Core of Knowledge

He is a failure who did not deserved the title of ‘Sage’. There is no doubt in his mind of that, but despite his many sins against knowledge, Xu Han’s love of knowledge endures. When he found himself in a new world, he immediately wanted to understand it. To understand the world, the ‘magic’ of this world and how it works. It is a process that would normally take him decades to accomplish.

Luckily, Xu Han has a dungeon fairy.

Though an ancient pact forged between the ancestors of dungeon cores and dungeon fairies, a dungeon fairy would always be on hand to assist new dungeon cores when one of the cores is born. In return for protection against their many enemies, the fairies would guide the newborn cores through their lives, especially at their birth when the dungeon cores were at their most vulnerable. Jemma was his guide, and she was more than happy to answer any questions Xu Han had.

Xu Han had many, and he started with Magic.

The answers Jemma had for him were enlightening. In this world, Magic comes in two different forms. Divine Power, power of the Gods accessible only to servants of the gods and demi-god entities like dungeon cores, and Mana, a power used by [Mages] to cast their spells and [Warriors] to enhance their bodies.

To touch either Divine Power or Mana, mortals need to have a Class. Bestowed on them by the Gods, Classes are roles assigned to the mortals. A gift from the gods, just having a Class means the mortal has the attention of the gods and was faster, stronger, and better than normal mortals. They were a class apart, accepted as superior beings by normal people. Such a difference between mortals was not unknown to Xu Han. In the Crimson Lands, cultivators were superior to mortals, and it seem that was the case here as well.

The Classed, being the favoured of the Gods, would also be able to receive Skills. The ability to receive Skills was the main reason why most mortals desired to have a Class. When Xu Han first heard of Skills, he thought they were like a cultivator’s techniques, special abilities a cultivator used to attack or defend against enemies.

He was wrong.

According to Jemma, what Xu Han was thinking of was more like the spells of a [Wizard] or [Sorcerer]. Those are special abilities that a Classed could pick up or discarded at will. Skills are different. Skills are more than a weapon, a spell, or a tool. They are more than an ability that a Classed could achieve that is normally beyond their physical or mental capabilities. Skills are an extension of a Classed. They are a part of the person, which is why most Classed cannot drop a Skill. To do so means they would need to drop a part of themselves.

That is what it means to have a Skill, but how does it work? More importantly, how many kinds of Skills are there, and how did the Gods create a Skill? As a former Sage, this was important information to Xu Han. Jemma did not feel the same and found the curiosity of her dungeon core to be strange, but she is a dungeon fairy and did her duty.

According to Jemma, there are basically three kinds of Skills.

The first kind are Passive Skills. Passive skills work in the background and do not require the Classed to think about it to work. As a rule, if a Classed does not need to think about the Skill to use it, it is considered a Passive Skill.

The second kind are Active Skills, which are skills that require the Classed to think of to work. Usually, the more willpower, attention and concentration the Classed pays, the stronger the effect of the Skill will be.

Both kinds of Skills are granted by the Systems, but there is a third kind of Skill that is not. These are the ‘Aura’ Skills. These Skills are not granted by the Systems, but by powerful Classed individuals like [Kings], [Lords], and [Generals]. Classed individuals with such powerful classes can grant special Skills to other Classed, but the ‘Aura’ Skills are widely considered to be lesser than skills granted by the Systems because they come with a few restrictions.

As an ‘Aura’ skill comes from a Classed individual, the person granting the skill need to be alive for the skill to work. If a [King] dies, then everyone he had ever granted a skill to would lose that skill. Also, there is usually a location restriction. For example, a [King] can only grant skills to their subjects if they are on his land. If the subjects are in a different kingdom, then the skills granted by their king would not work. Another example is a [General] who grant skills to assist the soldiers in his army. On a battlefield, this could be a great boon, but usually the soldiers need to be within the same battlefield as the [General] to take advantage of the general’s skill.

Xu Han thought this was silly as war is not only about battles. There are logistics, supplies, morale, and a dozen other things a [General] need to win a battle. He was told those are usually tasks taken care of by the skills of [Strategists], [Quartermasters], [Logistic Officers]. As long as it has to do with war and magic, there would be a Class and Skill for it.

Jemma also informed Xu Han that mortals are not the only beings that can grant Aura skills. Some special entities can do the same, the most famous of which is a giant tree that grant Skills to several Classed who agreed to protect a large forest the tree was located in.

When Xu Han heard about the magical tree, it made him curious. Xu Han asked if he could create a Skill on his own. Jemma informed him that it is technically possible for a dungeon core to create new skills as they have access to Divine Power, but it will be an Aura skill and there are three requirements he will need to meet.

Intention, Knowledge, and Power.

Xu Han need to announce to the world his Intention to create a skill, have the Knowledge of exactly what the skill will do, and the Divine Power necessary to create it. Naturally, the more powerful the Skill, the more Divine Power it would require from him. If all three requirements are met, the Systems would accept it.

It sounded too simple to Xu Han, but he was new to the world and thought better than to argue with Jemma. So, he tried an experiment. Xu Han knew countless different cultivation techniques and pick a simple cultivation technique called White Tiger Movement.

A cultivation technique widely used in the Crimson Lands as it had little to no requirement to learn, Xu Han figured it would make a good test case. So, he mentally announced his Intention, provided the Knowledge of how the Skill would work, and used his Divine Power to create it.

It was insultingly easy.

Gressian raised a brow at this, “Excuse me, it was easy?”