Finally, she was alone. James almost laughed, she was so happy. The only reason she refrained was because she was still too close to the clearing to consider making a lot of noise. Besides, she wanted to be able to observe the woods all by her lonesomeness. She’d need to find a place to make a camp for herself, some type of home base. Hopefully, she’d find a cave or something similar that wouldn’t require much set-up.

With nothing else to really do, she opened her notifications. She still had more to go through, but she had put it off while she kept Louis company. Something she’d never thought she’d do voluntarily. To anybody. Well, okay, maybe her brother. The forest was still relatively in the aftermath of the goblin attack, so she figured she was safe enough going through her notifications now. Nothing would dare to venture out.

You’ve gained Skill Identify [Inferior]!

Identify [Inferior]: Gain a minimal amount of information about identifiable objects and beings. Level 1.

Would you like to integrate Skill Identify [Inferior]?

Really, it was pretty self-explanatory and basic. But still, she was sure it was incredibly useful. Indicating yes, the transformation was painless, and she Identified a tree on her way as she walked on, [Tree]. Well, that was pretty self-explanatory, James was hoping for a bit more. The Skill was ranked [Inferior] though, so it would probably get more detailed as its rank increased. If that was even possible.

She wondered how you could increase the Skill level, though she expected it to be by Identifying lots of things. Really, it was rather straightforward. Nonetheless, it was progress, and she appreciated it. She continued down the list of notifications.

You’ve gained Skill Detect Mana [Inferior]!

Detect Mana [Inferior]: Weak mana detection --- ERROR, pathway already detected, Skill is upgraded---

Mana Detection [Common]: Recognize mana --- ERROR, pathway already detected, Skill is upgraded---

….

Upgrade Skill Mana Sense [Rare] to Permanent Skill Mana Nature [Unique]? Warning: skill is beyond your understanding. May have negative side-effects.

She wanted to be strong. And she was already taking a big risk by leaving her bodyguards and the clearing. It was a Permanent Skill, though, so she walked for another five minutes, just to ensure she was far enough from anybody. Last time she had gained one she distinctly remembered being glad that she was alone, it had hurt. Given how this Permanent Skill was [Unique] and her other one, A Thousand Questions, was [Rare], this could potentially be worse. She didn’t really know how the two rankings compared.

Sitting down under a random tree and crossing her legs, she leaned against its trunk and closed her eyes. Letting herself consider the System-mentioned warning for another second, she indicated yes.

Mana Nature [Unique]: Your unique pathway lets you perceive mana and its nature in a sphere around you. Size of sphere is conditional of your understanding of the concept of mana as well as the perception stat. Mana within your sphere will be easier to control as your understanding expands. Gain 5% permanent boost to your perception.

Unlike her last Permanent Skill, or when she got her Class, this didn’t hurt at all when she got the notification. Instead, she felt herself fill with a small warmth in her eyes, visual cortex, and left frontal lobe. It was a soothing warmth, that same feeling as when your bath was hot enough and you had just become acclimated to it.

Slowly, she began to feel new sensory inputs coming in. A small white light running across space behind her. A tiny cluster of greyish-baby blue above her head. A light beige in front of her and down. There was even more, and she reveled in this new world that had opened up to her. She could feel that the sphere wasn’t overly large, the furthest point in her perception being around three meters away and a bit fuzzier than the rest.

Opening her eyes, her new senses overlaid her view of the world.

It was absolutely beautiful. The air seemed to have new zeal, the ground new life, and the trees almost shimmered, even in the shade. Thankfully, it wasn’t totally overwhelming, though she could feel that it could easily turn that way. If she were in the clearing, for example, she knew she would be on the ground crying because of a major headache. But she was alone. And the world was more beautiful for it.

Moving on to the next notification, she stayed in place as she got used to her new reality.

You’ve gained Title Permanent Skill Progenitor.

Permanent Skill Progenitor: You've created a new Permanent Skill, something only a handful can claim. Better yet, you've done it while still in a Tutorial. This marks you as one to watch! Gives you a permanent 15% boost to all your stats.

Wow. That was an even larger modifier than Mark of the Censured and Censored (50% higher!), a Title which had explained how uncommon it was in its description. This Title’s description, though, felt oddly tailored to her, including how she had earned the title during the Tutorial. She was sure that the number of boosts she had compared to the rest of the Tutorial population was exceedingly large- not that her physical stats were high enough to be truly affected.

James was also equally sure, however, that there were other people out there with even more advantages. She didn’t think of the world outside of Earth much, why bother while she was still in the Tutorial, but it was in the back of her mind. How could it not be after her last encounter with the blue alien? And the only way to stand up to those otherworldly powers was to be strong. So she would take whatever was offered. She had to.

Continuing down the list of notifications, she was happy to see that the next one was about a new Skill.

You’ve gained Skill Mana Blast [Common]?

Mana Blast [Common]: Let out a blast of mana originating in the chest all around you but mostly aimed in the direction you’re looking. As level increases, so does power of the blast. Level 1.

Would you like to integrate Skill Mana Blast [Common]?

Did this count as a spell? She really wasn’t sure. But it looked promising. And cool. It was probably what she did to the goblins before too, so she knew it was powerful. At least against monsters below Level 10. The highest leveled goblin she saw that she had killed was Level 8. Now she wouldn’t need to nearly die to achieve the effect if her guess were right. Mentally agreeing, she felt the knowledge imprint itself into her brain. As soon as the process was over, she got more notifications.

Class Pure Caster increased to Level 3! Stat points allocated.

Race Human increased to Level 3! Stat points allocated.

Christian really was wrong about race levels, so far, they’ve been increasing at the same time as her Class. Or, she admitted a much more likely reason, there was another factor neither of them was aware of. Which, given how little they knew, was very likely. Shrugging her shoulder, she cast off again into the forest. The world was a little more ethereal now, a bit more mystical, and full of things to explore. And best of all, she was alone again.