Balthus sighed and said, "They are coming earlier than expected."

Great, more cryptic contextless information, thought Cless. She knew they'd never tell her who 'they' were and when they were expected, but they were coming earlier so, yay?

"Who is coming earlier?" Venaris asked the taboo question. Both Karen and Balthus turned to look at her.

Cless reviewed what happened so far. Everyone rushed to the common room after Karen called them. They met a road-weary Balthus that apparently ran all the way back. Once everyone gathered, the man delivered the line. But the meaning was more profound. Balthus left without warning and stayed away for a few days. Then he rushes back to warn them like another monster horde was coming to destroy the town. Maybe she could use this approach to probe.

"Is it the orc horde? I thought we exterminated them. Did the remaining orcs rally under a new leader?" Cless asked.

"Hah!" Balthus exhaled forcefully. "If only it were monsters or demons."

Karen took a step to the side and elbowed him. She then glared at Cless. The girl knew exactly what Karen meant but she ignored her.

"Not angels either, right?" Balthus went with the flow and nodded.

That left only one side of the equation. Whatever organization was keeping tabs on Cless decided to rush their plans in response to... whatever happened. It meant that the surveillance network they kept around Cless was working full-throttle to feed them information.

"No more questioning!" Karen declared. After her bout of outrage passed, the innkeeper softened and asked, "Cless, please, could you let me see your complete status sheet?"

Cless nodded, not failing to notice an astonished Josefine. Sharing status sheets was not possible. But she could cram her status as a condition on a contract and make her Skill do the job. Karen went wide-eyed at her status. Cless knew it was a piece of work.

After reviewing her status for quite a long time, Karen cursed. Balthus stood up.

"What is wrong, Karen?" He asked, clearly concerned.

"Her Stats are all over the place. She has a Stat-less Class as her 1st tier, and eighteen unknown Skills. With points only, she is like over the hundred-fifties."

"Does anyone have something to write on?" Balthus asked and Venaris raised her hand then darted upstairs. "And how does someone have unknown Skills?"

"I can explain that," Cless said in a faint voice to avoid drawing the ire of them. "I took the Skills from the bandits I hunted, but I got so absorbed in my studies that I didn't check what they are."

Josefine was the one to raise a question this time. "Are you a Skill Hunter, Cless?" She asked. Josefine seemed afraid, disturbed.

"What?" Cless asked instinctively. That sounded very dangerous.

Karen rolled her eyes. It seemed that losing control of the flow of information was unsettling for her.

"I can explain," Vic said. "To understand that, we need to build on what Karen said. A Stat-less Class is a class that doesn't give stats."

"Mine does. Only on Wisdom though."

"Yes! I forgot that, Balthus." Karen snapped her fingers. "She unlocked all seven."

Balthus whistled, clearly impressed.

"Good. A Skill Hunter is an entirely stat-less class that has no tier and only one proficiency. It is eponymously called 'Skill Hunt'. If one has the requirements, you can pick Skill Hunter at any tier. The difference is that getting the Class in a higher tier sharply improves the chance of hunting Skills of a higher grade."

"Okay, let me see if I got it." Cless raised an outstretched hand to stop Vic. "It is a Class that allows you to steal Skills?"

"Hunt, not steal. You have a chance to get the Skill when the target dies."

Seeing that the cat was out of the bag, Karen added, "It is extremely difficult, you miss out on a ton of stats and you don't know what you get. Once you get a Skill, it is stuck forever. A tier five Skill Hunter would have a narrow chance of hunting a C-rank Skill, for example."

Tier five would be the twenty-five levels after one hundred. That Skill hunter would sacrifice eighty stat points for a bunch of D-rank or below Skills and a crack at a C-rank or B-rank one. Cless snorted.

"No, Josefine. I am no Skill Hunter, and I have absolutely no plans to become one."

"That is good," Balthus reassured Cless' decision with a smile. "While they are not outright executed, the church and government frown upon known Skill Hunters."

