Chapter 15 — Did I Get a New Skill?

Chapter 15 — Did I Get a New Skill?

POV: Alisar

When I opened my eyes, everything around me felt… calm.

Yeah, looks like morning has come.

Soft sunlight was filtering through the tent fabric.

Everything inside had grown a little brighter.

It seems I slept amazingly well. Almost too well.

I felt absolutely safe—even more than in the Training Room.

I don’t know why…

Maybe because Rem and Sherial were nearby?

I slowly lifted the flap of the tent and stepped outside.

Cool air hit my face. Fresh morning air.

A little chilly, with the scent of grass and earth.

Yes… the real smell of nature.

I took a deep breath.

It was that refreshing, clean air

that makes you feel—you are alive.

“Good morning!” I heard Sherial’s voice.

Turning toward the voice, I realized she and Rem had been up for a while already.

Apparently much earlier than me.

“Breakfast is ready. Hurry, wash up and come sit with us,” Sherial said with a faint smile.

--

Breakfast was excellent too—really delicious.

Especially that bread with some kind of filling… berries, I think.

Why does it taste so soft and fresh?

Ah, right… Rem has a Storage skill.

Inside it, time probably flows more slowly.

Or maybe it’s completely stopped.

Now that’s truly convenient.

Having a Storage skill is amazing.

I’d love to have that skill too.

But… how am I supposed to go back to ordinary dry rations

after a breakfast this good?

After Rem and Sherial leave…

Although, thinking about the food I ate at the Adventurers’ Guild,

maybe even dry rations won’t seem so bad anymore.

After breakfast, Rem and Sherial quickly started packing up.

One gathered their things, the other deftly took down the tent.

I wasn’t planning to linger either and began taking down mine.

But… damn!

Sherial had already finished with their enormous tent,

and I was still fumbling with my tiny one.

Damn it, I even managed to tear the fabric because I hurried.

After that, Sherial came over and calmly helped me fold the tent properly.

Yeah… I definitely need practice.

I don’t want to embarrass myself like that again.

Next time I meet them,

I’ll be setting up and taking down a tent like a pro.

Yes, I’ll be ready for that.

I said goodbye to Rem and Sherial and headed downstream—the way they’d come from yesterday.

Yes, that’s where I’m going today.

Rem told me they’d discovered a new dungeon.

Very fresh, newly appeared.

How did they know?

Simple—because it was too small.

Only three rooms.

And the last one—a boss room.

But despite the size, there were surprisingly many rabbit monsters inside.

Though all of them were weak.

The strongest of the regular ones was level five,

and the boss was level ten.

In other words, every monster they met there

belonged to rank zero.

Rem advised me to go there and make use of the dungeon.

Well, “make use of it” meaning—just train, learn to fight monsters.

She said that for a level-forty-five adventurer the place should be completely safe.

As long as I don’t act like a complete idiot.

Right now is a perfect opportunity for me to practice.

Later, once Rem and Sherial report the dungeon to the Adventurers’ Guild, the guild will send staff here, and lots of newcomers will arrive.

And considering the dungeon is very small,

a line will form quickly.

Until the dungeon “grows,”

many simply won’t have enough space to train properly.

Also, after a full clear,

the dungeon needs about an hour to respawn its monsters.

So if several adventurer parties really do come here, I’ll hardly have many chances to practice in peace.

--

The walk took about five hours.

Judging by the sun, it’s noon.

Good thing there’s only one road here—I won’t get lost.

And there it is at last—the entrance to the dungeon.

From the outside it looks more like a large cave,

but according to Rem it truly is a dungeon.

I carefully set up my tent, trying not to tear the fabric any further.

Damn… I’ll have to stitch that later.

If I can’t, I’ll have to buy a new one.

I put my food bag and supplies inside,

and took a couple of potions out of it and slipped them into my pocket.

Yes, I can create a potion at any time,

but having a couple on hand isn’t a bad idea either.

I took my sword—the one I bought at the general store.

Yes, it’s finally time to use it for its intended purpose.

I headed for the cave.

Just a few meters past the entrance it became clear—this wasn’t just a cave.

The walls inside were too even, almost straight, as if they were hewn by hand.

