Coming back into the Hall, Owen called out.
“Hey Todd, I cleared that Dungeon. What was the pay for that? Also ready for Dinner? Did you get those books?”
“By the Gods, Owen, is all you do ask questions?” Todd laughed as he began writing on a piece of paper. He placed the form under the counter and placed five silver coins on the counter. “Payout for the destruction of Dungeon near Oakshade village. One silver was held for your loan. Let me grab the books I could find, and I’ll meet you at a table.”
“Sure, no problem, I’ll go ahead and order for us,” Owen said as he walked over to the canteen, sitting at one of the empty tables. He waited until Sergeant Fell walked by.
“Hey, Sergeant, can I get two meals and drinks. Also, I got some deer meat. Do you want that?”
“You got meat? You can eat for the rest of the cycle for free. I’ll even make some steaks today.” Reaching into his pack, he summoned the Gust Deer meat; it seemed to even have a thin layer of parchment on it. Looking up, he could see Fell’s face light up at seeing the large package. “Oh, this will be great; the Gods must love you, Owen. The drop rate for game is low. I’ll have a few ales out in a minute; the steaks may take a bit, though, so I’ll bring some light soup and bread. Thanks again, Owen!” Moments later, Todd announced himself by placing four or five small books on the table.
“Okay, so,” Todd stated as he also took a seat, “I didn’t buy these books, Owen. I used the silver to renew my Library card, so I’ll hold onto them while teaching you. I cannot afford the five silver fine if they end up damaged. So we’ll start with this one.” He said as he handed Owen one of the small books. Opening it to the first page, it had a strange character along with an apple. The rest of the pages had a similar pattern; this must be an alphabet book. “I also got you this,” Todd said as he placed some paper on the table and something similar to a pencil. After copying down the symbols and drawing a miniature doodle next to them, Owen handed the book back to Todd. “That was fast, alright? Maybe this won’t take so long.” Handing over the next book, Owen looked at the first page; this time, it was more complicated characters almost smashed together. Almost like Kanji, as Owen copied over the new symbols, he asked,
“How long does it normally take for someone to learn a new language, Todd?”
“Well, it depends on the language. Crealexis is considered one of the harder ones. It has multiple forms due to its use around the planet. This is the Common form. They are named after the skill level itself; for example, the nobles tend to use advanced Crealexis. It doesn’t really change the language, just the tone of it. This should maybe take you two to three cycles to get since you already speak it. Learning it without the counterpart can make it take seasons.” Nodding along, Owen continued copying the symbols until some notifications distracted him.
Skill gained: Crealexis (Written) Skill fusion: Crealexis (spoken) and Crealexis (Written) >>> Crealexis
Crealexis: The trade language used globally.
With that notification, Owen looked down at his notes. While the characters didn’t change, it was like he knew their meaning. Flipping through the picture book, he kept taking notes before asking. “So if I were to tell you that I just got the Skill?”
“I would tell you that you're a terrible liar. We’ve only been sat down about thirty minutes; maybe wait till next cycle to lie into a promotion, Owen. Speaking of time, I’m done with this soup, so I might just call it a day.”
“That wasn’t dinner, so you might want to sit back down,” Fell said as he walked over and placed two large plates down. The plates were both loaded with a large slab of meat smothered in sauce. There were also some sides, but the steak was the dish's star.
“Sergeant, I can’t afford this, I can’t.”
“Nope,” Fell cut him off, “Owen brought the meat, so it is on the house. Let me know how it tastes, I leveled my cooking skill so I’m curious. Enjoy, boys.” As Fell walked away, Owen couldn't help but use Inspect.
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Fell BladeThorn | Scout Level 25
Name: Fell SilverThorn Class: Covert Rogue Species: Human Level: 12 EXP: 1042/1455 Health : 487/487 Stamina : 617/617 Mana: 648/648 Stats Strength: 30 Endurance: 17 Dexterity: 36 Vigor: 25 Intelligence: 15 Focus: 20 Skills Stealth, Surveillance, Counter Surveillance, Precision Strikes, Poison Craft, Evasion, Silent Takedown, Trap Disarmament, Conceal, Inspect, Physical Prowess, Sylphid, Crealexis
Putting the books down, Owen moved them so he could begin eating. A short time later, both men sat satisfied, having completely cleaned their plates.
“Well, I’m guessing it was good?” Fell asked as he came by and collected the plates.
“It was awesome, Sergeant. So do you just cook to get the Skill? How does that work?” Owen asked as he moved the last two books over to continue copying them.
“Always with the questions Owen, but yes, for most General Skill’s you gain them after doing the specific task enough. Now, back to bothering Todd, I got other people to deal with,” Fell replied as he walked away laughing. Chuckling at hearing Todd sigh at the comment, Owen moved on to the final book. This one, however, was not a picture book; it was word problems.
“Hey Todd, is this your book? It seems to be some kinda word problems.”
“Nope, got that, so hopefully, once you learn to read, you can get the Basic Mathematics Skill. I’m nice enough to not short you when you get paid, but other people definitely would. Wait, how did you know that?” Thinking quickly, Owen showed him the notes he’d been taking.
“I’ve been matching the symbols; I just took a guess when it asked how much more something was.”
“You know, you pick up things quickly for someone who doesn’t know the basics. Well, I guess just copy those down, too, then I can return all the books tomorrow. Any other dumb questions before I go to bed?”
“Just one,” Hearing that, Todd sighed in defeat but waved his hand for Owen to continue. “Who should I sell things to? Do I just go to Sergeant Boulder? Guess I should ask him where to buy things, too? Never mind then.”
“How can you be so smart, yet also insufferably stupid. Yes, for most things, go to Sergeant Boulder. He knows who to sell to, so he’ll take your things and sell them for you. He also has contacts for anything he doesn’t sell directly. Now that steak was amazing, so I’m going to sleep it off.” Waving off Todd, Owen chose to sit there and go over the word problems he still had. They were simple questions, mostly about transactions and change. Finishing the last question, Owen got a notification.
Skill gained: Basic Mathematics
Basic Mathematics: Aids the User with simple calculations.
“Well, that was a busy day once I started making the meat,” Fell said as he sat across from Owen. “So, any questions now that this place is empty. I know Lotus dumped so much on you earlier. She doesn’t understand most people can’t take that. I guess I’m just trying to ask if you're taking it, okay? If you had any questions, now that it’s just us?”
“How did you all get so strong? I’ve been killing things all week and barely gotten a few levels. Yet all of you have such high stats. Is Boulder just as strong?”
“Wait. Wait, wait, wait. How do you know our Stats? You don’t even have Inspect.”
“I do have Basic Inspection. Is that not supposed to go through your Conceal?”
“I get what Todd means; you don’t know the basics. You have to be some kinda Royalty. One second.” Fell said as he stood up and walked back to his counter. He came back shortly with two large pitchers of ale. Placing one in front of Owen, he began drinking from the other. “ So, I have high Tier 2 in both Inspect and Conceal. Normally,” he said, drawing out the word, “You would need something of a higher Tier to get past it or a more specialized skill. Somehow, your Soul Magic disregards all of this. So you have Skill’s that don’t show up in Inspect. Can see Skills and Stats while being hidden by Conceal, with only a Tier 1 Inspection Skill. Owen, who in the world are you.”