Skills

Gran stood behind May with an amused look on his face, it was sometimes fun to see her being so quirky.

After gaining more confidence in his new cultivation system, Gran was in a happy mood and May seemed quite beautiful today. Whatever she had done, he would forgive her.

May turned around as she heard Gran's footsteps approaching her.

"Ummm, Gran? I kinda... broke the white core. Aha.. What happened was totally an accident.." May tried her best to give an excuse for basically choking the core with her mana, but stopped as she saw the interest in Gran's eyes.

"You're not angry?"

"Of course not, I'm more curious about what happened next."

With more confidence in her words, she puffed her chest out and said, "I've gained a skill! I kinda knew that filling the core with mana would do something. Guess I am right." What a total change of attitude!

"Oh? So you knew?" Gran decided to play along as he questioned.

"Aha... yeah of course. Why would I do something reckless like that if I hadn't known."

"Good job then." May received a slight pet on her head, her face turned slightly red, not knowing if it was because she was embarrassed or was she just happy.

...

"So what happened?" Gran asked.

May then decided to tell Gran how a part of the pattern in the mana circuit in the core had matched with a part of the pattern in the mana circuit located in her brain. After filling it with mana, the pattern in the core disappeared with the core following shortly and the pattern in her brain looked to be strengthened.

"I see, the core probably disappeared because the pattern that made it whole had disappeared thus, it ceased to exist. A mana core could be said to be the essence or origin of the monster it was harvested from. Thus, when part of the mana circuit that was within the core disappeared, the essence was essentially corrupted." Gran and May were sitting on the roof of the same house where Gran enjoyed his wine.

"The skill you have gained probably was part of the monster's essence that was suitable for you, thus you have inherited it. Quite interesting I must say. Let's try out the skill, does it have a name?"

"Nope, just how it works." May shooked her head and said.

...

"It's like a combination of a snake's pounce and a rat's claw swipe. I think the more I wait to strike, the higher the damage I can output."

May was focused on a zombie when she activated the first part of her skill, which Gran called 'Stalking Prey'. She crouched behind a bush and as time goes by, her presence became smaller but Gran could feel that if looked closely, she was like a sheathed sword ready.

After a while, when a few zombies had gathered, she activate the second part of the skill, Gran called it 'Catching Prey'.

She pounced forth and arrived in front of the zombie in the front of the group, her fingers spread out as lines could be seen in the air, mana solidifying into 10 sharp blades.

She did a swipe with both hands when she reached the zombie, and what followed was 10 sharp claw marks that tore the zombie apart, before doing the same for the rest behind it as it slowly faded out of existence.

...

"May, do you want to try something?" Gran suddenly said, interrupting May from her excited state.

May stopped humming and swaying, her figure frozen as she heard that question. With a stiff neck, she turned her head before looking at Gran with wary eyes.

"W-what do you want to do, d-din't you say that breaking the white core was okay? Why are you suddenly like this." May held back her tears as Gran approached with a scary grin.

"Oh, it's not because of that really, I just wanted to try some theories. You are... Ok with that right?" The grin on Gran's mouth grew wider as he said those words slowly, the last sentence was firm and did not allow any rejection.

*Sobs*

"It is my fault that I have fallen in love with such a master. Take me! My body is yours! Do your worst!" May had finally lost it.

"Sheesh, it's not that bad. What a great actress." Gran said as he dragged her into the house once more.

...

"Now, from what we know, those skills are a result of patterns appearing in the circuits in your brain, followed by information about the skills. So, if we were to reverse engineer it, we could make our own skills. All you have to do is try to think, in detail of what your skill would be like, and after that fill the circuits in your brain with mana."

Sometimes May had thought of powerful skills she had seen on animes and decided to copy them, however, when she decided to execute it, the mana patterns that lit up were sucking in incredulous amounts of mana, forcing May to stop the skill.

Other times, she had tried conjuring up her own skills from her imagination but this time failed to elicit any response from the patterns in the mana circuit once they were filled with mana.

After many tries, Gran finally came up with the conditions for creating a skill.

"First of all, we know that if the skills are too strong, the mana you currently have now will not be able to power it, however, if you accumulate more mana in your body you should be able to use them eventually."

May was sitting down and listening attentively while caressing the scaly, warm egg in her hands. She was already treating it as her baby.

