Chapter 8

Infinite Skill Copying with EX-Grade Interpretation Chapter 8

[Using Interpretation.]

[Elf Guardian – 001]

─A golem that protects the World Tree.

─The red gemstone embedded in its chest is its power source.

‘Guardian, golem, whatever the fuck...!’

─Zing!

The moment I saw those glowing red eyes, my body moved on its own.

─Tap!

Putting all my strength into my legs, I kicked off the ground and dashed away.

─Tat-tat-tat-tat!

A moment later, arrows buried themselves where I had been standing, devastating the surroundings.

Dozens of arrows.

Even with armor on, if all those arrows had hit me, I probably would have been turned into a pincushion.

I looked ahead.

Dozens of golems.

Every one of them was drawing a new arrow from its palm and aiming at me.

‘I’ll cut them down before the next attack comes.’

─Tap!

I raised my sword toward the one at the very front.

[Using the skill ‘Demon Flash (A).’]

─Slash!

I closed the distance in an instant and sent the sturdy golem’s head flying.

That makes one...

Huh?

─Creak, creak!

Why is it still moving...?

─Grrk!

I couldn’t hide my shock as its arm continued moving as though trying to fire its bow even after its head had fallen off.

Don’t tell me...

‘I don’t have time.’

Leaving aside the headless golem that was still moving, the golems standing behind it were also drawing their bowstrings.

Even if I moved right now, they were too close for me to dodge.

In that case.

─Thud!

I kicked the legs out from under the headless one and used it as a shield.

─Tat-tat-tat-tat!

I felt dozens of arrows slam into it.

Looks like I wasn’t too late?

“Huh...?”

─Crackle, crackle!?!

Something was wrong with the golem I was using as a shield.

It made strange noises like a broken appliance, then suddenly went limp like a fish drained of strength.

Not that many arrows had even hit it, yet this thing...

When I looked at its body, an arrow was embedded directly in the center of its chest.

‘Do I have to destroy the power source?’

Just as Interpretation had told me, the moment its power source was destroyed, the golem stopped moving.

In that case...

─Whoosh!

I grabbed the golem by the legs and.

“Hup!”

─BOOM!

Threw it straight at the others.

Naturally, the other golems, which had been taking aim to fire their bows, toppled over.

I didn’t miss that brief opening and charged forward.

What I was aiming for were the orbs that seemed to be their cores.

I stomped on the red cores of the fallen ones before they could get back up.

─Crunch!

─!!

─Thud.

So that was the answer.

The instant I shattered the core, I glanced at the fallen golem and drew my sword again.

─Crunch!

I drove the sword straight into the chest of another one standing beside me.

‘Four left...’

I pulled out my sword to target the next one, but it was fairly far away.

Think.

The best thing I can do right now is...

─Grab.

─Tat-tat-tat-tat!

The distance was too short to dodge the arrows.

Once again, I used a golem as a shield and waited.

─Tat-tat-tat-tat!

─Tat-tat!

The barrage wouldn’t stop.

Perhaps seeing three of their number die had angered them, because the interval between their shots was getting shorter than before.

It was too dangerous to wait for an opening and rush in.

In that case.

“I don’t know if this’ll work on golem bastards.”

I reached a hand through the gap and used a skill.

[Using the skill ‘Weakening (B).’]

And I saw it.

The hands drawing the bowstrings slowed.

The skill worked.

In that case.

─Tap.

I discarded the golem I had been using as a shield and rushed forward.

Without wasting even that fleeting instant.

I simply kicked off the ground with everything I had and charged in.

Then I drew my sword.

[Using the skill ‘Demon Flash (A).’]

I thrust forward.

─Slice!

─Whoosh...!

Feeling the wind blowing from behind me, I quietly lowered my sword.

The golems stood still with their bowstrings drawn.

I approached the back of their heads and lightly pushed one on the shoulder.

─Thud!

