Chapter 785
Chapter 785: Upgrade (3)
The eighth stage of the Immortality Imprint does not increase stats. However, new effects are added instead.
[The soul within your body has been strengthened.]
[When you cast Wild Outburst, it will inflict damage to all undead.]
[The additional effect ‘Weapon Affection’ is added to the unique effect ‘Unity.’]
From now on, [Wild Outburst] will deal damage specifically to undead, and [Unity] has received an additional effect. ‘Weapon Affection’ is an effect that provides enhancement effects proportional to the number of days a weapon has been equipped. The stacking condition requires killing a ‘monster’ with the weapon once per day. While unequipping the weapon doesn’t reset the stacks, if you switch to a completely different weapon, you’ll have to build up the stacks again from scratch.
‘It takes 1,000 days to reach full stacks.’
It requires almost three years, but fortunately, my circumstances were quite favorable. In Dungeon and Stone, shields are considered weapons too. I have Kraul’s Demon Grinder and even the Wall of Aegis. Since I acquired my graduation-level main weapons early on, I don’t need to worry about rebuilding the stacks from scratch later on. In other words, if I steadily accumulate stacks from now, I’ll eventually reach full stacks……
‘The issue is that the labyrinth is currently closed……’
Since stacks only accumulates once per day upon defeating a monster, there’s no way to add stacks for now. Even if the was labyrinth opened, the condition isn’t exactly easy to fulfill.
‘Even if I explored the labyrinth for 100 days, I’d have to do that 10 times……’
It’s definitely not an easy condition. After all, I’ve never explored the labyrinth for more than 100 days except when exploring the first basement floor.
‘But what happens if I kill monsters outside the city walls? Would that count too?’
Such a question suddenly occurred to me, but it’s impossible to confirm it right now. So, I’ll leave that to be tested at some point in the future……
“Hoo……”
Turning my head to the side, I saw the shaman exhaling deeply. Beads of sweat were rolling down his cheeks, showing how exhausted he was.
“It’s done, Chieftain. How is it? Do you like this new power you’ve gained?”
“Yes.”
The eighth stage imprint took longer than any other stage I’ve received so far. It took a whopping three days to complete. The shaman said that the higher-stage spirit imprints naturally require this much time, but I’m not so sure……
‘It didn’t take this long in the game.’
From my perspective, it seemed more like a skill issue on his part. But, thankfully, the imprint itself seemed to be well done.
“By the way… Chieftain, there’s something you need to know.”
With the imprint was finally complete, just as I was about to leave this stuffy tent, he spoke up. Trying to ignore this inexplicable unease, I looked at the shaman.
And……
“I can’t complete the ninth stage imprint with my abilities alone……”
Sure enough, shocking words came out.
“What do you mean, you can’t? Aren’t you a shaman?”
“Well… I haven’t fully learned up to the ninth stage from my master yet.”
“You didn’t learn it?”
“It-it’s not that I didn’t learn it, it’s just… I’m not confident. From the ninth stage on, the imprint is engraved deep within the soul, so it’s much, much more difficult!”
This unexpected bad news was far more serious than I’d anticipated.
“I’ve mostly learned how to do it, so I could give it a try… But if I failed, you may lose your life, Chieftain……!”
Starting from the ninth stage imprint, I’d be risking my life. If the ninth stage is that difficult, it’s probably safe to assume that the tenth stage would be utterly impossible. On a smaller scale, this just means that I couldn’t receive the imprint, but looking at the bigger picture, this is a crisis for the entire Barbarian tribe. It means the most important spirit imprint techniques would be permanently lost. As the chieftain, I can’t just sit back and let that happen.
“Is there no way to solve this?”
“It’s… not that there isn’t……”
“What? There is?”
Surprisingly, I got a positive response from the start.
For me, who’s been encountering only unsolvable problems lately, this feels almost unfamiliar. Not that I’m complaining, of course.
“What is it? Tell me.”
“Master’s health declined rapidly after performing the ‘Soul Receival’ ritual. Before, he would occasionally regain consciousness and teach various things, but now he can’t even do that. If we leave him like this, he won’t last much longer.”
“Get to the point.”
“…We just need to restore Master’s health!”
……Huh?
“My master, the previous shaman, can perform even the highest-grade imprints without issue. After all, it was him who performed the imprints on the former chieftain.”
“……”
“If I could learn a bit more from Master, I should eventually be able to perform the highest-grade imprints myself as well!”
Hmm… I understand what he’s getting at. And of course, it would benefit me to have both shamans in good health within the tribe. But is that even feasible?
“How do you plan to restore his health? I thought even a priest said they couldn’t heal him.”
“That’s true, but I recently discovered a possible solution.”
“Then just tell me the way already. Stop beating around the bush like a human.”
“Well… It might be a difficult task for the chief.”
“Ah, just say it already!”
When I spoke with a hint of irritation, the young shaman flinched and cautiously began to speak.
“…We need a dragon’s heart.”
…I wish I hadn’t asked.
***
In a way, this could be seen as a quest.
If I had to categorize it, it would be a ‘racial’ quest, with a description that might go something like this.
[Racial Quest]
Objective: Restore the previous shaman’s health.
