***

Rockin Starling. Class: Shielder

Character stats:

Stamina – 23

Strength – 25

Agility – 19

Spell Power – 4

Magic Energy – 8

Growth – 2

***

I was checking my Status Window, still lying in my bed in the morning. The stats were the same just like the last time I checked, but the whole idea of me having a Status Window was unbelievable, so I was checking it out just to look at it again.

“Ok, so these are my basic stats, but if I add the bonus stats that both of my shields offer, then…” I paused to calculate in my head. “Then my Stamina stat goes up to twenty seven, my Strength stat goes up to thirty five and my Agility stat goes up to twenty two. Hey, that’s a nice boost actually.”

Since my Defense Skill: Shield was benefiting from my Stamina stat and my Attack Skill: Shield was benefiting from my Strength stat, it made total sense to try and make both of them higher. But the stat bonus I was coming from two shields for now. If I were to get some equipment, armor for example, that offered additional stats, it would make my skills even stronger.

“Hmm… that Larg guy said he had gloves that gave bonus to his strength stat.” I wondered where I could get gloves like that myself. “Damn… I know nothing about this place. I better get up and go do some reading at the library. Humph… but I guess eating comes first.”

I got up, dressed myself, picked up my stuff and left the room. As before, I had my Lizardman Champion’s Shield stay hidden under my fur mantle on my back, but I had to carry my new Piercing Shield in my hand. The reception counter was empty when I got down the stairs. Not wanting to deal with the grumpy old man again, I simply left the key from my room on the counter and walked out.

“Why hello, handsome. Fancy seeing you at my diner again.” The wolf-lady greeted me. It was an early morning, so her diner had only a few patrons and many free tables to choose from.

“Good morning, Savirei.” I greeted her politely.

“What’s it gonna be today, sweetheart?” Savirei gave me a sly smile.

“Can I get some Carnabbit meat again? Oh, and is the bet still on?” I asked, feeling cheeky.

“I like you, but I’m afraid not.” She giggled. “I can’t take any risks with someone like yourself. I’m in a business to make money, after all.”

“Of course.” I gave her a smile.

“It’ll be just a moment.” Savirei vanished into the kitchen before coming back in a few short moments. “So, did you have a good night’s sleep?”

“Yeah, but the owner was quite a dick… Oh, sorry.” Only when the words left my mouth, I realized I should’ve chosen them more carefully.

“Now that’s the first time I heard her being called that way.” Savirei didn’t seem to be offended in the least.

“Her? No, there was some old guy at the counter who didn’t even want to rent a room to me when I showed up.” I was confused why’d she said ‘her’. “Unless I went to the wrong place…”

“It should’ve had a sign outside that said ‘The Twin Tails Inn.’” The wolf-woman wanted to confirm.

“Yeah.” I was certain it was the same inn.

“Oh, please do forgive me, but I believe there was an auction of the month being hosted last night.” Savirei touched her cheek gently, thinking about it.

“Yes, there was. I attended the auction myself. Got my hands on the new shield as well.” I wanted to brag for some reason.

“My, my. What an unusually shaped shield you have there.” Savirei smiled, making me feel embarrassed. “But going back to your experience at the Twin Tails Inn. That wasn’t the owner you saw last night. She must’ve been at the Auction House and had left the duties to one of her workers. Although, she usually has polite staff that works for her. How about this, sweetheart? I’ll go talk to her later in the day about the issue you had to find out why you were treated so… inappropriate. I am sure the owner of the inn will be more than happy to… correct the mistake. So, why don’t you give her another chance and visit the inn again next time you feel like it?”

“You’re awfully concerned about such a small issue.” I was surprised she cared about it so much.

“It’s all just good business relationships. I’d hate to sully her reputation… or mine. After all… I was the one to recommend the place.” She explained to me.

“Ok, I guess.” I agreed, not thinking about it too much. It’s not like I never had a bad experience with a hotel staff back at my world. Of course, if Savirei hadn’t said anything right now, I probably would’ve looked for a different inn to spend the night at.

After waiting another short while, Sevirei served me my breakfast. The Carnabbit meat was as delicious as the one I ate last night. The added spices and some fried veggies made it taste heavenly. Once my stomach was happy, I was on my way to the Guild.

“Good morning, Rockin.” Rozalina was at the counter again. Thanks to me wearing new, regular clothes, I was spared the stares from the other adventurers that were gathered at the Guild.

“Hi Rozalina. I’m here to do some reading at the library.” I told her after greeting her.

