Chương 57: Skill Creation

It is one of the most useful skills a skill user could ever possess. It is something that is deeply revered throughout the skill user world. It is the only way a skill user could boost the number of skills they had in their locker. And for that reason, almost every skill user in the entire universe is thankful for its existence. It is also something that was mentioned a lot in Night Hoppers.

Some accounts of it were so meticulously written and precise to the point where even ordinary people could understand what was going on. After all, the novel wanted to create the notion that if skill users wanted to excel and flaunt their wide range of unique skills, then they had to be well acquainted with this glorious concept. And I, nothing but a mere reader of the novel, was about to learn this wonderful skill called 'skill creation' for the first time.

My mind was buzzing, filled to the brim with thoughts, feelings and emotions that I thought I would never feel. The mechanical life that I had lived for the past ten years was about to plunge into a pool, never to be seen again, only to be replaced with a life teeming with constant action and perilous adventures. I could finally join the elusive group of skill users and Hoppers who could create their own skills and use them freely without any restrictions.

Skill creation is something that skill users unlock after progressing to stage 2, at the basic level of the skill user system. It grants budding skill users the privilege to create their own skills from scratch, given that they have the skill orbs to do so. They can then use the skills they have created themselves to fight against mana beasts or other skill users, although the latter is quite rare and not recommended.

However, for some reason, Cayman decided to delay teaching skill creation until we were at the advanced level, at stage 5 of the skill user system. According to him, he believed that we were 'not ready' to learn this elusive concept yet, despite the fact that ordinary skill users can learn it as early as stage 2. But finally, the time had come. And it wasn't just me who was buzzing either.

The feeling of jubilation and ecstasy in my friends was pervasive; they had waited for this day to come for weeks and weeks, and finally, they were presented with this opportunity. It was time for me, as well as them, to learn skill creation. We had just finished our round of training and had collected all of the available mana crystals from the deceased beasts. Despite this, we didn't show even a hint of exhaustion.

The palpable sense of excitement acquired from upgrading our skills had suddenly disappeared, replaced by a palpable sense of excitement from being able to learn skill creation.

"I'm still reluctant to do this," Cayman said, breaking the prolonged silence that shouldn't have existed.

"Even though you're at the advanced level, I don't know if I should be doing it this early."

"Cheer up, Cayman," Ben replied, his elation contagious.

"We're mature enough to learn it now, surely. Everything about us has said goodbye to the basic level and hello to the advanced level." Cayman's face contorted suddenly, causing Ben to do the same.

"I don't know anymore. You've just made this prickly feeling in my heart worse." Ben fell silent as if an arrow had just struck his heart. Sometimes, Cayman's violations were too much for Ben to handle.

"I don't mind teaching the rest of you skill creation, but I think you might need to sit this one out, Ben. Out of everyone here, you're the least mature."

"Oh come on, man! I'll listen and be mature."

"How about you shut up before I decide I want to flay you alive." Cayman and Ben's hilarious argument eased the pervasive sense of tension slightly, allowing our heart rates to fall. Somehow, even Devon, who was standing at the far end of the portal room, looked down to hide his chuckling.

"I'm being serious here, Ben," Cayman said, his tone suddenly becoming more gruff and condescending.

"If you're here to learn skill creation, you better listen, or I'm booting you out of this place." Ben sighed and said, "I'll listen."

"Good. This is a lesson for everyone else here. I'm gonna be watching you all like a hawk today. If I think you're not ready to learn skill creation, I'm booting you out and not teaching it to you. Do you understand?" We all nodded, casting our eyes at Cayman, who scanned the room like a delusional police officer. His behaviour was tantamount to that of the most strict teacher in the school. He let out a deep sigh. Then, he opened his mouth to speak.

"I've made up my mind. I will teach you all skill creation now." In an instant, our eyes began to glimmer, almost as if they were about to start uncontrollably shedding tears of joy. Finally, after an eternity and a half, the skill master Cayman William Grace was going to teach us skill creation. What a relief.

"Let's start off with the basics," Cayman began, inducing a significant change in our heart rates.

"Skill creation is where skill users and Hoppers create their own skills using skill user orbs and objects infused with mana." Duh. That was exactly what was written in Night Hoppers.

