Read Skill Stealer :: Chapter 2 Part 1

A New World That I Absolutely Want Nothing to Do About With

Aurvandil arranges us around his grand castles' dining hall. This place has many halls, big halls to small halls, square halls to round halls, you name it. Halls upon halls, there's a hall for everything! Everything except my pain and suffering for which I must endure because I made one bad vote. What can I say? I wanted to take everything from them...

What I later discovered was that the one random vote was from our teacher. He was in the hallway when it happened and after hearing everything he acted out on it, the douchebag. The vote had caused great animosity between all of us, a ripple that divided us into partisan lines.

The food around this grand table in this grand dining hall was quite grand. Food stacked upon food, pies with golden brown crisp surfaces, rich chicken with skin still attached, and bowls of glorious soup that look like amrita. But most of all, there was fish from end to end, "I caught all these fish myself," Aurvandil remarks, "For you all, that is. I worked really hard to prepare this grand feast in this grand dining hall. Enjoy."

He sits at the edge of the table and scratches his upper lip, "Of course, I caught these fish in my free time which is quite rare governing a country. But seeing as the lake is a stone throws away, why not?" He cheers. Aurvandil points to a particularly polished amber flushed fish, "See that one? That one is the prize of my country," He states with a clenched twiddle fist, "A fish you won't catch anywhere else in the realm and it belongs-to me."

Aurvandil looks at the rings on his fingers, each saffron and bisque, "Of course, I'll show you the constraints of my kingdom on our maps and the areas which we'll want to merge into my kingdom-maybe sometime soon we can even reclaim cities lost in the Kismet and Great War," If I was to leave right now, would that be rude? Probably. I just don't like this schmucks jive, "But this is down the line, of course, a dream-" he pauses and opens his hands, "Dig in, don't let me stop you from enjoying this food for yourselves. But keep in mind this food is not free without sacrifice. Sacrifices made by people like me and the subjects of my kingdom," My classmates hang on his words. Charmed by a Fool's Gold salesman and fish caught in his hook. However, I knew better because of what my father told me, don't trust thots, and a grand thot he was.

Kids take the food like wolves. The King clasps his hands together, "Of course, you're all wondering why you're here. We discussed it ever so briefly earlier, but you all were chosen to become Heroes, if such a word can be used. Saviors? Defenders? Protectors? But the truth is that I require your help-"

"Well, you do have our audience, don't you?" Lucius remarks, as he was been sitting near the King.

King Arvandil glares at him with disdain after being interrupted, "Yes, you do."

"You mind if I share my thoughts freely? I'd hate to offend you in any sense of the word." Kiss ass Lucius, kissing ass for gas.

"Speak freely," Aurvandil urges.

"I'm more than positive that I can be the leader of my classmates on whatever quest you have in mind. But we can't do that without first understanding this world we've found ourselves in," Lucius did make a valid point. "And like I've already said, if I'm the leader of my classmates, I'm sure I can get them to cooperate with your plans."

I interject, "Who died and made you king, Lucius? You think we want someone who voted against going here to lead us?" Secretly I really wished I had voted to stay, "Shouldn't the leader be someone who wanted to go here?" I jest while a bug hits my eye and causes it to flinch.

People listen in while eating, becoming more and more involved in the discussion. Lucius flares his eyes at me, "It should be the one who's best fit to lead, and I believe-no, I know, that it's me out of all people."

BANG!

Our teacher, Jayce Fitzgerald or Mr. Fitzgerald, slams his fist on the table, "You kids need to stop your bickering. I'm the one who's going to be the head of any party, no exceptions. Kids shouldn't be put in charge of such matters. Aren't I right, King?"

Aurvandil laughs, "You people bicker too much between yourselves. 'Who should lead? Who should lead? I'll lead! No, me! I said it first!' I like that attitude. But I must agree with your teacher, Lucius, he does have seniority over you all."

Fitzgerald nods and crackles, "That's right, Lucius, now sit your ass down and shut up. You too, Indie, don't instigate fights you can't win. There's no point in fighting," I glance over at Lucius who was bristling while his cheeks stormed.

