Three new skills and I haven't even started training yet. I did have the sense to ask Branik and Smeška about which skills I should ask Longstrider to train me in. They said it comes back to my classes, and what Class specialisation I wanted. Specialised Classes give unique or rare skills you can’t get elsewhere. For example if I wanted to specialise as a Scout this would give a unique ability called mapping. I would never get lost and combined with a literacy or drawing skill I could produce accurate maps. In order to get Scout I would need my Hunter class at Level 10, Farsight at Journeyman and a minimum in Physical Agility and Perception. The armies trained their scouts for this. With my low class levels specialisation was a long way away.

I didn’t really know where I wanted to head. Hunter usually took one of several main specialisations. The most common were Scout, Ranger, Bounty Hunter and Monster Hunter. They didn’t know about my Spy class or affinity, so I couldn’t ask them about specialisations for that. The Ranger Class needed Plant Lore and Animal Lore. Monster Hunter needed Monster Lore. Lore is a basic level of knowledge about a topic that could then be built on with experience and study. It is usually passed down from Master to apprentice throughout the training time. This made me realise my knowledge of forest animals was reasonably good and to a lesser extent plants. My Master had been knocking things into my thick head for a while, not enough for the Lore Skills yet, but getting there. Monster Lore was a subset of Animal and Plant Lore as monsters could be either, as well as mineral or elemental.

Branik suggested that without a Master, or access to books, it would be this that limited my options for the future. They said I should ask for training in Lore. This sounded very boring to me. There must be some cool skills I could get. Unfortunately it also sounded very wise. I knew I was severely lacking in knowledge. Apparently, according to Branik, Trainer was a general training class, which gives boosts to learning skills taught by the trainer. The trainer is also able to use skill books in their training. These books can only be used by someone with that type of class and people with those classes would build up a library of such books. Those Skill Books were very expensive to make and Trainers, and similar classes, usually charged students a lot for such training. I would only be able to be trained in skills that he has, or that he has in his Skill book library. He should have general Lore Skill books. It still sounded boring to me.

Time to make an appearance. I moved from the alley toward the door. I spied the archer on the rooftop opposite the door, but I gave no indication of seeing them. The door was opened by a large fighter type. He showed me into the warehouse with the same desk and chairs. Longstrider and Warren Carter were both there. No sign of the girl. I assume she was either training furiously, or maybe I wasn’t going to learn anything tonight as they couldn’t meet Branik’s criteria.

‘Welcome,” said Longstrider. “You continue to be a man of many talents. I did not realise it was the Mother’s Tusks who you worked for when I asked you to get the Carters signed up. That does explain some of those anomalies with the job advert. When I found out who it was later that night, I didn't think you would be able to succeed. Branik can be quite stubborn.” He smiled. “You are entitled to learn two skills. I am impressed.”

He did not seem to know about Branik’s criteria for Tabitha. That was interesting. I glanced at Warren, but he showed no signs. If Tabitha had not gone to Longstrider to be trained that meant his costs were too high or they were confident of getting there without him. I was expecting to have to bargain for at least the second Skill due to Branik’s criteria for Tabitha. I certainly wasn’t going to upset the applecart here. I will take my skills and go, thank you very much.

I smiled back. “That's great,” I said. “I wish to be trained in Lore.”

His eyebrows went up. “You continue to surprise me,” he said. “Most young people want something a bit more active, even when they get advice. I have some Lore skill books, but not a large selection. You can choose from Plant, Animal, Herbs, Sentient and Mineral. I don’t have Monster Lore, unfortunately.”

I schooled my face into disappointment, even though I wasn’t particularly interested in Monster Lore, yet. I might even get to level Deceive after this. Sentient I understood as an overview of the Sentient races and that could be helpful for Spy. I hadn’t even realised it was an option. I decided to stick with the plan.

“I would like Animal Lore.” I said. It was an expected choice for my Hunter Class. I made a show of considering the other options, not being able to choose Monster Hunter. “For the second one I think I would like Mineral Lore.” I continued.

His eyebrows were up and down tonight. “That is an interesting choice,'' he said. “You wish to specialize the Quarry Worker Class?”

I nodded, “It is my highest level class.” I was trying to give the image I was flustered at not having my first option available and making a spur of the moment, rash choice. Animal and Mineral was my plan. Branik suggested Animal and Plant, or maybe Herb but Branik didn’t know about my affinity. Animal Lore was for my Hunter class, but it was also for Pip. I wanted to understand him more and work closer with him. Mineral Lore was obviously for my Granite affinity, but I really wanted to keep it a secret.

“Very well,” he said and made a hand sign at one of the archers on the mezzanine who went down a set of stairs and toward a tunnel entrance that I obviously pretended to know nothing about. Well, what do you know, Deceive did level.

