Even without any expert abilities or experience with such things, I can tell that the man's outfit is on the more expensive side. It's not woven with gold or flashy or anything like that, it just seems more expensive. He carries with himself an air of confidence as well.

I'm leaning against a support beam in the wall of the inn lobby while waiting for Adam to show up, and this is the fourth time someone has approached me in the last hour.

"Hello, Jamie," the man greets me. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in hearing an offer? My employer, Jeffery, is the head of one of this town's largest merchant guilds, the Silver Fox Trade Company. He would like to help you get started off in this new world, and-"

"I'm not interested in anyone who doesn't approach me themselves," I inform him.

"My employer is a very busy man-"

"And yet he wants to take advantage of someone with absurd Skills," I say. "Even without knowing what they are. That alone bothers me, and the fact that he'd send someone else to make the offer instead of approaching me himself under those circumstances is insulting. If I'm really valuable enough to help me out, then the person in charge needs to be the one to approach me."

"He would like to meet with you at-"

"Only those who are willing to approach me directly," I say. "Are worth listening to the offer to. It's a way of showing that they're not just going to view me as some sort of tool, you know? Were you aware that the earl himself showed up earlier?"

"Did he really?" Adam asks, approaching.

"He did," I nod. "I told him I'd been given another offer, and I'd give it a try first as it had less strings attached. He told me I'd be allowed to take him up on his offer if I found I didn't much like this one."

"What was his offer?" Adam asks.

"Monthly pay of five silver coins," I answer. "On top of whatever I get from loot or other sales and work. A room for free at his mansion for the duration of my stay here in Ratton. Basic equipment to start off with. Free training for one month from experts he hires or has on-staff already, based on what I'm interested in. Six months of working for him as part of the contract."

"A fair deal," Adam nods. "More than I can offer. And?"

Right now, the only offer that doesn't come with strings attached is Adam's.

"I'm not sure I want to tie myself down," I tell him. "I mean, I might stay here for six months, but I bore easily. Your offer has no strings attached, so I want to give it a try. If what you offer me is more than enough, then I'll let the earl know I'm declining."

"Okay," Adam says. "Come, let's go buy you a weapon. You're okay with learning how to fight using one of those, right? I know some magic, but probably not enough to help you out on the mage front."

"I can give swordsmanship a try," I tell him. "If it turns out I don't like it, then I'll see about making the shift to magic. Er… should I hold off on getting a Class until I know for certain?"

"You unlock Classes automatically," he informs me. "There's no limit to the number of them you can have. So if you give physical combat a try and discover you don't like it but are still interested in fighting monsters, you can switch over to magic without an issue. Well, it depends on your own affinities, but you know what I mean."

Only when Adam mentions it do I realize that the idea of fighting and killing monsters doesn't bother me. I've never been hunting before yet I'm not even fazed by the idea of hunting down and killing a beast. Is that just a part of who I am, or did the transfer to this world alter me a little?

"Alright," I say. "That's good to know. Lead the way."

I flash the merchant's employee a wave before following Adam out of the inn. The demihuman dragon leads me to a market street, where we look in a couple of different shops before he settles on a basic sword with a matching knife. They're fifty copper and twenty copper, respectively, but Adam manages to haggle the clerk down to forty copper for the pair.

"No armor?" I ask as Adam helps me properly fix the scabbards onto my belt.

"Not needed for the parts you'll be in," he says. "Personally, I find that armor just gets in the way, but that's me. Others gear up fully. It depends on the person."

"Makes sense," I say. "What now? Are we going straight to the Dungeon to fight?"

One of the things brought up during dinner last night was the local Dungeon. In this world, Dungeons are pocket dimensions accessed through portals that simply appeared in the world one day. They create a new instance for each Party that goes inside, so people generally don't run into each other inside of them unless they're all part of the same group.

Within a Dungeon are monsters, plants, minerals, and traps. I was told that this Dungeon is rather basic, but no one got specific about what was inside of it.

"No," Adam answers. "We'll head outside of town first so I can give you a little training before we go in. Better that you at least have some training on how to poke with a sword than to go in blindly. The monsters are ridiculously easy early in, but many a novice can still hurt themselves because they didn't bother learning the first thing about combat before taking them on."

"Alright," I say. "Lead the way, then."

We're finished equipping my weapons, so Adam nods and leads me out of town through the western gate. There's a forested cliff in the distance, and I realize the path is on a slight downward slope and leads straight to the cliff, where I can make out what looks like a cave entrance.

Rather than taking me all the way there, Adam takes me about halfway down the road, then sets off north.

"How come the town wasn't built by the cliff?" I ask. "Since the Dungeon is there, it'd make most sense, wouldn't it?"

"That fountain we met at?" Adam asks. "You'll find them in every Dungeon Town. Nobody builds them, they just appear. They're actually the primary way to finding a Dungeon. If you see one nearby and there's not a town or whatever, you know that there's a Dungeon within three miles."

"So it was built around the marker rather than the Dungeon?"

