By the second day, we’d already started calling Welter-san "Master." After about four days, though, I started feeling a bit confused. He was teaching us a lot, sure, but his approach seemed a bit... scattershot.

“Alright, let’s try swinging this next,” he said one day after about an hour of sword swinging. Just when I felt like I was getting the hang of it, Master handed me a wooden spear.

“Uh, are we done with the sword already?” I asked, thrown off by the sudden change. But he just gave me a mischievous grin.

“Yep, looks like you’ve sprouted the Swordsmanship skill,” he chuckled.

“Huh!?”

“Well, you sure pick up skills fast, kid. They just keep popping up one after another! Ha ha... I bet we’ll soon discover some skills even I don’t know about…”

Muttering to himself, he thrust the spear back into my hands. I guessed he’d come to some conclusion, as he turned his attention back to me and said, “You know what? I’ll go ahead and teach you spear handling in detail. That might help you pick up the skill even faster.”

And that’s when I realized: Master is totally obsessed with skills.

After a week, I’d “sprouted” nine skills, according to Master: Swordsmanship, Spearmanship, Dagger Handling, Staff Technique, Throwing, Martial Arts, Shield Technique, Earth Magic, Wind Magic, and Spatial Awareness. Rio, on the other hand, had gained Fire Magic, Earth Magic, Wind Magic, and Staff Technique. For me, skills could emerge in as little as thirty minutes, which really got Master excited. When I picked up Earth Magic, I decided that I’d finally make a proper bath for us.

By now, we’d gotten used to Master constantly analyzing us and grinning about it. At first, I thought I’d repay him for saving our lives, but now it doesn’t even cross my mind—although, of course, I’m still grateful.

“Master, what all can you see with your appraisal skill?” I asked curiously over dinner one night.

“Oh, I can see quite a bit,” he replied. Not just skills but also names, species, profession, health points, mana points, strength, stamina, and more.

“Of course, not everyone with Appraisal can see that much. Some can only see a name, others just the profession,” he continued. “I’d guess Appraisal has ranks, like magic skills do—Basic, Beginner, and so on.”

Here we go… I could already tell it was going to be a long lecture, so I quietly sipped my soup.

“Alright, let’s head out,” Master announced a couple of days later.

“Yes, sir!” Rio and I chimed in.

We’d been here for two weeks now, and today was our first time going hunting with Master outside the yard. We’d only been training in the backyard up until now.

I fastened a short sword, which Master had forged with Earth Magic, to my waist. I wore a set of leather armor he’d made from monster hides and slung a shield over my back, made from a single scale of a legendary Ancient Red Dragon he’d acquired by chance.

I remember jokingly asking Master, “Isn’t this overkill?” after seeing how sharp the sword was, capable of slicing through iron.

Rio had similar gear: a staff made from an Elder Treant from the Devil’s Forest, leather armor like mine, and a robe embedded with scales from a smaller dragon. Master even had extra gear in an interdimensional storage box, a type of space magic that allowed for a personal storage area, where items were kept in suspended time. While storage bags exist too, Master didn’t have one, finding his storage box more than sufficient.

Our plan was simple: I’d handle close combat while Rio managed the rear guard. After plenty of rigorous training, this was our first real-world test.

“Feeling a bit nervous?” I asked Rio.

“We endured Master’s... brutal training,” she replied, a haunted look crossing her face. Her expression said it all—Master’s intense training to see if tough conditions could speed up skill development had nearly broken us.

“Not much could beat Master around here in the Devil’s Forest, right?”

“Not exactly,” he replied casually, cutting through my optimism.

“Nothing near the house, but deeper in the forest, the monsters are a different story. But for where we’re headed, there should be no problem.”

Wait, there are stronger monsters further in? Yeah, I have no desire to go anywhere near that part of the forest—if I can help it.

“Well, that’s a relief,” I said.

“There could be some skills that only develop if you defeat a stronger opponent,” he mused.

“No way!” Rio and I both protested immediately. If there were monsters even Master couldn’t handle, we wanted no part of it.

“Ha ha! For now, let’s just get to our target. I’m running ahead, so keep up!” he called, wrapping himself in mana and taking off.

“Wait for us!” Rio and I cried as we hurried to keep up.