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[Skill-Eater] Chapter 166: Gains
🕑 Added 2024-12-12 18:00:07 +0000 UTCThe journey back to town was a study in contrast to the first half of their excursion. The crew was walking away from the borderlands, and every step they took lowered the odds of running into a stage-two beast. On top of that, thanks to the presence of the padamas, garax, and the cancerous blightlings, they hadn’t spotted a stage-one predator large enough to pose a threat.
On the way out, they had focused on speed and stealth. Now, they were so laden with resources that moving the wagon down the road was a difficult task, even with Blue’s considerable Power pulling it along. As a result, the return trip was a much slower affair.
Since they had plenty of time to spare, Riller and Violet ranged out ahead of the team—working together to pick off any scavengers that came sniffing around the wagon. The crew did some hunting whenever they camped for the night to help their newly cored members cycle-up and raise their attributes. Trapper planned to grind them up them to stage-one as soon as the team was back in town and had recovered from their ordeal.
They were both experienced hunters who had planned long and hard for this moment. They knew some other tricks to boost their growth too. Now that they could absorb ambient magicytes, the newly cored hunters were able to take some of their old skills to rank-two by using them throughout the day.
Riller’s poison arrow had gained a confusion effect in addition to its sedation, which had also grown stronger thanks to the man putting some points into Amplification with every new cycle. The upgraded toxin would muddle the thoughts of its victims in addition to sapping the strength from their bodies—making Riller’s ranged attacks far more dangerous than before.
Not to be outdone, Violet’s enhance beast skill had reached rank-two after using it to help Blue pull. On top of boosting the target beast’s Power and Durability, the buff increased their Speed too. When Violet unhitched Blue and gave it a try, the dino began zipping around the grasslands—transforming into an ecstatic azure blur when she combined the enhancement skill with her charge.
Blue wasn’t eligible to receive quests from the System, but it was clear that she had gained several cycles from the series of battles the team had fought over the last week. She was bigger and stronger than before, having gone from mid stage-one to the border of mid and late.
Thrust and gore had advanced to rank-three, which meant that the dino could add more power to her attacks when she needed it. Violet judged that it wouldn’t be long before Blue developed a fourth skill, and everyone was excited to find out what she would get.
Along the way, Edge took the opportunity to try out his auxiliary skill slot. He waited until a likely candidate appeared, then used [Extraction] on a rodent the size of an Earth beagle. He took the only skill that a human could use, which wound up being sense fruit. He was curious to find out what would happen when he was drawn inside his core.
Instead of locking into one of his skill slots, the power, which took the form of an oversized nose, moved into a new component of Edge’s central chamber—a glass cage that reminded him of the terrarium he’d had when he was a child.
Unlike the skills in his garden, sense fruit remained inert until he activated it, at which point it came to life. Edge could tell right away that he didn’t have a connection to it like he did with the rest of his powers. That [Overdrive] wouldn’t affect it, since it wasn’t socketed into a pillar. But he could still use the rank-one skill whenever he wanted and Absorb it when he was ready to pick up something new.
When he left his core, Edge ignited his reactor and gave it a try. Mana went flowing into his nose, and he discovered that the skill only needed a minuscule amount of magicytes to work. At first, he didn’t notice anything different, but that all changed when he took a deep breath. The instant that air entered his sinuses, he could smell the overpowering odor of fruit on the breeze.
There wasn’t just one kind, but three distinct varieties that he could sense from here. On top of their location and type, he could tell which ones were ripe and how many of them there were, just from the depth of their scent.
This auxiliary slot is great. I can swap skills on the fly to meet my current needs, without having to worry about losing something good. Edge picked the closest bunch of fruit, then deactivated the skill. He gave some of it to Blue and shared the rest with the hunters—thrilled to have expanded the versatility of his skillset.
It rained hard the next day, although the winds weren’t nearly as strong as they had been during the last storm. Since he wasn’t hiding his skills anymore, Edge decided to try out repel water to keep the crew from having to delay their return by another day or more.
When he visualized a dome over their heads and activated the skill, a pulse of mana spread out from his core. It expanded until it assumed the shape he’d imagined. Before long, he had created a transparent umbrella over the top of the wagon that was wide enough to shield most of the team. The water struck the invisible barrier and then ran down the sides, to the delight of everyone, especially Blue.
When they came across a flooded section of the trail, Edge tried out a different use for repel water. He didn’t have enough experience to maintain two shapes at once, which Trapper had told him would take long hours of practice, based on her experience wielding manipulate air. He deactivated the umbrella and visualized the muddy puddles parting down the middle. The water followed his instructions—retreating to the sides of the path long enough for the wagon to roll through.
Other than the wet weather and an occasional hunt, their trip back was blessedly uneventful. It took them a day and a half longer due to the slower pace, but before Edge knew it, he could see the profile of Puppet Town jutting against the horizon. Everyone was thrilled to bring their adventure to a close. They pushed themselves faster for the final stretch and arrived in front of the north gate an hour later.
When Mel came out to meet them, Trapper explained everything that had happened on their hunt. The guardswoman took off in a flash to report the events to Dialla and Earl, after asking them not to mention what they had seen just yet. Not until the leaders of the settlement had some time to ponder the matter and decide where to go from here.
There was no way for hunters to hide their battle with the garax, however. Not with the beast’s gigantic head sticking out from the top of the wagon. They crossed the districts, heading for the workshop of Tallia the skinner. Along the way, what seemed like everyone in town showed up to see the behemoth with their own eyes and shower the crew with praise.
It was weird to have so many people happy to see him, or to know who he was for that matter. But Edge had to admit, it was nice to be appreciated. They parked the wagon in front of the skinner’s shop, then Trapper went inside before walking back out with Tallia and a half dozen apprentices. It took everyone working together to unload the giant head, along with all the other parts the crew was planning to sell instead of using themselves.
After Trapper negotiated a price, the team was free to use the rest of the day however they pleased. Edge stopped to chat with Izzio before making his way back to the lodge. He’d already been contacted to help with the head, and he was thrilled to have a chance to work on such a prime piece of meat.
When he made it back to Trapper’s, Edge learned that he already had a room of his own waiting for him to move in. The crew had got it ready before the exam as a surprise, in the hope that he would pass.
It brought tears to his eyes to know that everyone had believed in him from the start. He slipped into bed with a smile on his face and was out like a light five minutes later.
