77. Tree Skills (Patreon)

Power flowed into his core. Ike evened his breathing, carefully regulating his mana. Unlike with River-Splitting Sword, there was little difficulty in absorbing the skill. It evenly merged into his core with just a shiver.

So… what did that give me? He called up his skills.

[Name: Ike | Age: 15 | Status: Nm | Rank: 1 [Abyss Dweller]]

Skills: Common: 5 | Bronze 2 |  Silver 1 | … | Rare 2 | … | Unique: 7

Common: All-Around Runner Lvl 7 | Razor Handling Lvl 9 | Spear Handling Lvl 4 | Axe Handling Lvl 4 | Sword Handling Lvl 6 | Bow Handling Lvl 1 | Primitive Crafting Lvl 7

Bronze: Sensory Enhancement Lvl 5 | Mana Manipulation Lvl 3

Silver: Flurry of Kicks Lvl 2 | Chlorophyll Lvl 1

Rare: Salamander Healing Lvl 9 | River-Splitting Sword Lvl 4

Unique: Lightning Dash Lvl 8 | Lightning Grasp Lvl 5 | Lightning Clad (Forearm) Lvl 5 | Lightning Clad (Calf) Lvl 4 | Lightning Clad (Thigh) Lvl 2 | Lightning Clad (Bicep) Lvl 2 | Lightning Caller Lvl 2

Ike stared. What the hell is Chlorophyll? What does that do?

Chlorophyll

Absorb solam from the sun. Has a small chance of healing the user. Heal chance grows stronger at higher levels.

Absorb solam from the… huh? Ike squinted, a hand on his chin. Solam, sol…sun. Like Lunam relates to luna, or the moon. Is solam the opposite of lunam? If lunam is associated with the moon and cold, then solam is probably associated with heat, and, well, I know it’s associated with the sun.

He wrinkled his nose. If I absorb solam, will I become unable to use mana? It’s the case that lunam users can’t use mana, so why would it not apply to solam? In other words, it’s a useless skill. One I should have sold.

Ike sighed. Oh, well. It doesn’t hurt me. In the worst case, if I get stuck somewhere that I can’t use mana, I’ll be able to absorb solam. After all, I wasn’t able to absorb lunam.

He shrugged. They couldn’t all be winners. Honestly, I need a skill that les me see what the skills are before I absorb them. Otherwise, I’m just randomly guessing if the skill is good or not, whether I should absorb or not.

There has to be a skill like that. After all, if you can sell skills by name, that implies that you know what they are. Sure, it’s possible that they’re sold by hunters who killed enough of x monster to know that y colored orb from x monster is z skill, but you’d have to kill a lot of monsters to gain that knowledge. When monsters only drop skills one out of ten or a hundred times, that’s a lot of killing to learn that kind of thing.

“Not that I’d find that kind of skill killing monsters in the Abyss,” he muttered aloud. A skill like that was definitely something humans made. Or at least sentient monsters like Wisp or Silver. Something like the River-Splitting Sword, a technique that was created intentionally and distilled into a skill orb, not something that simply came about by natural happenstance like Chlorophyll.

From the cliff, he gazed down at the tree. Lifting his sword, he took in the tree again and shook his head. The wood was surely worth something, but he wasn’t hacking it apart with his lone remaining sword. He’d come back with an axe, and maybe take Ket and Tana along—well, maybe just Ket. Tana probably has more important princess things to do—to help chop it up. Even if Ket’s rich, he’ll probably help out if I offer him half? He seems like the kind of guy who’s down for a good time, anyways.

He chuckled a little bit. That does mean I have to confess that I’m messing with the puppets. I’ll play things carefully with Ket. See if he’s scared about me messing with them before I admit anything. And it’s not like I have to admit that I’m tapping the puppets even if I admit to messing with them. Worst case, I can just cut up the tree and take it back on my own.

With Loup at his side, Ike headed back through the forest toward Abyssal. By the time he arrived at the gates, it was dark, and the gates were closed. Ike gazed up at the wall, his hands on his hips.

Well. That’s a barrier I totally forgot about. Live in the forest for a few days and forget about the walls? I can’t believe myself.

He leaned left and right, peering at the wall. Not even any asshole guards out here tonight. Guess I’m sleeping outside.

Shrugging, Ike turned to head back into the forest.

“Hey! You there!”

Ike turned back. From the top of the wall, a guard waved at him. “Hold up a second. I’ll raise the gate.”

“Many thanks!” Ike called back. He raised his brows. That’s surprising. I guess out here, any human is a friend. Given that the town is a rugged outpost clinging onto survival with its fingertips, it makes a lot of sense. Nice to know not all guards are assholes.

Guess that also confirms that human-transforming monsters like Silver or Wisp are incredibly rare. After all, they wouldn’t just let anyone in if they could be a monster. As long as they know Wisp’s face and reject any small girls who try to get in after dark, they’re fine…but only if Wisp is the only sentient monster nearby.

I guess there could be one or two others, but there couldn’t be more than a handful of sentient monsters. Otherwise they’d have to take more care with letting me in.

The gate creaked open, just enough for him to slip through. Ike crossed the line at a jog, Loup following at his side. It clanged shut again behind him.

“Don’t tell Ryan!” the guard called at a mock whisper.

Ike waved back. “Thanks again!”