Skills !!!

The hamlet was always bustling with activity in the morning, but this morning was different, more crowds could be seen around the adventurers guild, from time to time a group of varied clothed and geared youths would emerge from the main hall , some of them smiling bitterly, and some of them sighing dejectedly....

Some men would only keep silent, with serious expressions on their faces.... One man who looked to be a gunner, played around with his pistol and said to the swordsman besides him " did you feel that ?? Albeit faint, it felt suffocating, he seemed to be trying not to release it ... "

The swordsman kept walking silently for sometime then said " we don't know if its a he or she, but there is another thing that was bothering me all the time ... "

" Huh and what is that " said the gunner

"Well .. think about it, we are fighters to our cores, We kill for a living, we were armed, we were a danger ... but the man didn't seem battle ready at all, its like he knew we aren't his enemies, for us adventurers, we depend on what we hide from others.... But that man, seemed to know all of it, i felt naked their ....its terrifying... i think there is more to this inspecting skill than we were told, i think it could peek on more than just or classes and ranks "

The gunner looked somlemn he knew his friend very well, his senses were remarkable... He never talk for just talking, when he says something it always has its meaning, and it would turn out always true or close enough, like this time, this has to be some danger opponent for the swordsman to talk like that, just who is this who they call the' saint ' is he really an ancient class? is that what real classes can do ?

The gunner and swordsman were just some of the many adventurers who came face to face with adam, they were famous veterans in the hamlet! But it was not just them, every skilled warrior who encountered adam felt somehow exposed, or unsafe...

adam was amazed , the variety of skills and traits he was able to see was mind blowing, there was even some very interesting ones there, like the swordsman " sixth sense" or the gunner "high precision " ... a water mage even had a passive that gave him more control over the fire element !! did he knew that ?? probably not ....

after a long day of inspecting adam felt a sever headache, his analyze skill don't consume any stamina but it consumes a very insignificant amount of mental power ... using the skill hundreds of time in the span of several hours took its toll on him..

adam sat cross-legged trying to meditate, he was not sure if it was any use ... but it helped him reduce his headache...

one hour in the same position felt refreshing for adam... he kept it for another half an hour when he suddenly heard a system notification

" tampered has been activated "

" +1 to mental power "

a cold sensation traveled through his body all the way to his head... and his headache stopped completely.... adam was dumbfounded.!! what the hell, he can get state points like that ?? does it mean that draining his stamina can improve it? adam was tempted to try it out but he held himself back, he needed some rest, tomorrow will be another long busy day ...

the next day passed just like the previous one, but there was no remarkable skills or traits to behold, adam felt it easier to analyze people now, so he wasn't as tired as yesterday when he was done, without the need to take breaks he was able to finish earlier than the previous day, five hours later, every volunteer has been already analyzed, so he went back to his room in the inn... and like he asked before no one bothered him on his way there...

when adam entered his room he went directly to his study ... pulled out his written note and tried to write down the most noticeable skills he could remember, what he was doing has two benefits for it, first a skill name don't always tell you its uses .. or how much danger it represents, so he was writing down what every skill can do before he forgot them, of course adam was not taking all that time with every person because common skills are limited, every human would have some and the same, warrior with the same occupations and builds tend to have the same skills....

that's why adam asked SORA " sora can you tell me how did those people acquired the skills they have ? "

" of course, the skills can be acquired with three main methods, first : inheritances, those only exist in some ruins, yours was one of them, not all of them give classes of course, some gives special attributes or traits and some may give skills ...

second : training , training is the most common way for humans to acquire skills, but what gives you the skill is not the training itself but the comprehension is helps you get, training for an eternity without understanding the nature of the skill you are training will only give you attributes, or some deformed copy of the skill ....

third : study and research, you can study skills try to combine them or divide them, to get new ideas and opportunities, that gives you unlimited choices ... humans created memory crystals, these are special items that can record knowledge about skills or the scenes of someone performing them, you may watch an old unknown war or battle and get enlightenment... ""

" in conclusion those methods can be combined into one method .... comprehension!! the skill to wield an axe is like the skill to cook something, you know how to do every step and why you do it ...and finally your body get to try it out and get used to it, when you are able to perform it with minimum intervention from your mind then 'congrats' you have that skill "

" system reward is a special case altogether, it imprints the skills directly into your mind and body, but still gives you only the basic understanding"

" so do you mean i can learn skills on my own? "

" yes if the move or chain of moves you use is proficient and practical enough to pass as a basic skill, you will get the skill for it, of course in your case you have an advantage over others, because the system will make corrections and give more refined skills, but you can't pull together a cheap skill either, you need to be convincing for the system to help you "

adam wrote down everything he was informed about by sora, and then sat cross-legged and begun to breath evenly, and slowly, he then felt his senses of his surroundings fade away, and all his attention was concentrated on his breathing and in trying not to think of anything in particular, his body felt lighter and his mind felt less burdened, slowly, he was recovering his mental power and stamina just a little bit faster then normal.... the state of the void felt more and more natural to adam, and he kept it up for longer this time, he didn't seem to be pressed not to think, usually that would be difficult and his meditation breaks from time time, but this time he was able to persevere, suddenly adam heard the system bell in his head .

