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“Notice: You’ve acquired the Scythe Skill”

“…Oh?”

Three more days had passed. Crim was still engrossed in her life as a lumberjack. This day she was still a bit short from the daily amount of logs she liked to have. Randomly a notification appeared, informing her of a new Skill she had obtained. She stopped swinging the axe and checked the details.

Requirements:
Lumbering　　　　 30
Foraging　　　　　30
Two-Handed Axe　 60

“I see…so if you neglect Crafting Skills altogether some Weapon Skills might not be available.”

The opposite was likely also applicable. Maybe certain Crafting Skills could only be learned if other Combat Skills had gained a certain number of points.

That would likely slow down the overall discovery of Skill Trees during the first days, since most players would only focus on combat, while others purely on crafting. But her excitement over the new Skill was much larger, she could not wait to test out the Scythe, since those were usually really stylish and cool.

“Alright…just a few more trees and I’ll be free to test it out!”

She put that desire to drive her motivation further.

Forcing herself to be calm, she convinced herself that it was not worth it to hamper her usual pace for something so materialistic, so she picked up her axe and resumed swinging.

Now it was the afternoon, after Crim had completed her daily quota.

“So I’m done cutting trees for the day, but now I’m back here in the forest…”

The axe she used at the start had come from a store in the town, but after some time she transitioned into a Shadow Magic weapon. Thanks to that she had gained various Skill Points for axes, and once she had 60 she gained a new Skill.

“Shadow Heavy-Weapon, Scythe!”

A certain weight suddenly appeared on her outstretched hands. Various shadows seemed to detach from the ground and gathered in front of Crim, forming a black scythe with a blade half the size of her.

Though…

“Hmmm… It looks a bit too plain and boring…”

Crim muttered in disappointment. The Scythe looked just like a regular farming utensil. Weapons created with Shadow Magic were really useful, but Crim lamented their boorish appearance.

“Alright…Transform!”

Then she activated the Combat Support Skill: Transform. That was a Skill she obtained after killing or destroying 500 enemies or objects with magic weapons.

The scythe began to change shape, becoming sharper, and taking a more heroic appearance, growing as large as it could without becoming unbearable for Crim. The handle became as long as a spear, with an ominous twist halfway through it, and a large blade the size of Crim shaped like a halberd on the end.

“Good…that’s much better.”

Seeing that tickled some of the lingering passions Crim’s mind of a teenage boy had.

She still had to make sure she could properly brandish it…and after a few swings, she nodded in satisfaction. The weight was just right for her.

“This…this should be more than powerful enough to land those Critical Hits I couldn’t perform before!!”

Her excitement was soaring. She swung the scythe back, slashing through the leopard monster that was trying to sneak up on her, slicing it in half together with the nearby branches and leaves.

“Oh s̲h̲i̲t̲…this actually feels really good…”

The exhilaration made her cackle in a way she did not want others to see, shivering as she embraced herself, completely overtaken by the power of her new weapon. But that did not last for long.

Crim’s sensitive ears picked up a foreign sound causing a commotion in the forest. And then…a human cry…which sounded incredibly distressed.

“That was a scream…”

She quickly closed her eyes to focus her senses on the environment and sound effects, trying to gather more information. Soon enough she heard another scream from the distance, and this time she was able to determine the direction it came from.

“I guess I have a knack for attracting trouble to me.” Muttering that to herself, she carried her new weapon on her shoulder and ran into the forest.

As she neared the source location of the screams, Crim changed into her main equipment, composed of the Cloak of the Young Red Lion Emperor, as well as a new set of black boots, with which she jumped onto the tree canopies and hopped above the forest.

Those boots were made of black leather, reaching up above her knees, and were lined with red lace, giving them a gothic lolita appearance. Their name was Strider Boots, and were the actual reward loot for defeating a boss.

It had been dropped by The Strongest Monster which she defeated to rescue George. She had been lucky enough to obtain it back then, but as she fell unconscious, she only realized it was in her possession later while looking through her inventory.

It offered far better stats than those sold in common stores, but the most important one was the additional effect it had. Movement Speed +6%

That was a stat especially valuable in these types of games, and Crim could feel it in full effect as she swiftly jumped from tree to tree.

Observing from up there, she searched for the enemy. Soon enough she found a pack of monsters which seemed to be circling a certain spot.

“There they are… There’s four…wait, five?”

They looked like Dark Hounds, a type of powerful wolf monster that lived in the depths of Schwarzwald, and which moved in packs. They also had a tendency to become fixated on their prey, chasing it for long distances. That was probably how they had reached these areas of the forest.

For now they had not taken notice of Crim observing from above though. If she charged in needlessly, they would likely attack one after another to whittle her down, and she would be defeated with no recourse.

But…

My weapon is stronger now, if I attack before they can get into formation…I can do it!

Making up her mind instantly, she jumped off the tree and cut off the head of a Dark Hound that stood just beneath her, being so swift the monster could not even cry for help.

On the ground, she rolled to ease the momentum from her fall, transferring it into lateral movement to swing her scythe at the next Dark Hound that noticed her presence.

And easily cut through it.

That was literally the type of cut scythes were designed to do, so the second monster also fell almost instantly.

Both Critical Hits had happened nearly instantaneously, so the two dead Dark Hounds turned into particles of light which vanished in the night sky at the same time.

“That was so nice, I can’t get enough of it..!”

Glad that she had found a weapon she was familiar with, she quickly readjusted her stance to lunge at the next Dark Hound, dragging the scythe’s blade next to her and spinning around like a top as she passed next to the monster.

She saw the Dark Hound sliced apart to pieces behind her, and then continued increasing the speed of her rotations.

The remaining Dark Hounds realized they could not win that fight, seeing three of them had already been defeated, so they tried to escape. Crim would not allow that to happen though, chasing after them like a tornado that sliced through the branches and leaves of the forest as it closed onto the monsters.

In the end, she could only feel one remaining. She sensed it was under the shadow of a rock, so she dashed there next to finish all of them off when-

“W-Wait! Hiee?!”
“..?!”

The one who remained was actually a person.

That terrified Crim so she put her whole body into stopping her momentum, her scythe only stopping when it was right next to the person’s neck.

That was way too close for comfort.

Only then did Crim remember that she had rushed to that part of the forest after hearing a distressing scream. The fight had been so exhilarating that she completely forgot about that.

Being in that situation made her sweat profusely, so she nervously lowered her scythe while using her other hand to pull her hood back.

“…Are you a player?”
“Yea…”

It was a male lanky adventurer, who had long unkempt hair that was clumsily tied behind his head, and plenty of stubble. In short, he looked like the type of adventurer that had been in the trade for many years, but was not exactly the most reliable and always hung out in the Adventurer’s Guild’s tavern.

He was the first player Crim met outside of the Neutral Interaction City.