"Well then, here are your claim tags."
So saying, Laurie handed over claim tags for the three monster corpses Rei had entrusted to her.
Several abbreviations were written on the claim tags—things Rei couldn't fully decipher on his own. That said, Laurie had already explained them to him, so he understood what they meant. In short, they indicated that all the meat and material parts from the dissected monsters would be returned to Rei.
Normally, it wouldn't have been unusual for the subjugation proof parts to be noted as well, but since both the bull and the Orc Naga were unknown monsters, the Guild had not yet designated subjugation proof parts for them.
If Rei were hurting for money, he would have negotiated with the Guild over the subjugation proof parts too. Fortunately, Rei was not hurting for money. If anything, he possessed enough wealth to live in leisure through several lifetimes, even if he were reborn multiple times. Given that, he had no desire to negotiate with the Guild just to claim subjugation rewards. Of course, if they offered, he would accept without hesitation.
"Alright then, I've got some free time until evening for now."
Once evening came, he needed to go to the Guild to receive the Queen Bee's materials, then drop off the Chimera corpse for its next dissection. Time-wise, it was just past three in the afternoon, so he still had about three hours to spare. After finishing his business at the Guild, he planned to return to the Laurie Dissection Shop to collect the dissected materials and meat from the bull and Orc Naga.
"Grrl, grrl?"
Walking beside Rei, Set purred, asking whether he wasn't going to use the bull's magic stone on Death Scythe. Since they had gone to the trouble of obtaining a magic stone, Set seemed to think he should put it to use.
Stroking Set's body, Rei hesitated slightly. "When it comes to whether I'll use it or not, I definitely want to. But... the problem is where to use it."
Gilm was currently so crowded that it felt as though there wasn't a single place without people. Given that, if he carelessly used a magic stone in some poorly chosen spot, there was a chance someone would see him.
Moreover, since the bull was a monster that inhabited the area near the Forest of Magic, it was undoubtedly a high-rank monster. And if it was a high-rank monster, then based on past experience, there was a high probability he could acquire a skill from it. If that was the case, then to test a newly acquired skill—or a skill enhanced through leveling up—he wanted a place that was not only free of onlookers but also had adequate space.
"That's right. I'm a bit tired of the noise anyway. Shall we leave Gilm?"
Considering Set's flight speed, Rei could relocate to a place some distance from Gilm and use the magic stone and test the skill there.
"Grrl."
At Rei's words, Set purred happily, indicating that was fine by him. For Set, playing with everyone in Gilm was enjoyable, but he also wanted to spend some quiet time with Rei.
With the plan decided, Rei didn't hesitate. He headed straight for the gate, completed the departure procedures, and left Gilm.
Along the way, he stopped by several weapon shops looking for spears being sold off cheaply due to damage. However, perhaps because the number of people working in Gilm had increased, even such spears sold reasonably well, and the ones Rei could buy were in truly poor condition. Still, since Rei wanted them as disposable throwing weapons, as long as they weren't so broken that they couldn't be thrown, he purchased them without issue.
Satisfied that he'd managed to replenish his supply of spears, even if only a few, he mounted Set's back and took to the sky.
"Alright, there shouldn't be many people in this area right now."
Rei headed toward the place where the Gamelion Hunt was held every year. In a few months, Gamelions and Gilm's adventurers seeking them would flood this place in large numbers. But it was still summer. What spread out before him now was only grassland, with no other living creatures in sight. Well, if he searched carefully, there were probably monsters and animals around, but what Rei was about to do was use a magic stone.
"Let's see... Set, land down around there, would you?"
Rei pointed to a spot near a rock in the grassland. It wasn't particularly large—about two meters in height—but it meant no one would see him cutting a magic stone with Death Scythe, and if he acquired or enhanced a skill, the rock would serve as a perfect target to test it on.
"Grr!"
Set seemed to understand Rei's intent. Flapping his wings, he descended toward the ground. Thus, in less than ten minutes after leaving Gilm, Rei arrived at a spot where no one was around to watch.
"Alright... then I suppose it starts with this. What kind of skill will I be able to acquire? In Set's case, he acquired Power Attack, a power-type skill."
Power Attack... essentially just a body slam, but it was a body slam performed by Set, who was over three meters long, complete with skill effects. Thanks to its straightforward effect and the fact that Set's own physical abilities influenced its power, even at Level 1 it could snap a tree trunk so thick that three adults linking arms could barely encircle it. Given that, if Rei acquired a similar skill, the possibility that its effect would be quite powerful couldn't be denied.
"Grrl."
At Rei's words, Set purred with expectation.
Giving Set a light pat, Rei took out the magic stone and Death Scythe from his Misty Ring. He tossed the magic stone into the air and simultaneously swung Death Scythe.
[Death Scythe has acquired the skill "Penetrate Lv.5"]
An announcement message flowed through his mind. It meant a skill had been enhanced, but...
"Penetrate?"
Why? A bewildered voice escaped Rei's mouth.
It was only natural. Since it was a bull monster, he had expected to acquire a skill that increased striking power, like the one Set had newly acquired. Or perhaps Power Slash's level would go up. Instead, why Penetrate?
But, revisiting the image of the bull in his mind, he could somewhat accept it. The bull had sharp horns on its head, and a strike using those horns, combined with the bull's massive body and overwhelming charging power, was certainly a formidable blow. That strike was a charge... in other words, it had aspects similar to Penetrate. Given that, it wasn't strange for the Penetrate skill to be enhanced.
"At any rate, this brings Penetrate to Level 5 too. ...Just how much has it been strengthened?"
Thanks to his trip to the Forest of Magic, several skills that had been at Level 4 had risen to Level 5. Depending on the case, that held even greater significance for Rei than his promotion to A-Rank.
