Chapter 7 - Attributes

The day was dawning, and under the same tree was Edgar, who looked up at the sky's clouds seeming distracted, but soon he said. 

"I see, so that's what happened. It's really strange for you to have stopped so far away; after all, if we consider the period when the breach occurred, you crossed almost three territories in less than two hours." Edgar spotted something among the clouds and waved his hand to draw attention to it and continued, "And you said that before everything went dark, you were hit, right? Do you think the burn my father mentioned was the only damage the blow caused?" 

"No, I saw my arm simply disappear in that strike." Sief emerged from under the tree's shade, seeing something with enormous wings approaching. "And the burn vanished completely; it's just strange." 

Edgar saw Sief emerge from the shade of the tree in the same clothes as before, but he was wearing iron bracers that protected his hands and forearms and greaves that looked brand new. Seeing that, Edgar smiled and said, 

"Strange, that's a word that defines you, Sifritt." He gave a slight smile, and Sief furrowed his brow, saying, "What kind of name is that?" 

But before Edgar could respond, something landed on his outstretched arm, and its wings brushed away the grass around, surprising Sief who looked at a bird resembling a brown owl, but with wings much larger than its body and three wide yellow eyes, along with a small pouch on its belly. 

Sief continued to stare at the bird, but Edgar took out two coins from his pockets, one copper and the other gold, and with a long sigh, he deposited them into the bird's pouch, which chirred, gently opening its wings. 

From there, he retrieved a small scroll and a blank sheet of paper, and as he removed them, the bird bowed, spreading its wings to provide shade for the two boys, and with a single flap of its wings, the bird soared upward, returning to the open skies, leaving Sief wide-eyed while Edgar smiled, saying, 

"Never seen the Kujura? It's the bird responsible for spreading rumors everywhere." He put away the sheet and untied the scroll's ribbon. "She passes by every day." 

"It's not like I carry a copper or gold coin in my pocket; is that what the so-called rumor is? I thought it was something more akin to a conversation..." Sief commented, crossing his arms. "What are they saying?" 

"If the rumor were that, we wouldn't have information from distant cities." As the ribbon was untied, the scroll turned into a set of sheets positioned, which he glanced over quickly and said, "No news yet from Dokkel and Filian, but they've already begun movements for the other cities and villages; they have a general idea of what happened." from Dokkel and Filian, but they've already begun movements for the other cities and villages; they have a general idea of what happened." 

"From what you told me, it was that wave in the sky that caused the breach across the map. If those breaches were like the ones yesterday, the cities with strong adventurers should have responded by now, right?" He looked up and said, "Why don't they use that little bird to get an answer?" 

"It belongs to the Story Teller; he's a guild mage and not directly affiliated with any specific capital. All that miser does is for money, so you can't rely on him like that." Edgar sighed and folded the sheets back into a sealed scroll. "But not all the waves were like the ones here; I told you this is a green zone; we were lucky, actually, to have waves of weak monsters." 

"Weak? Green zone?" Sief furrowed his brow slightly but then placed his hands on his hips. "So all those guys were weak... the goblins I can believe, but that alpha was weak?" 

Edgar shrugged and said, 

"Weak is one way to put it; in fact, yes, he was. There are levels of strength among monsters classified in the number of adventurers required to face them." He took out the white sheet from before and said, "There are clear anomalies like beast killers, but there are also ranks in the guild and other ways of classifying, but what defines the monster levels the most are the zones they inhabit; you can see it on the map if you want." 

Sief still looked confused, but then he took out the map from a leather backpack on his back and opened it, seeing the regions Edgar pointed out. 

"There are several shades, of course. The variations range from light green to dark red; here near Dokkel is a green one where there are still alphas, but regions far from the capitals and in points rich in mana range from yellow to the most dangerous in red." Then he stepped back and crossed his arms again, saying, "Breaches occur only with monsters from nearby territories, so depending on the position of the village or city..." 

"The residents were attacked by absurdly strong monsters..." Sief furrowed his brow, looking at the map, and finally said, "So cities close to these zones..." 

"Probably were destroyed; less than a day after the attack, the scouts wandering the territories already found some destroyed cities and villages and some that managed to survive, but at this moment, there are still those under attack." Edgar turned his eyes to the door of his house and saw Tom approaching. "It's good and bad news in a way; if Dokkel hasn't responded, if it's still standing, it might be under attack. I was going to ask if you're still coming with me, but you're already equipped, apparently, so I don't need to ask." 

