Chapter 02: Celestial Magnifying Glass

{Name: Jonn Irondoom}

{Age: 16}

{Level: 1 (0%)}

{Reputation: Level 4 "Elder of the Eternal Village!"}

{Stats:

[Health: 100] [Mana: 100] [Stamina: 100]}

{Attributes:

[Strenght: 10] [Agility: 10] [Dexterity: 10]

[Constitution: 10] [Endurance: 10] [Intelligence: 10]

[Wisdom: 10] [Charisma: 10] [Luck: 10]}

{Resistances: None}

{Skill: None}

{Celestial Magnifier successfully started!}

{Ding!}

{You have received a quest from Hewet Irondoom!}

{Take care of the Eternal Village. Make sure it isn't annihilated.}

{You have received a mission from Hewet Irondoom!}

{Find out what it's about and use the Celestial Magnifying Glass!}

{Ding! You've completed a mission!}

{Congratulations! You've gained a skill: [Analysis]!}

{Congratulations! You've earned a skill: [Essence of Life]!}

{Congratulations! You have gained 2 attribute points!}

A series of prompts appeared in Jonn's vision, covering his field of vision with messages in blue text boxes, for a moment making him freeze motionless.

Petyr looked at Jonn and said nothing. As much as he disliked the boy, the hunted man took a few steps out of old Hewet's house and decided to wait outside. Surely the young man had a lot on his mind and the Elder had left a moving text to read just after his death.

When he was alone in his grandfather's house, Jonn didn't know how to react to his current situation. What were the things he was seeing in his vision? For someone who had grown up in the Eternal Village, where there was almost nothing about their devastated magical world, the white-haired young man didn't understand what was going on.

What is this? Why are these messages on my...

Suddenly, Jonn felt a discomfort at the back of his neck and he closed his eyes, quickly bringing one of his hands to his head as if he had been hit.

By holding onto the back of the chair next to him, he avoided an unexpected fall. Thanks to his mouth and the benefits of youth, he resisted the strange sensation permeating his body from head to toe, a strange tingling he had never felt before.

As he sat down, he took a deep breath for a minute, calming his racing heart.

Then his gaze became even deeper as strange knowledge flooded his mind.

Texts that moments ago had meant almost nothing to him became more informative as he understood them. Never before had he heard the concepts of [Constitution], [Health], [Agility], among others. But he understood them by thinking about the text messages in the blue boxes.

The Celestial Magnifier has quantified my characteristics and through it I can manage my development.

This realization crossed his mind, before he focused on the final part of the text.

{Would you like to use your available attribute points?}

All he had to do was think of the answer and the system would do as he wished, he felt it almost instinctively.

The {Stats} were related to his {Attributes}. Depending on the [Attribute] he raised, his {Stats} could increase too. For example, raising [Wisdom] wouldn't raise any {Stat}, as it was an attribute related to his proficiency in manipulating mana. But raising the [Intelligence] score would automatically raise his magical ability, [Mana].

Jonn almost immediately distributed his two attribute points, raising [Constitution] and [Intelligence] in equal proportion.

The system asked him if he was sure of his choice and after saying yes, he not only saw his two attributes improve by 10%, but also felt the transformation in his body and soul.

His breathing changed and he felt more energetic, with a sudden desire to climb a mountain growing in his heart. Simultaneously with a sudden increase in self-confidence, his thoughts sped up and he saw the world around him more clearly. He could even feel the mana around him as if it were much less ethereal and more palpable to the touch.

This is what it feels like to evolve? Impressive. I didn't think magical beings were so interesting!

But the greater mental clarity not only made him understand himself as a magical being, but also made him look again at the messages of that system.

In addition to the {Attributes}, {Stats}, and system information, which he magically gained knowledge about, he had a few things in mind. The {Missions} and the two {Skills} he had just earned.

In {Missions}, only one activity was available to him now. The second mission that Hewet had given him completed the integration of the system into Jonn's body and soul. Just as he now understood what he could do with the Celestial Magnifier, he understood what it was all about.

The Celestial Magnifying Glass, a magnificent item with very little information in this world, was one of the 7 items of the apocalypse that caused the Third Magic War, the Calamity of the Sages, which ended 45 years ago. All Jonn knew at the time was that this item had the system integrated into it at the time and well-defined purposes. He knew how to use it and that was that. Anything else he had to find out for himself.

Fortunately, Hewet's mission wasn't in-depth and this bit of information was enough for him to complete it, earning him the three awards presented.

[Analysis].

As he thought about the first {Skill}, Jonn saw the system messages presenting him with what he had obtained.

{[Analysis]: by means of the Celestial Magnifying Glass, the user can magnify objects under observation and learn their fundamental characteristics; they can learn everything they analyze with the skill and never forget it; they can compare structures on a level capable of distinguishing copies with more than 98% similarity; they can detect methods of replicating, repairing, or understanding the thing under observation}.

[Analysis] was naturally impressive. Its capabilities were so great that Jonn didn't even know where to start using it. So he put his shock aside and thought about the next [Skill].

[Essence of Life].

{[Essence of Life]: intuitive knowledge of observed living beings through [Analysis]. You can learn characteristics of the observed living being, know how to predict behavior, ultimately, you can use it to understand and communicate with living beings.}

The two {Skills} were connected, but had different uses. One of them basically uncovered the truth of things and the other did the job of making its holder understand those truths. In short, one wouldn't work without the other.

