Chapter 61
Finding out that the child Nazar was in the Wrath Dungeon was quite a shock to Jae.
When he thought about it, it should’ve been obvious.
Nazar was the last survivor after all, so it wouldn’t make sense if he wasn’t there when it happened. Nevertheless, Jae didn’t expect to see the Nazar from over a thousand years ago―Nazar from when he was a child the same age as Bailey.
It didn’t hinder his plans in the slightest, however.
The fact that these people were merely fabricated recreations of real people that used to exist? It didn’t matter.
Turning his head back to Asik, Jae opened his mouth.
“By the way.”, he said. An idea had sprouted within his head, and he was adamant about seeing it to the end.
“―Do any of you have Evil Eyes for transportation? Oh, and, do you have a world map?”
He had already noted that Kanta, the owner of the Evil Eye of Sealing had been found. Now, if he could just do this, it may be possible to pay Nazar back for all he’s done.
“Huh? Oh, uh, yes, there are a few here who can do something about movement or transport, and there is indeed someone who can determine location... But, why do you ask?”
Jae, after a moment of silence, only smiled.
“Do you trust me?”
----------------------------------------
It has been roughly 10 days since Ryan’s party, including Rena, have come to the Land of Beasts. So far, the total number of monsters they have fought and killed...
...Is 3.
Despite having somewhat adapted to the new environment, they still were only strong enough to fight one monster every three days. This was because of the necessary processes involved.
To fight one monster, you see, they needed one day to plan and prepare for the battle, one day to kill the monster, and another day to rest and recuperate after the battle.
Honestly, it may be possible to defeat two monsters in three days, but the risk grew exponentially for each additional monster that was fought, so, to them, it simply wasn’t worth the potential loss.
This was just how strong the monsters that inhabited the Land of Beasts were.
On the other hand, the more monsters they fought and defeated, the stronger they would get and the easier the battles would become.
Thus, currently, they were in the middle of their preparation day. On these days, they would analyse their prey―its behavioural patterns, possible weaknesses, et cetera―as well as their own abilities and even the topography and environmental conditions of the terrain to achieve the highest possible chances of winning.
Of course, despite the slow start, no one dared to complain. They needed to do at least this much to prepare for a life and death battle, after all, and if they didn’t work hard now then they would never be strong.
And so, with everyone in serious business mode, there was little time for banter and joking around.
――With the exception of one person, that is.
“If Daddy was here, he could get rid of the monsters whenever he wanted. Daddy doesn’t need to do things like prepare or look for weaknesses because he’s so strong.”
“...”
It was not the first time she had said this; on the contrary, similar things have been spoken by Rena ever since they arrived here.
Every time, they asked who her father was, but she would just reply with something along the lines of “Daddy’s cool!” or “Daddy is the strongest!”. They never grew sick or tired of her incessant remarks; instead, they only became more and more curious as time went on about what his identity was.
Because, if he was truly someone that strong, they would have at least heard of him before, right?
In any case, a child who loves their parent saying their parent is the best person in the entire world is not an uncommon occurrence in the slightest, so there was also a bit of doubt there.
“...It reminds me of that time as kids when everyone would compete with whose dad had the ‘best job’, y’know?”
The group nodded their heads to Nicolas’ statement. Meanwhile, Ryan was thinking to himself.
Seriously, who the fuck is this kid’s dad? It’s fuckin’ weird every time I see it.
Of course, what Ryan was looking at, was Rena’s Status.