Yes, this is definitely a dungeon entrance.

Like in games…

Or maybe like those places I’ve only seen on a screen.

But… can I just walk right in?

It’s too dark in there.

I need a torch…

I don’t have a torch.

Damn. Maybe it isn’t that dark inside,

and my eyes are just used to sunlight,

so now everything looks like solid darkness?

All right, I can test that by moving in a little.

After all, dungeons are never completely pitch-black—

there has to be some kind of light source.

I gripped my sword more tightly.

Okay… I just need to go in.

It’s only weak rabbits in there.

Level five at most.

What the hell…

Why won’t my foot move forward?

These are only weak rabbits.

If anything, I can retreat.

I’m level forty-five!

I should handle them easily.

And why am I even thinking about retreat?

I should be winning, not running away.

…My hands are trembling a little.

Stop being a coward.

If I’m this timid even before weak monsters,

how am I ever going to reach level three hundred?

Well, I do have the Training Room skill.

I could just do tasks there and level up.

It’s safer… and, honestly, quite efficient.

Sell health potions from time to time,

buy food and whatever I need—

and that’s it, life would be peaceful and predictable.

Yes, that’s much safer

than risking my life by walking into this dark dungeon.

I had almost turned around,

almost taken a step back to leave.

But… no.

Enough thinking like a coward.

I gathered all the courage I had and forced myself to take the first step.

Then a second.

Then a third.

And there—I entered that dark passage.

Yes. I clenched the sword hilt with both hands.

My sword—my only friend and protection.

I took a couple more steps forward…

And suddenly the darkness ahead began to change.

Complete blackness gave way to a faint, dim glow.

Something shimmered in the ceiling—tiny crystals

giving off a soft light.

Why didn’t I see that from outside?

I turned around.

Outside—darkness.

Absolute, thick, impenetrable darkness.

Even though logically,

from here I should be able to see sunlight at the entrance.

But it wasn’t there.

To hell with logic.

This is a dungeon—a place that creates monsters out of nothing,

spawns magic items,

weapons,

artifacts—

everything reason can’t explain.

Trying to think logically here is foolish.

All right. I turned back around.

Oh, it does look brighter now.

My eyes had begun to adjust, and I could make out the outlines of the walls.

Everything became clearer.

Looks like there’s a room up ahead.

Fifteen meters, no more.

I moved forward,

and then I noticed movement.

Two white fluffy lumps stirred on the floor,

then leapt at the same time.

Here comes the dungeon’s first monster.

I tightened my grip on the sword.

My heart sped up.

Those bundles of white fur—no, rabbits—

were hopping straight at me,

without a shred of doubt, without fear.

One slash!

I dodged the second—

and another slash!

[Dungeon monster defeated: Dire Rabbit (Lv. 1) ×2]

[Gained: +10 EXP]

Two magic stones fell to the ground.

Yeah… this definitely makes things easier.

After killing these white rabbits, there were no bodies left, no blood.

Just a flash of light and two tiny stones on the floor.

Much better.

Far easier on the mind than staring at real corpses,

like with that black boar.

I don’t know what would become of me

if after every fight I had to look at bloodied bodies.

I bent down,

picked up both magic stones,

and slipped them into my pocket.

Yes, they’re cheap.

But they’ll still come in handy—

I’ll sell them along with the health potions

so I don’t raise suspicion.

I moved on.

Right in front of me—an open, wider room.

I cautiously leaned out from the corridor and took a look.

Straight ahead—empty.

But on the sides…

Rabbits sat on both sides of the room.

A lot of them.

At least twenty.

Too many, I thought—and stepped back into the corridor.

I needed to think about what to do next.

And right then something flashed in front of me—a white rabbit jumped out of the room and lunged at me.

I swung my sword on instinct and began backing up.

And then I saw it:

all the rabbits that had been in the room were hopping into the corridor, right at me.

“Damn it… that was such an idiotic move!” I cursed.

When I peeked out from the corridor and saw those rabbits, that meant they saw me too!

This isn’t a game where you can just lean around a corner and stay unseen.

If you can see the enemy, the enemy can see you.

