Chapter 6

Morning came.

Feeling incredibly refreshed, I got up and had breakfast at the tavern.

Today, I planned to visit the library.

The "Royal Grand Library" — commonly known as "Comiket."

Probably no one in this world would call it that, though.

Why is it called Comiket? It has to do with the skill acquisition system in this world.

There are mainly two conditions for acquiring a skill:

One is reading a skill book.

The other is completing a skill quest.

The former is a common condition for basic skills, while the latter is more common for advanced skills.

The Royal Grand Library has a vast collection of skill books.

You probably get the idea.

When beginners visit the "Kingdom of Castal" and the "Capital Winston," they head straight to the Royal Grand Library to read skill books one by one. Just flipping through the pages is enough to meet the condition, so they quickly go through the shelves, taking and returning books from the far-right shelf. With many beginners and sub-characters lining up and silently working through the process, the scene resembles Comiket, hence the nickname. Some even make their own signs saying "End of the line here" or shout things like "Sold out!" Ah, those were good times...

...While reminiscing, I arrived at the Royal Grand Library.

I paid the entrance fee and went inside. I immediately headed to the far-right shelf and began my pilgrimage.

This time, I planned to learn two basic combat skills each for melee and ranged combat, the "First Form" of the "Attack Magic" skill for all four elements, and "Enchantment Magic," along with some basic life and production skills.

For combat skills, there are nine types: Infantry, Lance, Knight, Silver General, Gold General, Bishop, Rook, Dragon Horse, and Dragon King.

The basic skills I can learn this time are "Infantry Archery," "Lance Archery," "Infantry Swordsmanship," and "Lance Swordsmanship." Infantry is for regular attacks, while Lance is for piercing attacks.

Next, for "Attack Magic," it's simple — there are only four elements: fire, water, wind, and earth. Each has forms from First to Fifth. Here, only the First Form magic books for the four elements are available. The Second and Third Form magic books are at the "Royal Magic Academy," the Fourth Form magic books are dungeon rewards, and the Fifth Form magic books are obtained after completing hidden quests.

Additionally, there is "Enchantment Magic," which allows you to imbue equipment with auxiliary effects. It doesn't have much visible effect early on, but it becomes extremely powerful in the late game. It's absolutely essential to learn.

Finally, the life and production skills are convenience skills. They include potion brewing, alchemy, and blacksmithing. While you don't need them early on, they will be necessary later, so I decided to learn them here.

That's about it. I finished reading all the skill books I wanted to learn, and it took less than 30 minutes. I left the library in a hurry.

My plan moving forward is to develop my character in the order of "Archery → Swordsmanship → Magic → Summoning."

I'll ensure safety and earn experience points with ranged attacks, then solidify my foundation with efficient and user-friendly swordsmanship, and prepare a trump card for higher-level opponents with high-damage magic.

Regarding "Summoning," I decided to level it up relatively early because of my avatar. When I created this sub-character, I bought a "Limited-Time Premium Payment Ticket," which comes with a "Premium Spirit Ticket." Since it promises the summoning of a powerful spirit, there's no reason not to level up summoning. However, summoning is a supportive skill with limitations for main combat, so I decided it's best to level it up after reaching a certain level in magic.

Now that I have a plan, I'll allocate experience points to the skills I've learned.

I'll level "Infantry Archery" from level 16 to level 3, and "Lance Archery" from level 16 to level 1. This is the minimum level to fight with archery alone.

I'll level all four elements of "First Form Attack Magic" from level 16 to level 5 and stop there. The activation time for First Form is shortened from level 5.

I think it's fine to keep the others at level 16, but I'll level "Infantry Swordsmanship" to level 9 as insurance for close combat.

After that, I ran out of experience points to allocate. That's about it.

This should be a good foundation. I can always go back to Comiket and learn more when needed.

"Now, I need to learn the essential archery skills."

The essential skills for "Archery" include Infantry, Lance, Knight, Silver General, Gold General, Bishop, and Rook. Almost all of them, except for Dragon Horse and Dragon King. They are flashy and powerful but have no practical use and are extremely costly.

Each has unique characteristics: "Knight Archery" for precision shooting, "Silver General Archery" for powerful single-target attacks, "Gold General Archery" for area attacks and knockback, "Bishop Archery" for powerful piercing attacks, and "Rook Archery" for extremely powerful single-target attacks.

Especially "Knight Archery," "Gold General Archery," and "Rook Archery" are essential. Just learning these can significantly increase the number of strategies you can use.

However, unlike the basic skills for Infantry and Lance, these require completing skill quests. But you don't need to accept quests; just meet the conditions.

I visited a weapon shop and bought a longbow. It's a simple and standard large bow.

"Alright, let's go, Seven Stay Oh."

I returned to the inn's stable, mounted Seven Stay Oh, and set out. My destination was the mine again.

On the way, I made a detour into the forest and shot a slime with the longbow from horseback using "Infantry Archery."

