Merchant Of Yliaster

Blueberry walked through the streets, Felix moving behind her, looking at her weirdly. Blueberry was pretty sure the dog had fur for brains, but she still tolerated the dog as her human really liked him.

It didn't take her long to realize that she couldn't really go to the high building her human liked to go sometimes, as her human didn't want her to be seen by many people.

While that made her sad, as the food there was simply too good, she quickly started walking toward the little building they had visited before. Her owner trusted the wrinkled man and the brute boy, so she chose that place.

It took some time not to look weird when walking, and she drew some curious glances, but she quickly managed to copy others. Possessing humans was something she had never done before, and balancing was a great problem, as they were so long; only if her human had a body more like a wolf, that would really work well.

Soon, she reached the shop, and after staring at it for some time, managed to get the door open. Humans crafted the most unnecessary constructs since they couldn't fly.

"Max?" the brute boy asked from the side, and Blueberry didn't know how she could answer the boy. She could understand the language pretty well, as her owner spoke to her in it, and the meaning of every word he spoke was transmitted inside her mind.

However, understanding was completely different compared to using so many muscles to produce those voices. Chirp? That could certainly work. She tried to imitate her human and sent the brute boy a mental message.

"Is there a bed around here I can sleep on?" she said. Blueberry was unsure if the message sounded natural, but she tried her best.

Despite her hard work, the boy just answered with a dumb look. Didn't he know how to communicate?

Bob was just trying to learn the language of this kingdom as Maxwell entered the shop. He was relieved by the interruption as the book was simply too boring. Luckily, Gendor had a dictionary with him, but this didn't change the fact that the process was hard. He eagerly shouted his friend's name, but even he could see something was wrong with him, so his shout took a questioning tone.

Before his sudden change, his friend's body language was reluctant and laid back. In the last two weeks, he had been confident, and his body language commanded authority. Bob still couldn't understand how someone could change so much suddenly.

Now, though, he looked like he had learned how to walk just yesterday. There was no apparent mistake, but there was a certain carefulness to his movements, as if he were calculating his every step. Things get even weirder in the next moment, though.

"There is a nest around here I can perch in?" his friend sent him a mental message, making him question his intelligence. He had gotten used to Maxwell not bothering to speak out loud, but the problem was hardly that. He just stared at his friend, not knowing what to say.

"Don't you know how to chirp?" he continued to his dismay. He supposed he needed to say something. He was unsure if Maxwell was joking, but he didn't look like he was.

"Ehem, are you okay?" he asked. He couldn't fear anymore, but this was the closest he came to feeling the nostalgic feeling for a long time. His friend replied with a look of utter concentration before sending another message.

"Sleepy," he said. Bob was starting to think that his friend was having something like a stroke. He probably ought to lead him to a bed or something. He got up and walked to the small back room, opening the door for Max.

"There is a bed here, I think you need to rest," he said, trying hard to sound normal. His friend sent him a weird look, as if he didn't know he had eyebrows, before lying on the bed silently. Bob sighed before closing the door and picking up Felix.

The dog seemed as confused as Bob was as he stared at the closed door. He managed to buy the dog's attention with a piece of meat, though. He liked Felix a lot better than Blueberry, as the bird never let him pet her. I wonder where she is? He wondered. Maxwell rarely parted from the bird after all.

Maxwell woke up feeling quite well. Also, the fact that he was in a bed comforted him, as when he was losing consciousness, he couldn't give many directions to Blueberry. She seemed to have managed, though, as he could feel Bob and Gendor in the next room. He stopped for a second, his eyebrows knitting together as he focused. There was something wrong he couldn't immediately pin down.

Everything concerning his body was okay, and his soul seemed to be undamaged, too. He turned on his prima sense to see if something was wrong, and then he understood what the problem was. How could he feel Bob and Gendor without the skill in the first place? He supposed the system had things to tell him, so he summoned his notifications.

Title: Heretic acquired.

Title: Artisan Acquired.

The title, "Heretic" is upgraded to "Professional Heretic".

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Maxwell was annoyed seeing the name of the title. It was as if the system was trying to get on his nerves. The artisan was simple enough; the system seemed to finally recognize his carving as a legitimate artisanship. He summoned the explanation of the other title, though, as it was harder to understand.

Professional Heretic:

Heretics are the people who go against the gods. Unfortunately, their lifespan is usually pitifully short. You gained a distinction as a professional heretic, as you not only go against them, but win too, while still being a mortal.

In its own way, the title made sense, but the system's naming sense left much to be desired. He was pretty sure that he would get a skill related to this, though. He moved on to the next notification screen.

