Chapter 157: Goodies from the Fruitful Encounter
Kai arrived at Noxian’s.
He came with wide strides and a huge smile on his face, lifting up the bag of seeds like it was a trophy that he was boasting. A promise is a promise. And the feeling of fulfilling his promise is something that he takes pleasure in.
"Got you the seeds!" He said with a beaming face.
Noxian answered with only a glance, and then looked away again.
It was a colder response.
But Kai wasn’t troubled by it at all—he knew that Noxian was simply acting like that because he was happy that his domain would have some color. He went instantly to the farming area, eager to plant the seeds.
As he squatted down, he paused, "I should till the soil first, right?"
Kai was no farmer.
He knew as much about farming as a student living in a metropolitan city would, which was basically nothing. But he at least knew that farmers till the land before planting. Even though he didn’t know how, it didn’t matter.
No need to know everything when he has someone who knew.
"Noxian, I’m calling the Stone Ending, alright?" Kai waved his hand, asking permission.
Since Noxian said nothing, he assumed that it was a green light.
Kai summoned Perion; a big golem manifested right beside him, and he seemed to be curious and interested in what Kai was doing right now. "Perion, can you till the soil? I want to plant these seeds."
Naturally, as someone who was one with nature, Perion knew what Kai wanted.
He pressed a finger into the soil and then channeled energy into it.
Before Kai’s very eyes, he watched as Perion churned and twisted, aerating at a rapid pace.
Once he was done, Kai plunged his hand into the pouch and scattered the seeds with a broad, satisfied grin. He was happy to be doing this. But then Perion slapped his arm gently. "Ouch..." Kai turned to him in protest. "What was that for?"
Instead of answering, Perion grabbed a few seeds from the pouch with energy.
And then he planted them one by one, making sure there was distance between each one.
"Oh..." Kai scratched the back of his head. "I need to give distance between each one, right... My mistake."
Noxian chuckled lightly in the distance.
He was facing away, hoping that Kai wouldn’t hear, but he did.
"I heard that! Instead of sitting around like an old man, why don’t you give me a hand?"
"Why do I need to help when there’s no guarantee the seeds would grow?"
"Just you watch!"
Kai cursed under his breath, annoyed that Noxian was doubting him when he’s the First Son of the Primordial Night. And after the recent meeting with the Goddess, he was fairly certain he had her favour as well.
As long as he used the night, he should be able to make the seeds grow.
Out of spite, Kai called the night.
As it always did, a tendril of pure darkness descended from the sky like a black snake, coiling at Kai’s silent command. It plunged into the soil—and seeped into the seeds, charging them. His mind held steady, fixed on a single purpose—and that was to make them grow.
But nothing happened.
He watched the dark tendril slip into the soil. Felt it coil around the seeds—like a whisper of promise. And then, nothing. No response. No growth. His face flushed hot, beet-red from the embarrassment as if he was steel plunged into a forge.
Just earlier, he had been utterly confident in his abilities.
If he failed, then he would die from embarrassment.
Not to mention, Noxian was now looking at him attentively. Watching his every move.
And without even being able to see it, Kai could tell the playful grin behind his mask.
"Come on, can you please grow?" Kai begged, but there was no use for it.
He looked at Perion, hoping that there was some kind of solution to this, but there was none.
"Everything going good?" Noxian asked.
Kai was startled; the voice came from directly beside him. And when he turned a little, he saw that Noxian was already standing beside him, hands clasped behind his back like an old man with a back problem while inspecting his farm. "Going good? No, it’s going great!"
"Then why can’t I see the sprouts?"
"Well... the thing is, I was really exhausted. I met with the second daughter earlier, so I’m still rather weak from enduring her presence."
"I see..."
Noxian nodded his head as if he understood Kai’s condition.
But it was clear from his sarcastic tone alone that he knew that the seeds simply didn’t grow.
"I’ll grow them next time I visit," Kai patted Noxian’s arm, and then quickly scurried away.
If he stayed a second longer, his head would’ve exploded from the blood that was rushing to his face. Kai rounded the house, slipped out of Noxian’s sight, and slumped against the wall with his back pressed to the cool wood.
Frankly, he had imagined far differently than what had happened.
He thought he would impress Noxian, but he became a clown instead.
Even though that was the case, Kai didn’t come to Noxian’s domain simply to do that. He was also going to inspect his haul from meeting with Mallory. From his pocket, he pulled out two magical things.
