Chapter 3: The Nemesis Appears! ○
Well then, now that I’ve decided on my immediate goals in this world, I suppose I should strive towards achieving them.
Since searching for Reincarnators and living a slow life seems impossible for the time being, I guess I’ll focus on evolving and collecting as many skills as possible. To do that, first, let’s confirm what I can do right now.
I use Life Detection, Magic Detection, and even Hostile Intent Detection to check the safety of my surroundings. Then, I open my status screen and check each item one by one.
Leaving aside the things I checked when I acquired the skills, the first thing I examined in detail with Appraisal was my magic. I’ve acquired Light Magic, Water Magic, Space-Time Magic, and Gravity Magic. These magic types increase in level the more they are used, and as the level increases, their power and range increase, while their mana consumption decreases.
Furthermore, there seems to be a system where the rank increases with each level, and when the rank increases, you can learn new magic. Right now, I’m only Lv1, so I can only use magic of the 5th tier, but it seems that when I reach level 10, I’ll be able to use magic of the 4th tier. After that, it seems that the tier goes up by one every five levels. I want to be able to use magic of the 1st tier someday.
With that, I continue my appraisal with renewed vigor.
Let’s see, the 5th tier of Light Magic is “Light,” huh? It seems to be a simple magic that creates a ball of light. The 5th tier of Water Magic is “Water Edge.” This is a magic that creates a small water cutter to attack. Alright, alright, I’ve managed to get some self-defense measures.
However, for some reason, there was no 5th tier magic for Space-Time Magic and Gravity Magic. I can’t level up unless I use magic, but I don’t have any usable magic. Could it be that these are dead skills? The thought crosses my mind that I might have wasted two precious slots, but it’s too early to jump to conclusions. They might become usable in the future, so I’ll leave them alone for now.
While I’m at it, I also appraised the title “Reincarnator,” which I hadn’t appraised yet. It turns out that “Reincarnator” has the effect of making skill levels easier to increase. This is a pleasant surprise. Thank you, you swindler-like goddess-sama!
After confirming the effects of the magic, I decided to actually use them. Since I’m a moss, I can’t make a sound, but I have Chant Break, so I should be able to use them without any problems. First, I’ll try using the Light Magic, Light.
I mentally chant “Light” and imagine a ball of light. Then, I felt something flash for a moment above my head.
(Oh, it seems I was able to use magic, but since I only have 5 mana, the light only lasted for a moment…)
Looking at my status, my mana had dropped to 0. As expected, with only 5 mana, it only shines for a moment.
But it’s okay. I have “Mana Auto-Recovery.” At Lv1, it recovers 1 point per minute, so it’ll be full in 5 minutes.
Furthermore, since those 5 minutes of recovery are also a waste, I’ll repeatedly use skills that don’t use mana during that time.
I repeatedly used Appraisal and Thought Acceleration, and also put some stone-like things lying around into my Item Box and took them out.
While I was doing that, 5 minutes passed, and my mana became full. Alright, next, let’s try using Water Edge.
Just like before, I mentally chant “Water Edge” and imagine a thin disc of water.
Shun!
The Water Edge, which I managed to create just one of, flew off with a crisp sound, cutting a thin branch floating on the water in half and disappearing.
(Ho ho, not bad sharpness, is it?)
I didn’t actually see it, but I can vaguely recognize the tree with Life Detection, so it must be true. Since I’m still Lv1, I can only recognize things within a radius of about 10 meters without consuming mana, but that’s enough for now, so I’ll leave it at that.
After that, while generating nutrients and oxygen through Photosynthesis, I repeatedly used magic and detection. And by the end of the day…
Race: Moss
Name: None
Rank: G
Level: 2
HP: 6/6
MP: 6/6
Attack Power: 0
Defense Power: 2
Magic Attack Power: 6
Magic Defense Power: 6
Agility: 0
Skills
Special Evolution
Language Comprehension
Chant Break
Item Box Lv2
Appraisal Lv2
Thought Acceleration Lv2
Life Detection Lv2
Magic Detection Lv2
Hostile Intent Detection Lv2
Auto HP Recovery Lv1
Mana Auto-Recovery Lv2
Light Magic Lv2
Water Magic Lv2
Space-Time Magic Lv1
Gravity Magic Lv1
Photosynthesis Lv2
Titles
Reincarnator
Skill Collector
I didn’t defeat any monsters in particular, but my level went up by one. Perhaps moss gains experience points by performing Photosynthesis. All the skills I was using also went up by one level. I had the impression that skills were hard to level up, but the title “Reincarnator” might be doing a good job. Since my HP hasn’t decreased, Auto HP Recovery hasn’t gone up, but I’d be in trouble if I forced it to decrease to 0, so it can’t be helped. I’ll think about it after my level goes up a bit and my HP increases.
