Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Chapter 27: The Third Core
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“This makes the third one. Eating cores. I’ve already eaten the Ancient Wolf and Ancient Seal cores.”
“Wooow? Really?”
Bobdal blinked his enormous eyes, as big as his massive body.
“I see. So that’s why you felt so familiar from the moment we met. It’s starting to make sense now.”
“It wasn’t just because of the gift?”
“Of course the gift was the best. But you smelled good too, Claude.”
“Smelled?”
“Yes. Not exactly like us, but still appealing. So familiar that I wanted to hug you tight the moment I saw you.”
No, don’t. I’d die if you did.
Anyway, if even I with my C-grade beast affinity got this reaction, Didi with B+ must have been going wild, biting and licking like crazy.
In the meantime, I felt the core slowly melting in my mouth and being absorbed. The elf boy sitting beside me stared at my face with a strange look and said,
“Prince. White smoke is coming out of your mouth and nose, then going back in.”
“Yeah. That’s how cores get absorbed.”
“Is your body okay? It might be tough for a while. But after that, you’ll gain the power of us Ancient Bears.”
The little white bear asked in a worried tone. Come to think of it, their fur being snow-white like this was a bit shocking. As if they were polar bears or something.
“May the power of the bear surge forth? What exactly gets better?”
“We’ve never fed it to a human, so I don’t know for sure. But definitely strength—you get stronger. And your body—tougher.”
Regal had said something similar before. Anything else?
“Urk!”
Just then, a human scream echoed from afar. Turning my head, I saw a knight who’d been thrown out of the wrestling ring clutching his back and groaning.
-If there’s not enough honey to hand out right away to those greedy bears...
-Take a few strong humans along for now. Bare-handed, no magic armor.
-And if they still won’t give up the core at the end, suggest a contest of strength. If you win here, they might acknowledge you as one of their own and hand over the core.
That was Regal’s advice, so I’d brought Dabi and a few knights.
In the end, the shortage of honey was more than covered by swords and armor.
Above all, the bear cubs were overjoyed even with an amount of honey that wouldn’t fill a tenth of the mansion. So thrilled that it embarrassed us more.
Looks like Regal had misunderstood the Ancient Bears’ traits?
Thanks to that, the accompanying knights were fully immersed in the festival’s entertainment, a wrestling-like contest of strength.
“Those humans are strong. To think they could hold their own against us like that, and bare-handed too. I’m joining in for a round!”
Bobdal waved his hand and dashed back toward the wrestling area. Lanir snorted and said in a low voice,
“I didn’t expect the Ancient Bears to welcome us like this.”
“Yeah, me neither.”
“Is your body alright, Your Highness? Little is known about beast cores. No one knows what side effects might occur.”
“A bit dizzy, but I’m fine. This is already the third one.”
The first was rough, but from the second on, it was nothing. Lanir stared at my face for a long while with a look of wonder.
“...Actually, I heard the story from the warriors who returned first. About that place. The battlefield of the eclipse. About that horrific moment.”
“Yeah. It was truly horrific.”
“One warrior said he saw you fighting while fleeing. He told me how you stood against those monstrous horrors without retreating.”
Really?
An elf had watched me in the midst of that?
“I was moved. To think a mere human—ah, my apologies. It’s just a phrase we used among ourselves.”
“It’s fine. Speak freely.”
“I don’t think of humans that way anymore. Things have changed a lot. I used to want to be a guard for the lord, but now that’s impossible.”
“Yeah. I ended up crushing your dream.”
“No. Now I wouldn’t do it even if they begged me on their knees. The lord tried to poison us and nearly wiped out the elves. You, who executed such a lord, are the elves’ benefactor.”
Right. He definitely deserved to die.
“And I’m very interested in the outside world. The reason I wanted to be the lord’s guard was because I thought it might let me go out of the Eternal Forest sometimes. As an envoy to the dwarves, or to the humans, perhaps.”
Indeed, Dezard handled everything through guards, right? I listened to Lanir’s story without much response.
“But now the lord is gone, and I want to escape the Eternal Forest. Please, Your Highness, won’t you take me in?”
Well, look at that?
Elves don’t usually bare their hearts like this.
But this guy is so blatantly honest? Maybe because he’s young?
