Chapter 27: Skill 3
The herb requested grew in the forest I visited regularly.
That was why I’d come to the usual forest again today.
According to the encyclopedia, the herb grew in dark, slightly damp places.
“If I remember correctly, there’s a river a little farther in. I’ll start searching near it.”
I had a general understanding of the forest’s terrain.
Visualizing its layout in my mind, I walked deeper inside.
“This place is beautiful every time I see it.”
Perhaps because only low-level monsters lived here, the river was clean.
Its water was crystal clear, and I’d seen several different species of monster drinking from it together.
I moved a short distance away from the river and began examining the places darkened by the trees.
“…Is this it?”
When I found a blue flower, I compared it with the characteristics written in my notebook.
There were other similar plants, so I examined it seriously.
“Apparently, if you have [Appraisal] at a time like this, you can distinguish them instantly…”
I thought of the famous skill.
Suddenly wanting to test my ability again, I channeled magic into my eyes and stared at the plant.
[Appraisal] was a skill that let you view information about a target by channeling magic into your eyes.
Remembering what Ryan and I had discussed during a break in our training, I tried it.
Nothing changed immediately.
For one minute, then two, I carefully observed everything from the base of the plant to the flower’s smallest details.
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[Appraisal] training completed.
1 EXP acquired.
EXP until skill acquisition: 1/100.
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My eyes had begun to tire after staring at the flower for so long.
At the exact moment I thought that, the screen at the edge of my vision updated.
A new sentence about [Appraisal] training appeared at the bottom.
“…Ha ha.”
I was so surprised that I’d actually managed it that a laugh escaped me.
“I thought it might be possible, but I never imagined it truly would be.”
That was how I honestly felt.
However, now that I’d succeeded, my desire to acquire the skill grew stronger.
“Still, I’d better stop for now. If I continue doing this, the sun will set and I’ll fail the request.”
With that thought, I harvested the flower before me.
Because I’d spent so long observing it, I was now certain it matched every characteristic perfectly.
There couldn’t be many plants that resembled it that closely, so I walked through the forest searching for identical ones.
For the next three hours, I wandered around the forest.
Focusing on dark places, I pushed aside plants and went around any monsters I encountered as I searched.
“Finally, the fifth one. Even if this request appears again, I’m never searching this forest for them…”
I muttered that as I harvested the fifth and final herb and placed it in my bag.
With the request completed, I could finally do what I’d wanted to accomplish today.
“At least I gained quite a lot of EXP because I kept finding isolated slimes while I searched.”
Usually, I had to look for lone slimes, but today I encountered them in various places without even trying.
Since I’d already found them, I’d defeated each lone slime before continuing my search.
As a result, I’d accumulated considerable EXP.
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Monster defeated.
1 EXP acquired.
EXP until next level: 26/100.
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[Swordsmanship] training completed.
1 EXP acquired.
EXP until skill acquisition: 99/100.
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My [Swordsmanship] EXP had almost reached its goal.
“…I can return to the city and finish it through training, can’t I?”
I’ll acquire the skill somewhere safe.
Having decided that, I immediately left the forest.
I normally explored until the evening bell rang, but I returned before it today.
“Welcome back, Erik. Did you find the requested herbs?”
“Yes. I harvested flowers matching every characteristic. Are these the correct ones?”
As I asked, I removed five herbs from my bag.
Reina used a magical tool to stare closely at each flower and checked several of its characteristics.
“Yes, these are unquestionably the requested items. Good work.”
“Thank you. This one tired me a little. I searched in my usual forest, but if they’d needed any more, I nearly would’ve failed for the first time.”
After telling Reina that, I received my reward.
Then I returned to the inn and asked Amanda for permission to use the backyard.
“My, I thought you’d returned early. Did you come back because you wanted to train? Of course. Nobody is using it now, so you can train until dinner.”
Once she gave me permission, I stopped at my room to retrieve my wooden sword and went to the backyard.
“Phew…”
Perhaps because I needed only one more EXP, I’d become strangely fired up.
Gripping the sword, I concentrated and handled it exactly as I’d been taught.
The screen was naturally open at the edge of my vision.
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[Swordsmanship] training completed.
1 EXP acquired.
EXP until skill acquisition: 100/100.
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[Swordsmanship] acquired.
EXP until next level: 0/100.
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At last, I’d acquired a skill.