Chapter 10 - Preparations

The next day, Paul went to find Nori. These days, Nori was quite busy, as she was responsible for the brothel. With the lockdown in place, the brothel had become even busier with all the soldiers around, so Paul and Nori hadn’t had much time to talk lately.

When Paul found her, she was tired, sitting at the desk in her office.

“Are you busy?”

“Ah… Paul. Yes, I’m really busy, but I could use a break. What’s up?”

“Well, I have a question, and you are the person with the most knowledge I know.”

“Maybe… So, what’s the problem?”

“I’ve noticed that no matter what I do, some of my skills don’t level up.”

“That’s only natural. Everyone has skill limits, and when different skills reach that limit, they stop progressing. Each person’s skill level limit is different.”

“Isn’t there a way to remove that limit?”

“Well, there are special conditions that need to be met for some people. There are also some potions and items that remove the limits for some or all skills, but they are so rare that I’ve only heard rumors about them.”

“I see… There’s still about a month until the second sun vanishes. Do you have any tips about what I would need out in the wild?”

She chuckled, feeling like a teacher, and looked Paul in the eye. “Depends on what you want to do.”

“Well, let’s just say survive.”

“Do you have any ranged weapons?”

“No.”

“Well, they would be useful for hunting. You should learn some basics.”

“Anything else?”

“Well, I know men don’t really like it, but cooking is important. You need to eat to live.”

“That’s true.”

“You should also head to the library when you have time to read about everything you can. Knowledge is power; that’s what my guild teaches you when you first enter.”

“You help me all the time… Is there anything I can help you with?”

“No… but if I need help, I’ll ask. Also, for the next month, I won’t be able to meet and talk much unless it’s an emergency. My friend will come back after the lockdown, and I want to make sure the brothel is in good condition for her.”

“I understand. Thank you again for the help.”

Paul left the brothel and headed to the guild testing facility. The cube of terror awaited him. This time, instead of choosing daggers, he chose a bow. Before entering, he took a Limit Pill and stepped inside. On the ground was a bow and a quiver with one arrow in it. Paul picked them up, and as soon as he touched the arrow, the doll shot him in the head. Paul was already accustomed to the pain and took an arrow to shoot at the doll. He already knew how to use a bow from some training he had done back in his world.

The unexpected thing was that as soon as he took out an arrow, another appeared in the quiver, and the arrow he shot dissolved after hitting the target. Paul could only shoot arrows from a fixed position while the doll shot while moving. Although the doll was not very accurate, it still hit Paul a number of times. Paul got used to the bow and began moving while shooting as well.

After 24 hours, he emerged. On the door was the number 14-122. He had died 122 times. Next, he checked the bracelet.

**Stats Update**

Because of your actions since the last time you checked, you increased the following stats:

+10 Agility

+1 Strength

+2 Endurance

+1 Stamina

+5 Fighting Spirit

**Skills Update**

Because of your actions since the last time you checked, you gained the following skills:

- Archery

Instead of going back into the cube, Paul sat next to it and decided to start reading, since his knowledge was quite lacking and would seem even more suspicious in a bigger city. Paul, thinking of the ring, already knew the titles of the books but not their contents.

He decided to first learn about creatures, then about the inhabitants of this world, then about the guilds, and finally everything else he could learn about.

He took out a book about creatures and started reading. At first, it was quite hard, as there were many things he didn’t understand, but as he delved deeper into the book, things began to make sense. After finishing the book, he took another one and continued reading. After a few hours and ten books, he gained a new skill:

**Bookworm - Beginner LVL.1 (10%)**

You can read 10% faster.

**Special:** Because of another skill, you remember everything you read and get a 5% increase in reading speed.

Paul was really grateful for this skill since he had many books to read and wanted to finish as soon as possible. After looking at the skill description, he got back to reading. He began finishing books faster and faster. After 24 hours, he had read 70 books.

**Stats Update**

Because of your actions since the last time you checked, you increased the following stats:

+15 Intelligence

+20 Wisdom

Paul then returned to the cube to train his archery. He repeated this routine for a whole week. He trained his archery for four days and spent three whole days reading. He finished reading 620 books, thanks to his reading skill. He only succeeded in reading books about creatures due to the sheer number of them. He had 20,841 books left to read.

He slept for 24 hours. The next day, he got up and went to the inn to learn cooking. Cooking was a lot harder than he thought and it took him a whole day to learn. However, after learning, the inn owner gave him a present: a book of recipes. The book was thick and contained a very large collection of recipes. The cooking skill was absorbed by the Survivalist skill.

With nothing else planned, Paul decided he needed to be ready for when the time was right, so he went to the marketplace and bought a few things: tools for blacksmithing, cooking, and tailoring.

After shopping, he went to the shack and crafted himself a bow. He had crafted about ten bows before, but they were failures.

**Iron Bow**

- Damage: 30-40

- Durability: 200/200

- An iron bow crafted from high-grade iron by a skilled blacksmith.

