Awakening in Scales

"Hey Veldora. Are there different levels or tiers of skills?"

At my question Veldora pondered a bit then said.

"There is a concrete distinction in skills but in general they are categories as Intrinsic, Common, Extra, Unique and Ultimate."

So there do exist some well their names are self explanatory but I might as well ask about it.

"What do you mean by special distinction and can you tell me about these a bit more ? "

I questioned him. Seeing my curiosity and expectant look , he stared at me a bit. Then nodded to himself.

What is he thinking? Is he trying to look cool or prolong the conversation?

I noticed it in the past week but this dragon likes to talk a lot. Well if I was stuck at the same place for over 300 years I might as well have been bored out of your mind. And being the big bad dragon he is, no one really came to visit him; they might as well just have come to check if his aura is there to confirm its presence. Sympathizing with his circumstances I generally indulged in his antics.

"Generally, Common Skills are the most basic type followed by Extra Skill then Unique Skills and finally Ultimate Skills. Those are the acquirable skills. As for there being distinction, some skills are more difficult to acquire than others as the name suggests. However, in case of Unique Skills no two skills are the same they

may have the same functionality but there will always be a difference."

Whoa, who knew that Veldora knew so much. While he is childish and boastful, if you are patient enough you can have a very meaningful conversation with the guy. Well regardless, this is quite important information.

"Does the rule of Unique Skills apply to Ultimate Skills as well?"

Since Ultimate Skills are at a higher tier than Unique Skills it should apply but I don't know.

"It should but I don't know."

Looks like Ultimate Skills are turning out to be more and more legendary than I originally thought. Anyhow, I continued my interrogation undeterred by this obstacle.

"What can you tell me more about these skills?"

Intrinsic skills are skills inherent due to the physiology of the being, that is they are obtained from birth.

Common skills are well common and exceedingly simple to obtain.

Extra skills are well above Common skills and the highest level of skills obtainable through hard work and what not.

Unique skills are a sort of manifestation of one's desires and will, not everyone can obtain them.

"But what about Ultimate skills?"

"So impatient. Ultimate skills are legendary skills even among the skill classifications I told you about. Only being with the strongest wills and souls can even hope to achieve and house one, even then that is very difficult."

I see. This cements the fact Veldora knows a lot more than I assumed. I should use this opportunity to learn more. Hmm ... . wait strongest souls what has that to do with skills?

"You said the 'Strongest of the souls' can only hope to achieve and house ultimate skills? Why? Do you mean to say skills are stored in the souls of the owner."

This would explain that message about my body and souls being synchronized and me gaining a unique skill.

"I don't know, that is what my siblings said."

There was a lull in our conversation, there was much to think of and these conversations only further complicated the already intricate web of circumstances regarding my situation.

Both of us sat in our place silently as I digested the new pieces of information. The more I conversed with Veldora the more my loneliness increased. Even if both veldora and I are a family deep inside it still did not feel right. Ah, I miss my place already. This is different from going to college. Even there you have assurance of going back home but in my case I don't even have a home here, only this cave to call shelter. Going back is out of the question.

The more I dwelled in my thoughts the more homesick I felt. I miss my parents and siblings. Siblings ....?

"You never told me about your siblings. Who are they? and where are they? Why did none of them ever come to free you? Moreover, how did you even get stuck in here?"

Blurting out questions my interrogation resumed was it because I did not want to dwell on those thoughts right now or simple curiosity I don't know but the conversation resumed.

Veldora went from silent to shuddering then plain scared. Bad blood among siblings? But then the response would be anger, don't tell me he is scared of them.

" Wh..why do you want to know about my sis....siblings?"

His voice cracked, what's with this reaction? I started slow.

"You said ... me and you are a family.... Then,.... shouldn't they also be family to me?"

"We...well you see we treat each other as families because we are all of the same species. We are not directly related to each other or something."

Why is he avoiding the topic? Oh well if he doesn't want to talk about it then no pressure.

"Well nevermind then. Tell me why are you stuck here?"

Then began the retelling of an epic story: a fight between a hero and the evil dragon....

"So basically, to relieve your boredom you destroyed cities and armies until a Hero destroyed you. Now here you are sitting alone for some 300 years. Did I get it right?"

Haah, some True Dragon he is. That did explain his dilemma.

"She got you good didn't she?" I muttered half-heartedly.

This Hero, will she come for me also if she found my connections to Veldora? Wait, she?

"Veldora, .. did you lose the fight because you were checking her out during the fight? "

I turned around only to find Veldora looking everywhere but towards me.

"Wh...what are you implying brother of mine. Su..such a thing. How dare you ac.. accuse me of such things!"

This dragon... don't tell me.

"Well ... she had a ... pretty face."

The hell are you muttering Veldora you horny dragon.

"Veldora you said that True Dragons are incapable of reproduction, right?"

"Do... do not misunderstand me brother, that was, but a momentary loss of focus. I did not lose because I was stunned by her beauty!"

Veldora shouted or rather roared frantically.

Ah, there it was now I understand how he lost. Who knew even beings like True Dragons were also caught off guard by such factors. With that I continued to tease him a bit.

Hah, I'll grill him on this matter at a later date.

....

Name: Zephyrus Tempest

Race: Arch-Dragon

Magic: None

Unique Skills: Biologist

Extra Skills: None

Intrinsic Skills: None

Resistances: None

"What are you doing?" Veldora asked.

