Chapter 125

Chapter 125: Rin's Wise Answer to a Foolish Question

We suspected that Yeo-na had amplified Rin's ability.

To confirm it, Rin grew plants in front of Yeo-na several more times, but the same thing did not happen again.

'Was it not Yeo-na's ability after all?'

Perhaps Rin had simply lost control of her own strength.

Since we were not certain it was Yeo-na's ability, we let the matter go for the time being.

We stayed at the house outside the Rift for five days.

The test results for both Ria and Yeo-na came back with no abnormalities.

Additionally, Yeo-na's birth registration was completed.

Since the birth had not taken place at a hospital, the registration process was quite complicated, but Professor Lee Yeong-seon, who had been the attending physician, verified the medical records, allowing us to successfully complete the process.

We then returned to the Rift house.

***

Daily life resumed.

The only difference was that our family had grown.

I resumed the lunch service at the Rift restaurant.

"Chef An, I heard you had your second daughter! Congratulations!"

"Congratulations on the second girl."

"I am glad both Lady Emeria and the baby are healthy."

News of Yeo-na's birth had already spread throughout the Outpost.

Every customer who visited offered their congratulations.

"Chef An, your face is absolutely beaming. You must be over the moon."

"I know, right? He looks so happy."

Happy? Enough to die for it.

Wait, no. I could not die and leave behind my angel of a wife and my precious children.

I would live happily together with my beloved family for a very long time.

"Please bring her around sometime. We would love to see her!"

"Will do."

As the customer requested, I would have to bring Yeo-na sometime and show her around the Outpost township.

After the lunch rush, I made the rounds of all the businesses.

Everything was running smoothly.

The section of the fortress wall that had collapsed had also been perfectly restored.

I then returned to the Rift house.

"Rin, Yeo-na. Daddy is home."

"Papa!"

Rin came running straight to me and leaped into my arms.

Yeo-na was watching me from within Ria's embrace.

When our eyes met, she broke into a smile.

And then my lovely wife's greeting.

"Welcome home, dear. You worked hard today."

She said that and kissed me on the cheek.

A family that welcomed me back after a day's work.

This was a father's happiness.

I then went to the living room kitchen and began frying the reserved Behemoth Tenderloin Sous Vide Tonkatsu for tomorrow's orders.

Tomorrow's menu would not allow time to fry tonkatsu, so I was doing it in advance.

Ria held Yeo-na and watched.

"Daddy is cooking, Yeo-na. Is Daddy not cool?"

Yeo-na blinked her large, clear eyes and stared at me as I fried the tonkatsu.

Adorable.

At that moment.

[All skills and special abilities are enhanced by the Competentia skill.]

Huh......?

A buff skill had suddenly activated.

Then a stream of system messages appeared.

[Skill 'Blessing of Dexterity' has temporarily been elevated to 'Advanced Blessing of Dexterity.']

[Acresia skill 'Absorption' ability has temporarily been enhanced.]

[Acresia skill 'Release' ability has temporarily been enhanced.]

[Temporarily......]

Beyond those, buffs for all sub-skills under the Absorption and Release trees, as well as Gate Portal and Dungeon Creation skill abilities, had been enhanced.

What in the world.

I looked at Yeo-na, cradled in Ria's arms.

"Was this Yeo-na's doing?"

Ria looked between me and Yeo-na.

"Yeo-na's mana presence did decrease. Did you get a buff?"

"Yeah, a buff just came in."

I told Ria what kind of buff it was.

After hearing that, Ria looked down at Yeo-na in her arms and said.

"It seems Yeo-na's skill is a buff that enhances skills and special abilities."

"It seems that way. This must be the Legendary skill she received as an achievement reward when she was born. And the time she temporarily amplified Rin's ability -- that was Yeo-na's doing after all."

Given that she could use the skill on Rin as well, it appeared the buff was not limited to Awakened individuals.

It seemed to be a skill that could enhance the abilities of anyone with special powers, regardless of whether they were Awakened or another species.

