Tensei Skill Shop Chapter 8

Tensei Skill Shop

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 8:

There he is, the protagonist of this world’s story. I gazed at the teenager riding in the cart next to the driver, black-haired and looking around with interest. Man, it’s about time.

Kaga Michio, the transmigrator who came to this world after getting a message on a suicide assistance site. He thought it was some kind of game ad and filled out the CYOA chart on the computer, only to end up being sent to this world. With his granted cheat abilities, he rose rapidly in strength, and in the course of doing so, got various members to join his harem. 

That’s the plot of Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World. 

Shortly after I arrived, I explored the town of Vale, and managed to figure out that I was just sometime before the start of canon, due to spotting a certain beastkin girl in training at the slave merchant’s. Since it was an opportunity, I decided to wait around until I saw the protagonist with my own eyes. I had been staying in this world for the past three weeks or so, and during that time, I picked up quite a bit about daily life here. 

Just like any LitRPG world, people here had their own jobs, and they could unlock skills based on the one they held. For example, Weapon Merchant and Armor Merchant were valid jobs, and I saw those people use some kind of chant to [Appraise] the type of equipment they dealt in. It was also possible to change to different jobs, though the process often required visiting a temple based on the job class desired. As expected, monopolization by guilds was a thing here. Fortunately for me, my time in Ivalice left me with the ability to swap my jobs around through my status screen.

That was quite important, because one aspect of this LitRPG life was the Intelligence Card, which was stored in a person’s left hand. In essence, it served as this world’s status screen, and everyone had it. Some law-related jobs had the ability to call out the cards from other people, and they used it to inspect others to see if they had crime-related jobs, like Thief or Bandit. Totally different from the Thief Job in Ivalice. It would have been so troublesome if I had been caught like that.

Those types of jobs tended to incur bounties too, and one way of confirming a kill was to cut off the bounty’s left hand, which would release the Intelligence Card later, and the bounty hunter just had to turn it in to the respective authorities.

That was what the protagonist did in order to earn the money to buy his first slave. I didn’t have to do the same thing, so I tried out the normal dungeon adventurer life. Vale had recently discovered a labyrinth just outside the town to the east.

Labyrinths in this world were dimensional spaces filled with monsters, somehow popping up occasionally until someone conquered them. Killing the monsters within the labyrinth would see their body vanish, yielding some kind of drop that could be used for daily life or a crafting job’s skill. There was no need to register or anything, anyone could pick up a weapon, enter the place and kill monsters, then sell the drops to the trading center for money. That's what I did, and I also picked up a bit of info from my fellow adventurers along the way.

One thing that stood out in my memory was how the body disappearance thing applied to adventurers too. On death, their body would just vanish, leaving only their equipment behind. All consumed by the labyrinth.

I ended up taking a whole day off from it when I found out about that.

However, the biggest thing I had focused on in my time here so far was the acquisition of skills. Once [‘Creation’] had linked to this world’s system, I made use of it to create a few skills to assist in that main purpose. Thanks to that, I was able to figure out… well actually, confirm- the relation between skills and jobs that the protagonist learned through slow experimentation. Certain actions would unlock a person’s potential for a job, and some higher-class jobs required levels in a lower one first. Also, some skills were unlocked only upon reaching the required job level.

What I discovered was that the skills and jobs were very tightly linked. Using the stealth skills I still had, I snuck into a thieves’ den while the people were still sleeping, using another one to ensure they stayed asleep while I worked. I found that I was able to steal some of their skills, but I couldn’t use them because I didn’t meet the requirements. Furthermore, they regenerated their skills shortly afterwards; the system must have checked to see if they met the requirements, and granted them the skill again because they did. 

Lots of yoinking occurred that night, and I sent them off to Sano to check later. I also used [Steal EXP] to get a bit of boost to my own levels.

Unfortunately, there was a slight issue with some parts of those that even Sano couldn’t fix, as though a portion of the code was missing. My analysis skill didn’t mesh fully with the world’s system, so there was some data he couldn’t understand when he examined them. Sano eventually gave up, and told me to work around it instead. If a god couldn’t do it, then there was no way I could.

