Chapter 42: Divine Beast (2)
[Divine Beast 'Seven-Colored Bird' is now with you!]
[Title acquired: 'Master of the Divine Beast'!]
[You can name the divine beast!]
“What should I name it?”
—How about Seven-Color?
“Wow, you really have no sense. Right?”
—Koo.
The Seven-Colored Bird nodded in agreement.
—… Do Hail and Miley have good sense?
This guy digging at me with facts?
I smacked the cheeky summon's head.
Only then did it quiet down a bit.
“Let’s see. Its body’s white, so Whitey. How’s that?”
—Koo.
“You like it? Aww, so cute, our Whitey.”
[The divine beast's name has been set to 'Whitey'!]
After naming the Seven-Colored Bird, I tapped its beak.
“Whitey. Time to eat.”
—Koo!
Flutter!
I pointed at the fragment, and it flapped its wings. Whitey approached the fragment like a hawk snatching prey.
It was when it got within ten steps.
[Divine Beast Whitey activates its racial trait!]
[Attribute adaptation begins!]
[Perfectly adapts to the ice attribute!]
Its tiny body touched the fragment without any interference.
I could see its small talons gripping the fragment tightly.
Soon after.
Crack!
It began pecking at the fragment with its beak.
Its beak was so hard that the fragment crumbled like a snack.
‘Whoa, it’s that easy?’
Whitey devoured the fragment like it was a gourmet feast.
Each time, the surrounding temperature rose noticeably.
Before long.
[The Fragment of Winter vanishes!]
['Whitey' consumes the ice attribute fragment!]
[Ice attribute fills 20%!]
[80% remaining until full ice attribute bloom!]
—Kooeurp.
Maybe because it ate a fragment bigger than itself. It let out a big burp, looking full, then waddled through the air toward me.
“Tasty?”
—Koo.
It nodded from my shoulder. Some of the feathers on its nape had turned a blue like ice.
Soon after.
['Whitey' shares its attribute with its master!]
[You can now utilize the ice attribute!]
[Ice attribute resistance increases by 20%!]
“…?”
Seeing the messages, he blinked.
“Whitey. Cancel the sharing.”
['Whitey' stops sharing its attribute with its master!]
[Return to neutral attribute state!]
‘Holy shit…’
My face hardened.
“Cedric.”
—What is it.
“Does the Seven-Colored Bird share attributes with its master too?”
—Didn’t I say earlier? I’ve never seen anyone raise one. It’s unknown territory for me too. Why, did it?”
“Yeah. Shared ice attribute. And I can cancel it.”
—That’s… incredible.
Cedric’s expression turned serious.
I felt the same.
The ability to freely share attributes.
He instinctively knew how amazing this was.
At a glance, gaining attributes seemed great.
But it was a double-edged sword.
‘Attributes have counters.’
Get a water attribute?
Fire eats it.
But wood attacks would double the damage.
And the stronger your attribute energy, the worse it got.
Someone might ask, just get all attributes evenly?
‘That doesn’t work.’
Try raising water while having fire?
Water barely grows, and fire dies off.
Once one attribute fixes, your growth range shrinks massively.
That’s why he hadn’t let it eat the ice fragment. Not just the life risk.
‘Fixing on one direction isn’t always good.’
Great against ice-weak foes. But a hindrance against ice counters.
His current attribute was neutral. No strong points, no weaknesses.
If one main, it was death-related.
‘No counters.’
Its rank was so high that even natural enemy light barely worked.
Anyway.
In that situation, Whitey’s ability emerged.
Share any attribute whenever he wanted.
‘Insane performance.’
Pure broken utility.
He quickly looked at Cedric.
“Seven-Colored Bird immune to attribute counters? Like, eating ice halves fire effects or something.”
—… No. It’s not. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be called a divine beast.
“Oh, my baby!”
He scooped up Whitey and spun it around. That one line skyrocketed Whitey’s value dozens of times.
Future attribute items?
Feed them all to Whitey.
Pick only key ones. Main attributes that came to mind: several.
Fire, wood, wind, earth, lightning…
Then share as stage demands.
‘Just raise it…’
Gate clears would be several times easier.
Smash monsters with counters—they’d love it.
With Whitey cooing happily on his shoulder, he headed out of the inner keep.
The sky, blizzard just moments ago, now blazed with sun.
—Hiss! Sunlight!
—Warm!
Orcs sprawled everywhere, faces melting in the sun.
Elves basked happily too.
A gentle breeze flowed through the north.
That moment.
Everything froze, like time stopped in the gate.
[Gate clear rewards granted!]
[Cleared via special route!]
['Mysterious Necklace' effect greatly changes!]
[Title 'Walker of the Hero's Path' effects partially activate!]
[Your level is too low to proceed to the next stage!]
[Escaping the gate!]
—Koo?
“Huh?”
—Huh?
The scenery before him had swapped to home.
‘Booted out?’
Next gate had a level limit. He checked the item used for the first gate: the Mysterious Necklace.
[Mysterious Necklace]
[Grade:??]
[A necklace where the evil scheme has vanished, and the hero's energy begins to dwell.]
[Effect 1. Medium for 'Continent Salvation (S+)'. Saves progress until then. (Minimum requirement: Level 251+)]
[Effect 2. Two slots exist. Seems something can be inserted.]
[Effect 3. Requires title 'Walker of the Hero's Path' to activate.]
Mysterious Necklace.
The description had drastically changed.