"Making a character sheet." I replied.

"What is a 'character sheet' ?" He questioned further.

"Simply put, it is a record of all my known abilities and attributes."

"I still don't understand. I don't even understand what you are writing." Veldora spoke further.

"Because I have written in my former world's language. " I answered him.

"By abilities and attributes, I mean all my skills and magic I know. As for why I am doing this? Simple, to track what skills and magic I know and how does my race affect my growth. Also, because there are too many different types of skills to keep track of." I further explained.

Satisfied from my explanation Veldora nodded. Judging from his face he still has many questions, keep them coming.

"Then what have you written till now and how will you track your progress?"

Curious, aren't we? At his prompt I recited what I have written till now.

"Interesting. Still, why have you not written Telepathy under Common Skills."

Veldora asked, confusion evident from his voice and facial expression. Telepathy? I never got a prompt for that. Moreover, when did I even learn it? On reflecting over it, neither of us has opened their mouths while speaking, yet we have conversed extensively. Why is that? Don't tell me, I have been telepathically communicating with him and did not realize. It makes sense otherwise we would have to overcome the language barrier first. 

I looked at Veldora intently, he reciprocated. When did I become this careless? Was the notion of my death and reincarnation in another world overwhelming me? Either way, let's rectify that.

"Good catch, I didn't even realize that." I said or rather spoke for the first time and it was a roar rather than a voice. Veldora looked even more confused. There it is, the language barrier.

"Do you understand me now?"

Switching back to Telepathy, I asked Veldora.

"Mmm."

"Still, how did I even gain it? I didn't even realize I was using Telepathy. Looks like it was a good idea to make my character sheet."

Talking to both myself and Veldora, I wondered.

"Speaking of character sheets. I wonder what yours will look like. You know with, you being a True-Dragon and all. On that topic, what skills did you have before you got stuck here."

At my prying Veldora's face brightened. "I am glad you asked, brother. For I like you also possessed a Unique Skill Investigator in representing my never ending pursuit of truth."

What a terribly bright face you are making Veldora.

"In conjunction to that I also possessed a number of skills in my arsenal among which the most notable was Magic Sense, it allowed me to fight even when I was to lose my sight and hearing, or the enemy was behind me."

He is quite open about his skills, shouldn't you keep mum about them? Still, Investigator and Magic Sense. 

I have my questions regarding them but I doubt Veldora knows finer points regarding them. However, I have been proven wrong many times in the past regarding Veldora's competency so might as well ask him.

"Tell more about them."

I prompted him, curiosity dripping from my voice. Skills and Magic were the new mechanics of my new world the more I knew about them the better. Veldora nodded to himself enjoying the attention.

"Hmm, how to explain it to you, it's instinctual to me at this point. Magic Sense comes to me as naturally as breathing." Veldora spoke, pride oozing from him.

"Analytical Appraisal, Thought Acceleration and Pursuit of Truth constituted Investigator." Veldora finished with a nod, a satisfied smirk on his draconic face.

"Very impressive, and you said these were the most notable ones in your arsenal?" Complimenting him, I furthered our conversation.

"Humph, of course I had many more but I don't remember them anymore."

Nevermind, Veldora flunked at the most critical of moments. Yet, just these four can be a good start.

"You still haven't told me their effects, Veldora."

"I am getting there, in the meantime reveling in my glory brother."

At Veldora's declaration, I could feel a scowl creep up my face. Come on, move it Veldora. Even, I will get impatient after some time.

Perhaps sensing my impatience or seeing my obvious scowl, I didn't bother to hide, clued him. He continued.

"Ahem, continuing Magic Sense allows you to perceive the particles of magic floating around you though all it offers is a visual reference rather than a new form of sight. Analytical Appraisal gives a peek at your target's information like amount of magicules etc. be it a person or an object. As for Thought Acceleration it simply accelerates your speed of thinking. I don't know much about Pursuit of Truth, never used it much but all it does is show a history of the target."

Thus, Veldora finished giving a rundown of his skills. His voice brimmed with smugness.

Interesting to say the least and enlightening. A lot to ponder upon.

With Veldora deciding to take a nap our conversation came to an end.

//The End//

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Hello, dear reader author here. I hope you liked the chapter. I know it only two chapters but still I must ask. How do you like the story so far?

This story was something that was brewing in my mind for a bit. The idea solidified as I was re-reading tensura. A thought came to. 'Half of the problems weren't even problem if Rimuru wasn't Rimuru.' That was the thought, it becomes painfully obvious the moment Rimuru gets Belzebuth apart from all the political issues in regards to aligning with the west most of the shenanigans that happen to Rimuru and company can just be solved if he grew a spine.

The later arcs in my opinion only exacerbated this issue with the empire its war. Like during Glenda's attempt of framing Rimuru we see Belzebuth activate ignoring space and time then why wasn't it used during the while empire arc…..

Again, while tensura isn't exactly power-fantasy Rimuru's abilities makes it hard to defend against such claims.

Hence this story. However! While I'll try my best to make sure skill do not start to shower for our protagonist by explaining the thought process for the skill acquisition. This story is also not some anti-powerfantasy. With the upcoming events of Tenma war and the Empire's invasion it is inevitable that our protagonist will die if he doesn't level up but reasonably so.

Well thats my aim for the direction of the story. I'll explain my reasons for Zephyrus's exact circumstances sometime later. Till then, bye-bye.

Author out.