"Grrl!"
The announcement message that had just flowed through Rei's head had, naturally, also reached Set. That was precisely why Set purred, wanting to see the enhanced Penetrate in action.
"Right. With it reaching Level 5, I need to find out how much it's been strengthened. I should test it a bit. Set, back away just in case."
Obediently following Rei's instruction, Set moved away from him. Confirming that, Rei aimed Death Scythe's spike end toward the rock and held it like a spear.
"Penetrate!"
The moment he activated the skill, he broke into a run toward the rock, thrusting the spike end forward like a spear. That blow shattered the rock with ease... and not only that, the area surrounding the shattered rock had been gouged out in a spiral pattern.
"Is this... a drill...?"
Yes, that spiral could only strike Rei as a drill's attack.
Drills were also used in industrial applications in Japan. But the drill Rei had referred to was different from those drills. What Rei had spoken of was the so-called drill as a romance weapon. It was as if such a drill had unleashed that attack, shattering the rock.
For several dozen seconds, Rei looked at the drill-like gouge, then at Death Scythe, and once more understood that the strike just now had indeed been a drill-empowered attack, just as he'd described.
"A drill, huh. I figured it would be strengthened at Level 5, but... I never expected this much."
He murmured in genuine wonder. Rei didn't have any particular attachment to drills. Even so, seeing the power of that strike firsthand, he could understand that Penetrate at Level 5 had been enhanced to an extreme degree.
"Grrrrrl!"
At Rei's reaction, Set purred intensely, as if saying, "That's amazing!" For Set, he might be able to perform a similar attack himself. Even so, the strike Rei had just executed with Death Scythe was enough to surprise and delight Set.
"As always, the enhancement at Level 5 is consistent. Well, it was already performing well enough, so I don't mind."
"Grrl."
At Rei's words, Set made no effort to hide his happy demeanor. Seeing Set looking even more delighted than Rei himself, who was the one wielding Death Scythe, Rei couldn't help but smile at Set's attitude.
"At any rate, the main objective—using the bull's magic stone—is done. What should we do now? We still have quite a bit of time before our agreed evening."
"Grrl."
Right, Set purred in response to Rei's words. Time-wise, there was still a fair amount left until evening. The sun still had considerable time before it transformed into a setting sun.
"Shall we play here for a while?"
"Grrl!"
The suggestion of playing must have been a happy one for Set. He let out a cry that resounded through the surroundings. Rei hadn't expected Set to be this overjoyed, and was slightly surprised. They had been together the whole time in the Forest of Magic, and since returning to Gilm, Set had played with Ielo at Marina's house, and when they were active around town, many Set Enthusiasts had played with him. Considering all that, it was unexpected that Set wanted to play with Rei this much. Even so, the fact that Set wanted to play with him like this was something that brought Rei joy as well.
"In that case, let's see... want to play with this for starters?"
What Rei produced as he said that was a tree branch. There was a common way to play with dogs—throwing a stick and having them fetch it. However, Set was a gryphon, and since he also had lion traits, he was more feline by nature. But still, when it came to Set's personality, he came across like an affectionate dog. That was precisely why Rei thought Set could thoroughly enjoy this kind of play.
"Grr!"
From the branch Rei produced, Set seemed to understand what he was about to do. He purred happily. After giving Set a pat, Rei readied the branch.
"Alright, Set. Go fetch this branch, okay? ...Here!"
With those words, the branch was thrown. But it wasn't a child throwing it—Rei threw the branch, so naturally it flew at considerable speed.
"Grr!"
Set quickly kicked off the ground and dashed toward the branch Rei had thrown. His running speed was quite fast, rapidly closing the distance between himself and the thrown branch.
"Oh, can he catch it before it falls?"
Set, sprinting at full speed, seemed to hear Rei's words, as he increased his pace even further... and just as the branch gradually began descending toward the ground, he leaped swiftly and succeeded in brilliantly catching it in his beak.
Carrying the branch back, Set rubbed his face against Rei, purring as if to say, "Look how great that was, praise me, praise me."
"Good boy, well done. Then... shall we try this next?"
So saying, what Rei retrieved from his Misty Ring was a round wooden plate. He figured it might work as a substitute for a frisbee. That said, Rei hadn't played with frisbees much—only a little during elementary school. Also, this plate was naturally one used during meals. It wasn't anything fancy—just an ordinary plate made by a typical craftsman. Naturally, unlike plates sold in Japan, it wasn't machine-made, so it wasn't a perfect circle, and the air resistance would likely cause it to wobble irregularly.
"Grr!"
Seeing Set purr as if to say, "Bring it on!", Rei put a fair amount of force into throwing the wooden plate. Being circular, the wooden plate flew on a clearly different trajectory than the branch. Set chased after the wooden plate, racing across the ground. The branch, due to its shape, caught a fair amount of wind resistance and moved irregularly, but the wooden plate wobbled irregularly while maintaining speed, unlike the branch. Set ran hurriedly... and timing his jump perfectly, leaped swiftly... and brilliantly caught the wooden plate in his beak.
[Death Scythe]
"Corrosion Lv.6" "Flying Slash Lv.5" "Magic Shield Lv.2" "Power Slash Lv.5" "Wind Hand Lv.4" "Terrain Manipulation Lv.5" "Pain Burst Lv.4" "Penetrate Lv.5" new "Multi Slash Lv.5" "Blizzard Slash Lv.4" "Flying Needle Lv.1" "Underground Transfer Slash Lv.1"
Penetrate: Wraps Death Scythe in wind, increasing thrust power. However, to unleash this effect, the spike end must be used for the attack. Upon reaching Level 5, each strike gains an additional spiral (drill) effect.