Chapter 136

Chapter 136. Sprout (5)

Fortunately, the two individuals understood their roles well, and they hadn’t disappointed me in the party hunts so far.

“What about you, hyung? Have you decided?”

“Well…”

With the mana I had, buying something from the Silver rank tab felt like a waste, while the prices of things in the Gold rank tab were way too high.

Most of them were beyond my reach due to the fivefold limit on owned mana.

‘Perhaps it’s better to save up for when I can’t learn Mana Domination.’

Mana Domination seemed to be an advanced skill compared to Mana Control. Transitioning from Mana Manipulation to Control had taken two months.

If moving from Control to Domination would take the same amount of time, it might be better to purchase it outright.

‘How should I use it for maximum efficiency?’

I pondered over how to maximize efficiency and spoke, “I’m planning to think about it for a while. It’s not too late to use it after gathering more mana.”

“Gather more? You’re not planning on going hunting right away today, are you?”

“Why not?”

Kim Yul, who had been happily chewing on meat stuffed into his cheeks, froze.

Across from me, Yang Taeho, who had been silently eating, raised his head to stare at me intently. In response to their sincere reactions, I let out a chuckle.

“Once the victory ceremony schedule is over, we’ll have personal time!”

I said.

I hadn’t intended to invite them along anyway.

Upon stating this, Kim Yul resumed chewing the meat in his mouth, and Yang Taeho sighed in relief and went back to his fork.

“I know you’re a Spartan, hyung, but you’ve been hunting nonstop until the victory ceremony. Every day until dawn, too. The mana you absorbed during that time exceeded 200,000. How on earth did you earn more mana in the last ten days than I did in the initial three months? It’s unreasonable, right?”

“There’s nothing unreasonable about it. If you want to earn a Gold rank quickly, you have to stay busy.”

Kim Yul looked at me with distaste and spoke in a sour tone.

“I’m really curious, hyung. When do you ever rest? Are you a steel human who doesn’t need rest? Do you not get stressed?”

While babbling away about his curiosity, Kim Yul touched my body on a whim, and I peeled his fingers off one by one with care. “I rest while I sleep, you know.”

“Aren’t you sleeping about four hours a day, hyung? Aren’t you still taking lessons with that mage hyung in the morning and training with the knights?”

“Three hours, recently I’ve cut it down a bit.”

Ever since becoming a player, I could sustain myself with minimal sleep. This was the only blessing I appreciated about being a player.

“I really have nothing to say.”

“Then don’t say anything. If you do, I’ll assume you still have the energy to walk around and take you hunting.”

Kim Yul immediately closed his mouth.

‘What a chatterbox.’

I chuckled lightly and began to examine the rest of the rewards.

There was a useless medal, currency that was always satisfying to see, and armor I could wear for a while. Lastly, there was a small box given by Marquis Ephenel.

‘I wonder what’s inside.’

Half curious, half anxious, I opened the box to reveal a round golden orb.

‘They really like gold, don’t they?’

In Bihar, anything of good quality often had some connection to gold. Assuming this was a decent item based on that, I picked up the golden orb from the box. Immediately, a system window appeared.

「Enhancement Stone with Finelpenia’s Divinity」

• Category: Consumable

• Acquisition Difficulty: Unique

• Rank: ★★★★★★★

• Description: It can infuse divinity into an item, turning it into a relic. A relic item gains special powers.

• Effect: Enhances an item.

The acquisition difficulty was unique, and its rank was an impressive seven stars. I was surprised by the item’s high level, but not overly moved.

The explanation was too lacking. Was there a failure rate? How should it be used?

How, precisely, does it enhance items and by how much? It would be nice to know these things in detail, but I knew better than to expect such kindness from this game.

‘I wouldn’t refrain from doing so just because I don’t know.’

I had already decided on the item to use this on the moment I read the description.

‘Kerak’s Spear.’

Currently, it was my only means to conditionally use Firestorm. Since it could increase my attribute mana by a whopping tenfold, it needed enhancement.

‘It’s an enhancement after all, it’s unlikely to worsen.’

The system and the 7 Great Gods share a common goal of nurturing players. Although it was a bit unsettling that it was an item from Finelpenia’s side…

‘Since it’s an in-game item, it shouldn’t harm the player.’

The issue was that Kerak’s Spear was already a relic. After a moment’s hesitation, I reached out beyond the table.

Taking out Kerak’s Spear from the inventory, I noticed Kim Yul and Yang Taeho’s gazes focusing on it as they finished their meal.

Not knowing the exact method to use it, I simply held the orb against the spear. For ten seconds, thirty seconds, and even a minute, there was no reaction.

However, I didn’t give up and waited a little longer.

‘I knew this game was clunky from long ago.’

Having a slight delay wouldn’t be surprising.

“What are you doing now…?”

Kim Yul, unable to bear the silence, opened his mouth when—flash.

A beat, no, several beats late, a painful golden light filled the private room.

Once the light vanished, the golden orb I held disappeared without a trace.

Instead, a system window appeared over Kerak’s Spear.

「Enhancing 0.01%」

After watching motionlessly for twenty to thirty seconds, the percentage went up by an additional 0.01%. It was akin to the speed of an update patch.

‘Even a turtle could move faster than this.’

I sighed deeply and returned the spear to the inventory. Since it was unlikely that the result would appear immediately, I pushed it out of mind.

‘I should hurry and go hunting.’

It seemed more fruitful to be doing something else while waiting for it to enhance.

* * *

After finishing the meal, I left Habon Castle straightaway and headed toward the corrupted area.

Over time, Habon had undergone quite a bit of purification work, with the forward base relocated about five to six times.

