Chapter 28

7/16 This is the fourth post of the day.

"Wow!! Finally, I've reached Level 3 in [Earth Magic] and [Presence Sensing]!!"

It has been 12 days since then.

Day after day, from morning till night, I hunted tirelessly in the Parmela Great Forest, and finally, I managed to level up [Earth Magic] and [Presence Sensing] to Level 3.

The next hunting ground I set for myself, the Locker Plains, required me to meet the following goals:

- Save 1.5 million Beke.

- Level up all three skills to Level 3.

The last obstacle was these two skills.

Since the encounter rate for Furi Mole was lower than that of Goblins and Horn Rabbits, I had expected these two skills to be the last to level up.

However, I managed to reach the goal faster than expected, thanks to the nourishing tonic given to me by Mei's mother.

On the night I received it, I ended up eating the inn's dinner despite my frugal nature, and after taking the pill, I enjoyed a long-awaited feeling of fullness before falling asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I noticed that my fatigue had significantly decreased, and by the following day, I was in almost perfect condition.

The peak effect of the pill seemed to last for two days, and although my body gradually became heavier afterward, the effects of the medicine lasted for about 4 to 5 days.

During this period, I changed my daily quota from 6 Horn Rabbits to a full basket, and I managed to maintain a jogging pace, which increased my income. This led me to recognize the pill as a godsend.

Of course, when I visited Mei's mother to buy more of the medicine, I found out why she had been smiling wryly.

"The medicine contains rare herbs, so it's quite expensive," she said vaguely.

When I asked for the specific price, she reluctantly admitted that a bottle costs 50,000 Beke and apologized for it.

However, a quick mental calculation showed that the medicine increased my daily income by about 40,000 Beke, and over 5 days, I would gain a total of 200,000 Beke per pill.

Even if the income and expenses were balanced, being able to defeat more enemies would be beneficial for my experience points, so the high price did not change my opinion of the medicine as a godsend.

It seemed that the rare herbs needed for the medicine were only available from occasional traveling merchants, and there were only two bottles in stock. Of course, I bought both bottles.

Mei's mother was surprised that anyone in the town would buy them so generously, as she thought hunting was usually done in parties.

"Well, I hunt alone," I explained, and I also made sure to reserve more pills if the herbs became available.

She laughed, saying that even the mayor of Bezart rarely bought the medicine, so I shouldn't worry about buying them all.

Finally, I could see the exit of the forest.

Once outside, I could check my status in detail.

Sitting down on the grass, I opened my current status and skills:

Name: Loki (Miyako Yuto) <Salesman>

Level: 8

Mana: 52/52

Strength: 29 (+1)

Intelligence: 30 (+7)

Defense: 28

Magic Defense: 28 (+6)

Agility: 28 (+6)

Skill: 27 (+7)

Luck: 33 (+1)

Blessing: None

Title: None

Acquired Skills: [Staff Mastery] Lv1, [Fire Magic] Lv1, [Earth Magic] Lv3, [Presence Sensing] Lv3, [Foreign Language Understanding] Lv3, [Charge] Lv3, [Gathering] Lv1, [Hunting] Lv1

[Staff Mastery] was acquired by defeating staff-wielding Goblins, [Gathering] by collecting herbs and fruits, and [Hunting] by defeating monsters, all of which were announced unexpectedly.

The corresponding bonuses are: [Staff Mastery] increases Strength, [Gathering] increases Luck, and [Hunting] increases Skill. As a melee attacker, I'm glad my Strength has finally increased.

Defense... where did it go?

The details of each skill are as follows:

[Staff Mastery] Lv1: While holding a staff-shaped weapon, you receive a positive bonus to attack and defense actions (0 mana cost). You can optionally perform a 1-second limited enhancement of 130% of your ability value (5 mana cost).

[Fire Magic] Lv1: You can cast fire magic with a mana cost of less than 10.

[Earth Magic] Lv3: You can cast earth magic with a mana cost of less than 30.

[Presence Sensing] Lv3: You become more sensitive to moving objects around you within a 15-meter radius (0 mana cost).

[Charge] Lv3: You can charge forward at 190% of your ability value. The range is customizable, with a maximum distance of 5 meters (9 mana cost).

[Foreign Language Understanding] Lv3: You can understand and converse in human languages at the level of an 11-year-old, even without prior knowledge (always active, 0 mana cost).

[Gathering] Lv1: Your gathering skill improves, making it slightly easier to find gatherable items (always active, 0 mana cost).

[Hunting] Lv1: Your hunting skill improves, making it slightly easier to find prey (always active, 0 mana cost).

That's the current state.

Among these, [Staff Mastery], my first offensive skill, piqued my interest. After trying it out, I found that holding and swinging a staff felt natural, and my body unconsciously took the best actions for attacking and defending.

Given that the skill level is still 1, I feel like I've learned the basics of staff fighting, as if I had trained at a dojo.

The limited enhancement for specific actions, such as swinging faster or putting more force into an attack, was noticeable. With [Staff Mastery], you can allocate the enhancement to speed or power, or both. Focusing on speed will make it faster, while balancing both will make it slower but more balanced.

In combat, there's no time to fine-tune these settings, so I'll use it at maximum mana cost. It will likely be used in "full swing" or "full defense" scenarios.

Since there seems to be no cooldown, I can use it continuously as long as I have mana, allowing me to block and hold off enemy attacks for a few seconds, even if it's not the most efficient.

Since I don't plan to use a staff, [Staff Mastery] is mainly for the status bonus. I expect [Sword Mastery] and [Dagger Mastery] to have similar effects, so I'm looking forward to them.

The other skills are currently just bonuses.

For [Gathering] and [Hunting], I don't really feel a significant improvement in finding items or prey. It might be different at higher levels, but [Presence Sensing] is clearly more useful for detecting monster movements.

[Charge] reached Level 3 a few days ago. Measuring the experience gained per kill, it's about 1% per kill. It's possible to level it up, but at my current level, it's a snail's pace. Moving to a higher-level hunting ground would be more beneficial overall.

Now that I've checked my status, what should I do...

Glancing at my basket, I see there's still some space left, and I could probably hunt two more Horn Rabbits.

But tomorrow, I'm going to play in the river with Jink and the others...

That's why I didn't take the nourishing tonic.

I planned to take a day off from hunting and spend another day preparing for the Locker Plains, so I felt it was a waste not to use the full effect of the medicine.

As a result, my body feels heavier overall, and I don't have as much energy.

(Hmm... Maybe I'll just defeat one more Horn Rabbit and call it a day. I want to get a feel for the improved [Presence Sensing].)

Normally, I would stop here, but I find myself wanting to do just a little more, a little more...

Is this a gaming mindset?

No, it's not. I used to do the same when I was in sales.

Repeating this internal dialogue, I headed back into the forest. If you're enjoying the story, please leave a rating at the bottom of the page. I'll be posting daily, so bookmarking the page will make it easier to follow.