Chapter 212 Affinities

Chapter 212 Affinities

Thor was laughing in Karl's mind that they thought just any human cleric would be compatible with his skill. Blue Dragons had lightning breath, of course their High Priestess would be compatible with Refreshing Lightning. Nature Priests might as well, since they were more attuned to animals than humans. But the average, run-of-the-mill cleric, guard or any other class? Highly unlikely.

Maybe a Druid might be able to use it, but Thor didn't know any Druids, he had only heard of them and seen a few.

"You seem to know something that the rest of us don't." The High Priestess informed Karl with a serious look.

"Blue Dragons have lightning breath." Karl replied simply.

The High Priestess facepalmed, and then sighed. "Of course they do. So, it's not a matter of just the class category, you have to have an affinity for Lightning. Alright, I will have to make copies later, and then teach them to some other Blue Dragon Clerics.

We don't usually go out and get in fights, but not all knowledge is conveniently indoors and in books. Plus, when you're teaching the more rambunctious students, the skill might come in useful."

Karl wondered what sort of classes she had been teaching that might require defensive magic on the part of the teachers. Certainly, no class that he had been in, but maybe they were instructing new clerics who hadn't mastered their abilities yet.

The younger cleric that they had called in flipped to the first page of the book again. "Why is this book credited to Thor the Lightning Cerro?"

Thor cheered in Karl's mind, making him smile at the room full of clergy.

"That's the beast that I learned the skill from. Naturally, the book would credit him and not me. It's his skill."

"Are there any other skills that you might be able to teach?" The High Priestess asked.

The passive physical enhancements weren't anything he could focus on, nor was Offensive Optimization, which left just two.

"At the moment, just Shred and Rend." Karl replied.

But then he realized that there was one other skill. The beast space skill. He focused on it for a moment and on the skill, before receiving a message.

[Skill Locked. Insufficient Skill Level.]

But as he examined the spaces, Karl realized that they were almost at their maximum, and the efficiency of forcing more energy into them was slowing. They were ready for a qualitative change, but he wasn't quite certain what needed to happen.

First, it was to create an environment, then to make it more realistic. Something needed to change to allow more growth, but Karl wasn't certain what he had missed.

If that was the ability he had gotten from the System Stones, he would have been overjoyed. Skill Books just seemed like a recipe for having other people make him work. Even if only a few people could use them, it would still be a good chunk of his time at one a day.

Then Brother Choi turned to the High Priestess, who nodded at Karl.

"This one needs mental ability training. Something about the nature of mental spaces or the void or something. You're a Monk, you should know some things about that." She explained.

Brother Choi looked over Karl's toned physique, still lithe and muscular without being too bulky for martial arts, with approval and nodded.

"I suppose I could teach him a thing or two about a Monk's mental discipline. How might it help him, though? Impulse control issues or pure curiosity?"

Karl shook his head. "I have three beasts bonded to me for my primary Class Skill. They live in a mental space that helps feed their growth, but I'm reaching a plateau in the development of the space. I don't know how to change and improve it next, and if I can't, it will limit their growth."

Brother Choi smiled. "So it is a matter similar to the Void of the Monk Classes. Alright, we can work on that. Just let me set up the training dates after you finish with whatever you're doing, and we will be all good."

The High Priestess shook her head. "No, you will start now and continue until he breaks through. It has been ordained by our superiors. They wish to see the youngest Commander in history."

Karl raised his hand. "I would like to point out that I just made it to Ascended Rank."

The Priestess shrugged. "Not my concern. They want what they want, and Brother Choi is going to help you with your mental state.

Oh, that gives me an idea. He can accompany your group when you leave."

The Inquisitor cleared his throat. "High Priestess, there are already two clerics in that group. A third would be against regulation unless we added more members of other specializations."

The old woman tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair, and Karl realized that she had just embarked on a self-appointed mission. She wanted to know the answer to how long it would take him to make Commander, and she just needed to find a way to make it happen.

Most likely, her Goddess demanded it. It was new knowledge that nobody else had recorded before.

"I will have the group enhanced before they are sent out again. What else did we need them here for?" She asked.

"They discovered the new set of System Stones. They are here for publicity and for safekeeping until we are certain that these System Stones really do belong to the World Dragon." The Inquisitor reminded her.

"Who else would they belong to?" Karl asked.

"There was another System recorded in the Dragon Gods' Holy Books, from a time before the World Dragon was born, run by a Chaos God who cared for nothing as much as his personal amusement. Because these System Stones suddenly appeared in the monster zone, there is a suspicion that they might have come from the same place as the monsters, so they might not belong to this world." The Inquisitor informed him.

Karl honestly hadn't expected to get an answer to that question, and now that he had, he was beginning to wish that he hadn't asked.