SMO Chapter 11.3 : Godspeed

"I'm Level 14?!"

Looking at his Status, LacX had an increase in both Level and Stat Points.

"Hmm? Why do I have... 35 Stat Points?"

"Ah, that. According to my current knowledge, every 10th Level will give Double Stat Points." Sally was running through her memory.

"If that's the case, then what are 'Skill Points'?"

". . ."

"Umm, Sally?"

"Are you human?"

"Of course I am!"

Calming down, Sally continues to speak.

"Jeez, your luck is a bit much. Anyways, you got a Skill Point?"

"Yeah. I don't know what that is though."

"Man, you should head to a library. On a different note, a Skill Point is used for 'Classes'."

"Classes? I believe I need to reach Level 20 before I can get a Class."

"Correct. There are 3 Ways of getting a Skill Point. The First Method is to simply Level Up. Every 20 Levels after Level 20 will reward you with a Skill Point. The Second way is to conquer a Dungeon. By doing so, the Mana from the Dungeon will disperse, and will leave a bit of energy, resulting in a Skill Point. And the Final Method is, well, just to kill an S-Rank Creature."

"But, I haven't done any of those. Why do I have a Skill Point?"

"I don't know much, but I heard that you defeated a really Large Wolf in the Forest."

"That's right. I did fight one, but... you don't mean..."

"Yup, that was an S-Rank."

LacX stares at the Wall in front of him.

'An... S-Rank?'

Remembering his Appraisal Results on the Wolf, he was even more confused.

"But, I don't think... that Wolf was Real."

"Real? What do you mean?"

"When I appraised it, it's Race didn't show up as a Silverwind Wolf. Instead, I got an Error, saying 'Artificial' on it."

"Artificial? What do you mean 'Artificial'?"

"Well, I haven't seen any other S-Ranks to compare, but I guess I would say... it wasn't as Strong as I thought it would be."

"Of course. If it was really a true S-Rank, then you would've died on the spot. Now, the question is, Who and How did someone make an Artificial S-Rank?"

For a moment, they sit in silence.

Opening his System again, he puts his points into Agility.

<Agi : 1036 -> 1071>

"Before I forget, what Items did I get from the Wolf?"

"Items? It's corpse is probably gone now, and you were unconscious. What do you mean 'What Items did I get'?"

Using his Storage, he takes out 2 Items.

"Wait, What?! Where did those come from? What are they? I can't see!"

LacX lifts Sally from the Desk, and puts her on.

"I feel a little uncomfortable, but I guess I can manage."

Looking at the Items, it seemed to be another Tooth, and an Orb-like Object the size of a Baseball.

[Appraisal]

[Name : Mythril Fang]

<Description : A Forged Item made to resemble a Wolf's Largest Fang>

[Name : Soul Container]

<Description : A Core that can contain the Soul of any Dead Creature>

{Current Soul : Silverwind Wolf}

{Soul Status : Corrupted}

"It's... the Wolf's Soul. Apparently it's corrupted."

"A Corrupted Soul? Who in their right mind would use a Corrupted Soul to make a Living Creature?"

"Is the Corrupted Soul too unstable for a Physical Body?"

"Close, but not quite. With a Normal Soul, their Stats and Skills are intact. However, a Corrupted Soul can Change both the Stats and Skills, either completely Erasing a Skill, or permanently lowering the Stats. My guess is, that Wolf you fought had both Negatives."

"It did seem to only know a few Skills. If it was really at full power, I don't know if I would have won."

"As I said before, you would have died in 3 Seconds flat."

For another moment, they sat in silence.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Give me the Mythril!" Sally slightly moved his arms towards the Tooth.

"The Mythril Tooth? What for?"

"Just grab the Mythril and let me touch it!"

Grabbing the Tooth, LacX brings it to his chest.

To his surprise, the Hoodie began to mold around the Mythril Tooth.

After a second, the Tooth was gone.

"What was that?"

"You wanted to know about 'Devouring', right? This is it."

"That was... actually pretty cool. What now?"

"Appraise me."

[Appraisal]

[Name : Sally]

[Type : Living Armor]

[User : LacX]

[Def : 14]

[Special Effects]

<Def = Level>

<Skill Share>

<Devouring>

[Skills] [1]

<Mythril Hardening>

"Mythril Hardening?"

As soon as he said that, the Hoodie suddenly felt different.

"What just happened?"

"Appraise the Skill."

<Mythril Hardening : The User becomes as tough as Mythril. +100 Def. Mana Circulation increased, +1 MP Regeneration per Second>

<New Skill Acquired>

<Mythril Hardening Acquired>

[Daily Copied Skills : 1/3]

'Uh oh. I just became even more stronger than I'm supposed to be. This'll be fun to explain.'

"So? What do you think?"

"I think... I'm more of a cheat character than I thought."

"What do you... WAIT. You don't mean..."

Activating "Mythril Hardening", LacX's Body became Firm, but not so stiff that he couldn't move.

"Seems like I can work with this. What do you think?"

"... At this point, why am I still fazed by this?"