During my conversation with him, he also shared his theory about how the protagonist might have ended up in the world in the first place. Sometimes the transfer came about due to an automated program by another god who was busy elsewhere; not all gods were closely involved in the transmigration process, focusing instead on maintaining the world itself. Basically, it was like those stories where a person fills out a random CYOA list, and ends up getting transferred because there was an active transfer program.

Whatever the reason, Kaga Michio held several advantages that the native inhabitants didn’t, and Sano was interested in seeing the workings behind those. According to the notes I took, he had a store of Bonus Points to play with, putting them into several options to gain their bonuses. One of those was Character Reset, so he could change them around at any time as he liked. Some of the options were the usual stat boosts, but he usually focused on things like Job and Equipment bonuses. Imagine being able to reduce the level up requirements, or multiplying experience point gain, swapping out the jobs as he liked… No wonder he got so strong so quickly.

Now, how should I approach him? I mused to myself. With all these factors, I won’t be able to steal any of his skills. Not that I want to, because that would just make an unneeded enemy out of him.

I fiddled with the crystal in my hand, which was a drop from a dungeon monster. That was another thing in this world; the monsters occasionally dropped skill crystals that could be fused to a weapon by the Blacksmith job, imbuing it with an ability. It was said that the chances of the process failing was high, dependent on the Blacksmith’s skill and luck. Michio had a special [Appraisal] that allowed him to realize that some weapons had skill slots, which were required for fusion to occur in the first place.

Skill crystals were quite rare and very expensive to buy on the market, so I had no intention of trying to collect them during this trip. I only managed to get the one in my hand through a lucky coincidence during a labyrinth dive.

Argh, no use wasting my time thinking about this. Time to just reverse pickpocket! I tucked away the crystal and stood up.

Instead of following the teenager to the slave merchant, I just waited at the inn the slave merchant would recommend to him. In fact, it was the same inn I was staying at, the Bale Inn. 

The wait was difficult to endure, but I spent the time practicing my created [Pickpocket] skill, [Editing] it to work more smoothly and stealthily.

He took quite a while to arrive, though the look on his face was different from the childish fascination he had when I saw him earlier. After his encounter with Roxanne, Michio was now focused on making enough money to pay for the slave merchant’s asking price. He checked in at the counter with the headband-wearing innkeeper, who led him to the room near mine. 

I waited until he was setting out for the labyrinth, and swiftly struck as I passed by him on the way to the stairs.

[System Analysis inserted!]

He didn’t notice at all, even when the skill sank into his back with a flick of my hand. 

I reached the bottom floor first and talked to the innkeeper. “Hey, mind if I check out?” 

“Sure, you paid the two hundred nar cost already, so you just need to turn in your key.” 

After I handed it over and walked out the door, I noticed Michio also did the same, but his was for the man to hold until he came back. He noticed me watching, so I slowed down and waited for him to catch up.

“Going to the labyrinth?” I asked him.

“Yeah. It’s in the forest to the east, right?” 

I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been there a few times before. Going to move on to other places now though.”

“Ohh…” He looked at me.

[Appraisal detected!]

I showed no response to the message, but instead smiled at him. “Good luck on whatever you’re trying to do.”

“What?”

I pointed at my eyes. “You have the look of a guy who’s after something.”

“I do?” Michio didn’t say anything for a while, but finally nodded. “Thanks.”

“Well, maybe we might run into each other again in the future. Bye.” I waved casually.

I turned at the intersection to split off from him, heading for a private spot where I could contact Sano and find out the results of my efforts. Just like the previous two worlds, I was going to have to make a return here in the future.

…

“So these are the skills you got…” Sano remarked. “I’ll be honest, the ones this time around aren’t worth as much, because they’re not really functioning well.”

“Too reliant on the world’s system of jobs and skills?” I guessed the reason.

A nod let me know my guess was right. “I can figure it out with enough time, but the effort required to untangle the workings detracts from the value.”

Economics strikes again. “Isn’t there some skill that can enhance data analysis?” 

“There are, but this is more along the lines of programming and coding, and those aren’t my specialties.” Sano raised an eyebrow at me. “Why do you think there are different gods and their domains?”

“Right…” I was starting to get the inklings of an idea. “Can I hold onto the skills for a bit first?”

