Chapter 2:
Powerful Skill Set
THE DUNGEON was surprisingly unremarkable inside. It even had torches placed at regular intervals on the brick walls, although it seemed like it would be easy to get lost in the labyrinthine corridors.
“I guess there’s no use being scared. I just have to get going.”
I took one step inside and the door shut behind me—holy crap! Before I could get my wits about me, a woman’s voice suddenly echoed from inside.
“Welcome, brave hero… I await you on the second level. Be sure y…and…you will…”
The voice grew hoarse and trailed off at the end, so I couldn’t quite make it out. It was possible I was walking into a trap. I gripped my sword and proceeded straight down the passage. I turned right at the end, and promptly froze in my tracks.
“No… No way…”
I was face-to-face with shining, golden slimes. They were your typical round jelly monsters in every respect but color. Normally, slimes were a nice blue or green. Red existed too, but they were rare in this region. But gold? Those were practically unheard of. So what were three of them doing here?
They looked pretty belligerent too—spitting out noxious gold liquid. I dodged and brought down my sword. I may not have cut a particularly gallant image, but I did cut one of them in half. I used the same strategy on the other two. Slimes were weak monsters, so even I managed somehow.
Warmth enveloped me and I felt power course through my body. I must’ve leveled up quite a bit. I was just a measly Level 5 after all—I’d need to get evaluated later.
“I guess they’re probably edible?”
Slimes were also used for culinary purposes. Their flavor varied depending on their diet, and some people even farmed them. I scooped up one of the halved jellies and took a bite.
“It’s so sweet!” It tasted almost like honey, but somehow more refined. I took another bite, and then another, and before I knew it, I’d eaten the whole thing. “Oh no, I have to save some to bring back to mother and Alice.”
As for father…I’m not sure he deserves any, I thought as I stuffed the remaining slimes into my bag. The gold ones weren’t very strong breeders, so they were quite valuable. They’d probably fetch a pretty penny at the market, and there were even more where these came from. I felled a few more of the creatures, quickly filling my bag.
Once I found the stairs, I made my way down to the next level.
“…ere…thi…s…way…”
It was that voice again. Maybe it was a trap, but I couldn’t put it out of my mind. There were several doors leading to small rooms on the second level and I followed the voice into one of them.
An emaciated blue-haired woman was chained in the middle of the room. The chains ran out of round holes in the walls, and the woman was limp and frail.
“You’re not dead, are you?” I said, stopping a few feet away.
I could see her pale face, but I couldn’t tell how old she was. The only thing I could be sure of was that she’d be a total knockout if she were in better health.
“Come closer and…touch my…head…”
She sounded like she was about to drop dead, so I steeled myself and did as she requested.
“Whoa!”
All of a sudden, everything she wanted to tell me came crashing into my head like an avalanche. Was that what people called telepathy?
She was Olivia Servant, a super-duper extremely top-class adventurer (Seriously?). Apparently, she was last active in the kingdom over two hundred years ago. She stumbled on the hidden dungeon and got inside after she found an ancient stone tablet in a cave and deciphered its text. So, it turned out I wasn’t the first person in here after all.
Olivia ended up in her present predicament after defeating a demon in this very room and subsequently triggering a trap. The really shocking thing was that she’d been stuck here for all two hundred years she’d been missing. That made my skin crawl just thinking about it.
“I think I got the gist of it,” I said. “I’ll cut you down now.”
<No, don’t! It’s a curse. Don’t touch anything!>
Her voice echoed through my skull. It was velvety and full of energy, unlike her body, which was still as inert and vacant as ever. Her mind seemed to be completely detached from her physical form.
<They’re Death Chains—cut them and it’s curtains for Olivia.>
“Why’d you call me here then?”
<I was desperate for someone to talk to. I knew it was hopeless, but I just kept sending my message anyway, just in case—and hey! It worked eventually, didn’t it?! Just brings a tear to your eye, huh?>
It didn’t seem like she knew I’d responded. She must’ve been at it for two hundred years.
<By the way, you’ve got some real potential, kid.>
“Thanks. The name’s Noir. I came here to get stronger, and—”
I casually introduced myself, but while she still didn’t even bat an eyelash, her telepathic voice was lively as ever.
