Chapter 74: Let’s Try Enhanced Sense of Smell
“Alright, today let’s take on a herb gathering request.”
When it comes to monster hunting in the Heavenly Wolf Garden, finding time to venture deeper afterward can be a bit tricky. As expected, herb gathering, which doesn’t draw any complaints regardless of where I collect, is the best option. I’ve confirmed that there are always requests available, but I didn’t know the specific types of herbs to gather, so I came to the Guild again today.
“Oh, you actually came back. If you haven’t gone deep to search for wild ones, that’s fine.”
Upon arriving at the Guild, Alissa, who was leaving as I entered, said this with a hint of surprise. I smiled wryly as I watched her go, but of course, today I’m heading deep into the Forest for herb gathering. That’s just a side task, after all.
If I can gather information on the types of herbs and the monsters that appear in the depths of the Forest, I’ll be fully prepared.
“I remember that the wild herbs in the depths have a nice fragrance, right?”
“Yeah, I think I heard something like that.”
As we walked along the path leading to the Forest, I pondered how to search for the wild herbs.
“Maybe the deeper we go, the better the fragrance will be?”
“Who knows? It might not smell that strong unless we cook it first…”
“I think it’s worth a try. Just like how gathering magic power in my eyes enhances my vision, what if gathering magic power in my nose enhances my sense of smell?”
What…? That’s a blind spot I hadn’t considered. I regularly use vision enhancement and have enhanced my hearing before, but I never thought about enhancing my sense of smell.
“That’s definitely worth trying. Even without cooking, I can faintly sense the fragrance…”
This could lead to the emergence of a new skill. The uncertainty of whether it has developed is a drawback, but that’s nothing new.
In that case, let’s conduct an experiment right away.
Gathering magic power in my nose, I slowly inhaled through my nostrils, feeling the scent of the grass and trees.
Yes, it’s the same scent as before. If it were that easy, I wouldn’t have to struggle. Well, I suppose I’ll learn faster than others because I have a better skill set.
“Skills don’t usually develop that quickly, do they…?”
It seems Rio was trying it too, as I heard a disappointed tone in her voice. Given that my skill is at a higher multiplier, it’s only natural. Generally, if I can’t do something, Rio can’t either—except for magic-related matters.
“But if we keep at it, the chances of acquiring it eventually are high.”
“That’s definitely true.”
As we entered the Forest while trying to enhance our sense of smell, the fragrance of the woods grew stronger. It’s only natural since we’ve stepped into the Forest, but it almost makes me wonder if I succeeded.
When we passed by the Heavenly Wolf Garden, I thought I faintly caught the scent of Heavenly Wolf Mushrooms…
“Did you just smell mushrooms?”
I asked Rio, who was walking beside me, and she seemed to be closing her eyes, concentrating on the scent.
“…Hmm, I don’t particularly sense anything…”
“Interesting.”
When I tried stopping the enhanced sense of smell, the feeling of being in the Forest faded, and the fragrance weakened. The faint scent of mushrooms I had sensed disappeared as well.
“Oh, could it be that I’ve developed a skill?”
“Really? …I don’t think I have yet.”
Rio was also gathering magic power in her nose and dispersing it, but it seemed she wasn’t having much luck.
“You’ll probably get it soon enough.”
“Yeah. Thanks to you, Shuu, I realized I might have a skill, so I’ll practice a bit more.”
Once we ventured deeper into the Forest, where we could no longer be seen from the outside, we stopped walking and began to fly deeper in. Fortunately, since we arrived early in the morning, we managed to reach the depths without encountering other adventurers. A slight mist began to rise, but it wasn’t a problem.
“Still… there are so many different scents…”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Mostly, it’s the green scent typical of the Forest, but there are also mushroom scents and the beastly odors of monsters… Oh, and the scent of blood.”
“What?”
I abruptly changed direction toward the source of the scent.
“Is someone being attacked?”
“Who knows? It could be a fight between monsters; we can’t tell just from the scent.”
However, enhanced sense of smell might be incredibly useful. If a scent is drifting, I can notice it no matter how far away it is. Presence Detection only reacts to creatures within a certain range, making it impossible to judge the aftermath of a conflict.
Moreover, entering the depths of the Forest is said to be a suicidal act. The likelihood of a person being attacked is low.
“Ah, I can definitely smell blood.”
It seemed Rio had caught the scent too, but nothing triggered her Presence Detection.
“Something’s nearby.”
When I enhanced my vision, I spotted something bloodied lying on the ground. Perhaps it was because we had come deeper into the Forest, but I noticed a faint mist beginning to rise.
“…A Silver Wolf?”
Just as Rio said, it appeared that a pack of Silver Wolves lay dead, scattered around. There were signs of them being devoured, but what could have attacked them?
“I haven’t heard of any monsters that would attack Silver Wolves at the Guild, right?”
“That’s true.”
I hadn’t heard of any troublesome monsters in the area. I had heard of plant-type monsters resembling mushrooms and bear-type monsters, but perhaps a higher-tier monster has appeared. Given how deep we’ve come, that possibility is high.
Even after checking the surroundings, I didn’t sense anything nearby. The dead Silver Wolves were already cold, indicating that it had been some time since they were killed.
“…Hmm? Along with the scent of blood, I think I can smell mushrooms too…”
The cause of the Silver Wolves’ deaths was obscured by the scent.
“Where is it coming from?”
Rio seemed more interested in my words than I expected.
“Uh… let me see…”
I looked around, trying to pinpoint the direction of the scent, but moving around didn’t intensify it.
“…Maybe over there?”
After wandering for a while, we identified the direction from which the scent was wafting and began our search for mushrooms, ignoring the Silver Wolves.
“Ah, I found it!”
Before I knew it, it seemed Rio had developed her own enhanced sense of smell skill, and our mushroom search strategy was proving to be a success.