Closing my eyes I took a deep breath, trying one more time to ignore all distractions and focus within. To focus on my class and skills. It was oddly difficult. I’d caught glimpses of what might have been text before, but they were too brief to be sure. I focused on the worn smooth handle and familiar weight of the hammer in my lap, trying to recall that feeling of bringing it up and down upon the blade and the joy it brought me. I thought of how Eimer’s face had lit up as I took the stool to be repaired. I thought of the blade once cast on the floor now ready for polishing, soon to be used once more. Fixing things. Bringing people joy. Honest work that turned something people saw as worthless into something to be proud of. I may not have my memories, but these things sang to me. They were what I wanted to do. And as I acknowledged that, patchy text filled my vision.

Class – ___________ Master Craftsman

Skill 1 – Passive – _________ ______ Crafting – ______

\Subskills

Dependent Skill 1.1 - __________ - ____

Skill 2 – Active – Insightful Appraisal – ____

Skill 3 – Passive - _______ ________ - ____

Dependent Skill 3.1 - _____'_ ____ - ____

Dependent Skill 3.2 - __________ _____ - _________

As seemed to be a theme, more information led to more questions: subskills? Dependent skills? And what was up with all the blanks? As I began to try to memorise it the words faded from sight. Thankfully, they somehow stayed in my mind. I didn’t get it, but I was certainly appreciative. Opening my eyes revealed the formidable guildmaster still waiting patiently before me, the faint shimmer of whatever privacy effect she’d set up still present.

“I finally got it! The hammer definitely helped, though there’s quite a few gaps.”

“It’s not unsurprising, some sages have described the act of examining at one’s class and skills as the essence of knowing oneself. Personally, I feel that overlooks much of who a person is, but it’s undoubtedly self-reflective. As such, it is impressive you succeeded with such severe memory loss.”

“And you didn’t think to mention that when I failed the first few times?” I asked, more curious than frustrated at this point.

“Sometimes the greatest burden when climbing a mountain is the knowledge of just how high it truly is. Knowing all you can about your class and skills is important. Had I told you from the outset that there was a strong possibility you may not achieve it, your initial struggles may have seemed like validation it was impossible rather than a challenge to be overcome. A hinderance with no benefit.” Her golden gaze was intense but her smile was warm, “This guild is likely to be one where many hopeful adventurers will get their start, from farm boys who want you to sharpen their scythes to little noble girls with dreams of punching wyverns out of the air. We may equip, train or even caution them, but doubts they can do nothing about are a useless burden that will only weigh them down. I want them to soar.”

I was a little taken aback at the passion and raw conviction in her quiet words. “That makes sense when you say it. So... do we have something to write this down? With all the gaps it’s probably easier than trying to explain.”

“You don’t have to share your whole status Vaul. It’s really not necessary. Some knowledge of your skills is appreciated, and I wanted to help where I could, but Argat could advise you if you prefer.”

“It’s fine. This far from complete anyway and I’d rather make sure I’m not misunderstanding anything.”

Possibly an impulsive decision on my part, but without my memories I was flying blind and had to trust people. Besides, her friendliness with Taffy and willingness to get hands on to help, even in a small way, had made a good first impression.

“Very well then, if you’re sure.”

She blurred as she moved around the room and back to the same spot, a curious mixture of items appearing on the worktop. My jaw dropped open at the casual display of superhuman ability as she began slowly grinding a dark cylinder onto a smooth stone with a carved reservoir. This suddenly made sense as in a practiced motion she began dribbling water from a small pot over where she had been grinding, the water turning dark and viscous as it flowed down and pooled. Once a small amount had accumulated she looked up once again sliding across the inkstone and brush. A wooden slat like those hung in the main hall seemed to be the canvas of choice, and once again I felt the prickle of my appraisal skill eager to tell me more about the wood.

“Sorry, I just... You moved so fast.”

Her laugh was just shy of a snort, I was guessing some sort of etiquette training saved it. “I’m guildmaster.” She stated as if that answered everything. In retrospect, I suppose it did.

Collecting myself I took the offered brush and attempted not to splatter ink everywhere as I trusted in muscle memory to help with the writing. It wasn’t perfect but it felt far more natural than I expected. A few stray drops hit the worktop but the handwriting itself was quite elegant. I had a sneaking suspicion my craftsmanship skill might be helping. Then again, for all I knew I’d been a scribe at one point. That reminded me, I needed to ask the guildmaster about my full name, but my skills came first.

“Whatdya reckon?” I asked as I filled in the last of the details and spun the slat towards her.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

A sharp gasp and a smile boded well as her eyes darted back and forth impossibly quickly.

“Firstly, congratulations on becoming a master. As guildmaster, a blood member of the Lei clan, and as your friend, it is a pleasure to welcome you to the rank. Normally I would assume it should be announced, but dwarven culture handles the declaration of masters quite differently, and I appreciate you may wish to give some time for your memories to return first?”

“Yeah. I might have the class, but right now I’m working purely on instinct. I’d like to get a bit of a handle on what I can do before I start bragging about it.”

“A wise choice. It will open a few doors that were once closed when you do choose to declare, but nothing desperately relevant in the short term save for general acclaim. As for your skills, I haven’t heard of insightful appraisal specifically, but any kind of appraisal skill is useful. It may help discern what medium the skill draws from, though I feel unqualified to speculate. Argat should be able to help there.”

“Sorry, What medium it uses?”