He scrutinized me, probably wondering if I was going to use [‘Creation’] or [Editing] to rework the skills, but he didn’t ask anything further and just let me do as I wished. The clock indicated it was nearly midnight on a Friday, so I decided to turn in for the day, and see him again tomorrow. 

I made sure to do a bit of weapon maintenance before stripping down and heading for the toilet. Once again, I enjoyed the feeling of a proper shower after weeks of just using a towel and a hand tub of water. While it felt nice, my mind was busy trying to pursue the idea I had, and instead of getting under the covers for some sleep, I turned on my laptop to do the research necessary for it. It took about two hours, but I managed to get enough info to make my mind up on what I wanted. Only when I was done getting all the details down, did I finally head off to sleep.

One thing I noticed was that I tended to wake up on my own earlier when I was overseas compared to when I was at home, so I wasn’t surprised to wake up at half past eight feeling pretty refreshed. Sure, the skill effect on the bed helped, but this just meant I had more time to handle stuff during the day. I got up and started preparing a light breakfast of cereal and milk, along with a cup of milk tea. As I started eating, I looked around at the room. 

I wonder how he plans to expand this place for other people? Will there be more rooms, or just an added bed? I took another spoonful of sweet, crunchy cereal. Maybe I should ask for a [Cooking] skill so I can handle that part of the chores.

Once all the washing up was done, I changed into modern clothing, confirmed once more that my notes were ready, and left to see Sano. The door to his office opened at my knock, and I entered to see the god busy working with skills as always.

“Take a seat first. I’ll be with you once I’m done with these,” He said without looking up.

I did as he said, looking around the room that he only used when he came here on the weekends. It was so very generic, and the only thing missing was a nameplate on the desk to complete the look. Then again, he probably didn’t need it.

It didn’t take long; Sano put the skills away in the drawer of his desk and looked up to face me.

“So what world do you have in mind to go to this time?”

“You remember what you mentioned about recruiting others?” I countered with a question.

The god nodded. “Of course. I take it you’ve got an idea of who you’re after?”

“Here, take a look. I think her skills will be useful here, right?” 

Wondering if this was what a Human Resources recruiter did, I handed over the brief profile I wrote up on the character I was hoping to recruit. On it, I listed out her personal abilities and how they might be able to help with the skills I had just obtained. I also included a tentative plan on how I planned to recruit her, with the part about when to be inserted underlined, since that was the most effective moment to do so.

“I see. She might not have the physical ability to help obtain skills from other worlds, but the special ability she has would be very useful indeed. I can see her being of great assistance to my work in this shop,” Sano said approvingly.

“Oh, that’s good. What about the world itself?”

“A modern world this time… This one should be quite easy to access. As for your recruitment plan…” He read and reread it a few times, before nodding. “I think it will work quite well. Will you be equipping any skills to help with it?”

“But then they might not work over there, right?”

“With the sort of abilities that can be observed, you should be safe enough. Try to get some of their skills if you can.”

“Hmm, at this early timeline insertion, there won’t be that many around that I can target. I’ll have to use [‘Creation’], and I’ve already used it a few times in the previous world.”

“How many uses do you have left?”

“About three- no, two left,” I amended after checking. “I’ll have to go back to see Olivia afterwards.”

Sano hummed. “You won’t be spending too long there, so you should be able to visit that world again soon.”

Since there weren’t any more questions that could be answered by standing around here, I did one last check of my skill build, and departed straight after that. 

I appeared in an alleyway, out of sight of any public cameras that might be able to record my face and compare it to a database. Just to be safe, I put on the face mask to cover most of my features. The weather itself was pretty cold too, just like the one I came from.

But first, I needed to locate the person I was here for.

[Map: Search] [Target found. In company of one other.]

Now, combine that with Clairvoyance, and I can see the predicted path they will take. Alright, that’s not too far away, I can reach there fast enough on foot. I’ll make the skill Sano wanted along the way.

The place I found myself in was still Tokyo, but a different version; many years ago, a certain pair of students discovered a spaceship on an island, and the technology discovered on it allowed the company they created to become a world-spanning juggernaut, capable of taking control of a whole city through economic and military might. Said company’s name was Mid Bio Informatics, or MBI as most people referred to it by its acronym.

