Chapter 89: Source of Abilities (2/2)

”You can rest in your room for the rest of the day, maybe you can go sightseeing? I need to meet a few… friends and business partners. We'll go to the workshop early the next morning.” Emma informed him and Arthur nodded while bidding her goodbye.

After a few short moments of taking the elevator and searching for his room, Arthur found himself lying on the comfy king-sized bed in his room. It had a simple décor with a great view of the city.

Arthur kept staring through the balcony at the bustling capital with all of its lights, rotating buildings, and flying mounts and artifacts. He mulled over which place he should visit since he had half of the day off. It was then that his phone rang, it was his brother.

”Hey, Oren. I just got here.” The video call connected and Oren's face filled the screen. It took Arthur a few moments to notice there was something wrong. ”What happened?” He asked as he saw Oren's haggard and tired expression.

”Hey, bro,” Oren said weekly, Arthur could see the background, and Oren was in their house. ”I just wanted to ask you about something. Today, I headed to a dungeon with friends…”

Oren then proceeded to tell Arthur what happened. As the story went on, Arthur's face betrayed his anger and disappointment.

”I told you to keep hunting in primitive-tier dungeons for now!” Oren flinched at Arthur's shout, bespeaking his anger. Arthur was calmed by his shout and breathed heavily. ”You know I'm just worried about you.”

”I do… I'm sorry.” Oren said, downcast. Arthur had no choice but to tell him it was okay. ”After the ogre appeared, we were in a pinch and I had to do something. So, I just tried attacking and…” His brother's voice trailed. ”And I was suddenly controlling fire. Is this what you told me about? The fire skill?”

”Yeah. It's the reason your impulsiveness hasn't killed you yet.” Arthur said slightly irritated. Oren nodded but he was still at a loss for words. ”What?” Arthur had no choice but to ask.

”I thought it was a skill, like the one I received before from the dungeon. But… it was different.” His brother's words made Arthur straighten his back and listen attentively. ”It was as if I had another ability.”

”What? Ability? That can't be…” Arthur stopped talking as a sudden realization struck him. He has never given another person a skill except for the goblins. He has always considered them to be a skill, but were they?

Arthur remembered the Reality Gate he managed to close after relentless training for a day before coming here. He had managed to close the gate and turn the artifact created into an artificial one. However, what if he gave the rune with the closed gate to a person?

”… Skills are artificial abilities!” Arthur exclaimed in surprise as goosebumps covered his skin. His irises shock at this sudden realization. This was the main difference between skills and abilities! Whether the gate was opened or not would determine everything.

”What?” His brother couldn't understand what he meant. Arthur regained his composure as his heart was beating loudly in his chest.

”It's okay, we'll talk about this when I get back. Don't do something as reckless again, okay?” Arthur warned and closed the call after he saw Oren nod his head. He then sat on the bed as his whole body was trembling.

It was the same. Artificial runes were skill if given to a person, and artificial artifacts if given to an object. As for real, genuine rune with an Opened Reality Gate? It gave abilities!

”This…”

It explained why Arthur couldn't give himself the permanent runes. He didn't have to turn the rune into a skill because runes were genuine abilities on their own! His ability was the source of every ability out there!