Chapter 80: Appraisal, Secret Trove - Cursed Blood Origin
"Professor, was there any point in doing that?"
Elizabeth appeared inside a vast, manor-like private space—or rather, a team space. She was wearing a purple evening gown, which, paired with her long green curly hair, gave her an exceptional air. The Professor, still wearing his black-framed glasses, sat drinking tea by a fountain in the center of the space. Yanagi, his kasa hat now removed, revealed a stern, square-jawed face.
The three of them had survived the full 30 days in the Demon Slayer world, ultimately pushing their main quest completion to an S- rank. This was a harvest that neither Yanagi nor Elizabeth had ever achieved before. Having come to an understanding of each other's abilities and temperaments, the three had decided to officially form a new team.
Now, Elizabeth was questioning the Professor. She suspected that her former teammate, Vincent, had already been killed by that beast known as "Mercenary Tao." While there was no love lost, Elizabeth could still recall the constant, suffocating pressure she felt just by being near Tao. She wanted nothing more to do with such a person.
The Professor shook his head. He knew that his special trial had been incredibly difficult. If not for an anomalous existence like Tao, they would have been lucky to barely pass, let alone succeed so spectacularly. He owed Tao a favor.
And besides…
"My goal isn't to recruit him. It's just that in this space, the further you go, the more monsters you meet. It's better to build a good relationship with one of them early on than to face another predator in the future."
Yanagi said nothing, merely polishing his sword. He had always been confident in his own combat abilities, but seeing a monster like Tao had given him a new sense of urgency.
Elizabeth sat down. She was extremely tall, and the Professor guessed that in the real world, she was likely a very petite woman, which was why she had intentionally made her avatar so imposing. Avatars and codenames were two things that strongly revealed a Reincarnator's personality and goals. He felt this more and more. Take Yanagi, for example: his simple, almost old-fashioned codename led the Professor to guess he was an older man in real life, perhaps from a family with a lineage of ancient martial arts.
As for Mercenary Tao… the Professor shook his head. For an anomaly like that, who could say? He probably just chose the codename because he got his hands on Tao's robe. The minds of anomalies were the hardest to grasp.
"Are you saying that even with [Moon Fiend] targeting him, he won't die?" Elizabeth asked.
[Moon Fiend] was a high-ranking Reincarnator with a big reputation in the East Sector, widely speculated to be at the [Strong - Upper] tier. He used a sword style with enormous destructive power, making him a terrifyingly lethal opponent. Along with [Flame Fiend], [Great Fiend], and the mysterious [Heart Fiend], he was one of the [Four Fiends], the elite Reincarnators widely considered to be the closest to achieving [Titled] rank.
Furthermore, [Moon Fiend] had risen through the ranks at an astonishing speed. Many intel brokers and team strategists believed he must have some special information channel, allowing him to hunt other Reincarnators in the real world to rise so quickly. Some even believed [Moon Fiend] himself was one of the rumored [Great Sin] Reincarnators. None of this had been confirmed.
The Professor had access to [Azure Sky]'s intelligence network, and as a [High Priestess] Sequence Reincarnator himself, his ability to acquire information was top-tier. He knew many secrets.
"Rumor has it," the Professor said, "that a [Peerless] Reincarnator intended to recruit the Four Fiends and form a new team. But the arrogant [Great Fiend] and the mysterious [Heart Fiend] refused the invitation and are now being hunted. The new team formed by [Moon Fiend] and [Flame Fiend] also disbanded after a single mission—the very one in which [Flame Fiend]'s partner, [Mountain Fiend], was killed. After that, [Moon Fiend] left the team and is now wanted by both [Flame Fiend] and that [Peerless] Reincarnator."
The Professor relayed this secret information. Elizabeth frowned, just now processing the implications.
"Are you saying that the dissolution of that team… had something to do with 'Mercenary Tao'?"
A high-level Reincarnator like Moon Fiend should have no reason to get involved with low-level players like them. The only explanation was that Kaito had, at some point, made an enemy of him.
The Professor said no more. He had already gone above and beyond by sacrificing a near-perfect gem to get a revelation about Kaito. Ultimately, the Professor didn't believe a monster like Tao could ever join his team, and even if he did, he didn't think he was capable of managing such a beast.
Kaito was not swayed from his plans by the Professor's warning. He glanced at the other trade offers for Douma's head. Most were just for Dimensional Points or basic consumables of little value. Many were "newbies" asking what the head could even be used for. There was no possibility of a real trade.
He left the stall and walked directly to the [Appraisal Office]. Compared to the other facilities, this one had a much smaller storefront. The eaves were so low that Reincarnators couldn't even go inside; they had to be served through a window. There were four such windows. Kaito walked up to one. The appraiser was not human, but a thirty-centimeter-tall "fairy."