'That is a great skill.'

Then again, for a Legendary skill -- which ranked above Unique -- it did feel slightly underwhelming.

It would need further observation.

I took out the finished tonkatsu.

I was suddenly curious.

What kind of effects would a dish made under the "Advanced Blessing of Dexterity" skill produce?

I cut the tenderloin tonkatsu in half and plated it.

A system message appeared.

[Grand Master's Behemoth Sous Vide Tenderloin Tonkatsu]

[Advanced Blessing of Dexterity Effect: Upon consumption, Strength 3, Agility 1, Stamina 2 permanently increase.]

[TIP. Among dishes made under the Advanced Blessing of Dexterity skill effect, the stacking effect for identical stats obtained from the same primary ingredient is reduced to 20%.]

The dish name had changed from the existing "Master" to "Grand Master."

The stat increase effect had also risen by an average of 1.5 times.

Stat stacking had also increased from 10% to 20%.

'This is incredible......'

The effect was better than I had expected.

I then pre-activated the stats for the other dishes I had fried alongside it.

After completing eight servings of Advanced Blessing of Dexterity dishes.

[Competentia duration has ended. The skill is deactivated. All enhanced skills and special abilities are restored to their original state.]

The skill effect had ended.

The duration was not particularly long, but it was undoubtedly an excellent skill.

I then fried eight more servings of tonkatsu.

I would keep the Advanced Blessing of Dexterity tonkatsu in reserve and sell the regular Blessing of Dexterity tonkatsu to fill the existing reservations.

After finishing the ingredient prep for the next day's service.

I spoke to Ria.

"Should I try forming a Sovereign's Bond with Yeo-na?"

Forming the Sovereign's Bond would allow me to see Yeo-na's stats and skills.

"Hmm, I think that would be fine. The Sovereign's Bond skill has no side effects."

"It does not. And it can be released after forming."

Releasing it would impose a six-month reuse Cooldown for that particular Awakened individual.

"My only concern would be whether the baby's strength might become too great."

"That is a fair point."

When someone first became Awakened, they needed time to adjust to their newfound strength.

Take Ji-young as an example: she had picked up a handleless glass of iced coffee and, unable to control her grip, crushed the glass with her bare hand.

She had also broken a door handle, smashed a mouse, and once got up in the middle of the night to get water, only to close the refrigerator door so hard she broke the fridge.

She had caused all sorts of accidents because she could not adapt to her strength.

'That did not happen to me, though.'

Perhaps because my Dexterity was high, I had been able to control my strength well right from the moment I became Awakened.

How would it go for Yeo-na?

Then again, where would a newborn baby even exert her strength?

"Shall we try forming it, then?"

"Yes. Let us try."

With Ria's permission, I immediately used the Sovereign's Bond on Yeo-na.

A crown effect appeared above my head.

A harp-shaped effect appeared above Yeo-na's head.

'When the other S-Rank Hunters formed the Sovereign's Bond, a sword-shaped effect appeared above their heads. But Yeo-na has a harp.'

Was it related to the skills she possessed?

A system message appeared, confirming that the Sovereign's Bond had been successfully formed.

[Sovereign's Bond Status]
[1. Hwang Myeong-u (within 30m)]
[2. Adel Eriksson (within 30m)]
[3. Rani Santos (within 4.5km)]
[4. Han Se-a (distance unmeasurable)]
[5. Song Ji-young (within 4.5km)]
[6. An Yeo-na (in close proximity)]

I checked Yeo-na's reaction.

I had worried she might cry, but there was no particular reaction.

"The bond has been formed."

"And? What are Yeo-na's stats like?"

"Just a moment."

I checked the stats in Yeo-na's information window.

[STATUS: Strength 13(+22) / Agility 14(+25.8) / Dexterity 17(+31.2) / Mana 25(+44.6) / Stamina 13(+24.8)]

The base stats, excluding the Sovereign's Bond buff modifiers, were nearly as low as an F-Rank Awakened.

