Chapter 4 - A Whole New Bunch Of Skills

I stared in horror as Riyan speared the lifeless shell of a potato piece and brought it up to his mouth, drooling away for all its worth. I couldn’t help thinking; that could’ve been me.

‘Stop looking, June.’ I told myself, pulling my eyes away from the scene.

The couple were having a pleasant dinner of roast beef and leeks. So far, I’d only managed to find out a little more information about the current state of the world- which was in chaos. Apparently, there were around three of these ‘magic stones’ in each territory of Terralica. The capital had been hit the hardest, with five identified L’Ders. There was no news of the other kingdoms yet. After all, Terralica was a rural kingdom, due to it being at least a hundred kilometers away from any other civilization.

Currently, I was in the outskirts of Agridia, the territory I formerly led.

However, I didn’t tell the two that I had been the baron, because for some reason, they didn’t seem to like me. Well, the old me at least. Winston June, Lord of Agridia. I didn’t understand. I had been an amazing baron. I was very generous and took care of the people. Ok, I admit. Maybe very generous was a bit much. But still, I had been pretty good, right?

Anyways, I chose to hide my identity from them for now. There were more important things I had to figure out.

Firstly, this new body was a problem. A potato? Really? A potato? I couldn’t move or even talk properly.

“Oh, hey, June. Want some?” May waggled the piece of potato in front of me teasingly, interrupting my thoughts.

‘N-no thanks.’ I said quickly, refusing to look at her.

Trying to distract myself from my brethren being slaughtered in their masses, I focused back on the floating texts in front of me. In front of me? I couldn’t really tell which way was front or back. At least now that I had a bigger view, the texts didn’t really take up a big part of my vision. The same stuff about ‘Xera’ still hung in front of me, reminding me that I still knew little about this whole system.

The most important thing right now was to figure out how to move. All I could currently do was… nothing. I could mind talk, sure, but would I really have to ask poor Riyan or May to move me whenever I needed to? What if they forgot me someday, and left me on a shelf somewhere? Or even worse, what if they left me in a sack with my own brethren and forgot that I ever existed? I shuddered at the thought.

So, once again, I tried to think about something else. Happy thoughts, June, happy thoughts.

Now that I was relatively calmed down, I was able to collect my thoughts and determine the best course of action.

‘Status.’ I thought, directing it to no one in particular. The texts responded instantly.

___________________________________________

Winston June

Title: Not So Lil’ Spud

Race: Potato

Path: Path to Potato Godhood

Faith: 0

Xera: 100/100

Path Skills:

[Divine Being] (Passive) {Maxed}

Race Skills:

[Germinate] (Active) {1/30} [Potato Battery] (Passive) {1/40}

Misc. Skills:

[Mind Speech] (Active) {1/20} [Super Duper Weak Telekinesis] (Active) {1/5} [Area Of Awareness] (Passive) {1/25}

___________________________________________

The only thing that had changed since last time was the ‘Xera’ part, which now read a hundred out of a hundred. Oh yeah, and that stupid title. Out of my six current so-called ‘skills’ I had learnt how to use two of them, which were ‘Mind Speech’ and ‘Area Of Awareness’.

‘Mind Speech’ allowed me to communicate with people via thoughts. Strangely, I seemed to only be able to communicate with one person at a time. ‘Area Of Awareness’ allowed me to see and hear in a radius around me.

The only other skill that I kind of understood was ‘Super Duper Weak Telekinesis’. That would allow me to move objects with my mind. However, I had yet to find out how it worked.

‘I just wish I had more information.’ I thought to myself, mentally groaning in frustration. ‘Damn it, G, why didn’t you tell me about this before you left!’

[Oh. You again. What do you want now?]

‘G-g-g-G?’ I stuttered, shocked by the line in front of me. ‘Why are you here?’

[*Sigh*. Well, you summoned me, moron.]

