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HELHEIM SCANS
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Chapter 33: Spirit Fortress (2)
Diana looked at me with pity and guilt in her eyes.
She spoke with regret in her voice.
“The Apostle of God can’t possibly have such low potential... This is because of me…”
Hmm… seems like there’s some major misunderstanding here.
I was born with a potential of 555, you know.
But I won’t refuse this kind of sympathy.
More benefits might come my way.
“In that case, I’ll give you all of these. I was going to give them to you one at a time based on the effects, but…”
“Huh? All of this?”
Wow.
Good job, Kim Jiho.
It was a great idea to mention the gifts back then!
I barely held back the smile that was trying to break out.
“Yes. Ten leaves of the World Tree, ten pieces of bark, five roots, five branches, and one fruit from the World Tree. I wish I could give you more, but this is all I have... I brought everything in this magic backpack.”
She swept the items back into her backpack and handed it to me.
“Only one item from the World Tree takes effect every three days. The order is leaves, bark, roots, branches, and then the fruit. With this, you should be able to recover at least part of your potential as an Apostle.”
So, I’ve already eaten one item, which means I have 30 left to consume… It’ll take 90 days in total, including the one I’ve already eaten.
By then, I should reach at least C-rank, but is it the right choice to consume them immediately?
For now, let’s start with the leaves and decide whether it’s worth it as I go along.
After placing the backpack into my inventory, I opened the neutral faction’s status window and upgraded my physical abilities.
Previously, it cost 40 SP to upgrade, but raising it to B required a staggering 200 SP.
My neutral faction SP, which had been over 1,500, decreased significantly in one go.
When the physical rank increased, instead of showing as “B-----” as before, it simply displayed as “B.”
However, the letter “B” had a faint blue tint at the bottom against a white background, resembling a cup with a small amount of water in it.
When I enhanced my abilities again, another 200 SP was consumed, and the blue tint rose slightly higher.
Just barely…
Yet, despite the minuscule visible improvement in stats, the physical changes I felt were significant.
It felt as though my body had leveled up.
Numerically, I had only upgraded twice, but with 400 SP consumed, my body felt much lighter.
Even with the 2.5x buff from the Order faction, I hadn’t expected to notice the physical enhancement so much.
It seems that reaching stat level B opens up a whole new world.
I considered using all my SP on physical abilities but decided to save over 1,000 SP for emergencies.
“Well, let’s keep going.”
“Yes. Thank you so much for giving me such treasures, Lady Diana.”
“For what I’ve caused... this is nothing. I don’t deserve your thanks. To think your potential has been reduced to merely benefitting from a leaf… Just how much have you lost…?”
“It’s nothing. Let’s move on.”
Seeing her face darken again, I quickly gestured to start moving.
She nodded and began running properly this time.
Much faster than before.
Even with my 2.5x buff in physical stats, it felt like I was struggling to keep up with Diana.
“Summon Flame Chariot.”
I hopped onto the Flame Chariot and followed behind her.
Thanks to the chariot’s transcendental speed, I managed to match her pace.
Thus, we continued running, stopping occasionally for me to recover mana, for four days.
On the third day, when I chewed on another leaf, my physical limits increased once more.
Do the leaves only enhance physical stats?
I wanted to try the other items, but I decided to stick with the expert-recommended consumption order.
Although my limits had increased, I didn’t allocate any SP to stats to conserve it.
When I mentioned the increase in limits after eating the leaf, Diana looked even more remorseful.
“Has your potential fallen so low? Even this leaf raised your limits… If it weren’t for me…”
If it weren’t for you, I’d still be stuck at C++++.
“Diana, it’s fine. In fact, I feel like I’ve gone back to my roots. Gradually increasing my potential reminds me of my human days.”
I smiled brightly at her as I spoke.
Since things had turned out this way, I decided to gently prod her guilt a little more.
Feel guiltier!
That might lead to even better gifts!
“Oh no, your human days... To think your potential has fallen so far… I feel utterly ashamed…”
“Don’t think like that. I’m really enjoying myself right now.”
“No, I must do something—anything. I will find a way!”
Diana declared with determination.
I feel like I can look forward to additional gifts.
But if I push her too much, she might summon something like a Spirit of Wrath… Better take it easy.
On the fifth day, we completely crossed the forest region and arrived at a coastline.
If we’d had time, I would’ve enjoyed the ocean view, but there was no time for leisure.
Following Diana, we reached the Wind Sanctuary, located on a cliff by the sea.
The sanctuary was a white marble altar at the edge of the cliff, offering a clear view of the coastal scenery.
As soon as we arrived, Diana took out an orb containing the Breath of Sylphid.
“I will now begin the ritual.”
She smashed the orb onto the altar, breaking it.
From the shattered orb, a powerful wind burst forth, forming a whirlwind.
The wind spread rapidly, causing seawater to surge and trees to sway violently.
The whirlwind continued to spiral around the altar before shooting skyward and disappearing.
That was simple enough.
There were no enemy disruptions, and I raised my ability caps in the process—excellent.
“At last… all the sanctuaries have been unlocked.”
Diana smiled, a rare sight.
When she smiled, her beauty truly shone, and the radiance emanating from her grew even brighter.
And then, changes occurred to me as well.
[Main Quest: ‘Open the Spirit Realm’s Gate’ completed.]
[Affinity with the four elemental spirits has increased.]
[Four elemental magic has been enhanced.]
[The Trein Fortress has been reactivated as the Trein Spirit Fortress.]
With the increase in spirit affinity, I began to see something new.
The energy of the four elemental spirits swirling around Diana’s body.