"They are regarded as murderous psychotics that might kill someone just to see their Skills." Josefine Illustrated the bias on that class.

"Most are. The few I knew were," Karen confessed. "They were greedy bastards that killed for almost no reason."

"You don't worry, Josie." Cless tried to reassure her coworker and friend, "Nobody is murdering or getting murdered here."

"That's a noble statement, Cless. Now, would you mind checking what you got from the bandits? I'm really curious and it might affect your training."

"Okay." Cless felt a deep shame. She held back on these and forgot entirely of the skills. She suppressed the names and pulled up the text notifications.

You gained the following Skills:

Air sailing (E) - Can row to propel an airship.

Sully (F) - Lowers evaluation of target in the eyes of peers with insult.

Puncture (E) - Stab wounds bleed more.

Clobber (E) - Blunt attacks more likely to cause numbness.

Howl (E) - Can howl as a wolf. Allows communication with wolves.

Poison Burst (D) - Can turn one dose of poison into a cloud-like AoE attack.

Ambush Bash (E) - When attacking from a hidden position with blunt weapon, increases target knockback.

Mangle (E) - Slashing attacks on limbs more likely to cause numbness to that limb.

Cheat (F) - Automatic proficiency in gambling. Likelihood to be caught cheating decreases with level.

Virility (E) - The user can make his manhood up to (25 + level x 2)% bigger. Suffer no impotence or refractory period.

Shiver Shiv (F) - Stab wounds inflicted by the user cause the target to feel intense cold.

Enhanced touch (E) - The user's tactile sensibility is increased by (10 + level x 2)%. Does not incrase pain.

Inner Compass (F) - The user always knows the way north.

Boxer (E) - Automatic proficiency with unarmed combat. Your unarmed strikes deal (10 + level)% more damage.

Belching (G) - Automatic proficiency in belching. Your belches are louder by (50 + level x 2)%

Steelshine (D) - You treat metal as light sources only you can see. Precious metals shine brighter.

Splinters (E) - Leave splinters behind when you hit someone with a mostly wooden weapon. Weapon is not damaged by attacking.

Ironclaw (E) - Your fingernails are unbreakable. Extend their length up to your thumb's width.

Not a single C-rank one. Two D-rank. and as she expected, one crappy G-rank Skill. And something odd in the mix.

"I got them."

Cless announced. Karen started to laugh uncontrollably. She was puzzled by her aunt's behavior until she remembered the older woman could still see her status.

"She got something you'd love to have, Balthus," Karen chortled holding the man's shoulder."

Even with almost a hundred Intellect, Cless took a little to understand. She blushed fiercely as she tried to hide behind Kurt.

"Does Balthus need it?" Cless asked honestly. She would gift the man the man-only Skill she got. It was useless for her. And she had absolutely no intention to check if she could grow one.

Karen had to sit down to avoid rolling on the floor from laughing. "My sides are bursting!" She quipped. "Balthus!"

Venaris returned with a few sheets of rabbit parchment, pen, and an inkwell. "Did I miss something?"

"Cless opened her midwinter gifts, it seems," Kurt explained in her usual laidback way. "And some of them are very funny by the looks of it."

"What are you talking about? Karen, write it down here."

Balthus took the stationery from the gnome with a polite nod and placed them in front of Karen. The innkeeper wasted no time to pen down the description of the said Skill. Balthus ripped the parchment to shreds in anger.

"No, Cless. I don't need it."

The girl caught her eyes drifting down into his codpiece. She covered her face with her hands. "Okay." She could keep it as a bargain. Maybe work as a Skill merchant? She imagined herself approaching men on the streets and saying, 'hey, do you want a permanently bigger and tireless..' She also sat down or she would run away in shame. After some awkward time, Cless and Karen recomposed themselves.

"I will pass these Skills around. Are claws and fangs considered unarmed combat?"

"No, Cless," Answered Balthus. "Unarmed are kicks, punches and other blows using human-like appendages."

"Good. I know what to do now."

