Chương 17

Nuvian took off to scout ahead as the rest followed behind, with the exception of Beet. The young tyrant simply vanished again, as he usually did. While they prowled through the dense forest, Oliver was kind enough to answer his earlier question in a low voice. It turned out talent was more like an elemental affinity. Everyone had varying talents of different elements, and the more talented the person, the faster they cultivated and the easier time they had with comprehension of skills.

That worried Ethan quite a bit, but he also felt like he was being too impatient. Just a few months without any progress didn't mean he had no talent in Void, and even if that was the case, he could always find out his talents when he visited Ehrendil and focus on them instead. He learned that there were many skill shops in the Free Cities. Countless skills awaited those with money to burn. Unfortunately, learning anything higher than rank-1 skills in this way was impossible.

Most of these skill tablets came from the local tier-9s of Elisium. To impart a skill and prepare it for mass distribution, one had to create it themselves first. Even then, to stand above the rest, the skill had to be high quality, or somewhat unique. Making copies of his skills to earn some cash didn't seem possible for him, but he was hopeful to find other income sources in the city.

Situated in the south of Azora, in the middle of Emerald Forest, the Free Cities were apparently built in ancient times as elven cities, but after so long, their demography had changed considerably. These days, most of the residents were humans, but they were also home to many more races and a melting pot of different cultures, the total population ranging in the millions for each city. Of the four, Ehrendil was the second largest one after Niamaris.

Nestled in a secluded, deep mountain valley, Glenroot was the smallest. Meanwhile, Kelhvan was the richest, thanks to its position as a port city and its trade routes with the Mirasatra Kingdom. About an hour passed as Ethan continued learning tidbits about the surrounding regions. They encountered a few low-tier beasts along the way and ignored them whenever they could, until Nuvian finally returned with good news: he had spotted an early tier-3 cave lion.

After a quick discussion, they agreed that it was a good target and made their way to the area, eventually catching sight of the large beast that was taking a nap next to a rocky hill. Being told to stay behind and watch, Ethan used his [Mana Sense] and started observing the upcoming battle with anticipation. He'd killed quite a few similarly strong beasts in the past few months; some were easy fights, and some nearly cost him his life. He wondered how this party of three would fare.

Alice cast a skill that enveloped the others in electric-blue light before disappearing the next instant. Nodding with a solemn face, Oliver went to face the cave lion in melee, while the other two followed from behind and kept their distance. When they were close enough, Nuvian nocked an arrow to his bow, but before he had a chance to aim, the beast noticed their presence and sprang to its feet, letting out a threatening roar.

Oliver started running with a double-handed sword and clashed with the lion's claw, their strength somehow matching. An arrow glowing red followed at breakneck speed, but the beast narrowly dodged it by jumping sideways. Without a stop, it leaped at Oliver and opened its maw wide, ready to bite his head off. All it got was a lightning bolt blasting it in the face, eliciting a pained cry and blinding the creature for a moment. That came from Alice, who was staying behind Oliver and looking for an opening.

Calling the skill [Lightning Bolt] was a bit of a stretch. It seemed like little more than a pale imitation, nowhere near what the thunderbird had been capable of, but it still did the job perfectly. Oliver moved forward and slashed his sword, opening a long and deep wound on the lion's chest. Nuvian's second arrow also arrived a moment later, penetrating its left side. Then, as the cave lion backed off, green particles started to float around its body, mending its wounds at a rapid pace.

Evidently, this deadly predator had a damn good healing skill as well. The fight slowly turned into a battle of attrition, and despite the close calls, the party was handling themselves pretty well. Their coordination was almost seamless. It showed that they were familiar with each other and used to this kind of hunt. Oliver was especially good at controlling the fight, never letting the beast get past him. Still, the beast was too agile to keep at bay with swordplay alone.

It eventually managed to dash toward Alice, but sharp, earthen spikes rose from the ground and pierced the beast from beneath. The wounds they caused were shallow, and the spikes broke apart under the heavy weight of the lion, but this allowed Oliver to control the terrain to their advantage and protect his party members from sudden attacks. The fight resumed for a good while as they tired the beast more and more.

Then, in a desperate attempt, it started to fight more aggressively and tried to get Oliver out of the picture. A claw attack was blocked by the two-handed sword, but the next followed immediately after, catching Oliver off guard as it smashed into his side with tremendous force. Ethan was about to call his daggers and [Blink] to help them, but he noticed that just before the attack landed, Oliver's body shimmered lightly and turned into… marble?

