Chapter 69: Snow Ball (2)
Carla, nestled within my embrace, was snoring gently in her sleep.
It would be alright to sleep a little more like this… but there was something I wanted to confirm before that.
‘Status Window.’
Ding.
[Archbishop Defeated!]
You have defeated the Church of Tainted Unity's Archbishop, Edmerek!
An incredible accomplishment to have succeeded during the first dungeon practice, it's unbelievable!
You are the pride of the academy, a noble of all the righteous religious orders!
But don’t get too excited.
Your fame will reach the ears of other sinister religious cults.
Also, the reward for altering your original fate, whether good or bad, will be substantial.
Ah, but the Church of Righteous Radiance is very pleased that you have once again slain the cultist with your own hands.
All statuses will grow.
Trait: Sun God's Blessing(C) grows by one rank. Your favorability with the Church of Righteous Radiance rises a level.
Increase in favorability with the academy and the righteous religious order.
The murky amalgamation curses you and raises your merit level.
Rise in vigilance against other evil religious cults.
“Huh.”
I didn’t realize defeating Edmerek at this point would be such a tremendous event.
I somewhat anticipated the growth of the Sun God’s Blessing, but the growth in all statuses was unexpected.
Since the maximum stat was 30, the system was quite stingy about stat growth.
Of course, growth did not necessarily imply an increase in the number… but the growth points accumulated in all stats.
Lastly, I saw contentment with Pietro.
The contents about me killing someone who wasn’t supposed to die here and the murky amalgamation of seeing me as an enemy seem to be intended to intimidate me.
But generally speaking, things were definitely moving in a good direction, and it wasn’t new that the murky amalgamation wanted me dead, so there was no need to worry much.
I just kept it in mind and moved to the next alert.
[You’ve taken down a high ranking cultist!]
Achievement: You have earned the new Talent "Aversion to Cultists"
Trait: Aversion to Cultists (D)
You have destroyed several of the cultists’ plans and even exterminated high-ranking officers.
To anyone, you’re an evident cultist hater!
Of course, the cultists will detest you too.
All damage inflicted on cultists increased by 5%.
All damage received from cultists increased by 3%.
※This trait can be deactivated.
Aversion to Cultists, huh?
It was a trait acquired with a certain probability when killing Archbishop-level cultists… and I was lucky to have gotten it in one go.
This trait would grow a bit whenever you kill more cultists or their officers and ultimately reach Grade A.
It had penalties and didn’t apply to monsters like the Shining Lion Dagger, so it wasn’t a trait to be used thoughtlessly…
But, having one wasn’t bad.
Activation or deactivation was also possible.
For now, I set it to deactivated and checked the last alert.
[Sun God’s Blessing (B)]
The brightest entity in the sky, the owner of the sun, shares its radiance with you.
While under sunlight, the speed of health and mana recovery increases by 250%
Light attribute damage increases by 15%
Increases favorability with the Church of Righteous Radiance.
Ah, this was the notification of the Sun God’s Blessing level up that I saw before.
It was surprising that it already reached rank B, but since I already knew its content and the effects only improved, I skimmed through it and moved on.
Now, closing this notification would bring up the status window.
This was the most nerve-wracking moment, actually.
Wasn’t a trait mentioned as a dungeon clear reward?
The practice dungeon was systemically impossible to clear in H&A.
A reward for clearing such a practice dungeon? And it was a trait?
Of course, I knew I shouldn’t expect too much from the reward of a lower-grade dungeon…
But curiosity was inevitable.
With my heart fluttering, I closed the last notification.
Finally, the status window came into view.
Name: Yandel
Title: Average Treasure Hunter
Basic Abilities
Strength: 12
Endurance: 11 -> 12
Agility: 13
Talent: 14 -> 15
Mana: 18 -> 19
Traits
Endless Mana(A)
Elemental Affinity(B)
Exceptional Memory(B)
Ordinary Weapon Skill(D) NEW!
Lintblum Mana Core(C)
Junior Mage(C)
Sun God’s Blessing(B)
Aversion to Cultists(D) NEW!
Weak Constitution(C) NEW!
The stats were beginning to increase gradually.
The lowest stats, endurance, and talent, which had some growth points left from the last ranking battle, had increased. And so did mana, which I had been intensely training.
Well, the higher the stats were, the harder they were to increase.
Having increased the mana stat, which was at a mediocre mage level, to 18 purely through training and achievements felt quite rewarding…
But what was more concerning was, of course, the trait window.
“Weapon skill here?”
I really didn’t expect this to increase.
