"Alright big siiiisteerrrr~ Now let's get to the real fun..."
Wow... it's incredible that even though I was hugged from the side, she has mountains big enough to still make contact...
As these thoughts passed through my mind, I suddenly felt a sharp pain on the top of my head.
SMACK!
"Ah! What are you doing, Big Sis!?"
Gaia had smacked the top of my head with the back of her hand so hard that tears welled up in my eyes. Wait a second... I'm a soul right now. I don't have a physical body. How can I feel pain? Could it be... Is she using Haki?!!!
As I rubbed my head, muttering, "I wonder if she can shoot black lightning too?" Gaia ignored me completely and turned to Fukurokuju. That gentle expression on her face was gone, replaced by the seriousness of a mafia boss on collection day.
"Give it to me, Fukurokuju."
"W-what?"
"Don't pretend. Take out that talent. If we are sending Reiner to that woman, he is going to need it."
Fukurokuju's already wrinkled face puckered even more in horror. He pouted as if we were trying to mug him for his last bit of pocket money.
"NO! Never! I refuse to give something of that level to this brat, especially after he insulted me! That is one of the rarest pieces in my collection—"
"SHUT UP!"
"EEEEEEK!"
Gaia's voice was so authoritative that a shrill sound, completely unbecoming of a God, escaped Fukurokuju.
Immediately following this pathetic squeak, a beam of bright pink light shot out from the old fossil's chest, as if being forcibly ripped away. The light floated through the air and landed in Gaia's hand. Without wasting a second, Gaia opened her own palm and produced another pink light, followed by a blinding crimson light.
Now, three orbs of light were floating in front of me.
"Reiner, listen carefully, because if you want to survive, you will definitely need to know this."
Gaia took a deep breath and looked at me with a serious expression.
"Let's start with the Pink ones first. These are not ordinary abilities. We call these 'Conceptual Talents.' These are powers that can directly intervene in the rules of the universe. They exist in limited numbers, even for Gods."
I raised my eyebrows. "Wow... looks pretty cool. Are they really that good?"
My nonchalant attitude triggered Fukurokuju again. The man was trembling as if a piece of his soul had just been torn out.
"OF COURSE THEY ARE GOOD, YOU IGNORANT BRAT! EVEN A POWERFUL AND SENIOR GOD LIKE ME ONLY HAS 10 OF THEM!"
Just as I opened my mouth to say, "So they aren't that rare if you have 10..." we both instantly felt Gaia's infamous killer side-eye piercing through our souls.
Message received. We shut up. Ehe~
Satisfied with our silence, Gaia dragged the lights in her hand toward me. As the lights entered me, I opened my system panel.
[USER STATUS]
Name: Reiner Hart
Race: Human
Level: 1
Points: 0
[BASIC STATS]
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 10
Mana: 10
[TALENTS]
1. Sacrifice (Pink)
2. Soul Bond (Pink)
3. Smile (Crimson)
"Now," Gaia said, her tone returning to that of a teacher. "Let me explain what these talents do and why they are vital for you."
Gaia pointed a finger at the still-weeping Fukurokuju and began to explain.
"Let's start with the talent called Soul Bond. This is the talent of that grump in the back. Using this, you literally knot two souls together. This bond is so strong that even other gods in the universe cannot intervene from the outside to break it. The only people who can break the bond are the ones bound by it."
"Sounds romantic," I mumbled.
"Ahem, well... Romantic, yes, but you must be careful about one thing. You have only one chance to bond. And if the bond is broken somehow... it might have a tiny side effect for you, like never waking up again until you die."
I looked at those eyes and that gentle smile telling me this like it was a minor inconvenience. You're mocking me, right? Why aren't you continuing? You're not joking!?
"A tiny side effect?!" I shouted. "That literally means 'Game Over'!"
Gaia ignored my objection and moved on to the shimmering crimson light.
"The next talent is called Smile. This is a 'Crimson' level ability and believe me, it is very valuable."
Because of the name, a fear rose inside me. "What does it do? Please tell me it hypnotizes or scares everyone who sees my smile..."
