Chapter 86
???? is hatching!
The moment that phrase appeared.
The door of the incubator on the screen opened.
Inside the incubator, something shining in dazzling colors slipped out.
It popped out as if bouncing off the screen and materialized.
It even looked like a firefly radiating iridescent light.
I caught the light with both hands and gazed at it.
The light gradually ceased, and soon its identity was revealed along with a phrase.
Super Regeneration Pau has hatched!
What rested on my palm was… a blue creature with four legs.
I had seen it before under the name ‘Smiling Salamander.’
‘…Axolotl?’
Its appearance was exactly the same.
The little one tilted its head as it looked around, then turned to me and opened its mouth.
Kuyap.
From that tiny mouth, an adorable sound popped out.
Pau friend has been born from the egg!
It was the result of nearly a month of incubation.
I looked at the creature and opened my mouth.
“…Nice to meet you.”
Kuyap.
A reply as if in agreement.
It did not look frightened of me.
From the beginning until now, its bright smile alone made me feel that it already recognized me as its master.
At that moment, a new phrase appeared.
Super Regeneration Pau’s registration is complete!
The fourth animal friend has arrived at the farm!
‘So, mystical beasts that hatch from eggs don’t need farm registration, huh.’
It seemed to instinctively recognize me as its master.
It was a convenient system.
‘…Then, what are Pau’s abilities?’
I clenched my hand in the air.
Around my fingers, bubbles like water droplets appeared, then immediately transformed into the shape of a card.
Young Axolotl.
Borrow the power of a young axolotl.
Information instantly flowed into my brain.
Thanks to it, I could also check the skills.
Cost 4 consumption – Borrow Pau’s regeneration for a short while. Your weary body regains vitality, fresh flesh grows over your wounds. Health is restored, and you are freed from all abnormal states.
‘…A recovery skill?’
Especially in Yggdrasil’s world, characters who possessed advanced recovery skills received significant treatment.
‘Since recovery through food or potions has its limits due to satiety.’
And the time spent drinking a potion also restricted movement.
‘But this isn’t just about recovery ability…’
Sleep, fainting, paralysis, poison, and so on.
It also served as a countermeasure against weakening attacks.
As the episodes progressed further, weakening attacks became fatal.
If one could resist those effects, it was a huge merit.
‘This is a total jackpot.’
It was said that an axolotl possessed astonishing regenerative powers, enough to restore damaged brains.
Its reputation and the alias ‘Super Regeneration’ suited the ability well.
‘It does consume 4 costs… but with a power like this, it’s understandable.’
A prize among prizes.
I looked with great satisfaction at the second skill.
…One.
When the phrase first appeared, I could not understand it.
???? – Once the conditions are met, can be used only once.
‘…What is this?’
A short and simple explanation, yet completely incomprehensible.
‘This is the strangest skill I’ve seen so far.’
Neither penalties nor the cost required were specified.
‘If the conditions are met, I can use it. But only once? After that, it’s gone forever?’
A single-use skill.
And even its ability was hidden due to a bug.
‘This is ridiculous…’
Since I could not even know what the skill was, it was practically useless.
Therefore, the second skill could only be judged as a dud.
‘…Still, the first skill is quite amazing, so I should be satisfied.’
I stroked Pau’s back.
Its texture was soft, like the skin of a baby.
Kuyap.
Pau also seemed to like my touch, quietly closing its eyes.
I sent it back through the farm system.
Looking at the system screen, a small puddle in the corner of the farm caught my eye.
It seemed that Pau stayed there.
Woof! Woof!
Shurk wagged his tail, sitting in front of the puddle as if to welcome Pau.
‘…He’ll get along just fine like the others.’
I closed the system and looked around the livestock shed.
On the wide green pasture, various animals could be seen.
‘Letting the animals roam freely makes it pleasant to watch.’
Through countless upgrades, not only the animals’ satisfaction but also the scenery of the shed had improved aesthetically.
Swaaa…
I sprayed water on the horses in the stable.
I had spent money to install a high-pressure sprayer.
Thanks to it, washing the animals no longer required much trouble.
And that wasn’t all.
‘Using subspace also made the work easier.’
While accumulating know-how in managing the livestock shed, I could also utilize my <Animal Farm> ability.
‘Managing the shed has become really easy.’
I gained plenty of physical and time leeway.
Thanks to that, I could also tend both the pond farm and the sea farm during my spare time.
Since I managed three farms, I earned 10 shop points per farm.
In other words, I could collect 30 points a day.
1,800 points.
This was the total I had steadily saved up until now.
‘It’s enough to buy almost anything.’
However, I was saving points instead of spending them, just in case.
‘There are still plenty of shop items not unlocked yet.’
Not even half of them had been unlocked.
‘Besides, the prices of future unlocked items are much higher than those of the first ones.’
I thought that perhaps a truly valuable item might be unlocked someday.
To prepare for that, I intended to save as many points as possible.
I sat down on a hammock.
I pulled out a glass of cold blueberry juice from subspace.
After finishing the shed work, I relaxed and sank into thought.
‘…So about two weeks are left until vacation?’
Shall I check the progress I’ve made so far.
When I looked up at the air, a hologram appeared.
Riz Villed Dedencman Ludwig.
Health: 14.
Mana: 8.
Strength: 13.
Willpower: 13.
Agility: 15.
‘Yeah, now I finally look like a proper character.’
After bloody effort, I had finally reached the average stats of a first-year student.
Of course, compared to other students, these were not impressive stats.
But to have grown the trash-level Villed, who started with stats of 1, this much was a miracle among miracles.
