Dante had a slightly confused expression, though something rang in the back of his mind. He ignored it for now and instead looked at his father.
"Mmhm... then Father, do skills grant additional lifespan?"
His mother chuckled before answering, gently pinching and playing with his soft cheeks. Dante simply sat there and allowed her to enjoy herself.
"Yes, normally they do, though it varies greatly. Some skills grant an exceptionally long lifespan, while others can actually shorten it. Elves, for example, tend to be fortunate because the skills we receive are often related to the wind and life. Perhaps because we worship the Wind God."
She smiled before continuing.
"Since new skills are constantly being born, there are bound to be strange ones. Some may be terrible skills that grant an extra year of life every time someone kills another person, drinks blood, discovers a lucky artifact, or steals another's vitality. There are countless possibilities."
"But generally, lifespan follows a rough pattern."
"Common-tier skills usually grant an additional ten to five hundred years."
"Epic-tier skills generally grant one thousand to ten thousand years."
"Legendary-tier skills grant roughly ten thousand to fifty thousand years."
"And finally, Mythical-tier skills grant anywhere from one hundred thousand years to an unknown, potentially indefinite lifespan, so long as the skill itself continues to grow."
Dante's face froze in shock before slowly breaking into excitement.
'Added together with my natural elven lifespan... I'm practically immortal. I see... I see.'
'Normally I'd be over the moon, but... oh for fuck's sake.'
'Shit.'
Dante sighed internally as he felt the urge to scratch his cheek in annoyance.
'I'm not stupid. If people can live that long, that means there are monsters with such power in the higher levels. No matter how old they are, they can still die. My question though...'
'If people can live for over a hundred thousand years, then something must keep them interested for that long. How do they even maintain a sense of self?'
'What is it? Do memories fade?'
'Or is it because pocket dimensions exist, so there are a number of things to see? Maybe time flows differently inside them.'
'What is it?'
He clicked his tongue inwardly before realizing the info was overwhelming him. He shook his head and calmed himself.
'Never mind. Overthinking has never been my thing.'
'Stay consistent. I've been feeling like I'm slowly losing myself over the course of this discussion. Inconsistency ruins everything. We'll just adapt as things come, shift gears when necessary, and keep moving.'
Dante still felt something was wrong as he looked to his father, stopping him as he spoke before asking, "The reason you keep putting off information, is it because fear of the vastness can lead to a sense of genuine existential dread?"
Justin stopped, and he and Aurora's hearts seemed to pause. Immediately, he felt his parents cradle his face in alarm, making him guess he was right.
Aurora was the first to ask, "Are you okay? Don't think too much, just try to calm your mind and push out all thoughts, just..." Dante shook his head as he chuckled, using one hand to hold one of his mother's hands, the other to flick his father's forehead, who seemed to be spiraling in self-annoyance, worry, and fear at his carelessness.
"I'm fine, I'm simply curious. I did feel something was up, but I'm okay. It was just a feeling I got. I'm better now."
Aurora still worried, gently letting her mana flow into his head. A relaxing calm took Dante. It wasn't anywhere near his skill's level, but it was more like a flow of water rushing gently through his head, almost calming his mind that was already calm. After a few moments, noticing he was indeed fine, they sighed as Justin cursed his recklessness.
Dante still looked at them with an 'Answer me' face.
Justin looked at his child. 'He's really smart; at his age I almost lost myself in fear.'
Justin nodded as he explained.
"That is correct, it's a combination of the mind, your strength, and the world itself. When someone learns too much, especially things that are life-threatening, they can lose themselves in fear and in a level of helplessness so great that it makes them lose the will to grow stronger, shut themselves out, or outright kill themselves. In terms of skills, it's essentially when one's skill feels a sense of oppression from a higher tier."
