Volume 1, Chapter 26 – Am I Screwed?

“Thank you very much, Pope.”

I express my gratitude for being granted the Apothecary class.

“Not at all. I am happy if I could be of assistance. So? Do you have Herb Appraisal and Alchemy in your Skills?”

“Ah, let me check. Status Open.”

▽ ▽ ▽

【Name】: Fiene Argentata

【Race】: Vampire (LOL)

【Gender】: Female

【Class】: Healer, Apothecary

【Level】: 1

【HP】: 33

【MP】: 25

【STR】: 29

【INT】: 24

【AGI】: 23

【DEX】: 26

【VIT】: 27

【MND】: 25

【LUC】: 25

【Exp】: 119

【Unique Skills】:

《Bloodsucking: 1》

《Mist Form: 1》

《Bat Transformation: 1》

《Shadow Manipulation: 1》

《Familiar Domination: 1》

《Blood Manipulation: 1》

《Charm: 1》

Reaⅾ on ΚаtRеaԁіոgСαfе

《Lightning: 1》

《Limit Break》

《Dimensional Storage: 1》

《Spirit Summoning》

《Beautiful Looks》

《Luck》

【Skills】:

《Language Proficiency: 10》

《Mana Control: 1》

《Dark Magic: 1》

《Holy Magic: 10》

《Healing Magic: 10》

《Fire Magic: 1》

《Water Magic: 1》

《Wind Magic: 1》

《Earth Magic: 1》

《Status Resistance: 10》

《Fire-Attribute Resistance: 1》

《Water-Attribute Resistance: 1》

《Wind Resistance: 1》

《Earth Resistance: 1》

《Dark-Attribute Resistance: 10》

《Holy Absorption》

《Curse Resistance: 10》

《Sunlight Absorption》

《Charm Resistance: 10》

《Alchemy: 1》

Rеαd on ΚatReаdinɡCαfе

《Herb Appraisal: 1》

▽ ▽ ▽

“Ah, they’ve popped up. I’ve got Alchemy and Herb Appraisal now.” ¹ 生えてきてます  = sprout, but it’s a joke in JP so I use “pop up” instead

“‘Popped up’ is a novel expression. Nevertheless, I am glad you can use them without issue. The fact that you can use the Skills immediately upon being granted the class is proof that you have studied diligently without cutting corners.”

“Thank you.”

I see. So whether you can use a Skill right after getting the class depends on your prior knowledge and experience. If you could use Skills without doing anything, you’d be able to do all sorts of things without effort.

Well, I do think it’s a bit much for a game to expect the player themselves to have knowledge, though.

“Do you know how to raise Skill Levels?”

“No.”

“Skill Levels increase when a Skill’s experience exceeds a certain threshold by the time you Level Up. There are two ways to gain experience for Skills.”

“Two?”

“Indeed. The first is to use the Skill. That is straightforward, I presume.”

Right. I nod in understanding.

“Yes. And the second is to allocate Skill Points. If allocating Skill Points fulfills the condition for a Skill Level to increase, that Skill Level will rise. These Skill Points are obtained when you Level Up, but the amount seems to vary from person to person and by Race.”

Huh. I see.

“For humans, it is said to be around 1 to 4 points, but for other Races like Vampires or High Elves, it is unknown. There is a theory that Races with slow growth rates receive many Skill Points, and another that says it is no different from humans.”

“Why are there opposing theories?”

“Because they tend to use more Skills than humans. However, whether that is due to their long lifespans or because they receive more Skill Points as a racial trait, no one knows.”

So that’s it. I’m sure I’ll find out when I Level Up.

“I understand. So, for now, I should just work hard to raise my Level while also using lots of Skills, right?”

“That is correct. However, please note that Skill Levels will not increase for Skills that are not compatible with your current class. For example, Holy Magic is not compatible with the Healer class. You can gain experience for it, but the Skill Level will only increase after you class up to Priest.”

“Huh?”