〔Status〕
Rena Illujhin
Level 52
Class : Wielder of Magic
Health Points (HP) : 1,483 / 1,483
Mana Points (MP) : 13,071 / 13,071
Title :「Impossible Child」
Strength : 211
Endurance : 261
Race : Demon / Spirit (Mixed)
Dexterity : 262
Agility : 314
Age : 6
Magic : 734
Wisdom : 459
Titles :「Impossible Child」「Child of Magic」「Royalty」「Elementary-tier Magician」「Goblin Killer」「Wolf Killer」「Monster Killer」「Apprentice-tier Magician」「Bear Killer」「Beast Killer」「Intermediate-tier Magician」「Orc Killer」「Wolf Hunter」「Bear Hunter」「Advanced-tier Magician」「Drake Killer」「Monster Hunter」「Saint-tier Magician」「Mammal Killer」「Natura Magician」
Luck : 180
Passive Skills :「MP Consumption Down [Lv.6]」「Automatic MP Recovery [Lv.6]」「Charisma [Lv.4]」「Healthy [Lv.2]」「Automatic HP Recovery [Lv.2]」
Active Skills :「Sneak [Lv.3]」「Power Burst [Lv.1]」「Concealment [Lv.3]」「Mana Concealment [Lv.5]」
Magic Skills :「Mana Sense [Lv.MAX]」「Mana Manipulation [Lv.8]」「Wind Magic (ALL) [Lv.6]」「Earth Magic (ALL) [Lv.8]」「Fire Magic (ALL) [Lv.7]」「Water Magic (ALL) [Lv.7]」「Ice Magic (ALL) [Lv.4]」「Lightning Magic (ALL) [Lv.3]」「Light Magic (ALL) [Lv.2]」「Dark Magic (ALL) [Lv.1]」「Barrier Magic (ALL) [Lv.3]」
Enhancement Skills : 「Sense Enhancement (ALL) [Lv.3]」「Body Enhancement [Lv.1]」
Resistance Skills :「Pain Tolerance [Lv.8]」「Slash Resistance [Lv.2]」「Blunt Resistance [Lv.2]」「Bleed Resistance [Lv.3]」「Pain Resistance [Lv.1]」「Heat Tolerance [Lv.2]」「Wind Magic Resistance [Lv.1]」」「Trauma Resistance [Lv.3]」「Exhaustion Resistance [Lv.2]」「Earth Magic Resistance [Lv.1]」「Fire Magic Resistance [Lv.1]」「Dark Magic Resistance [Lv.1]」
Combat Skills :「Combo [Lv.2]」「Close-Quarters Combat [Lv.1]」「Fighting Spirit [Lv.5]」「Staff Mastery [Lv.2]」
Perception Skills :「Memory [Lv.4]」「Mapping [Lv.4]」「Concentration [Lv.4]」「Aura Sense [Lv.3]」「Thought Processing [Lv.9]」「Thought Acceleration [Lv.9]」
Communication Skills :「Seronian Language Comprehension [Lv.5]」「Asphalian Language Comprehension [Lv.8]」
Production Skills :「Harvesting: Creatures [Lv.2]」「Harvesting: Produce [Lv.1]」
Other skills:「SR=N*F」「Demonic Magic Erasure」
Seriously... This ain’t the Status of a six-year-old. Is the dad a fuckin’ demon or somethin’? The Queen appeared to know ‘bout it, but what kinda person makes a little girl fight monsters?
Ryan was self-aware of how merciless or selfish he may seem to other people, but even he thought that, whoever the father of Rena was, went too far.
He did think there were some interesting things hidden within the Status, though, and did not hesitate to check them out with the『Insight』function of「Great Sage’s Eyes」.
Title -「Impossible Child」
[Description]
A title that only belongs to those whose existences are impossible.
Birthed from the copulation of a Grand Spirit and a Royal Demon, two bloodlines like oil and water have mixed into something unprecedented.
Although the child should not have been conceived, the laws of the world have been defied.
Those who hold this title have immeasurable potential and are fated to grow up into one of history’s unforgettable names, be it for better or for worse.
Conversely, the holder can defy fate.
《The holder of this title has extraordinary potential.》
《The holder of this title cannot be bound by fate.》
Reading this, Ryan didn’t know what to say. It was incredible, but all he gathered from it was that Rena’s father was a Spirit―a high-ranking Grand Spirit at that.
Aside from that, he guessed that the ‘extraordinary potential’ part signalled an increase in experience gain or skill proficiency gain, as well as possibly increasing the Level Limit.
Of course, this wasn’t the only thing that Ryan looked into.