‘Summoned?’ I thought, thinking back to what I had just said. ‘Pretty sure I didn’t…’

[*Bigger sigh*. When you call me, you summon me. It’s something like what you could do when you were a baron.]

A bit confusing, since I didn’t actually summon him. I only cursed him. But he didn’t need to know that.

‘Oh… I get it now. But I’m not a lord anymore. So how can I still summon you? Is it because I’m a god too?’

[Any L’Der can summon me. You’re not that special, Winston.]

I cringed a little at the name, but was reminded of a pressing question I needed answered. ‘Whatever. Now that you’re here, can you tell me what the hell happened to Erobeus while I was asleep?’ I was getting worked up. ‘What did you do? What were you thinking? Giving magic stones to everyone? Granting people’s wishes? You really thought that was a good idea?’

[...]

‘Don’t you dot-dot-dot me.’

[I have my reasons. You wouldn’t understand now, but you will in due time. If you really need to know, think of it as a revolution. The world is changing.]

I sighed. ‘You’ve said that before. And I still don’t understand what it means.’ A thought hit me. ‘How many L’Ders are there, anyways?’

[Currently, there are three in every state of Erobeus except for the capital. This is the same with the other kingdoms. There are close to a hundred in total.]

‘A hundred? Are you serious?’

[Yes. You were, in fact, the first ever L’Der. Unfortunately, since you’ve been dormant these past three months, you are now seriously lacking behind the others.]

‘Lacking? What’s that supposed to mean?’

[Lacking in followers, lacking in your path progression, lacking in pretty much everything, I suppose.]

‘Seriously?’ I couldn’t believe this guy. ‘Did I really just summon you to make fun of me?’

[Yes.]

‘Oh, come on! Can’t you tell me something useful for once? Like maybe how these stupid skills work?’

[Well, you could’ve just asked, you know…]

I was lost for words.

[The A.S.S is specifically designed to help and react to your thoughts and questions.]

‘Ass? The heck is that?’

[A.S.S stands for Assisting and Specializing System. It’s what controls these texts when I’m not here.]

I wanted to frown. ‘Ass? Really? Out of everything you could’ve named it, you named it ass.’

[Ha, I thought it’d be funny.]

‘Does it look like I’m laughing?’ I asked, not impressed.

A moment passed.

[Shut up, potato.]

‘Woah.’ I said, mentally taking a step back. ‘There’s no need to be so rude.’

[Since you no longer need my services, I’ll be off. If you have any questions, you can ask the A.S.S.]

‘Wait, wait!’ I called. ‘I still have stuff I want to ask!’

[Maybe next time you shouldn’t be so rude. You can call me once a week.]

‘I said wait!’ But it was too late. G’s text disappeared, leaving behind only the profile window. ‘That damn god…’ I cursed.

Glancing at my profile once more, something caught my eye. After each skill was a word, either ‘passive’ or ‘active’. But after those words was a statistic of some kind, the only thing in common between them being the ones. ‘What are these numbers?’ I asked the floating texts.

No response.

[One more thing. If you want A.S.S to answer you, you’ve got to address it.]

‘G? You’re back?’ A little delight filled me.

[...]

‘I know you’re there, G.’

[... I’m out. See ya.]

‘G! Wait!’ Well this felt mildly familiar. I sighed and looked back up to what he said. ‘If I want A.S.S to answer, I’ve got to address it?’ And I felt a sinking feeling fill me. ‘You’re kidding, right?’

I sighed again. ‘Fine. This is how you want to do it, huh? G?’ I mentally took a deep breath- these human habits of mine just kicked in automatically. ‘A.S.S. What are skills?’ A simple question, a nice, easy way to start.

[Skills are supernatural actions or abilities that are granted to the Gifted and L’Ders. They are intended to assist the L’Der along their path.]

‘Uh huh… So tell me, what is this ‘path’ thing?’ After a moment’s wait and no reply, I put in one more word. ‘A.S.S.?’

