange.

It seems to have a mind of its own but in a good way. For example, you must've subconsciously deemed that in your fight with Noelle, you wanted to win but not really hurt her, hence getting the powers of a Goblin, a weak little creature that can be deadly to novices.

A question though, how high were you when you fell from the tree?"

Kai looks down at his lap and thinks, remembering the feeling of falling rapidly. A slight shiver runs up his spine as he answers.

"I don't really know, but I know I probably would've died if I hit the ground. I was hoping that it was the environment that influenced what creature I got, so I climbed the tree thinking I would get a wind spirit or some sort of flying creature, but I fell and got a Wraith."

"I see... Well, that explains it then."

Kai looks blankly at Failure, waiting for him to continue. Only he doesn't so Kai sighs and says:

"Elaborate."

Failure successfully finishes his second mug of tea, but by now the pot is cold so there's no more water for a third mug.

"You were on the right track thinking that it's the environment, but it's actually the situation which affects what creature you get, or so it seems that way anyway.

Goblin for an efficient fight while also relatively harmless and safe, especially for someone of Noelle's calibre.

But the Wraith mode, well, I have to tell you, Kai, you got very lucky."

Failure leans forward and clicks his fingers. A small cloud of smoke appears in the air, which shapes itself into the form of Failure, only its mouth is wide open and it has blood flowing freely from its eyes.

"Wraiths are apparitions which appear shortly before or after someone dies. Usually, they would appear in the form of you, just a much worse looking version that is, but if you see one it's usually a bad sign.

Since you got the powers of a Wraith in that situation, it means you were about to die. But since Wraiths aren't alive, you technically did die, but you're still alive and so on and so forth, it's a type of paradox so to speak.

A Wraith is never to be taken lightly, wherever they are is always a bad omen, and whoever sees them needs to constantly be careful. Having the powers of a Wraith can be very useful in the right situations, so always be aware you have that possibility.

But there's one more thing about your aspect I'm curious about."

Failure grins and leans forward towards the fire. He joins his hands and interlocked his fingers, as his eyes gaze into the flames his pupils dutifully reflect the beautiful light.

"How exactly does your ability grow?"