Noctis returned to his room and was amazed by its condition.
'Wow, Lira certainly works fast,' he observed as he surveyed the newly renovated space.
Sitting down at his desk, he activated his watch, and a blue display appeared before him.
'I recall the game stated that skills can be obtained in one way—by discovering law shards.
Regarding what law shards are (or) if there are different types of skills beyond common skills—yes, for the latter question.
Skills classified as above B-rank are termed Unique skills, while B-rank and below are known as common skills.
As for law shards—remember the rifts that emerged when different continents converged in this world? It wasn't merely the merging of continents; two or three different worlds collided, along with their wills and laws.
This clash resulted in the formation of random rifts across the planet, connecting to different spatial coordinates.
The chaotic nature of these colliding worlds led to the creation of broken law shards within these rifts.
Once a ranker obtains a law shard, they can place it on their head to absorb it, thereby gaining the corresponding skill.
'The game's lore only touched on two worlds, but the reality is slightly different, it involves three worlds.' Noctis began researching rifts and law shards.
'Much of this matches the game, wow, the prices for law shards are outrageous,' he remarked with a shudder.
'Speaking of skills, I wonder if my unique skill has varying effects now that I exist in a real fantasy world.' Noctis swiped away holographic screen and called upon his status.
[Status]
▪ Name: Noctis Nightryn
▪ Rank: F (Initiate)
▪ Mana: 800/800
▪ Resonance Elements: Zephyr(B), Umbra (A)
▪ Unique Skills: Fate's Gambit(T)
▪ Skills: Basic Mana Manipulation (E), Zephyr Mastery(E), Umbra Mastery(E+)
▪ Corruption: 0
He noted that his corruption had returned to zero.
'Looks like corruption can reset to zero after some time. That's fortunate; I was considering visiting the church or seeking out an Aether resonator to help me out.' With a sigh, he returned his focus to the unique skill section.
'I hope there aren't many changes. Wait, did I just jinx myself? Damn it!' He tapped on the Fate's Gambit skill, which caused an additional window to pop up over his status window.
[Unique skill]
▪ Skill Name: Fate's gambit
▪ Rank: Transcended
▪ Skill Description: A skill born at the collision of world's fate. This skill allows the user to challenge destiny itself, rewriting fleeting moments with unpredictable outcomes.
▪ Effect: The User channels mana to twist probability, turning a dire moment in their favor at the cost of equal drawback. The effect is unreliable, sometimes backfiring.
--when the user's life is in danger, the user gains thought acceleration skill-increases the speed of their thought process to 1:60 ratio.
▪ Backlash/Drawback/cost:-
a. Significant mana depending the changes made to the fate.
b. Equal drawback- The probability twist triggers an opposing effect of equal weight. The user can set their equal drawback of their, the skill judges the drawback and increases or decreases its potency according to the degree of fate altered.
c. Mental strain- Each consecutive use doubles the mental strain on the user.
d. Beyond 4th consecutive use leads to corruption of user's mana core.
Noctis read through the skill's information and paused for moment to process it.
'It doesn't seem much different from the game, sure there are a few new aspects, like equal drawbacks and mental strain replacing the HP drain from the game,' he observed, also noticing that the skill's effect was significantly more impactful than in the game.
'In the game, it was limited to combat, but now in this reality, it has a wider range of applicability.'
'What concerns me is the equal drawback- does that mean if I alter my opponent's fate to cause them to miss their next attack, then my own attack will also miss in return as a drawback?' Noctis contemplated various scenarios regarding this effect.
'Well, the fact that I can choose the drawback is a positive aspect,' Noctis mused with a smile at the option presented next to it.
What he appreciated most was the thought acceleration skill that activates when he is in danger.
He sighed, reflecting, 'It would be nice if thought acceleration were an active effect instead.'
'I can utilize the skill four times consecutively, anymore than that it would corrupt my mana core.'
'Let's give it a shot and see how it differs from the game,' Noctis glanced around his room, contemplating the best way to test his skills.
"How about aiming for a bullseye?" He grabbed a pen from his desk, approached a nearby wall and made a mark on it.
Stepping back about ten paces, he smirked.
"Let's see how I do without any skill," as he threw the pen toward the marked spot.
Unfortunately, he missed by a considerable margin.
Noctis's lips twitched as he went to retrieve the pen. 'I had no idea I was this poor at aiming. I thought I was quite good after playing a few FPS games.'
