The last preparations before leaving!

As I left the middle floor of the Great Labyrinth, I was nervous. I suddenly realized that this long tunnel maybe was not as safe as I thought it was. I wanted to check on my skills but I had to consider the fact that monsters could drop on me if I was not careful. My heart was beating fast as I went up the draft as fast as I could. I had to revise my judgement on my " Space Maneuver " skill however. It was almost a magic on its own as each ranks gave a different ability!

The first one was a "double jump " skill. I could create a platform in midair. As a flyer though, I did not have much use for it. I couldn't use the platform as a shield either as it was rather fragile when I tried to smash it. However, my current needs gave me an idea. After some testing, I discovered that if I fuse my Shadow Magic with that platform, I could create a shield. I wanted to use this shield as I was flying upward, thinking it would not use my MP as much as my "Shadow Armor" skill. After all, covering my own body with an armor needed precise control of my magic. A simple shield did not.

However, it did not work out as planned. I soon realized that this shield was draining both my SP and my MP. The longer it was next to me, the higher the SP and MP consumption was. Although I could summon this "Shadow Shield" in an instant, it clearly had major flaws. I resigned myself in only summoning this in emergency. Maybe I could find a way to work around those flaws later on.

The second rank actually gave me the ability to lock all of my attacks on my targets. I did not have a precise ranged attack yet so I figured that I probably would need to get one next. Attacking at close range was dangerous after all and my " Wailing " attack range was not that long... I needed to use my range as a flying creature to my advantage. I was wondering if there was some kind of wind magic and if it would be easier for me to learn it as a flying creature...

" Proficiency reached. Predicting LV.9 has become Predicting Lv10"

"Proficiency reached. Predicting Lv.10 has become Foresight Lv.1"

" Skill "Wind Magic" cost 100 points to learn. Do you want to learn Wind Magic? "

Ooooh, well that's awesome! However, I wonder if I am able to learn Wind magic on my own... I got the basics down now with my Magic skills. I should give it a try. Skill Points are hard to get after all!

It was not really the time to think of all that though. I tried to refocus on my surrounding. As I was flying up the shaft, I didn't hear or see anything out of ordinary... until I arrived in that misty cavern level. It was deadly silent. I could not hear some splashing of water, no occasional croaking, nothing! Fortunately, as I climbed above it, I finally could hear some noise in the cavern above. I realized that the spider monster either didn't care about making the detour to where the bats where or maybe it didn't want to enlarge the narrowing tunnel to get to the bats cavern. No matter the reason though, it was a relief!

Once in the cave, I counted how many bats were here. As I thought, some of them were missing. Either they were still hunting somewhere... or they had being caught by the huge spider monster doing so. My Sonic Bat minion was still here however, which was a relief.

But now, I was wondering what I should do... There was clearly stronger monsters down the labyrinth but I wasn't sure I wanted further below anymore. At least, from what I saw, the conditions of living there were harsher and the monsters here were adapted to such environment. The fire dragons were proof of that.

As I thought, I need to be more at ease in MY own environment: the air, the sky! Maybe getting that wind magic IS the key to this problem. However, let's first go see the state of that pond... the frog monsters here must have being eaten by that huge spider monster.

As I suspected, most of them had become its snack except for the tadpoles. The frogs monsters evolved quite quickly though so I was not in a worry about them... but in the same time, the main source of food was gone for now. Well, at least the one source close to home and that gave them Acid Resistance. The frog pond was their reserve plan when the hunt was doing poorly. It meant that for now, it would return to how it was before... worst if I didn't stay around. After all, now they had another Sonic Bat but it was lower level then me and its intelligence was obviously lower than mine. It did not have the "Appraisal" skill or the means the make the group survive with " Divine Medicine" skill if things went wrong.

I shook my head. It was already no longer my problem. I needed to go outside! The monsters at the upper layers of the labyrinth were no longer a threath to me and I wanted to see if I could become the familiar of a wizard or something. Moreover, those bats could not depend on me forever anyway. I gave them a new Sonic Bat leader and a safer home. Once I find better monsters to tame, I will stop summoning that bat unless it was necessary. That is the best thing I can do for them at this point.

I did not try to leave them immediately though. I wanted to test if I could learn wind magic on my own first, as well as checking the skills gained from my trip in the Middle Level of the Labyrinth. Once I started exploring and searching for the humans, I will not have the luxury of a safe home to test my new skills or improve the ones I already have. I could have checked my skills first but I was excessively eager to test if I could develop wind magic first.

I tried to gather my mana on my wings and project it on the air around me was when moving around, to see if I could create a magic gust of wind or something. It took me a long while and many failed attempts but I finally succeeded:

" Proficiency reached. Wind Magic LV.1 has being learned. "

My eyes kept blinking as the new information entered my mind. Turns out the first level of Wind Magic was not an attack like the one I wanted. It was a spell called "Tailwind". It increased the user speed by making the wind flow around the user body. While it was not a new attack, I wasn't disappointed. If we combined this spell with my other skills, I would be almost untouchable now!