This was the setting of Sekirei, a harem battle manga featuring beautiful alien women fighting each other for love. The beings that the series was named after, Sekirei were extraterrestrial in nature, but bore a physical appearance identical to humans, except they also had super-powers to go along with them. And my recruitment target was one of these Sekireis, and one of the main characters too, before she even had the chance to meet the main character. 

Sure enough, the pair of women I was waiting for finally arrived in the spot where I was waiting. They appeared to be taking a breather while waiting for their searchers to move on, giving me the opportunity to make my move.

“Good day to you two,” I said after releasing [Stealth], “Would you like to hear me out?”

One of them instantly went on the guard, putting herself between me and the other. “Who?! How did you sneak up on us!?” 

“You’re not with MBI, are you?” Her companion inquired cautiously.

I shook my head. “No, I’m not. I’m also not part of any other nation. What I want is for you to hear me out first. You can decide whether or not to take my offer then.”

They exchanged glances, as though asking each other what to do. Thankfully, my words were convincing enough, and they agreed to listen. I carefully removed my mask first to show them my face, making sure my hands were in full view. 

I took the opportunity to study their features too. The one in front was a buxom dark-haired brunette, dressed in white strips of cloth that served as a tube top and miniskirt, along with the veils that covered her and her companion’s faces. The second one behind her was also a brunette, though with lighter brown hair in a long braid hanging down in front over one shoulder. She was dressed in black beneath the veil, and also had a very nice body. Compared to the first’s genki girl looks, hers was more gentle, with a pair of round glasses perched on her face.

“Well? Speak.”

“You two are trying to escape from MBI, right? I can help you with that.”

“How can you do that?” The first woman asked

“Uzume,” Her friend tugged on her shoulder, “I think he really can help us. Isn’t that right, Rick?”

I twitched on hearing my name being spoken, then glanced down and patted the pocket where I had kept my phone. “Did you just scan through my phone’s data?” I asked cautiously.

“That’s right,” She replied, stepping out from behind Uzume, “And that’s the reason you came to find me, the Wisdom Sekirei, Matsu. Isn’t that right?”

Guess there’s no hiding anything then. “Exactly. How much of the details do you know, and how much do you believe?”

“I’ve got everything on your phone… Quite a lot of porn on it.” She smirked at me momentarily before returning to her serious face. “And many things that I’ve not seen on this world’s Internet. You really aren’t from this world, are you?”

“No, I’m not,” I admitted honestly. “I’ll come out and say it. Would you be interested in coming with me to another world to escape from MBI?”

Matsu tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Hmm… what’s in it for me?”

Well, I wouldn’t jump at an offer like this without thinking it over first either… “On top of freedom from MBI, how about access to all sorts of fun systems and entertainment media?”

“What are you two talking about? Matsu, can you explain clearly?” Uzume asked, still worried about their pursuers. “Can he really help us?’

“Before we continue, do you mind if I put up a barrier to hide us from the people after you?” I requested.

“Go ahead,” Matsu gave her permission before Uzume could say anything.

“[Illusion Barrier],” I casted, raising a concealment field around us with the magic I learned from Skyrim, edited to suit my purposes. “Now we can take our time to talk.”

While Uzume still looked wary, Matsu was now sparkly-eyed with excitement. And so, negotiations started off on a good note.

To show my hand right off, I revealed that I knew about how Matsu escaped from MBI with one of the Jinki, an important component for MBI’s Sekirei Plan, with help of Uzume, and they were planning to take refuge with Sekirei No. 1, Miya, who was in the North. All of this happened before the start of the actual story plot in the series.

As expected of someone who dealt in information warfare, Matsu knew a lot about internet culture, and so was familiar with the isekai genre because of that. That was how she quickly guessed the source of my knowledge, and began pressing me to reveal what happened in canon. Uzume put a stop to it before she got too carried away, however.

“So you know what will happen to us in the future?” Uzume wanted to know.

“Yes, such as who you eventually meet and have as your Ashikabi,” I replied, using the term for a Sekirei’s fated person.

