I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN)

At this rate, I should be finished with chapter 1 in less than two weeks. When that happens, I’ll consolidate all these separate parts into a single post. These singular parts don’t have consistent capitalization or maybe even term names so I’ll double check them later.

Now I was curious about the skills’ levels.

The Goblin Leader had a Dismantle 2, and one of the mob goblins had Dig 2. But the skills I got were level 1. It looked like the levels were reset.

Do these skills level up? Do I have to use the skills for that to happen? Or do I have to absorb Magic Crystals? I’ll have to verify that in the future as well.

For the time being, I should set Alert and Poison Resistance.

Hmm. That aside, these corpses are a pain.

They’re collapsed around the pedestal so if I went back into the pedestal, I’d have to keep looking at them.

I dragged their corpses outside of the ruins with Telekinesis.

There were trails of blood left on the ground, but this was still better than the corpses.

I also dug a pit for the corpses.

It’d be great if my newly acquired Dig skill worked.

Yep. I’m digging.

I was able to quickly scoop out dirt with my thin blade. It felt just like I was using a shovel. I couldn’t tell if it was thanks to the Dig skill or if Telekinesis was good at this. But still, I want to think that something had an effect.

Well, I was glad that I had the new goal of collecting skills while I wait for a suitable wielder. Because I can become a stronger magic sword.

So I immediately started searching for things to hunt.

I flew around the ruins with Telekinesis. If I ran low on mana, I would land and rest.

Because this was an plain, I was able to travel far without worrying about not being able to find the pedestal.

The first thing I found was a small rat with six legs.

『I should Appraise it.』

Name: Six-legged Rat

Race: Animal

Lv: 1

HP: 2 MP: 0 Strength: 1 Agility: 7

Skills: None

It’s weak. Super weak. It doesn’t even have any skills.

But it’ll be fine as long as it has a Magic Crystal.

My current Magic Crystal Count is 4/100. I predicted that after I collect 96, my rank would go up.

Die for my growth.

I dive-bombed the rat. My attack was more accurate than I expected, and it cleaved the rat in two.

But my body didn’t glow.

『Huh? Why did nothing happen?』

I stabbed the rat another time, but I didn’t glow this time either.

This scene was bizarre, but I survived because I was a sword. Because I didn’t have a stomach to throw up from.

In the end, I couldn’t find a trace of a Magic Crystal.

Then I came to a realization.

When I checked the rat’s status, it said Animal as its race. Could demonic beasts be the only ones that have magic crystals? Since back on Earth, animals didn’t have them either.

In order to test my hypothesis, I became a rat-slaughtering magic sword as I attacked multiple rats.

The result was that even after killing three or four of them, there were no magic crystals to be found.

Next, I targeted demonic beasts.

Though the reason why was because I had already found one.

It was a 50 centimeter long centimeter that was gorging itself on the first rat I killed.

Name: Giant Centipede

Species: Demonic Beast. Threadworm

Lv: 4

HP: 18 MP: 7 Attack: 6 Agility: 14

Skills: Sense Vibrations 1, Climbing 1, Venomous Fangs

It says it’s a demonic beast. Good to go.

First, I stabbed it through the head.

But it started spasming violently.

It struggled while spewing yellow liquid from its mouth.

This time I cut its thorax in half as my finis.h.i.+ng blow.

The separated pieces of the large centipede squirmed in a display of insect traits, but it quickly stopped moving.

Good G.o.d, that’s gross.

But it was worthwhile to kill it.

I stabbed the now motionless centipede in the area around its heart and my blade s.h.i.+ned with light.

Just as when I absorbed magic crystals, I once again felt a sensation similar to satisfaction.

So demonic beasts definitely have magic crystals.

And the skills I gained were Sense Vibrations 1, Climbing 1, and Venomous Fangs.

But I don’t have any venom… I set Venomous Fangs and used it. My magic dropped by 5 points, and a thin stream of liquid secreted from my blade. It’s probably venom. Well, if it can be used then I don’t care.