‘Of course, the fact that my mana stat is so low does bother me a bit.’
At this point, first-year cadets generally had an average mana stat of about 20.
‘And mine is lower than even half of that.’
Compared to someone like Keirin or professors, my mana was not even one-tenth.
Still, I didn’t care.
‘It’s a relief that I don’t need mana at all.’
Thanks to the <Animal Farm> ability, I had no need to use magic.
‘The abilities of mystical beasts aren’t judged as magic.’
They weren’t affected by mana stats.
It was the one stat I didn’t need to bother raising.
‘Anyway, though I was punished with Yggdrasil’s worst task of livestock shed duty, and became the weakest and worst character ever…’
I sat on the hammock, grateful to relax while looking over the meadow.
Leisurely, I sipped the blueberry juice.
Two days remained until the start of the second semester.
Other cadets were also gradually returning to school, and the once-quiet campus was becoming noisy again.
“Ugh, finally.”
At high noon, when the sun was at its peak.
Karin, who had just returned to school, unpacked her luggage in the dormitory and wandered around the dorm area for a break.
Lapin was nowhere to be seen.
‘Where could she have gone?’
The only place where Lapin would likely be…
Was probably that place.
Step, step…
She walked toward Villed’s livestock shed.
Before long, she saw something standing long across the green meadow.
‘…A fence?’
Originally, this whole area should have been nothing but green grass.
‘Did he build a new farm with a fence?’
While Karin was looking around the fence.
Moo~.
Perhaps it had recognized her.
The cow that had been grazing inside the fence mooed as if welcoming Karin.
Karin smiled and waved lightly in response.
‘Did Villed do all this…?’
An endlessly stretching, wide pasture farm.
Hadn’t it been about one month and three weeks since she last saw the livestock shed?
‘…He made this all by himself in that time?’
Karin looked on with a small exclamation of admiration.
It looked far too vast to be made by one person alone…
Arriving at the livestock shed, Karin looked at the empty shed and the vegetable field overflowing with crops.
It was roughly… about 100 pyeong in size.
‘It looks bigger than the field I saw before.’
Before the vacation, she had seen Villed tending to a garden as a hobby.
‘It’s really refreshing.’
It was so glossy it looked as if it glowed, and it felt fresh.
‘Organic farming… is that it? The fragrance is so strong that it seems no pesticides were sprayed.’
Karin knew a little, since she had once grown vegetables like tomatoes and pumpkins in a small garden as a child.
It was clear that Villed had poured in considerable care.
While she was carefully watching it.
“Karin.”
A voice came from behind her.
She hurriedly turned around.
What entered Karin’s eyes were golden hair shining in the midday sun and emerald eyes.
“Ah, Lapin!”
Karin tightly held Lapin’s hand and spoke.
“Lapin! How have you been?”
“Yes, it’s been a while for you too, Karin.”
Karin moved to the storage room and exchanged various stories with Lapin.
But there was one thing she had been feeling since earlier.
‘…It’s hot.’
Even inside the shady storage, the sun’s heat remained.
Besides, she had sweated a little just from walking to the livestock shed under the blazing midday sun.
Perhaps Lapin had noticed.
“Karin, want to go to the sea?”
“…The sea?”
The sea that existed in Yggdrasil.
Karin had been there once.
A month ago, she had eaten grilled crab meat with Lapin and Villed by the seaside.
“Villed is also at the sea.”
Hearing Lapin’s answer, Karin nodded.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Karin also wanted to greet Villed, and she happened to want a break.
Since the seaside was both cool and beautiful, there was no reason to refuse.
Thus… she stood in front of the barrel in the corner of the storage.
‘I still can’t get used to this…’
A barrel enchanted with a warp spell of unknown nature.
‘To implement a device like this, the mana cost must be enormous.’
Though it looked like nothing special, it was presumed to be quite expensive.
Perhaps… it was something only nobles could possess?
Lapin entered the barrel first, and Karin followed after.
Her location was transferred through a large pipe, and Karin crawled toward the light.
Swaaa…
The sound of waves and a wide golden beach welcomed her.
Back then, there had been only Karin, Lapin, and Villed.
Now, however, there were quite a few cadets visiting the beach as well.
She dipped her feet into the ebb tide with Lapin.
The heat seemed to vanish, leaving only coolness.
Moreover, perhaps because the water was so clear.
Looking into the distance, she could see brightly colored, rare-looking fish.
“Warning! Fishing prohibited!
Monitored by mana CCTV. Points will be deducted if caught fishing.”
Because of this sign, they could only watch with their eyes.
Lapin then pulled out a small glass bottle filled with yellow liquid, though Karin didn’t know when she had taken it out.
The fresh, sweet aroma spread all the way here.
“Karin, want some? Villed made it.”
“Oh… Villed did?”
Karin nodded and accepted it.
It was a well-made mango juice.
With added crushed ice, it was so cold it made her head ache.
‘It really feels like a proper vacation…’
Swaaa…
Together with Lapin, Karin relaxed under the shade of a tree on the sandy beach.
How much time had passed?
One exceptionally tall cadet was walking along the beach.
Though she couldn’t see his face since he was looking at the sea and he was still far away.
Karin knew for certain that it was Villed.
She stood up and quickly walked toward him.
As the distance closed, Karin stopped walking.
Villed, as if recognizing her presence, turned his gaze from the sea to Karin.
“……”
“……”
Karin silently smiled at Villed.
Villed looked at Karin for a moment, then replied with a faint silent smile.
And so, two days passed…
The second semester of the Academy began.