Once more, he stepped back ten paces.
'So, how do I activate my skill again?',Noctis scratched his head, perplexed.
'Maybe I should try saying its name in my mind while setting the desired fate I want to alter, along with the said drawback,' he pondered for a moment before finding a method.
Noctis readied himself as he aimed the pen at the mark on the wall.
'Fate's gambit, Alter - I will definitely hit the mark on the wall with the object in my hand. drawback - my next throw will miss, no matter the skill, distance, or any support.' As soon as he finished thinking it, a small window appeared-
[Drawback accepted with few changes].
Noctis read the message, glanced at the mark, and threw the pen.
A white light burst from his body while jagged black mana enveloped him for less than a second, his vision distorted and returned to normal.
Just before the pen left his hand, his center of gravity shifted slightly, accelerating the speed at which he threw the pen.
The pen sailed straight to the mark and struck it dead center, but the shift in his center of gravity caused him to slip and fall to the ground.
Noctis groaned for a few moments while clutching his head, feeling a minor headache.
He got back on his feet despite the discomfort, knowing it was merely a mild strain.
"Status."
[Mana: 600/800].
'So changing things on this scale, used up 200 mana points,' Noctis thought as the strain subsided.
'What if I throw it from a very short distance now?' He approached the pen lodged in the wall at the mark and, after retrieving it, stepped back a meter before tossing it again.
As the pen moved toward the mark, its trajectory abruptly altered, landing about 50 centimeters away.
"Hmmm." Noctis returned to his desk, grabbing a book and a pen.
He started documenting all the effects of the skill.
The first point was what he wanted the skill to achieve:-
-the attempt to alter the outcome of a single object throw to hit a specified mark. This involved a minor manipulation of probability, as it did not involve life or death stakes, external threats, or significant consequences beyond the experiment itself.
-The skill's effect was to adjust the probability so that the object would hit the mark.
The second point detailed the necessary exchange for the alteration to take place"-
- the skill assesses the proposed drawback he specifies to ensure it balances the weight of the altered fate.
-The skill may slightly modify its effectiveness or presentation if it considers that the proposed drawback is insufficient.
-His suggested drawback was that he would miss the subsequent throw, regardless of skill, distance, or assistance.
- The skill deemed it insufficient due to reasons such as- his poor aiming abilities or other reasons.
- It might have accepted it if my precision had been better.
The final result:-
- The skill adjusted my center of gravity, enhancing the throwing speed of the pen and ensuring it hit the bullseye.
- However, the change in my center of gravity caused me to lose my balance and fall.
- The next throw missed the target by 50 cm, fulfilling the drawback of failing to hit the mark, regardless of the distance.
- The cost was 200 mana, a considerable amount, but it was manageable, there was some mild strain on my mind, which was still manageable, but in a combat situation, it could be deadly for me.
Noctis paused his writing, reviewing the analysis once more and nodding to himself.
'Given that this was a small-scale manipulation, the skill's full potential was not utilized, yet it was sufficient for me to grasp its concept,' Noctis tapped his fingers on the table, contemplating various ways to leverage this skill to his benefit.
'It appears the game held back the full scale of this skill,' Noctis sighed as he closed the book and got to his feet.
'I need to experiment with other applications of the skill later, keeping in mind the limit of four consecutive uses at once.'
Noctis stretched his body for bit before he continued.
'Now, I should concentrate on improving my physical strength and mana manipulation skill.'
The Mana Manipulation skill is vital for every ranker, allowing for quicker mana recovery, greater mana efficiency, more precise control over mana flow, and better projection of magic circle structures.
Observing his mana skill, which was relatively low.
[Basic mana manipulation(E)]
'I must advance it to at least D- or D,' Noctis shut his eyes, sensing the mana flowing from his core to his heart.
He attempted to direct it towards his right palm to form a mana sphere.
The process was slow, but he progressed in guiding it to his hand.
Although some mana was lost from his pool due to his rough control over it.
[Mana: 450/800]
In his palm was an oddly shaped mana ball, which he held while inspecting it.
'Based on the mana consumed, this sphere should have taken around 40 to 50 points.'
'The remaining 100 was lost during the attempt since it took me quite some time to achieve this.'
'I need to incorporate this into my training schedule alongside my physical training.'
Noctis dispersed the mana ball and began his physical exercises.
'I'll need to ask Lira later about the location of the gym in this huge mansion.'
Noctis began a certain bald man's training routine.