What’s Done is Done

Ethan was fuming with anger but he couldn't help but soften up at the adorable guilty looks of the kitten clinging onto his hand and finger.

Ethan snorted. "You're lucky you're cute."

"Thank you! Human Ethan! There was no other choice. I swear you won't regret your decision!"

Lionel wrestled itself, struggling into a sitting position on the palm of Ethan's hand.

"You mean your decision! You chose for me! That was not my choice! Isn't this against what was said? What happened to freedom of choice?"

Lionel lowered his head, thinking of his shame. He knew what he did wrong, but what could he do? His patron Divine ordered him to do so. Being smited by a Divine was not something he ever wanted to face.

Deep down, Ethan truly didn't mind. In fact, he wanted to choose the option as a diviner had it not been for the threats of being smited.

With a big sigh, he let out all of his frustration. As much as possible anyway. He had more pressing matters to get to.

"Alright. What's done is done. Initially, I did want to choose the path of a diviner from the beginning anyway. So what's next? How do I become stronger?"

Lionel's ear perked up. For once he was glad he was cute. He avoided being blamed or worse, beaten.

"Yes! Of course! Your path as a diviner is a bit different, as each diviner's path depends on the wants and intentions of their patron divine."

Ethan listened closely, trying to figure out what he needed to do to grow quickly.

"You and I serve Melaton, who is part of the divinities ruling over the essence of space. Melaton specifically, specializes in defensive barriers and sacred spaces. Our role is to create sacred spaces for others. We are unique, as we create the strongholds and last refuges for all of creation during these times of war against the Corrosion."

"So I'm not supposed to attack anything? I'm I some sort of support unit?"

"Well, kind of. Depends on the situation. You're more like the home base. You should learn attack skills too of course. You definitely can attack if you learn the skills, but our main objective is defense and to defend. That and to help keep those within our influence and shelter stay safe."

Ethan still wanted to summon meteors, but on the flip side, not being on the front lines wasn't that bad either. He kind of looked forward to building fortified spaces.

"Melaton is one of the best of the Divines who specializes in the creation of miniature worlds and barricades. He's similar to you in the sense that you both have some affinity to all essences. To create an entire world, you need a deep understanding of all essences. Of course Melaton's affinities are way beyond yours and mine, but there's not many that have an affinity for all essences. I can see why he's interested in you."

"Well, if he is who I think he is, I hope he'll be nicer and stop wanting to smite me."

"…" Lionel was confused but he kept his thoughts to himself. "Did human Ethan really see the status window before this time? Smiting… does sounds like Melaton to me…did the holy one do this from the start?"

A question from Ethan broke Lionel out of his thoughts..

"So what do I do? How do I start making these spaces?"

"We start with skill books. To be precise, energy manipulation basics and accumulation first, then wardings and barriers next. Meow."

A set of 5 old books in a black binding appeared on the ground.

"I have a collection of the basics that you need to master. Once you're able to use the skills proficiently then we'll move onto the next. Once you finish all 5, you are done with half the first level. You must choose five more for a total of 10 skills to complete the first level.

Hopefully, you can get through the first level by the end of this tutorial. That's the goal. Learning skills under the essence of space is a bit more difficult to grasp."

"So how does this leveling work? Why 10 skills? Could I just do the basics and focus on those?"

"Your thinking isn't necessarily wrong. Essences are the core of creation, but paths are forged and influenced by the Divines.

The requirements for the path are determined by the Divines. Depending on the Divine, the requirements can vary drastically. Some request only one skill, while a few others are as high as 20.

Too little and too many is usually deemed as not good as there are more demerits than benefits. Too many and you can't master much, too few and there's not much you can do.

Melaton's requirements are 10 skills, 5 foundational and 5, up to the Diviner to decide. The five other skills will shape their path, allowing for the Diviner to make the path uniquely their own.

In a sense, to graduate you must learn and pass the classes to move on to the next level. Success and actual application are more dependent on the individual and how they use the skills."

"So I technically could learn more, right? More would be better if I can master them."

"Well assuming you could master them, then yes. Obviously someone with mastery in more skills has more options than those that do not. But don't bite off more than you can chew."

Pointing to the books, Lionel instructed Ethan. "Ok, once you start learning, your skills will be updated on your status window."

Ethan bent down and picked up each book. Surprisingly he could read them. Each book was large and thick. Ethan kind of worried how long it would take for him to read through them, let alone master them.

Book of barriers and wardings, book of subspace, book of buffs and blessing, book of divine space, book of meditation and energy basics

"So do I just read them?"

"Yes, and try to follow their instructions. You can check their progress on the status window."

Thinking of the status window, the plus screen appeared before Ethan.

————————————————————————

Name: Ethan Saltorie

Species: Humanoid - Primate

Age: 22

Sex: Male

Profession: Office worker, Diviner (New!)

Patron God(s): Melaton (New!)

Condition: Healthy

————————————————————————

Skills: (New!)

Mediation: 0.0%

Subspace: 0.0%

Barrier and wardings: 0.0%

Divine space: 0.0%

Buffs and blessings: 0.0%

Abilities: Prophecy, Deep Perception, Discernment, Telekinesis, Manifestation (New!)

Unique constitutions: Blessed Eyes

Talent: Psychic, Foresight

————————————————————————

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

Wind: .1

Water: .5

Earth:.1

Fire:.1

Wood: .6

Light: .5

Dark: .1

Space: .8

Time: 1.8

Chaos: .1

————————————————————————

"They're all there. I think I got some abilities from choosing the path of a Diviner too."

"That's customary. Unique paths require special conditions and will manifest your talents into abilities."

However, Lionel did know how many new abilities Ethan acquired, or he would have been smacking Ethan, mad with jealousy.

"So how long do I have left for the tutorial?"

"Time-wise. You still have almost the amount. Even with all our talking, we only took up a couple of hours or so. Time to get to work! Start with the energy basics."

"Right. Ok."

Ethan opened the worn-out and thick black book as he began reading.