Chapter 150

Chapter 150: Fourth Awakening

Once Yeona passed the age of two, she began using the Competentia skill more frequently.

She used it at least twice a day.

The reason was her big sister, Rin.

"Yeona, I am going to go gwow some cwops."

"Unni, Yeona too."

Whenever Rin was about to head to the Farm Dungeon to grow crops, Yeona would try to follow.

At first, Ria and I had refused to let Yeona go.

'The Farm Dungeon is still a dungeon. Monsters could intrude at any time.'

The Adult Dryad Flora was guarding the Farm Dungeon.

But we could not dismiss the slim possibility.

Rin was strong enough to protect herself, but Yeona was still only a two-year-old baby.

Still, Yeona wanted to go so badly that we assigned her an escort.

-I will escort Lady Yeona.

When Ruina was busy, other Knight Order members or S-Rank Hunter uncles would accompany her.

And so Yeona followed Rin around every time.

"Okay, Yeona. Hold your sister's hand and we will go together."

"Hehe! Yay."

"So cute. My wittle sister."

The two remained inseparable sisters who adored each other.

Until the age of two, Yeona had not been able to use her skills voluntarily.

She had only used them unintentionally when she was in a good mood.

But after turning two, she could activate her skills at will.

"Unni. Buff."

Then she would use Competentia to enhance Rin's abilities.

"Thank you, Yeona."

With her abilities enhanced, Rin would happily take Yeona along as she grew crops.

I watched the scene with Flora.

"Those two are the perfect combo."

"Indeed. Their abilities. Good synergy. Yeona's ability. Accelerates. Rin's ability. Growth speed."

It seemed Yeona's Competentia skill was accelerating Rin's ability growth rate.

At this pace, Rin might truly become a Dryad Lord.

"Flora, does watching Rin grow also give you a sense of pride?"

"Of course. Proud. Of Rin."

Affection for Rin was evident in Flora's gaze.

Flora continued.

"Your family. Meeting you. Was fortune."

"In what way?"

"Rin. Lord. High potential. Watching. Her growth. Fulfilling."

She seemed to mean that because Rin had the makings of a Lord, being able to witness her growth was a stroke of fortune.

"A Lord, huh......"

I still felt a twinge of complexity.

If Rin became a Lord, she would become independent.

I would be able to see her often, but.

Living together would still be better.

'Then maybe, when Rin becomes a Dryad Lord, I could create a dungeon for her to plant the Teldrassil in?'

Just like this Farm Dungeon.

By then, my Dungeon Creation level would be higher, allowing me to create a wider dungeon with an environment ideal for Dryads.

According to Flora, the Dryad population was not very large.

If I made a spacious dungeon for them, Rin could travel back and forth between our home and the dungeon that would become the Dryad Kingdom.

Something to consider.

Flora continued.

"And. Even if. Rin. Does not. Become Lord. Watching Rin. Is fulfilling."

Was it affection for her pupil?

Or the maternal instinct characteristic of Dryads who preferred communal rearing?

Either way, her care for Rin was unmistakable.

"Thank you for caring about Rin."

Because Flora guarded the Farm Dungeon, Rin could farm there in peace.

The Wild Grape Dungeon where Dungeon Wild Grapes grew was constantly raided by Golden Goblins stealing the grapes.

Monsters that slipped through portals created by Golden Goblins also stole the grapes.

As a result, only about half of the Dungeon Wild Grapes Rin grew could actually be harvested.

'Stationing a guard there is inefficient too. Unlike this open dungeon, it is a typical narrow-corridor dungeon.'

Even posting guards would require multiple people, making it inefficient.

So whether Golden Goblins stole the grapes or intruding monsters ate them, there was nothing to do but accept it.

The only option was to have Bell, whose Presence Detection was sharp, accompany Rin whenever she entered the Wild Grape Dungeon, along with an escort.

'Which is exactly why Yeona absolutely cannot go there.'

The Farm Dungeon, relatively safe, was the only dungeon where Yeona could tag along.

