Bosom Mountain Climax (2)
The mountain lord's family and the wind fox felt the killing intent through spatial perception just before we reached the peak. I braced my legs and jumped with all my strength.
I won't make a fuss like an idiot to draw their attention!
The sound of jumping and breaking rocks was luckily buried in the explosion of the wind fox's mana bullet, so I wasn't noticed. If I had been noticed, it would have been a bit more dangerous.
Good. Let's go, Mana Mode - Acceleration!
Even though dirt and dust were flying everywhere, from above it didn't obscure the view. Due to the accelerated brain processing, the battle of the four beasts below was slowing down.
With the power of physical reinforcement, my feet that jumped up to 10m saw the mountain lord's body collide and fall, and the wind fox that was shooting mana bullets wildly with its mouth and the mountain lord who was trying to bite it while riding on the wind fox came into view.
Right after that, I was discovered by the two females of the mountain lord. Two pairs of pitch-black eyes caught me and slowly widened. And the mouth opened slightly.
“Mana Laser!”
With a sound like glass rubbing, a mana laser shot out from the index finger of my extended left hand and silently split the mountain lord and the two wind foxes. The mountain lord and the wind fox were cleanly bisected without a “crack” sound, but it was as if the sound was heard.
Aaaauuuu~!!
Kwaaaaang-!!
The two females roared belatedly, but it was a warning one step too late. The two females who saw the mountain lord whose waist was cut off rushed towards me with terrifying killing intent... unfortunately.
Because I had become a form that was head-on with death.
Ting~! Ppeobeng!!
The mana bullets shot from both index fingers erased the two female mountain lords from the world. What was the look in the eyes of the two females just before the mana bullet hit? It wasn't killing intent... but despair? Regret?
After the short flight, landing on the mountain peak with a thud.
When I released the acceleration mode, my pores opened wide and sweat poured out. My heart was pounding, tinnitus ringing in my ears, and dizziness made the world spin.
“Puuu...”
Whoosh-
“Uph?! Ttuk ttuk!”
A sudden gust of wind blew, covering me with dust. While spitting out the dust that entered my mouth, I looked at my body covered in sweat and dirt.
...Thanks to the wind from the earth, I came to my senses.
I had been too tense.
Slap slap, I hit my cheeks with both hands, and the tingling sensation woke me up.
I sighed as if spitting out the resentment in my chest and looked at the place where the mana bullets exploded.
Two round, sunken pits.
I could see the whole scene of the two females being swept away by the mana bullet thanks to acceleration from the beginning to the end, but instead of being torn apart by the explosion, they disappeared as dust, like decomposing. Is that the effect of my mana bullet?
Anyway, I ambushed and killed four mid-low rank variants in an instant.
The thought that I had done it filled my head.
The power of the special type detection ability combined with physical reinforcement and attribute ability was directly felt, sending a shiver down my spine.
I think I finally accurately felt the fraudulence of the abilities I possess.
When people around me say "You're really amazing", I understood with my head but didn't feel it in my heart, but this time I definitely felt it in my body.
I rubbed my sweaty palms on my pants and approached the dead mountain lord and wind fox, and Franc came down from the sky, sparkling with eyes, and praised me.
-You cut the mountain lord and the wind fox calmly and then neatly cleaned up the two silver white wolves that rushed after you. Excellent!-
“Was it okay in Franc's eyes?”
-It's not just okay. It was a perfect battle: you set priorities after assessing the situation at the same time as the jump, and calmly sorted it out step by step!-
“Huh. Thank you.”
With Franc's fuss, the inexplicable tension and excitement, fear subsided a bit.
I looked down at the two corpses with their waists cut in half.
Thanks to the slash from the abdomen to the shoulders, the internals were spilled out, and seeing the mountain lord dead with its head split open and brain spilling out and the wind fox dead, a strange feeling came over me again.
It was only yesterday that I was dealing with about 120 mid-low rank two-tailed foxes or zombie penguins on the island before arriving here, consuming TP massively, but now I casually killed four mid-low rank variants using only about 1/10 of my total TP.
