Booked by books, how ironic

After spending a few minutes nuzzling his cheek against Cleo's back, Skyler set her down on the ground before focusing his attention on his options. 'As much as I'd love to increase my levels quickly by trying out an illusion barrier. I know that I'd just get my ass kicked as I am now. Heck, I almost died fighting low level slimes.' He shivered at the thought before continuing his thought process. 'Fortunately I have acquired a few skill books. At the very least, I would be better prepared if I learned them first.'

Skyler sat down on his recliner before opening his inventory and withdrew his Gift box which housed the books Way of the Monk and Meditation, Achieving Inner Peace inside before withdrawing his book Woodworking Solutions too. After removing the two books from the Gift Box, he looked over all three of them carefully. He still had his damaged shirt, shoes, and socks to think about. Hmm, this made him strongly desire to pick his woodworking book first. However, this brought some interesting questions to the forefront of his mind.

If this was similar to Skyler's writing. Would accepting the skills from these books be similar to his fir st set of stories, causing him to simply know it? Or would this be more realistic like his "Bent" gamer story and he would be taken somewhere else to actually learn about what these books entailed? Well, there was only one real way to find out. He reached out for his Woodworking Solutions book and received the following notification.

Woodworking Solutions: When learned will teach the following skill.

The following profession skill will be learned: Woodworking.

Improves your understanding of magic and how it is applied to making wooden objects, items, weapons, armor, and structures.

Accept or Decline?

Although this wasn't really important, Skyler noticed the lack thereof of the requirements list for this book and thought. 'So, if I am at or above the requirements for a book it won't show it's requirements to learn it. Hmm, that's good to know.' With a small shrug, he mentally hit, 'Accept.' A new notification appeared.

Accepting this will also grant the following base skills that work in tandem.

Craft lvl 1 - (Linked with Shatter)

Cost: 5 Mp

Crafts an item based on desire. Mana cost will change based on desired object and materials available.

Shatter lvl 1 - (Linked with Craft)

Cost: 5 Mp

This will break an item down to its base components.

Do you still wish to Accept?

Yes or No?

Skyler smiled after reading all of that before mentally hitting, 'Yes.' This time, much to his surprise, the world around him shattered into a million pieces. After a few seconds, it reformed into a woodworking shop with an older gentleman working on a small project at one of the tables. At that moment a new notification appeared.

You have entered an illusion barrier: Robert's Woodworking Solutions

You may not leave this illusion barrier until all lessons have been learned.

Time outside this illusion barrier has been frozen.

Skyler couldn't believe his eyes. He saw many different items for woodworking around. Clamps, hand saws, marking and measure tools, hand planes, spokeshaves, chisels, wood carving tools, draw knives, adzes, wood files, rasps, scrapers, burnishers, wood burning tools, and other specialty hand tools for woodworking. He got up to take a closer look at the tools, but when he did. It became apparent to him that the chair he had gotten up from was a wooden chair with a leather back and seat cushion rather than the recliner he had been in previously. It goes to show that a really well made piece of woodworking can be a wondrous thing.

It was at this moment that the older gentleman stopped what he was doing, turning around to greet Skyler. "Hello, Skyler. I'm Robert. I heard from a friend of mine that you wanted detailed lessons on woodworking solutions. Is that right?" Skyler blinked before nodding. "Um, yeah. That's right. I look forward to learning from you, Robert." Robert smiled and turned to show him around. "Very good. We'll start with the basics. Designing a project and selecting materials first. Before we move on to preparing the stock."

Over the next several months, Robert taught Skyler all about that and much more, including, but not limited to: marking, cutting, sizing, shaping, bending, sanding, cutting joints, gluing and clamping, applying finishes, jigs and fixtures, maintenance of the tools, and even repairing wood and furniture. Once these basics were mastered, Robert introduced the magical side of woodworking to Skyler. To both Skyler's and Robert's surprise, this took significantly less time for Skyler to pick up.

It only took a matter of days until Skyler's need for Robert's assistance was no longer required. By this time Robert told him that he had learned all that he had to teach him within this field of study. However, he would be happy to teach him more in the future should the need arise. Sadly, right after Skyler thanked Robert for taking the time to teach him, the world around him shattered as it had when he had arrived. It was at that moment that he remembered that this was simply the process of him accepting the lessons from his skill book.

It hadn't fully sunken in, even as the world had reassembled itself to the moment he had left it. He looked around his room and blinked several times and thought. "Wait, I.. No, that wasn't a dream, right?" After that question cleared his mind, he noticed three new red exclamations were flashing in the corner of his view. When he allowed them to pop up, he realized how truly disorienting this experience was.

New profession unlocked!

Woodworking.

Improves your understanding of magic and how it is applied to making wooden objects, items, weapons, armor, and structures.

Reduces the cost and materials required to make associated items by 20%.

Special note: Discount will be applied after selection is made.

New skill gained!

Craft lvl 1 - (Linked with Shatter)

Cost: 5 Mp

Crafts an item based on desire. Mana cost will change based on desired object and materials available.

New skill gained!

Shatter lvl 1 - (Linked with Craft)

Cost: 5 Mp

This will break an item down to its base components.

