Chapter 590 - The slot crisis

Sofia played around with the flames for about a minute, noticing that what it burned and what it didn’t was pretty inconsistent, until she started to feel a strange pull, as if the essence cores in her chest were being held back by something.

The flames started to weaken and sputter.

“Running out of energy?” Alith asked.

“I have no idea. Maybe the energy of the divine essences is depleted?” Sofia guessed, there was no clear explanation for what was going on.

“That fast? You didn’t even do much besides burning a bit of grass…”

“I know, I find it weird too but there’s no oth-” Sofia started, but stopped as the flames completely burned out. “Ah. It just turned off by itself,” she explained.

“Maybe auntie Sun wanted her power back?” Bookie guessed from the side, sitting in the grass and clumsily trying to weave his flowers together.

“Maybe? Let me see if I can activate it again…” Sofia said, before trying and failing to activate [Mockery of the Divine] once more. “Strange…”

“How does it feel, is it like trying to cast a spell with no mana?” Alith asked, but Sofia shook her head in denial.

“No, it’s… It does feel a bit like… A sore muscle? But it’s really very faint.”

[Calibration successful]

Oh?

[New resource tracker created, you may change its name]

New resource?

“System notifications?” Alith asked, seeing Sofia’s eyes moving left to right as she read invisible lines.

“Yes, it says I got a new resource that I can name myself, but no further precision… Let’s see… Oh yeah it’s right there under my mana, look.”

Health : 1 026 527 / 1 026 527

Stamina : 373 589 / 373 611

Mana : 5 365 182 / 5 365 182   

Divine penalty gauge: 100 / 100

“Ooooh! That does explain it, you were bringing power over from the gods’ plane so you get the penalty like the gods do,” Alith commented.

“I guess so? It should go back down to zero by itself then? Hopefully? This is worrying, though, since I wasn’t doing much at all and I only had the flames on for like, what, three minutes? That’s not a lot…”

“For a fight, that’s plenty,” Alith said, “but it’s not like it would be very useful in a fight so far.”

“I am relatively certain that it can do more, especially for Sun’s rune, it felt like this was really only pulling on one of the five essences, so I might be able to make it stronger. I’m guessing that using more divine power would accumulate the penalty faster, though…”

“Maybe there’s a way to increase how much penalty you can handle? I wonder if giving you your first bit of resistance to it isn’t what the potion did. Maybe you can make the gauge bigger with more potion?”

“Worth a try,” Sofia agreed, “but the ingredients are going to be a pain to find in larger quantities… Oh, it’s gone down to 99.”

“Already? It can’t have been more than a minute. At this rate you can try again in under two hours, that’s not so bad.”

“Yeah, that’s fine, I have quite a few runes to try so it’s good that it’s not going to take forever. I wonder though, if using a Recessed rune in the physical plane will result in a harsher penalty. It probably will, won’t it?”

“Seems likely,” Alith said with a shrug, “though I have to say, all the divine power stuff is confusing. Like, look at the divine items, they have no penalty, don’t they?”

“That would be because they are not people,” Dopple chimed in, “an object, such as I, is a lot more stable than a person, thus we suffer much less from dimensional strain.”

This put a stop to Sofia and Alith’s discussion, both of them stared at the piece of clothing on Alith's chest.

“You seem to know a lot about divine items, huh,” Alith told the mysterious chestpiece which has always adamantly refused to give any explanation about its origins.

“I’ve already said too much, my seams are sealed!” Dopple answered, before returning to his usual mutism.

“So… The divine penalty for gods coming over… It’s just dimensional strain? Like… What’s also known as planar drag? The thing that happens when we teleport? And that’s what makes Pareth unable to talk?” Sofia asked, though she did not expect an answer.

“Seems like it? That would be a surprisingly plain way of explaining why most gods aren’t able to come, I don’t know why but when I heard you explain the divine penalty thing I was imagining something more… Magical?” Alith commented.

“Same, but I guess it’s not? Down to 98, by the way. Should I rename the resource to planar drag?”

“I’d think of a better sounding name if I were you.”

“Hmm… The name is just a name, it doesn’t have to be correct, I guess I could call it divine power or something… Actually, first, Mr.Scribe, is it possible to invert it? Just make 100 be 0 and 0 be 100 so that it works like the other resources and depletes as I use it instead of being a counter like now?”