“Seeing how much I've grown, Unnie Yoo and Hwayeon will be surprised too.”
Franc smiled as if agreeing and flew around me like a wind spirit.
A bit proud, I unconsciously brushed my bangs forward, then came to my senses and covered my face again. Abilities are abilities, and ugly faces are ugly faces.
My chest was still fluttering, but I endured it and scanned the Bosom Mountain with spatial perception.
There were no variants within the perception range. They must have run far away. This much, they won't come back for a while. There will be enough time to organize and rest.
I found the heart in the spilled mountain lord's internals and split it with both hands, and a translucent phase stone the size of two fingers came out. When I cut the wind fox's chest and took out the heart, another mid-low grade phase stone with 200 phase power came out from inside.
“If I find a way to charge phase power into the soul stone with this, it will be good.”
I also found the usage of Mana Sieve and got free phase stones. Now, if I find a way to charge TP into the return point and soul stone, it will be all done in the second phase world?
I looked at the two phase stones in my hand with a surprised expression, and hugged Franc tightly.
-Oh!-
When I buried my face in Franc's fluffy chest, Franc who was surprised for a moment smiled softly and hugged me, stroking my head.
-You did well. You worked hard. Seoha.-
I skinned the fur of the mountain lord and silver white wolf male I killed, removed the internals, and went down to the lake below to wash in the water.
At first, I thought of using the claw knife to trim it, but thinking about it, the knife that entered and came out of the zombie penguin's body... I thought this isn't it, so I activated Mana Mode to enhance my body and handled it with both hands.
By the way, I washed off the dirt and sweat on my body, returned to normal, lit a bonfire, and started grilling the meat. This is for lunch, and the wind fox will be for dinner later.
Through spatial perception search, I found a few oak trees, brought them, split them, and used them as firewood.
“Is the variant feeling something that humans can't feel?”
-What?-
Franc, watching the cooking mountain lord's meat, turned to me with a puzzled expression.
Did I say something out of the blue?
“I killed a large number of low-rank variants in one go, and killed the silver white wolf family and the wind fox. Then, the remaining variants all ran away, and there's none in my perception range. Moreover, no returning ones either.”
The rock where the silver white wolf family was always lying down was the highest point on this mountain, and all around was open, so the view of Bosom Mountain was good.
Thanks to that, I realized that there were quite a lot of areas outside the spatial perception range. If I combine the north and south, it's similar to the island's center? There are many variants in the north and south.
Between forest trees and trees. Behind rocks. In bushes.
-You might have noticed the range of Seoha's mana bullets to some extent. Knowing that mana bullets don't fly beyond a certain range, they don't enter inside.-
“Hmm. Indeed, variants seem a bit smarter than animals. Since I killed all variants in the detection range openly. They couldn't have noticed.”
I ate the cooked part of the wolf meat with Mana Sieve concentrated on my fingers to protect from the heat while using intuition.
It had a bit of a pungent smell and an unfamiliar weird taste, but after sprinkling the spicy and sour seasoning that Franc told me, it was edible.
Unlike puppy, it's not that delicious.
I ate the pre-chewed moisture leaves together and finished the silver white wolf male's meat.
It was an extremely large one over 3m long, but after removing the skin, bones, and inedible internals, there wasn't much edible part. I thought it was edible, but Franc said -That's not an edible part.- ...
Still, it came out to about tens of kilograms. I consumed a lot of calories and was hungry, so I ate it bit by bit until I finished it all.
“I'll rest a bit and look at the phase stones. I'll find the return point later.”
-You couldn't sleep at night, so shouldn't you sleep a bit? The variants probably noticed the mountain lord changed and won't approach for a while. If they approach, I'll stop them.-
“I'm fine. It's a bit, really a bit tired, but this much will recover quickly if I circulate Mana Sieve.”
-You have immunity that recovers while sleeping... but today at dawn, I fell asleep and you couldn't even get a good sleep.-
Ah, I was worried about that?
“Yeah. Then I'll sleep tonight.”
-Sigh.-
Franc's eyebrows slightly furrowed as if a bit upset that she didn't go to sleep immediately, but soon relaxed and came to sit next to me lying down.
