The Second Horn
Whoa.
The moment the Shine Muscat burst in his mouth.
Fresh, sweet juice flooded his palate, spreading a soft, rich sweetness across his tongue.
A hint of tartness hidden within the sweetness sparkled at the tip of his tongue, forming perfect harmony.
Growth Acceleration increases for 45 minutes.
At the same time, a system message popped up before his eyes.
But Seojun had no time to pay attention to it.
He was completely entranced by the flavor of the Shine Muscat itself.
『Kkyu!!! Seojun!! This is sooo yummy!!』
"Chu chu chu-!!"
"Popo!!"
"Wow! This is one of the top three best fruits I've ever tasted!!"
"Ung-"
@Geueoeo-
Exclamations erupted one after another from Dania, Chuchu, and Popo.
Bellerin flushed pink at the cheeks, her face beaming with happiness.
Fenril was eagerly licking away at his Shine Muscat with his tongue.
Mandrian had sneaked over and plunged its roots into a Shine Muscat, savoring the taste.
When did that guy...?
Seojun let out a hollow chuckle at the sight of Mandrian, then shook off the stray thought.
Crunch, crunch!
The flavor of the Shine Muscat crunching in his mouth made it impossible to think of anything else.
Gulp!
As the juice slid down his throat, a faint, lingering aftertaste filled his mouth with that sweet aroma for a long while.
It was like a brief but intense moment of magic—a single Shine Muscat uniting all his senses in a vivid, exhilarating burst of fresh sweetness.
Insane.
Really.
He'd always loved sweets, and even before getting trapped in the lair, Shine Muscat was one of his favorite fruits.
So it had completely stolen his heart.
Pop, crunch!
The pile of Shine Muscats began dwindling at a rapid pace.
Not just him—everyone was lost in a trance of Shine Muscat bliss.
Whew.
When he came to his senses, the generous harvest had already halved.
Growth Acceleration... I should check this out properly.
The Seondo peach clutched in his hand right now.
It hadn't been long since he'd eaten the inner core, so his stomach wasn't empty enough for a full meal, but he figured he could manage a piece.
Crunch!
The moment he popped a piece of Seondo into his mouth, his eyes widened.
Whoa...!
That flavor he'd forgotten since the last time he ate one.
No wonder it was called the fruit of the heavens.
After the Shine Muscat, no other fruit would taste right, but Seondo was the exception.
Soft juice burst forth, spreading refreshing sweetness and a cool clarity through his mouth.
A subtle yet intense sweetness worlds apart from ordinary peaches.
It lingered on his tongue, boldly proclaiming, I'm Seondo!
Hm?
After finishing the piece, a change stirred within his body.
His eyes lit up.
Why?
Because he could distinctly feel a mana flow in his body that was markedly different from before.
Mana capacity greatly increases.
Whoa.
He could clearly feel it.
More mana than before absorbing into his body.
Not a massive difference, but definitely significant.
Has to be the Shine Muscat effect.
Growth Acceleration.
As he'd guessed, it was an ability that boosted level-up speed.
Gotta eat these more often from now on.
If the growth acceleration kept stacking even a little, his leveling pace would pick up noticeably.
Anyway.
With this, his level was now 46.
A bit more, and he'd break past the 50 mark.
His goal of hitting level 100 before leaving the lair felt a little more tangible now.
Gotta check what the kiwis do too.
His body was still churning with undigested mana, stomach bloated to bursting—he probably couldn't eat more.
Still, curious about the kiwis' effects, he picked one up.
◈ Imbued with great nobility.
◈ Increases mana digestion rate for 45 minutes upon consumption.
◈ *Permanently slightly increases mana digestion rate thereafter.
Oh...
The kiwi boosted mana digestion rate.
No way?
A sudden thought struck him, and he promptly bit into a kiwi.
Crunch!
Fresh sweetness mingled with tangy acidity spread gently through his mouth.
Beyond mere fruit flavor, some mysterious power left a pleasant tingling aftertaste lingering on his tongue.
Gulp!
Normally, mana-laden food would be hard to swallow right now, but the kiwi went down surprisingly easy.
Vrrr!
A faint vibration hummed through him, soothing his insides.
Oh.
He realized the mana that had risen to his throat had settled a bit.
One word summed up this kiwi.
Mana digestive aid.
Yeah, it was basically a digestive just like the name implied.
Jackpot...
Shine Muscat for growth acceleration, kiwi for mana digestion rate.
