Tensei Skill Shop Chapter 6

Tensei Skill Shop

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 6:

“What say you? Interested?” The disguised Daedric Prince asked the two of us at the table, Lernen the Dragonborn and me.

“I’ll pass,” I said hastily.

“How about you, my friend?” He focused on Lernen.

The Breton considered it, then shook his head. “Maybe later.”

“Well, come back when you do, my friend.” Sam smiled, and repeated, “Come back when you do.”

I let out a slow exhale as he walked back to his seat, controlling my reaction to not give away the feeling of relief I had. Lernen didn’t appear to have noticed, and we finished the rest of our meal. During that time, I kept up the observation of Sam, though not directly; my attention was on Dagur, who wasn’t pouring as many drinks for Sam as he actually consumed in alcohol.

“Are you curious about that mage?” Lernen asked me quietly.

“...” I took a drink from my tankard. “Was I that obvious?”

“You seemed nervous around him.” Lernan made an unexpectedly perceptive comment.

What do I say? Give the game away, and possibly get the attention of a Daedric Prince, or just deny? I considered my options. Oh yeah, Lernen did say that he wanted to get stronger to deal with dragons, didn’t he? Considering the threats on the horizon, perhaps this might help.

“Hmm… let me ask you a question first.” I waited until Lernen nodded before continuing, “Hypothetically- I mean, what if,” I corrected myself when I saw he didn’t understand the term, “Just saying, what if, you could get a special magical artifact just by going around the land, doing minor tasks and gathering odd objects? Would you do it?”

“What sort of magical artifact?” Lernen almost turned around to look at Sam, but stopped himself. “The staff?”

“Yes. The other choice is that you don’t do that, but instead go to a school, learn the skills you hope will help you in the future.”

He didn’t reply at first, but I could see he was clearly thinking my question over.

“Oh, just to say, both aren’t mutually exclusive. You can do one, then the other. Which would you do first?”

Lernen just nodded to show that he heard me, and continued to think.

Personally, I thought that this situation was quite similar to myself when it came to gathering skills for Sano. A place for small skills versus a gamble and a long chain of tasks to gain a situational unique skill? The latter would be worth more to Sano, but I was the type who preferred to have multiple options, so I was more inclined to pick the former. Unless the second option was just that attractive.

The Sanguine Rose? Not worth it to me. 

“I think…” Lernen finally spoke, “I’ll go for the special magical artifact.”

“I see.” I finished the rest of my drink and set the tankard down. “Well, before you do, there’s something I’d like to pass you in my room.”

“What is it?”

I shook my head. “Not here. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Dagur let us know that he would handle the cleanup, so the two of us headed to my room, where I closed the door to ensure privacy. I wasn’t surprised to see Lernen treat me with wariness when I turned back to face him.

“Are you related to one of the Daedric Princes?” He asked bluntly.

“Good guess,” I answered, instantly putting him on his guard, “But no.”

I explained that I had developed a special personal spell that would allow me to grant other people long-lasting benefits. Since he was going to take up Sam on his drinking challenge and I wasn’t, that meant we would be going our separate ways in the near future. Lernen tried to protest, saying that it was only going to take a single night, and that he would join me at the College the next morning, but I just gave him a doubtful smile. 

Instead, I told him that I wasn’t going to be staying at the College for long, so I’d prefer to leave it with him now instead of later. As for what I planned to give him, I described it as an effect similar to that of a Standing Stone, but they wouldn’t interfere with the one he currently had. As expected, he had touched the Mage Stone along the way from Helgen, so I wanted to give him something to balance his stats out.

“Will you accept this gift then?” I asked him once more.

He was silent for a bit, but eventually nodded. 

“Alright.” 

While I mainly learned skills in Skyrim through stealing them and grinding them the old-fashioned way, I still had [Learning] I didn’t have it equipped often because taking hits from others suck, and I would rather have a support skill that could boost my defenses instead. However, a lucky discovery showed that I could incorporate an enchantment from a piece of equipment I wore through [Learning], so even if I took the equipment off afterwards, the enchantment-turned-skill could still stay with me, unless I wanted to switch to a different one.

