REBIRTH OF THE OBAKE DEMON KING
「23. Outdoor Training (Part 3)」
My breath faltered for a moment as I was stuck with indecision – surely being a badass monster hunter was one of the perks of being stuck in this world, right? Riiiiiiight?
...haaaaaa...I guess I can pay attention to my studies for now. I wasn't much of a student before, so this whole applying myself now felt pretty tiring. Still, walking around with people you like isn't so bad, is it? Let's try appraising the Harebite again and see if it's consistent...
RACE: Adult Harebite
LV: 「1」
HP: 「17/17」 SP: 「34/34」
MP: 「10/10」 PP: 「12/12」
STR: 「10」 AGI: 「20」
END: 「7」 SPD: 「40」
INT: 「5」 MAG: 「5」
CHA: 「7」 RES: 「5」
Well, it was a success alright, but still nothing new. Come to think of it, my head feels pretty still, too. It's hard to describe, but when I appraise something I've never appraised before, I can kinda feel it in my head. Almost like I can sense the draining effect on my MP, I guess? This time on a repeat Appraisal, I didn't feel anything. Trying to appraise the trees I've already identified before isn't really helping, either. Guess that settles it – sticking around and appraising the same thing over and over again isn't really going to help, is it?
Huh? The Harebite had abandoned its burrowing and turned to face our group suddenly.
...wait, what is this? I feel somehow betrayed. Have I been lied to?
Aren't bunnies supposed to be cute?
This thing looks hideous! What a gross, gnarled little pudgy face and such huge teeth! And what's with the red eyes?! That little thing doesn't look intimidating to me!
"It seems you've provoked it with your Appraisals, Victoria-sama," Tanya informed me.
"P-provoked? Just by looking at it? How did it even know?"
"Haven't you experienced it before? From time to time you'll be able to detect when you're Appraised. The stronger the Appraiser's magic, the less likely they are to be detected, but even with a significant advantage it's hard to be sure. What's more, most monsters and wildlife are likely to take such a detection as a direct threat and will be ready for a fight."
Attack?! Was I about to get into a fight even though I didn't want to?
The Harebite sniffed in our direction a few times, then turned and dashed under the brush. A wave of rustling fronds and undergrowth rippled deeper into the forest until all signs of the Harebite disappeared into the distance.
"Um...I thought you said-"
Tanya tutted and wagged her finger. "I said they'd be ready for a fight, not that they'd attack. Weaker monsters are likely to run if they think they're outclassed, after all. Still, what a waste, we could've had it for lunch if I'd acted a little sooner..."
The thought of a hot lunch made my stomach growl audibly, eliciting a laugh from Elena.
"It is just about lunchtime, isn't it?" My sister threw an arm around me. "Wanna go back for lunch and celebrate you levelling Appraisal?"
I folded my arms thoughtfully, then nodded. "Okay. I don't think I'm going to get much more out of this place anyway, not unless we spot any more monsters. Let me know if you see something new so I can try appraising it – I'm not getting anything out of the stuff we've already done."
Elena nodded and – w-what was this?! HEY PUT ME DOWN! She's just picked me up and sat me on her shoulders like it's nothing! I can walk just fine!
"You can see better from up there, right? Keep a lookout for anything you haven't appraised yet on the way back. Let's go!" She began marching back in the direction of home.
...well, I guess I can live with this...
The trip back took no more than half an hour. Although we'd been out there a long time, it seems like the trails were quite winding and we'd backtracked several times, meaning we weren't too far from the manor after all. As I feared, the trip back wasn't too productive in terms of appraisals, except for one thing...
RACE: Hunting Butterfly
LV: 「1」
HP: 「5/5」 SP: 「24/24」
MP: 「6/6」 PP: 「5/5」
STR: 「2」 AGI: 「32」
END: 「3」 SPD: 「21」
INT: 「2」 MAG: 「1」
CHA: 「3」 RES: 「5」
Weaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak...seriously, I know these were meant to be beginner monsters, but would a shrimp like that even give me any XP? Probably not even worth the effort.
Strangely enough, on our return, a table and set of chairs with a large parasol had already been set up for us. Servants were bringing out freshly prepared sandwiches and salads, pitchers of iced juice and setting up vases with neatly trimmed flowers. Wasn't their timing a little too impeccable?
"Lunch is ready, Victoria-sama. Time to eat."
