Inspect {Animal}...


Sheep:
A domesticated herd animal known for its stupidity. Humans are especially fond of them for their wool.



 
Peter blocked the path of another unruly creature, guiding it toward the rest of the flock, soon to be sheared.
“Hey, Noelle?” he called. She stood a short distance away, beside Paul, blushing at his flirty comments while using the shed’s wall as cover from the adults.
Hormones, Peter thought with a shake of his head. This was supposed to be a group effort. They were all responsible for keeping the sheep in check while David handled the shearing.
Alas, Sasha had dragged James off the moment the adults left. From the grin plastered on his face, Peter had no doubt James was having the time of his life. Now, these two had decided to dump all the work on him, huddling together in their little world.
Peter sighed, glancing at David, who was a blushing mess himself, stealing glances toward the direction Sasha and James had disappeared to. Hormones…
“Y…, Yeah,” Noelle replied, stepping away from the cheeky boy as if she just noticed they were out in the open.
Seriously.
“I want to accompany you guys to the forest for the hunt,” Peter said, keeping an eye on the domesticated animals. His mother had finally agreed to let him explore beyond the village, hoping it would help him unlock a higher-rarity class.
Of course, choosing a class at ten wasn’t mandatory. One could wait a few years, taking on more challenging feats to unlock a class that suited them better. But by thirteen, everyone decided to choose one.
Peter wasn’t particularly worried about his class as he knew more than most. Everyone thought he only had three skills, but in reality, he had far more.
Still, he needed a change of pace. Sparring and meditation were giving him diminishing returns.
“I mean, sure. I don’t see why not,” Noelle answered, sounding a bit more composed. Red receding from her cheeks.
Peter spared a glance at his status.



Status...


Name:
Peter
Race:
Human


Class:
None




Title:
Trailblazer: Skills, Skill Creator
Age:
9


Health:
100
Mana:
2800


Stats...


Constitution:
10
Spirit:
280


Strength:
10
Agility:
10


Intelligence:
18
Perception:
2


Luck:
18
Charisma:
35


Skills:

IDE, Status Camouflage, Mana sense Lv. 32, Mana Manipulation Lv. 13, Weapons Mastery Lv.14, Undying Vitality lv.22, Split Focus, Eternal Ward lv. 3, Spirit of Fortitude lv. 21, Inspect lv.5




 
It was looking much fuller than before. Over the years, Peter had added a few more skills to his repertoire. However, his stats had stopped increasing two years ago.
When he asked his mother about it, she told him they might have reached a cap for now. Physical stats would fluctuate based on age and the condition of his body, but other stats would only increase through a class.
His skills had also started growing at different rates. Since he kept Mana Sense active 24/7, it had developed the most and would likely continue to do so. His range had expanded significantly as well. Now, he could sense everything happening around him within a 30-meter radius.
The reason he could keep it active all the time was due to Split Focus. A new skill that he created recently.



Split Focus


A mental enhancement skill that allows the user to process multiple streams of information simultaneously, similar to multithreading. This ability enables efficient multitasking in combat, magic, and analysis, reducing cognitive strain when handling complex tasks. While powerful, excessive splitting may dilute focus, leading to diminished efficiency. Mastery over this skill determines how seamlessly the user can maintain multiple thought processes.Active: Enables parallel thought processing. Changing the number of focuses consumes 5 points of mana per adjustment.Rank: Rare



 
Peter had developed it using a principle similar to multithreading in programming. He could allocate a specific number of resources to a particular process. In this case, dedicating 5 points of his Intelligence stat to Mana Sense and running it in parallel to his main cognitive functions.
He gained a surge of experience in Undying Vitality and Spirit of Fortitude, on top of Mana Sense, when he used Split Focus to minimise the mental capacity required for sleep while redirecting the rest to Mana Sense.
Spirit of Fortitude (Sleep Resistance) and Undying Vitality (Sleep Deprivation) mitigated the effects of mental fatigue that would have otherwise accumulated from this practice.



Spirit of Fortitude lv. 21



A defensive skill that grants moderate resistance to all damage types, including physical, elemental, mental, and fate-based influences. This passive ability enhances the user's endurance, reducing the impact of harmful effects and making them more resilient against curses, mind control, and weakening forces. In active mode, it temporarily amplifies resistance at the cost of mana, allowing the user to endure even the most overwhelming assaults.Active: Increases resistance based on mana consumed.Rank: Rare




 
Skills like Weapons Mastery, Eternal Ward, and Mana Manipulation had seen slower growth due to a lack of stimuli.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!



Eternal Ward Lv. 3


A powerful protection skill that passively generates an invisible barrier, reducing the impact of all harmful influences, including physical attacks, mental intrusions, soul corruption, and fate-based interference. This ward subtly weakens incoming damage, ensuring a stable defence against both conventional and supernatural threats. In active mode, it manifests as a stronger shield that greatly enhances protection, temporarily nullifying weaker effects and mitigating stronger ones at the cost of mana.Active: Enhances protection based on mana expended.Rank: Rare



Inspect was still low-leveled since Peter had only recently acquired it. He made sure to use it on various targets whenever he got the chance.



