Chapter 557: Chapter 556: The Value of a Name
Noah stared at the little vampire with a somewhat blank gaze.
Inwardly, he praised Eve’s acting. Her facial expressions and her tone were extremely convincing...
But her timing was terrible.
And more importantly, he could literally feel the amusement radiating from their bond. The devilish vampire seemed to have forgotten that he could do that, or she believed that her "charm" would make him look past it.
Unfortunately, as Noah quickly looked around, he noticed several others slowly glancing toward him after her little act, and he immediately realized they were starting to think the exact same thing.
Even Fenrir looked dangerously close to pretending he suddenly lacked confidence.
"...Absolutely not." Noah’s eyes twitched with a look that screamed, "This is unbelievable."
Meanwhile, several nearby creatures immediately looked away as though they hadn’t just been considering it.
"You’re all becoming shameless."
Eve puffed her cheeks afterward while tightening her grip on Noah’s arm.
"Even if you ask me," Noah continued, already seeing where this was heading, "I’m still going to tell you the same thing."
"All of you improved in your own way."
His gaze swept across everyone gathered around him.
"Did you all forget that you’ll be receiving my blood every day? The changes you went through now will only get better in time."
"You’re all only looking at your abilities from the perspective of what they can do today."
His gaze shifted toward Kratos.
"What happens when you reach the point where you no longer have a delay in switching forms? Have you ever thought about the possibility of merging both forms together?
"And Eve..."
Noah’s gaze towards her was unusual.
Because before this, her original ability was already very similar to his. She could summon the soul trapped within her grimoire to fight for her.
And now, of all the things she could’ve gained, she gained the ability to imprint the souls she has into her summonings temporarily.
They would not only gain part of the soul’s strength, but also all of its abilities.
It felt more than coincidental.
"Although neither of us knows where that grimoire truly came from, the fact that you were able to unlock another one of its functions already says enough."
"If you can uncover all of its secrets, there’s no telling how strong you will become."
Eve’s expression brightened immediately, but Noah wasn’t sure if he was happy about it.
There was a sense of pride in the fact that her abilities resembled his own, but the fact that the grimoire seemed to specialize purely in souls was the issue.
Yet it was also that similarity that was what bothered him.
His ability to manipulate souls stemmed from his Nexus Eye, which was a part of him, but also felt as if it was its own state of being.
And Eve’s came from her grimoire. An object that clearly had its own soul manipulating it.
In both cases, the abilities they came to use from them weren’t abilities that they came up with by themselves, but were abilities bestowed upon them.
In some ways, it was as if Noah’s Nexus Eye and Eve’s Grimiorie had a purpose of their own.
As though they were laying out a path for them to follow, one that they both wouldn’t understand until that plan is already put in motion.
Noah noticed that the small lapse of silence was beginning to make the smiling vampire worry.
Eventually, he shook his head, bringing his hand down atop her head to proceed to stir it up into a mess.
Eve immediately let out an offended noise.
"Hey!"
Noah ignored her; from what he could see, their earlier worries had largely disappeared by now.
Some more than others.
Kratos was perhaps the most obvious example. His thoughts kept returning to Noah’s words. His other form was important to him, but he never considered merging the two.
The direction alone filled him with an eagerness to train immediately.
Others were experiencing similar thoughts, imagining what their changes would lead to and how to use it effectively.
Gwen, however, remained difficult to read.
The newcomer quietly listened without participating. When it came to revealing her skill, she was neither ecstatic nor disappointed.
Which was somewhat surprising considering she had arguably undergone one of the largest changes present.
Her connection to plant life had deepened considerably.
Not only had her ability to manipulate vegetation become stronger, but she could now actively accelerate its growth. A change that would have been enough to excite most creatures.
Yet Gwen took the changes as though they had nothing to do with her.
Noah considered questioning her about it before ultimately deciding against it.
He trusted her enough not to harm anyone within the territory. But trust and belonging weren’t the same thing.