Elena let me down and I climbed up into my chair, absolutely starving. I started to reach out for a sandwich before my mind flashed back to the gruelling hours of etiquette training they had tried to drill into me. Slightly sheepishly, I withdrew my hand, did the proper thing, and prepared my napkin and plate.
"Thank you to the Gods who give us this food," I said while clasping my hands together in gratitude.
But of course, my heart screamed ITADAKIMASU!
As soon as the others had finished, I took a pair of tongs and eagerly transferred food to my plate, wolfing it down with a tremendous appetite. My muscles were fine, I didn't feel any burn from the long walk nor did my feet hurt, but man I was HUNGRY. So hungry that my limbs were starting to feel a bit wobbly from the lack of food. I helped myself to several more large portions. I'm a growing girl after all, it can't be helped, can it?
With lunch finished, I patted my belly in satisfaction. Nothing more than some good eating to brighten up your day, right?
Well, before we decide to go anywhere else, I wanted to explore Appraisal more – now that I had level 2, I was hoping I'd be able to unlock more interesting Appraisals...
First of all, let's try Appraising myself again.
PLAYER: NPC
CHARACTER: 「Victoria Hope Winifred Valenmere」
RACE: 「Half-Demon」
AGE: 5 「Child」
LV: 「1」 XP: 「49」
HP: 「37/37」 SP: 「115/115」
MP: 「213/213」 PP: 「101/105」
STR: 「23」 AGI: 「34」
END: 「24」 SPD: 「34」
INT: 「36」 MAG: 「47」
CHA: 「79」 RES: 「41」
STATUS:
「System Error 3741: Corrupted Actor Data」 「System Error 16421: Failed to Read Repository (Judgement of Magi)」 「Divine Blessing」 「Soul Trauma」
ATTRIBUTES:
「Bloodline: Lilith Lv.1」「 Mark of the Demon King Lv.2」「Gifted Soul Lv.1」「Sharp Mind Lv.1」「Lightfooted Lv.1」 「Mighty Physique Lv.1」「Preternatural Agility Lv.1」「Willpower Lv.1」「Lucky Lv.1」
SKILLS:
「Appraisal Lv.2」 「Boxing Lv.1」 「Charming Presence Lv.1」 「Imperial Language Lv.3」 「Shadow Magic Lv.1」
INVENTORY:
「Child's Noble Dress, Blue」「Child's Valenmere Jacket, White」 「Small Caubeen Hat, White」「Sturdy Child's Boots, Brown」「Parasol, White」
Ohhhh, isn't this a huge development?! I think this is the first time I've successfully appraised myself!
I leapt onto my chair and fist pumped. Let's goooooooooooooo!
Hm, it seems like I've grown a fair bit since the Public Appraisal – all those XP I invested in stat boosters seemed to be having a big effect, and that was without the additional boosts I'd get from leveling up. Come to think of it, if I can find a way to squeeze out more XP without leveling, couldn't I really game this system and become a crazy overpowered cheat?
A smug grin crossed my face. Obviously this was inevitable, when you're just as talented as me, you can't help but be overpowered, right? This child's body held me back for awhile, but by the time I was grown up, this world was going to feel the full power of Hino Toya!
Hm...I tried appraising more skills, but no new info was provided. Same with the stats. Drat. It seems like the game designers didn't want me to see the full picture of what's going on behind the scenes – or maybe I just needed to keep leveling this thing up? I guess it's hard to predict what will happen if I do so.
"Are...are you having fun?" Elena stifled a giggle at my pose. Is...she making fun of me?
A little embarrassed, I sat back down and looked at her. Come to think of it, if I was able to appraise myself now, perhaps I could do her too?
"Elena, can I try appraising you again?"
"Hm? Sure, why not?" She bit into her latest sandwich. I thought I was a glutton, but truthfully she was just as bad – I guess we're a whole family of big eaters.
Well, enough of that... I felt something forbidden and long lost rise up from my youth, as I covered one eye and chuckled, swept up in my newfound sense of superiority. 「Appraisal！」
PLAYER: NPC
CHARACTER: 「Elena Pearl Adefila Valenmere」
RACE: 「Human」
AGE: 10 「Child」
LV: 「2」 XP: 「128」
HP: 「59/59」 SP: 「124/124」
MP: 「132/132」 PP: 「84/84」
STR: 「29」 AGI: 「36」
END: 「30」 SPD: 「29」
INT: 「19」 MAG: 「28」
CHA: 「29」 RES: 「56」
I...I'd done it?! I began to fistpump excitedly. I'd finally broken through the wall! Well, I couldn't see her status effects or skills or anything, but wasn't this a big first step? With the power of Appraisal I could finally get a sense of how I compared to the world!
