Faruk's Relentless Training (Part 3)

After luncheon and some considerable rest, Oria is ready to go for another training. She heads off to the field not far from the tent and hurries to train her knife skill again. Before that, though, she thinks about the food she ate earlier.

"I've gotten [Cooking] skill at level 2 after making those food. Faruk said that my food will become much better as my cooking skill grows. In just level 2, I can make food that makes my mouth watering... Maybe it was because I was eating bad food back then?"

"You sure loaded yourself with quite the spirit and energy, Oria," Faruk appeared beside her, floating in his form of iron sphere.

"Hm! I'm really pumped up this time," she said with such a glee on her face.

"Hm. Good to know."

"Oh, and thank you for teaching me how to cook, Faruk. Heehee. If not for you, I wouldn't be able to taste something so delicious!"

"Well, the food you made earlier was... how am I supposed to put it... at least edible. But the way you eat it with ecstatic look on your face, I began to wonder what kind of food you ate back then...?"

Shortly, Faruk snaps. "(S-Shite! I just stepped one foot into her depths of Gehenna, didn't I!?)"

"Hm...? Do you want to know?" Oria asked back, not feeling any sort of horror. "What we ate for breakfast was... uh, just some sort of bread, I guess? But it's really hard to chew on and the taste is horrible. And afternoon..."

"(S-She's not freaking out again, huh... phew, I thought I'm in trouble there.)"

"...and that's for dinner. Let me tell you, they were awful! It's really, REALLY far from the sweet taste from Dux's fruit and the delicious meat we cooked."

"I-Is that so..." Faruk was all flustered. Though, this time, that fearful thought is gone by the wind. But then again, her snapping out sometimes scares even the mighty dragon.

"Heehee. I'm glad I met you and Dux. How long has it been?"

"(How long, huh...? Now that she said it, she was an incredibly feeble child of man when she first came to me. And now... she shown herself to be quite the potential, both as a mage and a warrior...)"

"Faruk...? Is there something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing," he said sighingly. "Enough with the chit-chat. Let us resume your training. See how those monsters have scattered all around the place within a short time?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's get them. Oh, right... sheesh, I kept forgetting things."

"Huh, what's wrong?"

"...*grumble-grumble*... probably it's because of being sealed away for 500 years... or maybe age has begun taking its toll on me... anyway, Oria, I nearly forgot to tell you. Every time you level up, you will gain one Skill Point. It's different than the ones that I gifted to you."

"Oh..." Oria immediately opens her status screen and looks for the Skill Point section.

<Available Skill Point(s): 1>

"You're right! I have one. Huh... how come I didn't hear any voice about getting one."

"Well, it doesn't matter. Any time you level up, you'll get one extra Skill Point, anyways. Alright, now, what do you want to use it for?"

"Huh... I dunno."

"What?"

"What do you think I should choose?"

"Choose for yourself. You're the owner of your own body. Skill Points that you obtain is almost like a choice of life, what path you will carve for yourself. Do you want to be a skilled swordswoman? Do you want to be a tenacious mage? It all depends on your decision making on how you want to spend that Skill Point of yours."

"But... I don't know what I am going to use it for..." Oria lowered her voice.

"Well, you need not worry about it. If you don't know what to choose, then save it for later. Don't worry about not spending them now. You can always use them later when you think you got an idea of what you want it to be."

"Nnn... it'll be a difficult task to choose... I guess I'll save it for now. Is it okay, Faruk?"

"Hm. It's perfectly fine. Though, if you want advice on what you're going to pick later, I will assist you. But the choosing will be done by you and only you, not me. Are we clear?"

"Oooh... okay, then."

"With that out of the way, now, let us resume the training session—"

"—Ah, those monsters have fled, Faruk!" Oria pointed her finger at the running rabbits in the distance.

"...Seriously?"

...

..

.

For the next few hours, Oria disciplines her knife techniques by doing multiple actions like engaging weak monsters and trying to chase down one. Guided by Faruk Argentora, added also by her fast-learning ability, she manages to reach [Knife Lv.5].

"Whoo... haah... haah... I did it, Faruk! I reached... huff... level 5 for my knife usage!" she stated pantingly, bending her body, and holding her knees.

"Hm. Your proficiency in using a knife is unarguably good. It is as if you were trained in using it before."

"Uhh... actually, back then, I DID use some cutting tools for work... but I don't remember I ever use them for fighting."

"Huh... well, putting that aside. It's time to—"

"—Oh, yeah! Master Dux told me that if my skill reaches a certain level, I can make an art of my own!"

"Hm. Make an art—wait, what? Make an art?"

"Yeah!" she said. "He taught me how to make an art."

