Frank stepped into the library, and was almost overwhelmed. He had never been much of a reader before, preferring his media to be animated. Still, with his increased intelligence stat, he knew this was going to be the best way to gain relevant skills quickly.
He smacked his cheeks and forced himself to focus before he found the librarian. They appeared to be a man about his age, but looking into his eyes Frank could tell this person was in a similar position as his parents. He had been returned to his prime by the system.
"Hello, sir," Frank began, deciding he should show his elder the proper respect, "I was wondering if you could help me locate where you keep books on combat techniques?"
The man looked up from the book he had been reading and glanced at Frank. Seeming to understand something, he nodded.
"Ah, yes, you must be one of our front-line boys. Tell me, son, what is your specialty?" The man asked, pulling out a large book which seemed to be a directory.
Frank scratched his head. "Well, uh, I'm not sure about a specialty. I have some downtime, you see, so I thought I'd do some broad study and see what I can learn. Maybe it will help me decide on a specialty?"
The old/not-so-old man stared at Frank for a moment, as if he were an idiot, before sighing.
"You know, kid, we have about 500 books on combat techniques and strategy. If you-"
"500?! That's great news!" Frank replied before the man could finish. "So where are they kept?"
The old man let out a huff, clearly annoyed by being interrupted.
'You're going to come crying back begging for my help when you start reading, you punk,' still, he pointed at the shelves on the north side of the library.
"Combat-oriented books are over there. Good luck," he answered shortly before returning to his book, no longer giving Frank his attention.
Frank could tell the man was irritated, but he had the information he needed, so he went over to where the books were kept.
Seeing the shelves, he could tell the librarian wasn't kidding. The number of books in front of him was staggering. Gulping, he took a look at his "Effective Reader" skill.
'Well, no time like the present to test you out.'
He started sorting the books by the type of combat they focused on, earning him sharp glares from the librarian. Still, he had essentially managed to create five groups: Firearms, Hand-to-Hand, Weaponry, Tactics, and History.
Deciding that tactics and history could wait for the time being, he set them aside, opting to start with Firearms. There were over 100 books in this subject alone, and a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.
'Well, here goes nothing...'
He grabbed the first book and his eyes began to glow, scanning the contents with breakneck speed. Setting it down, he checked the time and realized it had only been two minutes.
"Holy crap!" Frank yelled.
"SH!" reprimanded the librarian as a smug look crept onto his face.
'Looks like he'll be coming back for help now,' he mused.
On the contrary, Frank immediately dove into the next book, eager to make it through the pile in front of him. He stacked completed book after completed book until after about two hours he made it through all of them.
The amount of information he learned was massive, but it seemed to be neatly compartmentalized.
'I'm SO glad I decided to max my intelligence before doing this!' He thought, nearly kissing the part of his system screen reading "Effective Reader."
He opened his skill menu, and a grin spread onto his face.
[New Active Skill Unlocked!]
[Mana Bullet (Lvl 1): Modified from firearm training techniques. Harness mana to create a projectile infused with magical energy, this spell gains increased armor penetration.]
Hungry for more, he dove into the "Hand-to-Hand" and "Weaponry" piles, eager to see what they would give. Several hours later, the fruits of his effort lay before him.
[New Active Skills Unlocked!]
[Karate (Lvl 1): Provides basic understanding of the ancient art of Karate.]
[Muy Thai (Lvl 1): Provides a basic-]
The list continued on as it included many other styles such as Aikido, Kung Fu, Taekwondo, and many others!
It also included fighting styles for weapons, such as blades, great-hammers, nunchaku, tonfa, and many others.
These were all weapons the military held in its armory, and while not necessarily his style, he looked forward to leveling them up nonetheless.
Excited by how easily he was gaining new skills, he returned to the librarian.
Seeing him approach, the smug grin returned to the man's face.
"So, finally gave up and want to talk sense?" He gloated.
"Uh, no?" Frank replied, raising an eyebrow. "I just finished over there and wanted to know where you kept books on crafts and trades."
"Oh, so you finished over there, well in- WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU FINISHED?!" The librarian's eyes almost popped out of his head as he ran over to the direction Frank had just been. The books were thrown around in a mess, which was going to be a nightmare for him, but it was clear what he just heard wasn't boasting.
"Wh-Whaaaa?" His jaw nearly hit the floor, before slowly shifting back to his spot.
Frank was still confused, not knowing what to make of this man's antics, but decided it was way above his head. "So, uh, crafts and trades?"
The librarian just silently pointed towards the western part of the library, not able to speak another word.
Frank thanked him before beginning his process again in the new section. Sorting the books and knocking them out in record speed. When he finished, he looked over his skills once again.
[New Active Skills Unlocked!]
[Smithing (Lvl 1): Provides a basic understanding of blacksmithing and metalworking.]
[Tailoring (Lvl 1): Provides a basic understanding of-]
The list once again carried on, including electrical, cooking, and other skills like construction, which he notably obtained at Lvl 3!
'Makes sense given my career prior to all of this I guess'
They weren't exactly useful skills for combat, but Frank could think of many instances where such skills would be handy, so he was glad to have them.
He looked over his skills one last time when a new one appeared at the bottom of his screen.
[New Active Skill Unlocked!]
[Aspiring Scholar (Innate): Increases leveling speed of skills learned from books by 300%.]
Frank nearly choked on thin air, astounded.
"Heck yeah!" he yelled, earning him an exhausted glare from the now-defeated librarian.
Gesturing apologetically, he left the library. He had pretty much everything he needed from there anyways.
'Besides, if you're going to give me such a fantastic skill, I'd be a fool not to use it immediately!'