In this case, I was going to bestow [Boost Stamina] onto Lernen, along with the analysis skill to get data on his abilities as the Dragonborn. 

Extracting them went without any issue, and I held out the glowing box of light in my hands.

“Here, press this against your chest. It will boost your stamina, so if you ever need to escape from a fight, it will help.”

“Thank you. I’ll accept it.” 

Lernen did as I instructed, and incorporated the skills within himself. He spent a few minutes to confirm that his stamina was now much higher than before, before deciding that he would go take Sam up on his drinking challenge. I spent some time checking my skills in the status screen before leaving my room, heading for the common area. 

As expected, both Lernen and Sam were gone. When I asked Dagur about them, he said that Lernen had passed out in a drunken stupor, but managed to recover enough to stagger out of the inn with Sam. Realistically speaking, there was no other place for them to indulge in drinking nearby, and the heavy snow outside wouldn’t let them travel far.

Then again, one of them was a Daedric Prince.

“I’m not going to refund what he paid, even if he doesn’t use his room,” Dagur stated, “If you see him, make sure to tell him that.”

“Sure, if I see him.” I think Lernen’s fate just isn’t tied to the College.

The next morning, I made my way across the bridge to the College. As expected, I was stopped there by the gatekeeper Faralda, who was there to stop unruly people who only came just to complain about the College. After I managed to convince her that I was there to learn, she insisted that I prove that I held the minimum level of skill.

A single Firebolt on the magic seal on the ground. That was it.

Standards are really that low here, huh? Or maybe I’m just too used to fast learning speeds. I followed Faralda into the place, and was introduced to Mirabelle, the Master Wizard.

“Welcome to the College. Another new student?” The woman asked me, once Faralda left to return to her guard duties.

“Actually,” I interrupted her, “I’m a bit more of a traveling scholar. I prefer to learn out in the field, but I’d like to see what I can pick up while I’m here.”

Mirabelle nodded. “That is fine. We have no expectations here at the College, since it’s a place to study and practice magic freely. We just ask that any discoveries made in your pursuits will be shared with members of the College first. That way we all benefit.”

Oof, I feel a bit guilty now, considering I came here to obtain more skills the unfair way. Not guilty enough to stop though. “That’s good to hear. I’ll try my best to come up with something useful.”

“Wonderful. Since you’re a new student, you’ll receive these.” She pulled out some folded robes and handed them to me. “You’re not required to wear them, but some of our students tend to prefer them to their normal clothes.”

“I think I see why.” The boost to spellcasting, obviously.

“I’ll give you a brief tour, and then you can join the other students for your first class. Are you ready to begin?”

“Is it really okay for someone as senior as you to be handling tour guide responsibilities?”

Mirabelle smiled. “I usually handle most of the day-to-day duties, and this is just one of them.”

“I see. Then please, give me the tour.”

“Of course. Follow me, and don’t wander off.”

Just as she said, I was given a quick tour of the College and an explanation on what purposes each of the rooms served. Since I showed up early in the morning, Mirabelle told me to head over to the lecture hall for the morning lesson after the tour concluded in the dormitories.

Even though I only had two examples to draw from, I couldn’t help making comparisons between engaged in events while in the company of the main character, and when I wasn’t. As the Dragonborn in the game, I had been asked to engage in a class demonstration, taken on an expedition, and all other sorts of quest events. As a minor student who was just passing through, I was thankfully spared from having to beat such expectations.

It was pretty nice to go back to being a student again; I just listened and took notes as a lecturer espoused on the importance of the field of magic they specialized in, practiced my various magic spells, and interacted with my fellow mages. Both students and teachers had interesting points of view, and I felt like my skill level with the various schools of magic was improving quite quickly.