Cless gave Poison Burst to Vic. He could make his own poison with his spells or venom from his fangs. She then showered Silverfang with Puncture, Mangle, Shiver Shiv, and Ironclaw. It would improve both his bite and claw attacks. Venaris got Boxer, Clobber, and Ambush Bash. Her sling attacks would become even stronger. She laughed at the thought of a large orc getting hit with a sling bullet and flying backward. She had no idea what Kurt could do so she held back on gifting him any Skill.

Cless reviewed the other Skills. She had an idea for an experiment. One of them struck out.

"Air Sailing?" Oblivious, she asked out loud.

"That is a nice one even though it is not that rare in the southern lands," Karen explained. "You have to have it or a second tier class specific to airship operations to join an airship crew. Not many come this way, in fact, none came in the last decades. Dragons, wyverns and griffins don't like airships much. This near to the mountain range, it is dangerous."

"Thanks, it is good to know," Cless replied as she sat next to Karen. "I'll keep that one then."

Cless took the stationery and started to pen down some simple contracts.

Whoever accepts the terms herein and signs their name in the dotted line below will receive the G-rank Belching Skill as described below after he shreds this parchment.

— Belching (G): Automatic proficiency in belching. Your belches are louder by (50 + level x 2)%.

Knowledge of where the skill was obtained and the terms and effects of this contract will disappear within a minute of signing. Signer will rationalize with their fantasies and imagination as if they always had the Skill.

Signing implies acceptance. Signing without shredding within a minute implies a penalty of 10% of the signer's total Experience, reverted to the author of this contract.

By writing this contract the author reliquished the Skill. If this parchment is destroyed without acceptance the Skill will be lost forever.

Signed: ...........................................................

They all had the same terms and changed only in the text. She wrote one for each of Belching, Sully, and Virility. The Skills disappeared from her Status after she finished writing them. With Detect Magic, she could sense a faint aura on the parchment. After that, she showed the contracts and asked, "Does anyone volunteer to try one of these?"

"I'll take Belching if nobody objects," Balthus answered. "It might be fun for some tavern games."

Karen rolled her eyes. Balthus signed and promptly shredded the contract into a mist of fine confetti. Josefine rolled her eyes. Cless met hers and silently promised to clean the common room.

"If you belch in my inn using that Skill I'll make you need the Virility one." Karen threatened a very mischief-inclined Balthus.

"Why? I always had that one! Don't you remember that dwarven tavern? How I got us lodging for free that night?"

"Congratulations, Cless," Karen said in a deadpan tone that contradicted the glare she was giving Balthus. "It worked. I'm getting Sully. It will become mighty and handy if I use it." She did the same as Balthus, blowing the shredded parchment on his face.

Kurt's wing was inching for the Virility contract. "Don't you dare," Cless threatened. She wanted to rip the parchment but instead stored it in her pocket.

"Good. Cless, go get your weapons and gear up. Venaris, Vic, Kurt and Silverfang, all of you too. We are starting an intense training menu in one hour. We have little time to waste." Balthus commanded. Cless went up to get her stuff and pulled her Status.

Air Sailing (E) - You can row to propel an airship.

Howl (E) - You can howl as a wolf. Allows communication with wolves.

Cheat (F) - Automatic proficiency in gambling. Likelihood to be caught cheating decreases with level.

Enhanced touch (E) - Your tactile sensibility is increased by (10 + level x 2)%. Does not increase pain.

Inner Compass (F) - You always know the way north.

Steelshine (D) - You treat metal as light sources. Precious metals shine brighter.

Splinters (E) - Leave splinters behind when you hit someone with a mostly wooden weapon. Weapon is not damaged with attacks.

She reviewed the seven Skills she kept for herself. Air Sailing was a novelty. Howl would hopefully let her talk to Silverfang in wolf form. Cheat could come in handy, who knows? Enhanced Touch sounded nice, Inner compass was very good, Steelshine would compensate giving Night Vision to Venaris and Splinters was fantastic for an archer. Arrows were mostly wooden but to her, leaving the splinters behind was not the biggest benefit, she wanted her targets dead, not inconvenienced. Arrows that don't break upon attacking were a dream.

