Chapter 63

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 63

Chapter Title: Power Enhancement (1)

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I transferred some bloodstones to Elisicia, raising her Instant Acceleration ability to level 10.

In the process, the number of bloodstones she consumed totaled 415—faster than I expected to reach level 10.

For reference, Elisicia's level 10 ability specializations were as follows.

'Is it because it's C-grade?'

Looking closely at the specialization list, there were some flaws.

Things like physical strain during use or vision not keeping up with the speed.

"I chose 4."

With that, Elisicia selected option 4, applying Instant Acceleration to her optic nerve as well.

"Wouldn't 3 be better? It reduces physical strain."

Plus, now that Instant Acceleration was at level 10, she could use it up to 10 times in a row.

So, considering 10 consecutive uses, reducing strain might be better.

'Though she's already chosen.'

Fortunately, Elisicia was satisfied with her choice.

"My body's tough, so it's fine. I thought securing my vision was more important."

I nodded at her response, and the beastkin tribe chief, Sirien, showed interest in the ability.

"Hero. Can you show me what it does?"

"It's an ability that boosts my speed about 3 times."

As Elisicia spoke, she activated it and vanished in an instant.

Strangely, whenever Elisicia used Instant Acceleration, I couldn't follow her with my eyes.

'Guess that means she's that fast?'

On the other hand, Sirien seemed genuinely impressed, as if she could track the hero's movements.

"Whoa, super fast! Can I get that ability too?"

"You can get an ability by consuming the Awakening Stones Castaway has, but... I doubt it'd be the same as mine."

"Awakening Stones? Those things you get from killing zombies on Channel 3?"

"Yes."

Sirien immediately turned to me.

Her cat-like large eyes sparkled.

"Castaway. Can I have one Awakening Stone?"

"I have two Superior ones and five Intermediate ones. I'm thinking about how to distribute them."

"Superior? Didn't you say on the video call earlier that Superiors are super rare?"

"They really are rare. Hard to get."

In fact, unless a third Zombie Queen appeared and sparked a war, I wondered if we'd get more Superiors.

'Or I could lend her the Nightmare Ghost and ask her to fetch a Superior Awakening Stone.'

But if something went wrong, it'd be a headache in many ways.

Anyway, when I confirmed they were rare, Sirien nodded and said,

"Then give me an Intermediate one. Oh, are Intermediates okay?"

"Intermediates are fine, but... Superiors have a higher chance of better abilities."

"Did the hero eat a Superior?"

"No. The hero ate an Intermediate too."

Back then, we didn't have Superiors, so I gave her an Intermediate.

"Really? Intermediate's fine for me. If it's bad, I can just pretend I don't have it."

Sirien seemed to want Instant Acceleration like Elisicia but was fine if it didn't come up.

'Maybe Sirien's attitude is the right one.'

Interested in abilities but not obsessed—that might be the way.

With that thought, I nodded and pulled an Intermediate Awakening Stone from my inventory, handing it over.

"Just swallow it."

"Does the ability come right away?"

"Yes."

"That's amazing."

Sirien swallowed the Intermediate Awakening Stone without hesitation.

'Wonder what ability Sirien gets.'

Any ability could be decent once leveled up, but I hoped for a good one.

"Oh? I got C-grade, [Strength Wave]."

Strength Wave?

"What's that?"

"You don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠know? Let me try it."

Bam!

Activating Strength Wave, a red aura spread from Sirien's body in a circle.

'About 3 meters radius?'

The spread was narrower than expected.

But upon contact with the red aura, I felt a strange sensation in my body.

'What is this?'

As I puzzled over it, Elisicia spoke.

"Strength increased."

"Strength?"

"Yes. It's slight, but definite."

Hearing that, I could indeed feel my strength rise.

It seemed like an ability that boosted everyone's strength upon contact with the red aura.

'That's pretty good, right?'

Of course, here only Elisicia and Sirien needed strength, but still a good ability.

"Oh. But this... I can only use it every 6 hours."

Just as I thought it was good, the drawback emerged.

"6 hours is too long for frequent use."

"Plus, the strength boost is minimal."

"That should improve with levels."

Seizing the moment, I pulled out bloodstones and fed them to Sirien.

