Chapter 110: The Compass That Bends Distance
The First Growth had begun.
As the notification appeared out of nowhere and Elsa’s body began to glow, Walfred’s eyes went round.
"Wh-What the?"
First Growth, all of a sudden?
Could this be why Elsa had been sleeping longer than usual? Just as that guess crossed his mind, a memory suddenly flashed through his head.
"...Oh."
Back when he’d first set out on this journey with Elsa.
Walfred had asked her a question.
Whether, if she returned to her original form, she could carry him on her back and fly all the way to Key West.
At the time, Elsa had answered that her body was too small right now, but if she ate lots of snow of pure mana and grew, it might become possible.
’Come to think of it, she has been eating quite a lot lately.’
The Frost Crown Stone that had risen up in downtown Philadelphia.
Walfred and Elsa had scarfed down nearly all of the snow of pure mana piled up inside it.
Far more than the snow of pure mana they’d eaten at the summit of the Nest of the Frost Dragon.
If that was the case, then this sudden First Growth made a certain amount of sense. As he quietly nodded to himself, another notification appeared.
-----
[Notice]
[First Growth in progress]
[Target: Resonator (Elsa)]
[Progress: 0.1%]
[Time remaining until completion: 02:59:59]
[Ensure the safety of Resonator (Elsa) until her growth is complete.]
-----
Along with the notification message.
The blue light enveloping Elsa’s body grew more intense than before. Something told him he shouldn’t touch it, so he quietly stepped back.
’Nothing I can do about it.’
He’d just have to wait until her growth finished.
Three hours remaining until completion. As he sat near Elsa, killing time.
Growl!
His stomach let out a loud rumble.
Then again, he hadn’t really eaten anything since before falling asleep last night. So he decided to grab a meal while he waited and accessed the Hunter shop.
And then.
[Shop level has increased.]
[Current level: 2]
A notification greeted him upon logging in, announcing that the shop’s level had gone up. Probably because he’d bought a fairly expensive item last time.
A moment later, Walfred purchased two boxed meals and quickly finished eating. Then he browsed through the shop listings to see what had changed.
==Hunter Shop (Lv.2)==
[Regular Sales]: Available at all times
[Limited Sales]: Limited time only
[Special Sales]: Refresh complete
[Dimensional Exchange]: Opens in 7 days
=============
He soon spotted the difference.
’The Dimensional Exchange.’
The Dimensional Exchange, which had previously been marked as closed, was now listed as opening in one week.
Of course, he had no way of knowing whether this change was due to the shop leveling up or just a coincidence of timing.
’Either way, one week from now, huh?’
He had no idea what it was, but he made a mental note of it.
Walfred then went through the listings one by one, starting with [Regular Sales]. And he noticed something he’d missed earlier when buying the boxed meals.
==[Regular Sales]==
※Purchase limit: 2 per item per day
(Shop level-ups add new items and ease restrictions)
▷[Bottled Water 500ml]: 5 coins
▷[Energy Bar]: 5 coins
▷[Boxed Meal - Hamburger Steak]: 20 coins
▷[Boxed Meal - Chicken Mayo]: 15 coins
▷[Fever Reducer]: 80 coins
▷[Painkiller]: 60 coins
’The purchase limit went up.’
And one more thing.
Basic medications had been added. Mostly the things people needed most in the current situation. They were useless to Walfred, of course, so he didn’t buy any.
The same went for [Limited Sales].
Just as he was about to log out of the shop.
"Oh, right."
He noticed that [Special Sales] had been refreshed.
Now that he thought about it, it was supposed to refresh with a different item once every 24 hours. Curiosity piqued, Walfred tapped on [Special Sales].
===[Special Sales]===
[Time remaining until item refresh: 11 hours]
[Today’s Special Item]
▶ [Returner’s Compass]
[Regular price: 250,000 coins]
=============
A new item soon appeared.
The first thing that caught his eye was the price.
"250,000 coins..."
Walfred let out a hollow laugh.
