If Something That Big Appears, the Room’s Done For

In every town we visited, we made sure to stay at least a full day for resupplying and resting. This time, coinciding with my 10th birthday, I was granted access to the Adventurer's Guild archives—a treasure trove of knowledge on skills. Back in my home village, unfamiliar skills would often send us on trips to nearby towns just to investigate.

With Yuri and Luca handling the shopping, I immersed myself in the library, pulling several books on skills onto the table. Fingers crossed that I'd find some answers…

To my disappointment, no book contained any mention of the skill [Eight-Element Magic]. What even was this skill? Similarly, the second gift, [Blessing of the Spirit King], was absent from every record. As for [Mana Concealment], it was a known skill—its description confirmed my understanding: the ability to hide one's mana from others using [Mana Detection].

[Magic Range Expansion] and [Magic Range Compression], however, were well-documented. The former expands a spell's effective area but dilutes its potency, while the latter focuses the magic within a smaller area to increase its effect. Both seemed incredibly useful and worth practicing. As for [Synthesis] and [Decomposition], I had to rely on ancient texts. Apparently, [Synthesis] combined identical materials into a higher-tier version, while [Decomposition] broke materials down into multiple lower-tier components. These skills, tied to ancient alchemy, were now regarded as relics of a bygone era. The potential of these abilities was as awe-inspiring as it was terrifying. Combine enough herbs, and you might create something akin to a World Tree Leaf—an unsettling thought.

By the time I finished my research, Yuri and Luca had returned from their shopping.

"Welcome back," I greeted.

"Looks like you've been busy," Yuri remarked, eyeing the stack of books.

"With skills like yours, I bet you've got some crazy rare ones," Luca chimed in.

I chuckled nervously. "Nothing that special, really. Most are as straightforward as their names. But I wanted to double-check everything to be sure."

"You're thorough, as always," Yuri said, nodding approvingly.

"Of course, it's what we'd expect from you," Luca added.

Their errands complete, we returned to the inn.

While I intended to keep my two gifts a secret, I decided to share my first gift, [Sacred Beast Summon], with Yuri and Luca. It only seemed fair since I already knew their gifts.

"Yuri, Luca," I began, "I'm going to use one of my gifts, but let me explain it first."

"A gift you can use outside of combat? Now I'm curious," Yuri said, leaning in.

"Hey now, gifts are as varied as the stars," Luca said. "Let him explain first."

After calming down, I described [Sacred Beast Summon], a gift that allows me to summon and contract with a sacred beast. Their reactions ranged from disbelief to awe.

"You sure you should've told us about this? That's huge," Yuri asked cautiously.

"I trust you both," I said earnestly. "Besides, it might become a crucial asset, so I want to summon it and establish a contract while I can. It'll also affect your job if I suddenly have a sacred beast in tow."

"Fair point," Yuri said. "Let's see what you've got. I've heard all sorts of rumors about sacred beasts—wonder what'll show up."

"But, um, sacred beasts can be huge, right?" Luca asked, her tone uneasy. "Are you sure about summoning one in our room?"

"How huge are we talking?" I asked hesitantly.

"Well, there are stories about sacred dragons… so, maybe as big as a dragon?"

My face paled. "That big? In here?"

"Yeah, that's not happening," Yuri said, crossing his arms.

With the royal capital just a short distance away, we agreed to summon the sacred beast outside the city for safety. That evening, to celebrate my birthday, we enjoyed a lavish dinner at the inn's dining hall. For now, the mystery of the sacred beast would have to wait.