Ancient powers.
Heroes would find these powers, but such finds were not powerful enough to be used as a support for the hero's development.
These were the powers that Cale wished to find.
"Everything except divine powers."
Be it God, angels, or devils, Cale didn't want to interfere in the affairs of any of them.
The black fog under the ceiling swayed strangely, but no one noticed.
That is why the young man sought those powers that were naturally developed or came from nature.
These were the powers he was looking for. Something like swordsmanship or magic would require a lot of effort and long-term practice. He didn't want to do something like that.
Unlike other books, the novel "Birth of a Hero" described an ancient civilization that was not so powerful.
As civilization advanced, the magic and summoning skills that were developed overshadowed the natural forces left behind by the ancient civilization. The superpowers were the same. Most of the skilled superpowers would be destroyed by a single blow of the Aura that was used in the present day.
It didn't seem like the heroes would use these powers without a reason.
"And my goal is to collect these masterful superpowers to become stronger myself."
It was a satisfying goal. Especially since he knew of an ancient power that could enhance these skilled superpowers.
Those who knew about the Ancient Powers stared at the screen in surprise. Ancient Powers were very rare, and there was no information about strengthening them. Perhaps because even getting one was incredibly lucky. Eruhaben thought to himself that the guy was taking a big risk with his plan.
To take the first step in his plan, Cale began searching for the ancient power that was hidden in the city of Western. He knew what the requirements were to obtain this power.
- Young Master, welcome.
Cale merely nodded to the baker, who bowed so low it seemed his head might touch the ground. Ouch. He could hear the baker gasping for breath, but Cale pretended not to notice. He felt sick, but Cale's reputation for tyranny and insignificance filled the baker with fear.
- Give me some bread.
- Sorry?
Cale pointed at all the bread in the bakery and replied sternly:
- Everything that is here.
*Clang*
The gold coin Cale pulled out began to spin on the counter.
- Pack it all up.
The baker seemed to freeze in place, so Cale continued speaking:
— Two or three gold coins should be enough to buy bread for a week, shouldn't they?
The baker's gaze, which had been focused on the gold coin, shifted to Cale. There was too much money here to pay for bread. Cale, however, calmly endured the baker's trembling gaze.
- I can go somewhere else if you don't want to.
- No! Nothing of the sort! Young Master! I'll pack it as quickly as possible!
"With that attitude towards money, it's clear why he asks for more," the fair-haired prince rolled his eyes to himself.
Even though it was just bread, it didn't weigh that little. Cale began to frown, continuing to ignore the baker who was watching the boy, and walked outside.
Cale walked slowly down the street, noticing that someone who met him quickly turned and ran away. Most people even ran away, just to avoid eye contact with the guy.
"It's really different from Korea. It's really a fantasy world."
In fact, it wasn't just him who thought the world was a fantasy. Mary and the black dragon were looking at everything with wide eyes. While Mary was trying to remember if she had seen something like this in her childhood, the dragon was seeing the street for the first time. He was greedily examining every detail.
Cale looked around as he wandered through the shopping district, which felt somewhat unreal.
- Mm...
- Mhm...
Whenever he spoke to the merchants, they would freeze in shock and carefully avoid his gaze. *Tsk tsk* Cale must have really earned his title of "nobodies" in the past. The youth, cursing under his breath, walked past the shopping district and headed towards the western part of Western.
Eruhaben, looking at this attitude towards the eldest son of the count, could not help but think that there was something strange about this family. In his long life, he had seen many different noble families. The Hanityuz family did not seem bad to him. So it was not the influence of his parents. Cale himself, as he understood, was not such a scumbag as he wanted to be seen. And in the eyes of the younger brother and sister at breakfast, although there was caution, there was no fear. No matter what they were expecting, they were sure that he would not do anything to them. This was interesting. He was interested in learning more about the old Cale Hanityuz. And for some reason, he also felt a rather ominous feeling. And while he was thinking, Cale, the new one, had already reached his destination.
