Chapter 41 (1/2)
Never before had I seen a jewel with such brilliance. It was the size of an adult's fist and contained a strange mana which stole my attention. But the information regarding it didn't appear even when I continued to stare at it. Therefore I opened 'Mind's Eye' to examine, and only then could I know what this jewel was.
The heart of a member of the Yaksha race. A jewel that contains the life of a Yaksha.
Has undergone a change due to merging with the core of a shadow kaim.
User will be branded with the 'Black Yaksha's Seal' upon consumption.
Here I found the remnant of the shadow kaim. In other words, this meant that after being caught and eaten by the preta, it merged with the Yaksha stone which was inside the preta's stomach first…
'So this was where the Yaksha race inhabited.'
Blue gates were connected to places inhabited by other races, but it was actually unknown as to what kind of other race made their homes on Rakshasa Mountain. Yaksha race. It was a race I've never heard of as well. So did the preta eat up the Yaksha as well? But that still left a question unanswered: Why a monster that inhabited the 50th level and above was on the 25th level.
'Black Yaksha's Seal.'
This, was what had the highest potential. Black Yaksha's Seal! Branding one's body with a seal was the foundation of tattoo magic.There were those who gained special powers through tattoos, though there weren't many of them.
Holding the Yaksha stone, I rubbed my chin.
'A tattoo-user isn't bad per say as long as there's a method of development.'
It was a cla.s.s commonly known as 'Inkmaster'. To be specific, they could borrow the power of spirits, brand tattoos to raise physical stats, or limit themselves using 'sealing tools' that gather potent power, etcetera. They were variously cla.s.sified, but they all shared a common point in that their methods of development were difficult. However, a tattoo that was branded by an Inkmaster who has attained a certain level of mastery definitely contained power. There was a high chance that the Black Yaksha's Seal fell under that category also. Only, I couldn't rule out the possibility that it was something related to 'curses'. But I had Jörmungandr, who gave me immunity to 'curses of the night', meaning I had nothing to worry about. I was fast to act once my worried thoughts ended.
'I just need to swallow it, if I remember correctly.'
I opened my mouth as wide as possible and held it in my mouth, and in the same instant the Yaksha stone began to melt like jelly.
Badump…!
Soon after, I felt a severe pain as if my heart was on fire as all the veins on my body stood out. It felt like all the mana in the jewel was concentrating towards my heart. But the helical mana threaded like spider webs gave off a tremendous sense of stability; in mere moments it had neutralized the mana from the Yaksha stone. Following that the Yaksha stone's mana flowed along my middle energy center to the upper energy center, then stopped near my right earlobe.
[User has been branded with the Black Yaksha's Seal.]
[User has gained freedom of movement between 1~50th levels.]
[User has hunted a preta — 'Warrior's Ritual' completed.]
[Entry into 'Rakshasa Citadale' has become possible.]
A 印 mark was branded on my right earlobe. Although my stats didn't rose, nor did a skill appear, I had gained something much more beneficial than that; freedom of movement between the 1~50th levels. And also, entry into Rakshasa Citadale…
'Rakshasa Citadale?'
It was my first time hearing the name. In addition, what was the Warrior's Ritual about? I closely looked at the message, and the related information popped up.
A ritual carried out when a Yaksha reaches adulthood.
A Yaksha that has hunted a preta will earn a 'Yaksha's Seal' and will be acknowledged as an adult, and will gain the right to enter 'Rakshasa Citadale'.
So it's the Yaksha's coming of age ritual. But I wasn't of the Yaksha race. Despite that, the reason why I was notified of the ritual being completed must be because I had swallowed a 'Yaksha's heart'. I now understood how the small preta had descended levels as well. A Yaksha in the middle of carrying out the coming of age ritual failed and was eaten, and the small preta could come down to the 25th level because of the Yaksha's heart.
'A small preta can be reborn into a great preta by consuming a dragon.'
I wondered whether it had come down to the 25th level with thoughts of eating Etaqua in the first place, because pretas evolved further by consuming powerful beings, and gobbling up a dragon would allow one to immediately join the ranks of great pretas. It was an amazing series of coincidences, but thanks to that I could discover the true nature of Rakshasa Mountain. Rakshasa Citadale…the name alone made it obvious that it was the 'center' of this mountain.
'I shouldn't get too ahead of myself.'
Growing stronger comes first.
Freedom of movement between the 1st and 50th levels…this was an extraordinary privilege. Rakshasa Mountain was acknowledged as an 'ultimate hunting ground', but there were certain levels on the mountain where people gathered in particular. However, as rumours flew, all kinds of groups began to gather, monopolizing and controlling each levels. They had either made it a requirement to pay an entry fee, or made entry impossible to those unaffiliated to those groups. But…right now I was the only person here. Moreover, I had gotten hold of a 'free pa.s.s ticket'.
'It's the perfect combination.'
It couldn't get any more perfect than this! Like a fish meeting water. For a while, at least, I could hunt and grow stronger without reservations.
'Would this be called power-leveling I wonder?'
The expression 'power-leveling' was used to refer to crazily leveling up a character in a MMORPG type of game. Although I could only remember it dimly now, this relatable situation unexpectedly evoked that memory to mind. A hard-to-suppress excitement welled up inside me, for this wasn't simply an opportunity to enhance my stats, but also to obtain equipment! An opportunity to obtain what I want when I want, with no compet.i.tors around, no one to hinder to me…indeed the 'time for power-leveling' has arrived.
(Syria Perspective)
As he beheaded a zombie, Mins.h.i.+k shouted,
”Do not falter! Zombies target those who show their back first!”
Everywhere there was blood, and screams resounded throughout the cave.
”f.u.c.k, f.u.c.k, fuuuuck!”
”Please die! Die already!”
”S, Saintess-nim, he-, heal m-…aarrgh!”
It was pandemonium. If there was a h.e.l.l, perhaps it would look like this. They swung their crude weapons in a bid for survival, but the zombies didn't die easily. They either needed to be cleanly beheaded or completely incinerated, but it wasn't realistic to expect modern people, only recently awakened, to be capable of such things right away. They were struggling to survive of course, but what used to be a group of over 50 people had dwindled down to 40 within the span of three days.
In the midst of it all I was moving without rest. Using the spirits of light, I looked after the people and healed them. But there was a limit with my power alone.
”Saintess-nim. Please, my leg, please reattach my leg!”
”I can't put it back. I'm sorry.”
I shook my head, facing the man who had crawled to me carrying one of his legs.
'I can't fix what has been completely severed.'
Bone-deep wounds I could manage to heal somehow, but it was difficult to reconnect a body part which had multiple nerves severed. If I were to challenge myself in vain, I would end up expending a huge amount of mana as well. Mana which could be used for another 10 people would be used up for a single person. Hansung Oh…included among his warnings, he had told me to 'save as much of your mana as possible before facing Zombie King Aks.h.i.+z'.
”Stick it back! I know you can do it! You bitc-…aagh!”
Zombies had pounced on him the moment I tried to stop his bleeding, and at the same time the spirits of light created a s.h.i.+eld, protecting me. Mins.h.i.+k hurled his sword and killed the zombies, but the man had already stopped breathing.