After answering your curiosities about the {Skills}, the Celestial Magnifier system presented the {Mission} available.

{Quests: [Save the Eternal Village]}

[Save the Eternal Village]

[Description: The Eternal Village is under constant threat. Located in a poor region that is difficult to cultivate, the village suffers from constant food shortages. Due to the precarious housing, the villagers are vulnerable in winter and to attacks by wild beasts. There is also no specialized guard, so bandits and travelers occasionally threaten the village].

[Objective: Solve the village's problems so that it is self-sustaining and able to protect itself from the threats of the Barren Hills of Deepshadow].

[Progress: 0/20]

[Prizes: 60 attribute points (redeemable only every 3 progresses or by completing the mission); 5 {Skills} (redeemable 1 every 4 progresses or by completing the mission); 1 Immortal Shard (by completing the mission).]

I see... This is a mission that I don't need to complete to get the rewards. As I progress, I'll receive the rewards little by little.

He didn't try to find out what the Immortal Fragment mentioned was. Surely it must be something very important, as he would have to complete the mission to get it. How difficult would that be? Jonn couldn't quantify it, but it was close to impossible.

Perhaps these {Skills} will help me achieve what others have failed to do, but I won't be overly optimistic. Achieving what the mission requires will be complicated. How will we be self-sustaining here? Even if I wanted to move the village, it wouldn't work. The good places in Chronor are already taken over by magicians or cities. And the rest of the world is like the Barren Hills of Deepshadow.

The Third Magic War, known as the Calamity of the Sages, destroyed much of Chronor. Jonn didn't know exactly how, but the battles of the powerful magicians in the stories he read and heard had turned beautiful forests into black deserts, similar to the Barren Hills of Deepshadow.

Such places had toxic mana at a level above that tolerated by plants and small animals, which made them practically barren of agriculture and livestock.

But without a good place for farming, how could he turn the village into a self-sustaining place?

Hopefully I'll be able to solve other problems... But right now I don't have time to think about that.

Returning his thoughts to the reality of a moment ago, he tried to put aside the Celestial Magnifying Glass as he stored it in his body.

It's a good thing Petyr left me alone. What would he think if he saw me absorbing an object as if it were made of nothing?

Jonn sighed as he thought about how different his current self was from a few moments ago, walking out of Hewet's house while thinking about his grandfather.

Why did Grandpa have the Heavenly Magnifying Glass with him? He certainly didn't know what I know, given the mission he left me. But he knew it was something of great value.

His grandfather had been a kind man, a leader for the village, but he had never shown himself to be more than an old man. Until a few moments ago, Jonn had no doubt that Hewet was just an ordinary mortal who had lived a long life. But now, doubts crept into his mind.

Never mind. As much as I'm curious, it doesn't change who Grandpa was. If one day I can find out more of his story, good. But for now I have an impossible mission to try and accomplish.

"Did the Elder say anything last to me?" Petyr asked when he saw Jonn outside Hewet's house, approaching the boy with a curious look.

"Not in the letter. He just said that I should make an effort to look after the village and left some things for me." The white-haired boy replied, feeling the morning breeze blow against his face.

The system gave him a refreshing feeling and a new will. But he still wasn't in the best state. In fact, the world around him seemed quieter after Hewet's death, darker, even gray. If it hadn't been for the change he had just experienced, he would definitely have gone back to his house and spent the day alone with his thoughts.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he gathered the strength he needed to move on.

"I see... I talked to the Elder several times about today. I didn't like it, but he insisted on talking." Petyr spoke to Jonn for the first time without giving him his typical hard, resentful look. "He knew he was going to die. I don't know how, but he knew. In the last six months, I think we've talked about today once a week.

Now that I'm here, I feel terrible, so I know you must be much worse. However, there are matters that need to be discussed even if the blood on the Elder is still wet on the sheets in Arber's house."

"You want to talk about the village's problems." Jonn cut Petyr short, making the man nod in the affirmative.

"The village is doing badly, Jonn. Until yesterday you lived like a child, but today you must assume the position of leader and understand how close to calamity we are." Petyr walked ahead of Jonn, looking at the black landscape of the hills surrounding the village.

"This is a lost world. Maybe in 20 years humanity will end and nothing will mean anything anymore. At least that's what the travelers I've met in recent months seem to believe. But I don't want to die. And I don't want to see my home perish."

Looking back, Petyr finished. "But to do that, we need to make the impossible happen, which may force us to get our hands dirty. We need an armed group to act in the neighborhood." He suggested what he had already thought of and discussed with Hewet several times, despite the Elder's refusals. "There aren't many other groups of animals around, so hunting won't get us very far. Planting has also proved useless. Apart from a few seedlings in the greenhouse, we can't get anything else in this place. This brings us to the last possibility. The Royal Road and its travelers!"

Jonn walked closer to Petyr and looked into the man's eyes. "You're suggesting..."

Petyr closed his eyes and shook his head negatively. "I'm not suggesting. It's an ultimatum. Either we do this, or we'll start starving in six months."

Looking into Jonn's eyes, Petyr said in a gruff, pessimistic tone. "I've hunted down almost every creature in the vicinity. If we don't act against travelers now, we'll certainly do it in six months or we'll have to die. That's why I'm asking you to accept it now before we have no choice but to act in desperation!"