"So, a leader is decided," Aurvandil exclaims, "Excellent, there should be no trouble there. Of course, we were going to discuss magic, and as such, I had my representatives go to the Adventurer's Guild and bring Adventurer's Cards," One of the King's advisor's hands each of us a card that was blank, "Now, these are just blank slates so nothing's written on them. If you'll all take your knives and prick your fingers, drop a speck of blood on the card and it will form a bond with you and you'll automatically be registered to the Adventurer's Guild."

"This sounds like some nonsense," I add.

"It's not a fraud as you state, it's some of the latest breakthrough in magic technology, almost twenty years old! I have one myself," Aurvandil asserts. Twenty years old makes it the latest? Jeez, these people must be stuck in some shit hole if the latest in technology means decades, "Now if everyone could register their cards, we could discuss further what these cards mean to you all."

And on that command, we take up our knives and pricked our fingers placing the drop of blood on the card. I was hesitant since I don't trust phonies but I did it anyway because I really didn't have any reason not to.

All our cards bloom in a cloudless radiance. After the phosphorescence disperses, several things materialize onto the blank slate.

Indie Baal-Peor; Fat Pig:

No Class; Rank I - Level 1

Base Power:

Attributes:

Magic Abilities: None

Skills: None

Hidden Abilities: Faust's Insight (Analysis) - Level 1

Agastya's Moonlighter (Lift) - Level 0

Sinon's Pry (Eavesdrop) - Level 0

Fat pig? Who's the fat pig, you shitty card?! It can't be calling me that, is it? I think my card is broke! And what's up with my stats? Are they supposed to be this low? Shouldn't I be overpowered like how Heroes are supposed to be? This isn't fair at all...

After everyone was near complete a spokesman of the Adventurer's Guild speaks, "You may see some skills on your card already. Those are your inherited abilities you've gained interacting with chaos, or magic as you call it, since you've gotten here. We're unsure why Heroes can inherit skills in such a way but that's just what the historical reports tell us. They won't have a level associated with them because you haven't used them or know how to use them hence why they're null. You'll have to learn how to use those skills for yourself seeing as it's different for everyone-that doesn't mean you can't learn more skills and abilities in the future. Hopefully all your stats are well-balanced. The King hasn't told you yet but tomorrow we will have a long day getting you settled with your pre-requisite Adventurer courses."

Momo kicks my shin and whispers, "What's wrong? I want to see your card. I'll show you mine," She forcefully takes my card from me and hands me hers to which I inspect deeply, with sorrow, because life's not fair.

Mohono "Momo" Senbou; Green Swallow of Longing:

Scout; Rank A - Level 1

Base Power:

Attributes:

Magic Abilities:

Griffith's Cowl (Stealth) - Level 0

Ostanes' Neutralize (Disarm) - Level 0

Skills: Daggers - Level 0

Parisian's Betrayal (Backstab) - Level 0

She is significantly more overpowered than me... Momo glances at me with her pursed lips and hands me back my card, "Hey, Indie, it's not all bad. Sometimes you're given a bad hand. Not having abilities isn't too bad, I mean, you can be a support to all of us," she yoinks her card and stares at Fayn while biting her bottom lip, maybe she's feigning over him. Well, he does have a hot bod so I can understand why.

"Or it's bad genes," I retort and slouchover in my chair. I hold my card close to my chest and long to drown myself in booze. I wasn't going to be a damn support to anyone but strangely she couldn't see my hidden abilities which means only I could see them? Maybe it really is better to keep those two a secret... I'm so weak that I need to know what in the hell these abilities exactly do.

How does it work in the comics? I just say the word, right? But can't I also channel a spell without words? I focus my mind on the skill,

[Analysis]

Error 404 - Nothing to analyze.

A screen appears in front of me with a brief description.

[Lift]

Error 404 - No skills to steal.

[Eavesdrop]

Error 404 - Nothing to eavesdrop.

I scratch my chin not understanding how these skills worked. This time around I lock onto the fish the King pointed at earlier on the table,

[Analysis]

This is a fish. It is dead.

The screen displays over the fish. But wow it's so helpful. Who would have guessed that this fish was a fish? And who else could have guess it was dead? It could be worse.