I couldn’t help drawing some comparisons to what I learned in Ivalice. Black and White magic were quite similar to Destruction and Restoration, and even some of the others had a similar version in certain jobs’ skills. That understanding allowed me to master what was being taught quite quickly, though I engaged in the occasional skill delivery to Sano to conceal that rate of growth.

Out of all the trainers for the six schools of magic being taught at the College, I interacted with Faralda and Phinis Gester the least, since I found that I wasn’t that interested in Destruction and Conjuration. The ones I studied under the most were Sergius, who taught Enchanting when he had the free time between completing the requests that came from all over Skyrim, and Tolfdir the Alteration teacher. I also made a lot of use of Urag the librarian’s services, abusing the [Fast Reading] skill I went out of my way to get from Sano just for that. Although I didn’t take him up on his requests to gather rare books related to magic, I made a mental note to keep them in mind for my return in the future.

Then there was the fly in the ointment.

Ancano the Thalmor agent, always lurking around trying to pry into the running and the secrets of the College. Add in the whole arrogant racism, and you have a person that everyone else in the College dislikes. 

He apparently recognized me, asking questions trying to corner me into admitting that I was at Helgen, but I maintained my excuse about only going as far as Falkreath. My name being on the list? That’s absurd, because Rick is a common name. Ivalice? Where is that? Sorry, I don’t have time to go along with your delusions! Bye, and don’t talk to me again.

YOINK

I didn’t have any qualms about stealing the spells he knew.

After a short but fulfilling week, I gathered my meager luggage, found Mirabelle in the courtyard, and let her know that I was leaving to pursue other opportunities. In return for temporarily hosting me, I handed over a book of my own creation. Mirabelle thanked me, flipped through it, then took off running to the teachers’ dorms. As expected, I could hear Drevis the Illusion trainer yell behind me as I crossed the bridge back to Winterhold. 

He complained so much about how Illusion was seen as a useless school of magic, so let’s see how he handles an Illusionist’s Phantasm Techniques, which combines Destruction and Illusion to inflict damage to all targets.

By the time Drevis crossed the bridge in pursuit of me, I was already gone from the world.

…

“Welcome back, Rick,” Sano said to me as I reappeared in his office. 

“Glad to be back. Sorry to rush you, but can I get a tally of what these skills are worth?”

“Sure, just let me know which ones you’re willing to hand over.” Sano pushed his glasses up. “Also, I have something to talk to you about afterwards.”

Hearing that makes me nervous every time…  Nodding, I opened up my status screen and placed my other hand on the pad. On the other hand, it’s always nice to see the numbers go brrrrr~

While I didn’t manage to max out all the skills, I was able to get quite a few of them to that point, particularly the Mage ones. I missed my chance to visit the Guardian Stones to get the trifecta bonus for skill learning boost, but I was able to get some of the others, which allowed the analysis skill to learn their mechanics for Sano to work with. Then there were the perks and enchantments to go along with those, and I hoped that they were worth quite a bit. In the end, I chose to keep a bunch of the basic ones to serve as a starter kit for future worlds, and traded off most of the rest to Sano. 

“It will take me a while to properly evaluate these, so let’s get the talk out of the way first.” Sano stood up slightly out of his chair and held a hand out to me. “Congratulations for clearing your probation period.”

Probation? Oh. Oh right, I’d totally forgotten about that. “Thanks.” I shook his head. “So that means…”

“Yes, you’re now allowed to leave the shop after work hours, though I expect you to return in time before the start of your next work day. In fact,” He glanced at the clock, making me do the same, “Since you didn’t spend that long in that world, you still have the whole of Sunday available for you to enjoy.”

“Oh, that’s great,” I could only say.

Sano took a piece of paper and placed it in front of me, then settled back into his seat. “So this is how much you’ve earned this week, minus the costs.”

I looked at the numbers printed there, which were less than I’d hoped. “Oof.”

