Chapter 68: Taming (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 68: Taming (3)
Baron Sigmund Helmut sat at the absolute rock bottom of the Imperial aristocratic hierarchy.
In high society, power was usually measured by two simple metrics: noble rank and actual wealth. Therefore, a man with empty pockets and an insignificant title—noble or not—was an easy target for contempt, practically destined to plummet into life’s abyss.
Unfortunately for Helmut, he was a man who refused to accept reality.
“Meaning you enjoyed putting on airs despite having nothing to your name?”
“…Could you call it being a true noble who still clings to romance?”
The other party snorted, bluntly shooting down Helmut’s excuse.
“Squandering your entire fortune on gambling, women, and drugs wasn’t enough. You couldn’t stop, and now you’re on the verge of having your guts ripped out by loan sharks. What part of that is ‘romance’?”
“…”
“Wouldn’t ‘the aesthetics of a parasite’ be a more fitting description?”
“…”
…That hit right where it hurt.
Despite the insult, Helmut swallowed his anger. The man sitting across from him was the ‘client.’ If Helmut snapped at him out of pride, the only lifeline dangling over his desperate situation would be cut.
“So, what is it you need me to do, my lord?”
Helmut wasn’t completely useless. He was quick-witted and sly, occasionally displaying an astonishing talent for ‘deceiving’ others. In fact, the only reason he was still breathing despite his disastrous lifestyle was his sheer knack for spinning clever lies.
The task the client had for such a man was simple.
“There’s something I need you to do regarding Lionheart’s husband.”
“…Pardon?” Helmut stammered, flustered by the sudden drop of such a tremendous name. “Um, I apologize, but I’m just a nobody baron, you know? Asking me to suddenly deal with a big shot like Lionheart is a bit—”
“Not Lionheart. I mean her husband.”
With those words, a photograph was tossed onto the table with a soft thud. It showed a handsome young man who looked as though a deep, chronic weariness clung to his very soul.
“…Aha…” Helmut muttered, his tone steeped in reluctance. Even if the target wasn’t Lionheart herself, this still felt far too dangerous.
“And being on the verge of having your guts ripped out by loan sharks isn’t dangerous?”
“…”
I really wish he’d stop hitting me where it hurts.
“Don’t worry. I’m not asking you to do anything dangerous.” With that, the client outlined the task.
“If I handle this, you’ll clear all my debts?”
“Of course.”
The casual response felt entirely disconnected from the absurdity of the proposal. Helmut’s debts were no small sum. He had borrowed from some incredibly dangerous places, and the interest had long since snowballed into a mountain.
“…Honestly, it’s a hard proposal to believe. Not that I really have a choice.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. But I need some kind of token, a guarantee that I’ll actually receive this reward when the job is done—”
Helmut’s mouth snapped shut the moment a heavy nameplate was slapped onto the table. Engraved upon it was the seal of a certain ‘organization.’
A seal that even a bottom-feeder of aristocratic society like Helmut couldn’t possibly fail to recognize. An organization that anyone who had ever dipped a toe into the ‘underworld’ was bound to know.
“…The ‘Merchant of Death’ personally commissioned this?”
“If you still don’t believe me after seeing this, then forget it. I just hope you’ve figured out how to breathe without your internal organs.”
“—No, no, it’s not that I don’t believe you,” Helmut backpedaled with a dry chuckle.
Questioning someone with this level of backing went beyond mere rudeness; it was practically a death wish. Forcing another hollow laugh, he asked, “But if this guy is just a husband who married into the family, why would such a grand figure take an interest in him?”
The client remained silent for a long moment before finally speaking in a grave tone.
“…Just playing a little prank on someone I’ve taken a liking to.”
“Just to see whether he’s someone I can get along with in the future or not.”
The chilling words lingered heavily in the dark room.
* * *
“This is that demonic beast from back then?”
Inside the train heading back to the Imperial Capital, Noel stared down at Aiden’s feet in absolute fascination. Sitting there quietly, wearing a deeply annoyed expression, was what looked like a medium-sized dog.
