"Roll, Markus!"

He could hear Aunt Zenith yelling, but for some reason, he himself didn't know what was happening. 'Wait, why did she say roll? And what is that whistling sound?' The darkness engulfed his mind before he could find an answer.

Blinking his eyes, Markus knew something was off about the sky. Right, wasn't the sun much farther down than before? And he was looking up at the sky.

"Uncle? Wha, what happened? Ts, ow ow." If he could move, Markus knew that he would have curled up in a ball as the pain lanced through his body when he mistakingly tried to sit up.

"You got hit, that's what happened. You were supposed to sidestep away or roll to your feet. Or, at least roll away from the strike."

For reasons unknown, his uncle's voice sounded from afar. Turning his head slowly to one side, he noticed that his Aunt Zenith was sitting next to him. Her face was tinged with concern as she held her hand above his chest; her hands radiant with light as they moved vertically in time with his breathing.

"You have a mild concussion. Just relax while I heal your other wounds. Don't move your body; you dislocated a few of your ribs when you were hit by that shield." 

"It wasn't my fault, Zenith. He was doing just fine parrying a sword. How was I supposed to know he would blank out the moment I hit him with a shield?" 

"Just stay in there until I finish healing Markus. Honestly, I'm amazed either of you ever got battle classes if that's how the two of you were originally trained. One trained with a rope and one trained with beatings," Zenith huffed angrily.

Markus counted to ten before he could gather enough strength to move his head the other way, the whistling sound increasing as he slightly angled his face. He now knew why his Uncle wasn't next to him. A semi-solid mass of wind was rotating around him sharply. Judging by how the rocks were scarring the ground as they moved clockwise in front of his uncle's feet, Markus decided it was probably for the best that his uncle wasn't trying to escape. He was glad that his uncle was looking at him with concern though, his voice clearly apologetic and confused.

"So, why did you stop suddenly, Markus? You were in good form right up to the point I switched over to a shield, and then you fainted right as I struck. I am glad you were able to watch up to that point, but if you faint every time you are about to get hit by a shield..."

"Sorry uncle. I don't know what happened either. I'll do better next time."

Thinking back, he was confused as well. His uncle had elected to do a simple parry exercise. The same exercise that he had shown Tyler, in fact. You simply stood there and tried your best to deflect the blows to away from your body. Or barring that, sidestepping or ducking if the blow was coming at a bad angle. He tried his best to think back. What happened at that last moment?

He thought hard about what he could remember. 'I got into the rhythm of parrying after a quick lesson from Uncle Tyler. Uncle did an overhead slash and I parried the top half of uncle's blade and deflected it. He switched to a backhanded slash. Parried with the middle of my blade and deflected it above me. Repeat, repeat, repeat. He switched over to a shield and stepped forward for a shield bash. So I sidest-

"DON'T DODGE. PARRY!"

An old man stood above him, sneering while he held a solid steel cane and shield.

"Worthless. Don't ever try to sidestep a simple [[Shield Bash]]. Just cut it with your sword. Everything in the world can be cut with a sharp enough blade. Hmph. When I was your age, I was cutting Devil's by the dozens. Shield or not."

"But Father sai-"

"Don't mention that bastard son. He utterly disgraced our family name, actually losing to a Human female in swordsmanship. It would have been acceptable if it was a Demon female, but a Human!? Peh. I'll train you twice as hard, just to make sure that mistake never happens again. Now. GET. UP."

Standing up, I-

"Markus, sit down! You are in no shape to continue practicing," Aunt Zenith said while gently restraining his movements, forcing his back to solid ground.

"I can still go on, Auntie. It was just a light tap. I think? Why is your hand glowing?" Markus gibbered as his mind wandered slightly.

"I have a lesser affinity to healing, so I know a few healing spells. Granted, I'm not as good as a Cleric, but I can heal lesser wounds like this fairly well. None of you really got injured enough to warrant me using healing spells before."

"Uncle Tyler, could we go again later? I promise to do better."

"It's not all your fault." Tyler sighed and picked up his equipment as the wall of wind died down in front of him. "We'll practice parrying and dodging with exaggerated motions next time. And I'll pick up a wooden shield in town next time. Perhaps using a solid steel shield wasn't the smartest decision for a practice drill."

"You think!? Tyler, you shou-"

Markus closed his eyes as Aunt Zenith began berating his Uncle Tyler in the background. 'I haven't had any bad dreams lately. At least, none like that in a long time...do I know that old man? I don't recognize anything in the dream, but the person who was practicing seemed to be much older than I am now. But if there was one person who might know something...'

"Aunt, can I get up and see Aunt Paige? I think I'd rather stick to a rope on a stick for a little while. At least, until Uncle gets a wooden shield."