I then set Climbing and was about to set Sense Vibrations but I couldn’t.

It looks like I can’t use all of the skills I gained.

I checked the Cla.s.s part and it said . It seems that Memory 10 means the maximum number of skills that I can equip.

Because I had equipped Dig 1, Dismantle 1, Alert 1, Sword Wielding 1, Club Wielding 1, Command 1, Survival 1, Cobalt Killer, Poison Resistance 1, and Venomous Fangs, I of course had 10 skills set.

As a test, I removed Club Wielding and set Sense Vibrations with no problem. Well, since I needed Club Wielding the least, I’ll leave it like this until I gain more skills.

The least useful skills for me were definitely Command, Survival, Poison Resistance, and Climbing. I want to gain some skills that I can replace them with.

So I resumed my search.

The next things I found were two shadows with their backs turned to me. They walked bow-legged and upright, kind of like chimpanzees, with green skin and ugly mugs.

『They’re goblins. And one of them’s holding something.』

After appraising them, I found that their statuses was almost identical to the others’. But in one of their hands was a large rat, likely their prey, that I had never seen before.

Name: Poison Fang Rat

Race: Demonic Beast. Fanged Beast

Lv: 1

Status: Dead

HP: 0 MP: 3 Strength: 4 Agility: 14

Skills: Alert 1

This’ll be a piece of cake.

I approached them without being noticed by hiding in the forest’s shadows.

There were only 2 meters between us.

I attacked the higher level one first.

『Woohoo! Hand over your magic crystal!』

Um, I seriously have no thirst for blood.

It’s just that I always wanted to say that.

Thud.

I stabbed the goblin through the back accompanied by a dull sound. The goblin wasn’t able to resist at all.

Seeing my blade glow, I immediately pulled my body out of the goblin.

The other goblin was stupefied as I rushed at it.

Two down. I acquired the skills Throwing and Hunting without a problem. I set them right away.

And I looked at the new demonic beast. However, I felt something was strange and tilted my head to the side. Though I didn’t have a head.

『Poison Fang Rat? But the only skill it has is Alert?』

Something had to be off if it doesn’t have Venomous Fangs. It didn’t fit its name.

I lifted the dead rat’s lips with Telekinesis. Large canines. And a yellow liquid squirted out the tip. Is that venom?

Hmm. What’s going on? The centipede had the skill Venomous Fangs, but the rat with Poison Fang in its name doesn’t?

I didn’t have enough hints to figure out why, even if I worried about it. I should hunt more demonic beasts and gather some information.

Thanks to Sense Vibrations and Hunting, I sensed something moving a small ways from me. It didn’t feel that big.

I slowly moved away from the forest.

Name: Scavenger

Race: Demonic Beast. Demonic Bird

Lv: 5

HP: 13 MP: 5 Strength: 9 Agility: 15

Skills: Poison Resistance 1, Enhanced Digestion

Is that a bird? I feel like Sense Vibrations will be an incredible help. I should go to it carefully.

I flew barely off the ground and took care to not make any noise as I moved towards it by avoiding the forest.

I cut off the Scavenger’s head without giving it the time to even get off the ground.

『Phew, it would’ve been annoying if it flew. Thank goodness I killed it before that happened.』

I stabbed the Scavenger multiple times before I absorbed its magic crystal.

I learned Enhanced Digestion. But since I don’t have a digestive tract, Enhanced Digestion is completely useless to me. But I learned even this skill so very easily. I couldn’t help but admire how flexible Cla.s.s was. (tn: flexible isn’t quite the right word. It’s supposed to be more negative…but I gave up.)

That aside, I definitely felt a sense of satisfaction when I absorbed the magic crystal. It felt as though my appet.i.te for magic crystals really existed. I want to absorb more.

Well then, would the next sacrifice please come on over here? If possible, one that has a skill I don’t have.

