Chapter 13 - I Know Kung-fu

They spent just over an sorting out his armour.

He had suggested using the related skill books but Syl had asked him to hold off on the skill books for some reason.

In the end they had mixed and matched from the different sets of armour he had. The individual pieces were mostly interchangeable, but he found himself relying on the women's collective experience as the best input he had was layers were important.

Alicia had grown up on a system integrated world with rifts, dungeons and monsters. And Syl had spent centuries watching tutorial participants learn for themselves what did and did not work when it came to armour. The two of them ended up dressing him.

He half thought Syl would have him wrapped up in chain and plate, but the two women had insisted that good, quality leathers with the right magical enchantments would allow for just as much defence.

Plate armour still gave the best defence but it would be a while before they would expect to find anything that maintained the mobility he desired.

Alicia pointed out his best option in that regard was to go back to the dwarves and work out a deal for some of that master-crafted stuff they had offered.

Even then he was so low level it would be pointless getting anything like that now as odds were he would quickly out level anything they had for low level adventurers.

It was explained to him that only someone who was going full defender or tank as he knew it would opt for full plate at his level.

As he had already decided he wanted to be a hyper mobile magic wielding multi weaponed battle mage. They did what they could to maintain his mobility.

In the end he was dressed mostly in dark brown leathers from the medium armour set with steel plate vambraces protecting his lower arms and matching greaves for his shins should he need that little bit extra.

One thing he had decided, he did not like how long it took to get in and out of the stuff. When he voiced his concerns his two eager friends who had been playing dress up with him for the last hour just laughed at him.

Everything he had just gone through had to be done again when he exited his domain, without anyone's assistance. At least he should have the armour skills when it came to that. Why Alicia wasn't going to come out and help him he didn't know.

He was relieved to find out the fancy stuff high level adventures used could be auto equipped. Only problem is that stuff was either very hard to find or cost a small fortune.

When they were finally satisfied with his new getup Syl had them head back upstairs promising to sort the mountain of items when she had some free time.

And so they found themselves back out on the decking Alicia and Syl sitting down while he practised summoning and dismissing his arsenal of tutorial weapons.

It was similar to his time sparring with Syl, conjuring metaphysical approximations of swords, daggers, spears, axes, etc. But now that he was working with actual items things were a bit trickier. He would try summoning a sword in his hand only to find his fingers wrapping around the centre of mass, not the grip as he had planned.

He really had to focus on how and where each individual weapon would appear.

If he wanted this plan of his to work it was going to take a lot of time and practice.

Just as he was starting to get his summoned weapon appear as intended, grip in hand about nine out of ten times, Syl called him over.

Familiar black and yellow books littered the table, the two largest stacks piled up next to his seat.

“There's more than there should be, did you open your tutorial package?” Kai asked as he sat down.

“While Alicia was checking you out I had a peak at what was inside. No gear but quite a few extra skill books.”

“I was not checking him out!” Alicia cried out, her indignation at Syls verbal poke clear.

“You know Alicia, there used to be a lot more for you to love.” Syl said teasing them both.

That reminded Kai of something that was bugging him, “How did i actually manage, my stats were terrible compared to what they are now. I should have struggled in the … you know.”

“You pushed yourself, essence isn't the only way to improve your stats and you were usually one of the first to figure that out.”

“So you're telling me I am still going need to exercise to maintain all this.” He said gesturing to his new body.”

“And eat right,” Alicia said.

“Please don't tell me goblin meat is high in protein.” Kai groaned, he still hadn’t seen what the cuisine on Alea was like.

“Protein?”

“The stuff your body needs to effectively build muscle.” Syl said, “There is a point when your body can maintain itself. But that’s a couple of core compression away. But if you stick with me i will get you there… Eventually.”

“Syl, I literally have no choice but to stick with you. We are bound.”

“And I thank you for that. Speaking of food, Alicia what do you have?”

“I've got a ton of rations.” Kai said before Alicia could respond.

“I’m not touching those.” Syl said grimacing at the thought.

“Why?”

“they're unpalatable. Barely nutritionally complete.”

“Why did you go and do a thing like that?”

“For once this wasn't on me or you. It was the system this time, it’s by design to encourage people to seek out other sources of food.” Syl explained.

“I have the rations master gave me, but that was with two people in mind. I did not know to pack anything for you Syl.” Alicia said apologetically. “But when Kai gets to the second set of rooms it is expected that adventurers hunt and forage. I can put something much better together then.”

“Don’t worry about me. I technically don’t need to eat, my connection to Kai sustains me. I was just wondering if you had anything good.”

Alicia shook her head. ”Master thinks I am spoiled…”

Syl slumped in her chair.

“Just how long is this dungeon supposed take?” Kai asked.

“The average is around a month, but no one has ever recorded a full completion. My party was taking things slow, playing safe.”

“What happened to your old party?” Kai asked unable to contain his rampant curiosity.

Alicia shrugged, “They either continued their dungeon run without me or they moved on to something else.”

