Chapter 10: The First, and Worst, Synthesis

We returned to Beginner's ville looking like we'd survived the apocalypse. Which, in a way, we had. We were covered in a unique combination of snail goo, soot, and bear-scented dust. We handed in the five shattered snail shells at the Adventurer's Guild, and Elara, the receptionist, didn't even bother to ask what had happened to us. She just wrinkled her nose at the smell, handed us our 10 silver coins, and pointed us towards the public baths.

An hour later, clean but still mentally scarred, we sat at a corner table in the guild hall. The 10 silver coins had bought us two mugs of watery ale and a bowl of stale bread. It was the most pathetic victory feast in history, but we didn't care. All our attention was focused on the blue status screen only we could see, hovering over Kenta's side of the table.

SKILLS:

Skill Synthesis (Divine Grade)

Tame (Low-Grade)

"This is it," Kenta whispered, his eyes gleaming with an almost feverish excitement. "Two skills. I can finally do it. Our ticket out of F-minus rank. Our first step to becoming legends."

For the first time since we arrived in this world, I felt a genuine flicker of hope. He was right. This could change everything. All the humiliation, all the snail-related trauma, would be worth it if he could create something powerful.

"Okay," I said, leaning forward, my voice low and serious. "Don't mess this up, Kenta. Our entire future depends on this. Think about what we need. Something powerful. Something versatile. We're combining a Divine-Grade synthesis skill with a taming skill. Try to aim for something like 'Tame Dragon' or 'Summon Griffin' or 'Create Mythical Beast Companion'!"

"I'm on it," he said, his expression more focused than I had ever seen it. He closed his eyes, concentrating. "Powerful… respected… cool… I'm picturing a massive, winged lion with a scorpion tail!"

He held out his hands, palms up, as if physically holding the two skills. A soft white light began to glow between them. "Okay, here we go! [Skill Synthesis]! and [Tame]! Combine!"

The light between his hands intensified, growing into a brilliant sphere that made the entire guild hall go silent. The other adventurers turned to stare, their mouths agape. This was no faint, sickly glow like at the registration orb. This was real power. The air crackled with energy.

My hope swelled. This was it! He was going to create something incredible!

The light faded. Kenta's eyes snapped open. He stared into the space in front of him, presumably at the notification for his new skill. His face was a mask of pure, unadulterated anticipation.

Then, that anticipation slowly began to curdle. It morphed, step by step, into confusion. Then disbelief. And finally, into the most profound, soul-crushing horror I had ever witnessed.

"Kenta?" I asked, my voice trembling. "What is it? What did you get? 'Tame Manticore'?"

He slowly, mechanically, turned his head to look at me. His expression was completely, utterly dead.

"I got…" he began, his voice a hollow whisper. "...I got 'Tame Snail'."

Silence.

Then, the burly adventurer with the axe let out a single, explosive "HA!" and the entire guild hall erupted into a tsunami of derisive, uproarious laughter. It was ten times worse than when we registered.

I just stared at him. All that power. All that buildup. The meteor. The bear. The hope. For this. He had taken a generic, low-grade taming skill and somehow made it more specific and more useless.

I slowly lowered my head onto the rough wooden table, the laughter of the guild ringing in my ears. I wanted the floor to swallow me whole.

"Wait," Kenta suddenly said, his voice strange. The laughter began to die down as he continued to stare at his status screen. "Wait a minute…"

"What now?" I groaned into the tabletop. "Did you find a secret 'disappoint everyone' clause?"

"No, the description…" he murmured. He read it aloud, his voice growing stronger with every word.

"SKILL: Tame Snail (Unique Grade) Description: Allows the user to form a telepathic bond with and issue absolute commands to any and all gastropods, terrestrial or otherwise. The user can also, once per day, summon the 'Snail King,' a colossal elder snail of immense and inexplicable power. This ability is, against all logic, surprisingly awesome."

My head snapped up. "Unique Grade? Inexplicable power? Surprisingly awesome?"

It was a gag skill. The universe had played a prank on us. It gave us the most ridiculous, humiliating-sounding ability imaginable… but secretly made it overpowered. It was the ultimate parody of a cheat skill.

Kenta looked at me, a slow, maniacal grin spreading across his face. The horror in his eyes was replaced by a dangerous, calculating gleam. "Akane," he said, his voice filled with newfound confidence. "I think our adventure is about to get really, really weird."

I stared at his unhinged smile, not knowing whether to punch him, cry, or laugh. Our path to becoming legends wasn't going to be paved with dragon fire or holy swords.

It was going to be paved with slime.