-It's peaceful.-
The mountain ridges with spots of fatigue were visible, but turning my head, I was amazed at the lake like sea stretching to the horizon.
“If there were no threats from variants, it wouldn't be bad to build a house here, accumulate phase power, train, and live here.”
-That's right. When I was alive, after retirement, I thought of building a log house on the mountain ridge and enjoying a quiet and comfortable old age.-
Oh. Was Franc's old age preparation like that? It's not much different from Koreans building a house in the countryside, tilling fields as a hobby.
Sometimes when I go to the hospital, I hear old people talking about various things, and 8 out of 10 say they want to go back to their hometown. But because of various practical problems, they just keep it as a dream, and I wonder what the practical problems are.
...Is it money?
I want to live in such a place when I live another 100 years and become a white-haired grandfather. With Franc.
“Still, with the heavy rain pouring every 6 months, it might not be a place to live.”
Franc burst out laughing when I laughed while kicking.
“Then, shall we start with organizing the surroundings?”
I jumped up, gathered the remains of the mountain lord in one place, and gathered the silver white wolf female who was pierced from the anus and died. Then, I cut the wind fox's belly, pulled out the internals and head, stacked them in one place, and shot the mana bullet to erase them.
Hmm, neat. Ah, shall I also clean up the variant remains below the mountain?
The place where 160 died fighting below was already eaten by other low-rank variants, leaving only bloodstains and bone piles here and there, so I shot mana bullets to erase the places with bones. It would be troublesome if skeleton beasts appeared.
After that, covering the blood on the mountain peak with dirt, there were some dug places, but it quickly returned to a clean appearance.
Then, carrying the wind fox meat down the mountain, separating the skin, washing the meat cleanly, and returning to the mountain peak.
While returning, I attached the spicy and sour chili to the meat a lot, wrapped it well in large leaves, and placed it on a tripod made of skewers.
This way, bugs won't attach. The flavor of the spicy and sour chili will soak into the meat and become even tastier when grilled.
I spread the silver white wolf male's fur and a bit smaller wind fox's fur next to it on the ground near the dying bonfire, sat on it, and took a deep breath.
Ah, it's tense again. Hoo, hoo. Let's relax the tension.
Conversation is the best way to relax tension.
“The silver white wolf's fur is quite soft?”
-It's a high-class one with soft fur, preferred by nobles for decorative use.-
“Oh, really? It must be quite expensive?”
-I saw it being gifted to the second madam by the master. It was similar in size to this mountain lord's, and at the time's price it was about 60,000 pounds.-
“60,000 pounds is how much?”
-Eh? Ah... that was probably 1 pound about 1.4 dollars.-
...I have good memory and memorization, but.
“So... 60,000 pounds is 84,000 dollars? 1 dollar is about 1200 won... over 100 million!”
-The fur was a handmade product with effort and sweat because it was carefully trimmed and managed so the fur didn't clump.-
“Ah. Even if I take this back, it's hard to get 80,000 pounds.”
-Yes... the waist is cut in half, so it's hard to process for decoration. It's used as cold region defense gear material, but since it's mid-low grade, it's a bit...-
“Hmm. When selling byproducts, you have to be careful with catching them too.”
With a new realization, I propped my chin and let out a groan, and Franc smiled and clung to my shoulder.
-Seoha is a super high-class talent. I don't think you'll have to worry about being careful with byproduct collection. Probably Yoo Hwayeon will handle it on her own.-
“It's good that others handle it, but it's fun to know these things too.”
-That's right?! Ah, how many times I heard during my time in the knight order to not worry about such things and just train. Once, a rare variant group called Clank Oyster appeared in the Giants Causeway in North Ireland...-
The story of Franc's past switch being raised by byproduct collection, a large number of ironclad variants appearing, hunting them, wondering where to use the byproduct rainbow shell, and getting scolded by the knight commander comes out from her moist lips.
It's fun to watch Franc telling fun stories. Usually her expression is rich, but when telling past stories, her face sparkles as if to say.
After listening to her old stories interestingly, I took out the phase stones I got from the mountain lord and wind fox.
