After finishing lunch at the house Elena and Vihera were borrowing, Rei used his break time to head to his own borrowed house.
The only one with him was Set.
Even Ielo, who was usually by Set's side, was nowhere to be seen.
When Rei had said he was stepping out, As wore an expression that clearly pleaded don't leave me behind — but Rei pretended not to notice and came here anyway.
He understood perfectly well that As didn't want to be left alone in a place full of women... and not just any women, but only beauties and beautiful girls at that. Still, right now, Rei had something he needed to take care of.
Something he should have done sooner — ideally last night or this morning. That was...
"This area should work. Set, check the surroundings just in case — see if anyone's keeping watch on us. As far as I can tell, nobody's around, but better safe than sorry."
"Guruu!"
At Rei's words, Set gave a short cry and scanned the area.
Since many Elves were skilled archers, plenty of them also had exceptional eyesight. Some could even enhance their vision using magic.
When Rei had been under house arrest, the person monitoring him from about a hundred meters outside his window had possessed exactly that ability.
Because of that, a lingering concern remained — perhaps even now, they were being watched through some means.
That wariness was precisely why Rei hadn't done what he was about to do last night or this morning.
But right now... with As and Poro — outsiders besides themselves — present in the settlement, Rei judged it highly unlikely that anyone was paying attention to them.
Of course, it wasn't a guarantee that no one was watching through some method, but even so, it would be impossible to completely evade the combined senses of both Rei and Set.
And indeed, as Rei and Set probed their surroundings, they detected no presence of anyone focusing attention on them.
"...Alright. Nobody's here."
"Gurururuu!"
Set nodded at Rei's words, certain the area was clear.
Ideally, he should have done this outside the settlement. But seeing As's... no, seeing a nine-tailed Carbuncle — a Rare Species — had given him plenty to think about.
That was why Rei had resolved to absorb the Magic Stones he'd been stockpiling, right here and now with Set.
(I would've preferred to collect more — maybe ten Magic Stones — before absorbing them, though.)
Skills obtained through absorbing Magic Stones were, as a rule, not particularly powerful at first. By absorbing Magic Stones from multiple types of monsters that possessed similar skills, the raw power would increase.
Of course, that was purely the skill's inherent power. Mastering it depended on the user's technique and sense — whether that was Set, or Rei wielding Death Scythe.
Even so, Rei's thinking was that if the goal was to purely increase power, it was better to absorb several types at once.
Mind you, that wasn't a hard-and-fast rule — more of a "wouldn't it be better to do it that way if possible?" kind of thing.
That was why encountering Poro, a Carbuncle Rare Species, had so easily changed his mind and motivated him to absorb the stones now.
Another significant factor was that he could roughly predict what kind of skill the Aerowing Magic Stone would grant based on its attack method — and Rei wanted that skill.
"...Well, I'll save the biggest prize for last. Let's see, the Magic Stones I have now are..."
Muttering to himself, he began pulling out Magic Stones.
Ogre, Gamelion, Cyclops, Aerowing.
Though they varied in size, each was a proper Magic Stone.
"I've got multiple Gamelion stones, too..."
He muttered, wearing a slightly disappointed expression — because having multiple Gamelion Magic Stones was meaningless.
Death Scythe had already absorbed a normal Gamelion Magic Stone, so only Set could still benefit from one.
(Well, the absorption itself would probably still work... even if it's pointless.)
Currently, the Magic Stones that would be meaningful for Set to absorb were Ogre, Gamelion, and Aerowing. The ones meaningful for Death Scythe were Cyclops and Aerowing.
"...Anyway, let's start with this one."
Rei reached for the Gamelion Magic Stone. Since he'd obtained a large quantity of them in the Dungeon, he didn't feel any particular attachment to it.
"Set!"
He called out and tossed the Magic Stone to Set, who skillfully caught it in its beak and swallowed it.
[Set has learned the skill 'Power Crush Lv.3']
A message echoed through his mind.