*Tsk*
Despite knowing all these stories about Cale, they couldn't help but smell the sweet smell of bread in Cale's bag. The Count's son simply ignored these stares, continuing to move in a direction known only to him.
"It's better here."
After he was freed from the stench, Cale stood on top of the hill and turned to look at Western City. Of course, this hill wasn't as high as the Earl's estate, but that was natural. There was no way to force a territory lord to live lower than the slums.
Cale came to his senses and then walked towards a tree that was fenced off on all sides. The fence was made of planks as wide as Cale's body, and had an entrance that had rotted away long ago. It broke when Cale gave it a push.
The large tree looked like it had been there for hundreds of years. Trees in the slums were usually cut down for firewood or stripped of their bark, which quickly killed them. But this tree was clearly different from the rest.
The reason was simple. It reached Cale's ear very quickly. These two were the only ones who followed him to the very end of the slums.
- You can't go near this tree!
Ron and Bikros, who had lived in this city for many years, looked at each other in surprise. They had heard of this tree, of course. And seen it many times, of course. But they thought it was just a scary city fairy tale. Just like the God of Death had said: interesting things were hiding right under their noses.
Cale ignored the warning, then heard another worried voice:
- You can't go near it! It's a man-eating tree!
The Man-Eating Tree. Anyone who hanged themselves from the branches of this tree would be mummified overnight. Additionally, any blood that fell on its trunk would instantly disappear.
Finally, there was only earth around this tree. Not a blade of grass or weed was visible anywhere.
This was the tree Cale was looking for.
Long ago, in ancient times, there lived a man who loved to eat so much that his gluttony led to his exile. This man died of starvation.
It is said that this tree grew over his body, and the desire to eat and the strength of this man manifested itself in the tree. The Indestructible Shield that Cale sought was here.
How primitive, mysterious and strange it was! Most ancient powers were strange.
The Crown Prince carefully wrote down everything he heard about the ancient power, remembering his desire to pay attention to the little things. And he couldn't help but agree with Cale, they were indeed strange.
Cale took the bread out of the bag, carefully observing the hole the size of a grown man's head. Before he could begin his work, he needed to get rid of the owners of those excited voices. However, before the young man could say anything, one of the voices became even louder than before, since its owner could no longer see Cale crouched behind the fence, a tremor clearly felt in his voice.
- Y-you're dying! Don't d-do this!
Cale pressed his fingers to his temples.
*Sigh*
"There will always be curious idiots no matter where you are."
Cale frowned and turned his head. When he did, he found a girl who looked to be about ten years old. She was holding her younger brother's hand, but her eyes were fixed on Cale. Those eyes were filled with worry.
Seeing Cale frowning at her, the girl hesitated, but began to mumble again:
- This is a man-eating tree. You will die!
- I will not die.
Cale took two loaves of bread from his bag and tossed them to the little girl. It didn't matter if the bread rolled on the ground because each one was individually wrapped.
- Take this and disappear.
The boy grabbed the bread instantly, but the girl still hesitated. Cale had to use his personality after all. He stood up and looked out from behind the fence.
- You two don't know about the Worthless Kayle?
The girl's face turned pale. Her little brother simply looked at Cale before picking up another loaf of bread for his sister and pulling her by the hand.
- Sister.
- Yeah.
The girl continued to look from the tree to Cale and back, even as she was being stubbornly pulled away.
- You must not die.
"What brave children," Vitira noted.
Choi Han, in turn, thought that it would be better for the children to stay away from the hot-tempered trash, for their own safety. They knew that he was a different person now, for them nothing had changed. He was a little worried about the future of these kids.Again, Eruhaben found it interesting that the children knew about Cale's reputation. In the slums, people were usually well aware of what could be dangerous to them. Especially the children. In the city, the red-haired man was avoided even in a crowded market, and the children simply could not help but know about him. They knew exactly who they were following up the hill, a dangerous hill at that, but they felt it necessary to warn him. Even though they were scared when he reminded them of his identity, they stood their ground and tried to help him in their own way. And if so, it meant that they did not consider him dangerous. Which, against the background of the attitude of adults, was very telling. He came to the conclusion that old Cale, at the very least, never hurt children and, at most, even helped them somehow. Then he wondered: did he ever hurt anyone besides furniture and Choi Han.
