I left the Egg-eater’s territory and rolled and rolled to find a monster worth catching.
It felt like half a day had passed, but no suitable monster was in sight.
Since I didn’t know the geography of the forest, I was moving in one direction as much as possible by looking at the position of the sun—
‘Ah, another log!’
Fallen trees and things like tree roots sticking out above the ground kept blocking my way.
It was frustrating that I had to go around whenever an obstacle appeared because rolling was all I could do.
‘It’d be nice if I could jump or something.’
Maybe because they were the same species, the Egg-eaters all had similar skills, so there wasn’t much worth taking.
That was why for now, I only acquired Stealth, which cost 1 point.
I realized that while they might not recognize me as prey, it didn’t mean I was invisible.
Ding!
[The level of the skill ‘Roll (lv. 1)’ has increased.]
‘Whoa?’
It was an unexpected gift.
I had been wondering how to increase skill levels.
Since I hadn’t done anything but roll, it seems the level increases the more I use the skill.
‘Nice, isn’t it?’
Although there was no change in the skill description, I could feel that my rolling speed had gotten a bit faster.
That means Poison Mucus will also get stronger the more I use it.
I learned something good thanks to this.
‘Huh?’
Hop—
Just then, a small lump landed right in front of my eyes.
‘It’s small… and it looks like the kind of monster that would have useful skills!’
At a glance, it looked like an ordinary frog, but it had a long horn on its head.
If it has a skill related to jumping, it will definitely be helpful for movement or combat.
It would be faster and more certain to collide with something rather than rolling up to it to apply poison.
‘By the way, how do I catch that?’
Finding it was fine, but the problem was that I had to catch it.
Frogs usually eat things like bugs, so I wouldn’t be able to hunt it the way I did with the Egg-eaters.
Hop—!
While I was contemplating for a moment, the frog started to move.
‘Stop!’
I hurriedly rolled my body and chased after it.
Fortunately, it wasn’t very fast, so I could keep up without much trouble.
‘A pond?’
After chasing it diligently, I arrived at the edge of a pond.
‘Whoa….’
In the middle of the dense forest, a transparent, sapphire-colored pond was sparkling under the sunlight.
I found myself staring blankly at the unrealistically beautiful scenery.
Croak, croak—
‘Ah, right. The frog!’
Snapped back to my senses by the loud croaking, I rolled toward the nearest direction the sound was coming from.
‘Is it here?’
A greenish-brown frog was sitting on a rock, croaking as it puffed out its vocal sac.
It looked a bit different from the frog I had been chasing.
‘This place must be a frog habitat.’
I thought I heard croaking from all directions, and looking around, there wasn’t just one or two.
‘If I can just find a hunting method, this place will be a total goldmine.’
I’d even be able to hunt to my heart’s content without the struggle of searching for them like I did with the Egg-eaters.
‘Let’s think.’
It would be best if it just died by me smearing poison on it, but there’s a possibility that won’t happen.
A skill level of 1 means it produces the weakest effect.
With the Egg-eaters, it was fatal because I used it inside their bodies, but it might not be the same for the skin.
They are strictly monsters, not ordinary frogs.
‘Let’s try it once for now.’
I approached a frog sitting on the ground.
Perhaps thanks to the Stealth skill, thankfully, it showed no particular reaction even when I approached right in front of it.
‘Stay still.’
Just as the guy turned its body slightly, I cast Poison Mucus in that gap.
The poison wasn’t visible to the eye, but it was definitely smeared on.
Croak, croak—
‘Should I wait a bit?’
Thinking that time was probably needed until the poison spread, I waited.
However, the guy peacefully repeated inflating and deflating its vocal sac, looking completely fine.
As expected, just touching the skin doesn’t seem to produce much of an effect.
‘I need to find another way….’
While I was racking my brain, the frog suddenly turned toward me.
‘It didn’t even spare me a glance when I was smearing poison on it earlier.’
But its eyes were unusual.
It was a look as if it were targeting prey.
‘Wait. Not right now!’
My mana is almost depleted from using Poison Mucus just now.
I’m in a situation where I don’t even know if I can escape by rolling like I did with the Egg-eaters.
Just as I was trying to avoid it because being eaten didn’t seem like a good idea right now—
Swish—
Something shot out from its mouth and quickly brushed past me.
