(2)
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"What, it even drops equipnt?"
Shane stared at the pile of junk on the ground, astonished.
Every ti he had killed a monster before, its corpse had turned into magical particles and vanished, leaving nothing behind.
Only this Gargoyle had actually dropped equipnt.
Dense strings of text instantly flooded Shane's vision. Many of the broken items had [Attributes] attached to them.
Wait. Had he just seen a blue attribute?
At the sa ti, Frieren descended from the air and landed beside Shane.
She looked at the scattered items on the ground, also sowhat surprised.
"These were probably left behind by adventurers it devoured in the past. A Gargoyle is a monster, but at its core, it is still a stone statue. Like a clay jar, it can store things it cannot digest. But for it to store this much... this is my first ti seeing it."
Hearing Frieren's explanation, Shane nodded.
Wasn't that basically the sa as a treasure chest?
If that was the case, then if he ever encountered a Gargoyle again, it was a must-kill!
Maybe it would explode into a whole pile of equipnt!
Excited, he raised his eyes and swept his gaze around the area. Were there no more? Was this really the only one?
Behind Shane and Frieren, Fern's face had turned slightly pale. The more things it had stored, the more adventurers it had probably eaten. She glanced at the mottled, damaged Goddess statue, and for so reason, a faint sadness rose in her heart.
Frieren crouched on the ground and began picking through the items.
Shane swept everything she finished sorting into his backpack.
The two of them moved with such perfect tacit understanding that Fern was left speechless...
"Whoa, there is a grimoire."
Frieren's voice could not hide her excitent.
Shane turned his head and glanced at the book's information.
[Magic That Keeps You from Dribbling on Your Pants When You Pee]
What the hell?
"[Magic That Keeps You from Dribbling on Your Pants When You Pee]. Hm. This spell's na is strange. Why would it drip onto your pants when you pee?" Frieren touched her chin and fell into deep thought.
Fern's attention was drawn over as well.
When she clearly saw the grimoire's title, her expression instantly beca extrely complicated.
"Lady Frieren, this is not a proper spell. You should throw it away!"
"?"
"Throw it away!"
"..."
In the end, under Fern's serious demand, and in exchange for being allowed to sleep until she woke up naturally for the next three months, Frieren was forced to voluntarily give up the grimoire.
(≡ᆺ≡)
Shane watched Fern put the grimoire into her backpack, his gaze quiet and distant.
How should he put it?
Mages should know this, right? Grimoires often "disappear without a trace"...
The next day.
Fern really did not wake Frieren up.
Shane also dawdled until noon before getting up.
It was not that he wanted to sleep in as well. The main reason was that peeling off attributes had drained a little too much of his ntal strength.
Last night, among that pile of junk, he had found a broken flute and directly extracted a blue attribute from it: [Charm].
[Charm (Blue/Rare)]: You can beguile a target, causing them to lower their guard and accept your commands. The duration depends on the strength of the target's ntal resistance.
Hm.
It was a decent control-type attribute.
Attributes enchanted onto a longsword required him to hit the target before they took effect, so they had limitations. But [Charm] had no such restriction and could catch an enemy off guard in actual combat.
Although the duration was not specified, as long as he successfully controlled the target and then chained it into the control effects on his longsword, it would beco a full combo that controlled them to death.
Combined with the dash and armor-piercing power of [Dual Blade Style], the current Shane was already half a god of slaughter.
No matter what kind of enemy it was, if he touched them once, they had to die.
"Mr. Shane, have you seen that grimoire from yesterday?"
Fern frowned as she searched through the backpack inside and out. She clearly rembered putting it away. How could it suddenly be gone?
Shane rubbed his nose. "I haven't seen it."
"Hm?"
Fern's suspicious little gaze drifted toward Shane as she carefully observed his expression.
"You did not take it, did you..."
"How could I? I am not a mage. What would I need a grimoire for?"
"Is it really not you?"
"Of course."
At the sa ti, Shane activated [Charm] on Fern.
He blinked, deliberately lowered his voice, and spoke in a deep, magnetic tone. "Fern, you have to believe ."
Fern froze for a mont, then asked with so concern, "Mr. Shane, is your throat uncomfortable? Did you catch a cold?"
"..."
Shane was speechless.
It seed it had not worked.
But after a mont, he suddenly reacted.
He had actually dared to use this skill on Fern.
Fern was a mage! Her ntal strength was definitely stronger than his! How could it possibly work?
Shane sighed.
He had been happy for nothing.
So it turned out to be a useless attribute...
After Frieren woke up from hunger, the three of them packed up briefly and continued on their way.
Recently, the weather had started turning hot and cold without warning.
"After all, it is autumn now."
Fern unfolded a handkerchief. Inside were so raspberries she had just picked.
The berries were already fully ripe. With just a little pressure, bright red juice would squeeze out of them. She knelt on a stone by the stream and washed them carefully.
Not far from the bank, Frieren was leaning against a large tree, flipping through the Diary of Great Flam.
Shane thought for a mont, then asked, "Frieren, do you understand Flam?"
"Why are you asking that?"
"Flam's notes ntion [research into the soul], right?"
Hearing this, Frieren lowered the book in her hands and raised her eyes toward Shane, signaling for him to continue.
"Do you still rember the mine where we first t? Those ghosts full of resentnt... Back then, I fainted inside Sharl's dwelling and was pulled into a ss of hallucinations. I saw Sharl's mad experints. Those mine ghosts were failed products of those experints..."
Shane did his best to explain.
He could not tell Frieren that he ca from another world, but he had to tell her that Sharl had carried out so kind of dangerous [soul experint].
And Flam's notes had ntioned [our research into the soul]...
Flam had been researching the soul.
Why?
Who had she been researching the soul with?
Who did that [our] refer to?
One had to know that Flam was a legend from the era of the Unified Empire, and the Court Mages had been established by her own hand. Then what about the Court Sages? Were they also connected to her?
"You think Flam is connected to Mad Sage Sharl?" Frieren's tone was very calm.
"It is only a guess."
Frieren stroked the cover of the book in her hands, feeling its uneven texture. She lowered her eyes, thought for a mont, then continued, "I do not think Master would do sothing like that."
"Do you... have proof? Can you be certain?"
Hearing Shane's question, Frieren opened her mouth, then fell silent.
Indeed.
She did not.
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