Chapter 159: Necroberries
That evening, exhausted Lucian came back to his dorm room and fell onto his bed...
"Phewww..."
"A one-week holiday... this is great, ahhh." Stretching his arms above his head, he lay there for a bit while letting his thoughts wander freely.
"Today really wore me out. I don’t even feel like moving a single muscle from this soft bed..."
A few seconds passed in silence, then... ding.
[Oh, my sweet boy, you did such a great job today. Don’t you want to check your reward? Also, Aria is alone right now. Don’t you think you should...]
Stop yapping, for fuck sake. Just stay quiet for a bit, will you? You know Aria is fine. I already confirmed it with Halon, so stop reminding me over and over...
System didn’t respond after that. A few minutes passed in complete silence.
He frowned slightly.
"Hey..."
Nothing.
"Hey, hey."
Still nothing.
He let out an exhale and stared at the ceiling.
"To be honest, man... I’m really tired of all this."
then suddenly he sat upright.
Alright, let’s see it then. System, show me the rewards..."
FP: 24000 → 49000
CB: 62000 → 65000
Mana: 6500
Silver Skill Stone: 3
Golden Skill Stone: 1
Dark Skill Stone: 1
Looking at his mana count, Lucian fell into deep thought...
"What? Only 6500 mana? At this rate, I will never be able to cross my current mana stage... I need something that lets me—"
Just then, something clicked in his mind.
"Oh right... shit, how did I forget about that..."
Bringing both hands to his head, he remembered the spirit core seed he had left with Aria so it could become more imbued with her pure mana. He quickly reached out to Holon through telepathy.
"Holon."
Zzzhzzz...
"HOLON..."
"Y-Yes, Master."
"Is Aria awake or asleep? And she is feeling okay, right?"
Holon had been sleeping peacefully in Aria’s embrace until Lucian’s yelling completely ruined his sleep...
"Yawnnn..."
"Master, she is sleeping... and she’s feeling fine too," he said while scratching his butt lazily.
Something else?
"Mmm yeah one thing... before going to sleep, Mistress was feeling hungry. So she went to the nearby ship and ate some berries from the treasure box there... after that, she fell asleep..."
Hearing this, Lucian’s chest suddenly went cold.
"What do you mean she ate the berries..."
"Huh... Master, you heard right—"
"You idiot, couldn’t you stop her..."
"What’s wrong with eating some berries? Why are you yelling at me..."
"Ughh..."
The very next second, Lucian opened the portal and arrived at the cove.
Seeing Lucian’s dead serious face, Holon’s fast-paced mind immediately went into apologetic mode.
"Ayo, Master! Sorry, sorry, sorry!"
Completely ignoring Holon, Lucian went straight to Aria’s bed and knelt down beside her. He didn’t care that it was already night or that the cold water was up to his boots and ankles, seeping through.
His eyes were fixed solely on Aria. He noticed her chest heaving gently with her soft breathing... still, just to be absolutely sure, he brought his finger near her nose to check her breath.
"Phewww..."
He finally breathed a deep sigh of relief... Seeing that she was fine, he sat right down in the lake water, folding one of his knees...
Hovering nearby, Holon gulped and approached him nervously, like a frightened bee...
Rubbing the back of his black-horned head, he sheepishly tried to speak.
"U-Umm... Master... are... are you okay? W-Well... I forgot to tell you, so you aren’t mad, right..."
Lucian’s face was already shadowed in the dark of the night, but now—now to Holon, he felt like the shadow of death itself.
Gathering his courage, Holon came a little closer.
"M-Master... listen... t-to tell you the truth? I... I was sleeping at that time, boss. I didn’t even realize when Mistress ate them, I swear I’m not lying—"
In a flash, Lucian grabbed the tiny demon tightly in his fist. Holon was completely squeezed in his hand. Then, bringing him close to his face, Lucian closed his eyes and gave a manic grin.
"Holon, my dear.... Don’t you think you’ve gotten too lazy from sleeping so much..." That smile... grew even wider.
"Looks like I’ll have to find a cure for this..."
Trying to pry open Lucian’s grip with both of his tiny hands, Holon shook his head violently and blabbered,
"FORGIVE ME, BOSS! PLEASE! I SWEAR I WILL NEVER SLEEP AGAIN! I PROMISE!"
Lucian’s grip tightened a little...