The guy froze in mid-action and literally turned into some kind of statue. As soon as the claw hit him, a tremor ran through the ground, and all the damage was negated. Oliver's flesh body came into being the next moment, showing no injuries at all, but more importantly, it was the cave lion's turn to freeze this time, getting stunned right after the hit. This gave a great chance for Oliver to finish the fight, but he didn't take it.

Instead, he let the others rain down their ranged attacks one after another in the next two seconds. Once he saw that it wasn't enough to kill the beast and it regained its mobility, he quickly stabbed his sword to its heart, taking another step forward to plunge it all the way. The lion gave its last breath and fell to the floor. They all gathered around its corpse and started to harvest its parts. Ethan thought this was a great time to pester them some more and started with the most important question.

''Good fight! What was that last skill you used?'' Oliver let out a short laugh, stabbing his sword to the floor and wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

''[Unbreakable]. It was a birthday gift from my father. It's considered a rare skill.''''You can forget about getting something like that from the skill shops,'' Alice said, reading his expression.

''Uncle Michael bought it from an auction in Miri. That's the capital of the Mirasatra Kingdom we talked about earlier. It's renowned for its high-end merchandise and top-notch auction houses.''''I see. It's still great that skills like that are available for purchase. Though I'm guessing they are quite expensive.'' Oliver gave a mirthless smile.

''That would be an understatement. Dad works for Travis McGregor, one of the councilors of Ehrendil. Being a guard captain is a coveted position, but at tier-5, his salary is only so much. This skill probably cost him an arm and a leg.'' So they are like middle-class kids then? He watched them as they got busy with the carcass of the cave lion.

''You said it's considered a rare skill. Is there a ranking for the skills?'' The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Yes and no," Nuvian answered this time, collecting his arrows.

"People often rank them as common, uncommon, rare, legendary, and unique. But it's more like a matter of personal opinion than anything else. Merchants don't even bother labeling them because there isn't a reliable source that ranks skills. You shouldn't listen to what others say either; as long as the skill works for you, it's all good."''I feel like there was a jab somewhere in there,'' Alice said, narrowing her eyes at Nuvian, who pretended not to notice. Oliver grinned, turning at Ethan.

''We had an argument with someone in a tavern just before this trip. Alice was telling us how her [Thunder Breath] is one of the best uncommon skills, and the guy at the next table said it was merely one of the better common skills. What followed was an hour long quarrel and me dragging a drunk Alice as she kicked her legs and cursed like a sailor.''''That is not what happened!'' Alice cried, gaping.

''He said his granny's chili gives him more energy. He was clearly taunting me!''''[Thunder Breath]? Is that the skill you used at the beginning?'' Ethan asked.

''What does it do?''''Yes. It gives a minor speed boost and renews your vigor slowly,'' Alice replied with a smug look.

''Sure, it's not much, but I can use it on others too. How many other rank-1 skills do that? Not many, I'll tell you that.'' He nodded thoughtfully. Bonus Agility stat and stamina restoration over time? I'm sold.''It seems my [Power Shot] wasn't that interesting for you,'' Nuvian commented with an amused smile.

''My other skills mostly focus on evasion and scouting. What about you, Ethan? Did you survive the Ivory Woodland without any skills?'' Ethan hesitated for a moment but decided to reveal some of his skills since he would be using them in the coming days anyway. Plus, there was no such thing as getting robbed of the skills he'd already learned.

''I actually got two skills from that temple I mentioned. I would be long dead without them.''''Oh? What are they called?''''Why don't I show you?'' he asked, a subtle smirk forming on his face.

''How about I join the next hunt?'' Once they finished looting the cave lion, they went to look for their next target, eventually deciding on a mid tier-2 beast. Due to his well-timed support, the fight was over in less than two minutes. The fact that he could contribute to the fights in a meaningful way surprised them pleasantly. Then, [Fabric Tear] became the talk of the day as everyone marvelled at the strange skill, but they all knew about [Blink].

They told him it was one of the most expensive escape skills one could buy, but it wasn't rare. Apparently, many nobles in the Union had it because the Bailey family, a powerful merchant clan, had a monopoly over the skill and offered it to anyone with a heavy purse.