Balthus took them to the northern woods. The gruesome training was about to start.

Name: Cless (no surname)

Race: Human.

Level: 50 ( 1,224,681 / 1,275,000 Exp )

Class: — Dabbler 11 (56,542 / 66,000 Exp ) — Priestess 25 (975,000 Exp / ** )

Profession — Veteran Warmaster 18 (158,689 / 171,000 Exp) — Crafter 16 (Skill) — Farmer 16 (Skill)

Base Stats — Strength: 63 — Agility: 85 [136] — Health: 85 — Intellect: 96 — Wisdom: 40 — Charisma: 46 — Magic: 115

Available Status Points: 66

Skills:

S-rank: [ Absolute Contract ]

B-rank: [ Succubus’ Kiss ]

C-rank: [ Crafter ], [ Dangersense ], [ Elven Longevity ], [ Eat Anything ], [ Earth Magic ], [ Master Miner ]

D-Rank: [ Trick Shot ], [ Nimble Step ], [ Tinker ], [ Grounding ], [ Dancer’s Grace ], [ Great Leap ], [ Druidwalk ],

— [ Tremorsense ], [ Gemsense ], [ Ore sense ], [ Brownie Magic ], [ Courtier’s Charm ], [ Curmudgeon crafter ]

— [ Singers’ Talent ], [ Poison Resistance ], [ Merchant sense ], [Steelshine], [ Heavy Handed ], [ Farmer ], [ Twin Strike ],

E-Rank: [ Gravebreath ], [ Architectural Ingenuity ], [ Coin Sense ], [ Weavertouch ], [ Silk Hair ], [ Wanderlust ],

— [ Giant's Stamina ], [ Hearth’s warmth ], [ Seamstress Talent ], [ Lady’s Countenance ], [Enhanced Touch],

— [ Howl], [ Air Sailing], [ Splinters ]

F-rank: [ Gardener’s touch ], [ Florist’s Wonder ]. [ Cheat ], [ Inner Compass ]

Spells:

Cleric: — Mending: 50 — Detoxify: 36 — Light: 44 — Turn Undead: 34 — Blessing: 46 — Holy Bolt: 50 — Purify: 47 — Protection: 50

— — — Hallow: 50 — Flametongue: 30 — Cure: 30 — Uncurse: 30 — Banish: 30 — Heal: 50 — Warding: 30 — Revivify*: 30

Mage: — Detect Magic: 15 — Mage Bolt: 21 — Armor: 31 — Firebolt: 11 — Icebolt: 12 — Lightning Grasp: 11 — Shield: 25

— — — Fireball: 8 — Resistance: 14 — Shockwave: 11 — Magic Missiles: 18 — Wind Blade: 17 — ????????????????

Priestess: Censure: 22 — Bulwark: 35 — Mass Mending: 32 — Sacred Dance: 21 — Judgement: 27 — Song of the Accord*: 24

House: — Detect Dust: 32 — Doorwatch: 16 — Prestidigitation: 22 — Never Overdone!: 15 — Touch Up: 17

— — — Dry: 24 — Repair: 21 — Clean: 32 — Bloom: 35 — Hearth Recall*: 14

Earth: — Soften: 16 — Earth Armor: 23 — Spike: 11 — Stone Shape: 31 — Earthen Maw: 6 — Earthwave: 7

— — — Terrakinesis: 11 — Golem*: 13

Proficiencies (values under 10 hidden):

Appraisal: Status: 22

General: Prayer: 48 — Reading: 16 — Skinning: 11

Social: Negotiation: 31 — Persuasion: 16 — Bluff: 17

Martial: Leadership: 38 — Intimidation: 44 — Tactics: 34

Weapon: Long Blades: 27 — Unarmed: 27 — Archery: 34 — Maces: 32