Chapter 26

♪ 10,000 Years Leaves Such A Kink In The Neck! ♪

When I came to, my mind and soul had been so overloaded as a living vessel from my past eternities, eons, and infinities that I was unable to function properly. My low [Intellect] stat had a part to play here, no matter how you slice it. Anyway, a vegetative state reshaped my brain, pouring all the infinite memories, made from both the agony of Hell and the bliss of the Nexus, into newly structured neuro pathways. Amidst the memories from my time at the cusp of Gehenna, convulsions forced me to shake violently while foaming at the mouth. My earthly body had never experienced so much terror, despair, and pain. Nor was it capable of doing so. As a result, the memories had physical ramifications that were promptly mended by the one transferring the memories. On the other hand, the memories of banana-moon-pies relaxed me and brought such a flood of dopamine to my brain that my heart nearly stopped from the overwhelmingly relaxing, comfortable sensation of joy. Someone was obviously fixing my body as the problems arose, saving my life in the process. Not a feat for the standard corporeal being, but a gift from the greatest brain surgeon of all time, Yahweh, the creator of the brain.

When the final string of memories was coded into my mind, I regained consciousness quite similar to waking up from a pleasant dream while sleeping in a strange position. “So that’s how [Eternal Love] works,” I said aloud while rubbing my painfully sore neck. Huh, my suit is back to its torn-up state… and the ring menu won’t open, so no items come with me to the new life. “*Sigh*…” This might end up getting way too repetitive. Meh, whatever. I took a moment to ponder mostly useless information like, why was Archy the only one there? Or nexus… isn’t that a reference to the episode of Star Trek where Captain Kirk goes to heaven? Or a waiting place before heaven opened up… As in Sheol, the Jewish underworld? Meh, I should have asked when I had auto-answer in my head.

Masada startled me out of the blue, “Kuru?” My head jerked around to face where the sound came from since I didn’t expect Masada to be resurrected with me in the absence of all my other items. I guess he is an extension of my body, so why wouldn’t he be revived? “Hey, buddy! I’m happy to see you here with me. You didn’t happen to experience the [Wrath of God] with me did you?”

A confused Masada replied, “Kuruuu?” *Whew, that’s a relief. “Trust me, you don’t wanna know, man…” Masada was stuck in the ground like the Master Sword from any Zelda game before Link pulled it from the pedestal. Playing the nostalgic tone in my mind, I lift Masada out of the ground with ease.

♪ Du, dududu duuuuuu! ♪

‘bling’

‘You have acquired [Masada Coon].’

“Ha.” That experience was so similar to when Link got his sword that I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. Relief washed over me at the new, yet familiar sensation. When I looked down at the hand I am now holding Masada in, I could see a certain finger had been restored. Just as the joy that I had my finger back had set in, a strange feeling nagged at me. This is… I remember having the whole ghost finger sensation like my finger was still there even though it wasn’t. But this… It’s more like ghost, ghost finger. It’s back on my hand but feels like there’s nothing there. I prob just need to get used to using it again.

I took a deep breath and slowly released a thin misty cloud amid the chilly mountain air. “First thing’s first, where’s that [Orichalcum Golum], and where’s Buggs Bunny?” A window manifested above the ground off to the left at the thought, showing where the hunk of metal was, but no [Hungry Rabbit]s were in the range of [Analyze]. “Okay, good. Time to begin the after-action report… Wait. Where did the [Red Moon Berry]s go?!” Wracking my brain to make sense of the berries’ disappearance caused me to start mumbling to myself, “I can understand that there are no more berries in the storage item since I don’t have the [Ring of Space], but they also disappeared from the ground… They were [Supernatural] grade food, right? Maybe they don’t belong to the same laws of nature?” After some heavy breathing, I regained control of myself to think calmly, *Wheew* breathe, Tru, breathe. I’ve at least gotten stronger after having access to the berries in my first life. Just keep growing. Have some faith. I’m sure Yahweh knows what he’s doing. I guess they could even still be sitting in the ring, but that’s a stretch. After mentally calming myself down, I jumped right back to the situation at hand, resolving to check the ring once I retrieve it, “Status.”

