Elise Creston

Skills: 1/1

[U] Skill Transfer, Level 1

* Allows the user to transfer skills between other Users or skill tomes with available slots or capacity.

* Allows the user to conjure a skill tome. Current capacity: 100/100.

You have 0 skill slots remaining.

Elise read over her interface one more time, just to make sure it was real. No matter how many times she waved her hands through the illusory text, it remained unchanging.

“This can’t be real,” she muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. That last damned line of the interface taunted her, emphasizing how utterly useless this skill would be.

0 skill slots. She’d never be able to get another skill. If she’d been granted almost any other skill in the world, she’d have started off with the standard 5 open skill slots for her to use as she pleased. Even the other U rank skills would have given at least one open slot. But zero. No matter how hard Elise tried, no matter how much she prepared for every obstacle life tried to throw her way, it never seemed to be enough.

“Are you feeling better, sweetie?” William had given his daughter time to pace around the house and collect herself while he gathered his things for work. He wasn’t in any danger of being late, but as a Creston getting places early was in his DNA.

“Not really, but I’ll manage,” she said. “It’s better than being Unskilled, and I’d been mentally preparing myself for that. I know the guild’s gonna be ecstatic.”

“You don’t have to work for the guild anymore. You could get rich in a year by working for some noble, or—”

“I’m not working for a damned noble!” Elise raised her voice in frustration, though almost immediately she softened her tone. “Sorry. It’s just, you know how I feel about the nobles.”

William shook his head as he hurriedly threw on his overcoat. “No, I shouldn’t have even suggested it. I know firsthand how entitled they can get. I was just trying to say, it’s your skill. It’s not what you wanted, I know, but it opens up some doors that weren’t open before.”

“Mhm.” Elise wanted desperately to argue, but objectively speaking, her father was right. Skill Transfer was quite possibly the most profitable skill to have. If she wanted to adventure, she’d be able to afford the best gear, hire the most experienced teammates. Everything she’d need, except the skills themselves.

“Look sweetie, I know this sucks. But you can get through this.”

Elise sighed. “You’re right. Now go, I can see you’ve been itching to leave.” She gave her father one last hug before ushering him out the door. A second before leaving, William turned to ask one last question.

“Hey, sweetie, you sure you’re okay?”

It took every ounce of emotional strength left in Elise to muster a weak smile. “Never been better,” she said. The second the door shut, her smile faded and she pulled up her interface one final time. Alone, she whispered to the screen.