I missed. Thinking it was unlikely to hit on the first try, I kept shooting until I hit.

The slime scattered with a "Piki!" scream. I left the forest and checked my status on the road.

"Good, good."

The skill "Knight Archery" was added to my archery skills because I met the condition of "killing a monster from horseback." The condition was very simple.

I also met the conditions for "Silver General Archery" and "Gold General Archery" on the way to the mine. The conditions were "killing a monster with a single hit 20 times in a row" and "killing 10 monsters in a row within 3 meters."

Next, I needed to learn "Bishop Archery." This was a bit more complicated. I had to meet two conditions: "killing five monsters simultaneously with 'Lance Archery'" and "killing two monsters simultaneously from over 25 meters using both 'Lance Archery' and 'Knight Archery.'"

I wandered into the mine and found a group of Flame Ants.

Flame Ants are weak individually but often attack in groups of dozens, using team tactics. Their nests can have hundreds of them, making them very troublesome if surrounded. However, they are easy targets from a distance. I could clear both conditions by using "Lance Archery" from a super-long distance.

"Ah, there they are..."

I found a group of Flame Ants, took a deep breath, and positioned myself about 30 meters away. I aimed with "Knight Archery."

With a satisfying "swish," the arrow flew, wrapped in red and white effects. Red for Lance, white for Knight.

"Alright!"

I made a small fist pump. The arrow pierced over ten Flame Ants. The plan worked, and "Bishop Archery" was added to my skills.

I quickly left the area before the Flame Ants could locate me.

Now, the last one was "Rook Archery."

This was the most troublesome and the most powerful skill.

Why is it powerful? It's a "multiplier attack skill." At level 16, it can deal 250% of your base damage in a single-target attack, and at level 9, the multiplier jumps to 600%. It's the most powerful and practical single-target attack skill in "Archery."

However, the acquisition conditions are incredibly troublesome, easily ranking in the top 10 most annoying.

The conditions are: "killing 1000 monsters with 'Silver General Archery'" and "landing 500 critical hits with 'Silver General Archery.'" The first one will naturally be met over time, and the second one will also accumulate naturally.

A critical hit is a multiplier effect that depends on your LUK stat, the "Critical" skill level, and equipment effects. At level 16, a critical hit deals 150% more damage, and at level 9, it deals 300% more. You can learn the skill as soon as you land one critical hit.

My current critical rank is 16, with a LUK value of 31 and no equipment effects. The critical hit rate is 16% + 10% from the level 16 bonus + 3% from LUK, totaling about 13%. At level 9, the bonus is +40%. I should prioritize leveling this as soon as I have the experience points...

Getting back to "Rook Archery."

The first two conditions can be met with time. The real problem is the last one.

It requires "killing three monsters in a row with a single hit from over 15 meters away, after using 'Knight Archery' and 'Silver General Archery' to reduce another player's HP by 50% or more."

Just thinking about it is troublesome.

First, I need to encounter a situation where someone is being attacked by a monster. Then, I have to wait for their HP to drop below 50%. The monster needs to be weak enough to be killed in one hit. If I fail even once, I have to start over. This is the worst.

If this were still an MMORPG, I could ask someone to let their HP drop to 50% and it would be relatively easy. But this is the real world. Dropping to 50% HP means "life-threatening." It's impossible to ask someone to do that. Encountering such a situation three times is even more impossible.

However, I need "Rook Archery." It's an essential skill for "Archery."

"...Well, I guess I'll just have to wait and fill in the other conditions."

I decided to complete the 1000 kills and 500 critical hits and wait for the opportunity.

The opportunity came in an unexpected form.

* * *

At the Royal Grand Library.

The librarian, Paloma, was taking a break after finishing her work for the day.

"Paloma-sama, may I have a moment?"

"Of course, what is it?"

A librarian approached Paloma and bowed before speaking.

"Today, there was a suspicious man."

"Hmm?"

The female librarian handed a document to Paloma.

Paloma stroked her white-streaked beard and read the report.

"...Hmm, he was only reading skill books."

"From what I observed, he wasn't actually reading them. He would take a book, glance at it for about 10 seconds, and then return it. I suspect he had another purpose."

"I see."

The report stated that the man "left after 25 minutes."

"He wasn't reading them... I'll keep an eye on him. If he visits the library again, please report it immediately."

"Understood."

The female librarian bowed and left Paloma's office.

Paloma crossed her legs, sipped her tea, and whispered, "What could his purpose be...?"

Her words quietly disappeared into the teacup.

Thank you for reading.

List of "Archery" Skills:

- "Dragon King Archery": Powerful area attack at the impact point

- "Dragon Horse Archery": Powerful area-piercing attack

- "Rook Archery": Extremely powerful single-target attack

- "Bishop Archery": Powerful piercing attack

- "Gold General Archery": Area attack + knockback

- "Silver General Archery": Powerful single-target attack

- "Knight Archery": Precision shooting

- "Lance Archery": Piercing attack

- "Infantry Archery": Regular attack