"The recipe the skill user uses to create their skill is called a formula. In this vast, expansive world of skill users, there are many different formulae out there for the same skill, but skill users tend to use the one involving the least materials and the lowest cost possible." That was also explicitly mentioned in Night Hoppers. Different skill users used different methods to create the same skill, with some requiring more materials and time and others requiring less.

Since skill users tend to be thrifty, they tend to prioritise costs and how their materials are used, and they always try to find the most efficient way to create the desired skill. If not, they are basically wasting precious materials which they could have used in other areas, creating inefficiency.

"These formulae are then given names, and these names all follow the same structure. First is the level that the skill is at, which is then followed by the name of the skill, and afterwards, the word 'formulae' is slapped at the end of it, indicating that there could be one or more possible ways to create the same skill." Very intuitive, I thought. Or was it just because skill users didn't have enough time to come up with more creative names?

"Let me give you a few examples. If you want to create a strength skill at the legendary level, you would follow the 'Legendary Strength Formulae', and if you want to create a healing skill at the infinite level, you would follow the 'Infinite Healing Formulae'." Everything so far made perfect sense in my brain, but that might have only been possible since my brain was already clogged with information about the Night Hoppers world.

"Following on from that logic, is what you're trying to create the 'Infinite Regression Formulae'?" Maya chimed in. It was an apt comment to make. Maya had just taken what Cayman had said previously about making the regression skill at the infinite level and formulated a name using the structure that Cayman had just mentioned. Someone had definitely been listening to Cayman's lectures.

"That's right," Cayman replied, implying that Maya had hit the nail on the head.

"That's what I'm trying to follow. It's called 'Infinite Regression Formulae' because there are a whole host of ways to create this one regression skill. However, just like other skill users, I'm a thrifty guy, so I want to ensure that my formula is efficient and minimises waste." Finally, everything was adding up. In Night Hoppers, it was mentioned that Cayman and Ellie wanted to make a skill that could bring their mother back from whatever eternal suffering she was dealing with.

The last puzzle piece had been put into place. From the outset, Cayman had wanted to create the skill 'Regression (infinite)' using the 'Infinite Regression Formulae'.

"That's the basic information done," Cayman said, feeling utterly relieved, as if he was still debating in his brain whether he should be teaching his students skill creation for the first time when they were at the advanced level.

"What does that mean?" Ben blurted out, interrupting Cayman's chain of thought.

"That means you should shut up." Again, Cayman's sentiment was a dagger ready to pierce Ben's heart. He was finding it harder to quell the accumulating anger inside his brain with every remark that Ben made. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Anyways, that actually means you guys can start creating your own skills," Cayman said, his tone of voice significantly juxtaposing what had just left his mouth. The room was ready to burst into cheers. However, despite this, an eerie silence ensued; even Ben managed to keep his mouth zipped shut.

"Where the hell did all your enthusiasm go? You guys were bouncing like rabbits just a few minutes earlier, but now you all look like bears with no souls. What happened?" Still, there was silence.

"I cannot be asked to deal with this. I'm carrying on. I'm going to show you all how to use your system to create skills." The silence prevailed.

"First, so that your system knows that you're creating new skills, you have to say 'skill creation' in your head." Skill creation, I murmured internally. I knew exactly what this was going to open up. And I was right. Once I finished saying the two words, a large system window opened in front of me with a massive array of white squares filling my vision. I knew what this was since what I was dreamily looking at was something that frequently appeared in Night Hoppers. The creation grid.

A ten-by-ten array of squares that skill users use to create their skills. I couldn't believe my eyes; I was seeing the elusive creation grid right in front of my eyes with no obstructions from a phone screen.

"This is the creation grid," Cayman said proudly.

"It's what skill users use to create their skills."

"Woah," Maya said, unable to contain her astonishment.

"Now it's really like we're in a game."

"Why is the grid so big?" Daniel chimed in.

"It looks like it's at least ten squares by ten squares."