‘It’s about time to reclaim the next castle over here too.’

It seemed that talks were already happening among the Order’s upper echelons. Although nothing had been decided yet, I intended to participate once advancement was confirmed.

Before that, I wanted to quickly take care of anything I could.

I worked on purifying the corrupted area as I engaged in repetitive labor-like hunting.

I stopped walking when I noticed something on the map.

‘What is this?’

A point I had never seen on the map was clearly marked.

‘White?’

I stood quietly, looking at the map and then altered my direction, halting the hunt.

There were already quite a few black dots gathered around the vicinity. Fearing it might disappear, I increased my pace.

A few minutes later, I arrived at the destination and tilted my head in confusion.

“Qiruk!”

“Kkeeak, kkeeak!”

The first thing I noticed was monsters gathered at one place, voraciously tearing away at red flesh.

Next, my eyes were drawn to the unidentified corpse surrounded by those monsters.

‘It’s quite large.’

Judging purely by height, it seemed about four meters tall. From its overall outline, it appeared to be about five times the size of a bear.

Additionally, the four visible legs among the monsters indicated it was a four-legged beast. Considering its ability to stand properly, it seemed it would be even larger.

However, the chances of seeing the mysterious creature rise and move seemed slim.

‘It looks dead.’

There wasn’t any sign of movement hinting at breathing or feeling pain. It’s unimaginable for a creature not to struggle as monsters ripped at its flesh.

Even if that weren’t the case, the chilling and ominous aura emanating from the corpse was unmistakable.

I alternated between looking at the white dot on the map and the unidentified corpse before reaching out my hand.

Monsters typically emerging from a 2-star corrupted area were now easier to eliminate than even breathing.

Within a blink, about a dozen fireballs flew towards the monsters. I walked forward, listening to the cries of monsters burning alive.

Clearing the monsters surrounding the area allowed for a more detailed inspection of the enormous corpse.

White fur covered areas beyond the monsters’ reach, gradually acquiring red and black stains downwards. It was quite devoured, with bones visible in some spots.

‘The blood is red… It’s clearly dead.’

There was no warmth emanating from the fur as there should have been. The heartbeat wasn’t audible either.

‘Why does the white dot remain then?’

I implemented Mana Detection, dormant since I first gained a map.

The red butterflies, appearing for the first time in a while, had now expanded in size.

Directly implementing the Mana Detection magic revealed it.

Inside the massive corpse, there was a small cluster of mana.

To uncover the source of that mana, I lifted the limp corpse. Whatever caused its death was unknown, but the creature had curled its body tightly inward.

By rummaging through the body as if searching inside pockets, I discovered blood-drenched lumps around the hind limbs, specifically the lower abdomen.

“One, two, three… four.”

Of the four pups, three were cold and lifeless. The remaining one, however, was still weakly squirming.

I finally understood what had transpired.

‘I wondered why such a large creature died to minions.’

It likely died due to an attack during childbirth, preventing resistance. Alternatively, a birthing complication led to death, and monsters discovered and began feeding on the corpse thereafter.

‘It must be one of those.’

Understanding the situation, I gently held by the scruff of the squirming, sightless newborns and lifted it.

A single handful sufficed for the pup, assumed to be just born.

Even if I placed its body in my palm, there would still be plenty of space left.

Of course, I wasn’t holding the creature out of pity for its small size and defenselessness.

‘What is this white dot?’

Carefully observing the still-living creature in my hand, I pondered over its nature.

‘Judging by appearances, it seems like a mammal.’

Beast born in Bihar were marked with blue dots. So why was this one marked with a white dot?

What was different about this one?

Could it be signifying new kinds of mana?

Lost in thought while pondering this, I encircled the wiggling creature’s neck with my thumb and index finger.

‘Should I absorb its mana?’

What if this creature’s mana was harmful to me?

For safety, it might be wiser to take it back and ask Biharin folks what species it was.

During the brief hesitation, the creature continued to squirm. Whether it mistook my hand for its mother’s breast or for some other reason…

Suddenly it twisted and thrust its snout against my hand.

And then, it bit me.

“Ugh!”

I instinctively shook my hand.

“Yelp!”

As a result, the small body was flung to the ground, yet I didn’t spare it a glance.

Instead, I inspected the two distinct holes punctured into my thumb and index finger.

“What…?”

Though it was shocking enough that such a seemingly newborn creature had teeth…

That it could injure my body, impervious even to dagger slashes, was unbelievable.

As I rubbed the wound, I reached out to retrieve the pup once more.

Then, a strange sound echoed in my head.

Thump, thump, thump—

In the dimness, a gigantic drumming began resounding throughout my body.

A sense of incredulity washed over me, followed by more distant sounds of wailing and howling.

– Ki eek!

– Gyaow!

An intense brightness flooded my vision, accompanied by unfamiliar cries interspersed with soft, whimpering noises.

– Gyaow, gyaow…

– Kiing…

With the lamenting cries of beasts echoing more and more, only one persisted in the end.

– Kiing, kiing…

“Kiing, kiing.”

The only one left was the little one in my hands.

“What is this…?”

Though I reflexively voiced it out loud, I already knew. There was no need to ask anyone. What had flowed into my mind moments ago was memory.

Presumably, these were the events this small creature experienced while in its mother’s womb and shortly after birth.

My gaze shifted as I looked down at the squirmer now in the palm of my hand.

‘Could it be telepathy?’

Doubts over how such a thing was possible dawned on me.

Yet, this world naturally houses two moons and fundamental elements like magic and mana.

‘There might very well be animals capable of Telekinesis.’

While flipping between caution and curiosity, the creature sent its memories to me once more.

Damned System