The first skill Joe picked was a no-brainer. The sheer number of times a customer tried and failed to assess him as he leafed through the leather-bound catalog suggested that [Identify] must be as popular as Hawking had mentioned. A skill that everyone took probably had to be a necessary one.

As a bonus, at the price of one and a half gold, they were the least expensive skill in the book.

Since he already had a point in Perception, Joe would not have to spend any of his unassigned attribute points.

After that, he started looking for skills related to healing. Unfortunately, the only one he found was a crazy expensive spell called [Close Wounds], which, when Joe compared it to [Healing Touch], was not even as good at the healing spell he already had.

The only other spell that was even close to his class was a weird veterinary spell that also worked on people. It was an uncommon vigor-based skill called [Efferous Endurance]. While it didn’t heal injuries, it was a solid boost for another resource: stamina. Even though it was only half as effective on people as it was on beasts, Joe could see it being a big boon. Thankfully, it was priced more like the agricultural spells instead of [Close Wounds], costing three gold pieces. Joe added it to his mental list alongside [Identify].

After that, he was a bit stumped.

Nella had been right. The book was filled with mostly crafting skills. There were quite a few basic fighting skills listed as well.

When he got to the last page, disappointed, he turned back to the beginning and started again, just in case he had missed something the first time. He hadn’t. The answer to helping Sarsa was not here.

Joe closed the book and turned to the glass-faced display. The case was also sorted alphabetically like the book, which made it very easy to see what skills the General Store had available.

The first crystal in the case was a purple Alchemy crystal. Joe could easily see how alchemy and healing would be a great synergy. Unfortunately, it was one of the most expensive starter skills in the store. The bronze-banded crystal cost sixteen gold pieces. That was exactly what Joe had. Putting all his money into a single skill seemed like a terrible idea.

There were others in the A’s, but the first B caught his eye. [Batter] was a basic attack skill that worked with bludgeoning weapons, a quarterstaff, for example. If Joe needed to level up to get a better healing skill, then in most RPG-type games, that meant hunting monsters. While he knew this world was not actually a computer game, from what Hawking and Konren had said, it sounded like this practice might still be the case. Joe had no problem spending a point into Strength so as not to be completely surpassed in might by the kid at his side.

“Hey Rhy. How good is [Bash]?” Joe asked, pointing at the red shard.

“It's ok. But it only works with smashing weapons. [Bash] does more damage than the all-around weapon booster skills, but I think more people take [Power Attack] or [Swift Strike] because they work no matter what weapon you are using.”

“That makes sense. Since the weapon aptitude skill I have covers any simple weapon, then maybe I should get one of those skills.”

The downside he discovered was those skills were more expensive. While [Bash] was only three and a half gold, [Power Attack], the strength-based version, was twice as expensive. The dexterity-based [Swift Strike] was a better deal at four and a half gold.

Still, Rhiley’s logic was sound, especially coming from one so young. Joe would have to wrap his head around the fact that talking skills was a regular topic for people who lived their lives by them.

Unless he really didn’t have the coins for it, he would go with one of the more versatile skills. Probably [Swift Strike].

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Joe started looking for a bargain at this point.

The one that he liked best was a blue crystal for a skill called [Coin Catcher]. This skill caused the loot that came out of the reward globes or monster corpses to fly into pouches and packs instead of flipping off into the weeds or cracking him in the head. Joe didn’t really need this one, but it was one of those quality-of-life skills that would take an annoyance out of the game. He could also see it coming in handy if he had to grab loot in a hurry.

He allotted two gold pieces for this one, bringing his total to eleven with [Swift Strike], more if he took [Power Attack]. The rest he would need for gear.

That thought cemented his choice for the Dex-base skill. He’d have to accept being weaker than a ten-year-old for a while longer. He wrote down the four skill names on a slip of paper by the case and headed to the front of the store where Missus Eldauk was wrapping up a sale with her customer.

As Joe reached into his satchel to grab his coins in, he couldn’t find them. He had wrapped the coins in a small strip of bandage so they would not be clinking around in his bag but the bundle was gone. Joe emptied the satchel on the counter, but there were still no coins.

When he looked over at Rhiley, he saw the boy’s face change from concern to red-faced anger.

“Son of a muckback mimic! That jerk!” the young man swore. Turning on his heel, the lad stormed out of the store at a fast clip.

Joe scooped his healing materials back into his bag as quickly as he could and followed the boy outside, but Rhiley had a large lead on him. Joe caught a glimpse of the youth at the edge of town, heading for a river in the distance.

Jogging after the boy, Joe passed a large number of curious faces. He hoped none of them would think he was chasing Rhiley for some nefarious purpose. That would be a terrible way to start his time in the village. Thankfully, none of them stopped him.

A few minutes later, Joe found himself running down a trail between two fields. For most of the way, he could see Rhiley until the boy reached a band of trees lining the river. The farmboy vanished between the trunks before Joe could catch up.

He had to stop and panted for a bit, looking forward to the upcoming increase in Vigor. Joe was tempted to spend the points now and help his endurance, but he decided to play it safe in case his coins were gone for good.

When the sounds of young voices yelling erupted from his left, Joe set off again. Jogging through the trees, he finally came up on Rhiley, shouting at Kaid at the end of a small dock extending from the shore. A third child was sitting on the end of the raised planks, looking very uncomfortable.

“HE HEALED BOTH OF THEM, KAID! BUCK AND MY MOM! AND YOU TOOK EVERYTHING HE HAD!”

Kaid had his hands up, and his face flushed with anger. This caused the girl beside the two to perform some sort of magic. With a hand gesture, a flicker of green motes swirled around her body, shrinking and morphing her form. A moment later, a bullfrog sat on the boards while her pole dropped into the water. With a loud ribbit, the girl, now frog, leapt away, vanishing into the stream.

Still on the dock, Rhiley seemed to tower over the diminutive gnome. Yet even with the farm boy’s extra size and muscles, something told Joe that if this actually turned into a fight, Kaid was the more dangerous of the two. He doubted it would. The gnome’s expression was miserable, bordering on tearful in the face of the young farmer’s wrath.

“I didn’t know Rhy. How could I? He was just some doofus stranger strolling through town. Of course, I’ll give ‘em back. Look, there he is,” Kaid mewled, pointing at Joe, who had reached the end of the pier. “Here you go, sir. Force of habit. I’m sure you understand.”

The little scoundrel lobed the wrapped coin bundle, arcing it to Joe with a near-perfect throw.

“We good, Rhy?” he pleaded. “I’m really sorry. Come on. No more hard feelings. I got us a couple poles and a jug of Apple Jack. Can we please let bygones be bygones?”

“I got my money back,” Joe confirmed. He gave the tied packet a shake, adding, “It’s all there, right?”

When Kaid nodded back furiously, Joe shrugged. “Then I’m good. Rhiley, you can hang with your friend here. I’ve got some shopping to do.”

Still staring daggers at the tiny waif, Rhiley huffed, clearly still pissed. “No, I’ll stick with you if you don’t mind, Joe. I have to go see Mister Tienker anyway.”

Leaving the crestfallen gnome on the dock, the pair hiked back to the general store. Joe had originally thought he would be annoyed at having to trek back to the village, but it had been a while since he could just go for a walk.

Even though it was just an about-face, he found himself smiling as they walked. Hiking along this path, with the breeze ruffling the fields of grain on either side of him, was one of those simply beautiful moments that could catch you off guard. Joe found that he didn’t even mind Kaid’s sticky fingers, considering how much he was enjoying just being outdoors again.

Side by side, he and the young man reentered town, vectoring straight back towards the general store.