Rei and Seto were busy stripping materials and absorbing magic stones from the monsters they had claimed in the dungeon. So far, however, they had only acquired two skills: Rei's Flying Slash Lv. 2 and Seto's Water Ball Lv. 2.
Next, Rei reached into the Misty Ring and pulled out another trophy.
"The Ogre, then. According to Elena, it was larger than average, but not quite a rare species."
Lying before Rei and Seto was the massive corpse of an Ogre, nearly five meters in length. Ordinarily, its height would have easily exceeded five meters, but it likely looked smaller now because its head had been cleanly severed by Death Scythe. Perhaps it was also the fact that it was sprawled across the ground rather than looming over him.
"Regardless of its status, a body this size is still going to be a pain to dismantle."
With a weary sigh, Rei first carved off the right ear—the proof of subjugation part—before flipping through his guidebook for the Ogre entry.
"I’m fairly certain the proof of subjugation is the right ear... yep, no mistakes there. As for harvestable materials, the skin is generally useful for armor. Oh? The chest muscles can be used as alchemy materials... Seto?"
"Guruuu..."
Rei let out a small laugh at the sight of Seto hanging its head dejectedly, its expression practically begging for a taste.
"Fair enough. Let’s keep the Ogre meat for ourselves instead of selling it."
"Guruuu!"
Seto gave a delighted cry at those words. After all, they weren't exactly hurting for money; Rei had received two light gold coins as a reward for guarding Elena, so there was no urgent need to liquidate every last material.
He continued reading the book while watching Seto's happy antics.
"I see, the claws are ingredients for medicine. No problems there."
Muttering to himself, he stripped the claws from the Ogre's left hand and the severed right hand, carefully storing them away.
"Then there are the internal organs... no, let’s skin it first. The book says it's quite excellent for armor."
He spent the next thirty minutes or so stripping the Ogre hide.
Having performed the task so many times recently, he had finally grown accustomed to the work. His movements were no longer as clumsy as when he had first dismantled the Water Bear; instead, he worked with a smooth, practiced rhythm. A significant part of his improvement likely came from the techniques Elk had taught him during the raid on the Orc settlement.
"Let’s see, the organs... the liver is for medicine, the lungs are for alchemy, and the bones can be used in smithing. Bones, huh? Well, experience is experience. I should probably do it."
He looked at the five-meter-tall Ogre and considered the sheer labor involved in separating bone from meat.
"Actually, I'll put that off for now. As long as it's in the Misty Ring, it won't lose its freshness."
He decided that was the most efficient course of action.
"I’ve taken most of the useful materials, so the magic stone is last."
He extracted the magic stone from the heart. As expected of a creature as massive as an Ogre, the stone was quite large.
"Now then... which of us should use this? Currently, both Seto and Death Scythe have each learned one new skill."
"Guruuu."
Seto nodded as if in total agreement. Observing this, Rei checked the remaining monsters stored in the Misty Ring.
"We have the Spriggan and the Emerald Wolf left. Since we have quite a few Emerald Wolves, we don't need to be as selective with them. That means we should probably split the Ogre and the Spriggan stones between us... What do you think?"
"Gurururuuu?"
Seto tilted its head at Rei's question. Whether it was Seto or Death Scythe, there was no guarantee that absorbing a stone would result in a skill, so it likely didn't matter which went to whom. Deciding based on pure intuition, Rei spoke.
"How about Death Scythe takes the Ogre stone, and Seto takes the Spriggan's?"
"Guruuu!"
Seto cried out in immediate agreement. Seeing that, Rei tossed the Ogre magic stone into the air and performed a horizontal slash with Death Scythe.
The stone was cleaved in two mid-air, vanishing into a fine mist.
[Death Scythe has acquired the skill: Power Slash Lv. 1]
The announcement echoed through his mind.
"Power Slash, huh? Judging by the name, it’s not a long-range attack like Flying Slash... well, let’s see what it can do."
A smile played on Rei's lips as he approached a nearby tree.
