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Chapter 40 - Even Stronger
🕑 Added 2024-08-28 22:40:00 +0000 UTCStanding on the dead lizard's neck, John felt a rush of adrenaline. The attack with Larang had been way more effective than he could have imagined, cleaving the back of the demon entirely in half.
‘This is the power of greatswords! But did I make it in time?’
Before he could check, he turned to Kerchak and saw him clapping and nodding approvingly as he sat in the sand. John smiled and bowed. “I couldn’t have done it without you. But we should get out of here before any more beasts show up to feed.”
Kerchak nodded and stood up, returning for the others. His upper body was covered in lacerations, but nothing too serious. The bleeding had already stopped for the most part.
‘It’s weirdly reassuring to have a demon on our side. I wonder if we could train them, even without using aspects to control them…’
John pushed that thought to the back of his head and returned his attention to the lizard. He put his hand on its nack and started to absorb the essence. Once again, he barely used any essence, but he decided to refill the liquid essence, converting it from its gaseous form.
His core grew as well, bringing him to about seventy percent. And once again, a light floated gently in his core.
‘Yes! Well, it’s just green, but now I can figure out how much it helps me grow!’
John could hear steps behind him and turned to look, seeing Kerchak carrying Dennis and Rain in his hands. Dennis was carrying the water barrel on his back and a large piece of meat wrapped in leather under his left hand.
Rain waved at him energetically, not seeming to mind the blue blood in Kerchak’s fur. “John strong!” she yelled.
Dennis smiled down at him, seemingly having gained some respect for John during the two fights. “Time to go, John?”
“Yeah, just… Uhm, I got an enchantment. But I don’t want it. What do I do then?”
“Oh, really? Lucky you! I would consider putting it on a piece of equipment either way, just to see what it does. You never know; it might come in handy later.”
John paused, unsure if he should share the secret of his golden enchantment. Even if he didn’t, it would still be very suspicious if he said he had filled all his slots.
“Mmh, maybe. But what do I do if I ever get into that situation?”
“... Well, you just send it into your central core. Then, it converts to essence, which you can use to grow your core or equipment.”
“What? How do I grow my equipment?” John asked, sensing that a vital piece of information had slipped from his preparatory course.
Dennis looked at him worriedly. “Did your company not teach you anything? Surely they mentioned that equipment grows along with the user?”
John could vaguely recall Vera mentioning that, but he had never gotten an explanation past that. “Somewhat… But what does that do? Do they grow stronger?”
“Yeah, they can store more essence within them, and you can alter them slightly to suit you better. They must also be grown completely before ascending to an aspecter.”
John started to wonder about the lack of information he had been given. ‘Well, most of it could have been explained once we got to the base, I guess. Our training was still ongoing when this all happened.’
“Right, that’s why having more equipment makes it harder to grow… How do I know when it’s completed?”
“They get a sort of glow when they’re in your core. But… now I’m starting to wonder if the type of essence you put into them makes a difference.” Dennis put a hand on his chin, stroking his beard in thought.
“... That might be the case. But if that makes a big difference in power… That would be horrible news for everyone who has passed breaker level, right?” John asked, both excited and nervous about the possible increase in his powers.
Dennis nodded with a grave expression. “That’s true. But it only strengthens humanity in the end, so it would still be good. Why don’t you try it?”
“Yeah, sure. I just need to consider what type I want to use for each item. The shield should undoubtedly use solid essence, so I guess I can do that first.”
Dennis seemed to have remembered something, looking at John standing on top of the dead lizard. “Uhh, maybe we should leave first? This is hardly the time to test new stuff.”
“Right, of course!” John replied, having forgotten about the situation. Beasts would soon flock to this place, just like the lizard did. “I’ll scout again, then.”
He briefly dismissed Larang before summoning it again, removing blood and guts stuck to the blade. Then he ascended, ready to search the surroundings for any approaching beasts.
