Skill Acquisition

Last night, I had been forced to come downstairs to eat dinner by Dahlia, as her mother had promised. The meal was nice, but uneventful. I ended that day with some fitful sleeping on the bed in my room.

Morning had come all too soon. Birds were chirping outside, and I double-checked my belongings as I prepared to go outside for the first time since coming to this world. The coin pouch I had filled with my gold coins. As promised, it had taken the large bag of coins without issue. The coins themselves were viewable when I opened the pouch, but they seemed to float as if in space. The view was disconcerting, but also quite intriguing. The strange silver object from yesterday I had stowed into my pocket. With the idea that it might be magical, I made a mental note to look into the magic of this world.

Of course, I most likely could not practice anything besides basic magic. My stats were unable to increase, and my base MP probably couldn't support high level spells. Still, a base knowledge would be a good tool to have.

Breakfast was a stack of small orange pancakes that tasted sweet, without any syrup, along with some fried vegetables. Dahlia seemed intent on watching me from a distance, and several times I felt her eyes on me. It felt like I was a fragile vase under her care. It made me feel uncomfortable, but at least I understood now. Level 1 was like having the fragile body of an infant. She was treating me with the same care an older sibling would show for their baby brother.

After breakfast, I let Dahlia know I was heading out to see the town. Her eyes opened wide and she looked fearful, but she didn't try to stop me. I prayed that she wouldn't try to follow me.

After much thought, I had decided to learn as much of this world's system as possible. I wished I had a clock for some experiments, but for now I needed supplies for testing purposes. My gold coins would fund that for now, but I also needed to figure out a prospective trade for the future. I had no idea how long this request would take, but I needed to make sure my money wouldn't run out.

As it was, the inn I was staying in was called the Sleeping Cow Inn. The sign announcing this also had a symbol that looked like a pair of beds, and below that was another symbol of a full mug. I guess it was a way of saying the inn was a place for rest and refreshment for those who couldn't read. The inn itself was placed between a basic dirt path and a large forest of pale white trees. The road had a number of people passing through, some with carriages, others on foot. Since it was early in the morning, many people were going back and forth. To my left was a basic wooden fence that extended from the forest. The fence was guarded by a few ordinary looking men with basic weaponry. In front of me was a cluster of houses and basic businesses. To my right was a dock with various boats tied up.

The town I was in was called Darove, by the way. Dahlia had mentioned it the night before while chatting with me. It was a small village, but a busy one. With its proximity to a river, it had lots of fish trade, as well as traders passing through to one of the larger towns nearby. While there was no official blacksmith, there was an apothecary who sold herbs and medicines, and there were a few stalls that sold odds and ends. It was enough for now, though I worried about how many items were available.

The first stop was the apothecary. The sign announced it as the "Herbal Hermit" The outside had a small window box with some herbs growing out of it, though overall it just looked like another home.

When I entered, a small bell clattered above my head, announcing my arrival. The shop smelled of musty herbs and incense. A girl in her late teens, with short brown hair and glasses sat at the counter. From a distance, I could see her fingers were stained green.

"Hello!" the girl greeted me, waving lightly. She looked quite friendly, with a bubbly air about her.

{Pamela Heidrach}

Level: 13

...

Skills:

[Herbology]: 7

[Alchemy]: 5

[Bartering]: 5

...

I glanced over the appraised skills and nodded to myself. I had learned how to modify the information I gleamed with [Personnel Appraisal] to a manageable level, and it was a lot more useful than airing every person's dirty laundry. Because of the high level of the skill, I didn't need to look in her eyes, and the box wasn't stuck just above her head. I understood that it was rude to do, but it was best to side with caution when meeting new people.

"Hi there!" I returned her greeting with enthusiasm. "My name is Barro. I'm interested in learning the basics of alchemy, and Ailia over at the inn recommended you. I was hoping I could buy some supplies if you're willing." My eyes hovered over the shelves and settled on a bundle of dried leaves. In a moment I gained one of the skills I was hoping for. My eyes watered with a familiar sensation.

[Herbology Skill Unlocked!]

[Herbology Skill Mastered!]

I had managed to adjust the notifications I received. Now, I was simply notified of unlocking the skill and mastering the skill. It was better than getting spammed notifications. I verified the skill by checking my skills list.

"Barro, is it? You can call me Pam. I run the counter here," The girl explained, adjusting her glasses. I saw her muttering something and strained my ears to hear her.