“Yes, those costs don’t just include sending you to that world, but the modifications to the room you asked for.”

“It’s done already?” I took another look at the clock, which was only a few hours from the time I recalled leaving.

“Of course.”

Fast, good, cheap, pick two. I couldn’t help recalling that line. Since Sano was the one who set up the whole store, including the workers’ living space, I knew I could trust him on quality. That meant the downside was cost… Then again, I doubted you could find a construction firm capable of doing the renovation so quickly, at the price of eighty thousand yen.

It took me a few more moments before I regained control of myself. I’m just being fussy at a god charging me so much for what must be a minor flex of his power. 

“You can go inspect it later, but I believe you’ll like it.”

“Okay,” I nodded, “Is there anything else?”

“Just that I hope you will continue to work hard for me in the future ahead.”

My reply to that was immediate and honest. “With benefits like these, I hope so too.”

“Alright then. That’s all for now. I’ll still be here tomorrow night, so come see me if there’s anything.”

I acknowledged his statement with a nod, and left the office to go check out the refurbished room. The first thing I noticed was the addition of another door across from the one leading to the toilet. Naturally, I opened it to check.

The new room resembled that of a training dojo, with padding on the floor on one side, while the remainder was smooth wooden floor. There was a closet nearby that had some cleaning tools like a mop and pail, indicating that I held the responsibility of maintaining the place. There were other storage closets located around the room, and I realized that the collection of weapons I had brought back from Ivalice were all stored within them, which explained their absence from the living room that I had overlooked.

I glanced down at the weapons I had on me, and started taking them off to store them away too.

One of them didn’t carry any weapons, but a training dummy instead. The base ended with a pole, and when I examined the wooden floor more closely, I found a part of it that could be lifted up to expose a hole. As expected, the training dummy’s base fitted it perfectly. A quick experiment with one of the offensive skills I had proved that I could use it against the dummy, and without inflicting any actual damage too. 

Sano had come through with my request perfectly.

I wasn’t going to engage in training right now though. Instead, I went to take a nice hot shower, something that had been denied to me while I was in Skyrim. 

It was glorious, and it also helped me make up my mind for what I wanted to do tomorrow.

After I was done, I checked my phone. Sure enough, there were messages from my family.

‘How was work this week?’

‘Good. Cleared probation period’

‘Thats good. Any plans for this wkend?’

‘Going to hot spring spa to soak the whole day’

‘Ok. Enjoy yourself’

I took a brief look out the window, admiring the view of a night sky with three differently colored moons, before drawing the curtains and burrowing under the blankets to sleep.

My phone’s alarm woke me up early, and I skipped my usual morning shower, dressing quickly and leaving the shop. It was only after I opened the front door and walked out, that I realized my mind was so distracted by the thought of enjoying the hot spring, that I hadn’t given a thought about possibly going away to another world through that door at all.

Well, I suppose Sano wouldn’t make that sort of mistake… and at least I avoided mentally stressing over it. I quickly checked my map app, and headed for the train station.

Tokyo had cooled down quite a bit compared to the time I left in the summer, when walking around outside was like being in a furnace. Still, I didn’t bother slowing my pace to enjoy it, instead heading for the location I had in mind. I had found it after searching online during my off hours, and it wasn’t too far. 

It was a bit of a walk from Ryogoku Station. I hadn’t realized that the area was devoted to sumo; there were posters of sumo wrestlers, restaurants offering the traditional sumo chanko, and statues that I paused a few times to look at, snapping a few pictures to post on social media. 

I arrived at the place shortly after it opened, checking in and receiving a magnetic wristband from the receptionist. Naturally, I headed straight for the bathing room, where I washed up first before sinking into a pleasantly hot pool. There were several other pools available as well; a cold one, one with powerful air jets, a herbal one, plus the sauna, all of which I rotated through whenever my mood demanded it.

