While Alea fought against those monsters with her EXP points almost reaching max due to her killing almost all the monsters, Theo arrived in a strange space.
He looked around and felt that there was no end to this place. Everything was white without an edge or whatsoever, feeling like it was stretching forever.
"Where am I?" Theo muttered since he didn't have much time to waste.
Unfortunately, nothing appeared within a minute, so Theo decided to step forward, only to find a presence behind him. That presence was overwhelming as he instinctively ran away from it before turning around, finding a giant snake.
Yet the next second, he realized that he began to sink and looked down, finding that he was stepping on a solid lilypad but still couldn't hold his entire weight. Below him was a dark deep lake that he couldn't even see the bottom.
To his surprise, he then saw a fifty-foot-long purple plate that emerged from the water to help him stay afloat.
He truly wanted to escape from this, but he knew that there was no point because the floor had turned into a lake and there was no way he could escape from this snake in this environment. The snake only revealed its head, but he needed to raise his head just to see him eye to eye because it reached almost one hundred feet above the water.
'Is this a trial?' Theo narrowed his eyes and braved himself to look at this snake. This purple snake had deep blue eyes, unlike any other snakes he had ever seen. The spikes on its back seemed to be sharp enough to cut down his spear. It was then he realized that the plate he was on right now was none other than the snake's body.
He checked his hands, wielding no weapons. Even when he tried to release his magic power, nothing would come out.
"Who are you?" Theo asked. His tone was hesitant and his face was pale. Although he wasn't afraid to die, he couldn't afford it for the moment.
The snake opened its mouth and spoke in a human language.
"I'm just a mere sea serpent, bearing a message from the one bestowing you that blessing."
"God of Mischief… If that's the case, then you must be…" Theo dropped his jaw as he couldn't handle the shock.
"As I said, I'm just a mere sea serpent. Your current condition is too bad, so I won't waste too much time." The sea serpent then came closer to him as its eyes glowed.
Theo felt fuzzy to the point he almost fell off because he couldn't sense a single thing when those eyes shone.
Suddenly, a notification appeared, granting him a skill to his repertoire.
[God of Mischief grants you skill: Blink (E)]
Skill: Blink (E) – Upgradeable
Upgrade: Fuse 3 rank E skills and 10 Rank F skills
Effect: A Skill that allows the user to teleport to five feet from them. Due to the current skill rank, the user has a limited amount of distance. The distance can be increased by upgrading the skill.
"Eh?" Theo took a step back and found another upgradeable skill. He then realized the requirement was different from his Clone.
"I have two messages that need to be passed down to you. One is from me." The serpent paused for a moment as his eyes glowed again. It was then he saw all his skills at the time.
Skill: Pierce (F) – Upgradeable
Upgrade: Fuse 10 Rank E skills
Effect: A Skill that allows the user to create a stronger force after spinning the user's spear to its absolute limit.
Skill: Monkey Fist (F) – Upgradeable
Upgrade: Fuse 20 Rank E skills
Effect: Allows the user to accumulate Magic Power to the hand to create a more powerful blow.
Skill: Magic Bullet (E) – Upgradeable
Upgrade: Fuse 5 rank E skills and 5 Rank F skills
Effect: Allows the user to summon ten light balls.
Skill: Haste (E) – Upgradeable
Upgrade: Fuse 10 rank E skills and 10 Rank F skills
Effect: Increase the user speed for a period of time.
Skill: Focused Charge (E) – Upgradeable
Upgrade: Fuse 10 rank E skills and 10 Rank F skills
Effect: Accumulate the energy into the hand before channeling the power to a pointed blade.
"…"
"Eh?" Theo simply couldn't believe what he just witnessed, but before he could remember everything, the descriptions had gone from his vision. Though, he knew that all of his skills could be upgraded to the next level. The reason for the difference between each requirement must be the potential of the skin. The higher the potential, the easier he could upgrade it.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the main point. He simply couldn't comprehend why those skills were actually upgradeable.
"You are his emissary, yet, you haven't even tried to understand why his is different. Just like the girl outside there… Fortitude is the ability and willingness to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. The girl keeps fighting to protect you even though she knows there's a chance you will abandon them to save your life, but why haven't you thought about why he chose you? Even if the luckiest man alive can be chosen by the God of Misfortunate because that luckiness can be his own misfortune… Have you forgotten what he has granted you?"
Theo widened his eyes and couldn't even speak a single word. God of Mischief only told him two lines.
[God of Mischief is happy with your trick and wishes you luck to be a great trickster.]
[God of Mischief grants you the ability to see the skill upgrade's requirement.]
"That's ability… Not the ability to see only the things he has granted, but everything." Theo realized that he actually granted something far greater than any others.
God of Love performed a miracle by matching two people that couldn't be matched. God of Fortune made a miracle by granting someone a one in one "zillion" chance. God of Mischief created a miracle by…
Theo noticed how shallow his thought was until now. "He cheats the entire system itself?!"
The God of Mischief tricked the entire power system in this world and granted him the ability to understand how to upgrade a skill as his "miracle".
Unfortunately, the sea serpent didn't confirm his question. Instead, he continued. "I have said my piece. I will relay his message to you. Have you ever thought of these questions… Will a man be called ruthless if he killed fifty people to save a million lives? Will a man be called a bad guy when he joins the enemy side to protect the people on his side? A tricky question, but the answer will come to you sooner or later. And you shall understand the weight of these two questions in the future. Now, return and stay alive. We shall meet again."
Before he could react, The snake's eyes shone brightly, forcing Theo to cover his eyes. And the next thing he knew, he had already returned to the real world with two messages.
[God of Mischief is pleased to see you continue as his emissary and grants you the following.]
[Level +1]
[Free Attribute Points +47]
Name: Theodore Griffith
Status: Elite
Level: 51
EXP: 0/2000
Blessing: God of Mischief
Skill: Pierce (F), Clone (E), Monkey Fist (F), Magic Bullet (E), Haste(E), Focused Charge (E), Blink (E), 3 Slots Remaining
Attributes: Strength 80, Endurance 32, Agility 47, Vitality 34, Magic Power 71
Free Attribute Points: 47