However, after seeing him keep teleporting during the other fights again and again, they warned him that he should simply tell others that he bought the skill and advanced its rank, because the Baileys wouldn't be pleased if they heard about a possibly superior version of the skill with an unknown source. That reminded him of his troubles with advancing his skills, so he started asking more about the topic.

It turned out there were alchemical supplements, incense, herbs, or even artifacts that helped with cultivation, but naturally they were all rare and very expensive. Other than that, the best way was to find a mana-rich environment with the elemental aspects of your skills. In a place like that, not only was the cultivation speed faster, but even comprehending skills was easier. Unfortunately, none of them knew what kind of environment was good for the void element.

At least they assured him that he could find more about it in Ehrendil. After a quick meal, the hunt continued for the rest of the day. Alice seemed to give him the benefit of the doubt after he demonstrated his foreign language expertise, as she eased up and became more talkative. Ethan loved finally having some company and getting answers to the things that had been puzzling him for so long. However, this whole cheating ordeal rubbed him the wrong way.

He kept telling himself that it wasn't his business, but it definitely left a bad taste in his mouth, especially because Oliver was such a guileless and kindhearted person, and he himself had experienced something similar in nature with one of his exes. Nuvian seemed oblivious to his dilemmas, or more likely, he didn't care at all. During the last fight of the day, a pack of hyenas ambushed them out of nowhere and turned the battle far deadlier in a few seconds.

They still managed to overcome the perilous situation, but not without heavy injuries. As Alice took out a glass tube filled with red liquid and drank it mid-fight, Ethan learned that potions did exist, but they worked differently than he'd expected. Whether for health, mana, or stamina, potions of low, mid, or high quality could be bought in shops, even though they were a bit pricey.

The catch was that a person could only benefit from one potion of the same kind per day at full strength; drinking a second one too soon did nothing because the body was fully saturated, while taking another later in the day yielded only reduced effects. That was why most people used them as a last resort and mainly let their natural regeneration do the job. They returned to camp just before sunset, feeling exhausted.

Oliver and Alice started preparing for dinner right away, while Ethan borrowed one of Nuvian's linen shirts. Sadly, none of the boys had an extra pair of pants or boots, so he had to keep wearing remnants of his jeans until they probably got shredded to pieces as well–or maybe not, since these party battles seemed safer than what he was used to. Once dinner was ready, they wolfed it down quickly and lingered around the fire afterward, resting and chilling under the moonlight.''

That last fight could have gone much worse without your help, Ethan,'' Oliver said with a serious tone, leaning against a tree trunk next to Alice.

''Thank you for that. You have my gratitude.''''Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'd do fine even without me.''''The daggers you threw with your skill were the same as the ones you normally use, right?'' Nuvian asked, poking the fire with a stick.

''Are those monster parts?'' Yeah. I guess you can say they're the severed, spiky tips of a giant spider's legs. I don't know the name of the species, though,'' he replied, raising an eyebrow.

''Actually, that reminds me of another question I had.''''Of course it does,'' Alice said with a giggle as she snuggled Oliver's chest.

''Shoot!''''I used the poison of that spider to kill other beasts, but the Ex–I mean, the essence I got dropped by a lot. Do you know why this happens?''''That's an easy one,'' Nuvian said.

''When a living being dies, a small part of its essence goes to its killers according to their contribution. Since that spider wasn't around when you killed something with its poison, its share returned to the realm. To simplify, the poison wasn't your creation.''''The treasures we use aren't our creation either. How does that work?''''Same principle,'' Oliver replied.

''If you use some legendary item to kill something, most of the essence is the blacksmith's share. If they are not around, the essence returns to the core of the realm. That's why, if you're gonna hunt with expensive gear, you'd better go for higher tiers. Otherwise, you should use minimal external help and hunt beasts around your own tier.''''But who decides this contribution?'' Ethan asked with a frown. Is there some kind of system after all? Nuvian laughed aloud, shaking his head.

''This is like talking to children. Let me be more straightforward: Our realm, Elisium, has a consciousness. One that far surpasses anything we can imagine. Everything in the world is a part of its domain, including us. We're all simply the extensions of the realm, just like stars belong to the night sky. All this mana belongs to the realm as well, constantly transmitting information. So, it is always in the know.'' Fascinating. Ethan stared at the cracking fire as he cupped his chin.

Could it be the realm itself have anything to do with what happened to Ani?