As soon as I woke up, I didn't want to waste any time. and immediately got on the bus to head to the HQ compound. I briefly considered walking to save on coins, but I figured I'd need all my energy for the rest of the day. Once I found the training grounds, I took off looking for the first instructor I could find. Ceelia wasn't too shocked by my enthusiasm, considering my Skill training should have taken place a month sooner.
The first area we stopped at was for Swordsmen. There were several Advancers already in the process of learning [Slash], one of the most basic Skills for dealing damage.
Ceelia grabbed a spare 'Training Sword' from a nearby rack and handed to me. The feeling of the hilt in my hand was awkward, but not unfamiliar. I had practiced swordsmanship plenty of times as part of the Academy curriculum. Of course, that was over a month ago, and I never was very good at it to begin with.
"Learning your first Skill is no easy task, so just take your time. It's important to remember that it may take a while to get the right motions committed to memory. Got it, Rookie?"
I took a deep breath and simply nodded in response.
"I have a feeling I'll be okay."
I watched the instructor demonstrate [Slash], paying close attention to the way he was holding the sword. As my eyes traced the arc he was cutting through the air, I began to move my own weapon.
Top right.
Bottom left.
Center right.
Top left.
Bottom right.
With every swing, my confidence in my technique grew. The once unfamiliar weight of the blade seemed to gradually lessen as my cuts began to carry more and more force, and the sounds of all the other trainees slowly faded from my ears. I relaxed my breathing and focused all my attention on the pattern on the pattern I was carving into the air.
I didn't realize how long I had been concentrating until I felt someone tapping on my shoulder. Instinctively, I swung my sword in that direction and felt it clash against metal. I froze in place as I realized Ceelia had blocked my swing with her shield. Looking around, it dawned on me that every single Advancer in the area had stopped practicing, enthralled by my routine. Eyes filled with confusion, wonder, and jealousy were staring in my direction, and I couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed at the attention.
[You have successfully learned Slash.]
A notification appeared, confirming my new Skill. I turned back to Ceelia, who had a shocked expression on her face, and lowered my sword. A grin spread across my face.
"Told you I'd be okay."
She said nothing in response as her eyes darted from me, to my sword, and then the instructor. The older Advancer had a very surprised look on his face as well, but he quickly regained his composure, and started clapping.
"Well done, Kalion. It seems you have a natural talent for swordsmanship."
I barely registered the comment as my mind swam with possibilities.
๐๐ง [๐๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด] ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ป๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ.
With no time to waste, I put the 'Training Sword' back on a nearby rack, and gave a quick thank you to the instructor. I began walking back to the main path, looking for the next training field. Ceelia, realizing I was on the move, snapped out of her confusion and raced after me.
"Rookie, what the hell was that?"
I scanned the signs around me and found the path leading to the nearest Tank Trainer.
"It's one of my Skills. Should help cut down on training time."
Ceelia's face contorted in a mix of shock, confusion, and anger.
"Wait, you mean to tell me you developed Skills already? And you didn't notify me?"
"I didn't want to worry you, that's all."
"There are protocols that need to be followed, Rookie! What if you overworked your Mana Veins?"
"Well, that's all in the past, and I didn't. The worst that could happen now is I finish my training in an hour, AND we'd get first pick of permits at the Guild Hall, right?"
Ceelia opened and closed her mouth several times, before eventually sighing.
"You owe me an explanation later. Where are you even going? Aren't you going to finish learning more Swordsman Skills?"
I chuckled in response as I continued following signs until I reached a new training area.
[TANK SKILLS TRAINING ZONE]
I walked into the area with excitement coursing through my body, as a very confused Ceelia followed close behind.
...
About an hour later, I was the proud owner of several new Skills.