“Before that, I have a question.”
“Anything.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m 93 this year.”
Knew it. He looks about fifteen.
“Are there many elves in the forest like you?”
“What do you mean by like me?”
“Elves who want to leave the forest and live in the outside world.”
“Not that I know of. Of course, they might fear being shunned by other elves for being as frank as me.”
Definitely the most honest elf I’ve ever met. No wonder he’d be an outcast in elf society.
But setting aside personality quirks, his high future growth potential is definitely appealing.
Race: Elf
Current Strength: D+
Potential Strength: B
Current Magic: C
Potential Magic: B
Current Enchantment Magic: D+
Potential Enchantment Magic: A+
Potential Spirit Magic: B
That’s excellent.
I’d just been around monsters like Dabi and Tolari, so it didn’t stand out, but dual B-grade potentials in strength and magic are highly valuable.
Spirit magic potential is standard for elves, so aside from that, the A+ enchantment magic potential signals huge future value.
Of course, with only a year left, the problem is there’s no time to properly develop it.
Especially considering elves grow much slower than humans...
“But why do you keep one eye closed? It opens sometimes, so it doesn’t seem injured.”
“Oh, this?”
I blinked my closed right eye and sighed.
“It’s nothing. Just gets disorienting if I open this one.”
“Wow... This eye has a green iris. The lord—no, Dezard—had eyes that color too.”
Of course. This was your lord’s eye.
But looking at Lanir through the lord’s eye...
It’s bizarre.
Until just now, I could only see the flow of essence.
Now, on top of that flow, I see direction—specifically, the detailed nature of the flow.
...Nature?
No, this is emotion.
The feelings he harbors, his mood—whatever you call it, that kind.
Thanks to that, I could read Lanir’s feelings toward me.
Strong curiosity and anticipation.
And above all that, extreme reverence.
Whoa, this kid is even more smitten with me than he lets on. Not a bad feeling, though...
Why can I sense this now?
Wasn’t the lord’s eye just for seeing the essence of things?
What changed?
“Prince? Are you alright?”
Worry and fear flashed across Lanir’s face. Not from his expression—the emotions themselves were visible!
Even the flow of those emotions directed straight at me. For the lord’s eye effect to change this much...
Ah, right.
I just ate a core, didn’t I?
Dabi said before: the core’s power combines with existing senses to create new ones.
So now, the original lord’s eye plus the new sense from the Ancient Bear core...
Have I gained a new synesthesia?
One that perceives others’ emotions? Including the target of those emotions?
“...Lanir?”
“Yes, Prince.”
“See the tall human wrestling with the bear cubs over there?”
I pointed at Dabi. Lanir’s gaze shifted to him, and new emotions surfaced, visible to me.
A bit of fear.
A bit of awe.
And strong curiosity.
“Yeah. His name was Dabi, right? I remember him leaping straight to the third floor of the lord’s castle before.”
“As expected... No, it’s nothing. Just thought Dabi was holding his own well against the bear cubs.”
Meanwhile, Dabi was practically toying with his Ancient Bear opponent. And bare-handed, without magic armor.
“Indeed. I’ve heard he’s the strongest among humans. A Knight Master, was it?”
“Yeah. Knight Master.”
I nodded and shifted my thoughts.
Emotion perception ability.
Why this power of all things?
It’s not bad to have, sure. But it’s useless in fighting otherworld armies, right? What good is reading those monsters’ emotions?
“Great! Human warrior! I’ll take you on this time!”
Just then, Dabi’s opponent switched to the chieftain, Bobdal.
Even for Dabi, victory against a 5-meter-tall bear cub chieftain weighing over ten times as much was impossible, right?
Still, Dabi held out for about a minute, tussling back and forth, before being flipped like an upset banquet table and sent rolling across the ground.
“Ugh!”
Of course, I could see their emotions clashing vividly: fighting spirit and excitement, wariness and superiority.
The target and flow of emotions.
“Hmm...”
Wait a second?
Maybe this emotion perception is more useful in combat than it seems?
“Kuaaaar!”
Having flung Dabi away, Bobdal let out a long roar and charged back toward me.
“That was fun! The guard you brought is truly amazing. Too incredible to call human.”