She winced, “Ah, that would explain why those were hidden. The last section of each skill lists the resource or medium it draws from to fuel the skill. Sages theorise that these link to the five fundamental aspects of oneself – emotional, physical, vital, magical and historical – though Argat could give better description and there is... considerable disagreement on exactly how everything connects. Perhaps an example of my own might help clarify. I was primarily a combat healer and it’s widely known many of my skills were fuelled by qi. Qi is far from simple, but it is at least widely agreed to be fundamentally tied to the vital aspect of oneself. Literally it is our vital energy, the spark that allows a beaten and broken body to cling to life, even as otherwise healthy people suddenly drop dead without it. By cultivating it my lifespan extends, however I have a skill which consumes it for a burst of healing to those nearby. You will note the resource is linked to the effect. Judging by your expression you also see the danger, while cultivating qi does indeed increase my lifespan, were I to expend all of it I would perish. This is why understanding what resource or medium your skills use is important.”

“Argat had warned me to be careful, but damn that has to be hard.”

“I am well used to the benefits and drawbacks of qi, and it is uniquely effective in a role such as guildmaster given the incentive to stockpile it. Moreover, our vital and physical aspects are closely tied and as you may have noticed I find the difference it makes to my speed quite convenient.”

“Damn, I might need to consider cultivating some qi myself in that case.”

She chuckled, “If you ever truly decide to pursue such, I would be glad to guide you. For now though with only three main skills I would assume most of your abilities have been subsumed by your crafting skill as subskills. It’s possible this happened during your advancement, but is equally possible it was the case before.”

“Not to skip ahead, but what exactly is the deal with subskills and dependent skills?”

“As I understand it the system tries to group relevant skills together, possibly to help them support one another, possibly simply to prevent skill lists getting too long. To take an example I am more familiar with, a mage might know a variety of fire spells: flameblast, wave of fire, scorch, etc. Rather than list each spell as an individual skill, the system might simply list a fire magic skill with each spell as a subskill within it.”

“So my crafting skill likely has a bunch of crafting related subskills like smithing, leatherworking and woodworking.”

“Indeed, some of which may even have their own subskills, just like fire magic could become a subskill of a general magic skill. However, while you can peer into the subskills just as you viewed your main skill list, it does become more difficult for each layer you go down, so you may wish to postpone that. Dependent skills, are skills too distinct to be subskills, often due to utilising a different resource than the main skill, yet also too individually weak or too linked to the main skill to stand alone. Given some of your previous work, I think there is a good chance the dependent skill on your crafting is enchantment related if the main skill doesn’t have mana as a resource.”

I couldn’t help but feel a jolt of excitement at that, it was already incredibly satisfying to make mundane items, but who wouldn’t want to add a bit of magical spice.

“Argat mentioned Sarala might be able to help me out with that.”

“Indeed, she has an impressively wide range of experience but has a particular knack for anything magic related. I think you two had collaborated previously as well. Overall, we were fortunate that your unknown skills are passive or are dependent on passive skills. You’ll probably pick them up as you try things and are unlikely to overdraw unless you work yourself ragged. Still, be cautious. How are you faring with your active skill?”

“I think I’m beginning to get a handle on stopping it activating unintentionally, though it seems really drawn to some things in particular and I don’t know why.”

“Oh? Can you give me an example?”

I pointed to the slat I’d written on, “That wood. Most things I need to touch, but that draws me in, even from across the room.”

“Ahh of course. Well, I don’t know too much about appraisal skills, but I do know to make the most out of them you want to gather as much information about the item as possible before you use them, though bad information can have a detrimental effect in some cases. That wood is from a qi rich plant originating from the main dungeon in the kingdom.”

“Oh, so my appraisal skill likes it because it’s valuable?”

“I suspect it likes it because it recognises it’s a useful material with some interesting properties. Unfortunately, miracle shoots are anything but valuable in the kingdom. In fact they are a cautionary tale about one of the less obvious dangers of dungeons. The roots grow incredibly quickly, converting mana in the air to qi to fuel their explosive growth, reaching maturity within a few days. Even in areas with little light, they grow thinner and taller to reach sustenance faster, and sleeping animals have been found impaled by their sudden growth. Full grown, the top section produces dozens of seeds within and dries unevenly allowing the seeds to explode outwards. This poses little risk to journeymen adventurers, but the force is sufficient to be a danger to civilians, and the seeds spread rapidly along waterways.”

“Someone took some seeds from the dungeon, and they became an invasive species...” I murmured horrified.

“It’s unclear - and at this point frankly immaterial - if it was intentional or if seeds clung to the perpetrator's clothes. It led to the fall of one of the great clans when the mistake was traced. Miracle shoots are used for everything from small currency, to writing, to immature versions even being used in cooking. However, while their properties may be useful, they are primarily used because the empire is mostly wetlands, and as such outbreaks of miracle shoots are both constant and culled. The emperor and the clans can ill afford the shoots to overtake land needed for farming or other purposes, thus their harvesting is encouraged.”

“That was... more than I bargained for. At least I don’t need to worry about potentially wasting the wood I suppose. I’m guessing we have steps here to prevent a repeat of something similar occurring from this dungeon?”

“Kete can give you the details once Argat clears you to use your appraisal skill. Assuming of course you’re happy to help with processing the spoils from the dungeon?”

“It certainly sounds interesting and might help with finding things to work with.”

“I appreciate it. Kete has been somewhat overworked of late, and your skill will help ensure we can pay a fair price for our adventurers’ labours.” She cocked her head infinitesimally, “I’m afraid I am needed elsewhere Vaul. It was good talking with you, and I’m glad to see your recovery is progressing. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay longer or be more help with your skills.” So saying, she picked up the wooden slat and a burst of golden flames rendered it to a fine grey ash in an instant.

“Oh, uh no problem. Thanks for dropping by...” I looked up from the pool of ash and she was gone, as was the shimmer of the privacy field.

Taffy plodded over and rubbed against me reassuringly as I heard a distant cheer.