Chapter 148: All Duds This Time
Dawn the next day.
Walfred opened his eyes in the temporary quarters Coral Cave Shelter had arranged for him. But there was no trace of the refreshed look of a good night’s sleep on his face.
He’d tossed and turned dozens of times.
He had, quite literally, barely slept a wink.
"Haah."
Every time he closed his eyes, all he could think about was Jenna.
His worry ran too deep to let him sleep.
If it were up to his heart, he would have bolted out of the shelter and headed straight for South Key West that very moment.
But it was impossible.
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[Title]: South Key West Nighttime Curfew Order
[Author]: Aqua
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A post that had gone up on the community yesterday.
According to the warning written personally by S-rank Hunter Elma, at around 5:50 PM, the Leviathan had stopped moving in the waters south of South Key West.
And Gordon, the leader of Coral Cave Shelter, had said that anyone traveling at a time like that would almost certainly end up perceiving the Leviathan’s presence.
’If I rushed out and moved carelessly in this situation...’
The same thing as yesterday might happen all over again.
The Leviathan was a colossal beast that filled the entire horizon and sky. Traveling without laying eyes on its presence was practically impossible.
And there was one more thing.
’...Elsa might not be able to take it.’
Elsa had already fainted from sheer terror once.
What would happen if she perceived the Leviathan’s presence a second time? With that anxiety weighing on him as well, all he could do now was hope.
That the Leviathan would start moving again.
And then vanish from sight completely.
"Whew."
Letting out another sigh.
Walfred did his best to calm his stifled, restless heart. Then he suddenly remembered the spoils he’d collected after exterminating the Kraken yesterday.
’Right. Might as well look those over instead.’
That should settle his nerves a bit.
Walfred took out the spoils and examined them.
The skill book first.
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[Passive: Frozen Mastery (Lv.1)]
[Improves frost-attribute skills.]
[Reduces the mana cost of all acquired frost-attribute skills, amplifies their effects, and reduces their cooldowns by a set amount.]
▷Mana cost: -20% (40%)
▷Skill amplification: +10% (20%)
▶Cooldown reduction: -20%
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The skill he’d acquired this time was a passive.
Its effect was an all-around improvement to frost-attribute skills. Since most of the skills he’d picked up so far were frost-attribute, it was remarkably efficient.
’Next up...’
A blue heart slightly larger than his fist.
The Kraken’s heart.
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[Name]: Kraken’s Heart
[Rank]: Rare
[The heart of a frozen-sea creature brimming with vitality.]
[When consumed, neutralizes poisons of the frozen sea, the open sea, and the deep sea. However, if the poison in question is A-rank or higher, the neutralizing effect is greatly reduced.]
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After reading through the detailed effects.
Disappointment flickered in his eyes.
He’d assumed it was the kind of item that boosted physical abilities, like the Young Dragon’s Heart he’d eaten before.
’Who knew it was just an antidote.’
Still, a use for it might come up someday, so he decided to hold onto it for now.
And the last spoil to examine was a pure white rod about a foot long.
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[Name]: Legion Commander’s Baton
[Rank]: Unique
[Special Skill]: Grand Legion
[The baton wielded by the commander of a legion.]
[When the number of servants, summons, or creations under the wielder’s command each exceeds a certain threshold, the Grand Legion buff activates, providing various effects.]
▷[Centurion’s Spirit]: 100 or more subordinates
[All physical abilities: +50%]
▷[Vanguard’s March]: 500 or more subordinates
[All action speed: +100%]
▷[Footsteps of a Thousand]: 1,000 or more subordinates
[All skill effects: +200%]
▶Mana cost: 100 per second
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The kind of item that granted a wider array of buffs the more summons you had.
But it was useless to Walfred.
He didn’t have a single servant, summon, or creation to his name.
"...So it’s all duds this time?"
Well, that’s how it goes sometimes.
Walfred shrugged. Even so, he couldn’t help feeling a little let down.
