“You said you have four different skills, right? What do they do?” Pell asked.

“I don't know. Is there a way I can check?” Enya replied, doing her signature head tilt.

“You should be able to just look at the term you want and focus on it. A new screen should appear with more information.”

Following his instructions, Enya looked at the Mana Detection skill and focused on it. The screen changed to reflect the description of the title. She read the message aloud.

Skill: Mana Detection [D-] [Passive]

You can detect mana more easily.

Pell paused for a moment, waiting for her to continue, but when Enya just stared back at him with little more to say, he furrowed his brows—or tried, at least.

“What?” Pell asked, incredulous.

“What?” Enya echoed back.

Pell’s sockets narrowed as he stared at her. “That’s it?”

“Y-yeah?” she replied, unsure if that was the correct response.

Pell remained silent for a few seconds, his skull subtly shaking. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, reining in his disbelief. “What about the other one?” he finally asked.

Enya looked back at the screen and maneuvered the window back to her stats before refocusing on her other skill.

Skill: Mana Control [E+] [Passive]

You can control mana more easily.

A few seconds of silence passed. “You… are joking, right?” Pell questioned.

Enya shook her head, being as earnest as she could show. This was what showed up on the screen. She was still learning how to read and speak, so there was a chance she had read this wrong, but she knew she didn’t read it wrong this time.

“Okay… I guess those descriptions do make sense. Although the name of the skill already gives it away…” He paused, considering it. “What about the third one?”

Shifting her focus and repeating the process, she read out the next skill.

Skill: Perception [D] [Passive]

You can perceive things more easily.

Pell stared at her, dumbfounded by the terribly simplistic description. His skills weren’t this stupidly simple. What the hell were these descriptions of hers? Sure, those skills sounded basic and all, but seriously? Perception means you can perceive things more easily? Why even describe them at all?

Enya noticed that Pell was flabbergasted by what she just read out loud. It seemed simple enough, so she wasn’t sure what the problem was. Why was it bad that it was simple and easy to understand? Although, she thought that the concept of perceiving was still a tad difficult to comprehend.

Pell shook his head reluctant acceptance. “Then… what about the last one? Surely Sage—something whatever, wouldn’t have such a short descrip-”

Skill: Sage’s Insight [B] [Passive]

You can Sage things more insightly.

“Alright, what the fu-”

Before Pell could finish cursing, Enya burst into an enormous bout of laughter. Her laughter broke off all the serious and awkward tension that had been sitting in the small room. She clutched her stomach and reeled forward, giggling with all the might and strength she had to spare. A small tear formed in the corner of her eye as she tried to catch her breath.

“Wha-” Pell began, but was interrupted.

“Sor-sorry…” she managed to say between laughs, “I…I’m…that was just a joke. I don’t know what any of these mean, but… I thought it would be funny if I just made up the last one.” Enya’s raging fit of laughter continued as she forcibly tried to calm herself down.

Pell looked at the girl with stark surprise in his sockets. She actually had the nerve to mess with him. She barely knew how to speak or read and yet she could lie about her skill just to get under his metaphorical skin.

Truth be told, Pell respected the joke. Humor was always something Pell appreciated, and honestly speaking, the girl had gotten him. He’d been expecting her to be cooperative and straightforward. Never once had she refused to do something he asked for. But now, she’d taken advantage of his perception of her and completely blindsided him. He shook his head and let out a faint scoff in respect, and the hint of a smile formed on his skull. She’d gotten him good.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

However, the initial amusement he held quickly evaporated as the damn weasel of a girl kept laughing and laughing relentlessly. Pell’s face scrunched back up into annoyance as her laughing ever so slowly died down.

“You done yet?” Pell grumbled.

“Yes…sorry.” Enya replied, wiping a tear from her eyes.

“I assume that isn’t what the skill actually says.”

Enya straightened up, but her body was still tingly from laughing so hard. “No, that’s not what it says.”

Enya glanced to the side and read out the proper description of the skill, trying her best to not butcher any of the pronunciations.

Skill: Sage’s Insight [B] [Passive]

You have an enhanced understanding of all things related to magic, mana, and the arcane. Your baseline talent for the understanding of concepts, theory, and memorization of related subjects is increased by 40%.

Pell’s soul flames flickered and diminished in size momentarily as he processed the information. A passive skill that increases retention and the understanding of magic? Although Pell knew little about magic himself, he knew enough to recognize that such a skill was uncommon.

It seemed like the little brat was going to be an adept mage, or perhaps a scholar. Maybe that was why the little girl regained her ability to speak and read so easily after only a week. Though, maybe she simply just recovered small pieces of her memory.

Passive skills were usually catered to classes, or a person’s ability to adapt to something. If the little girl had multiple mana related abilities, and a magic learning skill, then she was going to be, well, what the skill was called—a Sage.

“You…Enya Em… pyria? You said that your class was…unassigned, right?” Pell asked, hyper-focused on her response.

