Over the next year and a half, Fred had discovered the library, allowing him to speed up his reading and writing skills, unlocking the sub-skill grammatical language, the skill gave Fred 10 normal Exp per skill level up, with his level of education from his previous world, which was a godsend as gaining exp on the daily quests was getting ridiculous, once he had reached level 10 in grammatical language, he received 2 notifications,

Revealed progression skill

Skill

Rank

Description/ requirements

Exp

Level

Technical Language

High

Used to describe in exact detail. Reduces misinterpretation, increases professionalism

Requires: Grammatical Language level 10

5 levels in a sub-language with rank: Jargon

10 levels in a maths skill with rank moderate or higher

1/3

On level up, 10% of exp goes to main exp

0/50

On level up, gain +10 Int and Wis.

Creative Language

High

Used to describe in metaphorical detail. Increase charm, increase prestige, interpretation subject to consensus

Requires: Grammatical Language lv 10

5 levels in a sub-language with rank: Cultural/philosophy

Read 3 works of literature

1/2

On level up, 10% of exp goes to main exp

0/50

On level up, gain +10 int and wis

What bugged him was that he wasn’t getting skills for subjects he already knew, like maths, science, engineering. But this all changed when he was trying to calculate his exp gain on a piece of paper. At that moment he gained his 3rd skill, Maths, giving him 10 Int and Wis for discovering it. Maths also gave him the strongest level bonus at +10, int and wis per level up of the main skill. Furthermore, it was his first basic skill to give a level bonus, Maths – basic, gave him +1 int and wis, Fred experimented with maths and discovered that although he knows, he must practice with it to turn it into the skill. When he was still at level 4 with basic maths, he tried to do a high-level algebraic equation. he completed it, but passed out straight after, and was stuck in bed for 3 days with a fever, when he recovered enough to check his stats, his body had changed to toddler – fever, reducing his stats to 3/10th for 4 days. However, on the bright side, not only did he reach basic maths Level 15, maxing it out in one go, he also got junior maths to level 10, high maths to level 2, and algebraic formula to level 5.

Revealed progression skill

Skill

Rank

Description/ requirements

Exp

Level

Junior Maths

Junior

Introduces multiplication, division, indices and brackets.

Requires basic maths level 10

1/3

10/15

On level up, gain +3 Int and Wis.

High Maths

High

Introduces the concept of algebra, calculus, trigonometry, accountancy, Logic, Algorithms,

High maths is an accumulation of concepts and therefore high maths exp is directly correlated to exp gained from concept maths

Required: Junior maths level 10

900/2000

On level up, 5% of exp goes to main exp

2/50

On level up, gain +10 int and wis

Algebras

Concept

The study of algebraic equations

400/1600

On level up, 7% of exp goes to main exp

5/20

On every level gain +7 int and wis

In the Library he managed to find what he was looking for to start his plan, Herblore the basics, by Martin de Ragonde. This gave him his first jargon language as well as allowed him to identify over 60% of the herbs he will be needing. So, after writing them down on a list he went over to George, who was in the training field. “Sir George”, he shouted running over to him,

“Ah, young master Frederic, here to attend your morning exercise”

Fred had started practising with wooden swords about a month ago, although to call it practising the sword didn’t quite fit, first he hadn’t got the skill yet and second, he was just swinging it up and down over his head repeatedly. George said it was required for about 6 months, to build up muscle and get used to the weight of a sword. Furthermore, once he’s built up enough muscle and familiarity, he would naturally gain the sword skill, allowing him to start learning skills.

“Yes, Sir George, but first how do I go about procuring herbs” Fred showed him the list,

“Hmm, some of these a quite common, but you should be able to put up a request in the Guild”

“What’s a Guild?”

Fred had heard about such concepts from stories by his old word, but this was the first time he had heard of the guild in this world. In fact, his formal education hadn’t started yet. All Fred knew from first-hand experience was the castle which was his home. He had heard that there was also a developing port town under his mother's jurisdiction but Fred had yet to experience it.

“Ah, that is the adventures guild Fred, it ‘produces’ this town’s main export, especially as we are the closest town to the wood elven forest. The Forest’s nature elemental spring allows for so many high-quality herbs and spices”

Fred had just received a lot of shocking information and was stuck with what to ask first as well as not wanting to go off on a tangent.

“Wait wait wait, first of elven forest, as in elves live there”

“O I forgot, you always seemed smarter than your age, but you haven’t started your formal education yet have you.”

“No, I'm only learning the basics at the moment; Speaking, writing, maths, Sword and I’ll be starting archery and spear in 2 months.”

“Well, you’ll learn it anyway so I might as well tell you, about 20 miles north is the start of the wood elven forest, publicly, we have only managed to map out about 150 miles and haven’t reached the end yet. Wherever someone has travelled further is currently unknown”

“Can’t we travel around the island by boat?”

