[AchievementCompleted!]
[Save 1.000 People]
[Title: Saviour Obtained!]
[Next Skill Improved!]
[Ever-Adapting Survivor Level 26!]
[Flexible Body Removed!]
[Increased Strength (Gradual) Removed!]
[Enhanced Sense Removed!]
[Lesser Agility Removed!]
[Lesser Dexterity Removed!]
[Lesser Reflex Removed!]
[Lesser Regeneration Removed!]
[Durable Body Removed!]
[Unyielding Bones Removed!]
[Evolution Through Ruin Obtained!]
[Spirit Knight Level 14!]
[Bottomless Stomach (Milk) Obtained!]
Victor didn’t pay any attention to the text in front of him, or to the knowledge the system put into his brain. It wasn’t like he could forget any of them; it was literally impossible, so he would think about them later.
He felt like shit.
Garron was dead in front of him. He and Norm would be safe now, but his name would forever be associated with those bastards. It was hard to feel happy.
“Hey, man, you okay?”
Kairos looked at him with such worry in his eyes that Victor wanted to cry for some reason. If he replied to him now, Victor was sure that his voice would wobble, and there was a possibility that he would cry right there and then. So he stayed quiet.
A promise was important, and breaking it would undoubtedly weaken him. The world would trust him less, which meant all of his spells and Skills would be weaker and cost more.
If the promise helped someone acquire or level up a Red or Yellow Class, then breaking it wouldn’t do anything. But the consequences of making it in the first place would be worse than if someone broke a promise. If they didn’t know the promise would be harmful or bad when they made it, then it would be okay.
A Yellow Class wouldn’t get weaker when someone broke a promise, nor was the magic used by demons.
The promise he made to Garron wouldn’t gain him a Red or Yellow Class. That meant he had to do it. He had to do it. He had to do it. He HAD TO DO IT—
Suddenly, he could feel someone hugging him. It was Kairos, and for some reason, Victor didn’t mind it.
Ever since he could remember, Victor didn’t like anyone but Norm to even touch him. However, rather than putting him on edge, it felt comforting, safe. It left him feeling vulnerable. He felt like a child, and he actually didn’t dislike it.
Without meaning to, Victor hugged Kairos back. He didn’t know what had come over him, but he didn’t regret it. Kairos then started patting the back of his head, and Victor didn’t mind one bit.
After a while, Victor realized he had been crying this whole time.
Meeting Garron and being here, in the place where he had suffered his whole life, made the memories he had been suppressing resurface.
“Everything is going to be okay. You’re safe now.”
Victor knew that Kairos didn’t know anything about him, but those seemingly hollow words made him feel better, because Victor knew it was the truth.
He had no idea how much time had passed. It might have been five minutes, or it could have been thirty minutes. He really couldn’t tell.
When all of his tears had been dried up, Victor released the hug. He still felt shitty, but it was definitely much better than before.
“You really are high level.”
[Mental Immunity] only blocks mental effects that were harmful or that he didn’t want. It was only a guess before, and this confirmed it. When Kairos hugged him, Victor sensed something from [Mental Immunity] and instinctively knew what Kairos was trying to do. If Victor wanted to, he felt like he could easily block it, but he chose not to.
The reason why that part of the Skill only appeared now was probably because he already knew what Garron and Aria were trying to do. He didn’t need [Mental Immunity] for that. Besides, it would be quite a horrible Skill if it blocked all mental effects without him being able to control it. Not all Skills that could influence another person's thought and emotion were bad. But it was illegal to use it on someone without their permission.
“Sorry. My body moved on its own. You seem to really need it, so I… sorry. Won’t happen again.”
“It’s fine. I could easily block your Skill if I wanted to, but I chose to let it happen. Why… did you do that though?”
What Kairos did was pretty bizarre. He literally opened up about almost everything that made him who he was.
How strong he was, how he fought, his goals, his beliefs, some of his memories that showed what kinda person he was, and even all of his Skills and how they worked. Kairos also made Victor be more conscious of Kairos’s existence. It was not intrusive or annoying; if anything, it was comforting. Whenever he thought of a bad memory, Victor knew that right now, he was not alone. Kairos didn’t directly change how he felt. That was why Victor let it happen.
Kairos was a stranger to him, and Victor knew that Kairos felt the same way about him. So why the fuck did Kairos do that?! Telling someone about your own Skill was something you did only for someone you trusted. But everySkill, even how you fought? Victor would only do that to Norm. Ver knew everything, but that was because Victor didn’t have a choice in the matter. A stranger, though? That was what you called insanity.
