Chapter 57. The Question I Didn’t Expect

Oh. Sherial is right—it looks like we’re finished.

I looked at Rem. She was staring ahead too, into empty space. So she had received the message as well.

But as far as I remembered, only Rem and I had received the system quest to eliminate these monsters.

Sherial hadn’t received any quest.

Then why did she say it so confidently, as if she had seen the completion message too?

"Sorry, Sherial, but I thought only Rem received the system quest," I said.

"Yes, I didn’t receive any quests. The quest was only for Rem," Sherial said. "But just now I received a system message saying the quest has been completed. I got a huge amount of experience points and… several skills to choose from—one of which I can pick," she added in a joyful voice.

Looks like Sherial also received a reward for completing the quest, even though she hadn’t received it in the first place. Honestly, that was more than fair. Sherial had played the key role in killing the giant monsters. Without her attacks, neither Rem nor I would have been able to deal any serious damage to them.

"What? You already got the reward?" I said in surprise. I had only received the completion message.

[Quest completion reward:

+10,000,000,000 experience points]

[Additional reward:

You may choose one new special skill:

--Ascensio]

"What, you didn’t get the reward for the completed quest?" Sherial asked.

"No, no, I just got it," I said. "Looks like I jumped to conclusions."

"Well, that’s good then," Sherial said, and fell silent.

From the expression on her face, it was obvious she was in a great mood.

I looked at Rem—she was still silently staring into the empty space in front of her. From her expression I couldn’t tell whether she was pleased or not. But it was unlikely she was in a bad mood.

Alright, let’s see… ten billion experience points. Not bad. Of course, I had gotten more before—my special skill last time gave me forty billion experience points for completing a quest. But that had taken much longer.

And ten billion for this amount of time… even if it wasn’t exactly short—still not bad. Yeah, I’d say that’s a decent reward.

Now about the skill.

What the hell is "choose a skill" supposed to mean if there’s only one? Just like last time. Where’s the choice?

Although… if I’m being honest, last time I got Alchemy. A special Alchemy skill. And I really liked it—especially the ability to create healing potions. When you have practically unlimited access to healing potions, it changes a lot.

Still, it’s weird. The system says I can choose a skill, even though there’s no choice. One option—and that’s it.

Fine… last time I got lucky, I guess. Let’s assume it’ll be the same this time.

[Special skill acquired: Ascensio (Rank 1)]

Now I needed to see what this skill actually did. I opened my status window and selected the new special skill to find out what it was capable of.

[Status]

Name: Alisar
Level: 162
Experience: 552,039,896 / 7,600,000,000
Rank: 5

HP: 15,303,110 / 15,303,110 (+1,920)
MP: 82,760 / 82,760 (+1,920)
Strength: 507,659 (+64)
Defense: 505,703 (+64)
Speed: 516,949 (+64)
Intelligence: 2,614 (+64)
Magic Power: 2,609 (+64)
Magic Defense: 3,053 (+64)
Free Attribute Points: 64,000 (+64,000)

Skills:
Swordsman (Rank 3)
Berserk (Rank 2)
Poison Resistance (Rank 5)
Reinforced Stomach (Rank 2)

Special Skills:
• Training Room (Rank 4)
• Alchemy (Rank 3)
• Ascensio (Rank 1)

[Special Skill: Ascensio

Type: Active

Description:

Allows you to upgrade magical items, increasing their rank.

Rank 1:

Upgrades Rank 1 magical items to Rank 2.

Cost: 10,000 mana]

It allows me to upgrade magical items.

Sounds… not bad.

Probably.

But why do I need it?

I was hoping for something else. An offensive skill. Preferably ranged. Something simple and clear: activate it, hit, survive.

On the other hand… theoretically, I could upgrade armor. Or a weapon. Or anything at all.

Though the description clearly says: a magical item.

Just in case, I tried activating the skill on my clothes. I focused the same way I did when using my other skills.

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

Alright. So ordinary clothes won’t work. Apparently, just like the system window says, the item really does have to be magical.

And if I think about it… I don’t have any magical items at all.

Although…

No. I do.

I activated another skill and created a Rank 1 healing potion.

I took the vial in my hands and tried to activate the new skill.

And immediately I felt—it worked. Something happened.

To confirm, I opened my status window.

My mana reserve really had dropped by ten thousand.

