Rule Number 1

"…"

Awkward silence filled the space between Ethan and Lionel.

Ethan wasn't even sure how he opened his status window in the first place. With its eyes a flutter, Lionel realized why Ethan had a dumbstruck look on his face.

"Silly me. I forget you don't know how to access the status window yet."

However, the statement wasn't true.

"No, I did once. But I'm not sure how I did it."

"What do you mean? This should be the first time anyone in your universe is seeing the notification windows let alone the status screen?"

Ethan shrugged. "Well I did. But yea. It wasn't that great."

The kitten grinned at the comment, before breaking into an all out laughter.

"Meow! Meow! Meow! You suck huh? I don't know how you saw it. But you do look pretty weak and pathetic. Have you even squashed a bug before? Or are you afraid of those too?"

Ethan's eyebrows scrunched up from the taunts of the kitten. The shrill meowing of laughs started to annoy him. Unable to hold it in any longer, Ethan lashed out.

"Ha! Coming from a cute kitty like yourself? You probably suck and have terrible stats too! You noobie!"

Ethan's comment riled up the gray furry kitten. It went on a scratching and smacking rampage.

"You dare insult the great me! Human Ethan?! Take this and this. Hiyah! Take that! Raar! Raar! Rawr!"

The funny noises from the kitten made Ethan feel better. Watching cute funny cat videos always lightened Ethan's mood. He smiled and pretended to give in.

"Alright! Alright! I concede! I surrender! Let's go back to showing me how to open the status window."

"Meow! Meow! Meow! That's what you get for insulting me, human Ethan! Now you recognize the great me!"

Ethan just nodded his head and went along with Lionel's ranting.

"Alright. I suppose you need the great me to help you. Be grateful, poor human Ethan! All you have to do is think of the window screen or you can say, "status window.""

Ethan was confused.

"Then wouldn't everyone be able to access the window then? How come no one was able to do it before?"

"Well obviously because the system wasn't even released yet. How could anyone access something that was restricted by the Divines?"

Ethan didn't say anything to the kitten but wondered, "what about mine then? I did open it before. This doesn't make sense. Was I allowed early access? Though I couldn't do much…"

The kitten broke Ethan out of his thoughts.

"Well what are you waiting for? Times a ticking!"

"Right. Status window!"

————————————————————————

Name: Ethan Saltorie

Species: Humanoid - Primate

Age: 22

Sex: Male

Profession: Office worker

Condition: Healthy

————————————————————————

Skills: None

Abilities: None

Unique constitutions: Blessed Eyes

Talent: Psychic, Foresight

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Stats

(Relative to the universe average for similar species: humanoid)

Strength: .3

Agility: .5

Dexerty: .5

Intelligence: .7

Spirit: 1.2

Prana: .2

Ki: .1

————————————————————————

Essence Affinities (New!)

Wind: .1

Water: .5

Earth:.1

Fire:.1

Wood: .6

Light: .5

Dark: .1

Space: .8

Time: 1.8

Chaos: .1

————————————————————————

The blue status window appeared in front of Ethan.

"Show me, say or think "share window" for me to see your stats!"

Following Lionel's orders Ethan complied.

"Share window."

The kitten crawled to Ethan's shoulder as it peered at his status window.

"Hmmm… ok. Uh huh. I see, the base is an average for all humanoids. Wow, that's pathetic. You should have exercised more. It'll be hard to catch up normally."

"Hey! I can't be that…" Ethan was cut off by a surprised shout from the kitten.

"What's this?! You have a unique constitution and even talent! 2 talents! And what's with your affinity with time? How!?"

Ethan was confused but felt good by the stunned kitty.

It looked at Ethan's face with a questioning look.

"Maybe your gods did more than we know. Good talents are hard to come by. I know for a fact the two you have are pretty good. Probably explains your high amount of spirit. I don't understand the higher affinity for time though. Maybe due to your talent?"

Ethan was lost.

"Explain. What are spirit, prana, and kin for?"

The kitty facepalmed its forehead.

"Oh right, country bumpkin. I forget."

Ethan frowned at the kitten's belittling, but he ignored it and listened.

"All the three types of energy have many and multiple uses and applications. Essences can have more or less synergy with one or all of the types of energy.

Ki is energy used and stored within the body. Prana is used and stored within the mind. And last is spirit, which is used and stored in the soul."

"Is there something better from one over the other?"

"No, not necessarily. It depends on the user's intention and objectives. Even then, two people using the same skill or technique can have two entirely different outcomes."

Ethan momentarily thought over the new information.

"Do you have a status window too?"

"Of course! All creation does, even the divines."

"Then show me yours."

"No way!!! Rule number 1, never show your status screen to others. It'll put you at a disadvantage."

"But I showed you mine!"

"Rules are meant to protect you! Duh!"

"Some partner you are."

Ethan pouted, and Lionel felt a bit bad for tricking his partner.

"Okay! Okay! But after your training. I don't want to spend too much time explaining everything."

"Fine! You better! So how do I choose a path?"

