Rei reached out for the Sky Fang magic stone.
He gripped it in his right hand and handed the remaining antlion magic stone to Elena.
"Sorry, but could you hold onto this for a moment?"
"Certainly. It would be a hindrance for you to swing the Death Scythe while holding it, after all."
Smiling as if she understood his intent perfectly, Elena took the magic stone from him.
Rei gave her a small nod, then retrieved the Death Scythe from where it stood in the ground and moved a short distance away.
"Now then, given that the Sky Fang was a fairly powerful monster, the chances of learning a skill should be high... Let’s see what happens!"
With those words, he tossed the magic stone into the air and made a sharp, clean flash with the Death Scythe's blade. The stone was severed in midair and vanished like mist in the next instant.
【The Death Scythe has learned the skill 『Wind Hand Lv.3』】
An announcement message echoed in his mind, just as it had when Seto’s Optical Camouflage was enhanced moments before.
"...What is it? Judging by your expression, it seems you learned a skill."
Elena watched him curiously, as Rei wore a conflicted look that was somewhere between happy and disappointed. Rei shrugged his shoulders slightly at her question.
"I managed to upgrade a skill, but..."
He trailed off, looking down at the scythe in his hand.
"Well, let’s give it a try. Wind Hand!"
As he activated the skill, a colorless, transparent tentacle extended from the Death Scythe's butt end. In a sense, it was not unlike Seto's Optical Camouflage, yet the effect was fundamentally different—and not necessarily in a good way.
He could only manipulate the wind through the very tip of the transparent tentacle, and the force it could exert on its own was negligible. No matter how hard he tried, the physical impact was about as strong as a light punch. The true value of this skill only became apparent when used in conjunction with others, such as his Firestorm.
"...Ah, but the maximum distance has increased quite a bit."
By actually extending the Wind Hand, he could feel the difference. What had been roughly 150 meters at Level 2 had grown to about 200 meters at Level 3.
(100 meters at Level 1, 150 at Level 2, and 200 at Level 3. I can safely assume the range increases by fifty meters with every level.)
It was certainly a useful improvement. It meant the effective range of his Firestorm—currently his most powerful attack—had also been extended.
"Guruuu."
Seto let out a soft cry as if to congratulate him.
"Thanks. Though, if I'm being honest, I was hoping for something a bit more offensive."
Rei turned his gaze away from the griffon and toward the last magic stone in Elena's hand.
The antlion was likely one of the most powerful monsters on this desert floor. Rei had a premonition bordering on certainty that it would provide a skill upgrade. However, he hesitated over who should use it. Both he and Seto had already gained an upgrade during this session.
Perhaps sensing his hesitation—or simply realizing that the enhanced Wind Hand was still somewhat unreliable on its own—Seto rubbed its head against Rei. It gestured with its attitude that it was satisfied and that Rei should absorb the magic stone into the Death Scythe.
"Rei, Seto is insisting. Or rather, its actions speak for themselves. Why don't you be the one to take it?"
"But..."
Rei looked down at Seto, who continued to nuzzle him.
"Gurululuuu."
Meeting the griffon's earnest eyes, Rei eventually nodded.
"Alright. Since Seto is going that far, I'll take him up on the offer."
"Guru!"
Seto chirped happily. Rei placed a hand on its head, petting it with gratitude, then turned back to Elena.
"Elena, let me have the stone."
"Here. I hope it gives you a good skill."
Elena handed him the magic stone with a faint smile. He took it, nodded, and once again moved a short distance away from the one man and one beast.
(I'd really like something practical this time... Please.)
He tossed the antlion magic stone into the air and slashed it with the Death Scythe. The stone vanished into mist.
【The Death Scythe has learned the skill 『Corrosion Lv.3』】
The announcement rang in his mind.
"...This is..."
Stunned by the unexpected result, Rei looked over at the antlion's corpse lying nearby.
"Guruuu?" Seto tilted its head in equal confusion.
Elena, noticing their bewildered reactions, stepped forward.
"Rei? What happened? Judging by your face, it doesn't seem like you failed to learn something."
"No, I definitely learned a skill. It's just... the skill itself."
"Was it something unexpected?"
"It was Corrosion. It wasn't a new skill; Corrosion was simply upgraded."
Elena frowned, clearly perplexed.
"Corrosion? I thought you usually learned skills related to the monster you absorbed?"
"Usually, yeah. Like learning Optical Camouflage from the rock spider—well, that was technically Mimicry, but it's the same category. Usually, the skills are a lot more similar, but... wait."
As he spoke, Rei's eyes narrowed, focusing on the headless antlion corpse. He pulled a dismantling knife from his Misty Ring and approached the body, beginning to peel away the carapace.
