“Elven culture aside…you seem to be taking this quite well.” Sky said.

“It’s…probably because I haven’t had time to process it yet.” Alex said.

Still, that made him think for a bit, should…he be taking all of it so well? He didn’t exactly miss his old world, but should he have been adapting to all of this so easily?

“Wait. Perks and attributes, can…impact my mind, right?”

“Yep. It makes sense you would get a perk helping to keep your cool, now that I think about it.” Alice said.

His thoughts went to his stats as he heard that.

Name: Alex Watson.

Age: 22

Gender: Male

Class: Defiant.

Title: None

Path: (Generating)

Affinities: Advanced Dimension, fire, ice.

XP:35%

Level: 10(20)

Health: 80%

Stamina: 80%

Mana: 60%

Attributes:

Strength: 180(9)

Dexterity: 198(9)

Agility: 180(9)

Constitution: 180(9)

Logic: 210(9)

Semi-flexible attributes(current max increase: 10):

Insight: 12(10)

Willpower: 15(10)

Free Points: 180 (Currently usable:80, current standard daily use increase: 10)

He was impressed by the large increase all over the board, but his attention was drawn to his last attribute.

“Does the willpower attribute help with being calm?” Alex asked.

“Yep. That helps explain how you managed to deal with…everything, really.” Alice said.

“That also helps to explain how you managed to survive, lucky bastard.” Wind said.

“What does it do?”

“It’s…complex. It increases your mental strength, allows you to do stuff that you shouldn’t be able to, allows to survive when you had no right to, bullshit like that.” Alice said “It’s considered one of the best attributes to be unlocked.”

“I had been meaning to ask about it, just…kind of didn’t have too much time.” Alex said. “Why do some attributes have to be unlocked? Why is it called semi-flexible?”

“And back to asking questions about the system. Don’t you get tired of it?” Wind asked.

“I’m a curious person, sue me.”

Alice sniggered. “The system has a bunch of random features, some attributes happens to be part of it. No one is quite sure why.”

“Sounds like an pain the ass.”

“It is, trust me on this. But to explain in depth, attributes are divided in 3 parts: Inflexible, semi-flexible, and flexible. Inflexible are the attributes that you start with, which are based on your state when you awaken, they can only be raised trough the system.”

“So, there are no hidden inflexible attributes?”

“Well, yes, but actually, no. There might be inflexible attributes that I’m not aware of, and there are technically two hidden inflexible attributes, which are appearance and lifespan, that increase as you level.”

“Question, how big is the increase in lifespan?”

Alice sniggered. “How old do you think I am?”

Alex stared at her, feeling like it was a trick question. Woman didn’t ask that kind of thing. “Err…early twenties?”

Alice laughed. “Mid fifties.”

“That big a difference? How long can you live? What level are you?”

“Sorry, can’t tell you my level, that’s confidential. At this point, I could probably live a few centuries, from what I heard, the effect becomes bigger the bigger your level. Basically, someone level 200 will live much longer than level 100.”

“Exponential increase, then.”

“I have no clue about what you just said.”

“It’s…complicated math. That probably hasn’t been invented yet.”

“Odd, but all right.”

“So, now that we are talking about lifespan, what is it like for other races?”

“Varies a lot, but elves have the highest.” Wind said. “On the other hand, as far as I am aware, ours doesn’t increase as much as others.”

“How long can elves live?” Alex asked, curious.

“Usually half a millenia.”

“Damn...”

“Anyway, back to stats…” Alice continued, but was interrupted by someone snoring.

Everyone in the room froze, trying to figure out where the sound came from, then, Alex noticed that Sky had their eyes closed. Once again, the sound came.

Alice put her hand in her mouth, holding back a laughter. Wind seemed almost as amused, but put an finger in front of her mouth, walked up to Sky and lifted them, quickly leaving the room afterwards.

“I think Sky was a tad bored.”

Alex said as Wind left the room.

“Probably. It helped that Sky was already tired. They barely slept this week, kept going around worried about assassins.”

“Does…Sky do that for everyone they meet?”

“Honestly? Pretty much, yeah. They can be a bit obsessive.”

In one hand, it felt weird how much Sky was willing to go to help, but he could not help but feel grateful towards them…

“Doesn’t help that you keep sidetracking the conversation.” Wind said, once again entering the room.

Alex flushed at that.

“It’s a good thing that Sky finally got some rest.” Alice said. “Now, can I run my mouth more?”

Wind rolled her eyes, but sat down.

“All right, semi-flexible attributes are ones that you can both raise trough actions or with points, albeit both at a reduced rate, while flexible attributes are ones that can only be raised through actions.”

“So, what’s a flexible attribute like? Can you tell me about one?”

“Charisma is the most common, but honestly, they are quite rare.”

Alex nodded, that helped a lot in understand things. “So…what does insight do?”

Alice paled as Alex asked. “I knew that I forgot something important…”

“You…are very fortunate to be alive right now.” Wind said.

“It’s…a bad stat?”