[Keen Ear Skill Unlocked!]

[Keen Ear Skill Mastered!]

I didn't mean to... well, never mind.

"Level 1? Is he one of those purity cultists? But if he was, he wouldn't want to learn skills..."

Did everyone in this world have the [Personnel Appraisal] skill?

"Okay Barro, well you seem like a nice guy... I can't sell you much, but I won't mind selling you some simple herbs and an alchemy kit. If you manage to make a potion, we'll even buy it from you. The price will change based on the quality, though." She started gathering a few items off the shelves, all while continuing to talk to me. "You seem like a new face, have you been in town long?"

"Only a couple days. I travelled here from a distant place, so I'm just trying to get my bearings. I decided it would be good to have a trade skill, so I can pay my way. I figure medicine is needed by everyone." I smiled and focused on using my [Convincing Smile] skill.

After a split second, Pam smiled back and I could feel the skill take effect. "Well, medicine is nice, but the plants of the area are more suited to poison, honestly. There's Verde Straws, they're a green tube that grows in fertile areas, they have a tiny bit of healing power. Then there's Crimson Ghost, that's a bush that grows in cliffy areas. It's good for pain but too much can act like a paralyzing agent. And then there's Mewling Root, it's a strange one, but that grows in the forest nearby. It's usually brewed in tea for a quiet sleep. Those are found in abundance around here. We have them pretty cheaply, and sell them by the bundle. That, plus a mortar and pestle, flasks, a small magic brewing stand, and a basic potions book... I think it'll be about 30 silver."

I pulled out a single gold coin and set it on the counter. The sight of gold caused Pam to lean in with interest, and I got the feeling it wasn't a common sight in this small store. "I would like to buy various other herbs as well," I stated. "Only common ones, though. I want to focus on making a strong foundation if I'm to keep to a standard."

Pam seemed worried for a moment. "Barro... are you a noble or something?"

I shook my head. "I'm just a wanderer. I'm not a noble or anything like that."

"It's just that..." Pam paused, looking back at her appraisal of me and then to the gold coin. "There aren't many level 1 wanderers out there. And you're the oldest level 1 I've met. Most are young nobles, and rich ones at that. I don't want to get in trouble." She looked genuinely worried, so I used [Convincing Smile] once more.

"There's nothing to worry about. I'm just a simple wanderer and nothing more." I repeated.

The rest of the sale went well. Since I didn't have a pack to store all the herbs in, Pam agreed to deliver them to the inn. All in all, the sale ended up being 85 silver. I didn't try to barter, since I wasn't sure whether that was common in this world or not. My change was 15 silver, meaning that one gold coin was worth 100 silver. Good to know.

My next stop was an odds and ends stall located near the river. I bought several items, including a secondhand pack, a dozen sewing needles, an old hammer, several empty small vials with cork lids, a few old nails, and a mirror. All of them I bought with the remaining silver from dealing with Pam. I got the feeling a gold coin would draw attention to these stalls.

There were a few things I took note of. While most of the people were standard townspeople, a number of the people passing through were dressed in armor or carried swords. Their levels tended to be double the average villager, and their skills were higher as well. Swordsmen were the most popular, but there were also a few large men with huge hammers, some smaller people with a wooden staff or carrying a large tome. One man carried a sword and a staff, but since one of his skills was [Identity Fabrication], I determined it to be a façade and left it at that.

Many people had hidden skills that hinted at more nefarious purposes. [Personnel Appraisal] was a common hidden skill, but there was also [Assassination], [Poison Creation], and one very odd man had [Demonic Summoning]. I wondered how high a [Personnel Appraisal] level a person needed to see people's hidden skills. The highest level of that skill was 7, and that alone was rare. Perhaps because it was frowned upon, nobody made an effort to maximize the skill? It was hard to tell.

There were no armor stalls. It was actually quite frustrating. How could I manage to protect myself in this world? Anything was better than nothing...

After a while, I went back to the inn and back up to my room. Judging by the position of the sun, it was around noon. Dahlia tried to get me to stick around for lunch, but I was too focused on the items I had obtained.

Back in my room, I unpacked my items and set them on the desk. The herbs and brewing stand were already in the corner of the room.

It was time for some skill acquisition.

Skills in this world were acquired through two items working together. The requirements were [Intent] and [Action]. As long as those two were done together, any skill that was applicable would be obtained. The action did not need to be successful, meaning even a failed attempt would still give me the skill. As such, I needed to find what range of skills I could learn, and what was not possible to obtain.