“Never been better.”

~~~

The city of Fioria was surrounded by monsters. To the north, icy mountains were patrolled regularly by gangs of cyclops, with frost wyverns constantly circling the sky. To the south, the Great Forest housed nearly every venomous creature known to man, from giant basilisks to swarms of acid beetles. East and west were the only real viable routes for trade, but even those weren’t safe, with bands of goblins running around attacking humans on sight. For these reasons, adventurers were a necessity, and the leaders of Fioria did everything they could to ensure their adventurer’s guild was well maintained.

The guild’s main building stood near Fioria’s eastern gate, a massive hall with three stories taking up an entire city block. Inside was every amenity an adventurer would need: a forge to repair and craft gear, a stockpile of medical supplies both magical and mundane, vendors selling skill crystals, receptionists that managed quests and rewards, and more. People would joke that if the guild hall ever got destroyed, half the city would lose their jobs, and while that was an exaggeration, the statement spoke to how important the guild hall was.

In the blocks surrounding the guild hall were a number of services not restricted to adventures, but definitely catered towards them. A few inns and taverns, some additional shops for equipment and items, and a number of empty plots with practice dummies used for training.

Most days in the early morning, Elise’s ‘Swordplay for Beginners’ class used one of the many training plots available to the guild. Her class often garnered a number of spectators, mostly children who were interested in adventuring but too young to officially enroll. Her actual students were all in their late teens or early twenties, and most of them had at least one combat skill, with the most experienced member of the class having three. Despite this, Elise’s proficiency with the blade consistently proved that there was more to being a successful swordsman than having interface-given skills.

“Good job everyone. Tomorrow, we’ll work more on defending against quadrupedal attacks.” Elise dismissed her morning class feeling somewhat disappointed by her own performance. Despite her best efforts, she’d been unable to keep her mind off her skill, and her movements had felt sloppier than usual.

“Hey, Elise!” One of her students hurried over, his shirt soaked in sweat after an hour of swinging around a sword. “Are you free to grab lunch? My treat.”

Elise shook her head. “Sorry Ryan, not today. I’ve got to meet with the guildmaster.” Elise still had a loaf of bread to deliver, but more importantly, she had to register her skill with the guild. Even though she wasn’t thrilled to have Skill Transfer, she knew the skill was invaluable to the guild, and the guildmaster would surely offer her a sizable sum if she was willing to use the skill for their adventurers. Of course, a noble house would likely offer her more than ten times what the guild could afford, an offer she had no intentions of accepting.

“What are you meeting with the guildmaster for?” Ryan asked. It was a natural question, as most people rarely saw the guildmaster outside of his speeches. It was different for guild employees, which was a fact Ryan had no way of knowing. Elise wasn’t sure if she wanted to tell him the real reason for needing to visit, or just chalk it up to her being employed by the guild. She’d planned on keeping her skill a secret until she officially signed a contract, to stop any unwanted solicitation from noble houses trying to poach a potential skill broker. After a moment of silent deliberation, she decided that while she’d be strictly against telling most people, Ryan got a pass. He’d been attending her classes for over a year, and in that time she’d talked to him enough to consider him a friend.

“I got my skill interface this morning, so I’m heading over to register as an adventurer.”

“Really?” Ryan said in surprise. “Well, congratulations! What skill did you get?”

“Skill Transfer,” Elise said with a sigh. “I’m not planning on spreading the news around until I sign a formal contract with the guildmaster, so please don’t let people know.”

Ryan gasped. “Skill Transfer? That’s— that’s amazing! You got one of the rarest skills there is! Your secret’s safe with me, don’t worry.”

Elise managed a weak smile. “Yeah, it’s definitely rare.” She was slightly annoyed by his positivity and calling her skill ‘amazing’, but she knew he meant no harm. It wasn’t common knowledge that Skill Transfer came with no additional skill slots; most people hadn’t spent years obsessing over skills and learning every possible tidbit, unlike Elise.

“Hey, does this mean you’re gonna be adventuring now?” Ryan asked. “I got my badge a few months ago, but I’ve been too scared to take on any quests. If it’s with you though, I’d feel safe. You’re probably the best swordsman in the guild if you ignore skills.”

“Thanks,” Elise said, “and we’ll see about the whole adventuring thing. I want to as soon as possible, but speaking to the guildmaster and getting my badge comes first.”