"Huh... I didn't think a normal Gamelion stone could still be absorbed."
"Gurururuu!"
Set purred happily at Rei's murmur. It was probably pleased that its own skill had grown stronger and that Rei was happy about it too. It purred in high spirits.
"Power Crush is a skill you use quite a bit, Set, so in that sense, it's a good one. ...Thinking about how Gamelion fight, it makes sense you'd get this kind of skill from them."
The Gamelion, which resembled a giant rabbit, attacked with both the raw power of its massive frame and the agility characteristic of rabbit-type monsters — a combination that belied its appearance.
Considering that, learning Power Crush was a reasonable outcome.
"Testing it... well, I'll test it during the afternoon forest patrol. Let's move on to the next one."
Next, Rei reached for the Ogre Magic Stone. His expression, however, was slightly sour — because the Ogre that had possessed this stone had been a rather small specimen.
The question of whether it was safe to absorb the Magic Stone of such a weak individual nagged at him.
"Gamelion went to you, and this Ogre Magic Stone... no, come to think of it, I already had Death Scythe absorb one before. So I'm thinking of having you absorb this one too — that alright?"
Recalling the Ogre he'd defeated in the Dungeon housing the Altar of Inheritance alongside Elena and the others, Rei spoke to Set.
"Gurururuu!"
Set let out a happy cry. Perhaps sensing Rei's unease about the Ogre Magic Stone, it stared intently at him with round eyes.
Urged on by that hurry up, hurry up gaze, Rei tossed the stone in his hand toward Set. Set swiftly caught the Ogre Magic Stone in its beak and swallowed it.
[Set has learned the skill 'Power Crush Lv.4']
At the voice echoing in his mind, Rei wore a complicated expression — somewhat satisfied, yet somehow dissatisfied.
It was only natural. Power Crush was a skill that had just leveled up from the Gamelion Magic Stone mere minutes ago.
(No — Set's strike has gotten more powerful, so there's no reason to be dissatisfied.)
Convinced, he petted Set's head as it looked up at him with a how is it? how is it? gaze.
"That's right, good job remembering. I can't exactly test how powerful it is here, but... show me when we get to the forest."
"Gurururuu!"
Petting Set's head as it cried out as if to say leave it to me!, Rei turned his gaze to the remaining Magic Stones.
What was left were one Cyclops Magic Stone and one Aerowing Magic Stone.
Taking one of them — the Cyclops Magic Stone — he tossed it into the air and slashed at it with Death Scythe in a single stroke.
[Death Scythe has learned the skill 'Pain Burst Lv.2']
At the message that flashed through his mind, Rei tilted his head.
"Guruu?"
What's wrong? Set looked at Rei with a puzzled expression. Since Rei had obtained a skill, it expected him to be happy — and the absence of any such reaction struck it as odd.
"No, Pain Burst is a skill that, when you wound an opponent, makes them feel greater pain — regardless of the actual damage, right? So why would I learn this from a Cyclops Magic Stone... I can't understand it at all."
"Gururuu..."
At Rei's words, Set also let out a confused purr.
Watching Set's reaction, Rei apparently decided there was no point dwelling on it now. He turned his gaze to the hand gripping Death Scythe.
Regardless of the reason, a skill had been strengthened — that much was unchanged.
And if the wound itself remained the same but the pain inflicted on the enemy increased, using it mid-battle would make catching an opponent off guard far from difficult.
(It probably wouldn't mean much against plant-type monsters or ones without a sense of pain. But I should consider it better to have been strengthened than to have learned nothing at all. ...Though I would've preferred something like Power Slash to get upgraded.)
"Gururuu!"
As Rei was mulling over Pain Burst, Set eventually purred as if to say what's wrong? Shouldn't we keep going with the absorption?
Smiling at Set, Rei petted its head.
"You're right, no point overthinking every little thing. It's not like I suffered any disadvantage, so I should just accept it. Sorry, Set — did I make you worry?"
