Magic?

— Back in the Trials —

The wind blew gently, causing the trees to dance side to side as if they were welcoming the Chosen back to the Trials. Unlike before, it was approaching sunset, and the golden red of the sun and the bright green of the trees and the grass painted a beautiful scene. Midas, realising that he was back here, breathed in the fresh air with his eyes closed, savouring every sensation.

He had made it through the test. He was back.

Opening his eyes to look around, he noticed that everyone else was back too. Some knelt on the floor and touched the grass unbelievingly, some started bawling their eyes out, others looked around searching for the friends that they had made to see if they were okay. It seemed like Midas was not the only one who went through something terrifying. Everyone had their story.

Midas turns his head towards the statue to look for the one being that could give him some guidance and information at this time, the green life-form, only to see that where it stood there was currently nobody there anymore. Only the statue shone brightly as it did back then.

"Oh wow, we are back!", came a voice from Midas' right. It was Julio. When Midas looked closer at him he noticed that he looked different. His arms, legs and torso were longer and seemingly stronger and he was now standing at 1.85 meters height. Midas wondered what he went through in his test, and what gift he had received.

When he looked around he realised that actually, everyone looked somewhat different. Even he did, but he had no idea at the moment..

"What happened to your hair, my friend? Did you dye it?" asked Julio curiously.

"And what happened to your height? Did you have a growth spurt?" asked Midas jokingly.

"Hey man. You have no idea what happened to me. They asked me what I wished for, and I told them I wanted a superhuman body, right? Then they sent me into a world made of skyscrapers. They tell me the rules. If I fall off the building I die, If I get stabbed by killer robots, I die. I had to run on top of the buildings, jumping from one to another while being chased by killer robots. It was terrifying. I manage to survive for a week before being stabbed in the back by one of those fuckers!" said Julio while showing an aggrieved expression.

Midas smiled to himself, thinking, 'A superhuman body huh… Well it makes sense given the fact that his trait is Perfect Body Control. It seems like he has a good head on him after all.'

Midas looked around once again and remembered that there were three Gifts that were meant to be given. Where was the third Gift?

"Hey! What about you, Midas?", questioned Julio to which Midas shrugged.

"I wished for some books to read and they sent me into a library to read those books for a few years."

"..."

"Books? Really? Wow! You have to think about the situation. What counts most here is survival skills, Midas. It's physical ability you know… strength like this," said Julio while flexing his muscles as if to show how powerful he was.

"Yes, you're very powerful, Julio. I guess I will have to rely on you from now on. Let's be good friends.", said Midas with a smile on his face.

"Heh? Of course, I'm very strong. And I have good English too, no? Don't worry, I will protect you from now on."

Midas could only roll his eyes at how shameless this guy is. It seemed like he wasn't having his words auto translated like some other people. The fact that he had the gall to brag about that was very interesting. But before he could continue thinking in this direction, an announcement came.

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| Announcement |

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[Congratulations to the Chosen for successfully receiving their second Gifts!]

[The First Trial, the Trial of Self, has officially begun!]

[You must survive for as long as possible in that space, with the maximum amount of time possible being 180 Earth days]

[There is no risk of failure for this Task, but a higher performance will be rewarded accordingly.]

[If the Chosen wants to quit the Trial, they can leave for the next Trial using the Transfer Gate in the Middle of the field next to the Shrine]

[May the Great One's Grace be with you all]

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Almost immediately, the field started changing imperceptibly. The central Plaza's circular area was filled with floating lights around the radius of the statue. There was now a black Door the height of 3 metres and width of 2 metres and on the centre of it was a rotating spiral, which seemed like it was bending space itself. Midas surmised that this may be the Transfer Gate they could use to bow out of the First Trial.

Midas wondered what the floating lights were about. They didn't seem to affect him much so he figured it was merely a signpost so people didn't lose their way. Of course there may be more to it than that. He just had to discover that as time went on.

Sounds of Discussion filled the air as people talked about the situation and the possible ways they could solve their problems.

