Leveling up.
It was somewhat trickier than I thought.
In games, you'd kill monsters and gain level. Your stats would increase and you'll get stronger. But the same wasn't true here. You could gain a level from basically doing nothing as long as it had somewhat of a relevance to your skill.
In short, you could literally be level 100 without really even leaving your room, if your skill was let's say, sewing and you sew all day. But of course, that was Escalor's theory. And so far, it was as he said.
But- what about the stats? How'd I know for sure, they're increasing? Well, I didn't and these guys didn't either.
"So, you should choose early, what you want to do, or rather, be," Escalor explained.
I paused taking out my card. "I'm level 9 now…"
My HP and MP improved a bit but other than that, nothing else. And they'd only increased by small margins.
"Then this is a really good time to think about what you want. Leveling up once more would force you to choose anyway."
The soil gradually became muddy and soggy and mist slowly poured around, almost clouding everything before us. It wasn't too hard to see but I could tell, things would get quite ugly if I wasn't paying attention.
"How do you mean?"
"He means, soon you'll get a chance at evolution. Higher beings can evolve past the boundaries of mortals," Siarre said. "And I'm sure you will too. We did."
"I was able to once as well," Vivia said.
"I guess…" I didn't really know what they were talking about. But I did trust them. At least for now. So- "Well then, let's try some spells and…" And I stopped when I spotted the elf skeleton staring my way. "What is your name?" I said, Escalor relayed. I wasn't really thinking much-
She tried opening her mouth but no words came out.
'I have none. Not anymore. They used to call me Serinniea.' Yet the words rang in my mind. Even without a ring. I suppose that's the connection I'd felt earlier. A connection I lacked with the goblin husk.
"I believe it is your right to name her," Escalor said. "Since she now belongs to you."
She didn't have hair. She didn't have eyes. She honestly didn't have anything to her other than just her bones. She was a skeleton. And she didn't look much different from a human or even a goblin one. But she did have darkness within her and she was conscious like I was.
Which was why- "You will be Luna." When I first saw her, I didn't really care about her. And I probably still didn't. I'd made her a Skeleton on a whim; a whim to satisfy my own desires. But one thing I do remember about her appearance from before, her hair. Or the lack thereof. Even when she was dying, her hair appeared so radiant, so beautiful; so white. Almost like the moon. But now she was bald, and actually looked like the moon and its cracks.
Perhaps it was an awful comparison. Cheesy. But I didn't care. She was my servant, and I was free to name her whatever the hell I wanted.
Yet- it stung. Remembering how I had more power over her, despite she never consenting to this- it stung… but that sting didn't matter anymore. I'd already done it, and it was time to accept the fact that I did.
"As for the goblin, I guess Gob 001?" Yeah, despite being my first servant, I didn't really feel much about him. Particularly because he wasn't even alive and was really just bones. Fodder.
I could have sworn I heard Siarre snicker but I ignored that.
All the while, one particular girl just stared curiously at us. Vivia. She was odd. Weird even. She didn't glare. She didn't ask any unnecessary questions and she didn't nag. Perhaps she'd accepted her position as a slave or perhaps she was plotting something. When I first met her, I saw something in her eyes. But she couldn't hurt me even if she wanted to, so I didn't have to worry about that. But again, I was also kind of curious as to why she so willingly submitted without really causing a problem. Was that place even worse than being a slave?
We marched on. Straight through the swampy area, into the grass in the distance. Each step gave away a crispy sound, rather than the occasional blotchy sound I'd heard the whole time we were in the marshes. Somewhat tall grass but it wasn't bad. At least that's what I thought at first.
But there was something in there. Something slithering away.
"Our first prey is a Python. Apparently, it grew too much and the owner had to let it go, but now it's stealing cattle," Escalor said.
"Cattle? You mean sheep and goats?" I asked. In that case, it would have to be quite big a snake, huh?
"No. I mean cows and horses," Escalor smiled. "But don't worry, it's not as big as Anacobras."
Well… yeah, I knew something was up…. and wait-
'The fuck is an Anacobras?'