Chapter 235: It's a Ghost!
Chapter 235: It's a Ghost!
"Ta-da-da-da! Yandel has successfully enhanced the item!"
Despite announcing the good news, for some reason, the only response I received were stares that suggested I was a madman.
How cruel.
Just as I was about to feel a bit dejected, Righteous Light lunged at me, her eyes welling with tears.
"Gi-give her back! Give Clara back!"
She clung to me, flailing her arms as she reached out—a sight that was honestly a bit pitiful.
She seems to be misunderstanding something… well, it’s entertaining, so whatever.
I shook the medallion I had been holding high at eye level.
"Clara? Ah… you mean this?"
"Kyaaaaah!"
Righteous Light snatched the medallion away, still sobbing.
The medallion, which had been vibrating irregularly, immediately fell silent. Righteous Light, whose eyes were brimming with tears, also clamped her mouth shut.
Perhaps thinking I had done something terrible, Carla asked cautiously.
"Um… Master? What exactly did you do to Lady Clara…?"
"Oh, it’s nothing much. Just…."
As I trailed off, I could feel everyone’s gaze snap toward me.
Only Righteous Light remained silent, staring blankly at the medallion.
Just as I was about to finish my sentence—
Rumble!
A sound like thunder erupted, and my ears began to ring.
It wasn't because the chimeras, crossing the barrier as Clara vanished, were howling ferociously. It was because the dungeon, having lost its master, could no longer maintain its distorted space-time and was returning to its original form.
The space collapsed with a roar. Boundaries blurred, and colors bled into one another, mixing chaotically.
Even the sense of time became erratic. In a landscape where the world flickered between slow motion and fast-forward, I pulled the corners of my mouth into a smirk.
"I just enhanced the medallion into an Ego Medallion."
"…Pardon?"
Carla tilted her head, still looking confused. But before I could offer an explanation, the distortion around us intensified, and my vision was bleached white in a sudden flash.
When I finally came to my senses, we were standing alone in the middle of a desert.
Floating in the air were the rewards signaling the dungeon clear.
*
A silent desert, free from the stench of chimeras, their noisy cries, and the nerve-wracking bloodlust.
Taking a deep breath of the dry, sandy wind, I reached out and grabbed the cluster of light floating in the air.
Flash.
The radiance vanished the moment I pulled something out. As I slowly opened my palm, a small but luxurious glass bottle revealed itself.
Ding!
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【World Tree's First Dew】
The Goddess of Life and Healing, and the guardian deity of the Elves: Cyclic Life.
This is the dew that forms on the highest leaves of the World Tree, which is another manifestation of her being.
However, do not be fooled by its clear and refreshing scent. That which comes from the body of a god is far too heavy a burden for mortals to bear.
While this is undoubtedly Divine Water capable of working miracles, every miracle comes with a price.
======================
Hmm. The description is as brutal as ever.
In truth, the World Tree's Dew itself isn't that dangerous. Though extremely rare, it’s an excellent medicine. It’s one of those "Full Elixirs" that players often have several of left over even after the ending because they were too stingy to use them.
The problem is that this is the First Dew.
Calling it "dew" is a bit of a misnomer; it’s not formed by simple condensation. It’s a blessing bestowed upon the Elves by Cyclic Life, who rests within that massive tree as her sanctuary.
It’s essentially an essence packed with the Authority of Healing, which is said to be diluted and sprayed to create larger quantities.
A single drop formed on the highest leaf falls and becomes two drops; those drops fall further and become four. This process repeats until it reaches the lowest leaves, resulting in what is commonly known as World Tree's Dew.
If the result of all that dilution is a "Perfect Recovery" item, imagine how powerful the concentrated original—the First Dew—must be.
It’s only natural that the overflowing life force would become a problem and break the body.
At least because it’s life force, there’s a 10% chance of surviving without side effects. If you were to drink that much concentrated Mana or Aura… your body would go pop! with a 100% certainty.
Anyway, now that I’ve obtained the final piece, it’s time to wrap things up.
While everyone was still dizzy from being suddenly ejected from the dungeon, I held out my hand to Righteous Light, who was clutching the medallion tightly.
"Could you give that to me for a moment?"
"…Okay."
Is it because a god is a god? Even though only her consciousness had descended and many of her powers were restricted, she seemed to have guessed what I was trying to do and handed over the medallion obediently.
