My D Rank Skill is Actually SSS-Rank

Chapter 11: The Arcane Library and the Pervert's Encyclopedia

Alaric followed Master Elara through the bustling corridors of the Adventurer's Guild, leaving the chaotic echoes of the festival (and his public humiliation) behind. The transparent slime, still clinging to Master Elara's foot like a very persistent, very clear barnacle, jiggled with what Alaric swore was smug satisfaction.

This is it. The arcane library. No more polishing counters, no more rat relocation. This is where the real knowledge is. And maybe, just maybe, some forgotten texts with illustrations of 'optimal' armor designs. For historical accuracy, of course.

Master Elara led him down a quiet, dimly lit hallway, the air growing heavy with the scent of old parchment, dust, and something faintly metallic, like forgotten magic. She pushed open a heavy, creaking wooden door, revealing a vast, cavernous room.

The Guild's arcane library was less a sanctuary of knowledge and more a graveyard of forgotten wisdom. Towering shelves, groaning under the weight of centuries, lined the walls, filled with scrolls that had turned brittle and yellow, and books whose bindings had long since crumbled. Dust motes danced in the sparse shafts of light filtering through grimy, arched windows. Cobwebs hung like ancient, forgotten tapestries. And the smell… it was the smell of decay, of knowledge slowly turning to dust.

System Notification: Location: Guild Arcane Library. Environment: Highly Contaminated (D-Rank). Materials: Ancient Scrolls (F-Rank), Decaying Tomes (F-Rank), Various (F-D Rank).

"Oh, for the love of all that's holy. It's even worse than the basement," Alaric muttered, wrinkling his nose. "This isn't a library; it's a fire hazard. And a dust allergy waiting to happen. So much D-Rank material. It's beautiful."

Master Elara gestured with a sweeping hand, oblivious to his sarcasm. "As you can see, much of our ancient knowledge is on the verge of being lost. These are centuries-old records, magical research, historical accounts... all crumbling. Can your 'Basic Material Refinement' truly save them, Alaric?" Her tone held a hint of desperation beneath her usual grumpiness.

Alaric's eyes gleamed. Save them? No, Master Elara. I'm going to optimize them. And then I'm going to exploit their contents. He walked over to a shelf, carefully picking up a scroll that looked like it would disintegrate if he breathed on it too hard. It felt like dried leaves.

System Notification: Item Detected: [Ancient Scroll (F-Rank Parchment)]. Condition: Decaying, Illegible, Fragile.

"F-Rank. Perfect," Alaric hummed. He extended his hand, focusing his skill. The familiar warmth surged, more intense this time, as if the parchment itself was eager to be reborn. The brittle edges smoothed, the tears sealed, and the faded ink vibrated, then intensified, becoming impossibly crisp and clear. The parchment itself transformed, gaining a supple, almost leathery texture, radiating a faint, scholarly aura.

System Notification: [Basic Material Refinement] activated. Material: Ancient Scroll (F-Rank Parchment). Result: Perfected 'Scroll of Eternal Knowledge' (SSS-Tier Artifact). Condition: Indestructible, Self-Repairing, Instantly Transcribes Any Language, Compiles Related Information, Minor Aura of 'Intellectual Superiority'.

Alaric stared at the scroll. "Instantly transcribes any language? Compiles related information? 'Intellectual Superiority'?" He burst out laughing. "This is amazing! No more tedious deciphering! No more cross-referencing! I can just touch a scroll and instantly absorb all its knowledge, perfectly organized! This is the ultimate cheat sheet!"

Master Elara, who had been watching with wide eyes, snatched the scroll from his hand. She stared at it, then at the now impossibly clear text. Her "Mana Sense" skill flared, then dimmed, as if overwhelmed. "This... this is impossible! The script was long lost! And the parchment... it's like nothing I've ever felt! It's radiating pure, unadulterated knowledge!" She looked at Alaric, her face a mixture of awe and terror. "You... you truly did this with a D-Rank skill?!"

"Just basic material refinement, Master Elara," Alaric said, shrugging. "Turns out, most ancient parchments are just... inefficiently organized. A bit of optimization, and boom! Instant knowledge transfer. You're welcome." He winked.

Master Elara, however, seemed to have spotted something else. Her eyes narrowed, lingering on a particularly detailed illustration near the bottom of the scroll, which depicted various magical creatures. "Wait... is that a... a rather anatomically detailed drawing of a Harpy?" Her face flushed. "And is it... winking?"

Alaric quickly snatched the scroll back. "Just optimal artistic expression, Master Elara! For better understanding of creature biology! Very important for adventurers! You know, for tactical purposes!"

"Tactical purposes?!" she shrieked. "You pervert! You refined a scholarly text into a lewd illustration encyclopedia?!"

"Only a minor side effect!" Alaric insisted, trying to sound innocent. "It's all about the 'variable' transparency, you know? And 'optimal light penetration' for the details! It's a feature, not a bug!"

Before Master Elara could unleash another lecture, Alaric quickly moved to a crumbling bookshelf, grabbing a thick, decaying tome. Time to change the subject. And find more 'optimal' illustrations.

System Notification: Item Detected: [Decaying Tome (F-Rank Paper/Leather)]. Condition: Crumbling, Illegible, Infested with Bookworms.