After that, I checked the skills I already gained before... " Drake Power " seem to be a power boost that increase my status. Not bad! As power boost goes, I already had gained " Fighting Spirit" and " Magic Act". If I combined the three of them, even for a short time, my stats increased immensely! And as for Foresight, it seemed like a way to predict a second or two what was going to happen in the future. Very useful!

I was now a Small Sonic Bat level 8. I gained quite a few levels from killing that drake in the Middle Level of the labyrinth. I decided I needed to see if I could face off humans now without dying. I know I was a monster now but I had no idea what would be their reaction to a monster who speak in their mind. I did not see one monster so far who was able to do such thing so I was a bit nervous about their reactions.

I only realized NOW that maybe we might not speak the same language too. Sure, the "Telepathy" skill I gained allowed me to command the monsters thus far but a tamed beast learn to recognize words, he do not understand their meaning.

After thinking some more, I came out with a great idea:

Wait... if I save them from another monster attack, they will realize I am on THEIR side!

After putting a lot of thought into it, I put my plan in motion. I went to search for one of those winged Lions. With my current level and skills, even those beasts were nothing to be worried about. I found a suitable target. It was rather young but it was a good thing since I could teach it more skills this way. I figured I could not bring it back to the colony with me though so I brought it to the place the misty cavern instead. I kept healing it with " Divine Medicine Skill " until his loyalty maxed out and that he got the "Acid Resistance" skill.

Once it had become completely devoted to me, this winged lion became surprisingly friendly and even a bit playful. I was surprised at first then incredibly happy. The bat monsters were somewhat cold toward each other. They could sleep right next to each other for warm and comfort but they were not very sociable. My newest minion on the other hand gave me the sensation of a blooming friendship. It was even purring when I scratched it behind its ear, a very low purring sound that seemed so loud in this cavern. Moreover, he wanted to clean me with its tongue in return! Chuckling at the gesture, I just let him. We even tried to use my tail to play, like I used to do my cats and a piece of string.

I should really name you... Wait… My "Appraisal" skill keep telling me I have no name. Can only human give us name? Is there a " Naming" skill?

" The Naming skill is 100 points. DO you want to buy the Naming skill? "

Oh wow, there actually is one! Let's see if I can get it without paying for the skill!

I wanted to use it on my winged lion... but suddenly realized it was better to try it on my bat minion first. I knew that if I successfully got the skill, it would be at LV.1. I wanted to make sure whatever bonus it give would increase at the skill level increased. I did not want to risk giving only a small boost on my winged lion. As for my bat minion, I did not mind as much.

However, no matter how much names I came up in my mind, I could not learn the new skill it seemed. I was beginning to be out of ideas for names to give it too. I even tried some questionable ones but nothing worked! But finally, I had a flash of inspiration: maybe I cannot get the "Naming" skill because I wasn't speaking?

This... was a problem. I could make some sound with my mouth but making words were difficult. After a few tries, the mysterious voice sounded:

" Conditions met. The Naming LV.1 skill has being learned. "

" Your ally was named [Arc]. His status has being increased. "

Ah finally! That was harder than I expected, it's hard to make proper words with this mouth. Now, let see what Appraisal has to say...

As I suspected, its status increased... and much more then I imagined! It got 50 points in every stats and a few levels, not bad at all! I would need to check constantly on its status from now on. I looked at the pond, suddenly having a realization. Can I name something as long as it is willing to accept such a name? Or does it have to be linked to my Summon skill?!

I needed to try it! I went to the pond and finally spotted a frog egg. I tried to name it... but it did not work. I used my Summon skill to make it my ally. This time, not only it worked but also as the frog gained an increase in status, it changed quickly to a tadpole... and went straight to the frog evolution!

So that's how it works!Well I'm glad I could manage to pronounce the word "Snack". Hehehe, what a fitting name... Well, unless it evolve into something useful.

I went back in the cavern and brought back two bat corpses, dropping them in the water. I knew that frog would be hungry after an evolution. It was something I implanted after moving to this place, as it served as a way to feed the frogs that would be in our belly without having to eat each other's. The corpse could even be used as a bait for other monsters. I wondered if the frog monsters pond would recover though with everything that happened...

Meh, we will see how it goes... Now, let's find some humans to get out of this labyrinth!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Question, should I fill the Taboo skill or not? For those who don't know, the Taboo skill is particular in this setting. Maxing this skill give you knowledge you should not have and there is a backslash to it. I realized that at this point I'm no longer sure if I should fill it up or not to lvl.10... Therefore, unless I finally make up my mind, I'll still ask you people for your opinion about it. Should this little bat go on the path or darkness or the pure good path not really shown in the light novel?