Raising Death Scythe high...
"Power Slash!"
He triggered the skill and brought the weapon down in a heavy arc.
Crack!
The blade bit into the trunk, splitting it in two with virtually no resistance—and that was without Rei channeling any of his own magic power through the blade.
Surprised by the results, Rei peered at the severed wood.
The cut wasn't exactly clean; rather than a sharp slice, the surface looked as though it had been smashed apart by sheer force.
"I see. It's a skill that increases the impact of a single blow. It’s less about a sharp edge and more about the power to hack through things by brute force, just as the name suggests. It seems like it'll be quite useful."
Rei nodded with satisfaction. Thus far, Death Scythe’s repertoire consisted of Corrosion—which was useless unless the enemy wore metal—the long-range Flying Slash, and the defensive Magic Shield. For Rei, a skill like Power Slash that purely augmented his raw striking power was exactly what he had been looking for.
"If this is any indication, I have high hopes for the Spriggan stone I'm giving to Seto."
"Guruuu."
Nudged by an impatient Seto, Rei returned the partially dismantled Ogre to the Misty Ring and pulled out the Spriggan corpse. At six meters tall, it was even larger than the Ogre. Furthermore, unlike the headless Ogre, this creature was mostly intact except for its missing left hand, making its sheer scale even more imposing.
"Let’s see... Spriggan, Spriggan..."
Rei flipped through the guidebook, but...
"It’s not in here."
Perhaps because it was a rare monster, the book contained no information on the Spriggan at all.
"Well, that makes me hesitant to dismantle it properly. I’ll at least strip the skin and look for a more advanced book later."
With a sigh, he set to work with his knife. Despite the size difference, the process was much the same as the Ogre he had just finished. Within thirty minutes, he had successfully harvested the Spriggan hide. Leaving the internal organs alone for now, he extracted the magic stone from the heart.
"Now, let’s see what the Spriggan gives us. I’m guessing it’ll be the size-changing ability that Spriggans are known for."
Rei imagined a version of Seto that was four meters long.
If Seto could double its size, its combat potential would become truly overwhelming when combined with its natural physical ability. However, if Seto became that large, he wouldn't be able to show the Gryphon to others without causing a panic, which would be quite a headache.
"The only way to know is to try. Seto."
"Guruuu!"
Seto expertly caught the tossed stone in its beak and swallowed it whole.
[Seto has acquired the skill: Size Change Lv. 1]
The announcement rang in his head.
"Just as I thought. Seto, try using Size Change right away."
"Gururuuu!"
Seto gave a high-pitched cry in response to Rei's command. Then, in the next instant...
"...What?"
Seto’s size did indeed change. However, instead of growing, the Gryphon shrank from two meters down to about one meter in length. It had reached roughly half its original size.
"Kuruuu?"
Seto itself didn't seem to understand what had happened. It tilted its head, looking puzzled as its surroundings suddenly seemed much larger.
As Rei watched Seto, he puzzled over the outcome.
(It shrinks? I was positive it would get bigger... this is unexpected. But why smaller? No, wait. I see. The skill he got from the Spriggan was Size Change. That means it’s definitely a manifestation of the Spriggan's trait. I assumed the smaller form I saw earlier was the true form, but maybe that massive six-meter body was actually the default, and the species uses its special ability to shrink down...?)
Having reached a plausible theory, Rei let out a sigh and stroked Seto’s head as the Gryphon rubbed against him worriedly.
"Kurururuuu?"
Perhaps because of its smaller size, even its cry sounded somewhat adorable. Rei smiled.
"Don't worry about it. I was just a little caught off guard. Thinking about it, being able to shrink is actually quite useful. It'll help when we need to hide from enemies or sneak around... though, at one meter, you're still a bit big for stealth."
"Kurururuuu!"
Seto gave a high-pitched cry as if to say it would do its best.
"Alright, you can go back to normal now."
"Kuruuu!"
With a short chirp, Seto’s body swelled back to its usual size—a Gryphon over two meters in length.