Mr.Scribe instantly executed her demand, and the line changed from 98/100 to 2/100.

Better. “And I guess… Just call it Divinity.”

“Good name,” Alith approved with a thumbs up.

Divinity: 1 / 100

“Yes, much better…” Sofia said with a sigh, “but yet another line on my status sheet… This is getting ridiculous. And I still have three skills waiting to be made from my level ups. And I literally only have three remaining slots!”

“Just fuse some skills,” Alith suggested with a shrug, “or delete some old ones. Like, really, you don’t have to keep mine.”

“And let you die if something happens? Sorry but no. Maybe if you get a resurrection skill of your own, I’ll think about it.”

“Tssk. You know, I’ve only ever died once in this world, and that was because I played with fire asking for something I shouldn’t have. I have a much much muuuch better track record than you with staying alive. And I'm undead! You don’t have to worry so much about me.”

Sofia frowned, “Maybe I don’t have to but I do! Actually… Here!” she said, shoving a small orb in Alith’s face.

“Huh? Isn’t that your reward from the academy?”

“Damn right it is!” Sofia answered, pulling up the description, “Take it and copy [False immortality]. Then I can delete your skill with some peace of mind.” 

[Skill Capture™ - 042] : Skill capture module limited edition, n°42 out of 100. 

Activate to record the magic spells currently being used near you. You may choose one to learn as a permanent special skill. 

For non-system magic: results may vary.

One time use item.

Limited to one capture per person.

It was Alith’s turn to frown, taking a step back, “Are you crazy? It’s your reward, not mine. I’m not taking it from you.”

“What use is it for me? To copy a skill that I won’t have a free slot for? I would have given it to Saria if she didn’t have a resurrection skill already, but she does. You’re the next best target!”

“I’m flattered I place so high on your list of people who shouldn’t die but come on, I can’t take it,” Alith refused, pushing back Sofia’s hands, “Besides, think about it, your unlife runes are terrible for me. I rely on my stamina regeneration to even stay alive with my specialisation. This would only cripple my ability to fight,” she argued.

“Then copy Saria or Cinthia’s resurrection skills.”

“Cinthia has one?” Alith asked, “I don’t know. I could see Saria’s skill working, but doesn’t it also require having the dragon’s den one that she has? That would be two skills.”

“It doesn’t, you can keep the gold on you in a storage ring or near where you slept the most in the last six months, and that also works. And you can make plenty of gold with your candies, so it would be a good fit,” Sofia argumented.

“Hmm… Are you really sure you want to do that? Just imagine the kinds of spells you might be able to get for yourself. I would feel guilty taking it from you…”

“Really? I’ve not even repaid you for all the stat candies you have been making. I would say I’m indebted to you more than the other way around.”

“I… I need to think about it. But again, you could just delete my skill and be done, I really don’t mind…”

“I thought I had made myself clear. Either you take Saria’s [Respawn], or I keep the skill.”

“Do you really value the skill slots that much?”

“Altih, I absolutely need the four skills of my sub-class, non–negotiable, and I don’t even have that many free slots total right now, and I cannot get any more…”

Alith stared at the orb, her chest tightening. This was Sofia’s reward, something priceless. How could she take it, knowing it might mean giving up a once-in-a-lifetime chance? After a long hesitation, she sighed, and finally grabbed the orb Sofia had been showing in her face the entire conversation. “Fine. I would be dumb to keep refusing. I’ll take it, but I will need to make it up to you somehow.”

“Finally! One more free slot. And well, speaking of making it up, I know just the thing… What do you say about going on a small adventure together? I might need some help, and it’s going to be extremely dangerous.”

“I don’t even have the skill yet and you’re already making plans for us to die together?” Alith asked with a smirk. “You’ll need to find someone else to take care of Remia while I’m gone from Zangdar, but I’m in.”

/////

Author note:

Hey!

Bet you didn't see that ship coming x)

So, three announcements!

1- I'm going out of town tomorrow to fetch my eye meds, so chapter could be late

2- The book 3 Audiobook has been submitted to Audible and should be out in at most 1-3 weeks for those interested

3- I did finally decide to take two weeks off (slightly more, even) for christmas and the new year because I truly am super tired, so you get two more chapters this week and after that I'll be back on January first (which is a Wednesday)

Happy commenting :D