A True Master of his Trade

'Nightmare is a terrifying Unique Skill,' The quill continued to write.

'I no longer need to sleep and can never have dreams. In addition, I learn all Stealth, Assassination, and Shadow skills twice as fast and they are stronger when I use them,'

'So I have never really slept...' The quill wrote while Kull motioned towards the bed.

"That sucks, though I must say that the bonus to the skill seems incredible,"

'Hmm,'

'I have many other skills, though I believe it is only important to tell you the skills I have the ability to teach you in the future, any objections?'

"I'm happy just knowing you are willing to teach me, let alone know your skills," Drew said with a smile.

'Then I shall begin,'

'To teach a skill to another effectively the teacher needs to be considered a 'Master' of the skill, or in other words, have the skill at level 5 or higher. So the skills that I am about to list are all those I am considered a Master at in the field,'

Drew sat up from the comfortable bed and his ears perked up at the words written upon the scroll.

'I have 3 skills at level 7 and they are all fairly useful. They are Stealth, Shadow Strike, and Assassination. Since these are the skills I have attained the highest mastery in I should be able to teach you them easier than the others,'

'I have 5 at level 6. They are Dark Hand, Shade Strings, Shadow Movement, Poison Maker, and Mana Concealment,'

'The rest are all at level 5, which means they will be a lot slower for you to learn but that doesn't make them useless, just a bit more difficult,'

'My level 5 skills are Alchemist, Herbalist, Eyes of The Vigilant, Accuracy, Toughness, Sharpness, Quick Step, Sleight of Hand, Cooking, Quick Strike, Blank Mind, and Blind Sight,'

'Any thoughts?'

Drew stared at Kull with his jaw wide open as the list just got longer and longer as time passed.

"You are... insane!"

Kull stumbled back a little at Drew's sudden excitement but calmed after a moment.

'I suppose you meant that as a compliment. For that I thank you,'

"I didn't even know most of those skills existed..."

"What is Shadow Strike and Assassination?" He asked with great interest.

'Shadow Strike is the direct skill under Stealth. It increases the damage you deal while stealthed by a large amount,'

'Assassination is a skill that greatly empowers your first attack on an enemy, far much stronger than Shadow Strike,'

"Hmm... So Shadow Strike can be used as long as you are stealthed... while Assassination is kind of a one-and-done thing right?"

'Correct,'

"I know about Dark Hand. Shade String seems like another unique skill of the Black Strings and I honestly don't want to learn anything else from them unless it is incredibly useful. Shadow Movement seems useful as well as Poison Maker and Mana Concealment,"

'Shade String is a decent skill but is not something that should be a priority to learn. Shadow Movement is a skill that increases your movement while being stealthed, directly countering the drawback of the Stealth Skill. Poison Maker is your proficiency at making poisons and using them. Mana Concealment is another reason why I don't leave a trace when using magic and how I conceal my equipment's magical aura,'

"I see..."

"There are just too many skills that you have a level 5... It's incredible,"

"I don't think I'm really knowledgeable enough to choose what skills to pick to learn,"

Drew's shoulders were slumped despite the fire in his eyes. His eyes moved to the only window in the room and he noticed the sun was still high in the sky.

'Not much time has passed... This is just so... overwhelming,'

"You got any recommendations, Kull?"

Kull stopped for a moment, reached his hand up to his chin, and scratched it gently in thought.

'I know your skills and where your strengths lay,' The quill wrote as Kull thought.

'The real question would be what you are interested in,'

'I could help you get much stronger with your attacks due to all of my burst damage skills,'

'But I also have many skills that could help you become stronger in other ways,'

'If you are interested in skills that increase your perception then I could also help you. Blind Sight and Eyes of The Vigilant are great observation skills that are very helpful,'

'The skills that I personally enjoy the most though... are the life skills,' Kull wrote before giving Drew a little thumbs up.

'I didn't think he showed this much emotion,' Drew thought as he watched the almost happy Kull teach him.

'Cooking, Herbalist, Alchemist, and Poison Making are all my favorite skills. They are fields you can dive into and get lost in thought without constantly thinking of combat,'

'The sense of accomplishment you get from creating something new is exhilarating,'

"I don't have any skills like that so far," Drew said, putting his hand on his head in embarrassment.

