When he had them all caught up, he added a few twists.  “So, getting the free points isn’t the only way you can improve.  My pop and I worked out nonstop for days, and I raised both my Stamina and my Strength by a point just from that.  So what you do in the world now impacts who and what you are more than ever before.   Pop’s Constitution went up after he took a lot of hits from the octopoid in our basement and didn’t die.”

He looked around at the folks who were now obviously following the conversation.  “Any of you pick up any skills like my Weaponsmithing or Sam’s Cooking?”  He knew about Nancy’s skills, but he didn’t feel it was his place to share them.

Sean raised a hand.  “I got one called Engineering while I was working on the car.”

A woman Allistor didn’t know but vaguely recognized spoke up as well.  “First Aid.  I’m a physician’s assistant.  I wasn’t doing anything in particular when the notice popped up.”

Allistor thought about it for a second.  “It might just be that you have the knowledge in your head, and the system recognized it.  Or maybe… if you had helped some injured folks earlier, and they reached a certain level of healing?  I’m not sure.”

She seemed to agree with the last part of that.  “Makes sense.  Thank you.”

A small woman in her fifties that Allistor hadn’t even seen sitting behind Sandy raised a hand.  “Tailoring.  I was mending my husband’s favorite jeans after a dog thing bit through the leg.” She pointed at Allistor.  “I can fix your clothes for you, if you like.  It looks like many things have been chewing on you.” She gave him a little smile, and Chloe giggled somewhere in the background.

Allistor grinned at her.  “Indeed they have.  Thank you.  But I’m not sure they’re worth the effort.  I’ll probably just replace these. I have no particular attachment to them… I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“Mrs. Chen.  You can call me Lilly.” She had a kind smile that reminded Allistor of his mom.  “And I’d like to try anyway.  Like you said, the best way to level a skill is practice, right?”

Allistor nodded, conceding the point.  “You’re right.  As soon as I find replacements, they’re all yours.”

Robert Edward shyly raised his hand.  “I got one called Reproduction.”

Sean scratched his head.  “Reproduction, huh.  Like making copies of stuff? What were you doing when you got the notice?”

When Robert Edward blushed, the physician’s assistant snorted.  “I think he means Reproduction like making more humans.”