It suddenly dawned on Lucas why he had felt that Harold was mistaken. In his excitement, he started talking out loud to himself.
"Harold was wrong to talk about diverting paths and only using part of my skills," Lucas stopped and then corrected himself. "Saying Harold was wrong is not fair to Harold, but he didn't know about my blessing. Therefore, the advice was true and right based on what he knew."
"Anyways, I have the Blessing of the Guardian effect. It states that I will not be limited by my path. Here I have been worrying about not having a path when, based on what Harold said, I don't even need one. If the path is only for learning skills, my blessing makes it so that I don't need a specific path because I can learn every skill," Lucas became more and more excited as he spoke before going silent at the end.
"Well, almost every skill," Lucas acknowledged out loud, still talking to himself. "If I understand the effect of my curse correctly, I can't learn anything related to combat. However, there should still be many skills I can learn. Perhaps I can find a way to combine skills from multiple paths that would give me something unique, something only I can do."
Lucas looked at the time and realized it was still too early to close down the shop. The last customer he was waiting for could still come today. Tired of sitting on the stool, he decided to continue rummaging through the shop's cabinets in search of relics from the past. As time passed, Lucas finished going through the last cabinet just as his stomach began to growl.
Standing up and stretching his back, Lucas examined his findings. He discovered a few more iron creations that turned out to be some sort of iron soldier toy. He placed them on the shelf along with his growing collection of odd and ends. He also found a couple of ancient-looking books, their covers darkened with age. The writing inside was completely faded in some places, and he couldn't make out any sentences.
Lucas's stomach growled forcefully, as if reminding him to stop ignoring it. He decided that his stomach's suggestion of dinner at the Drunken Squirrel was an excellent idea. Lucas left the books on the table, grabbed his purse, and locked the front door behind him.
Entering the Drunken Squirrel, Lucas found his usual seat open and settled in. It seemed Tuesday nights were light in terms of customers, so he didn't have to wait long for his dinner. He was halfway through savoring Amber's majestic cooking when Michael entered the tavern.
Lucas had seen Michael in the tavern a few times before. He appeared to be the type of customer who came more for John's drinks than for Amber's cooking. From what he overheard, Michael worked for one of the prominent merchants in town and often traded interesting news for drinks at the bar. That was his way of enjoying John's best without emptying his purse.
Michael made his way to the center of the bar before ordering a drink. He made a show of downing it and slamming the cup on the counter, capturing the attention of everyone present. Pretending not to notice, he toyed with his empty cup for a moment before starting his speech.
"There's big news out of the capital! Guaranteed by Merchant Gil, who just arrived tonight. There's a debate about how the King will react."
Michael paused and turned back to the bar, keeping the crowd waiting in anticipation. After a few moments, John chuckled and walked over, refilling Michael's glass but keeping his hand over it.
"One to finish the announcement," John said with a smile. "Another if it's shocking or important enough for a second round. No haggling."
Michael started to protest but noticed John's expression. He took a deep breath and nodded, accepting the drink John passed him, then returned to wiping his stack of glasses. Michael savored his drink before turning around and continuing his news report.
"The Oracles of all the gods have come together to announce a solution to the world's chaos. The gods will summon heroes from ancient times to carry out their will and restore balance to the world."
Michael absorbed the shocked expressions before glancing at John with his cup in hand. John walked down the bar with a bottle but halted just before refilling the cup.
"That doesn't seem to be all the news," John calmly stated, looking Michael in the eye.
Michael sighed before turning back to the tavern crowd.
"The ancient heroes were blessed with life by the gods. Legends speak of their fierce battles against injustice and hostile races. There are rumors that the founder of our kingdom was one of those heroes. Some wonder if the founder will be among those summoned."
Michael turned to face John, who nodded and filled his cup to the brim before returning to his pile of glasses. The conversation in the tavern now revolved around the ancient heroes, and people debated the potential consequences of their arrival. Lucas finished the last bites of his dinner while listening to the crowd, but there wasn't enough information for any major revelations. With a sigh, Lucas settled his tab and decided to head back to the shop.
On the way back to the shop, Lucas contemplated all the local news he had been hearing. First, there were stories about hordes of monsters, and now there were tales of heroes being summoned by the gods to restore order. The whole concept seemed reminiscent of a poorly thought-out role-playing game storyline.
However, none of this really concerned Lucas. He couldn't learn combat skills, nor could he level up like those heroes. The idea of willingly leaving the safety of town was almost unthinkable for him. Throughout Lucas's memories, there had never been a time when the town was truly threatened. He was more than content with enjoying Amber's delicious cooking, looking for a way to learn skills, and making enough money to keep a roof over his head. With those thoughts, he arrived safely home.