When lunchtime finally came around, I put on the yukata provided and made my way to the restaurant, where I indulged in the chanko hotpot. I continued to treat myself after that; an hour-long massage treatment, a nice nap on a heated stone bed, even more time spent soaking in the baths…

It was awesome.

The bill when I checked out was expensive, but still acceptable after how much I earned. The sky was the color of twilight as I walked back to the train station, so I decided to visit some other place first. 

A place that I always made sure to visit whenever I was in Tokyo.

Akihabara.

It was just as entrancing as I remembered, even after I had gone through months of time in another world. As usual, I visited my usual haunts after a quick fast food dinner, which were the stores that sold anime goods, the general population ones, and the adult ones. There were some interesting doujins, but I refrained from buying them because I didn’t want to carry them back with me. 

Then, just as I was wandering around Animate, I spotted a manga series I recognized, and picked it up. It was sealed, of course, but seeing it shook loose my memories of some of the plot details.

Yeah, this is definitely a world that has potential worth farming. If I had recalled this series earlier, I would have leapt at this one first. Oh well…  I’ll just have to wait until next week.

I ended up buying the first few volumes of the manga and novel alike, intending to read and research them over the next few days. When I returned to the shop that night, Sano was already gone, so I changed into my pajamas and settled down in bed to read. I also uploaded the pictures I took during my day out, knowing my parents would see them.

The next day saw me behind the counter again.

“Thank you for your business,” I recited to the pair of deities, “Hope you patronize this shop again.”

To be honest, I was getting pretty used to this life by now. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a god appear twice. That made me wonder just how metaphysically far away their respective worlds were, or how much they differed from each other. Considering that every single one I had seen so far was unique, it really made one think.

Appearances aside, I saw my share of bad customers. While their power was restricted within the shop and prevented them from being abusive towards me, it didn’t stop them from being customers or demonstrating reprehensible behavior. There was one god that purposely wanted to buy malfunctioning skills just so he could watch his transmigrators struggle with them, but thankfully Sano’s stock was of good enough quality that he had to be satisfied with merely disadvantageous. If not for him staying within the bounds of permissible behavior and my job persona handling the sale, I would have kicked that asshole out. I might have been smited for doing so, but I thought it would have been worth it.

That incident was the worst one, but there were quite a few who were uncaring about the types of skills they bought, picking out random ones as though trying to fulfill a quota and nothing more. I occasionally tried to be helpful, like when I could tell it was a minor god making the purchase on behalf of a higher-up, but sometimes they just weren’t willing to accept my assistance. In those cases, I could do nothing but shrug. Mentally, since I was still on the clock and in my job persona.

It was kind of depressing to know that retail service was the same everywhere. No matter how divinely beautiful they looked, it didn’t do anything for their ugly personalities.

Fortunately for my mental health, there were good ones too. 

“I apologize, but I’m not allowed to accept any gifts for a job I’m already being compensated for. If you wish to express your gratitude, drop a tip into this container.” I indicated the ‘tip jar’ next to me.

“Oh, that’s a pity. I’ll just do so then~” The goddess waved a hand over it, dropping a few sparkly lights that settled at the bottom. “Thank you again! I’ll make sure to come by again if I can!”

That was the most common ‘blessing’ they gave, but given the unique characters they had, I also encountered oddities with their own sense of gratitude.

“[Contract] [Unneeded].” The fuzzy being ‘said’, “[Donation] [Accept].”

I eyed the pentagon-shaped glowing thing, already taking a special pair of gloves from beneath the counter. “Understood. I will accept this contribution to the shop.”

It ‘nodded’, and left. I went to the toilet to wash the blood from my face afterwards.

Then there were also those that tried to barter instead. Those incidents were few, but always interesting to handle.

“I don’t have enough free DP to purchase these, so could you accept one of my personal blades in exchange? It contains enough divine power, and holds a lot of amazing skills, like [Sky Render] and [Abyssal Slash]!” The giant figure towering over me by a few meters claimed.

