Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Explosive Growth

[Acresia covets the Transcendent-Grade Undead Monster, Bone Dragon.]

[Acresia covets the Transcendent-Grade Undead Monster, Lich.]

It appeared.

Go ahead and devour them, but level up in return.

Perhaps it received that will of mine.

[Acresia begins devouring the Bone Dragon first.]

[Progress: 0%]

The devouring process had begun.

However, the progress was climbing agonizingly slowly.

It seemed Undead Monsters were not easy to devour.

I explained to Ria that the devouring was underway and that it would likely take a long time.

"Then shall we explore deeper inside while we wait?"

"Let's do that."

"Fenrir, are you alright?"

When Ria asked, Fenrir nodded.

"There may be traps left behind, so be careful. I will stay here and recover from my internal injuries."

"Understood."

And so, just the two of us, Ria and I carefully ventured deeper into the Dragon's tomb.

Past the corridor that followed the enormous hall where the battle had taken place, we emerged into yet another massive hall.

Carved into the floor of the hall was something resembling a gigantic magic circle, drawn in blood.

"Seon-u, this must be the dark magic circle that was used to create the Bone Dragon."

"It seems so. Is that pit below where the Bone Dragon had been entombed?"

"Judging by how it has been excavated, it looks like it."

At the far end of the massive hall, there were traces of the ground having been dug to an extreme depth by deliberate means.

It was so deep that one would have to descend for quite a while along a spiraling dirt path.

It appeared that the Dragon's bones and Dragon Heart had been unearthed from that pit.

We carefully made our way down.

'There is nothing left.'

Just dirt and debris.

I searched thoroughly in case something remained, but there was nothing at all.

We climbed back up and examined the other spaces connected to the hall.

'In games and movies, Dragons are always depicted as greedy creatures that hoard gold and jewels, but there is not a single shiny pebble here, let alone gold.'

Perhaps the Dragon had tidied everything up before entering eternal slumber.

Still, we did manage to find one thing.

A large oak barrel, sitting alone in a cave that appeared to have been a storage area.

When I removed the cap on top and smelled the contents, a rich wine aroma wafted out.

"It is red wine."

"It smells lovely."

The scent was pleasant rather than off-putting, so it seemed drinkable.

I pointed at the oak barrel and spoke to Ria.

"It is already too late to head back today anyway. How about we stay the night here and have a drink?"

"Sure. Fenrir is injured too, so that would be for the best. I think a few of her ribs are broken."

"Really......? She looked fine on the outside. I had no idea."

"A Divine Beast's regeneration should have her healed up in a day, though."

And so it was decided that we would stay here for the night.

'The devouring progress is still only at 21%.'

It felt like two hours had passed, and it seemed to be climbing at roughly 10% per hour.

Just as well, actually.

The expedition was a success. A celebratory drink did not sound half bad.

We carried the oak barrel back to where Fenrir was.

"Are you alright?"

When I asked, Fenrir cracked open the eyes she had been keeping shut.

"No, I am not."

I had expected her to say she was fine, but she said she was not.

If Fenrir did not recover, we had no way to return.

We did not even know the way back, and even if we traveled in a straight line without getting lost, it would easily take over two weeks.

Therefore, we absolutely had to travel with Fenrir.

"Perhaps eating some fresh raw meat would help me heal faster."

Ah, so she was faking it because she wanted raw meat.

Between the Korean beef, wagyu, duck, lamb, and pork that Fenrir had eaten on the way here, the bill must have easily exceeded ten million won.

She was draining the stockpile of premium meats I had hoarded.

"Alright, today we feast until we burst, in honor of our victory."

That was the plan, but—

Acresia would not open, probably because the devouring was still in progress.

"......Acresia will not open."

"......I am hungry. May I eat the male human?"

At Fenrir's remark, Ria placed her hand on the hilt of her sword.

Fenrir backpedaled quickly.

"That was a joke."

"Mine was too."

Ria and Fenrir had gotten close enough to joke around with each other.

'Still, not having Acresia available is really inconvenient.'

