Chapter 349: Seclusion (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 349: Seclusion (4)
I definitely took the Manticore essence with the thought of erasing it someday. When I purchased that essence at the auction, I even contemplated whether to erase this one or Corpse Golem.
"Um, Amelia... if I get rid of this, my Mana Resistance will drop and I'll be vulnerable to things like magic..."
At first, I was reluctant about my sole movement-related skill, Leap, disappearing, but that wasn't the real problem. It was the absence of Mana Resistance. Until I got my hands on the essence of Bellarios, my ability to tank would be greatly hindered.
But I can't erase the Storm Gush.
The Storm Gush was a whopping rank-three essence. I'd have to erase it someday, but that time would come after the Burrow Island event at the earliest. It'd be possible to use that essence to skirt through it, and my second core ability besides Giantization would appear there.
Man, then what do I do?
My worries deepened. Rather than giving up an essence, giving up on a disguise seemed like an option to me. It was clear there was something fishy about the moves the palace had made, but it might not turn out to be a big hurdle to clearing the accusation on my name.
I'm sure they won't kill me to keep me quiet or anything.
"Ah, I didn't say this because I'm sure you know, but even if it's proven that you are not an evil spirit, the palace won't just take kindly to that," said Amelia.
"Hmm?"
"Why do you look confused? That will be the equivalent of leaving a blemish on the palace's credibility since they confirmed the rumor."
Ugh... now I have to think.
I asked for Erwen's and Amelia's opinions as it was difficult to make a decision. "What do you guys think I should do?"
Erwen suggested I take the essence. "I... think it would be best to stay as hidden as possible."
"Your reason?"
"...Just a feeling."
So, an intuition. When I turned to Amelia, she shared her thoughts too.
"I agree with Tersia."
"Your reason?"
"It's not like there's much to be gained by clearing your name right now."
Of course there is. I wouldn't have to erase my essence.
Just as I was about to say this, Amelia continued, "It's been two years. You're not thinking your former clanmates will come back right away, are you?"
Erwen agreed with that. "I don't know about Miss Ainar, but it will definitely be hard for Arua Raven to come back even if she hears of your return. She belongs to the royal military now, after all."
Mr. Bear would be in a similar situation. Since he joined another clan, it would be difficult for him to leave. I didn't even have information on Missha aside from the fact that she was now Baekho's teammate.
They're not wrong in that sense.
I paused the conversation there and repeatedly cycled through the pros and cons of both options. It didn't take as long as I thought.
According to the information from the Round Table, the palace will soon conscript the nobles.
Most would send mercenaries they had stockpiled in their stead, but coming from an adventuring background, I'd have no choice. I would have to join the war straight away and follow the instructions of my superiors.
I soon made a decision. "I... will erase my essence."
My jump button...
Now that my future course of action had been decided, it was time to move on to the next item of business. What essence should I take? Something I realized over the course of this discussion was these two had one thing in common.
"I think an Imp's essence would be good. It's small, but it comes with Mana Resistance too."
"But that's a rank-seven essence so it's actually harder to find at the Exchange. The Dwarf Eater's essence would be better. Plus, it raises Bone Density like Miss Ainar's, so it'll suit you too."
"And, what, you have the money to buy a rank-four essence? I think the rank-five Altsmoror would be better."
"Ah, Altsmoror? That won't do. That has a fatal side effect," said Erwen.
"Side effect?" Erwen glanced at me before whispering something to Amelia. I couldn't hear what she said, but Amelia looked at me afterward and dismissed that option with a, "That could be an issue."
Why are they so interested in my essence situation?
I chuckled and cut off their conversation. "Stop. I've already decided on something." Among the essences that could reduce the size of my body, I had selected three main candidates based on which had the best stats and skills. "Erwen, find out how much money you can borrow from the bank with the house as collateral tomorrow. Amelia, you go to the Exchange and see if the essence I mentioned is there."
"Okay."
"Then let's eat. I'm starving."
Wrapping up the conversation there, the three of us shared the dinner Erwen brought.
"...You're going to stay here starting today?"
"Looks like there are plenty of empty rooms. Is that a problem?"
"I'd prefer you draw a line between your work life and your personal life."
"Hah, you guys, stop it. I'm tired, let's just sleep. Amelia, you can use any of the spare rooms over there."
There was a small snafu when Amelia came back to the house with all her stuff instead of staying at her inn, but it didn't turn into a major issue. That was how what was a strangely difficult day came to an end.
"Mister! I'll see you later!"
Starting the next day, Erwen and Amelia went out each morning to do their part, and I spent my days living a secluded life in this dark house. Simply put, that meant I spent most of my time sleeping. Thankfully, however, a collateral loan that was just the right size hit our bank account three days later, and I was able to use that money to retrieve the Demon Grinder the bank was holding as collateral.
"...Heh, do you like it that much?"
