It has begun to feel like forever since I've spoken to someone. I can only hear myself and the voice in my head that responds to me gaining skills. The voice responds to questions, but it seems to know more about skills than anything else. When I ask it a question on the world, there's silence. When I ask about Skill Evolution, it merely says that it is possible, but not a common occurrence. One time I asked about the max level for Skills, and it is apparently level ten. But, each evolution raises the maximum level by ten.
In addition to that, Skills don't have just one evolution. Depending on the Skill, it can evolve multiple times.
I tried asking the voice about what skills I can acquire, aside from the ones I already own.
It wouldn't say.
But, out of nowhere, it mentioned the Appraisal skill as an optional skill. Did it register the fact that I attempted to use it when I first woke up here?
Apparently, it operates a little differently than the Appraisal skills one would see in a light novel.
Seeing the names appear above the heads of enemies and items that I pick up is not a part of the Appraisal Skill.
It is an inherent ability that exists in Reincarnated beings. Which means that others have arrived to this world before me. The ability cannot be defined as a Skill. The Appraisal Skill of this world only works on things that I am not in physical contact with. Which means that I can't see the stats of a weapon in someone's hand since I am not touching it, but with this world's Appraisal Skill, I can. The same can go for the armor someone is wearing, their stats, skills, and magic.
I can see the stats of an enemy because of a Hidden Skill that is not visible to others and even myself. The voice described it as Identify.
The details are a little hard to wrap around but I got the gist of it. At least there is such a thing as an Appraisal Skill. It just means that I need to figure out how to get it.
The voice would not engage in conversation, it merely responded to the questions I have and explained when I asked for it to explain. It did seem to have some semblance of a sense of humor as I heard it audibly chuckle at a comment I made about the Appraisal skill. That was nice to hear.
Back to what is going on outside of my head, I am still wandering a straight path. There were many opportunities for me to go a different path, but I stuck to my gut feeling and kept moving on the "main road." I heard the skittering and squeaks of the rats that made their home in the prison. Every so often, torches would light my way down the previously darkened corridors. These few opportunities gave me the chance to search the cells within the light to find anything new.
It was merely wishful thinking as nothing good came out of it, I was just curious.
Grabbing a torch and using it to light my way was something I was not interested in doing after the encounter with the Hobgoblin and its troop. I stuck to the darkness when there was no light to guide my way. The lack of light helped with hunting monsters. It seemed that none of them had a Night Vision Skill as all of them dropped dead as soon as I saw them, but they never saw me. Even at times where they faced my general direction, they could not make out my figure.
Despite this, I still don't have a Stealth Skill. Come on, even when I kill something in complete darkness like I'm a ninja, I don't get something that can help with doing that but much faster and much better?
Whatever, at least my natural ability to sneak around has gotten better.
Because most of my body is covered with sheets, and the only thing protecting me was a chestplate, I was pretty light. The sword and bow don't slow me down much, and the same can be said for the bag.
I'm pretty much on my way to becoming a Hunter class Adventurer.
That makes me wonder if I can get a class. In most RPGs, your class is chosen at the very start of the game. In certain Light Novels, it's chosen when you arrive at a Guild or something and it depends on your stat distribution.
God, I need to stop worrying about the outside. I need to focus on finding ways on how to get the hell out first.
I stopped upon hearing the noises of nearby monsters.
These weren't random groans and moans. It was your stereotypical Goblin noises. They sounded like they were talking to one another as there were definitely some overlapping voices.
Good. That's one sign. The next is to see if their tattoos are different colors. The ones I need are ones with blue markings. As long as I know the color, I'll lay low and keep away from them until they start heading back to their camp.
I should be prepared for anything when I get there, too.
If all of them are awake, then I'll stay back and wait until they are all asleep. From there, I'll make my move and assassinate them. Should be good EXP. Then, I'll loot everything they have and hope they have water.
If everyone is asleep, I'll just have to wait until the search party goes to sleep. I'll go on with the second half of the plan after that.
The only thing I'll have to really worry about between these two scenarios is how long it will take for every Goblin to go to sleep.
I should also think of how I'll kill them.
Maybe I should use the head of an arrow to slit their throats? I can't use the dagger since the edge is all rusted.
Oh, or I could steal one of their weapons and use that to kill them.