'bling'

[Name: Truck Coon]

[Title: [Party Leader]]

[~Status~]

[Health: 583/583]

[Mana: 3399/3399]

[Energy: 1468/1468]

[~General Stats~]

[Strength: 54 +45]

[Agility: 174 +93]

[Stamina: 104 +2]

[Intellect: 54 +28]

[Spirit: 84 +534]

[Unspent General Stat Points: 105]

[Class 1 Beast-Master, Synergist Tr 2 lvl 21]

[Class Type: [~Summoner~]]

[Weight Up(major) lvl 1: Your [~Eidolon~] becomes heavier, increasing weight by 1000%. Does not stack with skills similar to this effect.]

[Duration: 2 minutes]

[Cooldown timer: 2 minutes 30 seconds.]

[Mana Cost: 150]

[Weight Down(major) lvl 1: Target becomes lighter, decreasing weight by 90%. Does not stack with skills similar to this effect.]

[Duration: 2 minutes]

[Cooldown timer: 5 minutes]

[Number of Targets: 2]

[Mana Cost: 1000]

[Transmutate lvl 3: Manipulate [Mineral]s touched by you, and within 1ft of the touched [Mineral], into the desired form.]

[Cooldown Timer: 3 seconds.]

[Mana Cost: 100]

[Passive - Conjugate lvl 21: The [~Eidolon~] is an extension of the summoner and created by their mana. All damage to the [~Eidolon~] is subtracted from the Summoner's mana, energy then HP (1hp to 0.25mp/ep/hp) in that order. Uses the summoner's mana and/or energy for its own abilities (1 to 0.25mp/ep). All exp gains attained by either the summoner or the [~Eidolon~] are also given to the other.]

[Passive - Keen Edge lvl 1: Living blades held by you are coated with your mana, persisting a razor-sharp edge.]

[~General Skills~]

[Driscoll Linguistics Level 3]

[Meditate level 1: While in an intentional state of contemplation, gradually regenerate mana and energy up to 100%]

[Passive – Harken level 1: Worshiping Yahweh to a beat will force any [Fallen Angel] to be banished to [Tartarus].]

[Number of Uses: 5

[~Unique Skills~]

[Analyze Level 2: People, places on the map and things unknown to you display basic information to you alone.]

[Eternal Love Level 2: Every time you give of yourself, you permanently gain stats equivalent to the required stats to perform the task. When your life is given for another, all [General Stats] will be doubled, you will re-spawn from the first moment you gained this skill, and the soul of the person you died for can be saved upon your return.

!WARNING! Consequent to dying, your soul experiences the [Wrath of God].]

[~Unique Stats~]

[Charisma: 57]

“Okay, okay. So basically, all my [General Stats] were doubled, but the bonuses received by sacking myself before death and even the items I had equipped weren’t touched; I have a lot of SP to spend; I got 57 [Charisma], whatever that does; I learned [Harken] as a temporary [General Skill], that is, temporary unless I can somehow recharge the 5 uses; the effect from my previous items that boosted my [General Stats] was not lost after dying, and [Eternal Love] didn’t level up as I had previously theorized. Maybe I need to save someone’s life when I die, unlike that last death where the whole team kicked the bucket? Eh, never mind that. What about you buddy? Any changes?”

Masada replied in the negative, “Kuru.” I nodded my head and passed my attention to the unused SP. No more [Red Moon Berry]s to make me fast so to [Agility] they go! All 105 of my accumulated SP were dropped into [Agility] without a second thought. Instantly I could feel the difference made to my flexibility and overall speed.

[~Status~]

[Health: 583/583]

[Mana: 3481/3481]

[Energy: 2046/2046]

[~General Stats~]

[Strength: 54 +45]

[Agility: 279 +93]

[Stamina: 104 +2]

[Intellect: 54 +38]

[Spirit: 84 +549]

Thanks to the sudden boost to my energy and speed of motion, I couldn’t help but take a short sprint to test it out. Withholding no restraint, my accent sneaks out through the excitement, “Woooooo yeah!!! I’m alive again! Ah, what a rush! Not nearly good as ‘em berries, though.” With a quick horizontal slash, I stopped my sprint as I reached the first [Abascan Tree] on the edge of the clearing. Masada’s enhanced 12,000lb blade cleanly severed the tree from a stump left in the ground like a hot guillotine through butter.

