Rei, Vihera, and Set — two people and one creature — took flight from the grove and landed in a spot not far away.
They had originally needed to leave to escape the monsters and carnivorous beasts drawn by the blood spilled by the Werewolves and the Cyclops, so once they had put some distance between themselves and the grove, there was no need to go further.
More importantly, their top priority right now was absorbing magic stones and acquiring skills.
Having landed in an open grassland with good visibility, Rei and his companions confirmed there were no monsters in the vicinity before immediately retrieving the magic stones from the Misty Ring.
Two Werewolf magic stones and two Werewolf Leader magic stones. Four magic stones in total.
This was their first encounter with Werewolves, so neither type of magic stone had been absorbed before.
(Well, they have wolf heads and human bodies. Thinking of it that way, it's not impossible to consider them a High-ranking Species of Cobolt.)
Not like the Goblin Leader, Goblin Mage, Goblin General, or Goblin King — High-ranking Species relative to Goblins — but rather like the Hobgoblin or Ogre, which were High-ranking Species where the race itself changed.
Of course, Rei understood from his life as an adventurer thus far that judging everything solely by a monster's appearance was dangerous.
"Alright then, let's get the magic stone absorption done."
"Gurururu!"
Set cried happily at Rei's words, and though she didn't say it aloud, Vihera turned her gaze toward Rei with evident interest.
The acquisition of skills through magic stone absorption — the true specialty of Beast Magic.
She couldn't hear the announcement messages that echoed in Rei's mind, messages believed to involve Takumu's influence, but the sight of a new skill being acquired still stimulated Vihera's curiosity.
With Vihera's gaze upon him, Rei first took out a Werewolf magic stone.
As if to say the Werewolf Leader magic stone — the main course of this absorption session — should come later, and this was merely an appetizer.
...In truth, that was exactly how Rei felt, so it wasn't wrong.
"Alright, first... let's see. Let's start with you, Set. Set!"
Along with those words, the Werewolf magic stone was tossed into the air.
Set caught it splendidly with his beak and swallowed it whole.
[Set has acquired the skill 'Sense of Smell Enhancement Lv.3']
An announcement message flowed through his mind.
"...Considering it's a Werewolf, I guess that's not so strange?"
Having been fully expecting to acquire an attack-type skill, Rei was slightly taken aback.
But thinking about it, Werewolves had wolf heads, so it was only natural that their sense of smell would be sharp.
"Rei, what kind of skill did it learn?"
"Sense of Smell Enhancement. ...All things considered, it's a practical skill, but it's different from what I was expecting."
Set's Sense of Smell Enhancement had saved Rei many times before.
Thinking of it that way, it was by no means a useless skill.
Still, it was disappointing for Rei that the skill was different from what he had anticipated.
"Guruuu..."
Set let out a disappointed purr as well, apparently having expected a different skill.
Partly to encourage the dejected Set, Rei stroked him lightly and spoke.
"Hey now, don't be down. Skill acquisition has always had luck as an important factor."
Strictly speaking, he wasn't sure whether luck was truly involved, but from Rei's perspective — having absorbed many magic stones — it certainly seemed like luck was a major element.
At Rei's words, Set purred and responded with an attitude that seemed to say, Really?
Rei nodded at Set's reaction, then, deciding it was his turn next, took up Death Scythe and tossed a magic stone into the air.
The massive blade of Death Scythe flashed once, and in the next instant, the magic stone was split cleanly in two...
[Death Scythe has acquired the skill 'Penetrate Lv.3']
That announcement message crossed his mind.
"...Penetrate?"
That skill wrapped wind around the pommel of Death Scythe to increase the power of thrusting attacks.
That in itself was not a problem.
No, in terms of practicality, it could be called a satisfactory skill.
However, it was also true that the connection between Werewolves and the Penetrate skill wasn't immediately apparent.
When Rei explained this along with Penetrate's effects, Vihera nodded as if in understanding.
"The Werewolves Rei was fighting might not have used it, but among the ones fighting me, there were some that used claw thrusts like this. That's probably where it came from, don't you think?"
"...Ah, now that you mention it, I think there were some like that."
Recalling the battle at Vihera's words, Rei remembered that something like that had indeed happened.
When a thrust was used against him, he had struck before it could land, countering and dispatching the Werewolf.
