Chapter 12

"Come with me, I can give you advise in this room over here. That way we can discuss your skills and stats away from any prying eyes."

With that statement the blonde girl glanced around at the Adventurers sitting near them, hunched over in exasperated whispers, pointing at the boy in front of her. She furrowed her brows at them, urging them to stop their murmuring, especially while their subject was in the same room. Elina pulled Yori into a small room off to the side that was lined with books. A quaint wooden table and two chairs sat in the middle. She seated herself in the chair on the right, and signaled at the other for Yori to have a seat as well.

"Alright, Yori. Now that we have some peace and quiet, what kind of information would you like about leveling? I assume you did not attend a prep school, so I'm guessing you need the basics, correct?"

"Yes, please, Ma'am. I want to learn some combat skills but I don't know which ones I should learn, or which ones are even available."

"Well, your god is the God of the Villager, but I doubt you'll find any combat skills there. He provides mostly skills for farming, fishing, things along those lines. That means that you'll have to get skills from other gods. You're in luck in one way though. Those blessed with your Brand can pick from any of the Church's skills available for you level. The down side, and the reason most Villagers go into non-combat professions typically, is that skills from a Church other than your own do cost twice as many skill points. Typically, Adventurers stick to skills from their own Brand, and will only go to other Churches on occasion since it's so expensive, but you'll have to do that every time… Unless, of course, you change your mind and just use those points to become a great farmer. You already have the necessary skills, you see, and it is much less dangerous."

"Thank you for your concern, Miss Elina, but my mind is made up. I will become an Adventurer. Please explain the other Gods to me. I'm kind of anxious to figure out what I'm going to be doing."

Elina's concern began to show through her words, but Yori's resolve erased her doubt for now. She returned to her explanation of the things that most Adventurers would learn in school. Something Noko would have learned.

"Alright. There are seventeen Gods in the world of Antheone. Each one has a domain that they rule over. At birth, a person is born with a Brand, which is a symbol for which God has chosen them. People with more magic potential will be more likely to receive Blessings from more powerful gods, such as the Fire."

At the mention of the Blessing of Fire, Yori's heart twanged. Elina continued.

"The God of Commoners, Sesu, is the God you've been Branded by. His Branding is the most common in the world, but it offers the least combat benefits. As I said, his domain is over farming, fishing, etcetera. It is almost unheard of for s person with this Brand to become an Adventurer.

The Goddess that favours humans, and is therefore the most popular branding in this country due to the makeup of our population, is Anwyl. She is the Goddess of Light. Her domain is light, and she mainly offers healing magic. There are a few combat skills based around burning your enemy using the power of the sun, if you're interested. It may even be useful to have a healing skill or two, in case you or a party member need healing in a pinch. You have experienced the capabilities of these skills first hand, as I'm sure you are aware that Lady Kana is of this Branding.

Next, there's the God of Protection, Belros. The skills you can learn from his Church are based around creating barriers and protecting your party members. High ranking members of this Branding are the ones that create the barriers that protect the towns. They are the reason we are safe right now."

Another painful pulse ran through Yori as he thought about how the barrier around Oseford had failed to keep those monsters out. He quietly wondered if these topics would ever stop being painful to think about.

"Yori are you paying attention? We still have a long way to go. I can't have you spacing out already."

"Yes, sorry! I was just thinking about the barriers. Anyways, please, continue."

"Yes, they are quite amazing. Now, the Goddess of the Wind, Tutuna, allows you to use and generate wind to push and pull your opponents, to help you move greater distances faster, and to attack your enemies by making it into blades.

The Goddess of Art, Givnera, is – well, probably not what you're looking for. She's an odd one and while her Branding can bring you wealth, it's unlikely to be much help in battle. There are, however, some skills in here to increase dexterity and a steady hand if that interests you.

The Goddess of Guile, Karena, covers the agility-based combat styles, such as archery and stealth. Her skills are popular even amongst other Brandings since they can be used in many different combat styles. It is also popular among those involved in espionage, but I will not encourage that."

Yori's ears perked up at the mention of this Goddess. His hunting method relied heavily on stealth and his agility was certainly better than his strength, so it likely made more sense for him to pick skills that complimented his natural abilities.

"Moving on, the God of Deception, Tasthar, isn't very popular amongst Adventurers, but again, is mostly used for espionage purposes. His skills can be used to disguise oneself and manipulate others, so you can imagine why this may be useful in the shadier side of town.

