Chapter 61

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 61

Chapter Title: 20 Level Ability Specialization

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Tipina scanned my body knowingly or unknowingly, adding to Rubyel's explanation.

"One more thing—a healthy body is included. Pure energy couldn't reside in an unhealthy body, after all."

"Uh... does that mean my body is healthy?"

"Yes. But compared to your body, your energy is truly tantalizing."

Could this be the effect of the Leystal Heart too?

'The Leystal Heart boosted my physical abilities and expelled waste along with it.'

If my energy had become even purer in the process, that made sense enough.

But Tipina's increasingly meaningful gaze was starting to burden me.

"Huh? Castaway, what's with you?"

Sirien asked, puzzled by my expression once again.

"Tipina's gaze feels burdensome."

"Yeah?"

Sirien tilted her head as if she couldn't understand, then promptly offered a solution.

"If you hug Tipina once, she won't show this kind of interest anymore."

"Why?"

"Because it'll mix with a woman's energy."

I recalled what Rubyel had said earlier.

Fox tribe beastkin liked pure male energy—the kind that hadn't mixed with a woman's.

'Huh?'

A question occurred to me there, and I asked Sirien.

"What if I hug Tipina herself? Would her interest disappear then?"

In other words, even mixing with the person herself wouldn't hold her interest?

Sirien nodded as if it were obvious, giving a short, concise answer.

"No exceptions."

"......"

It was an utterly fair and impartial attitude.

At that moment, Elisicia spoke up toward Sirien ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and Tipina, suggesting it was time to depart.

"If you two don't have any separate preparations, shall we head out?"

"Yeah. Sounds good."

"Please take care of us."

Sirien and Tipina replied in bright tones, and with that, we began our proper descent into the Great Labyrinth.

"Ah~ That said, I'm hungry. Castaway, got any food?"

"You didn't eat breakfast?"

"Nah. Woke up, got ready, and waited."

At her words, I entered Modern Item Purchase and browsed for decent food.

Since we were on the move, something simple to eat that suited carnivorous beastkin tastes—meat, ideally...

'This should do.'

I gave it high marks for convenience and bought it right away.

"Have this at least."

"What's this? Oh, jerky."

Sirien snatched it, tore open the bag, and started munching on the jerky inside.

Fortunately, it seemed tasty enough, as she marveled immediately after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the first bite.

"Delicious! Totally different from the jerky I had before!"

Sirien then began devouring the jerky like it was snacks, without restraint.

The rest of the group stared at me intently, so I bought five more packs and distributed them.

"Everyone, have one."

"Thanks, I'll dig in."

But didn't the Hero Party polish off four bowls of beef rib soup each this morning?

'Jerky can be saved for later, though.'

As I thought that, someone approached me and offered a piece of jerky.

"Castaway, you have one too."

Turning my head, I saw the fox tribe beastkin Tipina holding out the jerky with a very kind expression.

I was a bit flustered seeing her offer back the jerky I'd given her like some grand gesture, but I declined.

"I'm good. Not really hungry."

"Really? Anyway, I never expected to descend into the labyrinth like this."

"Ah. You've never gone down before?"

"I've been in the labyrinth, but only up to around the 4th or 5th floor."

4th or 5th floor meant we couldn't expect much in terms of combat prowess.

Tipina had joined primarily to protect me, after all.

'Rubyel said before that she's excellent at barriers and concealment.'

Besides, Elisicia had said she could return to the 1st floor of the labyrinth again.

"But Castaway, are you fighting alongside the Hero too?"

"No. Just planning to provide support from the rear."

"Support? Could you tell me how?"

"Thinking of using Telekinesis on 4-channel weapons. That way, I can help without moving myself."

Tipina and I would probably stick together the whole way down into the labyrinth.

Figuring her question related to that, I answered sincerely.

'And I need to level up Telekinesis too.'

On that note, I pulled bloodstones from my inventory and swallowed them one by one.

"Castaway, what are you eating?"

Tipina looked puzzled as I, who'd refused jerky, started eating stones.

"3-channel items. They boost Telekinesis power."

"So Telekinesis is a 3-channel ability?"

"Yes. Others can acquire 3-channel abilities too."

It was just a difference between superior, mid, or low-grade—the abilities themselves could be obtained right now.

But Tipina seemed more interested in something else, staring at me before saying wonderingly,

"You're surprisingly friendly, considering you were wary of me at first."

"We'll be together from now on, so I don't want to make things uncomfortable for you because of me."

At my response, Tipina looked surprised for a moment before breaking into a bright smile.

"Good answer. Truth is, I wanted to get close to you too, Castaway."

"......"

I pondered her reason for wanting to get close for a second.

Pure goodwill? Or because of my energy?

'No use overthinking it.'

Either way, I'd have to stick with Tipina going forward.

Concluding there was no point dwelling on it, I nodded and continued swallowing bloodstones.

"Castaway. More jerky?"

In the meantime, Sirien shook an empty bag and asked.