The medallion vibrated softly in my hand. It was a gentle movement, unlike the protesting tremors from before. Clara must also realize that I’m trying to help her.
I whispered softly to Clara, who would be listening from within.
"You’ll have to pay me back for this later, okay?"
Then, using Telekinesis Magic, I uncorked the bottle containing the World Tree's First Dew.
Pop.
The stopper came out with a somewhat cute sound. A refreshing scent that cleared even the back of my mind filled the air. Just smelling it made the lingering dizziness vanish instantly.
The rest of the party, who had been reeling, seemed to feel the same. they stumbled to their feet and looked over here.
Feeling their gaze, I stared at the medallion for a moment.
I had played H&A for a long time, but I wasn't the type to discover entirely new elements or strategies. However, there was one strategy I could truly boast about.
The hidden piece regarding the Final Saintess, Clara.
Clear the dungeon on the path from the Academy to the Solari Grand Temple to obtain Clara’s Medallion. Equip it to Righteous Light’s new Saintess, then find the scenario dungeon in the desert to trigger an interaction between Clara and the Saintess.
If you do that, the residual thoughts that were about to scatter would be anchored to an object filled with the memories of her life.
However, this was only a temporary phenomenon. Communication was limited to vibrations, and after a week, Clara’s thoughts would pass on anyway. Back then, I had panicked and immediately reloaded my save file.
After several trials and errors, I found a way to fix Clara in place. The answer was surprisingly close at hand.
It was the reward from the very scenario dungeon where Clara appears. You just had to use the World Tree's First Dew on the medallion.
It’s an item possessing such immense life force that it causes side effects in the living. It’s more than enough for even a residual thought, which lacks even a soul, to benefit from it.
Of course, resurrection or anything of the sort is impossible… but she would be able to dwell within the medallion for at least a hundred years.
As a bonus, the power she can exert while dwelling in the medallion becomes slightly stronger.
Hoping that the information from H&A remained consistent in reality as it had so far, I poured the dew over the medallion in one go.
Trickle… drip.
Perhaps because the volume was so small, the contents emptied in an instant.
The moment the dew touched the medallion, it was absorbed without leaving a single drop behind. Thanks to that, the medallion, now harboring pure life force, began to shine brilliantly.
It had already been emitting a faint dawn-like glow while housing Clara, but now it was blinding.
I closed my eyes against the intense light and only opened them again when the radiance began to fade.
"Ah."
Standing there was a translucent woman formed from the light emitted by the medallion.
Long, flowing white hair. Transparent skin. Pure white attire. And emerald eyes.
The woman, who undoubtedly wore white undergarments as well, was looking down at her own body with a dazed expression.
Then, her eyes met mine, and she hesitated, her lips fluttering.
She seemed lost on what to say, so I decided to speak first.
"Surprise~"
—Surprise, my foot. You should have told me about this in advance. Do you have any idea how shocked I, the Light, and Helena were?
"But… this is more fun, isn't it?"
—…I suppose so.
Clara had a miffed expression, but the corners of her mouth were twitching as if she were suppressing a smile.
While the rest of the party stood in shock at Clara’s reappearance, Righteous Light slowly approached and tried to hug her.
However, her outstretched arms only passed through the air, distorting Clara’s form. She couldn't actually touch her.
"Ah."
Righteous Light let out a sigh of disappointment. Clara giggled as she watched the drooping ears and tail.
—I am fine. I am simply grateful that you were able to hold onto a residual thought that should have vanished in the first place.
"Mm-hmm. Still, I’ll look for a way. You appeared like this by using the holy power stored in the medallion, right? Since it’s ultimately based on my power, there must be a way. It’s a bit difficult right now because the Authority of Cyclic Life is mixed in, but…."
Righteous Light nodded with a serious face. However, her ears and tail began to flicker as if her time limit was approaching.
Shortly after, Righteous Light released the possession and handed control back to Helena.
Helena slowly opened her eyes, her pupils returning to their usual gold.
"Ugh…."
Her focus sharpened as she looked around. And the moment she spotted the translucent Clara awkwardly waving her hand in front of her—
"Kyaaaaah!! It's a ghost, Brother!!!"
She screamed and drew her mace.
I mean, why is her first instinct to pull out a weapon when she's scared?