“They just abandoned you?“

“Oh no, master contracted them. They were a guild team, trained with each other since they were children. We did not connect.”

Alicia fiddled with he new bow. “They were weary of me.”

“Because you’re a princess?”

“They didn’t know that. But they met with master, and I bear his name because of the apprenticeship. In some ways that is worse than my title as a princess.”

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“I would have thought people would love to have the apprentice of the sage in their party.”

Alicia sighed, “it is complicated.”

“Well we are more then complicated so this should work out.” Syl said looking at Kai. “You ready to learn some stuff.”

“I think so, just so long as its not going to melt my brain like omniglot did.”

“Were not dealing with anywhere near that magnitude of information.”

He felt the tension he didn’t know he had been holding between his shoulders go.

“Now Bob gave me a load of skill books, I’m not sure why, but he did.”

Kai looked at all the books, “this feels like cheating.”

“Hardly, skill books aren't actually skills,” she picked up one of the thickest books on the table. “This is heal for dummies, it contains basic anatomy and functions of the humanoid body with a splash of applied magic. Just enough to allow for a very basic healing spell.”

She dropped the book with a thwack. “The healing class was only offered to people who had the prerequisite physiological knowledge. The skill book just gave them the boost they needed bridge the gap. What do you think would happen if you used this skill book.”

He checked his stack of books and as it wasn't there he made an easy assumption. “It would be wasted. I might not even get the skill or if I did I would be very bad at it.”

“You might be able to heal a paper cut. If you wanted to improve the skill, learn other more complicated healing magic, you would need allot of practice and allot of study, it’s not something you can just train.”

Syl slid the book over to him, “Try it.”

Taking the book he realised he had no clue how they worked, but it was a book so he just did the obvious thing and opened the cover and started reading. Immediately he knew something wasn’t quite right, the words seemed wrong, out of order, difficult to comprehend.

You lack the required knowledge or experience to learn from this skill book effectively, would you still like to Learn whats held within?

Syl frowned at the blue window that had appeared. “System telling you you’re not compatible.”

He nodded as he closed the book and slid it back over to Syl, “Why don’t you or Alicia use it.”

Alicia shifted in her seat.

“We already talked about it. Alicia has pointedly refused any of the skill books I’ve offered her. She is also I’ll suited to outright healing magic. It’s best we wait and see how our party fills out. If we can get a dedicated healer, we give it to them.

“Kai. What do think skills are, you got sloppy meditation, what does it do?”

“Abilities you can use or activate to get certain effects, when I uses my meditation skill I get a small boost to my health, stamina and mana.” That sounded about right to him.

He knew he was wrong the moment Alicia started shaking her head at him.

“No, remember you can do all this without the system,” Syl lectured, “All the skill itself is doing is acknowledging you can do something.”

“So no system enforced cool downs.”

“Oh your personal system will enforce a cool down if using a skill too often or too long has any negative effects. But you can also bypass that if you really need too.” Syls eyes narrowed slightly, “I do not recommend it. But it is not like you have any know how to do anything like that yet.”

“You already had the archery skill correct?” Syl asked Alicia starting a new line of questioning.

She nodded.

“Did you train for it or use a skill book?”

“I trained, took weeks for the system to acknowledge the ability.”

“Did anything about your archery actually change when you got the skill?”

“No. it was rudimentary, basic. Said I could hit what I was aiming at and that was about it.”

“No mention of increased damage or accuracy with a bow?”

Alicia shook her head.

“You should start seeing those when you branch into things less mundane.”

“Master taught me power shot.” Alicia said as she practically bounced in her seat, “I can supply mana to the arrow as I draw it. It makes the arrow penetrates armour better and does twenty percent more damage. Or at least that is what it says.”

“Do you get exactly twenty percent more damage every time?”

“No… it depends on where the shot hits and the target itself.”

Syl tapped the table,“The system is just approximating the effect of your power shot, you'll find the skill will upgrade and evolve as you experiment with it.”

“Master says I should not be afraid to experiment, that I need to find what works for me and what does not. That too many people fall into traditional roles or concepts.”

“Maybe Thanric does deserve his title.” Sly said quietly.

Alicias eyes went wide.

“Relax, I don’t mean to besmirch his name. So far the only thing I don’t like about his approach is him telling you its okay to neglect your core.

“What happened to your archery skill when you used the skill book Kai gave you. Did it change at all, upgrade or evolve.”

“It evolved. I had common archery, now I have Common Otherworldly Archery.

“Has it changed anything. Did your archery get any better?”

“I do not think much has actually changed. I think I have a better overall understanding of archery but I wont know for sure until I have a chance to practice. The moment I absorbed the book I had a lot of ideas for things that should improve my range and accuracy.” She lifted the compound bow, “I know the benefits and drawbacks of this now. I already want to take it to a bower or maybe a tinker to get some things adapted…”

“So the only thing that changed was the range and scope of your knowledge on the subject.”

Alicia nodded.

