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Book 2: Chapter 77: Skill Information and Oror\'s Request

\'He really is taking his time, isn\'t he?\' Oror thought to himself as he glanced up from his enchanted tome of duties to the foxkin at the other end of the room.

The exciting new prospect of an adventurer was holding his chin in deep thought, clearly trying to ponder over a decision of sorts.

\'He\'s fortunate this is a small city. Otherwise, someone would have asked him to stop hogging the slate by now, even if more populated cities have more slates per floor,\' Oror thought with a shake of his head.

Still, that kind of attitude was just what he was looking for to help him complete his life\'s dream. Sure, the boy couldn\'t use magic now despite being able to in the past for whatever reason. That would be a roadblock, but not an insurmountable one.

All Oror wanted was hope for his species, who was he to decide that magic was the only way to achieve that?

Just as Oror was about to get back to his enchanted tome of duties - a wonderful artefact that allowed him to do paperwork while absent from his assigned guild branch, making him the envy of many guildmasters - Lone approached him once more.

\'Last time he levelled a skill using me. A world skill no less. Whatever could he want now?\' Oror\'s interest was piqued.

"Hey," the foxkin greeted casually but politely enough, clearly not respecting Oror for his personal strength. A fair thing considering how powerful the young man was despite being a D-ranker. "Can you tell me anything about the skills Blood Clone, Monster Taming Mastery, Passive Aura Shield, Body-bound Familiar, or Spirit Limbs?"

Oror subconsciously raised one of his stone eyebrows. \'Whatever were his inputted requirements to get such skills listed to him? And did I hear that correctly? Spirit Limbs? That\'s one of the most expensive skills in the entire database... Amazing.\'

Oror smiled and said, "What an odd collection of skills. You have more than 15,000 credits already? I expected 5,000, 7,000 at most. Very impressive. As for the skills... My particular contract forbids me from revealing almost anything about skills to you when your questions clearly relate to the credit slate. You are supposed to pay for said information, run out of credits, and then work hard to earn new skills and improve your existing ones. Then the cycle repeats."

Lone sighed. "Shame. Figured as much, but he who does not ask is all the more the fool than he who pretends to know, or he who advances blindly. I dunno. Forgot the saying and winged it. I really need a memory-based skill."

"Oh, I would certainly agree. Most people past a certain age try to gain a skill that boosts the ability to recall memories. It\'s rather vital. I will give you one bit of advice though as an old adventurer speaking to a new one. C-rankers can manifest aura spiritually. B-rankers can wield it offensively. A-rankers can manifest it physically, while S-rankers can actually mould the physical manifestation into something useful," Oror said, hopeful the foxkin would be as wise as his less sentient kin are so often touted as being.

Oror had actually never met a foxkin before. Certainly not a golden one either. That was exactly why he had rushed to Krieg Moor the moment he heard Lone Immortus would be eligible for a silver plate promotion.

No dwarf on Altros would ever hear out his life\'s dream given the sensitive and almost sacrilegious nature of it, after all. Foreign species almost never received plate promotion exams in the Farwinds either.

This was a Stone-given opportunity. One he was hoping would pan out at least somewhat well. Some progress would be better than nothing at all.

Lone furrowed his brow then nodded. "Shame. It was the most useful sounding of the bunch for my needs. Oh well. Thanks. Won\'t be long now, maybe half an hour or so."

\'My schedule is entirely clear for you. Well, besides the paperwork but that\'s why I have this tome,\' the Shale thought privately. "Take your time."

Lone quickly returned to the slate, happy to see no one had occupied it while he spoke to the foreign guildmaster.

He was also pleased to see that while the slate had reset, once he identified himself he could access the basic information of any skill he had paid the single credit for so long as he had the credits needed for their full information.

\'I could compile a list of thousands of skills. I\'m not going to since I\'d much rather spend my credits on just the skills I need, but still, I like that it\'s possible. Speaking of skills I need, a memory-based one is definitely next,\' he thought as he wrote on the slate.

He had decided to pay for the information on the Blood Clone skill.

Monster Taming Mastery sounded simple enough to earn on his own now that he knew it existed.

Body-bound Familiar sounded a bit too specific. It would likely be an unobtainable skill for some time unless he could bind simple animals to himself if it worked as he assumed it did, but what would the point of that be if his goal was to protect himself?

Spirit Limbs sounded very useful, in all honesty, but it was a risk and it would take up most of his credits just to learn about it. If he directly received the skill, he likely would have gone for it.

