"I think I've figured out what I should pick." I called out to the old crone who was doing God knows what behind me, probably something to do with food. She had lost interest in me staring at a screen for what felt like an hour, and made herself useful by leaving me alone. However, my outburst caught her attention as I then heard energetic tiny feet pitter patter toward me.
"So you have decided? Finally, you really took forever. Scoot over, let me see!" Mumsy replied while leaning over me, trying to look at the screen. I caught an unmistakable whiff of garlic coming off her breath as she spoke. I guess she was eating some weird anti-vampire potion when I was busy doing actual work.
'At least one of us is trying to do their job.' I thought as I felt a flat board push up against my back.
"Yes, I thought about it, and, damn, can you give me some space?" I said shrugging her off me. She huffed as she materialized a chair to sit next to me. 'Why didn't she do that to begin with? Crazy lady.' I judged as I turned my attention back to the screen.
"Ugh, fine, fine. Why are you being so sensitive? Mumsy is here for you, Lemon." she replied with a mocking look on her face. "Now are you going to tell me or what?" She said with a complaining tone, like she is tolerating a toddler. She then materialized glasses just to pull them down her nose and stare at me over the frames. "Fun Fact: In the world you just came from, the most hated vegetable is one of the best for you."
*Ugh* I sighed.
I looked back at the monitor, ignoring her oh-so passive aggressive fun-facts to get back to business. "I will go with Clair level one under the users 'thought' tab. Although it's two and a half points to add it, I think it would be useful." I said as I pulled up the description of the skill.
The screen displayed: "Clair level one or Claircognizance is a user based skill. Much like intuition, this skill allows the user to intuitively understand without need for language. This ability works best for those with under developed or a lack of communication. When the system interacts with the avatar, the individual will still hear the command, and although they may not understand the words themselves they will receive an innate comprehension. Reversely, the subject can send thoughts or feelings without speech to the system which will transpose to text in {}. This technique can be further upgraded to basic verbal knowledge and beyond. Compatibility: Universal based "
Once Mumsy was done reading she remarked, "Well it seems kind of useless to me, 'feelings'." She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.
"You are such a brute. This will be perfect, so next time I try to speak with my person they know I mean them no harm." I explained as I turned my chair to look at her.
"And they won't experience mass hysteria, racing to their death." She added while moving her hands to hold her seat, kicking her little legs that were hanging off the edge. She sure looked all too pleased with herself.
"Gosh, that is too soon, but does kind of follow my thought process. By the way what is 'Universal based'?" I asked unknowingly cocking my head to the side.
"Oh, that is its compatibility status." She said sitting up a little straighter. "There are four basic compatibility categories. That would be universal, root, inheritance, and single use."
She hopped off her seat with a grunt, and materialized a white board and a pointer stick. She then began drawing - terribly I might add - the different categories as food ingredients. The first thing she drew was a bowl of clear watery broth with the word 'universal' above it. She then smacked the stick against the board to unnecessarily emphasize her point.
'Ok. To begin, one labeled universal is bought for the avatar, yes, but also for the whole realm. However, these are usually weak talents only showing potential prominently in a few individuals throughout the world even though on some level they all have access to it. The flip side is it can really enhance the system's player, and much like the root based, it is transferable."
*Smack* Rang out the sound of a wooden rod hitting the board again.
"Next, the root based techniques is represented with the potato. Once bought, will come automatically with your next reincarnation. The down side is only ten roots will be randomly transferred when the next user is uploaded. Think of it like a starter pack for your newly chosen individual. For some people it can be boring and mush, but for others it can be the star of the dish. So basically once you buy it, it has the potential to be added to your users arsenal, but be selective."
'That doesn't seem to be such a bad deal.'
*Smack* She hit it again with extra enthusiasm; this time to a bulb of garlic.
'What is with this woman and garlic? She needs help.' I thought analyzing her begrudgingly.
"Then there is inheritance, with that one, skills become part of the DNA and can be passed down through bloodlines with or without constraints. Meaning, not every person activates the talent, maybe it is stored in a characteristic like how sometimes twins skip a generation or only some of the offspring have blue eyes. I used garlic to represent it because although it is one bulb, inside are separately packaged cloves with different sizes and shapes. Although delicious, not all carry the immaculate strong spicy pungency and wonderful..."
"OK! I get it! You love garlic, now can we move on?" I cut her off, hoping to be done with all this, whatever it was. She looked visibly let down for the first time. This was shown by the small 'tap' she did this time instead of her loud smack from earlier. It almost made me feel guilty, almost.
"Lastly, there are single use ones, illustrated as cheese, which is self explanatory. Once your holder dies you will have to rebuy it for someone else. However those techniques can have price inflation and existence restriction, and won't be available in shop for a set amount of time. Those are typically what you would call OP."
"Alright, but why cheese? That's not self explanatory at all. If its OP why not something like sushi or burritos. Yeah, everyone loves burritos!"
"Isn't it obvious? Although there are thousands of varieties, the ones that take the longest to produce are the most potent and valuable. What a disappointment, you know nothing of real worth." She huffed and dematerialized her poorly drawn explanation, and started walking back toward me. I think she is still upset about the garlic thing.
"Hey, I know things that are more practical! Not everything needs to be about cooking." I retorted. "Anyways, back to the topic that actually matters. Root based seems the most helpful to me and will get me a better bang for my buck, so I will have to keep that in mind moving forward."
I turned around and rolled myself back up to the monitor. Mumsy leaned against the side of the desk, seemingly disinterested.
"If you think this will help with your next job then I guess taking Claircognizance is not too bad then. What will you do with your remaining half a point?" She asked, sounding like she had better things to be doing, but was making an effort.
"I was thinking about putting it in appraisal or enemy detection, ya know the standard beginner game stuff, but I have chosen to be rational and keep it just in case. Those are both half a point, but only apply to the system. Besides with them being so cheap, there is probably some bullshit where the half only unlocks it, but doesn't activate it. I hate when games do that." I replied annoyed.
"Also, I don't want to need it for something, and have to go in debt because I wasn't responsible with it." I said almost proudly, sitting a little taller. "I really want to be deliberate with my selections."
"Lame. Lemons will be lemons I guess." She shrugged her shoulders, having lost what little interest she did have. The desk creaked as she got up and walked to a makeshift kitchen she apparently had been using behind me.
'When the hell did she make that?'
I roll my eyes pretending I didn't hear her. 'What use is a kitchen when you can't eat the food? Oh, well. As long as she is out of my hair, and I don't have to breathe in her garlic stank I am happy.'
*Beep* Beep* Beep*
'Ugh, what now?'