Power Skills refer to one's ability to control a specific thing, for lack of a better term. I tentatively use "thing" because aspect, element, or any such wordings do little justice to encompass the sheer broadness of which a Power Skill can contain. For example, we have [Power: Wood] useful for a [Druid] in tending a grove or controlling their magics or even a [Ranger] for moving through the woods. Ah, but you forget the potential it holds for a [Craftsman]. Perhaps it is the most potent then? Another example, we have [Power: Magma], useful again, this time obviously more geared towards combat, but there many more uses for magma than simply combatting monsters. Things begin to veer weirdly hereon, of course, we have even more obscure Power Skills like [Power: Weapons]. Yes, extremely powerful wouldn't you think? I'll be honest with you, I have no idea what that even means, or what it might even encompass. Was a chair considered a weapon, knowing you could use it as one? I'm not even sure if that Skill exists, you see, but therein lies the problem, I've confirmed stranger ones.
- The Origins of Skill and Abilities, Coby Tuuli
[Learner] Level 4!
My head, drowsy with sleep, shot up immediately. The fog of exhaustion cleared. It had been some time since I had last leveled but I was not surprised to find that there was no accompanying Skill. While it was possible to acquire them they were usually obtained at the "milestone" levels. Those being multiples of five, and if not then, it was almost a promise for something greater the next milestone. Soon I'd have my milestone Skill. Leveling up three times since attaining the Class was, normally, fortuitous, but again, I was a special case. I had barely blinked at the last two times, though I did feel vindicated.
My eyes drifted across my materials. Creatures and the environments they most often inhabited. I found it useful to understand the variations of the creatures that appeared almost everywhere. Slimes and goblins predominantly.
Slimes were predictable in the sense that they took on properties of their environment or prey, though this could be argued as the same thing for a slime. While the smaller ones are easily dealt with and the medium ones avoided, they can quickly become nuisances in large numbers, and dangers in large size. With size and food, slimes become intelligent hunters, if not in mind then in experience. For the very core of a slime's existence is adaptation, and slimes are one such species I'd argue has mastered its application.
Goblins were a species of monster that struggled. Vermin that held onto their mortal coil against all odds in all environments. They root themselves in caves and lose great portions of their population in order to set a foothold. Once that completes they become a pest across the entire area.
Both creatures have many variants, to the point it's insinuated that there are still some being discovered. Though the author of my reading seems hesitant to admit to the incompleteness of his compendium, he does so grudgingly.
I took a small mental break and leaned back in my chair. I ran my hand through my hair and allowed my mind a moment of blankness.
I refocused. The vault was open.
I jerked in my chair. In a mess of splinters and broken wood, what was once a solid wall of spikes was now a pried open breach. The golems sat criss-cross head bowed. Deactivated to each side. They must've deemed their task complete and ceased activity. Their arms looked damaged enough it might've been justified to switch their arms out with one of the lesser broken constructs. Whatever they had been doing, it had taken a toll on their form.
My eyes found the contents. I pulsed [Search: Library] and sure enough, the books on golems and constructs glowed with intense light humming for attention.
Immediately, I removed all the contents and placed them squarely separate from my other books. I ran a curious finger along their spines, reading their titles as I came across them.
Advanced Constructs and Golemancy, Language of Enchanting, Rituals of Demonology, Known Contracts of Summoning, Complete Barrier and Warding Techniques, Skylight Blade Forms and Combat, Guide to Trueshot, Unarmed and Weaponized.
My [Basic Knowledge] kicked in, and somehow I knew these books were very forward. As in, topics as advanced as these were generally not tied to text. These were subjects taught in person, personally, so that the knowledge has no chance to end up in the minds of the twisted.
I trembled, there was another one I had not touched. This was simply a precaution I took since the book was glowing. And by no means of mine. It was just... glowing. But again, [Basic Knowledge] told me this was exactly what I was thinking it was, although of which Skill I was uncertain.
A Skill Book.
A powerful artifact that grants the reader the Skill with which it associates. What perhaps had me in greater anticipation was that, while rare and extremely valuable, the disparity between the Skill Book and dangerous texts was so great that no ordinary Skill would be lumped in here. The Skill Book granted a Skill as if one had earned it themselves, this was a valuable artifact since acquiring say, [Light] without a magical Class would be difficult, although it was worth mentioning it was not impossible. A Skill Book's value became apparent when it's subject was something like [Fireball] or [Reposition]. A [Warrior] might not have the mana for a [Fireball] but if it was the case that he did? He'd have a powerful Skill to sit on during a fight. And a [Mage] Class with an [Archer's] [Reposition]? How powerful would that make someone?
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According to The Origins of Skills and Abilities, these books like other artifacts form in high levels of danger. That danger is defined by the hazard of the environment, the difficulty of the surrounding monsters, and the threat to an individual's safety. The accumulation of these artifacts has never been observed and thus any empirical data does not exist. [Philosophers] speculate that these powerful items are tied to the world's consciousness as a whole. The main argument being centered on a period of history in which the bow was invented. Prior to the invention bows were never discovered as artifacts, post invention when the mind of the masses had been accustomed to its creation, there were many testimonies of artifact bows.
