The Yggdrasil Tree, otherwise known as the World Tree or the Tree of Life, was mainly connected to Norse Mythology. It was an enormous mythical tree that connected the nine worlds. It also represented the world; the myths even went as far as to say that if the tree died, the world itself would perish.

Infinitia Online aptly named their skill system as the Yggdrasil Seed System. Not that it had anything to do with gates to the other realms. They named it that way as it was meant to represent life. It showed the abilities that a person may learn. True to its namesake, it had complex mechanics that they introduced to players. The uniqueness of the game didn’t stop from the detailed graphics or the artificial intelligence.

“Alric-san, have you perhaps checked your skill tree?” Reina looked at him with questioning eyes.

Alric felt the heat buildup in his face. To disperse it off, he laughed and scratched his head. “Well, I never really had the chance to. Sorry about that, but can you tell me about it?”

“Go ahead and open your skills tab.” Jess motioned as they all approached him.

Alric opened his panel and found the “Skills” tab. It was the first time he looked at it, and he was surprised at the animation at the beginning. It showed a silhouette of a tree, then it zoomed in and showed a fruit falling. The fruit changed into a seed upon reaching the ground. Once the seed got embedded in the soil, it started to emit a faint glow; Once the animation ended, information popped up on his screen.

The words “Yggdrasil Seed System” were on top of the window. On the right part of the menu, the words plastered were “Available Skill Points: 3”. The seed in itself kept glowing while the words “You discovered your first skill!” kept blinking.

“Hmm…” Alric intoned, his right hand scratched his chin thoughtfully.

“What do you know? You’ve already discovered an ability. Ability discovery is said to be rare as it required certain conditions. Go ahead and check it. A prompt will appear if you want to keep it or you want to discard it. If you go with it, you’ll be spending one skill point though.” Thor said, excited at what the skill was.

Alric was about to tap the seed when Jess interjected.

“Alric, it would be better if you hear everything first. It wouldn’t be wise to be impulsive with your choices. Rumors say you can’t recreate your character in this game.” The green-haired girl said, her tone admonishing.

Sensing that the explanation would take a bit of time, Thor sat whereas Jess prodded one end of her bow on the ground.

“Alric, haven't you been reading the guides? The reason why Infinitia Online is popular is due to the freedom of customization. It isn’t just race or appearance, what makes it fun are the abilities.” Thor supplied while getting ready to explain.

“In the beginning, you have inherent racial traits and abilities. You cannot spend ability points on the former, but you can freely spend it on the latter. We’ve already told you that different races have racial traits. Mine, for example, allow me the racial trait of “Flight” and “Far Sight”, Thor and Reina probably has the same with theirs.” Jess looked at Reina as if to ask for assistance.

“It's one of the reasons why I told you not to choose the human race. To begin with, they rarely have any valuable ones. Just being in the Dragonkin race gives me bonuses to stamina, vitality, and strength.” Thor said, airing out his grievance at his friends choice.

‘Well too late to regret that now…’ Alric said to himself. Despite his lingering feelings with his family situation, he was never the type to dwell on things.

“Let’s move on to gaining ability points. It happens every three levels, meaning you get one point to spend every time your character levels up three times. You also get one bonus for every ten levels. As of the moment, the level cap is one hundred, so if you compute it with the bonus, you get a total of forty-three points. By undergoing ‘discovery’ and ‘revelation’ or in other words your first and second class advancements you also get five free points for each respectively. So that brings it to a total of fifty-three, well, fifty-six if you count the three points you get in the beginning.” With that Reina looked at Thor intending for him to continue the explanation.

“Only a total of fifty-six points?! Then what’s the point of saying there are thousands of possible skills in this game when they give so little?!” Alric stated in exasperation. It was a good thing he hadn’t used up any of his points yet. Otherwise, there would’ve been a chance he messed up. He wasn’t a perfectionist, but when it came to gaming, he liked to plan out everything.

“Hmm…that’s why you have to spend them wisely since you can only gain so many points. You don’t have to worry though, even though you only get a few points, there is still a ton of things you can do.” Reina said, her arms up and trying to pacify Alric.