The archer was back quite quickly so his Library was close. There wouldn’t be many books, so I imagine it was portable in some way. The Skill books looked thinner than I had expected. This was my first time seeing one, let alone using one. I looked using Sense Spiritual and they both shone brightly, although the Mineral one was brighter. Did that indicate how much they might have been used, and that they had a life span depending on how many times they were used? It was logical, but I could hardly ask. Last night I obviously had no way to see the Spiritual, Tonight I wasn’t going to even give a hint of anything that was not necessary. I wanted him to keep thinking I was Spiritually blind.

He put the first book on the table. “In a moment I will get you to open the book and then I will activate it. It is vital you remain in physical contact with the book for the entire time the Skill transfers. The length of time will depend on that Skill, Animal Lore is a large one, and your Mental Strength and Agility. I will monitor the Skill transference and if it is too much for you I will stop it. This will result in an incomplete Skill, but it will still count as training as the durability of the book will decrease the same amount. However, I will not allow the Skillbook to mentally damage you. It may also damage the Skillbook. Do you understand?” he asked.

I nodded, “What level of Mental Strength and Mental Agility is usually required?” I asked.

“With Animal Lore a Mental Strength of 12 and Mental Agility of 15 is usually sufficient. After the transfer you will need about an hour for the Skill to settle and assimilate before we do the second Skill. Usually I would insist they be done on separate days or at least after a sleep. The strain will be increased for the second skill, due to the short time between them, but Mineral Lore is smaller than Animal Lore. We will see how the first one goes. Are you ready?” He asked.

I nodded and put my hands on the Skillbook.

“Very well, open the book.” he instructed.

I didn’t see what he did because my mind was flooded with information. There were a lot of animals and I got an overview of everything. Insects, birds, fish, slimes, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores. Different habitats from the frozen tundra, to the scorching desert, to the caves deep in the earth. Reptiles came and went even though I tried to grab it. I don’t know how long it was that I was unaware of my surroundings. I trusted Pip to watch out for me, and his bond was active. When I came back to awareness, I was lying on a row of chairs. Longstrider was talking to someone I didn’t recognise, and Warren was no longer in the room.

“Welcome back.” Longstrider said when he saw me stir. “That was a more active than normal transfer. I suspect you got more from the Skillbook than most. I suggest you go into one of the side rooms there and meditate for a while. Sleep if you can, but I doubt you will be able to. You will have a lot of information buzzing around in your head. Did you get the Skill?”

I checked my Status and nodded, “Yes.” What I didn’t tell him was it was already Level 2 and several other skills had levelled. Butchering, Fishing, Tracking and Animal Bond all went up a level. Lore was definitely the way to go! I went to get up, purposely putting a foot near Pip and paused holding the back of a chair as if I was getting my head straight. Pip slithered up my trouser leg. I then moved to the room and sat on the floor. He was right, information was flooding my mind. Suddenly, I knew why Pip liked to be against my skin. He needed a certain body temperature and couldn’t do it himself and needed me to help, especially at night or in the mornings. If we were in a cold environment he would be at a severe disadvantage. All sorts of facts were buzzing through my brain and explaining parts of my experience that I never realised. Pip moved to my shoulder against my skin and warmed himself.

About two hours later Longstrider looked in. “I have an appointment, and If we don’t do the second skill now you won’t make it to the caravan at dawn. Are you upto it?” he asked.

I nodded as my mind had settled a lot.

“Come on then. This shouldn’t be as bad. Animal Lore would have synced with a lot of your hunter skills and one or two may have levelled. This is normal. If you had learned this the traditional way from a Master, it would have taken several years, but there would have been a greater Skill growth, but less noticeable because of the length of time. I am not sure what this Mineral Lore will do. There probably won’t be as many skills for it to link to. It should be a lot smoother.” he said.

That is what he thought. I had no idea what this would do to my affinity.

“Let's proceed,” I said.

I opened the book and he did his thing and information again flooded my mind. This information wasn’t as familiar to me and obviously didn’t link with as many skills. I understood different types of rocks and the different components they are made from . Surprisingly, I also got information about gems, mineral based Monsters and some basic chemical information. I had thought Alchemy was a separate field. Obviously Granite was something my mind latched onto. Especially the different types of granite and the different concentrations of minerals that make it up, especially something called quartz.

This was a totally different experience than Animal Lore. Not nearly as intense. I think it was less than half an hour before my mind settled enough to interact. I checked my Status and I had Mineral Lore 1. Granite Sense had jumped two levels and Granite Bones had gone up one, but this meant it was now at the Apprentice level. The Quarry Worker Class had levelled to 10, which is journeyman level and I had the impression a specialisation was available. I was very interested, but now was not the time.

Dawn was less than two hours away and I was not going to get any sleep as my mind was still buzzing. Longstrider was nowhere to be seen. I gave the archer a wave as I left and went back to the Guild to get my gear. It was packed as I was expecting a long night. I was seriously wondering where I could get some simple mining equipment with my new knowledge buzzing around my head. It wasn’t going to be possible I thought. I decided I would lie down and rest for an hour.