Chapter 298 - Gathering Power (Patreon)

Geyer, Level 1 water, fisherman.
Leitch, Level 2 earth, mason.
Phokan, Level 0 fire, baker.
Lucille, Idler, mother of ten.
Sumira, Level 0 water, shoemaker.
Dasagu, Level 1 earth, poet.
Gino, Level 3 lightning, spearman.
Nislav, Idler, scribe and conman.
Zaltana, Level 4 poison, killer.
Clade, Level 0 mist, farmer.

And the list went on and on.

People from all walks of life, their knowledge, skills, and experiences when they were alive were added to the database. Every person was unique and every entry was valuable.

Viers’ mind was expanding at Mach speed.

For example, from an unremarkable Idler builder, Viers now knew how to install a window on a wall. From a maid, Viers knew how to brew tea at the perfect temperature. From a tailor, Viers could make a silk dress sought after by rich and powerful women.

‘Knowledge is power’, so Viers wasn't picky about his meal.

High Level Pathseekers were naturally preferable but even a soul from the lowest member of society held value. From mundane things to secret battle techniques, Viers took them all in with a smile.

Besides the souls’ spiritual wealth, sometimes material wealth also landed in Arsène’s hands. Money in the Florenzi bank account, things in their spatial items, valuables they were buried with, weapons or armor they had when they still drew breath, even their bones themselves could be valuable.

Body parts of strong monsters were valuable, the same went for Pathseekers. For example, Viers’ Doyun Arrow was made from the bones of a long-dead Level 5 Pathseeker.

He was a Tomb Raider, but he was hardly the first in this world.

Arsène was always on the move, from one small town to another. Villages or small settlements, he visited, but he stayed clear of cities and places known to have Level 4 or above for obvious reasons. He never stayed in one place for too long. Not only to cast a wide net over a vast area but also to avoid investigators. He was living the perfect life of a wandering rogue.

Be that as it may, Arsène wasn’t doing genocide while on his soul harvesting journey.

He didn't collect the souls of the living, the souls of the dead were plenty in a world like this. The life expectancy of the average person was thirty years old. Disasters, monsters, other humans, dangers were everywhere.

He was still only a Level 3 Pathseeker. Doing something as eye-catching as multiple mass murders would attract much more heat than he could handle. Being clandestine was the way and the gains thus far had been tremendous.

Why didn't Viers do this from the start then?

Just like a car ran on fuel, Arsène who couldn't produce Victa on his own would have to be given Victa to function. In the past, Viers didn't have the Victa to do this.

The Church’s Vigor of Responsibility Arte was a game-changer. Now that Viers felt the benefits, he felt deep regret that he only had a one-year subscription. Nevertheless, he had no intention of becoming a pawn of the Church to extend the Arte. For now, he simply used it as efficiently as he could.

Only a couple of months after Viers sent Arsène out to provide the Nirvana Transportation Service, the souls he collected had exceeded the five digit mark.

Of course, the Nirvana Transportation Service by Viers Corporation was a proper business and not a scam. The customers were getting a 100% guaranteed rate reaching the other shore.

“Aiya,” Viers smiled sheepishly as he looked at Arsène’s latest shipments. “Fufufu, business is booming!”

***

A hand grabbed the little protrusions on steep terrain.

“Hrrgggh!”

The person grunted as they pulled their body up. Their foot sought a foothold on the almost vertical stone mountain.

“Uah!?”

A strong wind swept the mountain face, almost carrying the person with it and denying all of their efforts so far. The person gritted their teeth, using all of their strength to hold on.

After the wind passed. The sweaty face of the person looked upward, eyes smoldering with intense will. The destination cave was within sight.

“Just… a bit… more!”

Boram forced his tiring body to climb, no matter the cost.

When he arrived, his strength was almost spent. As he was panting for breath, something stirred inside the cave.

“...You again,” a deep, echoing voice said. “How many times has it been, boy?”