“Hold it right there!” Matsu raised her voice, startling the two of us. “If we go with you, then doesn’t that mean we won’t meet our Ashikabis?”

Sekireis could form bonds with one Ashikabi, a process called winging, as it involved the spectacles of wings forming behind the Sekirei. The Ashikabi could then empower their Sekirei through the bond. Most of the time, that bond was a deeply emotional one, usually revolving around love, though there were some that were more familial in nature. As most Sekireis couldn’t use their powers to their fullest without an Ashikabi, it was a very important topic to these two.

“The ones you would have had, yes,” I replied honestly, “That’s not to say you can’t find others in a different world.”

“What do you mean?” 

I held up my hands to get them to calm down a little. “Let me explain my side of the story first.”

I introduced myself to them as Rick Steel, an acquirer of Skills working for a god in another world, and that I wished to recruit Matsu to work alongside me. Despite showing off the Illusion Barrier earlier, the pair of Sekirei still doubted me a little when I explained how I could work with Skills, but I was able to convince them when I demonstrated a few of those I held. The reason why I believed that they could find their Ashikabis in other worlds was because of the skill I saw on them, thanks to [Appraisal].

[Sekirei] [Cloth Manipulation], and [Sekirei] [Technopath], huh… 

[Sekirei] apparently counted as a skill in this world’s system, and according to the description, it allowed them to form a bond with their selected Ashikabi. When I told them about that, Matsu immediately wanted to test it out.

“Ever since MBI released us, I’ve been curious about the whole mystery behind us Sekirei and the crest we have,” She babbled, held back from jumping on me by Uzume. “You said you dealt with skills, right? Does that mean you can make an [Ashikabi] skill?”

Of course I had checked; it was a rather cheap skill to get with [‘Creation’], costing only 80 LP, and I informed them of that.

“Surely you can’t believe him!” Uzume protested.

“But the fact is, as things are right now, my Sekirei crest isn’t reacting to him, and neither is yours,” The bespectacled Sekirei pointed out, “If he can really do it, then it’d be like…” She trailed off.

“Asama Takehito, I presume,” I finished her sentence for her.

Matsu’s head spun towards me when I mentioned that name, as did Uzume. “You know- Oh, of course you do.”

While brought up early on, that person was already dead, due to an incident at MBI where he sacrificed his life to save many others. What wasn’t revealed until much later, was that he had been the person handling the adjustments for many Sekirei, including Miya, who referred to him as her late husband. Despite that, he didn’t have the ability to become her Ashikabi, and Matsu was aware of that.

“Wait.” Uzume stopped us.

Matsu pouted at being interrupted again. “What now?”

“Before you do anything else, I want to know. What sort of person is my Ashikabi like? The one I would have had if I didn’t meet you?” She demanded.

I told her about how the original Uzume met Chiho, a young ill girl, after being pursued for helping Matsu escape. She did a lot to cheer the girl up, often through wearing costumes to entertain the girl, though their relationship was eventually used to force Uzume into carrying out acts she didn’t want to, by threatening to withhold Chiho’s treatment. In the end though, she sacrificed her life to see Chiho freed rather than go along with her blackmailer’s wishes.

Uzume grimaced when she heard that, but finally gave in. “Fine. Do it.”

“Huh?” I had been so caught up in telling her what I remembered that my brain blanked out for a moment. 

“Do the Ashikabi skill thing!” She snapped.

“What she said!” Matsu added, more enthusiastically. 

“Does that mean that you’re accepting my recruitment request?” I asked, that question bringing both of them up short. 

“Oh, right,” Matsu said awkwardly, adjusting her glasses, “I kind of forgot about that.”

They quickly began discussing my offer once more. It might have been callous of Uzume to give up on Chiho, but this version of her didn’t know the girl, and my account of her possible future helped her make up her mind on the matter. As for Matsu, she was definitely attracted by the possibility of going to other worlds, where she could explore and experiment freely. Eventually, the two of them decided that whether the skill worked or not, they would go along with me. I had been hoping for Matsu alone, so getting Uzume as well was an unexpected bonus.

Then again, I did commission that dakimakura art of her and had it printed… 

While they had been debating the matter, I checked my [Map] again, and saw that the searchers were gradually moving in this direction, though it didn’t seem like they were aware of our location yet. 