"She already left to go check her clearings. You still have a concussion, so how about you stay here and read a few books instead so that I can keep an eye on you? I did get a lot from the library, and your Uncle picked some up from his travels as well."

"I don't like reading though. I'd rather go and do something instead. Pleaaase?" The thought of reading already made him sleepy. What use was reading books anyways?

"No means no. Tyler, a little help?"

"...Markus. Do you know how most Adventurers gain their Skills?" his uncle asked enigmatically.

"Hm? Don't they watch someone practice until they learn how? That's how I learned all of my Skills. That’s how Tyler learned his skills too." Markus was confused. Was his concussion affecting him more than he thought? Why would his uncle bring that up?

"Most Apprentices wouldn't be able to find someone who could guide a person through examples alone. Instead, they read. They learn how to use Skills and Spells by using their predecessors' insight."

"... they read to learn abilities? That can't be true!" Markus exclaimed.

His aunt sighed from the side. He could already tell that she was about to lecture him. "Lily was learning how to use Spells long before she came to me for tutoring. Even Tyler was studying how to use [Shield Bash] on his own whenever he was not here for lessons. The library has copies of Apprentice level spells and skills for that express purpose. The problem with reading is are you able to understand what someone else wrote. That is why most people would rather learn from a tutor if you have the money."

"So couldn't Aunt Paige teach me how to use Skills? That's how I learned how to use [[Seismic]] and [Seismic Slash],  by watching auntie do it so many times. She even said that she could teach me any battle skill so long as I have enough mana to use it."

Auntie Zenith sighed. "...of course she would brag about something like that. How about this? Certain Spells are really hard to learn. And if everyone who learned a certain spell died..."

"...then it was a really bad spell?" Markus said hesitantly.

"Well, the chances of that are low, but in some cases that could be true. What I am trying to get at Markus, is that sometimes what one person understands isn't what another person understands; which is why it is good to have multiple sources to draw upon when learning a new ability. Reading is one such way."

Flicking her hand lightly, Zenith rotated a small sphere of mana in front of her. Take my wind spells, for instance. My understanding of the laws of wind is vastly different than Lily's. So my Spells, like [[Prison Wind]], might be different than Lily's when she eventually learns it. Maybe she'll focus more on the cutting aspect of the Spell instead of the controlling aspect. Same spell, but different. We read to better understand someone else's point of view, which will help us come up with new innovative ways to use the same spell."

He nodded, though his aunt's spell naming was terrible. Who would call a sphere of wind a prison? "Uncle? What about a Skill then. Like [Shield Bash]. How does reading help with learning a Skill?"

Markus turned as his uncle picked up the conversation. "Most Skills are universal and don't vary from person to person. So a [Shield Bash] is just that, bashing a person with a shield. But there are certain things to pay attention to. A good teaching tome would highlight everything a person would have to do in order to learn the Skill. If you recall, it took almost half a year before Tyler got the Skill, [Shield Bash], and that was with practice and someone tutoring him exclusively. It wasn't until he learned how to adapt and use it in combat before he got the Skill. Other Skills are the same."

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"This is why we do not want to rush the basics, and why I am letting Paige train certain things first. Her understanding of battles is different than mine. But reading won't interfere with your training since everything you read is theoretical until you can master it in combat."

His uncle tapped his chin, evidently trying to figure out how to word his answer. Markus hung to his every word, something easy to do since he was still laying down. This was the most his uncle had spoken to him in as long as he could remember. 

"Since Zenith chose Lily as an example, I'll choose Tyler as one. Say he becomes a fully pledged Vanguard. One of the Skills he might learn is [Offensive Engagement]. The whole point of the Skill is to force the opponent to take you as a major threat, something he cannot ignore in battle.

"So, maybe to learn the Skill, the key is learning how to present yourself as a threat, maybe learning how to stay just outside of your opponent's blind spots. Reading about it will help him learn how to apply it in combat, and then with practice, it can become a Skill."

"Skill acquisition is tough for most people. Only a few people can read different books on abilities and not get information confused. That is why it is not good to spread out your focus on a lot of Skills that may not have any relevance to you, and also why most people will acquire one Skill at a time."

Tyler poked Markus with his foot as he passed by, very much to his aunt's displeasure. "So before you start asking us to repeat Skills until you learn them, first figure out which Skills would be most relevant for you to have. We all know a variety of combat-related skills, but we typically only use a few of them in actual combat, depending on how much mana we have and the situation at hand."

Markus nodded after a moment. It made sense. Sort of. Though, he probably would need his aunt's help choosing what books to read. "I, I guess I'll read a book then. Aunt Zenith, are there any good books on Sword Masters?"