Of course I do. This is my number one treasure from now on.
[You have equipped No. 87: Kraul's Demon Grinder. Your General Item Level has increased by +4800.]
Anyway, the good news didn't end there. Just in time, the essence I was looking for came on sale at the Exchange. Well, it was my second choice, not my first, but it didn't make a meaningful difference. It wasn't an essence I'd be using for all that long, anyway.
The price is just right too.
I used almost all the money I had left after retrieving the Demon Grinder to purchase the essence. The order for the custom-made shield I'd be using in the labyrinth had already been put in by Erwen, and the rest of my equipment would be made cheap with tier-one materials, so I figured there wouldn't be much money spending going forward.
I soon made a decision. "I... will erase my essence."
My jump button...
Now that my future course of action had been decided, it was time to move on to the next item of business. What essence should I take? Something I realized over the course of this discussion was these two had one thing in common.
"I think an Imp's essence would be good. It's small, but it comes with Mana Resistance too."
"But that's a rank-seven essence so it's actually harder to find at the Exchange. The Dwarf Eater's essence would be better. Plus, it raises Bone Density like Miss Ainar's, so it'll suit you too."
"And, what, you have the money to buy a rank-four essence? I think the rank-five Altsmoror would be better."
"Ah, Altsmoror? That won't do. That has a fatal side effect," said Erwen.
"Side effect?" Erwen glanced at me before whispering something to Amelia. I couldn't hear what she said, but Amelia looked at me afterward and dismissed that option with a, "That could be an issue."
Why are they so interested in my essence situation?
I chuckled and cut off their conversation. "Stop. I've already decided on something." Among the essences that could reduce the size of my body, I had selected three main candidates based on which had the best stats and skills. "Erwen, find out how much money you can borrow from the bank with the house as collateral tomorrow. Amelia, you go to the Exchange and see if the essence I mentioned is there."
"Okay."
"Then let's eat. I'm starving."
Wrapping up the conversation there, the three of us shared the dinner Erwen brought.
"...You're going to stay here starting today?"
"Looks like there are plenty of empty rooms. Is that a problem?"
"I'd prefer you draw a line between your work life and your personal life."
"Hah, you guys, stop it. I'm tired, let's just sleep. Amelia, you can use any of the spare rooms over there."
There was a small snafu when Amelia came back to the house with all her stuff instead of staying at her inn, but it didn't turn into a major issue. That was how what was a strangely difficult day came to an end.
"Mister! I'll see you later!"
Starting the next day, Erwen and Amelia went out each morning to do their part, and I spent my days living a secluded life in this dark house. Simply put, that meant I spent most of my time sleeping. Thankfully, however, a collateral loan that was just the right size hit our bank account three days later, and I was able to use that money to retrieve the Demon Grinder the bank was holding as collateral.
"...Heh, do you like it that much?"
Of course I do. This is my number one treasure from now on.
[You have equipped No. 87: Kraul's Demon Grinder. Your General Item Level has increased by +4800.]
Anyway, the good news didn't end there. Just in time, the essence I was looking for came on sale at the Exchange. Well, it was my second choice, not my first, but it didn't make a meaningful difference. It wasn't an essence I'd be using for all that long, anyway.
The price is just right too.
I used almost all the money I had left after retrieving the Demon Grinder to purchase the essence. The order for the custom-made shield I'd be using in the labyrinth had already been put in by Erwen, and the rest of my equipment would be made cheap with tier-one materials, so I figured there wouldn't be much money spending going forward.
...Ah, I guess there's one thing left. Please, no one recognize me.
Once the essence was purchased, I visited the temple the next day. It was the Tovera Church, one of the three religions. I was nervous about going to Reatlas since I'd been there so many times.
"If we go in together, we'll stand out more."
"Go ahead, Mister..."
"Don't draw attention to yourself," said Amelia.
This was a small temple where 90 percent of the visitors were ordinary people, unlike the Great Temple, which had decent attendance. Still, I was quite worried about revealing my face to erase the essence.
Thankfully, the old priest in charge of the removal process didn't recognize me. "Haha, you were born with an excellent build for a human. You would have achieved great things if you had been a knight."
[The Essence of the Manticore that was absorbed into your soul has been removed. Some stats obtained through the passive skill Inheritance are permanently acquired.]
The essence removal I had been so worried about went off without a hitch. I paid exactly twice as much as I paid last time and hurried back home. Then I opened the stopper on the Magic Vial I had purchased earlier.
[The Essence of Gachabone has seeped into your soul.]
The default stats that came with the essence of the rank-six monster Gachabone were simple.
[Your Sixth Sense has increased by +40. Your Physical Resistance has increased by +15. Your Dark Resistance has increased by +30. Your Accuracy has increased by +45.]
They were ambiguous stats if you wanted to play a specific class.