As for Passive Aura Shield, well, Guildmaster Oror had all but told him it was unobtainable until S-rank.

With all that in mind, Blood Clone seemed like the most reasonably priced, most versatile sounding, and easiest to obtain.

All known information about the skill Blood Clone shall be displayed. You now have 16,250 credits.

Skill name: Blood Clone

Skill type: Active

Skill rarity: 2,341 adventurers have registered this skill.

Skill effects: Allows the host to use their blood to create a clone. The clone does not need to be shaped like the host despite its misleading name. The clone can grow in size and strength based on the strength of the blood and the level of the skill mastery.

Skill cost: 5,000 SP at beginner rank to birth the clone out of the host\'s blood, but there is no maintenance cost. If destroyed fully, the host must spend 5,000 SP to recreate the clone.

Recorded additional effects:

1. The ability to use the blood of others. Unlock method: Exert your will onto blood that is not your own. As an approximation, this is roughly 20 times more difficult than the initial requirement to method 2 of the known methods to acquire this skill.

2. The ability to create a clone near-instantly. Unlock method: This is the basic additional effect earned upon the skill reaching expert rank.

3. The ability to sustain multiple clones. Unlock method: Have a blood clone active and try to create a second one (extremely difficult).

4. The ability to make a clone in the host\'s bloodstream and use it to fly and move one\'s body as if telekinetically (this can be used in combination with effect 1 to control the bodies of others, though this will eventually develop a resistance in the target if they are unwilling). Unlock method: Create a tiny clone out of one\'s own blood while it is still within your bloodstream (extremely dangerous. It isn\'t recommended to ever try this unless it might save your life somehow).

5. The ability to make the blood look like other materials while still being blood. Unlock Method: Constantly infuse your blood clone with raw illusion magic and try to change the clone\'s outward appearance (the most consistent method to unlock this is trying to make the clone look like a person, but anything would work in theory).

6. Ability to make the clone automatically protect the host. Unlock Method: Constantly infuse your will into the clone in an attempt to get it to take hits for you (this has been reported to take thousands of attempts and an immense level of mental focus).

Known methods to acquire the skill:

1. Infusing SP into any blood magic spell using the host\'s blood as a medium (can take hundreds to thousands of attempts).

2. Exerting one\'s will onto their own blood (extremely difficult. Only 2 recorded cases of this having happened exist in our database).

3. While being tortured, giving in to one\'s hatred and rage and tapping into the power of one\'s own bloodline (attempts have been made by adventurers to artificially replicate this method, all of which have failed).

Best known method to level the skill: Have the blood clone perform actions constantly, whether that be helping you pick stuff up or having it distract enemies by entering their eyes. Everything works towards its mastery so long as it is never idle.

That was... more informative than Lone had expected. \'So while the skill itself is active, the effect is permanent until dismissed or destroyed? And the passive part only kicks in as an additional effect? I need to try to get all of those additional effects. I need to buy the information packets for all of the skills I currently have, don\'t I? Just for the methods to get the additional effects if nothing else.\'

Lone was eager to learn Blood Clone right now but he had no weapons on his person at the moment and he didn\'t really want to reach into his Dimensional Storage just to stab himself in public to gain the skill. He\'d do it later back at the inn.

Instead, he created a new search filter to find out what options he had for a perfect memory skill. At first he was given 42 results with a broad search. This became only two when he excluded magic-based options.

You have been charged 2 credits. You now have 16,248 credits. Below are the listed skills and the price required to learn everything the guild knows about them.

Memory Mastery

[300 credits for full information]

Puzzle Locked Mind

[2,000 credits for full information]

\'Puzzle Locked Mind? Such a mysterious and cool-sounding skill will give me an autobiographical memory? Well, fuck. I have no clue how I haven\'t earned Memory Mastery yet, meaning it isn\'t simple, but the credit cost and mysterious nature alone makes that other skill sound super interesting...\' Lone bit his lip in contemplation.

A few seconds passed before he nodded and decided to fork out the 2,000 credits. It was a lot, but something about the skill\'s name made him feel like it could help him defend his mind on top of its apparent ability to perfect his memory.

All known information about the skill Puzzle Locked Mind shall be displayed. You now have 14,248 credits.

Skill name: Puzzle Locked Mind

Skill type: Passive

Skill rarity: 18 adventurers have registered this skill.

