Chapter 157
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: Ancient Tower (4)
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Tracking the Giant Mantis was a task where Jun and Maya worked in perfect sync.
"Over there. The leaves have sunk right down."
"It's small but deeply indented. That's definitely the bastard's trace. We've already entered its territory."
Maya, who had spent nearly her entire life in the wild, spotted the tracks, and Jun analyzed them to identify the monster responsible.
Aiden paid close attention to their conversation, biding his time for the next move, while Eleanor kept watch for Giant Mantis ambushes using [Clairvoyance].
And so, two days had passed since they began their search.
Unlike the Colosseum above, where battles against massive monsters dominated, this floor emphasized psychological warfare and exploration.
As a result, it wasn't so much physical fatigue as mental strain that weighed on them...
"There's no set time limit or anything. No need for us to rush, right?"
Jun directed operations with relaxed ease, steadily narrowing the search area as he went.
"Let's call it here for today."
With that, the day's exploration ended, but their schedule was far from over.
"So, you're saying we add one more strand of World Tree energy to this and implant it into the Wind Spirit?"
"Exactly. But it can't be temporary. We need to make it stay connected permanently."
"That'll ramp up the difficulty several times over. My staff's effects aren't meant to be sustained indefinitely."
"That's why we might need to add some kind of mechanism directly to the World Tree essence itself."
Eleanor and Jun brainstormed ways to awaken the Wind Spirit nestled within Aiden's core.
One idea was to artificially infuse World Tree energy using Eleanor's staff, End of Lamentation.
"This is giving me a headache."
"I'll work out the theory. If we ignore all the communication aspects and focus solely on linking souls, it might get a bit easier."
"Easy for you to say. Just understanding the theory feels like it's splitting my head open."
Eleanor grumbled, but she had grown genuinely interested in magical theory by now.
It might feel like her brain was exploding, but success would open up new ways to apply divine magic.
Meanwhile, Maya tried to follow along and help, but...
"Is what those two are speaking even Imperial tongue?"
"Haha..."
With no grasp of magic, Maya muttered glumly, and Aiden could only offer an awkward laugh.
Time passed steadily, and about a week later...
In the end, the Giant Mantis was the first to lose its patience.
Excluding the two deep in magical theory discussion and the one exhausted from trying to comprehend their alien words...
Aiden closed his eyes, facing the forest night breeze, and attuned his ears to his surroundings.
'Hit another wall.'
Reflecting on his recent progress, Aiden felt frustration in that hazy, almost-graspable sensation.
The possession incident in the alchemists' city, Head Dravan.
Since then, to avoid falling into the same trap, Aiden had examined his inner self from every angle.
Why did this happen?
Maybe unrestricted mana use would bring enlightenment—he had even moved with Joseph's comrades to test it.
But the more he did, the deeper he sank into a mire.
'Senior called it a clash between innate and acquired talents.'
Those words had struck like lightning in his mind.
The domineering mana of the founding emperor, innate to all imperial blood.
And Aiden's mindset, striving to view the world as peacefully as possible.
These two refused to mix, like water and oil, blocking his enlightenment at every turn.
'Even that only happened because I finally started understanding my mana...'
He had broken through one growth barrier with insights from his journey, only to hit another.
'How do I solve this?'
Surrendering fully to his mana felt tempting, but instinct screamed something vital would be torn away.
He didn't know what, but he couldn't lose it.
"Hoo... This is tough."
What Aiden didn't realize was that he and the game's Adrian differed in many ways.
The in-game Adrian had been far colder and more ruthless.
But in reality, meeting Jun had shaped Aiden's current personality.
'Is there a way to blend these two naturally...'
That was when he felt a single gust of wind.
'The Wind Spirit.'
The Wind Spirit, contracted abruptly from the awakened divine weapon relic.
Still deep in slumber, unable to unleash its full power, but the contract alone had sharpened Aiden's senses.
He closed his eyes, awakening the sensations on his skin.
A breeze that had danced through leaves brushed his cheek; another swirled past rustling grass by his ear before departing.
As if becoming one with the wind, his body felt buoyant.
His soul seemed to leave his flesh, flowing freely.
And that sensation carried him into his subconscious, back through time.
But not far.
Most of Aiden's memories centered on the last year.
If his prior life was a stream, life in Blackout felt like a massive waterfall.
In that torrent, Aiden's gaze fixed on one mage.
'Back then, Senior...'
A crimson world.
The Irregular-born Twin Head Troll that triggered erosion.