Setting that aside, thanks to Yeona helping Rin grow crops in the Farm Dungeon, S-Rank vegetables had become plentiful.

They were no longer just for my personal consumption. There was now enough to sell during the Rift restaurant's lunch service.

As a result, Hunters reaching Mana 100 or 200 and achieving Second or Third Awakenings were beginning to appear one by one.

'And my own Fourth Awakening is not far off either.'

My current Mana stat was 296.

Almost there.

The same was true for Han Se-a.

She was at 294.

'Will reaching Mana 300 actually trigger a Fourth Awakening?'

No one had ever reached that summit, so there was no way to know.

I would just have to get there and find out.
***
I finally broke through Mana 300.

But no Awakening occurred.

The same was true for Han Se-a.

'So Awakening caps at the Third?'

I had been hoping for more, so it was disappointing.

Or perhaps the threshold was 350 or even 400.

I would just have to keep raising my Mana stat and see.

Meanwhile, construction of an outer wall encircling the existing fortress began.

If the original fortress wall had a circumference of three kilometers.

The new outer wall would have a circumference of roughly 4.3 kilometers.

The average distance between the inner and outer walls was about two hundred meters.

'With two hundred meters between the walls, several hundred more people could be accommodated.'

And the Outpost's defenses would be significantly bolstered.

The material for the new wall was Kertanium Stone.

A mineral harder than the existing Erdotte Stone, with higher magical defense.

When I found a terrain suitable for creating a Kertanium Stone dungeon and made one, the Eckard Family dwarves could barely contain their excitement.

-An outer wall made of Kertanium Stone! The mere thought sends shivers down our spines!

-A bounty of this precious Kertanium Stone! As expected of our liege!

And Maxim.

-Quarrying Kertanium Stone with precision will take considerable time. But worry not! Thanks to the minerals mined from the Mine Dungeon you created, our family has been able to equip ourselves with the finest Rune gear! We can now quarry Kertanium Stone as easily as slicing radishes, just as we did with Erdotte Stone. All thanks to you, my liege! Heh heh!

He was excited to test the new Rune mining equipment.

Maxim and the Eckard Family dwarves then undertook quarrying operations bordering on madness.

They cleared the entire Kertanium Stone dungeon, which was larger and more expansive than the Erdotte Stone dungeon, in just one month.

'I will never forget the look in their eyes......'

Eyes steeped in madness.

A manic gleam reminiscent of cartel members.

No, even more intense.

'Having experienced the effects of their newly crafted Rune equipment, they were in a dopamine-fueled frenzy.'

The Rune equipment seemed to boost stamina, because they displayed tireless endurance.

With materials secured, construction began.

Once again, many Hunters participated.

This time, five hours of work earned a meal coupon for Mana stat-increasing food made from B-Rank crops, plus a dinner coupon.

An average of roughly two hundred Hunters participated daily in the outer wall construction.

Including our guild members, the total was approximately two hundred and fifty.

Guild members included Ashley, Fenrir, Bell, and Rin.

Rin operated a massive 3.5-meter Wooden Golem to stack Kertanium Stone wall blocks.

I tried to stop her.

"Rin, you can stop now."

"Daddy, I still have mana to spare!"

"Even so...... between farming and construction, it is too much."

"I am fine. Win can do farming, construction, and pway with Yeona. All of it."

"You may be able to, but Daddy worries about you getting tired."

"But hewping Daddy and Mommy makes Win the happiest."

My heart ached with warmth.

How did she always say such beautiful things?

Rin continued.

"And Master Flowa said I need to pwactice contwolling Wooden Golems a lot. So hewping with construction is good twaining."

With that reasoning, I could not stop her.

"All right, but please do not overdo it."

"Okay!"
***
After everyone, Rin included, poured their efforts into the outer wall construction.

The outer wall was completed in a month and a half.

It was built taller and thicker than the original fortress wall.

Moat work around the outer wall immediately followed.

That too was finished in one month.

Next came the restaurant expansion.