[Combat experience has accumulated.]

[The skill ‘Light Footsteps (E+)’ has changed to ‘Light Footsteps (D).’]

“Nice.”

I smiled as their upper bodies cleanly separated and fell to the ground.

That was close. I nearly ended up with a ventilation hole in my skull.

After admiring the results of my work for a moment, I looked toward the sky again.

What next?

I had reached the place I was guided to, faced the trial, and cleared it.

Naturally, since I had been guided here and given a trial, I assumed there would be a reward for it.

[You who have overcome the trial. Your qualifications have been proven.]

─Whoooosh!

At that moment, a powerful wind blew through, and the fog that had been blocking my view began to recede.

The bushes and trees that had been dyed white started returning to their original colors, and just as warm rays of light began to shine down from the sky again.

─!!

I sensed souls just like before.

The souls of the elves who had remained here.

They reacted to me and slowly approached.

I quietly reached out my hand and resonated with their souls, gentle and soft like nature itself.

[Recognizing the souls of the elves hidden within the World Tree.]

[Beginning Interpretation.]

[Interpreting the experiences of the souls.]

As their memories gradually flowed into me, I closed my eyes.

[You have acquired the skill ‘Nature Affinity.’]

[You have acquired the skill ‘Poison Resistance.’]

[You have inherited the elves’ experience.]

[The skill ‘Regeneration (F)’ changes to ‘Regeneration (D).’]

The word that appeared after the skills was ‘inheritance.’

I inherited their experience?

The change in my Regeneration skill opened up a new perspective for me.

‘So a soul’s experience can make my skills stronger too?’

I nodded at the new realization and felt the change for myself.

What exactly was Nature Affinity?

Did it literally mean blending into nature?

Or maybe with nature... Hmm?

My gaze turned as though guided by instinct.

As though something unseen were leading me and whispering.

My feet began to move.

And soon, what appeared before my eyes was.

“An altar...?”

It was an altar.

A small altar surrounded by bushes.

And atop it lay an old bow tangled in vines.

But.

“It’s only half of one.”

Unlike a complete bow, half of the bow stave was missing.

However.

─Hummm!!

Seeing the arrow in my pocket react, I realized this was the reward for the trial.

I stepped forward and picked up the bow, of which only half remained.

“There’s something written here...”

Though it was only half a bow, something was written beneath it.

‘Is this Elvish?’

I could tell because I had faintly seen characters like these in the memories.

[Using the ability ‘Interpretation.’]

“So...”

[Great Warrior’s Bow]

─Once belonged to Great Warrior Arni ─Crackle─...

─A soul resides within the item.

As expected, because half of it was broken off, I couldn’t learn its exact name, but I could interpret the general information.

‘Great Warrior?’

[Interpreting the soul contained within the bow.]

─Crackle!

Sparks flew.

What’s wrong with this thing?

[Unable to interpret all memories from the broken relic.]

[An unstable technique is being engraved into your body.]

“So it failed...”

Because the relic was broken?

I was bewildered because this had never happened before, but as the sensation seeped into my body, I quietly closed my eyes.

[You have acquired a skill.]

[You have acquired the skill ‘Spirit Arts (C).’]

─You can command low-grade spirits.

[The skill ‘Spirit Affinity’ reacts to ‘Spirit Arts.’]

[‘Spirit Arts (C)’ changes to ‘Spirit Arts (B).’]

‘The skills reacted to each other.’

I stared blankly at Spirit Arts as it changed due to its connection with a skill I had acquired earlier.

So this was possible too?

Beyond simple amazement, I realized something about the limits of skills.

I could feel that their depth was far greater than anything I had ever known.

More importantly.

“Spirit Arts...”

Spirits?

The things those elves used?

Perhaps because elves were beings attuned to nature, the ones I had seen in the memories each kept a spirit with them like a pet.

They usually used spirits to cast magic as well.

