I started the day in the kitchen, as I had for the past 7 days. The calendar in this world is similar to my old one, in terms of names. The difference was that all the months had exactly 4 weeks. 336 days a year. Lucky them.

Also I'm really small. I hadn't really noticed before because of my distress, but I seem to have regressed to when I was 10 years old. Seeing as my status doesn't show an age, I don't expect that to change anytime soon. Still, I manage.

Richia continually praises me for the quality of the dishes I make. The quality level of the dishes are usually 5 and above, but that's because of the [Masterchef] title. Even with my cooking skill at level 1, the dish quality is at least 3. As long as it's edible, several recipes appear in my mind. It's interesting really. I suppose I won't have to worry about food too much.

After I finished cooking, I received a notification that I had become level 5.

"Finally!"

I distributed a few of my stat points and now my status looks something like this.

------------------------------------------------------
<Status>
Name: Aer
Class: Warrior (Engineer, Cook, Scribe)
Level: 5
Stat Points: 20
Hp: 230/230 (4)
Mp: 130/130 (22)
Sp: 240/240 (100)
Str: 28
Int: 12
Con: 25
Wis: 15
Dex: 18
Spd: 30
Luk: 17

Titles: 
[World Traveler] [Inventor] [Masterchef] [Windscribe] [Player lv 5]

Skill Points: 24

Unique Skills: 
[Appraisal lv 28] [Otherworld Language]

Combat Skills: 
[Bash lv 1] [Heavy Slice lv 2] [Charge lv 1]

Life Skills: 
[Cooking lv 18] [Crafting lv 3] [Calligraphy lv 1] [Horse Riding lv 1] [Negotiation: lv 2]
---------------------------------------------------
<World Traveler>

A title for one who has traveled from another world. The soul comes into contact with a great amount of mana during the process, granting it enhanced capabilities.

[Stat Growth + 1]
[Skill Point Acquisition +2]
[Exp Acquisition +50%]
[Luk -10%]
-------------------------------------------------------
<Inventor>

A title given to one who has been been a pioneer in engineering. Grants a bonus to success rate when crafting, and a greater bonus when creating something new.

[Crafting success rate + 30%]
[Invention success rate +60%]
-------------------------------------------------------
<Masterchef>

A title given to one who has mastered the art of culinary combat. Grants bonus in proficiency with kitchen tools, and raises the quality of handmade meals.

[Kitchen Proficiency +100%]
[Dish Quality +3]
-------------------------------------------------------
<Windscribe>

A title given to one who writes faster than the wind. Grants a speed boost when creating documents, and a bonus to persuasion when delivering written words.

[Writing speed +500%]
[Persuasive writing +30%]
-------------------------------------------------------
<Player lv 5>

A title of unknown origin. Grants grants 10 status points and 3 skill points upon leveling. Levels up as the user does.

[Game Menu]
[Inventory]
-------------------------------------------------------
<Appraisal lv 28>

Allows the user to view the properties of people and objects around them. The information visible depends on the difference in level between the target and the user.
-------------------------------------------------------
<Otherworld Language>

Allows the user to comprehend the language of another world.
-------------------------------------------------------

I decided to save a few of my stat points for later, as well as all of the skill points. I didn't need them quite yet after all. Thinking that I'm only at the level of a slime is slightly depressing, but now that I can fight slimes I can start leveling up for real.

Also, what's with my leveling rate? Isn't my exp gain boosted? Shouldn't I be leveling up faster? I suppose that with the status points and such it's pretty balanced, but that exp boost feels like false advertising. Anyway, moving on.

So, a few things of note I found out over the week. First of all, apparently Richia isn't an adventurer from this town. She was on break from her party and decided to come here. So the house that we're in is rented. How she can rent an entire house on an average adventurer salary, I have no idea. She didn't seem too keen to speak about it so I left well enough alone.

Second, turns out the stat growth goes by a guaranteed +1, meaning my stats have the potential to reach insanely high. Nice.

