The stats section looked very much like a screen from a video game, and, as the name suggests, it contained my statistics, which were given a grade.
Next to the statistics was a legend explaining the grading system. The lowest level was represented by the grade F, followed by F+ and then F++. Above that was E, and so on, in an ascending scale that culminated in the highest grade, S++.
>> STATS:
> Physical Ability: F+
strength: F
coordination: F++
endurance: F
> Mental Ability: F++
> Spiritual Ability: F
HP: 100 (RegHP: 0.1Hp/s)
KA: 3 (RegKA: 0.01Ka/s)
Under the "STATS" section, there were notes that briefly explained both the categories listed and the criteria for evaluation.
Physical Ability was the only category for which the evaluation criteria could be seen, which, as might be expected, was based on the subcategories strength, coordination, and endurance, written below in smaller print.
Mental Ability was based on thinking ability, mental clarity, and mental endurance.
Spiritual Ability was the most vague category, described as "grip on one's soul" and "identity."
The Hp and Ka sections were fairly self-explanatory. Hp represented health points, and Ka represented the amount of Ka. RegHp represented the regeneration of Hp, and RegKa represented the regeneration of Ka.
Seeing that all my stats were rated around grade F, I was a little disappointed. It was true that I had only arrived at the Colosseum the day before, but still...
"It's normal for your stats to be low, after all, you just woke up," said Ari, responding to my disappointed look.
"And anyway, even in the future, don't pay too much attention to how you are evaluated. The criteria used by the bracelet are indicative of the moment you observe them. They are useful for understanding your level in general, but not in an absolute way," She explained.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that, especially the values of Mental Ability and Spiritual Ability, tend to change depending on the situation you are in. For example, during a fight, those values could increase or even decrease, depending on your state of mind and the situation you find yourself in during the fight... I would say that only the values relating to Physical Ability are quite useful... but even those could change depending on your skills..."
"I see."
"In that sense, move on to the second page," she urged.
Below the notes regarding the "STATS" section, there was the option to change pages, moving on to a section called: Special Abilities - Skills.
"Done?" Ari asked.
I nodded.
In front of me was now a new screen, structured in sections, each with a distinctive name:
>>SOUL MIRRORS
>>BRILLIANT SKILLS
>>LUSTROUS SKILLS
>>OPAQUE SKILLS
"This page organizes your Special Abilities into various groups based on various criteria, the most important of which are function, importance, and evolutionary capacity... by pressing a section, you can see your skills that are part of that particular section."
"I guess opaque skills are the worst..." I commented.
"Generally speaking, yes, they are skills that can also be purchased and are often utility skills, inexpensive but also relatively weak in combat... you could call them accompanying skills," she explained.
"I see... so, as I imagined, from bottom to top, the skills should increase in importance."
I focused my attention on "SOUL MIRRORS." After all, Ari had called me into her office for that very reason.
"But here it says soul mirrors, in the plural..."
"Can you have more than one Soul Mirror?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, although it's very rare." Ari swallowed, looking slightly anxious about something.
"How about trying to press Soul Mirrors now?" she said urgently.
'Is she really that interested in what innate ability I have?' I wondered, not that I was any less curious myself. I too was eager to find out.
'Maybe it's to see if I'll be useful to the family's development…' I agreed.
With trembling hands, I clicked on the words in front of my eyes, eager to find out. Like a child unwrapping a birthday present.
>>SOUL MIRRORS
>Predictive Gaze
There were no explanations of any kind, just two words: "Predictive Gaze." That was my innate ability. Just reading those words seemed to touch me deeply, as if I were reading an important page about myself.
It was a strange feeling, comforting but at the same time unsettling, yet unique in its kind.
'However... what does predictive gaze actually mean?'
As soon as I asked myself that question, an intuition that seemed to come from deep within 'me' gave me an answer.
'Can I somehow predict... the future?'
It seemed too absurd a skill to be real, or even possible.
"So? Done?" Ari's voice was a little shaky, her eyes and facial expression appeared calm, yet it seemed like a false calm, as if she were wearing a mask that covered a desire to know. Her fingers drummed anxiously on her dark wooden desk, and her straight back and tense shoulders betrayed her mask.
I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Is it really that important for you to know?" I asked doubtfully.
Perhaps only now noticing the way she was behaving, Ari coughed a couple of times, then relaxed her shoulders and leaned back more comfortably in her chair. Her fingers, however, continued to drum.
Seeing her like this, many questions began to swirl in my mind.
'Do I have to tell her? Couldn't I keep my ability to myself? And why doesn't she already know? If she really doesn't know about my innate ability, then on what basis did she choose me for her family?'
The only explanation I could think of to answer my questions about why she didn't already know about my ability was that perhaps, for some reason, she couldn't. To answer my last question, the only hypothesis that came to mind was that she hadn't chosen me.
'Who chose me to be part of this family then? I thought about it for a while, 'maybe the gladiators who wake up are distributed randomly or according to criteria unknown to me to the various families...'
For now, I accepted this theory of mine, focusing on the question I was most interested in answering.
"Why don't you already know my Soul Mirror?" I realized that if I wanted to answer that question, the only way was to ask Ari herself.
She muttered something, as if my question had annoyed her in some way.
Then she spoke in a listless voice:
"The Soul Mirror is a unique ability, and only you can read and understand it." She cut her explanation short, too short. What the hell did that mean?
"Can you explain it better?"
She huffed, drumming even more vehemently on the desk.
"Even if you shared with me the screen you're looking at right now, I still wouldn't be able to understand your Soul Mirror… even the Kehlt system in the bracelet isn't capable enough to write a Soul Mirror in a language that everyone can understand, so it writes it as close as possible to how your Soul Mirror is written in your soul, readable and understandable only to you," she explained.
"I think I understand..."
'So only I am able to read "predictive gaze."'
"But then," a new doubt came to me, "why could I tell you? Wouldn't you still not understand even if I told you?"
She huffed louder, then shot me a look that made me feel foolish.
It irritated me a little.
"Whether you tell me out loud, write it down, or however the hell you want to say it, it's like you're translating for me so that I can understand what you've read, got it?"
Her tone of voice was really annoying. Was she really that eager to know about my ability?
Finally, I sighed and said:
"It's called Predictive Gaze."
Her drumming stopped, her expression softened with relief, and a slight smile escaped her lips.
Then, feigning indifference, she said:
"So it's about foresight, it seems like an incredible ability..."
At her words, I looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and surprise.
'Has she already figured out what my ability is about?' I thought doubtfully.
After all, I had understood my power thanks to a strange intuition that seemed like a whisper from my soul, but she... how could she have already understood?
'Well... actually, Predictive Gaze... now that I think about it, it makes sense that it's something to do with foresight... however...'
What puzzled me was not so much that she had guessed what my ability was about, but the way she had done it: quickly and with too much certainty that her hypothesis was true; as if she already knew or had an idea of what my Soul Mirror might be, and that my revealing it to her had only confirmed her prior knowledge.
There was something she wasn't telling me. I could feel it deep down.