‘Huh?’
Squeak—!
A tongue that stretched out like a rubber band had snatched a small bird that was behind me.
The bird flapped its wings frantically, but it disappeared into the frog’s mouth as if being sucked in.
Maybe because it’s a monster, it seems to eat small animals, not just bugs.
‘Found it.’
A way to hunt with just Roll and Poison Mucus!
* * *
The hungry frog rolled its eyes in search of prey.
Squeak—
Just then, it spotted a small field mouse that had come for a drink of water.
As soon as the prey came within range, the frog immediately fired its tongue and snatched it.
Croak?
Normally, it should have felt a warm sensation when snatching prey.
However, it felt a strangely cold and hard sensation, so it checked the identity of what it had caught.
Whether it had failed its aim or the mouse had sensed it and fled beforehand, a pure white pebble had been caught instead.
Thud—
Once it realized it wasn’t food, the frog set the pebble back down.
However, starting with a strange sensation in its tongue, its breathing gradually became difficult, and soon it stopped altogether.
[You have predated the magic stone of a Green Frog (lv. 4). Absorbing magic power.]
[There are skills available for acquisition.]
‘Hehe…. Finally, success!!’
I let out an internal cheer as I watched the notification windows appear one after another.
I don’t know how many times I had to taste the bitterness of failure before tasting this precious success.
The tongue’s movement was so fast that it was incredibly difficult to roll at the exact timing.
Though in the end, it was the frog that got a literal taste of bitterness.
‘Is it my destiny to only survive by being eaten? Sob.’
At the end, I threw myself into it as if possessed by a hero throwing himself away to save a princess.
A field mouse princess and a pebble hero. I do wonder what kind of combination that is.
——————
[Acquirable Skills]
- Leap – 1P
- Weakling’s Sense – 1P
- Underwater Breathing – 2P
- Whip Tongue – 3P
——————
‘I knew it would be there!’
The skill descriptions were all exactly as their names suggested.
Right now, all I need is Leap.
[Acquiring the skill ‘Leap’.]
‘Nice!’
——————
[Pebble Lv. 5]
Magic: E+ Durability: D
Blessing: [Predation (lv. 1)]
Skills: [Roll (lv. 2)] [Poison Mucus (lv. 1)] [Stealth (lv. 1)] [Leap (lv. 1)]
Owned Skill Points: 2P
Titles: [Faithful Stone] [Ecosystem Disruptor]
——————
‘Wow. It’s only been a few days and I’m already like this? Am I going to become the strongest pebble in the world at this rate?’
I shook my head after getting ahead of myself.
I’m still just a pebble with only one attack skill. Let’s not get cocky, self.
‘Should I test out Leap for a bit?’
I steeled my resolve and kicked off the ground.
In an instant, my body floated into the air.
‘Yahoo!’
It was a completely different feeling from running with two legs.
It felt almost like flying.
‘This doesn’t seem to consume magic power either…. Uh? Wait a second.’
A problem arose. This leap distance is longer than I thought.
‘N-no!!’
I rolled my body in mid-air to try and reverse.
But it didn’t go my way.
Thud—
Roll, roll, roll!
‘Hah, huuuff—’
As soon as my body touched the ground, I rolled like crazy.
I almost fell into the pond.
Of course, I wouldn’t drown, but if I fell into the water now, I might never be able to get out.
Pebbles can’t float in water.
‘Just the thought is horrifying.’
I glanced at the pond and backed away again.
The bottom wasn’t visible, and for a pond, it looked quite deep.
‘By the way, I really was a pebble.’
I’d known I was a pebble from the start, but seeing it with my own eyes made me feel a certain way.
In cartoons or novels, everyone always reincarnates as a cool, strong hero or a mage.
Or they’re born with a silver spoon as a noble or royalty.
‘I’m not even asking for that much.’
What’s up with being a white pebble! A pebble! It pisses me off again just thinking about it.
‘Phew….’
Let’s calm down. Nothing will change by getting angry.
However, I will never forget the humiliations I’ve suffered as a pebble.
‘I will make whoever is responsible pay for putting me through this.’
After issuing a warning of my own to whatever being might be watching from somewhere, I looked for prey again.
‘Horned frog~ Where are you?’
The frog that first led me to the pond was nowhere to be seen.
