Third Son

The tempest winds continued to blow over the purple atmospheric haze that enveloped the cold and rather harsh planet of Pluton. Thousands of years of terraforming technology could not possibly change the fate of the planet or its residents to one of the many lush terran planets that humanity had secured in the galaxy.

Pluton was rather well populated for the mining planet it originally was supposed to be. Discovered to be embedded with a rare alloy catalyst, the planet had been quickly colonized and integrated into the wider market as the poor and the daring both made their way here to eke out a new life.

That was five thousand years ago. Today, the primary economy of Pluton had changed from not only a mining planet, but a relatively eagerly populated mercenary hub and trading center.

One family line had a rich and famous history on planet Pluton. A mercenary family that immigrated from far away, the Redford family, had made its name as reliable mercenaries as well as patriots of Flanders, the stellar nation that Pluton was a part of.

Many Redfords joined the army, became powerful generals, others joined the government in various capacities. Redfords were often the dependable friends in high places, that their friends were tap into during times of trouble. They had gradually transitioned into a great noble family that held considerable sway in workings of Flanders.

However, the Redfords had a black mark in their family. A direct descendant of the extended family had turned into a pirate due to poor influence of his wife. This once heavily favored descendant, Richard Redford and his wife Alicia Redford abandoned the family as well Flanders to become pirates. Not much contact remained between the two and the Redfords, except the third son of the two, who was left behind.

Alex Redford was an ordinary boy turning eighteen, in high school. Unlike his Redford family's legacy, he did not have superior genes, but a rather weak body that made him worthless in the eyes of the Redfords. Even if he was gifted academically, it was nothing too dazzling to change their perception towards this lost child.

His parents and elder siblings extraneous dip into piracy had left him in an extremely awkward position with respect to the Redfords, who had essentially banished Alex away from the family. As such, Alex was an independent lad. With the small fortune that his parents had left for him, Alex led his own life, away from the Redfords, a simple life of a high schooler.

Alex had his own eccentricities. He loved to study, but at the same time he hated it if it was force fed to him. Thus his performance in school remained average as he never felt the urge to work hard and perform better, however, he had an interest in studying interesting things out of his curriculum.

One of his eccentric habits was to go trinket hunting in the grey markets, to later open them up and see how they worked. As such, it was one of the few things he sometimes spent money one.

During on of these excursions, Alex came across a temporary stall by two tired old men. They seemed to have unearthed some items while doing some private mining on Pluton. Finding such trinkets was not uncommon, historians had found signs that some ancient life used to exist on the planet and objects belonging to their civilization could often be found. Most were worthless, but sometimes they could be resold for some research value.

Alex found the two old miners selling a variety of interesting minerals and rocks. He estimated that these two must have gone quite deep inside a cave, but seemed to be in a hurry to sell their materials. It seems they were making a quick buck off what they gathered at the side, perhaps as a part of some mission.

Alex shrugged. These kind of sellers were not uncommon in the grey market. Alex walked over to the stall and observed the trinkets, when a small brass spherical like object entered his sights. It was a curious object and Alex could see that there were a few curious inscriptions on it that made it look like a puzzle. His curiosity shone on his face, he picked up the brass ball and observed the inscriptions on its surface.

"This looks like a toy from the ancient civilization. Kid, do you want to purchase it? We'll sell it for two thousand credits." One of the old men said gruffly.

Alex made a face. "I'm interested in this toy, but do you really think I'm an idiot? Two thousand? I'll give you three hundred credits. Not more."

Surprisingly the old man didn't continue to stonewall a bargain. He shrugged and raised his hand to receive the money. Alex transferred him the three hundred credits and took the brass ball home.

The inscriptions on the ball were a pattern that could be moved around, much like a rubix cube. Alex found this puzzle very interested and spent the entire afternoon tinkering with the brass ball, changing the directions of the inscriptions to make them line up.

No matter what he did however, he seemed to be stuck on the penultimate step, where he found himself in an irreversible knot. However, he a flash of insight occurred to him and he rewound his movements back and changed his path of approach. An hour later, he finally found the correct way, and solved the puzzle, ensuring that the inscriptions had matched up together.

Alex realized that the inscriptions formed a weird symbol when matched together that looked like a hieroglyph. He had no idea how to read the symbol, however, in his mind a word began forming automatically. "Knowledge"

The brass ball suddenly turned black and began floating away from Alex's grip before brandishing its way straight into Alex's forehead. Alex didn't even realize what happened and looked around to see where the brass ball had disappeared.

However, something appeared in his sights that shocked and stunned him.

[You have unlocked the key to "Knowledge"]

[Binding....]

[Alex Redford]

[Human]

[Constitution : 0.4]

[Intellect: 1.0]

[Insight: 0.2]

[Ordinary human being with subpar stats.]

Alex sighed. He somewhat quickly grasped what these numbers meant, but he wasn't glad to see them. All of them were below one. And to tag along, he wasn't sure what this key to "Knowledge" even was that bound with him.

Alex also found a beginner's pack that he had received along with this mysterious system of Knowledge."

[Open Beginner's Pack?]

On seeing this message, Alex didn't hesitate and mentally ordered the system to open the beginner's pack he had received.

[Obtained the following Items]

[x2 Learning Modules]

[x1 Learning Boost +50%]

[x1 7 days Training Card]

Alex raised an eye as some ideas began forming within his head. He was a little surprised by the system, but he wasn't too shocked. He could imagine that this was some kind of superior technology learning device. It brought into question what kind of civilization used to exist on Pluton before humanity's arrival.

Alex chose a learning module, and immediately, a huge learning tree appeared in front of his eyes. There were tons of all kinds of high fidelity scientific themes that he had never heard of before. But for now he could only choose from a few choices at the base.

[Mathematics I]

[Physics I]

[Chemistry I]

[Biology I]

[Computer Science I]

Of these five, he could choose two of them. Alex wasn't sure which direction he should choose, but his 7 day training card gave him some ideas. He had looked at the card, and saw that it was a training card for a most curious field - blacksmith forging.

Blacksmith forging was a popular art in the prehistoric ages, today, it is a narrow field practiced by a few artisans who satisfy the market for custom made metallic forges. Being born on a mining planet, Alex wasn't too unaware about this field, however, considering how extremely niche it was, even he wasn't sure of what the potential use of this profession was.

However, he decided on two fields to learn. Physics I and Chemistry I, both of which he felt would help him with the seven day card. He chose the Physics I knowledge and suddenly a huge amount of knowledge flowed into his brain like a cooling gel.

Memories gradually injected themselves into his mind and Alex immediately began to feel like a new world was opened to him. As a high schooler, he was studying physics, and Physics I wasn't of too high a level at all. However, while the degree of insight was not of a high level, the depth of the exploration of simple concepts, their scope as well as their application into all kinds of applications became embedded within his mind.

Alex had anticipated a painful release of knowledge, but the experience had been surprisingly gentle and pleasing to the mind, as a cooling sensation spread within his brain that made him feel quite energized.

Alex soon proceeded with Chemistry I as well. The same feeling repeated again. Alex himself wasn't too fond of chemistry, primarily because of his dislike of his teacher, however, now he learned so much and with such depth, his interest and passion at the surprising nature of the subject exploded as well.

After digesting the knowledge and sorting through what he learned, Alex realized that the way he looked at the world changed. He looked at the walls and saw not just walls, but the underlying principles behind why they supported his house, or the workings behind the chemicals of paint.

Alex nodded in shock and wonder as he pondered the amazing gift that this system provided him with. Without much ado, he quickly activated the Learning Boost 50% before activating the 7 day training card.