And he wasn't the only one who found the children's behavior strange. The prince was surprised, too. If he had been in the children's place, he wouldn't have taken a step toward the "man-eating tree," even if there had been an adult with a much better reputation there. Rosaleen thought the same thing.
Cale clicked his tongue, annoyed by the young girl who continued to talk. After the couple left, he looked around to make sure no one else was around. Only then did the young man sit down under a tree. No one would be able to see what he was doing unless they walked right up to the fence.
"Well, let's get started."
He started by taking a loaf of bread out of his bag and placing it in the hole. His hand soon disappeared into the darkness beneath the tree, and Cale felt a chill run down his spine as the bread in his hand suddenly disappeared.
It seemed to him that his entire hand could be pulled into the hole, and so he quickly pulled it out.
The darkness in the hole under the tree remained unchanged.
- If you died with a grudge, you need to get rid of this bitterness.
This man-eating tree wasn't really a man-eater. It was a tree that would swallow anything. It was a side effect of the power left behind by a man who had starved to death. But this connection between hunger and an ancient power... it seemed funny, but at the same time, it was more realistic.
"I remember they said to feed him until the darkness disappeared."
As he wrote down what was happening on the sheet of paper, Albert Crossman couldn't help but think that he had never written such blatant nonsense in his life. Feeding a tree bread to gain ancient power. It sounded crazy enough to be true.
The darkness in the hole under the tree was not the result of a falling shadow. It was the darkness of resentment.
Mary, who was watching him, thought that it was very similar to the effect of dead mana. Now she was worried about the safety of the Young Master.
This could not be done by different people. One person had to continue to provide large amounts of food until the darkness disappeared. Once the darkness finally disappeared, the light that hides the power would illuminate the hole.
Once he absorbs this light, the Unbreakable Shield will belong to Cale.
- Eat whatever you want.
Cale began to transfer all the bread he had brought with him into the hole. Normally, this small hole should have been filled with bread, but darkness continued to reign there, even after Cale had completely emptied the bag.
"I'll probably need ten more big bags."
The darkness in the pit was a little weaker than before.
But Rosalyn, Locke and Vitira didn't see much of a difference.
Ten bags. A man like Cale, with three million gallons of pocket money, could afford it.
The size of the allowance for the count's firstborn made the king's firstborn's eye twitch.
There was a strange cry, resonating from the tree. It seemed to say that it was hungry, asking for more food. Cale felt as if the darkness might suddenly reach out and grab him.
— ... It's a little scary.
Cale stood up quickly. He didn't think he should stay here too long.
— All you can do is stupidly show dissatisfaction?
Gluttony was a terrible sin.
- I'll be back tomorrow.
— Is this a normal phenomenon for the Ancient Forces?
Choi Han was curious. If he had come across such a scary tree in the Forest of Darkness, he would have cut it down without any questions. And such sinister things, as it turned out, could be useful. And he was also curious about the person who had figured out how to feed the tree with bread. After all, Cale had taken the method for obtaining it from a book, which meant that the Shield had to have an owner. He was sure that it was not him. Firstly, a scary tree was equal to a stump in his understanding, and secondly, he would not have thought of such a thing. And thirdly, he simply did not have that much money.
— It's hard to say whether this is normal or not. Ancient powers are rare in themselves. And the owners are in no hurry to reveal the methods of obtaining them.
The answer came from the golden-haired elf. He also thought that he understood the reason for such silence. If someone came to him and said that he fed the tree bread, and it asked for more, he would give that person a calming tea and advise him to rest. If it bothered him, of course. And this despite the fact that he personally knew one talking tree.
For those who claimed he shouldn't go in there because it was a man-eating tree, they seemed to be enjoying the bread. They must have liked the taste because they both looked very happy.
