NOVEL WEB Chapter 102: Rias Is Truly An Anomaly
Kael simply couldn't believe the fact that Rias had not received any skills at all in her life. It was such an absurd statement that he hadn't heard in two lives.
Even in his previous life, skills were the main factors upon which people's power depended. He couldn't understand how it was possible to be at that level without having skills.
Even if he counted the fact that Rias belonged to no faction and was an anomaly, which meant she wouldn't receive skills from any Gods—just like how beasts never received any skills.
But they did receive them during evolution and through their bloodlines.
It was so confusing and stunning that Kael had a hard time believing it.
[It could be true, Master. Perhaps, she uses mana in its bare form without needing to convert it into other forms to get desired results. It involves help from the Astral World, so perhaps she doesn't need it.]
Kael found that theory even harder to believe, so he asked Rias, "How do you fight them?"
"I... just do?" Rias tilted her head and said with uncertainty.
"How did you cut the forest then?" Kiona asked after listening to their conversation.
"I just moved my blade..."
Her response confused them even more.
'Alright. She is really an anomaly. I seriously don't understand her deal,' Kael sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose and said, "Whatever. I'm sure you'll find the answer after getting more of your memories back."
"That's true." Rias nodded.
Kael decided to focus on their main topic to keep his sanity.
He turned towards the lion family and asked, "Do you now understand how skills work?"
They nodded in understanding.
"Good. Then, as you know, skills are deeply connected to your soul, and my theory is that when these skills are imprinted on the soul, it makes our soul a little unstable perhaps," Kael said.
"It happens because with the addition of Runes on it, the soul gets stretched—but in a different way than ranking up. But if we master the skills, they will get better connected with the soul and become one with them, mending the stretched part. Now, we have a better soul which didn't use our potential to stretch—which also means we can reach further higher ranks without actually going through evolution."
Everyone gasped hearing that. Even with all the surprises they had received today, this affected them the most because this was something nobody had discovered.
Or at least that's what they believed.
'I knew it worked but not how. He actually figured it out and it makes sense,' Rias thought in wonder. 'Sadly, I don't have anything to see if that's really the case or not.'
Kael smiled seeing their reaction, feeling a bit proud for figuring it out. After all, even Alpha didn't help him this time, and it was his thinking all along that made him come to this conclusion.
According to Alpha, he might be one of the few people in the myriad worlds to actually know of this theory.
There were people like Rias who knew it worked, but never got to know how it worked.
Even Kael only managed to come to this conclusion because he had a better understanding of souls than others thanks to Alpha.
After a few seconds of pause, Kael said, "That's it for now. This is the reason I told you to practice your skills even more. For now, the humans will surely have their guard up, so let's use this time to increase the quality of our soul along with our battle prowess."
This was actually his main point. Along with the strengthening of the soul, he wanted them to utilize their potential to the fullest and master their every skill.
As a legend once said:
"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
They were at most using only around 50–60% of the true potential of their skills, especially Kiona, who had Epic-Stage Fire Affinity and also Fire Manipulation.
She could become a walking calamity with the combination of those two if she mastered them well. This was why Kael was so insistent on having them practice their skills.
Of course, he also needed some time alone for practicing his skills, making more Artefacts through his Soul Forge—which he hadn't been able to do much due to his busy schedule in the past few days—and also study Runes.
There were simply too many things he needed to do before they set off for their next mission, which was to take over some other Beast Tribes.
He also wanted to clear the Second Floor of the Tharnyx Labyrinth, but that would have to wait. None of them were even closely powerful enough to defeat that damned Crimson Tree.
As for Rias, she couldn't enter the Labyrinth, so it was all meaningless.
'Even with all this, my dumbass would try to pry into the mysteries of Gods. Too great!'
Kael sighed and asked, "Any questions?"
Seth raised his paw, and upon getting permission, he asked, "How do we master skills? We have been using them unconsciously since forever."
"It's simple. Just use it again and again. Repetition is the best method to master something," Kael said. "But you need to pair it with observation so that you can improve. Use your skills and observe it, try to understand its mechanism—like how it works, why it works and all. It'll all be helpful."
"How do we know we are improving, Master?" Jon asked the next question.
Kael and others gave him strange looks, but he seemed to be unaware of them. Kael sighed and said, "You'll feel it. That's all I can say."
He looked around and asked, "Anything else?"
"Master, can we come to you to ask things if we don't understand them?" Kiona asked. "I feel like I'll develop much faster in your care."
"Most likely, you will improve faster that way, but I also need to focus on myself, so I'll say—try your hardest," Kael smiled. "And then if you need my help, you can come to me."
Kiona nodded in understanding and began to form the plans to increase her mastery over her skills.
"Alright, you can start with some of the weaker skills and try not to be too flashy," Kael announced. "Alright, choose where you'll feel the most comfortable and practice your skills there."
With that, he turned towards Rias and asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Perhaps, I'll study my soul and try to find out why I don't have skills," Rias responded in a calm voice. "I didn't think much of it before, but now I'm curious. This could point me to my origin... but I'm afraid to find it."
"You'll be fine, so go and try it," Kael said before shrugging lightly. "Besides, I don't think it'll be that easy and I'm sure you probably tried it in one of your previous lives."
Rias considered his words and nodded, "That's true. If it is related to my origin, then it could also be related to this curse of mine. I don't think it'll be easy, but I will still find it." UploadedbytheM|V|L(EMPYR)team.
"That's a good way to start. Let me know if there's something I can help you with," Kael said before he turned around to leave, but Rias's voice stopped him.
"Wait!" Rias called out. "I do have something to ask of you."
Kael tilted his head to look at her and said, "Sure. Come with me. And you all, go and practice your skills instead of wasting time here."
The lion family was already excited to increase their battle prowess that they didn't think twice before following his orders and left the base to find a comfortable place to practice.
Kiona gave a last glance at Kael and Rias and thought, 'Master once again showed me the way to move forward. I won't let it go to waste.'
With that, she also left. Her destination was the old cave where she had stayed while she was injured. It held a special place in her heart, and since it was close to the Great Storm Tree's root, the damage her skill could do was also very minimal.
On the other hand, Kael led Rias to one of the numerous branches of the Great Storm Tree. They were very big, enough to carve out their whole house easily, so this was the perfect place to practice.
But for Kael, it was also special since the Great Storm Tree resonated with her Storm Affinity.
Once they found a suitable place and sat down, Kael asked, "So, what do you want from me?"