Wait… No… Hold on…

  What do you mean “Title Acquired: [Heretic]?!” What kind of bullshit is that?! I am being unfairly treated by the game AI! Surely such a simple use of [Sacrificial Magic] and [Holy Magic] can’t be an automatic trigger for such a Title… Is it to do with the fact that I used the corpse of that elf? Or that I am a monster? I should file a complaint to the devs once I am done healing.

  Hmph!

  Crossing my slowly regenerating stump over my chest alongside my one functional arm, I stand on my hind legs to look over my gains. A frosted glass window appears in my vision and I pull up my past notifications list. There was one that felt rather important that I had blocked out mid fight. Ah, here it is.

  [You have acquired the Unique Skill [Vorpal]!]

  Huh. Does the game AI just give out Unique Skills like that? It clearly is pulling from my own username when naming the skill so it must be something made specially for me. Though, I don’t think I have heard anything on the forums about Unique Skills. Though, anyone who got one is likely keeping it to themselves. Whiny little bitches would come after you in a heartbeat once they know you have something they don’t. I would rather not get murdered for the sake of their fragile egos.

  Grim reality of the loser mindset aside, I wonder what the skill actually does?

  Pulling up the skill list I check the description. The normally white runes glow a soft gold for the skill name and description showcasing how special it is to have this.

  [Skill : [Vorpal]

  Description : Killing an opponent with the skill active will sacrifice 50% of your maximum capacity for Ether in exchange for 50% of your opponents maximum capacity for Ether.]

  Oh? Now that is fucking cool! Definitely a giant killer type skill. And maybe it should also be classified as vampiric? Only really useful for powering myself up in the long term it seems, I could upgrade my skills so much faster! Provided I can kill things much more powerful than I am, that is.

  Looking over at the dead and dissolving elf, I feel a bit of regret. Not for killing them obviously. The bastard cut my arm off! No, I regret not knowing about the skill before finishing the annoying dismemberer off. I could have gotten hella Ether from the elf, they were clearly chock full of the stuff. I can see the amount coming off their body as it fuels my heretical holy magic and it tells a story of how strong they were.

  It is a miracle I caught them off guard and got that lightning blast in, otherwise I would likely have died.

  Scanning my eyes over the dissolving corpse, I realize I should search the body. The elf may mostly be gone by now as the [Holy Magic] uses a ton of Ether, but I can still loot their belongings! Does the fact that I have no qualms about stealing from my murder victim make me a bad person? Nah, it was self defence anyway. I should stop asking questions like that, last time I did so I got a really mean Title.

  To be honest though, this Unique Skill is a total cheat! I could blast through upgrading my skills at ludicrous speed if I can track down enough high level enemies! Is this really allowed?

  I mean, I have been in the game for a single day and already have such an OP skill that absolutely destroyed the game balance. And the voice when I got the skill… I was not super paying attention, but it sounded different. The normal system voice is a bit artificial sounding, but that one was rather smooth. It felt… Important. Maybe the game is messing with my brain again to make it feel that way? Really not sure how legal that is.

  The voice for the [Heretic] Title was different too, it almost sounded, amused? I think the game AI might be a bit too snarky for its own good. Ugh, watever. I will look for a way to get rid of the Title at some point. Though, there are no [Identify] type skills thankfully. I think the Guild and churches can check your stat page, but I am a monster so I won’t have to worry about that!

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  What does the Title even do anyway?

  [Title : [Heretic]

  Description : For committing a heretical act.]

  …

  Oh, okay. It does nothing then. Cool.

  I guess it is a flavor text kind of thing? Maybe I can get that [Enemy Of Poultry] Title at some point. Hehehe, look out chickens! I am coming for you!

  Oh right! I was going to loot the elf! Forgot about that…

  Digging through the slightly charred clothes of the dissolving body, I mainly find knives, bottles of what is probably poison, and a crispy notebook. Whoops! I should learn to be more precise with my [Lightning Magic]. I should also be more careful about humans hunting me down. I saw a town off in the distance at the bottom of the valley while I was exploring the mountain, so I should be prepared for others to come looking. I diiiid kinda kill a one of this world’s human races just now so I can see a quest for a evil [Lesser Drake] ending up on the Guild board at some point. Meh, I will be fine as long as I am not completely empty of Ether like I was this time. No point in worrying about it!

  Opening my [Dimensional Storage], or as I like to call it my “Space Cubby,” I toss in the elf’s money, knives, food, water skin, and other personal effects. I would have taken the poison too, but it is kind of ruined thanks to my lightning blast.

  Sighing, I flex my new arm and mended tail. I really should evolve everything I can as fast as possible, maybe get some new skills while I am at it.

  “Well done on the job’h, now I have info about your next one.” A gruff red bearded dwarf in a nice grey suit scrunches up his face, his expression grave. The scout that had been sent to look into the basilisk situation up on Mt Veren has not reported in. A D Rank scout should not have fallen to a [Lesser Basilisk] so easily, this there is only one possibility that the Guildmaster can think of… The basilisk has evolved.

  “Shit… If it really did evolve then things might be a whole lot harder.” Nadia mutters at the news. She has spent a lot of time studying monsters and a [Greater Basilisk] is known for its [Stealth] and [Concealment] skills which are also passed onto its young. Their job to clean up the monsters before they can spread out will require a thorough sweep of the mountain. And if they are ambushed by the monster, things could get bad.

  “Indeed. I will be changing the job to an investigative one’h for now. I need ya’ll to determine the beasties location and status. If it evolved into a variant, then I will need to call in to the capital for backup’h.”

  The whole party of adventurers had hard looks, someone was already dead to the creature, and if it gained any more power the whole town could be in trouble. Their team was not the strongest. They could only explore the first layer of The Abyss and even that was never safe. A [Greater Basilisk] was a C ranked threat, not something they couldn’t take down, but it wouldn’t be easy. The party only barely qualified to be C Rank as a group.

  Still, they would protect this town as best they could.

  “Yes sir!” A strong chorus comes from the team as they stand up and leave to prepare.

  …

  ..

  .

  “Damn, the cockatrice population is far lower than normal. I guess the basilisk really did evolve…” Nadia fretted over the rather quiet forest. Monsters should be all over the place, but something had either killed or scared them off.

  “Ugh, this is really going to be a pain. I don’t want to spend weeks searching the whole mountain for every last baby basilisk.”

  “Quit whining Lupis, someone is dead. This job is important.” Dahlia glares at Lupis. That man only cares about his magic.

  Their footsteps are heavy but the leaves underfoot barely make a sound as they march along. [Stealth] is naturally an essential skill for any adventurer. Not that it is necessary for them right now, the complete lack of monsters making it pointless.

  “Everyone stop.” Nadia’s quiet voice halts all movement of the party.

  “What is it?” Whispering as softly as she can, Dahlia keeps her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw at any moment.

  “I feel a strong flow of Ether coming from that direction.” Channeling Ether into her eyes, Nadia activates her [Farsight] skill to peer through the distance. “Shit.” The consternation of her face gets worse and worse the longer she looks.

  “Damn it, Nadia, what did you see?” Harshly hissing out his question, Lupis inches closer and starts to channel his Ether.

  “The [Greater Basilisk]... it’s-”