----------------------------------------

"Auntie, this book says Sword Master Tempest Tallis famous Skill was called [Sky Rendering Slash], and h-."

"That's not a real Skill. His slashes were so fast that he could seemingly rend the sky apart. But in all actuality, he just augmented his slash with a [[Wind Blade]] so that it could cut the clouds above him in half. It's only good for showing off and somewhat for posturing," Paige said offhand as she sat at the dinner table and prepared for dinner.

Looking over at Markus, she was surprised to see that he was surrounded by a pile of books, most of them the ones Zenith had brought from the library of the more local heroes. She Markus was really getting into the stories of Sword Masters, although she was a little bummed about his apparent enthusiasm. She was a full-blown Warrior, and she didn't even have a book about her feats! Hell, even that bum Tallis had a book on him! 

Zenith elbowed her hard. "Paige, don't kill Markus's enthusiasm. That one was a good read, although I do agree with your judgment about his skill." 

Looking over, Paige did realize she was killing Markus's drive to read. Most of the books were really worn with age, though the newer ones were clearly the library's copies of books. At least Zenith had organized the books by topic, though one book was rather out of place.

"Well, how about you read this one, Markus."

Picking the out of place book, she quickly smiled at the title. It was indeed the perfect book! And it was her original copy of it. Turning to Markus, she carefully handed over a small weather-worn book, the title barely visible through the sun bleached leather cover. 'The Ghost of Alun Tep'. In truth, it was one of Paige's favorite books. Mainly because it was actually about her! Well, it was heavily fictionalized, and the author had even created a fake (male) identity and a mostly fictional backstory for most of the characters. But the conclusion and all the descriptions of the Skills she had used were entirely accurate. 

"Is this a real story? Auntie Zenith said it's bad to use fake stories as a reference on which Skills I should think about learning," Markus asked with a frown, looking at how old the book was.

"Hey now! I'll have you know it is extremely accurate." Paige said feeling personally attacked. "Skill-wise anyways," she mumbled after seeing Zenith's skeptical face. "Markus, whenever they say Warrior in the book, insert Sword Master instead. The skills the main character uses are all valid skills for Sword Masters. I don't think this copy has a codex at the end, so you'll have to read the entire story to find out which Skills he knows."

Zenith frowned at the choice of the book. "Ghost of Alun Tep? You are talking about the person who haunts the ancient forest regions of the northeast and kills Elves and Humans on sight? Why in the world would you let him read that story? It's terrible what happened in those woods and the repercussions that arose from that."

"Hey now, they shouldn't have been dealing in illegal slave trading. It's not m-his fault they all decided to fight to the death instead of surrendering peacefully. And how was he supposed to know there was an Elven Princess hiding there? And that he would be blamed of getting said princess pregnant and plunging the northeast corner of the empire in a brief war, which subsided after he killed twenty Elven Protectors in a battle to regain his lost honor?"

Markus's eyes widened as he clutched the book and ran off to read what should be a fantastic tale of adventure. The adults though sat in silence. Paige watched as Zenith quietly took out a small mana core and placed it on the table, activating the hidden ward they had etched into the table. They had finally decided to install a privacy ward now that Sara was coming more often, and Markus was starting to stay up later and later in the night. "...that was awfully specific Paige," Nick muttered eventually.

"...I didn't get the princess pregnant; that was just artistic embellishment on the author's part. The nobles kidnapped and tortured her, and I rescued her and brought her back. But instead of thanking me, her entire family decided instead that it would be a good reason to start a war. A Noble Elven Princess getting sullied by some human noble."

Paige's annoyance grew as she remembered the finer details of the event in question. "And they even had the gall to blame me for everything since I was traveling incognito! But since they wanted to start a war and my reputation was being drugged through the mud, I told them I would kill a High-Class Elven Protector every day they didn't leave Alun Tep. They rethought their idea after I killed twenty of them." She smiled after a second as a thought popped in her mind. "Heh. I guess I'm not a persona non grata anymore in Elven territory."

Paige stopped as she saw Zenith's eyes twitching. "So, what brought this reading frenzy on anyways? I thought Markus hated reading."

"He does, but Tyler told him you can learn Skills and Spells from reading. I told him to read those stories to see how some Skills are typically used in combat. Paige. The Twenty Day War was over nine hundred years ago. And you played a part in that? Then, do you think anything has changed in the northeast of the Empire?" Zenith asked carefully. 

