novelEvan D. Sherden, Added Sub-Party (1)
| ← Ch.330 | Ch.332 → |
"I could sense your level before if I looked at you."
Bernard had a distant look in his eyes as he observed Evan.
"But now, I can't even guess. Have you quit being human at this point?"
"Come on, Grandpa. You know I just cleared the 80th floor."
"Yes, I knew you were capable of that. But did you come here to explore the unprecedented..."
Evan realized again that the world's state was serious when Bernard seemed to have given up his judgment. If it was the game, the 80th floor of the dungeon was where the beginners began to become medium-tier players. At least this much was enough to start collecting one or two artifacts and start working on developing the lethal weapons that more veteran players boasted.
'Of course, when we include attacking the Hidden Boss, the story changes a bit. '
The 80th-floor hidden boss was already comparable to the 100th-floor boss of the dungeon, or the Demon King of the original game. As he said several times, it was a bonus element that differed from the original story. In other words, the current Evan's Party, which had easily broken through the hidden boss, could also defeat the Demon King. However, many things, including the Devil Rune, had changed from the game and couldn't guarantee anything in the world.
"Grandpa, even you can reach the 80th floor. Why are you exaggerating?"
"Of course, I can. That is, if all my colleagues gather and risk their lives and challenge with all their might. But Evan, do you know? The expression, 'Try your best' exists because a person cannot exert all his or her power every single time."
"Human beings are such a puzzle."
"Oh, I finally have proof that you're not human."
If he were a game character, he could draw power just by manipulation, but where else was there such an absurdity that a living human being's ability depended on his condition and mind?
"Focus on the reagent in front of you, kid."
Bernard said, flicking Evan's forehead, who suddenly began to feel skeptical about human existence. Yes, now they were doing their ever-present Elixir research.
"But I don't even have the key ingredients, so this is still a long way from completing."
"The Hell Ruby. Leo will take it for us, won't he?"
"But you still have the Tears of The Holy Water and Glaciers...Oh, this is really ruined."
While talking about the key ingredients of the Elixir, Evan, who suddenly remembered what he learned in the dungeon, lamented. It was also true that the Holy Water of Manshin was a special reward that only explorers who conquered the Sherden, Pellati, and Merdin Dungeon could get from God, but now Merdin had been sealed!
'Originally, after the fusion of dungeons, the three dungeons' depths were also fused. So, they were objects that could be found naturally, but in Merdin...'
However, Bernard, who had already heard about it from Evan, reacted quite normally.
"I think we'll be able to solve the seal when Aria comes back. We can't get the Hell Ruby unless Leo returns from the Mana Realm, anyway. It can only be solved when they come back, so don't be too fussy."
"That's true, too..."
"So, you get this."
Bernard pointed out one point of parchment, which Evan didn't know if it was a recipe for reagents or an architectural design of the Pentagon from his past life.
"The other key ingredient you mentioned, the Tears of Glaciers."
"North of the Silk Line, the treasure in the eternal ice of the northern part of the world that comes out when you cross the Elto Frent Sea..."
It was an easier place for an expedition compared to Hell Ruby or Manshin's Holy Water. There was nothing to hide. It was actually where the Demon King's dungeon was sleeping. The game's primary purpose was achieved by defeating the Demon King and bringing peace to the continent through the heroic last battle that would take place there. And then the added DLC and so on could break a couple more hidden bosses, but it was okay as long as they weren't touched here.
"It's the right time. According to the scenario you mentioned, you'll soon be busy."
"Yeah...well, it's probably wise to secure it in advance now that the Demon tribe don't know how to move, right?"
"So, go north. I can't travel far anymore because my knees hurt."
Evan squinted his eyes at Bernard.
"Yeah, that's weird. I just heard from Rose a few days ago that you have been feeling better these days."
"The damn woman says everything to others!"
"Day and night, you're doing physical training in your prime, and these days, when you're sleeping with Illoin..."
"Just what the hell do you want? Let it out."
"So, as I was saying..."
It would be great if he did this before. Evan grinned and got to the point.
"You know what I told you last time? Hunting ancient beasts like dragons. We need to get ready now. The most important thing about it is to predict their location in advance...I don't even want it to be...so I'm detecting it."
"In the end, you're going to drag me into that trouble... I've been thinking about it to some extent."
Bernard began to groan and rummage through the shelves where he had left the reagents. Soon after, Evan cleaned up the research materials related to Elixir, noting a red reagent along with the
"Isn't that Dragon Blood?"
"Of course, it would have been great if you could create a tool to find out what you said was a crack, but it's impossible for humans."
"So, what he had prepared instead was to 'discover high-level beings that might pop out of the cracks. '"
"Dragon's blood is sensitive to strong people's mana. Their innate ferocity is also attributed to this. For example...take a look."
Bernard drew something on a parchment that activated the reagent's energy and put the dragon blood tester on it...the blood in the test tube began to seep.
"As you can see, the dragon blood is reacting to me because I'm strong. Of course, if someone is weaker than me, there is a possibility that it will ignore that person; here, try it."
"Okay."
When Evan brought his hand forward, the blood reacted violently as if there was an earthquake this time. The reaction seemed like it might break the test tube right away, but the glass made by a top alchemist, fortunately, endured even in that situation.