I couldn’t help but let out a surprised whistle at the force generated by me and Masada, the greatswordstaff hoisted over my shoulder as the enormous tree slowly fell from the displacement. Though I hadn’t noticed in my previous life, birds nesting in the top branches shuffled away carrying eggs, making me feel bad for destroying their home. A feeling of hunger also assaulted my mind at the thought of potentially having eggs for second breakfast, after I have them for first breakfast too, of course. Dang, I must be hungry. There’re no berries I can eat though… Maybe poison resistance is a skill I should try to pick up, later on, to eat the [Trught Berry]s after my next re-spawn. Well, if it’s a skill at all. “Eh, there should be some bread in my cave of security, at least.”

Masada’s positive affirmation surprisingly lifts my spirits, “Kururu!”

The thoughts of food reminded me of the mutton I had before going to the guildhall, which in turn reminded me of the guild card, “Oh, shoot do I still… Ah, dang it! I figured as much.” After frantically lifting my torn suit’s sleeve in the hopes of finding a small screen still illuminating my arm, the aforementioned hopes were crushed, with no guild card to be seen. “So, I have to rebuild my status with the guild in each life. Maybe not associating with the guild will be important in a future life? Meh, there’s no way to know.”

Checking for the guild card reminded me of another screen that I desperately hoped hadn’t been reverted, “Menu. Map. *Deep sigh* Thank God.” Relief washed over me as a tan, papyrus-like screen, still filled out with the map Pirra showed me, came into view.

My next thought was to more thoroughly test my [Transmutation] skill. With Masada sheathed back into the [Garnet] and my hands held in front of myself, I approached a mass of [Brightsteel]. An aggregate culmination of glowing steel, a bit larger than a square foot, cleanly separated from the larger chunk. “Hmm so, the amount I can take has slightly increased, no doubt because it has leveled up a couple of times, but also my intellect was doubled.” I attempted to put it into the [Ring of Space] to only feel like a fool. While facepalming myself, I said, “I need to get the ring first.”

Tensions rose while I climbed down to my secret cave, thinking to myself that the cave might as well have disappeared with the [Red Moon Berry]s if my theory about supernatural items was incorrect. As my foot slipped through the wall, those tensions quickly vanished. What previously made my heart skip a beat from fear, brought me comfort this time, seeing my skeletal friend Masada chilling in his boss wooden chair. I took no time to re-equip myself with all the previous gear and place everything else into the spacially enchanted ring, including [Masada Schaffer]. Bringing up the list of materials stored brought no comfort concerning the [Red Moon Berry]s, the resource nowhere to be found. It’s probably gone for good, but I’ll keep my eye out for it as I travel anyway.

Once we were back on the ground above our cave, I poofed the [Abascan Tree] that Masada and I felled earlier into the [Ring of Space]. Since we’re already in a gathering mood… I continued to carve out spheres in anything I could see using [Transmutate], making sure to keep [Analyze] activated above the [Orichalcum Golum]. Don’t want to piss you off again… yet.

There are more [Large Chunk of …] whatever for any material I could find up here than I cared to count inside the ring now. [Brightsteel], [Orichalcum], [Abascan Tree], [Garnet], [Trught Berry], [Cargonite], [Dirt], etc.

Once I felt I had more materials than I could possibly use I looked up into the unpolluted sky, in awe of the beauty and intricate design of the universe. Euphoria washed over me in thanks to Yahweh for sending me to this world, renewing my admiration for our universe. I wonder if Yahweh made any other universes, I inquisitively thought to myself while receiving the answer in my mind, Hehehe, apparently from the big man himself. With squinted eyes and a thin smile, I quote a line from a fantastical movie in response, “Alright then, keep your secrets.”

Masada: “Kuru?”

Ignoring Masada’s question, my greatswordstaff in hand, I solidified my determination once again and we took our first steps to leave our little outcropping. Masada’s [Blaze Step] activated above the [Abascan Tree]s, consuming an enormous amount of oxygen, however, the moss atop the trees wouldn’t easily catch fire. What I felt as soon as the sole of my [Nimble Tabi] landed on the [Abascan Tree]s was a crowded presence of living things, but placed my focus first on the [Orichalcum Golum] and turned to say, “I’ll be back.”

