As soon as Atlas answered Rose, a silence filled the room between them. Rose's eyebrow start twitching as her smile stiffens on her face.
"I'm sorry, I must've misheard. Can you repeat that?" Rose asked not believing for a second what Atlas just told her.
He couldn't possibly have said 'all of them.'
"All of them?" Atlas repeated but it sounded more unsure because he didn't know if that was good or bad.
'He did!'
"You're telling me you see blue, brown, orange, and green?"
"Yes, but..."
"But?" Rose repeated waiting for Atlas to continue.
"Those aren't the only colors." Atlas said completing his sentence.
"This is unbelievable," Rose said wide-eyed with disbelief placing a hand on her forehead. "He has an affinity with all the elements, including the variants," Rose mumbled loud enough for her children and Atlas to hear.
"What?!" Grayzer yelled looking at his mom and back at Atlas.
"Well that can't be good," Windy said surprised
"Atlas," Rose began seriously, narrowing her eyes and making him nervous. "What you just told us must never, and I mean NEVER be told to anyone. If anybody asks, tell them you have affinities for two elements or at max three. You're a rarity of all rarities, and the rarer you are the more your life is a danger in this world. Do you understand!"
Atlas audibly gulped and nodded his head quickly.
"If anything stick to three basic elements max, and train the variants in secret. Your talent is both a blessing and a curse."
"A blessing and a curse?" Atlas repeated confused
"Listen, everyone is born with at least 1 affinity, and that makes up nearly 65 percent of the world. People born with 2 elements are called duelists. They make up 15 percent of the world. That's what Grayzer and Windy are. Those that are born with 3 elements are called Tri-lementalists or a Tri-lemental mage and they make up 10 percent of the world. Individuals born with 4 elements are called Quadra mages and they make up 8 percent of the world. Finally, the last 2 percent goes to the variant mages. These are elements outside of the basic elements such as darkness, light, lightning, metal, sound, ice, etc. However, here is where the kicker lies. If someone has a variant element whether as a duelist, Tri-lemental, or Quadra then Variant gets added to the name."
"So if someone has an affinity with water and Ice then they'll be a Duelist Variant," Grayzer adds to the explanation by providing an example.
"That makes sense, and I'm guessing it will be Tri-lemental Variant and Quadra Variant for the others" Atlas says.
"Correct!" Rose confirms "But you're probably wondering why it's a blessing and curse right?," Rose asks to which Atlas affirms with a nod.
"That's because it's already hard enough to learn just one element. There's learning to control the energy, constructing spells, multitasking while fighting, and even spoken incantation vs non spoken incantations. Look at Windy and Grayzer here." Rose points to each of her children
"They're duelist with the elements of Wind and Fire, but they never used their fire element much because it slows down progress through their ranks. For example, I was a duelist with affinities for wind and water, but now I'm a wind mage through and through due to neglecting my water element to keep up with my peers. I only focused on absorbing wind mana.
A duelist, unfortunately, will have to do that process twice, a Trilemental three times and a Quadra four times so that each of their elements keeps up. It's to the point where there was a ranking structure within a ranking structure created for mages for multiple elements."
Atlas listens to the explanations being spoken with confusion. A ranking structure within a ranking structure? Duelists doing twice the work while Quadra mages do nearly four times the work.
"It might be confusing but let me explain it like this. When you asked Grayzer and Windy their realm and rank they told you their highest rank and realm with their best element. Grayzer had said he was a spirit realm, rank 5. But he's specifically a spirit realm, rank 5 wind mage and an awakened realm, rank 2 fire mage."
"It's a blessing because those with extra elements have a higher advantage compared to those with just one. But it's a curse because they have to do extra work. So however many elements that individual has an affinity with they will have to do that many times of work if they want their elements to keep up."
That's when it finally clicked for Atlas. Didn't that mean since he had an affinity with all the elements that he would have to do "n" times the amount of work. And all the colors of the mana particles he was perceiving right now were astronomical. It was nearly 18+ different elements. A whopping 18+!
"Well, just like I said just try and focus on 3 basic elements for now." Rose said grabbing hold of Atlas's hand to reassure him and not feel down about the predicament.