"Good question. Since some formulae require a truckload of materials, the grid the system provides is huge so that skill users can use all the squares if they need. However, you won't ever need to use all the squares provided. It's overkill." Theo, Ben, Maya and Daniel's eyeballs were fixed on only one thing: the immense creation grid that the system had bestowed upon us for being skill users that have progressed further than stage 2.

"At the side of the grid, there should be a few options. One says 'create', one says 'cancel' and there should be another one that says 'inventory'. If you press create, the system will use all the items on the grid to create the skill. That's self-explanatory. However, if you press cancel, all the items on the grid will be returned to you and placed in your inventory, implying that you wish to withdraw." It was a very intuitive system that was akin to creating items in a game.

It was basically the same concept; after all, these concepts are used by almost every game that includes a survival or action aspect.

"If you press 'inventory', it shows you all of the items inside your inventory in a grid format. That makes it easier for you to know what you need. This creation grid can also be used to infuse items with mana. Simply place the object you want in the centre of the grid, surround the object with a layer of mana crystals and press create. It's that simple. Shall we have a go at it now?"

Still, there was silence, which was understandable, since it might take a while for all of that information to be processed by the brains of people who have no affiliation with the Night Hoppers story.

"I'll give you guys a demonstration then. Robert, give me your phone."

"Huh?" I was suddenly taken aback. Having been entranced during the whole of Cayman's torturous lecture, the sentence ordering me to hand over my phone came as a shock to me, abruptly sending me back to the real world. Instinctively, and without having any second thoughts, I reached into my pocket and handed Cayman my phone, which he gladly accepted.

"W-What are you going to do with my phone?" I asked in a voice which suggested that I was pleading.

"You'll see," was Cayman's blunt reply. All of a sudden, my phone disappeared. And all of a sudden, for some extremely odd reason, we could see Cayman's system window. What we were seeing in front of us was a ten-by-ten creation grid with my phone in the middle, seemingly hovering in mid-air. I couldn't contain my shock anymore.

"What the hell?" I couldn't help but let out that phrase.

"Woah, is that Robert's phone?"

"What the hell is Cayman going to do with it?" Theo, who had remained silent, finally couldn't hold in his silence anymore and began to ask questions alongside Daniel.

"Just trust the process," Cayman said in a sombre tone. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out several glimmering ruby-red mana crystals that were symbolic of danger, placing them in a square formation around my phone on the creation grid. Then, he pressed 'create'. And just like that, my phone met an unfortunate end.

"As you can see, I have just infused Robert's phone with mana," Cayman declared boldly.

"I will now use skill creation to create a skill with this phone." He handed me the phone, which now had a purplish hue and appeared to have a layer of sparkly glitter. I didn't know whether to take it from him or not. And I had no way to test whether the phone still worked; we were still on Planet 501 after all, a planet that had no native human inhabitants.

"Damn," Maya said, contemplating what had just happened.

"Robert's phone has turned shiny. It looks cute."

"Sadly for you, I need it for my demonstration," Cayman replied curtly.

"It'll stay that way whether you like it or not." Then, still casting our eyes on the ginormous creation grid in front of us, Cayman placed the sparkling purple phone on the grid, reached into his pocket again and pulled out a colourless orb, placing it next to the phone on the grid. He then firmly pressed 'create'. After a few seconds, in his hands, was a purple skill orb that had been successfully refined and created by Cayman William Grace.

"Holy shit," Theo muttered.

"This is real. This is true magic." Cayman then walked over to me and dropped the orb onto my trembling hands. I wavered, not knowing what to do with such an orb.

"Here," he said, taking a few steps back.

"Take it like you would normally eat a skill orb." With hands that were as shaky as a broken radiator, I threw the glowing purple skill orb into my mouth and swallowed it. Gulp. It didn't take long for a system window to appear in front of me. [You have gained the skill: 'Enhanced Reading Speed (advanced)'.] Trait, 'Intelligence', has been upgraded by 5 points. Intelligence: 20 → 25 Trait, 'Perception', has been upgraded by 5 points. Perception: 10 → 15 Wow.

At the expense of my phone, I had gained a new skill at the advanced level and upgrades to two of my traits. However, was this trade-off really worth it? I thought all of the reverence I had harboured for Cayman was going to seep away, turning into pure hatred.