Here is one that may prove useful to you. The God of Fire, Dazorr, has some very powerful combat skills. Skills under his domain allow you to hurl fire and burn your enemies to a crisp. Adventurers with his Blessing are often very successful and generally progress to high levels, and even become famous occasionally. That might be a great option for you."

"No… not that one…."

A tear started rolling down Yori's cheek and images of Noko filled his head again. If she would not have stuck around for his birthday, she would have lived an amazing life as an Adventurer, or a Scholar. She could have lived a life of luxury and happiness. He was unsure if Elina noticed his crying, but either way she was kind enough not to press the matter, and continued her explanation.

"Alright, that is no problem. Was just a suggestion. I advise you to avoid the Church of Death. The God of Death, Itos, is not a popular one anywhere you go. Children with this Branding are considered cursed as they are destined to be Necromancers. They are abominations that steal the bodies and souls of the dead to do their bidding. I cannot stress enough; you don't ever want to become involved with a Necromancer.

However, there is a Church that is even less popular in this city, but for a different reason; the Church of Darkness. Do you remember me saying that you could choose from any skill set because you are a Villager? Well, those that are not Commoners are limited in the sense that they cannot get skills from an opposite Church. In the Ring of Gods, the Goddess of Darkness, Rutrix, is directly opposite the Goddess of Light. That means that someone like Lady Kana is not capable of getting Darkness skills. As I mentioned, Anwyl, the Goddess of Light, is the main God of humans, which means Darkness skills are very uncommon around here simply because most people do not have access to them."

Elina pointed at a chart on the wall depicting the Ring of Gods that she had mentioned. The names that Elina had been mentioning were arranged on this ring, with one same in the center, Sesu.

"I see my God, Sesu, is in the middle of the ring. Is this because no Gods oppose him?"

"Yes. You're in a very unique position as a Commoner."

Yori nodded in understanding and continued to listen. There were many names on the chart that he had not heard yet, so Elina was far from finished.

"Carrying on then, the Goddess of Pestilence, Qritraura, resides over poison and disease. It can be very effective in hunting, but the resources are not going to be edible afterwards, and some of the spells take a long time to kill an enemy. For Adventurers, it's better used to inflict negative status effects on your opponents to assist your teammates.

The God of Earth, Nomes, is able to allow you to form and move the ground beneath your feat. You can create walls and boulders out of stone and use them to defend yourself or launch them at your enemies. High level mages can even open up the ground to create impressive chasms.

If you are thinking about making your own weapons or armour, or any other kind of tools or clothing, you may want to look at the skills offered by the God of Crafting, Heruer. He allows people all sorts of benefits to making armour, weapons, clothes, etc, but most of the skills will not count as combat skills.

This next one may be exactly what you are looking for. The God of Combat, Dihdohrr, is extremely popular amongst all Adventurers as he allows you to better wield weapons and is entirely combat based, as his name suggests. You definitely cannot go wrong there.

The God of Transmutation, Rhadite, allows you to alter yourself or the things around you. You can give yourself claws and wings, or anything else you fancy. It can look a bit odd on some species that are not born with these items naturally.

Mava, the Goddess of Water, allows you to hit your enemies with water and ice and is remarkable if you ever want to explore the ocean. She also offers a few very minor healing spells.

Lastly, there is the Goddess of Spirits, Yzmera. With her Blessing you can use spirits to possess items or manifest to fight for you. Have you ever had a conversation with an armoire?

"Well, no…"

"With Yzmera's skills, you could. Those are all of the choices you have. It can be a bit overwhelming learning about all of them at once like this. Usually students would learn this over the course of months, even years if the are going into detail about each God's history. Do any of these strike your fancy?"

Yori felt lightheaded as he contemplated his options. It felt like a thousand different possibilities and he had to decide sooner rather than later. One did stand out in his mind. The Church of Guile. It would complement his fighting style and seemed the most practical at this point.

"Actually, there is. Could you please direct me to the Church of Guile? I believe that matches up best with my hunting style."

"Of course, I'll lead you there right away. I think that is a good choice for you."

"No, you don't have to do that - you're working."

"It's not far, don't worry. Come, follow me."