Being a baby, low stats were only natural.

It was said that if one Awakened during the growth period, the stat growth cap was higher.

Since Yeo-na had been Awakened from the moment of birth, her growth stat cap would likely be extremely high.

I then gave Ria a brief summary of Yeo-na's stats.

"Yeo-na's stats are low overall, but her Mana is fairly high."

"I see."

There was nothing particularly special about the stats.

"Let me look at her skills."

"Sure."

I then checked Yeo-na's skill information window.

For a moment, I was at a loss for words.

"What is it? Is there a problem?"

Seeing my look of shock, Ria asked.

I scratched my cheek with my index finger and said.

"There is no problem......, but the skills are quite astounding."

"In what way?"

I had assumed that "Competentia," the buff Yeo-na had used on me, was the Legendary skill.

No, it was indeed a Legendary skill.

But it was merely one sub-skill.

To use Acresia as an analogy: the main skill was Acresia itself, while "Absorption" and "Release" were the sub-skills underneath it.

Yeo-na's skill worked the same way.

[(L) Angel's Blessing]

[Competentia]

[Reparatio]

[Benedictum]

The Legendary skill, Angel's Blessing, did not have just one -- but three sub-skills.

Competentia was a buff that enhanced skills and special abilities.

Reparatio was recovery and regeneration.

Benedictum was a blessing, specifically a buff that increased stats.

The skill names were most likely Latin.

When I told Ria about Yeo-na's skills, she was astonished as well.

"Three of them......? That is incredible, our daughter."

Competentia alone, which could enhance skills, was already a truly excellent ability, but there had been a slight sense that it was lacking.

But it turned out there was not just one skill, but three.

"It is not called a Legendary skill for nothing."

"Indeed."

And I felt reassured.

Yeo-na was not a close-combat type Awakened, but a support type.

Support-type Hunters had a lower injury frequency.

Furthermore, a party that included a healing skill among its support abilities saw its survival rate increase dramatically.

Of course, I had not the slightest intention of sending Yeo-na down the Hunter's path.

It was still a distant future, but I hoped she would pursue as safe a profession as possible.

If Yeo-na herself wished to become a Hunter, there would be little I could do about it.

They say no parent can win against their child, after all.

And Yeo-na's skills did not end there.

She also had one regular skill.

[Growth Potential]

[Passive Skill: The growth speed and cap of growth-type stats increase. The speed and cap vary based on the skill holder's capabilities.]

The other skill was a passive skill.

A skill that aided in stat growth.

This, too, seemed like an excellent skill.

"Our second daughter has nothing but good skills."

I gently lifted Yeo-na into my arms.

She looked up at me and smiled.

"Abilities are important, but I hope you grow up healthy and with a kind heart. Daddy would like that even more."

Looking into Yeo-na's clear, gentle eyes, I had a feeling that wish would come true.

Before long, Rin came inside after finishing her fieldwork and looked for Yeo-na first.

"Yeo-na! Your big sistew is hewe!"

Yeo-na responded to Rin's voice, turning her gaze toward her.

Yeo-na had often reacted to Rin's voice with kicks even while she was still in the womb.

"Big sistew wiww go wash her hands!"

Rin dashed to the bathroom, washed her hands, and came back out.

I pretended to be hurt and said to her.

"Our Rin does not care about Daddy anymore, it seems. Daddy is hurt."

Rin's expression turned to utter panic.

"N-no! Win woves Papa the most!"

Hehe! That was the answer I wanted.

This time, Ria put on a hurt expression.

"Rin, I thought you loved Mama the most?"

"Th-that's wight! Win woves Mama the most!"

I put on a hurt expression again.

Rin was beside herself, flustered.

Then.

"Win woves Papa, Mama, and Yeo-na aww equawwy the most!"

To the foolish question of "Do you love Mommy more or Daddy more?" Rin had delivered a wise answer.

Ria and I smiled, satisfied with that answer.