Chapter 7: Skill Level-Up

"I never expected skills stolen from monsters would be this strong."

The difference between skills stolen from humans and those stolen from monsters became clear through my tests. 

It's evident that skills stolen from monsters are significantly stronger.

But why are the skills stolen from monsters stronger?

After thinking for a while, a hypothesis formed in my mind.

"Humans and monsters have different muscle and magic capacities. Naturally, the power of skills would vary as well... Could it be that 'Steal' can absorb the power as well? That would explain why skills stolen from monsters are stronger."

I don't know the exact principles, but it makes sense that the skills stolen from monsters would be stronger.

Given this, 'Steal' might be just as cheat-like as Kane's skills.

...Well, aside from being disliked by the guild, it seems like I hit the jackpot in terms of reincarnation.

"Alright then, let's see what I can do with the skills from these monsters."

I directed my palm at the wolf-like monster lying in front of me and concentrated.

"Steal!"

As I used 'Steal,' my palm glowed faintly.

A status screen appeared before me, showing:

Steal Successful - Skill Acquired: Wind Claw (Magic)

"Wind Claw, huh? Let’s see what this skill is about..."

I could imagine what the skill might do from its name, but I wouldn’t know for sure until I tried it.

After thinking for a moment, I looked around. There was the tree that the monster had slammed into when it was hit by 'Power Thrust (Magic).'

It seemed like a good target for testing.

I drew my sword from its sheath, raised it lightly, and prepared.

"Wind Claw (Magic)!"

Slash!

As I swung my sword downward, a powerful cutting force flew towards the tree.

The cut left a deep gash in the tree with a dull thud.

The tree didn’t break due to its thickness, but the wound was much deeper than what would be expected from a mere scratch.

"...This is really an overpowered skill."

Admiring the deep cut on the tree, I let out a sigh of amazement.

Then, I glanced at the corpse of the other monster that I hadn’t stolen a skill from, lying on the ground, and wondered.

"What happens if I use 'Steal' on this one?"

Would I end up acquiring the same 'Wind Claw (Magic)' skill again?

No, I doubt that’s the case. 

From what I’ve seen, there don't seem to be duplicate skills.

So, it seems like it’s not possible to learn the same skill twice.

But what if I forcibly steal a skill and it turns out to be a duplicate? 

Would 'Steal' just fail?

While pondering these questions, I directed my palm towards the monster's corpse.

...You never know until you try.

"Steal!"

Using 'Steal,' my palm glowed faintly again.

Wait, did it succeed?

Looking at the status screen that appeared, I saw something surprising:

Steal Successful - Skill Acquired: Wind Claw (Magic)

Skill Duplication Resulted in Skill Integration. Level Up. Skill: Wind Claw (Magic)

"Level up?"

Faced with this unexpected situation, I tilted my head in confusion.

...I thought skills in this world didn’t level up.

What exactly is going on?

Frowning at this unforeseen development, I pondered for a while but couldn't make sense of it.

I sighed in resignation.

"But a level-up means something's different, right?"

I stared intently at the tree that I had cut with 'Wind Claw (Magic)' and looked around.

"Ah, that tree is about the same thickness."

The level-up showed no visible change in the display.

However, it's hard to believe that nothing would change despite the level-up.

To verify this, I decided to test the leveled-up 'Wind Claw (Magic)' on a tree of similar thickness to the one from before.

"Let’s see what happens."

I lightly readied my sword and used 'Wind Claw (Magic)' in the same manner as before.

"Wind Claw (Magic)! Huh? Whoa!"

As I swung my sword downward, a much more powerful cutting force than before flew towards the tree.

Crack!

The forceful cut struck the tree with a dull sound.

Snap, crack, boom!

The leveled-up 'Wind Claw (Magic)' easily sliced through a trunk that I couldn’t cut before.

"...Seriously, a level-up?"

I was a bit overwhelmed by the situation unfolding before me and let out a voice of disbelief.

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