Merchant Of Yliaster

Maxwell summoned the new skill's explanation, curious to learn more about it. He was a bit disappointed that the name of the skill changed, and Guider's Cookbook had a funny feel to it that he liked, but the new name was even more interesting. It was also in green text, like the prompts caused by the etherium soul.

Records of Curiosity*:

Originally, a useful but lacking skill created specifically by the system for the Merchant of Yliaster.

It was later enhanced by his soul, giving the skill the ability to completely imitate Merchant's skills. Etherium flows through the book, making its manifestations easier to accomplish.

For every level of the skill, a project can be stored in the book. Storing the project costs the same amount of mana it took to create.

At least half of the stored projects should use the mana types recorded in the compendium. If the rest is not stored, they will reach level 1 recording immediately.

Be curious.

The light of etherium shone from the first and the last entries, making Maxwell's mind ache. The light of etherium had always been dangerous for people, but the system interface managed to make it mildly unpleasant even for Maxwell.

The explanation was simple, but the skill was very powerful. It was not hard to see that the skill had a limiting factor, but that was only a slight inconvenience.

While the skill asked for mana to record things, it didn't specify whether it should be his mana. Neither did it say that he had to pay the mana at once.

Seeing the skill's description made Maxwell think about the creation of the book. While the system did something incredibly complex with the creation, Maxwell could see that the books could be created with a similar skill to his.

Sure, it would take years to record the thing, but considering that regular people spent years designing things, Maxwell didn't find this very farfetched.

He was not sure about much of the system, but it was clear that it had time to do such things.

He really wanted to try the new skill, but he knew that using a slot for something easy to create would be dumb.

Maybe a complex darkness construct would be useful, as he still lacked darkness skills for Drakhabgar. Shadow tendrils and all were cool, but hardly versatile.

He still had something to do before that, though. He had two other skills on the verge of advancing, and he had a feeling that they would fuse together.

It was not a feeling he could rationalize, but he was almost certain that they would. Maybe it was due to his style of using these skills, as he was pretty sure that they never worked when the other was inactive.

Magic theory was a skill that analyzed everything about magic. It was also the only skill he got that wasn't readjusted, no matter what he did.

He was always a bit curious about the skills description, as it stated that it could be used to create skills, but that seemed oddly hard for a tier one skill.

For Maxwell, the skill had been only mildly impactful, as he was already good with creating skills, but he couldn't understand Nesha's reaction to his making her learn telepathy if there was a starter skill like this.

Maybe starter skills are too varied from person to person? He would need to ask around. He felt he really needed to socialize more. He knew barely anything about how people used the system.

He was a bit hesitant about advancing prima sense, as he also wanted to fuse observation into it. Observation's level was high, but it was still a bit short of the level threshold.

This, though, didn't prevent such skills from getting absorbed before. Athletics, for example, was now fused to duality, making his movements natural even when he controlled his body like mana.

Fuck it, I can always readjust the skill. He shrugged and initiated the advancement mentally. Waiting for low-level skills to level would make him lose time. If he was unhappy with the end result, he could use that time to improve his skill.

Two skill advancements are being implemented.

Advancements compatible.

"Observation" can be fused.

Maxwell smiled, seeing that things proceeded in the way he expected, and commanded the system to fuse the skill.

Immediately, a cool, familiar energy of the system started to flow into him, but Maxwell was confused to see no subsequent notifications.

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

A moment later, he nearly fell down, as an unimaginable surge of pain assaulted his mind. It was even comparable to the time the system extracted his soul.

The pain was so intense that he couldn't even scream. As he buckled, his body started to release a green pulse of etherium light. A moment later, the pain lessened momentarily, and the system notifications continued.

Soul Dominion influences the skill creation.

The Compendium influences the skill creation.

Records of Curiosity influences the skill creation.

Skill advancement completed.

Skill created: Perspective of the Wise*

Skill creation is being altered.

Merchant of Yliaster denies the creation.

Skill: Sense of Shattered Reality* created.

The pain increased with every notification once more, and Maxwell was back to gritting his teeth, as they cracked under the immense force.

With the last notification, the pain slowly subsided, and Maxwell stared at it in a daze, not really seeing for a few moments.

