TJ fell back into his body, the sensation distinctly different from the state he'd been in while in the Divine Tribulation and Enlightenment. He tried to fight down the overwhelming fury that'd consumed him, but the emotions refused to calm. Instead, TJ ground his teeth, the creaking serving to better anger him.
He thumped to the ground and growled unthinkingly. The System had said that he'd finished that Tribulation, but he wasn't going to trust anything it showed him right now. TJ rose to his feet and opened his eyes, ready for whatever it was that was attacking. He stood in the dark, the moon directly overhead. All around him, the wind whispered about the Tutorial. There were people out and about right now, but there wasn't any panic. Time had passed, but how much? TJ only thought that it'd been maybe two hours, so it shouldn't even have been noon yet. Instead, though, it was the middle of the night.
"Welcome back, kid." A voice nearly startled him, but the winds had warned him of some movement. TJ whirled and there stood Stanton, his hands held up in a non threatening gesture. "If you want to talk, you can, but it looks like that Tribulation or whatever was real hard on you."
With a force of effort, TJ stopped his heaving breaths and shoulders. He wanted to say something about how he was ok, but he wasn't. That vision or whatever was gone, it wasn't real. But the sight of his son being forgotten and abused changed him. That might have only been a dream or something like that, but he'd been too soft. Never again would TJ hesitate. Nothing would threaten Junior, and by extent, TJ wouldn't leave any threats alive to challenge him. Maybe he could start with Jeff, but he quickly realized that the traitorous Zealot didn't pose a threat. No, the monsters.
"How long has it been?" TJ asked, only then realizing just how dry his throat was. The words stuck in his throat, and TJ tried to swallow. Even then, his mouth felt like it'd been days without liquid.
"Maybe 18 hours." Stanton answered as he stepped forward. He held a canteen in his hands and offered it. TJ took it gratefully and drank deeply with a sigh of relief, not just for the water either. He still had plenty of time. There were so many monsters left for him to slaughter, and he refused to allow a single one of them to threaten his or his child's future.
"Mmmm." TJ mumbled as he finished drinking and tossed the canteen back to the older man. "Thanks."
"Sure. You ok?"
TJ took a page out of Stanton's book and merely grunted back. In response, the old cowboy raised an eyebrow.
"You'll probably want to check out your Status. You started bleeding back around dinnertime."
The words sent a shiver down TJ's spine. Memories of what the source of his suffering must have been made him shiver. "Yeah. That sucked."
Stanton stood waiting, ready for TJ to pull up his Status. Before he did so, though, he received several other notifications first.
You have overcome a Dirt (0) tiered Divine Tribulation. Class Experience acquired. Moderate Divine Trial success recorded. Copper (I) tiered evolutionary requirements complete: 1/3
You have gained a Copper (I) tiered Divine Authority. Domain: Storms. Copper (I) tiered evolutionary requirements complete: 2/3
Skill: Meditation acquired.
Skill: Divine Manifestation acquired.
Class: Neophyte has advanced to level 15.
Attribute points allocated: Strength +1, Endurance +3, Vitality +3, Toughness +2, Wisdom +1, Intelligence +1, Perception +1, Willpower +2, Fixation +2, Free Points +1. Skill Selection available.
Race: Human has advanced to level 16.
Attribute points allocated: Strength +1, Agility +1, Endurance +1, Vitality +2, Toughness +1, Wisdom +1, Intelligence +1, Perception +1, Willpower +1, Fixation +2. Additional Free Point currently available.
Status Sheet
Name: TJ (Thiago Jorge) Harris IV
Race: Human – lvl 16
Class: Neophyte lvl 15
Occupation: Savage lvl 17
Level of Divinity: Dirt (0)
Divine Bloodline: Kukulkan
Health Points (HP): 1030/1030
Mana Points (MP): 730/730
Stamina: 1020/1020
Attributes
Strength: 58
Agility: 42
Endurance: 102
Vitality: 103
Toughness: 79
Wisdom: 55
Intelligence: 73
Perception: 70
Willpower: 88
Fixation: 86
Free Points: 1
Skill List: Hidden
Titles: Irregular
Elite Hunter
Current total maximum Divine Transformation time: 1:34:45
(End+Vit+Will+Fix)/4 Current cooldown: 0:00
Status Sheet
Name: TJ (Thiago Jorge) Harris IV
Race: Coatl – lvl 16
Class: Neophyte lvl 15
Occupation: Savage lvl 17
Level of Divinity: Dirt (0)
Divine Bloodline: Kukulkan
Health Points (HP): 2060/2060
Mana Points (MP): 730/730
Stamina: 2040/2040
Attributes
Strength x2: 116
Agility x1.5: 63
Endurance x2: 204
Vitality x2: 206
Toughness x2: 158
Wisdom: 55
Intelligence: 73
Perception x1.5: 105
Willpower: 88
Fixation: 86
Free Points: 1
Skill List: Hidden
Titles: Irregular
Elite Hunter
Divine Trial Records:
2 Minor, 1 Moderate, 0 Bitter, 0 Celestial
That was so much to unpack, but TJ decided to take it one piece at a time. He wasn't ready to look at Skills to choose, and figured he'd work his way towards that, though he figured the Skills were the easiest to address.
Skill: Meditation (Copper (I)); You have communed with the heavens and lost yourself in self reflection. You can meditate, sacrificing mobility and external awareness for an increased level of self-reflection and recovery. When active, this Skill grants a 150% increase to the recovery of all resources and a 100% increase in the ability to undergo enlightenment. Note: some Afflictions can weaken or even disable the usage of this Skill.
Initially, TJ was a little underwhelmed, but quickly realized that what this Skill did wasn't to multiply his recovery rate by 1.5, but to add additional recovery. Thus, it changed the time necessary to recover MP or HP to four hours instead of ten. In the siege, this Skill would be invaluable, and he needed to try to get everyone to gain the Skill, especially the Disciples. The idea of so many people having to undergo the Tribulation that'd followed his own Enlightenment, though, sounded miserable. Pushing that aside, he moved on to the more exciting sounding Skill.
Skill: Divine Manifestation (Copper (I)); You have shown yourself capable of harnessing a part of your Divine Authority to empower your Skills. You have ascended beyond the limitations of the Dirt (0) tier of Divinity, and can draw on your own Divinity to strengthen any one of your Skills. The utilization of this Skill will be greatly heightened and the cost will be halved by the natural presence of any one of your Divine Authorities. The usage of this Skill consumes MP and Stamina at a rate of 5 per second. The usage of this Skill consumes HP at a rate of 1 per second. This Skill scales in power and efficiency with your Fixation. This Skill's tier of Divinity is dependent upon the highest tier of Divinity your Divine Authorities have reached. Current Divine Authorities: Storm (Copper (I)).
Though the description was overly vague in what exactly it did, TJ had seen the potential of the Skill. Siphoning power from that massive but tame storm had allowed him to completely annihilate a pack of creatures that he suspected were at least as strong as a mountain lion over level 10. The risks associated with this Skill were far from dismissable, though. Without a storm to take the brunt of the cost, it would cost 300 MP and Stamina per minute, and with his MP max of 730, he could only use the Skill for a bit over two minutes. That wasn't counting the cost of whatever Skill he was using in conjunction with Divine Manifestation, so it effectively meant he was a one-minute warrior while depending on Divine Manifestation. That one minute would be immensely impactful and destructive, but he wouldn't be able to reliably use it in this upcoming siege, unless he wanted to be magically out of the fight immediately thereafter.
Even so, TJ was merely evaluating the cons of the Skill. Altogether, it was glorious, and if he could learn how to summon a storm without consuming all his MP, then it'd be insane. Also, as he gained more and more levels, that price would be something he was more and more able to pay, since just 11 days into the Integration, he'd gained 48 levels total. Eventually, the time would come that his regeneration would be greater than 5 MP per second. It'd take an Intelligence of…1800? Yeah, maybe it was quite as in reach as he'd thought. But even so, the price to pay would continue to close in on his natural regeneration, as he could continue to push numbers wherever necessary with his Free Points.
Pleased with the two Skill's he'd gained, TJ remembered something that the System had said that seemed contradictory to what he'd been told before.
"You said that Skills gained without getting them through leveling up were going to be a lower tier, but both of these Skills I got are Copper tiered. What's the deal?"
Correction: Everything that the System has stated to you with regards to Skill acquisition and potency has been completely truthful. Find below every statement made by the System with regards to Skill acquisition and potency:
As a Neophyte, your Divine Transformation Skill will always remain at a higher tier of Divinity than your own. The other Classes eventually gain this Skill, but cannot progress beyond their current tier of Divinity until they reach the higher tiers.
