Chapter 6 – Skills

His soul space looked pretty much the same as last time. His consciousness floated around while his avatar was at the very center of the white space. Harley flew right next to his soul as he inspected his soul space in detail. It was about 10 feet in diameter and had a perfect spherical shape. The walls were rigid and looked almost metallic. He could still feel the faint outline of the cracks from before.

He did notice a strange electric buzz in the space, almost like the whirring of a printer, which he assumed was the scan the old man mentioned.

“How long will this process take?” he asked.

About 13 minutes with my help. It would have taken about 10 minutes to scan one year worth of memories and populate a list of mundane skills, otherwise. Anyway, now that we are here, let me fill you in on how System Skills work.

Pretty much everything you do can be converted into a Skill – Cooking, Hunting, Gardening, etc. That does not mean that someone who does not have the System Skill cannot cook. It’s just that System Skills give additional benefits to the outcome, such as bonus stats from the prepared food., or created armor. What these benefits are cannot be quantified in any description.

You will just feel the difference while using the Skill. For example, the Tracking Skill will highlight stuff in your vision when you look closely, while Blacksmithing Skill will highlight the points to hit and impurities in the metal you are working on. Higher the Skill level, the more pronounced the effects.

“So why not convert all mundane skills into System Skills?”

Because the number of Skill slots are limited based on your Racial evolution and species. As a human below level 100, you have 2 slots. Each successive evolution doubles the number of slots, all the way to 128 at level 700. Stronger species like elves and dwarves have more slots, and weaker species like kobolds, have lesser slots.

“Oh. That is going to be a problem. Isn’t that very restrictive? If the System’s goal is to nurture strong life forms, I would think there would be no limit.”

It’s not that the System doesn’t want to. The problem is the soul space. A System created Skill puts a load on your soul space. Anything beyond what it can handle can cause the soul space to rupture, thereby killing the person. But when you evolve, your soul space expands. Giving more room for System Skills.

Although don’t worry about the number much. You can combine and evolve Skills as you grow stronger. For now, I suggest picking which two skills you want to slot in. They can be swapped out, but not during combat. You can improve the rank of a Skill by using it frequently or by spending SP. Once the rank has improved you can replace the Skill and work on another. The Skill rank won’t go down when unequipped.

The ranks are – Novice, Beginner, Adept, Expert, Master, Grand Master, and Savant. You need to equip 2 similar Savant ranked Skills before you can combine them into one Savant Skill. Which means it is more economical to combine them after you have evolved. This is how much it costs to use SP for your skills.

· Novice à Beginner: 1 SP

· Beginner à Adept: 2 SP

· Adept à Expert: 3 SP

· Expert à Master: 4 SP

· Master à Grand Master: 5 SP

· Grand Master à Savant: 15 SP

· Combining equipped Savant Skills: 40 SP

“Ouch. Once the people find out how expensive the upgrades are, they are going to be so mad. So, I can upgrade 4 Skills from Novice to Savant using 120 SP. And spend 120 SP total to combine all of them into one Savant Skill using three combinations?”

Yes. Although, if you wait till you evolve you can equip 4 Savant skills and combine them into one for the cost of 40 SP.

“It almost makes my suffering worth it. Almost. Let’s get started then. What do we do now?”

Do you need my help in picking the right Skills? I can optimize it for you.

“Thanks Harley, I do appreciate the offer, and I know you would probably do a better job, being a super advanced AI and all. But this is one aspect I want to do myself, even if I mess up or make mistakes. It’s more fun this way,” Aenon said with a bright smile.

He was excited for what came next. He could take Harley’s help and make the best Skill build ever. But it would be like following an online guide created by someone else. Some people may prefer it, but he hated cookie cutter builds that were considered meta. He found them too boring. Suddenly the robotic voice of the System filled his soul space.

Analysis complete. Please peruse the list of mundane skills and choose 2 to equip them to your Skill slots. As this is your first time, the first two Skills will be upgraded by one rank when equipped.

A long list of skills worth several pages appeared on a screen in front of him. He could browse it using a scroll bar next to the list. He noticed most were at Novice with some higher ranked skills mixed in, with Expert being the highest.

