Reading Material

Only one task remained for his Quest, breakfast. Now dressed in his red Ashcroft uniform and weighed down by a backpack laden with textbooks, John trudged his way to the kitchen. He found the room empty, all signs of yesterday’s festivities erased. Dropping his bookbag by the table, he made his way to the fridge and, on its door, found a note.

“Had to leave early. The Baxters’ mare is having difficulty foaling. I’m sorry I can't be there to make your breakfast. There is yogurt in the fridge and granola in the pantry. Love you lots, Mom.”

John wasn’t particularly surprised by his mother’s absence. She had worked long, odd hours for as long as he could remember. He had hoped she would be here this morning so he could show her his new powers.

‘Can other people see my displays? I’m going to sound crazy if I start talking about them and no one else can see them. If my tooltips don’t finish installing soon, I should check if they at least show up in a mirror.’

Discarding the note, John popped open the fridge, and retrieved the yogurt. He was briefly tempted to indulge in a slice of cake, left over from the night before, but starting the day on so much sugar seemed unwise. He mixed himself a small bowl of yogurt and granola then sat down to eat and contemplate his new abilities.

“So,” he muttered to himself, “everything I do becomes a new skill, and the level of the skill takes my current ability into account. I can probably pick up a few high level skills if I play to my strengths, but what am I good at?”

John mulled the question over as he slowly chipped away at his breakfast. ‘I’m good at video games,’ was the first thought to pop into his head, but that seemed like a trivial answer given that his life was now a video game. 'I'm apparently great at masturbating,' was the next and similarly trivial answer. At some point between the two, he finished his breakfast and received a notification that he had completed his Quest. Too focused on his musings, he dismissed the notification having given it only a brief, inattentive glance.

‘I guess I’m a good student. My grades are above average. Maybe if I study, I’ll get a skill for the subject, or maybe I’ll just get a skill for studying.’

Driven by impatience, John opened his Character Sheet and tested the tooltips for his Stats again. When the same error notification appeared, he began to study what elements of his system were available, his skills. While reading through the description of Observe, he was reminded, somewhat tangentially, of Skyrim's skill system. In particular, he remembered the small excitement he felt when he first gained a skill level by reading a random book. He began to wonder what his Skill's effect might be when applied to a book.

John rummaged through his backpack and pulled out his biology book. He had an exam in that class later in the week, and, if he was going to gain a Skill in any subject, that one would be the most prudent. Casting Observe on the book, he was greeted with a new notification.

John was stunned by the display floating before him. He had expected a description of the physical book and hoped for some skill related to academics, but he would never have dreamed that he would gain actual magic from a mundane textbook. Collecting his senses, John confirmed his skill acquisition and immediately opened its description.

‘Holy shit, plus twenty-five HP? I only had forty before. That’s a sixty percent increase from one book!’

Phenomenal bonus aside, the description of the Skill seemed a bit at odds with its effect on him. He did not feel any healthier, nor had an understanding of biology washed over him. The obvious explanation was that the skill was more subtle than he had expected. Alternatively, it may be like his tooltips and require time to finish installing. He would test those theories later. For now, he would continue testing Observe.

In his excitement, John nearly accepted his new skill without reading through the window. At the last moment, he was struck by the realization that the Intelligence requirement for the Skill had jumped significantly. He briefly considered that this might be due to the difference in complexity between the subjects, but his experience with the two disagreed with that notion. Biology did feel easier in general. It mostly required an ability to memorize lists of classifications, organs, and energy cycles. Chemistry, via its stronger dependence on mathematics, was generally more demanding, but not almost two times more demanding.

‘The Stat requirement may increase every time I gain a Skill by using Observe on a book. If that’s the case, then the next Skill I take will be the last one I get for a while. I should check the requirements for something simple, just to be sure.'

A cookbook that his mother kept by the fridge would serve as the test case.

Another passive effect, and one for a non-magic skill no less. Yet, its Stat requirements matched that of alchemy, lending strong evidence to his suspicions.

‘7:36, I have ten minutes before I need to be outside to wait for the bus. Alchemy is already good enough to take, but I have enough mana for three more casts of Observe. I might as well find two more good options and then pick the best of the bunch.’

One by one, John retrieved his textbooks from his bag, evaluated their potential, and deposited each rejected book in a pile to his left.

‘World History? Nope. Calculus? Might be something good; don't know what. English Composition? Well, that might give bardic magic which could be useful. It would be especially good if it gave me a bonus to my charisma.’

‘Yeah, I’m definitely not taking that over alchemy. I mean, it still might boost my Charisma, but I think an Active Skill will be way more useful in the long run. Now, what do I still have upstairs? It’s just Art History, Civics, and… Physics! That’s perfect.’

Practically leaping from his seat, John rushed to his room to retrieve the book. He wasn't sure what it would offer him, but he reasoned that it, as the broad study of the fundamental nature of the universe, must have something impressive to offer.

John’s disappointment was immeasurable. ‘Can I only get passives and Craft from these books?’

As unimpressive as the results had been, artificing was still the best competition to alchemy that he had found thus far. Both options offered him the same skill except with different starting recipes. Presumably, he would be able to acquire the refused recipes later, but it was uncertain when that would be possible. To compound frustrations, the tooltips for the Skill and the recipes produced the same error message that those for his Stats had. His choice would functionally be blind.

‘What do I want to start out with, magic potions or magic items?’