Chương 184: Chapter 170-Chosen Oopsie

So, what's in there? A simple question that I'm sure many have asked over the centuries. The answer may surprise you. Now, obviously it doesn't surprise me. I was just in there. But… the fact that there are some sort of secret ruins where I borrowed The Holy Gem of Hibby could be incriminating. Also, yes, borrowed. I'm technically going to bring it back eventually. Not like I committed a crime. Of course I didn't. I doubt anybody actually owns The Holy Gem of Hilbert. It's so old and dusty and expensive-looking.

Gods, the gem in this thing looks like it could set me up for quite some time.

"So, what was in that cave?" Penelope asks as Hopper leads us through the jungle.

"Nothing really, just a cave," I [Lie]. Penelope gives me a knowing look.

"Just a cave, huh? Hmm. Maybe we should go back and check," she says, doing a heel turn.

"Okay, Okay. More than just a cave." She gives me a small smile.

"Elaborate."

"I didn't look around much. It was a bunch of stone hallways with a lot of noise and garbage on the ground. I grabbed a necklace and then left," I say, choosing my words carefully.

"Can I see it?"

"Fine, but don't tell anybody," I say as I pull it out of my bag. Penelope unwraps it and almost immediately hands it back.

"That's The Holy Jewel of Heilig. Why do you have it?" she asks in a whisper.

"I just told you."

"Do you know how important this necklace is? Saintess Heilig was the most powerful Holy Magic user to ever grace this world. She and The Chosen that Remained were the main players in sealing The Hope Devourer," she explains as her Half-Elf ears wiggle in excitement. The Chosen that Remained? That would be the 5th Chosen One, which is… Black? I'll have to ask her about it later.

"Okay, so what, this thing is powerful?" I ask as I stuff it back into my bag.

"One would assume so. I wonder why it was on Iseparar Island, though?" she asks with an inquisitive look on her face.

"Is this not where she died?" Hopper turns around.

"No, Saintess Heilig died in the North against a Beastkin warrior who challenged her," he says as he leans on a tree.

"You really need to stop eavesdropping," I say as we stop in a small clearing.

"You need to stop having whispered conversations near me."

"Wait, go back. What do you mean she died to a Beastkin warrior? It's common knowledge that she died in her sleep," Penelope says with a hint of confusion.

"Not up North. Chieftain Bloodback was the one who killed the Saintess in a duel. I think his tribe still has her cloak," he says without a hint of doubt.

"That's… not possible. Why would she even be in the North? The Era of Strife wasn't exactly the time to be traveling. Unless-" Hopper's ears twitch. In one swift motion, he draws his bow and fires into the nearby treeline. A standing creature with scales appears as the arrow pierces its shoulder. Green blood pours from the wound as it hisses at us. What in the fuck is that? The lizard-like man gets down on all fours, glaring at me with its yellow eyes.

"I think it wants to eat me." Penelope draws her greatsword.

"It's a Lesser Dragon, also known as a Lizard Man. Be careful. Its bite is venomous, and it's smarter than it looks."

"Oh, that's swell. Next you're going to tell me they have razor-sharp claws and night vision," I say as I pull out Stabby.

"They do."

"You think that's bad. They travel in packs," Hopper says as five green Lizard Men step out of the shadowed Jungle. The wounded one lets out a roar, causing the other five to rush us. Penelope rushes forward to meet the first three. Their claws slash at her throat, but are blocked by the edge of her blade. Hopper goes to fire a shot at one of them, but the wounded one rushes in and tackles him. Froppy is summoned as Hopper fights off the chomping Lizard Man.

With his ice bow, he fires an arrow straight into its back. He should have that handled. Now, to worry about myself. Two of the creatures rush past Penelope as she trades blows. Stabby in hand, I [Throw] him straight into the shoulder of the scarred one. The cleaner-looking one continues forward, slashing for my chest. Ducking out of the way, I watch it stumble past.

"Really, you call that a pounce? I mean come on. Your feet didn't even leave the ground," I say as I grab a rock from Baggy. With a flick of my wrist, I [Throw] the rock straight into the open jaw of the scarred one, who was about to chomp down on my back. The creature chokes in confusion as I pull Stabby out of its shoulder. An arrow then sinks straight into its head, killing it. Hopper, who has disposed of his enemy, then turns and lets another arrow loose at the stumbling one.

The shot misses completely as the creature snaps it out of the air. Behind me, Penelope slashes through the last of her opponents. Guess we should finish this up. Rock in hand, I begin to chant." Stone of the earth. Speed of the wind. Fly forth and be [Thrown]." The rock in my hand vibrates with power, getting the attention of Penelope.

"Wait, Charlatan-" Before she can finish, I [Throw] the rock straight at the Lizard Man's chest. A rush of wind fills the air as the rock eviscerates the center of the Lizard Man. The creature's head and arms flop down to the ground, followed closely by the rest of its legs. What in the fuck! 6 LvL. 16 Lizard Men have been Defeated. Skill <Throw> has Leveled Up Level Up!! +1 INT Penelope goes to say something, but before she can get a word out, she rushes over to a nearby tree and hacks up her lunch.

Froppy rubs the back of Hopper as he tries and struggles to keep himself from throwing up. As they're busy doing that, I look over at the body of the Lizard Man, or at least what's left. What in the hells happened? How could a [Throw] do that? It couldn't have been the chant. I mean, it barely did anything earlier when I was training with Viola. So, what could it… Penelope places a hand on my shoulder as she wipes her mouth.

"Okay, no chanting for you. What [Level] is your [Throw]?" Stat Window HP 155/155 MP 195/195 General Information Attributes Name Carlos "CJ" Juárez Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

STR 22 - Race Half-Vashrin DEX 31 - Age 18 CON 28 +3 Title Fake Chosen One(+1) CHA 46 - Blessing N/A INT 39 - Level 19 LCK 58 - Skill List Name Level Description Name Level Description Throw 9 Throw with Brilliance Disguise 5 Disguise for 25 MP Lie 7 Lie with Skill Clean 5 Clean for 5 MP Steal 6 Steal with Prowess Poison Res. 4 Resist Poison Garden 6 Garden with Prowess Gamble 3 Gamble for 100 MP Taunt 6 Taunt with Prowess Soul Res.

1 Resist Soul Cook 6 Cook with Prowess N/A N/A N/A With a sideways glance, I look over at my [Stat Window].

"Uhm, it's up there. That's for sure."

"Charlatan, now is not the time to be joking. What [Level] is it?" she asks again with a hint of worry.

"Uh, [Level 9]." Hopper looks over at me in surprise.

"[Level 9]?! How in the hells did you get [Throw] that high?"

"It is the only thing I use constantly in fights. Doesn't it make sense that it would be so high?" I ask with a hint of confusion. Penelope nods her head.

"That is pretty high, but that still doesn't explain the destructive power of that [Throw]. It's still just [Throw]. Unless… Charlatan, what's your [CHA] at?"

"46, why?" Hopper lets out a long sigh.

"This seems like Chosen One shenanigans."

"What's wrong with a high [CHA]?" Penelope gives me a disappointed look.

"You weren't listening in class, were you? The higher your [CHA], the more effective your chant will be. That combined with the high [Level] of [Throw] leads to this," she gestures to the mangled body of the Lizard Man.

"Huh, neat. So, be careful when I chant. Got it," I say with a joking tone.

"Do be careful. Until you gauge the power of it, you might accidentally hurt someone you're not hoping to. Just watch your strength," she says with a hint of worry.

"No more pelting me with wads of paper," Hopper says as he puts his hand on my shoulder. With no real thought, I [Throw] a twig at his head.

"I can still use [Throw] normally, but if I'm chanting, you better watch out," I say as we walk back to Daisy Hall. Professor Stargazer places three cups of increasing size in front of the class.

"As we all know, the optimal number of [Skills] an individual should have is between 6 and 9." The entire class, Veronica, and even Martin nod in agreement. Ah, fuck. Nobody told me this.

"Does anybody know why this is the case?" she asks as she fills the smallest cup with water. Clara speaks up, "The more [Skills] you have, the harder it becomes to [Level] them up."

"Correct. Many believe that it is a problem of time. With more [Skills], you have less time to use them all. That is true, but that is not the main reason," she says as she fills the medium cup with water.

"Then what is the reason?" Garus asks with a hint of confusion. Professor Stargazer finishes filling up the last and largest cup.

"It has to do with the soul, or rather the vessel that your soul resides in. Although it is flexible, it can not grow past a certain limit. [Skills] take up a certain part of the space in that vessel." Viola looks at the cups.

"Like objects in a cup?"

"Exactly. As an example, this ball is one of your [Skill], the water your soul, and the cup your vessel," she grabs three small balls and places them in each of the cups. Adiline shyly raises her hand.

"There is plenty of space?"

"Yes, exactly. As the [Skill] grows, it will have plenty of space in your vessel, but if we start to add more [Skills]," she carefully plops multiple balls into each of the cups until they are crowded, "We see a different situation."

"There isn't enough space for the [Skills] to grow without shattering the vessel," Hopper points out.

"Which is why most individuals keep the number of [Skills] they have to a manageable amount. Which is somewhere between 6 and 9. Although it is rare for a vessel to shatter because of the number of [Skills]. Any questions?" she asks.

"Yeah. What happens when you have multiple [Skills] at high [Levels]?" I ask with an air of asking for a friend.

"There are individuals whose vessels are stronger and bigger than most. So, it wouldn't be much of a problem, although I would still not recommend going higher than [Level 5] on more than five [Skills]. A vessel can take only so much strain," she says, gesturing to the bigger cups.

"On top of that, they have a higher resistance to [Level Mania]," Axel says in a small voice.

"Correct. As we mentioned before, [Level Mania] causes death by excess energy entering the vessel, causing it to crack and eventually shatter. Those with a larger and/or stronger vessel will naturally last longer, but eventually the vessel will shatter," she says with a dissatisfied look.

"So, that's why chants and magic circles are important?" Clint asks.

"That's exactly why. We are limited in the number of [Skills] that we can get, and [Skill Mergers] are rare and far between. So, the only other option we have is to make use of the [Skills] that we do have," Professor Stargazer explains. Many hands rise as I start to stare into the floorboards. Well, this is a big fucking oopsie. I have eleven [Skills]. Six of those [Skills] are higher than [Level 5]. Another two are probably on the cusp of becoming [Level 6]. I've fucked myself, haven't I? Why did nobody tell me?

Ugh… this vacation couldn't get any worse.