Ch.42Gacha Time

MUOOOOOO——!!

Instinctively, I let out a roar after claiming victory over the Chimera. Just as I was feeling satisfied with the cathartic sensation of releasing something that had been bottled up inside me, extreme pain overwhelmed me from my burning flesh.

MUWOOOO——!!!!

When the adrenaline that had been pumping during my fight with the Chimera seemed to evaporate completely, leaving me in excruciating pain, Mary flew to me after hearing my roar and cast a healing spell.

“KYAAAAK——!!! I’ll heal you quickly!”

With her healing magic, my flesh gradually began to regenerate and the pain subsided somewhat, but Mary’s power was still insufficient to fully restore the flesh I had lost.

“Let’s quickly go in the direction where the Elven Knights disappeared! If we stay like this, Khan’s face will end up looking weird!”

At her words, I stopped her with a “just a moment,” then gathered the shattered remains of the Chimera’s corpse and used lightning to incinerate it. I also gathered and cleared away the fallen trees.

The area within a 30-meter radius had been completely devastated, and the ground was covered in craters as if it had been hit by meteorites.

“Now that you’ve cleaned up, let’s hurry! My power isn’t enough to heal you completely yet…”

While Mary was speaking urgently, the system chimed.

-Ding!

-Confirming victory of participant Minotaurosu ‘Khan’. Confirming the deaths of participants Human ‘Battle Maniac Patin Ortiz’, Lizardman ‘Leo Tai’, and Human ‘Tamer Dang Zieu Aing’. Activating roulette for victor Minotaurosu ‘Khan’.

The system seemed to have waited for the battle to end before sending the roulette. From the empty sky, the roulette began to descend.

Since I had killed three people, there were three roulettes. Each roulette was clearly marked to show which one came from whom, with name tags written right above each roulette.

“Ugh!! We need to hurry and get treatment… Can’t you spin them after we get to the Elven Knights?”

“Muuuu… (Probably… not possible. Something seems different this time.)”

-Ding!

-You can combine roulettes. If you combine 2 roulettes, you can choose either traits or stats, and if you combine 3, you can select a unique trait. Would you like to combine them?

Selection roulette. It seems combination is possible since I killed three in one battle. Just as I was about to say I would combine them, as if entranced, my demonic beast instinct stopped me.

“Mu— Ummeooo— Umuuu? (Question for the system. If I combine all three, can I get only one of the three unique traits? Or can I get all three?)”

-…Answer to your question. The three losers possessed a total of 4 unique traits, and you can choose one of them.

One out of four unique traits. I’m not sure why my demonic beast instinct warned me at this timing. It felt as if something had forcibly activated it to give me a hint, which made me feel uneasy.

While unique traits are powerful, if asked whether they’re overwhelmingly better compared to other traits… Well. Just looking at my Rage and Elements, they’re no less effective than the upgraded Predator Ratel.

A unique trait means it’s my own special trait, not necessarily an overwhelming trait that can change the tide of battle.

“Mu— (This is difficult.)”

“What—? Let’s hurry up and go!”

“Mu—— Umuuu—, Muuu——. (I was debating whether to select one or receive three randomly. Both have clear pros and cons, so I’m hesitating about what to choose.)”

Hearing my answer, Mary put her arm to her head and made a groaning sound, as if she was also contemplating the decision.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just take all three? Even if you get stats, they’ll accumulate as experience, and if you get traits you don’t use, you can keep them aside and they might change like Sloth did, or be combined like Rage. And if a unique trait comes out, that’s good too. Right?”

Her words make sense. Even if I get strength, it could reinforce my low stats like with Alraune.

Even if I get traits, bad ones can change, and combinations are possible too. And if I get a unique trait, that would be even better.

As I was about to spin the roulette with that thought, I felt something strange.

Have I ever talked to Mary about traits, stats, or unique traits even once?

Thinking carefully, I don’t believe I had. I might have mentioned getting something good, but I never specified what it was, and Mary never asked about it either.

So how does she know to talk about it like this? The innocent-looking Mary suddenly seemed like something eerily different.

“Ummeo…? (Mary…?)”

“Hm? What~? Let’s hurry up and go!!”

Her appearance, voice, and that innocent expression were all exactly like the Mary I knew. Her expression was so innocent that I wondered if I was overreacting, or if the battle had affected my mind.

“Mumu— Umuuu…? (Did I ever—, even once, talk to Mary about traits, stats, or unique traits…?)”

“Hmm…? Ahaha! Not even once!”

“Muuuu… Muu…? (Then how do you know about that…?)”

“Ahahaha! Why are you so scared! That’s not like Khan! This is from a long time ago, remember Rito? That noisy guy who used illusion magic. He blabbed about it and told me. I met him around the time he killed the fourth participant. He was always bragging about it, so I remember it well.”