Going in unprepared is something I'd rather not do, but there are quite a few roads I could go when walking into the camp.
There are still a few things I don't really know about the Goblins, but they are simple creatures by nature, so I shouldn't be too worried about what happens. The only thing besides them that I should worry about is a Hobgoblin. The next sign I'm hoping for is no super strong, crazy huge, unreasonably muscular Goblin following them. I don't know why the Hobgoblin has to be the one watching the search party. Maybe they're smart enough to have second-in-commands to help them out when they aren't around?
But, if they do have those, then what reason would they have for not getting the second-in-commands to lead the search parties?
Wait, am I seriously doubting something I have a theory about?
I'm really bad at focusing on current events. All I'm doing is doubting myself and doubting things I'm making up in my head.
The Goblins are still communicating with each other. I don't understand anything they are saying. I'm just waiting for them to start moving. While I was searching around the perimeter, I wasn't able to find the Hobgoblin, which should be a good sign. Even doing a second look around, there's nothing resembling a big green monster.
With my worries put to rest, I hid around a corner, a few feet away from the Goblins.
They seemed to be doing this dance around a fire they made in the middle of a path. Was it a ritual or something? I couldn't really tell as they were no longer saying anything, just staring at the fire while they circled around the fire in unison. Their hands flailed in the air.
Whatever it was, it didn't last very long as one of them stomped out the fire. Luckily, the darkness wasn't able to stop me from seeing them. They picked up their weapons and made their way around the corner.
I followed them as soon as they did, and made sure I was a few feet away from them.
I was able to maneuver around anything that could have made any noise. For some reason, large vines become more plentiful as they twist around the walls and the ground. Some looked like they tore from underneath the ground from the way the stonework was ripped up around them. The roots to the vines were thick, too. Now this looks like something you'd see in a jungle dungeon.
Maybe this could be a clue as to where I am? Could I actually be in a jungle? Why would a prison be in a jungle, though? I wonder if the entrance is somewhere close, then. The sudden appearance of all these vines and roots could be a sign that the entrance is near.
No. I need to quit focusing on what could happen and what something could be. I'll see this plan, and then I'll finally figure out what to do in the future.
The Goblins made it to their camp, entering through a large wooden gate. I stayed back as the rest of them were still awake. It seemed like a massive hole was blown into a wall. A few cells were on either side of the camp, and the walls were destroyed bricks that appeared to have been blown apart to make for quite the large base of operations. They had small huts in the inside, mainly consisting of the wood and sheets that were in the cells. To my surprise and relief, there wasn't a Hobgoblin amongst the rest.
What caught my eye was a large sheet covering something. It was shredded like the rest of them but I could see through it despite how far it was, but only faintly.
I did see something that proved. . . incredibly worrisome.
A pair of eyes stared back at me.
They were innocent. Even from this distance, I could tell that they were filled with purity. But fear covered that. They were so afraid. It made me grit my teeth in anger.
I put a finger up to my lips to make sure they stayed quiet. They seemed to understand that, so they didn't make a sound.
From the side of the sheet, I saw that there were iron bars. It could be a cage made out of the doors to the cells. There also seemed to be a large number of people in the cage. I know because I started noticing the shuffling bodies held captive inside.
So they take prisoners.
Damn it. Out of all the things I planned for, this wasn't one of them.
To any other person, this would seem like suicide to try and help save a group of people you didn't know while trying to sneak past a group of monsters. It could be a trap. If someone saved them, maybe the prisoners would end up turning on their savior and kill them? They could signal their captors if they were playing as bait for anyone stupid enough to try and save them.
But not me. . .
Those eyes I saw. . .
Who they belonged to, I have no idea, but they held the wish to live outside of that cage. The rest of the people there probably shared the same loom in their own eyes.
Something inside of me turned, and I no longer followed my gut. This was no longer about preserving myself anymore. I might not be the strongest person out there, but I can't leave those people to suffer any longer than they already have. Who knows what the Goblins were doing to those people? In some works of fiction, the women are violated and abused beyond recognition. Some are even killed. All the Goblins wanted was something to ruin, and if it was the innocence of women, they loved it.
I had to hold myself back, still.
The Goblins were on the verge of passing out.
I had to wait a little while longer before going in to save the people in captivity.
So, this is what it feels like to follow what your heart and soul says, huh?