“My little brother said that you’re a good person and someone who could be trusted. Besides, how could I make you feel safe if you don’t know anything about me?”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that enough reason?”
That confirmed it—Kairos was insane.
Victor already knew that from the Skill; he just couldn’t believe it. He also knew that Kairos had no ulterior motive and was genuinely just trying to help.
It wasn’t because of his looks. Even if he was the ugliest person in the whole world, Victor believed that Kairos’s actions wouldn’t have changed. That was just the kind of person Kairos was.
[Mental Immunity] told him that Kairos had no control over what he shared with people. His Skill, [Everything You Need to Know About Me], sent information about himself to anyone he touched. The information each person received was everything they needed to know about him. Kairos didn’t have any control over what the Skill sent.
Even though Victor knew quite a lot about Kairos now, it didn’t mean he understood him. He knew Kairos was doing all of this to be a good big brother to Lucks, and that part Victor understood. However, Kairos seemed to find joy in helping people, even if he got nothing out of it most of the time. Just a small token of gratitude, sometimes not even that. Even if Kairos literally saved their lives.
“I’ll take care of the corpse. You go meet up with the others and tell them about what happened. Also, tell Lucks that if he lazes around, he'll be forbidden from playing with any of the animals.”
“Sure.”
It couldn’t be more obvious what Kairos was trying to do. Kairos didn’t have any Skill to help him understand people better, but he obviously didn’t need to. He was just that good at reading people.
Victor never told him that he was uncomfortable being in this place and about his relationship with Garron, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Kairos managed to figure out everything. Which was a bit scary, but it still made him quite likeable in his eyes. Victor could even see both of them being friends.
However, it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Kairos arrived way too late to save him, and he would definitely try even if it was impossible.
Well, it wouldn’t change anything, really. There was no way he could beat Garron and Aria when he was a kid. He is only four years older than me.
Without looking back, Victor ran towards where Norm was.
[Achievement Completed!]
[Save 1.000 People]
[Title: Saviour Obtained!]
[Mana Regeneration Increased!]
[Ever-Adapting Survivor Level 26!]
[Flexible Body Removed!]
[Increased Strength (Gradual) Removed!]
[Enhanced Sense Removed!]
[Lesser Agility Removed!]
[Lesser Dexterity Removed!]
[Lesser Reflex Removed!]
[Lesser Regeneration Removed!]
[Durable Body Removed!]
[Unyielding Bones Removed!]
[Evolution Through Ruin Obtained!]
[Spirit Knight Level 14!]
[Bottomless Stomach (Milk) Obtained!]
It had been five minutes since Ver received the notification. But he couldn’t teleport to Victor to ask him what had happened. He couldn’t waste any of his mana right now.
Five minutes ago, Kairos suddenly said that the curse had been lifted by the demon and that there was now a good chance that everyone could be saved. However, that was only after taking all of their abilities into account.
While there would be no side effects from the curse being removed, it didn't mean that everyone was fine. If a virus was suddenly gone from a person’s body, the damage the virus caused wouldn’t suddenly disappear.
There was little chance that someone would die today, but it was better to play it safe.
“Ver, maybe you should teleport to Victor just as we planned? What if he was gravely injured and needed your help?”
The cow and goat had already been fully milked a long time ago, so Norm had been walking around the village, feeding the unconscious people milk.
[All-Healing Milk (Weak)] heals the most urgent problem first, so no one was waking up even after they made them drink the milk that could heal anything.
“My big brother told me that your friend is okay. I already told you this six times now, are you even listening?”
Lucks was with them, helping feed people the milk, and he looked really annoyed.
(Calm down, Norm. Didn’t we already agree beforehand that we should save up as much of my mana as possible in case someone really needs it?)
The original plan was for him to teleport to Victor at the same time as Kairos with as much mana as he could possibly have. While he liked to produce milk to heal as many people as possible, if Victor or Kairos lost, all of them would be dead.
Their chance of winning was low, so they needed all the advantage that they could get. Even if it would cause a few more people to die, it was better than all of them dying.
However, now that they knew the demon was already dead, Ver could use his mana more freely. Both he and Norm had used [Create Milk] to provide cow’s milk for everyone. Before, they only had enough for half of the village’s population, but now, they could feed everyone.