Condition: Acquire a dragon’s heart.
Reward: Unlock ninth grade and higher Spirit Imprints.
Penalty upon failure: The previous shaman dies, and the Barbarian tribe permanently loses the knowledge of the highest-grade Spirit Imprints.
The quest itself is simple. If you bring back a dragon’s heart, you receive a reward, and if you fail to bring one, you receive a penalty. The only problem is……
“A dragon’s heart……”
The difficulty of this quest is absurdly high. There are many cases where people sell hearts of similar monsters like drakes claiming them to be ‘dragon hearts,’ but for this, he probably needs a true ‘dragon’s heart.’ First of all, true dragons only start appearing from the ninth floor onwards. And even if I threw my entire clan at it, we don’t have the specs to raid a dragon yet. Well, it might be possible after a long time, but……
‘…We’d even need to use distortion when we kill it.’
Considering the odds of successfully applying distortion, we’d need the specs to reliably defeat dragons multiple times to clear this quest, not just kill one once by luck. However, there’s just one problem here.
‘Will the previous shaman last that long?’
Well, there’s a high probability he won’t.
‘I thought it was strange to encounter a problem with an immediate solution.’
This is even more unsolvable than most problems. The only possible way to complete the quest would be to acquire a dragon’s heart from someone else…
“……The royal family might have one.”
The problem is, the royal family would never give away something so precious for free.
“Hah……”
I’m starting to think it might be better for my mental health to just give up on the future of the Barbarian tribe.
‘Let’s think about this problem gradually. Though it seems urgent, it’s not like the shaman is going to die right this minute.’
For now, I decided to shelve this quest and focus on the more immediate problems at hand. As always, everything has its priorities. And currently, this matter is what needs to be handled first.
“Yandel, a letter came from the royal family.”
“Hmm……?”
“What’s it about?”
“The date for the title promotion ceremony has been set.”
Strictly speaking, it’s not just a title promotion ceremony. Not only does it include my promotion to Viscount but also Duke Kealunus’ inauguration as the new Prime Minister, and a succession ceremony to officially recognize the heirs of numerous noble families. They’re all being bundled together like handing out graduation diplomas one after another……
‘It’s not some sort school festival, but they’re cramming all these events into one.’
Though I don’t know the details, this event schedule seems heavily influenced by Astarota, who could be considered the king’s representative. He seems to really dislike troublesome things like this.
“Ohh! So, Bjorn will become a Count!! Count Yandel!! Even the name sounds cool!!”
“…Not a Count, a Viscount.”
“…Huh? What’s a viscount?”
“Hah……”
I didn’t bother explaining the five-rank peerage system to Ainar since she wouldn’t remember it anyway.
“Eh? Bjorn? Where are you going?”
“I’m going to sleep. I’m hungry.”
The ceremony is scheduled for a week from today. Since I had quite a bit of time left, I focused on getting my affairs in order. I met with Shavin Emoor, who handles the Barbarian tribe’s administration, and talked through official matters while assessing her mental state. She seemed to be doing better on the surface. She mentioned she missed Ragna, who could be called her only true friend, but I decided not to reveal Ragna’s current situation to her. Telling her that Ragna is royalty and currently detained in the palace would only cause her more stress.
“These are sweets from a bakery in Karnon. Eat them while you work.”
“Ah… Thank you.”
I concluded my conversation with Shavin by giving her a carefully selected gift. After that, Amelia and I put our heads together to discuss team composition. After all, this war created gaps in our ranks, and we had new recruits to fill those gaps.
“It’s surprising. Who would have thought Arua Raven would leave the military and join us…..”
“Huh? Isn’t it more surprising that Erwen’s uncle joined us?”
“Not really. He’s just an ordinary middle-aged man.”
“……Huh?”
Amelia seemed more concerned about Raven’s re-enlistment(?) than Beleg. Well, given all the talk about prophecies of betrayal and such, that’s understandable.
“At least since we have the same number of people as before, we can operate as two teams.”
“Right. We’ll also need to address the vacant vice-captain position.”
“Vice-captain……”
“Don’t you want to do it? If you took the vice-captain position and led Team 2, it would be reassuring in many ways—.”
“Not possible.”
Ugh, why does she dislike the vice-captain position so much?
‘Raven’s experience and temperament would make her ideal for the position…… But it feels wrong to give that position to someone who just joined……’
This dilemma ran deeper than expected. How should we divide the teams and arrange the personnel? While it might not seem urgent, we needed to solve this issue in advance while we had the time. Looking at the current situation, it probably won’t be long until the labyrinth opens—.
“Chieftain!! A human who wants to meet the chieftain has come to the gates!!”
Just then, one of the tribe’s warriors who served on the wall guard came running and shouted to me.
“Wants to meet me? Who is it?”
I wanted to know the visitor’s identity first. After all, that’s the way of the world, isn’t it? You need to build up a reputation first before you can come visit someone without an appointment and have any chance of meeting them. If this visitor had been some no-name explorer, they would’ve been chased away the moment they arrived at our gate. In other words, whoever has come to see me must have some reputation……
“Illya Adnus! The Guild Master of the Explorers’ Guild!”
…An interesting visitor has come.
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