Chapter 88 - 86: Learned a Divine Skill! But Bai Ya

Chapter 88: Chapter 86: Learned a Divine Skill! But Bai Ya

"Oh my god, my Perception is only 1 point!"

"Th-that’s no different from a sloth!"

"Or a Sgopala Giant Turtle!"

"This is horrible. I thought I’d at least have three or four points..."

Her eyes wide as she stared at the small line of the test requirement on the frontispiece, Bai Ya froze on the spot.

She knew her Perception was rather low, and it seemed to have gotten even lower after her injury.

But she never expected it to be *this* low!

’It’s a miracle I’ve even survived this long...’

Her long brown hair swayed gently as Bai Ya stood there in a daze. The cruel reality made her forget to even turn the page.

She remained that way until Furen asked with some confusion:

"What’s wrong? Is there a problem?"

"Ah, n-no..."

Probably thinking that having only 1 point in Perception was extremely embarrassing, Bai Ya froze for a second before shaking her head vigorously.

"I-I was just suddenly thinking about sloths and turtles..."

"Sloths and turtles?"

Furen looked completely baffled. "Why would you think of them? Is this Skill related to those two animals?"

’If I had to say what the connection was... it’s that they could probably learn it too?’

"N-Not at all! I’m going to keep reading now..."

Bai Ya’s face flushed red. Not knowing how to answer, she quickly lowered her head and, under Furen’s puzzled gaze, continued reading the preface on the frontispiece.

[Friend, if you are reading this, it proves you are about to touch upon the greatest, and only, creation of my life. Considering that you, like me, lack the ability to quickly grasp the meaning behind words, I have named it the most simple and easy-to-understand name possible: "Imitation."]

[Over the past forty years, I have come to know a truth: Magic is, in essence, the precise code by which the universe operates, and foolish sensory perception has always been the barrier preventing us from touching that truth. (It’s okay if you don’t understand. I get it.)]

[In short, you need only remember what follows and adhere to it at all times.]

[Every Skill is a mathematical structure that can be deconstructed...]

[Gestures and movements are the trajectories of spatial coordinates; Spells are the equations of frequency vibrations...]

[That’s right, we have indeed lost the experience of the "essence," but this is the price of progress! We have exchanged sensation for reason, and Imitation for Power!]

[A final reminder: if one day you suddenly have the thought, "I think I’m starting to understand something," stop immediately! This is a dangerous sign of your Perception returning!]

[Remember our creed: Fools feel, the wise deconstruct.]

[—Alan Rick, on the eve of completely severing his Perception]

[P.S. They say I’ve lost the heart of magic, but who cares? I can now cast seven types of Forbidden Curses, while they’re still researching the Molding Energy principles of Flaming Arrow.]

"..."

A gentle breeze blew past, and the sun shone bright and golden.

Zovir and Anna had already started cooking. Mirana was still resting nearby, but she would glance over from time to time, her eyes clearly filled with curiosity.

As time ticked by, Lu Wei had long since snapped out of his daze. He and Furen watched Bai Ya in silence, not wanting to disturb her again.

Although he still didn’t quite understand how Bai Ya had passed the test, it seemed there was no point dwelling on it now.

The main question was what "Imitation" actually did.

From the description given by Precise Identification, it seemed to be an ability for "Learning Skills."

So, could it speed up the learning process?

For example, take Furen’s [Jump Slash]. Without a Skill Book, relying only on practice, it would take Bai Ya at least three or four years to learn it.

Perhaps [Imitation] could shorten that time.

’Hmm... but it probably won’t reduce it by too much.’

’After all, it’s just a Universal Skill. It can’t be that strong.’

Thinking this, Lu Wei crossed his arms, certain his judgment wasn’t too far off.

And just then, Bai Ya finally finished the last page of the booklet.

She then looked up with a blank expression, as if she hadn’t understood a thing, looking as dazed as an elementary school student who had just finished reading a textbook on Advanced Mathematics.

"You finished?"

Seeing this, Furen immediately asked, unable to wait, "Did you learn it?"

"I think so..."

Bai Ya wasn’t sure. She nodded hesitantly. "It feels like there’s something new in my head..."

"Check your skill panel! If you learned it, it’ll show up on your skill panel!"

"Huh? Where do I look?"

"Well..."

Furen was suddenly at a loss for words, racking his brain to figure out how to describe it to Bai Ya.

Fortunately, she soon figured it out on her own.

"Ah, I see it!"

"Great! Then there’s no problem!"

Furen was delighted and quickly asked, "So what’s the ability?"

Bai Ya said dazedly, "The ability... it’s really long, like a dozen lines or so."

Furen was stunned. "A dozen lines? Why would the description be so long?"

"I don’t know either. I’ll read it to you..."

Closing the Skill Book, Bai Ya stared into midair and began reciting to the open air, word for word, "Universal Skill, Imitation, Level 0, parentheses..."

"Um, you don’t have to read what’s in the parentheses. Just read the description," Furen reminded her in a low voice.

"Oh, okay."

Bai Ya blushed, continuing to read with some embarrassment.

"Imitation. No cast time, no Magic Power Consumption. By accumulating ten complete observations of a target using a skill, the skill can be directly mastered."

"The Skill Level of skills learned through Imitation is fixed at Level 1 and cannot be enhanced. Magic Power Consumption, attribute effects, skill effects, etc., are all identical to the original skill."

"There is no upper limit to the number of skills that can be imitated, but Passive Skills cannot be imitated."

