"Alright, that takes care of the magic stones for now."
Six magic stones lay before Rei as he muttered those words.
One each from the spider and the deer, and two each from the lizards and the Smog Panthers.
These were the magic stones Rei had obtained since entering this forest.
He had finished dissecting the monsters—or more precisely, he had only extracted the magic stones for now, leaving the carcasses themselves in the river to drain of blood.
He wouldn't normally do such a thing, but this time was special.
After all, Nielson was traveling with them alongside Rei and Seto.
Fortunately, Nielson didn't seem interested in dissecting monsters. True to her nature as a fairy, she had slipped inside a nearby tree to rest, so she wasn't around at the moment.
Rei's plan was to use the magic stones he needed for Beast Magic during this window of time.
Naturally, Seto had no objections to Rei's decision.
What kind of skill would be acquired? Or what kind of skill would be enhanced?
Anticipating the results, Seto waited at Rei's side, his round eyes brimming with expectation as he gazed at the magic stones.
"First up is this lizard monster. ...Seto, you go first."
"Guruu."
At Rei's words, Seto purred in understanding and swallowed the magic stone handed to him...
[Seto has acquired the skill 'Poison Claw Lv.7']
Rei nodded with understanding at the announcement that echoed in his mind.
Considering the lizard's method of attack, it wasn't particularly strange for its claws to carry poison.
Then again, Poison Claw doesn't get many opportunities for use, honestly.
Poison had the characteristic of gradually weakening an opponent.
Of course, some poisons could kill after just a few steps.
But given Seto's abilities, there was no need to use poison to weaken an opponent. A single strike from his foreleg already carried enough power to finish them off.
In that case, there was no particular need to rely on poison.
...However, it was also a fact that Poison Claw had become Seto's highest-leveled skill as a result of this.
His other skills were Optical Camouflage and Power Crush at Level 6, followed by a cluster of Level 5 skills.
Having reached such a high level, it was only natural that Rei wanted to find ways to make use of it.
"Gururururu?"
Seeing Rei's expression, Seto purred as if asking what was wrong.
From Seto's perspective, his own skill level had gone up, so he was probably pleased.
Of course, Rei was also happy that Seto had grown stronger.
"No, it's nothing. I was just thinking that you got a good skill leveled up. With that done, how about Death Scythe?"
"Guruu!"
It'll be fine! Seto purred.
He probably had no real basis for that confidence, but he likely felt that if it was Rei, everything would work out.
Rei smiled at Seto's demeanor and tossed the magic stone into the air, slicing it with Death Scythe.
[Death Scythe has acquired the skill 'Dragon Slayer Lv.1']
The announcement echoed in his mind.
Rei's expression upon hearing it was a complicated one.
"Ehh... Dragon Slayer... a dragon? This is a lizard, right? Well, I mean, they do look similar, that's for sure."
It was undeniable that lizards and dragons were similar.
But considering their ranks as monsters, the two were clearly different.
Despite that, acquiring a skill called Dragon Slayer came as a surprise to Rei.
"Or maybe... this lizard was actually a dragon's child or something? No, but it didn't have wings."
Ielo, a Child of the Black Dragon, had possessed wings from the very first time Rei saw it.
In comparison, while the lizard was far larger than an ordinary lizard, it had no wings or anything of the sort.
Additionally, as far as Rei knew, dragons did not live in groups. They were fundamentally solitary creatures.
Of course, it might be different when laying eggs or raising young... but even so, it should be fundamentally unheard of for a creature as large as the lizard Rei defeated to act in a pack.
Rei didn't know everything about dragons, so he couldn't say for certain.
In that case, maybe I should try asking Elena?
Elena had inherited an Ancient Dragon's magic stone.
She had also created Ielo using Dragon Language Magic, so she was undoubtedly more knowledgeable about dragons than Rei.
"Ah."
The thought crossed Rei's mind, but at the same time, considering that the skill Death Scythe had acquired was Dragon Slayer, he couldn't help but wonder if Elena might not find it particularly amusing.
Since he didn't know exactly what kind of effect Dragon Slayer had, he couldn't predict how Elena would react.
Considering it's Level 1, and based on the tendency of skills acquired so far, it's probably not a skill that can reliably one-shot a dragon... I think. Thinking about it normally, it most likely just increases the damage dealt when used against a dragon.
