This Is Going To Be A Rocky Do-Over

004

"Wow, so like, you're totally going to be an adventure, huh?" the man said. Though I couldn't see his face, my self-awareness at least showed me being held in the palm of his hand. "I mean you even got your first quest and everything, right?"

"I suppose so. But what's a quest if I have no means of accomplishing it?" This was a question I had pondered over many times. Without legs, how am I to walk to my destinations? Without arms, how am I to pickup items necessary to accomplish my tasks? Without a heart, how am I meant to fall in love with a rescued maiden?! "Quite the horrifying predicament, I know."

"Use me."

"You?"

"Yeah," the man said. He had nuzzled me tighter as if to indicate he had motioned to himself in some sense, maybe a thumbs up. "Clearly I'm not any good with a sword, but if I put you in my pocket, we can travel together."

Dear God, please do not make me rummage around with this man's pocket lint.

"While I appreciate the offer, I don't believe... wait a second." I said while stroking my imaginary chin with my imaginary hand. The thought crossed my mind previously, but I was looking at it with a closed perspective. Now that my verbalize skill had unlocked, instead of hoping for accidents to level me up, I can instruct this fellow to force increases to my experience. "Before we settle on becoming traveling companions, why don't you assist me with something first?"

After explaining how I had previous acquired experience, the man jumped to a sudden conclusion, "so if I just plummet you into the ground a few hundred times, that should be enough to level you up an obtain a new skill?"

While I don't enjoy the thought of be pelted into the dirt over and over, I don't feel any pain and it might be the quickest way to level up as long as my pitcher doesn't throw out his arm. "I suppose so. Go ahead and give me a chuck."

#

One-hundred and eighty-six times. It's truly a magnificent number. Why? Well... it's exactly how many times I was beaten into the soil before we realized that my level is not moving an inch! Either the gap between stat increases is growing far larger at a much quicker rate than I'd previous experienced, or the ways I'd obtain my previous levels—knocking it a few foreign objects—is no longer going to be enough to obtain meaningful experience.

However... in requesting to be washed off in the nearby river, I did gain another level in charisma. While this increase was not accompanied by a new skill, a lot of knowledge was obtained. Firstly, it seems the first couple of levels of each attribute category—defense and charisma—are easily raised. Second, if my assumption is correct, the first skill related to said attributes are learned upon the first level and fifth level of the increased category, the skill of which is in some way related. Lastly, as previously stated, after achieving level five of an attribute, it seemingly freezes until far more substantial experience is acquired.

This is going to be a hassle.

Hazel was the name of the man who'd been helping to rinse the surface of my smooth rock surface. When I learned his name, it gave me the sense of true companionship, a feeling I had not previously felt often in my last life, but this new sensation had me a bit giddy, though I knew not the proper way to convey it.

Unfortunately, this revelation had also left me with a bit of emptiness. It wasn't the action of learning the man's name, but the question that followed this shared information.

"And what's your name?"

Though it had only been tens of minutes since he asked, it still bothered me to my core. In my past life—the one I no longer wish to think about—my name was Ryan, but that name felt distant now. That name no longer resembled this new consciousness, it was merely a borrowed collection of symbols formed to label my previous vessel. But this new vessel... it only seemed appropriate to give it a new label.

"Yuta" I said, as Hazel continued to dry me off with the last bit of his clothing that looked clean.

"What's that? I couldn't hear you. I know speaking is a new thing for you, but if you talk under your breath no one will even acknowledge you, though I suppose that's a good thing considering your a rock after all."

"My name... you asked it in the woods. I didn't have an answer for you then, but I do now. It's Yuta."

While I couldn't see it, I could feel the radiance of Hazel's smile showering the surface of this new vessel. "Well, Yuta. What's next for our little training session?"

#

While the two of us could have went immediately onto leveling up my charisma to the current maximum, I decided against it for now, opting to instead contemplate the other possible attributes that lie within me and how to approach them.

"Don't you think sneak would be a sort of skill people learn?" Hazel had generated a good grasp of the concept of skills, but was lacking the understanding of a vital piece of information to bring the idea to life.

"Hazel... how am I, a unmoving rock, supposed to sneak anywhere?!"

"Well, it's like this..." at that moment, I could hear his voice turn from clever idea generator to full on bullshitter. "I can walk up to a camp of bandits and throw you into one of their tents, and every time they pass over you, boom, sneaking."

Wow... he said that without even a hint of wavering confidence.

"While I admire your creativity, there are too many unknown variables to even attempt such a plan."

"Like what?"

"Like how the hell are you supposed to get me back if I'm in the middle of the encampment?!"

"Well if they—"

"Nope, shush you precious thing. No more of that." I wasn't sure why I said it like that, but in some sense, Hazel was starting to resemble someone precious to me. After learning I could talk, he could've ran away or sold me off, but instead he listened and understood my predicament. Quite a change of pace from my old life. Plus, If not for him being here, who knows how much longer I would have lasted in that lonely state.

"I got it!" he shouted out again. "Agility!"

"Again, Hazel. How am I supposed to learn agility if I'm a rock with no legs?"

"I can skip you across the river!"

"Absolutely not!"

Or maybe I would have been better off alone!

No... that's a joke. No matter what comes of this partnership, I will never regret him finding me.

"I got it!"

"I swear if this is another—"

"Perception!" he said, lifting me high enough to see his face.

—Perception Raised—

—New Skill—

—Vision—