God's Garden - I've Got Skills 6
"It's not like that, kid. Once our grade reaches S one day, we will be able to activate that form without expending too much energy."
"All right, fair enough. Now, let's wrap up the night with these last five abilities. 'Sovereign Series Abilities,' huh, what's the difference between these and the Curator stuff?" Norvin asked, ready to move on to the final abilities on his record. He was really starting to feel tired, especially after filling his belly.
The sub-body answered him after a few moments had gone by. "Every Curator has five special skills that will be more or less the same as the ones you see here. They signify that you are more than just a basic super. They give you special perks having to do with each super class."
"I see, well, let's check em out. First, 'Sovereign's Mind'—my thoughts are super fast, and I'm resistant to mind control," he read off.
"Very useful against psychic attackers, such as yourself, you should be able to nearly no-sale anyone from your class, as long as the power gap isn't too high. Especially since you already have similar skills to that. The effects will stack." The sub-body noted.
"Cool, 'Sovereign's Body' allows my body to adapt to poisons and venoms...It prevents unwanted mutations and genetic anomalies along with high kinetic resistance," Norvin read.
"An excellent defensive trait to have, especially when dealing with those pesky Pugilists." the sub-body replied.
"Then there's 'Sovereign's Soul'. Our souls are affluent with mana, making me resistant to magic and our souls immune to attacks." He continued.
"Just like a solid firewall against magical threats, not only that, my soul can't be broken into. No one can steal from our inventory." The sub-body seemed proud.
"Good, wouldn't want anyone to steal my breakfast tomorrow..."
"Keep reading...you're almost done."
"Alright, alright...'Sovereign's Control' lets the laws of nature bend more easily for me, allowing resistance against elemental damage," he stated.
"You probably noticed that one when you didn't get fried by the Stormchaser's lightning." The sub-body commented.
"Yeah...the lightning still wasn't very pleasant...Eh, there's a expandable section under this one."
He willed the record to open up the sub-section he noticed of 'Sovereign's control'.
"It just says, 'Wind resistance enhanced', what?"
"When you ate the meat of the Gale Howler, it boosted your wind element resistance." The sub-body explained without too many words.
"So you're saying that if I eat those other creatures, I'll start gaining even more resistance against whatever powers they have? That's just like another web novel I've read. The dude in it enhances his genes and abilities with beasts he eats from these places called sanctuaries."
The sub-body didn't respond for several moments, it was busy sifting through Norvin's memories.
"Ah I've read the book now too, it was pretty good! Yes Norvin, that works more or less the same way for you. Any Meta creature that you consume should allow you to gain a bit more resistance, in regards to whatever element it is."
"Well, that's convenient, I hope that fire pig from earlier tastes as good as that Gale Howler did, it looked pretty fatty, bet its bacon is delicious..."
Norvin licked his lips before looking at the last few lines of text in front of him. "Okay, last one, 'Sovereign's Wardrobe' - weapons and armor are more powerful when equipped by me, that is perfect for what the Holodex can do!" Norvin finished, a huge smile on his face.
"The Holodex doesn't count in that regard. That will only work on outside equipment and gear. Still, it can make a stick into a serious threat in your hands. Even basic clothing will be twice as tough and resistant to getting ripped." The sub-body cleared that up for Norvin quickly.
Norvin leaned back, his mind racing as he absorbed the weight of it all. "That's still a good thing, that means that my basic transformations were just powerful all on their own."
"The Holodex isn't any kind of weak thing, Norvin. It is easily one of the most powerful artifacts in any universe right now.
"I kinda gathered that, even when it was just a prop, I had it in mind that if it were real, it would be one of the most powerful items in it's verse. I was even going to write a novel about some dude making it and having it become real."
"Well, lucky you, you're living your fantasy real time, kid."
Norvin scratched his head, that thought hadn't crossed his mind yet, surprisingly. "I guess I am, 106."
"Okay, enough of that 106 stuff you dummy...let's figure out something good to call me." The sub-body snapped. It wasn't fond of its numerical title.
"Alright, chill out, chill out." Norvin smiled. An idea flashed into his mind, and before the sub-body could disagree, he said it out loud.
"How about we call you, 'Echo'?"
"That'll work." The sub-body had read Norvin's thoughts, it knew Norvin came up with the name because it seemed like its voice echoed around inside of his head. It wasn't 100% endearing, but it was clever and the sub-body, now Echo, did not hate it.