“The developers, as you can see from your menu, called this the Yggdrasil Seed System, wherein you can see the detailed map of your skills and spells connected by branches of a tree. To prevent confusion, you should remember the basics by learning the terms. The ones used in this game are different. Abilities are known as seeds, masteries as roots, and skills and spells as blooms. Memorize that.” Jess stressed the last portion so that Alric won’t be confused at the following explanations.

“Before we go into the main topic, let's first talk about something important. Look at the glowing seed on your screen. Below it is an orb with a soul shaped thing right? Yes, that’s a character core. They dictate whether you’re a melee, a caster or a hybrid. The melee’s orb was colored white, and the casters’ was black while the hybrids got gray. It provides damage checks to your skills. Caster's will have higher damage output with spells; Melee players will do more damage with skills while somewhere in between are Hybrids.” Jess pointed at Alric’s screen as she explained. “Meaning Caster’s can also get a skill that does physical damage, but its output won’t be on par with a melee character. And vice versa. Unlike normal ability slots, character cores do not possess blooms. They only have roots, five of them. The difference is that they provide both passives and supplemental skills. ” She added, making sure that Alric took note of this.

“Supplemental skills can be anything as long as it is not a stand alone skill or spell Alric-kun. Take mine, for example; I created Overcharge which is a Caster supplemental skill which allows me to spend more magical power on a particular spell which allows me to double or triple its damage output. Of course, the delay on spell activation is longer while the skill is activated. The longer I delay it and infuse my magical power with the spell, the stronger it gets. Oh! And Jess forgot to add that the first and second root is open and can be filled with a supplement at level one. You unlock the third at level thirty, the fourth at level forty and the fifth at level fifty. Another important thing Alric, whatever unique skill you come up with in your core can apply to all your skills or spells.” Reina used her spell as an example. She knew that by using hers, it would be easier to make Alric understand. She also gave the prerequisites to open up the other roots.

“Now that we’ve got that out of the way let's move on to the exciting part! How do you get abilities, skills, and spells!” Thor said excitedly, his sharp teeth showing as he grinned.

“Players can plant seeds in slots which will cost one point. These abilities can be elements, elemental adept, weapon skills, and weapons adept and much more. By the way, the difference between elements and adepts is easy. The former has the active spells and skills whereas the latter has the passives. For example, a mage uses points for both the fire element and fire adept. They will be separate but linked abilities. The first ability will have blooms that have active spells such as fireball. The second ability contains passive and supplemental blooms which serve to increase proficiency in the said element or weapon. It can be anything, such as increasing the number of fireballs spawned in one spell or maybe even making the fireball bigger.” Jess started, hoping she got her point across.

“In your case, if you spend one point in your discovered skill, it will fill up an ability slot. Thus, ‘planting’ seed to start your skill ‘tree’. The first skill or spell is free but for each new one, you will spend one ability point. Are you with us so far?” Thor paused, letting his friend absorb the information. When Alric didn’t reply, he continued.

“Let's move on to the specifics. Once you’ve set an ability, you can now create skills or spells. As was said earlier, you get a free point to spend and create your first spell or skill. There are five bloom slots which you can fill up. Take note that your choice must be related to the parent ability. As was mentioned earlier, for a fire element ability, you can create a fireball spell. Likewise, a sword ability can have sword bash as its first skill. The first and second blooms are accessible at level one. You will unlock the third, fourth and fifth at levels thirty, forty and fifty respectively.” Reina watched Alric’s reaction. Hopefully his friend wasn’t confused as of yet.

“Now let's talk about Masteries, otherwise known as roots. Those are the circles with stars on the right side of each ability. Upon creation, the system decides the number of masteries an ability can have, ranging from three to five. You can say that each root corresponds to mastery level. It gains experience every time you activate skills or spells related to your parent ability. Unlike character core roots, only the first is unlocked at the beginning. Mastering one root opens up the succeeding one, and it gives you a bonus. An upgrade from a selection of passives that would provide different benefits to your ability. It could be additional damage, less magical power consumption or faster activation. It can even be an added attribute or status effect.“ Thor finished, took out a beverage food item, and took a swig.