At the Valleyport Adventuring Guild:

The human guild receptionist, Emma, twirled her ponytail around her finger while she read the document given to her by the [Guild Master] with a depressed expression. Various complex sentences could be summarized as follows: ‘keep an eye on the adventurer Lucerne. If he causes trouble with the Aristocratic faction, inform me immediately. If he quarrels with other adventurers, inform me immediately.’

Emma: “Haaaa…” she spat out a sigh after reading. Fortuitously, the noon bell was about to ring, signaling her lunch break, and there weren’t many adventurers who needed tending to.

???: “Sighing like that, what’s wrong?” Emma’s coworker asked curiously. It was Missy, a cat [Beastman]. As Missy asked her friend what was wrong, she started to stretch, revealing the flexible limbs featured by the cat family of Beastmen. Emma felt some envy as she looked at her own, less impressive physique.

Emma: “Here, just take a look.” Diverting her admiring gaze from Missy, Emma passed the documents. After briefly scanning the guild hall for any potential adventurers in need of assistance, Missy grabbed the folder baring the guild master’s seal. Given the current workflow or more accurately, lack thereof, she started reading without any hesitation.

Missy: “Um, what? Wait, what is this?” Although she began to read frivolously at first, her cheeks started to cramp after reading only the first few lines. Holding the position of [Head Receptionist], she began to speak with authority, “We are not supposed to show partiality to adventurers and are to take up a purely neutral stance, yet the GM wants you to keep special tabs on one of the rookies and report back if anything happens? Are the two of them family?”

Emma: “No. Lucerne, or Luke as he prefers, has only just come to a human territory for the first time. Before that, he would only say he came from the mountains, but wouldn’t confirm what mountains he was speaking of.”

Missy: “So you received special instructions from the guild master. What did you do to earn that?

Emma: “I haven’t done anything in particular.”

With a doubtful look, Missy retorted with a strong tone that startled Emma, “Then why did you personally receive orders from the GM? What’s your relationship with Luke?”

Raising her hands, Emma vehemently denied the accusation, “There are no special relations! Probably because I’m human, he tends to accept requests from me, and when he completes them, he turns them in with me.”

Missy: “Isn’t that new guy hitting on you then?

Receptionists are the face of the guild, so it’s only natural for those who employ them to hire beautiful women. As a result, receptionists were idolized by the adventuring men, who make up about 80% of all adventurers. They’re seen as unattainable objects, someone that they’d work hard to impress. Over time, receptionists developed into the target of the adventurers’ praise, receiving constant attention and romantic advances. They’d become that kind of motivational existence. Missy was implying that Luke had merely been falling into that stereotype they have of adventuring men. That he’s just trying to chase after Emma. However, with all their contact, Emma could feel that he hadn’t been trying to attract her.

It wasn’t unheard of. On the contrary, it had become a regular occurrence. No thanks to the bar inside the guild, ofttimes the men would get drunk and call out to Emma. More than that and they would be sent to the guild jail for obstructing business and tearfully pay the fine for their interference the next day.

Emma: “He isn’t. In the first place, the Lucerne written in the document isn’t much older than a child. You know, the one that dismantled the party Goblin Cleavers for picking on him?”

Missy: “Ah, he’s that kid?!”

It isn’t uncommon for lowlife adventurers to mess with those who came for guild registration. However, it usually ends with the new party sucking up to the more senior adventurers. As a result, a hierarchical relationship is formed and used in various ways. This typically ends with the juniors being ordered to do trivial chores for their seniors not unlike what college football teams are in the habit of doing. It isn’t always bad since the juniors tend to learn important lessons the easy way from their seniors.

The practice is tacitly approved in the guild on a general basis. In this case, Goblin Cleavers can be thought of as a mid-tier party with several years of experience and could be considered an individual task force. Even so, the 15-year-old Lucerne had unanimously beaten his seniors and had their gold and all of their equipment taken away as reparations. The disparity in combat power between a seasoned party and someone who just registered is overwhelming in nearly every occurrence. Due to the reversal of common sense, Lucerne had made a strong impression on Emma and the adventurers who watched their fight.

Missy: “I guess the guild master must have expectations for him… Maybe I should keep my eye on him too. What’s the ability of that kid anyway? Does he have any actual achievements?”

Emma: “So far, he’s only done two requests. One was a goblin subjugation request where he brought the proof of subjugation for a [Hob Goblin Shade Tr 19] along with 12 other [Hob Goblin]s of various levels. And a [Bulldog Ant] subjugation request. He brought nearly 50 proofs of subjugation for [Bulldog Ants].”