"How are we going to survive in this place? There's no food anywhere."

"Is there water?"

"I think I heard someone say there's a river up north."

"Is it human drinkable water?"

"How the hell would I know?!"

Midas looked around until he spotted three people surrounding one pretty brunette haired girl with curiosity.

"Wait, please say that again. You said you can create water?!", said one of the men, to which the girl merely shyly nodded

"Hey get away from her!", admonished another girl who stepped in, blocking the girl from the three men. They had been chatting casually when these three guys eavesdropped on them and stepped in arrogantly. When she drew attention to themselves, the men surrounding her stepped back immediately except for one blonde man who raised his arms as if pleading defeat.

"Hey, there's no reason to go that far right. We're just a bit curious is all. If it turns out that the river water isn't drinkable, then we may need her help occasionally. If we scared you we're sorry. Isn't that right boys?", said a handsome man with a posh British accent. He had blonde hair and green eyes and his perfectly sculpted face made one think of him as a model at first sight. The three men seemed to be friends with each other.

"Yeah, John's right. Sorry babe! It's just that we got a bit excited. Don't take it too seriously, yeah darlin?" said another man with a British accent.

"You see. We're all in this situation together. We should help each other out is all I'm saying." said the blonde man named John in a graceful manner. His words seem to have disarmed the women as their defensive body language stopped showing itself.

"I.. I do have a skill that can create water", said a girl with bright clear eyes. She held her palm face up and said "Generate" and a blob of water the size of a tennis ball was materialised above her hand. After a second, the ball dropped to her hand, splashing onto it and allowing water to drip onto the ground into a puddle. After seeing this, immediately, some people attempted to ingratiate themselves to her.

"Wow really. You're awesome."

"Damn, you're super powerful."

"The skill is beautiful, but not as beautiful as you." said John with a mesmerising smile on his face, after which the girl lowered her head shyly with a visible blush colouring her ears.

The girl blushed visibly while receiving all this praise, and even Julio was impressed as he kept spouting "Magic! Hey Midas, it's Magic!".

Midas, though, didn't really care. There were ways of purifying water. One only needed a purification device and some activated carbon. Since he didn't have filtration devices and activated carbon, he could create something similar using a pipe, rocks, sand, leaves and ash. It would do the job to some extent.

And considering the possibility of there being a river, even if he didn't have a filtration device, if the river's flow rate was high enough it would ensure that microbes would not be able to procreate thus allowing the water to be clean enough to drink. There was no real need for 'Magic'

Would revealing your capabilities this really early be helpful? Midas thought not.

'And that blonde guy… Something feels off. Is he using a Skill?' thought Midas while shaking his head imperceptibly.

Seeing the skill that girl showed brought Midas back to his own situation. He had received some skills too. And he could view them now.

Midas thought to himself 'Index' and the familiar blue panel showed itself again in front of Midas.

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|| Index || Network | Statistics |

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Earth Name: Midas Mira

AC: 21,300

Authority: Authority of Omniscience (Ex Rank)

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| Authority of Omniscience |

[The Universe Resonates with You. You Know All. You Are All.]

Skills: [Eye of Truth (Lv. 1)], [Hidden Divinity (Lv. 1)], [Destiny Vision (Lv. 1)]

<—————

Gift: Gift of Knowledge (S Rank)

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| The Gift of Knowledge (S Rank) |

[The memory of the world is with you. This Gift enhances the ability to communicate with the Universe, receive knowledge from it, and give knowledge to it.]

Skills: [Eye of Judgment (Lv. 1)], [Divine Database (Lv. 1)], [Memory of the World (Lv. 1)]

<—————

Conditions and States:

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Nature: Neutral Evil

Trait: Hyper Intuitive, Old Soul

Mental: Machiavellian Personality, Narcissistic Personality, Antisocial Personality

Physical: -

<—————

Stats:

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Dexterity (Agility, Flexibility) → 1.6

Strength (Speed, Power) → 1.4

Constitution (Endurance, Health) → 1.3

Intelligence (Memory, Reasoning) → 9.7

Charisma (Charm, Persuasion) → 5.0

Wisdom (Intuition, Adaptability) → 6.5

Spirit (Mental State, Character) → 4.9

<—————

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Everything seemed to be in order.

