Chapter 37. Why Am I Not Getting New Skills?

Chapter 37. Why Am I Not Getting New Skills?

In the morning, Alisar went downstairs to have breakfast on the first floor of the inn.

As always, Rem and Sherial were already there, having started their meal.

He joined them.

As usual, they chatted a little. Overall, breakfast passed in silence.

After the meal, Rem suddenly spoke:

— Yesterday Sherial told me she invited you to our group.

— And he replied that he was very glad to join our group, — added Sherial.

Alisar was taken aback for a moment, unsure of what to say. Just yesterday Sherial assured him she would accept any of his decisions — even if he decided to give up the adventurer’s career. But now, in the current situation, it seemed she had left him almost no choice.

If he refused now, it would look extremely awkward.

Fortunately, Alisar had already decided to join their group. And he truly was glad about it.

— Yes, I’m very glad to join your group, — replied Alisar.

— Well then, I’m glad you agreed too, — said Rem with a smile.

— Although I called us a “group,” officially we are not registered, — Rem suddenly said.

— Not registered? Why? I thought you and Sherial had already registered as a team, — Alisar said in surprise.

— There are reasons for that, — answered Rem, and Sherial immediately added:

— The names…

— Names? — repeated Alisar.

— Yes. Finding a proper name for the group turned out to be not so easy, — Sherial explained.

— Why? — Alisar frowned.

Sherial smirked:

— Think about it yourself. The Adventurer’s Guild is a worldwide organization. Every group must have a unique name. Two teams cannot have the same one. All the cool and beautiful names are already taken.

— So… if a name is already taken, you can’t use it at all? — Alisar clarified.

— You can, but only in one case, — Sherial said, crossing her arms. — If the existing group with that name officially leaves the guild. Then the freed name can be claimed by someone else.

— In other words, — Rem concluded, — finding a good name for our group turned out to be harder than we thought.

Indeed… if the guild operates in all countries and all of them are connected by one system, finding a good group name is nearly impossible. How many groups are there now? Tens of thousands, maybe hundreds… No wonder Rem and Sherial haven’t been able to register officially yet. Still… it would be interesting to see what name we eventually choose.

— And what names do adventurers usually choose? — Alisar asked.

Rem smirked:

— Well… different ones. Actually, if you really need to register officially, but can’t find a good name, you don’t have to invent one. You can just act as a nameless group, and you’ll still be recognized. But if you want everything documented, you can take a simple number from the registry.

She paused and added:

— Or… sometimes the leader decides to name the group after themselves. That’s the easiest way. Many do it like “so-and-so’s squad” or “the group of so-and-so.”

— What, local groups just call themselves numbers? That doesn’t sound very impressive, — Alisar said doubtfully.

— Of course not, — Sherial smirked. — Think about it, it’d be silly to run around with just a number.

She leaned forward slightly and added:

— Many come up with beautiful, catchy names. Yes, officially those names are already taken by other groups in the world guild registry, but that doesn’t stop anyone. After all, the real owners of those names may be on another continent and will never come here. So locals boldly call themselves however they like.

Alisar frowned.

— And the guild allows that?

— Naturally. It doesn’t harm anyone, — Sherial shrugged. — And it’s more convenient this way. Everyone here knows who “Dragon Storm,” “White Wolves,” or “Fire Dragons” are. Officially those names belong to other groups, somewhere far away, but for the adventurers here they exist under those names. And everyone’s fine with that.

— Then why don’t you do the same? — Alisar asked in surprise.

— Think about it, — Sherial replied calmly. — When we become a famous group of adventurers, we’ll need a real name, not a stolen one. And changing a name that people have already gotten used to would be very hard. It would only create confusion.

She smirked and added:

— I even suggested to Rem that we name our group after her — “Rem’s Group.”

— No, we’re not calling ourselves that, — Rem cut her off firmly.

— And anyway, there’s no real need to register officially as a group, — Rem noted calmly. — We can work together without that. And if it’s ever necessary, we can just register and get a group number. Later, if needed, the name can always be changed.

— Seriously? — Sherial frowned. — Just a number? That’s boring!

After breakfast, Rem invited Alisar to her room. It was the same one she and Sherial were staying in.

The three of them went inside and sat down opposite each other. A light silence hung in the room.

— I have a few questions for you, — Rem finally said, looking attentively at Alisar. — What skills do you have?

She paused briefly, as if choosing her words, and added:

— Yes, I understand, you’re from a village. You didn’t have battle experience, so you shouldn’t have any real combat skills. But we need to know exactly what you can do.

— Well… you already know what skills I have, — said Alisar. — The “Training Room” skill and the “Alchemy” skill.

— Yes, we know that, — Rem nodded. — But I’m asking about others. Doesn’t matter what they are: farming skills, livestock handling, or anything useful in daily life.