Sief nodded solemnly, and Tom arrived carrying a backpack with him. 

"Well, I know you've decided to leave, so I wanted to give you something special before you go." Tom smiled and then turned his eyes to Edgar, who sighed awkwardly and said, "Go ahead." 

Seeing that behavior made Sief look at them with doubt, but the elder reached into his leather bag and pulled out a well-polished and clean dagger, which he handed to the young man. 

"This was Ed's when he started hunting; he's the only one still in the village who uses weapons, so I had to look for it in the hope it still existed, and I had a pleasant surprise." Tom looked with a slight smile and said, rubbing his eyes, "I had to spend the whole night polishing, but it was worth it..." 

Once again, Tom offered it with a smile, and Sief held it, questioning, 

"Isn't this going to be missed? If another breach happens..." 

"If it happens, we'll be ready." Tom smiled and pointed his face towards the rest of the village. Sief turned his eyes to the place and saw wooden barricades being built by all the residents, protecting the points that were not the roads, making Sief squint, until Tom laughed, saying, "It doesn't look very safe, but it's something... after all this chaos passes, it will be useless for me. Depending on how long your journey is, you will need it much more than I do." 

Tom let go of the weapon from Sief's hands, who still stared at the weapon looking apprehensive, but Tom touched Edgar's shoulder and said, 

"Are you leaving now?" 

"Not yet, I need to confirm something." Edgar said with a smile as he waved the blank sheet in front of him, catching Sief's attention. "We can leave, but the old man asked me to make sure he gets there, so I need a few more things." 

The swordsman walked up to Sief and closed his eyes with an excited smile. 

"Show me that paunch, let's see your attributes." 

Tom smiled and Sief furrowed his brow, lifting his shirt as he questioned, 

"Paunch?" 

"You complain, but you still do it, don't you? Why are you so grumpy?" Edgar brought the paper close to Sief's abdomen, and as if attracted, the paper left the swordsman's hand and stuck to the young man's abdomen, who looked confused. "Alright, this will take a little while." 

"For me, it already feels like an eternity, what the heck is this?" 

Sief looked, still maintaining a grumpy expression, but soon Edgar sat down, seeing black ink slowly appearing in various points on the paper and slowly forming writing. 

"Well, I can teach you how to use mana, but seeing your physical attributes will give you an idea of your strengths and abilities based on that." He shrugged and said. "But don't expect too much from me, what I learned was on my own, and I never had a team with me, so if you're not a swordsman, I doubt I can contribute with ideas." 

"But is it so easy to see attributes?" Sief looked at his abdomen and already saw letters forming. "And is using mana so easy?" 

"It's not that easy; only that stingy wizard can sell it, and it's a gold coin. It's damn expensive." He furrowed his brow slightly, but then smiled again seeing the numbers forming. "And as for mana, everyone knows what mana awakening is, but it doesn't mean they know exactly how to use it. That's why there's a limit to which common adventurers can reach without using mana to enhance their attacks or their bodies." 

"I knew there were wizards, but I didn't know it was so common for warriors to depend on something other than their bodies... even though..." Sief commented and furrowed his brow, remembering Ylda's scream that somehow had made the spells stronger. "That..." 

"You're not far from reality." Edgar commented, interrupting Sief's wandering and saying. "Wizards have much more mana than warriors, so there's no reason for me to waste my mana with fireballs. What differentiates something useless from something useful is who uses it. For example, my ability consists of enhancing my physique and my weapons; it wouldn't be useful for a wizard who conjures fireballs." 

"So based on these attributes, should I create an ability for myself that suits my fighting style?" He raised his eyebrows and said. "It sounds pretty simple." 

As he commented, the sheet fell to the ground, and Edgar picked it up, turning it to his face and giving a slight smile as he said, 

"In theory, it always is, Sifritt. But practice is a little more complicated." He chuckled amused and turned the sheet, saying. "As I thought, you're one of those guys..." 

Sief looked confused, but as he turned his eyes to the sheet, he saw numbers and letters written with black ink which he read. 

Name: Sief 

Health: 50/50+ 

Energy: 17/17+ 

Strength: 7 

Speed: 11 

Mind: 8 

Dexterity: 10 

Constitution: 6 

Abilities: ..... (Lv. ???)