“Last but not the least are the ‘core’ abilities. Remember when we said that some abilities have three or four upgrades, not five? Well, a good way to maximize them is to set it as an ability core. No one knows the impact of doing this yet. All we know is that it automatically upgrades your roots to five stars. There might be a hidden or bigger effect in the future. But at the moment, we can only guess it would be substantial since it won’t be called an ability ‘core’ for nothing.” Jess shrugged, wondering herself when they would implement that update.

“Did you get all our explanations so far?” Reina asked, hoping that they were helping him understand the system.

Alric was quiet the whole time, trying to get as much info as he could from their explanations. He organized the critical points in their explanations and summarized them in a way he could easily understand.

Racial Traits were decided at the beginning. By allocating points, a player gains abilities, and you get a total of fifty-six points. Character cores have three kinds; Melee, Caster, and Hybrid cores provided damage checks to spells and skills. Once the primary ability or ‘seed’ was planted, the player can create spells or skills out of that ability by using their points. When someone mastered a root, they will be able to add passive upgrades to the ability. Masteries ranged from three to five, and the system predetermined it. It was the same with blooms which had five skills or spells per ability.

“Wait…you said earlier that after I ‘planted’ my first ability, the first skill or spell I choose is free right?” When they all nodded, Alric continued, “Then is it applicable to all new abilities I take?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Answered Jess, somehow guessing where Alric’s line of questioning was going.

“Then what’s stopping others from exploiting the system and just getting tons of abilities? Since the first skill or spell is free anyway? They’ll be able to get two points while only using one.” Alric had had to inquire. Personally, he didn’t like game breaking exploits as they didn’t bid well for online games. If he was right, then this was something that the developers had to rethink.

In reaction, Alric’s friends burst out laughing. “Leave it to you to think of these things. Don’t worry; the developers covered their asses on this one.” Jess answered with confidence.

“The blooms belong to different categories of power Alric. The bottom two represent beginner, the next two represent advanced, and finally, master skills or spells. You see if someone wasted all their points and get tons of abilities just to exploit the system, then they will be stuck with beginner skills or spells only.” Reina explained patiently, satisfied when Alric nodded at her explanation.

That made sense. If players were allowed to exploit the system through that, then it was already game over. The developers did the right thing by putting a limit on the strength of the spells or skills created.

“By the way, there are rumors that the development team is going to include elite and godly abilities, but the latter is totally unrelated to the Yggdrasil grid, so no one knows how it will work. But I’d like to get my hands on them, being godly and all would be so-”

Before he could finish his sentence, angry veins appeared all over Jess’ face. Sensing that Thor strayed away from the subject, Jess automatically raised her bow and used it to bash Thor’s head towards the ground.

“First, let's check this…” Alric said, completely ignoring Thor as he tapped on the glowing seed. It opened a description of his discovered skill.

“Nice going Alric! That should be a rare skill! I didn’t know you knew how to use different weapons in real life!” Thor said, already standing and undaunted from Jess’ assault.

“Well, technically it’s one type of discipline I know. It just so happened that it taught us to wield a lot of different weapons.” Arnis specialized in the usage of different weapons. And since Alric knew the technicalities on handling those weapons, it must have activated this skill. If Thor didn’t learn it, then it must mean that it wasn’t based on the different weapons players wielded in different games. Alric knew for a fact that his friend tried different weapons in various games, meaning the developers once again implemented a feature that only considered real life knowledge. Knowing how to wield weapons in games was worlds apart when compared in real life.

Alric was a bit concerned at the words “Limited” attached to the skill though. But since there’s another word that said “Locked”, it meant that there must be a way to unlock the skill’s potential. He tapped on the seed once more, and another window popped up. It asked him if he wanted to keep the skill. He clicked on accept, and the seed stopped glowing and grew roots on the right side. Five buds sprouted on the left, one of them already glowing.

The first bud glowed incessantly, and upon tapping it, it asked him if he wanted to add a new skill. Alric clicked on “No” and postponed it for now. He wasn’t really up to the idea of creating a physical skill at the moment. What he wanted to try was magic. Every player would be able to relate to how he felt. Closely tied to katanas, magic was one of the things that you had to try when you entered a fantasy world.

