2 Testing the Skills!

It's the second day of traveling since I awoken in this world and I'm well on my way to Orario. I've been lucky so far and avoided encountering any beasts or bad guys along the way. I travel from dawn til dusk, resting whenever I need to.

When the sun is high above my head, meaning that is noon, I will rest for an hour to eat a simple lunch consisting of preserved meat, rye bread, some dried fruit and veggies. It's a simple meal, but honestly it is filling. This should last me until I reach the city thankfully.

At dusk I will eat a simple meal for supper and practice my newly acquired skills. The ones I have naturally are instinctively known within my head and I am able to use them freely without too much effort. Clumsily I might add, but you don't learn to run without first learning to walk.

I first test out the Scan spell on a simple herb I found near the camp and the effects from the herb is revealed to me.

[Minor Paralysis upon consumption.]

"Sounds helpful. Scan could help me identify beneficial herbs and poisons so simply."

I used Scan on some nocturnal rodents running around and their aura color is green, meaning that if I attacked them I could just as easily beat them. I'm not given any statistical data on the things I scan, but from what I can feel, I can identify weak points on opponents later on if my mastery of the skill reaches a certain point. After using Scan 5 times I feel that my mana has nearly depleted.

"Seems like I have only limited mp for the time being. Since I don't have a set leveling system like the people in this world, I feel that I will need to record my progress manually.... Maybe I should buy a journal when I get to Orario?"

After resting for a few minutes I feel that my mana had replenished completely so I start experimenting with another useful skill. Armiger.

I hold my hand forward and call out the first weapon, that appeared in a flash of azure blue light, directly into the palm of my hand. The basic Gunblade from FFVIII wielded by Squall Leonhart himself at the start of the game.

"This is awesome!" I say with a hint of excitement in my voice. The weight, the sharpness and length of the blade, even the awesome keychain on the handle of Griever. A perfect functional replication of the Gunblade. How do I know?

"HYAAA!!"

I swing the Gunblade forward and pull the trigger at the same time.

SWOOSH!!! ZZZ!!

I can hear and feel the vibration being focused and emitted by the blade for a brief moment. The vibration reaches all the way to my hand kinda making me feel uncomfortable for a moment before it subsides. According to FFVIII lore, the Gunblade was a difficult weapon to master, so I am assuming the practitioners were required to adapt to the vibrations among other things. I intend soon enough. I will master all of my weapons.

I look towards a tree branch a few meters away and prepare for my next experiment using my newfound skills.

"Seeing it in action on tv is much different than trying it in real life. So, here goes nothing!"

I fling the Gunblade towards the branch and watch as it just barely sticks into the branch from my weak ass throw. Channeling my mana I feel my body vanish and reappear with my hands wrapped around the handle of the blade. Due to the blade not being stuck into the branch deep enough, it slips and I find myself falling to the ground.

THUD!!

"Owww!"

I certainly felt the impact on my ass after the fall, but to be fair, it was a pretty decent drop. This skill will require practice for me to utilize properly without all of the self-harm that comes with it. At least I'm not throwing up my dinner like those Kingsglaive trainees in the cgi movie that was released as a prequel to the game. Some of those guys would vomit after just one leap.

"Let's see how much mana I consume with this skill. 6 uses of a simple spell like Scan drains me completely, so how often can I use the Warp skill before I hit empty?"

Instead of aiming for branches in the trees, I instead focus on the base of the three at my level. There isn't a need to hurt myself too much during the first day of my new life. So I fling my sword into the bark of the three and Warp back and forth multiple times until I can feel my magic emptying completely for it's constant consumption. I kind of regret it, for as soon as my mana was empty I start to feel my consciousness drifting from me.

"Goddamn it! Mind-Zero! So this is what.... it feels like? Hehehe! I could use Warp safely 10 times before my mana has depleted. Good to know!"

Before I could enjoy my discovery for a bit longer, I lose my consciousness. It couldn't have come at a better time, considering I had planned on going to bed soon enough. That was most certainly my plan to begin with..... Yeah... >_>

##The Next Morning.##

*Yawns*

I stretch my body after a night of sleeping, me feeling well rested. After doing a few morning exercises, my body is fully functional and I'm wide awake now. I relieve my full bladder behind a tree a short distance from the camp and return to eat some preserved foods for breakfast before carrying on with my journey.

When noon arrives and I was ready to settle down for lunch, I come across a decent sized stream with some of the purest, cleanest water I have ever seen. Instead of wasting my current reserves, I kneel down and gulp the stream's water and sigh in satisfaction after my thirst is quenched.

"Nothing like good old fashion, non-polluted water fresh from a stream without the threat of possibly becoming sick." I say as I sit comfortably at the shore of the stream. "Humans back in my past life always took nature for granted and recklessly exploited and destroyed it. Forests disappearing, animals driven to extinction, and even ecosystems ruined by toxic fumes expelled by human technology. When I died they still failed to discover an alternative power source to replace oil, coal, and nuclear technology."

I was definitely disappointed in my own species' lack of progress. You know it's bad when the entertainment industry is speeding further ahead of the energy and medical industries. If not, I probably wouldn't have died from cancer. I could only dryly chuckle at my previous face, yet oddly enough thank it for granting me this new life.

"Hm?" I glance down at my reflection in interest and smile, "So this is how I look in this current life? How fitting considering my new found abilities."

What I see in my reflection is a 16 years old, black haired version of Noctis from XV, except my hair is considerably longer and bundled up in a ponytail that extends halfway down my back. My eyes seem to be a blood red. People had always compared Noctis' looks to Sasuke Uchiha from the Naruto series, I guess you could say I more resemble the older sibling if you factor in my hairstyle. The red eyes almost remind me of the Sharingan, but I lack the tomoe and it's abilities.

Who needs the power of the Sharingan anyways?

I prefer magic over chakra. Then again both chakra exhaustion and mind-zero can leave you in danger.

Despite my looks, I'm also interested in my current attire. I'm wearing the Royal Raiment dlc outfit from XV. Stylish, yet majestic. An attire fit for royalty. Not what I would pick first to wear, but I won't complain. At least I have something to wear to begin with.

Now that I think about it, there are numerous outfits from the whole series stored within the King's Ring. Soldier Uniforms from 7, Magiteck armor from XV, Genesis' outfit, the Dark Knight armor of Cecil. It's not just limited to the FF series either, I even spotted outfits and armors from other games released by Square. I even seen an outfit from Dragon Quest.

I continued my journey to the city while playing around with my new abilities. Although it was disorienting at first, I started to get used to the instantaneous movements that came from using Warp. Along the way I would use it to propel myself further ahead at a faster pace, then ease up to recover my expended mana. Sometimes I would even pull out an ether to recover faster.

Why not?

It's not like I am urgently needing them at the moment. I haven't reached Orario and started exploring the dungeon yet, so I'm allow to splurge for myself. I think I have come to enjoy the taste of these potions, simply because the Ether has a sweet taste to it, almost fruity. I enjoyed the flavor and if it was not simply a medicinal potion, I wouldn't mind using it as a simple drink.

"Far too luxurious for a drink." I say with a nod and continue warping along the trail.