novelraw Chapter 85 : Chapter 85
Chapter 85 : Chapter 85
Chapter 85
“…”
I must have been born a gamer.
While struggling to survive as a low-ranking soldier in this world full of war and death, I could not deny that my eyes went wide and my heart pounded at the words ‘new item I have never seen before.’
Leviathan.
A fiend that had never been hunted before.
A fiend with enough mana to float its ridiculously large body in the sky.
How much mana would the mana source it left behind after death contain, and what kind of unique results could it produce?
I could not contain my curiosity.
‘First, the most common seems to be this red fragment. And the rarest-looking ones are these two, I guess?’
Ever since I was young, I was the type of person who saved their favorite food for last.
Perhaps because of that, what I unconsciously picked up was the most numerous red fragment.
Before using the Eye of the Dragon.
My gaze naturally went to Saeb.
Perhaps because I had been too conscious of others’ gazes until now, I seemed to be concerned even though I knew the other party already had all the information about me.
I do not know if he understood my feelings or if he was simply not interested.
Saeb, who was watching my actions intently, showed no particular reaction.
“Phew…”
I let out a small breath and calmed my startled heart.
And I used the Eye of the Dragon.
A processed gem made from the clotted blood of Leviathan.
The powerful mana and characteristics contained in Leviathan’s blood are well-infused.
Mana Amount: 21.
Special Effects: Poison Resistance, HP +5, Deadly Poison.
“…”
It was beyond imagination.
For a mana source from a giant fiend, the amount of mana it contained was on the low side, but that was not a problem since the number of blood fragments secured at once was so large.
Rather, the fact that you could definitively gain HP, and on top of poison resistance, even deadly poison, was astounding.
The ability to gain two additional Authorities made my jaw drop.
“Wait. My mind has changed after seeing your reaction.”
“…?”
I was so engrossed in the Blood of Leviathan that I had briefly forgotten about Saeb.
When I looked up, I could see Saeb’s gaze, full of interest, directed at me.
“Your mind has changed?”
“Yes. I had a rough idea from what I had heard, but after seeing your face just now, I realized for sure. The performance of the Authority you possess seems to be quite outstanding.”
“I do not think it is on the bad side.”
“That is why my mind has changed. I told you before that it was not an appraisal request… I will take that back. I want to make an appraisal request to you.”
I had a rough idea of what Saeb was thinking when he brought this up.
The Alliance, having only recently introduced the fostering system, is inexperienced in many ways.
Even with mana sources, magicians only vaguely guess ‘this mana source has such-and-such effects’ using data accumulated over a long time; they cannot accurately grasp every single unit of mana.
Moreover, since Leviathan’s mana source is being revealed to the world for the first time in human history, they would want to compare what they have appraised with the data I, who am known to have an Authority related to appraisal, provide to obtain more accurate information.
It is not a difficult request.
Since I have to appraise each one to use them anyway, all I have to do is write down the contents and hand them over.
But I disliked free labor.
“Since you said it is a request, can I expect a separate payment?”
“I told you just a moment ago that I would give you one mana source of your choice as a reward for your outstanding performance in this war. In addition to that, I will give you one more. Of course, I will choose the second mana source.”
I was tempted.
It was not a bad proposal for me either.
No, it was not just not bad; it was a proposal with nothing but benefits.
Even though I did not have the right to choose, to put it bluntly, I could expect an additional spec upgrade even if I only got one of the most common Blood of Leviathan in exchange for a little appraisal.
“Understood. Then I would like a pen and paper, please.”
I had a feeling, but sure enough.
Saeb turned over a piece of paper lying around and pushed it in front of me.
I wrote down the information about the blood I had just appraised on the paper.
Thanks to my consistent studying, I could now write without any hesitation.
‘Next…’
The next most numerous after the blood was the blue gem.
A processed item made by selecting parts of Leviathan’s bones where mana is particularly strongly concentrated.
The powerful mana and characteristics contained in Leviathan’s bones are well-infused.
Mana Amount: 30.
Special Effects: Flotation Trait, HP -2, Agility +5, Mana Conduction.
‘This is…’
Unlike the blood, the bone was not bad, but it had an ambiguous performance that could not be called good either.
The decrease in HP could be compensated for with agility, but the flotation trait is useless without an Authority that allows one to fly on their own, and mana conduction is a trait that is only efficient when applied to a weapon.
In other words, the flaw is that you cannot get 100% efficiency whether you absorb it as a mana source or make equipment with it.
But even without getting 100% of its performance, it was certainly better than other ordinary mana sources.
The next item is the green gem.
It was less numerous than the red or blue gems, but it was not that there were none at all.
A processed item made from Leviathan’s tooth.
It has surprising strength, but its strength decreases significantly if the contained mana is extracted.
Mana Amount: 40.