Elena didn't quite understand why he had suddenly started material stripping, but she moved to help him rather than stand by. Within ten minutes, they had successfully stripped the massive carapace and Rei sliced into the creature's torso.
"...Is it this?"
He carefully carved out an unfamiliar organ from the innards, making sure not to puncture it. The organ was roughly fifty centimeters long, and when he shook it, he heard a distinct splashing sound from the liquid within.
"Stay back, it might be dangerous."
"Understood."
"Guruu."
By now, they had guessed what he was testing. Elena and Seto moved away with visible tension. Once they were clear, Rei wound up and hurled the organ toward a rock wall at the end of the canyon.
The organ flew through the air and struck the rock with a wet thud. The impact caused the organ to rupture, spraying a reddish-black liquid across the stone.
Thick smoke immediately billowed out.
Seeing the hazardous reddish-black smoke, Rei leaped back to join Elena and Seto. They watched in silence for several seconds. When the smoke finally cleared, the rock where the organ had struck was warped and pitted, as if someone had poured boiling water over ice.
"Just as I thought. Our fight ended too quickly for it to use this, but that antlion must have used acid as a primary weapon. I don't know if it breathed it out, secreted it from its horns, or injected it through its fangs, but the potency is real."
"In that case, we should be glad the fight was brief," Elena said with a sigh of relief.
None of them intended to lose easily, but they always prepared for the worst. Neither of them wanted to see their equipment ruined by corrosive liquid—especially Rei, whose gear consisted of nearly irreplaceable magic items.
"Anyway, it might not do much against desert monsters, but it’ll be a huge advantage against enemies with metal weapons and armor."
At the word 'enemies,' Elena didn't just think of monsters. She thought of humans. After all, humans were the ones most likely to be covered in metal.
"Well, I can't say I'm entirely satisfied, but upgrading two skills is still a win."
"Guruuu!" Seto chirped in agreement, and Elena nodded, shaking off her grim thoughts.
"Indeed. So, what's next? I suggest we finish processing these."
Elena gestured toward the two sand ants, the sky fang, and the antlion corpse. Aside from the magic stones, the bodies had barely been touched. Rei looked at the antlion; since they had already opened the belly and removed the carapace, it made sense to start there.
"Let’s finish this one off first."
"Very well. Aside from the carapace, do we know what else is worth taking?"
"I'll take anything that looks like it'll sell. I have plenty of room in the Misty Ring."
Elena gave him an exasperated look, but she joined him nonetheless. Seto stood guard, keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings to intercept any approaching monsters.
"We can leave the head as is... Maybe the legs?"
"Don't you have a manual for material stripping? Does it say anything?"
"Let me check."
Rei pulled his monster encyclopedia from his Misty Ring, but the antlion wasn't listed.
"...Nothing. It might be unique to this dungeon."
"If it's on this floor, it's likely found elsewhere in the desert. Should we just stick to the obvious parts?"
"No, I'll take it all just in case. I can have the guild identify the parts later."
He proceeded to store the carapace, head, and various internal organs into his Misty Ring.
"That leaves these two. Which one's next?"
Elena pointed toward the Sky Fang—the snake with six bat-like wings—and the two sand ants. Rei chose the sand ants without a moment's hesitation. He was familiar with them from his experience with soldier ants and queen ants, and they were actually listed in his encyclopedia.
(Soldier ants and sand ants... I wonder what the difference is. Probably just a matter of who named them first.)
He worked efficiently, stripping the carapace and setting aside the proof of subjugation parts. He pulled the rest of the sand ant corpses he had collected earlier out of his Misty Ring as well. Rei handled the carapaces while Elena focused on the rest. Since many of the ants had been badly burned by his magic, the number of intact carapaces was small, and Rei soon joined Elena in processing the torsos.
They worked steadily for about an hour. Because the sand ants were smaller than the other monsters, the work went by quickly. Finally, they moved on to the Sky Fang. That, too, took about an hour to dismantle.
【Death Scythe】
『Corrosion Lv.3』 (New) 『Flying Slash Lv.3』 『Magic Shield Lv.1』 『Power Slash Lv.2』 『Wind Hand Lv.3』 (New) 『Terrain Manipulation Lv.1』
Wind Hand: Colorless, transparent tentacles woven from wind magic power sprout from the Death Scythe. Wind-based interference is only possible through the tip of the tentacle. At Lv.3, the tentacles can extend up to 200 meters.
Corrosion: Slashing metal equipment multiple times causes it to corrode. Higher levels require fewer hits to trigger the effect.