I also remembered some of them making spirits inhabit their weapons to strengthen them.

“If I find the other half of the bow, I’ll be able to get a higher-ranked skill.”

The moment I saw the rank of Spirit Arts, I realized it.

To obtain the complete skill, I had to find the other half of the bow.

And.

[The effect of the skill ‘Spirit Arts (B)’ is activating.]

[A low-grade spirit has acknowledged you as its master.]

“Master...”

─!!

─~~!

Soon, something small began floating around in front of me.

It looked like a tiny white dot.

It circled around me and kept bumping lightly against my body as though acting cute.

I was curious.

What could this little thing do?

It didn’t seem capable of speaking, so I decided to ask it questions one by one.

“Can you fight?”

─Shake, shake.

So it couldn’t fight.

“What about magic?”

─Shake, shake.

Then what can you do?

“Can you actually do anything?”

─Shake, shake, shake!

What the hell does that mean?

I never realized how inconvenient it was to be unable to communicate.

That only made me even more curious.

What the hell could I use this thing for?

And thanks to the spirit, that question was soon answered.

─Float.

“Where are you going?”

The spirit suddenly shot up into the sky.

And.

─Zap.

At the same time I felt a slight pain around my eyes.

“What the hell is this...”

My vision expanded.

No, it went beyond simply expanding.

It was almost like...

“Clairvoyance?”

It was similar to the Clairvoyance ability some hunters were said to possess.

It was as though I were looking down on the forest I stood in from above.

And that wasn’t all.

I could see things invisible to human eyes.

I could see strange flows and even sense things like energy.

‘I can clearly see where the monsters are.’

It was reconnaissance in the truest sense.

I could see where enemies were without even sensing them.

Where they were headed, and even where they were hiding.

And.

“Why is that one hollow?”

There was one tree in the forest that was strangely empty inside.

While the other trees were completely solid within, the one before me was hollow and seemed to contain a path leading downward.

Don’t tell me.

“Keep showing me. I’m going there to check it myself.”

I gave the spirit an order and ran toward the tree.

__________________

They said there were occasionally floors in the Tower where few monsters appeared, or almost none at all.

There was no official term for them, but they were generally called Safe Zones.

From what I had heard, these Safe Zones were also one of the most important things guilds considered when going on expeditions.

They were human too, after all, so naturally they needed somewhere without monsters where they could rest.

And.

What stood before me was also something similar to a Safe Zone.

─Knock, knock.

A hollow tree.

When I slowly pulled on the bark, it opened like a door, revealing a space inside.

I grabbed the vines that served as a ladder and climbed downward.

What unfolded before my eyes was an enormous room.

The interior had been heavily reinforced, as though prepared for some kind of disaster.

Even though it was underground, it had been reinforced with steel, and I could also see traces of bushes woven together to create even sturdier walls against intruders.

What the hell is this place...

Before investigating the suspicious space.

“Keep watch outside for me.”

─!!

I stationed the spirit as a guard and slowly looked around the interior.

[Interpreting the interior.]

Because of the enormous area, my eyes gradually began to tire, but the internal structure slowly came into view.

And what I saw at the end of it was...

“A shelter?”

[Natural Air-Raid Shelter]

─A shelter created by elves in the past.

─The condition of the interior facilities is currently good.

‘A shelter made by elves?’

The difference in facilities was so extreme that it would be insulting to compare this to the structures I had seen in the labyrinth before.

It was like comparing a hotel to a dingy basement room in the back alleys.

With facilities like these, I could probably abandon the hideout I was currently using on the fifth floor.

No, later, when climbing the Tower, instead of going out of my way to find a Safe Zone, I could simply stop here and rest.

“Is this... a tunnel?”

While exploring the shelter, something caught my eye: a dark passage where almost no light entered.

A tunnel that seemed to lead downward.

It had been dug so deeply that I couldn’t see where it ended.

Apparently, this too...

‘The elves must have made it.’