Now that the first-purchase discount was gone, the price tag on every item after that hit a lot harder.
’Might as well see what it is, though.’
Looking was free, after all.
He tapped on the item.
-----
[Name]: Returner’s Compass
[Rank]: Legend
[Special Skill]: Return
[Designate any coordinates you have previously passed through as a destination and teleport there. However, travel to other dimensional planes is not possible.]
[Press the button on top of the compass and picture the desired coordinates to activate instantly. This applies to all targets within the effective range.]
▷Effective range: 16-foot radius
▷Activation time: 30 seconds
▶Cooldown: 7 days
-----
"...!"
Walfred’s eyes flew wide open.
It was Legend rank, the same as the Void Exile’s Pocket Watch, and its capabilities were incredibly practical.
’A teleportation ability, of all things...’
Even with the restriction of only being able to travel to places he’d already passed through, being able to teleport across long distances was a massive advantage.
He could easily use it to escape in an emergency, like a gate breach.
And the fact that he could bring people nearby along with him, rather than traveling alone, was a huge plus in his book.
’I have to buy this, no question.’
There was no telling when an item like this would show up again. His coins happened to be flush from the Spirit King extermination reward, so he bought it on the spot.
[Purchase complete.]
▶[Returner’s Compass] acquired!
[Remaining coins: 769,802]
The moment the purchase went through.
A pure white light flashed in midair, and a compass appeared on his palm.
It was about the same size as the Void Exile’s Pocket Watch, fitting snugly in his hand. Walfred tucked it safely into the inner pocket of his winter coat.
’If only it didn’t have that penalty, it would’ve been perfect.’
Then he could have teleported straight to Key West instead of slogging his way there. Feeling a twinge of regret, Walfred smiled wryly.
With his shopping done.
Walfred glanced over at Elsa.
’About an hour left.’
He had nothing better to do in the meantime, so he decided to just shovel down some snow. Walfred chewed his way through the clean snow and chunks of ice piled up around him.
And a little while later.
[Skill proficiency has reached maximum.]
[Skill level has increased.]
[Frost Feast: (Lv.3) → (Lv.4)]
A welcome notification appeared.
His unique skill, Frost Feast, had gone up a level. That said, aside from an increase in the experience gained from eating snow or ice, nothing had really changed.
’Still, once it hits Level 5...’
A Special Ability would be unlocked.
Just like Iron Physique, which had unlocked at Level 3. So he decided to look forward to the next skill level-up.
As he kept shoveling down snow.
Whir! Whirrrr!
A sound like helicopter blades suddenly came from somewhere. There was no way it was an actual helicopter, so it had to be the wingbeats of a monster.
Walfred calmly listened.
Then, with his gaze fixed in the direction of the sound, he leaped straight up with all his strength.
Whoosh!
In an instant, Walfred vaulted more than 30 feet into the air.
Beyond the swirling blizzard, he spotted an insect-type monster with an entirely white body. To be precise, a monster shaped like a giant hornet.
Walfred knew exactly what it was.
’Giant Ice Hornets.’
C-rank common monsters.
Carnivorous insect-type monsters a little over 6 feet in size, known for their hard exoskeletons and potent paralytic venom.
He knew them well, having fought them a few times on the way down from Bayway Station to Trenton Station.
’Roughly ten of them, at a glance.’
Not that many.
He’d once seen a swarm of more than thirty. Walfred carefully watched the Giant Ice Hornets’ movements.
And a moment later.
’Are they planning to come this way?’
It certainly looked that way.
The steadily approaching sound of wingbeats was proof enough.
’Can’t let that happen.’
Elsa still needed more time to finish her growth. To shut down the danger before it could start, Walfred readied a skill.
Just as he was about to activate [Icicle Chaser], the skill that automatically pursued enemies.
"Oh."
Walfred abruptly stopped.
Come to think of it, he remembered that he still hadn’t tested [Ice Spear], the skill he’d recently acquired.
’Might as well give it a try.’
Some perfect targets had just shown up, after all.