- Yum-yum.
Cale snorted at his siblings before ignoring them. However, their gazes weren't focused on him, but on the bag that had been filled with bread before, but was now completely empty. They were curious.
But what could they do? These kids were incapable of anything.
These kids were probably too scared to even go near the tree. Still, it's always good to be safe. It would be bad if they went up to the tree, stuck their heads in the hole, and got eaten.
[The children of the slums are not afraid. This is because they value a grain of rice more than the edge of a sword. Death is always around them, so they are not afraid of death. They fear hunger much more than death.]
It was written in the novel [Birth of a Hero].
That's why Cale decided to talk to his brother and sister:
- If you want to eat tomorrow too, don't tell anyone.
The siblings said nothing. They immediately decided to follow Cale's orders. The young girl, who had seemed hesitant before, placed her hand over her brother's mouth and pretended not to even see Cale. The young man smiled and thought that the girl was quite clever, and then hurriedly left the slums.
"We need reforms," the Crown Prince decided for himself. He was categorically not satisfied with this state of affairs. In fact, he did not even dream of getting rid of the poor completely. In such places lived not only people who could not find work, but also those who did not want to. They were completely satisfied with such a life. Such people became bandits and gangsters for the most part. Little could be done with them, but for people who wanted changes, he could come up with options. One option was to oblige the nobles to pay extra to the masters who took on students from the poor class. The nobles themselves would not become poor, and the regions would get more specialists. And the busy youth would have less time and energy to think about a life of crime. He took a new piece of paper. And this would add points to his score among the common people. The idea seemed wonderful to him.
Rosalyn, looking at the growing number of papers in the hands of the Crown Prince of the Roan Kingdom, thought that this country was very lucky with its future monarch.
- Ah, Young Master. You've returned.
When Cale returned to the tea shop, Bylos greeted him with a happy smile.
- Yes, bring me another cup of tea, refreshing this time.
Cale returned to his place on the third floor. At this time, the hall was already full, but there was still no one on the third floor. Everyone was carefully avoiding the insignificance of the count's family. That was why Cale could relax.
- Here is your tea, Young Master. I also brought some desserts.
- Ah, great. Thank you.
Cale continued to look towards the city gates while sipping the tea he had brought. Bylos looked at Cale with a strange expression before calmly walking out of the third floor. It was strange to hear Cale thanking someone.
Cale continued ordering tea and desserts, looking out the window at the view until the sky turned orange and the sun went down. He only got up when night fell and darkness fell on the streets.
It's time to talk to the dangerous guy who will come from behind the city wall.
If there was anyone among the observers who was interested in how this meeting would go, it was one of its direct participants. Choi Han, who sat up straight in his chair. He remembered roughly what state he had been in that night. Angry, exhausted, and tired. After a while, he had even completely forgiven the guards who had turned him away. If he had been in their place, he wouldn't have let that guy into the city either. He was genuinely interested in what "Kale" would do. He hadn't been in a hurry to help him in the morning.
When does a person become more angry?
When he gets one hard but fair blow, or when he is subjected to five or six annoying taunts?
"Definitely the latter," everyone thought.
Of course, in the latter case.
Cale in the novel managed to use six taunts before he got hit, meaning he should be fine after one taunt.
The thought that had been persistently pursuing the ancient dragon until now was pushing itself forward.
- Are you leaving?
There were very few people left in the tea shop.
- I look forward to your next visit, Young Master.
Cale nodded at Bylos' words.
"The tea was excellent," the young man told the tea shop owner. "And the book was good, although I only read half of it. I especially liked the main character, especially the assessment of his abilities and the description of his height."
At that moment, Bylos's eyebrows drew together for a moment before returning to normal. His gaze was dark as he looked at Cale.
- Poor bastard, you should have just kept quiet.
However, the young man did not notice this because he was trying to remember the contents of the book. He was too worried about Choi Han, and then did not pay much attention to the novel.
However, it was still interesting to read, despite the nagging feeling in my heart.