"UWHAAA.... Master, it hurts! I gave you my word! Are you going to take a kid’s life? Listen, if I die, Mistress will get very angry! She loves me more than her own life now... she’ll definitely leave you—"
SQUEEEZE
"EEEEHHHHAAAAA—!"
Even a five-year-old kid doesn’t do this much drama... and couldn’t he find a stronger point to blackmail me with? I wasn’t even holding him that tightly anyway...
After a short while, Lucian let go of his grip... Holon sat down on the bedpost, hiccuping.
"Hic... M-Master... you are... hic... so mean... hic..."
Lucian, however, was busy looking at Aria’s face and scanning her body, as if he was searching for something...
I told Aria to keep that seed close to her body where it could get heat, without telling anyone, not even Elira and Sera. The System said the seed needs heat and mana to grow, and Aria is the best candidate for that. With her Flow stage, saint-like mana, the seed could grow in an incredibly omnipotent way... but where did she actually keep it?
Tapping his chin, Lucian tried to guess... first, his eyes went to her neckline. There was no locket there. Then, he checked her patient-like clothes for pockets? But there were no pockets on them either... finally, Lucian’s gaze returned to her peacefully sleeping face.
Aria curled onto her side in her sleep, causing her scattered hair to fall in front of her face and making her cleavage even more visible...
Lucian’s gaze fell on the line of her fluffy buns.
A warm part of the body, huh... there’s a chance she could have hidden it there...
Just then, holding his swollen belly, Holon pointed toward the wrecked ship...
"Master... why don’t you check those berries first? You can stare at Mistress later, like some cree—"
With a completely detached expression, Lucian slowly turned his head.
Holon’s breath hitched.
"I-I mean..." sweatdropping, he gestured vaguely. "T-Those berries... are really tasty! Hehe... y-you should try them too..."
A short while later, both Lucian and Holon were on that wrecked ship. The ship was entirely covered in dust and moss; only a half-open wooden treasure box was clean.
They both went near the box and leaned over it... and Lucian opened the box fully.
Small, dark purple berries that were completely shriveled up... the entire box was filled to the brim with them...
Sitting on his shoulder, Holon pointed.
"Master, these are the berries. Mistress ate these..."
"Yeah, don’t yell in my ear... I can see it."
"System, analyze."
Ding
Necroberry
Rarity: S-Rank
Quantity in Box: ~3,547 berries
Mana per Berry: ~2,000 Mana Points
Effect:
Consuming provides instant mana absorption
Side Effect: Body heaviness increases proportionally to consumption
Excessive intake may induce deep sleep (12-48 hours)
WARNING: If mana is NOT cultivated immediately after consumption, heaviness may persist for 3-7 days
SPECIAL CONDITION:
If user successfully cultivates mana post-consumption → Potential to fully expand mana capacity OR achieve Mana Stage Breakthrough
Requires body constitution compatibility check
Seeing all this, Lucian’s eyes went wide.
"Holy cow... I hit the lottery today..."
The fact that he found this while a fate correction mission was ongoing made him extra happy...
Just then, the System ruined his joy.
"Let me spell it out for your pea-sized brain:
Total Mana if ALL consumed: ~7,094,000 Mana
Your current mana capacity: 50000
Survival Rate if consumed recklessly: 0.03%"
"Damn, with this many berries, I only need to focus on combat power and physical strength now. The stress of gaining mana is over... Now I can use overdrive and zero domain whenever and as many times as I want..." he sneered maniacally.
Seeing all his devilish expressions, Holon grimaced in disgust...
Without wasting a single moment, Lucian first counted out 17 berries, put them in his pocket, and then safely sent the box to his dorm room through a portal.
Then he sat right there on the ship, holding the berries in his hand like candy, and stared at them for a while...
Holon tried reading his master’s face for a bit... it was completely neutral...
"Umm, what’s wrong, Master? Aren’t you going to eat..."
Turning his head, he looked into Holon’s innocent eyes.
He knew that if he failed in cultivation, he would have to face a heavy side effect. The drowsiness was already weighing heavily on him; he had barely been keeping himself awake for the past few weeks, and dark circles were already forming under his eyes... but if he wanted to get strong, the easiest path was right in front of him. He just had to take the risk, and after thinking for a while he was ready for it...
Finally, he murmured.
"Nothing... Let’s do it."
And he tossed all the berries into his mouth at once.
