Tadak, tadak.
The first noise he heard was the crackling sound of firewood tickling his ears. Accompanying it was the sound of a book's pages being turned.
When he slowly opened his eyes, he could see the ceiling lit by the reddish glow of candles and stoves, as well as a girl flipping through a book sitting at his bedside.
Black hair and gray eyes.
It was Emily.
She hadn't even noticed Callius waking up, such was her concentration.
What kind of book was it that made her so engrossed?
‘Textbook of Northern Swordsmanship?'
It didn't seem like a book a twelve-year-old would want to read with such intense focus.
As he didn't want to disturb her, Callius began to quietly go over his own physical state.
Circulating power from the toes to the fingertips.
‘The wounds are all healed.'
The wounds inflicted by the orc general had already healed.
The efficacy of holy water truly great.
Even a mortal wound had healed perfectly.
There were a few scars, but he managed to survived without any damage, so that wasn't a problem.
When he took a closer look just to make sure, his body was actually in very good condition.
Better than before, even.
「Callius von Jervain」
「Occupation」 – Pilgrim
「Spirit」 – Level 3
「Divine Power」 – 6251/6251
「Talent」 – [Bard's Blessing – Best]
「Characteristics」 – [Verse of Grace] [Nobility's Duty] [Scapegrace of the Count Family] [Death Verse Composition] [Prodigal Son of the Order] [Gluttony] [Tricolour Eye]
[Ability]
Strength – 81 (30)
Agility – 55 (30)
Skill – 16
Health – 50 (30)
Faith – 73
Several stats had increased.
Strength had risen from 76 to 81, and skill, from 13 to 16.
Health, from 47 to 50.
He didn't know why that went up.
Perhaps because he'd pressed his body to the limit while crossing the boundary of life and death.
While deeply contemplating, Callius noticed a startling change.
‘When did my Six Peak Flowers technique evolve?'
Except for the two buds that'd been already present in elixir field, there was now one more.
The third bud of the Six Peak Flowers technique was about to be completed.
‘Is this the effect of Death Verse Composition?'
Did the realization he'd gained at that time have an impact on the Six Peak Flowers technique?
He thought about it for a while, but couldn't come up with a concrete answer.
But it was quite a pleasing occurrence.
Although it was not yet complete, the divine power had gathered, spinning.
The third bud in his elixir field was still unfinished.
It was appropriate, considering that he had one last step left.
‘That last battle, and holy water. And perhaps the enlightenment of Death Verse Composition?'
But Callius' expression soon sank back into calmness.
Six Peak Flowers technique is originally rooted on Three Peaks (三峯).
The difficulty rises sharply from creating the third bud.
Till the second peak the process is simple, but from the third, the difficulty of condensing a new bud is like creating a star in the sky.
‘It would be difficult even if several sacred stones came out as quest rewards.'
It'd be difficult to do it with just sacred stones, or eating a dragon's heart or drinking its blood. Maybe it'd be difficult unless you have the holy relic or even the holy grail of a God.
The reason being that from the third peak, you have to construct a vein that connects the three buds.
You need to create a flow of spiritual force that circulates between the three buds.
Only then can you be said to have truly achieved three peaks.
Since you have to create something from nothing inside your elixir field, the level of difficulty is naturally different.
‘I'll have to do it step by step. Maybe something helpful will come out as a reward.'
I remember getting some rewards?
『Fatalite's Wheel – Complete』
<Reward Level> [S+]
[You have completed the main quest.]
[Special rewards are given.]
This is the message window I saw before I lost consciousness.
I can't stand my curiousity.
[The S+ reward box has been given.]
[Opens the S+ reward box.]
Several messages burst out with the sound of small firecrackers.
[Broken Sword of a Forgotten God]
[Subspace]
[Seed of a Defeated God]
[Holy Grail of a Defeated God]
[Choice of Unique Talent]
[Rare Trait Draw Ticket]
[Sacred Stone x3]
[Saddle of Humasys]
‘It's S+ reward, so there are a lot of things.'
[Broken Sword of a Forgotten God]
Grade – Relic
‘I never thought this might come out…'
The corners of Callius' lips drew up in an an arc. The Broken Sword of a Forgotten God.
Since the main quest rewards were always random, he hadn't expected to get it even if this was an S+ level reward.
But this relic actually came out.
‘Of course, it's of no use now.'
But it was an item that would be of great use someday if he had it.
Because it was a relic that could summon any sword it'd touched.
No matter who owns the sword, if the owner of the relic touches it once and creates a bond, that sword can be summoned at any time.
The heirloom of the Jervain family, for example.
The Storm Sword – Callis, can also be summoned at any time using this relic.
It's a pity that you only have one chance with a weapon, but the fact that you can use a sword of any rank is definitely an attractive factor.
‘Even if it's not a sword…'
It's possible.
The Exploding Spear, for example.
If he so desired, it'd be transformed into a sword and fall into the hands of Callius.
‘Or, quests will come later that have you travel to the past or the future.'
Since the swords obtained there could not be brought back into reality, there would be swords with powerful abilities.