“Yes, of course. The library is open, but before you go, I had a Quest job registered under your name. One moment, please.” She stopped me before I left.

“Ok.” I said, feeling confused what kind of job it was.

“Here you go. It’s from the barber, Collin. He said he spoke to you about it already.” Rozalina came back, holding a paper in her hands.

“Oh, that’s right. Yeah… he wanted me to craft him Carnabbit fur mantle.” I remembered.

“I didn’t know you had a Crafting skill. That’s so awesome. It’s a very useful skill to have. And it’s profitable too. You can make a good living by crafting items. Not many adventurers are so lucky to get such a rare skill.” Rozalina was overly impressed while talking about it.

“I guess.” I decided to keep my mouth shut about the Campfire skill I had.

“By the way, that Carnabbit Fur Leather Armor set had sold for a good price. Arin Reece asked me to tell you to bring any more of those to the Action House to sell.” She told me.

“He… asked you?” It was hard to believe the guy would ask nicely for something.

“Well, it was more of a demand, but he’s not actually a bad person.” Rozalina chuckled, covering her mouth with one hand.

“I’ll… think about it.” I scratched my cheek with one finger. In all honesty, I had no plans to do so in a near future. “Right, so, if you excuse me, I’ll go do some reading now.”

“Yes, of course. Apologies for keeping you.” Rozalina said with a smile.

Campfire is a rare skill. Crafting is a rare skill… Sheesh… I really need to learn more about the skills here. I was mulling over it as I was making my way to the library. People in here seemed to get overly excited about the skills that I had. I could agree that the Campfire skill was pretty neat, but the Crafting skill didn’t seem to be such an incredible skill from my point of view. I could craft only a few basic items. Right, where are the books about skills here?

“Greetings young man, do you need any help finding something?” I was browsing through the shelves, looking for a book to read when I heard a male voice speak to me.

“Sorry, yes.” I turned around and saw an older gentleman standing a few feet away. He had quite a few years under his belt, probably over sixty, his hair was fully white and he had wrinkles on his face, but was standing straight and smiling warmly. “I’m looking for a book about skills to read.”

“About skills? We don’t have that many books about skills but they are in that section over there.” The old man pointed at the other side of the library.

“Thank you, mister… aah…” I did not know his name.

“So sorry, where are my manners? My name is Darlou. I’m a librarian here.” The man introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Rockin.” I introduced myself back, extending my hand for a handshake.

“It’s a pleasure.” The man shook my hand. “Haven’t seen you before. Are you new here?”

“Yes. I registered as an adventurer only yesterday.” I told him.

“Ah, I see. It’s good to see young people eager to learn before they rush head forward into the danger.” He smiled warmly.

“Yeah…” his comment made me chuckle.

“Well, I won’t bother you any longer. Time is precious as they say.” Darlou bowed his head before walking away.

Skills, skills, skills… This one aaand… maybe this one… I was going through the shelves, picking up books that caught my interest. I got three books in total, then sat down at the table to read. I opened a book with the Basic Skills title on it first.

 

{after a few hours of reading}

 

Right… I closed the third book after I finished it.

I learned quite a bunch about the Skills in a short amount of time. There was a lot to digest, but I managed to get a general idea about them. Apparently, Skills had their own ranks, which basically meant, the rarer the skill the higher its rank was. It was easy to understand, because the rarity was defined by colors too. The most Common skills were listed in white color, Uncommon skill were listed in green color, Rare skills – in blue, Epic skills – in purple, Legendary skills – in orange. Once I read about it, I opened my Status Window to check my skills.

I had never wondered why my skills were listed in different colors before. I thought that was just a feature to make them stand out between one another, so it would be easier to read. But apparently, the colors meant more than that.

Ok, so my Campfire skill is written in blue. That’s a Rare skill alright. My Tough Skin skill is written in green. That’s Uncommon skill. My Crafting skill is also blue. I see, that’s why Rozalina called it a rare skill. What else? Minor Poison Resistance is green, that’s Uncommon. My both Shield skills are listed in white, so that makes them Common skills, I guess. Aaand… wow! Minor Regeneration skill is purple? I never expected my Regeneration skill to be ranked so high. Of course, self-heal skill was invaluable. My wounds healing at an incredible rate was a real lifesaver, literally. Ok, that leaves me with… huh? Wait, it said that the highest skill rank is Legendary and it’s supposed to be written in orange, but my Overgrowth skill is all shiny golden, with additional ornaments around it too.