"This process is only allowed once. Until you have mastered the first 5 levels of your path, you cannot choose another. So be careful. There are an infinite number of paths you can take. However, there are restrictions on many of them. I advise you to not take something so common or basic. It would be easier to master the levels, but given your constitution and talents you can probably get a rare, or if you're lucky, maybe even a legendary path."

"Ok, so let's begin! What do I need to do?"

"From the status window, where it says profession, press on that. You should let the system sort and give you a list of the most fitting path you should take to eliminate the need to search and read through everything. You could take an eternity looking through all the descriptions."

Ethan followed Lionel's instructions and a new window screen popped up.

————————————————————————

Paths

[Sort] [Find] [Remove] [Optimize] [Random] [Filter]

————————————————————————

{Path ~ Rating}

————————————————————————

Farmer: Basic

Adventurer: Basic

Scholar: Basic

Office worker: basic

Laborer: basic

…

Warrior: common

Mage: common

Priest: common

Manager: common

Apothecary: common

Blacksmith: common

…

Enchanter: uncommon

Summoner: uncommon

Paladin: uncommon

Assassin: uncommon

…

Elementalist : rare

Arch-mage: rare

Martial master: rare

…

Hero: legendary

Saint: legendary

Sage: legendary

…

Demi-god: unique

Demonic Lord: unique

…

Divine: mythic

…

(Hidden): (unknown)

…

————————————————————————

"See, if you pressed that drop down, there would be endless paths you can look through. But we really don't have time for that. Press [sort] then [optimize] and let's see what the system determines as the best fits with the highest ratings."

Ethan did as instructed and another window screen popped up.

————————————————————————

Paths ~ SORTED & OPTIMIZED

[Sort] [Find] [Remove] [Optimize] [Random] [Filter]

————————————————————————

{Path ~ Rating}

————————————————————————

Diviner: unique

Shaman: rare

Arch-mage: rare

Summoner: uncommon

Tamer: uncommon

Apothecary: common

Mage: common

Priest: common

Merchant: basic

Farmer: basic

Scholar: basic

————————————————————————

Ethan noticed the "Diviner" from his dreams. He had finally found it. He was very curious now as to what a Diviner did.

Looking from bottom up, Lionel observed closely at Ethan's results.

"Hmmm… okay not bad, oh a couple rare… WHAT IS THAT! …UNIQUE?!…HOW!?!?"

Ethan flinched at the sudden shouting from the kitten on his shoulder.

"Stop screaming in my ear! Are you trying to turn me deaf?!"

"BUT HOW?!" Ethan scrunched his face again from the yelling.

"What's wrong? Isn't that a good thing that I got a unique path?"

"…" the kitten was momentarily frozen.

"You wouldn't know, but that path is similar to mine. A spirit envoy is more than just a guide. We convey and do the will of the Divines. A diviner also works closely with the Divines. They are usually seers that hear the voice of the Divines, or even see the divines! They are like champions chosen by a Divine to change the world on their behalf. Both are sacred paths that intertwine with the gods and their biddings."

"…" Ethan went quiet from what he was just told. He was reminded of the threats to be smited.

"I don't think I like the idea of having to do the biddings of some unknown entity, I'll choose something else."

"What are you saying! That's one of the highest honors! You don't know how many want to be in your shoes! And you're going to decline it?!"

"Well we were given the right to choose, and I choose no. I don't want to be under the thumb of some Divine or whatever."

"You're mad! Crazy! Out of your mind! This is a golden opportunity! Won't you reconsider? You won't regret it! We would be serving the same Divine! The great and powerful, Melaton! It's such an honor!"

The memory of rumbling thunder ready to smite Ethan made him give no hesitation.

"Nope. Not happening. I'm going to choose arch-mage. I'm going to rain down meteors!!! Bwahahaha!"

About to select the option for the path as an arch-mage, suddenly all the options grayed out except for the Diviner.

Ethan pressed the option for an arch-mage, but nothing happened. Ethan kept pressing, noticing nothing happening. He frantically pressed the selection nonstop. He tried everything but the Diviner, but they all didn't work the same.

Lionel's mouth dropped wide open at the happenings before him. He couldn't believe what was happening. Someone had interfered, and it could only be a Divine.

"What's going on Lionel! Why can't I choose anything else! I will NOT take the Diviner!!!"

"…"

The option for Diviner turned gold and glittered, wanting to be selected.

"No! Never!" Ethan refused.

A blue pop up screen appeared before the kitten and then disappeared. The kitten was shocked and didn't know what to do. It was mumbling at itself at the sudden instructions.

"Was that even possible? Can I refuse? I don't want to be smited though…this feels wrong oh holy one…"

Ethan couldn't see what was written on Lionel's notification window. He was staring at his own window, still unwilling to take on the path of a Diviner.

"Sorry Ethan. Time's ticking, and I have orders so um yea…" With his entire small body, Lionel gripped onto Ethan's finger and lunged forward and selected the option to choose the Diviner.

With a sweaty look, the cute kitty looked back at the scary human face. Ethan's eyes stretched wide on his face darkened as it warped with anger.

The poor kitty's hair stood up in fright. It did its best, pleading with guilty eyes and an innocent face.