It was River. He had shrunk his massive body down to a fraction of its original size. Anyone who remembered him moving like a living tank, grinding down everything in his path, would have shared Noel’s disbelief.
While his new appearance was certainly a shock, it wasn’t entirely inexplicable. After all, this was the same beast that used to perform the ridiculous feat of turning his entire massive body completely invisible. Aiden already knew River wasn’t clueless when it came to supernatural abilities, but he hadn’t expected him to possess a body-shrinking skill.
Noel reached out to poke his cheek. River instantly bared his fangs, growling as if he were about to snap her fingers off, and she quickly yanked her hand back.
[Don’t touch me. I’ll kill—]
Smack.
Aiden casually swatted the back of River’s head and shot him a glare. The beast immediately quieted down. It was abundantly clear that the pecking order had been thoroughly established after last night’s events…
“He can talk too?!”
“…”
Noel was far more excited by the talking dog than concerned by the death threat. Aiden let out a reluctant sigh. “Indeed. How curious.”
“I’ve dreamed of having a talking dog as a pet ever since I was little!”
Seeing Noel rejoice with sparkling eyes, Aiden wisely kept his mouth shut. Watching her happily stroke the softly growling River with both hands only made him feel even more speechless. Bound by the newly established hierarchy, River couldn’t bring himself to snap at Noel. He just sat there, enduring the petting, looking thoroughly pitiful…
“…What on earth did you do to tame that thing?”
It was rare for Katya, rather than Noel, to ask such a thoroughly sensible question, but Aiden couldn’t exactly give her a straight answer. It was far better to keep quiet than to describe the horrors River had endured inside the Inner Mindscape last night.
Aiden had even been moved to show a sliver of mercy toward the end of the ‘training’ when he saw River teetering on the verge of a complete mental breakdown.
“If you listen to me from now on, I’ll give you a few days off from training.”
“Senior. Go easy on him. The kid’s mental fortitude is weaker than expected.”
…And the result of those two statements was this:
— System Log
▶ Target Soul River’s Affinity increases.
▶ Bond Level has increased!
▶ You can copy 1 skill!
“…”
Just how brutal had the experience been that River’s Affinity spiked simply from the promise of a few days off? And that was after hearing himself get mocked for having a weak mind.
Well, if it’s given, I might as well use it…
Still, River had brought this suffering upon himself by acting so stubborn in the first place. Regardless, Aiden wasn’t the type to refuse a free gift. If it was a skill he could copy right away, he had to make use of it.
Opening the System Window, Aiden immediately checked River’s skill list. The abilities consisted of simple, highly intuitive effects. To summarize, they were pure stat buffs—things like ‘body hardening’ or ‘strength enhancement.’
The problem was that, likely because they were copied from a non-human target, using them came with various penalties for Aiden. Even so, while they were straightforward and offered immediate results, honestly…
It’s a bit underwhelming.
As expected of a highest-rank demonic beast whose greatest weapon was sheer physical prowess, its skills were structured purely around brawn. This was reasonably helpful for Aiden, whose base stats were severely lacking, but relying solely on these buffs felt inefficient. After all, hadn’t Aiden survived up until now by compensating for his deficient base stats with monstrously overpowered skill effects?
It was good, but not game-breaking.
In that case, the next logical step was…
Should I look for something that can create a synergy?
Combining multiple skills always yielded far higher efficiency than using one in isolation—a fact he had already proven through countless real battles. He still had a decent number of unused Skill Copy Tickets left. He could easily find abilities that would stack well together.
First, there was the one obtained from the Pope. Then, there was the one obtained from the Aslan Grand Ducal House, taken from the Grand Duke’s Daughter—
…Huh?
Browsing through the skill window of Liza Aslan, the Grand Duke’s Daughter, Aiden’s expression crumpled in confusion. He had just spotted a skill he hadn’t expected to see at all.
Why is something like this here?