“Alright, I’ll try it right now.” After announcing that, I activated the [‘Creation’].

[Ashikabi] created!

Instantly, the two Sekirei froze, their eyes locking on me with intensity. 

“Ah…”

“It’s… reacting…” A slow smile appeared on Matsu’s face. “Ufu… ufufu…”

I gulped, feeling rather vulnerable all of a sudden beneath those gazes despite the skills I had on me. “Is this enough?”

“It really is a miracle…” She remarked, her hands over her chest. “Our meeting like this…”

“This heat inside me…” Uzume got out weakly, “It’s true then… you’re my… Ashikabi…”

I think I should remove the skill- 

By the time the thought was half-completed, I found myself wrapped in cloth, and a set of lips pressing against my own. The alleyway was brightly illuminated as wings of light formed behind the one kissing me, before she was shifted off to the side and replaced by another, and a second set of wings appeared.

“I’m your Sekirei, No. 2 Matsu…”

“You’re my Ashikabi…” Uzume added at the same time.

““Now and forever,”” They chorused.

[Ashikabi: Bonded Sekirei: Matsu, Uzume]

I guess this can be called a happy little accident. I blinked as I noticed something on the map. “Oh shit!”

“What’s wrong?”

“They detected the winging! We have to leave now!” 

The dots indicating the enemies were converging on our position now.

“How?”

“Hold onto me tightly, I’ll handle the rest!” I wiggled in my wrappings, and found myself being hugged by two buxom ladies. “Uh, you two?”

“You said to hold onto you! That’s what we’re doing!”

I snapped out of my daze. “Right!”

“Over here, down this alley!” Someone shouted from around the corner nearby, but by then we were gone.

“Well, I can say I wasn’t expecting you to return in such a state,” I heard Sano’s voice comment in amusement. “And you’ve brought an extra along with the one you were aiming for.”

“Hi, Sano. I’m back,” I greeted.

“Um, where is this place? And who is that man?” Uzume asked.

“Could you release me first? I’ll handle the introductions afterwards,” I requested.

Once all three of us were seated before Sano’s desk, I wasted no time in introducing Sano as the god I worked for, and the two Sekireis as new employees. Matsu and Uzume didn’t doubt my words, considering that Sano released his divinity slightly to prove that he was beyond normal humanity. However, he didn’t do so just to confirm the truth of my statement.

“I believe that you were only intending to recruit her,” He indicated Matsu without any gestures, “So what happened to result in this one coming along as well?”

“I-” Uzume started, only to freeze and shut her mouth.

“I’m asking him, not you.” Sano said softly, but the pressure was immense.

If there was any doubt that this guy was a god, it was totally gone now.

Crap. Crap, crap, crap… this isn’t some kind of test, is it? I can’t risk it… Think, Rick, think! What can I- “I thought she could be helpful too, because of her skills!” I blurted out.

“How so?”

“She’s good with cloth!” I glanced at Uzume, who still couldn’t speak, but twitched her head to confirm what I said. “She can make those cloth equipment to hold the skills, instead of just weapons!”

“I have people I can ask to do that for me,” Sano countered.

What’s this feeling of worry inside me… It’s… not mine? I realized, then glanced at Uzume, who was looking at me with an uncertain expression. It’s hers. I can feel it through the Sekirei bond.

“Well?”

“You gave me a chance before, so all I can ask is that you grant it to her too.”

With that, I bowed my head to the god, begging for him to be merciful for the sake of my Sekirei.

Afterword: It’s amazing how fast I can write when my muse is active. I finished this chapter in one day after the last one, though I decided to use it to extend the number of advance chapters on Patreon. Harem in Another World is an interesting world despite having a lot of manga chapters focusing on the protagonist lewding his slave harem, mainly because of the RPG system there, and it brings up the question about having a new protagonist-only system bonus within the world’s system that I thought would be interesting to explore. As for the Sekirei part, I had the idea of bringing in Matsu to handle the data crunching part of working with skills early on, but including Uzume was something that only came to me after I started writing the scene. 

I’ll say it here now. There will be lewds in the future.