After more or less figuring out the skill system, I finally decided to look at what I actually had.
Honestly… for a "beginner," I had a suspicious amount of abilities.
A couple of advanced skills. Several special ones. And a unique skill. Plus a few others I hadn't even gotten to yet.
Not a bad start.
Though if I'm being honest, calling it a "start" might already be inaccurate.
Let's go in order.
Among my advanced skills, I had the two from the Thunder-Fox that I'd already talked about.
But besides those, there were two more.
The first was "Advanced Sense."
Essentially, it gives me a 360-degree awareness within a certain radius. I can feel the presence of creatures, their aura, and even the moment someone nearby starts using magic.
I obtained it during my fight with the Thunder-Fox — the moment it silently crept up behind me and attacked. Apparently the Skill Manager decided a second surprise like that would be unnecessary.
And the last advanced skill was "Elemental Lord."
It allowed me to control any element without casting spells. On top of that, I could combine different elements together to create hybrid effects.
The skill also granted resistance to elemental magic. I had strong resistance to lightning, while other elements could still damage me but at significantly reduced strength.
The downside was that this skill required a lot of energy. Overusing it could exhaust me badly enough to knock me unconscious — which had already happened once.
Next were the "Special" skills.
The first was "Combinator."
It allowed me to merge not just elements but basically any skills or types of magic I possessed, creating something new.
Unlike "Elemental Lord," which only worked with elemental forces, "Combinator" gave far greater freedom. I could combine almost anything I had and create new abilities based on it for personal use.
The key requirement was understanding the principles behind the powers being combined. For that, the "Analysis" tool within my soul skill "Observer" was extremely helpful.
The second was "Predictor."
I had already mentioned it before. It allows me to see an opponent's attack a few moments before it actually begins. Not full future sight — more like an advance projection of intent and movement.
But in combat, that's more than enough.
The third was "Form Stabilization."
A passive skill. It compensates for overload and stabilizes the structure of my body. Considering that my body is made of magical essence, this ability turned out to be incredibly useful.
I gained it after collapsing from exhaustion at the end of my fight with the Thunder-Fox.
Now for the Unique skill.
And strangely enough, I had one.
"Absolute Field."
This skill allows me to completely reflect any attack if the opponent's skill level is equal to or lower than Unique. It can only be used once per day.
Additionally, it passively reduces physical damage taken.
It appeared as the result of the evolution of my Special skill "Magic Barrier," which originally allowed me to create protective barriers and reduce incoming damage. During the battle with the Thunder-Fox, the skill evolved, keeping its original functions while gaining new ones.
If you think about it… I fought just one Thunder-Fox and got all this.
Last on the list were racial skills.
And this part surprised me.
Until then, I thought everything was limited to just "Observer."
But when I decided to examine my racial abilities, it turned out I had three.
And all of them belonged to the race of angels.
That immediately raised even more questions.
Should I hide my nature from the others?
I had already been planning to tell Garen and the rest that I was an otherworlder. That would explain my strange knowledge and ideas.
Fortunately, otherworlders weren't rare here, so it wouldn't sound too strange.
But I still wasn't sure if I should tell them.
This was an entirely different level of revelation.
I wasn't that worried about Garen or the villagers finding out. What concerned me more was the thought of other angels. What if they learned about me… and decided to get rid of me?
*They won't do that*
And why not? If I wasn't part of the original design, it would make sense to remove the extra piece as soon as possible. If I wasn't created "according to plan," then…
*Stop digging into things you don't need to worry about and calm down. Those guys have more important things to do than hunt down some poor soul like you*
Wow. Thanks. Very reassuring.
For some reason, that didn't make me feel any better.
But what about the rest?
If I'm an angel, where are my wings? Or a halo? Or whatever angels are supposed to have?
I'm not exactly an expert on heavenly aesthetics, but there should be something.
So far I hadn't noticed anything like that.
*Think about wings*
What?
*Just imagine wings unfolding behind your back*
Alright… worth a try.
I tried focusing on the sensation of something behind my back. Something I hadn't noticed before. Not physical… but still there.
The moment I accepted the idea of wings as part of myself, three pairs of white wings burst open from my back with incredible speed. A flash of soft light illuminated everything around me, though after a couple of seconds the glow began to fade. Even in broad daylight it was bright.
I didn't even have to strain. The wings opened as naturally as if they had always been there.
And strangely enough, there was no pain or discomfort. It felt like stretching my arms… just behind my back.
And it really was that simple. The next moment I folded them back, and it was as if they had never existed. The sensation was like clenching a fist.
I wasn't planning to try flying yet. It would be a bit awkward if someone spotted me. Better to reveal my nature first and only then start experimenting with things like that.
So for now, I decided to stay in my normal form without wings.
.
.
.
All of that distracted me from my main goal — examining my skills.