"Well, little one, show me what you've got. I hope it's not another piece of trash. I've seen far too much junk today…"
Kaito didn't react to the NPC's chatter. He simply placed the purple-glowing formula in front of the fairy.
"Oh?" The fairy's nose twitched. She flew a few circles around the ancient formula. "I smell it… the scent of ancient mystery. Mmm… and the aura of those demon-things."
"To appraise this, you will need to pay one E-rank Singularity and 4500 Dimensional Points."
[Appraisal Master Lucia V is requesting 1 E-rank Singularity and 4500 Dimensional Points. Pay?]
"Pay."
The fairy held out her hands. Motes of starlight began to fall. Then, the power that had been sealed within the unreadable formula finally began to reveal itself. A brilliant purple light flared, and Kaito took the item back.
[You have obtained the item: Secret Trove - Cursed Blood Origin (Purple - Extreme)]
[Secret Trove - Cursed Blood Origin]
[Quality: Exceedingly Rare (Extreme)]
[Description: An ancient, secret treasure from the golden age of sorcery in the Heian period. It contains a special pharmacology capable of reversing life and death and allowing a human to transcend, becoming an ultimate lifeform.]
[Effect 1: With ALL materials, pay 2 B-rank Singularities & 12,000 DP to purify your bloodline. Gain Lineage: Human - Perfected. Gain traits: High-Speed Regeneration, Advanced Strength, Medium Immortality.]
[Effect 2: With PARTIAL materials, pay 1 B-rank Singularity & 6000 DP to alter your lineage. Become: Demon (Dark Species, Native Species). Gain traits: High-Speed Regeneration, Advanced Strength, Medium Immortality, Weakness to Light.]
[Effect 3: With NO materials, pay 2 C-rank Singularities & 3000 DP to fuse this trove into yourself. You will gain ONE random trait.]
"Lucky boy," the tiny fairy said, crossing her legs in mid-air. Her voice was ancient and deep. "Even I have only seen one of these a few times." She made it clear that what Kaito had obtained was a genuine treasure.
Kaito looked at the formula. It listed a series of required materials: Sansenmosō, Hayairo Oni-shikoro, Ashitaba... Among the long list of ingredients, the only one he currently had in his inventory was the [Blue Spider Lily], the very thing Muzan Kibutsuji had searched for for a thousand years.
He put the formula away and went straight to the [Training Hall].
The NPC at the [Training Hall] was a bald, muscular man with bronze skin and bulging muscles, radiating a philosophical aura.
[Your Nexus Dwell Time will be paused upon entering the Training Hall. However, you will be charged a base rate of 50 Dimensional Points per minute. Activating special facilities will incur additional charges. Enter?]
The exterior of the [Training Hall] was pure cyberpunk, covered in neon lights. But the interior was a massive gymnasium, surrounded by mirrors and floored with jade-like tiles that felt warm underfoot. The moment Kaito stepped inside, he felt his body grow heavy. Even breathing took more effort.
[Gravity Change: 1.5x (Can be manually adjusted up to 3x)]
[Oxygen Density: 0.75x (Can be adjusted between 0.5x and 3x)]
[Extreme Environment Setting: None (Can select from: Waterfall, Lake Center, Seabed, Volcano, etc.)]
…
Kaito looked at the series of notifications and began to understand what this place truly was. It was a fully customizable environment, allowing him to control gravity, oxygen, and even extreme training settings. Any normal equipment he wanted could be materialized with a thought. This was the most basic function of the [Training Hall]: to allow Reincarnators to train their base attributes. For specialized proficiencies, one could also purchase related facilities or even hire sparring NPCs.
This being his first time, Kaito immediately materialized various pieces of equipment and began to push himself. He had pointedly taken off [Mercenary Tao's Pink Robe].
His current four basic attributes were: Strength 13, Agility 15, Constitution 13, and Spirit 13.
"Thanks" to the Nexus's two auto-allocations, his stats were now incredibly balanced. Even with no equipment, he was, in all aspects, nearly three times stronger than a normal human. But the body was interconnected. Strength, agility, and constitution all influenced each other. The faster you were, the more power you could generate. The stronger you were, the faster you could punch. For a human like Kaito, who was three times the human average in all attributes, his actual combat power was countless times greater than that of a normal person. At the very least, he could now jump from a seven-story building and land unharmed, and sprint 100 meters in under seven seconds without using any abilities. He was already completely superhuman.
Still not enough…
Ever since he had learned from the Professor about attribute limits and the single-stat [Peerless], he couldn't stop wondering… what would happen if he reached the limit break in all four stats?
If he became a [Peerless] in all four attributes… what would he become?!
~~~
Guys We cross the 500 power stone goal and as promise here the bonus chapter
Next goal 600 power stone,come on guys you'll can do it, good luck.
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 2 extra chapters
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter