Removal of the essence.
For priests of bishop rank or higher, the ability to remove an essence is essential, but there is one condition.
It can only be done inside a ‘temple’...
This is why many of the Noirak who mistakenly consud essences beca ruined characters.
Removing an essence once requires risking one’s life.
Especially if one’s face is well-known.
“Whew...”
I swayed slightly and returned the blue dagger given by the priest.
I always felt a considerable emptiness each ti I removed an essence. It wasn’t just due to stats decreasing.
It’s hard to explain in words...
‘A sensation as if part of my soul is breaking away.’
If I had to describe it, this would be close.
Now I understood why MP in this world is called soul energy.
Swish.
Hoping to fill the void with sothing else, I quickly took out test tubes from the pocket dinsion.
Arbet and Uumdal.
And the customized essence combining the [Gigantism] of the Orc Hero.
I popped open the cap and poured it into my mouth like a potion, curious.
If this were a ga—
How would such a synthesized monster be represented?
「[???? Essence] is seeping into the character’s soul.」
Hmm, well... it probably wasn’t just question marks carelessly displayed and done.
Setting that aside, I focused on the bodily changes I felt.
Among explorers, there was a slang called ‘taming.’
The more one focuses on bodily changes while consuming essence, the easier it is to adapt to new abilities.
「Strength 100 increases.」
A vitality that could lift anything filled my body.
Of course, compared to an ogre, this strength was nothing...
「Jump power 120 increases.」
My thigh muscles tightened.
「Physical resistance 80 increases.」
My already tough skin beca even tougher.
「Hearing 60 increases.」
Sounds scattered in the air beca clearer.
These were the main noticeable imdiate changes no matter how much I concentrated.
But this was not the end.
「Dark resistance 40 increases.」
「Soul energy 50 increases.」
「Natural regeneration 80 increases.」
「Endurance 60 increases.」
「Bone strength 60 increases.」
「Absorption 60 increases.」
Ogres have very high base stats, but in total ability score, Arbet couldn’t be matched.
Of course, Arbet’s drawback was his skill trap...
But since I stored only stats in essence using the underground 1st floor system, that didn’t apply to .
“Phew...”
Having almost adapted to the stat changes, I cautiously opened the pocket dinsion.
By the way, I had placed all the Numbers items I was wearing into the pocket dinsion because of Uumdal’s passive skill’s characteristic.
[Soul Link] – The first acquired equipnt becos bound and grants additional abilities.
The first equipnt obtained.
Though labeled so in-ga, in reality this passive only works on ‘Numbers Items.’
Also...
‘If linked wrongly, it can’t be undone.’
Linking is possible only once, so Uumdal’s essence must always be handled carefully.
If consud while fully equipped, one random item becos bound...
Swish.
I reached into the pocket dinsion and imagined specifically what to take out.
My hand closed around a large, solid ‘thing.’
‘No.87 Kraul’s Demon Crusher.’
...Of course, it wasn’t that.
Though the Demon Crusher is a high-performance weapon and choosing it would also make strong.
But...
‘Not worth spending a passive slot on.’
There are countless passive skills suitable for shield barbarians. Normally I would have inserted one of those.
If only I had not had this at hand.
「Character equipped No.3 Aegis Barrier.」
「Total item level increases by 18,600.」
The ultimate shield normally only obtainable much later.
“Guidance of the soul.”
“No.3 Aegis Barrier is permanently bound to the character.”
“Bound equipnt cannot be destroyed.”
“All effects of the bound equipnt are increased by 10%.”
“Upon defeating monsters, the bound equipnt gains individual experience, and at a certain level, unlocks unique effects.”
This shield grows from now on.
[Soul Link].
A mandatory skill when raising a shield dwarf synergizing with Numbers Items.
I had naturally done extensive research and knew almost all unique effects of high-tier equipnt.
‘Unique effect unlocked at level 9.’
Even without unlocking, it was a very good skill.
Item performance increased 10% per level.
‘Still, having overlapping indestructible options is a bit wasteful...’
But since most high-tier Numbers have indestructible options, it’s not much of a loss.
The binding option... since I don’t plan to sell, it’s not a downside.
‘Gigantism.’
After confirming the active skill works well, I glanced around.
Looks like everything nearby was finished.
Not just needed to reorganize.
「Alia Rainwails’s soul is imbued with [???? Essence].」
「Misha Kalstein’s soul is imbued with [???? Essence].」
「Elwen Fornaci di Tersia’s soul is imbued with [???? Essence].」
The three dealer sisters(?) each received a customized essence.
And...