How had Jun faced that behemoth?
Aiden recalled the scene vividly, as if witnessing it anew.
'Ice in the sky, fire erupting from the earth.'
Two forces that seemed impossible to combine merged.
And then.
Kwarrrrrrung――!!!
Heaven and earth flipped as lightning crashed to the ground.
Water and oil, forever unmixable—or so it seemed—had fused, birthing a new power.
Lightning struck again.
But this was no memory.
Real lightning in Aiden's mind.
Ping...
As if possessed, he drew his Aurora Sword and swung. His soul, defying the memory falls, returned to his body.
When his eyes opened.
Kigik-.
A massive mantis, over thirty feet long, lay crushed—arms, head, legs pulverized—rolling on the ground.
In the instant enlightenment flashed like thunder...
Aiden beheld his handiwork.
And then.
"What the hell."
Eleanor, roused for her watch shift, stared at Aiden in shock.
A site of enlightenment for one, utter deflation for others—the second floor of the Ancient Tower.
Jun recalled that dawn, muttering inwardly.
'Game protagonist vibes—wakes up from sleep and boom, enlightenment?'
Eleanor put it bluntly.
"No, he's just standing there at night like he's possessed, then suddenly draws his sword and swings at nothing? And whoosh—a mantis pops out of thin air, gets diced to bits in an instant, and drops! Crazy!"
Maya shook her head at the mantis corpse as Eleanor rambled half-coherently.
"Now even if I hide, he'll find me."
Jun patted the slightly sulky Maya's shoulder as she muttered.
It was natural to feel deflated watching genius up close.
Though Maya herself had monstrous growth potential.
Anyway.
Having cleared the second floor, the party returned to the pristine white waiting room.
But unlike before, something new occupied the all-white space.
"Senior? What's that?"
"Huh, talk about luck. It's the Ancient Merchant."
"Ancient Merchant...?"
A stone building barely big enough for one person, with a stall beneath a tiny window.
Atop the stall stood a pure gold Goblin statue, pouch open wide.
"Put gold in here, stick your hand in, and it gives you an item suited to that person."
"Gold? Human currency, why...?"
"Who knows? The tower's creator's whim, probably."
In the game, items varied by gold amount and character chosen.
But they miraculously filled spec gaps.
"Sometimes you get stuff you couldn't buy even if you had the cash."
"How much gold should we put in?"
"Hold on..."
Jun had prepared for this, stashing coins in his dimensional bracelet.
"Best to put in the max you can afford."
Grunting, he pulled out a chest from the bracelet.
The child-sized box brimmed with gleaming coins.
"Y-You're giving all that?"
"Yeah. Thought about bringing more, but this is my limit."
Spend when you can.
Soon, Jun poured the chest's contents into the golden Goblin's pouch.
"Feels like that thing's grinning."
"Same here."
The statue hadn't changed, but the party swore the Goblin beamed innocently.
"Alright, whose hand goes in first?"
"Mm... I think I'll pass."
Aiden bowed out first.
Busy sorting his new insight, and he'd contracted the still-slumbering Wind Spirit.
Maya raised her hand next.
"I'm swamped mastering this too. I yield."
Maya was immersed in Basai's secret arts lately.
Down to Jun and Eleanor.
"I've got this guy, so I'm good..."
Eleanor, low on materialism, pointed to her staff to opt out.
"Nah, I think you should take it, Eleanor."
"Huh, why?"
"Well..."
Jun eyed Eleanor's black eyepatch slowly.
More precisely, the dark circles creeping beneath.
"You look beat."
Who wouldn't?
What if a magic skillbook appeared?
It'd help her immensely.
Jun, meanwhile, needed time to integrate insights from watching Shylock and Murchar's work, like the others.
"Ahem... Guess I won't stand on ceremony then?"
Her lips twitched upward despite herself.
'Please, just let this grind end.'
Remodeling divine magic was great, but exhausting.
Truly exhausting.
And magic had no end.
For Eleanor, lifelong stranger to it, that was the hardest part.
'Make this hellish studying less painful, please...!'
With fervent wish, she plunged her hand into the golden pouch.
And...
"Wha—what?!"
A luxurious wooden box emerged.
"Whoa? That's what came out?"
"Senior, that's..."
"What's that?"
Jun reacted first in surprise, Aiden recognized it with awe, and Maya tilted her head.
"I-It came ouuut!!"
Growth Orb.
Known among players as the 'Skill Growth Voucher,' the multicolored sphere gleamed brightly in Eleanor's hand.