It took longer than Adam expected to make it back to the hole and escape the ant colony. That was largely due in part because he had gotten lost. A fair turn of events, one earthen tunnel lined with glowing fungus in the ceiling looked like any other. It had proven a good opportunity to train more, and see what Iggy could do.

The cat could handle her own on the weaker giant ants. And she proved invaluable in fighting multiple opponents, drawing their attention and providing extra damage. They even fell into a rhythm where Adam would hit the ants and then Iggy would deliver the killing blow, greatly increasing their efficiency while reducing risk.

Iggy had taken damage a few times, and while potions did seem to work on her it wasn’t ideal. She had no hands or thumbs afterall, and Adam had to manually tip the vial into her mouth. But there seemed to be little to no training required with Iggy, she almost seemed to react to Adam’s plans and needs as if she could read his mind. And she understood spoken language instantly. Something that Adam did find a bit disconcerting. But then again he found a lot of things about this world to be that way.

Getting lost, while annoying, has proven quite fruitful. Adam surmised that they must have killed hundreds of ants trying to find the exit. Iggy had leveled up to level 3. While Adam had leveled up again reaching level 5. His proficiencies in daggers and wind magic had also increased to level 5. When that happened he had learned the skills Backstab and Air Pocket.

Air Pocket was a support skill that created a bubble of air around the casters mouth or head that let them breathe underwater. While Backstab seemed like the move Levin had used against him. The user disappeared and reappeared behind a target, any attack made within 2 seconds was a guaranteed critical hit. The one catch was that you had to be undetected by physical means by your target. So essentially Adam gathered that they couldn’t see you, hence Levin’s smoke bomb. Adam’s Wind Blast had also leveled up to 2/10, getting stronger and gaining 10% additional damage.

Once the pair had made their escape from the ant colony, they set out to find the main road that the highwayman Levin had spoken of. Adam had his doubts but they did indeed find it. Given that the town of Belfort was supposed to be about three miles away it would take them an hour to get there.

Adam looked over his stats and messed around with the item prompt to pass the time. Iggy kept up at a leisurely pace, occasionally jumping into the bushes after some sort of prey. Adam didn’t mind, she always came back, and when she left his Sense range he called for her, she’d appear moments later.

What Adam was concerned with however was his stats. They were too high. If he wanted to register with the adventurers guild they’d measure his stats, like back in Lockinge with the fake dungeon, and he’d be discovered. His freedom would be gone, and who knows what other sorts of unscrupulous characters might come after him. Also some high level mages had the ability to see people’s stats, and there were other items that could be used to see stats as well. Like his artifact Adam thought touching the monocle.

[You have activated Veil Shaper, would you like to modify visible information?]

Adam was confused for a moment. He had touched the artifact many times, yet nothing like this had popped up before. He decided to try it.

Another menu popped up showing all of his current attribute totals, proficiency ranks and levels, and skill levels. Little arrows flanked each number and rank letter, along with little boxes next to each individual field.

Adam messed around with the menu as he walked. He found that the boxes rendered a field completely hidden, or so the menu said. And the arrows allowed him to increase and decrease the numbers and ranks. The menu said that these changes were purely cosmetic, and would not actually increase or decrease anything. This was exactly what Adam was looking for.

He thought back to Malchus, about how he had known about the strange testing item that Adam assumed was the reason for his wild attribute gains and max ranked proficiencies. Had he given Adam this artifact specifically because he knew about the testing item’s properties? He must have, it was the only thing that made any sort of sense.

And who was Malchus exactly? Adam had only really thought of him as an eccentric hermit of a man. One who was trying to strike it rich in the tower. But he had fought toe to toe with that Centurion. A monster so strong that it had wiped an entire raid of seasoned tower delvers.

Perhaps it mattered not. They were all dead now anyway, he wouldn’t get any answers. And he planned to never go back to that tower anyway.

