The next morning, Il Ji sent his sister off to school. Seeing Jackpot sitting in the corner, he decided to do a test run.
"Hey bud."
The little chest lifted its lid.
"Get in my soulspace, and we'll go outside."
As the little chest floated between his eyebrows, Il Ji felt it get sucked in. Then, all was silent. After a moment, Il Ji entered his Soul Space.
It was no longer an unfilled void; what went on now was much more… eventful.
The Illusatory space was stacked high with coins. Everything was golden. Specks of gold formed a mist that circled around the space. Large motes of golden aura spun around in the sky before disappearing into the land below.
Up above stood the golden star, as well as the two white stars circling each other in the center. Looking closely, he could see a small, transparent star circling above as well.
'I sure am a lucky guy.' Il Ji thought to himself.
Normally, every Beast Tamer had one tamer talent, and one soul slot per rank. Starting from copper rank, they would have one soul slot for copper, iron, bronze, silver, gold, platinum, diamond, legend, myth, archaic, and so on.
But with two white Soul Stars, Il Ji had room for two beasts at each rank- as long as he cultivated both stars at the same rate.
Exiting his soul space, Il Ji switched gears. Going downstairs, he placed the 'Sorry, we're CLOSED' sign on the front door, and went to the alley behind his shop. It was a great place to try out his Unique Talent, [Mimic].
As a [Growth]-type talent, it was definitely a [Unique] Talent. Normally, talents were ranked from F-S. Then there was [Unique].
[Unique] talents were only given out to one person at a time. They weren't on the ranking scale. Unlike all the other talents, they seemed to defy logic. Furthermore, it was often centuries between the time they showed up and the time they disappeared.
[Growth] Talents were not only unique, they would grow with the user. The higher their rank, the higher the skill.
Summoning Jackpot into the alley, he gave his first battle order. "Jackpot. We're training this morning. First, we'll practice the skill: Charge."
Then, he pointed to the open alley. "First, use charge until you reach the end. I will follow your movements. Then, turn around and wait for me to take a stance behind you."
"Then, repeat your use of 'charge' until you reach the other end. Continue to do this, but watch out for me and anything else that enters the alley, okay?"
The lid clicked once.
"If you need a break, or need to say no, tap your lid once. If you like something, or want to say yes, do it once, but if you reaaaaally like something, tap your lid five times."
The little chest tapped its lid five times in rapid succession. Having a way to communicate was helpful. Then, it took off in a charge stance.
Quickly sliding on the thin dirt alleyway, Il Ji followed his new partner. As he copied Jackpot's movements, he felt a strange energy seem to envelop him. After practicing for about two hours, he felt a little exhausted but he played it off.
It worked! He had learned the skill: [Charge].
"Something about this new world feels like an RPG from Earth: but hey- as long as Urath had friendship and family, it's worth living in."
Il Ji rumbled aloud into the aether.
But if he were to be real with himself, Il Ji, a traditional Otaku, had been longing for this world like no other. A true leader within Planet Earth's Otaku Supremacy, Il Ji stood with his shoulders held high and his chin upright.
Next, Il Ji sent Jackpot into the soul space. Based on how much time the skill took to learn, he should be good to learn two more copper skills today. As for energy, he felt he could learn a dozen- well, as long as they weren't as strenuous as 'Charge.'
It was time to test the talent: [Sacrifice].
Walking to the store's backroom, he sat down facing one of the queen ants and got ready to use the talent, [Sacrifice]. The ants were only copper beasts used for fodder, so the income the ants provided was minimal.
However, they allowed him to replace his feed for the chickens, and ate the bamboo for nutrients. Once the colonies grew large enough to add a queen, he would set the new queen up with her own colony.
Every now and then he would even take a queen out with ten or so ants and restart a colony, selling the rest of the colony for profit. But it wasn't much.
The chickens he prepared for eating, and he sold the feathers to the jewelry shop down the way. Whatever he had left over he sold to the butcher's shop several blocks down.
The bamboo was one of his highest sellers, as it was of a slightly higher quality and had several different uses.
By using this cycle, he was able to sustainably source his income. That, and soil for the bamboo was literally dirt cheap.
The chickens he prepared for eating, and he sold the feathers to the jewelry shop down the way. Whatever he had left over he sold to the butcher's shop several blocks down.
As he concentrated the energy in his soul space towards the white star, he felt a slight energy rub over his consciousness. Linking it to the small copper-colored 'charge' star that had shown up in his soul space, he pushed the energy towards the small ant queen.
VOOSH! The energy left him. It felt like an avalanche. As he slowly pulled himself up off the floor he felt the fatigue roll over every inch of his body.