Hiatus Gifting This Unfortunate Guy With Blessings

"So, about skills…" I started a new topic when talking with Chris in my room.

"Ah, yeah… I've been thinking about what skills I could teach you. I had that huge list of possibilities since Ranger class is kinda amalgamation of classes like Scout, Thief, and Archer but then I considered your power and also your new party..."

I nodded attentively during Chris's speech while also thanking her inwardly for taking everything into consideration.

"Skills like Lurk which reduces your visibility and scent or Escape which makes you faster while running away would be usually a no-brainer picks for your class since you want to surprise enemies and also don't get caught but you can use your special power and achieve similar results. Even if you aren't that fast as a mouse you can learn some other form for running away, like a cat for dungeons or some sort of a bird for the open field situations. "

Those were some really good points. I don't have any powerful forms yet, maybe besides giant toad one which is of questionable power and is kinda too flashy for my tastes so I should use my power as a utility until I manage to get some seriously strong options.

"One of my favorites - Steal wouldn't be good for you with your luck being so low and Enemy Detection once again might be substituted by your animal senses. Those two might be good for Kazuma since his Luck is high. Maybe also Lurk might be good for him."

"So Kazuma is a Thief as well?" I asked curiously since I didn't hear about his job and the green tracksuit didn't help with recognizing it.

"Megumin said he's an Adventurer."

"What sort of job is that?" It sounded so cool! I wish-

"Adventurer is sort of jack-of-all-trades-master-of-nothing sort of job. It… is not very… highly regarded class. In the past, it has been taken only if the person didn't have stats necessary for other classes. But it has the option of learning skills from all classes."

"Oh…" I seriously didn't know how to comment at that.

"With that said… I will recommend you learning Bow skill that should be available to you with Ranger class from the start that literally lets you use bows with good proficiency. I will then teach you Bind skill for self-defense in close quarters that can shot the rope that you have on to entrap an enemy . And if you fancy going into dungeons I could also teach you Detect Trap, Disarm Trap and Lockpick and when you have enough skill points you can pick them up."

"Twelve points will be enough?"

"You got twelve skill points? It should be enough since even in Thief class these skills are not that pricy and as a Ranger, the cost should be even lower. "

I took my card and looked at the list of skills. In my human form with Ranger class, I could immediately take Bow skill for 3 points, Farsight for 1 point, Quick Quiver for 2 points and Snipe for 4 points.

I asked Chris about the new skills as well.

"Quick Quiver is a skill that speeds up your actions related to nocking next arrow after releasing one, Farsight is a useful skill that lets you see in long distances and Snipe is luck based skill that lets you hit your target easier."

Besides Snipe, they all seemed like good skills but they were pricy and it looked as I wouldn't be able to learn all the skills from Chris at that rate.

"So, how one can learn skills?"

Chris then started a very long lecture about each individual skill. About Bind, Chris taught me about how to throw the rope, how to bind people for the best results, the types of knots, etc.

For Detecting Traps she recounted the traps she has stumbled upon when dungeoning, how they looked, and their activation mechanisms. Ways to Disarm Traps were also included in that part of an explanation.

About Picklock Chris has told me about the tools needed, the types of picklocks, necessary knowledge about locks and there was even a presentation with my room's lock.

It was hard to stay focused for more than two hours straight and remember all the details, but Chris did a really amazing job explaining everything so most of the stuff stuck in my head very well.

When Chris was done with the lecture I checked my adventurer card and four more skills indeed have appeared on the list. Bind for 3 points, Lockpicking for 3 points, Detecting Traps for 2 points and Disarming Traps for 2 points.

Chris saw those numbers on my card, made a surprised face and said.

"The number of skill points needed to learn the skill usually varies depending on an understanding of the said skill. I've seen thieves having to spend 8 points for Lockpicking when they didn't know anything about that topic. You seem to understand those skills very well."

"It's only because of your explanation skills. You should charge for it."

Chris just laughed embarrassed and scratched her cheek.

"So, which skills will you choose?"

"Bow, Quick Quiver, Farsight, Bind and Lockpicking." I chose Lockpicking as the last skill because it seemed a lot less situational than Disarm Traps or Detect Traps and I didn't even know any dungeons I could go to yet.

Ummmm… now. How do I 'learn' these skills? I looked at Chris with a questioning gaze and she realized what was I confused about. She took my card, used her finger to choose the skills I mentioned and clicked the button next to the list.

"That's how you do it."

For a fraction of a second I felt nauseous but nothing else had happened.