[Paths are a method of reaching your goal, which is to make your wish come true. Each path is different, and will allow the follower of the path and his Gifted to use different skills. Your current path skills are: {Divine Being} Lvl.1 (Maxed). Would you like to see information for this class skill?]

‘Yes.’

___________________________________________

Divine Being

Lvl: 1 (Maxed)

Category: Class

Type: Passive

Buffs: None

Enables the L’Der to gain {Faith}. {Faith} is a unit that determines when path progression quests can be generated. {Faith} will also enable the L’Der to rank up, which may lead to unlocking new skills. The L’Der with {Divine Being} gains {Faith} whenever a person places their trust in them. As trust grows, the amount of {Faith} the individual contributes increases. {Faith} will allow the L’Der to grow stronger. {Faith} can be lost.

___________________________________________

‘Aha, so that’s what faith is.’ I thought to myself. It seemed to be particularly useful for a hero, or someone who made a lot of friends. Also known as not me. Now this thing wanted me to be a hero, too? I shrugged it off as unimportant. I had plenty of other skills. Who said I needed to use it?

‘A.S.S., show me the information for ‘Mind Speech’.’

___________________________________________

Mind Speech

Lvl: 1/20

Category: Miscellaneous

Type: Active

Xera Consumption: None

Buffs: None

Enables the user to communicate their thoughts directly into another individual’s mind. Range is limited, and depends on the skill level. Amount of individuals one can communicate with at once is limited, and depends on the skill level. As skill level rises, range and amount will increase. Upon reaching the required level, the skill will evolve.

___________________________________________

Mind speech. There was nothing here that I hadn’t expected. The only thing that I was curious to find out was the so-called ‘evolution’. How would it evolve? I’d find out in due time, I supposed. Now that I was doing this anyway, I decided to look through the rest of my skills to find out more.

___________________________________________

Area Of Awareness

Lvl: 1/25

Category: Miscellaneous

Type: Passive

Buffs: Heightened Sense

An extremely limited form of a human’s five senses. Allows the user to see and hear in a radius around them. As level rises, range and strength of sense will increase. Upon reaching the required level, the skill will evolve.

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

Super Duper Weak Telekinesis

Lvl: 1/5

Category: Miscellaneous

Type: Active

Xera Consumption: None

Buffs: None

Enables the user to perform limited telekinesis. Telekinesis strength is partly based on the amount of intention. As skill level rises, the strength of telekinesis rises. Upon reaching the required level, the skill will evolve.

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

Germinate

Lvl: 1/30

Category: Race

Type: Active

Xera Consumption: Interchangeable

Buffs: None

Potato race unique skill. When activated, enables the user to produce potato ‘seeds’ out of themself. These seeds will then grow into new potatoes. Options available for germination.

Identical: 10 Xera Consumption per potato

Identical. The potato seed will grow into the exact same form as the ‘parent’ potato.

Each potato seed has a 1/100 chance of becoming sentient. Sentient potatoes can communicate with the ‘parent’ and inherits its parent’s {misc} skills. Sentient potatoes may/may not be granted a class depending on their type.

Each potato seed has a 1/500 chance of unlocking a new type. This type will then be added into your potato dex, which can be found in this skill window. Once a new potato type is unlocked, you will be able to constantly produce that type.

Non sentient potatoes will retain the parent’s {Potato Battery} skill.

Currently, it takes 180 minutes (minimum) for an identical potato to be grown. Different environments may cause the seed to grow slower.

As skill level rises, growth speed, durability and chance for sentience will increase. Upon reaching the required level, this skill will evolve.

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

Potato Battery

Lvl: 1/40

Category: Race

Type: Passive

Buffs: Multiplies xera regeneration rate by maximum capacity

Potato race unique skill. Enables the user to passively intake more xera. The potato body is incredibly flexible, and attracts more magical energy than the human body. When overloaded with magical energy, the potato will explode. This energy can also be transferred from potato to potato.