He mentally asked the System to sort his skills into three categories – weapons, urban survival, and forest survival, and only display top three ranked choices from each category.

Request granted. Here is the populated list.

Weapons

Dagger – Adept

Spear – Beginner

Unarmed – Beginner

Survival (Woods)

Stealth – Expert

Tracking – Adept

Hunting – Beginner

Survival (Urban)

Stealth – Adept

Tracking – Novice

Hunting – Novice

He was happy that his time spent alone in the forest back on Earth did not go to waste. He wondered why Survival skills repeated for two categories had different proficiencies. When asked, Harley explained that being stealthy in woods was different than in urban environments.

Looking at his list he planned how to proceed. He first equipped both the Stealth skills, which were upgraded by one rank each, and spent 44 points to upgrade both to Savant. He then spent 40 SP to combine them into his first slot.

He then equipped his dagger skill into his second slot and spent 27 SP to upgrade it to Savant. Then he swapped out his first slot with the unarmed skill and spent 29 SP to upgrade it to the max. Another additional 40 SP combined the two weapon Skills into his second slot.

Finally, he equipped both his Savant level Stealth and Weapon Skills. That left him with 20 SP which he left for future use. The moment he finished his upgrades, he felt a strong burst of energy in his soul space followed by an exclamation mark at the top of his vision.

Title achieved: Savant Hunter (1)

Title upgraded: Savant Hunter (2)

Title upgraded: Planetary Forerunner (3)

Savant Hunter 1/2: Achieve 1/2 combined Savant level skills.

+10/+20 all stats.

Planetary Forerunner (3): First to combine 2 Savant level skills.

+20 all stats.

Pulling up his stats brought a big smile to his face. He gained 84 stat points in each category purely from his Titles. That was 504 stats. He had satisfied the condition for an F-Grade evolution before he even got his classes. He pulled up his stat sheet to bask in its glory.

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Name

Aenon Fenrast (13 yrs)

Race

Human (F)

Level

0

Class

None

Level

NA

Subclass

None

Level

NA

HP

880

MP

960

HP/10 min

174

MP/10 min

208

Stats

Strength

88 (4+84)

Intelligence

96 (12+84)

Constitution

87 (3+84)

Willpower

104 (20+84)

Dexterity

92 (8+84)

Perception

94 (10+84)

Titles (84x6=504)

Indomitable Soul (3)

+20 all stats

Planetary Forerunner (3)

+20 all stats

Overseers Favor

+5 all stats

System's Chosen

Nomenclaturist

+5 all stats

Savant Hunter (2)

+20 all stats

Prodigy (1)

+20% stat gained from Titles

Skills (Free SP: 20)

Weapons (Dagger, Unarmed)

Savant

Stealth (Woods, Urban)

Savant

Wow. I was not expecting you to spend most of your SP in one go. Can’t complain about the results though. Hope you don’t regret it.

“It’s an investment Harley. The SP will be useless if I die or cannot maintain my lead. These Titles are awesome. And can be upgraded. Especially the Forerunner Title. If we keep getting world firsts, we might upgrade it further. So that is what I plan to do. Let’s grab my first classes and head out for a hunt.”

About that, I have a suggestion. Don’t get the classes from the Training Hall yet. They will give you low rarity classes if you acquire them as you are now. Your current stats are inflated enough that you can safely farm the low-level areas and maybe even the beginner dungeons. Come back after you have gained a few more Titles.

Classes, like Skills, are granted based on your past experiences. You get experience, XP for short, when you kill System designated monsters. Although you can upgrade your class later, you will miss out on the stat gains per level till that point. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I have a feeling you wouldn’t want to miss some free stat points.

“That makes sense. And you are right, I do not want to miss any points if I can help it. Thanks for the heads-up, Harley. Really glad I have you watching my back,” Aenon said sincerely. After he lost his family, he had given up on trusting anyone. But now he had someone he could rely on. The shard glowed a bright pink listening to the praise.

Glad you feel that way. I am only a day old, but I feel the same way about you Aenon. Now, let us head out and bash some skulls and spill some blood. Bhuahahaha!