And those rabbits had been staring right toward the corridor I poked my head out of from the very beginning.

I quickly continued backing up, but I didn’t dare turn my back on them.

Yes, I could run… but I don’t want to.

I’m level forty-five, and those rabbits are at most level five.

I can handle this. Enough being a coward.

I backed up almost to the entrance.

Just a couple steps left, and the first rabbits were already on me.

One slash—another—another…

I started swinging faster and faster.

Oh! This was easier than I thought.

When I’d killed the eighth rabbit, one of the remaining suddenly turned out to be faster than the rest. I clearly saw it already in the air, no more than a meter away from me.

I could tell I wouldn’t be able to parry in time.

But then things got strange.

Its movement—midair—slowed down. I had time to bring my sword around and strike the rabbit before it reached me.

After that, the fight suddenly felt oddly easy.

The rabbits were moving much slower than at the start.

And in less than ten seconds there were none left in the corridor—

only magic stones scattered across the floor.

[Dungeon monster defeated: Dire Rabbit (Lv. 1) ×12, (Lv. 2) ×8, (Lv. 4) ×1]

[Gained: +160 EXP]

After the fight, once I’d calmed down a bit, I began thinking about what had happened.

Why did the rabbits suddenly slow down?

No… more likely, I got faster.

Even if they had actually slowed, that still wouldn’t explain the rabbit that suddenly slowed in the air as it lunged at me.

So it was me.

Oh! Maybe I got a new skill?

Something that speeds me up in combat!

Awesome. I need to check.

Although… the system didn’t notify me.

Not a single message.

But even so, I probably did get a new skill—the notification just didn’t show up.

[Status]

[Name: Alisar
Level: 45
EXP: 22,730/2,800,000
Rank: 3]

HP: 7,610 (+1,920)
MP: 8,580

Strength: 201
Defense: 187
Speed: 373 (+192)
Intelligence: 190
Magic Power: 185
Magic Defense: 331

Free Attribute Points: 0 (-192)

Skills: —

Special Skills:
• Training Room (Rank 2)
• Alchemy (Rank 1)

I froze for a second, staring at the status window.

No new skill.

But what I saw explained what happened far better than any guess.

All 192 of my free attribute points—spent.

And every single one

went into Speed.

I clearly remember not spending them on Speed.

In fact—I hadn’t spent them at all.

It was just that the circumstances in which I completed the quest and gained levels were… let’s put it mildly, not ideal.

It wasn’t the time to distribute points.

But my plan had been to put them into Magic Defense.

Yes, exactly.

That would have been the most sensible.

Although… maybe my “sensibility” is mistaken.

But still—strange.

I’m the one who’s supposed to decide where my free attribute points go.

Although… thinking back to the moment when the rabbits suddenly slowed—

that is, when I sped up—

yeah, then it makes more sense.

I lacked speed, and in that moment I even felt a real fear that they could bite me again.

So the system simply reacted.

It spent all the free points on Speed so I would survive.

Yes, that does make sense.

If I have free attribute points, and in the middle of a fight I lack Strength… or Speed… or Defense,

then perhaps they’re allocated automatically—to keep me from dying.

Well, if that’s the case…

If my guess is correct,

then this might also answer an old question I used to ask myself.

How do monsters allocate their free attribute points?

After all, they should be getting points when they level up too, right?

And now I can see how that might work.

If a monster lacks Strength—the system automatically spends points on Strength.

If it needs Defense—on Defense.

If it needs Speed—on Speed.

In other words, their distribution happens automatically, without any intelligence involved.

The system itself decides what a monster needs most at that moment.

Yes…

Now that makes a lot of sense.

If that’s really how it works…

Then it would be wiser not to spend all my free points right away.

Better to keep a small reserve—at least a couple hundred points.

Yes, that might sound like a lot.

But if I’m getting sixty-four points per level right now,

then two hundred isn’t that much.

Hmm… I think I should stockpile a little at a time.

Ten to twenty points per level.

If something happens—the system can use them automatically,

and it might save my life.

Yes, that’s a good plan.

All right, enough thinking.

Time to move on.

There should be two more rooms ahead.

And now that I’ve gotten much faster,

everything should go a lot more smoothly.