As Lucas stepped into the shop, his eyes fell upon the old books that still lay on the counter. He intended to put them away, but he suddenly remembered that he had seen more books in the shop. Memories of his old room flooded his mind, reminding him of the storage room filled with boxes of books. Those boxes were adorned with strange symbols he couldn't decipher, unlike anything he had seen elsewhere in town. Puzzled by the presence of books in a blacksmith shop, he considered taking another look and showing them to Harold on his next visit.
Lost in the intrigue of this new mystery, Lucas left the weathered books from earlier on the counter and ascended the stairs to the storage room. Upon entering, his gaze was drawn to the assortment of boxes marked with cryptic symbols, neatly arranged on the shelf. His curiosity piqued, he approached the closest box, his hand reaching out to explore its contents. Suddenly, an inexplicable pressure engulfed him, freezing his movements in time, while a series of familiar red-tinged windows materialized before him.
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Lucas could abruptly take a breath as the pressure disappeared, releasing him from its hold. He wasn't sure he would ever get comfortable with the system freezing him. Reminded of the system, he decided to check his status. Silently, the red-tinged windows appeared.
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Lucas was shocked to see that his path was no longer a series of question marks. Instead, his path now read 'Blacksmith' with the word 'Prime' in parentheses. As he focused on his new path, a new smaller window opened, titled Blacksmith (Prime). Underneath, there were a bunch of question marks. Lucas silently laughed to himself, realizing that he may never escape the question marks in his status.
Just as Lucas was about to close his status, a glimmer of excitement caught his eye. His skills had increased by one. Eagerly, he opened the skills menu, anticipation bubbling within him, eager to discover his newfound ability. To his surprise, nestled beneath the familiar 'Insight' skill, a new entry awaited him—'High Elven.' The skill had already been leveled up to its maximum rank, and its description simply stated that the user could read, speak, and understand the High Elven language.
Stunned, Lucas wracked his memory, searching for any hint or recollection of other languages. But try as he might, his mind drew a blank. The existence of other languages had remained a secret, unknown to him until now. As Lucas wondered what this meant, he abruptly realized that his hand was still touching something.
With a sense of curiosity lingering, Lucas closed the windows to look down at the box he entered the room to explore and became astonished. Contrary to what many would guess, nothing had changed. The box was still normal and there were still strange symbols on the side. Yet, Lucas's astonishment didn't stem from the lack of physical transformation.
It was founded in his sudden ability to read and understand the word 'Novice' written on the side of the box. Lucas could now read the strange symbols and he could understand that those symbols were written in high elven. The question of how this sudden understanding unfolded eluded him. All Lucas knew was that he could instantly decipher the symbols and grasp their origin.
Lucas began looking at the words on each box. There were several with the word 'Novice', lots with the word 'Apprentice', a few with the word 'Journeyman', and one with 'Expert' written on it. Excited, Lucas went to the box labeled 'Expert' and selected a book from the box.
As Lucas attempted to read the title on the book's cover, an odd haze seemed to envelop the words. Though he could discern that the title was written in High Elven, each time he focused on it, the symbols appeared to dance and elude his gaze. Intrigued by this peculiar phenomenon, Lucas's curiosity surged. He decided to open the book, eager to explore its contents, only to be abruptly startled by a window that popped up before him.
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Lucas stared at the window in surprise, its words sinking in. He closed it and tried once more to open the book, only to be met with the same series of windows. Taking a deep breath, he closed them and carefully returned the book to its box. Determined, he reached for another book, hoping for a different outcome. However, the moment he attempted to open it, another window appeared, repeating the same message:
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Frustration grew within Lucas as he repeated this process with several books from each box. In the end, his efforts yielded a disappointing result—only the books from the boxes labeled 'Novice' granted him access. He also noticed an interesting result on the novice books he opened. The cover was no longer covered in haze and he could read the titles easily.
There were three books that he had accessed from the novice boxes. The first was titled "Hammering for Stoneheads Vol I" by someone called 'Thudrec Flintmace'. Another was titled "The Science of Smelting – Basic" by a 'Selanar Valfiel'. The last was titled "Starting as a Novice Blacksmith" and was written by 'Forging Matters'. Going by the name, Lucas guessed the last one was written by a group instead of a person.
After deciphering the titles on the covers, Lucas decided to delve into the book by 'Forging Matters.' However, as he opened the cover, he encountered an unforeseen obstacle. The page before him was filled with intricate writings, but the dim lighting made it challenging to read. Annoyance welled up within him as he glanced at the window, only to find the last remnants of sunlight vanishing beyond the horizon. The sun had already set.
Taking a calming breath, Lucas realized that he would have to postpone his reading until the following day. He carefully gathered the three books he had chosen, clutching them in his hands, and closed the door to the storage room behind him. As he walked down the hallway, he decided that reading the books would be his top priority come morning.