184. Merge or Discard

We entered a room of decent size to avoid the monsters.

“I’ll block the entrance first.”

I took out rocks I had prepared in advance from my inventory and barricaded the entrance, then sealed the gaps with clay to prevent any light from leaking out.

“This should be enough. As long as we block Gorgon’s gaze, other monsters shouldn’t find us immediately.”

“Haaa… Now we can finally rest.”

Ulysses leaned against the wall and let out a pained groan, as if his entire body was aching.

“Would you like some candy? Or should I bring out some snacks?”

“Candy is enough for me.”

“I’m hungry…”

“May I also have a meal?”

“Maximus and Chloe will eat. What about you, Abraham?”

“Water is enough for me. I need to pray for a while to recover my divine power.”

I provided food and water to the group.

The gladiator brothers, who had exhausted their stamina fighting Gorgon, hastily chewed and swallowed bread and sausages, while Ulysses bit into a candy and immediately entered meditation.

Abraham sat in a corner of the room, clasping his hands in prayer to the goddess.

The remaining people were me, Joshua, and Jack.

Joshua hadn’t woken up yet. The damage must have been severe, as he couldn’t open his eyes easily.

Still, thanks to Joshua, we managed to survive the crisis, so I decided to let him rest.

“Aren’t you going to eat anything?”

“I saw too much blood… I feel sick.”

“I see. Then let’s talk. What is the Empire planning?”

“Huh?”

“Why did they send you and others into the labyrinth?”

“Well…”

Jack began explaining the Empire’s current situation.

“So, you’re saying they’re short on magic stones.”

“Correct. All the mines where magic stones were being extracted have closed. Every magic stone mine within the Empire’s territory has been depleted. In the end, the only way to secure a stable supply is to rely on the labyrinth.”

The Empire is considered the leader in magic engineering. And magic engineering is mostly based on magic stones.

In short, with their resources depleted, the Empire’s only options are territorial expansion or pioneering the labyrinth.

“Do you know what kind of person the Emperor of the Kartlan Empire is?”

“Well, someone like me, a mere commoner, wouldn’t even get a distant glimpse of His Majesty. I don’t know the details, but rumors say he’s extremely cunning.”

“Cunning?”

“Yes. Some incidents involving the imperial family became public knowledge, revealing that the Emperor is very cunning and has a notorious reputation with women. Of course, those who leaked the information were all taken away and disappeared. There are even stories that making such remarks within the Empire will get you fed to the dogs.”

“Hmm. So he’s a cunning bastard?”

“You could say that.”

“And that bastard is now targeting the labyrinth?”

“Yes. We were just the vanguard. They’ll keep sending exploration teams. From what I know, there are at least three transfer stones within the Empire.”

“At least three?”

“Yes. We were still investigating where they all led, but this time, the transfer stone connected to the snake nest, and everyone except me was wiped out.”

An unvarnished truth.

The Soul Chain confirmed that Jack’s words were genuine.

“So, everyone else died. And you believe that’s the case.”

“Yes. Almost everyone died as soon as we entered. I barely survived.”

“Then it’s certain that the one who merged Kairan and Gorgon’s souls isn’t from the Empire.”

Somewhere outside the labyrinth?

Or perhaps beneath it?

According to what the Saintess told me, the Black-robed Saint was someone who rose from below.

If someone like that is now in the snake nest…

‘Damn it. Those who come from below fundamentally desire chaos in the labyrinth and the labyrinth city.’

If their goals align, they’d naturally join hands with the Empire’s forces to toy with adventurers.

“You don’t know the locations of the transfer stones, do you?”

“Right…? I was too busy running away to remember the path I took.”

“Got it for now.”

Once I leave the snake nest and seal it, there’s no way out. To enter the labyrinth through the snake nest, I’d have to keep the entrance open.

In the end, the Empire’s forces can only farm a few snakes in the nest and leave.

‘The transfer stone in the snake nest is effectively sealed by my hand. Even if the Empire’s forces kill the snakes and adapt to the maso, they’d still have to pass through the labyrinth city to enter the labyrinth.’

Ultimately, the Empire is also our enemy.

Though they are part of the human world, they clearly regard the labyrinth city as an adversary.

They may not invade immediately, but given the chance, the Empire would undoubtedly target the labyrinth city.

‘Either strike first or let the Empire collapse on its own.’

Without a supply of magic stones, the Empire will head toward ruin. The moment their vaunted magic engineering stagnates, a dark age will begin.

In the end, the Empire must expand its territory to secure magic stones, whether by force or diplomacy.

Targeting the labyrinth is part of that, but even that isn’t easy. Thus, the Empire will likely plan invasions of weaker neighboring nations, and once war breaks out, they’ll focus entirely on it rather than the labyrinth.

Either way, this is something the labyrinth city’s leadership must handle, so for now, Jack should be sent to the council after being rescued.

Using him is important, but extracting information to prepare for external threats is equally crucial.

“Got it for now. You should rest too.”

“Yep.”

Jack, seemingly relieved, stared blankly at the campfire for a moment before dozing off.

Now, it’s time to properly examine the new abilities I’ve acquired.

In terms of sheer number, I’ve already surpassed platinum badges.

Though I haven’t fully developed my personal combat strength yet, based on the number of abilities alone, I’d rank fairly high in the labyrinth city.

Leveling up in real time and stealing skills to enhance my abilities feels like using cheat codes, but I’ve built up to this point over a long time to grow so quickly.

This is like a reward for that.

“But Arad, why do I feel so stifled?”

“Because you’ve acquired too many abilities.”

“Really? My chest feels tight.”

Getting stronger is good, but I feel bloated.

It’s like my blood is clogged up. I feel incredibly stifled.

“Did the abilities you took from that spider friend cause problems?”

