Stigmata Training and Talent

"H-how?", asked Alice and Nolan with a shudder because of what had just been revealed to them by their son. They were having a hard time believing what Arthur had just told them. That his stigmata awakened at [Initiate++] rank. That a little boy of three had just awakened his stigmata at [Initiate++] rank, completely skipping past two sub-ranks!

'First the stigmata awakening and now his rank, is our son a monster or what?'

These were the thoughts taking place in Arthur's parents mind right now but the little boy was completely oblivious to them, not thinking much of his rank when he did not know that he had made a record shattering feat. He did not know what had happened and his parents were recovering for their shock so he decided to ask the lone person who would know the answer and was quiet till now.

'So mind explaining what just happened?'

Hades's curt and brisk voice came a moment later, quite expecting this situation to happen,

[They are recovering for the shock that first, not only did you break the natural law that no one is supposed to form their stigmata before 5 and formed your stigmata at the age of 3 but also that all people who awaken their stigmata's at the age of 5 start at Initiate rank but you jumped two sub-ranks ahead simply at the time at the time of awakening. Let me tell you that the gap between each sub-rank's strength is as big as the gap between a teenager and an adult and this gap continues to grow with ranks which is why it takes months to combine a single sub-rank. Even for geniuses it takes at early as a month to climb from [Initiate] to [Initiate+]. There is also the fact that now that you are going to train by the time normal kids awaken their stigmata, you will probably have complete passed the [Initiate] realm to the [Novice] realm putting you far above everyone.]

Once faced with the new information, Arthur was also surprised at what had just happened and if what Hades said was true, then this was very good advantage right now that they could use after the [Pandemonium of the Olympians]. A cough was heard in front of Arthur that pulled him out of his thoughts and he looked at his parents, who had just recovered from the shock of discovering that their son was a monstrosity, much bigger than the current one called "Christopher Blade".

Nolan, with a genuine proud smile on his face, praised his son,

"Well that was quite shocking but as your parents we are very proud of you son and we will continue to support you in your future. Remember, never let your power fuel your greed because as easily as it can be given then as easily it can be taken. But where are we even going with this, we are here to train right, so lets do just that."

Arthur nodded at his words or more precisely at his warning, seeing his attention, Nolan continued,

"Now that you have awakened your stigmata, on your status screen, there will be a new tab called "Stigmatical Skills". There will be five basic skills relating to your darkness element there that your stigmata grants you once it is formed and further you have to acquire by yourself. If you focus on an ability, your system will show you its description and usage."

Arthur affirmed to his father's word with a nod again and opened his [Status] screen,

'[Status]'

Just like every time, a blue holographic screen showcasing his status appeared in front of his eyes,

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Name: Arthur Blade

Age: 3 years

Stigmata: Darkness, Death (unmanifested)

Stigmata Affinities: Darkness(Deity) Death(Deity) **(I forgot to put this line in the previous chapter)

Stigmata Talent: Empyreal

Stigmata Rank: Initiate++ (I++)

Guardianus: Hades

Stigmatical Skills: [Abyssal Shroud] [Umbral Veil] [Spectral Steps] [Obsidian Screen] [Nightfall Blind]

Skills: -

Pandemonium of the Olympians: [9 Years]

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He focused on his first ability [Abyssal Shroud] to see its description and just like he had expected, another holographic window materialized in front of his eyes showcasing the ability and its usage,

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Skill Name: Abyssal Shroud

Skill Rank: Initiate++ (Variable with the user's rank)

Skill Description:

The skill empowers the user to envelop any part of their body in a veil of impenetrable darkness using their mana. The potency of this ability is directly linked to the quantity of mana infused, granting the user control over the duration and resilience of the shroud. As long as the user possesses mana to fuel the skill, they can manipulate the shroud, utilizing it for defense, or attack.

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Arthur read the skill description and nodded at its description understanding its use and depth. Then he turned to Nolan, understood with a glance that he had seen the first skill. Then as if to make Arthur understand better Nolan used the same skill and immediately his fist became enveloped in a dark energy and Arthur could feel that it was the darkness mana. Nolan then explained,

"For every elemental user the first five basic abilities are always the same, and although people gain more skills over time, these skills empower most of the skills with a proper and powerful foundation. Because as your ranks increase not only will your encasing go stronger but you will learn to use these abilities in more ways than the description suggests. You will also be able to encase yourself longer because of your mana capacity but also that you will be able to manipulate the mana faster, encasing one part quicker and also moving from one part to another quickly. You can use these skills by basically willing your stigmata for these skills to be used."

Arthur nodded and tried to willed his stigmata to use this skill and instantly Arthur's stigmata glowed golden and he could feel access to his mana. He tried to encase his fist with mana and after 3 seconds his fist became encased in a dark encasing but it was much dimmer than his father's. Arthur further willed his mana to move to the other fist but it was more difficult than he expected and it was after 5 seconds that his other fist became encased with mana. This was bad, very bad, since even one second in battle could get your head blown off. Fortunately, Arthur had a long time ahead of him to improve his skills. Seeing his frustration, Alice explained,

"Skills although providing many uses and functions also depend upon the user's body conditions along with the ranks. Your mana veins have just opened up and are still not perfectly in tune with your stigmata yet which leads to halts in your mana flow but as you train and your mana flow becomes faster, you will be able to move your encasing faster from one body part to the other. Two Initiate Fahrs will have different proficiency in the same ability if one always trains and other lazes around because of their mana flow attunement. This prove that the rank is not the only thing deciding the functionality of a stigmatical skill."

 Arthur carefully took note of every word she said and then nodded and started to practice his ability again until he was low on mana reserves. But Arthur could see improvements as his mana flow got smoother and smoother. Then he decided to ask the last question for the day from his parents,

"What is talent?"

His parents smiled at him and even though Arthur knew the answer, he wanted to confirm something and Nolan explained about the field,

"Talent indicates that how far you will be able to upgrade your Stigmata. A person can never go above his talent except using some artifacts but it is basically a law set in stone. BUT a person's talent doesn't mean that he will able to reach that rank normally, its basically the measurement of how far you will go by rubbing yourself off day and night and sweating buckets to improve your stigmata. A person's talent is measured alongside his stigmata awakening at the age of 5 but since you awakened right now, we will have to wait 2 years to measure your talent since the device belongs to the royal family. In any case, talent is divided into 9 tiers , one for each rank:

Initiate = Initiate

Novice = Novice

Journeyman = Arcane

Adept = Adept

Ascendant = Ascendant

Master = Mystical

Grandmaster = Mythical

Virtuoso = Celestial

Zenith = Ethereal "

Just as he expected, his talent was not mentioned and this was the thing that he wanted to confirm that maybe the books in the library were old-dated and his parents would know but there was no mention of his [Empyreal] rank talent. Arthur was going to ask his parents but then he chose against it, the number of worries and surprises he had given to his parents were already enough and he did not want to add another one.

He decided at last that he would just ask Hades when he would go back into his room and so after concluding his training session, he put his glove back on and parted with them as they had to go to work. Then, he went into his room and took a shower before coming back and sitting on his bed, ready to get the answer to all his questions from the god.

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Hello! Author here. I just wanted to ask if you were enjoying the novel and if you have any suggestions please don't hesitate to give them in the review or on discord. If you also have any theories, I would be delighted to listen to them. That's all. Thank you :) :>