A New Tool

Arran's life in the mining camp soon developed a familiar rhythm.

In the mornings, he would study Captain Kaleesh's manuscripts, carefully reviewing the knowledge contained within the writings. It was difficult work, and at first, Arran struggled to keep his focus as he memorized the dense texts.

Yet as the days passed, he slowly developed some small skill at studying. And while he was still far from being a scholar, he found that the work was not altogether unpleasant.

Hidden within the inscrutable writings lay numerous pieces of thought and wisdom, and even if he only picked up on some of them, he was surprised to discover that they helped increase his understanding of the world.

This wasn't just true of the captain's own writings, but also of the more philosophical books that lay among the stack of manuscripts, many of which were only tenuously related to strategy and tactics.