Side Story: A reaction to soul modification

Standing among the crowd, feeling squashed by the dense mass of bodies surrounding him, Verde couldn't help but wonder for the hundredth time just what he was doing.

His god, like so many others, had spread the word about a chance to grow stronger, to surpass his natural limits in some unnatural way, as well as making clear that their believers should take it, which had sounded all well and good until he was forced to confront what a miserable experience waiting was proving to be.

They could have at least spread us out a bit more than this, he couldn't help but grumble while he was pressed shoulder to shoulder in those crowded streets. I'm getting claustrophobic.

A part of him wanted to leave, but already he knew it wouldn't be an option either. How was he to push his way through the swarm? He had no job or career that had led him to any great strength or maneuverability; he was a simple cook, which alone made the decision to be there feel pointless. 

Not that he didn't understand. The gods of the world were ultimately preparing for a final line of defense. Once the armies, adventurers, and other warriors all fell, it would fall on who was left to put themselves forward, the opportunity he was waiting on with so many others all to give whatever citizens remained a fighting chance, even if he couldn't believe that he'd play any part in that. If things got so bad that he was personally fighting for his life, his time seemed like it would be far better spent trying to figure out how to die as painlessly as possible instead, with that cheery idea filling his mind as he continued to regret his choice of spending the day there, right until it finally happened.

Above his head, a group flew by, not slowing for anything, though for a moment it felt like they did as words not his own started to fill his head and a sudden pain touched his intangible soul.

<ACQUIRED SKILL EMPTY SOUL>

Yeah, that's gonna sting for a few days, but try not to mind it, the mysterious speaker told him. And try not to be such a downer. After this, you'll feel a lot more confident about your prospects of putting up at least a bit of a fight. Not the point right now though, let's see, when you get out of here, immediately start training your air magic and cooking for the day. Genuinely work hard and you might get some more levels because you're going to be under a bit of a boost for it for the next few hours. When that's done, you can go back to working on whatever.

Words imprinted on his mind with a level of permanence that no normal conversation could leave, As soon as Verde heard them, the speaker was gone, leaving time to speed up once more, along with the feeling of the change within him.

Power. Pure and raw and unbridled, the likes of which he'd never felt before. His body was strong, unnaturally so, with his mana and vitality both at a point where it felt like they wanted to flow out of him.

Yet none of that was comparable to the change he felt in his mind. His thoughts were unnaturally sharp; his head left unnaturally clear. He'd never considered himself particularly dumb before, but he did consider himself to be average when it came to such things, and considering that the better part of the world would be going through those exact same changes he supposed he still would be, but what that had meant had just jumped by thousands of points.

It was to an extent that he started doing mental math, just to see how it felt when his limits were typically in the realm of adding and subtracting stock or telling customers their fees, but addition and subtraction were no longer any limit as he found himself doing harder and harder bits of multiplication and division before diving into formulas he hadn't needed to think about since his youth when his schooling had begun the process of trying to get him the first two or three levels of calculate, with the fourth arriving suddenly all of those years later.

<CALCULATE LEVEL INCREASED>

That cinched it. The regret he felt about wasting his day was long gone, replaced with pure excitement. How could he have ever let himself doubt the benevolence of the gods for setting up such an event for their people? It was a blessing of the highest order, plain and simple, and he couldn't wait to see the extent of it so with his section done, he and everyone else slowly started filing out towards the waiting space mages so he could get back to his home and really explore just what his newfound power meant.

---

As soon as the crowd moved enough that he was able to get to the space mage he needed, bringing him to the edge of that city, he watched as others around him began to run and didn’t need to think about it before joining, not taking a cart back to his nearby town but instead enjoying the journey through his own power as he feet launched him down dirt roads, feeling like he was flying across the land as he went.

He could see the others doing it too, some he recognized and some he didn’t. Either throwing their arms out as they went or screaming in naked excitement. They could feel the power flowing through them, and every one of them enjoyed using it.

It’s a bit odd though, Verde couldn’t help but notice through his exhilaration. All of my attributes have grown; that’s undeniable, but it feels pretty uneven.

He’d left his card at home, not wanting to risk it getting snagged amongst everything else when he’d been pressed body to body with everyone else there, but now he couldn’t help regret that choice. As things were, all he could do was try to estimate, and while the growth to his thoughts were the obvious stand out, the growth to his agility was just as plainly the lowest of everything, leaving him to wonder why the gods hadn’t arranged for a more even spread before dismissing it. He had no clue how such a thing had been accomplished after all, beyond some incomprehensible modification to his soul, who was he to question why it had been done how it had? For all he knew, this might have been the only way it could have been done. After all, there was no doubt that this had to be a recent discovery, surely deeply researched as fast as it could have been, else the change would have been spread before the first wave.

And even if agility’s growth was comparatively low, he’d never exactly trained on that front before either. It felt like his speed had at least tripled, with the significant boost to his stamina going with it making the run home feel easy as he went until finally he saw his town ahead, with others who’d received the same modification earlier already there and enjoying it for all it was worth.

Some were indulging in feats of strength, challenging themselves to lift what rocks or logs or other weighty things they could find, straining but largely succeeding in the end. It was easy to notice one man in trouble for accidentally pushing through a shop’s pull door, leaving Verde to make a mental note to be extra cautious of such things until he’d properly adjusted to the change in himself, but things didn’t end there.

Strength, agility, stamina, all were easily seen when used, and while he personally wasn’t going to test the new limits of his vitality, nor was he too concerned about his recovery rates, there was one other aspect the town was filled with. The mana of every mage, having risen to drastic new heights, was being put to use.

With that at least being treated with the appropriate amount of care. Holders of fire magic were shooting jets of flame into the air above but controlling it to ensure that no one burned down the town and water magic users were on standby, practically waiting for someone to lose control of their flames so they could act as well, with giant bubbles of water floating around the sky in anticipation.

When it came to light and life, there was little doubt that the holders of those two elements were just grateful for what the increase in power would mean for their workload, and earth mages were busy building up towers, just because they could.

He couldn’t see any dark, space, or time spells around but he was sure some were being used just out of view, and as for himself, even if its level was low and he never used it since there was never much reason to, he did have air magic as a blessed skill and for the first time it weeks put it to use, summoning a small tornado around him and barely felt any change to his pool for the effort, the amount of mana within his soul now too great and his recovery rate now too high, leaving him to wonder if that was anything close to what the gods felt like.

<AIR MAGIC LEVEL INCREASED>

The voice did say I might get a level out of using this, Verde remembered, his eyes bright over a skill he’d barely cared about that same morning. In that case, I really should work on my cooking too.

Especially since that at least was directly connected to his career, but really, he felt endless things he wanted to try now that so much power had been placed in his hands. He wanted to run more, to test the limits of both his speed and his strength. He wanted to indulge in more magic too, and he wanted to see just how much smarter he really was by going to the local library and devouring everything, and he had the time to do it. With all of the power given to him and the world as a whole, all thoughts of how the war would end stopped, leaving only excitement. With that much power in everyone's hands, they would win; how could they not? With that conclusion leaving only the matter of getting used to the change in himself and enjoying all it held.

It was a feeling that had gripped the world as a whole. Not just a chance at victory, but what felt like a near certainty of it, leaving everyone with a renewed hope for the future with that granted blessing.

Author's note

Once again, I'm sorry this took so long. I hope it was okay and I hope you've all been enjoying the holidays