"That's it?"

"Yep. If you don't feel like anything changed then try picking this lock yourself?"

Chris lent me some tools and I tried picking the lock to my room. It felt weirdly natural and after around twenty seconds more than Chris has taken to do it I finally managed to open my door.

Behind which Tayla the Innkeeper was passing by. She looked at me kneeling in front of the doorframe and asked.

"Did you lose a key to your door? If so then you would need to pay-"

"No no, he's a new Ranger and I was teaching him Lockpicking skill." Chris quickly tried explaining to which Tayla answered while smiling sweetly.

"So nice of you Chris! " and then she looked at me and said: "It must be wonderful to have such a skilled girlfriend, eh lad?"

"It can't get any better than this, yes." I answered with full seriousness and slowly closed the door.

She seemed like she wanted to embarrass me or Chris so I ended that conversation as quickly as possible.

When I turned around I saw Chris hiding her face with her hands.

"What happened?"

"I-It's nothing. Don't mind me." After a few seconds of sitting like that she finally removed her hands from her face and looked at the window and said. "Anyways, it got pretty late. We should go to sleep, tomorrow you go for your first proper quest"

"Sure. Thanks again for tutelage."

"Glad to help. Goodnight." Chris waved to me before leaving the room.

It seems like each day I owe her more and more for all the help I receive from her. When I finally get my bearings I will be sure to repay the favors.

After promising myself that once again I changed to my Crimson Demon form that was already wearing my prison-pajamas and headed for the bed. I was about to move the quilt when I noticed that blood was still dripping from the finger I cut.

I soon found some napkin with which I stopped the bleeding by wrapping it around my finger.

After seeing this I surmised, that no matter how much time I pass in another form, the form that was hurt will not regenerate by itself. That was very important news.

I had no time to think about the implications since I had to go to sleep quickly otherwise I wouldn't be able to sleep at all. I expected another 'poltergeist' attack to happen that night as well and no matter how well I knew that it was a staged 'ghost attack' it was so noisy that I couldn't even sleep a wink.

Well, I did sleep a little in mouse form but when I came back to the human form I didn't feel rested even a little bit more.

I took the quilt off the bed and sure enough, there was another sign-up form lying on the bed. I scanned it for any changes but it was exactly the same as yesterday one so I just took a pillow and the quilt and lied down on the rug.

I wouldn't fall for that curse on the bed that made me see those weird nightmares twice.

And in fact, I managed to get a few good hours of sleep before every piece of furniture in the room started to have seizures. This time however the innkeeper didn't seem to appear to deliver her own spiel and seemed to be content on leaving the sign-up form well lit on the table.

I didn't want to waste any time so I changed into a mouse and entered the hole I found the last evening. I pushed through the cobwebs and dust and looked at the corridor but I couldn't see anyone but I could smell someone to the left. I was sure someone was under my room's door.

It took some waiting but soon enough Tayla came up the stairs with a mug in her hands but she also quickly left my vision range as well but I could hear someone start talking to Tayla in silent tone.

"Hey, how long do you want me to do this?"

"Stop complaining. Be thankful I didn't ask for a refund after yesterday's failure!"

"I am telling you that it worked as always! The guy just slept like a log!"

"Then there's something wrong with those runes that you placed on the bed. You said everyone would get nightmares and Chris' boyfriend seemed as if he had a sleep of his life! I gave a huge donation to the Axis Church and expect a job well done!"

"Let's just check inside and you will see everything working as I said! There's something weird about the guy!"

"I told you that this is unacceptable! No one is allowed to come into my customer's room without the customer's permission!"

"Ugh." The first woman gave out a frustrated sigh but didn't say anything else and Tayla went downstairs.

You disallow barging into the customer's room but it's okay if someone unleashes paranormal phenomena inside of it in order to convert them?

Well, it was good to know that this woman had at least some KIND of standards but she still had six or seven screws loose in her head and deserved some real 'divine' retribution.

I also confirmed that the priestly looking woman that stood in front of my door in the morning was the one that made this whole shtick possible.

With that done I needed to wait another day to see how the situation evolves. I still had quite a bit of time before I needed to leave that inn.

Maybe I should ask Aqua about this too. She's supposedly that goddess Aqua. Is she aware of what people are doing in her name?

I came out of the hole in the wall and the show kept going as strong as ever. The banging was seriously loud so probably the whole room was soundproofed with magic as well.

I sat under the wardrobe for the rest of the night until the 'poltergeist' gave up and then I started to tidy things up.