The spear felt balanced in my hand, a crude but lethal marriage of steel and ironwood. From my perch atop the oak tree, I looked down at the five goblins. They were jabbering, unaware that the "livestock" they had cornered was about to drop like a bolt of lightning.
"Hey, you brutes!" I shouted.
Their heads snapped up, yellow eyes widening. Before they could even raise their clubs, I dived. Gravity pulled at my stomach, but my mind was focused. Swap: Dash!
Mid-air, I invoked the skill. The world blurred. I didn't just fall; I propelled myself forward like a launched projectile. I gripped the spear and, using the momentum of the dash, I threw it with everything I had. The spear hissed through the air, piercing the lead goblin through the chest before my boots even hit the grass. It died instantly, pinned to the forest floor.
The remaining four froze, staring at their fallen leader. They didn't understand. A human boy wasn't supposed to move like that.
Swap: Slime Mask!
I didn't give them time to think. One goblin roared and lunged with a rusted cleaver. I activated [Slime Movement], my body twisting like liquid to let the blade pass harmlessly by. As the goblin overextended, I channeled every bit of kinetic energy I had into my right hand.
"Slime Punch!"
The impact was thunderous. The goblin was lifted off its feet, flying backward until it slammed into a tree trunk with a sickening crack. It didn't get back up.
"Any others?" I muttered, my breath coming in hot bursts.
Suddenly, the familiar chime of the system echoed in my skull, but this time it was a chorus of notifications.
[Level Up: You have reached Level 6.]
[System Evolution: All Rank F abilities have reached Rank E.]
[Appraisal has evolved: Rank E → Rank D.]
I felt a surge of heat through my veins. My [Mask of the Dash] pulsed with new power; I could now dash seven feet in a single burst. I looked at the three remaining goblins. They were snarling now, their fear turning into a desperate rage.
Swap: Fire! I didn't just throw flickers of flame this time. With my Rank E magic, I imagined a ring of fire. A circle of burning mana erupted around the goblins, trapping them. While they scrambled to find a way through the heat, I used [Dash] to retrieve my spear from the first goblin's corpse.
I was a blur—dashing in to deliver a shallow slash, then dashing back before they could swing. One goblin tried to bash me with a heavy wooden club. I didn't dodge.
Swap: Slime Mask—Activate Slime Body.
The club hit my shoulder with a force that should have shattered the bone, but my body felt like dense jelly. The wood bounced off, doing negligible damage. I spun the spear and drove it home.
[Level Up: You have reached Level 7.]
As the final goblin fell, the silence of the forest returned, broken only by the crackle of my fading fire ring. I leaned against a tree, wiping sweat from my eyes.
[Rewards Acquired: 5x Mask Plates.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Search (Rank F) — Detect monsters within a 5-meter radius.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Storage (Rank F) — A dimensional pocket for items.]
But the system wasn't done. A golden window appeared—a unique skill for my [Mask Maker] class.
[Class Skill Unlocked: Invisibility.]
[Description: When active, the mask currently being worn becomes invisible to others, revealing your natural face while maintaining all mask benefits.]
I stared at the text. This was huge. In the capital, wearing strange masks would make me a target for the King's knights. Now, I could hide my power in plain sight.
I sat down for two hours to recover and test these new gifts. I walked to a nearby lake and looked at my reflection. I donned the Slime Mask and whispered, "Invisibility." My face reappeared in the water's surface, looking like a normal, tired fifteen-year-old boy. But when I touched my cheek, I felt the cold, smooth porcelain of the mask. It was a perfect camouflage.
Next, I took two of my five new plates and created the [Mask of Search] and the [Mask of Storage].
I put on the [Storage Mask]. A tiny, translucent box appeared in my field of vision. When I touched it, it felt like an infinite void. I began picking up the goblin corpses and their dropped cores.
"Store," I said. The bodies vanished into the void. However, after the third goblin, a red warning flashed: [Storage Full]. I realized I'd need to increase my rank or level to carry more, but for now, it was better than a burlap sack.
After thirty minutes of walking, I decided to test [Search]. I put on the mask and sent out a pulse of mana.
Pulse.
The wave rippled out five meters and bounced back, sending a sharp tingle into my brain. I sensed three distinct, high-energy signatures nearby. I swapped to [Eyesight] and looked up toward a rocky ridge.
There, stalking through the shadows, were three wolves.
Swap: Appraisal.
[Appraised: Ground Wolf (Rank D) — Level 7]
Ground Wolves. They were fast, armored with stone-like fur, and significantly more dangerous than goblins. A Rank D monster was a serious threat to a Level 7 human.
I looked at the spear in my hand and the masks in my mind. I was supposed to be heading to the capital, but the allure of the hunt was becoming intoxicating. Every kill made me stronger. Every level gave me more plates to create the "world's finest masks."
The Kingdom wanted a hero? They could keep their knights. I was going to be the artisan who wore the faces of the monsters they feared.
"Three D-Ranks," I whispered, the fire of the craft burning in my eyes. "That's three more masks for the collection."
I gripped my spear, activated [Invisibility] so the wolves would only see a lone, defenseless boy, and began to climb the ridge.