Chapter 16: Birth of the Fake Necromancer I

It just so happened that he suddenly remembered the Iron-grade reward box obtained as a trophy for completing the quest. He had completely forgotten about its existence amidst his emotional rollercoaster. Unwilling to delay the inevitable, and with high hopes fueling his actions, he opened the box to unravel the [Akashic Records]’s gift.

Iron Gift Box

Reward 1/3

+1000 EXP

[Accept] [Next]

The first reward that came out from the box was a +1000 EXP token. After he pressed the Accept option, it filled his XP gauge and increased the level by one. Ten bonus attribute points called at Teo with irresistible charm, but he endured and pushed them for later. The box had more rewards to spit out.

His second reward was a silver ring. The moment he chose to receive it, the ring materialized on his palm in a bizarre show of light. Appearance-wise, not much craftsmanship was involved in the making of this ring—a simple silver band with runes carved into its body.

[Observe] activated and detailed him the characteristics.

Ring of Willpower

Grade: Common

Attribute: +5 WIL

Teo hummed in response to the information. It seemed like the rewards were customized to fit the receiver’s stat distribution. The item would be for the attribute that had the maximum points—enhancing them even more. Teo considered it a loss. There were already 65 points sitting on his WIL, what can he do with five more points? It would have been better if the ring enhanced his AGI or MAG.

Clicking his tongue, Teo wore it on his left middle finger. At least it looks good on me. He thought, checking on the silver band wrapped around his finger. The shiny material of the item stood out like a sore thumb on his tanned finger. Years of toiling in the sun had led to his skin gaining a brownish pigment.

Teo sensed a rush in his head which came out of nowhere. His mind expanded as a result, and his thinking process smoothened. He suddenly felt silly about things that worried him before. He also noted acquiring an even firmer grip on his already-controlled emotions. Nothing would rattle him that easily anymore. But these were not the only effects he felt due to the ring. There were more tangible benefits; the stat boosts by [Accelerated Growth(P)].

As expected of akashic records, the rewards are well calculated.

Teo, who was new to the ways of [Akashic Records], couldn’t stop gushing. His opinions of the system had already soared to great heights.

To a side, Gloria couldn’t help but shake her head at him. He was like a child who saw new toys in a store. She covered her mouth and snickered secretly. It was obvious that he was busy opening his first quest reward. He suddenly gains a level out of nowhere, and then a shiny ring appears on his palm from thin air—what does this mean? She also had a system. How could she miss such little details? That ring though, why do I feel a strange energy coming from it? What kind of reward did he get?

Gloria had upgraded her [Observe] to level five. Leaving aside the new abilities, its core power, which was to read a target’s information, had boosted quite a lot. Even without activating the skill, she could perceive the energy surrounding everything. The ring of Teo’s finger had a different kind of energy than mana flowing through it. Although she was curious about it, it was impossible to have a read of the ring. [Observe] won’t work on an equipped item.

Satisfied with what he got thus far, Teo hopefully waited for the third and final reward by the system.

Iron Gift Box

Reward 3/3

Choose any one of the skills:-

Tame (!) Resist (!)

Hmm! a skill? Do rewards also have skills? Teo narrowed his eyes at the system window. How intriguing; to think he would get a Skill reward on top of a free level up and a badass ring. He was quickly becoming a die-hard fan of the [Aksashic Records].

He interacted with the ‘(!)’ symbol, and the system began displaying the info he needed.

[Tame]

Rank: Common [✰✰]

Ability to create a bond with an animal or monster

[Resist]

Rank: Common [✰✰✰✰]

Mental toughness to endure any kind of status conditions

Teo was left scratching his head in an attempt to understand something from these detail-lacking descriptions. There were even a few things that didn’t make sense. For example, the stars next to the rank. He was seeing them for the first time. What could be their significance; why are they not present in the information given by [Observe]? Oh, wait. There’s someone I could ask.

Who else could it be other than Gloria Smith?

“Hey, Gloria, what do the stars next to a rank mean?”

“Huh? You got something with a starred rank! Tell me more.” Gloria's eyes slightly widened at the revelation. She put aside the gun in her lap and scooted closer—shortening a bit of the gap between them. There was a gleam in her eyes when she looked at Teo.

Teo debated silently; whether to tell her or not. But the answer was obvious. There was nothing to gain from hiding everything and nothing to lose by telling her. Besides, they were a team now. Even if he hides everything, eventually, she would come to know them. Why delay the inevitable?

“Well. There are these two skills from which I have to choose one. Both are common ranked, but, one had two stars and the other had four. Got an idea what these stars do?” Teo asked, looking away from the blue system window inches away from his nose.

“Hmmm,” Gloria hummed thoughtfully, and then she began. “Stars represent rarity. The more of them you have, the rarer it is. And the rarer it is, the more powerful ability it possesses.”

“So, that’s how it is. Then, it's better to choose one with more stars, right?” Teo nodded his head and inquired. He was starting to understand it now. In simple words—more stars means more oomph.

But Gloria didn’t agree with him. She shook her head negatively before presenting her reason, “That’s not the case always. Sure, more star means more power. But when it comes to skills, stars kind of become obsolete.”

“Got no clue what you are saying. Why is it obsolete? Didn’t you say more stars means stronger?” Teo asked, confused.

Gloria nodded her head. She didn’t expect Teo to understand either. She picked up two small stones lying by her side, and arranged them to face each other.

“Imagine there are two people.” She said, pointing at the two stones. “You give one of them a wooden knife and the other a steel sword. If they start fighting, who will win?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The one with the steel sword will win.” Teo answered confidently, nodding his head at the stone with the steel sword in her example.

She bobbed her head, agreeing with Teo’s answer. “But what if the one with the wooden knife is a skilled knife master and the one holding sword is actually an archer? What about now? Who will win?”

“That’s obvious. It will be the knife— ahhh!” A proverbial light bulb went up in his head as he clapped his hand in realization. It finally made sense to him. He understood what Gloria was trying to convey.

He revealed a smile and said, “skills are all about compatibility.”

It pretty much summarized what Gloria was trying to make him understand. This brought about a smile on the girl’s face. “Correct.”

Gloria felt an odd sense of satisfaction after she confirmed that Teo understood her point. Her emotions were hard to explain as she had never experienced anything like this before. Is this how the teachers in our school feel when they teach us? I like this feeling.

To absorbed in her bliss, she completely missed Teo’s next question. Her cheeks went red when she realized her blunder. Berating herself for getting absentminded in the middle of a conversation, she requested Teo to repeat what he said.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear your question. Could you repeat, please?”

Teo didn’t mind it at all. He shrugged his shoulders and asked again, “between Tame and Resist, which one do you think will suit me best?”