"Yeah," he nods. "Several reasons. First, there's a stream that flows past the eastern side of town. That's used for watering the crops to sustain the town. While they could divert it a bit, it's simpler to use the area there. Second, the Dungeon isn't that resourceful. It has very little worth collecting inside. Third and finally – all initial Dungeon Camps are around those fountains because monsters can't come within one hundred yards of them. That protects the laborers from any wild monsters in the area and reduces the amount of people who need to be watching out for wild beasts."

"So those fountains are something divine?" I ask.

"Yeah," he nods. "No one knows who the statues are of, but it's assumed it's a god we don't know the identity of rather than some forgotten hero."

"A forgotten god?"

"Just a theory," he shrugs. "No one knows for sure. Anyway, this spot is good. We've got plenty of space here."

"Alright," I stretch. "What do we do?"

"First," he says. "Tunic on or off? It's a little cool since today's the first day of spring, but you might get pretty hot and sweaty depending on how much you do."

"Tunic off," I pull off my tunic and fold it up before setting it down.

Adam examines my torso for a few moments, his tail flicking from side to side slightly. I'm slender and smooth, and the swordsman's expression makes it clear he's staring a bit due to attraction. If I were in his boots, I'd do the same thing. In fact, I'm taking the time to admire his abs right now. They look mighty fine to me.

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"So," I say after about a minute of this. "I assume it's more than just draw the sword and swing it?"

"Er…" Adam's face flushes for a moment. "Okay. Draw your sword."

Adam draws his sword at the same time I do, and he begins running me through some basic moves. None of them involve striking at each other, he's just using his sword to demonstrate the attacks. Quite a few of them seem to focus on attacking someone lower than my knees.

I try as best as I can to learn the lessons Adam teaches me, though it becomes evident rather fast that I'm not built for using a sword. That's simply a lack of training more than anything, and likely won't be a problem if I do decide to become a swordsman. For now, at least learning to use a sword is a good idea so I do my best.

You have learned [Sword Mastery].

You are now a Level 1 [Swordsman]. Attributes have been increased.

The moment those notices appear in my vision, additional knowledge of how to use a sword enters my mind and it feels as if some of the moves are now ingrained into my muscles, even if my muscles themselves aren't honed for swordsmanship yet.

While [Unlimited Potential] made it clear that I could learn things more easily if I just put in the effort to try, I didn't realize it would be this easy. I thought it would take me training a few hours a day for at least a few days before I gained the first Level in the Skill. At my estimate, it's only been two hours with a fifteen-minute break in the middle.

"Don't worry if you don't get results right away," Adam tells me as I pause to read the notice. "You need to actually reach a beginner level in a normal Skill before you actually unlock the Skill. Now, depending on what Skills you obtained by being summoned by a god, it could take you anywhere from a few days to the normal amount of time it would have taken you."

"I got it."

"…what?"

"That was actually why I stopped," I tell him. "I was reading the notice and being surprised that it was this easy. So learning it in a few days is actually normal for someone summoned over?"

"Yeah," he says. "But… two hours! What do you have, an Ultimate Skill or something?"

"Er… yeah, actually."

"Wait, seriously?" He asks. "You have an Ultimate Skill?"

Adam groans.

"It's [Unlimited Potential], isn't it?"

"So you know of it?"

"Every species has a unique Ultimate Skill," Adam tells me. "Their effects can be similar to others, but they're considered the ultimate of the ultimate. And the ultimate of those? Is the human Ultimate Skill. It fits the very nature of humanity – adaptable. That Skill essentially embodies the core of humanity's adaptability. The potential gains are limitless."

Adam walks forward and puts a finger against my sternum.

"You have the ability to gain any Skill," he tells me. "Even ones that would ordinarily be impossible. I'm not talking gaining something like [Night Vision], as enhanced ability to see in the dark isn't a stretch of human ability. I'm talking about things like [Water Breathing], where your body actually does stuff a human body shouldn't be able to do."

"[Water Breathing]?"

"The ability to breathe water," he nods. "Not like a dragon's breath, that would be [Water Breath]. No, [Water Breathing] is useful underwater. You can breathe in water, and your body will use it as if it's air."

"Like a fish?"

"Yeah."

So if I actually put in the effort to try – or found myself in a situation where I needed it – I could actually gain the ability to inhale water and absorb the dissolved oxygen gas in it. No wonder Adam seems shocked.

"Oh," I say. "So I guess I should probably keep it under wraps, huh?"

"Yeah," he takes a few steps back. "Since it's known you're a Summoned here and they know you just arrived, it would be best to say you received a Skill that buffs your growth with learning how to use weapons."

Adam runs his fingers through his hair, then sighs.

"Honestly, [Unlimited Potential]?" He mutters. "They had to throw me at someone with that kind of ability? Well, it doesn't matter since I'm leaving here soon, anyway."

"Er… Adam?"

"Sorry," he shakes his head. "Just thinking to myself. Anyway, you should have received [Swordsman] upon gaining the Skill, some additional knowledge about fighting with a sword, and some of the basics are now in your muscle memory. Improvements always happen when you gain a Skill Level."

"Alright," I say.