Originally, it was about performing Osiris's scheme or whatever.
‘Evil scheme vanished?’
Osiris's scheme = evil scheme.
That’s what it seemed.
“That bastard Osiris…”
He didn’t know much about it.
No one beyond the gate knew the name.
But it tried something shady.
‘Suspicious from the start.’
A normal necromancer meeting the chimera in the orc village would’ve joined the apostle immediately.
Then?
Grind levels, merits, rewards under it.
‘That was its aim.’
Raise the necromancer for some plot.
Probably body snatch or witch deal.
‘You’re dead if I meet you.’
Osiris.
Memorizing the name firmly, he examined the necklace slots.
‘This…’
He knew what they were.
One slot like a woman in a round-brim hat, one a massive dragon.
Witch and ice dragon.
Slots matched them.
‘Catch both, get perfect fits?’
Seemed good things would happen.
‘First, hit 251.’
He checked the new title.
[New Titles]
[1. Expert Commander]
[Commanded over 30,000 troops.]
[Effect: Subordinates' morale +15%.]
[2. Strong Slayer]
[Hunted overwhelming gap monsters easily.]
[Effect: Damage +20% vs monsters 200+ levels higher.]
[3. Master of the Divine Beast]
[Hatchling Seven-Colored Bird acknowledges you as master.]
[Effect: Mana +10]
[4. Walker of the Hero's Path]
[United disparate races, defeated an apostle, and banished the northern cold.]
[Effect 1. All stats +30]
[Effect 2.???]
‘Oh.’
All good titles.
Especially Walker of the Hero's Path.
All stats 30.
Plus hidden effect.
‘Probably unlocks on Continent Salvation.’
Skills, titles, items.
Solid gains.
Worth the investment.
‘Biggest jackpot: Whitey.’
This divine beast was top harvest. Without hidden gate, special like Winter Fragment hard to access.
Meeting delayed ages.
He placed Whitey on his shoulder.
“Now we’re together forever.”
Never letting go.
—Koo.
“Happy? Daddy too.”
He stroked its beak, then left the room. Time for the planned start.
Equipment crafting.
Time to meet the chairman.
* * *
“… What’s that bird on your shoulder?”
“My kid from the gate. Name’s Whitey. Say hi to Grandpa.”
—Koo.
Whitey bowed, and Chairman Kim, suddenly a grandpa, awkwardly returned it.
“Yeah, heard you had business…”
“Want to start an equipment business.”
“Minwoo, you’re a necromancer. Where get equipment? Not easy. Competition fierce, artisans’ prices sky-high…”
Snap!
Finger snap summoned skeleton horde.
“Father. Take a look.”
Pulled out materials, placed before them.
Skeletons used crafting skill.
Mid-level materials succeeded fast.
“… Huh?”
Chairman Kim rubbed his eyes.
“Am I senile? Why plus grades?”
“You saw right. Told you hidden gates got good stuff. Got it there.”
“No, hidden gates give skills to those?”
“Not given, learned. You know my skeletons have learning ability.”
“Huh…”
Stunned by the absurdity, he exhaled in disbelief.
But soon, Chairman Kim’s face turned serious.
“How many summons possible?”
“Over a thousand easy.”
“Those skeletons use crafting infinitely?”
“No. Mana cost. But workaround: resummon.”
Crafting eats mana.
Use up, skeletons run dry.
Solution: cancel summon, resummon full mana.
“Grab a day, crank out tens of thousands. If materials suffice.”
“Heh…”
No labor cost.
No fatigue.
High quality.
Son’s summons could flip the equipment market.
“Price?”
“Sell cheap, you know?”
Kim Minwoo drew thumb across throat.
Chairman Kim grinned.
Already hearing chaebol sobs joining the game.
Low to mid market.
Competitors die off.
Not their problem.
Weak get weeded.
That’s capitalism, business.
“Last long? You hunt too.”
“Dunno. Meanwhile, hire all unemployed artisans?”
“True.”
Then Ilsung dominates. No need for Kim Minwoo to push crafting.
+ Products as bait, trickle out.
Chairman Kim eyed his son.
“What you want?”
“Just margins after material costs from my supplied gear.”
“… That okay? Too generous.”
Kim Minwoo supplies gear, sells cheap.
Boosts market share, eats the pie.
Willing to pay premiums per gear.
Just margins?
“Father. We’re family?”
“… No.”
“Ilsung shake tails now. World rank up, busy road.”
“Minwoo…”
“I need Ilsung power to climb too. Long haul.”
“… Minwoo, no business thoughts?”
“Hunting fun. Numbers no. Hyung-seok studies management. Pass to him. Push him good.”
“Heh…”
Chairman Kim chuckled wryly.
Succession noisy lately.
But this cool handover…
Chairman Kim regretted it instead.
Business sense, bold moves, awakening talent.
‘He’d excel inheriting.’
Smacking lips wistfully.
Conversely, Kim Minwoo.
‘Never inheriting.’
No intent. Busy hunting outer gods, no ankle grabs.
Heir? Hassle. Best as business partner.
‘Profits now.’
Crafting skills level via use.
Unlimited material supplier?
Free proficiency.
No sales worry.
Ilsung handles.
Skeletons level too. Crafting gives EXP.
“Eat this board proper, Father.”
“Can’t eat with this setup? Idiot. No worry. Tomorrow, stock nationwide equipment shops.”
Perfect sync.
Both grinned.