The Weight of Noble Sacrifice

I swore to myself I'd never use this. Of course, that promise only existed inside my head. I never actually followed through on it. Doing so would be the fastest route to humanity's extinction. I'm not exaggerating. Everything would literally die. Leaving the hero's party to avoid the suffering might buy me a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠few years, maybe a few decades at best. In the end, I'd still get brutally slaughtered by the demon king's forces just like everyone else. If death was inevitable either way, I figured I might as well put up a fight. That's why, even today, I couldn't bring myself to leave the hero's party.

Sigh... what a cursed life.

Thanks to that, I was stuck playing the role of dismantler once again. Today's subject was a fresh Poison Worm, still warm from the slaughter our oh-so-noble party members had carried out just minutes ago. Its skin had burst open in several places, oozing thick green fluid. The sight was utterly revolting.

"Ugh, I seriously can't stand bugs! Just looking at them gives me goosebumps!"

"It really is disgusting..."

"Still, we have to get used to it. According to the empire's records, we'll be facing more and more insect-type monsters the further we go."

"Haa... I'm already feeling depressed."

While the others took a break, they each shared their thoughts about the Poison Worm. Yulise, the saintess who particularly hated insects, looked like she was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. I watched her with a bitter smile.

If she's already reacting like this, it's going to be rough ahead.

The place we were heading toward was the lair of one of the Four Heavenly Kings. We were on our way to subjugate Valcan, the Insect King. Just the title alone suggested the place would be crawling with bugs. Naturally, the closer we got to his castle, the more insects there would be. We hadn't even entered the castle yet, let alone reached its inner sections, and she was already like this. The road ahead looked like nothing but suffering.

Will we even be able to handle it...?

A flicker of anxiety crossed my mind, but I quickly shoved it into a corner. It was still far ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the future. Worrying about it now wouldn't change anything. Better to spend that mental energy dismantling another monster.

"Huu... I can't do this. I'm feeling dizzy. I'll head into the tent and rest first."

"Huh? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. You really don't look well."

"The sight earlier must have been quite the shock. Go rest comfortably."

"Yes... I think I need to sleep."

I listened to their chatter like background music and slowly began my work. The only valuable part of this creature was its skin. Everything else was useless byproduct that needed to be removed. I took my dagger and sliced into the Poison Worm's tough hide. Thick green fluid and squishy innards immediately spilled out. I had to scrape all of it away and clean it thoroughly to harvest usable skin.

With every scrape of the blade, sticky liquids coated my hands. The viscous fluid clung stubbornly, refusing to let go. My face twisted in disgust.

"Ugh, fuck."

No matter how many times I saw them, I could never get used to guts. They were squishy, slimy, and began to give off a fishy stench. But the real problem was that the creature's bodily fluids and organs contained poison. And it wasn't even the relatively manageable paralytic kind. It was acidic poison that made the skin sting and burn.

Sizzle!

As I continued working, a burning pain gradually spread across my skin. I'd worn leather gloves for safety, but it seemed the acid had eaten through them anyway. Even if the fluid was only weakly acidic, enough time would eventually corrode through leather gloves. The stinging, itching sensation crept over my hands, but I ignored it and kept working. After all, I wasn't the only one who needed to adapt. Since this had become my reality, I had to get used to pain as well. According to the system, the battles ahead wouldn't be won with half-hearted resolve.

Wounds appearing on my body day after day. The daily routine of monster claws tearing through flesh. To adapt to that kind of life, I couldn't afford to whine over pain like this. And in truth, I was getting used to it. The training was working.

I was about halfway through the dismantling when suddenly—

"Ahaha."

For once, I actually smiled a little. No matter how you looked at it, growing stronger was always fun. Especially since both resistances had leveled up at the same time, slightly dulling the pain in my hands. How could I not be happy?

The day I sacrificed my relationships, gaining levels hadn't just given me the Hero title. Sure, my body was now covered in curses, but I had definitely become stronger. Not only had my stats increased with each level-up, but I'd also gained skills I hadn't noticed at the time. Since the price I'd paid was so enormous, the system had given me quite a bit in return.

Now that I think about it, maybe I should check.

Come to think of it, I hadn't looked at my status window in a while. Given all the suffering I'd endured, my skill levels must have risen quite a bit. With that thought, I quietly muttered in my mind.

Status window.

Compared to before, quite a lot had changed. The level increase was obvious, and the skill window was now packed with various abilities and traits. I already knew about the Authority of Sacrifice, so I skipped that. In total, the skills I'd gained that day by sacrificing my relationships numbered four.

First was Mana Control.

As the name suggested, it wasn't particularly special. It simply helped fine-tune magic usage. It lacked any unique flair, but it was a solid, versatile skill with no downsides. The only problem was that I still hadn't learned any magic yet. That's why it was stuck at level 1. That would be resolved eventually.

Next was Mana Blade.

At first glance, it looked like the incredible sword aura from fantasy novels, but unfortunately it didn't possess that kind of power. Unlike coating a blade with sword energy, this skill simply poured mana into the weapon. Like Mana Control, it was a basic skill that strengthened regular attacks. A reliable staple ability. Fortunately, anyone could swing a sword, so I'd been able to raise this skill's level relatively quickly. Still, it remained a foundational technique. A versatile, no-frills skill that felt like the system was throwing me a bone.

The true gift from the system was this one.