...hey, I'm supposed to be a cheat prodigy, right? One of a chosen few with overwhelming power? Isn't she kind of crazy too? I mean I've got an edge in magical ability, but without an ability to use magic, wouldn't I be no match for her at all? Well, I knew she was a cool and a prodigy too, but I felt a little bit of competitive jealousy boiling up inside. She might be older than me in-game, but I've got 17 years of experience outside of this game! It's unfair that I'm getting beaten out by this kid!
"Um...did it work? I thought it worked but now you look unhappy..." she looked concerned for me.
"...it worked." I sulked and pulled a bit of candy out of my pocket – a little extra I'd been keeping around for incidents where I'd taken damage. Popping it into my mouth, I sucked on it thoughtfully.
"You're pretty cool, sis." I stated matter-of-factly. I couldn't let a 10-year old know I was jealous of her natural gifts. Sometimes part of being a cool adult is taking the high road, right?
"Huh? Where's that come from?" She looked confused and blushed sheepishly.
"You're done eating right? I wanna go explore some more. I won't be satisfied until I reach level 3 Appraisal!"
"Is that so? Well, I'm supposed to be taking lessons this afternoon, but if Tanya doesn't mind..." Sis looked to my maid apprehensively.
"Don't worry, Elena-sama. I will take good care of your sister." She bowed respectfully, then looked back at me. "Victoria-sama is well behaved and wouldn't try to run off again, right?"
I felt a chill come down my spine. I know I caused a bit of trouble before, but I really wasn't planning to do anything crazy!
"O-of course not! I just want to try and finish the dumb old man's quest as soon as I can! If we can get to level 3 today then I'll be free to do what I want until he comes back!"
Jumping down from the chair I picked up my parasol and looked over the landscape while Tanya helped stack up our plates and prepare to leave.
Decision 23-1: What were we going to do out here on this bright and sunny day?
[] - [Training] - There are a bunch of open gardens and greenhouses near the house. With so many different types of plants there, I'm sure that will help me improve my Appraisal quickly!
[] - [Training] - There's a paved trail that leads down towards the river and I think what looks like the estate wall in the distance, I'd like to get away from the manor house and enjoy something I've never seen before! I'm sure there will be stuff to Appraise out there too.
[] - [Training] - I can occasionally see estate staff moving around and working in the fields – I wonder if people without magic are easier to appraise? One way to find out!
[] - [Training] - There's a big hedge maze just beyond this fountain. Maybe I'll find unusual things to Appraise there?
[] - [Training] – I know I said I'd focus on Appraisal, but seeing my new stats, I feel a lot more confident about hunting monsters now. Let's go back to the woodlands and search for something!
[] - [Training] – I can't escape Tanya with a footrace, but it'd be nice to have some independence for once. Maybe I can sneak away when she's distracted?
[] - [Training] - Write-In
Unspent XP: 49
[QM's Note: In order to simplify game turns and keep the pace steady, any time you want to purchase or upgrade a skill, please put a vote with the appropriate skill in and muster some support for it from your fellow players. If we get a majority of people voting to acquire a skill, then we'll buy it. If there's mass interest in buying skills but no clear consensus, or if a decent number of people ask for one, I may call a moratorium and focus a vote entirely on what you'd like to pick up next.]
「QM's Note: I probably won't be able to update again before Tuesday, so I'll leave the vote running until then.
Here are our stats before levelup (which is missing from the character sheet) and taking all those perks for comparison:
Also, no write-in option:
[] - Comment to Elena how weak the Harebite seems. If she doesn't refute that, try to sneak up and kill it.
As Victoria was unable to Appraise herself, I left the stats anonymized to represent uncertainty around how they changed after acquiring skills. Now that she's able to Appraise herself, the Character Sheet should remain up to date in the future.
I did fail to put in a Write-In option, but I'm pretty much always open to Write-Ins as long as they're reasonable - the options I put down are driven by what I feel the character is most likely to be thinking at the time.」