As Rei spoke while gently stroking Set's head, Set let out a happy cry.
Returning a smile to Set, Rei next turned his gaze to the Aerowing Magic Stone — the one that could be called the star of today's absorption session.
Though he felt a little conflicted saying this right after petting Set, Rei spoke to it.
"Hey, Set. I want to use this Magic Stone for Death Scythe — is that okay?"
"Guruu..."
At Rei's words, Set looked down in disappointment.
It was obvious from its demeanor that Set had been eyeing the Aerowing Magic Stone for itself.
Rei felt a twinge of guilt seeing Set hang its head, but even so, this time he wanted — to be precise, he wanted Death Scythe to absorb the stone.
"Come on, Set. Please. It's not like this is the last Aerowing in existence. We might even find another one this afternoon, you know?"
"Guruu?"
Really? Set looked at him with round eyes, and Rei nodded.
He wasn't saying it without basis. He'd heard from Marina and Jusura that Aerowings originally inhabited this forest.
If that was the case, then as long as they were in the forest, there was no way Set wouldn't be able to find one.
And just as when they'd taken down this Aerowing, with Set's strike, killing one wouldn't be all that difficult.
In other words, obtaining another Aerowing Magic Stone shouldn't be that hard.
"Gurururuu... Guruu, Gururururu."
Eventually — whether it understood what Rei was getting at and its mood improved, or it simply shifted its thinking to the prospect of eating Aerowing meat again — Set looked at Rei with a prompting gaze.
Rei gently petted Set's head with gratitude, then reached for the Aerowing Magic Stone.
"...Here goes..."
He muttered, tossed the Magic Stone into the air, and brought Death Scythe down in a single slash. The sharp strike cleaved through the stone without so much as a sound.
[Death Scythe has learned the skill 'Flying Slash Lv.5']
A message echoed through his mind.
"Alright!"
He clenched his fist, and a cry of joy escaped Rei's lips.
Yes — this was the skill he'd been after.
It was the skill Rei used most frequently, and an extremely convenient one for ranged attacks.
In terms of ranged options, he had the Eye of Nebula, spear throwing, and if it came down to it, magic. Even so, Flying Slash — which required no chanting or mana channeling and could be used freely — was something Rei was incredibly grateful for.
"I want to test it, but... it'd be problematic here. I can't exactly go slashing up the yard of a borrowed house."
The one who knew Flying Slash's power best was, naturally, Rei himself. That was precisely why he could vividly imagine what would happen if he unleashed it at full power here.
In the end, there was no way he could test the technique in the yard of the borrowed house, so trying out Flying Slash would have to wait until the afternoon patrol through the forest.
[Set]
'Water Ball Lv.3' 'Fire Breath Lv.3' 'Wind Arrow Lv.3' 'King's Intimidation Lv.1' 'Poison Claw Lv.4' 'Size Change Lv.1' 'Tornado Lv.1' 'Ice Arrow Lv.1' 'Optical Camouflage Lv.2' 'Magic Eye of Shock Lv.1' 'Power Crush Lv.4' new 'Sense of Smell Enhancement Lv.1' 'Bubble Breath Lv.1' 'Crystal Breath Lv.1'
[Death Scythe]
'Corrosion Lv.3' 'Flying Slash Lv.5' new 'Magic Shield Lv.1' 'Power Slash Lv.2' 'Wind Hand Lv.3' 'Terrain Manipulation Lv.2' 'Pain Burst Lv.2' new 'Penetrate Lv.2'
Power Crush: Increases the power of a single strike. Normally, like Power Slash, it would cause recoil to the user, but in Set's case, thanks to its innate physical abilities, there is virtually no recoil.
Pain Burst: When activated and slashing an enemy with Death Scythe, the pain inflicted on the enemy increases. At Level 2, it is four times greater.
Flying Slash: A skill that sends out a flying slash. The power is reasonably high, but only one slash can be fired at a time.