I noted of all the changes to my Status:

My Path was displayed, along with my level and the amount of silverlight I’d gathered. I didn’t see any mention about how much silverlight was required to reach Level 2 though. It may be that different Paths needed different amounts.

I gained a free Attribute point, and all the gains to my Attributes finalized. That was probably a bonus benefit from leveling. I couldn’t imagine a system where Attributes only increased when you leveled up. How would children grow if that was the case? Hmm...I’d have to think about what to do with the free Attribute point. It was important to spend these kinds of resources wisely.

Was it shallow of me to think that my new Talent, Uncanny Tracker, sounded cool? I couldn’t wait to find out what it did.

I lost the Blessing of Meliune, the Goddess of Compassion. The way the notification was worded, it sounded like everyone received her Blessing until they gained their first level.

I received a handful of new Skills, all at 0, except for Stealth 1. I expected Nature Magic and Hydromancy, because of the Path of Young Forester and my bargain with Ikfael Glen. Spirit Magic was a surprise. It must’ve been the spirit journey that triggered it.

Or was it...nah…I didn’t spend that much time with mi abuela. As a kid, I scoffed at her stories. All I wanted was to fit in, and her stories made me feel different from my American neighbors. It was the spirit journey that triggered the Skill. I was sure.

There wasn’t anything that needed doing, so I took my time going through the more interesting entries. As System-Eight promised, there were descriptions for each one.

Eight (Hidden Status, Oliver Michael Sandoval) Your name, obviously. It’s not clear what the benefit is of a second, hidden name. There’s a good chance there is one, though, since Diriktot went to the trouble of hiding it. Best if you keep it a secret, just in case.

I sighed and gave up on being called Ollie any time soon. He may be snarky, but I trusted System-Eight to look out for my best interests.

Path of the Young Forester You’ve chosen to make your heart one with the land. You are its caretaker and the protector of its denizens and spirits. Your skills focus on a blend of survival, martial, and nature magic.

Accelerated gains in: Attributes: Agility, primary Wisdom, secondary Spirit, tertiary Skills: Archery Nature Magic Spear Arts Stealth Survival, all

It was curious that Spirit was on the list. The language about protecting the land’s spirits, as well as its denizens, must be serious.

Age 8 You’re only two weeks old, but the System treats you as if you were eight. There’s some hijinks going at a deeper level than I can access.

Had it really been only two weeks? I counted back, and it was exactly thirteen days since I appeared on the hillside outside of town. It felt so much longer.

Silverlight 105 Silverlight is the stuff of creation. It’s the source of all life and power, but since only gods can manipulate silverlight directly, other creatures must wait until it converts into a domain before they can use it.

Gathered silverlight becomes a part of you. It cannot be decreased, except under special circumstances.

That’s heady. The stuff of creation was it? The description made silverlight sound like the primordial substance from which all things came. Did it originate from the gods or did it precede them? The answer to that question had interesting implications for this world’s cosmology.

The note about losing silverlight sounded ominous. Let’s avoid any situations that cause that to happen, shall we?

Soulmarks We know what each Mark is about from the name, but that’s it. The data’s so dense, it’s completely incomprehensible. So frustrating!

(┛ಠ_ಠ)┛彡┻━┻

I feel your frustration, System-Eight.

There was no response to the thought. It looked like we couldn’t converse until he hijacked another System notification.

Strength 8 Your innate capacity to produce physical force. It can include either powerful bursts, feats of long-endurance, or both.

Huh...two people with Strength 15 could potentially have two different kinds of strength. At the extremes, one might be a weightlifter, while the other was a long-distance runner.

Constitution 8 The depth of your life force. Constitution contributes to your qi and helps in resisting physical Conditions.

No surprises there. Although, having been Poisoned twice, I was curious about the mechanics of resisting Conditions.

Agility 8 A measure of your flexibility, coordination, and reaction time. Strengthened by yoga and qigong. Keep it up.

Well, that was a hint if I ever saw one.

Intelligence 14 Your ability to think quickly and recall information. We’ve met enough stupid smart people to know that Intelligence doesn’t always translate into understanding. Still, it’s an important Attribute to raise to 15. (Yes, that’s a hint.)

And an even stronger hint. System-Eight was likely after the Intelligence 15 milestone.

Wisdom 15 Your connection to yourself and the world. Wisdom contributes to your mana and encompasses your intuition and understanding of people, events, and most things crunchy crunchy woo woo, including the System.

Which explained why the Wisdom 15 milestone suddenly triggered System-Eight.

Spirit 14 The depth of your spirit force. Spirit contributes to your mana and qi, and helps in resisting mental and spiritual Conditions.

Spirit force? That sounded cool. Also, mental and spiritual Conditions were a thing. Good to know.

Charm 11 A combination of presence, beauty, and charisma. Someone with high Charm can make you feel like the most important person in the world.

I’ve met more than a handful of people with high Charm. Interestingly, they weren’t always actors and actresses. Some were execs, powerful personalities who dominated the room with their presence. And there were journalists who listened so exquisitely, they made you want to open up and tell them everything. All of them were incredibly dangerous if you weren’t prepared for them.

Like Strength was multifaceted, Charm was too.

Luck 13 A measure of how much and how often the fabric of the universe bends in your favor. Be careful to not count on Luck to save you. It may make for some strange synchronicities and coincidences though.

Don’t worry, System-Eight. Preparation is the best kind of luck there is. That’s what I’ll count on.

