Chapter 23: [Arc 1] Chapter 17: [New Hero]

I'm currently looting the human camp. It's going smoothly and I get to train both [Appraisal] and the new [Parallel Thinking] skill while checking the items.

I've stolen- err, confiscated several items already, like the Bandit Dagger (it's my weapon of choice at the moment), several types of medicine, some food rations, magic lanterns that light up by giving them MP, and the other weapons the humans used. The weapons are anything from the iron sword I 'borrowed' to a crossbow.

There's even a katana-ish sword here. Did another other-worlder come with this? Looks shabby. It's not the only weird-looking weapon: the crossbow looks like a modernized type. Shouldn't an isekai have a culture similar to the middle age? Why is there a modern-looking weapon mixed into it? Eh, I'll understand it when I get out of the dungeon. Gotta check them out later. They're too cool to be left alone!

I even found something that looks like newspapers. Maybe they used them as fire starters? Nah, they have the fireball magic, why using the usual ways then? I am thinking about using these newspapers to check if [Language Adaption] lets me learn written language just like oral language. That will be helpful when I'm done with this dungeon.

Some of the best stuff is what I found amongst the leader's stuff: gunpowder and other items for making thief tools, as well as recipes for them! Now I can train the thief tool skill and make some good items for a change. 

Nevertheless, the item of the day is this one, no if's or but's about it:

A magical bag that stores items in a different dimension. Sometimes called 'a 4-dimension pocket' by Migrants. An Adventurers best friend in the field.

- Produced by the Wessrot Company

100 storage slots, that's more than I had before challenged the humans. The [Demonic Storage] got a level up in the last battle, so it's still at only 95 slots. Weightless means that the weight of the contents becomes zero in the same way that [Demonic Storage] doesn't press me flat as a pancake due to all the stuff I hold.

The fact that the Item Bags does not freeze the time for the contents is a minus point. That isn't that big of a problem since I can add the Item Bags into my storage.

And the bag itself just needs 50 slots to add it to my storage. And there is more than one of them! I've found 2 high-quality bags now, but there is bound to be more.

The only problem is that I can only take with me one of them. [Demonic Storage] leveled up in the fight, but my storage space is only at 95 slots now. I guess I shouldn't be too greedy now. Doubling 50-slots of my inventory is good enough. 

Some strange words came up with the appraisal, 'Migrants' and 'Wessrot Company'. I double-appraised the words and found out that 'Migrants' is the collective name for beings that came from different worlds. They all have the [Migrant]-title on them, so maybe I have it as well. I tried to appraise the title, but got an error message, telling me to reach [Appraisal LV8] to learn about titles. 

Just have to start the grinding than. With that in mind, I continued the appeasing, this time with the 'Wessrot Company'. It is one of this world's largest trading companies, that specialize in adventurer equipment. 

I found some of this world's currency. It's called Sol and is divided into Bronze Sol (1 Sol), Large Bronze (10 Sol), Half Silver (50 Sol), and Silver Sol (100 Sol). [Appraisal] told me how much each coin is worth. I haven't found any gold coins yet, but they should exist even if the humans didn't have any. Why did they take their money with them when they are exploring a dungeon? I would have placed them in a bank.

There was a purse to contain the money as well. Think of it like a limited Item Bag that only works with money and can contain a certain amount of coins. It only takes 5 storage slots, so it's way better than too keep all those coins in the storage for themselves. Think of all the slots that would have taken when you have lots of loose change.

Oh well. Not that I care. The greatest prize in this brawl is my status. I didn't pay much attention to the system messages, but my skill levels have flown up like a rocket! Not to mention my level! Here is my current status:

My SPD and DEX have gone over the 100-line! The MP isn't that far behind, but the strange thing is that MAG has surpassed STR. Maybe a higher MP gives you a higher MAG?

The Assassin class level also increased. I didn't get anything for that, so it must work like skill-levels instead of race-levels.

And the all-important skills are like this now:

T-they went up even more than I thought. The biggest change is in the skills I used to dodge the berserker assault, [Thread Synthesis], [Thread Control], [Concentration], [Free Movement], and [Throw]. [MP Reinforcement (Small)] was raised to the roof, due to using so much MP on [Thread Synthesis].

Isn't skills easier to raise in life-or-death battles than in everyday life? Even when I use the skill more than I did during the battle? Must be a quality over quantity thing.

Even [Steal] went up, even when it was just used once. I did get the Bandit Dagger in one go, so there has to be something there. 

[Poison Resistance] also increased. Was it because I touched the Vengeful Poison that was on the berserker? J-just how potent was that poison? I need to make more ASAP.