Why can’t you break it down and reuse the DP to make your own skills? “Please place it on the pad for appraisal.”

“There.” 

The shop shook when the gigantic hunk of metal was dropped onto the counter, which somehow stayed standing. 

“It is more than sufficient to pay for your purchases. If you like, I could extract only enough skills to match the value.”

“You can do that?” The giant sounded so surprised, I wondered just what little godly experience he had. “Go ahead then.”

I placed my hand on the side of the blade that I could reach, counting on the pad to handle the process.

[Extracting… Extraction complete.]

“Two of these four skills will be enough. Please choose which.”

“This one, and this one!”

“Understood.” I grabbed the two he indicated, and pushed the others back into the blade. “You may remove the blade now.”

Once the obstruction was removed, I placed the two skills in storage, and handed his purchase over to him. 

“You’re a good worker. Here, I see you’ve used a [katana],” He used a term native to his world, “So you can have one of my minor works.”

“I apologize, but I’m not-” I was able to pause mid-statement because the god was already gone.

The katana he left behind just floated in the air, until I picked it up and placed it on the pad. It didn’t have any skills on it, but the remnant of Smithing knowledge I retained told me that it was a very fine blade nonetheless. 

Just like that, the days went by, and Sano showed up once more. This time, he was early.

When I pointed out the weapon the god left, he took a quick look at it and shook his head. “That sword? Hmmm, it’s not really my thing, so you can go ahead and keep it.”

“Alright, sir.”

“Just another hour to go, so keep up the good work!”

“Yes, sir.” 

Since I gained permission to leave the shop after working hours, I had only ventured out twice in the five days, and only to enjoy some restaurant food. The rest of the time, I had been researching the various worlds I would like to visit, in between reading the canon content about the one I had my eye on. 

To be honest, I wasn’t confident about my chances of actually obtaining the skills I had my eye on, because the skill holder in question was quite powerful, despite being bound and sealed. That’s why I had several other worlds as backup plans.

Plus if it actually goes well, I might not be spending that much time there at all. I continued to stand behind the counter. Wait… is there even anyone going to come before the shop closes?

As it turned out, the answer was no.

“So, any feedback to give?” Sano asked me after handing over this week’s payslip.

“Some of the customers who came…” I told him about those gods whose behavior turned me off, nervousness making my speech halting.

“Normally we don’t interfere with how each of us handle our own worlds, but I’ll ask someone I know to keep an eye on them,” Sano appeared almost uncaring, “Until they cross the line, nothing can be done.”

Guess I’ll just have to be satisfied with that. “Alright.”

“I do have something of my own to tell you too.” The god smiled. “It’s good news.”

Said good news was that he managed to make use of some of the skills from Ivalice to make a few new ones, which he would sell to me at a discount. There were passives like [Enhanced Stat Growth] that could work in worlds without a similar system, actives combining different job classes’ attacks, and reactives like [Counter Stop]. That last one was a combination of the Time Mage’s [Stop] and the Thief’s [Counter], which worked like Dio’s The World. 

Sano also made a few pieces of skill-imbued equipment that worked like the ones in Ivalice, which he planned to add to the shop’s stock. The option for their holders to learn the skill with enough use was available at a premium price, which Sano was confident in getting customers to shell out for. But because of their limitations, they were much cheaper in price, and their quantity was low because he wanted to see the reaction first. That was a logical move, so I agreed with his opinion.

So I can expect to unlock a new set of skill options only on the second trip after I collected them. It makes me look forward to seeing what he might make from Skyrim’s skills. 

“So, will you be purchasing any of these? Or the older ones?”

“Before that, I have a world I’d like to visit. Mind if I get my notes?”

Sano nodded. “Go ahead.”

I was there and back in record time, passing my prepared plan to him before sitting back down. “Alright, so I was thinking that a world like this should exist, and if there is, then I would need a skill that can copy the one I’m aiming for.”

