CHAPTER 22: ANCIENT PROPHECY? NOPE, I JUST WANT TO SURVIVE! 21

Midnight...

Nawfi was sleeping on a bed made of wood inside the cave. Beside him were a table, a shelf, a chair, candles, and other items.

Nawfi woke up and saw the skeleton sitting on the chair, polishing a sword. The candle on the table brightened part of the room.

"Mr. Skeleton! Can you tell me where the toilet is?" He asked in a sleepy voice.

The skeleton showed him the way.

A few minutes later, he got out of the toilet.

"Thanks... By the way, were you polishing the sword?"

The skeleton showed a circle sign.

"Do you know swordplay?" He asked curiously.

The skeleton again showed a circle sign with a skeletal smile.

"Can you teach me?" He grabbed its bony hands out of excitement.

He was so close to the skeleton that it couldn’t move its skeletal body.

It somehow pulled its hands back and showed a circle sign.

"Yeah hohh...." He was so excited.

The skeleton suddenly went into another room. Nawfi curiously tried to follow, but the skeleton showed a cross sign with its hands.

"You want me to stay here?" He asked.

The skeleton showed a circle sign.

He stayed behind.

A few minutes later,

The skeleton was carrying so many books that Nawfi couldn’t even see its skull, and some books fell off.

Nawfi went forward to help. He moved the books and picked up one. He opened it but couldn’t understand the language. He tried to read it.

[System Notification]

▶ [Common Class Basic Skill: Language Learner Acquired.]

"Another skill?" He could read it now. "It says, ’Divine Blade Arts’... Seems powerful."

[System Notification]

⟣ Skill : Divine Blade Arts ⟢

You do not have the required class to use this skill.

He took another one.

[System Notification]

⟣ Skill : Holy Sword of Light ⟢

You do not have the required class to use this skill.

He remembered something similar happening in the past and got annoyed. He flipped through other books out of frustration.

[ You don’t have... ]

[ You don’t... ]

"Come on! Give me one at least!"

[System Notification]

⟣ Scroll Acquired: Attack Absorber ⟢

Type: Sword Fogue

Info: This scroll can be used to enchant a sword, absorbing and converting incoming attacks into power.

Note: Usable only once.

"Finally, one... but it’s for a sword. What a waste!"

He flipped another book.

[System Notification]

⟣ Item Acquired: Basic Skills Manual ⟢

"Oh... It’s a real skill... Let’s use it." He was excited.

[System Notification]

⟣ Basic Skill Manual ⟢

Skills:

Swift Level: 10 (Max)

??? Locked

??? Locked

...

He clicked the locked mark.

[You need more skill points to unlock it. ]

"Not a fighting-type skill, but I can learn from here."

He looked around. There were no books left.

"No more skill books... Ahh!.."

He lay on the ground.

The skeleton came forward and held up a book over its head.

"Ancient History of Limerick World." He grabbed the book.

[System Notification]

▶ [Ancient History of Limerick World]

Type: Basic World Knowledge

Info: Many years ago, the guardians of the five worlds decided to combine all five worlds to create a peaceful world. But the cores of the world became corrupted and cursed the world. After that, the guardians tried to break the cores to separate the worlds again. However, one of the guardians betrayed them and sealed the other four guardians. Then, he ruled the world as a god and corrupted it. Now, the five emperors of the five great lands are controlled by his malice. To save the world, heroes will come to find the world core and break it. After the tutorial...

"The other pages are toned ."

He put down the book and thought.

"Heroes will come... Find the core... Destroy it and save the world..."

He looked at his mission.

[System Notification]

⟣ Tutorial Main Mission ⟢

Objective: Survive the tutorial period and destroy the World Core and save the world.

Reward: ???

"Save my ass... For now, I only need to prepare for safety measures and get out of here."

He closed his eyes and slept.

In the morning,

He woke up. He was stretching his hand and humming softly.

He looked outside the window. At night, it had looked like a cave, but now it was clear—it was a massive tree.

Outside the tree was beautiful. A large butterfly was flying by.

Suddenly, a toad shot out its tongue, snatched the butterfly, and swallowed it whole. A deer was running away from a tiger.

A huge mountain-like creature shifted slightly. If it hadn’t moved, one could easily mistake it for part of the landscape.

He heard some noise and felt hungry. A sweet, delicious fragrance drifted through the air.

Mr. Skeleton was cooking, flipping a frying pan with flair. He looked like a master chef...

The strange part was that he wore a frilly pink apron and a headband tied neatly around his skull.

Mr. Skeleton saw him. He approached, gently pushing him toward a table and gesturing for him to sit.

"You want me to sit here?"

It nodded—its skull bobbing up and down, nearly falling off.

Last night, it had learned many things, but the gesture it liked the most was the thumbs-up. Now, it used it often.

Mr. Skeleton served many dishes on the table. Just looking at the food made Nawfi almost drool.

He ate like a starving pig.

"Haah..." He sighed in satisfaction.

He couldn’t move his body after eating so much.

Mr. Skeleton was looking at him, its face silently begging for a compliment.

"It was wonderful." Nawfi gave him a thumbs-up.

Mr. Skeleton looked like it would burst into tears from joy.

It was strange... but seeing a skeleton cry from happiness somehow made Nawfi smile.

"Mr. Skeleton! You said you’d teach me sword arts. When will you teach me?" Nawfi remembered and asked.

Mr. Skeleton gave him a thumbs-up and smiled. It was telling Nawfi to follow.

Nawfi followed it into a workshop.

There were many items: red and blue potions, different herbs... but what caught Nawfi’s attention the most were the armors and weapons.

He looked at scale armors, chain mail, made from pitch-black metal—heavy like ancient warrior armor.

The swords were carefully forged, and their sharpness looked terrifying. They could probably slice through anything in one swing.

He backed away instinctively. They were dangerous.

He turned his attention to the candles and strange artifacts.

After a while,

while looking around the workshop, he began to feel bored. That’s when he noticed a trunk.

He was drawn to it and stepped closer.

He tried to open it, but it was stuck.

He pulled with all his strength.

BROCH! KEAK!... KEAK!

Dust burst out, making him sneeze.

Inside, he saw something shiny—it was a long, azure sword.

It was well-crafted but looked heavy.

"Eahh!... Phew... It’s so heavy. But it looks nice."

He tried lifting it but couldn’t move it even a little.

[FROSTY SWORD: Incomplete]

"Mr. Skeleton, can I use it?" he asked, intrigued.

The skeleton shook its head and waved its hand as if to explain.

Nawfi understood somehow.

"You mean... it’s not complete?"

The skeleton nodded.

"Then... what about my weapon?" he asked, a bit disappointed.

The skeleton showed him a plain-looking sword.

"Iron sword? Hmmm... okay."

He looked at it with mild disappointment.

The skeleton gestured for him to follow again.