[Your Bone Density has increased by +110.]
The Bone Density stat would give me a human physique. However, there was a penalty.
[Your Luck has decreased by -50. Your Control has decreased by -30.]
Luck increased the probability of random factors like critical hits. Control was helpful for preventing status effects like the psychological spell Fear. Now that they had gone down, they'd have the opposite effect, though.
"Oh."
"Wow..."
When the essence finished absorbing, the two people with me had strange reactions. To be honest, I was the one feeling the strangest. Our eye levels were not that different now. Amelia was around 5'6", I believe? Then did I shrink to around six feet? As I wondered this, Erwen averted her eyes.
"...Do I look that weird?"
"N-No. That's not it..."
"Then what?"
"I-I think... it will be quicker for you to see for yourself..." Erwen pointed to the mirror and I moved toward it, holding my baggy pants up with my hand.
There was no longer a strong barbarian warrior standing there, only a tall, handsome human man. "...Is that me?"
I could see why Ainar had been so depressed back then. I looked so weak, like I'd break something if I got hit with a hammer.
This essence... should I erase it?
That was how dreadful my reflection in the mirror was. No wonder Erwen had averted her eyes when she saw me.
"Um... Mister, what's wrong? Your shoulders suddenly dropped..."
As I was busy feeling depressed, Erwen asked why and I answered honestly. How could I go outside like this? Even Erwen couldn't look at me properly.
"H-Huh? Y-You're mistaken! That's not why I was averting my eyes!"
"Huh? Are you saying it's not because you were holding back your laughter at my pathetic appearance?"
"No! Why would I do that?!"
"Then why did you do that?"
"B-Because," Erwen replied quietly in an embarrassed tone, "you're handsome..."
"What?"
Jeez, her taste is so conventional.
So the reason why she obsessed over me while I was a barbarian was not because she saw me as a man, but because she thought of me as her protector? To get a bigger sample size, I asked Amelia. "Do you think so too?"
"Well..." Amelia stared intently at my face before smirking and turning her head. "Well, it's nice that my neck doesn't hurt looking up at you anymore."
Surprisingly, no one felt negatively about my current appearance. Had I been too influenced by a barbarian mindset?
Thinking about it more carefully, I suppose I'd be considered handsome by modern beauty standards.
Of course, even if that was the case, I had absolutely no desire to keep this appearance. Giantization was relative to your base size. A small body like this wouldn't be efficient.
"Anyway, I'm going to check my new skill. Can you help me?"
I couldn't keep wallowing about my shrunken body forever, so I decided to do what I needed to do. First things first: practicing using my skills.
Since I can't exactly go out in the yard in broad daylight, I should just do this in the living room.
"Yes, I'll help you, Mister. What should I do?"
"Oh, just hit me. Using an elemental or a special ability."
"...Sorry?"
Uh... does this kid not know this essence's passive?
That seemed to be the case, so I briefly explained the passive skill Probabilistic Retaliation. When you received damage that used some kind of resource, the damage had a certain probability of being ignored and reflected. Whether magic, divine power, or elementals, this passive skill applied to anything that used a person's resources. To be honest, the reason I chose this essence was largely because of this skill. Of course, it would be hard to make up for my reduced Mana Resistance with this alone, but this essence was the only one with this kind of performance at this price. My first choice had actually been this same essence in a different color.
Anyway, the probability was about 10 percent...
For reference, this was a figure based on my reduced Luck stat. My default Luck stat—which I had no way of knowing for sure—could cause some margin of error, but it wouldn't be huge.
"Um... then I'll go ahead." Once I finished explaining, Erwen summoned her elementals and started attacking me.
[You have taken Cold damage.]
[You have taken Cold damage.]
[You have taken Cold damage.]
"Erwen, change the attribute."
"Okay!"
[You have taken Fire damage.]
[You have taken Fire damage.]
[You have taken Fire damage.]
What the—?
"W-Wait! Amelia, you try."
"If you want. Your height is just right now."
[You have been hit with Asura's Kick.]
[You have been hit with Asura's Kick.]
[You have been hit with Asura's Kick.]
What is this? No, really, what is this?
"Aghhh! S-Stop!"
Why isn't this working?
...Ah, I guess there's one thing left. Please, no one recognize me.
Once the essence was purchased, I visited the temple the next day. It was the Tovera Church, one of the three religions. I was nervous about going to Reatlas since I'd been there so many times.
"If we go in together, we'll stand out more."
"Go ahead, Mister..."
"Don't draw attention to yourself," said Amelia.
This was a small temple where 90 percent of the visitors were ordinary people, unlike the Great Temple, which had decent attendance. Still, I was quite worried about revealing my face to erase the essence.
Thankfully, the old priest in charge of the removal process didn't recognize me. "Haha, you were born with an excellent build for a human. You would have achieved great things if you had been a knight."