What do you mean you deny it? Maxwell asked his trait, exasperated. He was beyond angry due to the pain he had just felt. If he had normal stats, he was sure that he would be a vegetable now.

He tiredly sat down on a nearby rock, trying to make his heart beat slower. Even with the soul over matter, the pain was simply too insane for him to control his body properly. It was to a degree that the skill didn't even level up, as he failed to do anything with it.

He took a deep breath, summoning the pending notifications while he controlled his body with Soul Over Matter.

Title Upgraded: Scholar→ Gatherer Of Knowledge

Title Upgraded: Gatherer Of Knowledge→Bearer Of The Fallacy

What? Maxwell asked dumbly. Even he couldn't understand what was happening at this point. His traits had been way too active in altering things for him to understand them. He summoned the title explanation.

Bearer Of The Fallacy:

Almost all mortals face the same fallacy as they try to understand the world. They try to understand it part by part, yet they fail to gather the pieces to form the whole.

You now bear this grand fallacy knowingly.

Maxwell was not sure why this title was given now, but this oddly felt like the thing Great Phyr said to him. It was no surprise that the system wanted the creature, as its wisdom seemed to be way above of anyone at the creature's level should be able to have.

He continued and summoned the main dish.

Sense of Shattered Reality*:

You have heard a wise creature utter the true nature of reality, yet you still see the world only in parts. Observe, learn, and gather, and maybe, one day, you shall see the whole beyond the shattered reality.

All magic is deciphered in real time as long as the user's knowledge is enough.

Observation cannot be detected unless the target is two tiers above the user.

Your perspective broadens.

Maxwell kept gazing at the skill as if it was going to jump out of the interface. It was not hard to understand that the skill wanted for him to understand more fields of knowledge, and make them a whole in the end, but Maxwell couldn't understand how he could do that in tier 2. Would the skill still advance with a limited number of skills? In time, he would see, he supposed.

He took a breath and waited for a couple of minutes for his resources to come back. The skill was still inactive, and the world looked colorless to his eyes after a long time of seeing it with prima sense active. It was to the point that he found usual human vision distasteful.

It was bleak, lacking the beauty his vision offered him, even when he was looking at the most mundane places. A few minutes later, he activated the skill carefully. He could still use it like before and activate it on various levels, but he couldn't help but feel like there were a lot more levels compared to before.

At minimum, the skill was similar to prima sense, but this was only an illusion. While he could see the mana as always, he felt information stir in his mind as he glanced at the leaves shaking due to the wind.

Immediately, a complex thought formed, and he felt like he could stir the leaves in the same way with wind mana if he wanted to. The skill was simply too otherworldly, as he felt like he always had this information.

He increased the skill's level of activation, cranking it up mentally, and immediately, he was absorbed by a dance of colors. Compared to before, the soul light was now much more prominent, and he could see it now only as a faint aura around the trees, but in a complex shape, somehow aligning with them, somehow diverging.

The souls of the trees had small lines made of soul energy, and they connected to the mana in the air, attracting only a few compatible times with their otherworldly tendrils. His vision was beyond just eyes, as he could see with his eyes closed, and to his dismay, he could actually see behind his head. It felt like he was using his soul instead of his body to see.

Mana was more vibrant than before, and he could actually see a lot more compared to before. He always wondered how the world had all the mana types he could desire, yet he could see the reason now, as a headache started to form, making him wince. He pushed on a little more, trying to see the phenomenon.

In the empty air, beyond the existence of air and all particles, he zoomed in on a solitary space. In it, he could see mana particles, yet these were no ordinary particles. Every moment, as he couldn't even decipher the time it took for it to happen, a small implosion happened in the empty space, and mana types simply came into being.

It was similar to a quantum theory that the scientists in Zephyr came up with, but it was immensely more complex. Maxwell could see that the small explosions had a center, but he had no means to observe it clearly.

Even now, the pain in his mind was worsening, and he turned the skill back down. Crippling himself immediately after getting the skill wouldn't be very useful in the long term after all. Still, the skill made him incredibly excited. This was like the discovery of the microscope, as he would now be able to see how elements interacted much more clearly.

He was starting to see why his soul branded the book with the word curiosity.