Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: The New Cell and the Gate of Expedition
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Allen opened his eyes to the gentle warmth of the sun tickling his face.
‘Where am I…?’
Suddenly, the memory of Agwi devouring him limb by limb surfaced, and Allen shot up as if doused in ice water, scanning his surroundings.
A fountain from which clear, transparent water trickled.
A town lined with European-style buildings, a blend of red brick and timber.
Realizing he was in the middle of a square in a small, utterly peaceful town, Allen let out a hollow laugh.
“Why am I in a place like this….”
-He's awake.
-He is.
-Uh… I hope this one's easier to talk to than that horse-head guy who came in last time. That one was terrifying.
Squeak!
As Allen turned his head toward the suspicious whispering, his eyes fell upon a bizarre group he hadn't noticed before, as they were only the size of small dogs.
A tarantula that, for a spider, looked as cute as a doll; a centipede monster that, for its small size, was still grotesque rather than cute; and an elf child who looked about ten years old.
Finally, there was a white squirrel standing proudly atop the spider's head.
Like some twisted version of the Bremen Town Musicians, the sight of this absurdly composed group made Allen speak in a dumbfounded tone.
“What are these things?”
-"Things"? Tsk, what an ill-mannered junior. A hopeless rookie.
-Who are you calling ill-mannered? Sir Ogong, you dared to treat me the same way at first.
-"Dared"? Our cases are different! You were my underling on the outside! If we're going by our past connection, I'm way more of a senior—no, a superior! A boss!
-Hmph, what underling? Besides, a boss from a part-time job doesn't count. Who treats their old convenience store senior with respect when they meet again at a major corporation?
-C-Convenience store?! Are you done talking?
-Oh? You gonna hit me? Hey, you'd better be careful. Why don't you check who's sitting on my head?
When the spider, Anetium, pointed a foreleg at the white squirrel standing triumphantly on her head, Ogong’s body trembled with indignation as he lowered his head.
-Grr… I'll pull out all your legs one day.
-Go ahead. They grow back here anyway. Hmph, I guess you don't know that Mr. Eater sometimes pulls off my legs to roast and eat them. Then again, you're dumb enough to bring up our connection from the pit. How pathetic.
-You damn spider, I oughta!
While the spider and centipede bickered beside him, the elf child, Will, wore a look of despair.
-…An elf. An elf finally came. What if, what if he’s more useful than me? I haven't even been learning my weapon skills properly lately… No. Am I already useless? No! I like it here! I don't want to be thrown away!
While Will was seriously contemplating his own worth, the white squirrel pointed a tiny paw at Allen and squeaked as majestically as it could.
Squeak squeak squeak!
Annoyed at being dropped in a strange place and immediately embroiled in a ridiculous commotion, Allen scowled and snapped.
“Get lost, you morons. My head's a mess as it is, so stop being so damn noisy.”
At Allen's forceful curse, the spider, Anetium, made a fuss.
-My, my, such language from that cute face? Oh, Sir Ogong, what should I do? I think I'm in love.
-…Calm down. You two are different species.
-Hmph, you old-timer. Love knows no borders, so what does species matter?
-Hey, how are borders and species the same thing? Dammit, talking to this blasted spider is going to drive me insane.
-Oh my, listen to you curse. Are you trying to get my attention by swearing? Well, what to do? With that face, even if you serenaded me instead of cussing, it wouldn't be enough… Gack!
As they finally started to tangle up and fight, the white squirrel that had been playing on Anetium's head was thrown to the ground.
Allen stared down at the white squirrel that had tumbled to his feet, then with a light scoff, he punted it away.
Squeee~~~
Bbi-bbi went flying with a lingering, desperate cry.
At that, not only the bickering Anetium and Ogong, but Will as well, all froze as if time had stopped.
Their faces paled as they stared at Bbi-bbi, which was trembling on the ground like a stepped-on hamster, but Allen, who had no interest in them, paid it no mind and grumbled.
“My mind is a wreck, and now these random freaks are getting on my nerves.”
Just then, a colt-like centaur passing by with a pickaxe slung over his shoulder like a miner muttered.