In this way, I spent most of the day doing Photosynthesis while alternating between magic and skills that don’t use mana, and in about a week, my level reached 6, and the skills I was using had gone up by one level.
There’s a reason why it’s been going so smoothly. It’s because I realized sometime after reincarnating that moss doesn’t need sleep. Thanks to that, I was able to level up all day, so I guess that’s why I went up by 5 levels in a week.
With my level going up, my HP and MP both increased to 10, the Light magic now lasted for about 5 seconds, and I could now fire two Water Edges.
However, it took longer than I thought to level up my skills. Especially as the level gets higher, it feels like it’s getting harder to level up. By the way, I still don’t know how to level up Space-Time Magic and Gravity Magic.
Then one day, I encountered my nemesis for the first time since reincarnating. The figure that appeared in my Life Detection had a shape I recognized from my previous life. A creature that lives by eating moss. A bent back, long whiskers, that figure scurrying around in the water, there’s no mistaking it… it’s an “Ebi”!
For the past week, there hadn’t been anything other than plants that showed up in my Life Detection, so I thought there were no living creatures in this pond, but it seems they just hadn’t come close. I don’t know if it was born here or came from somewhere else, but the figure of the Ebi moving around is vaguely captured. I tried “Appraising” the creature I “Detected” as a test.
Race: Ebi
Name: None
Rank: F
Level: 7
HP: 15/15
MP: 0/0
Attack Power: 10
Defense Power: 12
Magic Attack Power: 0
Magic Defense Power: 0
Agility: 11
Nuo!? It wasn’t an Ebi, it was an Ebi… Moreover, its rank is F and its level is 7, which is higher than mine…
Well, this Ebi, or rather, Ebi, is about 3 cm long. I can’t tell its color, but it seems to be clinging to the large rock where I’m growing and eating the moss. The nerve of it, eating my companions. I can’t forgive this. That’s just a facade, though. In reality, I’m going to use it as a test subject for my magic.
I patiently wait for the Ebi to eat the moss on the rock and come up near the surface of the water. And after waiting for several minutes, that chance came.
(Now! Water Edge!)
The blade of water I created approaches the Ebi that was pecking at the moss near the surface of the water.
Shu!
…It dodged it. It dodged it normally. An Ebi dodged it. I see, I hadn’t realized it because I had only been dealing with stationary targets, but I wasn’t that good at controlling magic. Even so, I can’t lose. I have a reason to avenge my companions.
And then, I fired a second Water Edge.
Span!
It cut it. It cut it normally. Or rather, it seems that it didn’t dodge the first one, but I just happened to release the magic at the wrong time. And the blade of water I created cleanly bisected the Ebi’s body in one hit. I was worried because its defense power was a bit high, but its magic defense power was 0, so it must have been weak against magic. Thanks to that, I was able to defeat it without any difficulty.
(Alas, Ebi. Rest in peace. Even so, I’m glad I chose magic for my initial skills. Even though I can’t move, it seems I can defeat small creatures that come to eat the moss on my own.)
Knowing that I can defeat external enemies, I was able to relax a little. Furthermore, it seems that my level went up by defeating the Ebi.
Race: Moss
Name: None
Rank: G
Level: 7
HP: 11/11
MP: 2/11
Attack Power: 0
Defense Power: 7
Magic Attack Power: 11
Magic Defense Power: 11
Agility: 0
Skills
Special Evolution
Language Comprehension
Chant Break
Item Box Lv3
Appraisal Lv3
Thought Acceleration Lv3
Life Detection Lv3
Magic Detection Lv3
Hostile Intent Detection Lv3
Auto HP Recovery Lv1
Mana Auto-Recovery Lv3
Light Magic Lv3
Water Magic Lv4
Space-Time Magic Lv1
Gravity Magic Lv1
Photosynthesis Lv3
Titles
Reincarnator
Skill Collector
My stats have also increased a bit from leveling up. It seems my Water Magic skill has also gone up by one level. Seeing that my Light Magic hasn’t increased, does that mean skills level up faster when you defeat enemies with magic? I think I’ll take my time to confirm this.