Gun Chapter 39: Skill Points (Patreon)

Wakasha ignored the three as they moved toward the fallen goblin corpses. With a sharp hiss, the short sword at his waist left its sheath, a flash of cold light cutting through the air.

Slice—slice—slice—

Clean, efficient cuts rang out as Wakasha skillfully severed the goblins’ ears and tossed them into the cloth pouch he carried with him.

Lenk, Lina, and Aila stood frozen where they were, hardly daring to breathe as they watched him work.

They could feel it clearly: this boy looked calm on the surface, but there was a coldness and ruthless edge in him that didn’t match his age at all.

When he killed goblins, there wasn’t the slightest ripple in his eyes, as if he were only cutting weeds. The monsters that had seemed so terrifying to them hadn’t even had the chance to struggle in his hands.

Once he’d collected all their ears, his commission was complete—and in fact, he’d even killed four more goblins than required.

Still, the extras could be turned in for bounty money too, so it wasn’t wasted effort.

Wakasha dropped the last goblin ear into the bag and casually shook the opening closed, the coarse cloth rustling softly.

Lenk, Lina, and Aila still didn’t dare move. They watched as Wakasha sheathed his sword and brushed off his hands, even though there was no dust on them. His face remained completely expressionless, as if slaughtering eight goblins and saving three lives had been no different from stepping on a few ants by the roadside.

Lenk swallowed hard, suppressing the pain coming from his wounds, and bowed to Wakasha once more.

“Sir, we’ll never forget that you saved our lives today. It’s just... we really don’t have anything valuable on us right now. But if there’s ever a chance in the future—”

“No need.”

Wakasha cut him off, his tone flat and calm.

“I didn’t save you for your sake. I just didn’t like the look of those goblins.”

He paused, glanced over their ragged, bloodstained gear, and added,

“In the state you’re in, if you keep going deeper into the forest and run into another monster, you’ll die for sure.

Go straight out in the direction I came from. You’ll reach the safe zone in about half an hour. Don’t wander around again.”

Lina clutched her short bow tightly and asked in a small voice, “Sir... aren’t you coming out with us?”

“I’m not done with my commission yet.”

Wakasha answered casually, his gaze already shifting deeper into the forest.

The air carried more than just the smell of blood and rotting leaves now. Beneath it was a stronger, more dangerous stench—one that only more goblins, and more dangerous ones, would give off.

The three of them went pale.

They could barely handle ordinary goblins. Whatever danger Wakasha was talking about was clearly on an entirely different level.

This young man, who looked barely older than them, was far stronger than they had imagined.

“Then we won’t trouble you any further, Sir.”

Lenk didn’t dare say more. He bowed again with the two girls.

“Please... be careful.”

The three of them supported each other and cautiously retreated toward the forest edge in the direction Wakasha had indicated.

After taking a few steps, Aila couldn’t help glancing back. The thin but strikingly upright figure had already melted back into the shadows beneath the trees. The black body of Deathbird was half-hidden among the leaves, leaving behind only a trace of cold killing intent.

It wasn’t until they had completely left that dangerous stretch behind that Lina finally let out a long breath, leaning against a tree trunk and panting.

“S-so scary... Who is that, exactly? He doesn’t even look much older than me, but he’s that strong.”

Lenk let out a bitter laugh and leaned against the tree as he treated his wound.

“No idea. But he’s definitely a genius.

I’ve never even seen that kind of ranged weapon before, and that accuracy... no ordinary adventurer could train that in a lifetime.”

Aila gripped her crude wooden staff, her expression complicated.

“I think... I think he could tell there was something wrong with my magic just now. Does that mean he knows magic too?”

“Don’t think too much about it.”

Lenk patted her shoulder.

“The fact that we made it out alive is already a miracle. From now on, we need to save up for better gear and buy updated maps. We can’t afford to be this reckless ever again.”

The three of them continued out of the forest, talking quietly among themselves.

What they didn’t know was that this chance encounter would plant a seed in each of their hearts.

But to Wakasha, it was nothing more than a minor detour on his road as an adventurer.

Silence returned to the forest, broken only by the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Hidden behind the tree trunk, Wakasha waited until he was sure Lenk and the others had safely left before turning his attention back to his surroundings.

After confirming there was no immediate danger, he opened his personal panel and tried using the skill point on his talent, Law of the Jungle.

[Talent: Law of the Jungle LV2 (0/500,000): EXP gained from kills ×20, including skill EXP]

The EXP multiplier had gone up by another ten times.

It wasn’t the exponential leap he’d fantasized about, but it was still far better than the worst-case scenario.

And since this upgrade had come from a skill point, Wakasha was profiting massively no matter how he looked at it.

Still, it was a little disappointing that the talent hadn’t triggered any extra upgrade options. He didn’t know whether that was because the level was still too low, or whether talents simply didn’t work that way.

At the same time the talent leveled up, Wakasha felt something inside his body tremble faintly, and an indescribable sensation of comfort spread through him.

[Because of your talent’s ascension, your body has undergone a purification—]

[Strength +1, Constitution +1, Agility +1, Intelligence +2, Perception +1, Charisma +1]

Wakasha froze for a moment, then looked at his panel again.

[Name: Wakasha

Race: Pureblood Human (No bloodline bonuses)

Class: None

Challenge Rating: 0

Strength: 5

Agility: 6

Constitution: 5

Intelligence: 9

Perception: 7

Charisma: 6

Skills—

Talent: Law of the Jungle (Gold) LV2

Passive: Goblin Hunter LV3, Slime Hunter LV5, Plant Hunter LV1

Spell-like Ability: Concept Armament · Deathbird LV2

Spells: (0-ring) Mage Hand LV4, Spark at Fingertip LV5]

This was insane.

Wakasha felt like his entire body had undergone a complete rebirth.

The world looked different from one second to the next.

The sensory feedback brought by 9 Intelligence and 7 Perception gave him an entirely new awareness of the world around him.

At the same time, those sharply enhanced senses also made the negative things around him—the stench of goblins, the smell of blood, and everything else—hit him far more clearly.

Fortunately, Wakasha reacted quickly. He used the herbs to suppress the smell and slowly forced himself to adapt.

Otherwise, he might have become the first adventurer in history to pass out because his senses got too sharp too fast.