Okay, let's try this again. I shift my gaze toward Durian.

[Analysis]

This is a level 1 human.

Slightly different answer. It can tell me the levels of people? I turn to the King,

[Analysis]

This is a level 64 human.

PINPON!

Analysis has leveled up! Level 1 -> Level 2. You can now view some stats of an analyzed object, if applicable.

The more I use it the more it ranks up, so it seems... This might be incredibly overpowered the more I rank this up. Next, I'll have to try figuring out how Lift and Eavesdrop work. However, for the rest of the dinner I just sit around analyzing everything. The skill didn't rank up like it just had before so my conclusion was that it would become more difficult to level up the higher its rank. There might also be other requirements to level up a skill which I'm unaware of at present.

Once dinner ends, all we had left to do was discuss what the next thing to do would be. It was here that I learned how to use Eavesdrop. All I had to do was look at someone and use the skill. It lets me hone in on their words as if they were talking to me directly. I'm basically be a fly on the wall.

In the middle of random discussions people seem to finally be situated and there was genuinely less hostility toward one another, except Lucius, who kept his fierce tumultuous gaze blaring at Fitzgerald whom had been drinking wildly and hitting on one of the girls.

One of the things I'd eavesdropped was when he was whispering sweet nothings into one of those goody-two-bitch's ear, "Oye, Chasidy-ya' know-we're no longer held back here-So why don't we find someplace quiet," he winks as she giggles. Everyone else was too goddamn busy drawn into their own conversations to hear this, but then again, I've got my eavesdropping skill.

This is probably the reason why we hated him, we all knew there was something going on between him and some of the girls in class... And now he supposed to lead us? Him of all people. While eavesdropping, I notice Chasidy snatch a knife on the dining table and hide it in her dress, Jayce was too drunk to notice.

Aurvandil rises from his chair, "I've just been informed that all the temp rooms are prepped and ready. So, my advisors will each show you to your rooms. This castle is quite big so there's no problem finding a place for all of you. I'm sure you'll all contribute your worth to my kingdom." The delectable food is cleared from the table, and the advisors line us up to guide us to our new lives.

After I land in my room I settle down on the bed. The room's no bigger than 8 by 10 feet. It has everything a normal room would have: a study desk, a bed, and a piss pot. I guess modern sewers haven't been invented yet... I'm better off shitting outside my balcony that's opposite the entrance.

Heading out to the balcony I'd seen that the castle was situated on the side of a mountain, which probably explains the piss pot situation. Below the balcony were thick forests of Sequoia and rock, along with the lake less than a stone throws away like Aurvandil proclaimed.

I admire the night sky which seems so similar yet so estranged. These weren't the same stars I looked at every night, but yet, they were. Their positions were completely different. There was no Ursa Major or Minor, no Big Dipper or Orion's Belt. But one thing I knew for certain was that I was still in the Milky Way as the streak of stars that look like spilt milk back home still exist here. The only noticeable difference was that we were on a different planet, one that housed two moons clashed together instead of one still intact. It was just me and the reflection of moonlight. Under its embrace, I reach for the stars trying to grasp them. I want to grab them and never let go... I keep prying but my grip fails to seize any. I finally stop and gaze down at the railing,

[Analysis]

This is a railing. It is inanimate and constructed of stone found in the mountains.

Thank you, Analysis-Sama.

A fly lands on the railing so I thought it was a good opportunity to check out my newly leveled up analysis on a living creature.

[Analysis]

Summoned Fly: Level 5; HP: 5/5 - MP: 10/10

This was summoned.

Summoned fly? I wonder what that is-it's level 5 at that, I wonder if I killing it will it give me some XP? I gawk at the fly while I flex my fingers getting ready to slap this little shit. With a quick jolt, my hands slap together on the poor sap and crush it. Gott'em! But now my hands had dead fly on them. I wipe what remains of it on the railing.

+5 XP: 109/200 XP - Level 1

The other 105 experience points came from analysis which was giving me 1 XP for every new thing I analyzed. Therefore, I'd come to realize an easy exploit would be to just sit around the markets and trading posts to analyze everything to farm free XP. I don't even have to do anything. That's the life right there.