He couldn't say for certain without actually testing the skill, but given the situation, he was fairly confident in that assessment.
...The problem was that even if Rei's prediction was correct, there were very few means to confirm it.
Dragons were fundamentally very few in number.
If he was going to acquire a skill like this, Rei honestly wished he had gotten it before fighting the Crystal Dragon.
"Well, if I encounter those lizards again, I can just test it then. Or even if lizards are out of the question, wyverns exist in reasonable numbers."
They don't.
If anyone else had heard Rei's mutter, they would probably have called that out immediately.
In reality, wyverns were more numerous than ordinary dragons. Wild wyverns were clearly more abundant than dragons, and in some cases, dragon knights would even hatch and raise wyvern eggs themselves.
Rei had also killed a considerable number of dragon knights during the war with the Bestia Empire.
However, that was precisely because it was Rei—someone who constantly found himself caught up in all sorts of trouble, someone for whom the expression "beloved by the goddess of trouble" seemed uniquely fitting. Normally, opportunities to fight wyverns didn't come about so easily.
"Anyway, I've used the lizard magic stones, so... next is the Smog Panther's magic stone. Seto."
Saying that, Rei tossed the Smog Panther's magic stone to Seto.
Seto caught it in his beak and swallowed it...
[Seto has acquired the skill 'Fog Lv.2']
The announcement echoed in Rei's mind.
"Yeah, well... this is understandable, isn't it?"
Seto had originally possessed a skill called Fog.
Given that, it wasn't particularly difficult to predict that using the magic stone of a Smog Panther—a creature with the ability to turn its own body into fog—would produce this result.
That said, while both Seto and the Smog Panther used fog, its effects were vastly different.
Seto's Fog skill involved generating fog.
In contrast, while the Smog Panther also generated fog, it additionally had the ability to transform its own body into fog.
In a sense, the Smog Panther's fog could be considered a superior version of Seto's.
...However, Seto's fog could cover a 300m radius even at Level 1, so in terms of range, it surpassed the Smog Panther's.
"Seto, try it out for now. I want to see how much fog it produces."
"Gururu?"
At Rei's words, Seto gave him a puzzled look.
Naturally. If this were a plain—or at least a place where they could survey the surroundings to some extent—Rei's instructions would make sense.
But this was inside a forest.
Trees grew thickly, and visibility was far from good.
Given those circumstances, Seto wondered if using fog here would serve any purpose at all.
That was what he was thinking.
But Rei, seeing Seto's reaction, seemed to understand what was on his mind.
He stroked Seto's body and told him it was fine.
"I can't gauge the fog's range at a glance, but if that's the case, you can just run through the forest and see how far it spreads, right?"
"Guruu!"
I see! Seto purred.
Calling it a Columbus egg might have been a slight exaggeration, but it was an idea that hadn't occurred to Seto.
Once the matter was decided, Seto was quick to act.
"Gurururururu!"
As Seto activated Fog, mist poured from his body and filled the surroundings.
Watching with satisfaction, Rei called out to him.
"Alright. I'll go check how far the fog has spread."
"Gururu."
At Rei's words, Seto purred encouragingly.
Hearing that, Rei broke into a run.
This place was not maintained like a highway.
In fact, while the villagers did enter the forest, they only operated near the edge and never ventured deep inside.
Naturally, this meant no hunters came through either, and unlike trodden ground, the terrain remained in its natural state.
Normally this would make running very difficult, but then again, adventurers entering uncharted territory to gather materials was not uncommon.
In that sense, Rei was fairly adept at moving through such terrain.
About 300m here... and naturally, the fog extends further.
The 300m mark had already been confirmed at Level 1, so it was no particular issue.
He kept running, and the fog ended at exactly the point where he had covered about 300m from Seto.
This meant that by reaching Level 2, the fog's effective range had precisely doubled to 600m.
Moreover, since this was a 600m radius centered on Seto, the diameter exceeded 1km.
Then again, since it's just fog... being nothing more than ordinary mist, the only real use is blinding enemies, I suppose? Even so, having more options is definitely better.
With some creative application, it seemed like it could yield fairly interesting tactics.