No. Any Participant can gain greater proficiency and skill in any given field throughout the Integration, but that will not translate to Skill acquisition. Different Skills may be presented as an option, depending on the Participant's gained proficiency, but a Skill holder will progress more quickly and to greater heights than one without the Skill can.
Any Class or Occupation ability acquired through practice will be impossible to have ever reach your own tier of Divinity. The only exception to the impossibility of said Skill progression can take place at the time of seizing True Divinity at the Ruthenium (VII) Tier. If you dedicate the primary domain of your initial godhood to the domain of the skies, the Wind Manipulation ability you have acquired through personal practice will be able to reach the same tier as your Divinity. If you instead have the Skill Wind Manipulation and progress to the Ruthenium (VII) tier while devoting your primary domain to be the skies, your Skill will evolve to be one tier above your own. If you have a stipulation within the Skill that allows it to surpass your current tier, that stipulation will remain valid, thus, in your case, at the Ruthenium (VII) tier, your Wind Manipulation Skill would be at the Iridium (VIII) tier while under the influence of your Divine Transformation Skill, your Wind Manipulation Skill would reach the Osmium (IX) tier.
For the first, TJ was just reminded that other Classes would be able to gain Divine Transformation but his would remain a higher tier than theirs. That reminded him that he might get the opportunity to gain Divine Armaments or Sacred Weapon, which might be nice, considering they shouldn't impede his bonuses from Primal Savagery.
On the second, he was read again and again to ensure he understood. He was able to gain Skills just as he had now, and then, when he gained Skill selections later, he'd be able to take Skills that were upgrades to what he'd gained. If a Skill came from experimentation and self discovery, then it wouldn't be able to grow as high as a Skill selected with a Skill selection.
Then, the third was where he called bullshit.
"You said that any ability I get through practice could never even reach my own tier of Divinity, much less surpass it! Both of these Skills I got are higher tier than I am. I'm not complaining, but what the hell?"
You are mistaken. Meditation is a Universal Skill, not a Class or Occupation ability, and is thus not limited to any tier of Divinity, regardless of your own. Divine Manifestation is, in itself, an untiered Skill. The tier is entirely reliant upon the Divinity of whatever the highest tier of your Divine Authorities have reached is.
"That's… semantics." TJ trailed off from arguing with the System that was giving him additional benefits. His desire for total clarity and intelligibility from the System was far outweighed by his hope to continue gaining things from the System, regardless of anything else. As such, he wasn't going to continue to complain about it. Now, before he got into the Class Skill selection options, there were the other two notifications. That the Tribulation was merely a Moderate Divine Trial was insanity. Maybe the fact that he'd gotten a second chance was reason enough to disqualify it for one of the higher tiers, but TJ knew for sure that he didn't want to find a Severe or Celestial Trial any time soon.
Before the evolutionary requirements, what was Divine Authority?
Divine Authority is a representation of any concepts, domains, or aspects that a Participant has claimed at least partial dominion over. With your Enlightenment, Tribulation, Skill, and Bloodline, you have claimed the Copper (I) tier of Divine Authority over the concept of Storm. Having gained the Divine Authority, any Skill or ability that is in any way linked to the concept of Storm will be empowered by 50% with no additional cost while within the influence of a Storm. While within the influence of a Storm, all of your resource regeneration is doubled and you gain a 10% bonus to all your attributes.
About what TJ had expected, though, after checking to be sure, the bonus to Wind Manipulation was a welcome surprise. "And I've passed two of the three requirements for evolving to Copper tier, what's the third?"
There are hundreds of potential requirements for a Participant to evolve to the Copper (I) tier of Divinity. In order for any Participant to evolve to the Copper (I) tier of Divinity, they must complete three of the requirements. The two that you have completed are: 1. Complete 1 Dirt (0) Bitter Divine Trial's worth of Divine Trials. Progress: 2 Minor Divine Trials, 1 Moderate Divine Trial. 2. Gain any Divine Authority.
"What other options are there within reach for me?" TJ asked without much hope. He got the same answer he expected:
The System will not provide you with that information at this time.
TJ sighed. Though he'd shrugged off the worst of the consuming rage that'd grown as a result of his vision of the "consequences of failure", he still was far from calm or close to his old self. The simmering emotional turmoil remained, and TJ turned his attention to his Skill selections.