This is not something that can be answered right now, or maybe ever. To be honest, I do not even know if I will ever meet her again. She did not even say her name. All I know is that she is a dryad goddess and something else that I already forgot, mostly because she was delivering that stupid, obviously improvised speech.
And honestly, I do not think I need to be too concerned. Beyond the obvious physical differences and limitations, since I am a goblin now, I do not feel much different than I did when I was human.
Given this, I do not think I need to worry too much about these skills either. They are basically what anyone would expect from a reincarnator who ended up in the body of a goblin.
I believe this "Language of the Birds" skill could mean two different things. One possibility is that I can literally talk with birds, which would be kind of funny, I will not lie.
But given the context, and considering that it is an S+ skill, which most likely indicates a ranking system using letters instead of numbers, it probably means I can speak at least the most general language of this world. More likely, it allows me to communicate in every known and unknown language, both spoken and written, although I am not entirely sure about that.
If this world has some sort of discursive magical system, like runes or chants similar to the games from my previous world, then maybe this skill could help me learn related abilities. Something to test in the future.
Now, Dark Vision is self-explanatory, and actually some really good news in this heap of problems. It makes sense that I would have it, since I am a goblin. If I am not mistaken, goblins are considered a lower type of fae creature in European folklore, and in RPGs and such, elves, who are also tied to fae creatures, usually have this ability as well.
Or maybe Dark Vision is just a common skill. Most animals already have some form of dark vision, not because of mystical physiology, but simply because of how their bodies naturally work.
And it makes sense that a skill like Dark Vision would not have a level, since I cannot think of a way for it to be "better" or "worse." In the end, it is just the ability to see in the dark, right?
Lead Belly seems to be the same. I do not know exactly what it does, but it probably lets me eat things that normally would not be edible.
Maybe I could even feed myself with rotten meat, or even grass. Or maybe not. I do not think trying that right now would be a good idea in my current situation.
Thinking that I have to guess what a skill does in a world where there is literally an evocable status screen, like something straight out of an RPG Maker game, is really stupid. There has to be a way to read what every skill means, or at least what every word in this status window says, right?
But after trying an uncountable number of times, even doing the most ridiculous things to see if some reaction would appear, I had to accept that there is no real way to know what a skill can or cannot do.
Extremely lame.
The only way out of this ignorance, at least in the short term, is to find some goblin society near where I am, with at least one person who can actually speak.
They must have knowledge passed down for generations about these things.
Actually, does the system even work the same way for someone who cannot read?
Because I am not sure if it is thanks to my Language of the Birds skill, but even though the text is not in English, or in any other Indo-European language I could have tried to guess at, it was still completely intelligible to me. In fact, I can read these strange and alien words as if they had been in my mind since birth.
Until I meet another goblin, none of that is my concern. For now, the first plan is to find food, and it needs to be something a human could eat too.
Even though Lead Belly might allow me to eat almost anything, getting diarrhea here would mean death by dehydration, and even the weakest creature could finish me off if it found me in that state.
Then, after that, or maybe even before, whichever comes first, I need to find water, preferably a safe source.
Hopefully Lead Belly can at least cancel out the worst effects of drinking untreated water. And yes, I know I could solve most of that problem by making a fire. But I really have no idea how I could possibly make fire here without any tools.
Even in my old life, making fire was not an easy task. People could spend hours just trying, and nowadays there are many specific tools to quickly start a fire in an instant, tools that I obviously do not have access to here.
It is not just a matter of hitting two stones together and voilà. No, it is actually a very methodical process of trial and error. and even if someone with proper preparation and knowledge might manage it without any special tools, I am clearly not one of those people.
Then, realizing that there was literally nothing else to do in my current state, I started walking slowly toward the cavern entrance. I figured that it would be extremely unlikely to be reborn right at the entrance of a cave only to have nothing inside of that.
Even if the goddess lied to me about everything until now, she still granted my request for some initial help. So why not? I was not doing anything anyway.
After walking for some meters, I noticed that the Dark Vision skill was working perfectly on its own, without me having to consciously activate it.
Maybe that is because this skill comes naturally from my body. Or maybe it is some kind of passive skill. Either way, it helps a lot here.