“Island?”

“Is this not an island.”

A lot of Fred’s actions has caused doubt in George, he seems to be way too smart for his age and, the one time he got a fever as for doing a maths equation with letters, something George hadn’t really heard of before, and what confused him the most was when Fred told them what his log said, ‘using algebraic equations has unlocked a hidden skill and has forced all necessary skills to meet the requirements. The exponential gain from exp has caused the body to overload.’ George had never even heard of this phenomenon before, and from then on, he was constantly doing even more advanced equations.

On another note, about a month after he turned 3, we were having a get together with about 15 of the local noble families, everyone suddenly got two notifications

*Congratulations* a member of the human race has developed a fire affinity elixir/wine, called Red Cherry Wine; +2 stat points to all members of the race: Human

*Congratulations* a member of the Franconian Culture group has developed a fire affinity elixir/wine, called Red Cherry Wine; +4 stat points to all members of the culture: Franconian

“Wow it’s been like over 10 years since we’ve last had one of these pops up,” Jeffery, of House Essen, a man in his late 60s addressed the room, although if Fred being here, he would have argued early 40’s at most.

And as the crowd started mumbling about the news, Fred Barged in struggling to carry 4 large size, wine bottles with a happy grin and a maidservant running behind carrying two herself, while fruitlessly trying to stop Fred. He ran over to Isabella shouting “mother, mother look what I made.” The rest of the audience thought it was adorable until they heard what it was, “mom, I made Red Cherry wine, well Steven helped. But look”,

This stunned Isabella and the crowd, outside of that pop-up, no one knew what a red cherry was. And Steven, the Caretaker, since when had Fred roped that senile old fool into helping him.

“I’ve never heard of such a wine, Fred, you made that? And what are cherries?”

“You know, the little red berry’s that was in the herb pantry for Doctor Johan, I used all 50 of them for this.”

Isabelle looked at the doctor “red berries,”

“O no” the doctor signed, “remember when I came to you 3 months ago saying the fire tears are gone”

“The ones I was going to use for my ascension”

At this time Fred Blanched “o, o, I think I’ve screwed up” he mumbled,

“Yes, you have,” Isabelle said, never had Fred felt so terrified of Isabella,

The doctor picked up one of the bottles from the maid, opened and poured himself a taster in a glass, the moment he opened the bottle the temperature in the room rose several degrees, Johan was impressed by the potency. But quickly closed the bottle. And then sipped on it, he was taken aback straight away, his body growing increasingly warmer. He had tasted strong wine before, but this was on another level.

Johan was just standing there in a daze over the taste and was only brought back Isabella, “so how was it.” There was a little sharpness in her tone, obviously still irritated over what Fred has done.

“Well, put it this way, I think you will only need half a bottle to achieve your ascension.”

Fred had heard the word ascension for the first time today, but he didn’t feel like it was the right time to ask.

Isabella on the other hand, as well as the crowd, was shocked “half a bottle, how?”

“I don’t know how, but he’s managed to transfer the fire energy into a substance that is more effectively digestible by the body, as well, he seems to have cultivated a fire attuned alcohol, I must say I'm impressed.”

Luckily, she only needs half the bottle and not all 6, like she would have had to if they were still in their berry form, as she noticed the greedy eyes of the guests, there was no way of keeping it to herself without making enemies. On the bright side, it was so potent that she only had to open 1 and a half bottles. Well, it wasn’t all good, at least not for Fred, he couldn’t have any ‘due to his age’ and ‘steeling ingredients’. His mother was able to go through her ascension, and over the coming month's empty bottles would show up now and then.

---

George had lost track of thought, Fred had to hum, trying to get his attention back.

“Ah, Yes, sailing around was it. Well, we are unable to sail around because the wood elven ships block our way”

“Wood Elves, I’ve heard you say that a lot, what are they, and is there other types of elves”

“Originally there was only one type of elf, referred to as elves, they are a species that is highly influenced by mana, the boast of high magical potential”

“George paused for a minute to allow the information to sink in, “and this means mana has a bigger imprint on the elven nature. And so, the common elves were attracted to mana springs, causing them to be branching out, now the thing about mana is that it comes in many affinities, for example, Fire, that your mother is attuned to. Or nature, which is sometimes referred to as wood, as where there is a natural spring there will always be trees, and all recorded nature springs have taken the form of a tree.”