Skill effects: Allows the host to lock away their thoughts behind a series of mental puzzles that vary in scale and difficulty based on the skill\'s rank and the host\'s mental strength. The locks also vary a bit based on the host\'s personality and life experiences from reports. It has been confirmed that the skill is impossible to bypass, even with unique skills. The host\'s mind is completely safe from attacks until the puzzle locks have been solved. Brute force will never destroy the puzzles. The puzzles restore themselves after a fixed period of time when defeated based on the skill\'s rank.

Skill cost: None. All currently discovered additional effects also cost nothing.

Recorded additional effects:

1. The puzzles can immediately be restored after being defeated once per week. Unlock method: Try to mentally recreate the puzzles yourself instead of relying entirely on the automatic restoral (has been reported to take hundreds to thousands of attempts to earn).

2. The puzzles can be used as memory banks, storing a fixed percentage of the host\'s memories (the banks still work even if the puzzles are defeated. This effect has been used to keep a portion of an adventurer\'s mind safe, preventing them from going insane when they otherwise would have). Unlock method: Try to grasp the puzzles mentally as if they are physical objects. Once successful, try to find your memories and do the same then try to move them to the puzzles. It becomes intuitive once the additional effect has been acquired (requires a great deal of focus and mental fortitude as it has been reported to be quite a painful if harmless process).

Known methods to acquire the skill:

1. Solve enough dwarven puzzle boxes that you can envision solving a completely new one with your mind alone (we only learned this skill existed because the first adventurer to report it to us was obsessed with dwarven puzzle boxes. They had solved well over 17,000 unique boxes before they accidentally gained this skill).

2. Actively envision your mind as a vault. When successful, constantly envision weaving mazes of extreme intricacy protecting your mind\'s vault (This method had been known to take dozens of years to achieve and has only worked for those with an incredibly strong mental fortitude, but it is far faster than method 1).

Best known method to level the skill: Have the puzzles be violently attacked and destroyed every day. It is recommended to hire a trusted guild employee or adventurer with the appropriate skills to do this for you as opposed to trying it in a life-threatening fight. Illusion magic and mind magic are the best magics for this process.

"Wow. That sounds super fuckin\' useful," Lone muttered as he left the slate, having finished for now. \'And levelling it sounds easy as fuck. So many Crimson Foxkin have illusion magic thanks to their racial skill just giving them the magical affinity, so when we go to the clan I can get them to power level the skill for me.\'

Lone was very satisfied. The credit slate was quite clearly very serious when it said it would give every single known fact about the skills you paid to learn about.

He approached Guildmaster Oror and took a seat at the golem\'s table.

"Done?" the large man asked patiently.

Lone nodded, "Yeah, but give me a minute. Gotta try something."

"Of course," the guildmaster replied with a smile.

Lone closed his eyes and activated his Meditation skill. That would be the best way for him to focus solely on his mind.

Within a few minutes, he felt like he could somehow feel the shape of his mind. It was abstract and large. It was tangled and threads extended in every direction almost endlessly.

\'Glad that worked first try. Now, I need to envision this mess as a vault?\' Lone asked himself.

He first tried to envision himself floating above the humungous collection of thoughts and ideas that was his mind. It took him a little while, but picturing the time he had witnessed Sky and Void battling within his soul helped, since, at that time, he had a physical representation of his soul.

Before long, a mental version of Lone popped into existence and all of his senses of the outside world faded away.

"Okay. That went well, now... Maybe I can use Architecture Mastery to help me turn this into a vault?" he asked himself.

This was going to take a while.

Take a while it did. Lone felt like it had been days, weeks even. That obviously wasn\'t the case since he\'d have been woken up to get locked up again by now, so clearly, his sense of time was a bit askew.

Regardless, he had succeeded. That dauntingly large amalgamation that was his mind was gone, only to be replaced by a massive bank vault of sorts. It wasn\'t amazingly daunting in scale, but it was rusted and dented all over. Still, it was the best Lone could do for a first attempt.

"Now for the puzzles... I wish I played more video games. I\'d have a larger frame of reference. That\'s what I get for being a one-game Andy, I suppose," he shrugged as he cracked his neck and got to work.

More weeks passed in his mind before he felt something click into place. He had succeeded in making five puzzles to protect his mind\'s vault.

They looked shabby and easy to overcome, but that was fine. A framework was all he needed. The fact he\'d succeeded on the first try at all had surprised Lone. This was clearly a hard skill to learn even when considering his Growth Accelerator, so his shock was quickly joined by an immense feeling of pride.