The synergy was insane.
These crops would cause a massive uproar if released to the world.
"Wish the efficiency was a bit higher."
The downside: growth acceleration and mana absorption were only slightly boosted.
With his growing urge to power-level fast, the fact that real effects would take time was a bummer.
"If you bring in Arbo Slimes, you can max out crop efficiency!"
"What?"
Bellerin reacted to his muttering.
"Arbo Slimes maximize crop efficiency! With their help, you could grow these crops beyond level 100!"
Oh.
Such things existed?
"Where do we get them?"
"Hm. Not sure exactly, but... you might run into them exploring outside the lair!"
Oh. Really?
"Guess we need to scout outside ASAP. Please rush the scouting post construction."
"Yes! I'll do my best!"
Reliable as ever, Bellerin.
You're the one I'm counting on!
"Awoong...!"
Just then, Fenril, who had been sucking on a Shine Muscat, let out a low whine.
And then.
Flash-!
A brilliant light erupted from his body.
Fenril leveled up just from eating Shine Muscat.
Being low-level, even a bit of mana-rich food shot him up easily.
In that case...
The growth acceleration buff should be on Fenril too.
"Wanna try this?"
He finely chopped a piece of Seondo and set it before Fenril.
"Awoong...!"
Sniff sniff!
Crunch! Munch, munch!
Fenril sniffed the Seondo, then snapped it up.
Munch, crunch!
He chewed eagerly with his few baby teeth.
"Awoooong...!"
Soon, a joyful whine full of bliss.
He loved the Seondo taste.
After finishing the piece.
A staggering 17-level jump in one go.
Miraculous leveling speed.
Whoa. As expected of an 8-star.
Even for a low-level, such explosive growth was rare.
Fenril's 8-star potential meant tremendous growth power.
Plus the Shine Muscat's growth buff—it was like he'd sprouted wings.
Won't be long before he outlevels me.
As Seojun marveled inwardly.
Changes rippled through Fenril's body too.
Vrrr!
The pup, once fist-sized, swelled in an instant to forearm length.
『Whoa! Wolfy got bigger!』
Dania gasped at the sight.
"Ah! I sense divinity from this child! Must be something truly special."
Bellerin had sensed Fenril's uniqueness too.
Waves of admiration rippled in her lake-like eyes.
"Awoooong...!"
Finished growing, Fenril grinned like a puppy and rubbed his face against Seojun's hand.
As if saying thanks.
Seojun stroked him once and asked.
"Want more?"
"Awoong...!"
He offered another Seondo piece, but Fenril just smacked his lips and shook his head.
A gesture saying he couldn't handle more.
"His body's not fully recovered yet, so digestion is weak."
Hm.
Bellerin's words made sense. He considered kiwi first, then Seondo, but held off.
Overdoing it might cause issues.
Better to feed him hard once fully healed.
"Let's grow hard like Fenril, okay Dania?"
『Ung...』
Dania, munching Shine Muscat, tilted her head at him.
"You didn't finish Nagatara's inner core. Eat that too."
Earlier, he, Popo, Chuchu, Bellerin, and Mandrian had eaten Nagatara's core.
He'd gained 7 levels; the others one each.
Mandrian had bulked up a bit.
Glancing at Mandrian again.
@Geueoeoeo!
After devouring Shine Muscat, it was doing push-ups off to the side.
Heh.
Laughing at Mandrian was inevitable.
Is that really a Mandragora?
Made him wonder if it was a fairy in disguise.
No way Mandrian evolves later... or becomes a guardian?
Nah.
Dismissing the silly thought, he turned back to Dania.
Unlike them, she'd been too absorbed in Han-bing-gwa earlier and hadn't eaten the core yet.
『Gonna eat the core too!』
She declared, then crunched into it.
Munch, crunch, munch!
And then.
『Kkyu!』
A burst of light exploded from Dania with her happy cry.
Dania jumped three levels in one shot!
As expected.
10-star beings were different.
Over level 100, and still growing like this.
"As expected of our D—"
As he reached to praise and pet Dania's head.
Elemental Dragon Dania's second horn (Amplification) has sprouted.
Pfbt!
A blue-tinged horn about two finger-widths long popped out atop Dania's head.
And then.
Second Horn (Amplification) authority activates.
The second horn began scattering rainbow light.
Growth Acceleration buff is amplified.
......?
A string of incomprehensible messages followed one after another.
Dania's levels skyrocketed like mad.