CHAPTER 440: AN UNFAMILIAR CEILING (1/2)

As the fiery wisps of the Nether Flames dissipated, a silvery white necklace gently floated down. Ferti’nier reached out and grabbed it with my left hand then had it on full display on my palm. Both of us were inspecting this newly forged accessory, the difference was that while she was inspecting the attributes of the necklace itself, I was just admiring its beauty.

Mithril was a sturdy magical metal that also had a high tensile strength, making it one of the most highly-valued magical ingredients there was in this world. While it wasn’t at the level of a divine instrument, the vast majority of semi-divine tools were forged from mithril.

The necklace was fashioned like an ornate web. Within its webbings were four red gemstones, one large and three comparatively smaller ones. The three smaller stones were roughly the size of a pinky’s fingernail and were lined in a triangular formation. In the center of this triangle was the last stone, one that was the size of a thumb’s fingernail.

It was a stunning piece of work, to be sure, but I couldn’t help but find it a little strange. Normally, such adornments would be found on the chain yet Ferti’nier had instead filled up the inner circle of the necklace itself with these stones… Alzehemier’s perhaps? She is rather old…

“You’re the one that’s old, your whole family is old!” Ferti’nier immediately reacted to my comment though her voice did sound rather tired. At the same time as she said that, she returned control of my body to me.

Oh? She’s not going to take this opportunity to stir up some trouble? Now that’s just not like her at all.

This time, Ferti’nier chose not to respond to my jibes. Now that her work was done and the necklace was safely in my hands, she impatiently stated as such. “Alright, your big sis is about to take a nap now, she’s tired. Remember to grab some souls for her to snack on in the meantime, else it might be a time long before you see her again… Oh, right, little brother, you’re about to level up again… also, your big sis didn’t scam you this time, did she?”

‘What do you mean you didn’t? Those magical beast cores aren’t candies you just pop into my mouth like that! What if I get food poisoning?!’

“Food poisoning?” Ferti’nier paused for a second, clearly amused by the thought of that actually happening. “Don’t worry, you’re a Fallen Angel and one of the direct descendents of the great Lucifer himself. Let alone a few magical cores, you would be fine even if you swallowed down an entire zombie.”

‘What the heck, you’re thinking of feeding me zombies now? You’re just doing this because this isn’t your body!’

“Now why would I do that? Don’t you know how dirty zombies are? Your big sis would never think of even eating one.”

“Heheh…”

‘Don’t think you have me fooled with that smile of yours! I know exactly what you are planning in that black heart of yours… you she-devil! There’s nothing in this world that’s blacker than your heart, not even coal！‘

“Oh don’t be so angry, those magical beast cores are what caused your power to rise in the first place. I thought you desperately wanted to become stronger? Of course, those magical beast cores have to be of the right elemental nature as well. Also…” She paused for dramatic effect at that point. Finally, she continued, “There might be some side effects, but they aren’t that severe. They should be no problem at all for our little brother… Well then, your big sis is really tired now, so she’s off to get some beauty sleep… remember to grab some souls~”

Just like that, she was gone.

Ahhhhhh… that she-devil… she’s too much!

“Master?”

Jezsere timidly tried to call out to me while I was mentally screaming in my head. It was then that I realised how strange I must have been acting right now. In order not to frighten our resident timid girl any further, and also for the sake of my own image, I decided to stop the mental screaming for now and turn to face her with the most normal looking expression I could muster. “Jez? Your master’s fine, don’t worry.”

Having said that, I spread my arms wide open and hugged her. Had it been the past, Jezsere would have already come running into my arms, albeit shyly. Unfortunately, this time was a little different. She not only did not try to come close to me, she even backed away a little…

“Master… you just… ate those…”

There was no need for her to explain any further at that point. The moment I heard her say the word eat, my face froze up. I tried to explain myself, but the moment I did so, a surge of mana started gushing upwards from my abdominal region and immediately spread out towards my extremities… fishcakes… I knew those magical beast cores were going to give me food poisoning…

An unfamiliar ceiling… like heck I would say something that stupid.