He seemed to have lost a few personality disorders? But he gained so much more. Midas smiled to himself when he realised that he had the Dark Triad Personality Traits which are often seen in Psychopaths.

Is he a psychopath now?

Probably.

He knew why there was such a change.

Actually, it didn't take much for him to develop Antisocial Personality Disorder within himself. Midas had learned everything about psychological phenomena, how they come to manifest themselves and how to induce them in himself. After learning this much and being in a situation where he had a tendency to forget himself and his values, he realised that he had the opportunity to rewire himself into a being that would have a high chance of survival in any situation.

That meant becoming a cultured and tempered Psychopath.

Someone who has the capabilities to destroy others, or recreate them in his own image. Someone who uses others however he wants, or allows himself to be used depending on the endgame. A master manipulator with the charm and enchantment to entrap anyone in his plots and schemes. A risk taker who always seeks to make a profit out of every situation. A master aggressor who knows when to attack and when to defend.

A Winner.

He used his Bible to change the way he thought about himself and reality and in turn manifested the Antisocial Personality Disorder within himself.

Midas theorised that there is nothing wrong with psychopaths. It's just that they have a tendency to break rules without guilt or remorse, and that ends up landing them in Jail. The way society was built to only accommodate principles of togetherness and unity made psychopaths into pariahs and rejects due to their egoism and selfishness.

That was all. Nothing more than a frame of reference of a sheep in a herd of sheep when compared to a lone wolf in a herd of sheep. Sheep can only blame themselves for being weak and tasty.

From now on, Midas would be the most selfish version of himself. The most human version, according to his own doctrine. Midas smiled to himself at this thought and continued surveying his stats which had changed greatly from before.

'Well, as expected my physical stats didn't increase much. But every other Stat has changed significantly. And these skills… Are these the ones I got from my Gift? No way, why are they so high level? I understand Rank as being a skill's ability and power with reference to the level of an existence. But level… What even is level?'

"Hey Midas, what are you doing, my friend?" inquired Julio from the side. Midas had been staring off into space for a half a minute now. This new friend of his seemed a bit weird. But he liked him.

"I'm just checking my Skills, you should do the same Julio." said Midas with a turn of his head and a smile, to which Julio's thoughts fired and he said "Oh Yeah… Index!"

Midas turned his head away and stopped paying attention to Julio. He focused on one of the skills and inexplicably a panel popped up above the Index with a brief description.

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| Memory of the World (Lv. 1) |

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[Access the memory of of any Existence based on some conditions]

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"Whoa… Interesting.", said Midas. He thought of focusing on the "Lv." section and a new popup was shown.

|————————————

| Lv.: Level Signifier |

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[A quantised measure of proficiency and understanding in a skill]

[Level can only be gained by an existence themselves through their own actions. The Index merely rates the existence according to certain standards.]

[Skill levels have real meanings according to the level of the existence in the following format]

[Lv. 1 → Lv. 5 : Novice]

[Lv. 5 → Lv. 10 : Beginner Actor]

[Lv. 11 → Lv. 20 : Competent Actor]

[Lv. 21 → Lv. 35 : Expert Actor]

[Lv. 36 → Lv. 60 : Master]

[Lv. 61 → Lv. 100 : Grandmaster]

[Lv. 101 → Lv. 150 : Great Grandmaster

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"I see, so the Index does not give us points to level up like some game, we have to do so ourselves… Which means that my Skills' levels will only increase if I use and understand them more… I wonder what would happen if I continue doing so… Do they become more powerful? Can I derive my own Skills? I wonder—"

Before he could continue his musings he heard some commotion at the front right before the statue, which was now called the Shrine.

"Oh my god, it's the Third Gift! We found the Third Gift!"