About Skill Points

“What exactly are skills? Fundamentally, they’re a person’s innate ‘abilities’ manifested in the form of special ‘techniques.’”

Zels explained.

“It’s said that the goddess of fate, ‘Melfaria,’ is the one who defines these skills. Anyway, setting that aside—certain skills have ‘points’ associated with them that can produce various effects on those skills. These points are granted by the goddess I just mentioned, Melfaria.”

“You’ve suddenly become quite talkative…”

“I can talk endlessly about things that interest me.”

Zels looked straight at me.

“I don’t want to talk about things I don’t care about. It’s a pain. I’m only human, after all.”

“R-right…”

“Now, where was I? In other words, the Skill Points you possess were probably granted by Melfaria as well. If that’s the case, you should simply ask Melfaria what conditions you need to fulfill to receive more points.”

“Ask her…? But she’s a goddess, isn’t she?”

As I said that, something suddenly occurred to me.

“Wait, don’t tell me—”

“You’re surprisingly quick on the uptake. That’s right. A divine oracle.”

Zels explained matter-of-factly.

“All you have to do is visit a Temple of Melfaria and ask a high-ranking priest to obtain a divine oracle. If you’re lucky, you might get your answer.”

“I see…”

I took Zels’s hand.

“I never would’ve thought of that. I didn’t even know Melfaria was responsible for skills in the first place. Thanks!”

“I-it’s not like I did anything special! I only told you because it’s something I’m interested in. You don’t have to thank me for every little thing.”

Zels’s cheeks turned red as he spoke.

This guy… Could he actually be the shy type?

“Well, this kingdom has a strong tradition of worshipping Melfaria, so that’s perfect. Let’s visit the Temple of Melfaria in the royal capital.”

Millet suggested.

“A friend of mine is a high-ranking priestess there, so I’ll arrange things in advance.”

“That’d be a big help.”

I thanked her.

“Before we go, though, would you three mind letting me appraise your skills? I’d like to work out a concrete plan for strengthening each of you.”

I looked around at Ram, Zels, and Shirley.

“Sure thing!”

“I don’t really mind…”

“Sounds good to me!”

All three agreed.

—And with that, it was time to start appraising.

First up was Ram.

Huh? There were more fields than before.

I was pretty sure there hadn’t been a ‘Class’ field previously.

Had my skill somehow received an update without me noticing?

Well, never mind that… Zels was next.

Finally, Shirley.

Now then, how should I go about strengthening their skills…?

First, I’d need to acquire more Skill Points.

With our initial introductions out of the way, Flare and I decided to accompany Millet to the Temple of Melfaria.

“Wait. I’m coming too.”

It was Zels who had volunteered to join us.

“You too?”

“I’m interested. Take me with you. Please. Please.”

His eyes were sparkling with excitement.