While searching for prey like that, I saw a strange beast.

Something that looked like a kite was floating low in the sky. It wasn’t moving fast, but it was a peculiar being as it moved irregularly. It looked like a flying green jellyfish.

Name: Air Floater

Race: Demonic Beast. Demonic Plant

Lv: 5

HP: 14 MP: 10 Strength: 6 Agility: 4

Skills: Magic Absorption 1, Keen Eyes, Floating

I went towards it but it didn’t react at all. It was just floating 10 meters in front of me.

Is it okay to attack it?

I decided to give it a slice. I aimed for what looked like a mushroom cap, the jellyfish’s head that I believed to be the center of its body. There was an eye attached to that place.

I approached it slowly, giving myself enough time to react in case something happened.

Until I was 2 meters away from it.

The Air Floater moved much quicker than I imagined.

『c.r.a.p, I think it’s going to throw up!』

About 10 tentacles reached out towards me. The wriggling, dark red tentacles reminded me of centipedes or snakes. It was incredibly gross.

And while I remained motionless at the sight of such a revolting ma.s.s, tentacles wrapped around me.

『Ugh, is it absorbing my mana?』

I could tell that it was absorbing my mana through its tentacles.

Not only were they gross, but dangerous as well.

Thankfully the tentacles weren’t particularly strong so I was able to sever them just by moving a little.

『Phew. That was dangerous.』

I checked my status and found 10 mp was being taken away.

What would have happened if it stayed on me?

This thing is dangerous. I should kill it right away.

I flew as fast as I could, aiming for the top of the Air Floater’s head.

The tentacles were definitely weak.

I again cut aside its extending tentacles and stabbed it through the body.

I felt myself cut something solid and my blade glowed again. It was proof that I had destroyed its vital magic crystal.

The Air Floater lost all strength and fell to the ground.

Because it was staying afloat by using a skill, its corpse had lost all buoyancy.

And I gained Floating, Magic Absorption, and Keen Eyes. They looked like convenient skills. Floating and Telekinesis especially seemed to have great synergy with each other.

It let me stay afloat without doing anything. Of course, it consumed MP, but it cost a heck of a lot less than using Telekinesis to float. By combining it with Telekinesis, I found that this skill would let me stay afloat five times longer than before. Plus by using Magic Absorption, I could fly for even longer.

After testing out Floating, I realized something.

『Come to think of it, the Air Floater had the Floating skill, but the Scavenger didn’t have any skills that let it fly. Even though it was a bird type demonic beast.』

And the same thing was true for the Poison Fang Rat. Why didn’t they have Venomous Fangs or flight? Well, I don’t know if I could use a flight skill if I don’t have wing so I don’t know if I could gain it or not.

Hm? Wait, being unable to use a flight skill because I don’t have wings? Could Flight not be a skill in the first place?

The Goblins didn’t have the skills Walking Upright or Breathing either.

And just like those traits, a bird’s flying is inherent to it.

Those weren’t skills but attributes inherent to their bodies. Those aren’t related to magic or techniques at all.

By that logic, the Poison Fang Rat’s venom was completely biologically based, something that it couldn’t produce without venom glands or some other organ. It was the same as the venomous animals back on Earth.

In contrast, that huge centipede’s venom was made with magic, a special ability redolent of the fantasy genre.

『Can I absorb skills like Sword Wielding because they acquired it by training?』

There were still many things I didn’t know about my body. I needed to investigate more.

I used the last skill, Keen Eyes, and it was extremely useful. It was a skill that let me scan the area below me. Thanks to it, I was able to see almost everything in the area. Until now, my view was limited as if it was a camera fixed onto my handle, but now it was like I had a fun*** as a camera that could naturally move to look at things (Tn: Funnel. A Gundam reference). Well, I couldn’t move my perspective very far from my body though.

『Great. Now to go hunt some other kinds of prey!』