He melted the failures and then started to create armor. Using the creatures he had killed before coming to the village, he crafted a pair of armor. After finishing, he used blacksmithing to add small iron plates for extra protection. He reinforced his chest, back, hands, and legs. The steel wasn’t visible because Paul made it very thin and light, and he hid it inside the armor. It looked like leather armor but offered extra protection.

**Armor of the Beast**

- Protection: 100-250

- Durability: 600/600

- Special armor crafted from creatures and enhanced with iron thanks to the crafter’s knowledge of both blacksmithing and tailoring.

- **Special Effects:** Protection against piercing damage.

He put everything in the ring to avoid attracting too much attention, and when he looked outside, the day was already over. He went to bed and, as usual, reviewed what he had done in the last 24 hours.

The next day, as soon as he got up, he took a Limit Pill and started to read. His Intelligence and Wisdom continued to increase as he read more books. In the first 24 hours, he finished 721 books. He continued to increase the number of books he read each day: 850, then 1,201, then 2,000, and at this point, his skill reached another level.

**Bookworm - Intermediary LVL.1 (25%)**

You can read 500% faster.

**Special:** Because of another skill, you remember everything you read and get a 100% increase in reading speed.

The next day, he finished 4,521 books, then 7,512 books. On the last day, he finished the remaining books. Now that he had finished, he still had a few hours before going to sleep and decided to check his stats and skill levels.

**Name:** Paul Silver

**Title:** Noble Peasant

**Guild Level:** G

**Guild Points:** 5

**Strength:** 237

**Agility:** 309

**Endurance:** 108

**Stamina:** 410

**Wisdom:** 404

**Intelligence:** 426

**Charisma:** 105

**Leadership:** 0

**Luck:** 338

**Fighting Spirit:** 284

**Fame:** 805

**Skills**

- **Humble Mask:** -

- **Aura Shift:** Intermediary LVL.3 (99%)

- **Memos:** -

- **Identification:** Intermediary LVL.5 (12%)

- **Mana Sight:** Beginner LVL.6 (0%)

- **Creature Tamer:** Beginner LVL.7 (0%)

- **Perception:** Intermediary LVL.3 (99%)

- **Parkour:** Intermediary LVL.2 (59%)

- **Naturas:** Beginner LVL.2 (41%)

- **Detective:** Beginner LVL.5 (73%)

- **Deception:** Beginner LVL.6 (23%)

- **Stealth:** Intermediary LVL.1 (21%)

- **Listening:** Intermediary LVL.3 (99%)

- **Iron Will:** Inter

mediary LVL.9 (99%)

- **Insight:** Beginner LVL.6 (26%)

- **Dual Wielding Daggers:** Beginner LVL.9 (99%)

- **Survivalist:** -

- **Crafting:** Beginner LVL.8 (20%)

- **Archery:** Beginner LVL.5 (90%)

- **Bookworm:** Intermediary LVL.1 (25%)

Satisfied, Paul went to sleep. From all those books, Paul had learned many useful things. He discovered that there are many different creatures, divided into ranks. Some creatures were undiscovered, while others had gone extinct. He also learned to speak Elven, the language of the elves, and Runea, the language of the dwarves. He found out that the kingdoms have only a few S-ranks, as most of them venture into the undiscovered and dangerous parts of the world known as the wilds. Most adventurers, once they reach rank S, either go to the wilds or stay to help the kingdoms. There are exceptions, of course; some become criminals and lead large groups of bandits attacking innocent people. He also learned that most A-ranks have some stats in the 5,000s, B-ranks in the 1,200s, C-ranks in the 900s, D-ranks in the 600s, E-ranks in the 300s, F-ranks in the 200s, and G-ranks in the 100s.

He also learned a few things about magic. Magic isn't as he thought; you can’t create a fireball out of nothing. You need a fire first, and then, using mana, you can control that fire to make it bigger or smaller. You use your mana to manipulate the element you desire. There are no spells, only books that teach different ways to use mana. Mana can be used on anything, even to strengthen certain objects. Depending on the amount of mana used, the effects last more or less. As for healing spells, they simply inject mana into the wound, accelerating the body’s natural healing ability.

Magical items are the real wonders. There are magical formulas that are inscribed on objects, and when infused with mana, they have different effects. One example was the cube in which Paul trained. He learned that under the cube was a mana crystal that fed the cube. When someone touches the crystal at the entrance, it makes a copy of them and creates a golem that reacts the same way the user does. Magical formulas are very hard to create, and most of them that exist now are copies of ancient formulas created by a vanished ancient civilization. Nowadays, only really simple formulas are made, ones that you could even create without magic, so there isn’t much research.

There were about two weeks left until the second sun disappeared, and Paul was ready. Meanwhile, Rocka was starting to worry that the adventurer might not appear and he would lose the bet. He began planning something in case he lost. Paul didn’t know and continued to sleep.