The World Which Is

Chapter 31

"Then you want the third floor, room three-o-four to three-o-eight. The node accesses there are set to deal with both. It shouldn't be too busy, since most people buy their skill with cash."

"Do they have access to class abilities?"

"They do, but you can't buy those with money, and you can do that from your personal connection to the system."

"Yes, but I want to look at them side by side, do comparison to make sure the build I planned is going to work. I can't do that with the system's answers."

The smile stretches before I finish, but doesn't expose teeth. "The node are general access, so you'll be able to do that."

"Thank you." I head to the large stairs and up to the third floor. The numbers are on brass plaques on each side of the entries. Three-o-four and five have all their nodes occupied, but six has half of them free.

Unlike with Base, where I interface through a screen in the command center or in my room, or by having Base just show me what I'm asking for, here the access node is a sphere floating over a table with a chair before it. I sit and touch it and a welcome screen appears.

I open the journal on the table, taking out one of the pages I added before leaving court and the stylus.

"Show me the list of skill relating to the wilderness." I don't have to speak. The man two nodes from me glances in my direction in annoyance before going back to typing and looking at the screen only he can see. Another difference from Base. The nodes use my personal interface to display the information, instead of having a screen anyone can read.

I know how to write, but I've always talked with Base, so that's what's comfortable for me. The node doesn't say anything. Neither Base nor Grandpa Louis know if their relationship is unique. In their travels, they haven't come across another military node, so they can't find out if they are all like them. What they did say is that they've never come across settlement node that seemed to be able to be able to think. On the whole they seem to be extensions of the system, filtered down to accomplish specific tasks.

Like manage a city or let people pick skills, classes when it's time, get information. Base can do all that, but he doesn't need anyone setting the node up for what it will deal with. He doesn't even need Grandpa Louis, although as the Commander, Base needs to obey him when he gives an order.

Or when he sets someone else to be able to give Base orders.

System Query: Skills, Outdoors

Camouflage

Botany

Cartography

Climbing

Fishing

Hiking

Meteorology

Navigation

Prospecting

Swimming

Tracking

Trapping

Zoology

Cryptozoology

I write down meteorology and tracking next to the butchering skill, cryptozoology, leather working and fletching I already planned for. I add zoology. I doubt monsters are all I'll be killing while I travel. At least I don't plane on hunting them for food if I have other options. If cryptozoology can get me more from their corpse, then zoology should do the same with normal animals.

I consider trapping, then dismiss it. That requires staying in place longer than I plan to. Camouflage is...I don't know how important that is to hunting. It feels more like something I want to use if I'm trying to evade someone.

Hiking is tougher. At it All Day lets me travel for longer without getting tired. Does it work with hiking or not? It should, I think, but neither explicitly say so.

System, Does the hiking skill add to the At it All Day ability? No response.

Add to that how Aether Striding opens up teleportation, and Aether striding lets me access an entirely other plane of travel, and hiking doesn't seem all that impressive anymore. Sure, in that other plane I still have to walk for a cube of treens, so I'd only want it for really long distance travel. So maybe hiking would be of use, but...

I add sewing. If it's a good idea to be able to repair my leather armor myself, it's a better one to be able to repair my clothing.

That's eight skills. I'll probably learn hiking just with all the walking I'll do. That leaves one point. Two if I decide to buy one with money.

It's tempting to keep two points in reserve, but money is also good.

This is harder than I expected.

I buy them with points. Ultimately, money is more versatile, so something I should keep as much of that around as possible.

So that's eight new skills, all at level one. I am looking at a lot of practicing for them to be of any use.

No point wasting time worrying about that. Now it's on to going over my abilities properly.