[Would you like to obscure the Veil Shaper? It will still be equipped and you will still benefit from its abilities.]

Adam agreed and he felt the monocle disappear from his face. He reached up and felt nothing where it had been. He looked at his character sheet, it was still equipped but it was now faded and transparent. There was a lot that he still didn’t understand about this item, but in time Adam hoped that he would understand it.

The sun was high in the sky when Adam approached the gate to Belfort. He must have been underground for at least a day. A guard dressed in chainmail and carrying a spear stopped him.

“What’s your business in Belfort.”

“I’m just a wandering adventurer, looking to strike out on my own, do some jobs, get rich, maybe famous, you?”

Adam tried to play it cool and a little nonchalant. His words sounded awkward to himself, he was a little embarrassed to have said them. The guard looked him up and down, and then glanced at Iggy. The cat gave the man a toothy yawn.

“First time leaving your village,” the guard inquired. “Where are you from, Bartley?”

Adam nodded, not specifying what exactly he was nodding his agreement with. Better to let the guard think what he wanted.

“A little bit farther but yeah,” Adam said, nodding again and smiling.

“What is that, a lion cub, where did you find such a thing around here?”

“Oh,” Adam said, stalling. He shrugged his shoulders. “Merchants.”

“I see, any trouble on the road?”

“Oh no, none at all,” Adam lied.

“Good, good. We’ve had reports of bandit activity. One of the adventurers from the guild here said he was attacked by a level 3 of all things.” The guard laughed. “Personally I think he just pulled more monsters than he could handle.”

That bastard Levin, he was going around telling everyone that Adam was a bandit, when he was the victim. Adam thought about setting the story straight, but that would just bring more unwanted questions. And besides what proof did Adam have? Levin had kept his name displayed, a pretty arrogant move when you were going to rob someone. But even if Adam gave them Levin’s name, he could just say that he passed him on the road, and Levin had already reported himself as the victim.

“Anyway, you’re cleared to enter. Don’t cause trouble and make sure that your name is displayed at all times. The adventurer’s guild is a few blocks east from the center of town.”

Adam nodded and thanked the guard. He set his name to be displayed, a usual custom in towns, it made it harder to commit a crime if everyone knew who you were. Although crime still existed, it wasn’t hard to duck into an alley, put on a mask or equip a whole new set of clothes and turn your display name off.

Belfort was a bustle of activity. It was far larger than Lockinge. Adam wasn’t familiar with it, he still wasn’t sure where exactly he was. But if it was large enough to have an adventurer's guild hall in it, then it must be somewhat important.

Adam passed an inn on the main street. It seemed nice, it had fresh paint and nothing seemed broken from the outside. There were even flowers planted in boxes attached to the windows. It seemed like it was probably an expensive establishment. Money wasn’t an issue for Adam, but he worried that it might draw attention to him. Levin had targeted Adam specifically because he was a low level with expensive items. And while it wasn’t uncommon for merchants to be low level and travel, they usually had guards with them. However staying at a nice reputable place offered its own set of protections, probably. Adam decided against it for now. If he couldn’t find another place that was suitable he’d come back.

As he wandered the town Adam decided to check out some of the shops. He was window shopping if you will. Or more accurately looking at all of the item names for the different things in the shops. Once he knew the name of the item, presumably he could just use the item prompt to give them to himself.

He checked out several weapon and armor shops, a general store, and an alchemist. He walked into a bookstore next. It was more or less what one would expect. Rows upon rows of shelves lined with books and even scrolls. He browsed the sections. There were sections on history, economics, and other mundane boring things. Adam found the areas that he was more interested in. Skills, magic, and abilities. He found a section on wind magic, there were books on fundamentals and basics, others on concepts, even some histories and mage biographies. Adam found the spells, he grabbed a book titled Skill Book: Wind Cutter, and opened it.

Sparkles lit up around him.

[Congratulations you have learned the skill Wind Cutter!]

