Chapter 9
[Endowing perk...]
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u003cRelations.h.i.+ps - 1u003e
[Player: Ruto (s.h.i.+ro)]
[Faction: None]
[Faction Points: None]
[Relations.h.i.+p Points (CHR): 26 (+???)]
[Current Goal: Enjoy life with your friends.]
Description:
[Welcome to u003cRelations.h.i.+ps 1u003e! The system has created this perk in order to a.s.sist you in current and future goals. At the expense of your charisma (CHR) stat, you can improve your party's impression of you and enable certain effects/perks during certain event/actions. For example, the [Commander] perk allows you to easily orient yourself and your party with each other in activities. You can also use this perk to check your relations.h.i.+p with those you have interacted with before.]
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'Relations.h.i.+p points? So, I can get perks and effects at the expense of a permanent decrease in my stats. Also, can I improve these perks?'
[Correct. In the future, if you require the aid of an offensive or defensive perk it will require the use of combat oriented stats. Using the [Commander] perk as an example again, these perks can be upgraded at your leisure or as a reward for special feats, similar to how you were rewarded for "observing a legend."]
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Store:
[Commander - 1]
Cost: 1 Point
Description: The mark of a new leader.
Effects: Improve party orientation and relations.
[Primal Temptation - 1]
Cost: 1 Point
Description: Everyone needs to cave to their desires every once in a while.
Effects: Cause those of the opposite s.e.x to see you as a potential source of pleasure.
[Time Management - 1]
Cost: 1 Point
Description: There are many missed opportunities as a result of poor time management.
Effects: Low chance of being informed about opportunities and access to a calendar + clock.
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'Woah woah woah. This is all... a bit much for me right now. [Primal Temptation], I'M FIVE YEARS OLD! Well... I'm not complaining, but...'
"Purchase [Time Management - 1]."
[Processing order... confirmed!]
[Enjoy your new perk, and make sure to never miss a chance to improve it!]
'[Time Management - 1] is obviously the best choice for me right now. I'm going into school, so this is the best perk for my current situation.'
"This is really too much," I sighed.
I once again turned my attention to the room I was in. I couldn't quite see anything, but I could hear the creaking of what I a.s.sumed to be an old wooden floor.
'Well, I shouldn't move around. I don't know where anything is in this room,' with that thought on my mind, I eased back on the mental tie I had used in order to push myself up into a sitting position, laying back down on the soft bed.
"Talking to yourself, are you?" a familiar gentle voice entered my ears.
"Huh? Big b.o.o.by lad- gentle woman?" I pointlessly turned my head in the direction of the voice.
"Ehem... well, I'm happy to see your doing okay and that you've already woken up even though you have only been asleep for a few hours," she said after clearing her throat.
"I wouldn't say I'm okay..." my voice became faint.
"W-what do you mean?! Are you in pain, where does it hurt?" she
I heard her light feet tap along the floor of the room before she placed her hands all over my body.
"H-hey stop, that's not what I meant," I said as I hurried to get away from her surveying hands and eyes.
Unfortunately for me, this bed is quite small. In my hurry to get of her grasp, I fell face first onto the floor directly beneath her feet.
"O-ouch!"
"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have a.s.sumed anything," she apologized while she lifted my small body back onto the soft bed, putting my in a sitting position once more.
"Hah... its okay. I meant that I can't quite open my... eyes," I said s.h.i.+fting my head where I thought she was.
"That's odd. Nothing like that came up in the diagnosis... do you mind if I pull apart your eyelids for a moment?" the gentle woman said as she had already cupped my face in her hands.
"Go ahead, I guess..." I consented.
"Very well."
Time seemed to slow in that moment. Once again, a sense of complacency began to well up inside me as the warmth returned to my body. As my eyelids parted, I saw the smooth face of the gentle woman once again.
[Gentle Woman's POV]
"Hmm..."
There is nothing odd this time. His pupils have a.s.sumed a normal dilation and the light behind his eyes seems to have faded. After opening them once for him, he seems to be able to control the function of his eyelids normally any negative effects of shock have faded.
"There is nothing wrong with you, you must've just experienced a slight loss of control over you eyelids. It's similar to that saying that your eyes can stay crossed if you cross them for an extended period of time."
Of course, I made sure to confirm this with a sneaky diagnosis on him. As his sponsor, I can't allow his abnormal symptoms to left up to speculation. Also, as a reincarnated person, anything regarding him can be considered to be unexplored territory. Even then, reincarnated persons are extremely resilient, so I don't have to be that worried. Its not impossible that his past life is interfering with his ability to comprehend or use his senses of hearing and sight.
That light behind his eyes could as be chopped up to an exclusive skill as its nature was different than that of normal shock. He said that when he opened his eyes before pa.s.sing out that he could feel a moving sensation of warmth throughout his body, then, when it moved to his eyes, he could see the world and my face in extreme detail. It is very likely the system had some kind of effect on his sight. However, if it was a true use of a skill then the system should've told him he used to skill. The shock must've temporarily activated some kind of hidden or unawakened skill, so of course he would have no idea about it even after seeing his [Status Menu].
It appears to be a simple visual enhancement skill, so I'll just ignore its implications for now. However, I think it is time to get around to the reason I called him here in the first place.
"Ruto, ask me anything," I said.
Yes, the reason I called Ruto here was to answer any questions he may have now. Whether it be why I decided to sponsor him or why he has such abnormal status. After the situation during orientation, I feel it is best I answer these.
"Well, I really only have a couple of questions then. What did you mean when you said that this place was one of your worlds? Does it have anything to do with your soul-cla.s.s?"
"W-what? Is that really all you wish to know? What about why I chose you, or about your birth?"
"Well, I know that I'm a reincarnated person. The system actually told me that I am. Although I wanna know a bit about the strange situation around my birth, I'd rather find that out on my own. What's life without a little exploring?" he explained to me that he'd rather reserve the job of exploring himself to, well, himself.
"O-oh, it did? Well, I suppose I can just answer those two questions. When I said that this was one of my worlds, I meant it quite literally. I can control the conditions of this planet and allow as well as deny access to it. Yes, it does have something to do with my soul cla.s.s. It is generally very stressful on a soul to control a planet at anything below hero-cla.s.s, of course there are exceptions like with the soul of a reincarnated individual, but it is unlikely anything below a hero-cla.s.s soul will be able to control a planet even if someone's soul is exceptionally powerful."
"The whole soul-cla.s.s system in itself is honestly an over simplification of many complex factors. However, it is one of the most education ready explanations out there, even if it is still hard to digest the information. Not every soul can be held within the soul-cla.s.s hierarchy due to the strange definition of the cla.s.ses, but they still are categorized into one regardless. For example, it is possible for an apostle to overcome a G.o.d simply due to superior soul const.i.tution and control, even if the apostle doesn't meet the definition and conditions of the 'superior' G.o.d."
"Although that f.u.c.kING lolicon of a hero could never have reached my type of strength, he was a hopeless-"