Missy was speechless with wide eyes for a moment before she regained her senses, “*Ahem* really?”

Emma: “Yes, really.”

Missy: “The goblins aside, even a well-organized C rank party would have difficulty with such a large group of [Bulldog Ants]. And yet, he accomplished that all by his lonesome? Not many people could accomplish that. What is his Tr level?”

Emma: “That’s the strangest part of it all, he doesn’t have a class! I even had him scanned by the guild status crystal after his guild card was completed, but nothing showed up on either.”

Missy took a moment to mull over all the new info she acquired and came to the conclusion that, the guild master must be favoring him because he’s already considered as part of the combat forces for the city. No doubt, the Margrave already knows about him, even though he only arrived in Valleyport a few days ago.

Missy: “Have you seen him yet today?”

Emma: “No. After two consecutive days of subjugating, I’m sure he’ll take a rest today. Before when I spoke about him you shrugged me off. Why the sudden interest in Luke?”

Missy: “Well, I want to get closer to him, since it’s certain that he’ll rise to the top in the future. Do you think an older wife is okay? You know, I have the men’s favorite body,” she said with a wink while holding herself to proudly emphasize her assets.

To that appearance, Emma wore a thin smile with veins protruding from her forehead.

From my perspective, Lucerne:

As always, the guild was crowded with adventurers. As I reached to open the Adventuring Guild’s door, I second guessed my decision to ask the receptionists about where the church takes their captives. I’d rather not deal with some petty conflict over me. “*Sigh*” I guess I’m just too popular. It isn’t as though I can help it.

When I leaned up against a nearby pillar, some fancy pants guy ran in like a tiger with its tail on fire. I raised my eyebrows when his booming voice silenced everyone around.

Guy: “Everyone, listen up!” He paused to catch his breath as the surroundings quieted down and began to listen intently. “The margrave, Dustin Ray, is recruiting for an emergency request. An Orc settlement was discovered ‘bout a day’s distance from Valleyport in the [Myrkvior Forest]. The settlement must be annihilated. For the reward, 5 [Gold Coin]s will be given beforehand, and 2 [Platinum Coin]s will be given upon success. Separate rewards will be given depending on the degree of contribution. Moreover, though the reward for an [Orc]’s proof of subjugation is 3 [Silver Coin]s, it will be increased to 5. Be advised, [Orc]s may be D rank monsters alone, but in a group, they are C ranked. That isn’t including the added difficulty of rare or higher species of [Orc] like [Orc Mage] or [Orc Commander]. Due to the unknown difficulty of the request, only those who are judged to be capable are able to participate. Needless to say, the minimum requirement is the ability to defeat an [Orc] by themselves. There will also be positions for logistics since a small army will need to be mobilized. The applicants will be judged in the meeting room on the second floor in an hour after registering the request with the receptionist.”

He may have been a former adventurer, but some guy missing half of his ear blurted out with a crass voice, “How many o’ them [Orc]s we talkin’?”

Guy: “It is unknown, but we’re certain that the minimum is 50.”

As soon as the number was said, the floodgates of adventurers’ opinions broke, “The lowest number is 50?! Are you kidding me?!”

“Ugh, there’s no doubt that there will be rare and higher species working together.

“We aren’t doing it. We’ve lost party members to [Orc]s before.”

“This is gonna be big! After all, 5 gold just for participating and 2 platinum if we succeed? That’s too much to pass up! Sign me up Missy!”

“But dude, if the rewards are so generous, of course, the danger will be correspondingly great.”

“A settlement of [Orc]s a day from here… Valleyport will definitely take heavy damage if nothing is done soon.

What the heck man, [Orc]s? That puts a huge damper on my objectives here. Maybe I should help ‘em out. But even with that in mind, I couldn’t help but feel anxious. I’d never actually seen an [Orc], so how could I possibly have known whether or not I could defeat one? If I remember correctly, [Orc]s are an all-male race and they use females from other races to breed like goblins and minotaurs. For all I know, she could have wound up there after the church took her… The image of my little sister’s smiling face set the light of justice ablaze in me, Even if she isn’t there, I can’t leave such a threat unscathed. I’ve got to be the big brother she looks up to, however tall the order is.