📍 A.M.O. Guild Hall | Afternoon
The Skill-Picker was a small, unhurried woman who looked at every person who sat before her with the same expression — not unkind, not particularly interested. She had seen too many awakenings to be impressed by any single one.
The ritual was simple. A drop of blood on the stone. The stone read it. A skill emerged — random, unchosen, entirely the system's decision.
Kiyoshi went first.
The stone glowed. He read the result.
Healing Kiss.
He stared at it.
The Skill-Picker waited with the patience of someone who had watched this exact expression cross a hundred faces.
He tried again.
Luck — ten minutes of extraordinary fortune. Forty mana.
He looked at the ceiling briefly.
Third attempt.
Eye of Wisdom — read the rank, skills, and level of anyone C rank or below. Ten mana per person.
He looked at that one differently. His mind had already started moving — the applications, the advantage of knowing exactly what he was dealing with before anyone knew he could see it.
That one, he thought, is worth the first two.
Sakura went next. She bled on the stone without ceremony and read her results with the expression of someone checking a list.
Hide — vanish within five meters, no breath, no sound, no presence. Thirty mana per minute.
Target — see the weak point of any opponent. Fifty mana, more for higher-ranked enemies.
She stepped back. Said nothing. But Kiyoshi caught the way her hand moved — a small, deliberate motion, like she was filing something away.
Assassin-type, he thought. Hide and Target. Of course.
The skills cost them two gold coins. They had twenty-five silver left.
📍 A.M.O. Guild Hall — Quest Board | Late Afternoon
The board covered an entire wall — quests ranked by difficulty, sorted by territory, updated daily. A B-rank quest needed a full party. A C-rank, Sakura could take alone. What they needed was something that wouldn't get Kiyoshi killed while he was still carrying E-rank numbers.
He found it near the bottom of the board.
D-rank. Village of Maren. Oversized bee-type monsters. Nest disrupting farmland. Reward: 3 gold coins.
"This one," he said.
Sakura read it. Said nothing for a moment.
"Bees," she said.
"Large bees. D-rank."
She looked at him. At the E on his license. Back at the quest.
"Fine," she said. "But you stay behind me."
He wanted to argue. He didn't.
The weight of E rank had been sitting in his chest since the result was posted — quiet and specific, the particular frustration of someone who understands systems well enough to know exactly how far behind he is. He had one useful skill, two embarrassing ones, a sword he hadn't assessed yet, and twenty-five silver coins.
He looked at the quest board. At the long distance between E and where they needed to be.
Start small, he told himself.
He took the quest.
✦ CODEX — Chapter Five ✦ World Archive: Entries Relevant to Chapter Five
ENTRY 019 — THE SKILL-PICKER
A Skill-Picker is a rare classification of awakened individual whose ability allows them to draw latent skills from others — skills the person carries but cannot access without assistance. The process requires a drop of the recipient's blood on a sensitised stone. The result is random. The Skill-Picker has no influence over what emerges.
Cost: one gold coin per skill drawn. Skills do not always surface on the first attempt.
A person may carry more skills than they have drawn. Drawing is not a one-time event.
ENTRY 020 — KIYOSHI'S SKILLS
Healing Kiss — Rank E Heals wounds through a kiss. MP Cost: 30 (minor injury) / 50 (critical injury)
Luck — Rank E Grants ten minutes of extraordinary luck. MP Cost: 40
Eye of Wisdom — Rank C Read the rank, level, and skills of anyone C-rank or below. MP Cost: 10 per person
Title awarded: Lucky Kisser
Note: Eye of Wisdom is above Kiyoshi's current rank. The system awarded it regardless. This has not been explained.
ENTRY 021 — SAKURA'S SKILLS
Hide — Rank D Conceal self within a 5-meter radius. Suppresses breath, footsteps, and presence entirely. MP Cost: 30 per minute
Target — Rank B Identify the weak point of any opponent. MP Cost: 50 (higher for stronger enemies)
Title awarded: Hiding Reaper
Both skills align precisely with Assassin-type classification. Type determines the nature of skills the system surfaces — it does not determine limits, only tendencies.
ENTRY 022 — UPDATED CHARACTER CARDS
KIYOSHI MORI Rank: E — Level 6 HP: 100% MP: 100 Type: Zero Skills: Luck, Healing Kiss, Eye of Wisdom Title: Lucky Kisser
SAKURA Rank: B — Level 1 HP: 100% MP: 500 Type: Assassin Skills: Hide, Target Title: Hiding Reaper
ENTRY 023 — ON QUESTS
Quests are posted by villages, merchants, nobles, and the A.M.O. itself. Each carries a rank matching the threat level. A solo adventurer should not attempt quests above their rank without a party buffer.
Sakura at B rank can solo a C-rank quest. Kiyoshi at E rank should not solo anything above E. Together, D rank is the practical ceiling for this stage.
First quest accepted: D-rank, Village of Maren. Target — oversized bee-type monsters disturbing farmland. Reward: 3 gold coins.
Remaining funds at time of departure: 25 silver coins.
Before that, they had taken a one-day full hunting and adventure class for the basics.