Alvin's Ability - 1
I couldn't grasp the exact situation unfolding. But from what I could see, this unknown entity feared us. Who could fathom the inner thoughts of some unidentified monster? Still, it clearly possessed the intelligence and emotions necessary for conversation. So I was certain it wasn't using the word "fear" in some abstract sense.
"What has you so agitated?"
"Response, impossible! Disclosure, taboo! Existence, annihilation!"
"It's not incomprehensible, but these one-word answers are frustrating."
Either way, it seemed impossible to uncover the source of its fear. With the constraint that revealing it would lead to its own annihilation, I couldn't press further. I had no choice but to be satisfied with the straightforward answers it provided.
"Who are you?"
"Human language, explanation, complex. Summary: Explorer."
"Explorer? What do you explore?"
"Bonds, civilization, bonds. In essence: humans."
"Exploring humans..."
Suddenly, the structures we'd passed earlier came to mind. Unlike typical ruins that exterminated monsters or set obvious traps, these felt ambiguously like a laboratory overall. Since it explored bonds, maybe experiments on NTR?
Including this place, there were only three stages in total.
An unusually short ruin by any standard. If its true nature was the eyeball monster's lab rather than a ruin, it made sense.
"Did you create this place, then?"
"Negative!"
The Explorer's eye widened in vehement denial, as if I'd touched its reverse scale.
"Imprisoned. Confinement, eternal."
"Someone imprisoned you here? Who?"
"False God, perpetrator."
The Explorer claimed it had been confined by a god. In a world with a Holy Kingdom, gods existed in the lore, treated as the one true deity. I'd never heard of a "false god," though.
If a god personally sealed it away, that makes it a dangerous entity...
Strangely, I didn't feel tense. I'd been startled at first sight, but now it felt oddly familiar. Maybe because it showed fear toward us?
"Even if a god imprisoned you here, you didn't create the structure?"
"Negative. Authority: observation only, limited. Structure, designed by false god."
"You can only observe here, and the one who built the ruin—and sealed you—is that god?"
"Affirmative."
No matter how familiar it felt, I could never tolerate NTR. I'd been ready to cleave the Explorer in half for designing a structure where monsters stole women. But learning it was the god's doing made me hesitate.
"What were your thoughts after observing what happened here?"
"Explanation, impossible. Thoughts, chaotic."
"Then tell me at least how you felt watching a woman get fucked by an orc right in front of her man."
"Revulsion! Contempt! Incomprehensible!"
"You pass!"
Its appearance screamed enemy at first glance. But it turned out to be a comrade in NTR hatred. Even a slime-clumped eyeball monster seemed friend-worthy now.
"Love, denied. Bonds, destroyed. Betrayal, wounds."
"A perfectly normal reaction."
NTR outright denied love, shattered bonds, and left eternal wounds from betrayal. It was akin to sin itself—something to be eradicated.
"Right, but why did you take the form of female genitalia in the corridor?"
"Lust, brain, dominates humans. Acidic, castration."
"So, since humans dominated by lust would try to stick their dicks in, you planned to melt them off?"
"Affirmative."
A test to confirm if the orcs charging in frenzy were truly orcs. Forgivable, all things considered. Now that we shared ideals, I could sheathe my sword.
As I moved to do so, the Explorer stopped me.
"Halt. Ability, verification, requested."
"You want to check my ability?"
"Affirmative. Void, devouring, erasure, witnessed."
"No idea what you're on about, but it's no big deal."
I manifested my Aura of Emptiness around the blade. Space swirled inward around the pitch-black sword, drawn like a vortex. A phenomenon from its power to devour existence itself. It hit me anew just how incredible Alvin's ability was.
But the Explorer, staring piercingly at the aura, narrowed its eye halfway. As if displeased.
"Ability, incomplete. Cause, analysis: theory deficient. Utilization, immature."
"What?"
Alvin's ability lacked theory? Its use matched what I'd seen in the game, yet it called it immature? And it spoke as if it knew my ability beforehand, which was suspicious. I'd controlled Alvin and fought alongside him, after all.
The power that felled the Demon King wasn't even fully utilized?
Did that mean Alvin could grow even stronger? I wondered what might've happened if we'd come to this island in the game and unlocked his growth potential. No one in the story knew about Alvin's ability.
"You know what my ability is?"
"Affirmative. Ability origin..."
The Explorer shifted its gaze toward someone. Following it, I saw it staring at Luna. She just smiled silently.
A strange tension thickened the air, and the Explorer hurriedly changed the subject.
"Ability, interpretation. Knowledge, transfer."
Suddenly, the Explorer extended its body and grabbed my hand. The slimy, sticky sensation was creepy, but soon a current flowed from the contact point. It raced up my arm to my brain.
And in my mind, a flood of knowledge and utilization methods for the ability surged forth.
"What the fuck!"
The knowledge infusion from the Explorer was like chugging red potion. The game's level-up system? Alvin's stats rose with every monster slain because of the Aura of Emptiness. It didn't just erase—it devoured.
Devouring affected allies too, enabling their level-ups.
The reason Alvin's stat gains were always so massive wasn't talent—it was this ability...
Even amid the dizziness of uncovering the game's system secret, the bigger shock hit: proper use of devouring could absorb targets' abilities.
All of Alvin's skills had come from enlightenment until now.
If Alvin had known about devouring's potential, he could've grown far stronger...
It was the first time knowledge's absence felt this regrettable. With proper use, he could've soloed the Demon King and more. Regrets lingered, but the future excited me.
"Transfer, complete. Theory, utilization, crucial."
"I'll admit it, Explorer. The knowledge you gave is priceless."
"Acknowledgment, high praise. Growth, anticipated."
"...Anything else useful I should know?"
"Impossible. Human brain, capacity limited. Additional knowledge: no authority."
The human body had limits on absorbable knowledge. And it couldn't share more on my ability. Disappointing, but it hinted at deeper secrets in the Aura of Emptiness, so I was satisfied.
Roaming areas inaccessible in the game might unveil my ability's mysteries.
Strength wasn't my sole goal, but power opened possibilities. I'd crush the world's trash. And with unrivaled might someday, I'd conquer this damned world.
For that, the Explorer's aid was essential.
"...Hey, wanna get out of here with me?"
"Impossible. Escape method: death, only."
"Really no other way?"
"Alternative: false god, slay."
Kill the Explorer or kill its imprisoner. No other escape. I'd planned to consult it like an AI for solutions, but oh well. The expanded knowledge on my ability would have to suffice.
"Can't be helped. I'll put what you taught me to good use."
"Hope, equivalent exchange."
"Exchange? Handling your jailer enough?"
"False god slay, excessive. Knowledge, desired."
"You want knowledge? You probably know way more than me..."
It had lived far longer and seemed erudite—no gaps there. Modern culture might be the only unknown, but that was a secret I couldn't easily reveal. Just as it hadn't told me everything.
"Pursuit: love, bonds, intercourse, knowledge."
"Alvin? Looks like we need to share some sticky love here one more time."
"Craving, mating, hu... impossible."
"Hm?"
"...Slip of tongue."
The Explorer fidgeted before Luna. Was she the source of its fear? Circumstances made my childhood friend suspicious, but I couldn't judge rashly.
"...Demand: 3P."
"Not into slime-dicking."
"Irrelevant! Additional: detection, female!"
"Including Master, huh. Fine by me, but I already busted a massive nut, so my dick won't rise again..."
"Recommendation: ability, absorb. Orc, virility. Minotaur, size."
You fucking genius?