Vol. 1 Chapter 3 - Arch-nemesis Appears!

 

Now that I’ve set my immediate goals in this world, I shall work diligently towards their achievement.

 

Finding other reincarnators and leading a slow life might be out of reach for now, so I’ll focus on evolving to survive and collecting many skills. To do this, let’s first check what I can do with my current abilities.

 

Using Life Detection, Mana Detection, and Hostility Detection, I ensure the safety of my surroundings. Then, I open my status and carefully review each item.

 

I already examined the skills when I acquired them, so the first thing I scrutinized with Appraisal was the magic. I’ve acquired Light Magic, Water Magic, Time-Space Magic, and Gravity Magic. These magic types get stronger with use, with higher levels increasing their power, range, and reducing mana consumption.

 

Furthermore, there is a system where the level determines the rank of the magic, and as the level goes up, I can learn new magic. Currently, at Level 1, I can only use 5th rank magic, but it seems that at Level 10, I’ll be able to use 4th rank magic. After that, it seems to go up by five levels each time. I want to be able to use 1st rank magic at some point.

 

With renewed determination, I continued using Appraisal.

 

Let’s see, the 5th rank of Light Magic is “Light,” a simple spell that creates a ball of light. Water Magic’s 5th rank is “Water Edge,” which creates a small water cutter for attacks. Excellent, I now have a means of self-defense.

 

However, for some reason, Time-Space Magic and Gravity Magic didn’t have 5th rank spells. I have to cast spells to level up, but I don’t have any spells to use. I start to wonder if these skills are essentially death skills. Perhaps I’ve wasted two valuable slots, but it’s too early to draw a conclusion. I’ll leave them for now in case I can use them in the future.

 

I also decided to appraise the title “Reincarnator,” which I hadn’t appraised before. It turns out that the “Reincarnator” title makes acquiring skills easier. This was a pleasant surprise. Thank you, goddess-like swindler!

 

After checking the magic effects, it was time to try them out. Since I’m moss, I can’t speak, but I have Chant Abolishment, so I should be able to use them without issues. I decided to start by trying Light Magic’s “Light.”

 

I envisioned a ball of light in my mind while silently saying “Light.” At that moment, I felt a brief flash of light above me.

 

(Oh, it seems I was able to use magic, but my mana is only 5, so the light only lasted for a moment…)

 

Looking at my status, my mana had dropped to 0. With only 5 mana, it seemed the light would only last for a moment.

 

But it’s okay. I have “Mana Auto-Recovery” at Level 1, which means it will recover once per minute, so it should be full again in five minutes.

 

Moreover, I didn’t want to waste the five minutes until it recovered, so I decided to repeatedly use skills that didn’t consume mana during that time.

 

I kept using Appraisal and Thought Acceleration repeatedly and stored and retrieved what looked like nearby stones in my Item Box.

 

As time passed, five minutes had elapsed, and my mana was fully restored. Alright, now let’s try using “Water Edge.”

 

Just like before, I silently imagined a thin water disc and uttered “Water Edge.”

 

Shun!

 

A single Water Edge was created, making a pleasing sound as it flew and cut a slender wooden branch floating on the water in half before dissipating.

 

“Hmm, that’s quite sharp.”

 

I didn’t actually see it, but I can vaguely sense the presence of the wood through Life Detection, with a range of about 10 meters for now since I’m still at Level 1. It’s sufficient for my current needs.

 

Afterward, I continued to use photosynthesis to generate nutrients and oxygen while repeatedly using magic and detection. By the end of the day…

 

Species: Moss

 

Name: None

 

Rank: G

 

Level: 2

 

Health: 6/6

 

Mana: 6/6

 

Attack: 0

 

Defense: 2

 

Magic Attack: 6

 

Magic Defense: 6

 

Agility: 0

 

Skills:

 

– Special Evolution

– Language Understanding

– Chant Abolishment

– Item Box Level 2

– Appraisal Level 2

– Thought Acceleration Level 2

– Life Detection Level 2

– Mana Detection Level 2

– Hostility Detection Level 2

– Health Auto-Recovery Level 1

– Mana Auto-Recovery Level 2

– Light Magic Level 2

– Water Magic Level 2

– Time-Space Magic Level 1

– Gravity Magic Level 1

– Photosynthesis Level 2

 

Titles:

 

– Reincarnator

– Skill Collector

 

While I hadn’t defeated any monsters, my level had increased by one. Moss probably gains experience through photosynthesis. All the skills I had been using had also gone up by one level. I had the impression that skills were difficult to level up, but the “Reincarnator” title might be helping. My health hadn’t decreased, so Health Auto-Recovery hadn’t gone up, but I’d consider that when my level and health increase a bit more.