Ryan nodded. “Makes sense. Well, best of luck, and let me know!” He hurried off towards the shopping district, likely to grab some food, leaving Elise to continue on towards the guild hall. She arrived at the massive mahogany doors like she’d done a million times before, but today was different. She’d been so used to strolling into the hall with hopes of one day donning an adventurers badge, silently praying that it was finally the day she’d be granted a skill. Now, the hopeful Elise was gone, replaced by a much more pragmatic Elise who was both closer to her goals and yet so much farther away.

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She threw open the doors to reveal the guilds main hall, which was a hubbub of activity as per usual. In one corner of the guild, a group of mages argued passionately about which lightning skills were best, while a man with a large wooden shield blocked stray arcs of electricity as they came his way. Nearby, a couple women with brass knuckles took turns delivering blows to the other’s cranium, as neither seemed to be affected by the attacks. At the opposite end of the hall, teams of adventurers lined up impatiently by a large wooden board as a receptionist hammered up a new batch of quests. Elise made her way through the crowds, flashing her ‘Instructor’ card as she headed past the receptionists and up to the second floor. Unlike the main area of the guild, the upper levels were restricted to those directly hired by the guild, so Elise only had to spare a few curt nods to the guild employees she happened to pass by as she made her way to the guildmasters office. Despite the gaudy sounding nature of the title ‘Guildmaster’, the office itself was rather unassuming, with a shabby wooden door cracked open just enough to reveal the wine-stained carpet inside. Elise entered, squeezing through the crack and shutting the door behind her before greeting the guildmaster.

“Guildmaster Leon.”

Fioria’s guildmaster was a rather unassuming man. With his average height, ruffled brown hair, and thick spectacles, it was rather hard to believe that he was one of the few people in all of Fioria with any S rank skills. Guildmaster Leon looked up from his work, adjusting his glasses as they nearly slipped off the end of his nose.. “Elise. What brings you to my office today? Another rowdy class member of yours?”

“Two things today. One, I got you a loaf from Reynold’s bakery.” Elise could see Leon shift slightly in his seat as she placed the loaf on his desk. He’d never let his excitement show, but she assumed he was quite happy to be receiving it despite the stoic look on his face.

“I hope this isn’t a bribe,” said Leon, staring at the starchy goodness.

“It’s just a gift, I promise. I never thanked you properly for letting me teach a class here.”

“Don’t thank me, thank yourself. I wouldn’t have hired you if you weren’t so exceptionally skilled.” Leon began opening his desk drawers one by one, searching for a knife and some jam to spread on the bread. “So, what else?”

“I got my first skill today.” Elise said.

Leon clasped his hands together. “Well, congratulations. What skill did you get?”

Elise sighed before responding. “Skill transfer.” Leon’s eyes widened for a moment, which was an incredible occurrence as the man rarely showed any emotions on his face at all. Almost immediately he reverted to his typical reserved expression.

“That’s... rare. And unfortunate in some ways, I suppose.”

“Yeah. But at least I can register as an adventurer now.” The main thing holding Elise back from her goals was that the guild required all registered adventures to have unlocked their first skill. Even though Elise was certainly competent enough to fight monsters without any skills to support her, she was still bound by the same regulations as everyone else.

“Are you sure?” Leon asked. “With Skill Transfer, you’re financially set for life. There’s no reason for you to take that risk now.”

“I’m sure.”

“Elise, personally I’d advise against it. Currently, our guild has only one other member who can use that skill, and they’re unable to keep up with the demand. We need you alive, and despite technically having access to skills and thus fulfilling the requirement to become an adventurer, you’ll never have any combat related skills to speak of.”

“I know.” Elise said. She was well aware of both the value and fragility of her Skill. Every adventurer worth their salt used at least one skill slot for a defensive skill, something that could save their life in a pinch. With no open skill slots to speak off, Elise would have to rely solely on her reflexes in dangerous situations.

“Very well. Then, let me get a few things for you.” Leon opened one of his drawers and pulled out an old book, blowing off the dust as he sat it on his desk. “First, let’s start with Skill Transfer. Have you read its entry in the compendium of known skills?”

“Briefly. I skimmed through most skills when I was younger.”

“Could you explain to me what you remember?” Leon asked. Elise wasn’t sure exactly why, but she began rattling off what she remembered from the compendium, along with the text she had available in her skill interface.

