Books are expensive. Affordable, on a healer's income, but at a rate of something like "several months' salary" if they are sold at all. Nonetheless, the military academy at Isvos has a few books they could be persuaded to part with, on topics including Imperial law, Petronian law, the Miezan language, philosophiae, history, and the seven Artes Liberales (grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music, with most emphasis on the first three.) All the books available are in Miezan, of course. It's a treasure trove of knowledge compared to Eriksmont. 

According to the scribes, the Sustainer covenant of Moccus might have a few books on magic. 

The mundane Abilities are more or less what he expected. As for the magical: 

Creo (Cr) 4 (0/5 XP)
Creo magic makes things that exist independently into better things of their kind, which includes bringing them into existence from nothing. Things that exist independently are called “substances,” and include people, trees, and rocks, but do not include colors, weights, and sizes. Creo can thus both create and heal things.

The kind of thing that something is depends on its form. Natural things, such as plants, animals, flames, and so on, have simple forms, which means that the form is just one thing. This makes them easy to create and heal. Natural things created by magic are always perfect examples of their kind unless the magus wants them to be damaged. Similarly, magic can heal a natural thing even if the caster has no idea what is wrong, as it simply restores the form.

Artificial things, such as bread, swords, and books, have complex forms. Their forms are combinations of several natural forms put together in a particular way. Creating an artificial thing by magic requires some skill. An Int + Finesse roll is made to determine how good the created thing is. You can only create something you know about. Any magus can create bread or cloth, but in order to create an elaborate mosaic depicting the foundation of the Petronian Orders, you would need to know what it should depict. If you were wrong, the mosaic would also be wrong. Similar considerations apply to repairing artificial things. 

You need not be able to create an artificial item by mundane means in order to create it by magic; you need only be somewhat familiar with it. A magically created item will always be the right sort of thing unless your Finesse roll botches. Thus, absent a botch, magically created cloth will always be a whole piece and keep people warm, but it might not be very attractive.

You can also use Creo to make something a better example of its kind, even if it isn’t actually injured or damaged. Thus, Creo can make a horse as swift as the fastest horse, or a man as strong as the strongest man. Creo cannot make a horse able to run as fast as the wind, because no ordinary horse can do that, nor can it make a man strong enough to lift a castle. Since maturation involves becoming a better example of your kind, Creo magic can make something mature quickly. Aging after maturation involves becoming a worse example of your kind, and thus is covered by Perdo.

Magically created things last for the duration of the spell, but their effects last indefinitely. Thus, the footprints of a magically created horse do not vanish, nor does its dung, if it was fed on mundane food. If a magically created horse was fed on mundane food for a year, it would leave a mundane corpse when the spell expired, as the mundane food has been converted into mundane body. Conversely, magically created food only nourishes for as long as the duration lasts, and someone who has eaten it becomes extremely hungry when the duration expires. Things washed with magically created water stay clean, but people made drunk with magically created alcohol instantly sober up.

Intellego (In) 1 (0/2 XP)
Intellego is the Art of perception. It allows you to gather information directly from the forms of things. This information does not deal with the appearances of things, unless Intellego Imaginem is used. Rather, it provides information about the actual nature of a thing. Thus, Intellego magic is not deceived by mundane disguises.

Animal (An) 2 (0/3 XP)
Animal concerns animals of all kinds, from the fish of the sea to the birds of the air. Animal spells cannot affect humans or humanlike people, unless they for some reason take the form of an animal.
Form Bonus: Soak against animal attacks (claws, bites, etc.), rolls to resist animal poisons.

Corpus (Co) 3 (0/4 XP)
Corpus is the Art of human bodies. This Art affects dead bodies and the bodies of magical or faerie creatures that look human, as well as those of living humans and humanlike peoples.
Form Bonus: Soak against human unarmed attacks, rolls to resist disease. It does not apply to aging rolls. 

Herbam (He) 1 (0/2 XP) 
This Form concerns plants and trees. This includes plant matter of all types, including that which is no longer alive — like dead wood and linens.
Form Bonus: Soak against wooden weapons, rolls to resist herbal poisons, rolls to resist starvation.

And:

Magic Sensitivity 1 (1/10 XP) 

You are often able to identify a place or object as magical. However, your sensitivity makes you more susceptible to magical effects. Subtract your Magic Sensitivity score from any Magic Resistance you possess. When attempting to sense the magic nature of a place or object, the System will assign an Ease Factor, against which is rolled a simple die + Perception + Magic Sensitivity.

Detecting a Magic aura would normally have an Ease Factor equal to 12 – aura level, so 9 for a level 3 aura and 6 for a level 6 aura.

For spells and enchanted items, an Ease Factor equal to 21 – the magnitude of effect is typical.

Enchanted items use the magnitude of the most powerful effect in the item.

For magical creatures, 15 – one fifth of the creature’s Magic Might is typical, so for a creature with a Magic Might of 25, the Ease Factor would be 10.

Common specialties: auras, magical creatures, enchanted items, active spells. 

He can afford to pick up one new book, Petronian law might be boring but it also seems like it will be very relevant to him going forwards so he'll get a book on that.

The mundane details of the skill descriptions are all things he basically already knew. The mentions of dice rolls are not. He actually finds the concept disturbing. It's true that the world is a chaotic place but he hadn't thought such things came down to a literal roll of some sort of godly dice. He'll try and ask the system for more details about that focusing on keywords like simple die, soak and botch.

Info/Dice

A simple die is a discretization of the metaphysical nature of chance in Creation as applied to the Player of Games. Its default odds are equivalent to those of as a ten-sided die numbering from 1 to 10, with equal odds of each. 