Title -「Child of Magic」
[Description]
An exceedingly rare title for one to hold.
Birthed from a pair of individuals who are descendants of a species well-versed in the magical arts, the holder has naturally inherited that aptitude and has been blessed as an incredible magic-user.
Should the holder endeavour for a future in magic, their efforts are bound to bear fruit.
《The holder of this title has incredible magic talent.》
Ryan surmised that this was one of the main reasons behind Rena’s absurd magical skills for someone of her age. Combined with her class, [Wielder of Magic], it was easy to see why she was so strong at such a young age.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Next, however, was a skill he had never heard of before.
Skill -「SR=N*F」
[Description]
A skill that is unique to high-ranking descendants of the Spirit Race.
Some of the effects are mitigated due to mixed blood.
《Names are vital to a Spirit’s existence.》
《As long as the holder’s name is not forgotten, the lifespan will always be semi-eternal.》
《If the holder’s name is forgotten, the lifespan will be drastically reduced and permission to access the Spirit World will be retracted.》
《Spirit Magic can be learned.》
《The aptitude for all kinds of magic is increased sharply.》
《The Level Limit is dramatically increased.》
《Upon achieving tremendous growth, the limit on magic will slowly fade.》
...The fuck?
It was truly an unbelievable skill, though certain parts of it seemed a tad cryptic. Going through it one by one, it seemed that names were highly valued by the Spirit race and that it even determines the length of their lifespan.
Eh, since she’s half-blood, there’s prolly less of an effect than there’d usually be. The last two lines are prolly related―somethin’ like bein’ able to cast magic without needin’ to chant when levellin’ up enough, maybe.
There was any number of theories he could generate, considering that the effects were pretty vague. Thus, Ryan didn’t bother with it.
After analysing the contents of her Status, Ryan was easily able to comprehend the reason why Rena was so proficient at magic at a young age. Especially, if all the effects of the various Titles and skills are stacked on top of each other, it was hard to imagine that someone more talented than her could even exist.
It only served to deepen his curiosity as to how her father was even better than her, a prodigy.
Once again, he examined the rest of the party’s Status’, and came to a satisfactory conclusion.
“We can prolly speed up the process.”
Everyone’s faces lit up in response to his judgement. After all, no one felt good having to spend three days on a single monster. Interrupting their elated atmosphere, Ryan roughly gestured towards a truly tremendous mountain that towered frighteningly over the monster-infested lands.
“We’re goin’ to the peak of that thing.”, he said without a single change in his flat expression.
“””...”””
Cold sweat ran down each of the party members’ necks as they turned to the mountain. Just to get a glimpse at their destination, they were forced to raise their heads to such an angle that their spines felt like they were going to snap.
None of them had ever visited Nepal back on Earth, but even without that, they could tell at a glance that it was far larger than Everest. The summit stretched into the sea of inky clouds above and even further beyond.
Merely looking at the sheer scale of the thing gave them chills.
Nicolas, rubbing his arms to soothe the arising goosebumps, turned to Ryan and asked.
“He--Hey... Doesn’t that seem... way too extreme? There’s no way we can get all the way up there.”
Ryan looked at him blankly.
“Obviously, not right now, moron. As we go, we get stronger. Everyone’s got a lotta levellin’ up to do, so it’ll get easy by the time we get there.”
“...Right...”
The group prepared for a trepidatious and restless ascent up the sinister, bone-chilling mountain.
----------------------------------------
You have exited the『Wrath Dungeon』
Dungeon Clear Status:【0.8%】
The designated Dungeon Boss has been defeated,『Wrath Dungeon』will now experience collapse
The designated Dungeon Boss has been defeated, rewards will be given
Reward: Functions of skill「Wrath」will be fully unlocked
Skill「Wrath [Lv.4]」has been acquired and rose to [Lv.MAX]
Due to reaching [Lv.MAX] with a【Sin】-grade skill, Level Limit increased by 50
Jae found himself in a rather strange place. The first thing he did was reflexively smile as a response to getting his magic abilities back.