"The types of skills that can be imitated are only restricted by [Profession], [Bloodline], and [Divine Blessing], and are not affected by [Attribute Test], [Spell Circle Level], [Faith], or other requirements."

"Skill Level Enhancement can reduce the number of observations required."

"Including bonuses from Equipment, if the Perception Attribute is greater than 1 point, or the Intelligence Attribute is lower than 10 points, new skills can no longer be imitated, but skills already mastered can still be used."

"Note: If you have already mastered a skill through Imitation and then learn that same skill again via a Skill Book or other means, the skill will remain in a non-upgradable state."

"That’s all..."

About two minutes later, Bai Ya had recited the complete information for [Imitation] without missing a single word.

Across from her, Furen and Lu Wei fell into a long silence.

Both stood with their mouths agape, wearing similar expressions of shock mixed with bafflement, but their thoughts were completely different.

Furen: ’What is all this gibberish? It’s so complicated...’

Lu Wei: ’I order you!! Give me back my Skill Book right now!!!’

...

...

"Oh my god!! This is basically a Divine Skill! An absolute Divine Skill!!"

"You just have to watch ten times to learn it! And there’s no limit to how many you can learn! Doesn’t that mean you can master countless Skills?!"

"I can’t believe it! Is this really not a prank from the God of Fooling?!"

"Forget it, we’ll know if we test it!"

"If you can really learn Jump Slash, then that’ll prove it’s real!"

"Don’t just stand there, hurry up and watch me!"

Five minutes later, after Bai Ya had read it all again, Furen finally, completely understood.

He immediately jumped up in excitement, his face flushed as he yelled nonstop, causing even Zovir and Anna to cast worried glances in his direction.

They probably thought he’d gone mad.

Without giving Bai Ya a chance to speak, he rushed to grab his Longsword and immediately started jumping up and down, executing [Jump Slash] to test whether this was a real "Divine Skill" or just a prank from the God of Fooling.

’Please, let it be a prank!’

Watching Furen and Bai Ya in the distance, Lu Wei’s face was a mask of despair. His gut was twisting with regret.

But in truth, he had already used Precise Identification, so he knew perfectly well it couldn’t be a "prank" from the God of Fooling.

And that meant [Imitation] was truly a Divine Skill!

Rapidly learning any number of Skills, without even having to freaking pay for Skill Books...

It even ignores Attribute Test and Spell Circle Level requirements...

So if a Great Mage was willing to cast Ring Nine Magic like "Gate of the Otherworld" or "Meteor Burst" ten times in front of Bai Ya, she could learn it immediately???

No, that’s just too broken, isn’t it???

Eyes wide, the more Lu Wei thought about how incredible it was, the more he regretted it, grinding his teeth in frustration.

Of course, it wasn’t hard to see from the description that [Imitation] still had many limitations.

For instance, the "non-upgradable" aspect placed a cap on the potential of skills learned through Imitation.

Then there was the inability to imitate Passive Skills, as well as the restrictions of [Profession], [Bloodline], and [Divine Blessing].

Hmm... those were all easy enough to understand.

Becoming a Professional requires being baptized by a Divine Spirit. Without going through that step, it would naturally be impossible to master the Skills of that Profession.

The same logic applied to Divine Blessings. After all, they were "Divine Gifted Skills"; if they could be learned with a simple imitation, that would be truly outrageous.

And a Mage’s Bloodline could be considered a form of "Innate Magic," which requires generations of inherited Bloodline Power as its Foundation. It was normal that it couldn’t be imitated.

In conclusion, [Imitation] could not break through the boundaries of "Divine Spirits" and "lineage."

In that case...

...it seemed his own [A Little of Everything] was actually stronger?

After all, [A Little of Everything] could break through Profession restrictions, which was equivalent to breaking the limitations of "Divine Power" and even "Bloodline Power."

Furthermore, it had no Skill Level restrictions; any skills learned could be upgraded.

However, it was restricted to only learning Ring One Magic...

Hm?

So, which was stronger: "able to learn Magic of any Ring Level, but the spell skill is stuck at Level 1," or "only able to learn Ring One Magic, but the spell can be upgraded"?

Resting his chin on his hand, Lu Wei suddenly thought of a strange question.

And he realized something.

The two of them, he and Bai Ya, if conditions allowed, could seemingly learn all the Skills and Magic in the world.

Thinking about it that way, it didn’t seem so bad... Bad my ass!!

It should have all been mine!!

Don’t talk to me about some "Perception ≤ 1" test requirement!

I’m not listening!

In any case, that Skill Book was loot that I worked my ass off and risked my life to get!

Suddenly, the composure he had just barely managed to regain vanished, and his emotions flared up again. The "first losing deal in history" was causing Lu Wei immense pain.

Just then, Bai Ya returned from Furen’s side.

’Is she here to gloat?’

Lu Wei glanced at her and asked listlessly, "Did you learn it?"

"Not yet," Bai Ya said, shaking her head.

"Alright, if you learned it that means... huh? You didn’t??"

Lu Wei froze, then was instantly overjoyed.

But before he could be happy for even a second, he heard Bai Ya continue:

"I’m still two short of ten. Furen said he’s a little tired and needs to rest for a bit."

"..."

’Damn it! I got excited for nothing!’

’Can’t you just freaking say it all at once!’

"Fine."

Shaking his head in resignation, Lu Wei muttered reluctantly:

"Then just learn Stealth first. I’ll demonstrate for you."