Taylor - I know kung fu

began going through every book I could see looking for skill books.

Basic pottery making was a skill book, apparently, but it didn't seem like something I needed right now. Neither did Origami 365, Stained Glass making basics, or The beginner's guide to cheesemaking.

I did buy Bruce Lee's Fighting method, Complete Krav Maga, which was supposedly an ultimate guide to over 250 fighting methods, and Karate- the complete Kata.

Excited, I slipped into the bathroom of Fugly Bobs and I devoured all three books.

New Skill Created!

Unarmed combat: The art of using your body to make an impact on people. Many different methods exist to do this, and you have a chance to learn them all. +30% chance to hit people, and +30% damage. Level 3.

Each book had added a level, presumably because they dealt with different combat styles and there wasn't that much overlap. Presumably if I found a book that didn't have a lot of new information, I wouldn't get much.

I now understood Jeet Kune Do, or at least as much of it as had been in the book. I understood Krav Maga, and I understood Karate.

I felt like I could take on Lung, but I knew that this was foolishness. Those were beginner's books, and it was likely that a lot of gangsters had skills that were far beyond that, even if I was able to mix styles.

The bonus to damage would be more important once I got my strength better.

***

The next book I found, surprisingly was called The Subtle art of not giving a fuck.

This was a skill book?

I looked at the back of the book.

For decades, we've been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let's be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it."

Instead of turning lemons into lemonade, he apparently thought we just had to learn to stomach lemons better.

After a moment, I set the book back on the table and smiled at the proprietor.

***

Skills