"......You already finished it?"

"Yeah!"

Even jerky—over 300g, no small amount—was just a snack for Sirien.

'Well, yeah.'

Come to think of it, the Hero Party ate massive amounts ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too.

I was inwardly curious how they packed away so much with those slender builds.

"Here."

Anyway, the moment I bought another pack and handed it to Sirien,

I could see a call coming in from Golden King.

'Was gonna contact after hitting level 20 on Telekinesis.'

Thinking that, I accepted the 1:1 video call and saw Golden King's face, looking slightly fatigued.

-Contacted to check how far yesterday's matter has progressed.

"Ah. I heard all about the zombies and awakening stones. And about the roughly two thousand abilities and their ranks too."

-Really?

Golden King looked at me with a briefly surprised expression.

"I got a few awakening stones too, so I can give you some if you need."

-......You're handling things better than I expected.

Perhaps the results exceeded expectations, as Golden King even said something peculiar.

-How many awakening stones do you have?

"Well."

Naturally, I excluded the superior awakening stones.

I also set aside a few mid-grade ones I might give to the Hero Party.

'And the low-grade ones I'll use myself.'

After that, the remaining awakening stones.

In simple terms, the number I could give to Golden King.

"Mid-grade 2, low-grade 9."

-Not bad. That should be enough to pressure the military into handing over some weapons.

If Golden King was telling the truth, it was a win for me.

Two mid-grade and nine low-grade for a total of four military-grade weapons.

"Castaway, why are you suddenly muttering to yourself?"

Separately, Tipina asked why I was talking alone.

Fortunately, Elisicia nearby explained.

"Looks like Castaway's doing a 1:1 video call. He has to speak out loud for those."

"1:1 video call?"

Next, Sirien showed interest in the 1:1 video call while still chewing jerky.

'No helping it.'

To satisfy Sirien and Tipina's curiosity, I shared my gallery window.

The moment Sirien saw my gallery window, she clung to my back like piggybacking and peered at the screen.

"Whoa! You're talking to this guy?"

Thanks to that, her warm body heat came through, along with a scent like she'd soaked up the sun.

'And her chest is pretty impressive too...'

My attention naturally drifted there again, so I shook my head to snap out of it.

-Others are visible this time?

"Newly joined members."

-You're more popular than expected. Anyway, tell me the info on the zombies and awakening stones.

Golden King gave Sirien and Tipina an odd look but soon returned to business.

"Yes. First, the zombies..."

I relayed everything I'd heard from Ice Queen yesterday to Golden King.

Golden King listened calmly, tapping away at something with both hands—probably taking notes.

'Even with 4-channel world tech, he has to record manually?'

Or maybe it was unavoidable due to the gallery's nature.

-That resolves most of my questions. Just tell me the ability types now.

"All two thousand of them?"

-Or write them in a gallery memo and send it. That's much easier for me too.

Writing two thousand abilities in a memo...

'Gotta do it?'

Thinking it was necessary, I nodded without choice.

"Yes. I'll send a memo."

-Then we're done. Just send the awakening stones and memo.

"Take the awakening stones first."

With that, I handed over two mid-grade and nine low-grade awakening stones.

Golden King received them, then turned his gaze to Sirien and Tipina, who were still glued to the screen beside me.

-......

But Golden King said nothing about them and quietly ended the video call.

'Did he notice Sirien and Tipina are beastkin?'

The moment I thought that, Sirien's voice came, laced with puzzlement.

"It was a look like he was comparing me to someone else."

"Comparing?"

"Yeah. Definitely."

Tipina chimed in too.

"The chief's eyes are accurate, so you can trust that."

But did Golden King have any reason to compare these two to someone?

I thought about it, but only Quick Fix Doctor came to mind, and there was no reason to compare him to them.

Leaving the question as is, I soon pulled paper from my inventory and began listing abilities one by one in a gallery memo.

'Expected this, but man...'

It was no small task.

Still, necessary work, so I kept at it.

'There were A-grade abilities like this.'

Starting with infinite bullets, which I knew well, there were rock golems, infection cures, time stops, knight summons, flame towers, and such.

'B-grades are similar.'

Anyway, as I wrote them down, I occasionally grabbed handfuls of bloodstones and swallowed them, continuing the work.

Taking occasional breaks while steadily consuming bloodstones, I finally finished after some time.

'All done.'

I sent the memo listing abilities and ranks to Golden King.

After that, finishing off the bloodstones, I saw that Telekinesis had maxed out.

'Now, eat the remaining three low-grade awakening stones.'

'Ice Queen said it goes up about 0.05% to 0.1%.'

Considering that, it seemed like a solid increase.

With that in mind, I swallowed bloodstones one by one to finally reach level 20.

The moment I'd swallowed over three hundred,

'It leveled up.'

Now my Telekinesis could produce 1.6 tons of force per hand.

With four hands total, that combined for 6.4 tons of force.

'What?'

'Where'd the hand count option go?'