“How about enough story time Fred, why don’t I take you to the guild and you can explore the city on the way.”,

___

As they were riding down through the town in the carriage, Fred noticed George had placed quite a few empty bags on the chair next to him “what’s the bags for Sir George, would we be able to get these herbs straight away”

“Well, we might be able to get some, but your mother wants me to get some more of those fire tears, a lot more.” George smiled, the same creepy smile he has whenever he puts Fred through some intensive exercise. Since he reached level 4 and level 8 respectively, his body could handle the daily quest 3 times now. And George, never the one to miss an opportunity took full advantage of that, although Fred had to stop him from using all 3 as George’s training, or more precise this eras training was unbalanced. They didn’t even run in the morning for stamina training, yet for some reason, it was so easy to convince George that Stamina and by extension endurance, was the most important stat for survival. It was as if it had neither entered his head and when asked he just shrugged saying it's how I was trained, its tradition.

“Is mom still mad about me using up her fire tears, that was a month ago” Fred sighed

“O, Freddy boy, on the contrary, she wants you to make more, a lot more.”

“Really, I thought she passed her ascension, well, that’s what you lot said, but why is she so weak from it.”

George thought for a minute, “what level are you now Fred”

“Level 9, I’m 147 Exp away from level 10.”

“Wow, so fast, you're only what 3,

"3 and a half actually"

"Right, right, well it looks like it's time to tell you. Do you know what ascension is?”

“No.”

“Well, the first thing you need to understand is that all living things have potential, and a great indicator of that is your level system.”

“Yeah.”

“But potential has a limit, you cannot infinitely grow. There is a cap at level 10.”

“O, wait a minute I'm almost capped but you and mom are way stronger than me”

“This is where ascension comes in, you can check your ascension level to the left of your level on your status parchment.”

*ding* you have learned the local term for the stage – you can change your status to read ascension instead of the stage if you want.

- Yes - - No –

‘Yes’

“Ah, it says I'm at Ascension 1”

“Yes, once you reach level 10 you need a potent mana source to support your ascension”

“Can I not use my mana”

“Well, no, that would defeat the point, ascension is to overcome your limit, your mana source is part of your limit, so you need something stronger.”

As they turned the corner George opened the curtain pointed down the street to show the guild to Fred.

“Well, once you get to level 10 you will usually receive 2-3 quests, the first one, at least for your level would be to accumulate enough mana crystals, and then you are required to absorb them in a tight timeframe,” “Other quests are to use a more powerful, or unique power source, this would give you a stronger benefit or for elemental users, it gives you the best time to attune with a specific element.”

“wouldn’t absorbing that much mana in a short amount of time damage your body.”

“Well, if you want to be more accurate, it's more like destroying your body. I’d like to say it's scarier than it seems but it's not uncommon to go wrong.”

“Why would you want to destroy your body,”

“Because you have reached your potential, it's better to say that the process is controlled destruction of your current body, then a reforge a new body. The Ascension process breaks down your body, compresses all your main exp, and through the excessive mana you absorb for the process, your body is anew again, giving you stronger potential.”

“Then why was mom so weak afterwards.”

“Well, this is something you need to be careful about yourself too, you need to pick a time and place of when to do it.”

“I don’t really get you,”

“Remember when I said it compresses all of your normal exp”

“Yes,”

“That would mean you have no exp, meaning you’ll be back to level 1, not only that, your exp requirement would double for every ascension”.

“what, so you start over, what’s the point in that.”

“Well, first, it’s easier to get stat points for completing training and exercising at lower levels. Second, you can level up again giving you more free stat points, and you get a lot more stat points per ascension, and 3rd your ascension modifier is doubled.”

“Wait, wouldn’t it take ages for mom to at least get back the strength she had before ascension, she seems to be recovering quite fast.”

“Usually, people would either try to learn new skills, keep some of their skills at low levels or kill monsters.”

“How do the skills help.”

“Have you not got any skills with moderate or Higher rank.”

“Yes,”

“Well, there you go, don’t they give you normal exp per level up”

“Right, we are here Fred, we’ll go to the herb and spice market first to see if they have what we need.” “Is there any other stuff we need for the wine”

“Yeah, any dried grapes or raisins. Probably 1 raising for every 10 fire tears”

“Ok, I’ll go pick them up, stay close to me and let me know if you see anything you want.”

Fred was amazed by the variety, apparently, all of this was what was gathered in the forest, and while he couldn’t see everything on his list, he found the missing ingredients as well as some plants needed for the Esper program. However, Fred came to a new realisation, since his exposure to the fire tears when he was working with them and his increased mana pool, he’s become more sensitive to mana, enough to start ‘smelling’ it in the air. And he noticed that all of the ingredients found had mana in them and it was at least a lot stronger than the air. He’s going to need copies of each herb; this could turn out expensive.

“Sir George, how much money can we spend,” Fred asked with a worried look on his face,

“We should be able to get what’s on your list, why”

“Well first, what was on my list was only 60% of what I needed, as I didn’t know the names of the rest yet, but I have found them here. And second, I didn’t realise they had so much mana, it may affect my experiments causing me to need more.”