Atlas nods his hand and responds "Right, got it!"
Rose smiles and gets up to finish up with breakfast that she was preparing. Luckily it didn't burn due to her lowering the heat before she teleported in front of Atlas.
Atlas decided to check on his status since Grayzer and Windy were talking among themselves. He decided to turn to the side to make sure no one would lock eyes with him as he looked at the holographic screen.
'Show Status'
—---------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] [ATTRIBUTES] [SKILLS] [CURRENCY]
—---------------------------------------------------------
NAME: Atlas Blaze
AGE: 13
RACE: ???
BLOODLINE 1: 🔒
BLOODLINE 2: 🔒
STAGE: Mortal
REALM NAME: Awakened (Condensed x3)
REALM RANK: ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜4/9
PROGRESS: ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️◾⬜⬜⬜⬜55%
Atlas's eyes looked at the section with 'Realm Name' in confusion.
'What in the world is 'Condensed x3?'
[Due to the surplus of energy from absorbing the Wildfire Boar it was best to condense the energy within your mana core to its current levels to not waste the energy.]
Celeste responded to Atlas's thoughts.
'What exactly does it mean?'
[It means you are now three times as strong compared to your peers in the same realm.]
'Three times as strong!?'
[Yes, think of it as limiters with 3 tiers. The first tier is always active which is your current stats. Tier 2 will double stats and their 3 will triple.]
Can our symbiotic mode still be used along with these tiers?
[Yes, hypothetically tier 3 plus our symbiotic mode can create a 6 tier power increase resulting in current stats multiplied by 6. However, it is advised to resort to said hypothetical in a life or death situation. Your body will not be able to handle the load.]
Even though Atlas wouldn't be able to handle the load, having a hidden trump card in a life or death situation was a must have. He couldn't help but smile at this.
Change to Attributes
—---------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] [ATTRIBUTES] [SKILLS] [CURRENCY]
—---------------------------------------------------------
♥️ HEALTH: 🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥◾(65/65)
🔷 MANA: 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦◾(75/75)
🔶 STAMINA: 🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧 (165/165)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
{ MENTAL ATTRIBUTES } 🔷 ➖
INTELLIGENCE: 25 ➕
WISDOM: 25 ➕
WILL POWER: 6 ➕
FOCUS: 19 ➕
PERCEPTION: 12 ➕
CHARISMA: 12 ➕
> M.A POINTS: 15
{ PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES } 🔶 ➖
VITALITY: 40 ➕
FORTITUDE: 8 ➕
ENDURANCE: 25 ➕
STRENGTH: 23 ➕
DEXTERITY: 23 ➕
AGILITY: 23 ➕
SPEED: 23 ➕
> P.A POINTS: 15
What Atlas saw when he changed the screen to the 'Attributes' tab was a whole bunch of plus signs next to his stats.
'What are all these plus signs for?'
[The pluses are there to increase a stat of your choosing when P.A or M.A points are available.]
I see...then can you add 9 points to 'willpower', 3 points to perception, 1 point to Focus, and 12 points to Fortitude?
[Adding 9 points to willpower]
[Adding 3 points to perception]
[Adding 1 point to Focus]
[Adding 12 points to Fortitude]
As the points were added Atlas felt an interesting feeling of calm and relief wash over his mind and body that felt refreshing. He closed his eyes enjoying the feeling until it passed. When he opened his eyes again and looked at his new stats he realized there was an increase in his Mana and Stamina attributes.
'Wait? Why did my Mana and Stamina attributes also increase?'
[The total of Intelligence, Wisdom, willpower, and focus equals your Mana capacity while the total of your Vitality, Fortitude, Endurance, Strength, Dexterity, Agility, and Speed equals your Stamina capacity.]
[however, both Vitality and Endurance equals the total of health stat]
That makes sense now! Add symbols to the stat of what attribute it corresponds to.
[Certainly.]
