Chapter 26: Return To The Estate
"I guess I'm still getting the hang of learning my Skills and stuff..."
As Rey mumbled those words to himself, he set his eyes on the few things that had dropped from the Boss Monster.
The crimson core was much larger than the ones Rey had collected thus far, and that wasn't the only the thing he saw.
There were a few gleaming things on the ground, and he approached them slowly.
'It's not just the Monster Core this time, huh? I guess that's what you'd expect from a higher-quality monster.'
Sharpened claws littered the floor, like a trophy left behind after the Kobold Boss' demise.
'Since this is like a game, I guess these can be referred to as Drops.'
Rey added them to his inventory and sighed in relief when he was done with everything.
'Looks like all went well...' He smiled.
He was now all alone in the Sixth Floor, and from the looks of it, only a few hours had passed since he began this entire escapade.
'Now that I think about it, that Boss Monster displayed a Skill at the end of our fight. I should have used Doppel on it.'
However, almost as soon as he had this thought, Rey realized he wasn't really missing out on anything.
'It was most likely an inferior Skill compared to the ones I have.'
When he remembered how the monster acted berserk after activating the Skill, Rey was even more convinced that it was not what he wanted.
'I think I should be fine with what I have for now.' Rey thought to himself.
'Right now, I should do my best to master the Skills at my disposal.'
If he did well in it, he could even go to the Seventh Floor or further below to test his abilities.
'Yeah. That works. I should focus on that for now.'
Rey could feel his heart race and his body tremble in anticipation.
He hadn't ever been this excited about anything else in his life. The idea of having so many Skills, and finally being able to explore them all by himself...
... They gave him so much satisfaction.
'I should probably start tomorrow, though. Right now, I need to head back.'
It took almost an hour—even with his uninterrupted flight—to travel from the Royal Estate—to the Sixth Floor.
If he used the same metric on his journey back, he would have to leave at least two hours for his travels back and forth.
'Feels like a waste, but there's no other choice. It's a shame that I don't have a long-range teleportation Skill.'
That would have made all of this much easier.
Once Rey decided on exactly what he wanted to do, he proceeded to leave the Sixth Floor.
'I'll be back tomorrow!'
*******
Using his [Flight] Skill to reach the ceiling, and his [Phase] to make it past the locked gate that separated the Floors, Rey was able to leave the Sixth Floor.
He was unable to disguise as a worker in the mines due to the regulations involving their work—since no miner was to leave their designated work area until their shift was over.
As a result, he simply chose to use [Stealth] while traversing the Floors.
Light wasn't an available commodity there, so the chances of him being caught were zero.
Plus, the miners were regular folk, so it was most unlikely that they would have any Skills that could detect him.
Right as he was about to leave the Dungeon, he once again donned his disguise as Head Warrior Brutus, wearing his mask and ear plugs.
"Haaa..."
After he left the Dungeon, the first thing he did was raise his head and look to the sky.
The evening sun was almost done setting, and it was at least 7:00 PM.
'It's pretty dark. I guess I spent more time than I realized.'
Relying on his internal clock too much was too detrimental. If he ended up wasting more time than he planned, the chances of being caught increased exponentially.
'I should bring a clock next time. My Inventory still has some space.'
Once he made that decision, he approached the gate, and the guards who guarded the interior stopped him for credentials.
"Head Warrior Brutus. Checked in approximately four hours ago. This is an unofficial visit, and I'd like to keep it that way."
The guards were all stunned—some even went as far as gawking—as they stood in the presence of the Head Warrior.
They instantly opened the gates for him, and he was able to exit.
'Now here comes the tricky part.'
Once he proceeded out of the gate, the guards who were guarding it from the outside waved and greeted him with the respect that the Head Warrior deserved.
Their gazes were fixated on him, and he was sure they would all keep looking at him while he exited.
'I'm in a hurry right now. I can't afford to walk back. But I can't turn into a bird in front of them, now can I?'
After deliberating for a while, Rey came up with the perfect solution.
'[Projection].'
It was a Skill that allowed the user to cast illusions on the target of choice.
The target would only see what the user wanted then to.
'I don't know the level of these guards, but this is pretty much my only... hold on...'
Rey's thoughts paused at that very moment.
Something wasn't right.
'How could I have forgotten!' His eyes widened as his body became stopped in motion.
'My Level... I never saw it increase.'
Usually, in games, panels like [You Have Leveled Up] would appear once a person reached a certain threshold.
But none of that appeared to Rey even once.
'I'll check it once I have reached my room. Right now, I have to hurry.'
Try quickly activated his [Projection] Skill, and based on the direction of his target's eyes, it seemed to work.
He used an illusion to show him walking in a different direction, while his real self became invisible to them.
And all the guards bought it.
'C-Tier Skills certainly have their uses!' He grinned, activating his [Mimic] Skill at that very moment.
Once he turned into a bird, Rey activated [Flight] and [Greater Warrior's Mantle] to improve his speed while he traversed the air.
~WHOOOOSSSHH!!!~
Without looking back, or being distracted by anything else around him, Rey departed for the Royal Estate.
The darkened sky above him, and the many clouds that drifted in the night sky were his only company as he drifted by himself.
'Can't screw this up!' His bird eyes furrowed as he increased his speed.
~WHOOOOSH!~
*******
Rey arrived at the Royal Estate's walls in no time, and swiftly using [Stealth] while approaching it, he was able to gracefully land in one of the trimmed bushes closest to the walls.
~GLOP~
He slowly returned to his original form, glad to see that the cover of the night was able to mask his presence very well.
He could see some guards patrolling the Royal Estate, but they weren't going to give him any trouble since he was one of the 'Otherworlders,'
'I did it! I'm home free!'
Rey had been worried for a second, but everything ended up going according to plan.
"Hehehe... hehe—!"
"What are you doing there?" A sudden voice shattered his thoughts, and a presence approached him.
The voice was feminine, and so was the silhouette that now stood right beside the bush that he was hiding behind.
Her cold gaze greeted him as her brown hair swayed with the wind.
It was Alicia White.
'What the hell is she even doing out here at this time?!' Reg thought to himself, but unfortunately he was unable to ask her that.
Instead, he felt the pressure of her gaze while contemplating what to say.
"I... um..."
As Rey stuttered, Alicia narrowed her gaze on him, causing all his words to be trapped somewhere behind his throat.
'Crap! This is bad!'
Of all the people that could spot him, it had to be Alicia White—the most skeptical among all his classmates.
'What should I do?!'
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[A/N]
Well, isn't this hilarious?
What do you think Rey should do?
Also, remember he is a socially awkward person and he isn't very good with attention.
This isn't him being a simp.