A chill ran down my spine. When I opened my eyes to that, the surroundings were dark.
¡Bip!
I heard something like a beep from somewhere.
What is this? I don't think I heard it wrong...
Slide.
First I got up. The surroundings were very dark, but not to the point that it was difficult to see what was in front. This was thanks to the white light coming from the jewel on the ground where it lay.
The stone fragment of the records?
That thought occurred to me and I quickly returned to it.
What, it's just a light gem?
When I looked closely, it was just an ordinary magical device. Its only function was to emit light, and every explorer had to see or use one at least once. Why was this left here? As I thought that, I held the light gem high so that the light could spread far away.
¡Shaaaa!
As the radius of light widened, the surroundings became more visible.
[Your location has been confirmed.]
There was a stone building without any sense of individuality. Unlike Rafdonia, the road was not paved with stones. All the structures and shapes matched where I was just now. If there was a difference, it seemed like a long time had passed.
Hmm, it looks like we're back in the present... So Amelia, why isn't she by my side?
Unlike the first time we went to the past, Amelia wasn't there. Did she wake up first? It's true that I woke up before her on Farune Island. It was possible that Amelia found this magical device somewhere and turned it on before leaving. So there was a good chance she was around.
«Ahem.» After coughing dryly a couple of times to clear my throat, I screamed at the top of my lungs: «Amelia!».
The cry of a barbarian endowed with steel vocal cords was enough to reverberate and echo throughout the city. But even after waiting several minutes, there was no response. The silence seemed sinister in some ways. Was I the only one who returned to our original time period through the Record Fragment Stone? Suddenly that possibility crossed my mind.
I should wait first.
I decided not to move in a hurry for now and wait here.
But since it is boring to wait in silence... I should check my physical condition.
I started a self-inspection.
[Information consistency rate 83%.]
[Character information needs to be updated].
[Updating and syncing...]
As expected, the essence I took in the past was the same. However, I calmly continued the inspection. Although I took the essence, I only stayed at the inn and was in town for a day before coming straight to Noark. There was no time to organize it properly.
[The corpse Golem essence that has seeped into your soul was eliminated. Pain resistance has decreased -70. Strength has decreased -15.]
When my pain resistance waned, some of my dull senses recovered. Thanks to the +30 attached to Bayon's essence, the resistance did not completely disappear, but a stat difference of about 70 was something that could be felt in everyday life. Of course, this wasn't a big deal. Aside from Pain Resistance, my overall stats had increased significantly.
[Vol-Herchan's essence has seeped into your soul. Physical endurance has increased +75. Natural regeneration has increased +40. Poison resistance has increased +120.]
Physical endurance and natural regeneration were two essential statistics for a tank, in addition to poison tolerance. Although there was no Strength, there were higher stats that could replace it.
[Muscle mass has increased +15.]
Muscle mass was an ultra rare stat that could only be obtained from certain rank 3 and above monsters. The effect was simple. For each unit of muscle mass, the strength value increased by 1 percent.
If my stat is 20% right now, my Strength would be a little over 60.
Added Resistance +30, Vision +20, and Bone Strength +80 to this to greatly increase my total stats with a single essence. On the contrary, there were also reduced statistics.
[Agility has decreased -30. Flexibility has decreased -50.]
[Sync complete. Transmission of the character register has resumed.]
Surprisingly, the decrease in flexibility was more noticeable than that in agility. Should I say that my body felt much stiffer than before? Only the drop in flexibility limited some movements that were previously possible, and the drop in agility slowed me down.
Still, compared to what I won, this isn't even a penalty.
Statistics were one thing, but the biggest advantage of Vol-Herchan's essence lay in skill. The passive evolution-type shell applied a different effect when the physical resistance reached 70, 350, 750, and 1500. For reference, the effect of stage 1 was as follows:
[Your Physical Resistance stat is greater than 70. 50% resistance is granted only against sword-type weapons.]
This was the effect he used to call Sword Invulnerability and the reason why this essence was used to counteract auras. An aura was unconditionally classified as a sword type. With this single skill, the crazy 90% performance was reduced to 45%.
Anyway, I need to activate Gigantization to activate stage 2.
Taking just one more essence would release stage 3 into a fully doped state, and stage 4 was detrimental to the mind in a way that could not even be imagined now. That was because most upside benefits had limits. As a key example, the orc sorcerer's frenzy, which tripled physical stamina for ten seconds, did not exceed 300.
But isn't it really close?
After taking some time to check on my character's development status, I started to feel anxious waiting for Amelia. I couldn't be sure, but it felt like almost two hours had passed. There was still not a single sound around me.
