As Izroth skimmed through the list of system alerts, he discovered a few surprises.
〈System Alert: You have gained the passive «Knowledge»!〉
〈System Alert: You have received the title «Scholar»!〉
〈System Alert: You have gained the passive «Battle Fundamentals Mastery»!〉
〈System Alert: You have gained the passive «Magic Fundamentals Mastery»!〉
〈System Alert:...
...
There was the passive skill Knowledge he gained, but the wording of the skill was vague at best about what exactly was that it could do.
Skill Name: Knowledge
Knowledge Level: 15.21
Skill Rank: Unique*
Passive: As the user accumulates more knowledge about the world around them and its workings, they will have a high chance of receiving natural benefits.
Special Note: Knowledge is power! This defines one's combined true understanding of all worlds.
What immediately stood out to Izroth was the fact that it did not have a skill level like other skills, instead, it possessed a knowledge level. At the moment, his knowledge level was 15.21 and he was not sure exactly how high that was compared to others within RML.
It was also a unique rank skill and the only other time he saw a skill that could escape the confines of a whole number. In fact, technically speaking, the only other time he saw something like that was with his trait Soul Essence. This most likely meant that the limit of the skill itself was unclear or undefined by the system. But, there was something else that caught Izroth's eye.
'Defining the combined true understanding of all worlds... Interesting.'
Izroth knew that there was more than the Mortal Realm out there. After all, he had personality been to the Shadahi Realm and even the Chaotic Dogma Realm which could be considered a world in and of itself. Although he had not yet been to the Nether Realm, he knew of its existence due to his most recent run-in with the League of the Eidolon and that envoy whose arm he severed.
Who knew how many other realms and worlds were out there? He had barely scratched the surface of the Mortal Realm alone, not to even speak of the other realms out there.
'A high chance of receiving natural benefits almost sounds like a luck-based passive skill.'
After reading through Knowledge, Izroth turned his attention to a title he received. It was the second title he had come across so far, the other being the Protector of Amaharpe title he received from coming in first place during the event.
Title Name: Scholar(Solitary Rare)
Title Benefit(s):
-Gain the ability to view the Knowledge Level of other individuals or monsters.
-Gain the ability to check out copies of books at any library. (Limit: 5)
'It's a Solitary title. I never thought I would come across one so soon. Although, the benefits are not all the useful to me.'
Unlike the primary and secondary titles that players could only equip one title in each category, solitary titles did not have that restriction. This meant that, theoretically, a player could equip one hundred or even one thousand solitary titles! Of course, obtaining that many solitary titles would be impossible, but the main point was that there was no limit to how many a player could equip.
'I wonder...'
Izroth equipped the Scholar title as he looked over in Kaz's direction. As his vision stayed on Kaz for a bit, the basic NPC information about him popped up, but this time there was one extra line.
NPC Name: Kaz(Normal)
NPC Level: 10
NPC Knowledge Level: 8.25
'So low.'
Izroth was surprised to see that Kaz, who was apparently Orion's assistant, only possessed a knowledge level of 8.25! That was nearly half of what his own current knowledge level was listed as!
'Then, how about...'
Of course, the real person Izroth was interested in was Orion who Kaz kept referring to as Grand Master. Since Orion had the title "Keeper of Books" in his name and had amazing comprehension skills, Izroth expected for his knowledge to be many times greater than Kaz. However, what Izroth saw only made him shake his head inwardly.
NPC Name: Orion, Keeper of Books(???)
NPC Level: ???
NPC Knowledge Level: 999.993
Orion's knowledge level was almost at the one thousand mark! In truth, Izroth knew that Orion only asked him questions about the books on the first floor purposely.
Therefore, when it came to his understanding of the books on the first floor, Izroth was confident in his ability of comprehension. As long as he finished reading the rest of the books that he had not yet touched, no one would be his equal when it came to discussing any book on the first floor.
But, of course, there were still many floors within the palace library that he did not have access to and so it was only natural that there were still many things that remained unknown to him about this world. However, he did not expect the knowledge level gap to be that huge!
When Izroth's saw Orion's knowledge level, the old man that he met back in the Towering Oak Forest named Zhi came to mind.
That old man had spoken some words to him that left him pleasantly surprised due to the sheer level of comprehension required to understand those words. Izroth wondered if he had the Scholar title at that time, just what knowledge level would it have shown for that old man?
Once he finished thinking a few things over, Izroth moved on to view the next two skills he received, the Battle and Magic Fundamental Mastery. The Battle Fundamental Mastery was acceptable, however, it was the Magic Fundamental Mastery that made him put on a helpless smile.
Skill Name: Battle Fundamental Mastery
Skill Level: MAXED
Skill Rank: A
Passive: The user of this skill has mastered the basic battle fundamentals and will gain the following benefit(s):
-All physical-based skills gain the ability to increase in level through repeated usage.
-When learning or growing physical-based skills, the user's growth rate speed in improving that skill is increased by 15%.
-The user has a high chance of being able to periodically see exposed weak points on enemies during a battle.