A stress die is as a simple die, except that additional effects occur on a roll of 1 or 10. On a 1, there is a possibility of a botch, represented by a separate roll of botch dice. On a 10, another stress die is rolled and the result doubled; this can occur multiple times (though it never results in a botch). 

A botch die represents a chance of major failure. Each is a ten-sided die; if any die results in a 1, the roll is a botch. If multiple dice result in a 1, multiple things go wrong. The more complex or dangerous a situation, the more botch dice are rolled. Some traits and effects may also influence the number of botch dice rolled. 

Info/Soak

Your Soak total against a particular type of damage is subtracted from the damage before calculating Wounds. Against most forms of harm, your base Soak is equal to your Stamina + armor bonus + Form bonus (if applicable). A Form bonus is your score in the associated magical Form / 5, rounded up. 

Info/Botch

When rolling botch dice, if any die results in a 1, the original roll is a botch. The roll not only fails, but fails spectacularly, usually to the detriment of the Player or their goals. 

The higher the stakes and the greater the powers involved in a roll, the more spectacular a botch can be. Some traits, effects, and circumstances, including adequate precautionary measures, may reduce the odds or severity of a botch. 

In addition to the unpredictable effects of a failed spell, magical botches typically also result in the magus gaining one point of Warping for each botch die that rolls a 1. Gaining two or more Warping Points this way also causes a magus to enter Twilight.

After the realization about chance, the idea of damage being represented by numbers is positively mundane.

Onto the journey ahead, based on his options he could go overland or over the water. If everything goes well the water journey would clearly be superior giving him more time to himself and requiring less effort on his part on top of being a shorter journey by a little.

As he's been reminded though he's on the path to being a named. Planning for things to go smoothly seems like an unavailable luxury so despite the disadvantages he'll go opt for the overland route and the protection of the Empire's enchanted roads.

The next overland caravan headed to Arbis is a sizeable one, bearing pearls and trinkets brought upriver from the Iridescent Archipelago, ceramics and alchemical ingredients from Quedlin, and some local furs and crafts. It includes a bevy of merchants and their hirelings, and — a far rarer sight, even in Isvos — one male gnome, his small cart covered in some kind of water-resistant fabric and pulled by a chestnut pony. 

On the one hand... this seems like exactly the sort of story hook he was worried about. On the other hand he's curious. Also he has the excuse that if he tries to avoid all the story hooks that the narrative will just try harder. If he finds a chance he'll introduce himself and see where that goes.

An opportunity arises almost as soon as they set out from Isvos; it's a long walk and there's not much else to do. The gnome goes by Trefoil, and claims in moderately accented Miezan to be a traveling scholar.

"That's exciting, I'm on my way to enroll in a school in the capital. What sorts of things do you study?"

"Many subjects, young student, or at least I once did. Linguistics, philosophy, mathematics, and others that I and mine have forgotten since the Fall, even their names lost. I suppose they all round off to history, now." 

"A grim topic to have such treasured knowledge stolen. I hope one day your people can recover or rebuild what you lost."

"As do I. What do you intend to study in the capital?" 

"I'll be studying magic at Grawtosh Academy."

"Gifted, are you? Unusual, to discover the talent so late. The students of Grawtosh often begin much earlier in life. What curious twist of fate brings you there now?" 

"I've known I was gifted for much longer but my grandmother didn't want me getting involved in such things. I changed my mind recently when a rogue mage attacked my small town. Fortunately there were a couple imperial mages passing through who were able to stop her. I don't want to think how bad it would have gotten otherwise, she had ensnared the whole town guard to doing her bidding."

"Ah. I can see how such an event could change one's perspective. May I record the tale?" He withdraws a battered notebook from his many-pocketed vest and sets it on a curious protrusion jutting out from his cart, where it nestles comfortably in an indentation in the wood. 

"I'd have to think about how to put it into words, perhaps another day." Alex isn't really sure how to make the tale make sense without including the time travel.

"Your prerogative, of course." Producing a quill from another pocket and wetting it by - poking it tip-down into a hole in his vest? - he jots down something in a few quick strokes, then the notebook vanishes into a pocket again. He does this all one-handed, maintaining a firm grip on the reins all the while. 

"Do you have stories or knowledge you particularly enjoy sharing."

He snorts. "I've many a tale or secret left, for the right price. My excursions don't fund themselves, after all. What topics catch your interest, eh? Grand battles, fearsome beasts, ancient treasures, provincial happenings, the price of grain in Sing Du?" 

"What sort of price do you mean? As for what catches my interest; I'm most interested in any information you have about the Named."

"Named, eh? Not particularly common in these parts, especially now with everyone who's anyone campaigning across the sea. I know a thing or three about them, aye. As for price, I'm not picky. Coin, goods, books, perhaps valuable information of your own." Trefoil peers over his slightly scratched spectacles at Alex. "I'll answer straightforward questions for a victory* each; proper tutoring in what I know for thirty. Or something of equivalent value."

*Typical Miezan silver coin, worth about a day's wages for a scribe in Isvos, or about three days of rations. Thirty is getting into "about as expensive as a book" range, but then, books on namelore are said to be rare. 

Alex thinks about the books he has with him. "I have a couple books I might be willing to part with.  Volume three from Petronus's unified theory. And a couple on astronomy and geometry."

"Hmm, interesting. Do you mind if I have a look?"

"Certainly." It's not as if he can copy a book at a glance. Alex will pull the books out of his bag. Saving the medical text he borrowed from Jen because he doesn't feel like he can trade that away. And also leaving his new purchase that he hasn't finished reading.