Hit Points 8 The current level of your vitality. The higher your Hit Points, the more likely you are to resist dying.

Note that having a large number of Hit Points doesn’t make you immune to dying. A knife to the kidney will kill you at Hit Points 8 just as easily as Hit Points 0.

So if I drop to Hit Points 0, I won’t automatically die? Yeah, let’s avoid learning the answer to that question.

Mana 15 The current level of your magical energies. Mana is regenerated when silverlight is converted into a useable form. Qi 11 The current level of your primal energies. Qi is regenerated when silverlight is converted into a useable form.

A natural process must be at work, since I had both mana and qi without having to do anything. Were they intentionally produced or a byproduct of that process?

Dig deeper, S-Eight! I’m curious about how this world is set up.

Jack of All Trades A lifetime of experiences hasn’t been wasted. You’re able to generalize principles between skills, which increases the likelihood of complementary skill levels. You also receive a small bonus to all Skill gains.

Complementary skill levels? Like in Rolemaster? In that role-playing game, if you had enough expertise in skill, you’d get a bonus to related skills. For example, being an expert in dance also helped with your tumbling. It was a wonderful way to min-max a character.

The best part of Rolemaster though was the critical hit charts. Crazy stuff happened if you were lucky or unlucky enough. All the game’s charts were amazing. There was a reason people called it Chartmaster.

Talent Scout You recognize the Talents in others. The more time you spend with them, the more likely you’ll also uncover nascent Talents yet to be triggered. Take a picture with the phone camera to see the target’s Talents.

Wait, the phone had a camera? I double-checked and there was a new button at the bottom of the screen. I mentally pushed it and a bracket appeared in my vision. There was no one else around but Ikfael Glen, so click.

Ikfael Glen, Manifestation, Spirit of the Land Talents: One with Water and Stone, Hoarder’s Pocket, Artist

Nascent: Foodie, ???, ???

Her talents sounded amazing. I tried to find out more, but no tooltips displayed for them.

Still, the names were descriptive enough for me to make educated guesses. For example, One with Water and Stone probably gave bonuses when working with water and stone. No...hold on...there were times when Ikfael disappeared into the pool. Maybe she literally became one with the water? I’d have to watch carefully next time to see.

Either way, the more ornate the name, the less clear the Talent behind it became.

Qi Sensitive To use the Force, you must feel it first. You’re sensitive to the flow of qi, both in yourself and the world around you. Provides a bonus to learning and developing qi-based Skills.

System-Eight, I love the Force references. Keep it up!

Uncanny Tracker All beings emanate magical and spiritual energies. You’re sensitive to these emanations and can use them to supplement physical signs of passage when tracking. Provides a chance to discover the trail of a designated target.

Hello, Witcher sight, welcome to the party. You’re every bit as cool as I’d hoped. I had no idea how useful this Talent would actually be, but the more tools the better.

Diriktot A Blessing from the Fallen Clockwork God. It was granted in gratitude for introducing him to the wonder of cell phones. Provides a filter to enhance acuity of vision and understanding of the System.

He was the god who started this journey for me. I’m glad he saw fit to give me this Blessing. I don’t know what I would’ve done without it. Thank you.

Helen Miriam Sandoval A Blessing from the spirit of Helen Sandoval in gratitude for a lifetime of love and devotion. Provides a bonus to morale and the courage to chase after dreams.

I’ll make it through, love. You just wait and see.

Ikfael Glen A temporary Blessing from the spirit of Ikfael Glen. First granted out of obligation to a god, the Blessing continues because of Eight’s amusing antics and his daily fish tribute. Provides a bonus to healing and recovery rates while within Ikfael Glen’s territory. Also tempers environmental effects within the territory and protects against small insects and vermin.

Wait, daily fish tribute? I thought I was being grateful and sociable. Hmm... I wish S-Eight included numbers in these descriptions. I’d love to know the amounts of those bonuses.

The glen was so comfortable, even on hot days and cold evenings, and I hadn’t had to deal with mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks. It's been a real relief, and now I knew why.

Hydromancy 0 Water brings life. It can also bring destruction. This Skill is the origin of magical arts related to water. There are several known branches, including agriculture support, weather control, water-bending, scrying, and healing.

Oh yeah, there it was… my first magic Skill. Healing spells here I come!

Nature Magic 0 Nature will find a way. This Skill is the origin of magical arts that tap into the natural world and its processes.

Interesting. It looked like Nature Magic also branched. I just didn’t know the nature of the branches. Not yet anyway.

Spirit Magic 0 Before there is a body, there is a spirit. This Skill is the origin of magical arts related to spirits and ghosts. Be careful though. Very little is ever free.

The same was true for Spirit Magic. I wondered if there was a branch for communicating with the deceased. I’d bet on it.

And hello, it came with a warning. That wasn’t surprising given the nature of the Skill.

Spear Arts 0 Useful in both hunting and war, the spear is the most common weapon throughout human history. This Skill is the origin of all martial arts related to the spear.

The most common weapon? Really? Really?

You’re wrong, S-Eight. Way wrong. The most common weapon in history has to be the knife. Then the spear. After that… let me see... the bow or the axe? Hmm… I don’t know. I’d have to think about it more.

Stealth 1 The art of being unnoticed. Just as useful walking a city’s streets as in the woods.

Cool. I didn’t plan to turn edgelord any time soon, but the Skill would come in handy.

So much to do, and so much to think about. How would I ever manage? I chuckled at my own little joke. I knew exactly how: with a To Do list!