CH 017: Natasha is Badass
"(Nat, it's... awfully quiet...)" The two continued wandering around, but when the sounds in the forest nearly seized entirely, Slathilia grew serious. Not even the bugs were making any sounds anymore. A quiet forest was never a good sign.
"That's because we got company." Stopping, they looked up. On the numerous branches of the giant trees, countless ape-like monsters appeared :"Seems like we walked into their territory." Staring down at them, the horde of monsters began beating their chests, roaring at the intruders.
[Appraisal Lv 1 (SS)]
[E-Class Stone Apes x50]
"(Shit, this is dangerous...)"
"True, Stone Apes are hard to deal with for low-Leveled individuals because of how tough they are. They're Defense is pretty high, and their stone-like hair also adds to it. In such numbers, they're definitely very deadly."
"(Should we escape then? I would rather not risk my life against this many of them while being so inexperienced.)"
"*Smiling evilly* Don't worry, it's alright. In fact, I can use this chance to show off and show you my badass side too."
"(Huh? Nat, I think there are times with less risk to show off in.)"
"Hey, Thilia, look at this." Natasha took out one of her daggers. Holding it in front of her, with the blade facing upwards, she smirked at Slathilia :"Keep your eyes on it, and don't blink."
"(What are you-)"
"Graaar!!" Seeing the dagger, the Stone Apes grew angry, and didn't hesitate before jumping towards them.
"(Shit-)"
"Keep your eyes here." Natasha said again. Gritting his teeth, he listened, looking at the dagger that she slowly flipped. As the blade of the dagger slowly came down, his heart beating in nervousness, the descending Stone Apes got closer and closer. But when the dagger was flipped, its blade facing downwards, and she gripped the handle, it seemed like the world stopped for a moment.
*Click*
A shattering sound was heard, and numerous silver lines appeared in the sky. Running through the Stone Apes, through the trees, through everything in the vicinity besides the two.
*Ssh*
When the world moved again, it seemed to have been cut into thousands of pieces, shattering everything that was in it as well. The Stone Apes, the trees, the ground, the leaves, everything that the tens of hundreds of silver lines had gone through were cut to thousands of little pieces, destroying everything in the area around them.
Looking at the blood and pieces of the Stone Apes falling to the ground, along with everything else, Slathilia was flabbergasted. He would have struggled with them a lot with his inexperience and current strength, yet she took care of everything in less than a second.
'This bitch really pulled a "I am the storm that is approaching" on me...'
Smirking smugly at his suspicious look, she sheathed her blade :"I told you everybody has a secret. Myself included. See how badass your partner is?"
"(Yeah... that was... wow...)"
"I know, I'm awesome."
"(So was that a Sacred Skill or...)"
"Nah, it was just me. It is a Sacred Skill, but I pulled this move without activating it. If I did, the results would be a lot more powerful."
"(You can do that?)"
"Yeah, Sacred Skills are mostly abilities you can perform by yourself anyway, just a lot more powerful. This move is a copy of my Sacred Skill without actually using it. If I did, my Sacred Ring would be seen as well."
"(I see. So what is that Sacred Skill's name? It's pretty cool.)"
"*Smirking* Shattered World."
"(Badass name.)"
"Right? So you wanna eat them too or not?"
"(Yeah, I wanna. Give me a second.)"
"Why do you eat everything anyway? You don't eat much of them either. Just a bite or something."
"(As you've said, secrets.)"
"Fair enough, I won't pry."
"(Thanks. You're a godsend.)"
"Heh, you're welcome."
"(By the way, monster corpses sell for a lot, right?)"
"Yeah, they do. The higher the Class, the more precious it is."
"(Then how about we do this from now on? Just eating a random part might lower the price, so how about I eat the heart from now on, and we'll sell the corpses?)"
"You want to do that? I don't have any financial problems, so we wouldn't have any problems even if we didn't sell them."
"(Yeah, but it's money. I'd rather be getting richer by the day.)"
"*Bursting into laughter* you really are a dragon, huh?"
"(What does that mean?)"
