Chapter 19: A New Favourite Skill

The moment the skill tome dissolved she felt a form of energy entering her body, then seeping deeper, and deeper, past the physical and into the part of her she was only newly aware of. The place where the ‘she’ in the real world connected to the ‘she’ inside of herself. Then the energy seeped deeper still before she could follow the connection no longer.

Now that she had it, Scarlet first queried the guide about her new skill.

[Inspect – Tier 2: Provides an overview of a target’s properties, general condition, and immediately relevant qualities. Results scale with user knowledge, target resistance, and relative power.]

Okay, time to put the skill to the test. She inspected the Inspect skill.

Scarlet couldn’t believe it actually worked.

[Inspect – Tier 2: Active. A skill that provides an overview of a target’s properties, general condition, and immediately relevant qualities. It is a System-assisted appraisal skill. One of the most common T2 advancements in the ‘Observe’ skill tree. Results scale with user knowledge, target resistance, and relative power.]

“Well now,” Scarlet breathed, finally beginning to shake off the numbness that had overwhelmed her in the aftermath of the battle and revelations. There was a lot to unpack there.

The good thing was that this ‘artificial’ skill assimilation hadn’t done any lasting damage that she could perceive. As far as she was aware, her soul hadn’t exploded, her mind hadn’t melted and her body was as intact as it had been before that book had disolved into her.

Speaking of books, before she got lost in testing out her new skill, Scarlet reminded herself she wasn’t finished receiving her loot.

She still had the knowledge tome, and she wondered if it was anything like a skill book.

[Tome – Knowledge: A System-supported artifact enabling direct assimilation of information into retrievable memory. Depth, clarity, and integration are determined by the tome’s quality and the recipient’s capacity and compatibility]

She tilted her head slightly, considering the phrasing. Assimilate, not learn. It also appeared that degrees of assimilation were variable based on the individual, which was fair. Adding a cup of water to an ocean wouldn’t do much to change the ocean, whereas adding a cup of water to another cup of water would double the volume.

Scarlet had received ‘Initiate Guide to Butchering, Harvesting, and Scavenging’. Concepts she was familiar with, though not proficient at. Presumably if some master woodsperson assimilated this tome they might learn a trick or two, but it was unlikely to teach them much, however, if they gave it to a promising new apprentice, the knowledge would be significantly more impactful.

[Would you like to Retrieve Knowledge Tome: Initiate Guide to Butchering, Harvesting, and Scavenging]

[Yes]

The tome constituted into reality the same way the bag and skill book had. Much like the skill book, the tome was somehow both a book and not a book at all. There was a different off-ness to the tome that she couldn’t quite explain.

She focused on it.

[Assimilate Knowledge Tome: Initiate Guide to Butchering, Harvesting, and Scavenging?]
[Yes | No]

No matter, she figured, Inspecting the tome in her hands.

[Knowledge Tome: Initiate Guide to Butchering, Harvesting, and Scavenging
Tier: 0
Condition: Perfect
Details: Contains practical instruction in the processing of many System recognized organic materials, including butchering, resource extraction, and scavenging
Effect:

• Grants foundational competency in tool use, material separation, and resource identification

Limitations:

• Does not grant enhanced physical ability or instinctive execution (muscle memory)]

“Oh, Inspect. What a treasure you are,” she murmured, marveling at the details in the item description. No longer would she be left bumbling in the dark about the most obvious items she happened to find.

The only real questions Scarlet had were: just how valuable truly this tome was, and how valuable was it for her specifically.

Looking around her at all the bodies she had yet to process her eyes fell on the bisected corpse of the shadow bat. It was gross, yes but it was also alien to her. She had no clue how normal bats compared to these post-Initiation mutations. She was doubtful harvesting creatures and plants with magical properties would be the same.

Not collecting the materials from her fallen enemies was out of the question now that she had a handy-dandy storage bag. At present moment, she had no master woodsperson to do the harvesting for her, and even if she did, they’d both be gambling with whether they were making a mess of things.

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No, better to have the knowledge she figured.

[Assimilate Knowledge Tome: Initiate Guide to Butchering, Harvesting, and Scavenging?]
[Yes | No]

[Yes]

Her knees buckled, her stomach roiled, and she felt a pressure in her head that was so overwhelming that she thought her eyes might pop out of her skill. It was a fight to hold in her groan of misery, but one she focused on to get her through the seconds that felt like hours. Then as quickly as it came, the sensation receded, leaving her with a lingering headache as she apologized to Maus.