NOVEL NEXT The Blare in my Head.
“Ah! This cuteness!” shouts Vejetar.
Man… Are all the Elder dragons, weird cases like him?
[Then that would apply to you too.]
Huh?
[I mean… If all the Elder Dragons are supposed to be weirdoes then that would make you a weirdo too.]
Oi!
[But it’s true, isn’t it? You are a weirdo!]
Rude! Come out!
[Nope. You really think I would come out in front of your Weirdo Brother who loves his Weirdo Sister to that extent? Never. He might even crush me in his hands in excitement.]
Um… I guess that’s true…
[Then you accept that you’re his Weirdo Sister??]
Oh shut up already! And come out sometime okay?!
[Yes. Yes. Look the hero is getting up.]
He’s still able to move after that? How..?
“You guys… You’re pretty strong but… Can you be the only strongest ones in this world?” Says The Hero.
What’s he talking about? Aren’t the Elder dragons the strongest beings there are?
“What? You say that there is someone even stronger than me or my sister? Call him, I’ll make sure to play with him until he falls.” Says Vejetar, Getting in front of me and Anikia protectively.
“Oi. I don’t need you to stand in front of me…” I say.
“Let me do this. It’s what I want to do.” He says in a low voice.
What’s up with him?
“You see… You don’t really know when someone stronger may show up… even we got stronger fighting you.” Says the Hero as he gets up from the ground with wobbly legs.
They got stronger…? And the way he speaks took a turn for much refined…
Twixie. Appraise him.
[Got it.]
I get a sense of danger from him now. Somehow… I think there’s something weird in him.
[Velkra! Look! His stats!]
[Status Menu]
[Name: Sasaki Kuro]
[Race]: Human
[Title]: Hero
[Level: 60]
[HP: 50,000]
[SP: 50,000]
[MP: 45,000]
Shit! How did it get that High?!
[He was at 50 the last time we saw him.]
Wait. Is there a Special skill that does that? Look into it!
[On it.]
“Oooh? I see. Someone’s appraising me… Huh?” he says.
The hell? He can detect my [Appraisal]?
[Master! Look! This! [Cultivation]! This is the skill. It makes him gain power from his experiences! This effect is shared with is party members too!]
The effect applies to his whole team too? Man, this is a troublesome skill. I better warn Vejetar to stay away from him.
“Vejetar. Don’t fight him anymore. He has a skill that makes him powerful every time he fights someone stronger than him.” I say getting close to him in a lower voice.
The hero glares at me with the utmost disgusting eyes, it makes my skin crawl. I wanna kill him.
“Oops. Looks like I was found out.” Says the Hero.
The Hunter supporting the hero looks at us with an insulting expression
“Well, should we fight them Kuro?” says the hunter in a very provoking voice.
The hero looks at her and thinks for a moment. His lips curl up to his eyes into a sick smile.
“Yeah! We can’t go back to Master like this! He gave us this gift after all!” he says.
Master? He has someone that trains him? Gift?
Twixie. What’s going on?
[What’s more surprising is that… He didn’t have that skill before.]
What?
[I’m saying I didn’t see that skill when I appraised him before.]
Do you mean…?
[Yeah. The Stats Alter. I think it might be real…]
But then they would have monsters on their side!
[Look at him. Don’t you feel something weird? His traits. They’ve completely changed. If his soul was altered… then these changes… they’re possible. His way of speaking, his sick aura…]
How do you even get to that conclusion?
[I’m saying this because no one can acquire a special skill that easily! And a special skill at Level 60?! The lowest requirement that needs to be met is at least 150 Levels! Even that gives you a 20% chance to get one! It isn’t possible to get one this early! This is the law of this world!]
Law of the World…?
[Send others to fight him! No one else should move! His skill can give him 0.004% of his opponent’s level every 1 minute! That means if he fights you, the person at 564 Levels, he’ll gain 2.25 levels every 1 minute he fights you! That applies to his whole party!]