This certainly felt unreal. Skyler had honestly forgotten that he had entered an illusion barrier to learn woodworking. It had felt so real after all. At that moment, Cleo climbed up onto his lap. After kneading his right leg for a few seconds, she curled up against his right leg to rest. He smiled and gently ran his hand along her back. "You missed out, beautiful. I got to meet a nice man who taught me about woodworking. I think you would have liked to play with all the wood shavings." Her ears twitched, but she didn't look at him. He chuckled before looking toward the two remaining books. He closed his eyes while reaching out a hand towards them. When his hand touched one, he received the following notification.

Way of the Monk: When learned will teach the following skills.

Stunning Strike lvl 1

Cost: 15 Mp

Focuses chi throughout your body, causing your next strike to deal 150% of normal damage.

This strike has a 50% chance to shock the target's nervous system, stunning the target for 2 seconds.

Iron Fist lvl 1

Cost: 25 Mp

Focuses chi into your next punch, causing an additional 250% of normal damage.

Accept or Decline?

Skyler looked down to Cleo with a little smile. "I know you won't notice my mental absence, but I will miss you a lot." As his hand gently rubbed the top of her head, he mentally hit, 'Accept.' After which, the world around him shattered into a million pieces once again. Unlike before, the darkness lingered for several minutes. He was quite confused by this situation and stood up. However, as if waiting for him to stand, the world started to reassemble itself around him. A new notification appeared.

You have entered an illusion barrier: Lei-Fei's Courtyard

You may not leave this illusion barrier until all lessons have been learned.

Time outside this illusion barrier has been frozen.

When Skyler looked around, he found himself within a courtyard of a temple. A young looking man of Chinese descent was standing in front of him, clad in a nice set of grey Shaolin monk robes. Before he could say anything, the man smiled to him while making his right hand into a fist, bringing his left hand, its palm at a 45 degree angle, toward it. He brought them together across his own chest. "I'm Lei-Fei. I have been awaiting your arrival, Skyler. I've heard that you are on a journey to learn the ways of the monk." He lowered his hands before continuing to speak. "There is much for you to learn. Are you ready?"

Skyler was quite surprised to see one of his favorite characters, Lei-Fei from Virtua Fighter 4, standing in front of him. Was Gaia playing a joke on him? Or was this just coincidence? He decided to mimic the hand gesture as Lei-Fei had done, doing his best to honor it. "Yes, I am ready, Lei-Fei. I look forward to learning from you." This received a slightly bigger smile from Lei-Fei. "Good, I do not pull my punches in training. As of today, you are my student. Please, follow me." Skyler followed him from the courtyard into a large red and grey building. Once inside, he was led into the back, where a small room filled with lit candles awaited him.

Lei-Fei turned around and moved to sit down in Indian style, gesturing for Skyler to join him. Over the next several days, Lei-Fei focused on training Skyler on how to focus and use his chi. This was vital for mastering the two techniques that were to be learned. It didn't take long for Skyler to figure out that chi was the same as mana in this context. When he realized this, he was able to channel it freely throughout his body. Once Lei-Fei was satisfied with Skyler's progress. It was on to more practical training.

Lei-Fei led Skyler to a waterfall several miles away from the temple. "Now that you have mastered the flow of chi within yourself. It is time to **** it outward. Your goal is to keep the water from touching your fists. Once you can maintain this for at least ten minutes. We'll move onto your final lesson." Skyler nodded slightly. "Time to get to it then." He stepped up to the waterfall with his fists drawn back by his hips before slowly moving both fists forward. He could feel the cold water cascading down his fists and arms, little streams of liquid running down his forearms towards his elbows. He closed his eyes and started to focus on channeling his mana around his fists, but this was proving to be more difficult than he had expected.

However, to Lei-Fei's surprise, Skyler managed to perform this feat within several hours. "That is quite impressive, Skyler. Let's head back to the temple to rest before your final lesson." On their way back, Skyler began to wonder what Lei-Fei had in mind for this next lesson. Would Skyler be asked to attack Lei-Fei? Or was there something else Lei-Fei had in mind?

Name: Skyler Peterson

Title: The Gamer

Lvl: 5 XP 401/1,000

Hp: 119/119

Hp regen: .19 per min

Mp: 146/146

Mp regen: .56 per min

Money: $2,185.46

Build: Overweight

Weight: 215 lbs

Height: 5' 10 ¾"

Dick size: 6 inches

Inventory slots 5/25 (Black Pearl Ring of Enthrallment, Small Living Core, Vial of Slime x 2, Damaged Grey Sleeveless T-shirt, and Damaged Shoes (Damaged Socks))

Unspent skill points: 0

Str: 20 + (0) + (0) End: 19 + (0) + (0)

Int: 18 + (0) + (0) Wis: 28 + (0) + (0)

Agi: 16 + (0) + (0) Cha: 11 + (0) + (0)

Lib: 14 + (0) + (0)

Equipment Slots:

Ring 1:

Ring 2:

Gloves:

Weapon:

Off-hand:

Torso: Grey Shaolin Monk Robes (Temp)

Legs: Grey Shaolin Monk Robes (Temp)

Feet: Black Shoes (Socks) (Temp)

Neck:

Face: Red Tinted Glasses

Head: