Chapter 10: Skill Creation

Sweat poured down Max's face and his muscles were in overdrive as he raised his spear in defense.

Two heavy blade attacks rained down upon him, causing him to falter back as his legs almost gave out from the force.

"Nice block," Ivan complimented as he let up his assault on the weary Max.

Max kneeled down in exhaustion as he stared back up at the Head Hunter of the goblin tribe with respect in his eyes.

"You didn't even break a sweat?!" He said in between gasps of air.

Ivan chuckled and shook his head as he sheathed the two daggers he was using to help train Max.

"You're a novice. It doesn't take much to push you around a little," He said with a laugh.

"But don't worry, your getting better quickly," He smiled.

Max shook his head and looked at his arms that spasmed from the intense beating he had just had. Ivan had been 'gentle', all things considered, but Max's body wouldn't know the difference.

This was his fifth training day in a row. Max had been training like a madman as he pushed his body to the limit every day.

He hadn't grown much stronger physically but he had grown accustomed to the feeling of a spear in his hands.

'This is frustrating... Why haven't I learned a spear skill yet? Or anything at all?' Max vented silently as he stared at the panel again.

"Are you playing with that panel again?" Ivan asked curiously.

The goblins never had a 'panel' to begin with. Those goblins that were intelligent enough to fully understand what a panel was/meant were constantly interested when Max would bring it up.

It was like he was in a different world compared to the goblins. They didn't have skills or classes... they just had experience from practicing their entire lives.

"Yeah... I've told you about skills before and I'm just getting frustrated that I haven't gotten any new ones here lately," Max said while turning away from the panel.

"Yeah... skills. Don't you feel like you have already gotten better already though?"

"You have picked up the spear quickly for a beginner. Your body just seems to be made for it. You on the level of what most goblins spend the first year of their lives achieving," Ivan complimented.

"That's true I guess..." Max nodded hesitantly.

"It just feels like if the panel doesn't show my growth then am I really getting stronger?"

Ivan paused at Max's statement for a moment. He mulled over the idea in his head but shook his after digesting what Max had said.

"I don't know. Maybe more of your kind know... but I have no clue. You have comprehended all the basic spear forms that I can give you. You just have to spend some time practicing and you will match up to the top hunters in no time,"

Max frowned and one of the words Ivan said stuck to him.

'Comprehended... I have learned the spear forms of their people,' His mind wandered.

The body movements of the Goblin spear moves flashed through Max's mind as he remembered the hours Ivan spent hammering them into his mind.

The moves that these goblins made weren't suited for humans... but Max had managed to adapt them to his liking. It took out a lot of the advantages of the goblin's combat style but made it suitable for Max to use.

For instance, the goblins were small and their serrated green ears melded into the tall grass in the Dew Drop forest. So they made a combat form that capitalized on stealth and unpredictability.

Obviously, Max wasn't green nor short so he couldn't use this combat form to its full potential... but he did learn from the concept.

'But have I actually learned anything that could be considered a single skill?'

'I've been learning a broad range of spear moves and forms... I've learned bits and pieces of magic... but have I managed to create a single move or set of moves that could be considered a single skill?'

The questions that Max thought were rolling in his mind as he started to piece things together.

Max subconsciously stood up as he was lost in this spur-of-the-moment thought and he grasped his spear tight as he performed the spear moves he had been practicing.

'Lunge,' he thought as he pushed the spear forward as fast as possible through the air.

'Swipe,' The spear moved mid-air during his strike and swept toward the legs of his imaginary opponent.

'Tip,' The spear sliced through the air and acted as a force that would make the opponent have to dodge to either side of it, leaving them open for the follow-up.

'Crash,' The body of the spear slammed forwards as Max slammed the entire brunt of it into the imaginary opponent's body, sending the invisible figure into the ground in a single move.

'The Grass Goblins' way of fighting is to confuse and guide the opponent's movements to your advantage. If you can force them to dodge then you can force them to move. And if you know where they are gonna be then they are already under your thumb,'

{The skill {Overwhelming Spear} has been successfully created}

The notification that popped up in his vision made Max smile as he finally began to understand what his way forward was.

Ivan stood still and watched Max while he was lost in this silent reverie intently. He nodded after seeing him complete each of the moves they had been practicing and gave a light clap towards his progress.

"That was good. Better than usual," He complimented.

Max nodded but remained silent as the nature of the panel started to reveal itself to him.

'To take advantage of the Universal Crafter skill I have to actively be trying to create a single skill,'

'If I try and learn a broad range of minor knowledge and improvements it won't do anything at all... I'm still going to improve but I won't be able to make a skill,'

'And skills are what make the world go round,'

"Sorry Ivan, I think I'm done for the day. I got some things I got to take care of," Max said in a rush as he waved a quick goodbye before darting out toward where he kept most of his things.

Ivan was left dazed as Max trailed off into the distance with no explanation.

"That boy really is something," Ivan muttered before shrugging and moving towards the barracks to whip an unfortunate goblin into shape.

---

"This is so much easier than I thought it would be!" Max said with a laugh as he stared at the updated skill list on his panel.

---

-

{Personal Skills}:

{Basic Tinkering}: LV: 1

{Deconstruction}: LV: 1

{Woodland Hunter}: LV: 1

{Overwhelming Spear}: LV: 1

{Precision}: LV: 1

{Current Skill Points:}: 0

-

{Personal Spells}:

{Universal Language}: LV: 1

{Blazing Thread}: LV: 1

{Minor Fire Creation}: LV: 1

-

---

'I can't just create skills... I can combine them and improve them!' Max smiled as he reviewed his creations.

'Tracking and Hunting made so much sense... why weren't they one skill in the first place?' Max smiled as he looked at Woodland Hunter. It was a combination of the previous two skills that added to their overall strength and gave some unique benefits. It just made sense to him.

'Deconstruction is just a combination of concepts... If I can find the weakness of things, see things with higher clarity, and have tinkering skills then why can't I reverse-engineer things? Or at least figure out how they tick,'

'Precision works off the same concept... If I have a keen eye and can find an enemy's weak points then why don't I apply these things to how I strike and make it to where my weapons are more precise?'

Max stared at the personal skills he had made in satisfaction.

It was all just taking the information he already had and reviewing it, understanding it, and applying it where he could.

"I can create so many more skills... This is insane!" Max said, giddy with excitement as he realized the possibilities.

'Magic is a bit harder though... It might be because of my lack of knowledge on it but I could only create 3 spells even after spending hours thinking it out,' Max thought as he reviewed his new magical abilities.

'Universal Language is just the combination of my understanding of body language and 'intent' as a whole applied with my previous communication spell,'

'Blazing thread was different... I had to make it from scratch,' He reviewed as he activated the skill to examine it once more.

His mana surged in a predetermined manner as a thread of mana became visible to the naked eye and darted around like a serpent above his hand.

"All it took was a bit of concentration and I could create this..." He muttered as he stared at the dancing thread in front of him.

The fire died out after a few moments of him losing concentration but the trails of smoke in the air attested to the realness of that thread of fire.

'And Minor Fire Creation is just taking what I experienced in my fight with the Death Hound and making it tangible,' He nodded as he remembered the feeling of turning friction into fire with his mana being the catalyst.

He laid back on his sleeping roll and stared up at the darkness that was omnipresent above the dungeon.

"I think I'm ready to explore this place... I can only get stronger starting from now," He muttered as exhaustion overwhelmed him and he felt himself slipping into a restful sleep.