I was realizing just how dependent I had become on Acresia.

I spoke to Ria.

"Shall we just have a glass of the wine the Dragon left behind?"

"Let's. But we do not have cups to pour it into. I will make some."

Ria selected a suitable rock and, coating her dagger in Aura, began slicing through the stone as if it were tofu.

She shaped the outside, hollowed out the inside, and fashioned two stone cups.

Then she rubbed them rapidly with cloth for a polishing finish.

'Incredible.......'

Ria poured wine from the oak barrel into the handmade stone cups and handed one to me.

A system message appeared.

[Wine Imbued with Dragon Mana]

[Effect: Mana +3 (does not stack)]

[Rarity: S-Rank]

What......?

Mana increased by a full 3 points.

I had thought we had come away with nothing, but an unexpected jackpot had appeared.

When I took a sip, the aroma and flavor were both excellent.

"The taste is quite good."

I had once tried a wine aged over a hundred years at Director Jang's wine shop, and this one felt far more deeply matured than that.

After a single glass, my Mana stat rose by 3.

Unfortunately, there had been no treasure inside the Dragon's tomb, but I had gained a stat boost through the wine.

The 20-liter oak barrel was still brimming with wine.

***

The next day, I opened my eyes.

Ria had gone outside to gather firewood and lit a fire with magic, so I had slept without feeling cold.

However, since Acresia could not be opened, I had been unable to take out a tent, mat, or sleeping bag. Sleeping on the bare stone floor had left my entire body stiff and sore.

Had the Acresia devouring progress finished?

Time to check.

[Acresia is devouring the Lich.]

[Progress: 96%]

The Bone Dragon was done, and it was now devouring the Lich, it seemed.

The Lich was being devoured at a much faster rate.

"It should be done soon."

It did not seem like there had been a level up after devouring the Bone Dragon.

As for the Lich, well.......

Ria came to my side to wait for the result as well.

"It will work, Seon-u. I have a feeling."

"If it is your intuition, then I trust it."

It reached 99%.

We waited just a little longer.

It hit 100%.

A system message appeared.

[Acresia has finished devouring the Lich.]
[Acresia has been promoted to Ancient A-Grade.]
[As an achievement reward, all stats increase by +10.]
[Acresia's skill "Absorption" has been enhanced.]
[Acresia's skill "Release" has been enhanced.]
[Acresia has acquired the new skill "Gate."]

Promotion successful!

"Ria, it got promoted!"

"Wow—! Congratulations!"

Ria and I threw our arms around each other and savored the joy.

Before coming here, we had felt a great deal of shyness about physical contact.

But after sleeping in each other's arms throughout the journey, we had grown somewhat accustomed to hugging.

However.......

"Wait a moment......"

"What? Is there a problem?"

"All stats...... increased by a whole 10."

"Ten? Then it went up by a lot, did it not?"

"It did......"

The increase was staggeringly large.

In terms of stats alone, I had firmly entered A-Rank combat capability.

And it was not just the stats.

The Absorption and Release Skills had been enhanced as well.

With the skills strengthened on top of everything else, I wondered if I now possessed combat power rivaling or surpassing that of an S-Rank Hunter.

On top of all that, I had acquired a new skill.

[Acresia-exclusive "Gate" skill: Opens a Gate that allows travel through Rifts. Maintained only while the skill is active.]

A Rift travel ability.

In other words, it was not the ability to open Rifts like what Archmage Yaike's report described.

It was the ability to temporarily open a Gate portal for travel.

'So there is a difference between the ability to permanently open a Rift at a specific location, and a temporary travel portal.'

Which was the superior ability: the power to open Rifts, or the Gate?

Beside me, Ria placed her hand on the back of mine.

"Seon-u, tell me what happened too. I am curious."

I told Ria about acquiring the "Gate" skill and explained what it did.

She tilted her head.

"Then does that mean Acresia and Yaike's report are different things?"

"It might be so."