"Right now I think learning some of your combat skills could be great to increase my capabilities,"

Kull seemed a little put down after Drew spoke, but before he could reply Drew interrupted him.

"But I think it would be wonderful if I split it half and half with your life skills,"

"All work and no play is something I've grown to hate throughout my life,"

"Training combat skills can be fun... but life skills seem like a more creative and fun field in general,"

Kull stared at Drew for a long time following his words.

'I see,' The quill wrote.

'Then... I think I know what you should start with,'

"What were you thinking?" Drew asked excitedly.

'As you suggested, I will train you in one combat skill for every life skill,'

'I think training you in your stealth skill will be beneficial to you, so that's one,'

'And to increase your damage, I think Shadow Strike would be best for now,'

'It's easier to learn compared to Assassination and it will help you learn other skills like Shadow Movement and other skills that are a little bit more... Advanced,'

"That sounds great!"

"Stealth will help me avoid fights and get out of trouble, while Shadow Strike will compliment it,"

"But what Life skills do you think I should learn?"

'I think Herbalist is a great one to learn, it helps you identify herbs and their properties as well as increase your scavenging and farming abilities,'

'It also compliments the other three life skills I can teach. For instance, some herbs you find can be used when cooking to increase the flavor and utility of the food you eat. Some herbs are perfect for Alchemy and increase potion effects by a substantial amount. Poison Making is also great when paired with Herbalist for the same reason,'

'But out of the other three... I think Cooking would be the most pleasurable out of them and Alchemy the most useful,'

"There are a lot of options..." Drew trailed off after reading Kull's advice.

"I think Cooking is what I want to go for. I haven't really done much here just to have fun,"

"And I'm sick and tired of the junk I eat from the forest,"

'Then that decides it,' Kull wrote.

'Shadow Strike, Stealth, Herbalist, and Cooking are the skills that I will be teaching you first,'

'From the information I know, Sebastian is active at night so we have the rest of the day to get to work,'

"Sounds good to me," Drew said, nodding with enthusiasm.

'Shadow Strike is a skill I should be able to teach you in a few minutes given your skill set,'

"A few minutes?!"

'Yes. You have the Stealth and Dark Hand skill which help speed up the learning process of Shadow Strike by quite a bit,'

'So, start by explaining your understanding of both the skills,' The quill wrote as Kull sat down in the desk chair of the room while listening to Drew intently.

"Well, the thing about that is..." Drew trailed off sheepishly.

'System, show me my improved skills after the System Upgrade,' He commanded silently.

-

[Upgraded Skills]:

Shadow Hand: Lv: 1 upgraded into Shadow Hand: Lv: 5

Stealth: Lv: 1 upgraded into Stealth: Lv: 2

-

'Show the descriptions,'

-

[Stealth: Lv: 2]: Shadow cloaks you and masks your face. You are a whisper in the wind and no matter your situation you find yourself blending into crowds. You may enter 'Stealth Mode' and gain a huge boost to concealment and your general stealth capabilities and a minor increase against observation skills at the cost of reduced movement speed. You also leave fewer tracks when moving and blend into crowds subconsciously, drawing less attention to yourself. While stealth is active you can use mana to cover yourself with shadows, further reducing visibility.

-

[Dark Hand: Lv: 5]: Dark Hand is a mental technique created by the Black Strings Guild Master and remains a Unique skill of the guild. This skill is magical in nature yet doesn't require a magical affinity to use, but because of this, it is far weaker than true magical skills and mages regard it as a 'Trick' compared to a spell. This skill allows the user to manifest their will into a part of their own shadow, creating up to 12 hands that can be controlled and used similarly to their own hands but at a much higher speed. The range of this skill is 200 feet. The hand is immune to non-magical attacks that are under level 3 in strength.

-

"I got some insight into the two skills... It's kind of related to time magic and it's hard to explain how it happened," Drew said shyly.

'Insight?' Kull wrote while tilting his head.

"I increased the level of Dark Hand to level... 5. And I increased stealth to level 2 through watching you use it and some meditation,"

The Quill went to write but seemed to be at a loss for words. It tapped the same place over and over again, trying to comprehend what had just been said.

"What?" Kull grunted with surprise.