“Let's start. First, I have to analyze the phase stones.”
-Let's do it!-
With Franc's cheers engraved in my ears, I held the wind fox phase stone with 200 phase power in my hand and activated the spatial perception ability.
“...As expected, the phase power inside the soul stone and the wind fox phase stone seem to be the same type.”
If I had analysis ability, I could be more confident, but relying on intuition, I only felt they were similar. I put down the wind fox phase stone and picked up the silver white wolf male's phase stone.
“The two phase stones and the contents of Franc's soul stone are similar. The material of the soul stone and phase stone is also similar. But why is the amount of phase power different? Is it because capacity differs depending on size?”
Franc's soul stone, which was originally just a fist, became 2/3 the size of my palm after several transformations, but originally it was just big enough to fit in my hand. Compared to that, the silver white wolf's phase stone was only the size of two fingers.
With Mana Sieve concentrated in my eyes, I looked at the two phase stones and one soul stone, and only then did the difference in density of the two phase stones that looked like just water become visible.
Hmm... I had only thought of it as a means to see Franc's naked body in full color, but maybe there are other effects.
The body enhanced with Mana Sieve seems to have effects different from physical reinforcement ability. Thinking about it, when I rotated it, the length and thickness increased as well...
Hmm.
-Do you feel something?-
“Wait a moment.”
I put down the mountain lord's phase stone and picked up the wind fox phase stone again.
From now on, what I am going to do is the method I had in mind of looking at the phase stone measurement device of the ability user union and extracting phase power. The method of extracting the phase power of the phase stone and moving it to the soul stone.
But my energy and the phase power of the phase stone seem similar...
Hmm.
First, based on the experience of feeding TP to the energy eater, I slightly extracted TP from my fingertips. And lightly applied it to the surface of the phase stone.
“...”
-...-
The TP applied to the surface of the phase stone evaporated after a short time.
“Is this not the way?”
I extracted TP from the tip of my finger again. The TP taken out from outside the body can't be absorbed again...
“Ah!”
At the moment I thought it couldn't be absorbed, the TP gathered at the tip of my index finger was sucked back into my body.
“...Hmm.”
Is TP moving according to my consciousness? Like Mana Sieve? I wrapped the wind fox phase stone with both hands and slightly squeezed it, concentrating on the phase stone with spatial perception, and extracted TP until it pooled like water on my palm.
In that state, I gathered my consciousness and commanded.
Enter. Enter into the phase stone!
“...It works! My TP is being absorbed a little bit into the phase stone!”
-Wow!-
Franc, who was surprised, started concentrating her mind on her palm as if slightly pushing my TP into the wind fox phase stone while I was away.
The TP that pooled like water on my palm was about 300 in phase power. This TP was absorbed a little bit, 1 TP per second, and at some point, the phase stone absorbed all the TP like sucking water with a dropper, and the phase power of the originally 200 phase stone increased to 300.
“Uwaa... The phase stone suddenly absorbed all my TP that was surrounding it. It increased from 200 to 300, but?”
-Hoo. Was it completely absorbed without loss?-
“Yeah.”
The important property of phase power? I compared the spatial perception focused on the phase stone before and after inserting TP, and no change was felt. It was the same even when compared with the mountain lord's phase stone.
Good.
I told Franc the things I detected while she was kneeling on the fur, her body swaying with curiosity.
“With Mana Sieve concentrating phase power in my eyes, it seems that the more phase power the phase stone has, the darker the color density and the larger the size. Franc's soul stone has about 3.8 million TP left and is very bright and clear water color. But the two mid-low grade phase stones are very dark in color. When compared with the two, the color difference is like a gem and a pebble.”
-Wah...-
“More than anything, my TP and the phase power of the phase stone and soul stone feel the same, so when I tested like Franc saw, the phase stone absorbed my TP like a sponge. The properties after absorption are also the same as before.”
While explaining, I carefully looked inside the phase stone with spatial perception.
-Is there no repulsion reaction?-
“No strange points visible yet. The TP I absorbed by the phase stone is mixed as if it was originally one.”
