[Knife Mastery Lv - 2]

[91% towards next level] You have a moderate understanding on how to hold knives. Damage dealt by knives has been increased by 20%.

You have an affinity for knives. All stats gain a +2 increase when a knife is held.

It was a strange sight to see. Evel had only 9% left before [Knife Mastery] would make a breach into its third level, the progress helped by the pair of goblins he killed and used a couple weeks ago.

And it left him feeling a tad strange.

His [Farming] skill was also on its third level, but that took years of dedication to the craft, and even more time pouring over books on botany and flora. All this one took was him killing his taste buds by eating magical tomatoes.

To see a skill leap from nothing to just under its third level in months was...well, he didn't quite have a word for it.

Nonetheless, he was very much excited for it. His mom had said that the third level was a threshold of sorts; a gate that'd begin unlocking the true potential of a skill. She said that his ability to grow magical fruits most likely came from his [Farming] being on its third level, and the same seemed to apply to the [Cooking] bonus she granted to the magical fruits she cooked.

Now, if only one more goblin would appear...

Deliah frowned.

The kingdom was oddly slow this time around. It'd been a week since the [Goblin Lord] was first sighted, yet there'd been no movement, no scouts sent out, no troops prepared. It was strange, since that defeating the goblin would ultimately gain them more money than they could ever lose.

It could very much be due to a lack of funds or mapower, but the kingdom lacked neither of those. Were they waiting perhaps? If so, for what?

Maybe they were waiting for the [Goblin Lord] to horde more treasure?

Considering the many treasure-lovers inhabiting that kingdom, that sounded incredibly likely.

Well, whatever the case might be, it helped her and her son in the long run. Goblins were appearing once again, and her son was only one goblin away from letting his [Knife Mastery] reach its third level. He still needed to slay several more goblins to reach his own second level however.

With the many goblins running about, that shouldn't be too hard.

She sighed, closing the book she'd been reading for the past hour or so. She enjoyed reading, she really did, but sitting in one place for so long had never been comfortable for her. It was truly unfortunate, and even more so when she learned that her son had inherited that.

Standing from her seat, she took a glance out the window. It was the afternoon now, and her son was out by the river, throwing those wooden knives of his at the passing fish, or perhaps at a goblin that wandered there at the wrong time.

She was initially surprised to learn that he'd picked up a rather odd form of spearfishing, but she quickly welcomed the new ingridient to her cooking.

That aside, didn't have much to do at the moment. The merchant she'd normally sell her wares to was absent at the moment, occupied by the business back at the kingdom, and she'd run out of usable threads to weave. She could also take a visit to the village, but there would be no point.

Thankfully, she didn't need to choose what to do.

As she stepped out the cabin, she heard something rustle, coming from a fair distance away. It sounded like a bush had been shaken, not by wind, but by something moving through it.

She made her way across her son's field, idly glancing at the many crops he'd planted and watered in the tilled dirt. They were aplenty, each row of crops a different one from the others, grown from the many seeds her son had bought and collected from his years.

She heard the rustle again, louder this time. Deliah took one more step, stopping right before the one visible bush in the surronding area,

And out came a goblin, shouting as a knife was raised high above its head.

It then fell to the ground, dead, as its neck was forcibly snapped by her sleeve's strings, coiled around its neck with enough force to shatter even stone.

You have killed [Goblin Lv - 1]! Monster too weak; Gained Exp has been annulled.

She huffed softly as she wove her strings back to her sleeve. She knew it was somewhat wrong, but she wished there were stronger monsters around for her to hunt. She wasn't incredibly strong, not by a long stretch, but the area she lived in was incredibly safe, almost annoyingly so.

But, well, there wasn't much she could do.

With the monster slain, she dragged the goblin corpse and placed it by her son's shovel, before she turned and went back to her cabin.

Now then, what should she make for dinner?

Evel returned soon after to see the goblin corpse laying by the side of his shovel.

He gave his mom an extra warm hug for the gift.

Another two weeks had passed since the final goblin of the puzzle was found, and Evel now found himself shifting anxiously as he stared at the warm plate of salted magical tomatoes, accompanied by several fried fish to help aleviate the taste.

The moment he finished eating this, he'd gain enough Exp to push [Knife Mastery] to its third level, and he wasn't sure what he'll get.

He glanced at his mom, and she smiled back, confident and reassuring. He then turned to the rabbit, still unnamed, watching as it hopped across the cabin.

He was bursting with both excitement and apprehension, but time waits for no man.

So, with a deep breath, he began to dig in. The spicy juices of the magical tomato made themselves known to him, mixed in with a soft tone of saltiness underneath. The first two slices tasted great, the third felt rather off-putting, and the slices onwards tasted far too unpleasant for him to try and explain.

The fish was a welcome relief however.

Several minutes later, Evel set down his fork and sighed, downing his fifth cup of water to numb his tongue.

And then,

[Cooking] bonus added! [Knife Mastery] has gained 10% Exp! Congratulations! Your [Knife Mastery] has leveled up to level 3!

There it was, the notification staring back at him.

Placing down his empty cup, he looked up to his mom and he couldn't help but smile. Because he'd done it! He'd gotten another skill to level 3! To make it even better, it's a [Combat] skill as well!

Brimming with happiness, Evel leapt from his chair and gave his mom the comfiest hug he had. She just laughed, returning the hug as she playfully ran a hand through his hair.

"Now, why don't you check what's new?" She said, smiling, and he nodded back. He brought up his status, scrolling down to his [Skills] and expanded [Knife Mastery]'s description.

[Knife Mastery Lv - 3]

[1% towards next level] You have a moderate understanding on how to hold knives. Damage dealt by knives has been increased by 30%.

You have an affinity for knives. All stats gain a +5 increase when a knife is held.

Your knives are sharper, deadlier. Any attack made with a knife cuts through 20% of the target's [Endurance].

Evel blinked at the new added line, and then he blinked some more. If all his knives unconditionally cut through 20% of his target's [Endurance], then that'd be an indirect damage increase, right? Since it isn't a direct attack increase from him, then wouldn't that mean that said bonus would stack with the 30% damage increase?

And then there's the +5 increase to all stats when holding a knife, and-

...Oh boy.

"Evel? What's wrong?"

With a small smile, he read the new added line on his skill's description, and his mom blinked, expression perfectly mirroring the one he had just moments ago.

"...Oh my."

He needed to test this, because if his assumption was true, then the increase in power his skill gave would be enormous. So Evel quickly rushed out, heading towards that one tree he'd thrown a knife at with his mom following just behind him.

He reached it soon enough, catching sight of that familiar scar his knife had dug into the tree's bark. The dull wooden knife was still lodged in there, left behind as a memento of the event of sorts, but that wouldn't stay for much longer. Placing his hand on the wooden knife, he gripped it and pulled it out with ease, the stat bonus given by the new level aiding him.

The dull edge had dulled even more, and it'd cracked on some places, but it'd still do well enough.

With his arms raised and aiming just above the scar he'd pulled the knife out of, Evel swung his arm forward and threw the knife with all of his strength.

And with a powerful gust of wind, the wooden knife punched a hole right through the tree's bark, and then it landed comfortaby in the tree behind it, sending splinters catapulting through the air.

Evel stared, blinked, and then blinked some more.

Because if that was what a dull wooden knife could do, then what would a sharp wooden knife do? Furthermore, what damage could a sharp iron knife do?

He couldn't but smile at the thought.