"Bookworms? Excellent. More D-Rank material to refine," Alaric muttered, focusing his skill. The book vibrated, the dust and bookworms (which poofed away like the rats) vanished. The crumbling pages sealed, the faded ink sharpened, and the brittle leather binding became supple and strong. The book now felt impossibly light, yet dense with information.

System Notification: [Basic Material Refinement] activated. Material: Decaying Tome (F-Rank). Result: Perfected 'Tome of Absolute Truths' (SSS-Tier Artifact). Condition: Indestructible, Self-Updating, Reveals Hidden Lore, Compels Reader to Understand (Irresistibly), Minor Aura of 'Uncomfortable Revelations'.

"Uncomfortable Revelations? This is getting interesting," Alaric hummed. He flipped through the book. It contained perfectly preserved, comprehensive knowledge on various magical theories, historical events, and... oh, look, a detailed diagram of a succubus's mana pathways. For research, obviously.

Master Elara, who had cautiously approached, peered over his shoulder. Her eyes widened, then her face flushed a furious red. "Alaric! What is that?! Is that a diagram of... of demonic anatomy?! And why is it so... detailed?!"

"Purely academic, Master Elara!" Alaric insisted, trying to hide the page. "For understanding weaknesses! You know, for tactical combat against demons! Gotta know your enemy!"

"You're a menace!" she shrieked, snatching the book. She flipped through it, her face growing redder with each page. "And this! 'The Secret History of Guild Master Bartholomew's Hairpiece'! And 'Sir Grady's Top 10 Most Embarrassing Squirrel Encounters'! Alaric! You're refining gossip!"

"It's 'Hidden Lore,' Master Elara! Very important for understanding the Guild's internal dynamics! For optimal organizational efficiency!" Alaric protested, trying to grab the book back.

Suddenly, the transparent slime, which had been observing from Master Elara's foot, jiggled forward. It then slowly, deliberately, bounced onto the open page of the 'Tome of Absolute Truths', settling there like a very pleased, very clear, very heavy paperweight. The book immediately began to glow faintly.

System Notification: [Perfected Transparent Slime] interacting with [Perfected 'Tome of Absolute Truths']. Result: Slime now absorbing 'Uncomfortable Revelations'. Condition: Slime now capable of 'Mimicking Embarrassing Sounds/Phrases'.

The slime jiggled. Then, in a tiny, perfectly clear voice that sounded eerily like Guild Master Bartholomew, it squeaked: "My toupee is, in fact, a very expensive, enchanted badger pelt!" It then giggled, and in a perfect imitation of Sir Grady's voice, added: "Oh, bushy tails and beady eyes! They haunt my dreams!"

Alaric stared at the slime, then at Master Elara, who was now staring at the slime with a look of utter horror. "It... it's mimicking them?!" Master Elara whispered, her face pale.

"It's absorbing 'Uncomfortable Revelations'!" Alaric groaned. "It's a walking, talking, SSS-tier gossip machine! I told you it was a pervert-detector!"

Master Elara dropped the book, her hand flying to her mouth. "This is a disaster! You've turned our library into a repository of scandalous secrets, and now your pet is broadcasting them!"

Alaric sighed. This is not going according to plan. My pervy exploits are becoming public knowledge, and my SSS-tier creations are turning on me.

Just then, a loud, exasperated sigh echoed from the doorway. Agnes, the Guild Registrar, stood there, her terrifying smile gone, replaced by a look of sheer, unadulterated exhaustion.

"Alaric," she said, her voice flat. "The Guild Master is very pleased with the banners. He says they're 'awe-inspiring' and 'perfect for showing off the Guild's transparency.' However, he's also received several complaints about the 'Elixir of Heroic Resolve' causing 'unprofessional public confessions' and 'spontaneous musical numbers'. And Master Elara just sent me a frantic message about 'lewd harpies' and 'sentient gossip slimes'. What in the blazes have you done now?"

Alaric looked from Agnes's exhausted face to Master Elara's horrified one, then to the transparent slime, which was now jiggling with pure, unadulterated joy, occasionally letting out a tiny, perfectly mimicked "Oh, the robes, they bind my soul!"

He sighed, running a hand over his face. "Just a bit of basic material refinement, Agnes. For optimal festival experience. And optimal knowledge transfer. You know how it is. Sometimes, optimization has... unforeseen side effects."

Agnes stared at him for a long moment, then slowly, deliberately, pulled out a new form. "Alaric. Your next task. The Guild's dungeon. It's been infested with a new breed of 'Whisper Slimes' that cause adventurers to confess their deepest fears. And the traps are malfunctioning. Can you... optimize it?"

Alaric's eyes widened. Whisper Slimes? Confess deepest fears? Malfunctioning traps? This sounds like a job for a true pervert-optimizer. And a dungeon! Finally, some proper combat-adjacent content!

He grinned, a familiar, manic glint returning to his eyes. "Consider it done, Agnes. Just a bit of basic material refinement. For optimal dungeon crawling. And perhaps... optimal fear management."

The transparent slime jiggled, then let out a tiny, perfectly mimicked "My toupee is, in fact, a very expensive, enchanted badger pelt!" Alaric shot it a warning glare. You're on thin ice, buddy. Very thin ice.