-The user of this skill can equip any physical-based weapon ignoring any class restriction(s) listed.
+25 Energy.
+5% Critical Hit.
Skill Name: Magic Fundamental Mastery
Skill Level: MAXED
Skill Rank: A
Passive: The user of this skill has mastered the basic magic fundamentals and will gain the following benefit(s):
-All magic-based skills gain the ability to increase in level through repeated usage.
-When learning or growing magic-based skills, the user's growth rate speed in improving that skill is increased by 10%.
-Reduce casting time speed on spells by 10%.
+250 MP
+5 MP Regen/s
+100% MP Regen outside of battle.
There was nothing that needed to be said about the benefits brought about by the Battle Fundamental Mastery. However, while the Magic Fundamental Mastery maybe a magic caster's dream to obtain, it was completely useless to him! After all, the number of magic skills that he had within his arsenal of skills was zero.
Even though he mastered the fundamentals of magic, he still had no idea how to actually create a magic skill itself. Therefore, the only way for him to put the passive to use was to first learn or create a magic skill for himself.
But, in order to do that, he had to either purchase a skill book without a class restriction to it or gain enough knowledge about magic and see if it was compatible with his combat master class. However, that was only the beginning of his problems. His mana was most likely too weak to cast any powerful magic spell that would be useful for his current level range.
Not to mention that fact that he did not plan on sacrificing his attack or agility stats just to improve upon his magic stat, therefore, damage abilities were out of the question. But, Izroth quickly came up with a solution to his predicament.
'It may be possible if it's that area of magic. Body reinforcement type magic is the most forgiving when it comes to mana usage and it won't require any kind of sacrifice to use. However, there are not many books that discuss this topic on the first floor. Maybe it will be possible after I...'
"Young man." Orion suddenly called out to Izroth and snapped him out of his thoughts.
He then continued on and said, "I have only seen one individual with your ability of comprehension in my entire lifetime. Never would I have thought that the day would arrive yet again when this old man feels that his era will soon come to its end." Orion released a long sigh as he shook his head.
"However, all things must eventually come to an end, as is the curse of one's mortal body." Orion said as his eyes filled with a look that was difficult to comprehend. It seemed like a mixture of hope and despair, compliance and unwillingness, juvenility and wisdom. All these things together formed a stream of endless thoughts and ideas.
Izroth knew what that look in Orion's eyes meant because he had seen it once before during the time of his youth in the Seven Realms. It was the look of one who yearned to return to the days of their youth and begin anew. One who was not satisfied with their current power or understanding. It was the look of one who thirsted for an eternity's worth of knowledge!
After a moment of silence, Orion waved his hand as a thin red book appeared. This book was so thin that it appeared to be no more than fifteen pages inside of it!
"I have not forgotten our wager, young man. Without a doubt, it is your victory. All I ask is that you not remain complacent with yourself as you are now. The worlds are boundless and there awaits a long journey ahead of you." Orion said as he motioned his hand towards Izroth.
The red book landed within Izroth's hands and he immediately received an alert from the system. However, he did not even bother looking at the system alert as the title of the book jumped right out at him!
Since the wager was that the item he received would be equal to or greater than what he wagered, Izroth knew that the book currently within his hands had the value of an epic ranked weapon at minimum.
〈System Alert: You have acquired the item «Comprehending The Origins of Source»!〉
It was actually a book about Source! Even though it was incredibly light, Izroth was still more than satisfied with his winnings. After all, his current knowledge about Source was practically nonexistent and there were no books on the first floor that contained any information about it.
As Izroth had his sights set on the book in his hands, Orion one grand motion with his hand as the piles of books placed throughout the library all shot into the air at once. As he moved his hand forward, every book instantly shot into the bookshelf in an orderly fashion. In the blink of an eye, the entire library was back to its previously perfect state!
Kaz watched on in amazement. The Grand Master was truly powerful! Kaz had almost let this slip his mind after watching how excited the Grand Master when he was talking to Izroth.
"I have other matters to attend to so I'll be taking my leave. However, try not to make too much of a mess in my library while I'm away-" Orion was about to call the young man by his name, however, he remembered that he never bothered to ask! Normally, he would not bother with learning the name of some random youth, however, this young man had managed to impress him!
As if reading his mind, Izroth told Orion his name before he had the chance to ask.
"Ah, Izroth? A unique name indeed... Right, I should leave you with one more small parting gift. Come Kaz, we're leaving." Orion said as Kaz quickly regained himself and followed after the Grand Master.
A few moments later, Orion walked away along with Kaz and left Izroth alone in the library.
That was when Izroth received one more system alert.
〈System Alert: You have been granted access to the 2nd floor of Amaharpe Palace Library!〉
...
Meanwhile, somewhere near a starter village...
"Xiao Liang, where are we...?" Reilei had unknowingly wandered off from the starting area. Without even realizing it, the minimap had disappeared and now she had no idea where she was! In other words, she was lost!
Mew! Mew!