"Keep in mind, it’s a good idea to allocate points to the other elemental affinities as well, not just fire," Halgon said. "You prioritize fire, but fog solely on one element might cause problems in the long run."

  "What do you mean?" Finn asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "It’s useful to have the power of other elements in your arsenal," Halgon expined. "For instance, when fag a corrupted being that’s weak to a certai, having profi that element give you a signifit advantage. Additionally, some skills require points from multiple elements to unlock. And as a mage, you’ll likely want to bine fire with other elements to create strotacks."

  "So there’s a weakness-based system too? And elemental binations?" Finn’s eyes lit up. "That sounds pretty cool."

  But it's not really that appealing to me.

  He opened his status s again and g his affihe 15 points in fire immediately caught his attention, though he also he 5 points in stone, water, and wind.

  "Fifteen points in fire, huh. Is that because I’ve used it multiple times before?" Finn asked.

  "Exactly," Halgon replied with a nod. "But more importantly, you’re what we call a natural. You summon fire out of thin air, right? Naturals always have higher affinities in the element they summon."

  Finn frowned slightly. "Then why do I have points iher elements too? I don’t recall ever being able to trol them before. I mean, I defiried when I first discovered I could use fire."

  "Everyone has some affinity in every element when they first receive the system," Halgon expined. "All creatures are ected to the elements in some way. They’re not locked to just o’s just that most are naturally more profit in one element over the others. Some rare individuals even excel in multiple elements."

  "How much affinity do most people start with?" Finn asked.

  "Usually, a challenger begins with at least 30 points in their weaker elements and 50 or more in their stro affinity," Halgon said, studying Finn’s status. "Your starting points are much lower than average."

  "Is it because I haven’t used anything besides fire before? Or maybe because I’ve been oh all this time?" Fined.

  "That’s probably it," Halgon agreed. "Being cut off from elemental energy oh would have stunted yrowth. Holy, I’m surprised you retained your fire abilities after 21 years. Most humans lose them much earlier."

  Before Finn could respond, Halgon suddenly raised his hand, looking upward as if fog on something Finn couldn’t see. He remained silent for a few moments, his expression serious, before speaking again.

  "You’re in luck, Finn," Halgon said, a small smile f on his lips.

  "Why’s that?" Finn asked.

  "The Gods," Halgon began, his voice tinged with awe. "They’ve decided to help you. They’ll increase your elemental affinities."

  "Seriously?" Finn’s eyes widened in disbelief. "That’s amazing! But… why would they do that?"

  "They pity you," Halgon said bluntly. "And holy, I do too. Being summoned here with almost no preparation, starting from scratch… it’s a massive disadvantage. You wouldn’t survive a single day iower at this rate."

  Finn chuckled dryly. "I guess I should be gd I’m still alive after everything. I mean, I almost buro death in that house ba Earth."

  "Still," he tinued, "it’s not all bad. Having the system is already a huge adva might actually help me survive. And the ce to rule a p… even if I don’t particurly desire it, that’s got to be an incredible privilege."

  Halgon smiled warmly. "You’ve got the right mi, Finn. That attitude will help you go far. Maybe even farther than you think."

  With a snap of his fingers, Halgered a sudden glow around Finn’s body. The light enveloped him for a brief sed before fading, leaving Finn feeling a subtle surge of energy.

  He opened his status s again, and sure enough, the ges were there:

  Elemental Affinities:

  Stone - 30

  Water - 30

  Fire - 55

  Wind - 30

  "They really did increase," Finn said, staring at his updated stats in amazement.

  "You have tact with them, right? you thank them for me? This is definitely something," he added, gng at Halgon.

  "That I will do," Halgon replied with a nod.

  Finn turned his attention to his attributes , noting that eae was equally at 5 points. Curious about their funs, he mentally selected the first stat, stitution, and a small description appeared:

  stitution - Refers to how much damage one take before dying. Also tributes to the speed and effectiveness of one's regeion rate.

  This looks like something someoh a taed css would focus on… but not for me.

  He moved to the one.

  Strength - Refers to how much raw strength one is capable of.

  Short, but uandable. Again, not for me.

  The third stat, Perception, piqued his i more:

  Perception - Refers to one's awareness of their surroundings and improving their senses.

  This sounds like something assassin or archer csses could use… but I wonder if it could improve my trol of the elements too? Might be worth taking note of.

  "Is the stat Perception a good stat to focus on as a Mage?" Finn asked, looking to Halgon for insight.

