Liora was sitting at the local tavern ordering dinner with Sir Braedon, Selene, and Thalia.
Aiden, however, had been sent on a different assignment.
To double-check his task, he reread the beginning of the Accel Spearmanship book.
Accel Spearmanship is built on the foundation of extreme speed and precision.
You will not have the force to break down a tree in a single blow, but you will have the fitness and prowess to cut a tree in half with several well-placed strikes.
There are three foundational skills that must be learned before one can begin to properly learn Accel Spearmanship.
Basic Spearmanship (E)
Combo Star (E)
Accel Thought (E)
This school of spearmanship has eight total techniques. Each requires a different level of mastery over the above skills to perform and learn.
Aiden closed the book and looked up to read the nearby signs.
"I'm assuming Basic Spearmanship just makes you better at using a spear," Aiden muttered. "But I wonder about Combo Star and Accel Thought."
A horrifying image flashed through his mind.
Will.
Supercharged by the Accel Thought skill.
A spike of pain shot through Aiden's head.
"Wow, asshole," Will snapped. "I save your ass and act as your therapist, and this is the thanks I get?"
Well, you try having your train of thought fight you twenty-four-seven, Aiden thought as loudly as he could.
"Bitch, you are lucky I don't make you moon a noble!"
Will yelled back as the two of them started fighting.
Will made small flashes of pain shoot through Aiden's head. In retaliation, Aiden forced himself to remember every embarrassing thing he had done growing up.
They continued this very mature mental conflict until Aiden arrived at Tomas's Skill Stone Emporium.
Aiden stepped inside and found a younger dwarven man watering a nearby plant.
He looked no older than nineteen. To Aiden's surprise, the plant seemed to be moving happily as it was watered.
The young dwarf turned as Aiden entered.
"Hello there."
"General Kenobi!" Will yelled.
Aiden immediately flashed memories of Potioner the Bold through his mind, forcing Will to wince and cry out in pain.
"Hello," Aiden said, pretending none of that was happening. "I'm here looking for prices on skills."
The dwarf nodded, set down his watering pail, and made his way behind the counter.
"Are you here to sell or buy?"
Aiden glanced down at the skillbook in his hand, then quickly tucked it into his cloak.
"I'm looking to buy. Also, the book isn't mine. I'm just borrowing it because it has a list I need."
The dwarf nodded and grabbed a large catalog, flipping it open.
"We have thirty-three E-rank skills for sale and seven D-rank skills. Do you have anything specific you are looking for?"
"I'm looking for three E-rank skills," Aiden said. "Basic Spearmanship, Combo Star, and Accel Thought."
The dwarf nodded and flipped through the catalog. After a moment, he stepped away to a nearby drawer.
Aiden expected to see rows of skillbooks.
Instead, the drawer held small sections no larger than his hand, each one containing strange rocks marked with blue runes.
The dwarf walked back over holding two stones and placed them on the counter.
"I have Basic Spearmanship and Combo Star," he said. "But Accel Thought and other skills like that go quickly because of how useful they are."
Aiden nodded, looking over the stones with clear confusion.
The owner waved a hand in front of his face.
"Never seen a skill stone before?"
Aiden shook his head.
The dwarf chuckled.
"It is something I can make. I'm a Gardener, and one of my abilities, lets me extract skills from people. They appear as these stones. Break one in your hand, and you learn the skill."
Aiden nodded, surprised to see another production class.
Especially one themed around growing and developing skills.
He looked down at the stones on the counter while the dwarf checked his catalog again.
"Basic Spearmanship will cost you six hundred gold," the dwarf said. "Combo Star is a popular one, so that one will be twelve hundred."
Aiden stood silently for a moment.
Then he glanced down at his coin pouch.
One thousand eight hundred and one gold.
Just like back on the mountain, he could feel an angel and devil appear on his shoulders.
"You should get them both," the demon whispered into his ear. "You can make the money back through quests."
The angel scoffed.
"Bitch, please. We both know your party members are going to blow through their gold doing stupid shit. Someone needs to be responsible."
The demon and Aiden both silently turned to the angel.
The angel pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a drag before glancing at them.
"What?" the angel asked. "This gets your attention more than earnest pleading?"
Then the angel shifted back into a soft-spoken, hopeful, and kind voice.
"Earnest pleading."
Aiden shook his head.
He was starting to worry his ethics were being affected by Will.
After a moment, he grabbed the Combo Star skill stone.
"I'll just take this one for now."
He handed over the gold.
His coin pouch felt so much lighter that it almost hurt.
Taking the stone in hand, Aiden looked back to the store owner.
The dwarf mimed squeezing his hand.
Aiden expected the rock to resist.
Instead, it crumbled like packed snow.
The fragments dissolved into sparks, flowing into Aiden's chest as a System window appeared.
You have learned a new skill:
Combo Star (E)
Combo Star (E)
Passive
For every successful attack you land, your body can move faster in follow-up attacks.
This increase ends early and must be built back up if you miss an attack.
This increase maxes out at two successful attacks landed.
Aiden read the skill over.
Then he nodded and waved to the owner before heading out.
Making his way back to the street, he spotted Jax and Kaelen coming up the road.
Both looked drained.
Aiden, however, could not help but smile.
He ran over to the two of them, excited to give them the news about who would be joining them for the next leg of their trip.