"(Since when... Oh, right... I did remember she said that Dux taught her something of making an art for her own... darn it, you twenty-six-tentacled fool!)

"Faruk?"

"Hm. It seems Dux taught you something extraordinary. Making an art is undoubtedly possible. But it can only be done by those who have MP over 1,000."

"What!? Really?" Oria got surprised.

"Yes. So, what he just taught you was one of the Arcane class abilities. Normally, people do NOT make arts, Oria. They 'achieve' them."

"Huh... I guess Dux did say he's an Arcane-whatever that is."

"It's Arcane class mage. It's the highest level of a magic caster."

"So, like... he's one of the greatest?"

"I wouldn't say that he's the greatest... but yeah, his magic skills are top-notch."

"Cool!"

"We'll talk about that later, now, where was I... oh, right, I was about to tell you that it's time for you to raise your [Appraisal] skill to level 2. This is the 'easiest' part of today's training, so consider it as a cooldown after a heap of hard work."

Oria's eyes run away from looking at the Observer ball. She scratches the back of her head unintendedly.

"Err..."

"Hm? What's wrong?" Faruk asked, curious to her odd reaction.

"Aaahahaha... it's nothing! L-Let's do it!" Oria dodged his question. "(I can't say that I've already reached level 2 already... if I told him, he'll probably sent me on a harder training...)"

"Huh... very well, then. (As I thought, she must've done something... if not, she'll not react strangely. Perhaps it has something to do with the [Appraisal] ability of hers? Hmph. We'll see what happens.)"

"Oh! There! But umm... that's not a horned rabbit..." Oria pointed at an unusual, green-colored monster in the distance, slithering above the sunlit plains. That monster is formed from aqueous object and given life by the power of mana.

"That's a slime. Well, this region of plains we're at is the habitat of horned rabbit, yes, but it's not just one specie. There's more. One of them is a slime."

"Somehow, they kinda look cute. Sliding above the ground like that, going to who-knows-where, heehee."

"What did you find cute from that creature?" Faruk retorted. "...Anyway, let's try using the [Appraisal] on that slime. Worry not about getting attacked. That slime hardly does any damage if you have reached level 2."

"Okay!"

Oria approaches the slow-moving green slime. Upon seeing up close, the slime stops itself as if it detected her presence.

"Hello, slime...!" she greeted in a quite voice. "Allow me to appraise you, okay...?"

Somewhat, the slime responded in a wobbly move.

"Eeep! O-Oh... that surprised me..." Oria got startled.

Meanwhile, Faruk is floating behind her, looking how things are going.

"Ho... your actions are correct for not showing yourself as a threat to the slime, Oria. Should you run to it like a madman, it might attack you."

"T-Thanks...? (I didn't know slimes would react that way... but I guess I got lucky, heehee.)"

"Hm. Just like when you check the horned rabbit, appraisal level 1 will show almost useless information, displaying only the obvious informatio—"

Before even he finishes explaining, Oria has already used the [Appraisal] skill on the slime.

"—Here it is! Oooh...!"

<GRASS SLIME>

Desc: An herbivore slime native to Raskiel Mountains Region. Has green color.

"—Sheesh, you can't wait when it comes to do things like this... huh?" Faruk opened his eyes and found out the information shown isn't as he thought it would show.

"WHA!? O-Oria, how did it show a bit more detailed information? I thought your [Appraisal] skill is at level 1."

"Eeehehehe... s-sorry, I actually have reached level 2..." she said almost adorably, toying with her silver bangs as she spoke. "(Oooh... here we go again...)"

Faruk freezes in midair for a while. He then responds:

"...A-Ahem. W-Well, that's surprisingly quick. Appraising someone or something's status would've taken at least about ten different targets... say, Oria, how many have you appraised?"

"Huh... only two so far, I think?"

"Two!? That's ridiculous. Just what was it that you checked?"

"A horned rabbit..."

"The other one?"

"Heehee..." Oria crossed her arms behind her back, simply smiling cutely at him. "I dunno..."

"Oi. What. Did. You. Appraise. O-r-i-a?" Faruk asked, trying to coerce her into telling him.

"Heehee, it's a S-E-C-R-E-T!"

"W-What!? Secret? Why you little... *sigh*... you're not going to tell, are you?" Faruk decided to pull his coercion.

"I'd love to tell. But I want to do something first!"

"Hmph. (This might be her true personality... her true child personality. Fine, let's see what she wants.) Speak your thoughts."

"Thank you, Faruk. Actually, I'm really curious about your status screen! That's why, is it okay to appraise you, Faruk?"

That question struck him frozen. "(Of all things...)"