Green wind circled her legs, while a translucent flame strong enough to fill her chest armor flickered at her chest.
The ground beneath her feet had a black hue distinct from the surroundings, and her arms were enveloped in the energy of water.
So, she enhances her body with the power of spirits? Fascinating.
“Apostle, I can now sense the energy of the spirits around you.”
“Thanks to successfully completing this mission, I’ve received the blessing of the spirits.”
“Ah, if your affinity were just a little higher, you could wield the spirits yourself. It’s a shame, but I’m sure you’ll manage soon, Apostle.”
Is my affinity still insufficient to handle spirits directly?
What a pity.
Still, as long as I stay here in Kevrian, there’ll be opportunities.
[You have perfectly cleared the quest by fulfilling the conditions. Additional rewards will be granted upon returning to the fortress.]
The system message popped up at the end.
I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d perfected, but since it was offering rewards, I’d gladly take them.
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Feeling satisfied with my own progress, I looked back at Diana, who had clearly grown stronger since the sanctuary’s opening.
Her body shimmered with a translucent power, most likely the strength of the spirits, and she looked far more formidable than before.
Even before the Wind Spirit appeared, the three spirits were fully unleashed.
But something seems fundamentally different between three and four.
“With the release of all four spirits, it seems Lady Diana has regained her original strength.”
“This is all thanks to you, Apostle of the Goddess. I am truly grateful.”
“Haha, no need to thank me. By the way, the Wind Sanctuary wasn’t particularly guarded by enemies, was it?”
“Now that the three sanctuaries have been opened, it seems they’ve shifted their strategy to simply occupying the fortress. We need to return quickly.”
“Understood.”
I agreed with her and summoned the chariot.
Oddly enough, it looked larger than it had before I claimed the quest rewards.
Does the enhancement of the four elemental magics also apply to the Flame Chariot?
And the Phoenix too?
“Phoenix, have you grown stronger as well?”
[Yeah. Your increased fire affinity has allowed me to grow too. Not enough to significantly increase my size yet, though.]
Its size hadn’t changed, but hearing it claim to have grown gave me hope.
“This time, we’ll go full speed. You don’t need to adjust the Flame Chariot’s pace.”
“Looking forward to it.”
She smiled faintly and raised her energy.
The power of the four spirits began to circulate, erupting with tremendous magical force.
“I’ll go on ahead.”
The moment she stepped forward, she shot off like a bullet.
Wait, is that even humanly possible?
Oh, right—she’s not human.
Still, how is that speed even real?
“Summon Flame Chariot.”
I summoned the Flame Chariot and did my best to keep up, but she quickly disappeared from view.
Instead, the Wind Spirit lingered, showing me the trail she left behind.
I sprinted at full speed, only to see her leap forward explosively every time I got close.
It became a repeated cycle of catching up and falling behind.
After four days of this grueling chase, during which I had to pause for mana recovery several times, we finally arrived at the fortress.
The sight that greeted me was far from an ordinary fortress.
“The Trein Fortress has finally returned to its proper form.”
A massive moat surrounded the fortress walls, wide enough to resemble a small river.
The water within radiated an intense energy.
The walls themselves, strengthened by the power of earth, had grown sturdier, while flames danced around their perimeter.
Winds blew in reverse along the walls and watchtowers, offering additional protection.
It felt incomparably more solid than before.
“Reassuring, isn’t it?”
“Even the main force of the Black Dragon Army wouldn’t be able to take it down now. If reinforcements arrive, we’ll defend it perfectly, but it seems other fronts are also in critical need of support.”
So it wasn’t just this fortress; it seemed there were simultaneous battles raging everywhere.
For now, my goal was to defend this place and eventually defeat the final summoned boss, Death Knight King Ampellion.
All I needed to focus on was this area.
Inside the fortress, the atmosphere was almost celebratory.
Soldiers surrounded us, cheering enthusiastically, while the entire fortress command staff came out to greet us.
“Apostle of the Goddess, you are truly incredible.”
“Thanks to you, we’ve successfully restored Trein Fortress as a Spirit Fortress.”
However, I barely had the presence of mind to respond to them all.
A system window had appeared, prompting me to choose a reward.
[You have perfectly cleared the quest: Open the Gateway to the Spirit World. Please choose one of three rewards.]
[Spirit’s Blessing]
[Master of the Southern Gate]
[Apostle Commander]
I clicked on each to examine the details.
[Spirit’s Blessing]
[For opening the gateway to the Spirit World, you receive the blessing of the four spirits. Spirit affinity increases. While in Trein Fortress, your magic gains the power of the spirits. All stats increase by 1.5x for 30 days.]
This is great.
I almost selected it immediately, but I held back, knowing I should check the others first.
[Master of the Southern Gate]
[Grants the user authority over the southern wall of the Spirit Fortress, where you first descended. You can command the southern wall’s troops and gain 10% experience from all enemies defeated in the southern wall region, even if they aren’t killed directly by you.]
So I’d gain 10% experience from allies’ kills?
That sounds useful.
Leveling up is a priority back on Earth, after all.
This option seemed like the best for farming experience.
However, Spirit’s Blessing offered a permanent increase in spirit affinity, which made it hard to overlook.
Besides, I wasn’t exactly a commanding officer type.
[Apostle Commander]
[Allows you to command up to 1,000 Awakened individuals from Earth. Apostle Commanders are prioritized for the Goddess’s blessings. You gain 5% experience from enemies defeated by the Awakened under your command.
All stats of those under your command increase by 10%, and the unit gains additional experience. Penalties for the deaths of subordinates are halved. This applies only on the planet Kevrian.]
This one... seemed the least useful.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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