The second thing he did was sigh in relief upon seeing not only Bailey, but all 125 members of the Aram standing perplexedly in an erratic manner, all over the place.
So they can freely enter and exit the Dungeon...!
His gamble had paid off. The crux of Jae’s plan was to rely on the Evil Eyes’ capability to go through the Dungeon exit with him, and fortunately, it worked.
The primary reason for his belief that it would work is because of what Aphy once told him―the stories about Dragons in the Pride Dungeon occasionally leaving and her having to exit the Dungeon to either kill them or bring them back.
Of course, those stories could have all been fabricated, but he didn’t think it was the case. Even if they were untrue, it didn’t matter. Since the plan worked.
After his relief, the first thing Jae noticed was that it wasn’t the Evil Eye village. What it was, confused him...
...Wow. At least, for once, it’s not a bloody forest.
They stood in a park-like place with a crystal-clear lake surrounded by grassy hills. He thought it was an unusually peaceful place for this world, but maybe it was just because it isn’t a forest.
Anyway, before it’s too late, I need to find her...
Jae hurriedly scanned the Aram, trying to find a certain individual. Meanwhile, notifications continued to appear in his peripheral vision.
Title「Apostle of Sin」has activated
Initiating assimilation with「Wrath」
Suddenly, the sound of the bustling surroundings began to down out from Jae’s ears.
He felt his body heating up rapidly―as if a fire had been set within him.
His nose felt abnormally hot, and he began to notice the scent of iron creeping into his nostrils as they flared.
His sight, turning frantic, was beginning to dye over with red.
The blood rushing to his head caused his emotions to feel like running wild.
And―
Assimilation with「Wrath」complete
Just as the System message appeared, notifying Jae of what was happening, he didn’t even notice it.
Title「Ruler of Wrath」has been acquired
The final thing to enter his mind was an Aram woman with glowing eyes looking right at him.
「Wrath」has activated
――Ultimately, he couldn’t help but succumb to the unnatural frenzy that abruptly overcame him.
...
......
『Wrath's Authority』has been acquired
By the time Jae opened his eyes, it was the only notification to remain. Unlike before, his mind was calm, exactly like the lake he saw when he raised his head.
“Hey. You’re up already? It’s only been an hour.”
A woman spoke to him. Getting up from the ground where he lay, Jae confirmed her identity as the one who went missing a while ago.
“Kanta, right? Thanks for the help.”
“It’s not a problem, since no one ended up injured. Though, I never once thought someone would actually ask me to use my Sealing Eye on them...”
That’s right. Before exiting the Dungeon, Jae asked Kanta to use her Evil Eye of Sealing on him once they crossed through the exit to prevent him from harming anyone while he was unable to control himself. Thankfully, she managed to seal him before he did anything.
But, was it really just an hour? Hm...
Not wanting to waste any more time, Jae quickly went to talk to Asik, who seemed to act as a kind of leader for the Aram because of his ability to determine if someone was telling the truth.
“Asik. Have you gathered them?”
“Ah, yes. I still don’t know what your plan is, but... Do you mind telling me how we ended up here?”
“Right. First, though, where are we?”
Instead of answering, Asik turned towards someone else who stood beside him. It was a man of smaller stature and someone who clearly preferred not to fight.
“Ah, right!”, he exclaimed. After a moment, his eyes began to emit an earthly brown glow. Afterwards, he made a complicated expression.
“...For some reason, we don’t seem to be anywhere in the desert continent... How can this be?”
He went quiet for a few seconds, and then informed everyone.
“We’re in...... The south-western area of the Northern Continent. Fortunately, to get home, we only need to travel south from here.”
Jae was pleasantly surprised.
Oh, that’s better than I expected. Although, since it’s in the west... It’ll probably take a while to get back to Asphal.
Asik, who muttered something upon hearing their location, was the next person to talk.
“South... Wait, Jae, did you know about this? Is that... why you asked about transportation...?”
“Well... Pretty much, yes. I’m sorry. Can you safely get home from here, and with this number of people?”
“...Y-Yes... I think we should be able to do that fine. Perhaps, are you...?”
