After successfully defeating the blue slimes, we returned to Perz. I released Kuroto's materialization for now to save MP. At the guild, I turned in the quest, collected the modest reward, and started looking for a place to stay for the night.
"Is that the inn Ange mentioned?"
Ange had given me a tip about a good spot that wouldn't break the bank for new adventurers.
"Spirit Song Pavilion. Sounds like the best budget-friendly choice around here. Let's check it out."
I pushed open the door. A large, cheerful woman stood behind the counter. Probably the proprietress.
"Welcome to the Spirit Song Pavilion!"
"Hi. I'd like a room for one night, please."
"Of course! We'd love to have you stay with us again next time."
"I'm Kelvin. Ange recommended this place, and she said the food here is amazing. Looking forward to dinner already."
"Hahaha! In that case, I'll put my heart into cooking tonight!"
After paying the fee, the proprietress—whose name was Claire—led me to my room and gave a quick rundown of the inn rules, including dinner time. I let out a long breath once I was alone. Finally, some downtime.
"I figured as much, but no bath..."
"Baths are rare outside royal castles or noble mansions. Common folk usually just use hot water for wiping down or take quick dips in public bathhouses."
"Coming from Japan, that's going to be rough... One day I'll live somewhere with a proper bath."
I burned the new goal into my mind and pulled up the status screen. From the skill menu, I narrowed down the options until I found what I was after.
"There it is."
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Concealment (F-Class) Skill Points Required: 10
Prevents Appraisal Eye up to F-class. Also conceals objects from detection up to F-class.
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First priority: information concealment. From what Melfina told me last time, the difficulty of acquiring my skills is completely abnormal. If word got out that a level 2 newbie had two S-class skills, people would get suspicious fast. So I spent points to raise Concealment all the way to D-class right away. My combat potential is already overpowered enough.
"This should be fine for starters, but I want to push it to B-class as soon as possible..."
To do that, I'll focus on subjugation requests starting tomorrow. I also want to build better teamwork with Kuroto. Speaking of which, after we defeated the fifth blue slime, Kuroto leveled up too. He gained 10 growth points and immediately used them to learn a new skill.
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Absorption (F-Class) Skill Points Required: 10
Absorbs a portion of incoming magic and converts it into energy. Effective against magical attacks as well. Higher ranks increase absorption efficiency.
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Pretty cool ability. The absorbed energy can heal him or boost attacks. At higher ranks, he might even nullify magic completely. Kuroto's got potential—I need to keep him growing.
"But today's fights were way too easy. Neither of us took a single point of damage."
"Blue slimes are perfect for rookies. Most are low-level and harmless. Occasionally you get outliers with higher levels or ones that evolve into different species, but those are the exceptions. They're still great starter enemies."
"Do monsters evolve when they level up?"
"Level isn't the only factor. Environment, diet, and other conditions play a big role. Slimes in particular have an extremely wide range of possible evolutions. Even I can't predict what path Kuroto might take."
Melfina doesn't know the future evolution? That just makes me more excited to find out.
"Heh, Kuroto might evolve someday. Can't wait to see what it becomes."
Kuroto gave an enthusiastic little jiggle. Alright, enough planning for now. Time to eat. I skipped lunch because I was too focused on hunting. Let's enjoy my very first meal in another world.