  "Not as important as Wisdom, but it’s still quite useful," Halgon replied. "It could improve your accuracy if you want to fight at le. It could also help with overall trol. For example, if you want to focus on fire, Perception could help since fire is just as flexible as water, and arguably more versatile thaher elements."

  "Then it’s definitely a sedary stat I could focus on," Finn noted, filing the information away.

  Finally, he clicked the st stat, Wisdom, a a small thrill as its description popped up:

  Wisdom: Refers to how much mana one is capable of.

  Now this is defihe one I’ll put my primary focus on. Halgon said mana is the most important thing for using the elements, right? Choosing the Mage css really was the right call.

  Looking below his stats, he noticed a se beled Free Points and saw he had 10 avaible.

  "Where did these free points e from?" Finn asked.

  "Those are provided whehe system is grao someone," Halgon expined. "You add them to whichever stat you like."

  Finn sidered this carefully before allog 7 points to Wisdom and 3 points to Perception, reasoning that mana was his priority but trol could still prove useful.

  Attributes:

  stitution - 5

  Strength - 5

  Perception - 8

  Wisdom - 12

  Free Points - 0

  "Sorry for asking, but I’m terrible at math," Finn said sheepishly. "How many free points do I get each time I level up?"

  "You’ll receive 2 free attribute points, 2 free elemental affinity points, and an additional 2 points to Wisdom because you picked the Mage css," Halgon expined. "That’s a total of 6 per level. And if you stick with the Fire Mage subcss after level 25, you’ll gain an additional 2 points to Fire every time you level up."

  "That’s good to know," Finn said, nodding.

  "Anyway," Halgon added, "you’ll get the hang of it soon enough. Just focus oo allocate those points based on your priorities."

  Finn’s eyes drifted down to the se of his stats: Skills. He eagerly clicked it, only to be disappointed when the s revealed ay list.

  "How do I get skills?" he asked, frowning.

  "Look at the tht er of your s," Halgon instructed. "You’ll see a small regle beled Shop. That’s where you’ll find skills."

  "And if you check the bottom of your interface, you’ll see your Valor Points listed there. That’s the currency you use in the Shop. You earn more by killing corrupted elementals iower. The strohe enemy, the more Valor Points they give."

  Finn’s gaze shifted to where Halgon directed, spotting the box beled Shop. Below it, another box beled Iory caught his eye, but he decided to focus on the Shop for now.

  Excitedly, he mentally clicked on it, and a new interface appeared, dispying rows and ns of items. At the top were categories to filter items by type, and on the right, a search bar.

  Good job, devs—or should I say, demigods?

  Without hesitatioyped in the name of the skill he wanted most: Fireball. A cssic choice, the old reliable.

  Finn leaned back slightly, thinking back to the first time he heard the word skills during Halgon's presentation. At first, he thought it seemed redundant—after all, he could summon fire out of thin air on his own. But now, he saw the appeal. Having a quantifiable, stable skill like Fireball could prove invaluable, especially given the current limits of his pyrokinesis.

  He didn’t have much trol yet. He had no idea how strong his fire was, how much he could summon, or the degree of precision he could achieve. A skill like Fireball, with its built-in sistend precision, would eliminate much of the guesswork and serve as a reliable tool for bat.

  He began typing "Fire" into the search bar in his mind, but before he could finish the word, results had already started poputih it.

  Several reizable skills appeared: Fire Pilr, Fire Ssh, Fire Bst, and a host of other options with "Fire" in the name.

  So they've implemented autoplete in the search bar too? How ve. That Earth guy really knows his stuff if he had a hand in this.

  He ighe other options, his attention drawn to the first item that appeared: Fireball. Beside it was a small i showing an image of a fming sphere, which brought a smile to his face.

  When he mentally clicked on it, more details popped up:

  Fireball

  Description: Summons a ball of fire that be infused with mana. Iy and size increase with additional mana, limited by its current level. Speed and trol depend on the user's Perception.

  Mana Cost: 10

  Mana Cost per sed: 1

  Cost to buy: 20 VP

  Manacost per sed? So it es 10 mana to summon initially, and then 1 mana for every sed it's maintained? Makes sehat means I’ll have to be quick about how I use it.

  He g the price—just 20 Valor Points—and was surprised at how cheap it was. Then again, it was a basic skill, likely grouped with others like Waterball, Wind Ssh, and Stone Bullet. It made sense finners.

  Without hesitation, he purchased it. He theuro the main stats s and saw it immediately added to his skills:

  [Fireball] Level 1