I’m sure it must have an attack skill.
‘Well, it’ll show up if I keep hunting.’
I have to level up to get new skills anyway.
I don’t know how many points I’ll need, so I should save up as many as possible for now.
* * *
‘Croak, croak, the frog can’t sing~ because the son, grandson, and daughter-in-law are all dead~’
Is this too much of a childhood-ruiner?
Who cares, no one’s listening.
‘Horned frog! Found it!’
Croak?
Having finally found my target, I waited until it started hunting.
I was able to catch it easily with the now-familiar ‘Prey-Swap Technique.’
‘What are you even keeping that horn for?’
I caught it so easily that I wondered if it was just for decoration.
It might actually be soft.
Tack— tack—
‘It really is a horn.’
[Would you like to activate Blessing of Predation (lv. 1)?]
‘Show me the skill list, please.’
——————
[Acquirable Skills]
- Sound Amplification – 1P
- Underwater Breathing – 2P
- Whip Tongue – 3P
- Headbutt – 4P
——————
They all have Underwater Breathing and Whip Tongue.
‘There it is. An attack skill!’
——————
[Headbutt (lv. 1)]
Damage increases by 100% when striking the target’s head.
——————
‘Double damage? That’s insane.’
It’s limited to the head, but still, this is great. Plus, it doesn’t even consume mana.
Fortunately, I had just reached level 6, so I could acquire it immediately.
‘Why didn’t he use such a good thing?’
What am I saying. It’s a huge relief he didn’t use it.
He even has a horn; if he’d used it, I would have been split apart.
‘Shall I try it out?’
I carefully approached a frog sitting on a rock nearby, enjoying a sunbath without a care in the world.
‘Body Slam Headbutt!’
Thwack—!
The frog, struck squarely on the back of its head, flew off from the impact and fell into the pond.
‘Ah! My magic stone!’
The frog floated on top of the pond with its belly turned over.
It was because the power was stronger than I expected.
To devour the magic stone, I had to get close, but it suddenly became pie in the sky.
‘It’s a waste, but at least I know for sure how well it works.’
I also learned that magic power consumption wasn’t very high.
‘Wait, with this much power, I could have caught it even without Headbutt?’
Thinking back, I was the one who smashed the Armadeer’s head even without a skill.
Of course, the head was softer than other parts, and it was also thanks to my benefactor throwing me with all his might.
‘Why didn’t I think of this?’
I should have tried it at least once before getting the skill.
Then I might not have had to go through all that trouble.
‘No?’
The opponent is a monster. It was right to use a safe and certain method.
I’m absolutely not rationalizing that my body suffered because my head was stupid.
‘Ahem. Let’s just raise my level.’
I ended up at 0P as I acquired Headbutt.
‘A stone’s life….’
* * *
‘It’s gotten really quiet.’
Before I knew it, the frog croaks that had been echoing around the pond ceased.
I wondered if they’d all gone to sleep together, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
[Conditions have been met, adding ‘Frog’ to the applicable species of the title [Ecosystem Disruptor].]
The tactless system ruined the mood again.
‘Isn’t this too fast?’
Either there were fewer individuals than the Egg-eaters, or it was because I’d become stronger; it was much faster than expected.
‘Hmm…. It’s the latter.’
Looking around, there were frog corpses everywhere with caved-in heads and bellies turned up.
Well, after I got Headbutt, I could hunt without using Poison Mucus, so I had been ramming into everything in sight.
Still, I reached level 7 with the one I just caught.
‘The last one is Weakling’s Sense.’
I contemplated saving the points, but the skill description tempted me.
——————
[Weakling’s Sense (lv. 1)]
Instinctively detects beings stronger than yourself.
However, if the gap is extremely large, it may not activate.
——————
I’ve already got movement and attack skills, so I should at least get one skill related to survival at the end.
Sizing up the opponent before picking a fight is a very important thing.
‘Shall I slowly move somewhere else?’
Zing—
‘Huh?’
I was about to roll my body to find the next hunting ground with a good feeling, when suddenly a strange sensation hit me.
It was a feeling like a chill running down my spine.
‘Oh, could this be Weakling’s Sense activating?’
I immediately looked around to confirm if the skill had indeed activated.
‘Gasp! That’s…!’
It was the appearance of an unexpected presence.
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