[Breeder Level: Current Stage — Trainee Breeder]
[Description: This is a world for breeders. There is no flashy magic here—only the highest level of breeding exists! Note: The higher the breeder's level, the greater the combat power of the Sea Spirit Larva.]
"This system isn't just buggy—it stinks to high heaven… It's the ultimate Frankenstein's monster, isn't it?"
Matou Yuu cursed inwardly, but his eyes were imdiately captured by a new notification at the bottom of the screen.
[Hero's Path: Unlocked]
[Hero's Trial: Within 3 days, raise any single stat to 10.]
[Reward: Portable Hot Spring]
[Description: A 100-square-ter personal space with constant temperature and humidity—perfect for the "Sea Spirit Larva" to rest. It can also serve as a hibernation chamber to store large quantities of milk tea, desserts, and survival supplies.]
"This reward… is literally a gift from heaven!"
Matou Yuu's eyes lit up. He accepted without hesitation.
Snowfield City was a brand-new tropolis in Arica where both living costs and housing prices were absurdly high. If he could obtain a free 100-square-ter mobile space that doubled as a double-door refrigerator, he and Tiamat would no longer have to endure a miserable life in this foreign land. The housing problem would be solved instantly!
With that thought, Matou Yuu unhesitatingly dumped both of his newly acquired free attribute points into Magic Power.
He then glanced at the updated status panel:
Na: Matou Yuu Age: 17
Strength: 5/10 (E)
Endurance: 4/10 (E-)
Agility: 4/10 (E-)
Magic Power: 9/10 (D-)
Luck: E
Magic Resistance: 3/10 (E-)
Riding: 4/10 (D)
Excellent… Just one more point and Magic Power would break through 10, triggering a qualitative change. It didn't seem too difficult.
"Tomorrow I'll take Tiamat into Snowfield City and trigger a few daily feeding quests. That should complete the full set…"
Just as Matou Yuu was ntally planning for tomorrow—
"Gurgle… gurgle…"
A harsh, rumbling sound completely at odds with the mythical battlefield around them suddenly rang in his ears.
A pale, soft finger gently poked his cheek.
Tiamat lifted her face. Her crimson eyes, reflecting the sparkling Milky Way, carried a hint of displeasure.
"I'm… hungry."
Matou Yuu blinked in surprise. "Even Heroic Spirits get hungry?"
He quickly understood. Although he had ford a contract with Tiamat, she had been the one expending magic power during this period. The previous battle must have placed an enormous burden on her.
Since her own master had not supplied her with much mana, the only way to replenish energy was through food.
Matou Yuu raised his head and looked around helplessly.
The aftershocks of the battle had completely plowed the desert within a several-kiloter radius. Boiling groundwater rose as scalding steam on the night wind, and dark-red magma faintly glowed from bottomless fissures in the earth's crust.
The scene looked exactly like a post-apocalyptic wasteland after a nuclear strike. Finding food was impossible—there wasn't even a cactus left.
"Co on. I'll take you to the city center for a late-night al."
Matou Yuu brushed the thick yellow sand from his body and naturally extended his hand to the blue-haired goddess beside him. "We need to leave before the police and the Mage Association's cleanup team set up a cordon around Snowfield City."
"Ahhhh…"
Tiamat let out a sweet, lodic hum. The oppressive aura she had radiated earlier vanished completely.
At this mont she looked like a cute, drowsy girl who had woken up hungry in the middle of the night and was waiting for her master to take her out for supper. She tightly clutched Matou Yuu's hand.
Matou Yuu peeked outside and gazed toward the distant horizon.
As expected, the magnitude-12 tsunami and shockwave had long since blasted his used car—parked several kiloters away—into oblivion.
"…Fine."
The poor trainee breeder sighed, resignedly dragging his gluttonous "Sea Spirit Larva" across the warm yellow sand toward the neon-lit streets of Snowfield City.
…
Crystal Hill Hotel
This was the most prestigious landmark in Snowfield City—not only the tallest skyscraper, but its top floor, known as the King's Seat, offered a panoramic view of the entire city's prosperity.
Recently, after successfully contracting with Gilgash, the little girl nad Tiné had used every resource and fund at her tribe's disposal to reserve this luxurious space closest to the sky so that the oldest Hero King could receive treatnt worthy of his status.
When the night wind swept through, dazzling golden particles quietly condensed on the terrace and instantly transford into a solitary figure clad in golden armor.
From the shadows beneath the eaves, Tiné silently appeared.
She placed a hand over her chest and bowed with perfect respect. "Welco back, Your Majesty."
After a brief pause she looked up and asked cautiously, "A terrible earthquake struck the northern desert a few days ago—powerful enough to shake the very pulse of the earth. The familiars stationed at the border were completely destroyed by the aftershocks… Your Majesty, did you perhaps encounter so reckless individual who disturbed your peaceful stay?"
The usually arrogant Hero King did not respond imdiately—an unusual occurrence.
He stood quietly at the edge of the King's Courtyard on the hotel's top floor, his crimson, serpentine eyes gazing down at the brightly lit nightscape of Snowfield City.
Silence spread in the cool air.
After a long pause, Gilgash finally spoke in an extrely calm yet solemn tone.
"Tonight, in that wasteland, there was not only my dearest friend… but also a truly troubleso woman. She is the world's oldest and most burdenso Goddess of Creation."
Tiné's pupils contracted sharply, shock evident in her voice. "The Mother Goddess of Creation? Then you and she…"
"We have already crossed blades."
Gilgash snorted coldly, his arrogant face radiating a terrifying aura. "That woman has no place in this boring entertainnt. She herself is a walking calamity."
"My sword Ea did indeed cleave her massive tide, yet…"
His expression darkened, as if recalling sothing unpleasant.
"Let us treat tonight's exchange as a re skirmish."
The Golden King spoke quietly. "Next ti, I will require a higher-level, purer source of magic power. I will not give that mud another chance to interfere!"
Clearly, even now the oldest King's mouth remained as hard as the walls of Uruk—he refused to admit defeat.
However, after facing an existence like Tiamat, this Hero King could not deny that he had deeply realized: to achieve final victory in this completely abnormal Holy Grail War, he must abandon his playful attitude and fight with everything he had.
Tiné was startled at first, then quickly lowered her head and replied obediently, "Yes. I will handle this matter properly at once."
She quietly retreated into the shadows, her heart in turmoil.
When the contract had first been ford, Gilgash had treated the Holy Grail with the nonchalance of "it's rely the contents of a wallet if I so desire." Now, however, the aura emanating from his golden body was that of a true King—cold and rciless.
She could feel it clearly.
This Hero King… had changed.
…
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