"...No. It gives happiness to the person who sees it."
There was a silence.
"...Is that it?"
"That is it. But don't be fooled by the simplicity of the description. A Crimson level talent should never be underestimated."
Sighhhhh... Alright, at least the level looks high. Upon my sigh, Gaia turned to the last remaining pink light.
"This is my gift to you... my most precious talent: its name is Sacrifice. Do you see the 'Points' section on the system panel?"
[Points: 0]
I narrowed my eyes slightly and looked at the translucent blue screen floating in the air. A huge 0 was written in the corner.
"I designed this part specifically for you, Reiner," Gaia said, her voice carrying the sincerity of a mother giving the last piece of dessert to her child.
"Normally, this talent called Sacrifice allows you to create any talent you want by sacrificing something you own. But with my modification, this points section will increase as you help the person you are bound to with the Soul Bond. This way, you can create new talents for both your soulmate and yourself by just spending points, without necessarily having to sacrifice a limb or a memory from yourself."
"Wow..." I said, genuinely impressed this time. "So, a 'Do good, get talent' system. She gets happy, and I get stronger. Clever. I like this."
While examining the System, I was trying to fit everything into my head when suddenly a detail flashed in my brain like lightning.
"Wait a minute... I get it, my support skills are done, romance is set. But... where are the talents I'm going to use in battle? How exactly am I going to protect myself?"
Upon this extremely logical question, instead of answering, Gaia narrowed her eyes and looked at me with that slightly creepy smile.
"Alright then," she said cheerfully, clapping her hands, leaving my question completely hanging in the air. "If you're ready, I'm sending you off."
I felt my body (or soul) starting to disintegrate into particles from the bottom up.
"Wait wait wait!!!" I jumped in panic. I waved my hands, trying to stop the process. "What about my attack talents?! Sword mastery? Fireball? You didn't give me anythi—"
"Good luck, Reiner!"
"Don't interrupt me! I DON'T WANT TO DIE AS SOON AS I GO—"
VZZZT.
Suddenly the image went black, the sound cut off, and I disappeared into the void of the universe.
The only thing left behind was Gaia's final smile and my half-finished scream.
***
When I opened my eyes, the first thing that filled my lungs was a dense and heavy smell of moss.
Where am I?
I blinked my eyes, but it was futile; it was pitch black. When I lifted my head and looked up, I noticed there was a natural hole in the cave ceiling, but the inside was pitch dark because thick clouds were blocking the moon.
To grasp the situation, or at least find a floor to stand on or a wall to lean against, I reached my hand blindly into the darkness. After stumbling a few steps, my fingers finally made contact with a surface.
But... this wasn't a stone wall.
The surface was soft. Much softer than I expected. In fact, it had such a strange texture that instead of pulling my hand away, I involuntarily closed my palm and squeezed that softness. Once more. And once more. It was like a stress ball, quite relaxing—
As I was imagining what kind of thing this was, two pairs of eyes opened in the darkness to my left looking at me... Deep yellow irises. And right in the center, vertical, pitch-black pupils like a cat's.
Just at that moment, the clouds in the sky cleared.
Moonlight filtered through the hole in the ceiling, filling the cave like a natural spotlight, and revealed exactly what the "wall" I had been squeezing with such great pleasure actually was.
At that moment, I felt the blood in my veins freeze.
As the light hit, I realized what the eyes were looking at... they were looking exactly at where my hand was holding right now.
"EEEEK!"
I snatched my hand back rapidly and scurried backward on my butt all the way to the cave wall.
When I had nowhere left to run, those two pairs of yellow eyes began to move slowly upward. The entity was standing up. Hair shining like golden waterfalls in the moonlight rippled like a golden ocean. The head rose... and rose...
"Stop... Isn't this a bit too tall..."
When the head finally stopped, standing before me was a super beautiful woman, approximately 4 meters tall, with golden blonde hair, adorned with gold jewelry over black clothing. I was left like an ant on the ground, while she was looking down at me with furrowed brows.
The only thing that could come out of my mouth was the shortest and clearest summary of the situation:
"Oh fuck..."