"*Smirking* Some breeds of dragons are known for being greedy and collecting treasures. Coming across them is considered a great fortune and the unluckiest day at the same time."
"(Why's that?)"
"They're hella strong."
"(Ah, I get it. Alright, anyway, I'll be eating the hearts now.)"
"Alright, then I'll start storing the corpses in my Storage Ring."
(A/N: Absorbing means doing all four activities to get the Stats, alright?)
After Absorbing all of their Stats, Slathilia smirked at his Status Screen :'Well, would you look at that? It seems like Natasha killing something also activates my Devouring Skill. Is it because of that magic contract that made us Contracted Companions, or does it work for all allies? Guess I'll need to find out in the future.'
[E-Class Lv: 1,150 -> 11,150 {+10,000}
Stats: 23,000 -> 223,000 {+200,000}]
*Ding*
'Hm? Oh, looked like I Leveled up too.'
[Lv: 13 -> 16 {+3}
Stats: 1,040 -> 1,280 {+240}]
'Understandable, since I ate the Mana Cores of 50 E-Class monsters.'
After helping Natasha store everything, they started looking for a good location to create the Portal once again. While on her shoulder, Slathilia turned to her :"(Nat, I have a question. The difference of Classes between Skills is their strength, right?)"
"Yeah, that's right."
"(But not every Skill is about strength and offense. What about those that have other uses? Like, my Appraisal Skill is SS-Class, but it only showed the Class and breed of monsters I appraised since it's only Lv 1.)"
"For Skills like that, it depends. Most of the time, it's proficiency in doing it. But for Appraisal, it's subtilty."
"(Subtilty?)"
"That's right. If Appraisal is used on someone, they will feel an uncomfortable feeling and will instinctively know someone is looking at them immediately. Even the other people will notice the activation of Appraisal since it's a very unique Skill. But the higher the Class, the less the target will notice or feel it."
"(Ooh, I see! So since mine is SS-Class, it's nearly impossible to notice?)"
"That's right. Even I didn't notice when you activated Appraisal. And believe me, I'm sensitive to these things."
"(I see. That's really awesome then. I had thought there wasn't any difference between their Classes since it wasn't combat oriented, but who knew it would be so useful.)"
"Right? Information is extremely important in battle. You have Appraisal, SS-Class at that, and being able to perceive your opponent's Stats and Skills is seriously awesome."
"(Oh? It can do that?)"
"At high Levels, yes. But yours is still pretty weak, only Lv 1, so it can only show the Class and breed of beings. That's useful too, but not as useful as it is when its Level is high."
"(I see. On that note, how do I raise its Level then?)"
"Use it frequently. Nobody knows how much exactly, but the Skills will Level up if you use them a lot and gain mastery over them."
"(Hmm, I see.)" 'Then I guess we're doing it the good old way of just spamming it.'
Turning to a random location, he began to use it repeatedly.
[Appraisal Lv 1 (SS)]
[Tree]
[Rock]
[Rabbit]
[Spider]
...
[Caterpillar in process of becoming a butterfly]
*Ding*
'Huh? That didn't take long. Only 8 times. I guess it's because it's only Lv 1.'
[Appraisal Lv 2 (SS) {+1 Lv Up}]
'Alright, let's see whatcha can do now, Appraisal!'
[Appraisal Lv 2 (SS)]
[Tree]
'... Huh? O-okay, run that by me again.'
[Appraisal Lv 2 (SS)]
[Flower]
'... No, no, there must have been a mistake. Yeah, third times the charm!'
[Appraisal Lv 2 (SS)]
[G-Class Trolling Hamster]
'You're the troll! You're whole family's the damn trolls! What the fuck?! Nothing changed!' Annoyed with the outcome, he quickly opened his Status Screen to see the description.
[Appraisal Lv 2 (SS): Lv 1 allows you to see the Class and breed of monsters. Lv 2 allows you to see the number of times needed to use a Skill for it to Level up if you use it on yourself with your Status Screen.]
'... Huh? Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down... what?! How did something I thought useless suddenly become so useful?!' His shock was understandable. Leveling up was a serious matter, especially for the Skills. According to Natasha, nobody knew exactly how to do it, yet the method fell right into his hand when he thought his Skill Leveling up had no fruits. Thrilled, he quickly used it :'Alright, let's see!'
