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SoK Chapter 167
🕑 Added 2025-06-11 15:00:12 +0000 UTC***
The first thing he did was organize his Attributes to be as even as possible. With all the Free Attributes he’d just gained, organizing and distributing them all left him with a single Free Point at the end of it all. Instead of ruining any of the perfect synchronicity, he left that lone Free Point at the bottom of his Status.
Status Sheet
Name: TJ (Thiago Jorge) Harris IV
Race: Semi-Divine Human – lvl 29
Class: Storm-Calling Neophyte lvl 30
Occupation: Savage Shaman lvl 28
Level of Divinity: Copper (I)
Divine Bloodline: Kukulkan
Health Points (HP): 5,820/5,820
Mana Points (MP): 5,980/5,980
Stamina: 5,240/5,240
Attributes
Strength: 300+15(+60)
Agility: 280+10(+56)
Endurance: 420+20(+84)
Vitality: 470+28(+94)
Toughness: 350+25(+70)
Wisdom: 340+10(+68)
Intelligence: 490+10(+98)
Perception: 360+10(+72)
Willpower: 430+10(+86)
Fixation: 500+10(+100)
Free Points: 1
Skill List: Hidden
Titles: Irregular
Elite Hunter (Copper (I))
Evolutionary Frontrunner
Current total maximum Divine Transformation time: 9:23:00
(End+Vit+Will+Fix)/4 Current cooldown: 0:00
Status Sheet
Name: TJ (Thiago Jorge) Harris IV
Race: Storm Coatl – lvl 29
Class: Storm-Calling Neophyte lvl 30
Occupation: Savage Shaman lvl 28
Level of Divinity: Copper (I)
Divine Bloodline: Kukulkan
Health Points (HP): 11,560/11,560
Mana Points (MP): 11,860/11,860
Stamina: 10,240/10,240
Attributes
Strength x2.5: 750+15(+150)
Agility x2: 560+10(+112)
Endurance x2: 840+20(+164)
Vitality x2: 940+28(+188)
Toughness x2.5: 875+25(+175)
Wisdom x1.5: 510+10(+102)
Intelligence x2: 980+10(+196)
Perception x2: 720+10(+144)
Willpower x1.5: 645+10(+129)
Fixation x2: 1,000+10(+200)
Free Points: 1
Skill List: Hidden
Titles: Irregular
Elite Hunter (Copper (I))
Evolutionary Frontrunner
Divine Trial Records (Copper (I)):
1 Minor, 0 Moderate, 0 Bitter, 0 Celestial
Seeing the perfectly round number, the first 1,000 in his Fixation, brought a pretty stupid amount of happiness to him. Maybe it was something intrinsic, but seeing that number in particular made TJ smile. Even the fact that it wasn’t actually one of his Attributes could dissuade him. Instead of just looking at the numbers, though, TJ rolled his shoulders and looked at his Skill options.
Wind Scythe, (Silver (II)): You are a Descendant of Kukulkan, and have displayed a familiarity with his rule over the winds, even going so far as to establish a Divine Authority over the concept of Storm. You have hunted Copper (I) tiered Elites and Bosses with your winds. This Skill will better hone your ability to use Wind Manipulation as a weapon. This Skill will strengthen the cutting power of Wind Manipulation while decreasing the MP cost of all usage of the Wind Manipulation Skill with the intent to cut. This Skill will be enhanced by your existing Copper (I) tiered Divine Authority; Storm.
An old option, one he’d never given a whole lot of attention even as it had appeared the first time. Even so, TJ felt like he could get this Skill and be happy with the end result. Wind Manipulation was, more and more, his chief go-to for killing. His body was still a weapon, but with his Divinity, Divine Authority, Storm Soul, Stormcaller, and his Class, it just made sense for him to lean more and more into using Wind Manipulation and eventually controlling the storm.
He had to push idle thoughts away about if Wind Manipulation would become something more than it already was. After all, that could be dismissed as obvious considering what the System had said about Divine Authorities that encompassed others. Then, of course there was—no. He pulled his attention back to the Skills presented to him.
Lightning Manipulation, (Copper (I)): The descendants of Kukulkan are blessed with an inherent affinity for the skies, winds, and rains, and you have pushed that further to seize Divine Authority over the concept of Storm. You already have called lightning to yourself, and though you lack the ability to truly command it, you have come to an understanding already with the fury of the heavens, and it is willing to follow your commands if you humble yourself enough to select this Skill. This Skill will grant you the ability to summon and control lightning and electricity near you. Your Divine Transformation’s progression to Storm Coatl and personal efforts have resulted in a sub-Dirt level Lightning Manipulation adjacent ability, and while under the effects of the Divine Transformation Skill to a coatl or its subsequent evolutions, the Lightning Manipulation Skill will ascend one tier. Usage of this Skill depletes MP at a rate inversely correlated to your Fixation and Intelligence while scaling in potency at a rate directly correlated to your Fixation and Intelligence.
