Gales POV
"Is this really the best they could give me?"
After opening my system I took a look at my skills but I was a little underwhelmed by the options laid out in front of me.
Jack of all trades
Regeneration
Inventory (Minor)
Assistant
Beastial Takeover (Locked)
Absorption
At first glance these sounded pretty good and was a little ecstatic... until I read them a little closer.
Jack of all trades- gain proficiency in all manners of physical combat and with weapons.
Jack of all trades didn't sound too bad until I realized a few key words in the explanation. I'll be able to learn all physical combat and learn how to use weapons faster than normal but it's just that. I realized that meant I probably wouldn't have the same benefits in learning magic and I would have to learn it normally, which led me to another detail. Proficiency but not mastery. I could be mistaken but this could mean I'll learn everything quickly and might be better than the average person but I won't be able to master it. A Jack of all trades but a master of none. It was still an ok skill and was something I could use constantly unlike the next one.
Regeneration- Once a day regenerate half of your total HP but temporarily reduce your stamina status by half for the rest of the day.
This one hurt more than I thought. When I read this one my mind started thinking of all the possibilities until I read the actual skill. Not counting the once a day use which was a little upsetting, but temporarily losing half of my entire stamina was awful. One of my main strengths is my high stamina and losing half of one of my strengths even temporarily could be devastating in a life or death situation if I end up passing out from exhaustion.
Inventory (Minor) - place any item (other than living beings or items in excessive size) in storage. Any items placed in inventory will remain in the same state as when placed. (Currently 32% full) ( Can be upgraded)
This skill actually had quite a bit of use. Being able to store nearly anything in the inventory makes traveling around less of a hassle and the best part out of everything is the fact that no food will go bad regardless of the amount of time. The only downside was the limited capacity of the inventory that was already a third full from the survival kit and I had no idea how to upgrade the skill. I decided to put that matter aside for now and focused on the next three that we're the most intriguing.
Assistant- Activating this skill will turn on the Systems special assistant that will assist the system user in navigating the system.
A special assistant. I had no idea what kind of assistant the skill would give me as it was a little vague. Was it similar to a computer program that you asked questions and it answered you or was it similar to an AI and had some awareness? After a bit of thinking I decided to check it out after I finished looking at the last two skills.
Beastial Takeover- Unleash the power of the beast within and transform to allow it to enhance your body to new heights. (Locked until requirements are met.)
This was an interesting one. A type of skill that would cause my body to become more powerful was interesting but I saw something that concerned me. It was described as a transformation. This meant my body would change completely to enhance my body. As to the type of transformation it was, I wasn't completely sure and that concerned me. If I ended turning into something like a werewolf I didn't want the entire world to see me causing my secret to get revealed and get me killed. My biggest concern however was my the last concern.
Absorption
That was all that was displayed for the skill and that worried me. When I looked at the skill I felt... off. It was as if though it was never meant to be a part of the system. I then remembered what Ashes told me about the curse that wolf demihuman placed on himself and all future wolves. Looks like I was just the next unlucky sap to inherit the curse. Maybe it only became a part of the system because of the curse and that would explain why there's no proper description. I stared at the skill and decided to not try to use the skill for now as it was too dangerous and unpredictable.
I let out a sigh once I finished reviewing my new skills that caught Ashes attention whi asked if I was alright.
"It's nothing just checking some stuff." I replied.
I took a bit of time to process all the information I just gathered and tried to clear my head a bit with drinking a bit if water and asked Ashes for the bottle which she gave without hesitation. After taking a sip of water I mentally prepared myself and opened my system window again and went the skills tab again. I pulled up the Assistant skill and decided to activate it. If the skill is really meant to help me then it might be able to give me more answers than what Ashes could provide.
Would you like to activate Assistant?
I agreed to activate it and soon my entire window glowed an almost blinding light that made me cringe from how bright it was that Ashes asked what was wrong. Eventually the the glow condensed into a small orb that separated from the system window and floated in front of me. Once the glowing finally stopped, in its place was a small blue orb with a simple looking face.