<Really?! Well that’s just perfect! I was just thinking about finding someone to hand my skills to. Not like they’re any use to me anymore! You can have ’em. Now, sorry to be a bother, but could you press your forehead against mine?>
“Like this?”
Nervous as I was, I brought my forehead up to hers. As soon as I did, I felt a wave of heat flood my body, almost like my blood was boiling.
<Dun dun da-dun! Congratulations! You’re now the proud owner of my skills, Noir! They’ve got some issues, sure, but they’re all super powerful! Now I can pass on with no regrets. Farewell!>
“No, wait! Don’t die yet!”
<I’m not dead, stupid. It’s called a joke, ever heard of one? Now lemme explain my skills.>
Each of the skills she described—entirely matter-of-factly—were completely and utterly broken in every respect.
Get Creative: Freely create new skills. Getting Creative consumes LP. The amount of LP consumed varies depending on the skill created, but original skills are typically more costly.
Bestow: Grant skills generated with Get Creative to other creatures or objects. The LP cost varies depending on the nature of the skill being Bestowed and the nature of the recipient.
Editor: Edit skills belonging to you, others, or things. Editing consumes LP. The amount of LP consumed varies depending on the edit being made.
LP Conversion: The following circumstances cause LP to increase—consuming particularly delectable food, engaging in sexual activity with attractive members of the opposite sex, fulfilling a desire for financial or material gain, satisfying any other basic desires (including the production of offspring).
I did some pretty frantic math out of concern for the state of my LP. Get Creative, Bestow, Editor—I’d never heard of any of them before. They had to be unique skills.
<Like I said, they’re all really strong, aren’t they?! I mean, sure, you gotta save up LP to use ’em, but still.>
“Sounds like you’ve gotta be a real hedonist to save LP that way, though.”
<I did live a life of luxury! I had a nice house, paid for with my plentiful income, ate delicious food, and enjoyed plenty of good men.>
“You really got around, huh.”
<Can’t deny it! But now you get to indulge too, Noir! You gotta indulge to save. Funny, huh?>
“Oh, no, I, uh…”
<Ugh… All right, how much LP do you have right now, exactly?>
When I thought about it, the number 550 crossed my mind.
<Wow, that’s really not a lot. You probably won’t be able to make powerful skills with that, but why don’t you try making something just to see how it works?>
“What happens if I run out of LP?”
<You die, duh.>
She probably should have started with that.
“If I use up all my LP and die, that’ll make you a murderer.”
<Oh, I didn’t take you for that kind of a man, Noir. You’re the type of guy who doesn’t just look before you leap, you look twice and never make the jump.>
“Hmph.”
<Ooh, did I hit a sore spot? Ha ha, sorry. Anyway, give it a shot and make something. Start out with something easy like Stone Bullet maybe?>
“Okay, fine.”
I used Get Creative to generate Stone Bullet. It would only cost me 50 LP, so I went ahead. The spell should’ve been usable after that, so I tried it out to make sure.
Pew! Ka-thunk!
A stone, about eight inches in diameter, shot through the air and smashed into the wall.
I gaped. “I can’t believe it’s this easy to get new skills.”
<I know, right? It’s super handy. So, how are you feeling?>
“Um, a little tired, I guess.”
<Sounds like you should call it quits for the day and get some rest. But you’d better come back! I’ll coach you—all you have to do is call me ‘Master.’>
“Very well, Master. I humbly request that you continue to keep me in your good graces.”
<Ew, so stiff!>
“Well, considering your preferences, Master, I’m sure you’d prefer to keep things casual.”
<You have a nasty tongue on you, Noir.>
“I’ll be back.”
I had been here a while, so I followed her suggestion and left the dungeon. I stopped by the church on my way home and asked my friend, Father Dahl, to give me a skill appraisal.
“What on earth has happened to you, Noir?! You have skills I’ve never even heard of, and weren’t you Level 5 the last time I saw you?”
So, apparently, I’d shot up to Level 20. Those golden slimes were even more valuable than I thought.