Today I crushed a goblin who became full of himself.
Of course I didn't kill him. He was recently becoming too overconfident in his new strength, he'll die quickly if I didn't correct him like this. For that reason, I steeled my heart and punished him. I think this is a reasonable thing to do in an environment where carelessness means death.
Well, even if this goblin came to develop some rebellious sentiments against me, I can just beat him up again, no problem.
Today the four of us went out hunting again as usual.
We searched for and found some kobolds that I could gain new abilities from. There were six of them. It's the largest group we've come across so far, but we can crush them without a problem as we are now. Although they have numbers on their side, we have superior individual abilities and equipment. So we decided to give it a try.
Gobumi-chan, armed with a crossbow, aimed at a kobold carrying a short-bow and prepared to pull the trigger, but then he came out from the bush.
A kobold of small stature wearing what looked like a Triple-horned horse's skull on his head considering the fact that there were three horns on the skull's forehead, the kobold was holding a twisted and crooked wooden staff too. He approached the group of kobolds while muttering something.
From his appearance, I think he's a [ Kobold Mage ].
I heard from Gobujii that goblins, orcs and other low-class creatures like kobolds are generally unable to use magic to interfere with the laws of the world, with the exception of [ Variants ].
But exceptions where where ordinary kobolds and goblins can wield magic exist, these are called kobold mages, goblin mages, etc. It is a highly prized and rare ability, though not as rare as a [ Variant ].
As a result of my incomplete understanding of magic, caused by insufficient materials, I couldn't get the sense of how to exercise magic and this time I'm facing a kobold mage accompanied by six kobold followers. This could be difficult.
Even so, this is a good chance. If the mage uses magic, I might be able to learn how to wield it by observing him and even if I failed, I'll be able to get the corresponding abilities from eating him anyways.
Thinking that, we tailed the kobolds party and that somewhat troublesome mission was a success. I was able to see magic being exercised for the first time, the victim of the kobold mage's magic was a [ Green Slime ].
Even with the ability [ Physical damage immunity ], the slime's bodily fluids evaporated before the roaring blaze of fire, leaving behind a green nucleus. It was quite the flashy scene, but having seen that, I now have a rough understanding of what's magic exactly. If I go back to the cave and practice a bit, I think I'll be able to do it without a problem.
With this matter settled, we went on the offensive. The enemies were promptly annihilated. The kobold mage instantly died from a poisoned arrow hitting the back of his head, fired by Gobumi-chan. The rest were silenced by me and Gobukichi-kun with the support of Gobue-chan's poisoned stones and Gobumi-chan's rapid fire.
No matter how strong they're, they can't do anything if we crush them before they can show that power.
We stripped the ordinary kobolds of their equipment and put them in Gobue-chan's backpack, then I secured the kobold mage's staff. Moreover, we found eight [ Water Spirit Stones ] — strange stones that give off water when tightly gripped — , six [ Thunder Spirit Stones ] — strange stones that discharge electricity when given a strong impact - , and ten [ Fire Spirit Stones ] like the ones I ate before, all separated into three small bags.
I took the kobold mage's body and the six hearts for myself, the rest were eaten by the others, two for each one of them.
Incidentally, I also ate the Green slime's core.
Ability [ Physical Damage Reduction ] learned
Ability [ Internal Mana Control ] learned
Ability [ Magician's Knowledge ] learned
Ability [ Intimidating Roar ] learned
It seems like the Green slime did not have [ Physical Damage Immunity ] but the lesser version [ Physical Damage Reduction ], but that's remarkable enough as it is. This way, we now know how to deal with Green slimes if we happen to encounter one. Simply burn them down with the ability [ Pyrokinesis ].
Lastly, I ate the kobold mage's staff and the three kinds of spirit stones. Eating objects to gain abilities like this has become a sort of a habit of mine.
Ability [ Hydro Hand ] learned
Ability [ Water/Ice Resistance ] learned
Ability [ Electromaster ] learned
Ability [ Lightning Resistance ] learned
Ability [ Flame Resistance ] learned
Ability [ Mana Operation ]
Yes, these are good abilities, by practicing using them I'll be able to finally use magic.
After all of this, we encountered some Armored tanukis and Night vipers on our way back. They were mostly killed by Gobue-chan to gain Experience Values for her, then we ate them.
Ability [ Endure ] learned
Ability [ Evil Eye Resistance ] learned
With this, it looks like I have learned all the abilities that I can learn from Night vipers and Armored tanukis. Well, they tasted good nonetheless.
After that, night fell and I went practicing magic by myself. It was hard at first but after one hour I figured out the trick, although it needed some activation time, I was able to do it without any problems.
Incidentally a Green slime attacked me under the cover of the night, and seeing it as a good practice target, I decided to take care of it using magic. I constructed a black lance using magic and shot it at the Green slime, killing it in one hit with a fearsome power.
I took the core that was rolling around on the ground and ate it.
Ability [ Self-Body Fluid Property Manipulation ] learned
And with this, I gained this ability.
I'm now able to turn my sweat into an acid, which is useful, I was satisfied with this ability.
However, the fact that my equipment didn't corrode when I used it is another mystery.