“I don’t know what skill to get as of yet. For now, I want to get a spell which I can use if the need arises. I still don’t know which element to take though. Speaking of which, which ones did you choose?”

“I chose fire! Well, because I’m a dragon!” Thor announced proudly.

“I chose light magic because I like how it can be used as a distraction. I’ve also thought up of different ways I can apply it to.” Jess said.

“Ummm…as you have already seen, I will be focusing on ice element magic. It’s a bit different to the usual fire element I picked in our previous games. But I think I want to try out different things. I’m also trying to learn crowd control to broaden my repertoire.” Reina explained, wanting to let everyone know why she chose a different element in the first place.

The response of Alric’s friends made him rethink his choice. In a party, it was crucial to have a balance of elements. It allowed for diversity and flexibility when dealing with enemies. So if he were to adjust his skills based on theirs, the remaining elements were earth, water, wind, and darkness.

Alric did an ability search and clicked on the water ability seed. Another information panel popped out which detailed the mechanics of the element.

After reading the description, Alric clicked the wind ability seed as well.

They were both great choices. Seeing as Alric was the type to check everything before deciding, he checked on the darkness and earth element descriptions as well. It seemed that both darkness and earth elements were geared for support. Although one focused on subterfuge and damage, the other focused on support and healing.

Since there were no healers in their group, the wise choice was to get the water element. But somehow, Alric never imagined himself as the healer or a support type character.

“You don’t have to choose right now. You can also unlock secondary elements like ice and lightning by adding the necessary elements.” Seeing that Alric was conflicted prompted Reina to cheer him on.

“In that case…I will choose the water element, but I will focus on the destruction path…” Alric tapped the water element seed, and it was planted on another slot in his skill grid. His three friends looked helplessly at each other because of his choice but decided not to say anything.

Truth be told, with the way he was choosing his spells and with his current stats and weapon, one can say that his build was all over the place. It neither focused on attack nor magic. His chosen weapon also wasn’t a favorite. And to top it off, his chosen element was geared towards healing and support and yet there he was trying to use it for offence. None of them said a word. They’re used to it by now. Somehow, Alric’s style has melded well with their own. Even if he usually chose hybrids, his style often did well in the team mechanics.

“By the way Thor…what the hell was that skill?” He gave his friend a deadpan look.

Hearing his comment and seeing his reaction, Thor responded by laughing and scratching his nose, “That…well, it’s a basic provoke skill for a tank…”

“…”

“…”

“…….”

“…….”

“Hey! Hey! Stop giving me that look! Alright, so I didn’t know what name to give it! And besides, the execution looked good anyway! Don’t judge!” Thor answered hurriedly, a bit flustered by Alric’s reaction.

“Judging…judging really hard.” Jess replied with a smirk while Reina suppressed her laughter.

Instead of replying to his friend, Alric chose to talk to the two women who had smiles on their faces. “But Jess’ and Reina-san’s skills looked impressive! I’ve seen other players use their skills and it seemed to differ from yours. And we can name our skills? How do you do it?”

“The skill creation function is unique for everyone, and it's like this. You hold out your hand in front of you and think of the effects of your skill. Then picture in your mind how it would look, like what words are needed and how does it get activated, also the visual effects that will come with it. Then finally you name the skill, and if the system accepts the conditions, a crystal will appear…” And with that, a floating gem appeared on top of Jess’ outstretched palm. She closed her fists, shattering the crystal and poised her bow at the ready. She took out arrows from her quiver and nocked it on the bow.

[‘Triple Arrow Shot!’]

It would’ve been impossible in real life but since it was a game and with the skill assist system, Jess was able to release three arrows in one shot. The released arrows embedded its pointed ends on the body of one of the gummies which ultimately made the monster explode from the impact. The little creature didn’t even have a chance to fight back.

“Ooooooh!” It was the only thing Alric could say; his hands were clapping, and his eyes looked on in wonder.