“He’s a Knight Master, after all. Even without magic armor, his skill alone can overpower most Knight Experts.”
“Knight Master? Knight Expert? Don’t quite get it, but anyway, incredible. A human, without weapons or armor. Incredible. Amazing.”
Bobdal plopped down in front of me, nodding repeatedly.
Come to think of it, speaking of weapons and armor...
Why were these guys so obsessed with the elves’ swords?
“Bobdal?”
“Not Bobdal, Bob-dal. What is it?”
“I’m curious—why is that sword so important?”
“That sword? The one made by the elf chieftain? The one you gave me earlier as a gift?”
“Yeah, that. And the armor too. You were just as thrilled about the armor, right? Lucky the size fit perfectly.”
“Yeah. I was thrilled. The armor too, extremely. Thanks, Claude.”
“As the gift-giver, it’s a bit awkward, but why were you so happy? It’s not for decoration or anything—why do Ancient Bears need swords and armor?”
“Curious?”
Bobdal suddenly thrust his face close to mine.
“Ahem. Hmm. Good smell. Now you completely smell like our tribe.”
Through the lord’s eye, I sensed slight wariness and strong camaraderie.
Along with immense solemnity, gravity, even reverence.
What’s this?
Why’s the mood suddenly so serious?
“So I’ll tell you. Our Ancient tribe’s long-cherished wish.”
* * *
Earthworms.
In the Dark Mountains, home to the Ancient Bears’ nest, monsters called earthworms had appeared long ago.
At first, it wasn’t a big problem.
They had tough shells and immense strength, but in small numbers, they were no match for Ancient Bears.
But the dwarves living alongside in the Dark Mountains caused trouble.
While digging through the mountains for ore veins, they disturbed the earthworms’ deep underground nest.
And the nightmare began.
Vast swarms of earthworms emerged, indiscriminately felling the trees in the mountains.
The Ancient Bears’ forest habitat and prey animals vanished, and their most vital resource, honey, plummeted exponentially.
The dwarves who caused it moved their base to the mountain outskirts and washed their hands of it.
Left to bear the full burden, the Ancient Bears had poured all their efforts into exterminating the earthworms for the past thousand years.
And my honest reaction after hearing this history...
“My god.”
Yeah. Truly, my god.
So that’s why the dwarves and Ancient Bears were on bad terms. It’s a miracle they’re not blood enemies hellbent on killing each other.
“The dwarves are irresponsible scum. At least they’re connected to the outside world, so we asked them to get us some honey, but they wouldn’t even do that.”
“Honey? Even then, honey? You guys really love honey.”
“To Ancient Bears, honey isn’t just food. We get stronger eating honey. We need it to fight at full power. Of course, it tastes great too.”
“Eating honey makes you stronger?”
“Yes.”
“Not just a mood boost—actually physically?”
“Yes. For real.”
He turned his head, gazing fondly at the honey pots stacked in one corner of the village.
“So we need lots of honey. For the final battle with the earthworms. And weapons too.”
“You need weapons? With those insanely tough claws?”
Ancient Bear claws are harder and sharper than most swords. Bobdal gazed at his own claws, then nodded.
“Of course our claws are strong. They can crush ordinary earthworms. But they can’t pierce the queen’s shell.”
“Queen?”
“The earthworm queen is tough. Our tribe has launched three expeditions into the earthworm tunnels. But each time, we couldn’t reach the deepest queen, and her counterattack killed many. My father, my grandfather too.”
“Past chieftains? All the chieftains died hunting earthworms?”
“Yes. That’s why we needed the elf lord’s sword, and the thick armor you brought. To endure without dying. So thank you so much.”
Bobdal suddenly raised his front paw and roared into the air.
“Kuaaaaaar! So enjoy this festival, everyone! Tomorrow morning! We’ll drink all the honey here and launch an expedition into the earthworm tunnels!”
“Kuaaaaaaar!”
The Ancient Bears who’d been dancing and wrestling in the back all raised their front paws and roared together.
“Kuaaaar!”
“Kuar! Kuwaaaar!”
“Tomorrow we end the thousand-year war! I, the chieftain, will lead armed with sword and armor! The Dark Mountains are ours! For ancient glory! Kuaaaaar!”