“It’s…not bad, just dangerous. Especially in the situation that you got it. Insight…helps you understand things that aren’t immediately obvious; the problem is that sometimes you learn things that you are better off not knowing.”

“I…think I get it, I think. And it freaking terrifies me.”

“It’s mostly manageable with willpower. I’d recommend that you always have twice as much willpower than your insight.”

“I…have some points right now, should I do that?”

“I would highly recommend that, plus, it’s likely that it will help in your recovery.”

Alex did as he was told, increasing his willpower, discovering that each point of willpower costed 5 free points. He winced as he spent them but put his willpower at 24. Maybe it was foolish to increase so much one single stat, but he trusted Alice enough in the subject.

As soon as he put the last point, he felt a wave of…calmness washing over him. The pain that he felt, the sickness, all of it was still there, but felt a whole lot more…distant.

“Wow. This…is effective.”

“There is a good reason that it’s considered one of the strongest stats.”

“Since we are in the subject, any recommendation on what I should increase?”

“Sky would probably tell you to choose your own path, or something.” Wind said, doing her best to mimic Sky’s voice.

“Sky’s…not entirely wrong on that. All stats are useful in their own ways, but you should probably know what you are doing before you spend them.” Alice said, then paused. “Also, don’t try to spend all free point in one moment, it leads to…bad things.”

“So much for saving up before a boss fight…” Alex said, then paused. “Didn’t I just do that?”

“Willpower is an exception due to it’s nature. But if you tried to do that with insight, you’d probably get an information overload.” Alice said. “I wouldn’t’ tell you to so something painful.”

“But you would tell him to do something funny.”

“Perhaps.”

“I will keep that in mind. Any more advice on the subject?” Alex asked.

“Some stats need you to have another one to use safely. Too much strength without constitution can make you stronger than your body can handle, too much agility without dexterity means that you can’t really react to things on time.” Alice said.

“It’s not actually that common to happen unless it’s a huge amount, but it’s something to keep in mind.” Wind said. “Anyway, have you thought about what are you going to be? Besides a hunter of drunk pogers?”

“Sky told you two about it?”

“Yep. Told us all about how you slew the mighty drunk poger.” Alice said, sniggering.

“Well…I’m not sure, to be honest. I don’t fancy myself being a squishy wizard, but using magic does sound cool…” Alex said, and then paused. “I actually forgot how to ask this entire time. How do you even do magic?”

“You really can’t focus on a single subject at a time, can you?” Wind asked.

“You were the ones asking about what I want to do.”

“Well, but it kind of leads into one of the most complex subjects around. Well…there are countless ways, really. You can make a pact with a powerful spirit, with a god, learn the language of the stars, spend a long time in an elementally inclined place…or you can do the boring way and tap into your inner magic.”

“Or you can be like me and do multiple of these.” Wind said with a smirk on her face.

“All of that sounds really fascinating…” Alex said, then remembered something that had been gnawing at the back of his mind. “Wait, god? Gods…gods…” His eyes widened. “Holy shit.”

Both woman looked very confused at Alex. He ignored them and focused on something that he had completely forgotten. Blessings.

Available blessings:

The breaker of chains:

Choosing a blessing means that you bind yourself with said entity, for good or ill. This is because gifts are bound to the divine, and should they choose, the gift could vanish any day.

This is a gift without any strings attached, gaining it will not bind you to anyone or any cause, on top of that, the gift is entirely under you control, and you can vanquish and reclaim it as you wish.

By choosing the breaker of chains, the difference in power between you and your enemies will be lessened, this effect increasing against enemies that are more powerful.

There are countless tyrants that hold themselves higher thanks to raw power. The power of the breaker of chains allows all of it to become meaningless, showing them for whom they truly are.

Differently from all other gifts, you will be able to take this one at any time, on top of that, it will become more powerful as more and you do more deeds.

Take care, however, for you will attracting attention by taking this gift.

Synergy with class: defiant.

Offer made by ????

Alex read the entire thing, focusing on the attracting attention part.

“I…remembered something.” Alex said, slowly. “Do…either of you know what a breaker of chains is?”

“What are you talking about?”

Alice frowned. “I…think I read about it, once, but my memory about the subject is foggy.”

“I…well…”Alex tried to put his thoughts into words, but his mind was a mess. “When that tentacle thing died, did you two get the offer of blessings?”

“Well…neither of us are really big on the whole divine thing.” Wind said

“I worship the stars, and they rarely give blessings. Did you receive one?” Alice said.

“Yeah…I got offered two blessings from two different gods, and a third one that was called the breaker of chains…can I show you guys my screen?”

“That…is really weird.” Alice said, a thoughtful expression on her face. “But no, you can’t show your us your screen. Just tell us what you see.”

Alex did as he was told, both of them listening silently as he read aloud the entire thing, then, once he was over, Wind and Sky exchanged a look.

“You…didn’t accept it, did you?” Alice asked.

“No, I wanted to ask first if there would be problems if I did, and, well, there were problems without me doing it.” Alex said. “I was going to tell the three of you about it before, well…the whole assassination thing.”

