The Petite Dungeon Explorer - 63 The Hermi
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63 The Hermi

It was safe to say that this was going to be a grim battle, one that wasn't going to easily win if I was going to be required to save people at the same time. I was pretty confident about hunting them down and slaughtering them all.

Yet, even that wouldn't be an easy feat, especially, if they turn out to have a Goblin King or even a Goblin Queen. It would be a battle of attrition and I doubt that these humans would last that long.

That city of theirs better be siege ready if it wasn't then it would fall! I'd have to deal with the aftermath of that on top of my slaughtering a ma.s.s of goblins.

What a headache, I found myself in at the moment.

Sighing, I lean my head back against the edge of the canvas that covered the wagon that I was sitting in. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I try to clear out the negative thoughts.

'Life Page.'

「Name: Hollis Grey Astley

Race: Pure-Blooded Vampire Level: 32 (19%)

Cla.s.s: n/a Job: n/a

Strength: 41 (10) Endurance: 35 Agility: 51.5 Vitality: 58.5

MP: 1,050 HP: 1,530 Pa.s.sives: Triple Exp, Insanity

Skill(s): Counter (Lv.4), Counter Strike (Lvl.3), Evasion (Lvl.5), Stealth (Lvl.3), Critical Hit (Lvl.5), Lethal Strike (Lvl.2), Sprint (Lvl.2) Bloodl.u.s.t Detection (Lvl.1), Fortress Stance, Forage, Goblin Wisdom, Goblin Language, etc.

Unique Skill(s): Appraisal (Lvl.3), Devour (Lvl.2), High-Stakes Dice, War Might 」

Oh, that was nice. I'd leveled up twice from all the goblins that I'd managed to kill. That was convenient if I could earn levels in here killing ten thousand goblins would give out a huge payday.

My skill list was becoming quite large with the new addition of the skills that I'd gotten from eating those goblins. I felt my mouth start to water as I thought about the goblin mage and healers that I hadn't gotten to eat.

I'm sure that they would have handed out a good skill if I'd gotten to eat enough of them.

"Tsk, what a waste!" I grumble. Rubbing a hand down my face, I swipe my hand through the screen, and it closes.

Speaking of killing though, I summon my scissors, and then I also summon the egg that I'd gotten from the G.o.ddess. Sitting with the scissors in my lap, I hold the egg in my hands. The pitch-black center of the egg had begun to expand like veins outwards through the thick clear surroundings.

I'd been feeding it a lot of thought over the past three years, but the only changes that had happened to the egg were these little outreaching veins. It seems that this little fellow would take a lot to develop

As of yet, I hadn't decided what sort of beast exactly I wanted to hatch. However, it would be something that was ferocious and strong. I rub the little egg with my finger, and it seems to shake slightly.

If I had to kill ten thousand, then these ten thousand will offer their souls up to my child's birth. Smirking, I look towards the scissors and a screen appears.

「Fate Cutters.??? Soul Count: 59」

Inside of my scissors, I had fifty-nine souls ripe for the picking.

"Now, how should I feed them to you little one?" I ask it. Rubbing the egg, I try to think of a way to transfer the souls to it. But before I could come up with an idea, a thick black fog seeped out of the scissors and floats through the air.

It glitters with a dark purple light as it's drawn into the egg. The black veins bulge a little bit and the core of the egg began to twinkle with purple sparkle.

「Fate Cutters.??? Soul Count: 0」

Turns out it wasn't that hard to feed this little guy, he seemed to know exactly what I wanted. That could also be the fact that I've been feeding him with my thoughts and memories.

I'd have to cut down my enemies and let him absorb their souls! This trail was beginning to feel more and more like a precious mine that was waiting for me to devour it.

A few of the other members in the wagon look towards me with evident looks of concern. But I don't let it bother me. It seems like they aren't able to see the black fog, they just thought I was talking to a weird looking egg it seems.

That was rather convenient.

Putting my egg away. I hold my scissor and take a deep breath. This was a rather slow-moving caravan.

[Your reward has been deposited to the bracelet!]

Well, at least it hadn't forgotten about the reward that it'd given to me. Looking towards the bracelet that had been given to me with the single red bead. I tap the red bead and a card materializes from it.

"Wow," I whistle plucking the card from the air after it's finished.

The card had a weight to it. Nothing that was too heavy, but it was substantial enough to feel it. Holding the card between my index finger and middle finger, I can't help but applaud the craftsmans.h.i.+p of it.

It was a completely golden card that had black dripping down the back of it. The black only drips halfway down the golden card in my hand. In the center on the back of the card, the symbol of an eye appears on it with a knife through it. From behind that two great wings appear coiling around the eye with a knife through it.

A s.h.i.+ver runs up my back as I look at the symbol, a strange sort of power seems to be emanating outwards from the card in my hand.

Twisting the card around, it's not completely gold like the back of the card instead it's embellished around the rim of the card front in gold. The image depicted on the front of the card is an old man.

The old man has a long white beard, and he dressed in a simple grey rob that covers the top of his head. White hair curls out from the hood of the cloak. His face is covered in wrinkles and dark eyes that seem to be listless.

He's got his hand up, it's holding a beautiful lantern, one that doesn't match his despondent look. On the other hand he's carrying a simple walking stick that is made out of gold.

At the bottom of the card inscribed in golden letters is [The Hermit], and above his head in the same print is [IX].

What an interesting gift I'd gotten.

We'll time to appraise it!

As if reading my mind, information began to appear, before I even used my skill.

「The Hermit, a wander that carried with him [The Lamp of Truth], [The Patriarch's Staff], and [The Cloak of Discretion]. With these items in tow, he seeks out a n.o.ble path of truth and enlightenment from this world's order. 」

This sounds a lot like the introduction for a sage. Well, I might as well continue.

「This Hermit carries with him several affinities: prudence, treason, dissimulation, roguery, and corruption. However, he also carried: concealment, disguise, fear, and unreasonable caution. It could be said that he's of two minds when it comes to things! 」

「Skill Usages: [1] The Lamp of Truth – designed to discern the truth from any situation. Usages: three per-day. Requirements: ??? [2] The Patriarch's Staff – ??? Usages: ??? Requirements: ??? [3] The Cloak of Discretion – ??? Usages: ??? Requirement's: ???」

Ah, seriously I only got information on the first part, even that I didn't know what to do about the requirements. Talk about some bad luck when it came to my compet.i.tion reward.

I wonder if I'll be able to use this. Hm.

Sigh, what a pain! I'll leave this for later, it might come in handy at some point or another, I absorb it into my storage.

After pocketing the card, I saw the others in the wagon looking at me with interest. I could see greed, envy, and curiosity swirling in the eyes of the ones that are around me.

Heh, human's vile creatures they are always true to their nature it seems. Well, …not all humans are that bad. I have my expectation of being around Cecily and Ekon.

Stacking these humans up against Cecily and Ekon was probably cruel. Those two are an exception, they are unlike normal humans. I should try my best to not compare them to these generated humans.

Actually, were these generated humans or something else? But it was still possible that I could get hurt and for them to die and they had their own traditions, it could be possible that there was some reality to this place in the end.

"Please don't stare at my guest that's disrespectful to my guest," Theodora snaps and all the others turn away mumbling sorry. A few cast a last glance at me, but for the most part, they go back to talking amongst each other.

She gives me a small smile and leans back against the wagon. At least she was useful in that respect.