When the humans eventually came. Or if they encountered elves in the future.
The choices she made then would determine where she truly stood.
Only after that would Noah fully consider her one of them.
Instead, his attention shifted toward the wolf who had been staring at him for the past several minutes.
Fenrir immediately looked away as if he was caught doing something he shouldn’t have.
The werebeast may not have felt inferior to the others anymore, but Noah could already tell what was bothering him.
He wanted direction, too. He wanted to know what Noah saw when looking at his future.
Noah released a sigh.
"Fenrir, your changes are more direct than most of the others, even you should see its potential, right?"
The beast became ecstatic when Noah addressed him, but in the end, Fenrir felt as if he had disappointed Noah instead.
Unfortunately, while Fenrir could recognize strength, putting that strength into words was significantly harder.
"Fenrir..." Noah thought for a moment.
It’s not that he didn’t want to help him. He felt it was better if they found their own path. A path they made themselves would often become more meaningful as a result.
But then again, he had already helped the others.
A small smile appeared on Noah’s face.
"When I finish with the others, how about I tell you the story behind your name?"
All of Fenrir’s internal doubts froze.
"...My name?"
Noah nodded. "Maybe that’ll give you inspiration for what you should aim for?"
Fenrir’s disappointment nearly disappeared entirely in that one moment.
The beast’s tail struck the ground once, then twice. The movement was restrained enough that Fenrir probably thought nobody noticed.
Unfortunately for him, everyone noticed. They just didn’t say anything.
Noah himself pretended not to it. Truthfully, he was looking forward to that conversation.
With Fenrir appeased, Noah was about to move on, but then he stopped.
His eyes shifted towards the different stares directed at him.
Eve, Kratos, and Bolas were focusing on him with deep, meaningful gazes.
Bolas and Kratos were at least attempting to be subtle about it.
Eve, however, was unable to resist her own emotions.
The vampire’s mouth was hanging wide open.
The look on her face was so severe that Noah momentarily thought he had somehow said something genuinely horrible.
Noah’s gaze moved between the three of them. Both Bolas and Kratos looked away.
In the end, he noticed that the two continued to glance towards Fenrir and back to him.
Meanwhile, Eve looked personally betrayed. If this kept up, the vampire would throw a tantrum any second.
His thoughts replayed the conversation.
’I only said that I’ll tell Fenrir the origins of his name to help him. Other than Bolas, the others shouldn’t be upset about that.’
He then wondered if it was because he hadn’t explained the origins of their names to them.
The thought was brief before he reconsidered. He didn’t even know what his own name meant, nor did he care.
But it was when he thought about his own name that he froze in place.
’Of course I wouldn’t care... I was named by bastards who mean nothing to... me?’
He looked at Eve’s wounded expression, Kratos’ quiet stare, and Bolas’ increasingly judgmental one.
"Now who’s the foolish one here?" The quiet admonishment escaped him before he could stop it.
Because the moment he viewed it from that perspective, he immediately understood where he went wrong.
They didn’t want to hear the story simply to gain insight into how to become stronger.
The story behind their names mattered because he was the one who gave them.
And learning where those names came from would also mean learning why he chose them in the first place.
The more he thought about it, the worse he felt.
Because when he named them, he never put nearly as much thought into it as they apparently had.
At the time, the names simply felt right.
Yet somewhere along the way, those simple choices had become important to the ones carrying them.
Important enough that Eve was now looking at him as though he had committed an unforgivable betrayal.
"You were only going to tell Fenrir? What about u- what about me?"
Noah stared at her.
Of course, even in a moment like this, Eve still somehow found a way to place herself first.
Strangely enough, that was also what shattered the atmosphere entirely.
The accusatory, judgmental stares shifted into the same disbelieving gazes as they found their way to Eve.
Eve, meanwhile, remained completely oblivious to the damage she had just caused.
The vampire looked between everyone as if she genuinely couldn’t understand why they were staring at her.
"...What?"