"As far as I know, the ability to open Rifts described in Yaike's report was limited solely to the First Floor of the Rift. The Rifts that appeared in my world were all First Floor Rifts as well."

"Is that so? Then they really could be different."

The Gate skill had been learned within my mind.

According to that learned information, the Gate skill had no restrictions on crossing between floors.

Then Ria spoke.

"The Lich knew about Acresia too, and it spoke as if it intended to take Acresia from you and deliver it to its master, right?"

"That is right. And it said, 'For the sake of becoming one complete whole.'"

Ria and I explored several theories.

Among them, the most compelling one was this:

The being the Lich called its master possessed something very similar to Acresia — Yaike's report — and needed to take Acresia from me and merge the two in order to form one complete whole.

"Then does that mean Acresia and Yaike's report were originally one thing that was split into two?"

"For now, that seems like the most plausible theory."

If that was indeed the case, then I could breathe easier.

I had secretly worried that Acresia might be the same thing as Yaike's report.

Because if it belonged to someone who had massacred countless people, that would be deeply unsettling.

While Ria and I were putting our heads together over theories, a voice tinged with displeasure came from beside us.

"Are you finished......?"

Fenrir was staring at us with eyes full of grievance.

"If you are done, how about we start with a meal?"

We had been starving since yesterday afternoon.

"Let's do that."

I pulled out raw meat of various kinds from Acresia and served it to Fenrir.

She began eating, her tail wagging.

Ria and I also lightly grilled some steaks and ate them with a salad.

After the meal—

"Alright, I will try using it."

"Go ahead!"

I opened Acresia and activated the Gate skill.

Acresia transformed into a portal.

There were two options for the destination.

A location I remembered, or a random location.

'A location I remember.'

Among those, the place that warmed my heart the most.

I thought of our home in the Rift.

The scenery of our house shimmered within the portal gate.

Ria's face lit up when she saw the image.

"It is our house. I want to hurry back and see Rin and Bell."

"Me too. Shall we head back right away?"

"Yes."

I set our Rift home as the destination and activated the Gate.

CRACKLE!

A sparking sound rang out, and soon a Gate in the form of a portal materialized.

"Ria and Fenrir, go through first."

Fenrir whipped her head around.

"I am not going."

"Why? You should go see Bell."

"Seeing each other often is not good for either of us."

Her expression as she spoke looked lonely.

There seemed to be many meanings packed into those words.

Perhaps seeing Bell reminded her of her other pups who had died.

Or perhaps she believed Bell needed to distance herself from her mother in order to bond better with us.

Among other things.

Fenrir continued.

"Besides, the Gate is too narrow for me to pass through."

"That is true......"

It was barely large enough for about two people to walk through.

"Then I will see you next time. Come visit Bell once in a while."

"We will take good care of Bell."

"Very well."

We said our farewells and stepped through the Gate.

Since the Gate would close the moment I passed through, I let Ria go first.

Then I followed after her.

***

The moment we passed through the Gate, we truly arrived on the hill by our home in the Rift.

"Aroo! Aroo!"

Bell, who had been in the yard, sensed our presence and let out a howl toward the hilltop.

Hearing the bark, the S-Rank trio, who had been tending the farm with Rin, looked up toward the hill.

Then Rin called out to us.

"Ria! Seon-u!"

It was the first time I had ever heard Rin raise her voice that loudly.

She must have missed us that much.

We waved to Rin as well.

"Rin!"

"Rin, I missed you!"

We hurried down the hill, crouched low, and caught Rin as she came running into our arms.

We had only been apart for four days, and yet this was how happy we were to see each other.

If we had returned without the Gate skill, it would have taken a total of seven days.

In that case, Rin's worry would have grown with each passing day.

"Ria, Seon-u......!"

Rin nuzzled her face into our embrace.

"Rin, you must have worried about us so much. We are back safe and sound."

I gently patted Rin on the back.

Soon, Bell came running over and threw herself into our arms too.

"Aroo!"

"Hey, girl."

Traveling with just Ria was wonderful, but there was nothing happier than having the whole family together.