 

This progress was mainly due to the fact that I realized, after a while, that moss doesn’t need sleep. Thanks to this, I was able to level up throughout the day, likely gaining five levels in a week.

 

With the level increase, my health and mana both increased to 10. Light Magic now stayed lit for about 5 seconds, and I could now cast two Water Edges at once.

 

However, leveling up skills took longer than I had initially thought, particularly as the levels got higher. By the way, I still had no idea how to level up Time-Space Magic and Gravity Magic.

 

One day, I encountered what seemed to be my first archenemy since my reincarnation. Through Life Detection, I sensed a familiar form from my previous life. A creature that lives by consuming moss. Its hunched back, long beard, and its constant movement in the water left no room for doubt… it was a ‘Shrimp’!

 

For the past week, I hadn’t detected any life other than plants, so I had assumed there were no creatures in this pond. It seems that I just hadn’t come close enough. Whether it was born here or came from elsewhere, I couldn’t tell, but I could vaguely perceive the movements of this shrimp. Out of curiosity, I decided to ‘Appraise’ the detected life form.

 

Species: Shrimp (but not quite)

 

Name: None

 

Rank: F

 

Level: 7

 

Health: 15/15

 

Mana: 0/0

 

Attack: 10

 

Defense: 12

 

Magic Attack: 0

 

Magic Defense: 0

 

Agility: 11

 

Skill:

 

– Water Movement Level 2

 

Huh? It’s not a shrimp; it’s a “Shrimp,” and its rank is F with a level of 7, which is higher than mine.

 

This “Shrimp,” or “Shrimp” for short, was about 3 cm long. I couldn’t determine its color, but it clung to a large stone where moss grew. Unbelievably, it was feasting on my companions. This couldn’t be forgiven. Well, that was the official stance, but in reality, I saw an opportunity to make it my magical experiment subject.

 

The “Shrimp” continued to eat the moss on the stone while getting closer to the water’s surface. I waited for the right moment.

 

“Now’s the time! Water Edge!”

 

I conjured a water blade that approached the “Shrimp.”

 

Shh!

 

…It dodged. It simply dodged. I couldn’t believe it, but it had dodged my attack. Up until now, I had only practiced on immobile targets, which was why I didn’t realize how unskilled I was at controlling magic. Nevertheless, I couldn’t afford to lose. I had to avenge my companions.

 

So, I cast another Water Edge.

 

Swish!

 

This time it hit. I had successfully sliced the “Shrimp” in one stroke. Although I was concerned because of its slightly high defense, its magic defense was zero, making it vulnerable to magic. Thanks to that, I was able to defeat it effortlessly.

 

“Rest in peace, unfortunate ‘Shrimp.’ But I’m glad I chose magic as an initial skill. Even though I can’t move, I can still take care of small creatures that come to eat my moss.”

 

Now that I knew I could handle external threats, I could relax a bit. Moreover, defeating the “Shrimp” had caused my level to increase.

 

Species: Moss

 

Name: None

 

Rank: G

 

Level: 7

 

Health: 11/11

 

Mana: 2/11

 

Attack: 0

 

Defense: 7

 

Magic Attack: 11

 

Magic Defense: 11

 

Agility: 0

 

Skills:

 

– Special Evolution

– Language Understanding

– Chant Abolishment

– Item Box Level 3

– Appraisal Level 3

– Thought Acceleration Level 3

– Life Detection Level 3

– Mana Detection Level 3

– Hostility Detection Level 3

– Health Auto-Recovery Level 1

– Mana Auto-Recovery Level 3

– Light Magic Level 3

– Water Magic Level 4

– Time-Space Magic Level 1

– Gravity Magic Level 1

– Photosynthesis Level 3

 

Titles:

 

– Reincarnator

– Skill Collector

 

With the level increase, my stats had also slightly improved. Additionally, one of my Water Magic skills had leveled up. It seemed that using magic to defeat enemies sped up skill leveling, which I intended to confirm further in the future.