Taking the needles, I pulled one out and pricked the tip of my finger with the intent to avoid damage from the needle, all while watching my HP.

[Piercing Resistance Skill Unlocked!]

[Piercing Resistance Skill Mastered!]

HP: 9/10

A needle could cost me 10% of my health? If I dropped the pack of 12 needles on my foot, I would be dead. Good to know I guess?

I repeated the action a second time. While the needle pushed against my skin and make a prickling sensation, my HP did not drop, and the skin did not break. The skill was working as intended!

I focused on the tip of my finger that was still bleeding and tried to focus on healing the damage done. After a moment I felt an odd tingling sensation in my mind.

[Healing Meditation Skill Unlocked!]

[Healing Meditation Skill Mastered!]

HP: 10/10

That was super fast! But the meditation aspect of the skill implied it needed my focus to use. I guess that meant no healing when I was focusing on other things. Oh well, it was still a partial success.

I turned to the hammer and nails. Using one nail, I focused on modifying the metal and swung the hammer down.

[Blacksmithing Skill Unlocked!]

[Weapon Modification Skill Unlocked!]

[Blacksmithing Skill Mastered!]

[Weapon Modification Skill Mastered!]

All right! Two skills for the price of one action!

I repeated the action while trying to modify the wood underneath the nail.

[Woodworking Skill Unlocked!]

[Woodworking Skill Mastered!]

A moaning sound roused me from my actions. I looked over and found a rosy-cheeked Libra looking over at me from my bed where she had disappeared the day before. "What was that?" I asked her, trying to ignore her sudden appearance.

"I govern over skills, and you just unlocked and mastered five in about a minute. For me, that's very... exciting," she told me, a small smile on her lips. If not for the bags under her eyes, I would have found her expression quite provocative. However, at that point in time it was more creepy than anything.

"Well, stick around and watch then. I'm trying to learn as many as I can," I told her, my skill collecting spirit ignited by my recent successes. I stuck out my thumb and tapped it with the hammer.

[Hammer Weapon Skill Unlocked!]

[Blunt Damage Resistance Skill Unlocked!]

[Hammer Weapon Skill Mastered!]

[Blunt Damage Resistance Skill Mastered!]

HP: 9/10

It was kind of hard pretending not to hear the provocative noises now coming from my bed. Not just the moans - there were murmurings of "No more, I can't," among other things. Did the Bored God make Libra like this? Was he some kind of high-tier pervert? It took a good bit of focus not to look over at the demi-goddess.

[Iron Will Skill Unlocked!]

[Iron Will Skill Mastered!]

I didn't mean to... well, never mind. The sounds became fairly more bearable after that.

I continued by trying to brew a basic potion from the alchemy book I had obtained. It required me to grind up the Verde Straw, mix it with water, boil it for several minutes until it was thick and salve-like, then add a bit of my own blood to make a personal healing potion. This required the mortar and pestle, as well as the magical brewing stand, which required me to touch two sides of a twisted metal coil. This caused a symbol in the center to heat up, and while it cost me half of my mana, it also worked for what I needed it for.

[Compounding Skill Unlocked!]

[Magical Tool Manipulation Skill Unlocked!]

[Alchemy Skill Unlocked!]

[Brewing Skill Unlocked!]

[Compounding Skill Mastered!]

[Magical Tool Manipulation Skill Mastered!]

[Alchemy Skill Mastered!]

[Brewing Skill Mastered!]

I was able to draw blood for the potion by focusing on disabling the [Piercing Resistance] skill. Apparently I can still bleed if I want to.

HP: 8/10

The resulting potion was a vial of murky brown liquid. I appraised it and sighed at the results.

{Minor Healing Potion}

Heals 10% of maximum HP

This potion can only be used by the one who created it!

Creator: {Barroco Gaia}

I tasted it with a finger and grimaced at the bitter flavor. I guess I shouldn't expect much from my first potion. But 10% of 10 HP is only a 1 HP gain. Hardly worth noting...

HP: 9/10

I finally looked back at the puddle of a demi-goddess on my bed. A face that looked like a mixture of pure bliss and exhaustion met mine. It was... incredibly awkward. With a shaky hand, Libra covered her eyes and, with a soft whooshing sound, disappeared in a pop of light.

Well then... what other skills could I learn with this?