He read the paper filled with my untidy handwriting, glancing at the book I had brought along as an example. “I see… there should be a world like this, but I need some time to track it down. Furthermore, this skill you want… if you can really get something like it, I would pay quite a lot of DP for it.”

“You know that I won’t give it up so easily, right?”

Sano shrugged. “I had to ask. Still, I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ll come up with when you have it with you.”

He opened a drawer in his desk, and pulled out one of those signal devices that restaurants used to let customers know they could collect their food. Since preparing what I asked for would take some time, the god told me to go do something else first, and come back when the device signaled me he was ready. Recognizing the dismissal for what it was, I took it from him and went back to my room.

Despite it being better than just waiting in his office, I ended up wasting my time just pacing around the place, checking my backup plans for other worlds if this one fell through. I did a lot of things to try and distract myself, like changing into a set of clothes I brought back from Ivalice, but my thoughts kept going back to wondering if Sano would succeed or not. One of the things I tried was measuring my pulse rate, and it stayed pretty high up.

Reminds me of that time when I took part in an eBay auction for the first time… I won, but it was really nerve-wracking competing like that. When the device rang, I actually jerked in shock, and I fumbled it trying to turn off the ringing. Time to find out the results!

Sano’s smile made me let out a long exhale of relief, and I slowly sat down in front of him.

“Here, I’ve prepared the skills you should need in that world.” He passed me another box of compiled skills. “Including another copy of [World System Analysis] since the last one is still in that world.”

“So you found the world?” I couldn’t help asking, accepting the skills into my body and confirming them on my status screen. 

He took off his glasses to wipe them. “Of course I did. Just to let you know, regarding the skill you asked me to prepare, there’s a chance it might fail, or even if it succeeds, the result might not be stable. Are you still sure?”

“I’m sure.” It’s a risk I’m willing to take.

Sano nodded. “Alright then. Now, are you ready to go?”

I gave a nod of my own, and the next moment, I was in an alley in a different world. From the sounds I could hear around me, this city was much more populated than Cyril, so I quickly brought up the map and confirmed my location. Once that was done, I set off to explore the place. 

As expected of the Royal Capital of this nation, it was a huge city and it took a while to get anywhere. Luckily, the city planners made the place easy enough to navigate. I could see a large building in the distance that towered over most of the rest, but it didn’t look like it was a palace, just some public structure. 

After some effort, I managed to track down the main character of the story this world was set in, but from the look of him, he was still quite young, playing around with a similarly young blonde girl while his black-haired little sister watched. 

So I’m here before the canon timeline starts… guess I better go look for what I came here for. I headed for the gate out of the city, and was allowed to pass without any issue. 

Getting back in would be harder as the guards there were checking entry passes. Too bad I had given up a lot of my Sneak skill levels, or I could have just passed through without one. But if things went well, I wouldn’t have to. 

The map from my skill included a compass, so I turned to face the southwest, and headed straight in that direction, towards the mountains I could see in the distance. Compared to the  version I had before, the skill this time had several other functions as well; I used it to track how much distance I covered, and after about fifteen kilometers, I marked out a general area, and began to search around the place.

Thankfully, I found the right place just as the sun was setting, so I entered the small entrance to a grotto and made my way into its depths, carefully measuring the distance once more. About a hundred meters in, [Observe] helped me pick out a trick wall, and I crossed over to the hidden space behind it.

There was a giant pair of doors set in an archway, made out of some mysterious metal that I could tell was extremely damage resistant. I doubted that even an Ultima could break through them. Fortunately, I had the unfair cheat of meta-knowledge on my side.

I took a deep breath, and spoke the magic words to open it. “Hidden dungeon, please let me in! I will train in secret to be the world’s strongest person!”

Afterword: My muse sure helped me with this chapter, but towards the end, even though I knew what I wanted to write, it became harder to put them into words. Good thing it managed to come out eventually. If you can recognize the world that Rick is in this time, then you know what skills he’s going for. It’s gonna make things very fun!