“Out of respect for our old acquaintance, I'll give you some advice. You'll regret touching that thing. No, wait. You already touched it. Well, it doesn't matter. It's not fair that I'm the only one who suffers, after all….”
Allen soon noticed that the centaur, with the lower body of a colt and the upper body of a boy, resembled someone he knew.
“Ixion? You. You can't be Ixion, can you?!”
Ixion looked at Allen with the distant eyes of a worker who had reached enlightenment through the drudgery of labor.
“What does it matter what my name was in the secular world? Well, since we met like this, let's have a drink sometime when you're free. I'll be on my way, then. The mine calls for me again today. Ah, I almost forgot. My deepest condolences.”
“Condolences? What condolences… And what's with your appearance? Why are you so small?”
Ixion spoke as he trotted away with the clatter of his hooves.
“You should get into the habit of looking at yourself before you judge others.”
“What is this bastard spouting such nonsense for… Wait! What's happening? Why have I gotten smaller?!”
As Allen shrieked while looking down at his own child-like body, someone tapped his shoulder.
Tap, tap.
“Damn it! Who is it?! Get lost, I'm busy!”
Tap, tap, tap.
“Ah, I said get lost! You wanna die….”
Allen spun around angrily, only to see a fat dragon staring at him with a sullen expression.
Startled by the lizard with a round, protruding belly, staring at him with eyes that were barely visible slits, Allen stumbled backward.
“Not a liza… uh… Are you a dragon?”
How could a 5th Circle mage not recognize a dragon?
He immediately saw that its unimpressive, plump belly was filled not just with fat, but with mana.
And the overwhelming presence emanating from that unbalanced body?
It was obvious he wouldn't be in for a good time if he took even a single hit.
As Allen regretted not being on guard despite being dropped into this unknown place, he saw the white squirrel scurrying up the fat dragon's shoulder.
After conquering the dragon's shoulder, the white squirrel looked down on him with an arrogant expression that said, *How dare you hit me?* and Allen realized.
He had messed with something very troublesome.
-Sorry.
The Eater licked its lips and continued.
-This is a real pain for me too, but I can't help it. I have a contract with Bbi-bbi.
The Eater raised a forepaw that was comically tiny compared to its belly.
-Hmm… one villain, one cake. That's pretty good compensation. I wish there were more villains… No, bad thoughts. Bad thoughts lead to chocolate loss. See? This is why I need to exercise sometimes. All I do is eat and sleep, so I just keep having bad thoughts. Alright, I think some punching bag practice is in order for today.
As the Eater gazed at him like one would a delectable punching bag, Allen squeezed his eyes shut. The impending events were already playing out in his mind.
A moment later, Allen’s screams echoed through the square for a long time.
* * *
The Butler greeted Si-woo as he connected to Barathrum.
“You have arrived, my Lord.”
“Mm, good to see you. But more importantly, what's the status of the predation? It's good that it's become easier since we started using Mental Connection, but I'm a bit worried about the process itself.”
“It has been handled as you commanded, my Lord. You previously stated that the three 3rd Circle mages were not worth using, so I instructed it to devour them without leaving a single soul fragment. As for Allen and Lina, you wished for them to be registered as Cells, so we consumed only a part of them before proceeding with the predation.”
“Good. Well done. With Allen here, it might get a little noisy, no? How is the situation?”
“There seems to be a bit of a commotion over at the square, but you needn't worry. Bbi-bbi has gotten quite adept at ordering Mr. Eater around lately.”
“Bbi-bbi ordering the Eater around? Heh, what a talent.”
“A commendable little one. Even Ixion is terrified of Bbi-bbi; it's doing a fine job as the new drill sergeant.”
“That's good. Now then… what about the Tier?”
“The upgrade was completed smoothly. Please take a look.”
「Tier 4」
Facilities: 【Mine】 【Library】 【Hall】 【Scales of Absurdity】 【Castle】 【Sky Corridor】 【Gate of Expedition】
Functions: Invisibility Mode, Cerebral Ringer Mode, Save & Load, Battery, Scouter.
Cells: 9/10
Expedition: 0/9
Battery: 87%
Authority: Annihilation
“The Battery is obviously for checking Barathrum’s energy. But Expedition… could it be?”