Inspect Lv. 5


An active identification skill that allows the user to analyse and extract information about people, monsters, animals, plants, objects, and artifacts. The depth of insight depends on the user's proficiency and the target's complexity. Higher levels reveal more details, such as strengths, weaknesses, hidden attributes, and origins. The skill requires deliberate activation and consumes mana with each use.Active: Reveals information about a selected target. Changing focus consumes 5 points of mana.Rank: Rare



“Can we go anytime soon?” Peter asked, desiring to schedule it as soon as possible.
Based on the number of Skills he had, most of them Rare and fairly high-level for a village kid, as well as his high Spirit stat, he was bound to receive higher-ranked class options.
Of course, there was no harm in over-preparing. Gaining more life experience would only increase his chances and present better options. He also wanted to test his mettle in a real fight.
“What’s the hurry?” Noelle responded, shrugging her shoulders. In the end, she gave up and started walking toward him with Paul.
“I only have a few months until I turn ten, so the more trips I make, the better it is for me,” Peter explained, repeating what he was told by his mother.
“Oh, so you’ve decided to choose a combat class in the end, huh?” Paul remarked amicably, putting his palms behind his head as he walked closer. Paul and James both came from hunter families and had decided early on to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors.



Inspect {Human}...


Name:
Paul
Race:
Human


Class:
Woodsman lv.8, Villager lv.1
Level:
9


Age:
15








Inspect {Human}...


Name:
Noelle
Race:
Human


Class:
Herbal Alchemist lv. 4, Villager lv.3
Level:
7


Age:
14





Now that they were close, Peter used Inspect on them for the experience. Not everyone ended up choosing a combat-related class. Technically, Woodsman wasn’t a combat class either— the distinction was much subtler.
Noelle, for example, could use her class to brew an explosive cocktail and throw it in combat, but that wouldn’t make it a combat class. The answer, as always, lay in how experience was calculated.
Noelle would only gain experience from tasks that aligned with her class. Similarly, Paul could use his skills in war and kill thousands of people, but it wouldn’t provide him with any experience. This was why people preferred choosing generalised classes with specialised skills. The more generalised a class was, the more types of tasks would contribute to levelling it up.
Of course, not everyone had the option to select such classes. That was why people encouraged children to take on various challenging and meaningful tasks, hoping they would unlock a more versatile class.
Stats, the number and level of skills, the grade of those skills, the feats one had accomplished, the difficulty of those feats relative to one's abilities, and many other parameters all played a role in determining what class options a person had when the time came to choose one.
“Yeah, I don’t want to be a merchant or anything else,” Peter remarked, sharing his honest thoughts. He must get a combat class.
“That’s a good choice. You’ve always been good with the sword. The only reason we can even win against you is because of our higher physical stats,” Noelle said, giving her two coppers. Once she reached him, she planted her butt on the wooden log used as barricade for the domesticated animals.
“That’s only true for you and Sasha. His skill with the sword is too advanced for me to beat him in close combat. David and James probably feel the same,” Paul grumbled, patting a sheared sheep.
“Can you tell me what kind of creatures you’ve encountered on your past trips?” Peter asked, fingers itching to grab his sword and demonstrate his skills on real enemies. Peter had read about plenty of creatures in books, but so far, he had only come across horned rabbits and slimes.
‘Wait, Aunt Amelia’s tamed cat should also qualify,’ he noted, recalling the fire-breathing, arrogant feline.
“I mean, there’s not much to talk about. It’s mostly simple creatures like deer, horned rabbits, slimes, and pheasant birds. The guards don’t allow anything predatory to get close to the outskirts and survive. We did once encounter a pair of wolves, though,” Paul answered, settling down nearby, staring at David working hard with a bored gaze.
That was a bit disappointing, but considering the village’s safety, it made sense.
“They were just normal wolves. Still, very dangerous for us, at least. It’s funny how a pair of ordinary wolves could be more threatening than a bunch of goblins,” Paul added, smiling by the end.
“Don’t underestimate humanoids,” Noelle interjected, her voice firm.
Paul had the decency to look ashamed. Humanoid monsters were a sore subject for Noelle. After all, she was an orphan because of them.
She had lost her parents to an orc attack on the village before Peter was even born. Everyone knew the tale—how the orcs attacked, and how the Count later sent his brave knights along with a large band of veteran adventurers to purge the humanoid monsters from the entire forest.
The village militia didn’t just defend against wild creatures; they were also responsible for ensuring that no stray humanoid monsters escaped into the forest. They multiplied quickly, and when they did, they invaded.
Entire nations had fallen to such creatures in the past when left unchecked.
“Well, if we finish shearing by the end of today, we can go tomorrow. I could use the opportunity to gather herbs for potions to sell. The merchants should be visiting soon to collect the summer crops and wool,” Noelle muttered once she had calmed down.
No one had any objections, so they focused on their work.
…
“Use it responsibly. I don’t want to hear about any incidents,” Joseph remarked, giving Peter a stern look.
Peter accepted the small blade from his father, nodding in acknowledgement. They stood at the gate of their house, waiting for the others to arrive.
“I’ll be careful,” he promised, putting the weapon with its scabbard on his hip belt.
He had received the weapon a month ago and had already familiarised himself with it by sparring with his father every morning. This was the first time he would be taking it outside their home… and potentially using it in combat.
They didn’t have to wait long before the group arrived together. Each of them carried proper weapons and wore leather armour, just like him. Peter nodded at his parents before walking over to stand beside his friends.
“Try to remain vigilant and don’t go too deep,” his father warned, addressing the older ones in the group.
His mother sighed softly before walking over to Noelle, handing her a small kit, which Noelle accepted with a bit of astonishment.
“A mother cannot help but worry about her child. The kit has some potions in it… use them if any of you end up getting injured for any reason,” she said with a gentle smile, giving each of them a careful look.
Noelle returned the smile. “Don’t worry, Aunt. We’ll only stay on the outskirts and flee back to the village at the first sign of anything unexpected.”
“Yes, Aunt. We also have this to call for help immediately,” Sasha added from beside Peter. She pulled out a tiny cylinder from her chest pocket, a small signal device designed to fire a colourful smoke signal into the sky.