Chapter 26 | I Awakened a Monster Compendium and Started Farming Bloodlines

The Moonflower Inn wasn't very popular.

Only two or three tables in the first-floor dining area had customers, so Lynn's food was served very quickly.

Before long, Aurora brought out the shepherd's pie first. When she set it down in front of Lynn, it was still piping hot, with white steam rising from it.

Lynn broke open the pie, which was a blend of mashed potatoes, butter, and cheese, immediately revealing the bottom layer packed with diced mutton and minced onions.

He scooped up a large spoonful and popped it into his mouth. The diced mutton, which had absorbed the flavors of the spices, was tender and juicy, while the sweet clarity of the minced onions perfectly neutralized the gamey flavor of the meat. The smooth mashed potatoes, wrapped in savory cheese, melted in his mouth, filling his senses with a rich, savory aroma with every bite.

Lynn was thoroughly delighted by the meal.

He hadn't expected to taste something as delicious as the food from his past life in a medieval-style setting.

Back in the village, he would usually only eat meat once every few months to save money.

In no time, Lynn devoured the large portion of shepherd's pie—which was easily enough for two people—like a whirlwind.

Well, he was only about thirty percent full.

Around this time, Aurora brought out the second shepherd's pie along with the beef stew.

Seeing the completely empty plate, she was so shocked that her mouth hung open.

She had originally thought that if Lynn couldn't finish it all, she could let him off without paying for one of the shepherd's pies.

It seemed her worries were entirely unnecessary.

As for Lynn, his eyes lit up even more when he saw the beef stew.

To a carnivore like Lynn, the large chunks of beef swimming in red wine were incredibly enticing.

Without hesitation, he cut off a large piece and popped it into his mouth.

The beef was stewed until tender, its fibers soft, releasing rich juices with a gentle bite.

Thanks to the slight bitterness of the red wine, any greasiness was perfectly masked, and this bitterness was in turn balanced by the sweet and sour notes of dried prunes.

Delicious!

Lynn couldn't stop eating, and in a short while, he had completely cleared all the food off the table.

Finally, he was full.

With his stomach full of protein, Lynn felt a warm current flow from his stomach to his entire body.

Huh?

Lynn felt as if this warm current was subtly improving his physical constitution.

Though the change was minute, it was impossible to ignore.

If accumulated over a long period, it might even increase his physical attributes.

This seemed to be the effect of Rapid Digestion Lv.1.

Lynn hadn't expected the slime bloodline to have such an effect. It was truly an unexpected pleasant surprise!

Having enjoyed a wonderful meal and received such good news, Lynn paid his bill, handed Aurora the extra copper coins as a tip, and headed upstairs in high spirits.

He would be very busy over the next few days.

Lynn planned to find a way to look into matters regarding class-holders.

How exactly could one obtain a class and become an official class-holder?

...

Over the next few days, Lynn couldn't find a suitable quest.

There were plenty of quests in the guild, but the ones that caught Lynn's eye were also favored by other low-level adventurers.

Only then did Lynn realize that quests could be so highly sought after.

Quests involving slimes, however, remained unpopular as always.

But those quests either involved massive hordes of slimes or took place deep within the Misty Reed Marsh to the southeast of Wingen Town, where one could run into ranked monsters like Dungeon Slimes at any moment.

Either scenario was far too dangerous for Lynn.

Meanwhile, quests to subjugate small groups of Goblins were almost always snatched up early by other low-level adventurers.

Many low-level adventurers spent their entire day hovering in front of the quest board, waiting for a suitable task.

Since there were no suitable quests, Lynn was in no rush to head out of town to kill monsters and level up.

Instead, he spent the last two days practicing and getting a feel for his Skills.

After activating the slime bloodline, Lynn's Skills had gained two more passive abilities: Mimicry and Rapid Digestion.

Mimicry Lv.1.

A passive Skill. Once activated, a gel-like substance would coat the surface of Lynn's body, and he could control its appearance or disappearance at will.

When it appeared, this layer of gel would act like the pigment cells of a chameleon, automatically adapting to the colors of the surrounding environment.

Lynn tried using Mimicry and Stealth together and found that the effect was indeed remarkable.

Now, as long as he activated Stealth while pressed against an object, it would produce an effect close to complete invisibility.

Unless an ordinary person stood within two or three meters of him and looked very closely, they wouldn't be able to spot him at all.

The combination of Mimicry and Stealth practically achieved the effect of active camouflage!

Aside from getting used to the new Skills brought by the slime bloodline, Lynn also studied the matter of "Skill proficiency."

Originally, he had assumed that he only needed to kill monsters to increase his Skill proficiency.

However, despite killing so many Goblins in the cave that day, none of them had provided Lynn with any Skill proficiency except for the very first one.

This proficiency didn't seem to work like the common "EXP" systems found in online games; it couldn't be raised simply by using a Skill or killing monsters.

Instead, Lynn had to use them repeatedly and truly gain some comprehension to increase his Skill proficiency!

Lynn had spent a lot of time practicing repeatedly in the training grounds provided by the Adventurers' Guild over the past two days. Although the proficiency of several of his Skills had increased, he still couldn't grasp the pattern behind it.

The proficiency feature provided by the 《Monster Identification Manual》 seemed to merely record his Skill proficiency.

...

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

“Magic Missile proficiency +3, current Lv.1 (5/10)”

“Stealth proficiency +1, current Lv.2 (1/20)”

After repeated practice, Lynn's Stealth finally leveled up to Lv.2.

Upon reaching Lv.2, a glowing asterisk appeared next to Stealth.

Lynn focused his mind on the asterisk, and a line of text immediately expanded on the encyclopedia:

“Lv.2 Skill Effect · Strike from Shadows I: After entering Stealth, the physical damage of the first attack receives a 10% bonus.”

Was this the improvement brought by leveling up?

Lynn nodded.

Although a 10% damage bonus didn't sound like much, if the level of Strike from Shadows went up later, there might be a higher bonus.

Lynn deactivated Stealth, and a wave of fatigue washed over him.

Over the past two days, he had repeatedly used his Skills until his physical strength was completely drained. Only through this was he able to level up his Skill in such a short period of time.

However, now was not the time to rest.

Today was the day the guild invited class-holder instructors to guide the adventurers, and Lynn had made plans to go with someone.

“Lynn!”

A lively female voice rang out from the entrance of the backyard.

Betty appeared in Lynn's line of sight, wearing that leather armor that was suspected to be magic equipment.

Lynn smiled and said, “Why are you dressed like that? Do you want to play rogue again?”

Through his conversations with Betty over the last few days, Lynn had learned that when she took the Yar Village quest with the monk and the others, she was actually the employer. This young lady had hired them to form a temporary party just to let her experience what it was like to be an "adventurer."

This was also why they had accepted the quest at night.

It was because Betty had to study at the academy during the day.

“We're going to the Adventurers' Guild, after all. I don't want too many people to recognize me.”

Betty sheepishly tugged at the tight drawstring of the hot pants around her waist, which had left a faint red mark on her soft skin.

Although she was a mage apprentice, Betty, who had yearned for the life of an adventurer since childhood, didn't neglect her training like her classmates. Because she exercised regularly, there wasn't a single bit of flab on her waist.