Alexander stared at the heap of grasshoppers until a barrage of screens materialized before his eyes:
[Level Up! Normal Rank 4 -> Normal Rank 5]
[Skill Aquired!]
[skill: command – air]
[skill: command – hearing]
[skill: command – sight]
[skill: command – fatigue]
[skill: command – muscle]
[skill: command – pain]
[skill: command – adrenaline]
[skill: command – anger]
The rest of the group crowded around, scanning the notifications. Reina reached him first, peering intently at the flickering screens. "He's unlocked his first set of skills," she announced to the men.
Ketovan was close behind. He looked over the list, initially appearing disappointed, until his eyes settled on the final two entries. These were invaluable. If Alexander reached the Soldier Rank while Ketovan remained a Commander ranker, skills like Command – Adrenaline and Command – Anger could act as a catalyst for Ketovan's own racial skill, Rage. He wouldn't even need to be genuinely furious to trigger it; Alexander could force him into that state with a mere thought.
"Command – Pain?" Reina asked, pointing to the entry. "How does that work?"
"According to the archives on the Core of Hegemony," Ketovan explained, "until the Noble Rank, it simply helps negate pain for the user or their allies. But at the Noble Rank? It becomes a weapon. You can force a target to feel as though their eyes are being ripped out. It's a psychological game-changer."
"How do you know all this?" Hakon teased. "You aren't a secret agent for the Scholar, are you?"
"I have a blessing from the Hegemon to help me guide Alexander and master his Core," Ketovan said. He pulled down his collar to reveal a purple, glowing crest tattooed on his left shoulder. "It provides me with the knowledge and experience of all previous users of this Core."
"Nice tattoo," Alex said, oblivious to the gravity of the mark.
"It is not a tattoo. It is a sign of a divine blessing," Ketovan said, his voice deadly serious.
Franklin frowned. "Can't the god bless Mr. Sobreviviente directly, rather than making you his constant companion?"
"No," Ketovan replied. "To receive a blessing, one must believe in the god solely and fully. And Alex… well, he's an atheist."
Hakon, Franklin, and Reina stared in confusion. "What is an atheist?" they asked in unison.
"He does not believe in gods," Ketovan explained.
Reina looked incredulous. "Any god?"
"Yeah. I don't believe in the concept of divinity," Alexander added calmly.
For the people of Eternia, gods are an actual part of their life. The gods or conceptual beings as they call themselves, visit so often that at least one god materializes on 10 planets of the solar system once a day. Leaving the only planet, Impero.
Whether it be a tea with one of the Almighties or an inauguration of a new royal ranker in their ranks, gods are seen every day at any part of the 10 planets. So not believing a god is seen as an anomaly. It was very rare that someone other than the almighties state that they don't believe in gods. The ones who did were probably lying or were Omniarchs like Alexander. From worlds where gods were rarely seen, if not completely absent, to be believed real.
Alex, however, was more interested in his new skills. He focused on Command – Sight, peering toward a distant mountain range. His vision zoomed in with the precision of a telescope, revealing a massive dragon slumbering on a black, rocky peak, its scales shimmering with silver flecks. When he deactivated the skill, mana receded from his eyes, and the mountain returned to a tiny speck on the horizon.
"So, do I get skills every level?" Alexander asked.
"No," Hakon answered. "You gain eight skills every five levels. By level 100, you'll have 160. The remaining fifteen must be acquired through your fighting style or by performing rituals to steal skills from the cores of soulless beasts."
Reina didn't wait for further explanation. She drew a dagger and approached the grasshoppers, decapitating them with practiced efficiency before slicing them from neck to stomach to extract the loot. Even though she was a foot shorter than the insects, she tossed their 500-kilogram carcasses aside like discarded husks.
"Can I help?" Alexander asked.
"Sure. Decapitate, tear to the stomach, retrieve the stone, and discard the body," she instructed.
Alexander grabbed a carcass. Though it weighed half a ton, he found he could lift it with surprising ease. He drew his cutlass to assist, and the group froze.
"Is that…?" Hakon began.
"Emperor's Will," Franklin finished, staring at the black, humming edge of the blade.
"Is he really using that sword to butcher common grasshoppers?" Hakon asked, bewildered.
"Yes, he is," Ketovan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
When they reached the Soldier Rank grasshoppers, Alexander struggled to lift them, only managing to hoist them halfway before Reina took over. She performed the same routine, but this time, the green stone inside the beast was the size of a fist.
"Cut the leaf," Hakon ordered.
Ketovan stepped forward and struck the stem of the massive leaf three times. As it fell, the leaf didn't hit the ground; it dissolved into pale green light, condensing into a jade medallion in Ketovan's palm.
[ITEM: CORE OF THE LEAF] [RARITY: UNCOMMON]
"So every leaf is a core?" Reina asked.
"Exactly," Ketovan said, storing it in his spatial bag. Between the 140 Normal Rank cores and the two Soldier Rank cores they'd already looted—multiplied by the fifty leaves on this branch alone—the haul was staggering.
Alexander realized he had a long road of fighting ahead of him, and his mind was reeling with questions.
"Can I ask you guys some questions?" he said, glancing at the team.
***