Thinking of it that way, it wasn't surprising the encounter hadn't left much of an impression.
"Let me test it out a bit. ...Step back for a moment, would you?"
So saying, Rei confirmed that Set and Vihera had moved away before taking his stance with Death Scythe and activating the skill.
"Penetrate!"
The thrust using Death Scythe's pommel, unleashed alongside the skill's activation, was released while wrapped in wind.
Just as Rei had expected, the wind enveloping Death Scythe had clearly increased compared to before the magic stone absorption.
That was likely the effect of the level up.
"Huh. Looking at it like this, you can see the effect with your own eyes."
A voice of admiration slipped from Vihera's mouth as she observed Death Scythe's appearance.
At the same time, beyond mere admiration, there was also a hint of envy in her expression.
Being able to easily strengthen skills through magic stone absorption was something that, from Vihera's perspective, was genuinely enviable.
There were constraints — one couldn't absorb magic stones received from others, and one had to fight the monster possessing the magic stone to some degree — but as with the Werewolf Leader, simply landing the final blow was enough to satisfy the condition.
Thinking of it that way, it wasn't a particularly strict constraint.
(Beast Magic, huh... You can only use it once in your lifetime. If anything, that's probably the strictest constraint of all.)
Before Vihera, who harbored such thoughts of wanting to try it herself someday, Rei began preparing for the next step.
Yes — the absorption of the Werewolf Leader magic stone, which could be called the main course of this session.
Holding the magic stone that was clearly larger than the Werewolf's, Rei called out to Set as usual.
"Set!"
The Werewolf Leader magic stone that was then tossed up slipped into Set's mouth just as easily as before.
[Set has acquired the skill 'Poison Claw Lv.5']
And the announcement message flowed through his mind.
As for what surprised Rei upon hearing it — it was, as expected, that Poison Claw had reached Lv.5.
"Alright!"
Knowing from his own experience that reaching Lv.5 would dramatically transform a skill's performance, Rei let out a voice without thinking.
There was also the question of Poison Claw? but he also thought it wouldn't be strange for a Werewolf Leader to use poison-claw attacks.
"It seems you've obtained quite a powerful skill?"
"Yeah. Poison Claw. Well, the skill itself wasn't that powerful up to now, but it's Set's first skill to exceed Lv.5. And when a skill reaches Lv.5..."
Its power increases dramatically.
Vihera, who had previously received an explanation about Flying Slash, understood the reason for Rei's delight.
But at the same time, she also wondered whether a skill like Poison Claw suited Set.
Rei noticed Vihera's expression, but acquiring unsuitable skills was something that had happened several times before.
Skills like Optical Camouflage and King's Intimidation, for instance, didn't particularly suit Set's personality.
(If you think of it not as Set's personality but as a Gryphon, it's not that strange.)
"Guruu?"
Perhaps worried by the exchange between Rei and Vihera, Set let out a purr.
Set's cry, conveying something like What is it?, made him not look at all like someone who would use a skill like King's Intimidation.
"No, it's nothing. More importantly, could you use Poison Claw for a bit?"
"Guruuu..."
At Rei's words, Set moved a short distance away.
That his figure looked somewhat lonely was probably not just Rei and Vihera's imagination.
(Once this is all over, I'll need to give Set plenty of affection.)
As Rei was thinking this while watching Set, Set moved to a spot where it seemed neither Rei nor Vihera would be caught in the effect, then let out a high cry as if to switch gears.
"Gurururururuu!"
Along with that voice, the Poison Claw skill must have activated. The claws extending from Set's front legs turned a toxic purple.
The fact that they didn't liquefy and drip onto the ground was perhaps a small mercy.
"...Guruu?"
After activating Poison Claw, Set apparently realized there was no target to attack. He looked around in confusion... and eventually turned his round eyes toward Rei.
What should I do? — Set asked with that gaze, and Rei too wore an expression that said he'd made a mistake.
It was fine to be happy that Poison Claw had reached Lv.5, but the fact that he had gotten a little carried away because of it was also undeniable truth.
"Ah- right... hey, there's a rock over there, right? Could you try attacking that rock?"
Rei pointed to a rock about 2m tall located in a spot that would take Set less than a minute to reach at a run.