As Si-woo looked on with an expectant gaze, the Butler nodded.
“That is correct. The Cells can now go on expeditions to the outside.”
“Does that mean I can use Harman, Ixion, and the others as part of my forces in reality?”
“Yes. That is why it was necessary to upgrade to Tier 4 as quickly as possible. From now on, your Lordship's power will increase exponentially with each Tier upgrade.”
Si-woo couldn't hide his joy at the welcome news.
He had never imagined such an absurd function would pop out at Tier 4.
“This… is incredible. Such a great feature added at the perfect time. Hmm, the things I have planned will be much easier to handle now.”
“The uses for the lower-level Cells will also become more diverse. To be honest, it has been a long time since lower-level monsters like Anetium or Ogong had anything specific to do here….”
“I will find uses for them in due time. More importantly… what happens if they die on the outside? Surely they don't die for good?”
“They can be resummoned within Barathrum at any time, but it requires energy. It is best to refrain from indiscriminate expeditions. The expedition itself does not consume energy, but if they die even once on the outside, a vast amount of energy is needed to resummon them.”
Here, even if they died, the Cells' energy remained within Barathrum.
In other words, it could be recycled, meaning they could be revived indefinitely.
However, if they died outside, recycling was impossible.
Energy was essential to restore the souls and bodies of the Cells bound to Barathrum.
“Ah, so that's why the Battery function was added. To encourage efficient energy use.”
“There are no meaningless upgrades in Barathrum.”
“Hmm… based on Allen, how much energy would it cost to resummon him?”
“It would consume 60 percent.”
As befitting a 5th Circle beginner prodigy, resummoning Allen required an enormous amount of energy.
The higher-than-expected number seemed to bother Si-woo, as he twitched an eyebrow.
“…That's a considerable amount of energy.”
“Yes. Therefore, you must be careful. If you mismanage the energy distribution and it runs out, all of Barathrum's functions except for predation will cease, and you will not even be able to connect.”
“Hmm, not being able to connect is a concern… but it's a relief that predation is still possible. It means there's a chance to restore Barathrum's functions even if the worst happens.”
“Yes. Still, it would be best to avoid such a situation altogether.”
“Understood. I'll be careful. By the way… what is this new function called Scouter?”
“It is the ability to scan the status of others in greater detail. To help you understand, I will display your Lordship's status.”
「Lee Si-woo」 ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
Level: 403
Strength: C- Agility: C- Endurance: C- Mana: D
Race: Human
Talent: [1] Danger Sense (Anetium) [2] Mana's Blessing (Will) [3] Brainpower Enhancement (Brain Hunter) [4] Mental Connection (Tentacle)
Technique: Hexagram
Unique Ability: Mineral Body (Diamond)
“The status UI has changed a bit. It’s more detailed.”
“Correct. In truth, among the enemies you will face in the future, there will be no small number of cases like your Lordship—individuals with high levels due to their physical abilities, despite having mediocre magical aptitude. The Scouter was added to identify such individuals in advance, allowing you to deal with them more easily.”
“Excellent. I can make good use of this. I especially like being able to see others' statuses. But C-… I don't have a good feel for this. Could you give me a simple explanation?”
“C- means you're at the level of the early 400s, C is the mid-400s, C+ is the late 400s, and ranking up to B- means you are at the level of the early 500s.”
“Good. That’s intuitive. So my Mana is D because I'm still a 3rd Circle Expert.”
“Yes. However, the status is not all-powerful, so you must not rely on it blindly. Although your Lordship's Mana rank is D, that only signifies its qualitative level; because you are a multi-rooted mage, your quantitative level far exceeds the D rank.”
“Just like how there's no Stamina stat for the physical stats?”
“Precisely.”
After fully familiarizing himself with the new functions through the Butler's explanations and guidance, Si-woo spoke.
“What is Lina's condition?”
“It seems too early for her to connect with Allen, so I have sent her to a house near the square.”
“Well done. Now then… shall we call Lina and go meet Allen together? And… I would like you to prepare the Gate of Expedition. I intend to make use of Allen immediately after subjugating him.”
Si-woo's lips twisted into a smirk as he continued.
“Using Allen should make this already chaotic stage even more interesting.”