Chapter 71 - The Sixth Evolution (3) (1/2)
The Sixth Evolution (3)
Eating the Dullahan’s body took seconds. Now that it was no longer resisting my will to devour it, my black smoke made quick work of the boss’s body.
[Predation of the Dullahan 1/1]
[Strength increased by 2.]
[Magic increased by 3.]
[Intermediate Blackmine became Lv10 and has evolved into Advanced Blackmine. Blackmine’s duration has greatly improved, and now larger scale blackmines can be created.]
I would never have imagined reaching this level of skill before. It filled me with a sense of achievement at acquiring another advanced skill. I even had my Surprise skill reach the top level, yet now…
‘It’s still not enough. I’m only level 119.’ In terms of level, there were no doubt countless people who were stronger than me. But in terms of skill, I certainly had a bit of an advantage. I still haven’t become the strongest just because I had a few high-level and special skills, though. The fact that I was accumulating a lot of advanced skills was not enough to relieve me. Instead, it only sparked my desire to keep growing stronger.
Lee Chan-yu’s face came to mind, and I shook my head to clear these thoughts.
“No, I can’t be satisfied with what I have achieved so far… but I can’t deny my own growth.” I went ahead and tested the Blackmine skill, confirming it had indeed gotten stronger. The change in power I could feel every time my skills grew was amazing, especially when it came to my magic skills. Although, I wasn’t sure if this skill counted as magic. It didn’t feel quite the same.
‘Doesn’t really matter I suppose.’ It didn’t matter how high a level my Detection was; there was a limit to what it could analyze. I decided to go ahead and check out the loot I had acquired.
[Yultana’s Helmet (297/520] – Defense 320. Unique Rarity. Defense is increased by an additional 50% against magic attacks and undead.]
This was an excellent magic item with incredible defense. It didn’t look like the dull helmet the Dullahan wore, though. Instead, it was made of some sort of dark metal. It felt a bit weird wearing it, as the helmet covered my mouth. ‘I won’t be able to eat like this.’ The problem presented itself immediately as I tried it on. ‘I suppose I could just use the smoke to continue eating but… it just feels better if I bite into it myself.’
For Pelcadia’s Jewel, there were four colors of jewels. ‘Red, blue, black and purple. What do the colors mean? Do I take more than one?’ I thought about it for a bit but decided to move onto the next piece of loot. I didn’t have enough information to decide yet. The other thing I had acquired was the Fortune Egg, from killing the horse that the Dullahan had been riding. ‘This is weird though. I mean…a horse doesn’t lay eggs.’ I opened up my inventory and examined the item; my questions immediately answered.
[Fortune Egg (300/300) – Unique Rarity. A crystal possessing some of the essences of the world. A small life beats within it, waiting to hatch.]
It looked like a polished obsidian crystal, not at all in the shape of an egg. A group of white lights emitted from the center of the crystal, pulsing periodically. I went ahead and put it back into my inventory, now looking forward to what might hatch from the egg. ‘I’ll have to ask Rain for advice.’
I looked at the place where the Dullahan had dropped, a small wooden box in its place now. ‘Might as well grab the floor reward too.’ The box had an ancient-grade weapon composite scroll in it, but I couldn’t use it. ‘Maybe I should go buy some more weapons so I can use this scroll.’ I considered heading back to the store, but a quick look into my inventory informed me that I didn’t have enough money left to pursue that idea.
‘Maybe I can collect some materials and make my own weapons?’ It was probably best that I don’t rely on the store too much. Reflecting on this, I stood up. Before that, it was time to take the final steps toward my next evolution.
“Fate, what do you think of the soul?” A asked, meeting my gaze. I felt a strange sense of deja vu. Wasn’t that something Rain had asked me before? I think I had concluded that it wasn’t possible to know the soul, and Rain had seemed satisfied with my answer. I thought of that answer after my training in the Garden of Nak, so I was confident in it.
“No answer?”
“I’m still thinking.” Now that I considered it again, things were a bit different. I thought of the monsters in the Rookie’s Battlefield, formed by the souls of Earthlings who lost their bodies in the Great Fusion. They successfully invaded the battlefield with only their will to survive and even acquired a physical form. They even learned to extinguish the flames of others’ souls. Fighting them completely changed my perspective. I had thought that the soul was still inviolable, and while I still agreed with that to a point, I didn’t think it was enough to describe it with only that one word. There were so many possibilities hidden within a soul; it wasn’t just software designed to move the hardware that was the body.
“…It’s too hard for me to say. There’s too many possibilities to describe it in one word.”
“Well, don’t worry too much about it.” My anguished thoughts were immediately dismissed by A’s laughter.
‘There’s nothing in this universe that could define a soul. If someone could, they would be a Creator.”