[ A.N: If he can gain 0.004% of levels of his opponents, then multiply 0.004 by 564 and you get 2.25 Levels.]
“What?!” I shout out loud.
“What’s wrong Mom??” asks Anikia in a worried voice.
“Oh. I-It’s nothing.”
Then how many levels will he gain if he fights Felia…? Will he gain that many too?
[A-about 0.2 levels…]
This skill is too broken! Even for me! I can’t fight him like this!
“Vejetar. Make sure you don’t even touch him.” I say.
He’s at level 365. That makes it dangerous too if he fights. But… guessing if Felia fights the Hero in hand-to-hand combat, it might take 5 minutes nearly to beat him up, and that means he’d have leveled up by 1 then… and yeah, Felia isn’t even here. I thought Felia and Carmine were here with me…
Twixie. Figure out a way to counter this skill.
[Roger!]
But can my stats limiter be used in this situation?
[You only limit your stats down to a certain level, like slowing down a huge supply of water coming from a dam, you don’t decrease your level originally. That makes it completely useless. And it might even prolong your fight against him.]
Shit.
“Velkra. What’s going on? You look worried.” Says Vejetar.
He looks worried too. His eyes say that he’s noticed something’s wrong with him too.
“Vejetar. Don’t fight him. He’ll gain levels if he fights you.” I say.
“Is a Special Skill like that really possible to have at his level? It breaks the laws… and… Nothing, I’ll let it be,” he says in a concerned tone.
“What? Why did you stop? But…That is exactly what I’m thinking… there is something very wrong with his body, something unnatural.” I say.
After I say that, both of us look at the hero’s party standing in the distance. They look at us like they stalk their prey, standing completely still and their eyes focused on us with utmost precision. Even the mage has her staff ready to attack.
Twixie. Focus my [World Perception] on him.
[Kay! Give me less work to do!]
Just as Twixie focuses my perception on him, I see a glowing ball of unusual mana inside him. It’s the mana that isn’t seen here… Crimson... More like blood-red... I can sense traces of terror in it… What is that…? What is this Mana…?
“Huh?”
[Blare]!
An ear-piercing blare goes off in my head.
“What the-?!” I say out loud.
I take a step back as I felt extremely lightheaded. My head hurts as if going to explode.
[Oh Fuji... Again? You should be careful when you run. You make me worry every time you fall.]
What the-? What did I just see…? Was that her…? Mother…?
Just as I was about to fall backward from the loss of balance,
“What is it Great Velkra?!” says Albart as he runs up to me, and catches me gently by my shoulders.
Huh? What was that?
“D-Did you not hear that…?” I say to him as I snap back to reality.
“Hear what? Great Velkra?” he asks.
They didn’t hear it? What the hell is going on?!
“Mom… Are you okay…?” asks Anikia.
Everyone around us is on their toes. Zanim looks as if he’s going to plunge forward with his claws toward the Hero’s Party. He has his claws out as I do. Willis has his sword Unsheathed, it’s a sword similar to a Katana. Its handle is silver grey and the blade is pure White, While the scabbard is silver grey like the handle.
Albart is proficient in sword-wielding too, as he has one hand on his sword’s handle too.
[Heh??]
What? Twixie?
[Huh? What was that…? I saw me… without an… Arm…?]
What are you saying? What’s wrong? Did you see something too??
[I just saw a… Vision…? A very bad… vision…]
Was this in our heads…?
[Probably… But… I don’t know what you saw… this Mana. It’s dangerous.]
I already know that.
That was the sound that the Tri-something made when it tried to intimidate. The Blare. But why did the Mana trigger that? And in my head too…? Did I just get a flashback? Did that jog my memory…?
More than that… is the Hero connected to that Blare?
[Master. The Mana has traces of the Tri-something.]
Did you complete analyzing?
[Y-Yes. He has traces of Mana that the Blare used. I got a glimpse of its Mana in the demon realm. It matches the Mana in him.]
He has a connection with… them?