I wrote a chapter this morning, but when I reread it, it was trash so I didn't write anything else till an hour ago.
And this is the result. A bunch of ideas thrown together just for the sake of updating.
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"So young man, what do you want to know?"
A few minutes later, after Deus finished sorting his business on his farm, they went inside their house to continue their conversation.
Bell Cranel had gone off to make tea in the meantime.
Taking a moment to sort his thoughts, Kaelis finally answers.
"This familia and level stuff. What do you mean by level 1 and 2? Like rpg?"
"R, p, g?" This term puzzled Deus, who then ignored it and began with his explanation.
"Well, familia is quite simple. When the gods came down from the heavens a long time ago—they said they got bored up there, so they decided to live among us mortals."
Gods!? Kaelis turned serious.
This term made Kaelis raise the danger level of this world to one of high degree.
Although he is not unfamiliar with them as he comes across quite a lot of them on his many world travels.
While some might not be overly powerful and can be not much more powerful than regular humans with only the ability to influence fate and destiny.
In some worlds, they may be unreasonably powerful as what he experienced many years ago.
The memory of being stepped on immediately flashed in his mind, as if reminding that he should be extremely cautious.
Though dangerous they may be… they are riddled with opportunities for him to scrape a few knowledge from.
He began listening more intently.
"But gods can't use their divine power down here in the lower world, so instead, they share a little blessing with the folks who follow them. That blessing's called a Falna."
"Once you've got one, you're part of their Familia. It's like being adopted, but with paperwork and monster guts involved."
He then waited until Kaelis finished filing through this information as he saw a frown formed on his face.
"And where does this leveling come into this?" Kaelis then asked.
"Ah. That's where the Falna comes in." the man said, and over the next few minutes, he described the divine blessing in detail.
How it could only be given by a god, how it transformed effort into strength, and how mortals depended on it to survive in the Dungeon.
Kaelis listened silently.
"Here is the tea!" Bell interrupted their conversations as he came with two cups of tea.
"Thanks."
"Thanks bell."
They both took a cup each and took a sip before Deus said.
"But I must say, from what Bell told me, you managed to take out 5 wolves by yourself. For you to not have any falna means you're quite special." His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Is it so unusual?" Kaelis asked casually.
Deus nodded, "Mhmm. Even though they aren't as strong as the ones in the dungeon, monsters outside are still strong, you know."
"Well I guess I was fortunate then." Kaelis shrugged.
"You know, you might want to head to Orario. That's where the strongest familia gathers. I bet the whole top brass would scurry to take you in. You seem like a promising individual."
"I might." Said Kaelis offhandedly.
They sat in silence for nearly an hour before sunlight pouring inside began dimming.
"Seems the sun's going down. Lend me hand will you. Least you could after I gave you information right?"
Deus got up and headed for the front door.
"Information I could've got elsewhere." Kaelis counteracted.
"Well you got it from me, kid. So you gotta repay me with something." Deus waved him off.
Chuckling to himself, Kaelis went to help.
…
After a couple hours, the trio got back inside after a little wash up.
"Right. You can take the sofa in the living room in front of the hearth. Here." Deus handed Kaelis some blankets. "Use these to keep yourself warm."
"Since you'll be gone by tomorrow, you don't need much."
Accepting them, Kaelis offered his thanks.
After the lights were out and being left to his own devices, now that he had nothing to do until morning, he did what he usually does.
Vroom!
With a low hum, enough to not disturb the residence of the building a small sword, imbued with the elemental attribute [enlightement] appeared in his palm.
With his own arsenal of attributes, this is the one he considered to be his most practical.
It was derived from studying the spell, Third eye, in a past world he's been to.
As an element attribute, even though [enlightenment]'s effect is not overpowered, it still makes it the most useful for Kaelis.
It's of the mental enhancement nature as it accelerates the thoughts and understanding speed of its wielders.
And that's not all… it also improves focus, awareness and intuition and gives temporary clarity that usually leads to those "aha moments whether in battle or study.
And this, for Kaelis, whose whole bailiwick is based on studying and understanding, it was worth killing the greatest mind in the country over.
Anyway… although it can be used for combat, it's mainly a research oriented attribute.
The reason he brought this out could only mean one thing: studying.
Inside his mind are countless attributes, whether it's elements, rules, laws or concepts, he has a multitude of each.
The reason for this is that, even if one knows something, that doesn't mean anything in the end if you don't understand it.
And the same could be said for Kaelis.
He now is loaded with knowledge beyond compare but since they can't be used, they are simply just knowledge.
Sitting cross legged on the settee, he began sorting through his mind for a specific subject before landing on the one he was eyeing for a while.
The concept attribute [enlightenment]…
Yea, Buddy trynna use [enlightenment] to gain [enlightenment].
Possible but it's gonna be a piece of work as elements of all nature is just an aspect of a higher order concept.
As he delved into his night of constant study, time quickly passed by…
It was now morning and it's time for the residence of the house to be on the rise.
"Good morning Mr Kaelis—hmm?" Bell's head popped from around the corner.
He was about to greet Kaelis when he saw him in a meditating position and held his mouth so as to not disturb him.
Quietly tiptoeing passed him, Bell reached the hearth and began trying to get the fire going.
"Pff… pfff… pfhhh—cough!"
"Your gonna kill yourself like that you know kid."
"Cough… Mr Kaelis? I thought, cough…you were, cough…meditating?"
Bell turned while choking on the smoke that got into his lungs.
"Hmph!" Kaelis snorted at him. "Was, til you began dying of fumes."
"Hehehe!" Bell awkwardly smiled.
He got up and quickly went to wash up and back while Kaelis lit the hearth.
Once he was back, Bell began warming up the food left by his gramps before handing Kaelis a bowl.
"Here's your share Mr Kaelis."
"Thanks." They began eating in silence until it was then broken by Bell's question.
"Um, me Kaelis. Are you leaving today?"
"That's the plan. What's up?"
"I-i was wondering…could you…maybe train me? I saw you with a sword yesterday. So… so you must be really strong, right?" Bell requested nervously.
"Hmm…"
Seeing Kaelis contemplating, bell quickly added.
"In exchange! Y-you can read the books my grandpa collected!"
Kaelis glanced at him. "What kind of books are we talking? Hero books?"
"Huh? You…want to read hero books too?" Bell's head tilted in confusion.
Kaelis sighed dramatically.
"No. I meant like valuable books. Books that help teach how to read, write and books about the world." Kaelis explained.
"Uh yea. We have those. My grandpa uses them to teach me."
"Ok then. You got yourself a deal. I'll be staying for 5 years maximum." Kaelis stood up. "I'll go inform the old man." And quickly step through the door.
"…Yay!!" Bell cheered.
Outside, Kaelis quickly found Deus at the farmhouse where the cows were.
"So you won't be leaving today then, huh. Sure you want to waste your life like that?" The old man huffed from heavy lifting.
"That's right." Kaelis leaned against a hay stack. "I'll be using your books to gain more information in the meantime so it's no problem." He shrugged.
Having no need to refuse as Bell would inevitably one day become an adventurer, might as well have him start with some experience.
"Do what you want."
Chapter 40 end.