novel
| ← Ch.005 | Ch.007 → |
I opened the status window as I reattached my legs. Gwyn was flying around aimlessly.
★
Name: Chompy
Gender: N/A
Status: Normal
Type: Skeleton/ Undead
Class: Wizard
Rank: H+
Level: 20/20
HP: 42/42
MP: 180/180
Attack: 17
Defense: 4
Agility: 11
Intelligence: 32
? Unique Skills
[Resurrection Lv 1] [Night Vision Lv1] [Falling resistance Lv1] [Magic Chanting Max] [Fire Shock Max] [Lesser Slow Max] [Fireball Lv4] [Acid Resistance Lv1] [Identification Lv1] [Sage's Wisdom Lv1]
? Titles
[Rat Trapper] [Hit-and-Run] [Savior Lv1] [Coldhearted Lv1] [Dragon Slayer Lv1]
Evolution Choice
[Skeleton Enchanter] [Skeleton Shaman] [Skeleton Wizard/Rogue]
★
I was curious about the two new skills, Identification seemed to be an improvement of the status viewer I've been using on other monsters, but what was Sage's Wisdom?
~Sage's Wisdom is a skill which answers questions you have about information in a status page. ~
The answer simply appeared in my mind.
'Is it some kind of help system?'
There was no answer, perhaps it didn't understand what was a help system and was therefore unable to answer. Regardless it sounds very convenient, let's give it a try.
'Explain to me the characteristics of the Skeleton Enchanter and Skeleton Shaman. '
~Skeleton Enchanter is an evolution which allows you to enchant weapons and armor. It focuses on Intelligence, at the cost of Attack damage. Skeleton Shaman is an evolution which allows you to use curses and summons. It also focuses on Intelligence, but it may incur a karma penalty. ~
'Karma?'
~Karma indirectly influences your evolution choices and is a result of your actions. ~
'Does that mean the evolution is solely determined by karma?'
~Your current Sage's Wisdom level is insufficient to answer this question. ~
'Huh? Do I also have to raise its level?'
It seemed like a very convenient skill but I would have to level it up more to use it properly. I decided to use it to resolve some hypotheses I had formed so far.
'Explain to me about the death penalty if my level is low. '
~At low levels, if your level can no longer drop then your stats will be reduced. ~
'Well that explains why my stats dropped the first time. Ok, then explain to me about how resurrection works'
~The death penalty applies when you resurrect, but if you die when you are level one there is a chance of failing to revive. As your Resurrection skill level increases, the death penalty decreases. ~
~The power of Sage's Wisdom has been used up, it will now enter a period of hibernation. ~
'Wait...what? Was there a maximum number of uses? Hey! Couldn't you have told me that first? Uhm... hello? Mr. Sage?'
There was no response.
'Damn it, if I had known I would have carefully considered which questions to ask. How many times did I use it again? Ughh, Such a waste!'
Finally I decided to give up on the Sage's Wisdom and focus on picking my evolution path by evaluating their pros and cons.
'I think the Enchanter sounds pretty good, magic weapons aren't easy to find and it's a pretty good skill to be able to enchant any item I want. Shaman has the golem summon ability which is cool, but I already don't like the fact that I am a monster, so I don't want to be walking around with one as well. The dual class of Wizard/Rogue seemed interesting but less so than being an Enchanter. '
After confirming that both my legs were fully reattached and functioning, I chose the Enchanter evolution.
[You have learned Weapon Enchantment Lv1]
[You have learned Armor Enchantment Lv1]
I had gained two new spells so I opened my Status page to see.
★
Name: Chompy
Gender: N/A
Status: Normal
Type: Skeleton/ Undead
Class: Enchanter
Rank: H+
Level: 1/50
HP: 12/12
MP: 40/40
Attack: 5 (+3)
Defense: 2 (+2)
Agility: 14
Intelligence: 12
Luck: 4
? Unique Skills
[Resurrection Lv 1] [Night Vision Lv1] [Falling resistance Lv1] [Magic Chanting Max] [Fire Shock Max] [Lesser Slow Max] [Fireball Lv4] [Acid Resistance Lv1]
[Identification Lv1] [Sage's Wisdom Lv1] [Weapon Enchantment] [Armor Enchantment]
? Titles
[Rat Trapper] [Hit-and-Run] [Savior Lv1] [Dragon Slayer Lv1]
★
My stats weren't bad at all, although it was lower than when I was a level 20 skeleton mage, gaining levels early on was easy so I should be able to quickly make it up. It also seemed like I could see more information, probably due to the Identification skill.
I returned to the nest where what was left of the dragon's body remained. I skinned the dragon's hide which hadn't yet rotted and set it aside to dry. I also pulled out a few of it's larger teeth because they looked sharp and menacing.
"Those must be useful, dragon's skin and teeth are always valuables tools in games. '
I then went up to the dragon's egg thinking what about what to do with it.
"Chompy what are you doing here? I've been looking around for a while. Wait what? Your color has changed!"
Hearing Gwyn's comment I look at myself for the first time and noticed my bones which were originally white had suddenly become red as if someone had painted me.
I nodded back to her.
"Pretty! Pretty! Hehehehe!"
Although I personally felt really weird that my color had suddenly changed, it helped that Gwyn seemed to like it.