"So, I can not only get an extra 200 Defence, but I can even get 2 MP per Second. That's a pretty good deal. It doesn't seem to have a Level or Rank, but I guess that's fine."

"Of course it doesn't gave any Levels or Ranks. What you just got was an 'Exclusive' Skill. Only Living Items with the 'Devouring' Skill can aquire it. Any Skills that I get using 'Devouring' will most likely not have a Level, let alone a Rank."

"Hmm... I guess that's a fair trade. If it Leveled Up or Ranked Up, I don't think I would be killed very easily."

"You already can't be killed easily. If I had to say, you are already stronger than that Wolf you fought earlier."

Thinking about it, LacX yawns.

"Well, we should leave it for next time. We could also see what other things you can 'Devour'."

"Okay. Are you gonna wear me while you sleep?"

"If you want, I can put you down somewhere."

"No, this is fine. If anything, I just don't want my face to be covered by a Blanket."

"I'll make sure that the Blanket stays low enough for you to breathe."

Getting comfortable, LacX lays back down.

Lillie snuggled closer to him, and the others were already asleep.

"Goodnight, Sally."

"Goodnight."

. . .

Meanwhile, at the Guild in Stella...

"... And after that, he completely collapsed."

Shi was telling Lina about the "Incident".

Lina sat there with a blank stare.

"... Lina? Are you good? You seem out of it." Shi waves a hand in front of her, but she doesn't react.

'Hm? Did I brake her?'

Snapping back to reality, Lina walks to a shelf behind the front counter, and takes out some forms.

With almost terrifying speeds, she fills out the forms in 10 Seconds flat.

She placed the forms in what seemed to be a large folder.

Putting the Folder into a different Drawer, she walks back to Shi.

"What was all that?" Shi was still looking at the Forms and Folders on the Shelf.

"Ah, I just put LacX up for a Rank Up."

Shi took a moment to process what Lina said.

"A... Rank Up? In the Guild?"

"Yup. If anything, being able to fight an S Rank by himself is pretty admirable."

"Well, I guess you do have a point. Although, there was something... off, about that Wolf."

"Off? What do you mean?"

"Well, I heard that it takes a Party of about 10 A-Ranks or Higher to take down an S Rank Wolf Type Creature. However, LacX, who didn't even seem to have too much trouble, managed to Solo the Wolf."

"Didn't have much trouble... What do you mean by that?"

"The fight with the Clan Leader. It didn't take too long. Around 5 Minutes went by, and the Wolf died. I couldn't see most of what happened, but what I did see was... overwhelming."

"Was the Wolf that powerful?"

"No. What seemed overwhelming was... LacX. His speed, power, and his Magic. All of it seemed abnormal."

"He already knows Magic? That was fast. What sort of Magic did he use?"

"I believe he only used the 4 Main Elements. However, it wasn't just one at a time. It was a whole barrage of them, all being casted over and over again without stopping."

"Over... and over? Wait, what do you mean by that? Wouldn't his MP run out?"

"My guess is that he has pretty high Magic and Wisdom Stats."

Lina sat there in silence.

Realizing her silence, Shi grew curious.

"Is there... something I should know?"

Again, without a word, Lina walks to the Drawers and goes through the folders.

Pulling out a sheet of Paper, she shows it to Shi.

"I'm not really supposed to do this, but if anything, you should know about this."

Shi takes the Sheet, then reads through what seemed to be LacX's Guild Status.

Her eyes immediately focused on his Stats.

"One... One Thousand Agility? At Level 1?"

Looking at it again, Shi slams the Sheet on the Counter.

"This... this is a mistake, right? Something went wrong with the Appraisal?"

"Haha. If only that were so."

Taking back the Sheet, Lina puts it back into the Drawer.

"But then, how would you explain all of the Magic that he used?"

"Even if I knew, I don't think it would matter. Explaining LacX would be like explaining the Logic behind Magic. It would sound like Nonsense, but be correct either way."

Not being able to say anything back, Shi gives a deep sigh.

"I guess I'll leave it at that. I should get some sleep. See you tomorrow."

"See ya. And keep what I showed you a Secret. If the Guild Master knew, then it's my head."

Waving goodbye, Shi leaves the Guild.

. . .

Deep in the Silver Forest, 2 People stood next to the Wolf's Corpse.

"Damn it. Doc is gonna be pissed when he finds this." Figure 1 Stood by the head of the Wolf.

"We'll have to bring it back anyways. If we leave the Corpse here, then we won't be able to get the Core back." Figure 2 stood at the Chest, readying a Knife.

Feeling around, he noticed something was wrong.

"We have a problem."

"What is it now? What do you mean we have a-"

Cutting himself off, he runs towards the Wolf's Chest.

"It's... not here..." Figure 1 felt around the Chest to make sure.

"But that's..." Figure 2 took a step back.

"This is bad. This is really, REALLY bad. If we don't get the Core Back, then we're as dead as this guy here."

"I think we can find it. I just need to get into Town, and maybe I could sense it using my Skills."

"We have a few more days until we need to check in. If we can get it by then..."

"Let's go already. Time Wasted is Time Untasted."

"Again, nobody gets what your weird Phrases mean."

. . .