Chapter 29: A New Skill 1

The next morning, I woke before the morning bell and completed my usual routine.

After helping Amanda, I ate breakfast and prepared to leave the inn.

“Amanda, here’s the renewal fee. I’d like another ten days, please.”

“My, that’s unusual. You normally pay two days at a time.”

“The truth is, I’ve earned a little money and built up some savings. My rank is still too low to deposit it anywhere, so I decided I might as well pay it toward my room.”

I handed Amanda ten silver coins for ten days.

Now, even if I ran out of the money I was carrying, I’d still have somewhere to stay.

Once I’d paid for the room, I left the inn and went to the Adventurers’ Guild.

“Good morning, Reina.”

“Good morning, Erik. Will you begin with a request inside the city again today?”

“Yes. Also, may I use the guild’s training grounds this afternoon?”

“Nothing in particular is scheduled today, so they’re open… Still, that’s unusual. You’re not going outside?”

Until now, I’d spent my mornings handling requests within the city, then taken requests outside in the afternoon.

Reina knew my routine well, so she looked puzzled when she learned I wouldn’t be leaving the city that afternoon.

“…The truth is, I acquired [Swordsmanship], so I want to train in proper training grounds.”

“…?!”

She didn’t make a sound, but her face showed her surprise.

Before we could even process a request, she took me to a separate room.

“Erik, is what you just said about the skill true?”

“Y-Yes, it is…”

“You didn’t actually possess the skill all along, did you?”

“I didn’t lie when I first registered. Besides, Ryan observed me up close, so he should know I was a complete beginner with a sword.”

At that, realization crossed Reina’s face.

She told me to wait in the room, then left.

Several minutes later, she returned with Ryan.

“Boy, Reina came rushing to me. Is it true that you acquired a skill?”

“It is.”

“Then would you show me by swinging a sword?”

“Of course, but do you mean here?”

I’d wondered whether I was supposed to swing one inside the room, but instead we moved to the training grounds.

Ryan gave me a wooden sword, and I swung it.

The effect of [Swordsmanship] was to assist its holder in handling a sword.

For that reason, activating it didn’t consume magic.

“…You really have acquired [Swordsmanship]. You couldn’t handle a sword this cleanly before.”

“That means Erik acquired [Swordsmanship] in only a few days. I’ve never seen anyone do that before.”

“Neither have I, but the boy always had talent for it…”

Ryan had been the one to teach me, but he didn’t seem particularly surprised that I’d acquired [Swordsmanship].

Instead, he appeared pleased and almost convinced that it was natural for me to acquire it so quickly.

“…Could the special skill you recorded during registration be connected to this?”

When someone registered as an adventurer, he wrote the names of his skills, but regarding a special skill, the guild only asked whether he possessed one.

That meant I hadn’t written [Fixed EXP] anywhere.

Remembering that, Reina asked me the question.

“Yes. My special skill is called [Fixed EXP]. It’s a unique skill that fixes the EXP I gain at one.”

Reina and Ryan had both treated me kindly since I came to the royal capital.

Some of Ryan’s kindness was probably because of his position as guild master.

Even so, I was extremely grateful that he’d spent so long teaching me to use a sword.

Reina had cared for me throughout my entire time as an adventurer.

She prepared appropriate requests for me, and there was also what she’d done regarding Harold’s request.

I explained my special skill to both of them without concealing anything.

“So a special skill like that exists… Well, there are many kinds of special skills in the world. I suppose they aren’t called special for nothing.”

“That’s true. Even among them, however, Erik’s leans very heavily toward the unusual.”

“I agree. But if your EXP gain is fixed, doesn’t that mean leveling up at the beginning is much harder for you, boy?”

“That’s right. I’ve defeated more than one hundred slimes by now, but I’m still only Level 2.”

When I said that, Reina reacted in astonishment.

“You’ve defeated that many, yet you’re only Level 2? I assumed you’d leveled up and begun fighting several slimes at a time. How were you actually doing it?”

“Just as I did in the beginning, I targeted isolated slimes. I didn’t do anything dangerous.”

“Boy, I’m amazed you managed to defeat that many lone ones…”

Ryan sounded exasperated. He stared at me and thought about something.

“…Tell me, boy. Can you learn any skill?”

“I haven’t tested it enough to know yet.”

“In that case, there’s a skill I’d like to teach you. Would you like to learn it?”

“What? You would? Yes, please!”

If he was willing to teach me a skill, I certainly wanted to learn it.

That was my answer to Ryan’s proposal.