「Ainard Pnellin’s soul is imbued with [???? Essence].」
「Ainard Pnellin’s soul is imbued with [???? Essence].」
Removing the essences of [Smug] from [Mandel Oil] and [Bitlan] from [Wild Control], Ainard was able to insert two customized essences into his slots.
The change was imdiate.
‘The two essences together raised fighting spirit to 100, right?’
In theory, perfectly covering the fighting spirit lost due to Hiphramagent’s essence.
And in practice, it wasn’t difficult.
Recognizing Ainard was back to normal was easy.
“Behel—raaaaaaaah!!!!!”
Yes, this is a battle roar, this is a barbarian.
Feeling proud watching Ainard roar powerfully, shaking the entire hall, Alia approached .
“How do you like the new essence? Do you like it?”
“We’ll talk about that later. For now, we must move on to the next step before ti runs out.”
He should have been more excited after consuming the new essence.
“...Fine.”
“Hah... Since you like it, stop making that sulky face.”
“Oh, really?”
Anyway, Alia was right that there was no ti °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° to waste, so I hurried to the next plan.
“Everyone, drink up!!”
Before raiding another prison, there was a prior task.
“A historic mont!”
Feeling the sign of my speech beginning, everyone quietly looked at .
No one seed bored.
Rather, many wore slightly excited expressions.
“Lapdonia is currently in crisis. The filthy rats living underground are now daring to threaten our city.”
Having lived as a barbarian, I knew I had a talent for speeches.
Alia said I was just naturally gifted.
“And! We were lucky to be living here!”
“Lucky...?”
“Of all the cities, why did ours get hit? That’s incredibly unlucky, isn’t it?”
My speech caused question marks to appear in the crowd’s eyes.
All reasonable doubts.
But that’s why...
‘Now.’
The mont the atmosphere ward enough,
“No! We are all lucky! At least we got a chance! To save this city in crisis, and to make a ‘great achievent’ no one can challenge!”
I continued.
No need for long speeches here.
After all, they were all explorers.
No one knew better than what they wanted.
“Also, I promise now.”
“When all this is over, I, Bjorn, Yandel’s son, will stand before the royal family and say!”
“I was not alone.”
“That saving this city was thanks to all your blood and sweat!!”
At that, I raised my clenched fist, and the awaited cheer erupted.
“Waaaaaah!!”
Was it because my fa grew?
Or was it that I got better at provoking such cheers?
Either way, it felt easier to get those roars day by day.
‘Anyway, with this performance, no one will doubt my sincerity later...’
Contrasting with my passionate speech, I coldly scanned the crowd, then raised my voice again.
“But!”
Thinking the speech was starting again, the explorers kept quiet and listened.
“The enemies are strong! The rats grew by stealing our stores, and driving them out will cost us blood as well!”
“No problem!!”
“I’ll kill them all!!”
Despite my warning, the explorers saw the crisis as opportunity.
Which isn’t a bad thing...
But it was ti for the main topic.
“Clear throat! I recognize your courage and spirit. But! As a Lapdonian noble, warrior, explorer, and one who loves this city more than anyone else, I hope as little blood is spilled as possible. I want you to survive and return to your families.”
The speech was just groundwork for now.
“So, I, Bjorn, Yandel’s son, have made a decision.”
“...?”
“From now on, I will distribute essences to you!!”
There’s that famous saying about growing stronger the more you share.
This was exactly that case.
“...Huh?”
The explorers’ expressions twisted oddly at the offer of free essences.
Understandable.
They must have wondered why that barbarian was spouting such madness.
Even my comrades didn’t react much differently.
“If you’re giving out essences...”
“You an the ones obtained from the first basent floor?”
“Why on earth would you give away such precious things...”
Only Alia remained calm.
That’s because Alia knew.
That this free distribution would ultimately bring great benefit.
Of course, not simply because it would reduce loot going to the royal family, who are potential enemies.
Think about it.
‘If I just hand out essences recklessly here, how would we know how many essences remain?’
Simply put, by throwing away worthless essences to the explorers, I could secretly pocket the valuable ones later.
There’s no way for the royal family to find out we only distributed the cheap essences.
Saying this sounds a bit scummy, but...
‘Casualties during war are inevitable.’
How else would they investigate?
How would they know if the dead got the cheap essences or the expensive ones?
The justification is clean.
It was an investnt to save the city.
‘Yeah, in war, things just disappear and get lost.’
The technical term is ‘shucking.’
Interestingly, the word’s origin is Japanese.
Anyway, that’s not important...
“Co on, everyone! Gather here! Don’t push! There’s still plenty of essence!”
I started the distribution in earnest.
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