"In a sense, information can also be broken into tier's. Your skill, which is tied to you, feels fear at a power it cannot even understand, and all laws break down. Perhaps my earlier display of power was lingering in your head, hence you might have felt a sense of dread. It's for this reason powerful families don't just share information; rather, things are revealed naturally as you grow stronger. Some people can learn it regardless, but all of us have a limit. Even the bravest of men can be traumatized by a horrible scene, or their brain ceases to experience reality in the same way as others."
Dante nodded. It made sense. When someone woke up thinking of what they were to do the whole day, the sense of responsibility could be so much that most people were unable to even begin. The sense of everything they had to do was overbearing. Some people just gave up and started living a desolate life; others committed to a life of depravity.
He understood it all in principle.
Afterward, Justin continued explaining several important things Dante needed to know before leaving the empire.
Most importantly...
There were certain professions he should always be wary of. Skills such as Pill Refiner, Alchemist, Crafter, and Enchanter. The moment he heard those names, Dante immediately understood why.
'...Fucking cultivation novel bullshit.'
'Why are cultivation clichés invading my world?'
He sighed internally. Those professions were exactly the type that powerful people constantly sought after. Someone capable of refining miraculous pills, forging powerful weapons, or enchanting equipment could easily accumulate favors from countless experts.
That alone made them dangerous. Personally, Dante found cultivation novels far more troublesome than ordinary skill or isekai stories.
He enjoyed reading them... He just never wanted to live in one.
And that was for one reason and one reason only
Cultivation worlds had an annoying habit of making the protagonist spend centuries struggling to reach a realm, only for that realm to become insignificant because of the inevitable "there's always someone stronger" trope.
A character would spend hundreds of years reaching Sovereign...
Only for Sovereigns to become cannon fodder the moment they reached it and the next realm appeared. It was one of the things Dante disliked most.
Not because stronger enemies existed... But because it often cheapened the protagonist's previous growth. That was precisely why, from the beginning, his goal had always been simple.
Become overwhelmingly powerful as early as possible.
*'Forget the thrill of struggling. **I get my thrills from bullying arrogant idiots and fucking thick beautiful women. *Showing off my strength is just an added bonus.'
'I'm literally living in another world!'
'I'm not some "let's go on an adventure" kind of idiot.'
He sighed. '...Then again, I might actually be cooked.'
Justin soon moved on to another topic. "Skills are generally categorized into several broad groups."
"Combat Skills."
"Tactical Skills."
"Crafting and Enchanting Skills."
"Buff and Debuff Skills."
"Special Skills."
"And finally..."
"All-Rounder Skills."
Combat skills required little explanation.
They were skills designed almost entirely around offensive capability and overwhelming combat efficiency.
Tactical skills were different. They specialized in information gathering, battlefield awareness, prediction, and analysis. Justin explained that one of the empire's high-ranking generals, a True Sage, possessed an ability called '** The Flow of Events**.'
Although Justin didn't explain its exact effects, Dante immediately guessed it involved observing possible futures, predicting outcomes, or reading the flow of events before they unfolded.
Buff and Debuff skills were equally straightforward.
Crafting and Enchanting skills, however, surprised him. They allowed users to create weapons, armor, robes, and countless other items before embedding skills or abilities into them. That revelation genuinely shocked Dante. Apparently...
Every robe he wore...
Even Vexion's robes...
Had already been enchanted. He had never noticed. Neither had the System.
Seeing his expression, Justin smiled. "The robes you're wearing were enchanted by the Royal Crafter and are capable of withstanding attacks from anyone below Level 1 of the Mythical Tier."
Dante nearly broke character and swore in front of his parents. Apparently, the enchantment itself originated from one of Aurora's own skills. The crafter's ability allowed him to forge equipment before another skill holder permanently infused one of their own abilities into the finished item. Of course, the crafter's own skill needed to be powerful enough to withstand the strength of the enchantment.
In this case...
The Royal Crafter possessed a Level 50 Legendary-tier Crafting Skill.
Even then...
That was only barely sufficient to contain a single one of Aurora's abilities.