Reading the skill description, Aiden let out a hollow laugh.
— Skill Info
◆ Demonic Beast Transformation
Draws out the dormant power of demonic beasts within the body. The user’s racial value temporarily changes to ‘Demonic Beast.’ If the user possesses abilities related to demonic beasts, their effects are significantly amplified.
…Well.
His best guess was that this skill had been generated because Liza was the very first case of someone undergoing complete ‘Demonic Beast Transformation’ and successfully returning to human form. Aiden had, after all, cured her after she was injected with the transformation potion, reverting her back to humanity.
Being able to copy a skill like this meant… It meant he could completely maximize the most tempting ability in River’s skill set.
— Skill Info
◆ Primeval Power
Demonic beasts situated at the apex of the ecosystem naturally possess immense physical strength gained from preying on other beasts. Soul River possesses a bodily capability that stands out even among apex predators, and he knows exactly how to amplify it.
★ Penalty: User’s racial value is not ‘Demonic Beast’. The effect is reduced by more than half!
Exactly.
If he combined these two, it wouldn’t just be a mediocre stat buff. It would create a terrifying synergistic effect, capable of turning the tide of a battle depending on how he used it. After all, simply ‘being overwhelmingly strong’ was an ability with infinite applications.
The old saying went that a foolish head makes the body suffer. But the reverse was also true: a truly fantastic body was a formidable weapon capable of compensating for even the most terrible brain.
As for the other skills…
The Pope’s skills are…
He could save those for later when necessary. The Pope’s abilities were actually quite problematic because every single one of them was simply too advanced. Many of them required stringent prerequisites. Copying them right now wouldn’t do him any good.
Browsing through the information, Aiden sighed inwardly and wiped his face. For now, this was enough. The sheer amount of power and utility he had gained while clearing Chapter 2 was incredibly satisfying. He had secured a massive personal enhancement, and he had also obtained a new… sort of ‘mount.’
Even so, he couldn’t afford to get complacent. As always, time was not on his side.
The time remaining until the start of Chapter 3 is…
In the original game, the progression leading up to the coup d’état—the final act of the Imperial Capital Rift—was exceptionally tight. He wouldn’t be given much leeway here either. At best, he had a few days to a week.
Comparing that absolute timeframe to his rapid progress so far, one might think he had plenty of breathing room. But considering the massive scale of the upcoming incident and the sheer number of ‘things to prepare,’ his schedule was suffocatingly tight.
What should I do first…
Until the event triggered, he had to squeeze out every last drop of growth possible. What was the absolute fastest way to get stronger?
Just as Aiden stroked his chin, sinking deep into thought…
— System Message
▶ Emergency Event triggered!
▶ A Bonus Quest triggers prior to the Main Event.
Apparently, the System was more than happy to solve his dilemma directly.
— Quest Info
▲ Bonus Quest!
▶ Someone who already holds goodwill toward you will make contact soon.
▶ This is an opportunity to raise the target’s Affinity far higher than before. Handle it well!
▶ An event related to ‘Ganesha Aldebaran’ will trigger soon!
What is this now?
Aiden blinked quietly as he read down the translucent window. Well. He might not know the full details yet, but…
…This doesn’t seem so bad?
Really. No matter how he looked at it, this was a good thing. When someone was rolling right up to his front door, practically begging him to copy their skills, what could possibly be bad about that?
If there was one tiny issue…
Wait, Ganesha?
It was a very familiar name.
Why would he take an interest in me?
Ganesha Aldebaran. Commonly known as the ‘Merchant of Death.’ A tycoon who ruled the continental underworld.
And, to add one crucial piece of information that only Aiden knew…
Isn’t it incredibly hard to even encounter him in the normal game?
He was a ‘Special NPC’ who only revealed himself when very specific, hidden conditions were met.
“…”
Pondering the underworld boss’s information piece by piece, Aiden slowly stroked his chin.
…Looking at this.
Probably… with a very high probability, he had just hit the jackpot.