6 Learning about Skills and Bloodlines

"What am I supposed to do here?" Xiao Yun went straight to the point.

Having never played any games before, he didn't know the objective or the point of playing.

Jasmine tilted her head in puzzlement. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"What is there to do in this world? What can I do? Shouldn't I have some objective?"

"Well...that is something you have to decide for yourself. You can do anything you want here. You can live your life normally, or you can become an adventure and travel the world. You can live a safe life as a merchant and sell things like me, or you can live a dangerous life as an adventurer and fight monsters. You can relax in the city where it's safe, or you can explore dungeons where elite monsters roam. There's a lot that you can do in this world, but at the end, it's all what 'you' want to do."

"I see...then my next question is...what is a Skill Tree? I saw it being mentioned during my character creation."

"Character creation?" Jasmine looked puzzled for a moment before saying, "Skill Tree is where all your abilities belong. You can open it up and look at all of your available abilities and see their effects."

"How do I open it up?"

"Just say Skill Tree," she said.

"Skill Tree."

A transparent screen suddenly appeared in front of Xiao Yun.

<Active Skills>

[Power Strike] [Lv.1]

[Haste] [Lv.1]

<Passive Skills>

[Keen Eyes] [MAX]

Focusing on the skills, a small description of the skill appeared on a different transparent screen.

[Power Strike] [Lv.1]

[Increases your normal attacks damage by 50%]

[Mana Cost: 5]

[Haste] [Lv.1]

[Increases your movement speed for a short period of time(10 seconds)]

[Cooldown: 30 seconds]

[Mana Cost: 20]

[Keen Eyes] [MAX]

[Strengthens your eyesights, allowing you to see further and clearer than normal.]

"Skills are an essential part of life, especially for those who wish to be adventurers," said Jasmine.

"How do I use them?" Xiao Yun asked.

"You can activate them by either shouting the name or thinking about activating it," she replied.

"Most people would begin with shouting the name until they're familiar with it."

"Hmm… Power Strike!" Suddenly, from Xiao Yun's hands glowed dim red lights. He remembers seeing these same glowing lights in the hands of the people that were fighting the Wild Boars.

The red glow lasted for about five seconds before disappearing.

"Power Strike is a basic skill for every class; it amplifies your normal attacks that do not require the usage of mana," explained Jasmine.

—This is interesting…

Xiao Yun thought to himself.

"You can also level up your Skills by constantly using them, or you can use Skill Books, but the latter is very rare and expensive, so I wouldn't suggest relying on Skill Books."

"Is there anything else you'd like to know?" Jasmine asked him with eagerness, seemingly happy and eager to teach him. In her eyes, teaching Xiao Yun felt like teaching her little brother who didn't know anything about the world— at least that's how she believes it would feel if she had a brother.

"Yes… I'd know more about Bloodlines," he said. "What are they, and what do they do?"

Surprise appeared on Jasmine's face when she heard his question.

"Ex-Excuse me for asking this, but do you happen to...have a Bloodline?" she asked with a trembling voice.

"I believe so," Xiao Yun said.

"A...Am...Amazing!" Jasmine went around her potion stand to extend her hands, "Please shake my hands!" she said, raising an eyebrow on Xiao Yun.

Puzzled, he decided to shake her hand and ask questions later.

"Bloodline is a special trait that only very few are born with; it's like having natural-born talent but even more precious and rarer! Those born with a Bloodline are destined to achieve greatness, and you are the first person I have come across to ever have a Bloodline!"

"Don't forget my name and my little potion stand when you become someone great!" she said as she strongly shook his hand.

"I see….."

Bloodlines are basically talents but with more uniqueness, like an extra unique skill that only the user and nobody else has.

"How can I see more about my Bloodline?" he asked. "Is it the same as the Skill Tree?"

"Oh, no. Unlike your Skill Tree, you will need an item for your Bloodline. They are also fairly expensive but not as rare. You can buy some from Shasha, the Item Appraiser."

"Is that so…" Xiao Yun shook his head, "How unfortunate that I have no money. I guess I will leave that to the side and worry about that after I find out what I want to do here."

"I am still pretty clueless as to what I want to do in this world, after all."

Jasmine looked at him with a thinking expression.

After a moment, she went back to her potion stand to search for something.

A minute later, she returns with a small, metal badge in her hands— with the badge in the appearance of a potion bottle with half of the content inside red and the other half blue.

"Here, take this and show it to Shasha whenever you want to get your Bloodline appraised, and tell her I said 'Don't be mean', okay?" Jasmine winked at him, unintentionally looking charming.

Unfortunately, even Xiao Yun did not notice the charm in her and casually accepted the badge.

<You have obtained (Jasmine's Approval)>

"Is there anything else that you'd like to know about?" she then asked him.

Xiao Yun pondered for a moment, but he could not think of anything else to ask as of this moment.

"That'll be all for now," he said.

"I see. Hopefully, I was able to answer your questions properly. If you have any more questions in the future, do not hesitate to come back here to ask me. I will always be here, after all."

"I will be back," he said.

Jasmine nodded with a smile and returned to stand behind her potion stand. "Goodbye… uh… What's your name, again?" she asked.

"You can call me Xiao Yun," he said as though he was in the real world, already forgetting that he was actually inside the game.

"Xiao Yun, huh. What an odd name," she chuckled. "Then, I'll see you later, Xiao Yun."

"Goodbye, Jasmine." Xiao Yun turned to walk towards where he came from— the east gate.

Jasmine silently watched him disappear with a smile on her face.

After Xiao Yun's figure could no longer be seen, a figure that had been watching the two's conversation from a distance walked up to Jasmine's potion stand.

"Jasmine."

Jasmine turned to look at the old man in front of her.

"Grandpa," she said.

"The two of you were looking awfully intimate there just now," her grandfather chuckled, "You got a thing for that young man?"

Jasmine blushed at his words. "What are you talking about, grandpa! I was just being nice to him."

"Even though you already gave him your badge?" he laughed even more.

"We are only supposed to give the badges to those we really trust, not someone you just met, you know?"

"I know that…" she said.

"Good… I just wanted to make sure... I don't want to see you punished because of him..."

Jasmine's grandfather's expression turned serious.

"..."

Jasmine turned silent.

"He's not one of us, after all…"

"I already knew that, grandpa. Go away, you'll scare away my customers with your creepy face," she said.

"How rude!" he laughed, before turning to walk back into the house.

Jasmine sighed and looked at the 52 Restoration Seeds in front of her. "What an odd guy," she mumbled before putting the seeds somewhere safe.