"Next, if the skill was not depicted clearly or if there is not enough information about the skill, the mana patterns in your mana circuit will not react. It is also safe to say that different skills have different mana patterns tied to them. However, the brain is the place with the most extensive network of mana circuits, therefore we can worry less about not having the right pattern.

Gran proceeded further into his lecture as he looked at the woman cradling and whispering lullabies to the egg. 'What the heck is she doing?'

Little did he know that she was fully committed to her role as the mother, while Gran was the irresponsible father who did not pay attention to the mother-egg duo.

"Put that egg down and try once more." Gran said.

"You shouldn't talk to your child like that!" May snapped at Gran, leaving him confused.

"Sorry? Child? Mine?"

"Nothing... I was just thinking about something else." May stood up embarrassed before laying the egg down gently on a makeshift bed created from pillows for the egg.

"Little one, behave yourself while mama is doing this and that with papa ok? Hehe." She whispered before leaving the house.

When no one was around, the egg suddenly shook.

...

"Now concentrate, think about a skill that is not too powerful but also useful to you right now. Remember, the details are important."

Gran stood at the side while he instructed May.

May stood there as she thought about her journey so far. Usually, she was strong enough to destroy everything in her way, however, the fight with that ratsnake monster was a rude awakening for her. If Gran was not with her she would not be alive right now.

'I need a way to protect myself.'

Then she remembered the scene where her mana bolt had nullified the ratsnake's tail attack. Light suddenly glimmered in her eyes. 'The best defense is offense!'

As she was affected much by the fight with the ratsnake, the first skill she created had been influenced by it.

Slowly, an image appeared in her mind, as the patterns in her brain circuit begin glowing in some places. Different from before, a combination of patterns was glowing this time, unlike the previous single pattern.

Mana quivered around her body as the first snakehead appeared, seemingly from the void. Its body followed as it swam around May in mid-air.

'I show use what I fear as my weapon! Never again shall I be reduced into that state.'

May thought as more snakes emerged from the void, being created by mana, as they swam around her. They acted as bodyguards ready to strike anyone who dared approach their mistress, not hesitating to tear the intruder to shreds.

Gran whistled as he was truly impressed this time.

May was standing there like the mistress of snakes, as up to 5 snakes were slithering around her.

One of her snakes was as thick as an adult's thighs. It lay by her feet as if it was sleeping. However, only when getting closer could one tell that its eyes were opened and its tongue flickered occasionally. It was about 1.5 meters long.

Two snakes that looked similar to each other were dancing in the air, their body was as thick as an adult's arm and they were about 2 meters long. Different from the previous snake, they were very active as they played with each other while keeping close to their mistress.

A fourth snake was curled around her wrist, looking as unassuming as a simple bracelet. Its tail was in its mouth. What was special about this one was that the tip of its tail was actually a poison sac. It placed its tail in its mouth as it will sink its teeth in its tail, coating its fangs in poison, waiting for its mistress order to strike.

"So you created 4 snakes with different roles huh, impressive." Gran's discerning eyes could obviously figure out the subtle details about the small snake. With the two energetic snakes as active attackers, the snake at her feet as a staunch defender, and the one curled up on her wrist as a hidden weapon, she could be said to have the full package.

"tut tut tut, this time you are wrong. There are 5 snakes, not 4." As she completed her sentence, the air was tremored as a huge snakehead emerged from within the void.

The head was about 1.2 meters high and 1 meter wide. Its scales shimmered with black and white light, as they formed a yin-yang pattern on its skull. Its reptilian eyes glowed red as it stared at May.

"This one is quite shy so it stays inside, I was only able to create its head though. I will make sure to give you a whole-body next time okay." May said as she rubbed the huge snakehead, its eyes closed at her touch in delight. Its tongue flickered as if in agreement.

[You have successfully made a skill]

[You have created a partial lifeform]

[You have overcome a mental barrier]

[Your ingenious methods have been recorded]

[Calculating...]

[You have gained the Unique Class: Conjurer]

[You have gained an affinity with Snakes]

[Gaining bloodline...]

[Failed to gain bloodline, please increase your affinity]

[You have gained the Unique Title: Pioneer]

[You have unlocked Title Shop Level 2]