The eerie nasal laugh gave him goosebumps, but he smiled, nonetheless. He mentally focused on leaving his soul space and with a bang he was back in the real world.

The bang was from him faceplanting into the hard floor the moment he was out. He was having the worst case of vertigo he had ever experienced. There was a truckload of information being dumped into his brain, and he was not able to keep up with the stimuli. Every little detail was being processed by his overburdened mind. How to take his next step, which shadows would hide him, which obstacles can provide cover as he moved, everything hit him all at once.

Foreign muscle memories plagued his body as well. It felt like he was missing a limb, which he soon associated with not having a dagger on him. His fingers itched with the thought of holding one this instant. He groaned while lying still on the floor, to the amusement of the old man sitting at the desk.

Skull bash, check. Spill blood, check. Bhuahahaha!

“You alright young man? Must have slotted some rather powerful Skills if this is your reaction. I won’t pry, but a word of advice, the higher the skill proficiency when it is slotted, the worse the side effects when you come out. Your Willpower stat will offset the backlash. So, invest heavily into that in the future if you plan to slot more powerful Skills,” the old man said with a kind smile while giving him a hand. The devil crystal kept on cackling in the background.

“Thank you, sir,” Aenon whispered as he took the outstretched arm while lifting himself off the ground.

He had to restrain himself, since the moment their hands touched, his muscles were screaming at him to grapple and toss the guy to the ground hard. He let go of the hand as quickly as possible and stood straight. “I will get you for that Harley,” he mentally threatened the crystal which was rolling on the floor by this point.

“I am no sir, my boy. The name’s Alred. It’s nice meeting a motivated young one such as yourself. Don’t have any fancy Title worth mentioning, so Alred is fine.”

“The pleasure is mine, Alred. I am Aenon Fenrast. You can call me Aenon.” He kept quiet about his Titles, since he could hide them using his System’s Chosen perk. He was still reeling from the upgrades when the kind old man extended his hand towards him. There was a small glass bottle in it with some green liquid.

“Here. This elixir should help you acclimate to the Skills. It temporarily boosts your Willpower by 5% for 24 hours. I always keep these on my person for eager youngsters such as yourself. Although I must say, I have never seen anyone collapsing like that before. The most I have seen is a severe case of projectile vomiting. I moved my desk a few feet from the crystal for that very reason,” Alred said with a wink and a smile.

“Thanks, Alred. Really appreciate it,” Aenon replied while taking the vial gently.

He uncapped the bottle and gave it a tentative sniff. It had a minty smell to it. He downed the whole bottle in one go. As soon as the liquid reached his belly, he felt his muscles relax and the migraine that was developing eased up. He discreetly kicked Harley, who was still rolling on the ground, while Alred was not looking. That finally got her to stop laughing.

Hey! What was that for?

“You know damn well what that was for. You could have warned me, but didn’t,” he mentally told her off in a mock hurt tone.

He wasn’t really upset but decided to play along. Some aspects of her personality made some pleasant memories resurface. And if he was being honest, had their positions been reversed, he would have had the same idea. His mind was already plotting on how to even the score. The attendant from earlier walked in at that moment and approached them.

“Everything went well, I hope. If you are ready, we can head over to the Class Crystal in the adjoining room,” he said formally with a bow to Alred. Aenon was thinking about how to get out of this situation without raising suspicion, when an idea popped into his mind.

“I might need to rest before I do that. My head and stomach feel funny. Can I come in later to get my Classes?”

“Absolutely. You can come in whenever you feel ready. Let me escort you out,” the attendant said. After some pleasantries, they made it back out of the building. The attendant gave him a bow before heading back to his desk.

“So, what now Harl? Should we get to the skull bashing part, not mine hopefully?”

Sure thing. Let’s head over to the Adventurer’s Guild and look over some of the contracts. They should have a board outside the building accessible to unregistered people. It’s a requirement to fulfill a contract before you can set foot inside the building and become a registered member.

Aenon asked a soldier who was patrolling nearby for directions and started walking. Except the first woman, all soldiers seemed to be very polite by comparison. Was not sure what her problem was, but he would get her back for the insult. He always settled his debts, no matter how trivial.