[Appraisal Lv 2 (SS)]
=============
(SS-Class Dragon Physiology Innate & Sacred Skills)
-
Appraisal Lv 2 (SS) [1/50]
Absorption Lv 10 (SS) [100,000/100,000]
Regenerative Healing Factor Lv 1 (SS) [0/10]
Majestic Fire Breath Lv 1 (SS) [4/10]
Majestic Fire Bite Lv 1 (SS) [3/10]
Majestic Fire Claw Lv 1 (SS) [6/10]
Majestic Fire Tail-Blade Lv 1 (SS) [4/10]
Flight Lv 1 (SS) [4/10]
Draconic Language Lv 10 (SS) [100,000/100,000]
=============
'Oh, oooh! Now this is what I call cool!' Seeing the results, he was immediately joyful. Combat oriented information was awesome, and he loved it. So why wouldn't he love knowing just what he has to do to grow stronger?
'Hmm, so to go from Lv 1 to Lv 2, I need to use a Skill 10 times, and for Lv 3, I need to use it 50 times. And two of my Skills are already at Max Level. Let's see- holy shit, 100,000 times?! That's going to take a shit ton of time. And it seems like everything will be reset to 0 when Leveling up a Skill, so it's gonna take time.
Oh, well, patience, I guess. It's at least better than not knowing how much I'm going to need to do. No wonder people don't know the exact number, keeping up with that many times needs patience. And considering how this is a fantasy world, I don't think those who know about it would share it either. Knowledge is power, after all.'
(A/N: By the way, the Appraisal Skill effects will be like the one in "So I'm A Spider, So What?", so credits to them.)
As they searched, Slathilia kept continuously using Appraisal, trying to Level it up as fast as he could since that was the only Skill he could use at the moment. When they had finally found a good spot, in a cave that didn't have any signs of monsters or humans having set foot in it, and Natasha began creating the Portal, his Appraisal finally Leveled up.
*Ding*
'Yes! Now let's see what we got.'
[Appraisal Lv 3 (SS) [1/100]: Lv 3 allows you to see the Level of target(s). {+1 Lv Up}]
'Alright, alright, not bad!' He was of course happy. Who didn't like Appraisal in games and fiction? Looking at his beautiful companion, he pondered if he should try it on her. After all, it would only be safe if he knew something about the partner he was fighting alongside with.
'... No, forget it.' In the end, he decided against it :'Treat others how you want to be treated. If I want her to respect my privacy, I should respect hers first.' He laid down, closing his eyes and relaxing while waiting for Natasha.
Not realizing said redhead smiled gently at what he didn't decide to do. Normally, his SS-Class Appraisal couldn't be noticed even by strong individuals. But she was different. They were binded through the Contracted Companions Holy Spell. Something that connected them. So when she focused, she could sense him activating Appraisal.
And she had noticed him continuously doing it over and over until now. When she sensed his hesitant gaze on her, she had guessed he probably Leveled it up. And with her vast knowledge, especially for unique Skills such as Appraisal, she knew what each Level could do.
But seeing him not try it and respect her privacy, made her smile at the realization of what a good partner she had acquired. After all, this was the nature he was born with. You might be able to alter it, but you can't change somebody's nature.
(A/N: Any of you play Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel? Wanna play together?)
=============
(Devoured)
-
E-Class Stone Apes x50
-
E-Class Lv: 1,150 -> 11,150 {+10,000}
Stats: 23,000 -> 223,000 {+200,000}
------------------------
(Abyss Incarnate Sacred Skills)
-
E: Abyss Incarnate's Displeasure x24 -> x174 {+150}
--------------------------
(Absorbed Skills)
-
Ape Physiology x3 (E: Stone Ape)
Stone Defense x2 (E: Stone Ape)
Herculean Strength Lv 1 (E: Stone Ape)
Rock Hide Generation Lv 3 (E: Stone Ape)
Pack Lv 2 (E: Stone Ape)