And I have a total of 4.7 skill points now! I used 2 points on [Parallel Thoughts], but that was covered with reaching LV.10. I got 1 point back when I reached the max level of the Lesser Grey Demon, but now I got 2. Must be a 10-times bigger skill point reward when you reach the max level.

Now I can focus on getting some magic skills! Ah, beloved magic skills, just you wait!

Thanks to the magician showing me how [Magic Talent] worked, I'm now certain that I can use Magic skills without the talent skill. Since it reduces the mental requirements needed for magic, I can probably brute force my way to success through my INT stat. In the worst case, I can use [Concentration] and [Parallel Thoughts] as well. I want to evolve first though.

---

Tch, nothing good here either. 

I found several more Item Bags (high and low-quality types), an incomplete map the humans had made, and some more foods, but my luck ended there. After that, I only found stuff unrelated to adventuring and dirtied clothes. Most of them have blood on them. S-surely it's the adventurers' blood, haha... I also found some blood-covered woman clothes like dresses,...

I didn't see anything! Nope, nothing. Especially something as troublesome as stolen goods, yup.

The map could be useful, except that I can't make heads or tails out of it. The humans didn't have a cartographer with them, to say the least. It's as good as trash this thing. Tch.

*thud*

Did something fall? Not a monster I hope. The chances are small for that though. I have placed some webs at the entrances of the camp in case some monster coming for a visit, like that turtle snake from before. 

No, the noise was coming from that covered cage. Didn't I search that before? No, I think I ignored it. Why did I do that?

A mantle that weakens others' perception of who or what that hides inside it.

- Produced by the Wessrot Compan

Another Wessrot product. And it simulates [Presence Concealment]. Not bad, but I got [Stealth]. Top that. Since the item is only D-rank, the effect must be around the first 10 levels or such. 

It explains why I didn't notice it at first. I would have seen it if it did something, but since it's used to cover the cage, an inanimate object. Of course, I wouldn't notice it at once. Guess [Magic Sense] isn't foolproof. And it was the little brother to [Stealth] that made me realize that... what's this feeling of loss?

The mantle is a little too big for me right now, but that's not a problem. Since I don't know how big I will become after evolving, it's better with something too big than the opposite. And even if it still too big I can just cut off some parts with my dagger.

Then I guess I'll take this. Thinking that I dragged off the mantle, only to find the source of the noise from before, as well as the contents of the cage: a human-looking child, almost beaten to death.

---

HOOOIIII!! I said I didn't want to find something troublesome, didn't I?! What's this brat doing here? So those guys really where robber, heck, kidnappers! Real sleazebags! Maybe I unknowingly did the world a good deed? Wait, I already knew that they where sleazebags, that's why I attacked them! Mmh, let's go with that one.

But still, how's this brat still alive? His arms are broken due to the beating he has taken. Several fingers are pointing in the wrong direction as well. His legs are in the same state as his arms, and the face isn't looking any better. His nose is broken, teeth knocked out, and he's got a black eye as the icing on the cake.

Hmm, if it wasn't damaged, he would have a pretty good face. Blonde, silky hair, and emerald green eyes. A bishounen type. Tch, normies should explode, ah, don't explode him. He's gone through enough. Exploding him on top of that would give me a [Heartless]-title.

The boy's clothes are adventurer-ish, with a brown leather vest on top of a form-fitting yellow-white shirt made of durable material. His pants are dark brown and look like they're made with denim despite the strange color and solid boots. 

Ain't that gear a little too much for a little brat? Maybe he's a noble? That would explain why the sleazebags have kidnapped him. And that thing around his neck... it's a slave collar, right? The real deal? Yup, a rusty metal collar made with no thought for the user of it. Definitely a slave collar. There's even a broken chain attached to it.

Guh, there are too many questions regarding this brat. Let's just check out his status page before deciding anything. Maybe that will lighten things up.

Okay, definitely not a noble. The Merchant class could be classes that a noble would take. However, Treasure Hunter is a little too unusual. And his level's too high to be that of a child. He's not even human. What's a 'falloling' anyway?

A humanoid creature that's known for their curiosity, goodwill, and talents in scouting. Fallolings are around half the size or an adult human and is blessed with quick legs and minds. They have a knack for finding treasures, so it's a tradition for Fallolings to take the Treasure Hunter class, an evolved version of the Thief-class.

He's not even a human. Talk about missing the target me. And he's already evolved his main class? Some top-class adventure then? How did he get captured then? Did they ambush him with sleep gas or something?

Then there's this thing. I can kinda guess what it is, but just to be sure:

Just as suspected. I just wanted to be sure. And hey, it's Heretic-based, so it will never work on me? Banzai! 

Back to the kid- err, Falloling. Could he be some VIP that's worth a fortune in hostage money? It has to be, or else the humans would have killed him a long time ago.