“I forgot, Guardian.”

The voice filled Boram with dread. The power behind that voice was beyond him. He wanted to run away.

But he chose not to.

“Hmph! You think the legacy of the Landraiser Titan can be taken by a mere child? A child who is not even a complete Giant. Try a hundred times or a thousand times, you’ll never succeed.”

“Then,” Boram tried to slow his panting as he stood up and walked deeper. “This one will try even more than that. I request your guidance!”

Boram took out his war hammer and made a stance, a stance that his Master taught him.

The dark cavern brightened up. Mysteriously, the braziers burned on their own.

A ten-meter-tall rock golem freefell from the ceiling, the vibrations spread to the walls of the cave, cracking the floor, and blowing the dust in every direction. Its face was made of brunt rock but could still make an expression, a vexed expression.

“These fists of mine have crushed the ambitions of countless prodigies. Let alone a thin-blooded whelp like you. Dream while you’re asleep, brat!” The golem took a step forward and Boram felt the ground shaking.

“Haaaaaa!!”

Boram let out a warcry and lunged at the ancient golem. There were sounds of battle from inside the cave and six seconds later, Boram was falling from the mountain.

“Repetition without insight will produce the same result as before.”

The Guardian scoffed and the cave grew dark and silent once more. Meanwhile, Boram was descending the mountain at a dangerous speed. He rolled like a rock in an avalanche. To survive, he strengthened his body using Victa and Rock Skin Arte as much as he could.

He crashed into jagged rocks, boulders, dead trees, and whatnot. Eventually, he slowed down.

Bloody and battered, Boram lay on the ground while looking upward, half-conscious.

Boram’s greatest harvest from the Book World, Investiture of Soil, was hard at work.

By absorbing the energy from the earth, Boram’s Geotheraphy Arte quickly brought him away from his near-death state.

Then a girl’s head blocked his vision of the clouds.

“Oooiii~ You still alive?”

The girl had her black hair braided and hazelnut eyes. Her skin was slightly tanned and she was looking at Boram with a light smile. She looked older than Boram, about fifteen or sixteen. Boram was twelve but he remained at ten years old in appearance. Boram’s impression of her was a hyperactive girl.

“...Fio,” Boram said her name. “What… are you-”

“Foraging fruits and herbs in the forest,” Fio showed a basket with her various fruits in it. “Then I saw you rolling down the mountain. Ehehehe, Papa gave you a hard time?”

She called that golem Papa but her appearance was undoubtedly a human girl. Her size was too, despite her Papa being a ten-meter-tall monstrosity.

Fio was an odd one. The other people in this place disliked him because he was an outlander but Fio had no ill-will towards him from the start. Thanks to her, he managed to prove himself in the Proving and was allowed to stay in the village. He still got the look from others though, bullying too.

“Un,” Boram nodded. “Ouch!”

Without asking, she already put some herbs on Boram’s wounds and dressed his wounds.

“Still not giving up? Told you, you won't be able to beat him. Papa’s very loyal to Lord Titan. He won't go easy on you. Aa~ah… Wounds here and there… Come on, rest at my place.” Fio offered.

“Thanks, but I need to go to the Stone Bowl after this.”

“To the mine? Oh yeah, for your Profound Training. Sheesh, what’s the rush? I want to listen to more stories from the outside,” Fio pouted. “Is this because of that burning paper last time? Didn't your master call you to say he's okay?”

“...I came here to get stronger. So I can help him. I’ll make him proud.”

Boram's gaze drifted up to the cave in the peak of the mountain’s face. To gain the legacy of the Titan, he first had to surpass the Guardian, Fio’s Papa.

Unbeknownst to Boram, Fio was looking at his resolute expression absentmindedly from the side. Her cheeks were a bit cheery and she smiled.

“Well, unlike the others, I think you’ll manage to defeat Papa in ten years.”

“Maybe not,” Boram showed her something he clutched tightly.