____
[Character Summary]
Name: Kalion
Age: 23
Class: [Merchant Lv. 1]
Health: 10/10
Mana: 50/50
Stats: [Strength Lv. 1], [Agility Lv. 3], [Constitution Lv. 1], [Intelligence Lv. 5], [Arcana Lv. 2], [Spirit Lv. 5]
Unique Skills: [Eye of Appraisal], [Jack of All Trades], [Item Stacking], [Inventory]
Active Skills: [Slash Lv. 1], [Challenging Shout Lv. 1], [Combustion Lv. 1], [Minor Heal Lv. 1], [Identify Lv. 1]
Passive Skills: [Tireless Will Lv. 1]
___
I grabbed a Skill from each main category for Advancers: Melee DPS, Tank, Magic DPS, and Healer. I also managed to find a general Skills training zone where I learned [Identify]. I was tired of how limited my current information gathering Skill was, so this new addition was a must have.
Nodding my head in satisfaction, I turned to Ceelia, who was currently processing my explanation of [Jack of All Trades]. I could hear her muttering things under her breath as she tried to make sense of what I had just accomplished.
"I'm going to have so much paperwork to fill out..."
Suddenly, a voice echoed out, calling my name.
Looking around for its source, I spotted a group of three Advancers in full Dungeon gear walking towards me. After a few moments, my eyes widened in surprise as I recognized the owner of the voice. Joy changed to fear as I realized they were running at full speed towards me with absolutely zero concern for my safety.
"Kaaaaaaal!"
A tall, brightly grinning guy in sleek scale armor was barreling in my direction with no signs of stopping. Adrenaline surged through my body as I tried to sidestep his bear hug, but to no avail. Val closed the gap frighteningly fast and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me into the air. As Val's grip tightened, my hearing started to go dull, and I'm pretty sure I felt something crack. Ceelia was caught completely off guard by Val's sudden appearance, taking a few steps back from us both.
"V-Val? What are y-you doing here? Put m-me down, d-dude!"
I struggled to speak in Val's bear hug, but he didn't seem to be paying attention at all. The pain wracking my body suddenly lessened as a notification appeared.
[Iron Knight Ceelia has used Share the Pain Lv. 6]
Val must have noticed the Skill as well, because he let go of me immediately.
THUD.
I hit the ground awkwardly, coughing as I tried to regain my breath.
[Health: 6/10]
"What the hell, Val?! You could've killed me!"
[Paladin Valleris has used Identify Lv. 3]
[You do not possess a Skill to hide your character summary.]
Val's eyes widened as he saw my health, and his demeanor dropped.
"Oh damn, I'm sorry, Kal. I didn't know-."
A girl in white robes suddenly pushed past Val, clutching an ivory staff. She brushed her brown hair out of her face, revealing piercing, green eyes that were trembling ever so slightly. In contrast, her face was completely expressionless, like a still lake. She had no discernible emotions whatsoever. An uncanny level of calmness.
The healer of his party, I assumed.
"Valleris, you need learn to control your strength."
She reprimanded Val sharply and kneeled down in front of me. The swirling green orb at the end of her staff started to shine, and she reached out her hand to me. However, before she could do anything, I gestured for her to stop, and used one of my new Skills.
[Minor Heal Lv. 1 has been used.]
I could feel the cracks and bruises across my body start to seal back up, and a profound sense of relief washed over me. Standing back up, I gingerly stretched my limbs and touched my chest, but there was no pain at all.
๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ต, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ.
The healing staff stopped glowing as the lady stepped back. She glared at me for a second longer, before turning her attention to Val. For a moment, I thought I noticed a hint of disappointment on her face, but it was probably just my mind recovering from Val's terrifying hug.
"Woah, Kal, was that a healing Skill? Are you a healer now?"
Val looked at me with curious eyes. I could tell at a glance he had pretty much forgotten about almost crushing me to death just moments earlier.
"Not really. It's kinda complicated-"
"Valleris insisted we stop by the training grounds to find you. He was very persistent, although, I suppose it wasn't a complete waste of time."
The robed woman interrupted me with in a very curt, matter-of-fact tone. Her eyes scanned me as if I was some sort of anomaly she needed to analyze.
๐๐ญ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ. ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต.
"We need to get moving, Valleris. I entertained your little visit long enough, and now we have work to do."
"Kal, why don't you come with us? I promise Lixdra isn't this scary ALL the time. The porter we usually have stopped showing up yesterday. Not sure why though..."
I glanced over at the woman in question, trying my best not to make eye contact as she continued to glare at me.