Heavenly Martial Body. A talent granted by the heavens. What the system had given me wasn't an invincible shield or an all-piercing spear. It was pure growth potential—the ability to learn anything at tremendous speed. In other words, it had bestowed upon me the greatest talent in history. The fact that even talent could be granted as a trait felt somewhat strange, but I understood the system's intention perfectly.

It's telling me to raise myself however I want.

Two highly versatile active skills, plus a massive growth buff. Even those two active skills were split between sword and magic. It wasn't pointing me in any specific direction. It was saying I should build my own tech tree as I saw fit. Whether I specialized in magic and became a mage, learned martial techniques and became a warrior, or even picked up shamanism and other miscellaneous skills to become an all-rounder. Honestly, this was incredibly good news for me.

I already have several builds in mind.

Among the countless classes, I knew exactly which ones were most efficient. After all, I was an old veteran who'd played this game for nearly six years. Dozens of options immediately came to mind. From an elementalist who specialized in fire magic, to a magic spearman who combined spearmanship with lightning spells. A shield-bearing holy knight focused on sustainability, or a shaman who used totems and spirit magic. Every single one of them could more than pull their own weight. If the opportunity arose, I could even choose something even more efficient than those.

Though it still feels like a distant future...

Still, I could tell my prospects were bright. Right now, most of the compensation had gone into growth potential, so I was still relatively weak for my level... but that was a problem time would solve soon enough. By then, maybe our knight Camilla would stop calling me "useless bastard" quite so often. I continued my thoughts while running this hopeful scenario through my mind.

I'll skip Poison Resistance, Pain Resistance, and Bright Style Swordsmanship...

Those were skills I'd gained through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the help of Heavenly Martial Body and my six months of suffering. Their effects were obvious from the names alone. As for Bright Style Swordsmanship, I'd simply watched Camilla fight and secretly learned it from the sidelines. I hadn't received any formal instruction from her. To think I could learn a family's secret sword technique just by watching. It really was worthy of being called the ultimate talent.

While I was examining my changed status window like this, I realized the dismantling was already finished. There had been quite a lot of material, yet it was done. About three to four hours seemed to have passed. Time really flies when you're lost in thought.

I roughly organized the Poison Worm skins, now completely cleaned of innards, and glanced at my hands. Hmm. Fortunately, the skin hadn't completely peeled off. There were patches where it had been stripped away, but this was within expectations. I splashed some potion on my hands and stood up.

I'd prefer to receive healing from the saintess, but from what I'd overheard earlier, she had gone into the tent to sleep. And honestly, even if she were awake, she probably wouldn't heal me. It wouldn't be the first time she'd avoided me by claiming her divine power was depleted.

Thinking about it pisses me off.

As I walked along with those thoughts, I spotted the party members just emerging from their tent. It was Camilla, Adel, and Lily.

"Huh?"

"Hm?"

They were looking at each other with serious expressions, as if something had happened. Was Yulise still sleeping? Today's battle hadn't been that intense. While I stood there blankly, Camilla suddenly turned to me and started spitting venom.

"You bastard... what the hell did you do to Yulise?"

"Excuse me?"

What was she suddenly talking about? I'd been over here dismantling those disgusting worm bastards the whole time. Hearing such baseless accusations immediately put me in a bad mood, no matter how used to it I was. I knew they harbored unconditional hostility toward me, but to accuse me without any evidence or context like this—

"Wait. It doesn't seem like the hero did anything. I don't sense any mana nearby. Besides, he was dismantling monsters until just now."

Fortunately, Lily stepped forward and cleared my name. Oh. I couldn't help but feel surprised. She usually tried to twist things against me somehow, but here she was, seriously reasoning things out. Something must have really happened. I felt a slight curiosity, but I was just as tired as everyone else, so I decided to let it go. There weren't any particularly dangerous elements in this area anyway. It was probably just her insect phobia causing an overreaction.

With that thought, I walked past them. From behind, I could hear them discussing.

"Hmm, then it's strange. Nothing happened, yet she suddenly had a seizure like that."

"Indeed... She suddenly woke up asking where all the bugs around here went. And asking if we were all still alive... that is pretty weird..."

"Maybe that monster's acid poison also contained hallucinogenic properties?"

I had no idea what they were talking about, so I let it go in one ear and out the other. I had other things to focus on right now. Thinking that, I opened my status window again. There was still one skill I hadn't mentioned yet.

The last of the four skills the system had given me as a gift. The one with the most unpleasant name, yet its level was permanently fixed at MAX. I opened it.

Despite being the skill I hated most, it even had special effects. Among all my skills, this one shone the brightest. A golden aura spread around the system window. Honestly, it looked quite flashy on the outside, but I didn't feel good about it at all. I had no idea what the skill's actual effect was, and I definitely didn't want to use it.

I grumbled under my breath.

"Seriously, what the hell am I supposed to use something like this for..."

It activates when I die. Was the system telling me to use it or not to use it? I didn't like that it had even been designed with my death in mind.

"Tsk. Instead of giving me something like this, they could've just given me another skill."

Thanks to that, I could say it easily. I would never use this skill in my entire life. Never!!!

"For now, let's leave it be... It seems Yulise herself is quite confused right now."

"Hmph. What kind of ridiculous dream did she have?"

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠entered my personal tent, listening to my companions' voices like background music. After all, I was a veteran who'd cleared the game 999 times. What could possibly go wrong? Just let it rot away in the skill window. Hahaha.