"Now you know. It wasn't long ago that I found a way to activate the dragon blood as it did when it was alive."
"It's not some combat scout; it depends on the degree of strength...huh?!?"
At that moment, Evan realized it. If he studied this and turned it into an artifact, wouldn't he be able to create a precise combat-force meter that would be the envy of all alchemists?
"Stop thinking nonsense. As you can see, they don't even react at all unless you're strong enough to reach a certain level. The shaking was ridiculously intense."
"So, it's all the more necessary! You'll be able to find out who's stronger than me in advance and be wary...!"
"I'll have to experiment a little more, but it won't go as you wish."
Bernard looked at Evan with a pitiful look on his face as he spoke.
"The stronger the stimulus is, the stronger the response is, and the greater the limit. Your fuss and worries won't get better."
"Hmm...why do you need this blood?"
"I'll still explain. It responds to the strong. We will develop its responsiveness, limit its target, and create artifacts that produce distance and direction by responding only to high-level beings that may appear in cracks."
"Ahhhh... then I suppose it's possible if we use those characteristics."
Since cracks appeared not too far from Evan anyway, it wouldn't be too difficult to create a means to track down monsters appearing there using dragon blood. If he combined it with the monster radar that Evan used to make, it would give a pretty good result.
"Then I'll be making this for you, and you should go back to the Eternal Glaciers."
"Hmm, you haven't forgotten yet."
"You're the one who's in danger, and you're going to have to complete the Elixir before you die."
"Yes, sir."
If possible, he didn't want to leave Sherden for the time being, but he couldn't help it. Evan, who returned to the Knights, took out a note containing information about his past life and began searching for information about the Eternal Glaciers, but his free time didn't last long.
"Oppa, play with me!"
"Oh, yes, Liz has a literature class. Come here. I'll teach you literature and common sense that works at court parties."
"...Liz doesn't like literature."
"But if you don't study hard, you won't get time to play. Alchemy teaches this as equivalent exchange."
"You mean I can't live doing only things that I like..."
Louise came to Elizabeth, who came back from today's twin-weapon skills training, after thoroughly taking morality classes as promised by Miriam and playing with her for a while after hearing the news of her return.
"Master! I'm glad you're alright!"
If she had been a puppy, a wobbly tail would have been seen behind her hips as Evan sent out Elizabeth.
"I think you've gotten stronger. Are you carrying out the quest?"
"Yeah, I'm still not good enough, so having an equal relationship with them seems a long way off, but...but my pace of growth has been recognized!"
"Okay, good job. That's great."
"I just did what you taught me."
After hearing about what had happened with the Louise party for a while, Shine came to ask if there was anything Evan wanted to compensate Louise with, who had suffered alone among the crazy fanatics.
"No, I don't have time to do anything."
"If you want to blame me, blame yourself for doing a lot of work."
Shine was in charge of collecting and managing Sherden's advanced information and moving with the Sherden butler group as he grew older. Shine's existence was indispensable now that he was taking out information from the butler group. Evan sent out Louise, who showed signs of blatant disappointment, and received Shine's report, then suddenly remembered something.
"I don't see the Ghost Lady these days."
"Oh, I think she got something from the level rise in the dungeon. She didn't even come out."
"Maybe she's evolving."
"Well, I wish she could at least attain enlightenment."
Shine said so but had a light smile. Evan looked at the smile and thought that Anastasia might be wary.
"Let's look at the report. The current situation is generally going as you think. However, it's a bit annoying to expand the information network throughout the Silk Line as it started to involve a formidable number of nobles."
"It's what I was expecting. There is more than one aristocrat in our country."
Shine tapped the end of the one-page report, which filtered the collected information about three times and was arranged in a good way.
"It's not simple. I think it's related to the remnants of the pseudo-religious group."
"Oh, they're involved?"
The pseudo-religious group could be said to be the main conflict force of Yo-Ma Great War 4. Thanks to Evan's early report of the danger, most of them succeeded in suppressing the country before it was completely destroyed, as in Yo-Ma Great War 4, but the tail that hadn't been cut off was starting to wiggle again.
"For them, there's an environment as good as Sherden to set the stage for a comeback. If you push yourself away and put the flag of the pseudo-religion in Sherden, which is unattended in Astray's absence...Well, that's it."
"In fact, I was expecting them to get involved all at once...after that, it just happened to be good. On the way to the north, the capital city... that's right, it's been a while since I've stopped by Leonine."
"It's highly likely that Leonine is still in hiding, but...uh, you're not going to clear them by yourself, are you?"
"No, the other warriors, including Save, will deal with them. I'm going to rob an empty house."
No, because robbing an empty house was also the duty of a warrior, it could be said that Save and Evan shared the responsibility of a warrior. Evan was nodding, satisfied and convinced by his own thoughts, as Shine tilted his head.
"So, what specifically are you going to do? You already have more goods than anyone else in the world."
"A talent."
Evan gave a short answer with shining eyes.
"The dream of players in the Yo-Ma Great War series. It is to build the Yo-Ma Great War Dream Party."
| ← Ch. 330 | Ch. 332 → |