Guide Mana Leveled Up 86→91

Prima Sense Leveled Up 80→84

Magic Theory Leveled Up 78→83

Soul's Voice Leveled Up 75→ 80

Mana Infusion Leveled Up 74→83

Elementary Soul Energy Manipulation Leveled Up 22→34

Magic Carving Leveled Up 70→74

Window Of The Soul Leveled Up 56→61

Visualization Leveled Up 83→85

Occult Knowledge Leveled Up 15→28

Level-ups were pretty good. He was surprised to see the increase in energy manipulation, as the skill had been a pain to level since he first got it. Apparently, trying to clash with an energy using his soul improved it greatly.

Occult knowledge also took a big jump, as knowing about you can do things by using things related to mythological gods was probably a big thing. He still couldn't see why he could feel the others through the wall without Prima Sense, though.

Skill "Soul Expansion*" Unlocked.

Soul Expansion*: You can expand your soul space as your soul grows stronger. Soul space expansion translates to the real world in a 1:10 ratio, allowing you to use your soul to sense and interact with your environment within your range.

Oh, so this was the reason. He thought. The skill was not glamorous, but the little mark beside its name suggested it was a tier two skill. It felt a bit weird that his first tier two skill was pretty mediocre compared to his other skills. The notifications were not over, though.

Soul Expansion is being absorbed into Soul's Voice.

Error.

Skill tier is too low.

Proceeding with advancement.

Error.

Advancement is postponed until the user regains consciousness.

Maxwell read the notification, and immediately, he could see new lines getting added to the interface.

Proceeding.

Skill "Telekinesis" is compatible.

Include the skill in the fusion?

Y/N

This gave Maxwell the first breathing space, as the system didn't ask before initiating the fusion. The whole idea that one of his skills would prematurely evolve made Maxwell's skin itch, as the prospect of upgrading the skill more before the evolution was too attractive.

But he supposed that absorbing a tier two skill was much better than any adjustment he could make. For the telekinesis, he didn't care about the skill anyway, so he chose to proceed. He didn't think that the system would ruin the skill.

Proceeding.

Skill Fusion complete.

Soul's Voice(80)→ Soul's Dominion*(1)

Soul's Dominion*:

In the exact radius of your soul space, your soul reigns supreme.

The nature of your Etherium Soul can be utilized to prevent any metaphysical influence of your tier and one tier above from entering the range of your soul space.

Anything inside the range of your soul space can be communicated without the need to form a soul channel. Forming a soul channel greatly enhances the exchange.

Objects inside your soul space can be moved according to your desires by expending mana, or mental energy.

All Mana and Energy Control Abilities are greatly enhanced in the range of the soul space.

Maxwell couldn't believe how two skills of the same tier could be so different. The first skill, considering that it had soul in its name, shouldn't have been a bad skill. This skill, though, was on a completely different level. Soul's Voice's previous function seemed like an addition now, instead of the main function.

As the skill waited to advance until he was awake, he could experience the process clearly, and this made him realize what the word "exact" in the description meant.

While the Soul Expansion had a ratio for the real-life application range, this skill didn't have such limitations. It used the exact range of his soul space. This meant that Maxwell could feel a space around 500 meters in diameter right now.

Apart from just sensing thoughts and living beings, he felt the physical world around him, too. When he closed his eyes, he could visualize the world around himself as a colorless model. This skill would cause some problems without his high visualization, but luckily, it was pretty easy for him to use the skill.

The thought part of the skill essentially made him almost immune to assassinations and sneaking, as he could even feel Gendor, despite the man's isolated nature. After all, the man was inside the soul space, so he didn't need to radiate anything for his soul to feel him.

He felt that the physical aspect of the skill lacked details, but it was still used to roughly understand the world. It was a bit hard to get used to, though, as all of his sensory skills overlapped in a jumble of sensory input.

Luckily, it seemed that he could shrink the area. This function, though, was counterintuitive in a way that he didn't expect. The Soul Space was hard to shrink, as if it didn't want to be crammed into a little space once again.

Keeping the sphere with a size of 250 meters in every direction didn't use any resources. While shrinking the sphere to a small size, like ten meters, drained his energy visibly. He could also see that the details detected by the sphere were greatly enhanced, too.

He wanted to play with the skill, but there was one last notification waiting for him.

Vestige Of Drakhabgar - Lvl-? Defeated. Experience is rewarded.

Level Up. Stats Distributed. (2x)

Threshold Reached For Skill Selection.

Well, it seemed like he wouldn't be hard-pressed by the approaching level deadline.