Ch.162162. Deserted Island (4)

And so, after confirming that Cretinus, the divine beast of Neptune—a pure white bull—would come under my command.

‘Already… Is this the 10th one?’

It feels like just yesterday that I set out on this journey with only Corin and Astra, yet this is already my 10th animal friend contract.

I feel somewhat dazed as this reality sinks in… but it would be foolish to get lost in these complex emotions.

“Let’s begin, Cretinus.”

[Yes! I’m ready whenever you are!]

Thus, skillfully pushing aside these subtle feelings, I looked toward Cretinus and recalled the abilities I had briefly heard about earlier.

Cretinus, the divine beast of the sea god, appears outwardly to be nothing more than a white-skinned bull that goes “moo-moo” on land, but his true essence and identity is that of a divine beast from the sea god’s lineage, carrying the energy of the vast ocean within him.

Each divine beast possesses something that could be called their essence, and for Cretinus, that essence is the ‘sea.’

Of course, anyone would wonder why Cretinus—who doesn’t look like a sea creature at all, not even a water buffalo which might at least be somewhat familiar with water, but rather just like an ordinary country bull except for his color—is a divine beast of the sea god…

The answer lies in Cretinus’s transformation ability.

Though considered low-ranking, Cretinus, who belongs to the sea god Neptune’s retinue, can transform himself into a half-bull, half-fish form when a sufficient amount of water touches his body.

His lower half becomes that of a blue-scaled fish, and his hind legs transform into something resembling a whale’s front flippers.

A tail fin grows from the end of the fish-shaped half of his body, and near his ears, structures similar to fins or gills develop, giving him an appearance like he’s sprouting wings.

In this form, mixing bull and fish, Cretinus can swim through the sea as if running across it…

And true to his name as the divine beast of the sea god, he possesses partial dominion over the ocean.

He can manipulate sea currents to guide them in favorable directions, extract the power of the sea—its primordial essence and energy—to attack enemies, and even cast nature magic using seawater as a medium.

It’s an extremely simple and orthodox ability, but precisely because of that, it’s easy to utilize yet difficult to counter.

Beyond these standard abilities as a sea divine beast, he also possessed an ability inherent to his animal nature… the power of gigantification.

Of course, for magical beasts above a certain level, controlling and adjusting body size is a relatively simple action that anyone can master with minimal practice.

However, while the typical size control ability only works to reduce size from the original through “mass separation,” Cretinus’s gigantification ability allows him to increase his size several times beyond the original.

Naturally, as one’s body grows larger, their durability and strength increase, but in this world, these standards seem to differ somewhat from conventional physical laws.

In other words, in this world, the larger one’s body becomes, the more additional corrections seem to be applied to their physical abilities and durability. Despite the initial sense of dissonance I felt when first noticing this, I now simply accept it as a special rule of this world.

In any case, the impact of this gigantification ability is proven by the countless creatures classified as intermediate-level simply because of their large size.

While there’s a risk of becoming a large target for enemies’ ranged attacks, the power boost from gigantification often outweighs these disadvantages.

If I could obtain the ability to use gigantification on others, it would be like commanding thousands of intermediate-level creatures by enlarging my Squeakers.

‘Please gigantification please gigantification please gigantification…’

So, hoping to obtain this tactically versatile gigantification ability through our contract, I carefully extended my hand to proceed with the animal friend contract, and…

【Tell your mother I said hello.】

‘…?!!’

As the salty essence of the sea flowed in and stimulated my senses, something else settled into a corner of my soul with a heavy presence, alongside the mystery of gigantification.

In real time, it took less than 0.01 seconds, but exposed directly to that soul-crushing presence, I froze completely…

“…Phew, hah, hah, ha.”

Immediately afterward, as the oppressive aura disappeared cleanly along with the salty air, I offered a sincere prayer to the great sea god and drew out ‘that thing’ which had settled in a corner of my soul.

Though it may be nothing more than degraded remnants compared to the original, having been modified for use by mortals, it still retained its radiance and value—a magnificent divine weapon.

The divine instrument of the sea god Neptune, the Trident.

Called Triaina (Τριαινα) in ancient language, a beautiful three-pronged spear made of glowing blue crystal.

[…That’s! A re-replica of the Trident?!!]

As I naturally drew out the trident stored within my soul and grasped it in my hand, Cretinus looked upon this great spear with genuine astonishment.

And at that moment, I could feel the power surging within the Trident, like churning waves.

Though it might seem insignificant compared to the original Trident used by the sea god himself, having been degraded multiple times, objectively speaking, this replica Trident is equipment of the same tier as my mother’s staff that I had been using.

Its value as a weapon is immeasurable, but beyond that, it provides tremendous bonuses when casting magic that manipulates water and the sea.

‘…Lord Neptune, I am overwhelmed by your grace.’

At this point, doing nothing would be disrespectful, so I immediately began preparing a classical burnt offering ritual to present to the deity.

While such offering rituals vary in form and structure across regions and eras, they still share certain basic elements.

Especially for such a classical and popular burnt offering ritual, these elements are common knowledge, almost like general trivia.

First, the most important offering for the burnt sacrifice was the highest quality moonfish among those we had caught.

One might think offering mere fish to a deity would be meaningless, but in such rituals, what truly matters is the heart that offers with gratitude and sincerity.

Using expensive and luxurious offerings is simply a matter of showing respect to the deity, but essentially, what truly matters is the heart behind it.

Meanwhile, in a burnt offering (Holocaust), where sacrifices are burned for the deity, the flame used cannot be ordinary either.

Only sacred fire, imbued with holy energy, can serve as the catalyst for presenting offerings.

This flame, primarily used as an offensive tool in priests’ holy magic, might seem inaccessible to non-priests, but in reality, creating sacred fire is surprisingly simple.

Lighting wood that has been soaked in holy water or comes from trees with divine attributes creates sacred fire. The entire flame imbued with ‘holy power’ becomes sacred fire.

Finally, what’s needed is a symbol of the specific deity to whom the offering is directed… but this can be substituted with the Trident itself, so we can skip that.

“Is this how it’s done?”

[Yes, that’s right…!]

From the moment we completed the preparations, we lifted the fresh moonfish wrapped in Amaltan leaves for the formal ritual, and just before throwing it into the fire pit, we offered a prayer.

[We offer this to Neptune, God of the Sea! We present this sacrifice in praise of your grace, may the great sea god not refuse it!]

As soon as the prayer ended, I threw the moonfish into the flames burning on the sacred wood, and at that moment, the fire suddenly flared up, consuming the moonfish and reducing it to ashes.

It was clear to anyone watching that the offering had been accepted, so I poured seawater over the wood to conclude the ritual…

【I have received it well, son of Circe.】

A whisper similar to what one hears when putting a seashell to their ear confirmed that my actions were correct, filled with satisfaction.