Obtaining a Boon
Seeing as the option had appeared in front of my face, I decided to take the prompting from what I assumed was a system that was in this game world that I had landed in.
Again, without any verbal command, the system knew exactly what I wanted beforehand. The screen changed a detailed skill menu appeared before my face. It was a thin and clear screen; the words glowed a flaming black against a slightly tinted grey background.
Three sections were listed on the screen, one that was labeled basic skills. Which included: Intelligence (Mp), Strength, Luck, Health.
Raising a finger, I tap the basic list and a detailed number order appeared on the screen.
「Intelligence (MP): 150
Strength:15
Luck: 10
Health: 345」
Looking at the numbers that were displayed I had no idea if these were normal or what exactly the average numbers for what I assumed a beginner were in this game.
Reading my thoughts yet again, another screen appeared in front of me. Looking at the textbook appeared I found that it was exactly the information that I wanted to know.
「Level: One (Starter)
Intelligence: 50
Strength: 6
Luck: 5
Health: 145」
It would appear that I was slightly above the curve in certain aspects of the average starter. But the true question was… did that have any importance, or did it give me an advantage?
Biting my lip, I wave my hand and the screen vanished and my stats appeared again. I noticed at the top above my stats a new box had appeared.
「Skill Points: 20」
It looks like I could add skill points to whatever I wanted, but the question was what to add skill points too. I'd have to come back to this later. When I better understood what exactly these stats influenced.
I waved my hand again and was taken back to the main menu of sorts.
The next section was labeled as Unique Skills. Next to that, two skills were listed: Samurai Determination and Loved by Darkness.
The last section read Bloodline Skill, which only has one listed next to it. Titled 'Hecate's Boon'. Those two words were glowing a vibrant gold and next to it in tiny print was the word 'new.' I simply raise my finger and tap on the skill.
I remember that the smiling admin had said that this was a Demi-god class skill, however, I didn't understand what that meant in this world. But assuming because it had the word god in its title it had to be pretty strong.
The skill open and the first thing that appeared in front of my face was a text box.
「Skill: Hecate's Boon
Flavor Text: Hecate the Goddess of Magic, Witchcraft, The Night, The Moon and Ghost & Necromancy. She was quite the busy Lady when she was hailed as a Goddess. Beautiful and elusive she's known for having three heads and three bodies. Nifty isn't it, she was an adept Goddess being loved by the night and magic. You've inherited her gifts. 」
After reading through that, the screen morphed again and this time it was similar to the basic skill list.
「Innate Skills:
1. Multiple Avatars: Locked
2. Wheel of Fate: Level 20
3. Summon Ligonier of Death: CD 24Hr
4. ????
5. ???? 」
The only one that was available to me here was the summoning skill. But it looked like it had a cooldown period of twenty-four hours that must mean that it's a strong skill. But it wasn't something that I could easily utilize. It looked to be something of a trump card.
I raised my finger to touch the Ligonier of Death.
「A loyal solider that will do your bidding」
It was only one sentence. They were leaving a lot to be desired in terms of information.
Waving my hand, I look down at another list that appeared below.
「Passives:
1. Increased MP
2. Charm Attribute
3. Resistant to Fear Attack
4. Resistant to Magic Attacks
5. Resistant to Mental Attacks 」
These were all useful in their own right.
Looking down I noticed that there were two more tables to this skill. It was indeed a complex skill that seemed to have a lot of potential.
I skimmed down to the next to set.
「Inheritance Branches:
1. Blood of Gods
2. Hecates 2nd Boon
3. Hidden Skill Branch: ???
4. Hidden Skill Branch: ???
5. Hidden Skill Branch: ???」
I raised a finger to click on the 'Blood of Gods' but it didn't pull anything up. All it said was 「unavailable at this time. 」
The same thing happened to the other one as well. The 'hidden' ones were of course locked as well. Shaking my head, I could only move onto the next set of information.
「Special Skill:
1. Summon Familiars
a. Serpent of Night」
There was only skill. Biting my lip, I tap the 'summon familiars' and luckily something appears for it
「Kill Monsters and gain the chance to harvest their soul. Harvesting their soul allows you to summon them again at your will. Obtaining their soul depends on your luck! 」
My nose itched a bit as I read that line over and over. Didn't that mean I could build myself an army over time with this skill?
If it was a luck-based skill, does that mean I should pour my points into luck?
I wanted to test this skill out, and luckily, I had one summons already. This indeed was a pretty generous skill that I had been gifted.
Sitting with my legs crossed, I look at the name of the creature.
Did I need to say its name out loud? Seeing no prompting yes or no by the system, I decided that I was on the right track
"Serpent of Night," I breathed out. My voice came out with a slight gasp sound to it; it was as if I was speaking for the first time in a very long time.
As the words entered the air it was light electricity had gone off, I felt vibrating in my skull. It wasn't painful, but it was forceful. The tempter in the room began to lower and the bright light that I used to began to dull.
Underneath my body, a black and purple pattern began to appear. It was in the shape of a pentagram, I don't know how I knew but I just did. Black and purple smoke began to billow out from the ground and wrap around my body.