"That was definitely a surprise. But like I said, being small has its own set of uses, so don't let it get to you. Just... make sure not to use it in the city or around other adventurers."
"Guruuu."
"Good. Now for the last monster: the C-Rank Emerald Wolf. Since it’s a relatively high-rank monster, we should be able to get a skill from it."
Muttering to himself, he pulled the first Emerald Wolf corpse from the Misty Ring. As the name implied, its fangs were a deep, vibrant green, looking almost like polished gemstones grown into the shape of teeth.
Naturally, the fangs weren't actually gems. The prevailing theory was that the wolf's magic power bonded with the bone to create that unique appearance.
"According to the book... first, the fangs. They’re useful as catalysts for alchemy, as materials for blacksmiths, and even for pharmacists. Next is the fur, which is in high demand for armor and clothing. The organs... the liver, tongue, and eyes are all materials. The heart is... no good, apparently."
The book noted that the heart could only be sold as material if the magic stone was still embedded within it.
"Well, we have plenty of Emerald Wolves, so I’ll save a few hearts for that later."
He worked with practiced efficiency, cutting off the right tentacle—the proof of subjugation part—before skinning the pelt and harvesting the liver. After that, he severed the head and carefully broke the emerald fangs at the root to ensure they didn't snap. Finally, he removed the tongue and the deep green eyeballs. All of it was placed in storage containers and tucked into the Misty Ring.
Furthermore, because the Emerald Wolf was a C-Rank monster, its meat was rich in magic power and could be sold as a luxury item. However, Rei viewed monster meat primarily as food for Seto and rarely sold any of it.
If he hadn't possessed the Misty Ring, he might have sold it before it spoiled. But with the ring keeping everything perfectly fresh, the option to sell never even crossed his mind.
"Let’s start with Seto again."
"Guruuu."
Seto looked up at the sound of Rei's voice. Rei tossed the Emerald Wolf’s magic stone, which Seto caught and swallowed as usual.
[Seto has acquired the skill: Tornado Lv. 1]
The announcement echoed in their minds.
"Tornado, huh? Well, they were using wind magic, so it makes sense. Seto, give it a shot."
"Gurururuuu!"
Seto’s cry rang out, and a moment later, a whirlwind about one meter high appeared a short distance away.
"It’s... a little underwhelming, to say the least."
"Guruuu..."
"Ah, no, I’m not blaming you, Seto! It’s only Level 1, so it’s bound to be small... wait a second. A tornado? Hmm, this might actually be incredibly useful."
"Guruuu?"
Seto tilted its head as if asking what he meant. Rei smiled and patted its head.
"Once we finish with Death Scythe, let’s test it out. This tornado might be a better skill than it looks."
Rei spoke encouragingly to Seto as he pulled another Emerald Wolf from the Misty Ring, processing it with rapid speed. He tossed the stone and cleaved it with Death Scythe.
[Death Scythe has acquired the skill: Wind Hand Lv. 1]
The announcement vibrated through his mind.
[Seto] Water Ball Lv. 2, Fire Breath Lv. 2, Wind Arrow Lv. 1, King's Intimidation Lv. 1, Poison Claw Lv. 1, Size Change Lv. 1 (New), Tornado Lv. 1 (New)
[Death Scythe] Corrosion Lv. 1, Flying Slash Lv. 2, Magic Shield Lv. 1, Power Slash Lv. 1 (New), Wind Hand Lv. 1 (New)
Power Slash: Increases the power of a single strike. However, it does not sharpen the edge; rather, it delivers a blow that smashes through the target.
Size Change: Shrinks the user below their original size. At Level 1, the user becomes approximately 1 meter in length.
Tornado: Creates a whirlwind. The size of the tornado depends on the skill level. At Level 1, it is approximately 1 meter high.
Wind Hand: Invisible tentacles woven from wind magic grow from Death Scythe. The wind can only manipulate objects that come into contact with the tips of these tentacles.