He still had around sixty-five percent of his mana remaining, and quite a lot of that was because he had been awake and leaking mana. It was quite surprising how much regular milk he and Norm could create when they combined their Skill.
“Still, aren’t you now able to regenerate more mana if you submerge yourself in milk? Checking if Victor is alright wouldn’t make that much of a difference, would it?”
(Don’t be selfish, Norm. I could only regenerate about one percent of my mana per hour. It’s not that fast.)
It hadn’t been that long since he got the achievement and its reward. But his estimation couldn’t be that far off.
Even though teleporting only cost like around 0,5% of his total mana, it was still something. He wouldn’t use it on useless things when there was a possibility that he would need it to save someone’s life. That was why he didn’t even create healthy milk even though someone in their group was missing a right arm.
Wasting his mana because Norm was worried was not a good use of it.
“Pip also said that Victor was fine. Stop worrying.”
Bow was frowning, probably annoyed. Considering her brother’s condition, it was quite understandable.
“Sorry. It’s just…”
Norm was about to say something, but after seeing Ursag, the orc who was missing his right arm, he held back what he was about to say.
“I’m being selfish, sorry. But, bla bla bla bla bla.”
Norm kept talking and talking, so Ver completely tuned him out and turned his attention to Ursag, the first orc he had ever seen.
Bulging muscles, fierce red eyes, rough voice, and all around cool appearance made Ver instantly like him. The way he fought was also very straightforward, which was very orc-like.
Wait, am I being racist? Or was it speciest?
Putting that uncomfortable realization aside, Ver genuinely liked Ursag, whether he was an orc or not. Honest and straightforward—whether in a real person or a fictional character—those were the two qualities that made Ver instantly like someone.
Ver always played as an orc or a barbarian in games whenever he could. He also liked playing support, which his friends always told him was not a good combination. But whenever they played DND, it always led to hilarious moments, which only made Ver like that type of character even more.
His favorite type of character in any kind of fiction was what people called a muscle head. Ver liked those characters because they were so different from him. They always seemed so free and full of life. Watching Ursag fight reminded Ver why he liked those kinds of characters so much.
When Bow threw a couple of smoke bombs that would put the entire village to sleep, there would obviously be some resistance, especially from the guard. While Kairos took care of most of them, almost all of Ver’s attention was on Ursag.
The way Ursag fought was so much different from how Victor fought. Ver knew basically nothing about fighting except when it came to games, but even he could tell that Victor’s fighting style was cleaner and more calculated, while Ursag was much wilder.
Of course, Ver knew that he had only just met Ursag, so it was possible that Ursag was completely different once Ver got to know him. But right now, he really wanted to be his friend.
However, between the two siblings, Ver liked Bow more. She had a freaking owl! It was his favorite animal!
It was a shame he couldn’t pet Pip. She was so cute and adorable.
“Are we done yet?”
Lucks said, also completely ignoring Norm's rambling.
From the start, Lucks had never shown any sign of worry or fear. He had been smiling the whole time and even cheered them on during their battle.
Ver expected him to at least be a little bit afraid, because you know, he was a kid. He knew that children were more energetic and carefree than adults. He just didn’t expect it to also apply to a life-or-death situation.
You learn something new every day.
However, after Kairos told Lucks telepathically that the demon was dead and it was all over, Lucks was no longer as energetic. It was the opposite of what everyone else was feeling as far as Ver could tell. Norm included.
Before receiving the news, Norm had been quiet ever since Victor went out to confront the demon. But now, he just wouldn’t stop yapping!
Ver understood what Norm was feeling, but it was still annoying.
Thankfully, Victor suddenly appeared in front of them wearing the awesome-looking suit.
“Victor! Are you okay?”
Norm immediately ran up to Victor and gave him a hug.
Ver didn’t know whether he was more relieved to see Victor okay or for Norm to finally stop talking.
“I’m fine. You’re not injured, are you?”
“No, but never mind that. You’re really okay, right—”
“Yeah. But I think I need a nap. I’m tired.”
Before Norm could ask the same question over and over again, Ver cut him off by speaking to both of them telepathically.
(Is there someone who needs healing, Vic?)
“No, there isn’t, Ver. You could heal Ursag if you want. Even if there were, we still have health potions, so don’t worry.”
It was impressive how perceptive Victor was. In only a few seconds, he had already figured out their dilemma.
Victor knew a lot more than any of them, so Ver trusted his judgment and created healthy milk with Norm’s help for Ursag.