’It’d be nice if there were somewhere to offload useless stuff like this...’
An auction house, for instance.
Then something suddenly came to mind.
"Ah."
Could he maybe sell off spoils at the Hunter shop? Struck by the thought, Walfred immediately accessed the Hunter shop.
But selling spoils turned out to be impossible in Regular Sales and Limited Sales, and even in Special Sales. Just as he was feeling more than a little disappointed.
"What’s this..."
Something caught his eye.
The Dimensional Exchange.
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▶[Dimensional Exchange]: Opens in 4 days
[Something you don’t need may be exactly what someone in another dimension is looking for.]
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’Someone in another dimension?’
Did that mean, quite literally, that he could trade with beings from other dimensional planes?
Walfred’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.
For now, though, there was no way to know exactly what the Dimensional Exchange was. So, just as he was debating whether to log into the community and ask.
Squirm!
He felt something wriggling against his chest.
Coming back to his senses, Walfred looked down, and a familiar voice soon followed.
"Mmm, Daddy..."
It was Elsa’s voice.
A moment later, now fully awake, Elsa rubbed her eyes with her small hands and looked around.
"Yaaawn, where are we?"
"Key West. More importantly, how are you feeling?"
"Great! I slept a ton, so I feel all better!"
Elsa beamed.
Thankfully, she was back to her usual energetic self. Breathing a sigh of relief, Walfred looked at her and brought up what had happened yesterday.
"By the way, Elsa."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Yesterday, when you saw the Leviathan. Why were you so scared?"
Her terror at the time had been serious.
Serious enough that she’d trembled all over, saying it felt like the Leviathan was going to devour her, and then fainted on the spot.
Walfred had been swallowed by fear as well, but not to that degree. So he asked carefully, only to get an unexpected answer.
"What’s a Leviathan?"
Elsa asked back, looking utterly baffled.
At that, Walfred caught himself.
’Ah, right...’
Hadn’t they said the name Leviathan was just an alias the Hunters on the international channel had come up with?
Realizing his slip a beat too late.
He corrected himself.
"The giant monster we saw yesterday."
"Yesterday? Mmm, I fell asleep the second we got here yesterday, so I don’t remember."
Elsa shook her head.
She reacted as if she knew nothing at all. For a moment, Walfred was at a complete loss for words.
’She doesn’t remember yesterday?’
After being that terrified?
It wasn’t the kind of thing you could forget just by sleeping it off.
’Don’t tell me...’
Had her memory been distorted?
Or maybe the shock of that extreme terror had erased the memory itself.
He tried a few more questions after that.
"Mmm, I dunno."
But Elsa didn’t seem to remember anything about what had happened at the shore yesterday. In the end, Walfred decided to stop asking.
’Right. It’s probably better she doesn’t know.’
There was no need to dredge that terror back up.
His mind made up, Walfred stroked Elsa’s hair. Elsa giggled happily, then suddenly turned to him as if something had just occurred to her.
"Oh, right. Daddy."
"Hm?"
"What are we gonna do now?"
Now that they’d reached their destination, Key West, she wanted to know what came next. Meeting those eyes brimming with curiosity, Walfred answered without hesitation.
"We’re going to go find Daddy’s family."
"Family?"
"Yeah. To you, she’d be your big sister, I suppose."
To him, Jenna was more than a niece. She was as good as his own daughter. After all, he’d taken her in when she was little and raised her for nearly ten years.
And since Elsa called him Daddy and clung to him too, it wasn’t wrong to put it that way.
Besides, except for the color of her hair and eyes, Elsa looked exactly like Jenna had as a child, which made him feel that way all the more.
"Wow, a big sister?!"
The moment Walfred’s answer ended.
Elsa’s eyes sparkled like stars.
"Hehe, I wanna meet her soon!"
That makes two of us.
Walfred answered as he stroked Elsa’s hair. With their conversation finished, he logged into the community out of habit.