Upon waking up early at dawn, Leo didn't leave the comfort and warmth of his bed, simply reaching up to the small desk beside him to grab a book for his morning read. Leo had adapted this to his routine to wash away his sleepiness

Although the book was mostly redundant, Leo still read through it as a whole, seeking the parts he lacked, hidden within each line and page. By the time he was done with the book, a most welcome voice spoke to his mind.

[ Reading attribute, 'Skill Reading', has been activated! ]

Following the re-emergence of the message that he was looking forward to the most, Leo's mind got to experience the deepened extraction of knowledge from his recent reads once more.

In order to make the most of this unexpected activation, Leo shrugged off the blanket as he jumped out of bed, immediately picking up his sword and performing the reinforced basics he just learned repeatedly.

Despite his gain, however, Leo stared into the empty air in pressed lips at the end of his mini-workout, disappointment visible on his face.

"It seems like I'm stuck again"

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Personal Skills:

'Basic Swordsmanship' - Chapter 1 - page 9/10

'Horsemanship' - Prologue - page 9/10

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Rather than this being the first time he heard the voice of the 'Book' since he arrived in Swordkeep, this was already the second time!

Over the last six days, Leo had ended up buying and reading a few dozen books in hopes of filling up the blanks within the basics he learned, this process proving to be very effective in no time.

After the 'new' within every book he read piled up, 'Skill Reading' managed to activate two days ago, advancing his 'Basic Swordsmanship' by one more page. Moreover, over the last two days, the page count didn't stagnate, increasing further as Leo digested his newfound learnings.

Undeniably, this could be considered as very swift progress. However, the problem lay in the fact that the third 'Skill Reading' activation of 'Basic Swordsmanship' failed to cause any immediate change...

"It might be possible to take one step further, but I will need something more than just basics to start the next 'chapter'."

Similarly, the third 'Skill Reading' still had to be digested, but Leo recognized the limits of how far it could push him. In fact, he doubted that even a fourth 'Skill Reading' would show no effects unless he found something of better quality that's suited for the current him.

'Let's not get greedy'

In reality, reaching the point where his basics felt so close to being complete in mere three months was enough to satisfy Leo or make him overjoyed even. However, perhaps due to his awareness of how far his ability could push him, Leo's sight couldn't help but reach far ahead.

"At least I only need to find the proper book to progress."

Most importantly, the biggest gain that Leo had realized during this week was none other than his increased understanding of 'Skill Reading'!

Unlike his initial impression, 'Skill Reading' wasn't a one-time per skill ability, rather, as long as Leo read enough new content, the ability would naturally activate, similar to how his 'Reading' worked passively, unaffected by Leo's intent.

Although it took quite a bit of time for it to activate this time, this was only due to the limited

'New' content. Otherwise, Leo believed that even one book would be enough for the activation of 'Skill Reading'. Naturally, that was considering the knowledge that it held would be completely foreign to him.

"Today seems like a good day!"

Opening the window and feeling the comfortable breeze of the wind, Leo felt especially optimistic after getting to understand more about himself. Not loitering any further, he quickly went down to get into the line for showers in hopes of chancing upon his objective

`~~~`~~~`~~~`

"Roasted chicken skewers! Roasted chicken skewers! Come get them while they are hot! Only one silver sword for three!"

Clinck.

"I will take three."

As he walked through the streets that he was already starting to get used to, Leo kept a book under his arm while he enjoyed the deliciously marinated chicken, making sure to not lose sight of his surroundings.

Living up to its reputation as the city visited from everywhere, there were all kinds of unique and special food, boasting an incredible variety. As an apprentice 'foodie' himself, Leo didn't waste the chance to try out a few things during his 'quest'.

'This one is a win.'

Compared to one of the days where he almost threw up after trying a fish cooked in a 'special' way, Leo was satisfied with his find for the day. However, when he was just about to bite into the last skewer, his mouth froze open as his eyes stared at the end of the street.

The end corners of streets within Swordkeep were usually the spots where beggars laid around, so most people usually avoided them, including Leo, but the current him barely remembered to close his mouth before marching towards a specific end corner in big strides.

Clinck!

Hurriedly retrieving a copper coin from his pouch, Leo's pupils dilated as he threw it down into a rusty metal bowl, awaiting the response of the man sitting beside it

The elderly man wearing terribly ragged clothes raised his face to look at Leo who tried his best to hide his excitement. Although the man's face was covered in gray, his eyes didn't seem to match his current appearance in any way.

'Found you.'

Calming himself down, Leo smiled in the direction of the elderly man's face as he presented the skewer in his hand to him.

"Hey there grandpa, you seem like you haven't eaten in days! I know this isn't much, but that's all I have with me now."

As the elderly man stretched out his hand and grabbed the skewer, Leo couldn't simply let the fish who caught his bait let go, proceeding with the rest of the script that he prepared for this exact moment.

"Instead, what do you think about following me to grab a proper meal?"

Leo smiled innocently as he patiently watched the elderly man devour the chicken skewer....