"What should we do with this egg? Have ourselves some breakfast?"
I wouldn't eat it, well to be precise I don't exactly eat at all. The question now was whether or not I should take it with me.
I shook my head to Gwyn, shooting down her breakfast idea. Looking around I began to collect some bones on the floor, most likely from monster which the dragon had hunted. Connecting them together I made a basket to carry the egg in. I then tore off some clothes on my back and fused the bone basket with my body. Although the egg was originally quite heavy, after attaching the basket to my skeletal structure it became manageable.
"You're going to carry it around? What if something hatches, will you raise it?"
I nodded to her and began walking with my egg. If you're in a fantasy world, isn't it everyone's dream to one day ride a dragon? Despite being a skeleton, it remained a dream of mine.
Gwynn looked surprised by this ridiculous idea. But, when she saw how enthusiastic I looked when carrying the egg, she threw her arms up in surrender and simply flew up to sit upon it. As she stretched out on the egg she said arrogantly.
"You should remember that the creature which hatches from that egg might be your enemy because you killed its mother."
'I know but that was in self defense, we won't necessarily be enemies right?'
I returned to the tyrant's lair, bringing all my loot with me. The priest was nowhere to be seen and a large portion of the treasure was missing. It was probably his doing but I wasn't bothered by it because those treasures were worthless to me.
I made pile with the remaining treasure and sat my egg on top.
"Chompy are you really going to hatch this egg?"
I nodded to Gwyn who had a worried look. Covering the egg with some of the dragon skin, I took the rest with me and went back to the small caves which I had used to hunt so many of those nimble tomb rats.
Putting Gwyn into my skull I sat down and reverted to my original method of catching grave rats. It didn't take long for them to appear.
Squeak! Squeak!
I started off by hunting the first two, and then continued until I had almost wiped them all out, helping me hit level 8.
The amount of experience received was lower because of our rank difference and it was getting harder to level up. I continued to grind my enchant skills on the miscellaneous items from the tyrant's lair until they both hit level 3.
'Finally it's time to get revenge on that good for nothing priest!'
Yes, the reason I was in such a hurry was to get my revenge, after all priests are also the nemesis of the undead.
If I were to be hit by his holy magic when I was level one I could have been one shotted, so I chose the safer path and leveled up somewhat first.
Going through the hole, I walked towards the Catacombs. I was fully geared with the equipment from the tyrant's lair.
"Are you going to get revenge?"
I gave a firm nod.
"Well... could you spare the mage? She hasn't exactly done anything wrong."
I shook my head this time, I knew it was unlikely for her to forgive a monster which killed her colleague.
With a determined face I entered the Catacombs, Gwyn kept complaining about my lack of compassion, but I simply ignored her.
Silence
The first cave was completely silent.
'Could they have escaped?'
After searching a while I realized it was not the case. The priest was dead on the floor having committed suicide with a dagger while the mage, dehydrated and dying of thirst whispered weakly.
"Please, give me some water..."
I felt somewhat sympathetic to the mage's pitiful appearance and changed my mind, I was also somewhat influenced by Gwyn who was banging the inside of my skull.
Looking around I found the bottle she had previously been sealed in and squeezed on some of the moss which I had used as bait to collect water.
Gulp! Gulp!
"Thank you so much, you saved my life!"
After those few words the mage fainted immediately.
I thought carefully about the current situation. The priest had committed suicide so I wasn't responsible for his death but neither was I able to get my revenge. Although the mage had never harmed me and was innocent, It was unclear how she'd react if she learned my true identity. Still, for now there wasn't any reason to kill her and burden my conscience. First I ripped up the dead priest's clothes and made a fire to roast some dragon meat.
Sizzle Sizzle~
I point to my finger to the meat, trying to ask Gwyn if it smelled cooked because I didn't have any sense of smell.
"Smell? It just smells like burning meat"
I looked at the meat carefully and it was indeed overdone. Promptly snatching out of the fire I cut it up into small pieces and let out to dry. At least she'll have something to eat when she gets better.
I was surprised by how much dragon meat there was, it was enough to last an adult at least a month if it was well rationed.
I went around gathering moss throughout the cave, to prepare more water. It took me about two days to prepare 10 fist sized bowls of water. I had collected almost all the moss available and what was left had been wrung dry and thrown in a pile to the side.
The mage was still in a very weak state, sleeping most of the time. The short time she'd be awake would be to take some sips of water and eat a bit of meat before going back to sleep.
[Acquired?Title: Savior Lv2?]
I gathered the mage's bags and packed it with all the dried meat. Nearby I found a large empty bag near the warrior's corpse and decided to take it with me.
"Are you going to go down there?"
I nodded as I threw the dragon egg inside the bag, I no longer had any opponents in this area, the slimes had been wiped out and the rats were too scarce.
It might be hard for the mage to survive by herself, but I think it's for the best. If she wakes up and figures out my identity it would be rather troublesome, it's better to part ways.
I will go down and explore the other side of the dragon's nest because when this little guy comes out of his shell, I can't exactly feed it it's mother's flesh.
The monster meat I had seen in the dragon's stomach would be my next target experience-wise. Grabbing a hold of my bag I set off.
"Hee hee ~ adventure time~"
Gwyn cried out as she climbed onto the bag.
| ← Ch. 005 | Ch. 007 → |