A shoddy weapon skill trait, acquired from brawling with local thugs and mercenaries who tried to backstab me for three years.
But, after learning magic, there hadn’t been much use for it other than improving physical agility.
…Wait, didn’t I brawl quite a lot?
During the duel, I slashed and bashed with my dagger and staff, and I even finished off Edmerek with a dagger.
My magic skills were rapidly growing, but they were still not at a level where I could solve everything with magic alone.
It wasn’t an attack that mages would normally do, but thanks to it, I survived, so it was hard to complain.
Anyway, the weapon skill trait was of such a low rank that it wasn’t surprising that it increased.
I lowered my gaze from the weapon skill that caught my attention out of nowhere and checked the long-awaited clear reward trait.
[Weak Constitution (C)]
Your body responds better to medicines.
Of course, it only amplifies the good ones, so rest assured!
The effect of healing substances, potions, and elixirs is increased by 10%.
Circulating Life takes an interest in you.
The text had simple content.
Thanks to this, I could understand the trait at a glance, even though it was my first time seeing it.
From the name ‘Constitution,’ it seemed to be a complete trait, not a growing one… But still, the effects were not disappointing at all.
Were all the effects of the medicine increased by 10%?
It might seem trivial, but as time went on, that percentage would become substantial.
The difference between a recovery of 100 to 110 and 10,000 to 11,000 was definitely not trivial.
And it even applied to elixirs.
It was perfect timing since I planned to make elixirs with the Lintblum Mana Core, the hidden piece from the practice dungeon.
If the Church of Righteous Radiance worshipped the God of War, the specialty of the Circulating Life would be healing.
I knew that such non-combatant Gods usually had fewer sealed dungeons but offered more generous rewards in terms of equivalent traits or items.
Not many traits were this useful.
No, was such a sweet trait hidden in a practice dungeon?
Of course, considering how much the practice dungeon helped the academy students so far, I couldn’t just be happy…
But it was okay.
In the end, I just had to defeat all the evil Gods.
“……”
My thoughts drifted to that point, and my heart inadvertently became heavy.
I’ve distracted myself from this burden by reassuring myself with the endings I’ve seen in the game countless times.
In fact, the threats I faced during the three years before entering the academy could be overcome with my knowledge of strategy and the power of money.
But that was it.
Local thugs, Godless mercenaries, greedy nobles, and the cultists were qualitatively different opponents.
The resentment towards this world that I thought I had shaken off, the raw violence, and the fear it brought, the world was starting to deviate from the scenario I knew.
Anxiety swiftly corroded my heart.
This was me.
Me, without the shell called the player, without hiding behind the vanity of being a veteran.
This me who had to defeat not only the evil Gods who once destroyed the world but also their root cause.
It wouldn’t be easy.
But it wasn’t entirely impossible.
After all, it was a fact that I had the system and the knowledge of H&A strategies.
My resolve was reaffirmed for a moment.
Without realizing it, strength filled my arm. The presence of Carla in my arms became more distinct.
The soft yet warm sensation, the breath tickling my nape, and the refreshing body scent.
“Ah.”
The anxiety that had tensed my body seemed to wash away.
The only person in this world who I could completely trust, the woman I’d grown attached to.
Carla had grown so much within me, to the point where just holding her could dispel all kinds of anxieties.
In fact, didn’t I instinctively think of Carla the moment I defeated Edmerek and thought everything was over?
Realizing this, Carla started to appear even more adorable.
Unconsciously, I leaned in toward her slightly parted pink lips.
Our lips met, and our breaths mingled.
It was a deep kiss, not light, even without involving the tongue.
Naturally, Carla, who had just fallen asleep, opened her eyes.
“Um… Master? Did I fall asleep?”
“You did doze off for a bit. Are you very tired?”
“No. I just felt so comfortable being held by Master that I fell asleep without realizing it… Hehe.”
Carla smiled, a bit embarrassed.
At her appearance, something strongly stirred within me.
“Carla.”
“Yes?”
“Should we have a go here after all?”
“…You were the one who said we shouldn’t because we’d get caught.”
That was true.
Did I unwittingly make a sullen face? Carla contemplated for a moment, then blushed and pulled up the blanket.
Then, covering her mouth with the blanket, she whispered softly.
“But perhaps it would be alright… if it’s just touching under the blanket?”
“Oh.”
That was an extremely logical and enchanting compromise.
——————
The next morning.
When I came to my senses, Iona was in front of me.
“Hello! Hello! Did you have fun last night?”
“???”
Why was the Professor lying in the same bed as me?
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