Chapter 29
Chapter 29 - Another Senior(3)
Of course, I hated this life to the point of wanting to die.
However, it's not entirely bad either.
If nothing else, leveling up was incredibly fast.
This was likely because my battles with the Margrave were like a 'party hunting' style in games where experience points are distributed.
In other words, it means I was getting absolutely carried while hunting with a high-level wizard.
As a result, my current status is as follows:
[Name: Park Jung-yong]
[Title: 163417413th Hero. Guardian of the Demon King's Egg. One Bound to Immortality]
[LV. 83]
[HP: 635/635 MP: 210/210 Physical Condition: Normal]
[Strength: 103 Agility: 149 Intelligence: 23 Hero Sense: 6]
[Remaining Ability Points: 0]
Can you feel the difference in strength?
At least I can feel it deep within. Honestly, I'm barely even human at this point.
I can split rocks with my bare hands, and I can run 1 kilometer in just 30 seconds, let alone 100 meters.
In addition to the stats raised during level-ups, there are also stats that automatically increased whenever I used strength or agility. Perhaps because I focused on mobility-based combat, my agility exploded.
My intelligence increased because of that too. I've never invested a single point in intelligence.
Then, how about my skills?
The skills I'm currently learning are as follows:
[Skill List]
[Mimir's Eye (Passive) LV.11]
[Divine Favor (Passive) LV.20 (Mastered)]
[Death God’s Favour (Passive) LV.20 (Mastered)]
[Ether Collection (Passive) LV.5]
[Prometheus (Passive) LV.10 (Mastered)]
[Backstab (Passive) LV.11]
[Stealth (Active) LV.11]
[Tremor (Active) LV.7]
[Lotus Flower (Active) LV.5]
[Fierce Ambush (Passive) LV.6]
[Flash Step (Active) LV.5]
[Seven Sword Pierce (Active) LV.4]
Most of these, no, in fact all except Stealth and Backstab, were stolen from Margrave. [TL/N: 👀]
What I didn't expect was that the Prometheus skill I received as a special privilege for being an Egg Guardian has an incredible synergy when next to a strong person.
Just by watching, I can learn the usage, and by mimicking it a few times, I can reach a state where I can acquire someone's ultimate skill.
Of course, when copying, there's a level difference, so it becomes a somewhat inferior minor copy. But even so, this was a truly tremendous, cheat-like effect.
Realizing this while fighting with the Margrave, I quickly began raising the Prometheus skill together. Now it has reached the master level of 10, and the efficiency of my skill theft(?) has also increased significantly.
One day, the Margrave saw me using his techniques as casually as eating.
The Margrave grabbed my shoulder with a shocked expression.
"No! That technique is a special secret passed down in our family! Did you learn it just by watching?!"
"Oh... ha ha. Well, it just happened somehow..."
"You're a friend with more outstanding martial arts talent than I expected! How about it! Won't you become my official disciple?!"
"Oh... That's a bit..."
Well, such a funny incident did happen.
Anyway, I learned only those skills from the Margrave that seemed useful to me.
Mainly those useful for escaping,
Stabbing from behind,
Disrupting posture,
Or those that bewitch the opponent to enable an ambush.
Skills full of petty tricks.
Tremor, which sticks a sword in the ground to cause an earthquake, is good for escaping.
Lotus Flower is a skill that instantly detects the opponent's magical power and teleports to their rear. It has excellent synergy with the passive skill Backstab.
Fierce Ambush provides explosive speed limited to the first strike on the opponent.
Seven Sword Pierce is a skill that channels magical energy into a sword, causing seven magical blades to simultaneously thrust forward.
"Whew... It was tough today."
At the moment this life continued exactly for another month, a change occurred.
The woman I (more precisely, Margrave) saved finally woke up from her sickbed.
Returning exhausted after hunting with the Margrave, she, who had always been lying on my bed like she was dead, was looking at me with wide-open eyes.
"... Ung?"
"... Oops?"
The woman's cheeks were quite swollen.
Looking closely, the bowl of porridge I fed her at lunchtime was in her hand. She must have been hungry right after waking up.
"……."
"……."
I froze halfway through entering the room.
The woman hurriedly shoving spoonfuls stopped and dropped her spoon with a clang. After swallowing the porridge in her mouth with difficulty, she carefully placed the bowl on the side table.
And then she crawled into the blanket, her face turning bright red.
"... I... I was just hungry... I'm, I'm sorry."
"No... there's nothing to be sorry about."
She seemed to think I was staring because of her hurried eating.