-Success... is it?-
“Yeah. Success!”
-Aaah...!-
Franc, whose chest was overflowing, hugged her cheeks and teared up. Is it that good that tears come out? If it's because I can be with you for a long time, it's good.
“I have to check how much TP accumulates in the phase stone.”
-Yes!-
I raised the wind fox phase stone whose phase power increased to 300 on my left palm so that Franc could see it, and gathered both hands to make a bowl shape. And with my eyes focused on spatial perception and Mana Sieve, I started sending out TP from my palm while scanning the phase stone.
Then, Franc's eyes widened, and she stared fixedly at the phase stone placed on my two palms.
The bright blue TP sloshing on the palm made me think my TP is viscous. The TP that was pooled in my hand as if about to overflow entered the phase stone a little bit at a time when I thought 'enter the phase stone', and at some point the speed increased.
At this moment, I sent out TP to my palm faster, and the phase stone continued to absorb my TP.
-Huh!? -
Franc, who saw TP disappearing like water being sucked into a sponge, let out a cute sigh. At that moment, when the phase power of the phase stone became 1497, absorption stopped, and I also stopped supplying TP, but the remaining TP sloshed in my palm, touching the phase stone, but the phase stone no longer absorbed TP.
Moreover, the phase stone did not release phase power either.
I recovered the TP pooled in my hand and sighed.
“Huuu.”
-Huuu.-
Huh?
Franc exhaled at the same time as me and looked at me with the same expression.
-Pfft.-
“Kikik. Why are you copying?”
-I didn't copy it!-
Franc who seemed to like the fact that we did the same reaction at the same time looked at the phase stone on my hand and continued.
-It seems the phase stone has become brighter than before.-
“Yeah. It increased to 3 times the maximum of mid-low grade. And it no longer releases TP on its own.”
-Why don't you release TP? When I saw it briefly, it seemed viscous, did it affect that?-
“Eh? You saw that?”
-Yes, the blue light sloshing but not overflowing... it felt exactly like mercury.-
“Right. The TP that came out from my hand didn't flow down like viscous or mix with the phase power spread in the air. It seems that the phase stone not releasing phase power is because the amount that becomes 3 times the original grade maximum accumulates, making the phase power's cohesion higher.”
-It's amazing. Seoha, what you say is clearly a guess, but why does it feel like all of it is fact when I listen?-
“It must be a hypothesis with high persuasiveness.”
-Huhu. That's right-
“Then, shall we try if we can extract phase power from the phase stone?”
I placed the phase stone whose phase power increased to 1497 on my palm and concentrated Mana Sieve on the phase stone in contact with my hand.
....
While feeling the phase stone firmly attached to my palm, I concentrated hard, thinking of expanding Mana Sieve to the phase stone.
Then, the phase power inside the phase stone was felt to tremble slightly, but it didn't separate well because they were clumped together.
“Eek.”
When I slightly poked it hard, it shook as if the phase power was surging, and it started to flow out a little from inside the phase stone in a different feeling from natural release according to my will.
“Oh. It was flowing into my body... but instead of increasing, the consumed TP was filling up.”
I cut off the phase power flowing into my body at high speed. Then, the phase stone had exactly 499 left in phase power, and from that moment, 0.01 phase power started flowing out from the phase stone.
“Hmm. The phase stone has a maximum value set by grade, and when it is 1/3 or less of the maximum value, does the phase stone release phase power? The forcibly extracted phase power may not have the phase power increase effect, and only the phase power that naturally releases may have the phase power enhancement effect...”
-That's amazing, isn't it?-
“Eh? What?”
-Theoretically, if Seoha has a lot of phase power, it means you can charge unlimited high-rank or peak-rank phase stones and use them.-
“Hah.”
-...I have to keep this secret.-
“Yeah. If this gets out, I'll be caught by the ruler, locked in a dungeon, and only charged with phase stones until I die.”
Franc nodded with a serious expression, and I decided to hide this for a while from my family and Hwayeon.
“This is our secret between the two of us. Got it?”
-Yes!-
Even in the midst of this, Franc, who looked very happy that a secret between the two of us was born.