Climbing down the stairs, the open area between three trees entered my field of vision.
I thought I could do some good training for the day here, but… what is this?
Just like yesterday, many beasts were gathered here, and it looked like they were waiting here for a long time for something.
And as soon as I descended the wooden stairs, their eyes glowed, and they started gathering around the stairs.
Every one of them had a respectful light in their eyes, despite being normal and rare energy beasts.
They were gathered there as if greeting a celebrity or an important figure.
Looking at all this, I took a step back and stood quietly on the stairs.
I could understand their emotions and that they were thankful to me save their mama but, attacking me first thing in the morning was something else…
There were many creatures in this crowd.
From non-ranked beasts like small rats, birds, and insects to gigantic creatures of different ranks.
There were almost 6 (Yellow) ranked beasts, 12 (Orange), 21 (Red) and One (Green) ranked Ent that brought me here, named Inku.
The three elder beasts, Gaar the Orc, Perry the Hippo, and Ailji the old Ent.
Gaar the Orc stepped forward and shouted in a heavy voice.
[ “Slow down everyone!” ]
This was his skill called [Mana Speech] and it was a kinda universal speech for beings that could use Mana.
It was a special skill, so very few energy beasts could use this.
I still can’t believe I was in the same room as all these beasts and was still alive.
Like hell… this was overwhelming!
This was strange and it would be hard for me to get accustomed to this kinda thing ever.
I looked at Gaar with a strange look.
He was the same as yesterday, but there was a softness in his eyes as he looked at me.
I watched as everyone cleared a path for me to the center where a table was set with… food?
A dining table with fresh fruits, plants, and herbs.
Some of them were actually great and rare things with Mana and some were as rare as that blood-drinking flower.
Walking toward Gaar and the other two elders, I asked with a confused look on my face.
“What… are all these?”
On my silly question, a bright smile appeared on his face.
[ “Everyone wanted to show their thanks, so they prepared these things.” ]
His cheerful reply made me fall into another confused state.
All things considered, the table before me was almost twelve meters in radius and they filled it like a mountain.
“How can I…” I wanted to say something like how I would store these things, but he cut me off midsentence.
[ “We sincerely ask you to accept them. It’s just a small gift from them and even we three have something. We would be thrilled if you could accept these.” ]
“But…”
Again, I wasn’t saying no to any of this. I just didn’t know how I would store them.
It would take a long time to store all this, and I still had my training to do in this comfortable place.
But this time, another voice interrupted me.
[ “Eon. I agree with them too. I, as your friend, request you to accept those things. They will be more useful to them than us anyway.~” ]
Fern walked down and stood where I was standing while surrounded by all these beasts.
All the beasts present were surprised and joyous to see her, and she also greeted them with a warm smile.
After some time of greeting, she walked toward me and jumped on the table filled with all these things.
[ “If you can’t store them all, we can search for a storage skill too.” ]
She wanted to continue, but I cut her off and hurriedly tried to finish my sentence that I was being misunderstood for a long time.
“I said I will accept them. And I already have the skill to store everything!” I shouted and sat down at the table beside her.
In an instant, joyous shouts of beasts filled the area and everyone ran towards us and gathered around.
It was once again a strange thing to witness.
[ “I’m glad to hear that. So, we three should be the first to present our gifts. Is that okay everyone~?” ]
There was a strange, angry silence for a brief second that vanished instantly.
With a small nod, the Orc stepped forward and started talking with great joy.
Gaar was taking a lead like he was special to Fern. Everyone respected them so no one said anything, but they were still sad.
‘Why the hell am I being treated like some higher being here? Gifts for saving my friend were ok but… but this level of respect and accomplishment is a different story.’
I was feeling like the high-ranking religious people here, but thanks to my damn heart, my thoughts were still straight.
There was still anticipation in my eyes.
What gifts might a high-ranking beast such as them give to someone like me?
Looking at Gaar, I blinked, and he started speaking.
[ “I don’t know if you have something like this but… I think this might be a great help for you.” ]
He took out a blue-colored crystal, and my eyes widened in surprise.
“A… [Skill stone]?”
It was something too valuable to refuse. A skill would be very useful as I went ahead. A powerful attack or defense skill would be extremely useful in dangerous situations.
[ “Yes~. And… it’s called [Appraisal]. With this, you can know about things you do not know!” ]
“Gasp?!”
A… shocked gasp escaped my mouth as I heard that.
[Appraisal] .
A special skill that very few creatures in this world are born with.
It’s different from normal heritage skills or common skills of a species.
It’s a skill that’s more like [Mana Restriction] the Ent who brought me here had.
It was a rare skill and in the form of magic, (Appraisal) was a freaking (tier-8) magic.
Appraisal skills also cost less mana than most of the spells of their rank, so even if it was a higher rank skill, it would consume as less Mana as my [Quickstep].
How can I believe this was an appraisal skill, as they said?
Well, their family was enormous and there was no way this intelligent orc would say something he wasn’t sure of.
Handing me the skill stone, he took a step back.
[ “So you’re giving that away, huh? After holding onto it like that… you’re finally getting over it.” ] Fern said with a happy, nostalgic look in her eyes.
The other two elders and some beasts had a sad reaction, too.
I didn’t go too deep and channeled some Mana into the crystal and broke it.
It was mine now and learning it as soon as possible was the best thing to do.
It was safe and my normally beating heart confirmed this.
We watched as the crystal shattered into small pieces and then went up in the air before me.
With a quick movement, they gathered and shrunk and then became two blue drops of fluid.
The drops fall into my eyes, and I felt a warm sensation in them.
It was like my eyes were melting and fresh eyes were being created in their place.
This was different from when I learned the [Quickstep].
I could feel this was a high-ranking skill than normal and from the color of the crystal, it could be (Blue) rank.
I still didn’t know if I can handle such high-ranking skills but I believed my heart this time too.
And they all knew about these skills more than I did as a human, so I can believe them.
Time passed and after what felt like a day, my eyes returned to normal.
Opening my normal eyes, I looked around the room.
Everyone was still the same like not even a minute has passed.
Looking around, I saw everyone looking back at me with excited eyes.
Fern tapped my shoulder beside me and asked in an excited voice.
[ “How’s it?! Let’s try using it~!” ]
She was more excited than me so I called out my status window to confirm the skill.
‘Status window.’