Special Effects: Can be granted to multiple targets simultaneously, Strength +1, Mentality +1, Consciousness Connection.
“…”
The two rewards I could choose.
One of them was decided.
The mana it contained was 40.
But the peculiarity of this mana source is that it can be granted to multiple targets simultaneously.
Of course, the amount of mana granted decreases depending on the number of targets, but the part to pay attention to here is the consciousness connection.
In this world, to communicate over long distances, one must use the communicator embedded in the insignia.
It is very convenient, but it has one drawback: it is easily affected by the concentration of mana in the air.
The problem is that the role of a field commander, who mainly uses this communicator, is to collect mana sources in places with high mana concentration.
Moreover, the higher the stage, the denser the concentration of mana in the air becomes.
Therefore, the communicator often fails to perform its original function properly.
This consciousness connection could be said to be an Authority that compensates for that drawback of the communicator.
When I wrote down the information about the tooth, I also briefly wrote about the Authority as a service and submitted it, and Saeb’s eyes sparkled.
“This… would be very useful. His Majesty will also be greatly pleased.”
“I think so too. Therefore, I would like to use one of the two rights Lord Saeb has granted me. Is that alright?”
“By all means.”
Saeb readily handed me one of the green gems.
With this, the members of Unit 917 would be able to avoid the misfortune of suffering a disaster due to the inability to collect real-time information properly because of communication failure, as before.
This alone could be called an excellent harvest.
But there was still one right left, and for that, I had to continue appraising.
As expected.
Most of Leviathan’s mana sources were praiseworthy.
Not only did they have stat bonuses, but they also basically came with 2-3 Authorities or special effects.
Just transferring the appraised contents to paper through the Eye of the Dragon one by one made dopamine rush, and the excitement did not subside.
The last one I chose was a dull white gem with a faint black aura flowing through it.
A processed item made from Leviathan’s spine.
The amount of mana it contains is small, but it has the characteristic of twisting the fundamental nature of a target if exposed for a long time.
It has a special poison that infects the target’s mana upon use.
Mana Amount: 15.
Special Effects: Twists the fundamental nature of the target, regardless of whether it is an object or a living creature.
“I will take this one.”
I handed over the paper with the appraised results of the spine and pointed to one of the five gems.
Saeb, who confirmed the appraisal results, showed his confusion clearly on his face.
“I do not understand. Looking at the information, is it not the least valuable item among the mana sources you have appraised so far? Moreover, it infects mana… Are you aware? Infected mana cannot be cured even by the best healer in the Empire.”
“I am aware.”
“Of course, you must have your reasons, but the heart or the reverse scale here has overwhelmingly higher value. If you are holding back out of consideration, you do not have to. There will be no disadvantages for you or Unit 917.”
“That is not it.”
Saeb was making one big mistake.
I am not the type of person who holds back when it comes to weighing profit and loss.
It might seem like a useless item to others, and it is not something I need right now.
But one thing I can be sure of is that this is one of the necessary pieces for my growth.
* * *
“Rian. You seem to be in a good mood.”
I nodded in response to Selina’s question instead of answering.
As she said, I was in a good mood today.
The sky was full of gray clouds, and a cold, heavy rain was pouring down as if a hole had been punched in it.
I do not particularly like the rain.
The air becomes humid, the ground becomes muddy, and if rainwater seeps into my shoes, there is no worse feeling.
Moreover, the umbrellas in this world are clearly inferior in performance to those of the modern era; they are heavy and do not completely block the rain, so a cold stream of water sometimes drips down my neck.
Nevertheless, I was in a good mood because I had escaped from that damn aerial base and arrived in the big city.
It still felt like the noise that echoed throughout the aerial base was ringing in my ears, but I was still happy with the joy of being liberated, even if a drizzling rain was falling.
Selina, who was looking at me smiling like a fool with an absurd expression, finally let out a chuckle.
“Then everyone, please rest comfortably. The vacation will be shorter than usual because we were held up at Ederka for quite a long time, but please understand.”
Selina, who officially declared the vacation, said she had something to do and jumped off the airship before it had fully docked at the pier.
Following her, Lirisa walked into the rain with a staggering gait, as if possessed by something.
She was probably going to meet her younger sibling.
It was her routine to buy a lot of food with her salary during vacation and go to see her sibling.
She was not the only one.
The rest of the members who had families also left the airship with bright smiles I had never seen before.
This time, too, I was left alone.
“…”
It is not that I am the type to feel lonely about this kind of thing.
But I could not get used to the pitiful gazes of the crew members looking at me.
In the end, I could not stand it and got off the airship.
After walking for about 30 minutes, I had nowhere to go, so I stopped and blankly listened to the sound of the rain hitting my umbrella, and then one face came to mind.
“It would not be bad to go see Theo after a long time.”