Cain had forgotten one vital fact about the books created using the Inscription desk. They became unusable texts an hour after they were created. He had never waited long enough to see what happened once one timed out, but as he ate dinner and the Sect Master worked on memorizing the tome, the hour-long time ran out on the first book that Cain had created.
[Time Limited Item has expired] Tome of Emergency Resurrection
Cain saw the notification and realized his mistake, but the Sect Master was still reading without any issues.
Cain checked his inventory and removed the second tome, seeing that it still had most of its hour left, so the Sect Master definitely had the older one. He marked his page with a bit of silk, closed the book, and set it down to take a drink, so Cain used his System interface to check on the status.
[Tome of Emergency Resurrection] Expired, cannot be equipped.
It was definitely out of date, and no longer usable, but the old man opened it, and the pages were still full of writing, so he kept reading, never noticing the difference. It appeared that the book was just that, a book, written in Cain's handwriting and sitting on a table in the Inn's restaurant.
Fortunately for Cain, these Cultivators would never notice the difference. They didn't have a System, so they didn't try to use it, nor would anyone else they gave the book to, so it was just another bit of information for their library.
Cain and Luna had both learned skills that way while under the tutelage of the Elven Librarian on the Southern Continent, and it was incredibly annoying. A single skill could take days, or even longer to master without the system's assistance, but the old man didn't seem to mind at all.
"I can't read all these runes, but I have a general idea now. Resurrection isn't a simple topic after all. I would ask though, are you planning to sell, these tomes regularly along your travels?" He asked.
"Not really. If someone is particularly worthy, I will grant them a useful skill that I know, but I'm not here to make a business out of selling skill books to strangers." Cain shrugged.
"That is a good attitude. Skills in this world are jealously guarded by their owning Sects, and the punishment for selling a secret skill outside of the Sects can be particularly severe. You won't be able to hide the fact that you know far more skills than most wandering cultivators from everyone, but it is better if they don't all know that you can create copies of them to hand out." The old man explained.
That was good advice. Scarcity also helped increase the value of items, so Cain could come up with a few mediocre skills in advance and use them in an emergency, or simply give out the ones that were on the Cultivator he killed once the three students all learned the ones they were compatible with.
"How long does it take to travel to the Mountains from here, the five of us? Luna wanted to go to see snow for herself, and I think a visit to the dragon could prove fruitful once I have either found or created something that would be unique enough to entertain them." Cain asked.
"With the three of them on foot? About a week. If they had flying swords, they could get there in a day." The Innkeeper told Cain with a shrug.
"Do you know the technique?" Cain asked hopefully. If he only had to give them a sword to save a lot of time, life would be much easier.
"Unfortunately no, it needs an Awakened to be able to use the skill, we don't have the power to maintain one," Penny explained.
"I take it your version is different?" The Innkeeper asked.
"Yeah, a little, but it's not something that I can teach to just anyone. It takes a very specific affinity in order to use those particular swords, but we will figure something out, even if it means taking a leisurely stroll through the mountains."
Cain's optimism got Luna excited again. Walking through the mountains sounded like it would be way more fun than flying over them.
At the speeds that they were traveling, even if there was a Mythic Beast below them they wouldn't have bothered the two humans flying over them. That didn't make for an exciting story to tell everyone when they finished their adventure and went home. It wouldn't even be a great one to tell people in the next town that they went to.
"We walked a week through the mountains, fought these monsters, camped in a tent under the stars, and made great food." was an infinitely better story than "Oh, we just flew over here from that city in the valley this morning."
Luna was beginning to wonder if her dad was losing his sense of adventure, or if it was just that the monsters in this area were closer to her level than his that he had overlooked the potential of this traveling adventure.
"Innkeeper, we will also need a second room for the evening. Five of us in one large bed is a bit too crowded for comfort." Cain requested, tossing the man another gold coin.
"I appreciate your patronage, and I suspect that your new followers will appreciate not having to sleep on the floor." He agreed, heading into the back room to check on his cook.
The three new disciples were looking through the book that Cain had given them, intrigued by the possibilities, and getting closer to being able to use it to a minor degree. Learning from a regular book wasn't like actually using the skill book, it took practice and study to get it right, instead of simply being able to use it the moment you acquired it.
Later that evening, the Sect Elder came in again with his disciples and a hopeful look on his face.
"I've got a present for you. I think the Sect Master over there has already almost learned the technique, but here is your copy." Cain explained.
The book was long expired by now, but it opened like any standard book, all of its magic having been previously dispersed.
"This is incredible. You have very steady handwriting Master Cain, and the book is so well described that I don't think anyone would fail to learn the skill given time. Many of the skills that we get are incomplete, and the users need to try to piece together the missing parts to make it into something useful." The Sect Elder explained.
"Is that normal? Or are people messing with you?" Cain asked, confused.
"Most skill books are truly Ancient, since nobody alive now can fluently read the runes, so if they are damaged, only the remaining parts can be replicated. Translated versions exist, but they never convey the multiple meanings of the original runes correctly and can often make the process even harder instead of easier." The Elder sighed.
If that was the case, Cain could make a killing just reading bedtime stories to Cultivators, but he suspected that the System wouldn't give him a quest to do anything that easy.
Luna perked up at the mention that he couldn't fluently read the runes. "So, you're saying that you read the bits that you can and guess at the other meanings of the runes until you get it perfect?"
The Elder nodded happily until he realized that Luna didn't mean that she hadn't ever used one, but that she could in fact read the runes fluently. He frowned at the pitying glance she was giving him, as though he was an injured animal she had spotted on the side of the road.
The Immortal Sect Master noticed the look as well and decided to take a jab at his junior from the blue-robed Lightning Dance Sect. "The younger generation truly is fearsome, even unintentionally, aren't they?"
"You have that right. At my age, I never thought I would be subject to that look from a young child." The Elder agreed with a sigh.
"I think I kept a primer in here somewhere. Dad, can you copy it if I find it? My writing isn't good yet." Luna asked, forcing the Immortal to hide his face to avoid openly laughing at the Sect Elder.
"I'm not sure we will have time for that. The primer won't help if you don't already know what all the runes mean and how they are pronounced." Cain explained, knowing that she meant the book that she was assigned to improve her language comprehension since the written language didn't get automatically translated perfectly for her the way it did for Cain.
Like Rune Crafting, the Ancient Language was only innate to those with pure Ancient bloodlines.
"Oh, that's a good point. That would take too long, like years. I'm sorry Sect Elder, but if you have a question now, I'm here. Unless there is dessert, then I will likely fall asleep again."