“It’s a unique rank skill.” Elise said, “With it, I can take skills either from skill crystals or from other people, and store them in a special tome that only I have access to. I can also grant skills from the tome to anyone with skills slots open. Both the giving and receiving of skills can’t be done without the other person’s consent, and as far as we know, Skill Transfer is the only means of removing a skill you don’t want.”

Leon nodded. “Anything else?”

Elise thought for a second before responding. “Unique rank skills can’t be traded, and I can only store a certain number of skills in the tome.” She knew she’d forgotten a number of specifics from the compendium, like the exact number of skills the tome could store at each level, but she felt her explanation was sound. To her surprise, Leon seemed to disagree.

“You’re missing a few things,” he said, and pointed at the book on his desk. “Do you know what this is?” The cover of the book was tattered and the title unreadable, but Elise took a guess anyway based on context.

“That’s a copy of the skill compendium, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but this copy here is much different from one you’d find at the library. This is a specialized copy that only high ranking guild members have access to. It contains much more detailed information about many skills, often surpassing what even the skill owners themselves know.” Leon flipped to a page and turned the book towards Elise, showing her the entry on Skill transfer. She was shocked at how much extra information was present in this edition of the compendium.

“Why isn’t any of this public?” She asked as her eyes darted across the page. If the book was to be believed, her skill was a lot more useful than she initially thought. Most people viewed Skill Transfer as the only way to sell skills, and an additional way to buy them. The book proposed another way to use Skill Transfer: upgrading skills and crafting new ones. Most of the text contained ‘recipes’ that Elise would be able to use by storing skills in her tome and combining them into new skills.

“The nobles don’t want this getting out, and I’m sure you can imagine why,” Leon said.

“Because they’re rat bastards?”

“No. Because it’s one of the ways they keep their power. Think of all the low rank skills, thought to be worthless. They spend fortunes on retaining staff with access to Skill Transfer, then buy up all the bottom of the barrel skills and upgrade them in secret.”

Elise scowled. Her distaste for the nobles had been stoked for years after seeing how they paraded around the city sapping all the value from every industry they could. She wasn’t that surprised to hear they had a secret technique for growing their power.

“How’d they manage to keep this from leaking to the public?” Elise asked. “Even if every noble wanted to keep this under wraps, I can’t imagine them all being clever enough to avoid slipping up.”

“Because only the heads of the noble houses are aware of this,” Leon responded. “They find people with Skill Transfer, pay them a handsome sum to keep quiet, then dole out handcrafted skills to their underlings. Most nobles understand that they have access to a large assortment of powerful skills, but they don’t know the underlying mechanism.”

“So why are you telling me this? Do the nobles know that you’re onto them?”

Leon shook his head. “The previous guildmaster left this to me. The guild has had private information like this for generation, but it has always been deemed too dangerous to share. After all, we don’t want to start a war with the nobles.” Even though the idea of hiding information to avoid angering the nobles left a sour taste in Elise's mouth, she knew firsthand how vengeful they could be.

“The previous guildmasters,” Leon continued, “were all cowards. In their days, monsters were less common, and adventurers less powerful. There was little need for sharing information like this, so they let the nobles keep their secrets. Unfortunately, times are different. We are surrounded by dangerous lands, and I fear our adventurers will begin falling behind in strength as the monster populations only grow.”

“So you want me to use Skill Transfer like the nobles have been using it? Crafting powerful skills for the guild to use?” Elise asked. She had come into this meeting expecting to be asked to use her skill to serve the guild in some way, but this was well past her expectations.

“Not quite. Even if we begin to power up adventurers without revealing any secrets, eventually some nobles would take notice. No, we need to limit this to as few people as possible. I want your help in forming a team.”

“A team?” Elise asked.

“Yes. A small team of individuals we can trust. I’ve known you for over a decade, Elise, and while it is unfortunate that Skill Transfer prevents you from unlocking any other skills, it certainly is fortunate for me that Skill Transfer fell into the hands of someone I know to be trustworthy. The team needs others like you, people with a passion for adventuring, loyalty towards their friends, and animosity towards the nobles.”

Elise hesitated a second before responding. Only a moment ago she’d thought that Leon was revealing the secrets of Skill Transfer to dissuade her from becoming an adventurer, but now...

“Are you saying that—” she started, but Leon cut her off before she could finish her statement.

“Yes, Elise. I’m asking you to form an adventuring party.”