I could just leave him here. There is no real reason for me to save him after all. And I'm not that cold-hearted to snuff someone out when they're on the brink of death like this. I'm a little scared of killing another humanoid right now. There is no way for it to happen, but I don't want another Berserker *shiver, shiver*.

Monsters? They are hunting targets. Also, I've never tortured any being just for fun. It's just part of the battle. 

However, there is no real reason to just leave him here to die either. What a dilemma. And I need to pack up all the stuff... wait. That's an idea. 

---

"Ehm..., where am I?" - Tok 

In an open cave,

I am currently hiding behind one of the huge boulders in the camp while keeping an eye on the Treasure Hunter Tok. Good thing, he managed to awake.

I dumped all the Health Potions and Wound Curing Ointments that I could spare (those that I hadn't ant room for them my storage) onto the guy. The wounds did heal yes, but I kinda I overdid it. The brat-err, Treasure Hunter started to spasm all over and foaming at the mouth when I used a potion too much. Oops.

He got better when I forced some of the dungeons water into his lips. Is potion overload the same as being drunk?

"! The collar is-! And the cage door too!" - Tok

Oi, oi, oi, oi! Don't go and make so much noise. Shouldn't you be a hostage? Act like one. 

"Just what is... did the bandits have a fallout? No, they are all killed. Then why..." - Tok

The Treasure Hunter walked out of the cage and found the corpses of the bandits. He first guessed that they had killed each other over the loot, but quickly denied it. So he made sure to count the bandits even when captured. That guy got some backbone. Think I'm starting to respect him a little.

For those who are wondering, I dragged the corpses of the magician, spear user, and berserker back to the camp while I was waiting for him to wake up. A good call on my part, since it speeds up things.

Certain that the bandits are annihilated, the Treasure Hunter starts to look over the camp again. He stops at the heap of Item Bags I've placed in a corner at the opposite side of the tunnel where the cage was.

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"And here are all the goods they have stolen... no. One of the Bags is missing. Did the bandits lose them? Or did the attackers take it after killing the bandits? The Mantle that covered the cage is also missing." - Tok

Wow, he already cached up with the events. And he called the Item Bags 'wares'... Is he part of the Wessrot Company? He is a Merchant, and a high-leveled one at that, so it's possible.

While he is busy checking the contents of the Item Bags, let's look at what we know at the moment:

First off, the Treasure Hunter is someone connected to the Wessrot Company, probably a high-ranking member or he works for someone like that.

Two, the bandits have Item Bags and other stuff made by the Company, and they are stolen goods.

From these two points, it's easy to see that the Treasure Hunter was searching for the thieves that stole from his workplace. 

But the bandits managed to turn the table on him and it ended up in him being their prisoner. They probably planned to trade him for money or maybe making the Company stop pursuing them.

If it is the latter one, then it was a good idea. If there is something like slave collars in this world, then there has to be something like a magical contract that forces both parts to comply with it. It stands to say if the bandits have the brains to think of that.

"Okay, that's most of it. The rest should be written off as collateral damage... hm?" - Tok

Now that he was finished checking the contents of the Bags, Tok turned around and saw what I had made on the wall.

"Isn't this what the Migrants call cartoons? And the drawings suck." - Tok

HEY! That's one line too much! Have to agree it's not artist level drawings, but give me some slack...

The 'cartoons' as he calls them are something I made with my threads while the guy was passed out from the potions. I worked with threads instead of writing tools and on a tight schedule. Don't go and blame the amateur.

And the Migrants have introduced cartoons to this world already? Good, then it's easier for him to understand the pictures. I added arrows that which way he should read, but I was still unsure he would get it. For all I could know, this world didn't even have arrow marks. It looks like that's not a problem thanks to my senior Migrants.

The first picture displays a demon with a typical cartoon-demonic appearance, wandering in the tunnels (that's me).

In the second picture, the demon has found some humans (true).

In the third, the demon found out that the humans are bandits and also kidnappers (true, just look away from the order of the events).

In the fourth, the demon slays all the bandits with ease (not so true).

In the fifth picture, the demon takes pity in the person kidnapped by the bandits and releases him from the cage (true, I guess).

In the sixth picture the demon collects all the important items in the camp, for then to leave the camp without taking anything with it (somewhat true, I'm still here after all).

"... too suspicious." - Tok

Yeah, that's the normal reaction you would have. 

"But there is no sign of the items being tampered with. And there is even a map here for the caverns." - Tok

The map is the one that the bandits had made. Since I can't read it at all, I'll let this guy have it. The way out shouldn't be that far from here either, so I'll find it one of these days. 