I also notice that the inventory is back online, and it seems to be associated with the leveling of my [Player] title. It's possible more features will return as my level rises. I might even unlock the logout button!

...Shut up, I can dream.

Looking through my inventory I could see that I had most, if not all of my items from when I was in the game. While that is very nice, as a former high leveled player, most of these things were too high level for me to use, and all of the equipment was out of reach. Still, the consumable don't have level restrictions for the most part (though I might save them if I don't know how to replace them) and once I reach the appropriate level, I'll have some of the best gear possible for someone at that point so I shouldn't have to spend much in the ways of equipment once my level goes up. Which is good seeing as I have three where my money counter is. What system decided what I kept and lost I wonder....

The final two things of note were that the increase of the appraisal skill's level range might be rather low, seeing as Richia's status isn't any more clear to me. Lastly, it seems that the leveling rate slows down after reaching level 20. After that it took quite a few appraisals to get anywhere. This is also part of the reason I haven't used any of my skill points yet. It's simply not worth it before the skill is at level 20.

Now that the meal was complete, I called Richia for food and to tell her the good news. When she arrived in the kitchen, I turned to her and grinned.

"Take a look at this! [Status Appear]!"

"Let me see... Oh! you leveled up! Congrats!"

Just so you know, she isn't seeing my full status. You can specify what parts of your status you wish to show. You can't fake things, (unless there's a skill for it) but you can choose not to show anything you want secret. So what she saw was this.

------------------------------------------------------
<Status>
Name: Aer
Class: (Cook)
Level: 5
Hp: 230/230
Mp: 130/130
Sp: 240/240
Str: 28
Int: 12
Con: 25
Wis: 15
Dex: 18
Spd: 20
Luk: 17

Titles: 
[Masterchef] [Player]

Unique Skills: 
[Appraisal]

Combat Skills: 
[Bash] [Heavy Slice] [Charge]

Life Skills: 
[Cooking] [Crafting]
---------------------------------------------------

By the way, I only left the player title in because I already told her I had a title that made me stronger. She can't see the details so it's probably fine.

She then continued and said, "With a status like this you could probably take on those slimes now. It seems the day you normalize isn't far off!"

Right. All this time my goal has been to get to the starting line. I really hope things pick up once I start hunting monsters.

"By the way, just a word of warning for later, but while low level slimes are weak, at higher levels they might as well be unkillable, so if you aren't sure you can kill it in one hit, just stay out of it's way."

"...? Understood, I guess?"

Richia nodded, satisfied, then dug into the food I had prepared. It was just a simple omelet and bread, with some seasonings, but she had look on her face as if she had been blessed. Weird.

When she finished eating, she got up and said, "Well, I think it's about time for your grand first hunt!"

"Wait, really? Yes!"

Richia smiled and walked out the door, gesturing for me to follow.

==========================

We arrived at the slime field (as I had dubbed it) a little before noon. It was a lazy day seemingly, as there was nowhere near the amount of people I saw the first time I came here. There were much less slimes around, so that might have something to do with it.

"The slimes seem to be dwindling lately...." Richia said with a frown. "Well, I suppose that means you'll have the space for a proper one on one."

She smiled at me and pointed out a slime that had wandered off by itself.

"There's one. I'll keep the others away, so it's time for your rematch."

I nodded and started walking towards the slime, unsheathing my new dagger. 

Now that my strength had increased, I was able to use a proper dagger instead of one meant for kids. It feels as heavy as a sword, but It adds a full 12 to my strength when it's used to attack,  and at this stage 12 is a LOT.

As I approached the slime, images of my last fight came to mind, causing a number of emotions to flood my brain. Shame at my humiliating defeat at the hands of a low level slime. Frustration about having to be saved by someone else. And now, I face another one. But I'm stronger now. I'm not lost and confused this time. I won't lose again. As I thought this, my mouth formed into a grin. It's payback time.

I noticed Richia looking at me with concern as I approached, but I decided to focus on the opponent in front of me. Seemingly noticing my approach, the slime started bouncing up and down. I stopped and assumed my fighting stance.

Let's begin, shall we?