"Hello new user! I am the special assistant Codec 8391NN32 assigned to help you with all your needs but you can just call me Codec!" Exclaimed Codec.
....It was more energetic than I expected.
"It's so wonderful to meet you after all this time user! I thought you would never activate me or that you might end up dying in the mines!"
This thing really had zero filter.
"No worries user! I'm here to make sure you won't find yourself in a situation like that again! I was one of the most impressive new assistants out of all the other Codecs and-"
Would you like to deactivate Assistant?
"W-wait user why are you trying to deactivate me? Did I say something wrong? I can do a better job and-"
"You talk way too much."
"H-huh?"
"I get that you're supposed to be something very impressive but you've done nothing but gloat about yourself and basically insult me for being in a situation in which I had no control over. Why shouldn't I deactivate you?"
"I-I apologize for the disrespect user and-"
"Another thing stop calling me user. The names Gale ok."
"Gale? But it says here that your name is-"
"It's Gale."
"Y-yes Gale!"
As I continued my this conversation with Codec I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Ashes with a worried look ask me "Is everything ok? Why are you talking to yourself?"
I forgot that Ashes couldn't see the system so it makes sense that she can't see Codec. It must have looked like I was talking to myself and I took the time to explain what was happening.
"Ohhh. I thought you were having a heatstroke." Said Ashes as she sighed in relief.
"Sooo..." Ashes said as she stared at the air in front of me "You have an assistant now? That's cool."
"What a bright young girl to recognize how cool I am!" Exclaimed Codec with a triumphant look on its face.
I pressed my fingers to my temple as I felt a headache coming on and soon against my better judgment decided to ask Codec some questions.
"Alright Codec I have a lot if questions for you and you better be able to answer them. Can we speak in my head instead of out loud?"
"But of course u- I mean Gale. I can speak directly into your mind! Ask me whatever you like!"
'What was the reason I was sent to this world?'
"....Um. I'm not sure..."
'Why was I made into a wolf demihuman instead of literally anything else.'
"I-I d-dont kno-"
'Do you have any knowledge about this world and its history?'
"....I know the world is called Paracosm."
Would you like to deactivate Assistant?
"Wait please don't deactivate me! I admit I don't know much about the world but I promise I can be useful! Please don't send me back into the system! I beg you!"
My hand hovered over the deactivate button for a moment before I decided not to press it.
'Fine I won't deactivate you. So long as you don't mess around and actually help.'
"Thank you so much Gale I promise I won't let you down!"
'So Codec what's the deal with some of these skills? One is locked and the other doesn't belong in the system.'
"What? That can't be right."
I then saw Codec pull up the skills window and could see what looked like a confused expression on its face as it looked at the end of the skills tab and saw Absorption.
"W-what is this? This isn't one of the skills that are given to the system users. Let me try to remove it..."
I could see Codec glow slightly along with the system window and I could feel a slight pain in my chest as Codec looked as though it began to glitch a little and was sent flying away.
"Ahhh@%$$&#,#@!"
As quickly as it was sent flying it soon came back with a bewildered expression.
"What is that?! I've never seen anything like that in the handbooks!"
'You guys have handbooks?'
"Of course we do how else are we supposed to learn how to best help the users! But the handbooks don't say anything about a skill that hurts the assistant!"
'Years ago apparently there was a wolf demihuman that used a curse to transfer its power over to a random wolf demihuman and I'm the lucky guy who inherited it.'
"O-oh. I'm sorry I really never knew such a thing was possible but I promise that I'll try to find a way to remove it!"
'Don't worry about it. It's not a necessity at this moment.'
I was concerned about the slight pain in my chest so I decided not to mess with the skill any further until I better understood it.
Once I gathered my thoughts I turned to Ashes who was patiently waiting for me and spoke to her.
"Sorry for the wait. You ready to head back out?"
"Yup! I'm all rested up and ready to walk again!"
"Oooh are you on a journey? How exciting! I can't wait to see the world and experience it for myself!"
I sighed. This was going to be a long journey.