" Ding: you have learned a new active skill " meditation" (basic)"

[meditation]: (basic) .. the user enters a higher state of mind ... using rhythmic breathing and willpower...

effects: at level 0 , recovers stamina and mental power 700% faster then basic awake state

(note : sleeping recovers stamina and mental power 300% faster then basic awake state )

adam jumped in the air in celebration... he knew it, that feeling of being nearly able to comprehend something ... it was there, so there is meditation in this world huh, i should be trying some other things too ... okay calm down, lets try to activate the skill and see

"meditation!!" adam said in his mind, and he felt his mind go blank and his body begun absorbing the energy around him, albeit slowly, his breathing was slow deep and constant, his muscles felt relaxed, it was like he was sleeping yet not sleeping at the same time, adam has an idea to rise his power, if he was right then he won't need sleep now, he can just spent his nights in meditation ... but he must try it out, to see if his conjecture was right, tomorrow he will have a day off, so he can try the new sleeping! way tonight and see.

after finishing his studies and writing , adam had his dinner ... and went again to his study, and before long it was night time....

sitting cross-legged on his bed, adam closed his eyes and entered his neutral state of mind, meditation was activated, and his mind was wondering away ... he didn't know if time passed by too slowly or if it actually was the opposite but sun eventually peaked out from the horizon, it was morning again.... adam opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings, that's right i was in meditation, and looks like the night is over just like that ?

"ding : delayed updates will be relayed now "

" +1 to mental power"

" +1 to stamina "

putting his hand on his belly adam was ... hungry !! he was wondering what kind of energy the meditation skill consume when activated, and it seems he got his answer it consumes his body chemical energy, which is eaten food , and bodily reserves ...

stretching his muscles... he begun doing some push-ups, and some basic exercises, after breaking a little sweet he went running outside, after running for around half an hour he came back to his room and begun swinging his axe around performing simple series of attacks.... when it was breakfast time he took a fast bath and changed clothes then sat on one of the inn tables ... he ate three times the usual meal, and payed of course for the extra amount, after he finished he was back to his room ... sitting on his bed he called his state panel for the first time since what seemed to be an eternity

states panel :

{information }:

[ name ]: Adam - [Age]: 25 years

[nickname]: vandaxe

[adventuring rank]: appretice

[race] : human - [class] : bounty-hunter

[level]: 1 ... exp(38/250)

{ main attributes} : (can assign state points)

[vitality]: 15

[strength]:15

[agility]: 11

[defence]: 13 (damage on every non crippling non lethal hit is reduced by 4 )

[ mental power ]: 18

{secondary attributes}: (can't assign state points)

[attack]: 14 (+6)

[Hp]: 43 (vit×2 + defence)

[stamina] : 61 (vit × 3 + stg)

[unassigned state points] : 16

wow 16 unassigned state points, I almost forgot about them I won 4 of them when I killed the soul devourer and 12 when I evolved, wait, I evolved right? but it still said ' human in my race section? shouldn't evolving make me another race or at least ... a high human or something like that ??

" host is silly as always, high humans don't exist in this world they are beings form fiction, well you evolved from a human of earth your past world to a human of DHALAMSIA, this world, for humans of your world DHALAMSIAN people are indeed a higher being like ' high human ' from fantasy, your body was too weak it couldn't take the power it was given from level up so system had to make a decision, and it cost a lot of energy you are indebted host, in your exp count for level up you originally needed just 150 points, the other 100 is your payment.... "

wait what?? why am i paying for this ??? i didn't ask you to do that .... hey answer me , 100 is too much make it 50 at least ...hey SORA !! talk to me .....

sigh** okay , and I though 250 was too much so it was that huh.... there is nothing i can do i guess, and evolving really helped me, humans from earth are too fragile after all ... even the weakest wolf here can divastate the most powerful beast there, for humans, even mer seekers are unmatched on earth !!