He was finally getting the hang of his new Stealth Skill. There wasn’t any special effect from what he could tell so far, but there were a lot of mental nudges he felt while navigating the village. But there was this constant mental itch he felt when he tried to follow the instincts. Like he was missing something.

“What is this weird discomfort I am feeling Harley? I am following the subtle suggestions on how I am supposed to move. But it still feels off. What am I missing?” the itch was driving him crazy.

That is what happens when you experiment with Skills without all the knowledge. I did ask if you needed help, but you wanted this. What you don’t know is that every Skill has two components – magical and non-magical. The things you did back on Earth and what you are doing now, are the non-magical aspects of the Skill. The right movement is necessary, sure.

But did you forget what the greatest skill a rogue has in any MMORPG? The ability to vanish right in front of someone’s eyes. That is only possible with the application of mana, which you have not learned so far. You don’t even know how to perceive mana and you maxed out a Skill that requires it. What did you think was going to happen?

She sounded pleased at his discomfort. She was right, though. He refused her input and went all in with his SP. In hindsight, maybe it would have been better if he had asked for more info. Well, there is no medicine for regret. So, he decided to tolerate the sensation for now.

He flowed like a ghost through the crowd, with very few people noticing him as he moved. The itch intensified when someone looked at him. Eventually, and with great relief, he stopped trying to be sneaky as he reached his destination.

A small crowd was standing around a noticeboard of sorts. It had posters about various tasks, from collecting some herbs from the nearby forest, to finding a stupid family pet. They all had letters stamped at the bottom with a crest that looked like the one on the building. A pair of crossed swords over a shield. There was one poster all the way at the top of the board which looked old. It was the only one with the letter S on it.

Contract

(Difficulty: S)

The Adventurer’s Guild is seeking information about the goblin camps in the forest to the south. Reward based on accuracy of information. Additional reward if you bring proof of killing a goblin (left ear).

Reward for information: Variable

Reward for proof of kill:

· Goblin – 2 C

· Goblin Scout – 1 S

· Goblin Warrior – 5 S

· Goblin Shaman – 50 S

· Goblin Leader – 2 G

· Hobgoblin – 20 G

“Why is the difficulty for just getting information so high? They are just goblins, right?”, he asked out aloud.

Although he had directed the question to Harley, his voice had carried over to everyone present. They all turned to him at once and gave him weird looks. The old woman right next to him gave him a pitying look before explaining passionately. As though she expected him to run towards the goblin camps this instant.

“Why is the difficulty so high? Because hardly anyone makes it back alive. Goblins are weak, that much is true. But they make up for it with their swarm mentality. We have been trying to cull their population for months now. But unless we find the dungeon they are overflowing out of, we can’t do anything. The best we have done so far is keep their numbers in check around the village. So don’t go running off into the forest for some coppers. It is not worth it.”

Aenon felt his ears heat up with all the attention, not to mention the mental itch, which was maddening right now. But he did ask anyway, “Coppers? Isn’t the reward in Silvers or Gold for kills?”

The crowd went quiet at his question before a guy burst out laughing. “Nice knowing you kid. Hope you can make it a few more days,” he said before walking away.

The woman on the other hand looked incredulous before grabbing his wrist and pulling him away from the crowd. With herculean effort he stopped the instinct to break her hand and let her drag him along. Once they reached a quiet corner of the street, she made him sit on a bench and went into mom-lecture mode.

He sat there for what felt like ages while she droned on and on about recklessness and hidden dangers. Only after he gave her multiple assurances that he would not seek the goblins, did she let him leave. Even then she thrust a copper coin, the reward for getting info about a small goblin camp, in his hands before leaving.

With a smile he saw her leave while holding onto the coin, his first in this new world. He leaned back and stared at the sky. It had been a long time since an adult had lectured him out of concern. Observing his melancholic mood, Harley kept quiet. After about 15 minutes, he placed the coin in his pocket, not wanting to lose it with the others if he deposited it into his inventory.

“Time to bash some goblin skulls, Harl,” he mentally declared to his companion. With a forceful exhale he stood up and started heading for the gate. A determined smile on his face for the adventures ahead.