She glanced back at the screen to double-check before nodding. “Yeah, it says unassigned.”

Pell thought about their situation. If she was a mage, then surely she could…

“That’s… great! No…but maybe not…maybe…just maybe…but how long…the core would…how many levels would it… then maybe it would be possible…” Pell muttered, his voice growing quieter with each word.

Enya tilted her head, confused by what Pell was mumbling. Over the past week, she had slowly understood that Pell was…not a normal person. He mumbled to himself—a lot. Aside from being a skeleton, there were other things that she noticed. Compared to the stories she read about adventurers, nobles, kings, and even merchants, Pell seemed…odd. He was always grouchy and extremely brash. Whenever she was reading a book, he was always dully unenthusiastic.

She realized Pell didn’t care about the progress she made—at least, not directly. He cared about the result of what she learned, but didn’t really care about the process. However, despite his gruff exterior, she felt safe and comfortable around him. He was the only other person around that would talk to her after all.

Pell sometimes yelled at her, but he never took it further than that. It was quite funny seeing Pell get upset sometimes. She patted her sides, still aching from laughing so hard.

“Er, Pell?” Enya tried to break him out of his trance, but it was no use. Pell kept muttering as he stared at the floor. Enya’s face turned impassive as she waited for him to finish.

One thing that she noticed was that Pell often became distracted, and focused on something specific that he didn't say aloud. Then immediately he would brighten up and then go straight back to muttering and contemplating—just like he was doing now.

She also noticed how Pell would occasionally glance at her while she read, muttering things she couldn’t quite catch. This had happened several times over the last few days, but Enya paid it little mind. Pell had been nothing but helpful, guiding her and teaching her what she needed to know. Maybe it was just a quirky aspect of his personality. After all, the protagonists in her storybooks all had unique traits and habits. Perhaps Pell’s odd behavior was just his way of thinking, or maybe she was the odd one for noticing it.

“Considering this dungeon is…the likelihood of it…just a book or two and…” he kept muttering. He looked up and down the sides of the room, flicking his gaze left and right as he thought.

Then, as if struck by a sudden realization, Pell’s face shot up. But just as quickly, his expression turned grim. He glanced over at Enya, his glowing eyes narrowing with a mix of determination and trepidation. He had come up with a plan—a very dumb plan.

image [https://i.imgur.com/ZiLMGqb.png]

Enya and Pell made their way down the winding halls of the dungeon, with Pell leading the way, and Enya trailing behind like a shadow. They had to be careful as they moved, making sure they stuck close to one another. Being an undead, Pell was spared the hostile attention that the monsters held for intruders. This, however, unfortunately meant that the same could not be said for Enya.

Enya was a human, probably. He’d never actually asked or confirmed it, however. She resembled nothing monstrous in nature. Although maybe, just maybe, she could pass for an elf with particularly short ears, or maybe a dhampir or a rare sylphid variant. Regardless of what she was—it didn’t matter—anything that wasn’t a part of the dungeon was automatically an enemy.

They strolled along the walls of the dungeon, keeping a steady pace and walking with a slight crouch, ready to break off into a sprint at any time. Pell was tall, and even though he was technically see-through, he wore a white cloak, making it hard to see what was in front of her as she followed along.

Enya had been inside of Pell's shop for the entire time since he first met her. The table was positioned deep inside the room, making it difficult to spot her from the outside if you walked by nonchalantly. Combined with Pell sitting right at the counter on a stool—he provided an additional way to block the view from the outside.

Pell—once human, though that felt like a distant memory—was no longer the man he used to be. Physically, at least. Only in the physical sense had he changed, despite being trapped within the dungeon's walls for over four long years, his stubbornness was hard to melt away.

They moved through the shadowy corridors, splashed with orange—courtesy of the torches along the walls. Pell cast a quick glance behind him, checking to see if Enya was still there. She was following closely behind him, so much so that he was in danger of her stepping on his heel bone, also known as the calcaneus.

Resolved to carry out his plan, and he’d explained it to Enya before they set out. Their destination was toward a room that was used as a study. It was a safe room, with a couple of books and a desk. It had obviously been used by some sentient creature in the past, perhaps the dungeon master or a researcher, given the nature of its contents.

The room held a special magic that protected it from the monsters. Although he wasn’t sure how the magic exactly worked, or where the spell circuits were engraved, it hadn’t ever failed to keep anything out—besides him. He had tried bringing Mr. Bones into that room long ago, but it was pointless. The barrier actively prevented him from entering. He wasn’t sure why he himself could enter, but no other monster could.

If Pell’s plan was going to work, he needed to place her in a safer, more suitable environment. One made specifically for studying and being quiet. The barrier around the room was only a bonus, a cherry on top to finish the decoration.

Becoming jittery and anxious, Pell couldn't help but savor the elated feeling that hope provided him. Would he finally be able to leave this accursed dungeon and regain his freedom?