These swords that could only be used during the quest, as long as you had this relic, you could have them for the rest of your life.
‘First, let's check the ability. But…'
Storm Sword – Callis couldn't be seen.
Predator Sword – Loas and Strong Sword – Gwydd were by his bedside.
Even Zornik was there, but Storm Sword – Callis wasn't.
Elburton probably took it.
‘Sad.'
It'd be a lie to say he wasn't greedy, but it couldn't be helped.
Storm Sword – Callis was a vision sword.
Besides, it was the heirloom of the Jervain family.
It was a sword meant for the hands of the patriarch.
It was still too early to become the Lord of Jervain just to get his hands on Callis.
‘Because it's still too strong a sword for me to handle. I have no choice.'
Both the amount and purity of his divine power were low, so he couldn't handle a vision sword just yet.
He couldn't even handle the Strong Sword – Gwydd properly, so how could he dare talk about a vision sword?
Thanks to Fatalite's sacred stones, he'd somehow been able to survive.
The burden should be reduced a bit once his level of divine power reached at least level 2.
‘So I'll think of it as leaving it to you until then.'
It won't be running away anywhere.
Now that the war in the North was over, the Jervain family wouldn't suffer for a while.
No worries about losing it to anyone.
Not from the hands of Elburton.
‘Is the next one, subspace?'
[Subspace]
Grade – Epic
A space-type item common in games.
Since it was conceptually linked to the consciousness, it had the ability to summon the weapons contained within at any time with a thought.
In this world, space-type items were rare, and it was safe to say that there were few storage items with spatial abilities that could be used in battle.
Therefore, subspace was an indispensable item for Callius.
In the future, he'd fight by switching between the various swords and weapons he owned depending on the situation, and having subspace would really make a difference in terms of efficiency.
With a thought, the subspace naturally attuned to Callius, and it contained the rest of the rewards.
Callius recalled the Broken Sword of a Forgotten God from the subspace in his consciousness.
The handle of a sword appeared in his hand.
Although it was a broken sword, it was imbued with a subtle and profound energy.
With a satisfied face, he put it back in and looked at the rest.
‘But what's this?'
[Seed of a Defeated God]
Grade – ???
[Holy Grail of a Defeated God]
Grade – ???
‘I never left a setting like this. Did the development team put it in?'
A seed, as well as the holy grail, of a defeated God.
A God is a God, so what does ‘defeated' mean in that context?
Callius took out the seed and the holy grail out of curiosity, but there was nothing special about either.
The seed was just a plain black seed.
The holy grail, just a faded silver cup.
Holy grails were supposed to have some kind of special ability.
‘The ability to purify something, for example.'
The moment he touched the holy grail and the seed the size of a pea –
"Huh?"
At that moment, the seed sank into the palm of his hand.
It swam through the pathways of his divine blood and circulated around his body in an instant.
"What!"
Callius, startled, desperately tried to stop the movement by constraining the flow of divine blood, but to no avail.
‘It entered the elixir field.'
A feverish heat was began spreading all over his body.
Along with a sharp pain as if his elixir field was being torn apart.
In an instant, a cold sweat covered his skin, chill enough to make the teeth chatter.
‘No…!'
The seed of a defeated God.
He had no idea what it was, but there was almost no chance it had anything to do with Valtherus.
If two disparate divine powers were placed within the elixir field like this, in the worst case, the elixir field itself might shatter.
"What, what! Callius! When did you wake up! No, why do you look so bad? Where does it hurt?!"
Emily, startled, asked a few rapid-fire questions and ran to get a doctor when there was no answer.
Kung.
[A defeated God. A God who has lost his name now dwells in the elixir field.]
‘What?'
Immediately, he could feel a huge amount of divine power blossoming from his elixir field.
Divine power so pure that he'd never felt its like.
Despite all his perplexity and pain, Callius couldn't help but admire the purity of the divine power emanating from the seed.
And the divine power of the seed –
"Kakkkhhk!!"
In an instant, it formed an energy vein inside the elixir field.
Callius, who'd endured the pain without knowing what was causing it, grabbed his belly and flopped back on the bed.
But soon, he forced himself to straighten and sit up.
‘One more has already been created.'
One energy vein had already been created, and now another. Four more were about to be made at the same time.
Like a plant with a tangle of outstretched roots –
Callius' Six Peak Flowers Bloom in Late Season technique formed three peaks, and took root in his elixir field.
"Kahaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
Kwaaaang!
The pure divine power that could not be absorbed by his body, exploded outwards.
The dazzling silver light that was nothing more than a waste product, was ejected from the skin through sweat.
Jevarsch, outer fortress.
Inside a room, the dazzling light of divine power illuminated the surroundings like the dawn.
Soldiers and knights of the castle rushed in through the door.
"Master Callius!!"
"Are you alright?"
There was only Callius, whose whole body was shining brightly.
[You have achieved three peaks of the Six Peak Flowers technique.]
"What the hell is this…"
Much like them, Callius also couldn't make head or tail of his current circumstances.
Editor's Notes:
None for this chapter.
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