This… TJ knuckled at his forehead. Not a bad choice. Yes, it carried no small amount of overlap with Wind Manipulation, but if he’d had this while fighting Acalan, he could have fried him while under water. Well, maybe he could have. The clumsy attempt he’d made at creating lightning under the water was almost embarrassing it was so limited, so he saw the possibilities if it was suddenly at the level of Wind Manipulation.
Then again, TJ was sure that the two Skills could be merged. Did he want to use one of his limited Skill selection options to devote to a Skill he was pretty sure he’d be using his free time to develop and merge with another? His previous thoughts became much foggier on the matter, and he sighed to himself as he moved on to the next option.
Divinity Mastery, (Copper (I)): Your Race is well-suited to, and, in fact, is designed to allow those of this Race to be better suited to acquiring Divine Authorities and to do so with greater ease and speed than other Races are capable of. This Skill grants you a static 100% increase to the rate of Divine Authority acquisition up to the Copper tier. After the Copper tier, the increase to Divine Authority acquisition rate is cut by two thirds every tier.
A good Skill, if TJ was more actively searching for as many Divine Authorities as possible. He wasn’t, not at this point at least. It would help him in the long run, but there were plenty of options that would help him to ensure that he made it to the next day. Then, later on, he could take a Skill that helped him like this. He pushed his attention to the next option, though a part of him still hungered for this option.
Storm Sublimation, (Silver (II)): Your body is inhabited by a Storm’s soul and holds dominion over the Storm. You have proven that those who challenge your sovereignty have to fight you in hopes of surviving to hold onto what they have clawed to gain access to. You will kill them for their hubris. This Skill gives a bonus to you while within the presence of a Storm. This bonus will be provided to you while in opposition to other creatures that are in possession of a Divine Authority. While in combat against an individual with possession of a Divine Authority of a lower tier, yours will suppress theirs by an additional 50%. While in combat against an individual with possession of a Divine Authority of the same tier, yours will suppress theirs by 15%. While in combat against an individual with possession of a Divine Authority of a higher tier, the suppression you feel will be reduced by 30%.
That suppression… he didn’t know anything about it. Maybe because he and the minotaur had possessed the same level of Divine Authority that he hadn’t really noticed that it was a thing, but that would be another aspect that made things more and more dangerous at the higher tiers. The more TJ learned, the less he felt like he understood. Divine Realms, he was pretty sure he’d heard of, but couldn’t remember what exactly that was, then there was this suppression of Authority? He’d been offered another Class’s primary Skill as one for him, so what did that mean long term for which Skills people would be using? There was no way to say, but TJ considered this to be a Participant-fighting Skill more than one to be used in his usual day to day. He tentatively put it to the side for now.
Shredding Bite (Copper (I)): Your fangs have ripped into Copper (I) tiered Bosses and Elites. You have proven yourself a dangerous predator, one whose mouth deals death and dismemberment with ease. This Skill will further strengthen and broaden your fangs as a coatl to teeth meant to tear creatures apart. It will also grant you a better understanding of how best to maim and disable with tearing attacks, both as a coatl as well as a human. In addition, this Skill will grant an additional +6 Strength attribute per level of Neophyte, to be applied retroactively (subtracting whatever bonus has been provided before).
This was the exact same Skill offered as before. It wasn’t complex, but the growth of Strength at this point would be 150. Could he turn that down? It seemed genuinely stupid to do so. But since he was hardly using his physical body to overwhelm and kill his foes at this point, would he want to change his approach that much? If he did, would it be something that made him stronger or weaker in the long run? Because it seemed like he always regretted having spread his Skills and abilities so widely, but here he was getting an opportunity to do that again and he couldn’t say no to it out of hand.
In that same vein was the equipment he was making. It was getting outclassed, more and more every day. He had his equipment, but rarely used it. Was there much of a reason to even make it? There was the Skill that his ring gave him, that he’d forgotten to use against the Minotaurs like an idiot, and then there was the Stealth that the cloak gave him, but if it weren’t for the Skills, then was there much of a use for the equipment he was making.
But all this was just a distraction from the fact that he hadn’t been offered the Skill he was looking for. He needed to be able to protect Junior for this world while he grew up just a little, and none of these did what he wanted them to. So then, which of the options available would be best to choose for now?
Initially, he’d pushed away Lightning Manipulation and Divinity Mastery because he didn’t think they’d serve him immediately, but was that the right choice? There was too much at stake, and… TJ sighed as he sat back against a nearby wall as the rains cleared out above him. Sun slowly pierced the clouds he’d summoned and, decision still not yet made, he stood and began collecting the materials from the chieftain he’d killed.
