The night was already deep, but no one felt sleepy.

Cody stood to the side, staring blankly at the flickering campfire.

Miriam hadn't woken up yet. Evan was watching over her in the tent, with the remaining one-third of the life potion placed nearby, waiting for her to drink upon waking.

Lin Mo sat under a tree not far from the fire, studying the scroll in his hand by the firelight.

Bern had just returned from checking the traps and saw Lin Mo waving him over.

The knight walked over with slightly unsteady steps and carefully sat down.

The life potions were limited in quantity. Although he had drunk some, the effects were far from sufficient - they only helped restore his mobility, and full recovery was still a long way off.

"Thank you for this time..."

Bern looked at the young man before him and expressed heartfelt gratitude.

Back in the secret realm, if Lin Mo had wanted to, with his strength he could have chosen to leave directly. Neither the cursed pattern cat demon nor the minotaur could have stopped him, and he even had enough leeway to take the spoils with him.

But he didn't do that. Instead, he fought with all his might and saved everyone.

Saying they all owed Lin Mo their lives was absolutely accurate.

Lin Mo nodded, but didn't bother with meaningless pleasantries like "it was my duty."

Adventurers didn't care for that kind of flowery language. Their communication might not always be open-hearted, but it was basically straightforward.

"About the task division..."

"Just follow what we agreed on before."

"Thank you."

Bern hesitated, opening his mouth several times, but ultimately didn't refuse.

Their team needed money too, especially since they had used up one of Lin Mo's life potions this time. They were counting on the mission reward to repay him.

"But correspondingly, I'll take a larger share of these extra gains without standing on ceremony."

Lin Mo glanced at the minotaur horn in his backpack, then pointed to the two giant axes beside him.

That's right, he had brought these things out too.

"Of course."

Bern nodded without hesitation.

"By the way, Uncle Bern, do you know how to use skill scrolls?"

Lin Mo took out the [Fortitude] scroll and spread it open before him.

"Use?"

Hearing his wording, Bern showed a puzzled expression on his face.

He looked at the scroll, and when he saw those two words at the top, he couldn't help showing some desire. But he quickly suppressed any improper thoughts and explained slowly: "There's not really any 'using' with skill scrolls. You just slowly learn and practice according to the records on them until you gradually become familiar, and eventually reach the point where you can use it. That counts as having learned it..."

Ultimately, skill scrolls weren't some magical artifact - they were merely predecessors recording the skills they had comprehended, leaving them for later generations.

So obtaining a skill scroll didn't necessarily mean obtaining the skill; it required patient learning.

The time needed to learn skills varied - it could take a long time, months or years, or it could be very quick, learning it in a few days or even hours.

This mainly depended on the learner's talent and compatibility with the skill.

Lin Mo nodded, then continued: "There are some parts of this scroll I don't understand... For example, what does this 'circulating qi and blood' refer to?"

Bern seemed stunned by this question, showing an astonished expression.

"You... aren't joking?"

Seeing Lin Mo's genuine expression, Bern momentarily questioned reality.

"You mean to say that you don't even know what qi and blood are, don't understand how to circulate qi and blood, yet you independently comprehended skills, perfectly mastered them, and became a professional?"

Seeing Lin Mo nod, Bern rubbed between his eyebrows and took a deep breath.

What kind of monster was this?!

He collected himself and spoke slowly: "You should know that mages need to consume mana to cast spells, right?"

"Of course, how can you use magic without mana?"

Up to now, Lin Mo's mana was still 0.

"Then do other professions release skills out of thin air? Actually, it's not just mages - all professions are basically similar."

Seeing Lin Mo's somewhat understanding expression, Bern patiently explained: "Skills aren't simple moves. Swinging a sword with the same strength and angle - whether it's a skill or not, the power is often worlds apart... This is because during skill release, 'energy' is used."

"For example, priests and alchemists, both being magic professions, use the same mana as mages."

"As for physical professions like warriors and knights, although they don't have mana, they have something similar... You should be able to feel it when using skills, like something flowing inside your body."

Hearing this, Lin Mo suddenly understood.

Indeed, every time he released a skill, although he followed step-by-step operations, there did seem to be a feeling of mobilizing power within his body.

"That is qi and blood, power generated through human physique. Mobilizing qi and blood and circulating it along established pathways should be an essential foundation before learning skills..."

But this person before him clearly knew nothing, yet stubbornly relied on talent to independently comprehend and master skills, even advancing to become a professional in an extremely short time.

In this moment, Bern felt that those stories he always found too absurd and unrealistic when hearing from bards didn't seem so hard to accept anymore.

Things beyond your understanding aren't necessarily nonexistent. In this world, there really are such outrageous people.

Even stories often need to follow logic, while geniuses in reality don't follow any rules at all...

"Qi and blood is born from the body. Strength, constitution, and agility can all affect the intensity of qi and blood, with constitution having the greatest effect, strength second, and agility having the smallest impact and improvement on qi and blood."

In other words, qi and blood was actually like a warrior's hidden "mana bar," completely tied to stamina or endurance.

This also matched reality - knights had the most abundant stamina, warriors second, while assassins and rangers had relatively weaker endurance.

"Knowing this, you should understand how to 'use' skill scrolls."

Lin Mo nodded. He stood up, picked up the wolf bone sword beside him, and released a "Slash."

He paused for a moment, closed his eyes, and released it again.

This time, that subtle feeling became more obvious.

It was like a stream of heat flowing through his body...

After several attempts, he put down his sword and took out the skill scroll named [Fortitude] again.

The originally obscure and difficult descriptions on it seemed to gradually become clearer.

Bern watched all this, thinking to himself: "With his talent, he'll probably be able to preliminarily master this skill in just a few days."

Comparing people really makes you want to die of frustration. Back when he was learning "Shield Bash," he had practiced for several months!

"Okay, done!"

However, the voice that reached his ears the next second immediately made his expression collapse.