I Never Run Out of Mana

With an insidious smile, the old woman returned to the table she was drinking the tea at with a skill scroll in hand.

It seemed that she wasn’t your ordinary elder.

She had muttered as if she had an ability to see through a person’s ability.

The old woman’s eyes were only on me.

Looking only at me despite Dan’s complaints, the old woman spoke while handing the scroll to me after sitting down.

“Unfortunately, there is no demon god tier skill scroll for you. But what about this?”

“Hey. Grandma. Over there are enough demon god tier scrolls to overflow. Do you think I’m stupid?”

“Dan. Wait. Let’s hear what she has to say first.”

“Huh? Sure, master…”

“The demon god tier scrolls are stocked in abundance. Here. And over there as well. However, a scroll that fits you won’t be found even if you search the entire world. After all, it won’t satisfy you.”

“…”

“There’s a strange energy I’ve never seen before flowing through your body. It’s an energy that makes it difficult to believe that you’re human.”

“…”

“No. I’m positive. This isn’t a power of this world. It’s a power I’ve never felt before in my entire life.”

“You’ve seen correctly. Seems you’ve got quite the fascinating ability.”

“Hm. At my age, you see things that you couldn’t see before. Even if you don’t want to. Yes. So who are you? No. I think the better question is what are you.”

“You do realize that it could get very dangerous after you hear the answer to that question?”

“The area around is quiet due to the Festival of Blood starting. To the point where no one would notice if an elderly like me died. Hm.”

“Your skill in speaking isn’t something that I can handle. I’ll answer first then. I’m a demigod. You can think of it as half god and half human. And I hold the power of a demon king as well.”

“Master. Are you really going to do this after coming all the way here? This is time to be serious.”

“You over there who looks like a dried dead grasshopper, stay out of it. This one’s words are not lies. Did you not realize this entire time who you were even serving!”

“Huh? A grasshopper? Are you seeing something else that’s strange?”

Dan looked around.

Almost as if to say there was no way that he was a dead grasshopper that was dried out by the sun.

A burst of laughter came out in response to his reaction.

Understanding the situation, Dan quietly observed the conversation between us while his lips stuck out in a pout.

“Let’s talk about this scroll.”

“Hm. A demigod… Demigod… Where did I hear that before…”

“…”

“It feels like it happened a very long time ago. A time far before monsters appeared in this world.”

“Grandma. Let’s talk about scrolls instead, okay?”

“Grasshopper. How long will you complain?”

“Ahem…”

“The shape is different from regular scrolls. And the color it radiates isn’t of silver or gold, but the color of blood.”

“It’s because it had received a curse.”

“…”

“This scroll isn’t something a monster dropped. It’s something a human dropped.”

“That sounds like a story far harder to believe than my story of being a demigod.”

“Hm. I’m sure it is. And the more interesting fact is that this scroll didn’t come here due to the appearance of monsters, but was an item that existed here far before that. My grandma’s grandma…”

“It’s an item that existed way before, almost as if to herald the coming of Protectors and monsters?”

“It seems you like granny’s old story.”

“You can see the ability on the scroll, right?”

“Of course I can see. I assume you’re curious?”

“…”

“If you use this scroll, you would gain twice the power you have now. This obviously includes your physical status, but also the destructive power of your skills. Not only that, but you can imbue great power to your weapons or body.”

“Just from the description alone, it seems like an amazing scroll. I assume there is a catch to using the scroll?”

“There are no requirements to use the scroll. But I cannot guarantee that your body can handle it after using the scroll.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Didn’t I tell you that this scroll has existed for centuries. During that long period of time, the scroll’s power remained the same. Don’t you think that others would have desired this scroll through the years? But no one was able to obtain that power. Obviously regular people, but also Protectors had their bodies consumed.”

“Master… My intuition does not like this. It’s saying that we need to get away from that scroll and run away right now!”

“The requirement to use the scroll is to… use it? The only thing is that I have to be able to endure it…”

“Hm. What will you do? Will you trust in the words of an old woman and attempt the test? Or will you consider this an act of mockery against the gods by an insignificant human being?”

For a brief moment, I was lost in thought.

If what the old woman said was true, then I could not afford to miss my opportunity to use this scroll.

After all, if this scroll ended up in the hands of Barub, the situation would turn for the worst.

But what if what she was saying was untrue?

If I lose my life the moment that I use the scroll…

And this wasn’t like any old artifacts that I could ask Dan to test for me.

If he used it, then he would lose his life to the scroll.

There was no reason for me to take such a huge risk.

As long as everything went according to plan, I would be able to defeat Barub.

This meant that I didn’t need to risk everything for something that wasn’t certain.

I took the scroll from the old woman’s hand.

The old woman observed me with her eyes nearly closed.

“For now, I’ll be taking the scroll.”

“Unless it’s you, I don’t think anyone worthy of being the owner of the scroll will ever appear, so feel free to.”

“However, I won’t be using it.”

“Tsk. I was wrong in my expectations on this part. Why so?”