«Hmm, this can't be possible...»
It didn't make sense in many ways. When I opened my eyes, the light gem was already emitting light. If it wasn't Amelia, the person who activated the device had to be nearby.
...I should look around me first.
At this point, it was foolish to stand still for fear of getting lost, so I used the light gem to illuminate my view as I walked slowly. Come to think of it, there was another curious part.
It's a little strange that this city is so empty in the first place.
In the present, Noark had fled outside the castle walls to prevent the palace invasion and the palace had occupied the city. But right now? There was so much silence that you couldn't even hear an ant passing by.
«Could be...?» I came up with a not-so-good idea, but it wasn't time to make a decision yet. I decided to focus on what I could do right now; for example, finding something to cover myself.
Burst!
Upon entering the first lodging establishment I saw, I dusted off the tablecloth and wrapped it around my waist. There would be no clothes that fit me anyway.
Still, I now look like a civilized person.
This made me more human, but human greed had no limits.
... Is there anything to eat?
When the «clothing» part of food, lodging and clothing was resolved, hunger appeared. I went through each room to rummage through drawers and closets. Accommodations like these were mainly used by explorers, so I was able to find edible canned foods to satisfy my hunger.
It's like being in an apocalyptic universe.
Searching for food in a building that was no different from the abandoned one felt strange.
«So... should I look around a little more?»
Now that my stomach was full, I left the building and wandered through the eerily quiet city. After a long time like this, I arrived at the empty Plaza Dimensión where a single barracks appeared.
Palace...?
The military barracks with a large emblem of the royal family seemed to have been installed by the military who occupied Noark.
Slide.
I didn't feel any presence anywhere, so I carefully pushed the cloth away and walked inside. But did they take everything with them when they left? The interior of the barracks was only filled with dust, apart from a large desk.
Damn it...»
That was the biggest problem for me. I abandoned the possibility that time had stopped in this place while I was in the past the moment I saw that the city had become a ghost town.
«But to think it wasn't even a one-to-one ratio».
I swept the desk with my index finger. There was at least an inch of dust. Considering the environment here, it was not an amount that could accumulate in just six months.
«... When the hell will I do it?»
The sinister premonition came true and a chill ran down my spine as a familiar voice came right behind me. «Finally...»
When I turned around reflexively, the face I longed to see was there. «Amelia...!»
Amelia Rainwales, my SSR rank comrade who I managed to recruit after twenty years. Well, luckily I didn't come back alone. It seemed like she really woke up first and had gone somewhere.
«Where the hell have you been? I thought you were missing». I started talking because I was glad to see her when I shuddered, and rightly so. «What is that...? That team?» Unlike me, who woke up naked, Amelia was clearly different. It was fully equipped with custom-made equipment.
Is it possible to cultivate equipment of this level by simply getting up a little earlier?
Just as that strange feeling took over me, Amelia grabbed my wrist roughly. «I'll explain it to you as we go. Just follow me!»
***
If suddenly a car approached you, the door opened and someone yelled at you to get in the car, what would you do? My answer was YES.
There must be a reason.
Even if it were an unidentified stranger I would consider it. But if that someone was my comrade, of course it was wiser to do what they said.
"Buf, buf.
Although it was a little unexpected, I ran down a dark street with all my might, to keep up with Amelia. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious, but it wasn't too late to ask while I was running.
«Amelia... What's going on? At least explain to me briefly!»
At my request, Amelia actually gave me a brief answer. «Someone is chasing us».
"¿What?"
«One of the members of the Seven Mighty Blood Spirits».
"¿What?"
«I'm sorry. This was my mistake. I didn't know she had already grown to a point where she could fool my sensors and chase me...»
My head was dizzy. I didn't understand a word he said. What the hell were the Mighty Seven? And who was Blood Spirit? I had a lot of questions, but time was limited, so I decided to check what was most important first.
«Is she strong enough to defeat us both?»
«She is strong. If we fight head-on, it will be my inevitable defeat».
«That? Who the hell is this person...?»
«I guess it's natural that you don't know. That was before that woman signed with the Elemental Ruler and became enraged». As Amelia ran, she turned around and looked at me. «Erwen Fornacci di Tersia.»
«… ¿Eh?»
«The reigning master of pureblood and the ninth contractor of the Elemental Ruler. That's that woman's name».
My head went numb for a moment. Pure blood? Elementary ruler? «... Erwen?»
Has he become so strong? No, before that...
«How long has it been?» The question came out of my mouth on its own, but I assumed he heard even that little murmur as I ran.
Amelia responded in a bitter voice: «Two years and six months. It's been two and a half years since you've been known to have died».
Holy shit...