There was more than just one new skill in his log, with one of the messages matching closely to an earlier one about his dubious disciple domain.

> Landtrust guild: Creepy Crawly Division achieved.

This sent him searching in the Domain tab. Or, well, it should be domains now since there was more than one on the list now. Just looking at the name threatened to short-circuit his brain. It didn't seem to follow any conventions he thought he had identified. Interacting with this domain again opened a second list, this time with one of the skills he had seen in the log, but with a difference. It had level 3 next to it in brackets.

> Compendium of Creepy Crawlies gained.

He thought back to what his mother had said about gaining the flame skill. The priest had to have a guidance skill to teach it. He got the skill after completing the task Rory set for him. A teaching moment perhaps? Did that mean Rory had something similar to the priest? Daniel didn't think so but it was hard to assume anything Rory did wasn't a purposeful fake.

And more importantly, did a toad even count as a creepy-crawly? Daniel wouldn't have said so. But it could fit the nonsense Rory was coming up with, things he found disgusting. Was Rory a god, with skills and domains defined by his whims? Alien Magic Jesus in disguise playing a joke on Daniel? His personality sadly happened to fit with that theory.

> Compendium of Creepy Crawlies: Allows access to Landtrust data for identification purposes.

So...Rory and or Gemma had something similar? A type of encyclopedia that people from their guild could access. That would presumably mean they had a Landtrust Domain as well, and could also explain why part of their job was to collect notes on animals.

He scratched his head, and then glanced at his surroundings. He had left Rory in the cottage, tired of his teasing, and gone to sit outside, passing an unconcerned Gemma on his way. Then he had moved round to the back just so he wasn't staring across the clearing at where his parents were sitting.

Compendium of Creepy Crawlies.

A book appeared in his hands, the same unmarked brown as the one he and Gemma had used. He let it fall open in his lap, revealing empty pages. Spawning a book with a skill felt very reminiscent of his status tablet. He flicked the pages with his mind and was not too surprised when they turned. More empty pages. Leafing through the whole book discovered only one part filled. The description of a toad, complete with illustration, was at the front of the book.

Those two did something like this it should be fine.

He took hold of a blank page and tore it out from the book. When he let the page go it drifted to the ground and disappeared after a moment, and he could not find a torn section in the book. He opened the book in front of him in the air and let it go. It copied the page, clattering to the ground and then disappearing after a brief pause. Did the way it didn't want to float in place like his tablet imply it was more real, say to other people? Shrugging, he looked around for an animal and spotted a flying insect flitting around near some wildflowers. A volunteer? How admirable! He focused on the creature as he used his skill.

Compendium of Creepy Crawlies.

The book appeared in his hand, open to the next empty page after the toad. Interesting. Access to Landtrust data for identification purposes did not seem amazing as far as skills went. But it sounded like should at least offer some information. Unless he was only getting the creepy-crawly division information. Which might make it a skill for checking his own notes on animals. Becoming a fantasy world version of David Attenborough was funny to think about, but less appealing as a goal to pursue.

He also had what looked like a couple of new guidance skills to add to the list. No explanation text, no use, level one, just like the others.

> Functional Writing gained.

> Curious Observation gained.

Functional and curious this time. He looked from the words on his tablet to the empty page in his lap. At his mental prompting, four words were slowly written there in Daniel's crappy block capitals handwriting. Forest Stupid Rory Flybug. The sensation here was different. Writing notes on his mental construct tablet involved envisioning a keyboard for him to imagine typing on. This was good old-fashioned real imaginary writing in his fake book, however, with phantom shakiness in his make-believe hands. He flicked back to the toad page and then used the skill again on the volunteer.

Compendium of Creepy Crawlies.

The book turned by itself to the page with just Forest Stupid Rory Flybug on it. He amused himself by describing the bug in terms of how it looked, smelt, and acted just like Rory. His book was only his entries for now, but he chuckled at the idea he was still feeding into a larger database. He got no level in the skill for this, but he imagined filling the book more would do so, and his current work wasn't very serious. He struggled to think of ways that leveling the skill would improve it. It seemed a cop-out if the reward for filling the book to level was having a more full-up book. What was the point in levels if he still had to do his own hard work?

Dubious rewards aside, gaining levels appealed to him. Also appealing was collecting domains. Now that he had two, he wanted three. His concept of domains updated from religions to organisations, which improved his impression of them. Finding more guilds seemed easier than finding more religions. And he would be much happier to progress by working than by praying.

He also had the option to start looking for more skills like writing to pick up. It was just a shame that guidance skills weren't more exciting. Skills so you could train them to have skills later. He could have done that on earth, train every skill possible in case they ended up useful. And he had the impression that church school was going to do something similar. His mother had said something about learning different skills there eventually. He just needed to move on from whatever it was they thought they had him doing at the moment. It could be deep meditation on the nature of Kyburad or simply extended detention.

"Anne," Gemma called out from around the side of the cottage, "We are eating Lunch soon."

"Alright" Daniel called back, getting up and dismissing his compendium skill.

"What were you up to back there?" Gemma asked curiously.

"I was looking for bugs to write about." Daniel answered, "Maybe you could help me after lunch?"

"Did Rory tell you to ask me?"

"No?" Daniel responded, tilting his head.

"Oh. I'll help then."

Did she go through life assuming people were in on one of Rory's dumb jokes? It probably served her right for marrying him. But then Rory had told him that Gemma would like to spend more time with him. Had he somehow played into Rory's hands without meaning to?

"Urk!"

Possible manipulation on all sides. It reminded him of why he had spent so much time avoiding people.

Lunch was held out on the grass, ignoring the perfectly good cottage wasting its best years unused in front of them. It wasn't just Gemma who seemed more relaxed out here, Daniels parents were too. Daniel found it nice to see, but the shadow of his dad going to war was lurking in the background of that feeling. It didn't feel real, and he wished he had a clearer idea of how much he should be worried.

Afterward, he returned to the back of the cottage with Gemma. She started to effortlessly capture several small flying bugs to show them to Daniel. He realised he might have underestimated the gap between their abilities, but that didn't stop him from wanting to try his hand at bug-catching by himself. Or so he thought as he spend several minutes chasing a green butterfly that was mocking him with its lazy evasion. But then Gemma approached with her hands cupped around something.

"Hey Anne, look at this Beetle," she started, before abruptly stopping and pulling her hands in closer to her chest. Daniel wondered what was happening until he saw several small green vines start to worm their way out between the gaps in her hands. Gemma grimaced, then threw the writhing green mess in her hands onto a nearby exposed rock, quickly stomping the creature till it stopped moving.

"How big was that beetle when you caught it?" Daniel asked, plastering a not at all horrified grin on his face.

She held her fingers up maybe an inch apart.

"And you are sure it's safe for me to be here?"

"It's fine," Gemma said, seemingly unbothered by the disgusting creatures living in her backyard. He was starting to feel more sympathy for Rory having creature types he didn't like.

"Can you draw how it looked to start with?"

"I'll try," she said and got to work.

Daniel examined the remains once it seemed safe, a tangle of smushed green tendrils with a small smear of insect in the centre. He had been calling them vines since they seemed plant-like but maybe naming them tentacles was more appropriate. Either way, he didn't want to be holding one of these things when it went off, and he gave the still nearby lazy butterfly a wary glance.

Gemma's picture was again surprisingly good and they used it to find a second similar beetle to observe from a safe distance. Daniel made notes with his status, but this time he switched to the Domain tab and wrote from memory so he could observe any changes. Gemma had brought back the same book from before for him to write in, still empty but for the toad. He leveled twice in his skill while writing, at around a third of the way through the description with the first level and reaching level five just before the end.

Gemma called out to him to come and look at her latest catch. Ignoring his leveling high, he left his contemplations behind and got back to work, By the time his mother came to tell him it was time to be going, he had added twice more to his compendium, but without leveling again.

"Anne, sweetheart," Mum said, "have you got something to say to your uncle and aunt for inviting you to their house and spending time with you?"

He stared up at her, aghast. Four separate gazes focused on him, enjoying his embarrassment. Are you really going to make me say it?

"Thank you," Daniel said, writhing internally at the attention on him. He felt corralled. "Gemma when you get sick of Rory you should escape and come live with us."

Gemma laughed.

"That won't happen, but thanks for the thought," she said.

Rory gave a smug grin. Daniel found them both hard to understand, but he could admit that Gemma seemed happier out here.

They traveled home at a leisurely stroll, watching as the sky changed colors overhead as the sun started to lower. Daniel looked curiously at the scenery that they passed. He wondered what other strange differences to his old world were hiding beneath his notice. He went to summon his flame as he walked, as idly playing around with it had become a habit.

Flame of Kyburad.

That wasn't right. The gap underneath was missing.

Flame of Kyburad. Flame of Kyburad. Flame of Kyburad. Flame of Kyburad.

He opened up his status. The domain was still there. The skill was still there...or was it? His landtrust domain was highlighted, with only the compendium skill showing. He selected the Kyburad domain, and the skill list swapped to show his flame skill.

Flame of Kyburad.

Daniel sighed in a mix of relief and annoyance. He glanced back at his parents, walking a short distance behind him.

Compendium of Creepy Crawlies.

Nothing. He switched his domains, watching his flame as he did so. It danced merrily in his hand, unconcerned. He dismissed it and tried to resummon it.

Flame of Kyburad.

So he had to have a domain selected in his status to use its spells, but the effect didn't go straight away if he swapped. That seemed irritatingly inconvenient. Shouldn't a game-like system have a forum to post complaints about the UI and ask for quality of life changes? Does Alien Magic Jesus even play the game?

Compendium of Creepy Crawlies.

He opened the book at the front, noticing an index that he didn't think had been there earlier. There were five items contained in it, and leafing through he found each of the entries.

Forest Small Green Toad.

Forest Stupid Rory Flybug.

Forest Scary Brown Beetle.

Forest Wiggly Dirt Worm.

Forest Lazy Green Butterfly.

Gemma's plain book had not appeared magical or skill-based to him. But he had leveled when writing in it. He wondered about the timing of when his compendium had been updated. His eyes went back to his status. Compendium of Creepy Crawlies. Level 1. Oh, dear. Where had his level 5 gone? The only guess he could make was that he had reset levels by swapping back and forth.

"Urk!" It wasn't supposed to be like this! I was supposed to be the chosen one! What's happening to my overpowered domain hoarding?

At least he could break the game by being a level 1 bug expert with a full compendium. Surely that would help him slay dragons somehow.