Brushing off Yori's concern, Elina stood and lead Yori through the door of the Guild, and onto the stone street. The Church was only a block away. The gray, wooden door was unadorned, and was nestled in a plain stone wall. The only indication that it was a Church was a worn wooden sign sitting in a window to the right of the quaint door that held the Brand of Guile and the name of their Goddess, Karena. Although plain in its decoration, it was quite large. Even though Yori had passed it several times he had somehow never noticed it. Elina lead the way, turning the dull brass handle and ushering Yori follow. The hinges on the door were silent. The only noise was their own footsteps. The room was simple and seemed to be empty. A similar stone as the one in the Church of Light sat on a pedestal on the far end of the large room.

"Hmm, looks like no one's here. Don't worry, I can come back later. Thank you for sho-."

"Can I help you, young man?"

A voice, as well as a person, appeared seemingly out of thin air. The sound echoed off of the high ceilings.

"Holy – oh, uh, hello…. Umm, my name's Yori."

"Oh Jess, don't mess with him like that."

Elina put her hands on her hips in a scolding manor as she addressed the source of the mysterious voice. Kana almost had more work to do as the young women, Jess, had almost given Yori a heart attack.

Was she here the entire time?

The woman was shockingly small and looked to be only a young child. Her strawberry blonde hair was cut in a shoulder-length bob, curling in at the bottom. Her dark clothes looked tight, but pliable and likely helped with her silent movement. Grayish-blue eyes peered back at him with an amused expression.

She must be someone's kid sister. Wonder what she does around here?

"Yori here would like to learn a skill from your Church. Could you bring him over to your stone so he could pick one?"

"Ya, ya. Come on kiddo. That'll be 10 copper."

They walked over to the skill stone together. Yori reached down to get the copper from his coin purse to pay for its use, but before his hand arrived Jess held out her own hand, his purse in her palm.

"Don't worry, already got it."

"Huh!? O-okay, thank you."

How did she get my coin purse? Did I drop it?

"Jess! Seriously, stop messing with him. I'm leaving now, so leave him alone!"

Stomping out of the building, Elina slammed the door closed behind her. As they listened to the receptionists footsteps grow quieter, the girl rolled her eyes and smirked at Yori.

Too preoccupied with his excitement, Yori peered at the glowing skill stone, checking his status quickly before looking at what skills he could purchase. His calculations were correct. He had leveled up. The first decision he had to make was where to apply his ability points that came with leveling. His Agility was the highest combat stat at 15, and if he remembered correctly, he needed it to be 20 to meet the Guild entrance requirements, so he would apply three points towards that. However, he was limited to spending a maximum of three on a single stat per level up.

I got five ability points when I leveled though. Where should I put the other two?

His priority of not spending money on healing meant his Endurance should take precedence so he could take more damage before getting hurt, so he put the other two points there. Now that his ability points were taken care of, he now was able to focus on spending his hard-earned skill points. Scouring the cheap skills that he could afford, he looked for something that would match up with his style. He found one that sounded perfect and purchased it.

Yori Yoshinaga

Level 2 Villager

Xp: 0 Xp to next level: 50

HP: 11

MP: 9

Brawn

12 Ap: 0

Agility

18

Endurance

15

Awareness

15

Charm

17

Magic

11

Skills:Sp: 1

·Animal Empathy

·Back stab

Back stab. A passive skill allowing the user to deal extra damage when striking from behind an enemy. Since he was always aiming for the back of the wolves anyways, he figured this would help him immensely in finishing them quickly. A sincere smile graced Yori's face.

"Thank you so much Jess, I can't tell you how much this means to me."

His eyes began to water again. He had a combat skill. He was a fighter now. Unlike anyone else from his village, he was now able to fight a beast. He was still far too weak to take on anything stronger, but he had taken the first step.

"Hah, no problem! Well, what are you waiting for kiddo? Go test it out."

"Thank you!"

Yori shouted his thanks while racing out the door. People on the street looked over to see what the commotion was as he burst through the doorway. Weaving through the crowded main road, Yori made his way to the woods as fast as he could. He could barely contain his excitement at trying out his new skill. He once again took up his position in the sturdy tree, waiting for his prey to emerge.

The wait was much more difficult for Yori this time around. Patience was never one of his strong suits, and now he had even more reason to want a wolf to appear than before. He did his best not to fidget, shifting his position more often than usual and passing his dagger from one hand to the other. This increased the risk of giving away his position. Hours passed by and finally he heard the crackle of footsteps on leaves and sticks. A wolf entered the clearing. It slowly made its way under the tree Yori was perched in and raised its head to smell the air, as the others often did when they caught the boy's scent in the air. Not willing to wait a moment more, Yori launched at it at full force.