Chapter 157 Skills For Once

After I was done with my adventurers, they started to thank me profusely, so I quickly ran away from their sight. I didn't like it when people thanked me. I was someone who I believed acted solely for myself and my own benefit.

Thanking me didn't make sense. That was why. But anyway, I might have had this and that thing to take care of, and it was probably the main reason for my sudden departure.

The world wasn't so large. That was when you got used to it. The country wasn't so large, and we were quickly back inside the Capital Roerdenville. I entered it together with my human friends. By the gates, I quickly got out again, as I said, though. And I ran fast.

The outside world was where I belonged: It greeted me again. Among countless prairies, grasslands, and fields, I ran. A lot. For a long period of time. Running through all of this, with the winds blowing through my hair, dishevelling it all in a mess, I absent-mindedly was in thought. Before today, the only occasions on which I headed out on my own were rare.

At first, I mainly used my human friends to have reasons to go out. With them. Somehow, I had the idea that I needed them in order to go on outings. Going out required preparations, after all. They had their ways in and out of the capital planned, and by accompanying them, I was as prepared as they were.

Now, I was more familiar with the world and thought I might as well go out on my own, thinking I didn't need so much preparation, in any case. To go out it was, then. Even if it contradicted stupid rules of commonsense people abode by.

I had a lot of time on my hands. This time, I would use it.

I ran, and at some point, I stopped. As far as exploring went, I was satisfied with where I presently was. After half an hour of jogging, I plunged into what seemed to have been a grand wheat field of a priorly majestic golden color that had long since faded away. Its golden color grew gray and old.

Within such a field, I found my treasure.

When I stumbled upon it, it turned to me with a "Boing~" A grassy slime. It was green and verdant. After I waved a hand of greeting at the orb-like monster, it turned away from my face with another jiggly sound, going back to its affair. Jumping at some stone on the earth, it absorbed it within its body. Promptly, it started to suck at some bits of ivy marked on the rock.

When I saw it, I knew I had found it. A funky creature.

Where to go from now? Well, for starters, I noted that my host wasn't polite. I was its guest here, but it didn't mind me much. Such rude hosts I would kill. That was one point. For a second point: "System," I said, still eyeing the grassy slime. I left it alone for now and opened the System Menu.

My stats, my skills, and, more importantly, my quests.

Navigating through the Quest Tab, I picked one quest. "And what shall I do with all these funky creatures?" Quest. That was a quest I obtained earlier the day before.

As usual, when dealing with the System and its logic, I wasn't sure what triggered this quest into existence, but I distinctly remembered seeing something similar to that little monster — The grassy slime was done sucking in the ivy of its rock, jumped some steps ahead, and found another grassy rock to gnaw at. — and wondered about a vital notion to me.

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"'Thus do many skills lead to victory'… right," I said, squinting my eyes at the funky creatures.

How was I obtaining skills again?

As my nature as a unique monster would want it, the most efficient way was to go with [Dwelling] and follow up with [Skill Copy] in order to learn more.

Right. That was the way to go. This was where most of my potential rested. I was a monster-type that was rather fond of eating—no, devouring. I was the Grand Devourer. Devouring things, beings, and mostly, experience. I stole experience from my prey. That's how I grew. I devoured skills. Yes. All I had to do was to play my cards right.

Hence why I came to such an unoccupied field populated with rare inoffensive monster-types. To play my cards right. At last. Thinking back on it, in my younger days, I really was without a care in the world. I'm talking about the present day, incidentally. I wasn't inefficient, working on absolutely nothing all day long, but I couldn't especially be called effective either.

I just did what I felt like. If I had a toy in front of me, I played with it until it was dead. My schedule always read "Today: jus' do what'cha want!" and that was it. A moron's schedule. Today, well, I was thinking ahead to the future for once.

It was about time I played my cards right now that I thought about it.

And so, the matter of my study was a grassy slime. What skills could I acquire from the funky slime? I died to know. As it continuously jumped from one station to the other, eating at the earth and whatever herbal thing it found on its path, I stood beside my grassy slime. Curiously peering at it from above, I narrowed my eyes at the little jiggly thing, then finally tried once to reach a hand out to the monster to caress it.

One boing. It jumped away. And it was decided. I clapped my hands together as my eyes shot open. "You," I said, placing my hands on my hips. "You will do. I choose you. …Guide me to your place."

Another boing. It jumped away again. To another grassy rock from which to eat. I followed closely behind it, leaned in to sniff it about and picked its odor. "Passive Skill: Enhanced Flair" was what the System Menu called the skill I naturally used.

After I was satisfied with my query—I asked the grassy slime to guide me to its place, and so it would—I knew what path to follow. "Thanks. You can go now." With a Slash of my sword, the thing was gone, and I went away.

Today, I was after skills. Today, I hunted on my own. My monster-hunter friends taught me how. Or rather, they taught me I already knew how to hunt on my own.

Navigating the earth toward my goal, I stopped by a nearby forest. [Enhanced Flair] was obtained from some wild doggo a long time back, I remember. In hunting, dogs could be used for tracking prey. Well, as you guessed, I could be my own dog, then. Both hunter and dog.

One after the other, I stumbled upon grassy slimes, leading me to an area where they were more numerous. I killed three so far, and the next slime whose odor I picked was inside the woods. Dark woods. Inhabited by monster-types, most likely.

Three killed slimes became four, then five, then ten. All in one go. They were growing more numerous by the minute. I met with a group of five little guys. All weren't low-level grassy slimes this time.

"Mm-hm," I nodded, "I wasn't so sure about it, but I'm doing this the right way, it seems."

Multiple slimes were slain by my sword, and I proceeded deeper into the forest for yet more of the same little inoffensive monster-types.

It wasn't just my impression. With "Mana Perception," I could check it. The more I marched East toward the afternoon sun, the more the area was concentrated with mana. Wild, agitated mana.

By now, there were more and more slimes I stumbled upon, so I ignored the majority of them and simply hacked my way through the thick branches and trees deeper into the dark woods I entered.

The deeper I ran, the more powerful the monster-types around me were. A few groups of my fellows attacked me at sight; I fought and killed these ones. A few also attacked one another at sight—the saber-wolves and poison-bite giant spiders especially. I ignored these groups.

Thus do many skills lead to victory. I followed the right path. The path toward victory. After more exploring the deep forest, I picked up a strong fragrance of plenty of the funky creatures I was after. Slimes.

Within the unexplored dark forest I entered, I stumbled upon a cave. The entrance of it glowed with magical wonders—red and blue crystals were settled up on the rocky canopy, and as bright and beautiful flowers guarded the wild meadow of its soil.

Satisfied, I chuckled.