Unfortunately, increasing your skill level is invariably a mind-numbingly tedious waste of time. Skills and Statistics Which brings us to the skill system. There are a wide variety of skills in the game, from Animal Taming to Tailoring, from Mace Combat to Veterinary Medicine. Some are useful, many are not. The answer is, almost never.
Some skills though are useful.
The combat skills are imperative if you wish to be a warrior of any sort, magery is crucial for nearly everyone, and some sort of money making skill is top priority for the beginning character. I'd highly suggest the beginning player choose these combinations, or your cash flow won't. Training with an NPC can raise your skill to about 30, good enough to get you started, but not much else. And it takes cash, about 10 gold pieces per skill point. Statistics come in three flavors as mentioned earlier.