"Glad you like it, Echo. Now let's try out this meditation stuff for a few minutes before I hit the sack...holy crap! Hold that thought...There's something I need to do before I go to bed."
When Norvin had mentioned hitting the sack, it gave him a flash of inspiration. He gathered up some energy inside of him, and used the astral alchemy ability on a large rock and pile of moss laying nearby in the cave.
Echo didn't respond, it already had read Norvin's thoughts and was impressed that he was being this resourceful with his power already.
The familiar golden light lit up around the objects Norvin had his sights on, they turned into a golden cloud and slowly started to reform. Where the rock and moss had once been, a black pillow and rolled up sleeping bag now sat.
Norvin was already much more proficient with the ability after only using it a few times to make seasoning before. The passive effects of 'infinite stellar refinement' were really showing how powerful of a skill it was.
"It worked! This is so much better than going blanket-less." He grabbed the fluffy pillow and sleeping bag, then proceeded to lay them out on the small nook he had intended to used for sleeping earlier.
He laid on them for a few moments in mock trail before hoping back up. He placed another log on the fire that had started to die down and then squatted cross legged on the ground, preparing to try and meditate.
"Why did you go with black for the pillow and bag?" Echo asked curiously.
"Well, I didn't think about this too hard so you wouldn't know. If I went with white, the cave would have stained the crap out of my new pillow. At least black color hides that stuff."
"Who is going to see some stains, besides us?"
Norvin blinked a few times. "Shut it Echo, I'm going to try charge the Holodex with some meditation now. Let's see how the 'imagination station' works." Norvin's cheeks slightly turned red with embarrassment.
He had thought he was clever with the color thing, now he realized Echo was right. There wasn't anyone around to see if he drooled on his pillow or not.
Norvin started to try and clear his mind. He had seen and read a lot of things about meditation. He could feel his energy flowing around inside his body, circulating. As it flowed past his arm, he focused on siphoning it towards the Hero Holodex.
"Ugh..." Norvin could feel a slight drain on his body as the energy was slowly collected and lost his focus for a moment. When he lost concentration, the energy flow went back to purely moving around in his body.
"Okay, well that seems to have worked. Let's see if the Holodex has changed at all."
"It has." Echo piped up. "Take a look at the current entry it's on."
Norvin hadn't moved the outside dial on his device since his last transformation. When he looked at the watch, the green ranger entry had gained a small bar, it had a tiny portion of it colored in solid.
Not even 1% of the bar was full.
"I guess it's going to take a long time to store up the energy required to pre charge the Holodex."
"Once you are asleep, fully recovering your energy shouldn't take too long. Think about keeping the imagination station running and I will maintain the activation of the skill. There shouldn't be any problem with syphoning your energy into the Holodex while you sleep. You're most likely going to wake up very, very hungry."
Norvin got up from where he had been sitting and stretched his arms while yawning widely, he was quite tired at this point.
"Well, there's always more beasts to hunt tomorrow to take care of that. This is like a cultivation camping trip."
Norvin settled into his sleeping bag, the fabric soft against his skin. He adjusted his pillow, giving it a little fluff as he closed his eyes. As he lay back, his mind raced with thoughts of the possibilities that awaited him. Should he focus on his psychic training first, or would it be better to sharpen his combat skills?
He envisioned the sequence of his training in his mind: a morning of running through the forest, followed by practice with his new abilities. And the hunt—what would he pursue first? The fire powered Brimfire Boar seemed like a good choice; it would test not only his skills but also the powers he was beginning to understand.
"Norvin...Stop thinking so hard. Imagination station, remember?"
Echo's voice sounded softly from the Holodex.
"Right, sorry about that, I'm just excited about tomorrow."
He closed his eyes and began to center himself, letting go of the day's excitement and anxieties. Each inhale filled him with warmth; each exhale released the tension from his mind.
As the cave's quiet—broken only by the crackling warmth of the fire—enveloped him, he established a rhythm. Thoughts of his training and the future hunt mostly faded into the background. He concentrated exclusively on the rhythm of his breathing, comforting himself with the thought that he was readying for any challenges that lay ahead.
Finally, feeling at peace, Norvin allowed himself to drift off into slumber. His mind finally shutting off the slight hum of imagination and possibility, ready to face the adventures of tomorrow.
He immediately started to drool onto his pillow.