After leaving the guild building, I somehow mustered the strength to head into the forest outside town.
The reason I came here was to test the effect of my skill, [Instant Death Magic].
My level cap is 1. No matter how much I fight, my stats will never increase for the rest of my life.
From now on, living as an adventurer is impossible.
And above all else… Leanne is gone.
That is why I decided to return to our home village.
But to get back there, I need travel money.
I only brought enough for a one-way trip.
To earn the fare home, even someone at level 1 like me would have to take on simple monster subjugation requests.
"There it is…"
After walking through the forest for a while, I spotted a bluish, jelly-like blob.
It was a slime, the monster said to be the weakest in this world.
Slimes are so weak that even villagers can defeat them. They only occasionally hop or stretch their bodies to attack, posing almost no danger. It was the perfect target to test my [Instant Death Magic] on.
I positioned myself a short distance from the slime, extended my right arm, and shouted to activate the skill.
""Death"!"
From my palm emerged a jet-black wave adorned with several skull-like faces, flying straight toward the slime.
This must be the spell "Death" of [Instant Death Magic].
But the moment the wave touched the slime, it vanished as if nothing had happened.
The slime continued to jiggle in place, just like before.
In other words, it failed.
"What the hell is this…"
Even ordinary magic—fire, ice, whatever—could take out a single slime in one hit.
Meanwhile, my "Death" is pure luck, with no guarantee it will even work.
Maybe because it was my first time using magic, I felt unusually exhausted.
It was probably because my mana had decreased.
I stood there for a while, steadying my breathing.
Once the fatigue eased a bit, I tried again against the slime.
""Death"!!"
But once more, the jet-black wave disappeared almost immediately.
Exhausted again, I sat down on the spot.
"I knew it was supposed to be a hopeless skill, but this bad?"
I could only give a bitter smile at how inefficient it was.
While sitting, I suddenly recalled what happened at the Adventurers' Guild earlier.
The first thing that came to mind was Leanne's face.
She had refused to stay with me and left with that S-rank adventurer, Allen.
By now, she was probably getting equipped and fighting as a member of his party.
And surely with him, she would…
The thought made me feel utterly pathetic all of a sudden.
"Hah… guh… ugh…"
Tears overflowed naturally from the frustration, falling to the ground.
Leanne.
Allen, who took her away.
The adventurers who laughed at me in the guild.
That guy Balzaak, who called me trash.
None of them saw me as a person.
If I had even a little more power, things would not have turned out this way.
But the past cannot be changed.
It is not just Leanne—there is no one left by my side anymore.
I cried until my emotions settled.
Then, suddenly overwhelmed by everything, I decided to leave the spot.
The slime was still jiggling energetically on the ground.
Come to think of it, this slime is just as weak as I am.
There is no need for the weakest to take the life of another weakest.
With that thought, I turned to head back to town.
That was when I noticed a large shadow looming in front of me.
"Eh…"
It was a massive black bear monster, a Killing Bear, easily more than twice my height.
Killing Bears are monsters that require a party of B-rank or higher experienced adventurers to handle, within the E-to-S adventurer ranks.
There is no way a level 1 like me could beat it.
But by the time I tried to run, it was already too late.
The Killing Bear reared up on its hind legs and swung one of its terrifyingly thick arms toward me.
"Guaaaah!"
I managed to block the swung arm somehow, but my body was lifted into the air and slammed hard against a tree trunk.
"Gah! Aaaah!"
In that instant, pain exploded through my entire body, as if it were being torn apart.
I leaned my back against the base of the tree, breathing raggedly.
But I no longer thought about escaping.
(So this is the strength of someone at level 1.)
Against higher-level opponents, I cannot even fight back—I just get beaten.
That is all I am: the weakest adventurer.
The Killing Bear slowly approached me, raised its arm high again, and brought it down in one swift motion.
The moment those claws hit me, I would definitely die. Even someone as slow as me could understand that.
But.
Understanding it did not mean I could accept it.
(Am I really going to end here like this?)
Abandoned by my childhood friend, mocked by other adventurers, finally making it to this town only to die without completing a single quest.
Just because I am the weakest—am I supposed to accept that?
The moment that thought hit me, rage surged up inside.
Don't screw with me.
I am not dying in a place like this.
I have not even started anything yet.
I fixed my gaze on the Killing Bear and thrust my right hand forward.
The one dying here is not me—it's you!!
""Death"!!!"
The jet-black wave released from my right hand struck the Killing Bear directly and vanished as if absorbed into its body.
"GUOOOOOOOH!!"
Suddenly, the Killing Bear let out a roar, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed backward onto the ground.
"Haa! Haa!"
Suppressing the pain, I steadied my breathing and slowly approached the Killing Bear.
It did not twitch at all. The light of life had completely gone out.
"No way… I beat it…? Me?"
Relieved, I sank to the ground right there.
Why had such a miracle happened? There was only one possible explanation.
"Death" had taken effect and killed the Killing Bear in one hit.
"Haha… take that, you bastard."
I am still alive.
I had never once thought that simply being alive could feel this good.
"For now, I have secured some travel money."
The Killing Bear's body is incredibly heavy, but the town of Boltana is just a stone's throw away.
If I drag it back to the guild and sell it as materials, it should fetch a decent amount.
"…Hm?"
Suddenly, a square, semi-transparent object appeared in my field of vision.
It read:
『Skill level has increased. Please allocate points.』
"What is this?"
The semi-transparent object followed my gaze wherever I looked, as if linked to my movements.
And what does it mean that my skill level increased?
I had never heard of skill levels rising instead of regular levels.
I tentatively reached out and touched the object with my finger.
It vanished, and a new, larger one appeared in its place.
In the center glowed a skull symbol, with web-like lines extending outward to connect to other symbols.
At the very top of the semi-transparent panel, it said [Ability List] and [Level: 20 Remaining Points: 20].
"…It did say to allocate points earlier."
I tried touching the central symbol.
Text appeared in the upper right.
『Death: The initial spell of the Instant Death Magic skill. Its effective range is extremely short, and success rate drops sharply beyond that range, requiring use at very close proximity to the target. By consuming points to acquire derived abilities, various additional effects can be obtained.』
"Effective range? So that's why it was said to fail even against slimes?"
In party battles, mages always stay in the rear line.
That naturally puts distance between them and the target.
Earlier, the Killing Bear's body happened to be right next to me.
That is why it succeeded.
And this message appeared after I defeated the Killing Bear.
The skill level increase.
In other words…
"—It's not my level that rises. It's my skill level that goes up."