With a final glance over his work, Lone nodded and then tried to return his focus to the outside world. It took a moment, but before long, the mental representation of his body faded from existence.

Opening his eyes slowly, Lone exhaled deeply. Several notifications blocked his vision but before he could check them, Guildmaster Oror spoke to him.

"You said a minute, not three hours. What were you even doing? I suspect trying to learn a new skill, but you just started using Meditation and then seemed to... mentally leave entirely," the golem asked with a ravenous interest in his voice.

"Shit, three hours? Less than I expected but still way too long. Yeah, I was trying to get a new skill," Lone replied as he stood up. "I should grab my new plate and go. I\'ve been here for way too long already."

"Wait, let me at least tell you about my personal request," Guildmaster Oror said. "What do you know of the Shale?"

Lone shrugged. "The basics? Born of the Stone itself. Gifted with extreme physical capabilities. The more metal a Shale\'s body is, the more powerful and older they are. They\'re pretty rare. You\'re the first one I\'ve ever met."

"Exactly!" Guildmaster Oror responded a bit loudly. "While all of that is true, what you may not know is that while I identify as a \'he\', I\'m actually more of a \'them\'. All Shale are born asexual."

Lone raised an eyebrow. "I mean, yeah. You\'re naked but I don\'t see any genitalia. I also confirmed that when I used Full Body Diagnostics on you. Wasn\'t my business though so I didn\'t being it up. I don\'t know if this is rude or not, but I\'ve been mentally likening you to a sentient golem ever since we met this morning."

"That\'s more accurate than I\'d like to admit," the foreign guildmaster sighed before he whispered to Lone, "I wish to produce a child. Currently, all Shale are born of the Stone. There are no exceptions. I wish to change that. We are too few in numbers and the Stone births fewer of us than those of us who die every century."

"How the fuck am I supposed to help you there?" Lone questioned.

Guildmaster Oror chuckled faintly. "You aren\'t one to shy away from cultural norms. The recent trial proved that. You can learn skills at an unprecedented rate. We Shale... we can\'t leave the Farwinds. If we do we crumble to dust and metal scraps. We are bound to the Stone. I ask you to find some time in your life to research a future for my people."

"Now that I didn\'t know," Lone replied in a low voice. "You just... die if you go topside?"

The golem nodded somberly. "Indeed. We don\'t know why either. No one does. It\'s assumed it is a punishment from the Stone for leaving her embrace, but no one knows for sure."

"... My plate is really full. I have a lot to do in both the near and distant future. Another research project on top of all of that, and one so serious and difficult..." Lone felt bad for wasting so many hours of the guildmaster\'s time, but even if the idea did interest him, he would have no clue where to begin.

Oror stepped back and wore a friendly smile. "I know. I\'m not asking you to drop everything and become the world\'s leading Shale researcher it\'s just... I see the potential you have. You\'ve been on Altros for a year and have almost 100 skills. I know you have awakened thrice, but again, you\'ve been here for a year and have ranked up five times. I doubt you will die of old age any time soon. You may very well earn thousands of skills in your lifetime. If you ever come across one you think could help... The entire Shale species would owe you an unending debt. I will personally reward you by teaching you every single skill I know should you even find so much as a hint that would lead to a clue that could save the Shale species."

"That\'s a fuckin\' heavy ask," Lone mumbled with a sigh. "And a tempting reward... Look, I\'m not going out of my way for this, but sure. I\'m not against the idea. I\'ll keep it in mind if I ever run into a skill that could help you, what, make kids yourself and ensure those kids don\'t die when going topside?"

"The topside thing is unnecessary. I made that point because we cannot leave to explore the world for solutions. The dwarven people would never do it for us since it would be an affront to their religion," Guildmaster Oror clarified.

"Okay. Like I said, I\'ll keep it in mind. For now though, I\'m off to get my new plate. Don\'t be a stranger, I guess?" Lone said in farewell.

"I won\'t," the large man replied before he walked towards the stairs that led down to the second floor.

Lone shook his head. "Strangest fuckin\' request of my life. At least my paranoia was off. I half expected him to want to trick me into some alchemy lab to tear me to pieces for research purposes..."

He wondered briefly how significant of a historical or cultural moment it would be were he to find a solid answer to Guildmaster Oror\'s problems.

Lone then stretched his limbs and pulled up his recent notification log as he approached one of the third floor employee counters.