Walking a bit farther, I saw that the cavern was not long or wide at all. It stretched for no more than ten meters before ending in a larger but still natural chamber. Inside, I found not only a small underground river, no more than twenty centimeters deep, which was was already enough to meet my need for water.
And in the exact opposite direction of the chamber, I spotted what clearly looked like a chest, identical to the ones you would find in RPG games. It was closed, just waiting for me to open it.
And when I did, I became even happier. Inside, I found many things that I desperately needed.
There was not only a full set of local clothes, probably made of wool, although unfortunately far too big for me since they were about twice my size. Beyond those, I also found a well-kept dagger with its scabbard. Even better, I discovered a small bag containing what looked like ten strange coins, probably made partially or entirely of silver, marked with a strange symbol that I instantly recognized as the imperial crest of the Aertius Kingdom dynastie.
Wow. So the Language of the Birds skill even works with symbols. But beyond knowing what this sign means, I did not receive any other information, such as details about this kingdom or the value of the silver, or if it was indeed silver. I only understood the raw meaning of the symbol. Even so, that alone is completely broken.
Well, I will keep these coins in the chest for now. I cannot wear pants, and I have nowhere to carry them with me. When they become useful, I will come back and take them.
Holy crap, this feels almost like I just subscribed to a starter pack from some free-to-play MMORPG.
I think that even if this shirt looks more like a dress on my body, wearing it along with the strange underwear I found in the chest is much better than staying completely naked. And now, even though the dagger looks more like a short sword in my small hands compared to a human's, I can finally calm down a little.
At least now I have something not only to protect myself but also to help me hunt for food.
I know this body is not strong, since it is extremely light, but with a sharp dagger, even a wolf could be killed by a child.
After checking my surroundings and confirming that I was indeed alone, I dressed myself with the shirt and the underwear. With now at least something protecting my little fella from running loose, I took a moment to relax in that calm and quiet place.
I think it must be because of the pain I felt earlier, but now my body is extremely tired. It feels almost as if I had stayed awake for more than twenty-four hours straight, and now my body is demanding a break.
Wait, was I not already half-asleep right before my death, only because I had stayed up the entire night playing that addictive game released over the weekend with some of my online friends?
I think I will just keep my eyes closed for a few moments, and then, haaa, then I will try to hunt my first creature in this world.
But when I opened my eyes again, I realized that from the mouth of the cavern it was already night. Not because I was unable to see, but because the light had completely vanished. Everything was now in total shadow, and I could clearly perceive it.
Thanks to my racial passive skill, I was watching everything with the same ease as if it were directly lit.
How long did I sleep? It was already almost dark when I entered the cave.
The strangest part is that I can clearly distinguish between what has at least a little moonlight and what does not, even though I can still see everything.
Hm, my mouth is a bit dry. Thankfully, I have the most convenient water source I could ever ask for.
Wow, maybe it is just because I went through one of the worst moments in my memory, but this water tastes so good.
Hopefully, Lead Belly is doing its job and preventing me from dying in one of the most torturous ways possible.
Now that I am completely rested and hydrated, with the best beginner set a low white goblin could wish for, and basically a solid shelter with its own natural water source inside, there is still one more thing I need to do. I need to find some food, because I am desperately hungry.
I never tried to learn wilderness survival skills. and while I did waste more than a reasonable number of hours watching bushcraft videos on the internet, in the end they never actually taught me anything useful.
But right now, I really need to kill some animals, preferably the tasty ones. And maybe after that I could even experiment with eating grass, since I basically have an infinite water source, and I might end up with plenty of meat, or fruit, or really anything edible.
Actually, would poisonous fruits still have an effect on me now that I have Lead Belly?
Hmm, it probably depends on the intensity of the poison.
But anyway, if I find some, I will give it a try. Even if the skill does not have a tier, I think that if it is not useful for this, then why would it even be a skill and not just something like "general human belly physiology"?
Since I have Dark Vision, there is no need to wait until dawn to do something.
So after standing up, brushing the dust off my underwear since I had been sitting on the ground, and holding my dagger with both hands pressed against my abdomen, I gathered as much confidence as I could and finally left the cave.