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Chapter 10: Counting Sheep

  The runes seemed to warp ever so slowly. You wouldn't notice it unless you wrote down the first page and read until the end, then checked back at the beginning only to see it's completely different. This made it impossible for someone who didn’t know what they were doing to understand a word. Not to say I’m an expert at deciphering these things, but I do have Max-Level Rune knowledge on my side.

  “If only there was an easier way to do this…”

  My mind sidetracked. I took another sip of my drink and took a breath. To understand this is a short amount of time required me to brute force it. Trying to find a pattern would take years on average. In a state of pure consciousness, I started guessing.

  “No… No… No, no, yes, no, yes, no, no, yes, yes, yes, YES!”

  Achieved title: Rune Cracker

  Increased effectiveness of certain skills!

  Small increase to stamina!

  Learned skill:

  High-Level Sleep magic!

  A different waitress looked at me funny for shouting before walking away. I looked at the table in front of me. The book was fading into dust while my concentration honey ale was completely empty. I stood up and stretched out.

  “Come on Mel…”

  I held my hand over her and small invisible crystals came out.

  “I’m not going to carry you.”

  “Nooo! My dream!”

  She flew up in surprise.

  “What did you do??”

  I put a gold coin on the table as I walked out the door.

  “A magician never reveals their secrets.”

  “You know I could just check?”

  It was pitch black out. The moon was the only thing illuminating the streets, it was way past midnight.

  “That’s an invasion of privacy.”

  I grabbed another energy bun and threw it in my mouth.

  “Mhmm, still warm.”

  I could hear Mel behind me subtly whisper.

  “God-Seeing-Appraisal…”

  Level 16 - Rein: Human Male 19 years old

  Titles: Hero, Human, Swordsman, Mage, Tamer, Dragon Slayer, Runner, Grave Robber, Sacred Water Student, Rune Cracker

  Skills:

  High-Level Sleep magic

  Medium-Level Monster Taming

  Medium-Level Sprinting

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  High-Level Fire magic

  Max-Level Exp boost

  Max-Level Appraisal resistance

  Medium-Level Sacred water arts

  Max-Level Rune knowledge

  High-Level Knife throwing

  Max-Level Lock picking

  Max-Level Incantation-less casting

  Max-Level Magic detection

  Max-Level Storage

  Guide Melphelia

  Unique skill - R…

  I flicked her away again.

  “Ah!”

  “No. Bad.”

  It was only a matter of time until she found out. Oh well.

  “Where are we going this late? I’m pretty sure everything’s closed now.”

  Everyone had packed away hours ago in the market. Only the occasional hooded figure or drunk could be seen walking past. As I got away from the richer part of town the houses started becoming smaller, more cramped together and covered with filth. I saw the first man on the street, trying to sleep. This was the part of town no one wanted to see or acknowledge. The slums.

  “Isn’t this the same place-”

  “-Shh…”

  I walked around a corner, making eye contact with two bulky men sitting on the porch of an unkept building with boarded up windows. Mel took action first.

  “Appraisal.”

  Level 34 - John: Human 35 years old

  Titles: Bandit, Swordsman, Thief…

  Skills: Low-Level Slash, Low-Level Stab…

  Level 30 - Harrison: Human 28 years old

  Titles: Bandit, Swordsman, Thief…

  Skills: Low-Level Slash…

  “Hey, those guys are double your level… I don’t think we should-”

  “What the hell are you doing around here? Get lost.”

  I walked closer to them as they each pulled out a sword.

  “Just passing through.”

  They stood still as I walked up to one of them. I reached into his pocket while the sword fell onto the floor. I grabbed a key from it and unlocked the door ahead. Only now did they collapse to the floor while the same invisible crystals flowed from my hands into them.

  “That’s your new sleep magic?”

  She shuddered.

  “Maybe it was worth the money.”

  I held my hand to the ceiling while I walked down the hallway.

  “So how long are they going to be out for?”

  “If they’re level 30 with no resistances, about 12 hours with Medium-Level magic.”

  “I see… Wait only medium?”

  Opening a door along the hallway, I grabbed a stack of paper in a folder from on top of a desk. It was too dark to see what was written, but I put it into storage regardless.

  Achieved title: Thief

  Small increase to stamina!

  I left the building without locking the door and threw the key to the side.

  “Did you really do all this just to rob the place?”

  “Well, I wanted the stamina boost.”

  She made a disappointed look at me. As I was walking back down the street I reached down at the ground. I picked up a sewer grate and started climbing the ladder down.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  I placed the grate back over my head as Mel came through it.

  “That’s the same thing those bandits said.”

  “That's not the point here! It stinks!”

  “Yeah, yeah, get used to it.”

  Reaching the bottom of the ladder I took a look around.

  “Ah! A slime!”

  A small green slimy blob looked at her curiously from across the sewer.

  “Well done.”

  It started hopping over through the muck as a panicked voice said-

  “Appraisal!”

  Level 13 - Unnamed: Green Slime 2 months old

  Titles: …

  Skills: Low-Level Acid spit…

  “Kill it! Kill it!”

  I observed for a second.

  “Why don’t you, for once?”

  “I can’t! I’m a fairy? What am I going to do? Flap my wings at them??? HELP!”

  I took my sword and sliced it in half while keeping all the goo off myself.

  “AHH!”

  Mel was shaking all the goo from the slime off of her while I looked at her and smiled. No, I had to stop myself. I clutched my sword as I looked further into the tunnel. There were three more slimes, one of them larger than the others. I darted at them. They collectively jumped at me as I sliced through them in one.

  Level up! 16 -> 17!

  Skill points: 0 -> 1

  Minor increase to all stats!

  I swiped the screen away.

  “Come on, Mel, we’ve got some grinding to do.”

  She was visibly disgusted.

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