“I do not have the slightest worry that I would be consumed by the scroll. However, I just can’t believe what you’re saying. Such a convenient stroke of luck. Unreasonable favor shown towards me. These are things that I can’t even begin to imagine in the world I’ve experienced and learned from.”

“Hm… I understand. When the worst situation possible comes to be, and it will in due time. Perhaps then you will change your mind.”

“…”

“It’s just the ravings of a crazy old coot, so don’t pay too much attention to it. I may die at any given moment, so there’s no way I would be able to predict your future.”

“I’d feel too bad leaving just like this. After all, I even received a scroll. Dan.”

“Yes, master.”

“Buy some useful skill scrolls and then come out. I’ll be taking a brief stroll nearby.”

“Yes, I understand.”

I walked out of the store and back onto the street.

For now, I put away the cursed scroll that the old woman had handed over into the storage.

This would be my last resort.

No. You could say this would be my last gamble.

I planned to use this if I lost to Barub, or as a final resort when I lost all my strength to struggle or resist.

If such a time did come.

Even if the scroll did not have any effects and only stole the life of the user, I wouldn’t lose anything.

Because the situation would be that there wouldn’t be anything left to lose.

An encounter that seemed like fate and a skill scroll that could be considered a legend.

There wasn’t anything concrete I’ve gained as of now, but there was a chance that it would be what turns the tables later on.

My thoughts on it didn’t last long though. It didn’t take long before Dan came outside.

There were 3 scrolls in his hands.

It seemed as though he had these in mind before choosing to come to a skill scroll shop.

Scurrying along, Dan spoke with much relief.

“She’s a real strange one, that old woman. Right?”

“You’re right about that. It feels as though I’ve just met a ghost. To think that I’ve received a cursed scroll out of nowhere…”

“If it is the Fire Dragon’s Talisman that you’ve obtained before, then I’ve heard of it in rumors. I couldn’t confirm its existence because it’s considered an artifact that only exists in legends, but to think that a cursed scroll I’ve never even heard of exists.”

“…”

“I do not have even a shred of trust on this matter. The old lady and the scroll too. It totally isn’t because she called me a dried out dead grasshopper in the fields. You know this, right?”

“Pff. Of course. My thoughts are the same as yours. I do want power, but I can’t just accept power without identifying and confirming what it is. I’ve only received the scroll because I thought that others would covet this scroll, so no worries.”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Enough about that, what skills did you purchase?”

“Skills that most Protectors here consider it a must to obtain. It seems as though you already have more than enough attack and defensive skills, so I just got these instead.”

“Well, even if I did have more attack or defensive skills, I wouldn’t be able to use them properly.”

“Firstly, this is Energy Scan. It shows the remaining health of your opponents.”

“Oho…”

“However, it doesn’t show an exact number. But it does give you a ballpark estimate of how much damage they took and how long they can hold out for.”

“It’s quite a useful skill.”

“I know, right? Try obtaining it first.”

I twisted each end of the scroll and obtained the skill.

There was no explanation for the skill, but I could sense that there was an increase in the number of skills I could use with my power.

I immediately used Energy Scan on Dan.

-Thump. Thump.

“Hm… A heart?”

A red orb floated above Dan’s head.

Like the beating of a heart, it kept on contracting and expanding.

“Do you see a red orb?”

“Yep. I do. An orb that beats like a heart.”

“Right. You can think of it as your opponent’s heart. If the size shrinks or the beating slows, it shows that your opponent’s health is running out.”

“Oho… Good. It’s quite a useful skill. I can even roughly check an opponent’s combat capabilities with this too.”

“I’ll explain the next skill as well.”

“…”

“The next skill is Summon.”

“Hm? Am I summoning a summoned creature or making copies? If that’s the case, I can already do that.”

“No. It just summons a selected target in front of the caster.”

“Does that mean I can just summon anyone in front of me?”

“That’s not the case. The person who you are trying to summon has to agree to the summon. If the target refuses, then there is absolutely no way to bring them so. And I think it’s obvious, but you know that you need to be familiar with the person you’re trying to summon, right?”

“Hm… I don’t think this will be very useful though?”

“This is a skill mostly used by those who party up to hunt. It’s used to summon allies that are caught out by a Monster Wave or surrounded by monsters in general. Obviously by the person who is in a safe location.”

“Now that I hear your explanation, I think it’s pretty good. If I put them into storage after summoning them, then they’d be safe from any kind of danger.”

“Correct. And you really don’t absolutely need the last skill, but it’s called Soul Messenger.”

“Telepathy?”

“Yes. Well, similar. You can talk with your desired target without opening your mouth. However, this also requires the receiving target to agree, and if the receiver isn’t able to cast the skill or are just regular people, then they can only hear your voice. To have a conversation, both sides have to cast the skill on each other.”

“There really are all sorts of skills.”

“Anything else you need, you can learn them as you think up of any. For now, I think it’d be best if you focus on raising your proficiency on your cloning skill.”

“Okay. Mr. Dump’s successful creation of artifacts and raising the cloning skill’s proficiency to the max. I guess these two are the only things left.”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s get going. When it comes to leveling skills, I’ve become very good at it.”

With that, I headed to the highest difficulty of the unexplored hunting grounds that I could handle.