Kai had an idea. “If skill books are just a matter of knowledge, could you not learn them all then gather the knowledge and pass it back to the both of us like you did with omniglot. The three of us could learn everything here and just work on what suits us.”

Syl paused in thought, “You’re always looking to exploit the situation aren’t you.”

“You make me sound nefarious, the idea just came to me, seemed like the obvious thing to try.”

Syl picked up healing for dummies and opened the cover. The moment she started reading the pages started flipping on their own, each flip of a page faster then the last until the book closed and turned to dust.

“Lets find out.” She held out a hand and a breeze picked up.

Time passed and the breeze grew to a bluster as Syl concentrated hard and harder. Just as a gale threatened Syl closed her palm and the wind dyed.

“I think I can do it,” Sly let out a sight, “But the knowledge from the skill book was fighting me. As if I didn’t truly comprehend it. I think if I familiarise myself better; I’ll be able to grasp the knowledge needed and pass it on. It’s not as complete and all encompassing as the language knowledge I passed onto you.”

Syl looked around the table and collected a few of the scattered books and made a small stack for herself. “I think I’ll experiment later, but for now”

Syl waved her hand, particles of golden light drifting from her fingertips to float into Kais shoulder and neck where he had bitten and scratched by the goblin that had jumped him.

“Heal?”

Syl nodded.

“Could be handy in a pinch,” Kai said as he looked at his stacks, “so I’m learning all these?”

“Start with the armour skills, throwing weapons and archery.”

“Archery, didn’t I give that one to Alicia?”

“I got a duplicate, even if you don’t use a bow you’ll be surprised how the principles of archery will be applicable to projectile magic.

“Then you have mana bolt, that’s a primer that will get you use to collecting mana from within and projecting it as a spell form.

“Barrier is similar but you'll get an idea of how to form more permanent spell forms or constructs and how to maintain control over them outside your body.

“We don’t have anything that will help teach you augmentation or body boosting magic. But if you work on barrier and mana bolt you should be able to get the basic magic principles down enough to expand further out into others that interest you.

“You have one on infusion, should help make your arsenal of weapons allot more potent despite their basic quality. Though I recommend you practice with mana bolt and barrier before you start pushing any mana into your equipment. It can be explosive.” Syl said finishing of her round up of the more arcane skills he was about to learn.

“I didn’t have a book for infusion.”

“Well I did, and it interested you last time I mentioned it so consider it a gift.” Syl said with a tone of finality. “Bobs actually given me some interesting books. I was planning on giving them all to you when you are ready for them, but now I’m not so sure what to do.”

“Keep them, use them. I’m sure Bob was just trying to help his little sister. We can always get more skill books right?”

“Yes and no. Alicia how Do people on Alea usually get skills?”

“Lots of ways. People go to academies, collages, join guilds, pay for training or become apprentices like myself.”

“And if they wanted say something more exotic?

“There are dungeons known to teach certain skills or skill sets. But the success rates can be unpredictable. It is also possible to get skills as rewards from dungeons or find them as loot within rifts.”

“What you will want to remember is all this,” Syl gestured to the books on the table, ” is intended for a newly integrated world, these are basic primers, they do nothing special. Skill books, shards, scrolls and many more ways of acquiring skills exist within the multiverse. Acquiring a powerful or unique skill through the system or from somewhere much higher level within the multiverse is possible but I wouldn't bet on it. It’s better to learn how to adapt and evolve your own abilities, then to live your life waiting for the system to offer you something that will change your life. Practice, study, train and experiment, make your own unique and powerful skills that work for you.”

Alicia was frantically writing that down.

Kai looked at his second stack. “Why so many melee skill books?”

“Those are actually a little bit more of a unique system item, you wont find anything like them outside of tutorials unless its generated by the system itself. They work a little differently, you will only be able to open them with a specific weapon type in mind, check the cover.”

He picked one off the top of the stack.

Melee for dummies, helps you lean the basic forms and principles best suited to you for one chosen melee weapon or physical fighting styles.

“How many do we have?”

“Two dozen in total… I got twenty, why I don’t know, I don’t even have a physical body.”

Kai whistled his appreciation.

“There are hundreds if not thousands of fighting forms, never mind the all the different weapon types and their variations. This will just get you started.”

“Why the bit about being suited to you?”

“Imagine you get thrown into a tutorial and you’ve chose long sword but your ill suited for it, even the basic principles wont help you your that poorly matched. but there is some obscure method that might just work, the skill book teaches you the basics of that instead.

“The Tutorial was intended to give your world a good start. If everyone died before they got going because of some daft idea that didn't fit them it wouldn't have been much good.

“Adaptable skill books like that are mythical, even if it only gives you the basics.”

Kai shrugged and opened the book, just as Syl had said knowledge flooded into his head as the pages flew by and the book eventually turned to dust.

Skill Acquired:

Basic Martial Artist.

You know the fundamental principles of a mysterious martial arts style that suits you.

“I know Kung-fu”