But that was neither here or there.
I opened the book... and found it blank. Deft fingers flicked through the pages as if I had missed something. My eyes, hungry for black ink, found empty white. The book was blank, and yet, glowing? An enchantment perhaps? I scoured its pages but found no hints to the peculiarity. A blank Skill Book was unprecedented. More than likely, there was an enchantment protecting its contents, but why would someone shield it thus when the Language of Enchanting might very well reveal its secrets?
I frowned, something was uncanny.
Shutting the book, I hesitated. The glow had subsided. The telltale visual effect that determined if a Skill Book still contained the ability to bestow a Skill. What had changed? I had read it yet the pages were blank? Had I unwittingly ruined it? Or perhaps... even gained something?
These things, even depowered, still held great value. There was, supposedly, as I was unable to determine myself, an unearthly accuracy in the way they detailed any particular Skill. That gave it value, even without its ability to bestow one. Although, the fact this one was empty was disheartening if I'd even ever have the chance at selling it.
I scanned through The Origins of Skills and Abilities hoping it would provide some insights. I spent a decent amount of time in the Skill Book section before I read something referred to as a Blank Book. Little more than myth, it nonetheless was stated a possibility. There were a few documented testimonies, though the scarce number discouraged many from believing. The problem was, the individuals who attained them had much merit. All high-leveled individuals. And indeed, they returned with a book, but it was not blank, in fact, it had the contents of what you might find in a regular depowered Skill Book, although it was definitely true the Skill they contained were powerful. One being the famed [Victory Path] of a [General] and a [Dungeon Delvers] [Treasure Sense].
My curiosity was piqued. I followed the trail of testimonies through other referenced books. I was able to do so reliably thanks to my [Search]. The testimonies were all the same, people claiming the book wrote itself, after giving them a Skill much more powerful than their Level merited. Milestones ahead even.
My scavenger hunt had actually led me nearby the hydroponics and botany section after tracking down the testimony of a high leveled [Leaf Druid] who had claimed the same thing. The golem I had assigned was quietly tending to the plants, although I hardly saw what needed doing anymore. Every plant looked as healthy as could be, bursting with vitality. My stomach rumbled staring at them, but there was no rush to eat, hardyet and greyrice kept for insanely long times.
The construct did not flinch as I took a break and wandered through the bins. I counted additional containers, actually. The construct had expanded, presumably for as much as he could care for. They were easy to notice given the new growths. Some, in fact, were empty. And then I saw the neatly harvested vegetables off to the side.
My [Basic Knowledge] hinted at the edible parts before I could even question it. I gnawed on the root of a bigger hardyet plant. The taste was both rich and bitter following that. Wonders to a desensitized tongue. A painful jolt of sensory information shot across my jaw, my mouth still unused to the taste. I nodded, with this my time here would be extended further. Without the combat rations, I'd never have even gotten this far.
By my estimates, given the growth rate of these plants and my current supplies, a little less than a month with rationing. That was how long I had before I'd be forced to move. And I'd need to bring supplies with me too when I did eventually leave, I wasn't so naive as to think my rise from the depths would be on a single belly's worth of food and water.
I returned the dummies by the vault to the combat hall. That done, I moved everything of mine back to the central room. With that complete, there was nothing else to do but learn and practice. The rest of the day, I spent running through the forms depicted in Skylight Blade Forms and Combat, and Unarmed and Weaponized. I borrowed the knight statue's sword for the former, relinquishing it for the latter. The physicality that the very basics of each demanded was immense, and suddenly I found myself exhausted.
When my body failed me, I sunk into a comfortable chair. The Art of Magic covered techniques too time-consuming with too little reward, either of which would've justified me skipping out on them given my timeframe. But, Tuuli did detail practical ways to train and manipulate your mana. After all, magic was all about control. The basics were important.
I did these exercises as I read Advanced Constructs and Golemancy slowly pulling away the curtains on new knowledge. The subject was tough, nearly all another language to my inexperience. But I was able to reference a few other books, mainly those on arcana and math, and a few aspects became clearer, defogging a few others. More often than not, I'd need to learn some niche corner of advanced arcana or math, and reference other books from there, until I could pull it all back and connect it to understand some small aspect of golemancy. My mind throbbed.
I was up until my body quite literally shut down, when my eyelids finally decided enough was enough. It must've been a day at least, of constant learning. Advanced subjects that demanded my perfect competency in both beginner and intermediate knowledge of the same. This was how I spent that day, in a fugue of knowledge and connections and bridges where everything touched on each other until they all fit into a glorious glowing fractured shard of knowledge of which I yet unsure where to fit it, but was nonetheless larger than the last.
I passed out.
[Learner] Level 5!
Skill Obtained: [Reader's Eyes]
Skill Obtained: [Personal Study]