After a whole hour of exhausting work, Leon and Noel had managed to kill fifteen beetles. Noel, who was fitter and had a fighting skill had managed to kill ten, and poor Leon only killed five before all of his stamina ran dry.
"Master, we killed some of them, but how are we going to extract their poison sacks? We don't even have a knife, and sticks won't cut through their sharp carapace."
While exhausted and barely breathing, Leon pointed at one of the beetles. "See that big one with the sharp horn? It's a male. Males use those horns to fight against each other in the breeding season. Snap it and use it to pry their shells open like a fancy crab or lobster. You worked with those in the kitchen, right?"
"As you say!" Noel gave him a bow and immediately got to work. Leon, on the other hand, remained on the ground, trying to catch his breath. "Damn it, I need to work out a bit more."
As he was resting, Leon pulled up his skill once more and looked at it. [Sultan's Harem], what a peculiar skill. What did it mean by him having Noel's skill now? Does it mean he can just see her skill, learn and use it? Or is it something else entirely?
When Leon caught his breath, he stood and picked one of the sticks. He decided to give it a try and see. Like a true amateur, he took a stance and then swung the stick, pretending it was a sword. His moves were crude, unrefined, and utterly laughable... but they had grace, and that only meant one thing.
He can use Noel's [Sword Master] skill.
"Master, I'm done. I've extracted all the sap and poison sacks." Noel approached him, both of her hands drenched in green mucus. "Master, are you trying that skill?" She asked, and he looked at her with a large grin on his face.
"Keep this a secret. I can use your [Sword Master] Skill, and I will probably be able to use the skills of any other servant I take." Usually, a person can only have one skill, so Leon was an anomaly, one that his father would now probably kill to regain. The skill they thought was just a commanding and buff type skill had turned out to be the exact opposite, one that gathered power into him instead.
"Master..." Noel approached him. "Does this mean you'll be taking in more servants?" She looked worried for a second, but then shook her head. "We can't do that without having a house or a place for them to live."
She stared at him with a deadpan face. "I'm willing to sleep on the street with you, but others will expect at least a bit of comfort."
He tapped her shoulder. "Of course I won't be taking any now. I don't even have the money to pay you, let alone get other maids. There is also the problem of loyalty, as it seems to be a crucial component of how my skill works. So for now, I'm just your useless, good-for-nothing master who can only live on your hard work."
[Notice: Noel Cromwell Loyalty has increased from 10% to 13%]
[Notice: All of Noel's stats would increase by the same percentage of her Loyalty to the Sultan when fighting in his name. Current increase 13%]
[Notice: All of the Sultan's Stats increased by the combined percentage of loyalty of his Harem. Current increase 13%]
Hear the notice of Leon's skill, Noel smiled. "Another notice, I wonder what will happen when that reaches 100%"
Leon looked at her in silence for a second. "Oh, I'm here wondering why your loyalty is too low even though I'm your master." He shook his head, and she giggled. "Well, you got no roof above your head, can't pay me, I lost all of my belongings to your family, and I'm not certain we can even eat tonight..."
Well, he can't come up with anything against that. Her working conditions are indeed hellish now. It was normal for her loyalty to be so low. For now, Leon can only do his best to stabilize his financial situation first and get a steady income.
She gave him a gentle bow and then looked back toward the city. "Shall we go back to the guild now, My Master. I always dreamed of being an adventurer like my mother was. Spending days on the move, hunting monsters and bandits alike. I don't mind camping in the woods without a tent, but I'm worried about you."
"Not yet. We need to get a bit more. Besides those beetles, our next target are slimes." He looked at her with a smile. "Kill the transparent ones by stabbing them in the core that you can see inside their bodies. Avoid smacking them directly since that would splatter acid everywhere, and it'll burn you."
She looked at the two sticks that Leon had given her before, and one of them had a tip that was slightly sharp. "Got it." As she nodded with an excited face, he pointed at her with a finger.
"Also, run from red slimes. Those can suck the blood out of you. The green ones are toxic, so their cores are worth almost nothing. Just avoid them." He picked up his stick and got ready to work as well.
It didn't take him long to find his target, a slightly large transparent slime that was the size of a melon and rolled on the grass without a single care in the world. slimes aren't the weakest monsters, but they are the easiest to deal with when one knows what they are doing.
The core was easy to spot, so Leon had a clear target, and stabbing with a sword was a good test to see how well he could handle himself. Even though what he carried was a stick and not a real blade, it still did the job quite well.
A single stab using [Sword Master] and the stick pierced right through the slime's core, killing it in an instant. "Noel, let's hunt a bit of them. I'm certain the guild lady will yell at us, but we can just say that we stumbled upon them in the forest while gathering the sap."
"Understood!" Noel shouted back as she was a bit further away, and unlike him who only killed one slime, she had already eliminated three.
An hour later, they had a pile of sap, fifteen poison glands, and a whole bunch of slime cores to serve as proof of kill. "So, we're going back now? We should reach the city a bit before dusk if we move now."
"Yeah." Leon nodded and pointed at a small creek that followed the edge of the forest all the way to the large river going through the city. "We should take our time and walk by the creek. Horse roots and Black cap mushrooms grow around it, so we should gather some on our way."