“No, I have to go somewhere else, so sorry, but I can’t come with you. Oh, my friend might be waiting for you when you return, so say hi to him for me, okay?”
“...”
Asik didn’t know what to say to Jae’s words. He spoke frankly, and the whole situation was sudden and confusing to Asik.
“I’ll come by one day to say hello, so just make sure you get back safely. My friend is actually from the Aram too, so please take care of him. And... I think he’s a bit fragile inside, so please be careful.”
“...I see... In that case, yes, I will... see to it that your friend is in good health. If he is truly one of us, then I can see how you knew where our village was located.”
“Yes. Alright, thank you. Then, I’ll see you guys later.”
“Yes, goodbye.”
Turning around, Jae quickly went to find Bailey and took off. Asik stood still for a while, dazed by his agitated appearance.
...Is there an emergency? Why was he in such a rush?
He wouldn’t have known it by simply looking at him, but Jae felt extremely lucky; as if he had just won the lottery’s grand prize three times in a row. Of course, he planned to cash in as soon as possible, which was the reason behind his hurrying.
By the time the Aram tribe fully departed, the sky was quickly turning dark. Jae thought that being able to use magic again was like a fish being introduced to water.
With Bailey, they decided to camp out by the lake after scouting out the surroundings. They checked it out just in case, but it really was a peaceful area, which was surprising. When Jae set up a small campfire to rest by, he sat down and didn’t hesitate in opening his Status.
There were a few things that needed to be done first and foremost.
Currently Available Classes
...
......
.........
56. Dragon's Beloved - [Mythical]
“...”
Some new Classes had become available since traversing the Southern Continent, but none of them were ranked as highly as [Dragon’s Beloved].
Although it felt strange to choose it, Jae didn’t have to think much to make a pick, as it was the only [Mythical] Class available.
Are you sure you would like to equip this Class?
Warning: Your Class cannot be changed once chosen
Do you confirm to equipping the Class: [Dragon’s Beloved]?
“...Yes.”
You have acquired the Class, [Dragon’s Beloved]
“...”
There was no immediate change, such as gaining Titles or Skills, but Jae thought they might appear when he levelled up.
Next, was his status values themselves.
Distributable Points : 50
There were 50 points he could spend right now, and he would gain another 50 when he levelled up. He thought carefully about what to use them on ever since he decided to save them, and now he had to make the final choice.
Before, I thought I was fairly balanced, but from the fight with Wrath... Probably Agility, right?
Magic, his highest-value stat, did not need a further increase. Wisdom also did not need any more points, as all it did was raise his amount of MP. While he was in the Wrath Dungeon, they were both rendered useless anyway.
If I ever find myself in a similar situation where magic is redundant, then I can only rely on my physical capabilities and my normal skills.
Agility was an incredibly useful stat for dodging and evasion in combat. Increasing it would probably bring the most benefit to him. Once again, he made an easy decision.
All 50 into Agility. Then, I’ll put the next 50 I get from levelling up into Agility as well.
Nodding once to himself, Jae turned to Bailey, who seemed about ready to go to sleep.
“Before we sleep, I need to tell you about our plans for tomorrow.”
“Mmh... Yes...?”
While the boy rubbed his eyes, Jae continued with fervour.
“We need to clear more Dungeons, and we need to do it at a quicker pace than we currently are.”
“Huh? Master, we just finished clearing one. How’re we going to find another one so quickly? I thought we were going to return to the castle?”
“Mm, well, yes, we are. But not now. We need to clear a Dungeon before we go back.”
It kind of feels like I’m rushing things, or going too fast, but it’s just because of agitation from what Wrath said......
“...Sorry, Bailey, but I’m feeling the dire need to hurry up and clear Dungeons as fast as I can right now... Maybe it’s partly because of the insane luck of our exit location... Anyway, ever since arriving here, I felt its presence.”
“?”
Before Bailey could say anything in response, Jae spoke with a hint of greed in his voice.
“A Dungeon―It’s definitely around here somewhere.”