Paragon of Skills

Jacob Cloud is sixteen, a miner’s son, and he knows his fate: die young, broke, and anonymous in the bowels of Shit’s Creek, a nowhere town that feeds silver ore to richer cities and spits out its sons in pine boxes. He dreams of more. In this world, Knights are one step above Adventurers—protectors, guides, and, most importantly, heroes. But to even try for a Knight’s life, you need gold, rare Skills, and connections Jacob will never have. Then one day, the mine floor gives out. Jacob falls—not to his death, but into the chance of a lifetime: a Rainbow-ranked Skill Crystal, something so rare people kill over them, and so powerful it could turn a nobody into a legend. Except Jacob doesn’t get a weapon or healing Skill. He gets The Grimoire Extraordinaire—a support Skill that doesn’t even attack, defend, or heal. It shows him the flaws in any Skill or item, nothing more. No instant power. No glory. But Jacob isn’t an idiot. He grinds. He experiments. He uses the Grimoire to fix the basics: how to grip a pick, how to channel mana, how to train. In five days trapped underground, he boosts his mining skills to levels nobles would envy. When he claws his way out, he’s ready to quit the mines for good.