The existing restaurant was temporarily relocated to the space between the inner and outer walls.

It would operate there until the new restaurant was complete.

Customers kept coming regardless.

The new restaurant was built not from Kertanium Stone but from an even rarer mineral called Anect.

Quarried from the Mine Dungeon.

'It feels like a blend of natural marble and high-end crystal formations.'

According to Maxim, it was a premium building material rare even in Gillieta.

Beautiful, durable, well-insulated, and unlike marble, easy to maintain.

The new restaurant would be twice as large and built with two stories.

The second floor would house a secondary kitchen, ingredient storage, and a staff break room.

Two months passed, and the restaurant was complete.

When the construction barriers were removed, the Hunters marveled.

"Wow...... the exterior is gorgeous."

"It looks seriously upscale."

"The old restaurant was a bit plain on the outside, but this is a total transformation."

"The building is sparkling."

"The carved details are art."

The restaurant's name was engraved in the upper right corner.

An-Restaurant.

Until now it had simply been called "the Rift restaurant."

From now on, An-Restaurant would be the official name.

The first day of business at the new restaurant began.

Customers seated at their tables looked around the interior in admiration.

"The tables are more spread out. I love it."

"The interior is just as luxurious as the exterior."

"It feels like I am at a Michelin fine dining restaurant."

"Seriously elegant."

Customer reactions were very positive.

There was one more reason for the enthusiasm.

Today, the grand opening day, all meals were complimentary.

Pasta, pizza, poke bowls, and a hamburger, fries, and coleslaw set.

All made with A-Rank crops, providing Mana stacking stat increases.

'The free opening-day meals are also a way to clear out A-Rank crop ingredient inventory.'

Thanks to Yeona, we were now harvesting only S-Rank crops.

In any case, the free food had customers eating with great satisfaction.

"So delicious!"

"Getting to eat premium dishes for free makes me so happy."

"If I finish all this, my Mana stat hits ninety-nine. Just one more to Second Awakening."

"Thanks to Chef An, I think I will hit A+-Rank soon."

But there was also less welcome news.

"I should be close to S-Rank too, but I hear the World Rift Management Council and World Hunter Association are planning a Hunter rank adjustment. The S-Rank threshold is going to be raised."

"I heard that too. The rarity of S-Rank Hunters has been declining."

"That is all because of Chef An."

"Right, Chef An's food has been raising the average Hunter level."

As the customers discussed, the average rank of Hunters staying at the Outpost was steadily rising.

Thanks to eating my food and increasing their stats.

The Hunter industry was calling for the existing stat thresholds to be raised.

They felt the need to recalibrate so that S-Rank maintained its rarity.

Additionally.

'There are also calls for creating a new R-Rank.'

R-Rank stood for Royal Rank.

If created, Ria and I would certainly qualify.

The Sword Saint elder probably would too.

'Three from Korea alone......'

Worldwide, perhaps around ten.

Among those, adding Santos and Eriksson meant our guild alone would have five.

'All thanks to the Sovereign's Bond skill.'

Not just the Sovereign's Bond effect, but these individuals had been by my side since the early days, eating more stat and stacking stat dishes than anyone.

Naturally their stats were high.

In any case, the main conversation topic among customers on the new restaurant's opening day was "stats" and "ranks."

***

Yeona turned three.

She now spoke clearly and articulately, and had moved well beyond walking to running around energetically.

She even sang and danced well.

As much as Yeona had changed, a major change came for me as well.

The Fourth Awakening.

'The condition for the Fourth Awakening was not Mana 300, but 350......'

All the daily S-Rank crop meals had paid off.

Mana enveloped my entire body and heat surged through me.

The familiar sensation of Awakening, already experienced three times.

Soon, refreshing mana wrapped around my body, protecting me and cooling the searing heat.

The mana that had cooled my body then concentrated near my heart.

A clear, resonant sound rang in my ears.

TING!

[Fourth Awakening successful. The heart's Dual Mana Hall has expanded.]

The Fourth Awakening was a success.

And with it, an additional skill was obtained.