Thinking this over, Rei returned to where Seto was.
"Seto, this fog had spread to roughly double the range. If it doubles at Level 2, then at Level 3... it might increase by another 300m, or it might double again from the current state. I can't really say which."
"Gururu!"
At Rei's words, Seto purred happily.
Having confirmed the effect, Seto immediately dismissed the fog.
Smiling at Seto's reaction, Rei picked up the remaining Smog Panther magic stone—it was his turn next.
He tossed it into the air and sliced it with Death Scythe...
[Death Scythe has acquired the skill 'Blizzard Slash Lv.5']
The familiar announcement echoed in Rei's mind.
"Alright!"
Rei rarely used Blizzard Slash itself.
Fundamentally, Blizzard Slash was a skill that coated Death Scythe's blade in ice, adding ice-attribute damage to slashes.
Being able to deal ice-attribute damage was certainly an advantage for Rei.
However, with Rei's power, he could generally manage through sheer force without needing ice-attribute attacks.
Another effect was that since the blade was covered in ice, the attack range extended slightly—truly only slightly, but that was about it.
However, that was only up to Level 4.
From past experience, skills became dramatically more powerful upon reaching Level 5.
If so, Blizzard Slash should also have become overwhelmingly stronger than it was at Level 4.
"Seto, stay back a bit. I don't know what effect Blizzard Slash will have now that it's Level 5."
"Guruu."
Seto let out a cry and moved away at Rei's words.
Once Seto was sufficiently distant, Rei gripped Death Scythe and activated the skill.
"Blizzard Slash!"
With those words, Death Scythe's blade was sheathed in a blade of ice.
The effect itself was no different from Blizzard Slash up to Level 4.
But Blizzard Slash at Level 5 had been enhanced, coating Death Scythe's blade in an ice blade roughly one meter long.
Also, perhaps because it was Death Scythe, Rei felt no added weight in his hands.
He could swing Death Scythe as usual, almost without sensing any change in weight at all.
"I see. This is... definitely easier to use than before, no question. I was half expecting it to fire off ice projectiles or something, though."
Rei muttered, sounding just a little disappointed.
[Seto]
'Water Ball Lv.5' 'Fire Breath Lv.5' 'Wind Arrow Lv.4' 'King's Intimidation Lv.4' 'Poison Claw Lv.7' new 'Size Change Lv.2' 'Tornado Lv.4' 'Ice Arrow Lv.5' 'Optical Camouflage Lv.6' 'Magic Eye of Shock Lv.3' 'Power Crush Lv.6' 'Sense of Smell Enhancement Lv.5' 'Bubble Breath Lv.3' 'Crystal Breath Lv.2' 'Earth Arrow Lv.2' 'Power Attack Lv.2' 'Magic Reflection Lv.1' 'Acid Breath Lv.2' 'Wing Blade Lv.2' 'Underground Dive Lv.1' 'Thunder Breath Lv.1' 'Fog Lv.2' new
[Death Scythe]
'Corrosion Lv.6' 'Flying Slash Lv.5' 'Magic Shield Lv.2' 'Power Slash Lv.5' 'Wind Hand Lv.4' 'Terrain Manipulation Lv.6' 'Pain Burst Lv.4' 'Penetrate Lv.5' 'Multi Slash Lv.6' 'Blizzard Slash Lv.5' new 'Flying Needle Lv.1' 'Underground Transfer Slash Lv.1' 'Dragon Slayer Lv.1' new
Poison Claw: Secretes poison from the claws, inflicting poison on opponents wounded by the claws. The strength of the poison varies by level.
Blizzard Slash: Death Scythe's blade is covered in ice, adding ice-attribute damage to slashes. Additionally, because the blade is coated in ice, the attack range extends truly slightly. Having reached Level 5, the ice covering the blade has grown to approximately one meter in size.
Fog: Can freely generate fog centered on Seto. Seto can freely determine the fog's density, but denser fog consumes more mana. No matter how dense the fog, Seto can act without any issues. At Level 1, the radius is 300m; at Level 2, the radius is 600m.
Dragon Slayer: Increases damage dealt when attacking dragon-type opponents. The increase rate varies by level. At Level 1, it deals double the damage of a normal attack.