“Yes. I feel a bit unwell.”

“Indeed, having too many abilities can cause issues.”

As Ulysses said, taking in too much leads to trouble.

But giving them up isn’t easy either. Gorgon fought two platinum badges using Kairan’s abilities, after all.

Kairan’s abilities were worth that much.

‘The reason Gorgon survived against the gladiator brothers was likely due to Desperate Resistance.’

Even after taking fatal damage, Gorgon endured with Desperate Resistance, then consumed monster corpses using its traits to keep fighting.

That’s how it managed to keep rampaging without dying.

‘Moreover, assuming Gorgon used all of Kairan’s abilities…’

The gladiator brothers’ senses might have been entirely countered by Predator’s Sight.

Most martial artists or warrior-type adventurers possess abilities similar to my Insight Eye-something to detect presence or intent.

Especially since the gladiator brothers are platinum badges, they’d naturally try to sense their opponent’s presence or movements to counter or exploit openings.

Predator’s Sight treated even these probing exchanges as ‘detection’ against itself.

‘An ability that reflects all forms of detection and, furthermore, detects the opponent in return.’

Just as we blocked Gorgon’s sight and pinpointed its location, this ability could be used against warriors to detect them when they try to sense me.

This is likely how Gorgon utilized Predator’s Sight.

That’s why the fight dragged on.

“Then, since you’ve acquired Kairan’s abilities, you must have become incredibly strong.”

“My combat experience is still lacking, but I’m definitely at least gold badge level now.”

“Wow…”

An incredible achievement in such a short time.

Now, I just need to blend and utilize the abilities I’ve acquired.

The problem is this stifling feeling.

“There is a way.”

“There’s a way?”

“Yeah. Just extract the abilities again. If you’re bloated, vomit it out. What else can you do?”

“Damn.”

Arad is right.

If you can’t digest it, spit it out. Forcing it down will only make you sick.

I’ll have to discard some of the eight abilities I took from Kairan.

Bitter, but I wanted to keep them all.

“Alternatively, you can merge similar types together.”

“What? That’s possible? You can combine abilities without destroying them?”

“The success rate isn’t that high, but it’s worth trying.”

Arad’s suggestion plunged me into deep thought.

Merge similar ones? If it goes wrong, they might tangle into a completely different ability.

“If it works?”

“The burden will decrease significantly. Want to try? It’s my first attempt too. Gamble or discard some abilities. Your call.”

“…Hmm.”

After a brief deliberation, I agreed to merge the abilities.

“First, you’ve acquired many eye-related abilities.”

“Right.”

“So, I’ll try combining the eye-related ones.”

Arad suggested merging Night Vision, Synesthetic Vision, and Predator’s Sight, which I stole from Kairan.

“But if you just twist these three together, they’ll turn into a completely different ability.”

“That won’t do.”

“Which is why I’ll place an ability in the middle that won’t lose its essence even when merged.”

“That’s possible?”

“Normally, I wouldn’t even attempt it, but you’ve acquired Magic Eyes. Magic Eyes are top-tier abilities. So, if we use a Magic Eye as the core and merge other abilities into it, there’s a high chance they’ll be absorbed by the Magic Eye.”

“Ooh… Can’t we merge Magic Eyes together?”

“What if it explodes? Magic Eyes are hard to obtain, you know?”

“Just throwing out ideas.”

“Magic Eyes are of equal rank, so merging them would just create a different Magic Eye.”

“Ugh. That’d be a disaster. Let’s stick to the original plan.”

“Got it. Then let’s merge abilities into a Magic Eye.”

I currently have four Magic Eyes.

First, my foundational Spirit Eye, then the Identification Eye and Insight Eye from Moira, and the Dragon Eye of Intimidation.

“The Dragon Eye of Intimidation and Spirit Eye are things I might never get again. Losing them would be a huge blow. Let’s use the Identification Eye and Insight Eye, which won’t be as devastating if lost.”

“Agreed.”

“First, I’ll insert the Identification Eye in the middle and merge Night Vision and Synesthetic Vision. The Identification Eye, which reveals the unknown, has good synergy with information-gathering abilities. It seems compatible with Night Vision and Synesthetic Vision. By the way, this merging process will use your body as a workbench, so it’ll be painful. Want some painkillers?”

Following Arad’s advice, I took some painkillers.

“Let’s do this… Huh? What are you doing?”

“Didn’t I say? I’ll use your body as a workbench.”

“W-wait a minute-!”

Arad crawled up to my face and began threading something into my eyes.

“Gaaah-!”

Thanks to the painkillers, it wasn’t agonizing, but the sensation was incredibly bizarre.

The feeling of a spider rummaging through my eyes.

It’s driving me insane.

“Inserting Night Vision!”

“Guhhh-!”

Night Vision was merged into the Identification Eye.

Instantly, my vision brightened, and information about things hidden in the darkness flooded my mind.

“Next is Synesthetic Vision.”

“Ugh…! I can see smells! I can see sounds!”

Smells and sounds took on shapes and colors, entering my vision.

It was as if voices appeared as text, or the scent of the campfire looked black. Merged with the Identification Eye, the influx of information was overwhelming.

“Isn’t this dangerous?! Arad!”

“Hey, holy man. Stop yelling and just cast a blessing.”

“Damn it…!”

Abraham, irritated at being ordered by a summon, clenched his teeth and began casting healing spells after seeing me scream in pain.

The goddess’s light enveloped me, clearing my mind slightly.

“Last one. This is the biggest. Endure it.”

“Tch…”

I asked to merge abilities to reduce the soul’s burden, but now I feel like I might die from the process.

Soon, the final thread tangled the Insight Eye with Predator’s Sight, merging the two similar abilities into one.