“I…think I need to research the subject. Right now.” Alice said.

“I agree, the situation all of sudden makes a whole lot of sense.”

“Wait. Do you two know something?” Alex asked.

“No. Just a guess.” Alice said.

“Well, we can’t say for sure…”

“It’s the gods isn’t it?” Alex asked, and their winces served as confirmation. “Fuck.”

“Pretty much, yeah. But as I said before, but…It’s just a suspicion. Maybe it’s a coincidence.” Alice said, but it was rather obvious that she didn’t believe what she was saying.

“How…are the gods here? Do they physically exist? Do they have another plane? What are they like? How powerful are they?”

While he had already asked about the gods, he hadn’t exactly gone into a lot of detail last time.

“It’s…complicated. Without touching on the divine aspect, they are incredibly powerful beings that are tied to certain concepts; they don’t really exist on other planes, as far as I am aware.” Alice said.

“Pretty much. They are incredibly powerful, have countless followers, and tend to be…unpleasant. I speak from personal experience about that.” Wind said.

“Great, I’m being hunted down by greek gods…”

“What?”

“God’s that are a bunch of prideful jerks.”

“I don’t disagree, but you really should shut up, that’s the kind of thing that attracts their attention.”

Alex slowly nodded, this…really complicated things.

“Can…they smite me?” He asked, then shook his head. “Of course they can’t, if they could they would already have.”

“What do you mean?” Alice asked.

“Like…just throw a bolt of lightning in my face?”

“Well, Ar-” Alice started to talk, then paused halfway.” The goddess of magic could, but she would need to know where you are. Like, by saying her name.”

Alex paled, but nodded.”

Alex stayed silent for a while, he…had always been a skeptic, and figured that either gods did not exist, or they were assholes. He was not really happy to be proven right in this world.

“Also, there is a difference between the divine and the gods, which is a very complicated subject.” Alice said.

“What?”

“Basically, the gods are one of the beings that are divine, there are others that can do what they can do. Beings such as the great oak, the divine beast, and the ones that I follow, the stars.” Alice said.

“You worship giant balls of plasma?”

“What?” Alice asked, sounding confused.

“I figured you wouldn’t know what stars are made out of. Why do you worship the stars, anyway?”

“What the stars are made out of? What? “Alice asked, then shook her head. “Anyway, I don’t worship the stars, I follow their guidance, and give them their respect.”

“So, basically, she worships the stars.” Wind said.

Alice rolled her eyes in answer.

“I’m not…going to judge.” Alex said slowly. “So…do you worship this Oak, Wind?”

“Just because I am an elf doesn’t mean I like huge oaks.” Wind said sniggered afterwards. “I pay respect to the oak, but no, I don’t really worship anybody because of reasons.”

“Because of reasons.” Alex repeated.

“Reasons.” Wind stated, once again.

“So…any chance that a big oak or balls of plasma want to murder me?”

“Ball of what?”

“Guess you wouldn’t have the word for that here…”

Alice glared at him, before sighing. “Not really. Besides the divine beast, they wouldn’t really interfere in such a way.”

“So, just…the gods are after me. Probably. What…do I do?”

“I recommend that you train like you are next in line in the chopping block after you recover.” Wind said.

Alex nodded, he had already planned to train…but the situation made it all the more urgent.

“Should I get the blessing of the breaker of chains?”

“Maybe. At this point, you already attracted attention, the problem of selecting it would be, well…”

“Even more attention. Sounds fun.”

Silence stretched trough the room, Alex had countless questions in his mind, but the sheer amount of things that he could ask overwhelmed him.

“Alice…you are going to research about the breaker of chains thing, right?”

“Yeah, I know someone that can probably help me.”

“And Wind?”

“I will be guarding the forest. While it’s unlikely that anyone would dare trespass the forest, I will make sure of it.”

“Sky is going to push themselves even more…”Alice said, sighing.

“This reminds me, what was that discussion you three had earlier?”

“Sky pushes themselves to the point of it being unhealthy. I have been trying to help her ease up for…a while.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Sky has been constantly watched over you during the past few days, barely sleeping. And no offense, it’s over someone that they met a couple days ago.” Win said.

“That…doesn’t sound healthy.”

“It isn’t. It’s not really anything new, but it got much worse after…”Alice began saying, and then paused as Wind shot her a glare. “Sorry, that’s private information.”

“And now I’m curious.” Alex said, before shaking his head. “It’s fine, really. I think everyone here has stuff that they would rather keep for themselves.”

The look on both of their faces told him enough about the subject.

“So…what now?” Alex asked.

“I will be going then.” Alice said, getting up.

“Already?”

“The sooner I go, the sooner I can find answers; can you handle my part in the meantime, Wind?”

“Sure. I will warn Sky about everything. That’s going to be a fun conversation.”

Alex slowly nodded, feeling a tad baffled by the whole thing. Without further ado, Alice left the room.

“I’m kinda fucked, aren’t I?” Alex asked aloud.