“That was awesome Jess! I want to try it too!” Excited to see his own spell, Alric immediately held out his hand and closed his eyes. He didn’t notice that Reina and Jess still seemed to have something to say.

Alric imagined the first spell he wanted to have. After a while, he opened his eyes expectantly and looked at his outstretched palm. The light started to gather on his palm making his eyes go big. And then…

A mechanical buzzing sound resounded, much like the ones you heard on a game show when you answered incorrectly. A red colored X icon appeared instead of a crystal which surprised him. If that weren’t enough, he noticed shadow loom overhead making him look up. A second later a hard thump was heard as a basin made of iron fell on his face.

Jess’ hand went up to cover her face, Reina on the other hand panicked and went towards the semiconscious Alric. “Ehh! Alric-kun!? Are you alright?!!”

On the other hand, Thor couldn’t control himself and burst out laughing. “That was….hahaha! Epic! Hahahaha! Leave it to Alric to fall for something like that! Ahahaahaa-”

A loud conking sound this time. The situation became worst as there were now two people laying on the ground with swirls where their eyes should have been.

“Holy sh—what the hell!“ Alric yelled once he regained consciousness. He had one hand on his forehead, rubbing the tender bump now forming on it.

Once the situation calmed down, “There are certain limits to skill creation! Just now, what skill were you trying to make?” Jess asked after clearing her throat.

“Well, I wanted to make a water dragon which will devour my enemies….” Alric answered dejectedly.

“Alric-kun, you were creating a beginner spell, so there are lots of limitations to it. Otherwise, the ability system implemented would be in chaos. At this level, you could create balls of water or small projectiles made of water, but you can’t make a dragon right off the bat.” Reina waved her hand around trying to calm down Alric who was still pouting.

“I understand that part! But what was that iron basin for?!” That part he really couldn’t connect with his failure.

“Well…the developers’ seems to have quite a sense of humor. By the way, the punishment differs every time. Flower pots, bombs, a pail of water, they get weirder and weirder.” Jess answered making a face that said “The developers are funny, but I guess it can’t be helped!” while shrugging her shoulders.

Alric heaved a sigh before trying once again. He raised his right arm in front of him, with his palm facing up, and closed his eyes.

‘A basic water projectile spell that when cast causes damage to the enemy.’ It was the most basic thing that he could think of regarding the effects of the spell.

‘After I cast the spell, a single serpent made of water emerges and attacks the enemy.’ He didn’t have problems with an incantation and spell name. ‘Devour! Sea Serpent!’ Not bad for a first spell, he thought to himself.

Alric opened his eyes slowly and tensed up, wary of whether his skill creation failed and vigilantly checked his surroundings. His reaction was proven needless though as soon after blue-green light gathered on his palms giving birth to a crystal. He mimicked Jess and closed his hand into a fist and shattered the crystal. In exchange, his skill panel emitted a glow. The first bloom in his water element ability changed color from green to pink to indicate a spell. Upon tapping the bloom, the name [“Sea Serpent”] appeared with its description.

“Congratulations Alric-kun!”

“Way to go Alric!”

“Nice one buddy! Why don’t you go ahead and try the skill? I wanna see how it looks too!”

Upon his three friends egging, Alric opened up his palm and found his target gummy.

[‘Devour! Sea Serpent!’]

A bluish green runic circle appeared in front of his palms. A second later a snake made of water launched itself towards the gummy.

The magical attack damaged the gummy but it was only able to shave off about half of it’s hit points. Unlike Reina’s spell which obliterated the enemy, his lacked the “oomph” to deal a significant damage. Alric knew the reason could have been due to his average intelligence and his weapon not providing a high magical attack. On a side note, he checked his character class and found it still undiscovered.

Even so, he didn’t feel down as he was still elated about his new spell. To show that he didn’t feel depressed about it, Alric followed up with a downward strike, did a pivot and ended with a thrust from the side. The gummy finally died from the assault and left monster drops.

“That was really cool Alric! Now let’s finish this quest so we can return to the farmer’s wife.” Thor mused.

“Roger that!” And with high spirits, the party cooperated in exterminating the gummies spawning around them.