'Fortunately, it's a decent ability, so leveling to 10 is fine.'

With 450 bloodstones, I filled it to level 9 max, then 38 more to reach level 10.

"I'll take 1!"

Sirien chose 1 without hesitation.

Honestly, it didn't seem like there were better options besides 1.

'If it's a situation like the Channel 3 war, the range wouldn't be bad.'

But the duration was lacking.

'15 minutes.'

As expected of C-grade—the ability was good, but flawed in spots.

'With this, strength triples?'

15 minutes of triple strength definitely boosted our power.

Separately, with Elisicia and now Sirien both getting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good abilities, I wondered if there was a pattern.

'Or maybe all Awakening Stone abilities are good?'

My telekinesis was good too, so possible.

As I considered testing with a Superior Awakening Stone,

I saw another video call from Golden King.

'Did he get the guns already?'

Accepting the 1:1 video call, Golden King's increasingly familiar face appeared.

-…

"…?"

But the one who called just stared at me silently, saying nothing.

"What's up?"

-…For now, I managed to get the four guns you mentioned.

"Already?"

-It's only natural since I took it on personally.

Fortunately, Golden King responded in her usual haughty demeanor.

-It wasn't easy, though. If a good ability or two popped from the inferior Awakening Stones I used as bait, it would've been simpler.

"No good ones from Inferiors?"

-No. Things like stamina amp, shield summon, electric discharge.

Inferior Awakening Stones give E~F grades.

Considering that, those abilities probably weren't that effective.

'Stamina amp would be minimal, shield summon weaker than Channel 4 shields.'

Probably something like that.

-Thanks to that, even though I offered just one gun... I used Golden King Company to snag all four.

"Ah... Yes. Thank you so much."

I thought Golden King, as usual, would brush it off as nothing, but no.

Using the company meant company loss, not personal, perhaps.

"More bloodstones?"

-Talking like giving candy to a kid. Of course, if you offer, I'll take.

She must've worked hard behind the scenes, so I initiated a 1:1 trade and sent 400 bloodstones.

"350 more gets you to level 9 max. Then 1% chance for level 10."

-50 should get me to around level 10. Then I get specializations too?

"Yes. Choose what you like."

Golden King nodded and uploaded the guns she'd acquired.

Four rifles, all thick and heavy-looking, ignoring weight.

'Rifle-shaped.'

Otherwise, sleek and cool designs.

-They're Taihwa Type 9s. Weapons that fire bullets using nuclear fusion energy from the core inside.

Wait.

"…Nuclear fusion energy?"

-If that's hard to grasp, think plasma rifle. Power... you'll see when you use it.

Without more words, she urged me to try and explained ammo next.

-But bullets use quantum alloy cores. Hard to get here. If you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠need, I can...

"No, ammo's fine."

-Fine? You have infinite ammo too?

"Not infinite, but I can refill with points."

Golden King stared silently again.

-The military's dream recruit is here.

"Have to spend points, so not frequently."

Past ammo prices were fine, but these were different.

'Quantum alloy core?'

Definitely pricier than normal.

Couldn't fire endlessly.

-Anyway, got it. One less worry.

"Thanks for getting the weapons too."

-…

Golden King stared again at my thanks.

Even I could tell she had something to say.

"Uh, say what you want."

-Oops. Didn't expect you to read my face.

Wasn't she hoping I'd notice?

-As you guessed, I have a question. Can you answer?

"Sure."

I nodded, and Golden King asked,

-Why does the gallery system use honorifics for you?

"…?"

Honorifics?

After hearing Golden King, I checked with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Elisicia.

I had Elisicia and Rubyel request 1:1 chats to compare system messages.

"You're right. Castaway's is different."

Elisicia compared my message to Rubyel's.

This was Rubyel's message to Elisicia.

I'd seen it often, so hadn't noticed.

But,

This was mine.

No one mentioned it, and I hadn't 1:1 chatted or traded with the Hero Party here, so I hadn't noticed.

'What's this?'

Of course, I had to tell Golden King honestly that I didn't know.

She looked suspicious but eventually accepted my sincerity.

"…."

Regardless, I knew nothing about this system message difference.