‘I think I did everything well during that fight. Kerchak might disagree, but I’d rather have him get hurt than myself. The spell didn’t work as well as I had hoped, but it let me know how tough the rocks were. Serah would probably have managed to penetrate it…’
While flying high up in the air, John considered what he should do with the enchantment. It only told him that it had to do with ‘cold,’ but he couldn’t see any suitable spot for it.
‘I should get better at understanding enchantments before using them. This will only get harder in the future.’
In the end, he decided he would push it into his core and use it for extra essence. All his current enchantments had their uses, and two were nearly indispensable. He would likely never remove his golden enchantment, and the gravity enchantment in Larang was also incredibly useful.
It had saved his life more than once and made traveling a breeze. Considering another slot would become available once he became an aspecter, he might keep it forever.
‘I am so damn excited about becoming an aspecter! But I guess it’s further away than I expected, depending on how much essence the equipment will require… I’ll have to think about it later; now, we need to make some progress on this damn desert.’
The rest of the day passed without any issues. Like before, John scouted and warned of any potential dangers, steering clear of the potential fights. He had gotten enough fights in for the day.
‘About time to find a spot to rest, I’d say. I want to test this essence infusion with my full focus, so I can’t be flying like this.’
He descended toward the others, seeing them both lying on their backs in the giant arms and resting. Dennis could command Kerchak to follow John without any input, so he could rest his eyes during the day and keep watch at night.
And Rain simply felt bored, by the looks of it.
“I think it’s about time we stop for the day. What do you think?” John asked, floating a few meters above them.
Rain opened her eyes drowsily and looked at the darkening light surrounding them. “Sleep now?”
John smiled at her. “Rain already sleep. Why more?”
She pouted at him but didn’t respond. Dennis also got up, stretching his back. “Yeah, that sounds good. I don’t need much sleep, so I’ll be fine keeping watch throughout the night. Kerchak will need some rest, though.”
“Rain fly?” she asked, looking up at John hopefully. It seemed like she was bored by getting carried by Kerchak, finding it more fun to fly, understandably.
‘Or perhaps she wants to be next to me instead… They seem to get along well enough, though.’
“I need sleep, Rain. But we can fly tomorrow,” he responded, hoping it would appease her.
She smiled and gave him a thumbs-up. “Good! Rain fly tomorrow!”
“I think we can just rest here, John. It’s plenty open, so I can give a heads-up if anything comes near us,” Dennis noted, looking around where they were standing.
Kerchak bent down and put Rain down on the sand, then lay beside her, preparing himself for sleep. Dennis remained on his stomach and sat down, choosing the high point as a watchpoint.
John landed next to Rain and patted her head before looking up at Dennis. “Does Kerchak move at all during his sleep?” he asked, wondering if they could sleep safely next to him.
“Not at all. He’s also completely silent, so you won’t have to worry about snoring. One of the best partners I’ve had, honestly.”
“I can see why. You must have been lucky to encounter him.”
“Oh, he wasn’t very nice back then. I had to fight him together with a centipede-like demon to be able to subdue him. But well worth it, I’d say.”
“I can see why. His aspect also looks very good!” John noted, recalling the helmet and saber of bone Kerchak had made before fighting.
“... You should have seen it when he controlled it himself—a complete set of armor and dual-wielding great axes of bone. I can barely make use of it. But still, it’s great for preparing for a fight in advance.”
John nodded, wondering how he would have used it. It seemed less useful for humans since they already had access to weapons and armor. Then again, the same might be said for Captain Dirk and his scaled aspect. And he seemed more than strong enough.
“Well, have a good night, Dennis.”
“You too, John!”
After positioning himself closer to Kerchak, John lay down and closed his eyes, focusing on his core. The green enchantment, Larang, the lucky sword, and the greatshield all floated around in there, waiting for his commands.
‘Okay then… Let’s test this thing. Greatshield, hope you don’t mind being the test subject. With this, I might get even stronger!’
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