[The Essence of the Manticore that was absorbed into your soul has been removed. Some stats obtained through the passive skill Inheritance are permanently acquired.]
The essence removal I had been so worried about went off without a hitch. I paid exactly twice as much as I paid last time and hurried back home. Then I opened the stopper on the Magic Vial I had purchased earlier.
[The Essence of Gachabone has seeped into your soul.]
The default stats that came with the essence of the rank-six monster Gachabone were simple.
[Your Sixth Sense has increased by +40. Your Physical Resistance has increased by +15. Your Dark Resistance has increased by +30. Your Accuracy has increased by +45.]
They were ambiguous stats if you wanted to play a specific class.
[Your Bone Density has increased by +110.]
The Bone Density stat would give me a human physique. However, there was a penalty.
[Your Luck has decreased by -50. Your Control has decreased by -30.]
Luck increased the probability of random factors like critical hits. Control was helpful for preventing status effects like the psychological spell Fear. Now that they had gone down, they'd have the opposite effect, though.
"Oh."
"Wow..."
When the essence finished absorbing, the two people with me had strange reactions. To be honest, I was the one feeling the strangest. Our eye levels were not that different now. Amelia was around 5'6", I believe? Then did I shrink to around six feet? As I wondered this, Erwen averted her eyes.
"...Do I look that weird?"
"N-No. That's not it..."
"Then what?"
"I-I think... it will be quicker for you to see for yourself..." Erwen pointed to the mirror and I moved toward it, holding my baggy pants up with my hand.
There was no longer a strong barbarian warrior standing there, only a tall, handsome human man. "...Is that me?"
I could see why Ainar had been so depressed back then. I looked so weak, like I'd break something if I got hit with a hammer.
This essence... should I erase it?
That was how dreadful my reflection in the mirror was. No wonder Erwen had averted her eyes when she saw me.
"Um... Mister, what's wrong? Your shoulders suddenly dropped..."
As I was busy feeling depressed, Erwen asked why and I answered honestly. How could I go outside like this? Even Erwen couldn't look at me properly.
"H-Huh? Y-You're mistaken! That's not why I was averting my eyes!"
"Huh? Are you saying it's not because you were holding back your laughter at my pathetic appearance?"
"No! Why would I do that?!"
"Then why did you do that?"
"B-Because," Erwen replied quietly in an embarrassed tone, "you're handsome..."
"What?"
Jeez, her taste is so conventional.
So the reason why she obsessed over me while I was a barbarian was not because she saw me as a man, but because she thought of me as her protector? To get a bigger sample size, I asked Amelia. "Do you think so too?"
"Well..." Amelia stared intently at my face before smirking and turning her head. "Well, it's nice that my neck doesn't hurt looking up at you anymore."
Surprisingly, no one felt negatively about my current appearance. Had I been too influenced by a barbarian mindset?
Thinking about it more carefully, I suppose I'd be considered handsome by modern beauty standards.
Of course, even if that was the case, I had absolutely no desire to keep this appearance. Giantization was relative to your base size. A small body like this wouldn't be efficient.
"Anyway, I'm going to check my new skill. Can you help me?"
I couldn't keep wallowing about my shrunken body forever, so I decided to do what I needed to do. First things first: practicing using my skills.
Since I can't exactly go out in the yard in broad daylight, I should just do this in the living room.
"Yes, I'll help you, Mister. What should I do?"
"Oh, just hit me. Using an elemental or a special ability."
"...Sorry?"
Uh... does this kid not know this essence's passive?
That seemed to be the case, so I briefly explained the passive skill Probabilistic Retaliation. When you received damage that used some kind of resource, the damage had a certain probability of being ignored and reflected. Whether magic, divine power, or elementals, this passive skill applied to anything that used a person's resources. To be honest, the reason I chose this essence was largely because of this skill. Of course, it would be hard to make up for my reduced Mana Resistance with this alone, but this essence was the only one with this kind of performance at this price. My first choice had actually been this same essence in a different color.
Anyway, the probability was about 10 percent...
For reference, this was a figure based on my reduced Luck stat. My default Luck stat—which I had no way of knowing for sure—could cause some margin of error, but it wouldn't be huge.
"Um... then I'll go ahead." Once I finished explaining, Erwen summoned her elementals and started attacking me.
[You have taken Cold damage.]
[You have taken Cold damage.]
[You have taken Cold damage.]
"Erwen, change the attribute."
"Okay!"
[You have taken Fire damage.]
[You have taken Fire damage.]
[You have taken Fire damage.]
What the—?
"W-Wait! Amelia, you try."
"If you want. Your height is just right now."
[You have been hit with Asura's Kick.]
[You have been hit with Asura's Kick.]
[You have been hit with Asura's Kick.]
What is this? No, really, what is this?
"Aghhh! S-Stop!"
Why isn't this working?