"Since you're not from this world," he says. "You're not quite used to the System. Most people learn how to adjust to a new Skill Level by the time they're thirteen years old. Since you haven't had that experience, take some time to get used to it."

"What do you mean?"

"Er…" Adam realizes that he didn't actually tell me what he meant, probably because he's used to the System and how it works. "Okay, so some moves and forms are now in your muscle memory, right? And you know a few additional moves, while your 'ability' with ones you were taught have improved somewhat.

"What can happen if you're not used to this," he says. "Is you try to do one thing while your body attempts to do another, and that will trip you up. Practice some strikes and listen to your body. Let it move on its own as you try to do the moves. Sort of like running – you already know how, you just tell your body to do it and it does it."

That's not quite what happens when someone runs, but I understand what Adam's saying. It's more like learning a sport – at first, you have to constantly remind yourself of what to do. Once you know how to do it, you just do. Having [Unlimited Potential] will probably make this easier for me.

"Alright," I say.

I prepare to practice a few attacks and find that my body is able to move into the position easily on its own when I want it to. Some of the attacks happen just by me trying them while others are new moves that aren't set into my muscle memory. Even those ones aren't an issue for me, and I just need to correct my form slightly with them.

"That's… honestly rather awesome," I tell Adam.

"Yeah," he nods. "The System allows for a growth which is ordinarily impossible to people. Nobody knows which god actually created it, and there are rumors that it may have even been a god or group of gods who no longer interact with this world. Gods that were forgotten long ago."

"Such as the one for the fountain?" I ask.

"Yes," he nods. "Though that's only a theory and not a verified fact. Anyway, with the System, things which are ordinarily impossible no longer are. To account for this, the System gives us all a bit of support when going up in Skill Level. That minimizes potential issues that can arise from gaining new abilities faster than we should have been able to."

"What do you mean?"

"Hm…" He thinks for a few moments. "Okay. So one way to increase a Skill is to train and work on improving it. For spells, that means getting more familiar with the spell and fixing issues with your spellcasting that might limit the range, power, effects of the spell or even which increase the cost of the spell. For a Skill like [Sword Mastery], that would be learning new moves and techniques and improving the ones you already know."

Sort of like increasing belt rank in martial arts for a place that bases it on Skill rather than discipline and virtues and community service.

"Makes sense," I say.

"Yeah," he nods. "The effects of the boost from the System are less noticeable when that happens, because you actually built up to it. However, you still gain some extra benefits. For example: I could tell that you were actually learning the techniques I was showing you. That means you didn't simply gain the Skill because of your Ultimate Skill, the Ultimate Skill simply made it easier for you to learn. That, in turn, made the acquisition faster."

"But there are ways to increase them without training," I say.

"Yes," he says. "Repetition. Mind-numbingly boring repetition. Punch the air the exact same way ten thousand times and you will gain [Martial Arts Mastery] at some point. Now, you suddenly have a bunch of knowledge and abilities you didn't have before. Stuff your body wasn't trained for."

"So the System also lets you actually be able to use it," I say.

"Yeah," he nods, then points down toward the cave entrance. "And this becomes more prominent in Dungeons, especially with combat-related Skills. Fighting monsters in general helps boost the growth faster, and doing it in a Dungeon makes it even faster than that."

From what it sounds like, Skills are more meant to be achieved and improved in that fashion than through actual hard work. It probably makes it easier to fight monsters out in the wild and defend settlements against monster attacks that way. The god or gods which created it must have been looking more of at how things were back when they created the System than the future. I'm sure monsters were a bigger threat to civilization in ancient times, when there were fewer people and more wilds.

"Alright," I sheathe the sword and stretch. "Since I have the Skill and the Class, is that's all that's needed?"

"Yeah," Adam answers. "Do you want to try getting [Martial Arts Mastery] and [Knife Mastery] today, then I can take you to the Dungeon tomorrow? That would get you a little bit more Strength before going in, though you can handle the first zone on your own. It really is a beginner zone. I'll handle buying your food and renting a room again tonight if you want to work on getting the other two Skills first."

"Zone?" I ask.

"Dungeons are broken up into zones," he nods. "You can't leave until either you clear one or use a warping stone from that Dungeon. The first Zone for this one has a straight path to the boss, which someone without a Class can beat. Though there are also paths leading off as well if you want to just get used to fight monsters or try to see if you can find some additional loot."

"I mean," I say. "I'd prefer to pay my own way, so that would mean going to the Dungeon now, right? And I just realized that we don't have any food for lunch."

"Er… right," Adam says. "I forgot about that. I'm used to eating monster meat from Dungeons and hadn't thought about staying out here all day. And paying an additional day is fine to me. You'd get better loot in the second Zone, which would make paying your own way a lot easier than what you'd find in the first Zone."

Go to the Dungeon now and get some meager loot, or train a bit more and go in tomorrow to get better loot, but rely on Adam further? While I'd rather not rely on Adam further, I could probably pay him back a little more easily by running the second Zone tomorrow than running the first Zone for a few days. I do intend on paying him back, too, as I don't like being indebted to people.

"Should we do knife or martial arts first?"