The Swiftness Manual is in the chest at the bandit camp in the forest northwest of Stoneward Post, Briar Sloughs. Clear the immediate fight, search the chest, read the manual from your inventory, then confirm the Swordmastery node opens. That sequence, rather than simply owning the book, is the completion check.

Confirm the destination before leaving

  1. Open the map and find Briar Sloughs, southwest of Laslea. Use the large Stoneward Post fort as the landmark, then head northwest into the forest for the bandit camp.
  2. If the map still shows a white question mark, enter the area or climb a nearby Tower before setting a tracked waypoint. Do not run due north of Stoneward Post: the written location is its northwestern forest side.
  3. Fast travel to the closest Shrine and follow the marker into the camp.

Clear the camp and take the manual

  1. Keep sideways space before engaging. If several enemies crowd you, do not fight around the container. Pull them away, deal with them one at a time, then return to the camp center.
  2. The listed PC default for directional block is W, A, S, or D plus right mouse, while a dodge is a movement direction plus Space. Use directional blocks for ordinary attacks and dodge sideways for unblockables; your Controls screen overrides these defaults if remapped.
  3. After the fight, search the camp chest for the Swiftness Manual. If it contains other loot, first confirm that you are in the forest bandit camp northwest of Stoneward Post rather than repeatedly searching random containers around the fort.

Actually unlock the node after collecting it

  1. Press I to open the inventory, select the Swiftness Manual, and read it. A manual makes a node purchasable; it does not automatically put the ability on your combat bar.
  2. Open the Swordmastery tree in the Character menu and check whether Swiftness changed from unavailable to purchasable. If it remains blocked, verify that the manual was read first, then inspect that node’s own point, tier, or on-screen requirements.
  3. Do not treat a book sitting in the inventory as completion. The check is that the manual is read and the Swordmastery node is available to purchase; learning it still requires purchasing the node.

Fix common blockers

If you cannot find the camp, reset from Stoneward Post and move northwest into the forest instead of circling the fort wall. If the activity icon is missing, explore the area or use a nearby Tower; that is more reliable than matching individual trees from a walkthrough.

If the manual is in your inventory but the skill is still grey, read it again and confirm you are in Swordmastery, not Witchcraft or Vampirism. Vampirism does not unlock through manuals, so this route cannot resolve a blocked Vampirism node.