At first, Norm was reluctant. He was probably thinking that Victor should be the one to drink the healthy milk, not Ursag. But after Victor told him that he was really fine, Norm relented.
“Alright, I’m going to go to sleep now. Bye. Wait, I almost forgot. Lucks, Kairos told me that if you laze around, you will be forbidden from playing with any of the animals.”
Victor then left, leaving them with all of this mess and a crestfallen kid. Making an unconscious person drink something and moving them to a safe and comfortable place took quite a bit of time. Doing it to one thousand people? Yeah, it was not a good time.
(My mana is running low. I’m going to sleep.)
There was no reason for Ver to stay awake when sleeping made his mana regenerate way faster. Not to mention the next few hours would probably be quite boring.
(Okay, bye.)
“Wait, not you too—”
And then, Ver was gone.
“I should probably be the one to give you the milk. I have a Skill that increases the milk's healing potency.”
“Thanks.”
Ursag turned his attention to Amelia. She was Norm’s mom, if his memory served him right.
As far as Ursag could tell, none of them had a Skill that enhanced the effects of a medicine, so no one complained and let her feed him the milk.
It was the most delicious milk Ursag had ever tasted. No, it was by far the greatest drink he had ever tasted. However, what happened next made Ursag completely forget about its taste.
In an instant, his missing right arm regrew and appeared as good as new. His mind also felt clearer, and his body felt much lighter compared to before.
He was no longer tired, and the craziest part was that Ursag didn’t feel weak afterward at all.
Healing potions that could heal as much as the milk he just drank exist, but they were expensive, and a gold-ranker probably only had one or two of them in case of an emergency. They were not a resource that even gold-rankers used often.
But healing potions this powerful that didn’t have any side effects? Maybe a kingdom had them in its treasure vault. They were quite literally priceless, and Norm had just given one to him as if it was nothing.
Norm looked like he didn’t care all that much about what he just did, and was now currently complaining about how mean his friends were.
Even though it looked like Norm could create that ‘milk’ quite often, it was still quite bizarre.
No one, not even a sovereign-rank adventurer or a Grandmaster [Alchemist], would hand out that kind of resource willy-nilly even if they had plenty of it and could easily create more.
Even if they were feeling generous and liked to give to the poor, they would definitely expect him to say thanks, cry, and be blown away or something. But only Bow was paying attention to him now. The others had already gone back to work as if nothing incredible had just happened.
Not to mention that Norm could apparently heal one-thousand people back to full health after they had been cursed for years in no time at all.
“Bow, do you think I should pay him or something?”
Ursag led Bow away from everyone to talk to her privately. He was out of his depth and was quite confused about what he should do.
“You and what money?”
Bow rolled her eyes, but he knew she was just trying to act nonchalant. Deep down, she was probably as amazed and panicked as he was.
“They look like they don't expect anything from you, so don’t tempt fate, Ur. If they told you to pay up, then we would be in debt for the rest of our lives.”
“I should do nothing, then?”
Ursag frowned. He didn’t like to repay generosity with nothing. Even if the other party expected nothing from him.
“I’m not saying that, stupid. Repay them with something else other than money. I don’t know what it would be, but money is out of the question.”
“I see. Then I should stay with them until my debt is paid.”
His sister was shocked and a bit… afraid? Was he missing something?
“Are you fucking crazy?! They are clearly Children of Destiny! We would die if we stayed with them.”
The puzzle finally clicked into place in Ursag’s head. The weirdness, how strong they were even though they were around his age, and, more importantly, the trouble they had been encountering ever since they started accompanying the ‘[Merchant].’
“Aren’t we considered talented, Bow? I’m sure we could keep up with them if we tried.”
Bow snorted, which kinda hurt his feelings.
“Yeah, we’re definitely talented. Our levels are higher than our age, so we could definitely pass any entrance exam for most schools. But Children of Destiny are on another level. It was like comparing the armpit hair of a teenager to someone who had long, luscious hair. We are out of our league, Ur.”
“First of all, that’s gross. And second, you know I couldn’t just walk away when I’m indebted to someone. You can leave if you want, but I’m going to stay.”
Bow sighed and walked away.
It was a bit unfair, Ursag knew. If he stayed, then it was obvious what his sister was going to do. They only had each other, and also Pip. But Ursag didn’t count her for obvious reasons.
The thought of separating from his sister didn’t even cross his mind. He had only said that last part to get what he wanted, which was a bit of a jerk move.