A shelter and a tunnel.

Maybe they had built them to escape from something for some reason.

This really was a strange place.

There was a shelter inside the Tower, and now some bizarre tunnel too.

And I still wasn’t done looking around.

“A laboratory...?”

Perhaps they had been trying to make something, because enormous cauldrons and what looked like research documents were scattered everywhere.

I picked up the research papers one by one and examined their contents.

An ordinary person wouldn’t understand anything even if they looked at research papers, but I was different.

No matter the language or terminology, my ability neatly organized it and smashed it into my head like easy-to-eat baby food.

[Using the ability ‘Interpretation.’]

[Elven Potion Research Data]

─Contains information regarding the elves’ secret potion.

As the words in the documents gradually lodged themselves in my mind and I understood them one by one, my head began filling with questions.

This is...

I had no choice but to check again whether I had understood correctly.

Naturally.

“A potion recipe...? No, is this for real?”

Potions.

They were the most widely sold product in the city, but they were also one of the most absurdly overpriced.

However, because one guild monopolized the potion industry, people had no choice but to grit their teeth and buy them.

They supposedly spent half of their earnings solely on security just to keep the recipe hidden.

And I had obtained something that important in one shot.

‘Besides, only the elves know about the herbs that grow here in the first place.’

An elven potion...

─Gulp.

I swallowed involuntarily.

If I could make potions using this recipe.

My hands naturally moved toward the cauldron beside me.

‘This will be a huge help from now on.’

I could save all the money I would otherwise spend buying potions, and I might even be able to make money selling potions myself.

─Tap.

I lit a fire beneath the cauldron.

In one hand, I held the elves’ recipe.

In the other, I held the ingredients.

I had plenty of ingredients.

The herbs I had discovered earlier were more than enough to make potions.

I sliced, trimmed, and chopped the herbs.

I prepared each herb differently while adjusting the flame.

No mistakes were allowed.

After all, potions lost their effectiveness if they weren’t made with precision.

So perfectly.

I had to carry it out as perfectly as the elves I had seen in the memories.

─Clatter.

I gripped the ladle and stirred slowly.

Patiently.

Slowly.

But not too slowly.

How much time had passed?

Just as my arms began to ache, my eyes started closing, and irritation rose all the way to the top of my head.

Only then did a sweet fragrance emerge.

Green liquid filled the cauldron.

“Green...? Aren’t potions normally red?”

Was it because this was an elven secret potion?

The color was quite different from the potions I knew, which surprised me, but soon I smelled the faint fragrance and realized I had made it perfectly.

[Using Interpretation.]

[Elven Potion]

─A secret potion of the elves made using only herbs of the great outdoors.

“First, I need to test how effective it is...”

─Beep!!

─!!

Red light filled the room.

“What’s going on?”

The spirit, which had been white, turned red as it warned me.

It meant someone had appeared nearby.

At the spirit’s warning, I quickly moved.

I immediately left the shelter, then covered the entrance with bushes so no one else could find it.

I prepared myself as the presence gradually approached.

‘Just in case...’

I had no idea what hunters I met for the first time on the tenth floor might do.

─Rustle.

The bushes directly in front of me moved.

Then two figures appeared before me.

“Huh...? A-a person...?”

Those were the first words of the hunter who encountered me.

‘Two people... Are they both seriously injured?’

One was a middle-aged man covered in blood.

The other was a woman coming down while supporting him by pulling his arm over her shoulder.

The woman supporting him wasn’t in good condition either.

Her complexion was pale from blood loss, and judging from the way she limped, her leg appeared to be broken.

If I left them alone, they were almost guaranteed to bleed to death before they could even make it all the way down the Tower.

“Ah, we’re screwed...”

The woman collapsed to the ground the moment she said those words.

“Fuck... Seriously... those fucking bastards.”

Then, as though she had given up on everything, she began cursing.

What the hell are these people?