There's nothing to be embarrassed about. After being asleep for almost a month and only eating porridge, it's natural to be hungry.
I quickly pulled myself together and prepared to open the door and leave again.
"Anyway, you've woken up. I have a lot to ask you."
"Oh, yes."
"Well, they say even Mount Geumgang looks good after a meal. It seems you're hungry, so I'll bring you some food. Is there anything you want to eat?"
"Oh, no! It's okay! I just ate some porridge, so I'm full..."
She waved her hand, but at that moment, a loud rumbling sound conveniently erupted.
The black-haired woman realized the sound came from her own stomach and covered herself with the blanket again. Her barely visible ear had turned bright red.
Damn it. If you could just honestly and candidly tell me what you want to eat, that would be nice. I hate wasting time.
I snapped my fingers somewhat forcefully and said:
"Tell me what you want to eat. I'll give you 3 seconds. 3, 2, 1...."
"M-meat."
She peeked out from under the blanket and said this.
Carefully. Looking at me with passionate eyes.
... Well, the body is honest despite the shock. Yeah. It's understandable to want to tear into some meat.
I nodded and immediately left the room.
"Received. I don't know if it's chicken, pig, or cow, so don't ask for specifics."
"Yes, yes."
I ran straight to the kitchen.
Leila would be in the kitchen. When Leila doesn't have sewage maintenance work, she's mostly in the kitchen or utility room.
In fact, it's natural. She's a maid. Fundamentally, a maid's work isn't combat but various household chores. With no head chef, cooking is no exception.
"Hey Leila. Give me some leftover meat if you have any."
Leila, who was preparing Margrave's dinner, looked at me with a bewildered face. And soon, her eyes were mixed with disgust and contempt.
“… Junior… or should I say, you? You already ate earlier, didn’t you? Just like those vulgar swine. You can’t get enough once it’s food, can you?”
“Oh, right. I’ll be like those swine, so what? Are you giving or not?”
"……."
I've been treating Leila pretty roughly for the past week.
If you ask if I'm relying on the Margrave's backing... it's half true. But I have a bigger reason for doing this.
I am now stronger than Leila.
[Name: Leila]
[Titles: Clumsy Maidservant, Halcenberg’s Sewage Management, Gwyn's Lover]
[LV. 63]
[HP: 420/420 Mana: 337/337 Physical Condition: Normal]
[Strength: 79 Agility: 88 Intelligence: 32]
As my level instantly increased, Mimir's eye was also enhanced, and I could finally see her status.
And at the point of visibility, my level was already surpassing Leila's level.
Oh, that sense of victory! That superiority! That intoxication!
I broke free from my momentary reverie and pressed Leila again.
"Do you have it or not?"
"I have it, but I'm not giving it to you. Hmph."
Oh. Did I scratch her the wrong way? Leila seems upset.
I sighed and immediately made her a deal. Since we were never close anyway, I came prepared to compromise to some extent.
"Alright. I'll do all the laundry and sewage cleaning today and tomorrow. Deal?"
"Deal."
Leila nodded as if she'd been waiting and threw the entire pot at me.
I barely caught it and looked at her. But she just stuck out her tongue mockingly.
Anyway, there's no cute charm. I grumbled to myself and returned to the room.
"Wait's over. I brought food."
"Wow, woah...."
Seemingly not expecting me to bring the entire pot, the black-haired woman opened her mouth wide. I placed the pot on the table and opened the lid.
It was an ordinary pork stew. As soon as I opened it, its unique fragrant smell filled the entire room.
"... Slurp."
The woman was drooling, saliva almost flowing.
When I stared blankly at her, she came to her senses with a "Hot!" and hastily wiped her saliva. And her face turned red like an apple again.
I handed her the spoon from the porridge bowl.
"Here. Eat. I already ate, so you can have it all."
"Re-, Really?"
"Yeah."
"Th-, Thank you... Ah, no. I'm not a pig, how can I eat all of this?"
Trying to act modest belatedly. And it was confirmed that it was indeed modesty within 30 minutes.
Because she emptied an entire pot in 30 minutes.
"...... Eating well."
"...... Urgh."
I was also somewhat surprised by that incredible appetite. At my words, the woman twisted her body and let out a small burp. Embarrassed by that, her face turned red again.
There are indeed many things to be embarrassed about in this world.
"Well, anyway. You've probably filled your urgent hunger."
I pulled a chair from beside the table and sat down in front of her. She seemed to sense my mood had changed and looked a bit tense.
I let out a small chuckle and said to her:
"Let's talk some business now."