—---------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] [ATTRIBUTES] [SKILLS] [CURRENCY]
—---------------------------------------------------------
♥️ HEALTH: 🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥◾(65/65)
🔷 MANA: 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦◾(85/85)
🔶 STAMINA: 🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧 (177/177)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
{ MENTAL ATTRIBUTES } 🔷 ➖
🔷 INTELLIGENCE: 25 ➕
🔷WISDOM: 25 ➕
🔷WILL POWER: 6 --> 15➕
🔷FOCUS: 19 --> 20➕
PERCEPTION: 12 --> 15➕
CHARISMA: 12 ➕
> M.A POINTS: 15 --> 2
{ PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES } 🔶 ➖
♥️🔶VITALITY: 40 ➕
🔶FORTITUDE: 8 --> 20➕
♥️🔶ENDURANCE: 25 ➕
🔶STRENGTH: 23 ➕
🔶DEXTERITY: 23 ➕
🔶AGILITY: 23 ➕
🔶SPEED: 23 ➕
> P.A POINTS: 15 --> 3
Atlas nodded in satisfaction when he saw the increase to his current stats, so he decided to see if there was anything new to the other tabs just cause. What he found was an exclamation mark next to his Inventory and Quest tabs. He decided to click on the "Inventory" tab first.
He saw an image of a red core with 3 orange glowing orbs inside of it.
'Select the image'
—---------------------------------------------------------
ENTORY❗️][QUESTS❗️] [MAP] [REALM WALK]
—---------------------------------------------------------
{Wildfire Boar Beast Core} ➖
Item type: Beast core
Description: A created "organ" that allows a beast to harness and access the power of their affinity with an element or elemenrts. Similar to how humans have a mana core to access the elements. The number of glowing orbs inside a beast's core represents the beast's numerical rank.
Rewards if absorbed:
Fire Affinity -> Absorbing the Wildfire Boar's Beast Core enhances the user's affinity with fire magic, improving spellcasting related to flames and heat.
Elemental Mastery -> Provides insights into controlling and manipulating fire magic more effectively, potentially unlocking new abilities or enhancing existing ones related to fire manipulation
⭐Spirit Contract -> Once an individual reaches the spirit realm or higher, the user can establish a contract with the spirit of the animal's beast core. Absorbing the beast's core, the user can establish a bond with the spirit of the Wildfire Boar.
Additionally, the user can integrate the boar's fiery abilities, physical attributes, and strengths such as enhanced physical power and increased endurance. This spirit contract not only provides powerful combat and support but also deepens the user's connection to the fire element, enhancing their overall magical prowess.
[Remove from Inventory]
[Absorb Beast Core]
[Cancel]
{} {} {}
{} {} {}
{} {} {}
Seeing the rewards for absorbing the core made Atlas feel greedy and he was very tempted to press on 'Absorb Beast Core', but he held off from doing so.
When he closed the system, Rose came and served the dishes she made for breakfast. It looked like a Japanese-style breakfast with a bowl of white Rice, a broth-like soup, a vegetable side dish similar to cucumbers, and a filet of salmon. It smelled phenomenal that Atlas started to salivate and his stomach growled.
For utensils, there was two wooden sticks instead of the normal fork, spoon, and knife.
"Time to eat!" Grayzer and Windy said with their palms flat against each other in a praying manner. They then grabbed their bowls of rice and chopsticks taking a couple of mouthfuls and expertly cutting a piece of salmon and taking a bite.
Grayzer was the first to realize that Atlas hadn't started eating yet and said as soon as he swallowed "Oi, we might not be too well off but the food is still delicious you know?"
Windy narrowed her eyes, "Don't tell me you think it's poisoned?"
"No it's not that, its just I uh...," He begins picking up the chopsticks with his right hand "I never used these before."
"Ah I see," Rose said and quickly went to get a spoon. "Here you go."
"Thank you, Miss Rose." Atlas grabs the spoon and briefly places it on the table to put his palms together, mimics what Windy and Grayzer did, and says "Time to eat!"
Even though he never prayed over food before or said something before eating he still wanted to be respectful of another's culture. He grabbed the spoon again taking a scoop of rice and putting it in his mouth and taking a piece of salmon as well. The flavors where very delicious and he couldn't help but let out a 'mmmh'. He chewed and swallowed and looked at Rose.
"It's delicious!" Atlas complimented taking another bite of rice and a sip of the soup like broth.