Episode(104) A Prayer For a Fallen Hero
SOVEREIGN OF DEATH~(104)
Damn it!
Nagisa glanced around with mild frustration.
[Where am I?]
He was lost. For the first time in his life he had no idea how to retrace his steps at all.
Not to mention the many branching passages, he seemed to have walked through several of them while he was disoriented and now he was absolutely lost.
I expected to somehow find my way back on the right path, but I was betrayed!
Skills didn't matter here. My footprints were all over the ground and it seemed that moving around too much had erase any trace of the breadcrumbs left behind.
Even using perception was useless after all, it was perception not a GPS tracker.
Tch!
In the end, I had no other choice but to keep walking. Perhaps I'd be able to find some exit or maybe even meet up with Camilla if I continued forward.
But, not long after walking through a passage Nagisa exited into what seemed like a huge artificial lake.
[What now?]
He was a bit annoyed.
Having seen that this dungeon could even recreate weather and even simulate a real world, an artificial lake wasn't too surprising.
My eyes traced the surroundings and in the middle of the lake was what seemed to be a basketball court sized island.
However I wasn't too interested. Even after struggling so much I still had yet to gain a single piece of precious treasure!
Although I had awakened a new trait, this was just compensation! Not even to soothe my raging heart.
Still, the moment I wanted to head back I paused.
[This is?!]
A pure wave of mana slapped me on top of my head as if asked, 'Are you really leaving? Just like that'?
I immediately halted.
This feeling, there was no doubt.
The corner of my mouth was already watering and my eyes flickered with temptation.
Treasure! It was undoubtedly treasure!
And a high quality one at that. Even if I didn't sell it, using it to make items would be just as good!
Even if it wasn't treasure, that tree in the middle of the island over there must be some mythical tree!
Hehe!
Wiping the corner of his drooling mouth Nagisa grinned.
[I admit, this place is hell but it does give out some rewards]
Fine, when I find the guy who created this place I'll let him off after I beat him till his parents can't recognize him.
Compared to his previous thoughts of tying the guy up and whipping him for a hundred years this was indeed milder in comparison.
[Valkyrie, I still hate your guts but at least I don't feel the urge to kill you]
Let this young master return and make you submit, pigeon winged b*tch!
Without further ado, he jumped into the water and swam to the island.
After drying myself by removing the moisture from my clothes, I smiled.
[Magic really is convenient]
Now he didn't need to walk around like a wet dog.
Hold on-
[Did I need to swim when I have water manipulation?]
No, let's not think about it. If he did, he'd feel like an idiot.
Anyway, just what kind of treasure was hiding here that this place gave off such a pure wave of mana?
He was both curious and excited to find out.
The island was surprisingly fertile, filled with lush green grass and plants that Nagisa had never seen before, he walked while admiring the view and sauntered over to the tree.
I placed my hand on the huge tree that was at least three times my height and used perception.
For me, perception had many uses. One use I had figured out was the effect to breach individuals and items information, a means of analysis.
It worked by spreading my perception through the targets being and reading the flow of their mana.
Surprisingly, a person's mana fluctuations revealed a lot more than just how much mana they had and the effect I achieved was to access that data like a type of analysis.
<
Description: A tree soaked in the blood of heroes and the mana of various high ranking creatures. A unique tree with the essence of reinvigorating dead lands and improving the quality of all plant life within its vicinity. Grants the soil an interchanging quality allowing even plants with rigorous conditions to grow without issue.
Accepting the flow of data, I opened my eyes and glanced around the tree.
There were no fruits, perhaps it didn't bear fruits or it probably had some condition?
Still, this tree was quite something.
A millennia, if it was back on earth this tree would have already become a landmark.
Not only that, its effects were insane as well.
Wait-
[If I used this, won't I be able to plant that ether fruit tree I collected before?]
I was worried that the outside might not have the conditions for planting the tree, just in time this tree showed up.
I grinned.
Indeed! Treasure never fails!
Summoning my shadow, I sent the tree into my shadow storage without reserve.
What? There was no owner anyway so I was just doing the tree a favor by putting it to use.
Shameless, yes but so what?
[Well, I guess that's that]
Now that he took away the treasure it was time to make like the wind.
However he paused as he walked through the thick grass.
[Huh?]
This is-
Looking down before the path, there was something laid down. No, not something but someone.
[A corpse?]
A corpse?
It was surprising that someone actually made it this far. There were pretty strong people in this world huh?
I wonder what skills or traits this guy had.
Licking my lips I could not help the temptation.
[My condolences warrior]
With a clap of my hands, I started to dig around the slightly decayed corpse that was already showing bone.
Based on what I could sense this guy had been here for decades, it was a wonder he wasn't all bones like the hero I found before.
Wait, could it be the tree's effects?
In any case, the plan was to exploit whatever skill or trait this guy had. Even if it wasn't unique, even a trait at (A) rank would be nice to have.
With as many powerful skills and traits as he had, Nagisa wasn't picky.
Instead he like the idea of optimizing his traits and skills.
Before long the corpse was dug up and what lay on the ground was an armored man.
[High class armor?]
Was this a jackpot? This guy was even wearing high tier armor.
Almost impatient, Nagisa activated his perception to find out the identity of the guy but the information stunned him.
[Frey Humming–Lv.90]
[Class–Hero(Wind)]
JACKPOT!
If this wasn't a jackpot then what the hell was!
Finding another hero, even if I couldn't exploit his skills or traits, any random stat of his could add a substantial amount to my own.
[O, this great blessing I shall greatly partake!]
<
With a shout, my hand on the hero's head my veins bulged and power unprecedented shot into my being.
[This-!]
Only when I took the unique traits of beings would I get this feeling.
When the light subsided, I pulled my hand away from the corpse and clasped both hands as the hero turned to ashes.
[Rest in peace, hero of men]