Chapter 80 – Why the Halo...
Scratch, scratch—
It felt like soone was talking behind my back.
I rubbed my ear with my pinky finger, blew it off, and then gave my stuffed belly a satisfied pat.
In honor of my first feast, I had single-handedly shut down the pancake shop early.
Ever since acquiring Retonicalus’s Heart, I’d noticed a significant change—my appetite had exploded.
I was eating far more than before, and no matter how much I ate, I never felt like I’d had enough. It was as if I’d turned into a ravenous beast.
The silver lining was that I hadn’t lost control of myself, apart from the very first day.
“Ah, a full belly and a warm back. This must be happiness.”
Lying sprawled across the floor of the personal training room, I passed the ti by imrsing myself in so reading to help with digestion.
I’d started reading around noon, but by the ti I looked up from the book, the room had grown dim.
“Good thing I had Dominic’s journal.”
Thud—
Closing the journal, I got up and dusted myself off.
The reason I’d been poring over Dominic’s notes was to learn more about the heart.
Retonicalus’s Heart—the "new energy source," as Dominic had called it.
The journal, written after years of research on the crystal mimic, contained so truly fascinating observations about the heart.
‘Mana stone production, near-immortal vitality, physical recovery, and wound regeneration.’
It also noted that the heart derived its energy through “gluttony.” This gluttony was described as a core chanism, an inseparable characteristic of the heart.
‘After three months of being drained, it was so starved it almost overtook my mind.’
The mimic had behaved no differently.
Dominic had deliberately starved the mimic to observe its response and noted that it imdiately beca aggressive.
This loss of control was a side effect. To deal with it, Dominic had subjected Arena to a “soul extraction” procedure.
By stripping away her soul, he intended to turn her into nothing more than a puppet—using the heart solely as a power source.
But the plan had completely backfired.
The heart sought to control the chira army and manipulated Arena into consuming herself.
I thought about Arena’s Divine Power.
‘Avatar of Retonicalus, the Undying.’
An avatar—a being split off from a greater entity.
If the avatar of Retonicalus had been fully realized, what kind of existence would Arena have beco?
The heart clearly possessed its own consciousness.
“…That’s unsettling.”
I touched my chest and swallowed hard.
A sentient heart—it was an unsettling thought.
Even more disturbing was the other piece of information I had uncovered—details about a man nad Bersen Clarke.
‘He must’ve really hated him.’
Nearly half the journal was filled with curses aid at Duke Clarke.
I knew of Bersen Clarke myself, but I decided not to dwell on him for now.
He was the central villain of Chapter II, The Forest of Ordor, in the novel What Happens When Villains Get Stronger.
As long as Lily Veis continued to protect the forest, I wouldn’t have to deal with Bersen Clarke in the Tobaron region.
I stuffed the journal back into my bag and collected my thoughts.
“There’s only one thing I need to worry about for now.”
Eating.
If I let myself go hungry, the heart might try to take control.
But honestly, the risk was negligible.
When am I ever going to starve?
It seed more practical to focus on other potential side effects.
The room was dim.
I set my bag down beside the table and lit the lamp.
Bathed in faint light, I closed my eyes and stood still, letting my entire body relax as my arms hung loosely at my sides.
Monts later, I opened my eyes, picked up a stone from the ground, and hurled it at three spots on the ceiling.
Clink—clink—clink!
The rocks struck their targets and fell to the floor.
A commotion erupted on the roof above where the stones had hit, and I grinned.
Three of them.
I’d successfully pinpointed the locations of the Black Rose agents in hiding.
“Alright, caught ya. Pay up—1 gold each.”
“…….”
There was no response, but three gold coins soon fell from the ceiling, one by one.
Clink, clink, clink.
A total of three gold coins.
I’d grown surprisingly close to these guys—probably thanks to Nella—and two days ago, we’d started playing a hide-and-seek ga. But I figured it was about ti to stop.
Now that I had the Black Card (a.k.a. the contract), I no longer had to cling to every coin.
‘Besides, I can see everything now.’
What had once been faint traces of their presence had beco vividly clear in my mind as of last night.
After three months of stagnation, my body had recovered its vigor, and I had gained the ability to sense mana flows.
That’s right.
Last night, I ascended to 4 Stars.
It left feeling a bit hollow.
Everyone knew this body’s mana sensitivity was garbage. I had assud it would take at least six months to reach 4 Stars.
But Retonicalus’s Heart had bulldozed past my limitations, smashing through the barrier to my next awakening.
I hadn’t even been in this world for a full year, and I was already staring down the threshold of 5 Stars.
‘This rate of growth is monstrous... but...’
I’d survived encounters with major Chapter I villains like Cal Blazer and Dominic Huaton. If I had to go through it all again, I’m sure I wouldn’t make it.
I just wanted to walk an easy path from here on out.
Skrrr—
The sound of soone sliding across the roof reached my ears.
It seed the agents had shifted positions. I glanced toward the new spot and smirked.
These Black Rose operatives were supposed to be monitoring the area, not . But their competitive spirits must’ve been ignited by our ga of hide-and-seek.
To think there’d co a day when I found them endearing.
[10 minutes.]
When I first encountered them in the Nelitori Canyon, they had seed like an insurmountable wall. But surviving those experiences had helped grow.
I picked up another rock lying nearby.