"There is no other way out of this place except trusting whoever readied all of this." - Tok

Good, he's finished pondering and decided to trust the message I left. After taking all the Item Bags he started to go towards the exit. He stopped when he saw the web blockade, but quickly understood the message picture I had left by the web. The picture showed that the web is weak to fire, so he picked up some wood (crates were broken by me) from the campfire and used it to burn it.

"So far, so good." - Tok

While keeping an eye out for monsters, the Treasure Hunter switched the burning stick with one of the magic lanterns and made way for the dungeon.

Eh? Why is he turning around? Crap. our eyes met. N-no way he can s-see me. I got [Stealth] on plus the Mantle covering me. Now he's blowing towards me? So he can see me! Ah, he goes back into the dungeon again. Could he or could he not see me? Just tell me already! I'm getting scared that [Stealth] is starting to malfunction!

---

I waited a little bit after the Treasure Hunter had left, just to be safe. I mean, I just released him so that he could take away the items that I couldn't fit in my storage so that the monsters didn't get their hands on them.

O-obviously I didn't do it because I felt sorry for the guy! I-I mean, I got the reputation as an evil demon! W-why should I throw away that just to help some no-name?! 

... Who am I making excuses to?

Truth be told, seeing the Treasure Hunter all beaten up like that did hurt the conscience I thought I had lost when I was reborn. And after all the killing of both monsters and even humans just now.

Did the scare I got from the berserker reawaken whatever that I had forgotten after reincarnating? Haaaahhhh...

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

Karma value has increased.

Acquired title: [New Hero]

Through the title [New Hero], acquired skill: [Light Magic LV.1]

Through the title [New Hero], acquired skill: [Lesser Light Element LV.1]

Due to obtaining [Lesser Light Elemental LV1],

removing the ability [Light Weakness] from the skill [Albino] it is now possible.

Remove ability [Light Weakness] from skill [Albino]?

Y/N

Huh, uhm, eh, yes?

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

The [Light Weakness] ability has been removed from the skill [Albino]

Uhm, okay? What was that? Hero? Me? I've got a light element that negated the weakness part of [Albino]? And I got some light magic, magic? MAGIC!?!?!

This isn't the time to just stand here gazing! Where is the Safety Zone?! I need to use this pronto! Magic, real magic!!

---

Wheeze, wheeze, I ran too fast. In the end, I managed to escape from the camp (battlefield) without meeting any new monsters. I'm currently in a tunnel that spreads into a circular area, creating a pseudo-cave in the tunnel.

There are no signs of monsters here, so let's try out the magic skill already! But how do I use it? Professor [Appraisal], if you could.

Light Sphere huh. Appraising it, I learned that it was a magic that came with the skill at LV.1. It generates a ball of light that can be used to illuminate the surroundings. The sphere would continue to exist till the caster decided to remove it or till the MP used for the magic runs out. 

This must be what the magic lanterns are based on. Not that this spell is any good for me, who can see even in pitch-black darkness, but it's still magic!

The 'magic formula' is something like a magic circle. Magic is the result of pouring mana into the magic formula you create, and magic skills can record these formulas so that one can use the magic without the need to physically write them down. You can't record a fire magic formula with a water magic skill, but if you know how to write the thing, you can use the fire magic without the fire magic skill.

The downside is that they need to be perfectly written down to the millimeter, if not more. Even the slightest mistake will make the magic misfire, resulting in just losing MP. Even photographic memory isn't sufficient to create them, so unless you are a once-in-a-million-year genius, the way to use magic is through skills. 

It doesn't even cost more to use the skills instead of pouring mana into the formula since the skills can get a cost discount through skills like Elements, it's cheaper and more useful with skills than self-made formulas. 

Enough trivia. Let's test this bad boy already! Ehm, you need to either say the chant for the spell or simply imagine the magic itself to activate it. The first option must be for those with weak imagination or those who haven't used the spell before.

I got [Appraisal] behind my back, so I kinda get what the spell is all about, so I can just skip the chant. Phew, that's the one thing I didn't want to do. Way too embarrassing.

Okay then, Light Sphere! Ghg, this takes a toll on my mind. Nothing compared to [Magic Sense] though! [Concentration] and [Parallel Thoughts] are working overtime as well, so give me my magic!

*glow*

It worked! It's pretty puny, but it's a real magical light ball! 

Phew, that was a mental workout. The strain wasn't that bad as when I first used [Magic Sense], but I get the point that you need the talent skill to use magic. But this sphere of light, how long will it stay like this? Not that it does any harm.

"...?" - Three raptors

Huh? Where did you guys come from?! Eh, the light that suddenly came on in the dark dungeon? I see. Anyone would want to investigate something like that.

... Uhm, could you let me go?

"SHHHAAAA!!" - Raptors

GIIIYYYAAAAAAHHHH!!

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