Paige knew she should care more but she just shrugged off the whole ordeal. "I haven't thought about it. If something has happened, it happened nine hundred years ago. The final outcome really depends on what happened to that Princess." The look in Zenith's eyes was starting to worry her a bit more than she wanted to let on. "But honestly, even if the Elves could penetrate past Alun Tep, all the Imperial Family would have done is dispatch a couple Party of Scions to take back the territory by force. Or maybe diplomatically, but I highly doubt that."

"After I teach Xavier, I'll go to the library and look for a few history books. Honestly, though, Paige, is there anything else I should be on the lookout for?" Zenith said as she slumped in her seat. 

"Well, there were a few events...I'll draw up a map of what I can remember."

"You mean a list?"

"Peh. My memory isn't that good. I know general layouts of where I got into more trouble than others, but I'd need something to spark my memory of an event. A map will do just fine. And in my defense, it's not like what happened at Alun Tep vastly changed my life forever, so I forgot about it until I saw that book. The only real consequence was that I just couldn't travel further into Elven territory than I previously tried since they got a good read of my mana."

"How far could you get?" Nick said with interest. "I've heard stories of their ancient forests, and as much as I'd hate to admit, Leit's ancient forests wouldn't even come close age-wise." 

"It's okay. There are more monsters to watch for and some things even I hesitated to cross, but overall it was a forest. You've seen one, you've seen them all. And the Elves even lived in treehouses, for goodness sake. Although their main palace was a rather impressive tree."

Paige thought about the capital city of the Elves. Now that was a forest. Though she wouldn't admit to anyone that the sight was impressive. But with hardly any hills or mountains, it was tough to gauge just how far the forest stretched.

"Hmm, speaking of travels, if you really wanted to see some ancient trees, I'd go to the Dragos Territory. The whole area is littered with ancient forests, though it would also be more dangerous than going into Elven Territory. The stupid lizards are very, very territorial. And there were a few ancient forests in the Demon Territory too, though I never really made headway into there to explore. Their Demon Lords are no joke to fight against, all things considering. They're practically trained for war."

Which might have more merit than Paige had previously thought prior to fighting Markus at the Mausoleum. 'Maybe there was a reason why they were so powerful. Powerful opponents are always the best way to grow... Meh, not my job right now. Not my job,' Paige thought as she happily shoved that idle thought away.

Zenith took a worried look at Markus, who was happily reading by the fireplace. "Paige, do you know a lot about Demon Lords? I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about how fast Markus picks up Skills."

Paige stilled, realizing that her viewpoint of Markus was rather skewed in comparison to everyone else. To her, Markus's growth was perfectly normal in most ways.

"You have to remember that a Demon Lord is the equivalent to a Human Hero. From what I can tell, Markus is picking things up just as fast as a Hero would. Probably slower, actually. We aren't exactly teaching him everything we know and we are still limited by the fog to some degree. As far as I know, he's picking up random Skills through experimentation and observation."

"So is his growth normal?" Tyler asked seriously.

Paige nodded. "It is if you are comparing him to a Hero. But you also have to remember, his actual race and Class is Human/Demon and Blessed Apprentice. I'm guessing his greater affinity to darkness comes from his demon side, the lesser affinity to light from his human side. But after that, we have no idea how his race or class is affecting his growth."

"About that." Zenith interrupted briskly, "Race aside, should we tell him about his Class now that he is older? We've been hiding it since we found him, and he's been upset that his class is still Commoner," 

"How would we explain the Class upgrade? The minute he sees someone else gain a Class, he will start to wonder why he didn't have to go through the same ordeal," Tyler spoke up, seemingly refuting that idea.

Zenith took a deep breath. "How about we fake it?"

"Eh?"

"I've been thinking about this for a while now. Class upgrades are essentially three parts: mana recognition, mana upgrade, and mana stabilization; and not everyone's class upgrade is the same. Tyler's class upgrade was a glowing cloud, for instance, which practically describes mana stabilization. I would bet money that the other two parts happened months ago in his sleep, but it manifested when we made him choose a single path. But, I remember the same thing happened when we gained our subclasses..."

"No. That's a terrible idea. Let's just tell him directly," Nick interrupted, which surprised everyone.

He looked gravely at the others, "Lying long term will not help anything. Let him see that he actually has a Class, but it has to be kept a secret since we don't know how it can affect his future. He probably already knows it himself that something is off with this whole situation. I mean, he clearly knows we do not have simple support classes, so why wouldn't he be different as well? Just don't lie about how we found him and everything will eventually work itself out. Paige, can you do it? Or would you rather Zenith does it? The two of you have spent the most time with him overall, so one of you should do it." 

"Since I was the one who hid his Class in the first place, I should be the one to fix the problem. I'll... figure something out tomorrow when I take him to train. But no matter what, I will still hide the Blessed part of his Class."