Money was money, after all. I wasn’t one to turn down free cash.
Using my usual strategy—lose once, win twice—I was steadily chipping away at their coins.
I had just picked up a new rock when a servant arrived to deliver a ssage.
“What are those two up to now?”
I had asked Nella for information about Tobaron, but her eting with Fenry was dragging on.
What could they possibly be discussing that was taking so long into the evening?
“They’re not badmouthing , are they?”
I scratched my ear again and flipped the servant a gold coin as a tip. Their stiff posture imdiately softened into a 90-degree bow.
Ah, the power of money.
I wanted to keep playing hide-and-seek, but being too greedy might tip them off.
Since Nella had said she’d co straight here after her eting with Fenry, I decided to use the ti to focus on energy adaptation training.
Sliiide—
I pulled a sword from the training room’s rack.
It was about the length of my arm, with a thick blade made of wood plated with steel. It was light for its size.
For the record, I had no training in swordsmanship.
I wasn’t planning to practice swordplay.
After a few swings, I glanced at the roof.
“If I catch you again, the loser has to leave their post until the next shift.”
“…….”
“Unless you’re scared?”
“And if you lose?”
“2 gold per person.”
“Deal.”
Their competitive nature flared at the provocation, and they eagerly took the bait.
What did they think of my abilities?
They’d never believe I was 4 Stars.
As far as they knew, I’d been nothing more than a 1-Star back in the Nelitori Canyon.
Naturally, I won the wager again.
At this rate, they should’ve caught on by now, but whether they were too stubborn to admit it or just plain dense, their competitive streak burned brighter than ever.
A short while later, I scanned the area and slowly raised my sword.
The reason I’d sent the Black Rose operatives away was simple: my energy adaptation training involved enchantnts.
This was the Black Rose headquarters, after all. As long as I avoided their eyes, I didn’t have to worry about anyone else noticing.
Wooooong—!
A white light began to envelop the thick blade.
The energy felt rougher and harder to control than before.
I gradually pushed the energy toward penetration, but only for a mont—
Crackkk—!
“……!”
The blade couldn’t handle the energy and shattered.
Clicking my tongue, I grabbed another sword.
“This isn’t easy.”
At 4 Stars, my mana had thickened considerably, making it difficult for ordinary steel to withstand the pressure.
For now, I didn’t have a single usable weapon.
All of my trusty Crooks daggers had snapped during previous energy adaptation exercises.
“It’s about ti I considered artifact-grade equipnt.”
Fenry’s signature weapons, her dark-hued twin crows, ca to mind.
Insanely sharp ancient artifacts.
I wasn’t asking for anything that fancy, but I definitely needed weapons that could handle enchantnts.
“Guess I’ll pay Dorneff a visit soon.”
I’d heard that the Smithy’s Garden housed a collection of ancient weapons gathered by the Dorneff family over generations.
As expected of dwarves, the collection was said to be impressive.
Crash—!
“Ugh!”
Another weapon shattered.
The training room was littered with broken pieces of gear.
If Nella saw this, she’d nag to death and demand compensation, but I wasn’t worried anymore.
I had the Black Card, after all.
“Living without money worries feels amazing.”
“Is that so? Want to show you how it feels to worry?”
“…Huh?!”
A sudden voice startled .
I turned around frantically, only to feel an unpleasant sensation against my backside.
Twisting my head, I saw a hand hovering in mid-air, clearly having just groped .
The dim light obscured the face, but I already knew who it was.
Only one perverted elf had such shaless habits.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
Ignoring my outburst, she tilted her head and asked, “Sothing happen? Your butt feels different.”
“What’s wrong with my butt?”
“It feels stronger than before.”
“…How can you even tell?”
“You know these things when you’ve felt a lot of butts.”
I felt dizzy.
Was she seriously judging my abilities based on my butt’s firmness?
Suddenly, I felt bad for the Black Rose operatives.
What scared more was that she wasn’t wrong.
When I didn’t deny it, Fenry smirked and held up a single finger.
“You’ve added another big debt to the pile.”
“…….”
This scary woman had already figured it out.
She must’ve noticed the strength I’d gained from the heart.
Her shadowed gaze swept over the scattered debris and broken weapons, then around the training room.
“Where’d the others go?”
“…….”
“Not that it matters. I was planning to send them off anyway.”
Fenry stepped closer through the shadows.
Sothing about her approach gave a bad feeling.
I had asked to et Nella, but Fenry had shown up instead.
I was curious about what she’d learned from the Black Market, but I really didn’t want to hear it from her directly.
Shouldn’t she be resting after such a long trip? Why was she so damn diligent?
My grumbling was cut short as she finally stepped into full view, and I couldn’t help but blink in disbelief.
“……Huh?”
“What? Is sothing on my face?”
“No, it’s just…”
Her voluptuous figure, her cascading golden hair, her sharp eyes—everything looked the sa as before.
But sothing about her was different.
I hadn’t noticed earlier, likely because the VIP suite on the 5th floor had been so extravagantly decorated.
But here, in the dim light of the training room…
‘…Why is there a halo?’
A faint, radiant glow hovered above her head.
This wasn’t the first ti I’d seen sothing like this.
I’d seen it when Arena Huaton awakened her Divine Power.
There was only one thing that halo could an.
Fenry had beco a bearer of Divine Power.
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