"Don't worry, Robert," Cayman added haphazardly at the end, sensing my inscrutable anger.

"I'll buy you a new phone soon. I'll buy you the newest model. Just trust me." A wry smile appeared on my face, showing my appreciation.

"We can talk more about this later, since my lesson isn't over yet." As soon as Cayman finished his words, Ben's shoulders dropped lifelessly.

"Devon! I told you to get the thing. Did you get it?" Suddenly, at Cayman's abrupt shout, Devon, who had been looking at the floor with a bowed head, jolted up, his mind returning back to reality.

"Y-Yes! I've got it!"

"Take it out." I expected Devon to pull out something mystical, like a rare item or something shiny. However, I was going to be disheartened in just a matter of seconds.

"Sugar?" Theo had the same thought as me; he shared my bewilderment. What the hell was Devon doing with a pack of sugar? How did this lesson go from us showing immense elation to Cayman snatching my phone from me and using it to create a skill to Devon pulling out packs of sugar from his inventory? What a strange day it had been. What made this situation even more bizarre was that he then handed us each a pack of sugar.

"What will we be doing with this?" Daniel inquired, exuding the greatest aura of confusion out of all of us.

"What do you think? What is the purpose of this lesson?" After Cayman, who had frowned upon hearing Daniel's question, finished his rhetorical response, I knew exactly what we were supposed to do. I instantly knew the purpose of all this. Skill creation. The ten-by-ten grid suddenly appeared in front of me, carrying with it a grandiose aura. Each square was at least the size of my palm. With unwavering confidence, which was unusual for me, I placed the pack of sugar in the middle of the creation grid.

Then, with some of the leftover mana crystals from when we upgraded our skills, I encapsulated the pack of sugar with advanced-level mana crystals and pressed create. The result? A pack of sugar that was in purple packaging.

"What kind of skill will this measly pack of sugar create?" Ben asked quizzically, staring longingly at the purple pack of sugar in front of him.

"You'll find out," Cayman replied with a smirk.

"After all, the skill user world is a vast multiverse of mysteries." I didn't need Cayman to say that twice; I had already placed the purple pack of sugar in my creation grid and paired it with one of the colourless skill orbs that Devon had put in our hands alongside the sugar. Then I pressed 'create'. And just a second later, in my hands, was a glimmering blue orb which reminded me of my reading bubble. In fact, it was akin to my reading bubble if it had been shrunken down to the size of a miniscule snow globe.

I swallowed the orb without giving my brain any time to think about my decision. [You have gained the skill: 'Speed (advanced)'.] Trait, 'Agility', has been upgraded by 5 points. Agility: 30 → 35 Damn. I didn't know a pack of sugar could produce a sugar rush this big.

"Explore the world," Cayman said once all of us had created the skill.

"Explore this vast, perpetual world in all of its glory. Discover new things. Learn more about this wonderful world of skill users. That's my only homework task for you."

"But we're still in school," Maya interjected solemnly with a look of disdain.

"Ah. I knew someone was going to say that. You've hit the nail on the head quite well there, Maya De Souza." Suddenly, Cayman was speaking like he was the world's greatest poet.

"That's where my next surprise comes from. Yeah, I'm always pulling surprises from out of my pocket like it's nothing, but this one will truly entice you. Since you guys have already learnt skill creation, you're basically full-time awakened skill users now. Therefore, I'm glad to say that you'll be dropping out of school to become full-time Hoppers." Ben's mouth was agape, Theo's eyes were open wide, and Maya looked like she was about to lose consciousness and froth at the mouth.

I couldn't believe it; the one thing that was dragging me down, the one thing that was restraining me from living the life that I wanted, was no longer an obstacle anymore.

"Don't let the constraints of school hold you down. Don't let the excuse of school affect your journey as a Hopper. Go out there and explore the world. This week will be your last week at school, so enjoy it. Cherish it. And then afterwards, you're all gonna be full-time Hoppers." All of my suspicions were finally confirmed; I was definitely living in dreamland. I was dropping out of school to become a Hopper, something that I thought was only possible inside a work of fiction.

This was truly the start of a wondrous journey as a skill user and a Hopper.