I was a little confused and not only about the color or the ornaments. My Overgrowth skill was listed as a ‘Unique’ skill, but the books didn’t contain any information about Unique skills.

Maybe… that’s what they call a Legendary skill? I wondered, but wasn’t fully convinced about it.

Another interesting thing about the skills was that some of them had Levels as well. Meaning, the skills could be leveled up. My Shield skills, as well as my Crafting skill, had levels written next to them. Both of my Shield skills were at Level One and my Crafting skill was at Level Two. In addition, the books said that even if a skill didn’t have a Level, it could still be upgraded, or evolve. The term ‘evolve’ was confusing to me. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that a skill could evolve. It was a skill, not some living entity.

Ah, well. I guess that’s enough reading for today. I decided not to worry about it.

“Are you done reading for today?” Darlou asked, seeing me put the books away.

“Yes. I think that’s enough for today.” I told him.

“I see. I hope it was helpful to you.” The old librarian smiled.

“Yes, it was. I mean, I was confused about a few things, but I learned a lot too.” I was honest with him.

“It can be confusing at first, especially when you acquire new skills that you are unfamiliar with.” Darlou chuckled quietly. “But if you have some question, I’d be more than happy to try and answer them.”

“Right.” I thought there was no harm in asking him. “I couldn’t understand the ‘evolve’ part about the skills. That one got me confused.”

“Ah, I see. You can simply look at it as growing or becoming better. Some skills can be leveled up, but some can become stronger on their own. There are restrictions and conditions for that to happen, of course. Let’s take any resistance skill as an example. Minor Fire Resistance skill offers minor protection from getting burned by the fire, be it a natural fire or Fire Spells that monsters or people may use against you. It doesn’t have a Level, but it can evolve into Normal and then Major Fire Resistance, which will boost your resistance to fire tremendously.” Darlou explained to me in great detail, not trying to rush it.

I see. So, that’s how it works. Does that mean my Minor Poison Resistance skill can evolve into Normal and then Major Poison Resistance skill too? And what about my Minor Regeneration skill? I was thinking to myself, holding my chin with one hand.

“Ok, I think I understand it better now.” I was grateful for the extra explanation.

“My pleasure. Was there anything else that you needed help to understand?” The librarian asked.

“Yes, there was this other thing… about the skill’s rarity.” I was really curious about that one. “It said there are Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic and Legendary skill ranks. I understand the rarity classification, but I was confused about the Legendary skill rank. Is it the same as the Unique skill?”

“A Unique skill?” Darlou exclaimed, his stare not leaving my face.

“Ahmm…” I knew right away I have said something I shouldn’t have.

“Ah, sorry. That was rude of me to stare at you like that. It’s just… it was such a long time since the last time someone spoke to me about a Unique skill.” The old librarian straightened up. “But to answer your question, no, Unique skill is not the same as a Legendary skill. It is a much higher ranked skill. You could say, Unique skills are the highest rarity skills of them all.”

“Highest rarity?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. Please do forgive me about my reaction. I was surprised someone as young as yourself knew about the Unique skills.” Darlou apologized again.

“Ah, well… I heard… someone mention it… at the Guild.” I did not want to tell him the truth how I knew about the skill.

“I see. Yes, there are talks about people getting Unique skills, but you’d have to search far and wide to find a person who has one. Nobody knows how one can acquire a Unique skill. There must be very steep conditions to get one. In my whole life, I’ve heard only about one person who possessed a Unique skill. Unfortunately, they are no longer alive.” Darlou spoke in a way as if he was telling his own life story.

“Wow, really? Is the Unique skill that rare?” I was intrigued to know more.

“Yes, it is. The Legendary skills are extremely rare, but the same Legendary skill can still be acquired by multiple people. That is not so with the Unique skills. It’s just as the name says, they are unique, meaning no two people can get the same skill.” The librarian was telling me enthusiastically.

“Right, that’s good to know…” I said, scratching my cheek with one finger.

“Hoho. I know that look in your eyes. I see it in many young people when they hear about the existence of the Unique skills.” Darlou laughed again.

“Yeah. It would be cool to get one, wouldn’t it?” I joined in with the laugh.

“Indeed. In any case, I wish you all the best. Who knows, maybe your Luck stat will bless you with a Unique skill some time down the road.” The old librarian smiled at me.

“Y… yes. Thank you.” I was confused about him mentioning the Luck stat, since I didn’t have it listed on my Character stats window, but decided not to bother the old librarian any longer. I thought I’ll read about it later myself.