“If you possess any Unique Skills, those can be raised regardless of class. However, some Unique Skills have conditions for raising their Skill Level, so please check carefully.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, judging by your reaction, it seems you do not possess any such Unique Skills. They are rare to begin with, so there is no need to concern yourself.”

“Haaah. Understood.”

It seems there are also Skills with conditions for leveling them up. I’ll check later.

◇ ◇ ◇

Rеαd οո ΚаtRеаⅾiոɡСafe

“Well then, Pope, thank you for everything. If there are any more Purification requests, please think of me.”

“The same to you. May God’s Blessings be upon you, Lady Fiene. Holy Knight Christina, I shall see you again later.”

“Yes! I will visit with the report.”

We leave the Temple and head for the inn Chris-san found for us.

Of course, since I received a class, I made a donation of 20 gold coins.

The reward for this request was 20 coins, so in the end, I broke even.

By the way, last time it was 30 coins, so looking at it this way really makes it clear how much my funds have dwindled.

Now, the inn Chris-san chose was expensive, but far more reasonable than that luxury hotel.

It’s a decently upscale hotel, costing 3 gold coins per night including breakfast.

For a suite with a waiting room for guards, it seems you have to pay at least this much to call it a proper hotel.

Personally, I don’t need a suite, and I think just getting two rooms would be fine, but she refused to budge, insisting this was the bare minimum for security reasons.

Well, since Chris-san went to the Temple to deliver the report, I should take a good look at my Skills.

“Status Open.”

I sit down on the plush sofa in the parlor and open my Status. Then, I tap on each Skill to check the details.

There, I find experience values and level-up conditions listed for each Skill.

For example, Healing Magic looked like this:

▽ ▽ ▽

《Healing Magic》

【Level 】: 10

【Experience 】: 3,621

▽ ▽ ▽

Why isn’t there a description? Aren’t these kinds of things supposed to come with detailed explanations?

Anyway. There were several Skills with level-up conditions. This is a huge problem.

▽ ▽ ▽

《Bloodsucking》

【Level】: 1

【Experience】: 0

Rеαⅾ oո KаtReаdiոɡСafе

【Condition】: Dark Magic level must be higher than this Skill’s level.

▽ ▽ ▽

The same applied to the other Vampire Unique Skills as well: Mist Form, Bat Transformation, Shadow Manipulation, Familiar Domination, Blood Manipulation, and Charm.

In other words, to raise the levels of Vampire-like Unique Skills, I need to raise the level of Dark Magic.

And I cannot raise Dark Magic’s level as a Healer.

I’m screwed. Yeah, completely screwed.

At this point, there’s basically no advantage to having chosen Vampire at all.

Ah, if I’d known this, I should have at least maxed out Dark Magic.

But lamenting won’t help. Since I can’t logout, I have no choice but to make do with this. I need to think of the next best plan.

First, since I chose Vampire, it would be a waste not to master the Unique Skills. That’s priority number one.

So, first, I should consciously use Dark Magic.

This is also necessary so that once I eventually get a class compatible with Dark Magic, its level can skyrocket.

At the same time, I should use the other Unique Skills whenever I can.

That way, once the Dark Magic level requirement is cleared, their levels should all shoot up at once.

Next, since I can’t level up while in town, I need some means of attack.

Looking at my available Skills, there are two candidates.

One is Holy Magic. It’s already maxed out, so if it has some way to attack non-undead enemies, that would be the quickest solution.

The other is Lightning, which I got with leftover points.

As the name suggests, it seems to be a lightning attack Skill.

And since it’s treated as a Unique Skill, I should be able to raise it regardless of my class.

But I don’t even know how to use it. I even tried going outside and going, “Fall, lightning,” but nothing happened.

I simply lack information about this Skill.

I’ll have to research it at the library first, then decide where to allocate points.

Oh, right, right. I almost forgot. There’s also the money problem.

If I don’t learn to make potions soon, I might actually go bankrupt.

Still, there are too many things to do and think about.

First thing tomorrow, I’ll go with Chris-san to arrange a visit to the library.