Xera regeneration multiplier will increase by an additional 0.1 every level. Upon reaching the required level, this skill will evolve.

___________________________________________

My ‘misc’ skills seemed pretty self-explanatory. I understood what they did and how they worked. My race skills, on the other hand… They were confusing, to say the least.

‘Germinate’ seemed like a skill that allowed me to create an army of potatoes. Or something like that. Creating more of myself was… a narcissistic idea, but I liked it. Who needed followers when you could create your own? The only problem here was the sentience rate. If none of my other potatoes were alive, they were pretty useless. A one percent chance for a living potato was seriously low and concerning. I only had, what, a hundred of this so-called ‘xera’? If I needed ten to produce each potato, that meant I could create ten seeds before I ran out of xera. Who knew how long it took for my xera to regenerate? At least I had my other race skill, ‘Potato Battery’, which increased my xera regeneration. However, on top of all that, there was still an additional problem. It took three whole hours for the potato seeds to grow into potatoes. Granted, that wasn’t very long considering how long I took to grow.

I sighed and groaned. This was making my head hurt.

Deciding to just focus on the stuff I did understand, I looked away from the texts and focused on myself. I had a little hunch that my skill ‘Super Duper Weak Telekinesis’ was given to me intentionally, with the purpose of allowing me to move freely. The other skills, ‘Mind Speech’ and ‘Area Of Awareness’ helped me to regain my human senses, meaning this one was bound to help me move, right?

‘Alright, come on.’ I thought quietly to myself. ‘Let’s do this.’

Hnnnnrgnhhh.

Grunting didn’t seem to help. How was this telekinesis supposed to work, anyways? As Winston June, a human, I’d never been able to do magic of any kind- let alone something as high leveled as telekinesis. It wasn’t like moving my body normally, I can tell you.

‘Intention?’ I muttered as I reread the skill information screen.

I focused on my potato body, feeling the touch of the cool air upon my skin. Honestly, I had no idea how I could even feel. Ignoring that, I looked over the edge of the dining table I was placed precariously near to. I just had to will myself to move. Flying was out of the question.

I grunted once more, and pictured myself rolling slightly. Some sort of force touched my back. It was working.

‘EAaaagGH!’ I shouted, scrunching up my non-existent face.

A force, or energy of some kind nudged me forward slowly, bringing me even closer to certain doom. Honestly, what was I even thinking? This was practically suicide.

Yet this was the most fun I’d had in my entire life- both my lives.

‘Come on, June! One last push!’ I was practically screaming in excitement by that time, and felt even more ecstatic when a massive rush rolled me off the edge of the table and-

Oh, shit.

‘HEEEEEELP!’

Out of nowhere, something blurred towards me, and stopped me mid-fall. Tears glistened in my eyes as I looked up to appraise my saviour.

“June? Did you just move by yourself?” May asked curiously, embracing me in those soft, warm hands.

I immediately snapped out of my shock- was I drooling? And directed my thoughts towards her.

‘Yes.’ I said proudly. ‘I learnt how to move by myself.’

Her eyes lit up- I bet she was seriously impressed- and her lips formed a smile. “That’s insane! How can a potato move by itself? Like, I’ve seen seriously weird things during my time, but this is one of the-”

Crash!

The door to the dining room flung open, and smoke began to fill the room.

I fumed. Who dared interrupt May when she was praising me? I would call the army down on them and… right. I was no longer the lord.

Whatever! My potato god powers were surely enough to take down a few mongrel peasant scum, right? Talking about mongrel peasant scum, I hadn’t actually seen who knocked down the door yet. The smoke obstructed my vision, and the radius of ‘Area Of Awareness’ wasn’t big enough. However, I did hear them speak. A low, gravelly, commanding voice filled the room.

“May and Riyan Jadahr, Kearan requests your presence.”