NOVEL NEXT Chapter 215- Thread of Truth (2)
When she finally found Kevin, he was in this state. Clearly, he had been here screaming like a fool to try to activate a skill, any skill.
"That dunce, clumsy, idiot!! I can see this anymore. I will stop him with force if I must." Just as she prepared to make her move, her eyes suddenly detected an extremely conspicuous figure, sitting on top of a log and preparing to make a campfire.
At the same time that Gwen noticed this person, Kevin did so too. His exhausted eyes focused on the golden, tall, built man whose very presence was like the descent of divine.
Who could the man be other than… "Commander?"
What was he doing here?
"If you continue to scream like that, you will end up becoming a mute at this rate. You have practiced enough. Come sit down, have a meal with me".
Saying so, Reinhardt did not wait for the reply of the young man and started hanging skewers on the side of the campfire. After thinking for a moment, Kevin stopped and sat down beside the former.
"Commander…" Before he could say anything, Reinhardt beat him to the chase.
"Let me ask you a question. What do you think a skill is from your understanding? Why do you think it's important?"
The young squire locked his brows and fell into contemplation. All this time, since the moment he became aware of the existence of skills, he started chasing after them. More so, when he learned that his mana stat was Nil.
He was so busy chasing after it that he never stopped to think about what a skill was. However, if he had to answer, then…
"I mean… a skill is something you just learn to become more powerful, right? Like sword techniques and martial arts. The people back from my village used to say that it's a tool that you gain suddenly when you receive enlightenment, and your mana aligns in a specific way. You level it up, it gets stronger. That's all there is to it."
His words reflected the surface level understanding he had about it.
Reinhardt worked the skewers on top of the campfire. "You are not wrong. However, you are mistaken if you think this is all there is to a skill. I'll tell about what it is, but before that..."
He passed the boy a skewer with freshly grilled meat. The tantalising aroma stimulating the latter's appetite.
After seeing Kevin voraciously devour the meat, Reinhardt started explaining, his divine trait [Heaven's Memory] at play.
"What is a skill? If you ask a priest, the answer that they will give you is— a miracle created by the Seven Old Gods, it is the human's power to go against the odds, and the only weapon that can fight against the demons. It is the language created by the gods".
Haha… The young boy laughed, seeing the commander imitate a priest.
"Now, if you ask the same question to a knight, the answer they will give you is— A skill is not learned. It is earned— through blood, through silence, through failure. It is a weapon of empowerment and the shield against the darkness"...
"Whereas, a farmer will answer— It's when your hands know the soil better than your eyes do. When the plow moves like it's part of you and the harvest a result of nourishing that skill," Reinhardt imitated all of them, down to their accent, to their very gesture.
The more Kevin listened, the more deeper his understanding became. All along, he thought that it was a weapon, something that was a must for a knight. However, skill was something that was possessed by all the people in this world.
Even ordinary people, at level 1, had one skill. And all of their skill varied depending on their work, lifestyle, and understanding they had of the skill.
However, if all these answers are wrong, then what is the right answer? Just when he thought that, the commander shook his head.
"There are no wrong answers. However, if you ask me, skill is not something flashy like the ones I use. It has a much deeper meaning than just being a sword to kill, a tool to raise crops, or an elixir to heal. If you ask me, I would define it more as a 'Thread of truth'. It is the moment when instinct, memory, and purpose align so perfectly that something within your soul awakens"...
"A creation that is manifested through your ideals and vision. It is the voice of the unknown, so clear that reality bends to hear it. True, all skills in this world use mana as the base. However, isn't that just a perception brought forth by the people who also held incomplete knowledge about the skill?"...
"The skills that they passed down similarly hold their incomplete understanding. It is also the reason why all skills in this world focus on mana. Because that is how the people of this world perceived it".
Kevin's eyes opened wide at this moment. What was the commander intoning? Skills and mana, incomplete understanding, thread of truth. It all sounded too profound and complex for him.
"I'm not telling you to understand everything I am telling you right at this moment. Just remember those words of mine and contemplate over it whenever you have free time" Saying that, Reinhardt passed another skewer to the boy.
"Every person in this world is born different. Everyone has their own unique strength and weaknesses. If I tell you to copy somebody else, it is only natural that you will fail. Not only you, but even the holy knights are the same. If I tell Sir Bob to copy Dame Zerina's skill, do you think he will be able to master it?"
Kevin shook his head. He had seen the Exhibition match back in the capital and knew that Miss Zerina's skill was of a different attribute and unique to their tribe. No matter how talented Sir Bob was, even he shouldn't be able to learn those skills.