Adam was dumbfounded for a moment. He had only just opened the book, he hadn’t even read a word yet. Learning skills was supposed to take a while. One had to read the book and understand the concepts within. Oftentimes you just learned skills as your proficiencies increased, the higher your rank the more skills you’d learn naturally too. And for the skills you didn’t learn on your own there were skill books.

“Stop, thief!”

Adam looked to his left with a start. A very angry shopkeeper was yelling at him. He stormed up to Adam pushing his spectacles up from the tip of his nose.

“Stop right there thief!”

People were looking and whispering to themselves. This wasn’t good.

“Look I’m sorry I didn’t mean to,” Adam sputtered. “I’ll pay for it.”

“You’d better well pay for it or I’ll call the guards,” said the shopkeeper. He looked at Adam’s clothes and at his level. “And you’re sure you can pay for it, that book is 20 silver.”

Adam reached into his bag and pulled out 20 silver and handed them to the shopkeeper, his eyes widened as the coins clinked together falling into his outstretched hands. He looked back at Adam.

“Forgive me my rudeness sir, I was flustered.”

“No, no it’s alright,” Adam said. “I don’t know what happened I just opened the book and I learned the skill, I hadn’t even read a single word.”

“That’s remarkable,” said the shopkeeper adjusting his glasses after depositing the coins into his robes. “You must have an extra skill.”

“What’s an extra skill?” Adam had never heard of such a thing.

“Well they’re exceedingly rare, unlike skills that are tied to proficiencies these skills aren’t tied to anything. They don’t level up and they usually confer some sort of passive bonus or ability. That’s why they’re called extra skills, they’re just sort of, well extra.”

“I see and how does someone learn an extra skill?”

Adam had to know more about them. Also he needed to get whatever extra skill would let him learn from skill books instantly. He assumed the artifact had let him do it, but he’d need a cover to explain it.

“Well, there are scrolls that can teach you extra skills, they’re also exceedingly rare, dungeon and raid drops mostly, very expensive to acquire. The cheapest would probably run you tens of gold.”

It was Adam’s turn to look shocked. He’d never seen anything worth that much. Obviously high level gear and artifacts and such could net such high prices. Weapons and armor dropped from dungeons and raids for sure if they were rare or high level. But that was well beyond the reach and imaginings of the common person.

“Any other way,” Adam asked.

“Yes of course, like in your case I assume you were born with one. People also can learn them randomly, but there is no consensus on how that happens. It just seems like it’s a possibility when one levels up. But again it’s so rare.”

“I see, and if I wanted to acquire an extra skill scroll what are they called? What item name would I ask for?”

“My dear sir, forgive me but, these things are beyond the wealth that someone of your level can acquire.”

“Well consider it something for me to aim for in the future then,” Adam said with a smile.

“Well, I’ve only ever seen one, and it was simply called Skill Scroll: Refinement Boost.”

Adam thought for a moment. If he could just get the names of the abilities and spells he should be able to acquire any skill that he wanted. Now that he knew the word format for such books and scrolls, and it was quite simple, Adam felt like kicking himself.

“Do you by chance have any books that list or detail the different types of extra skills? Also any general books you’d recommend that do the same for abilities and spells?”

“Yes of course,” said the shopkeeper. “Let me gather some for you sir, please wait a moment.”

The shopkeeper flitted about the shelves, gathering a small collection of books. They were all pretty average size, one might even be considered a pocket guide. He placed them on the counter, there were four in total.

“Here, if you’re just looking for general knowledge on skills, and not information of a more technical or academic nature I’d recommend these.”

“Thank you,” Adam said smiling. “And how much will these books cost?”

“Oh these aren’t anything special, they won’t teach you any of the skills after all. They’ll be just 1 silver and 35 copper altogether.”

Adam paid the shopkeeper happily, it was a steal of a deal. Because with these books Adam could potentially learn every skill inside them. Knowledge afterall, was power.