Buying My First Skill

Making an ax was about the same as making a hammer, at least in the stone age.

The only real difference would be that the stone used as the head of the ax has to be carved to have a sharp edge, not as sharp as steel weapons, of course, but they still had to be sharp enough to facilitate the chopping of trees.

And while, as proven by the nomads, it was possible to use any rock as an ax if you use enough force. Still, the point of making axes was to make chopping a tree as easy as and effortless as possible, not only to increase efficiency but also to help lower the amount of energy (food) needed to chop down trees.

When I got to the river, I just picked a triangular stone and began sharpening the wider end using the sharpest stone I had.

Although the jaguar fang was indeed sharp, it was not strong enough to help carve rock. It only took me half an hour to get a sharp enough edge on the stone, but I knew that I could do better, so I continued for another hour. In the end, I was only able to make the edge slightly sharper, but I still considered it a good usage of time.

Before I could actually finish making the ax, however, everyone else came over to where I was.

I was initially confused until they pointed at the fireplace, and I understood that they were hungry and wanted breakfast. As I walked over, I could see that they had been trying to start a fire on their own, and all I could think of was how they were getting smarter.

"With all fairness, host, though they are not as knowledgeable as you, they still have the mental capacity of a 13-year-old, so they will be able to reason most common things that they are taught as long as they receive good enough guidance."

'That sounds about right. Also, that's surprisingly considerate of you.'

"Of course, host, I always tell the truth, even if what I say hurts others; at the end of the day, that's what I am here to do right, otherwise. How could I be fair when it comes to giving and taking away? RP?"

'...Fair …enough… By the way, would the store still happen to be open?'

"Of course, host, would you like to use the store? :D"

'Yes, that would be correct.'

While I was still mad from the system's little comment about being 'truthful,' I wasn't able to stay that way for long as I was soon suddenly transported to what looked like an ancient library with all of the shelves filled with books.

I tried to read them, but all of the pages were just blank. Eventually, as I walked down 'hall' (open space between the rows of bookshelves), I found a podium made of old wood.

There was also some sort of random engraving on it that I wasn't able to recognize.

Regardless, as soon as I touched it, the engraving began to glow like my pocket watch had the first time I called on the system before having a glowing screen floating in front of me, displaying only two options.

[Technology] [Skills]

I was amazed not only because of the screen but because all of the empty books had begun to glow, I had originally asked if the store was open to seeing how it worked and was not really planning to buy anything, but now that I was here I decided that it wouldn't be a bad thing to buy something.

After thinking for a while, I decided to look for knowledge that would help me communicate with the nomads more easily without teaching them how to speak, making me go over to the skills section.

When I did, I suddenly felt the ground tremble as some of the books and even entire shelves that once shined brightly went up in flames before disappearing. With that, the options on the screen changed.

[Attack skills] [Defence skills] [Communication skills] [Tricks/Abilities]

I was surprised to see that there were skills that improved my attacking abilities and defensive ones. Despite being really tempted to take a look, I decided not to forget what I was planning to get and picked the communication skills option, once again causing some bookshelves to go up in flames.

I had come to terms with the fact that every time I picked an option, all those books that did not fit the category would just disappear.

This time though, instead of giving me more options, the screen just displayed a map showing where the different remaining sections of the library were, being separated into Primitive, North American, South American, Central American, European, African, Oceanian, Asian, Sign Language and Literature Knowledge.

I assumed that the sections named after continents contained the languages of the counties found in said continents and just went over to the primitive section.

There were many books and a podium at the end of the hallway created by the shelves. After touching the engraving on this podium, what appeared on the screen was a list of all the knowledge found in this section and its price.

After scrolling for a while, I finally found one that fit what I was looking for under the name of 'gesture language.'

Afterward, I was presented with two options, one that offered me a primitive version of sign language and gave me the ability to make people understand what I mean more easily just based on my gestures.

Needless to say, I chose the second one as it was what I had been looking for; before I did, though, the system once again opened its mouth.

"Host, I understand that you tend to overthink everything you do, but could you at least... choose something less boring. I mean, don't you want to stack up on attacking skills and become an insurmountable god on this earth, doesn't that sound more fun?"

'Not really, that kind of sounds like it would suck, plus if it's not like I'm in a position to be buying extra skills anyway, so it would just be better to be able to communicate with people and be able to work together better than to become slightly stronger.'

"... Your no fun."

Ignoring the system, I paid the 30 RP that the skill was valued at and suddenly saw the only remaining glowing book on one of the shelves.

I tried to grab it carefully as I could since I didn't know how delicately these had to be treated; as soon as I did, though, I felt a shock go through my body before I was suddenly transported out of the library before I completely left, I could hear a fading voice in the distance.

"HAVE FUN WITH YOUR lame skill hos-"