Participant Rito. His illusion magic was impressive, and his ability to make illusions real, Reality Alteration, was also amazing. But when his illusion magic was dispelled, despite his valuable unique trait Master of Unarmed Combat, his physical performance was too poor, and he died at my hands. The Japanese man who gave me Master of Unarmed Combat, strengthening my Ratel’s gene into Predator Ratel—a man I’m grateful to.

He certainly was the type to claim he was a god or something, so it seemed plausible. With that thought, Mary started to look like a good fairy again.

“Mu—— Ummeoo—, Mumu—. (I see! I was suspicious because you knew so much even though I never mentioned it. Sorry for doubting you.)”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re injured, so it’s understandable. Besides, you can see the roulette, right? It says traits, stats, and unique traits right there! If you can see the roulette, how can you not see this writing!”

Indeed. If Mary can see the roulette, she should be able to read those words. I don’t know what language it is, but it’s probably the language used in Grancia.

After apologizing to her once more, I told the system I wouldn’t combine the roulettes, and they began to spin.

The roulette started spinning vigorously as always. I asked it to stop quickly so we could go to the Elven Knights.

-Ding.

-Congratulations. You will inherit one of the defeated Lizardman ‘Leo Tai’s’ stats. You will inherit one of Strength / Agility / Intelligence / Wisdom. The roulette will spin again.

The first one was stats. As I was wondering which of the Lizardman’s stats I would receive…

-Ding!

-Intelligence has been selected! Revealing Lizardman ‘Leo Tai’s’ stats.

Stats: Strength – A

Agility – A

Endurance – B

Intelligence – B

Wisdom – C

The same intelligence as mine. Perhaps because we’re both beasts, his intelligence wasn’t that high.

-Ding!

-Participant Minotaurosu ‘Khan’s’ intelligence and defeated Lizardman ‘Leo Tai’s’ intelligence will be combined. If you obtain the same grade of stat twice more or engage in many intelligence-based activities, your intelligence stat grade will increase.

It seems that because I already gained intelligence from eating Alraune before, and this is the same grade, it didn’t increase like last time. But if I engage in intellectual activities or get the same grade stat two more times, it will increase…

But everything is decided by the roulette, so when would I get it two more times? In other words, this was a dud. Disappointed, I checked the next roulette.

-Ding

-Congratulations. You will inherit a trait from the defeated Human ‘Battle Maniac Patin Ortiz’. His traits are revealed.

—Chain Mastery

—Combat Endurance

—Training Maniac

—Battle Maniac

—Mana Circulation

—Frenzy

Six modest traits. Perhaps this guy didn’t get many traits even when he spun the roulette. Or maybe he had two unique traits?

Anyway, all the traits looked good just from their names, so I nodded with satisfaction and asked the rapidly spinning roulette to stop.

-Ding

-Congratulations. You inherit 【Chain Mastery】.

With those words, a brown orb shot out from the roulette. The orb circled my body once before entering it.

-Ding!

-Trait 【Chain Mastery】 has been applied.

= = = = = = = = = = = = =

【Chain Mastery】: You become skilled at handling chains.

= = = = = = = = = = = = =

Just one line. That single line saying I become skilled at handling chains isn’t bad, but whether it will create good synergy with my Predator Ratel trait that allows me to handle all weapons well… I’m not sure.

Disappointed that nothing particularly good came out this time either, I looked at the last remaining roulette from the Tamer.

-Ding

-Congratulations. You will inherit a trait from the defeated Human ‘Tamer Dang Zieu Aing’. His traits are revealed.

—Demonic Beast Affinity

—Animal Affinity

—Taming

—Scent of Friendship

—Demonic Beast Dimension

—Tracking

—Understanding of Animal Language

—Understanding of Demonic Beast Language

Surprised by the traits of someone who seemed born to be a Tamer, I thought maybe combining the three would have been better. But since there probably weren’t any good traits for me anyway, I told it to stop without much expectation.

-Ding

-You inherit the trait 【Scent of Friendship】.

With those words, a golden orb shot out from the roulette. Surprised by the sudden golden orb, I watched as it circled my body once before entering my chest.

-Ding.

-Trait 【Scent of Friendship】 has been applied.

I checked what kind of trait it was, and whether it was equivalent to 【Demonic Beast Sense】.

= = = = = = = = = = = = =

【Scent of Friendship】: You become more likely to gain favor from those of your own kind. As you are a hybrid of Minotaurus and Mad Bull, you gain favor from both species. Minotaurus will not be hostile to you when you enter their territory, and Mad Bulls will consider you part of their herd upon first meeting.

= = = = = = = = = = = = =

I was surprised by its powerful effect. It’s golden because it doesn’t apply to all species; if it did, it would be a rainbow-colored trait like Rage.

While the Lizardman and Battle Maniac were duds, I got something good from the Tamer, which put me in a good mood as I quickly moved with Mary toward where the Elven Knights had disappeared.