Right. Back to the racial abilities.
First on the list was the angelic skill "Astral Armor."
This ability allowed me to condense and structure my own essence shell, transforming it into a combat form that wrapped my body in armor.
The skill didn't create armor externally — it restructured the spiritual matter of my body itself, increasing its density, conductivity, and resistance to destruction.
Even in passive mode, my body gained strong resistance to physical and spiritual attacks. Combined with "Absolute Field," it provided extremely solid protection against direct damage.
Though the armor itself was mostly visual. When "Astral Armor" activated, the level of protection remained the same whether the armor appeared or not.
The difference was purely aesthetic.
More of a convenient option for looking impressive… than an actual power boost.
Next came the angelic skill "Commander."
Because of it, beings of lower rank felt spiritual pressure that reduced their effectiveness. The skill also allowed me to control lower, non-sentient spiritual lifeforms.
Useful.
The last angelic skill was "Absorption."
It allowed active absorption of magical essence to stabilize and regenerate my body quickly.
It was somewhat similar to "Abyss." With "Abyss" I could absorb not only essence but other forms of energy as well — and under certain conditions even material objects, storing them in the skill's internal space.
The skill also worked together with "Observer," allowing the absorbed material to be analyzed and reproduced if necessary.
That was the end of the list.
I figured it was finally time to test these abilities in practice.
I decided to start simple. Something I had already done before.
I activated "Elemental Lord" and created a tiny sphere of dark flame in my palm, compressed to the size of a nut.
At first glance — nothing special.
But inside it I could feel dense, compressed energy. Power-wise it was roughly equivalent to a full fireball, just miniature.
I aimed at the nearest rock outcrop and released the sphere.
With a quiet whistle it slammed into the stone.
A dull crack sounded, and a fracture spread across the surface. Small, but deep. The stone around the impact point blackened and slowly began to glow with heat.
— Whoa… — I muttered. — Not bad.
I walked closer to examine the result.
And, not thinking of anything smarter, placed my hand on the impact spot.
— Ah…! Damn it!
The rock was nearly glowing red. I jerked my hand away.
That was stupid.
Very stupid.
[Notice. New advanced skill acquired: "Thermal Resistance".]
— …Seriously?
I cautiously touched the surface again. Still hot, but now tolerable.
Hm. Alright. I take it back. Apparently even dumb decisions can sometimes be useful.
.
.
.
A long time had passed since I arrived at the beach and started my experiments.
It was gradually getting dark outside, and I was already preparing to leave, heading toward the forest. I had played around enough with everything I had.
Among all my abilities, several stood out in particular.
The first was "Elemental Lord." I combined all the elements together and created all sorts of strange variations, merging them into new effects.
The second was "Absolute Field." I created several magical barriers around myself and tested their durability, trying to destroy them from the inside. I managed to break the first two. But the rest refused to collapse.
One reduced the effectiveness of magic inside the barrier, while another suppressed spiritual entities.
However, I found a workaround.
The barrier that weakened magic couldn't deal with anti-magic, which included the skill "Absorption." That allowed me to nullify the barrier's power.
The spiritual barrier turned out to be just as easy to handle.
Additionally, thanks to "Absolute Field," I could apply it directly to my body, strengthening my own defense.
The field became like a second skin — dense, resilient, almost immune to external influence.
Pretty useful.
When I got bored inside the field, I decided to try flying a little using my wings. It turned out to be surprisingly easy. While I had been experimenting with other things, the "Analysis" tool had already calculated the mechanics of flight and transferred the information directly into my mind. I fully understood how flight worked — so it succeeded on the first try.
Another memorable ability was "Advanced Sense."
After activating it, I could feel the presence of several small animals and insects nearby. I could navigate perfectly even with my eyes closed.
So if I ever lost my sight one day, it wouldn't be a serious problem.
All these experiments were supported by "Form Stabilization."
Because of that, I felt completely energized — like I had just woken up.
After finishing my tests by the sea, I headed back toward the village along the same path I had taken earlier.
Fortunately, thanks to "Observer," a map of the area had already formed in my mind, so getting lost was impossible.
I walked while lost in thought, discussing possible ability combinations with Elaris when "Advanced Sense" suddenly reacted.
There were people nearby.
Strangers.
I immediately hid my aura. At the beach I hadn't worried about that, but now it was different. If any of them had a similar sensory skill, drawing attention would be a bad idea.
The closer I got, the stronger my unease became.
"Advanced Sense" kept signaling their presence, yet I couldn't see anyone with my eyes.
I pushed the skill to its limit to sharpen my perception.
The presences became clearer… and I finally caught a direction.
They were ahead.
Judging by their aura — several people.
And their condition was bad.
Very bad.
Their energy was unstable… and severely weakened.
Some of them were already close to death.