Chapter 105

〈 Episode 105 〉 Authority Expansion

With Asha providing a solution for the food supply, the Steel Shield Brigade began moving towards the capital in earnest. On their way, they encountered Tentacles several times and engaged in battle, but thanks to Asha and Lucia’s joining, they were able to endure it easily. However, that didn’t mean the Soldiers fought without any injuries.

“Ughhh!!”

A Soldier screamed as a thin Tentacle burrowed into his exposed forearm. Seeing the Tentacle trying to enter his body, the Soldier gritted his teeth and fiercely grabbed his forearm with his hand. Meanwhile, another Soldier cut the Tentacle that had burrowed into his skin in half with a slender dagger.

“Kuhhh…”

The Soldier shuddered as he pulled out the Tentacle, which had lost its power to penetrate further, from his bloodied arm. The Tentacles, which were ridiculously numerous and quickly burrowed in at the slightest gap, were bound to be a difficult opponent for the Soldiers, no matter how many battles they experienced.

They were familiar enough with the Tentacles from repeated battles, but experience couldn’t prevent all injuries. As the injured Soldier retreated, flames soared above their heads. The Fireball, which rose high into the sky, soon fell fiercely to the ground and became a huge explosion, engulfing the Tentacles.

Screech!!

The Tentacles, which didn’t make much noise even when hit with a hammer, made a disgusting screech when they were burned by the flames. Thanks to the scorching heatwave and the naturally formed wall of fire, the Soldiers who were fighting fiercely were able to take a breather.

“Hoo… they’re really terrifying.”

“Who?”

“Both of them.”

The endlessly swarming Tentacles and Asha, who endlessly burned them, were objects of awe to the Soldiers. The Soldier who was stopping the bleeding suddenly chuckled.

“What, did your head get hurt instead of your arm?”

“No, it’s just funny that she doesn’t even try to cover herself anymore.”

“Ah…”

Asha had tried to cover her body with her robe several times, but in every battle, her armor turned the robe into tattered rags. Then, from one day on, she gave up wearing the robe altogether, and in every battle, she revealed her bare skin and performed in what was practically her underwear. Asha, who was burning the monsters while revealing her defenseless appearance, had become a local specialty of the unit.

Koo-oong–

Asha, who had reached out her hand and burned an area again, struggled to prepare another Spell, unlike before when she had lightly thrown Fireballs.

“Ugh…”

The ground shook beneath her feet and quickly spread forward. There was a brief happening where even the Soldiers lost their balance, but that was a minor matter compared to what happened later.

The wave that spread from where Asha was reached the ground where the Tentacles were swarming and quickly spread in all directions. At first, there was nothing unusual, but gradually the Tentacles became unable to move properly. The Soldiers were bewildered by the sight they had never seen before, but they were wary of the front.

“What! What’s going on!”

Before long, the Soldiers were also able to see the results of what Asha had caused. The front where at least 30 Soldiers were standing in a row was all dyed black, then it sank with a thud, sinking to the bottom with the Tentacles.

“Heut!”

The Soldiers who were watching were horrified by the sight of the tough Tentacles disappearing as if sinking to the bottom without any resistance and not coming out.

“Haa, haa…”

Asha, who had used earth-based Spell that she didn’t usually use, was panting heavily due to the intense exhaustion. As her available Mana decreased, the Magical Barrier surrounding her entire body also became slightly faint.

But the power was certain. She had buried all the attacking Tentacles in the swamp and blocked the Tentacles’ path. It was obvious that the burden on the Soldiers was reduced as the area in contact with the Tentacles decreased.

“This is okay too.”

Asha was trying to use other systems besides the fire system as Justitia had advised. She had learned various Spells from Walter, but she was refraining from using Spells that were too dangerous because the Soldiers themselves could be swept away.

“Your Spell has really improved quickly these days.”

Asha’s Spell ability grew rapidly because the area was like a practical shooting range with targets everywhere. The Spell, which was level 10 when she left the village, reached level 13 in less than a month. Considering that the Weaponry, which was level 11, had now reached level 12, it was an amazing growth.

‘Yeah, if I grow like this, it’s worth catching!’

Asha was feeling small happiness in her relatively stable daily life. Unfortunately, she was not aware that she, who was already used to exposure, was now able to live indifferently in a shameless state where she had almost revealed her cleavage and buttocks.

Asha had a lot to do even after the battle was over.

“Is it here?”

“Ah, yes, keuheup…”

Asha looked at the Soldier who was groaning in pain as she touched the affected area, as if she was sorry. She took out the dead blood and pus from the affected area and buried it in the ground. She summoned water again with Spell, removed all the foreign substances from the wound, and finished by wrapping a bandage.