So it worked.

I looked at the vial of healing potion in my hand again.

Visually—nothing had changed.

Yeah, this was stupid from the start. I can’t even tell the difference between a Rank 1 healing potion and a Rank 2 healing potion.

I glanced at Rem, then at Sherial. They seemed busy—examining their rewards, choosing skills, or something like that. So they really did have multiple options. Unlike me.

So, what options do I even have?

Oh… maybe injure myself and drink this potion?

If it really became a Rank 2 potion, then it should restore ten thousand HP.

But how am I supposed to injure myself?

I don’t have a sword right now.

Ask Rem or Sherial? They have weapons…

No. No, that’s not an option at all.

Maybe… beat myself up with my fists?

With my own fists?

No. What kind of idiotic idea is that?!

How did that nonsense even come into my head?

Then the only thing left was to wait until Rem finished what she was doing.

And when she did, I’d ask her to check this potion.

She’s great at that—as far as I remember, she can distinguish potions of different ranks without a mistake.

If I think about it a little, what’s the point of turning a Rank 1 healing potion into a Rank 2 one by spending 10,000 mana, if I can create two Rank 2 healing potions from the start by spending the same 10,000 mana?

Meaning: if I use this new skill only on potions, I’ll end up losing out.

Damn… that means I need to think about what else I can use my new skill on.

What do I even have that’s magical—something I can upgrade?

Well… my sword. My lost sword.

As far as I know, it should be magical. It doesn’t rust and always stays sharp. And in general… it’s a very good sword. I got attached to it. It would be really bad if that dragon destroyed my sword too.

I really hope that didn’t happen.

Yeah. Looks like after Rem and Sherial finish their business here, they’ll leave. I planned to leave with them, but apparently I’ll have to stay behind and search for my sword.

"Are you two done choosing your new skill too?" I suddenly heard Sherial’s voice.

"Yes, I’m done," Rem answered.

"Me too," I said.

"So, Alisar, what skill did you get?" Sherial asked in a cheerful voice.

"I got a skill called Ascensio," I answered. "It allows me to upgrade magical items from Rank 1 to Rank 2, spending ten thousand mana."

I heard a quiet exhale from Rem. When I looked at her, she was staring at me with clear disappointment.

Did I do something wrong? the thought flashed through my mind. What exactly? What is she unhappy about? Why is she looking at me like that?..

"You’re still as naïve as ever," Rem said.

"I warned you: you shouldn’t tell your skills to just anyone. Some adventurers hide even parts of their abilities from their own teammates, and you reveal a newly obtained skill so easily," she continued.

She said it in a calm voice, but I still had the feeling she was scolding a child for bad behavior. Of course, I understood she hadn’t said anything wrong. More than that—she was right. I really shouldn’t reveal my skills so easily to just anyone.

And in general, I wouldn’t tell my skill to just anyone. I said it only because Rem and Sherial were right there, and it never even crossed my mind to hide something from them. They already know about my other skills. If they wanted to use me, they would have done it long ago.

"I said it only because it was you," I said.

"What?" Rem asked, as if she hadn’t heard me.

"I told you about my new skill only because it was you. I mean… only you will know. I trust you," I added.

Damn. When I said it out loud, my words sounded kind of strange even to me.

Ahahaha… I heard laughter. It was Sherial.

She was laughing openly.

"Hey, stop laughing," Rem said sternly.

"No-no, sorry, I just couldn’t hold it in," Sherial answered, covering her mouth with her hand.

Even now, she was still quietly giggling.

Looks like I said something really stupid—and apparently funny.

Damn…

So what am I supposed to say now?

I felt awkward. Even ashamed.

"Sorry, Alisar, I didn’t mean to laugh at you," Sherial said, calming down a little.

"It’s fine," I answered.

"But you’re too naïve. Even though you’re an adult, you act like a child. It’s too easy to trick you," she said.

I fell silent.

Sherial’s words hit me harder than I expected.

Naïve?..

I quickly started running through possible replies in my head. I needed to argue somehow without looking stupid or defensive.

I’m not naïve. Not at all.

And if it comes to that, I’m actually older than both of them.

But saying that out loud would be… strange.

And pointless.

"Hey, Alisar," Sherial suddenly said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I replied, expecting her to ask something else or start teasing me again.

"Join our team," she said.

That was… not at all what I expected.