๐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ...
"Him? Hmm..."
A moment of silenced passed as Lixdra pondered, her eyes still burning holes in my skull.
"I admit that it would facilitate the process if we brought you along. Not to mention, Valleris has vouched for you personally. As a matter of fact, he has been CONSTANTLY doing so ever since I met him."
"See, she's not so bad. Come on, Kal, it'll be fun! I'll show you the fastest ways to clear Dungeons!"
Ignoring how unceremoniously this all started, it wasn't a bad offer. These three were experienced Advancers, and it would be a great opportunity for me to see firsthand how Dungeon clearing worked.
๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ...๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐บ.
"We leave in 10 minutes. Grab what gear you need, and meet us at the Guild Hall. If you are late, I will not hesitate to replace you with whatever lost soul happens to be available."
After giving me her sudden ultimatum, Lixdra walked away. A third member of the party, who I somehow didn't notice despite his large stature and heavy plate mail, accompanied her. He gave me a brief nod and turned away. Val waved at me as he followed the two, and I was left standing there, a little more than overwhelmed.
"Are you okay, Rookie?"
I jumped at the sound of Ceelia's voice. With everything that just happened, I had completely forgotten she was standing there.
"That Skill of yours is really handy, you know."
Ceelia laughed at my remark and patted me on the back.
"So, are you going to take them up on that offer?"
Even if Lixdra was remarkably intimidating, I saw no real reason to refuse. It was both an opportune and pragmatic choice.
"Of course I will, it saves me time trying to find a good party at the Guild Hall."
But before I could get moving, there was something I needed to check.
At each training zone I visited, I learned the associated core Skill within minutes, so I spent the extra time practicing them. However, despite picking up the Skills easily, something still felt off.
I opened my character summary and scrolled down to my Skill list.
___
Active Skills: [Slash Lv. 1], [Challenging Shout Lv. 1], [Combustion Lv. 1], [Minor Heal Lv. 1], [Identify Lv. 1]
___
None of my Skills had leveled up.
Granted, I only spent around 10 minutes on each one, but I knew it didn't take much to progress a Skill to Lv. 2, especially considering how quickly I learned them. In addition, the training grounds were built with the specific tools and equipment needed to make that happen. It was incredibly uncommon for new Advancers to leave the training grounds without at least a few leveled up Skills.
Taking a deep breath, I tapped on my [Slash] Skill. In an instant, my head was flooded with a series of messages.
[The chosen Skill cannot be leveled up at this time.]
[Interface level is too low.]
[Please upgrade the Interface to continue.]
I stood there in shock.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ช๐ค๐ฌ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด?!
I took a deep breath to calm myself down and reread the messages.
If my understanding was correct, the [Interface] not only acted as the source of my powers, but also as a sort of level cap for my Skills. This meant that no matter how much training I did, none of my Skills could exceed my [Interface]'s level.
A cold shiver overtook my body as I realized I wouldn't be able to gain Stat Points either.
Normally, Advancers gained Stats as they became more familiar and adept with their Skills. Every level gained in a Skill also granted a few Stat Points. An inability to level up Skills meant an inability to level up my Class, which in turn, meant an inability to gain Stat Points.
๐๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ [๐๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด]. ๐๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐บ, ๐ช๐ต'๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ด.
I groaned in disappointment as I stared at my character summary, and all the [Lv. 1]'s stared back.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐'๐ฎ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ. ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ [๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ] ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ธ๐ข๐บ.
As I continued to ponder, another thought came to mind.
If new features to my Class maintained this kind of pattern, then my overall power would ultimately boil down to how strong the [Ultimate Merchant Interface] became. But, going one step further, that meant my strength was ACTUALLY tied to my coins, since that was the resource that defined how much I could upgrade the [Interface]. Therefore, in order to become as strong as possible, I needed to constantly be making money.
Disappointment changed to anticipation, and I couldn't help but smile at how perfect the whole thing was.
๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฉ. ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ. ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ.
With this refreshing epiphany, I resolved myself to continue with my original plan. Ceelia looked at me with growing concern on her face. I'm sure she recognized what my grin meant.
"Where can I find the nearest porter supply shop?"