“Um… don’t move too violently, and be careful not to be exposed to dirty things!”

“T, thank you…”

Asha glanced at the Soldier who was groaning and leaving with his hand wrapped around the bandaged area, and then treated the next patient. She had risen to the level of being called a field medic with her experience of healing herself several times, and she also treated the injuries of patients that occurred during battles. Asha had already become an indispensable figure in the Steel Brigade.

“Asha, you’re busy today too.”

“Ah, Prince!”

Maximilian smiled bitterly at the sight of Asha’s body, which was wearing casual clothes, covered in blood and pus.

“The battle just ended, aren’t you overdoing it?”

“It’s not that hard.”

“Even though you’re sweating like this?”

He wiped Asha’s forehead, which was constantly sweating. Asha, who didn’t even know she was sweating, finally felt exhausted.

“I think… I’m a little tired.”

“There’s no point in overdoing it suddenly.”

“It’s hard to just watch those people.”

“That’s true.”

The two looked at the terrible Soldiers in the ward. From the Soldiers whose thighs were eaten by the Tentacles and whose legs were dangling, to the Soldiers whose one arm was twisted like a wrung-out rag, a considerable number of people were groaning in pain from their injuries. Now that all the Magic users other than Asha had been wiped out, there was almost no one who could properly treat them besides her. When even Maximilian’s complexion darkened, Asha comforted him.

“But Justitia will send Healing Potions soon.”

“I hope there will be some improvement. If the burden here increases, there will be a surge in casualties.”

“Just a moment…”

Asha connected the communication with Justitia at this opportunity. As soon as the communication was connected, Justitia immediately got to the point.

[How’s the situation, Asha?]

“The food is still okay, but there are a lot of injured Soldiers, so we urgently need Healing Potions. Can you send us something that will help with first aid rather than food?”

[It would be better to raise the system authority a little more. That way, the transport capacity will be sufficient in the future.]

Asha was unsure of how much her system authority was.

“I was… level 3, right?”

[Yes. You have enough Tokens to raise it to level 4.]

“How many do I have… Whoa!”

Asha was startled by the number of Tokens displayed in the store window. The number of Tokens that had accumulated was close to 40,000. Considering that the quest reward she had achieved before was 4,500 Tokens, it was a tremendous number.

“W, what’s with so many?!”

[In addition to the quest achievement rewards, the number of Tentacles handled by the Soldiers is also added, and the achievement rewards are also considerable. In the first place, if this level of supply was not secured, I would not have told Asha to handle the supply of the army with the system store.]

Justitia gave Asha, who was surprised, a supplementary explanation.

“Anyway, that’s a relief! How much do I need to expand the authority?”

[It’s 5,000 Tokens. In the level 4 expansion, store transfer capacity and Inventory expansion, and Ability Appraisal will be added.]

“Ability Appraisal?”

[It is the authority to appraise the other person’s ability as it is.]

“Wow… that’s amazing. Authority expansion, first!”

At Asha’s words, the 40,000 Tokens that had been accumulated quickly decreased, and the authority was newly expanded. Justitia, who had expanded Asha’s authority, immediately transferred the supplies as soon as the authority expansion was completed. Asha called in other people as food and Healing Potions piled up in front of her.

While observing the Soldiers who were happy to see the supplies, Asha tried using Ability Appraisal.

[Jean -176]

Strength: 13

Agility: 8

Durability: 11

Stamina: 12

Mana: 4

Specialty: Weaponry LV.4

“This is really happening.”

If she had this function from the beginning, Asha would have thought that she had entered the game without fail. It seemed that the system was organizing and showing the target’s abilities.

‘The number next to the name probably refers to people with the same name… Should I look at other people too?’

Compared to Asha, whose average stats were close to mid-30s, most of the Soldiers had stats around 10. Some senior Soldiers or officers had slightly better skills with an average of 16 to 20, but they were not up to her level.

Thanks to Ability Appraisal, Asha was able to grasp the current situation of the Soldiers more clearly.

Maximilian came into her sight.

[Maximilian de Artua]

Strength: 29

Agility: 25

Durability: 17

Stamina: 30

Mana: 25

Specialty: Swordsmanship LV.21, Mana Utilization LV.14, Intercourse LV.16, Trade LV.19

“No, what is this…”

The stats were at a different level from ordinary people, but the specialties were shocking. Considering that Asha’s Weaponry was now level 12 and Intercourse was level 10, she could understand why she was no match for Maximilian and was suppressed by him.

“Asha, what’s wrong?”

“No… I’m just saying that Your Highness is amazing…”

Asha, who had unknowingly looked at his lower body, felt her face turning red and lowered her head.