Chapter 164: New Special Ability
Her uncle had come here.
At the news, Jenna’s mind went completely blank for a moment. When she finally managed to collect herself, she asked again in a trembling voice.
"M-my uncle came?"
Here? Really?
At Jenna’s repeated question, Alice nodded in confirmation.
"Yeah. I was shocked too."
"B-but my uncle..."
He should be in New York.
How did he get all the way to Key West?
And with blizzards raging every single day, and monsters crawling everywhere?
"Is there any chance you saw wrong..."
"No way."
Alice shook her head.
"He knew who I was, too. Well, okay, he didn’t recognize me right away, but still."
"...!"
Jenna’s eyes went round.
If he could recognize Alice, it had to be her uncle. As the two talked, Aria, who had been watching their conversation, added a word of her own.
"Hunter Walfred worked incredibly hard to save you, Jenna."
"...What?"
Jenna’s eyes widened again.
"My uncle is, a hunter...?"
"Yes. He’s the savior of our shelter."
Aria beamed.
A hunter that even a B-rank hunter would call a savior. Jenna wore a dumbfounded expression, unsure whether this was a dream or reality.
And in that moment.
A memory suddenly surfaced.
[Have you confirmed Walfred’s location?]
The words she had happened to overhear from Elma in front of the Coral World Shelter’s conference room. Could the Walfred she’d heard about back then really have been her uncle?
Judging by Aria’s reaction, it seemed very likely. At the truth she had realized far too late, astonishment and disbelief crossed Jenna’s face.
But only for a moment.
’My uncle came to see me!’
Walfred was here.
That fact alone set Jenna’s heart pounding wildly in her chest.
’Then the one who saved me must have been...’
Her uncle. It had to be.
After all, in the dream she’d had through her unique skill, [Future Sight], the one who saved her had been Walfred.
The moment she realized this.
Her chest swelled with emotion, and it felt like tears might come pouring out at any second.
’...I want to see him.’
Right now, this very moment.
Jenna wiped away the tears welling in her eyes, then turned to Aria and asked.
"Where is my uncle right now?"
He was probably somewhere in Coral Cave.
Jenna was about to ask to be taken to wherever her uncle was. But Aria’s reaction was somehow a little strange.
"Ahem! Well, you see..."
"Um, how do I put this..."
And it wasn’t just her.
Alice wore an odd expression too. The two of them just exchanged glances, unable to bring themselves to answer.
What? Why are they acting like that all of a sudden?
’Don’t tell me...!’
Had something happened to her uncle?
Had he been badly hurt trying to save her, or had something gone wrong? The moment an ominous scenario flashed through her mind and her face began to stiffen.
Ding!
[Skill activating.]
[Passive: Eye of the Daydream]
A system message appearing out of nowhere.
The instant the notification that her passive skill had activated finished, Jenna’s eyes flew wide open.
"...!"
She couldn’t help it.
The scenery of reality blurred, and an incredibly vivid vision was projected before her eyes.
The sight of Walfred, riding on the back of an enormous dragon, landing near the Coral Cave Shelter. With that final image, the lifelike vision vanished like a mirage.
’What was that, just now...’
It hadn’t looked like a hallucination.
So Jenna pulled up the effects of her passive skill, [Eye of the Daydream], once more.
-----
[Passive: Eye of the Daydream (Lv.1)]
[Grants a low chance to glimpse the near future even while awake.]
▷Activation chance: 3%
▷Activation interval: 1 hour
-----
A skill that let her glimpse the near future.
Which meant the vision she had just seen was a future that would arrive very soon. Jenna shivered, then quickly turned to Alice.
"...Alice."
"Huh?"
"Which way is the shelter entrance?"
"The entrance? It’s that way..."
The instant the answer left Alice’s mouth.
Jenna sprang to her feet and dashed straight toward the entrance. Her sudden movement startled both Alice and Aria.
"Hey! You can’t be up and moving already!"
"She’s right. You’ve only just woken up, you really should rest a bit more...!"
The two tried to stop her, but Jenna didn’t slow down. Instead, she gave voice to the reason she was heading for the shelter entrance.
"My uncle’s about to arrive."
"What? Y-your uncle?"
"Yeah. So I have to go out and meet him."
Her uncle had come all the way to Key West for her.
So now it was Jenna’s turn to go out and welcome him. More than anything, she wanted to see him even a moment sooner.
The other two, meanwhile, were baffled.
"Your uncle’s about to arrive...?"
"How could you possibly know that...?"
Jenna’s current location was quite deep inside Coral Cave. The distance to the entrance alone was well over a mile.
So how could she know that Walfred was about to arrive? While the two of them puzzled over it, Jenna had already made it far ahead.
"J-Jenna!?"
"We’re coming with you!"
She was so full of energy it was hard to believe she’d only just woken up. Alice and Aria scrambled after her.
---
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
On the way back to the Coral Cave Shelter.
Riding on the back of Elsa as she flew through the fierce blizzard, Walfred closed his eyes in silence.
The mental fatigue weighed heavily on him, so he intended to get at least a little rest.
Just then.
Ding!
A familiar chime tapped at his ears.
What now? Walfred opened his eyes.
And.
[Skill proficiency has reached its maximum.]
[Skill level has increased.]
[Cold Resistance: (Lv.4) → (Lv.5)]
[Cold Emission: (Lv.4) → (Lv.5)]
"...!"
His eyes went wide.
The moment he had been waiting for ever since awakening as a frost-attribute hunter had finally arrived.
[Special Ability released.]
▶Cold Resistance: [Cold Awakening]
[Special Ability released.]
▶Cold Emission: [Cold Accumulation]
By reaching Skill Level 5.
The Special Abilities sealed within his passive skills had been released. Watching this with trembling eyes, Walfred clenched his fists tight.
’Please, please...’
If only so he could stay by Jenna’s side.
Let there be a function that suppresses [Cold Emission].
After finishing his desperate prayer, he took several deep breaths before finally checking the skill information.
-----
[Passive: Cold Emission (Lv.5)]
[Periodically emits cold air to the surrounding area.]
▷Emission interval: 20 seconds (10 seconds)
▷Cold range: 330-foot radius (660 feet)
[Special Ability: Cold Accumulation]
[Accumulates cold within the body.]
[While this ability is active, cold is not emitted externally until the maximum daily accumulation time is exceeded. Additionally, the cold accumulated within the body is used to strengthen frost-attribute skills.]
▶Maximum accumulation time: 12 hours
-----
"Th-this is...!"
The moment he read the skill information.
Walfred’s face lit up instantly.