Set seemed slightly bewildered, but apparently decided he needed to see the effects of Poison Claw for himself. He ran across the ground... and with that speed still carrying him, leapt and swung down his purple-tinged claws at the rock all at once.
Whether due to Set's sheer physical power or otherwise, the rock shattered without a moment's resistance.
"Hey, Rei. ...It just occurred to me, but since it's poison, wouldn't it only have an effect on living things?"
"...That's true."
Rei had told Set to attack a rock, but thinking about it carefully, it was only natural that he couldn't clearly understand whether attacking an inorganic object with poison would have any effect or not.
If this were some kind of monster, he could have confirmed the effect from how it suffered from the poison.
"Guruuu..."
As Set returned with a disappointed expression, Rei gently stroked his head, partly as an apology.
Set, whose mood improved just like that from the gesture, purred in high spirits and rubbed his head against Rei asking for more.
"Hey, don't get too clingy. More importantly, the last one is mine."
Sensing Rei had become serious, Set quietly moved away from him.
Vihera too set aside the Poison Claw matter for now, her eyes filled with anticipation for what kind of skill Rei — or more precisely, Death Scythe — would acquire.
With the gazes of one person and one creature upon him, Rei tossed the Werewolf Leader magic stone into the air... and in the next instant, swung Death Scythe.
The blade flashed and the magic stone was severed...
[Death Scythe has acquired the skill 'Multi Slash Lv.1']
That announcement message played.
"Multi Slash? ...It's a new skill, and going by the name, it's probably some kind of consecutive attack skill?"
"What? This Multi Slash is a new skill?"
At Vihera's words, having sharply caught Rei's murmur, Rei nodded in response.
"Yeah. It's been a while since I acquired a new skill. ...I can roughly guess the effect from the name, but let's test it out for now. Step back."
At Rei's words, Vihera and Set each put some distance between themselves and him.
Since it was a completely new skill, he had no idea what kind of effect it would have.
Because of that, it was only natural for Rei to be somewhat cautious.
After confirming the surroundings were safe, Rei swung Death Scythe.
"Multi Slash!"
The strike unleashed with those words... to an onlooker, didn't appear to have anything in particular happen.
"...Hm? What's going on?"
Until now, even when he acquired a skill, there had never been a case where the skill showed absolutely no effect.
Even if there had been, it would have meant some condition wasn't met — a learned skill was never meaningless.
If that was the case... Rei looked around, but there was no target like a Goblin or a Werewolf — the monster he had been fighting until recently — anywhere nearby, and the rock had already been shattered by Set's strike.
He considered going back to the grove to attack a tree, but then happened to look at the ground and had an idea.
There was no reason he couldn't test the skill on the ground.
"...Let's try it. Multi Slash!"
A single strike of Death Scythe swung toward the ground.
As Death Scythe's blade sliced through the ground for about 1m... right next to the blade's cut, an identical slash mark had been left behind.
[Set]
'Water Ball Lv.4' 'Fire Breath Lv.3' 'Wind Arrow Lv.3' 'King's Intimidation Lv.2' 'Poison Claw Lv.5' new 'Size Change Lv.1' 'Tornado Lv.2' 'Ice Arrow Lv.1' 'Optical Camouflage Lv.4' 'Magic Eye of Shock Lv.1' 'Power Crush Lv.4' 'Sense of Smell Enhancement Lv.3' new 'Bubble Breath Lv.1' 'Crystal Breath Lv.1' 'Earth Arrow Lv.1'
[Death Scythe]
'Corrosion Lv.4' 'Flying Slash Lv.5' 'Magic Shield Lv.1' 'Power Slash Lv.3' 'Wind Hand Lv.3' 'Terrain Manipulation Lv.2' 'Pain Burst Lv.3' 'Penetrate Lv.3' new 'Multi Slash Lv.1' new
Poison Claw: Secretes poison from the claws, inflicting poison on targets wounded by the claws. The strength of the poison changes with Lv.
Sense of Smell Enhancement: The user's sense of smell becomes sharper.
Penetrate: Wraps Death Scythe in wind, increasing the power of thrusts. However, to produce this effect, the attack must be made with the pommel.
Multi Slash: Enables multiple attacks in a single strike. At Lv.1, one additional slash is added alongside the original attack.