Soon it expanded and the whole floor of the room was covered in an intricate design of shapes and lines. At the same time, the smoke began to move like it had a mind of its own and it began to condense in front of me.
The smoke began to condense to the size of a car, but it was as tall as the ceiling. Soon enough the smoke began to harden and glow and then in a flash of bright purple light a giant snake appeared.
A bell rang gently at the appearance of the snake. Its gigantic body was curled around the room and my body, its head was pressed to the top of the ceiling. I watched as it lowered its great head towards mine.
It inspired a mixture of awe and suspense as it moves towards me. It faces me just so that its giant amber eye was looking right at my face. The silted snake eye wasn't full of anything but intrigued as it looked at it.
Peeling my eye away from its one eye, I take a look at the creature that I've just summoned its scales are the color of plums and around the top of each scale are golden accents that add an extra burst of color to the dark purple hue of its body.
A deep hiss leaves the mouth of the snake, and I turn my attention back towards it. At the same moment its giant forked tongue lashes out and almost knocks me over and it licks the side of my face, well to be more specific the whole of my body.
Was it tasting me?
It does it another time but this time with less force than before. As more hissing leaves its mouth, it began to rub its head into the side of my body and along my face.
"Did I summon a dog?" I can't help but breathe out as I pat its head.
It seems to understand me as pulls it's tongue back into its mouth. Two giant fangs peek out of its now-closed mouth.
"Can you understand me?" I ask the snake.
It gives a slight jerk of its head, but that was enough to blow my hair back.
I was going to assume that this was... yes. I nod my head and turn my attention back to the skill menu but seeing as there was nothing else I decided to close it.
Maybe, I should put on some clothes now.
Quickly dressing in the clothes that had been provided to me, I find that everything fits pretty well. They were simple black pants and a plain tank top and a jacket. The boots were also black and laced up.
After getting all the clothes on a notification appeared in front of my face.
「+450Hp has Been added due to added equipped equipment」
"Menu."
With that, the menu open and I opened the page with basic stats.
「Intelligence (MP): 150(+120)
Strength:15
Luck: 10
Health: 345(+450) 」
The added MP must have been from the passive from Hecate's' Boon. Then the added HP was indeed from the clothes that I had just put on.
Turning my attention away from that I reach for the bag, flipping the top open, I reach my hand inside. What happens next is a flashing series of images that appear in my head. All sorts of things seemed to be inside of the bag.
Taking a deep breath, I pull out a katana.
It was beautiful, it felt right at home in my hands. I flip the top of the bag closed and sling it onto my back and push my legs to a standing position.
The snake was still following me with its gigantic amber eye. Reaching a hand up I pat its head and it releases some more hissing sounds.
A rumbling sound all of the sudden and I look past the snake a find that a door has appeared in front of me. Climbing over the snake, I slide around its body and reach for the doorknob that has appeared.
The door opened and there was nothing, I couldn't see anything as I stared into the opening of the door.
Looking at the snake, I realized there was no way that it would fit through the door being that size.
"Can you shrink at all?" I ask.
With a nod of its head, a huge plume of purple smoke that glittered as starlight appeared and the hulking mass of snake began to shrink down to the size of a garden snake.
I bend down and reach out a hand and it slides up my hand and settles around my arm, wrapping around it like a piece of jewelry. I couldn't help but rub a finger along the base of its head and it gives more hissing as it nuzzles my hand. What an interesting little fellow this one was.
"Off we go then," I say giving the room one final glance as I step through the door into the unknown.
There was a moment of darkness and then I was standing in a hallway, I glance behind me, but I don't see the room anymore much less the door that I had walked through. Instead, it's just a simple hallway that had painting along its walls.
Looking at the painting closer I notice that they're all the same and that they're all of the clowns! At the sight of the clowns, I got a really bad taste in my mouth.
For some reason, I really… really didn't like clowns. Driven by curiosity and the memory that it brought with it, I move towards the clown painting and look at it. It seems to be your average run of the mill clown painting.
That was until the clown's facial features began to warp into a twisted grin. It wasn't just that either red liquid began to seep out of its eyes that were hallowing out and becoming black voids. At the same time, it began to move in the panting pressing it faces to the canvas almost as if it was trying to find its way out.
I found myself taking a hurried step backward, and my food found a ledge on the floor and I trip. Before I could collide with the ground, the snake expanded and pressed its giant body against mine keeping me from falling backward.
In that short period, the clown had managed to work its arm through the painting. A black tar-like substance began to drop off the arm that was out of the painting and the smell of sulfur began to invade the air.
I use my hand to cover my nose. But it wasn't just one clown but all the clown paintings that were beginning to come to life, each of them fighting their way to get out of their respective panting's. More and more misshapen appendages began to appear around me, as more and more paintings take on life.
I slowly retreat backward, into the body of the snake around me. But a violent hiss came from it.
I look back and find behind me fully rendered clowns had come out of the paintings. Their hollowed eyes gushing out the red liquid and black tar melted off of their bodies. They were all focused on me.
My breaths were coming in short gasp as I looked around me, I was beginning to be surrounded both ways by clowns.
Horrible laughter started to leak out of their mouths as well.
God, I hated clowns.