Alisar shook his head.

— I only have those two.

Rem narrowed her eyes and gave him a thoughtful look.

— Strange… You’re already level 118, which means fifth rank. Each time you rank up, the system should’ve offered you new skills. But it turns out you only have two. Why is that?

From her expression and tone, it was clear Rem didn’t believe Alisar’s words.

— I don’t know why, — he replied. — When I first reached level eleven, I was offered a choice. But it was hardly a choice… there was only one option — “Alchemy.” I took it. After that… such offers never appeared again. Nothing changed.

Rem frowned and stared at him silently for a while.

— Strange… — she said quietly, — if you’re telling the truth…

She thought for a moment, then squinted slightly as if realizing something:

— Tell me, Alisar, your main experience points… You get them from your training room skill, right?

— Well… not just main ones, — he shrugged. — That’s the only place I get them from.

— I see, — Rem nodded, and relief was in her voice. — And when did you get that skill?

— The day I met you for the first time, — Alisar replied.

Rem narrowed her eyes.

— But back then you said you got the alchemy skill that day?

— Yes, — he nodded. — First I got the training room skill, and then, after gaining a bit of experience, I reached level eleven and chose alchemy.

The words sounded convincing, and technically it was true. But Alisar knew it wasn’t that simple.

“In truth, I got the training room skill the same day… but the first time I entered it, I spent almost two days inside. I didn’t realize at first that time passed faster there than in the real world. So technically both the training room and alchemy were obtained on the same day.”

— I think I understand why you’re not getting new skills, — Rem said.

— And why is that? — Alisar asked. He was curious, because according to Rem, every time someone ranked up, the system offered several skills to choose from. But you could only take one. By now, counting all his rank-ups, he should’ve had far more than just two.

Rem leaned forward slightly and spoke in a serious tone:

— When a person ranks up, the system forms a list of skills based on how they gained experience. Most often it’s through defeating monsters or participating in real battles.

She tapped her finger thoughtfully on the table and continued:

— If you fight in close combat, the system will suggest melee skills. If you use a bow — it will suggest something related to ranged attacks. Sometimes, depending on the enemies you fought, you might get unusual or even magical skills, like Fireball.

Rem looked at Alisar.

— And much depends on training. Someone who studied at an academy and developed mana sense almost always gets magical skill options. But all of that works only if the experience was gained in real conditions.

— If everything you said is true, — Rem said, — and you really only gained experience through your Training Room skill, then it’s clear. The system simply has no basis to offer you new skills. That’s why when you ranked up, you didn’t get a skill choice.

When Alisar realized why he hadn’t been getting skill options, his mood dropped noticeably.

“I thought it was the same for everyone…” he thought bitterly.

“So other adventurers have several times more skills than me. They’re stronger and more flexible…”

His fingers clenched into a fist.

“So how am I supposed to get new skills now?” he asked himself.

The answer was obvious: he needed to fight monsters in dungeons. But then another thought appeared:

“Will I even be able to defeat a monster of my rank? If I only have two skills…”

This thought weighed heavily on Alisar’s heart.

— Don’t worry, — Rem said, as if reading his thoughts. — You will definitely get new skills if you fight monsters more often.

— Yes, but it won’t be easy, — she added after a pause. — After all, skills usually appear only after defeating monsters of your own rank.

At those words, Alisar’s mood sank even lower.

— Hey, don’t be sad. Even if you fail, you can always just buy Skill Stones, — Sherial said.

— Skill Stones? — Alisar repeated.

He immediately remembered: yes, Rem had already mentioned them. These rare artifacts could be found deep in dungeons, but most often they were sold at auctions. The minimum price at auctions was ten thousand gold coins.

— But that’s way too expensive.

— You just got two hundred platinum coins yesterday. That’s twenty thousand gold! — Sherial said. — And besides, you have an excellent skill that lets you earn money. You can create and sell potions. That’s more than enough to gather the needed sum.

Alisar thought. “Yes, she’s right. I can already make plenty of healing potions. Over time, I’ll be able to save enough. And besides… I already have twenty thousand gold coins.”

They talked a little more, then Alisar went back to his room. It was decided that in four days, they would head into a fifth-rank dungeon.

Alisar felt slightly uneasy: this dungeon was considered far more dangerous than the one they had already visited. But Rem reassured him. She explained that what happened in the last dungeon was an extremely rare event. Similar cases, like a Panic Monster Stampede, happened maybe once in a hundred years, and in this city it had never happened before. After all, very few lunatics would dare try to destroy the dungeon itself.

These words gave Alisar some relief. “Good. If the expedition is in four days, I still have time. I need to train in the room, gather as much experience as possible, and level up at least a little more. I can’t waste a single minute,” he thought.