One is the cluster of Dark-Eyed Grapes, and the other is a small vial made of the night.
Just earlier, when he’d bent to wash his face with the river water inside the cave, he also made sure to slurp a bit and keep it inside his mouth. Once he was clear from Mallory, he spat the stolen water into the black vial and sealed it tight.
Since he wasn’t trying to be obvious, he didn’t get too much.
Enough to fill the small black vial.
He didn’t know what it was for, but since it emanated intense energy, he decided to take it.
[Crystal Water of the Glinting Cave: Drink the water in order to obtain the Glinting Blessing, which would allow your physique to be enhanced proportionate to your mana stat. Anything excess would recover mana and give healing properties.]
"Wait a minute, that’s perfect for me..." Kai’s eyes sparkled when he read the description of the water inside the black vial. He was expecting it to be wondrous, but this was outright the most suitable thing for him. "Proportionate to my mana stat? I have close to four hundred."
Initially, he thought he was stupid to sneak in a pitiful amount of water from the cave.
Up until a few seconds earlier, he thought it was a stupid idea.
But now, after reading the description, Kai couldn’t help but give himself a pat on his back.
"I hope this amount of water is enough to trigger the Glinting Blessing," Kai thought aloud— and then stared at the black vial in contemplation. "Should I drink it now or later after I reach grade three Awakened Supernal?"
After a brief hesitation, Kai decided that he would drink it now.
It would take a long time for him to reach grade three Awakened Supernal rank.
Resources for Angels are scarce, and it was even scarcer for a Lesser Angel.
For him to reach grade three Awakened Supernal rank, he would need mana ores, which were not accessible to him. Another alternative to that would be the Null Crystal. It contained more mana than normal mana ores, so it would take less if he relied on that.
But to do that, he would need Null Gems, which can only be obtained through Star Beasts.
Either way, reaching grade three Awakened Supernal rank isn’t feasible in the near future.
Not to mention, he was also going to hunt after he finished what he was doing here.
So, there’s no reason for him to save this magical water.
Besides, depending on how strong this Crystal Water of the Glinting Cave is, he might even dare attempt to take down the Star Beasts in the Fire Swamp instead of hunting for weak Awakened Monsters, which would save him time.
Of course, it’s unlikely that he would be able to hunt them down rapidly.
Even Chester wasn’t able to kill one.
But he could at least kill one and get used to the Star Beast in that cultivated cloud.
"Here goes nothing."
Kai opened the lid and chugged the entire contents in one go.
It had grown warm from sitting in his mouth, but Kai didn’t care about the temperature or the taste. Neither mattered. What truly mattered was whether this amount was enough to trigger the blessing or if he would need to make a second trip to that cave.
For a few seconds, there was nothing.
Then, he could feel a cool sensation spreading inside his chest.
Kai felt his Primordial Locks stir in response to the cold sensation, hungry—and reactive. He clamped down on both of them immediately, unwilling to let them devour the blessing. And moments later, before he knew it, he found his entire body sparkling faintly; the blessing had settled into his body.
On the side, Perion poked his head from the corner to check on Kai.
He seemed to also feel the blessing that Kai’s body was emanating right now.
A deep, cold bite into every part of his body before dissipating completely.
Kai blinked his eyes and quickly went to check his physical stats.
...
[Physical Stats]
Strength: 30 → 60 (+25)
Speed: 31 → 64 (+50)
Dexterity: 45 → 101
Constitution: 39 → 70
Mana: 399 (+15)
...
"I was expecting more..."
Kai scanned the changes and exhaled slowly. He had hoped. No, expected that all his physical stats would break into triple digits. Only dexterity had made the leap. Still, any progress was progress.
He shook his head, pushing the negativity aside before it could take root.
His physical stats were basically doubled, and he should be happy for that increase.
At least this meant the time to gather the usable exp would be cut in half.
Back during the incident in the hive, Kai had helped take down the Star Beast with his abilities alone. Most of the weightlifting was done by Matilda and Chester, who both had about equal physical stats.
If Kai went against the Star Beast head-on, he would probably get hurt quickly.
He simply couldn’t keep up.
However, now that his physical stats were doubled, he reckoned he could at least keep up.
Coupled with his absurd mana stat, it would be a stretch to assume that he’d be the one doing the weightlifting. So, he was quite happy with the progress. But fortunately, he still has one more thing to check.
"Let’s see what the grapes were for," Kai read the description, and his eyes flickered. "Oh...?"