It was a pebble. Fio felt something familiar from that ordinary-looking but unordinary pebble.

“Is that Papa’s? How? He’s super-super hard!” Fio was amazed.

“I hit him super-super hard. Now I just gotta figure out a way to hit him even harder,” Boram innocently smiled.

Fio’s heart skipped a beat.

“And now I do this.”

Boram invoked his Earthborn Amalgam Profound Codex, the ability to absorb metals and minerals of the earth. Even if it was just a tiny piece, the energy contained inside it strengthened Boram.

Fio felt Boram was slightly stronger than before. If every time he climbed he took a piece off her Papa, then Boram might be able to pass the gatekeeper in less than ten years.

Fio stood up, looking straight at Boram who was still sitting on the ground. She had her arms on her waist and a smile in her voice.

“You’re interesting! I have had this feeling since we first met!”

“...Uhh… Thank, you?”

How else should he reply? Boram was confused.

“Yep, yep. I got to go. Do take care of your health. Okay, Boram?”

“Y-yeah. Thanks for everything, Fio.”

Ufufufu, Boram is so weird. A little ball of energy that charges at every wall in front of him. Oooh! I’ve got to tell Mama about this. Lunlunlun~

Fio left with her basket while humming. Boram didn't know why but she seemed happy, she walked while skipping.

“Yosh… To the Stone Bowl I go,” Boram psyched himself up. “No matter what, I’ll awaken my Giant bloodline and get that inheritance so when Master is in need of aid, I’ll be able to protect him!”

***

The peak of winter had passed. A couple of months had passed since Arsène was providing Viers with shipments of souls.

His condition had improved further. Viers celebrated the new year with his familiars. It was a shame that Farley and the others were unavailable. He wanted to celebrate with them too.

The weather was also changing for the better. Considering everything, it was high time he made the next move.

Viers had resolved to improve his strength as much as possible. The question was where was the suitable farming area?

He got that covered.

The intelligence network built from ten thousand soul searches couldn't compare to a fully functional internet but its broadness was not to be underestimated either.

He’d found a place that suited his needs.

It was a place with a lot of monsters.

Every wilderness with sufficiently high ambient mana would be home to monsters. Since monsters breed and grow faster than humans, there was always an abundant number of them.

This place was cranking up the monster's fertility to eleven. The place also affected the mutability of monsters so even one monster had multiple variants. Sometimes, people found extinct monsters reemerge there, from mutation.

People accepted it was a regional quirk but the cause was still unknown or not common knowledge.

Viers’ life force had been greatly diminished after the events at Valkut and the ensuing recovery period. Not critically low but too low for peace of mind. He healed much faster than an ordinary Pathseeker but at the cost of his life force which fueled his healing factor.

He could replenish that by eating mana-rich, high-vitality food.

This was also a good opportunity to strengthen his monster forms. By eating other monsters, they would grow stronger.

When he ate in human form he gained life force and when he ate in monster form he strengthened that said monster form. There were two bowls to fill so even more monsters were needed in this hunt. That was without factoring Viers had several monster forms that needed evolutionary sustenance.

Viers had ample experience in resource-hungry gacha games and learned a few things. He didn't plan to spread his level-up items evenly on all of his forms but to the main cores only for the time being. Nothing to brag about, it was just common sense.

Furthermore, Viers’ familiars, Dia, Futon and Faiya, could also benefit from eating monsters with the same affinities as them. Dia was a dryad while the other two were elementals but the principle was the same.

In short, the place was the perfect ground for Viers to do real-life combat training, massacring a butt load of monsters, and then having an all-you-can-eat every day.

The Red Zone, Carfax Peninsula.

Also known as Monsterland.

The thing was, that place was located not in the Free People Coalition but in the territory of another great power of the Human Dominion, the Latias Kingdom.

So, my path has brought me out of the starting country… There’s still much of the Coalition that I haven't explored yet. A pity, but tourism can wait. Strength takes priority!