Chapter 154: Breakthrough to Level 3
Moira Lynch looked at the fluffy white ball that had suddenly appeared. She felt a strange sense of familiarity, but...
’When did it get into my space?’
Moira thought back carefully but couldn’t recall when she had brought it in.
She picked up the fluffy white ball and took a closer look. It was a fox.
It was plump and chubby, its eyes looked naturally lined, and its ears were incredibly expressive.
But...
"Why does a fox have a tail like a rabbit’s?"
Moira looked at the fluffy ball of a tail behind the little fox.
It must have been very excited, because as it wagged its tail, its chubby rump quivered along with it.
Beyond that, Moira could feel a distinct connection to the little fox.
Suddenly, a possibility struck her, and she grew excited. ’Could this be... her Spiritual Body?’
[Congratulations, Master. You guessed correctly.]
Patience suddenly chimed in, its voice filled with delight.
"But... aren’t Spiritual Bodies supposed to be majestic and formidable?"
’Why is my Spiritual Body so soft and cute? It looks completely harmless, aside from being adorable.’
’They say a Spiritual Body reflects one’s inner self. Does that mean I’m actually a cutesy girl at heart?’
[Spiritual Bodies are divided into four stages: Infancy, Growth, Mature, and Complete. Master’s Spiritual Body is currently in its Infancy stage. It is still very weak. Please take good care of it.]
Moira was a little disappointed to hear this, but not for long.
Her Spiritual Body might be weak, but on the bright side, she had reached level three. Many things that were impossible before were now within her reach.
Looking at the little cutie in her arms, she said softly, "I have lots of good things for you. Eat whatever you want, and grow up quickly."
AWOO.
The little fox yipped happily.
"Look at all your white fur. From now on, I’ll call you Snowy."
AWOO.
It liked the name.
’A Spiritual Body in its infancy is still very fragile, so Moira didn’t plan on bringing it outside. It would be better to leave it in her space. She’d take it out once it reached its growth stage and had some basic combat ability.’
After putting Snowy down, Moira went to another area where she kept the Artifice Beast Egg she had brought back from Glacius.
The Artifice Beast Egg was currently in a container, submerged in a green liquid.
Below the container was a twenty-hour countdown timer, meaning the Artifice Beast Egg still needed another twenty hours to hatch.
Moira had Patience set an alarm for an hour before the countdown finished, just in case something unexpected happened.
She patted the surface of the container, then left her space. Taking out her phone to check the time, she was surprised to see it was already noon.
She habitually checked the temperature. Sixty-five degrees Celsius.
The temperature had dropped compared to yesterday—a first.
Ever since the extreme heat began, the midday temperature had only ever climbed higher, never dropping, though it did cool in the mornings and evenings. This was the first time it had ever fallen during the day.
Moira didn’t pay it much mind, though. To her, there was little difference between seventy and sixty-five degrees; it was still too hot to go outside.
Kai York was the first to notice Moira coming downstairs and called out a greeting.
"Moira, you’re finally down! Hugh Finch saw Extremely Hot Mushrooms when he was divining earlier, so we’re planning to go gather some today. Want to come with us?"
Moira paused for a second, then nodded. "Of course. The Extremely Hot Mushrooms were a huge help during the game."
Even though she later gained Ice Resistance from the Ice Chestnuts, that didn’t diminish the contribution the Extremely Hot Mushrooms made early on.
Speaking of which, Kai York nodded in deep agreement. "They really were a lifesaver."
Without the Extremely Hot Mushrooms, they probably would have frozen to death long ago.
After all, the previous missions were on farms or grassy plains. Getting suddenly dropped into a frozen wasteland... they were instantly frozen stupid.
After lunch, Moira began her daily workout. Her sudden growth spurt and physical changes required her to adjust her training regimen.
First, she needed to increase the weights she was using. She also doubled her previous training routine.
Seeing how hard a young woman like Moira was pushing herself, Shane Rhodes, Kai York, and Hugh Finch felt they couldn’t just rest. They were several years older than her, after all.
One after another, they picked up their equipment and started training.
That evening, the group headed out together. "The temperature should have dropped to forty degrees by now," Hugh Finch remarked.
"Oh, really?"
Moira had been wearing the Chimefin scale, so she wasn’t very sensitive to the change in temperature.
Forty degrees was still hot, but for people who had just endured the peak of the extreme heat, it felt quite cool.
People bustled to and fro inside the base. More and more people had been arriving to settle there recently.
Moira looked out at the street. Everyone, men and women alike, had their hair shaved into a buzz cut. She couldn’t help but touch her own hair.
With the current water scarcity, even washing one’s face and brushing one’s teeth had become a luxury for ordinary people, let alone washing their hair.
A head full of greasy hair wasn’t just hot; it was also a breeding ground for illness. Shaving it all off was simply better.
These days, one didn’t even need to search for Extremely Hot Mushrooms. They were springing up everywhere, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.
People used to collect them, but now, no one bothered with Extremely Hot Mushrooms. Even the base had stopped accepting them.
The new favorite was the Delicious Mushroom.
Compared to the Extremely Hot Mushroom, the Delicious Mushroom was much rarer. It also looked so similar that one had to examine it closely to tell the difference.
The group kept gathering Extremely Hot Mushrooms.
Nearly every piece of wood was covered in Extremely Hot Mushrooms. They were packed so densely it was enough to trigger someone’s trypophobia.
As she gathered Extremely Hot Mushrooms, Moira opened her shop interface and changed the required trade item for Soldier Food Rattan back to Extremely Hot Mushrooms.
This time, however, she increased the price tenfold and set the quantity to one thousand units.
Less than five minutes after she listed the Soldier Food Rattan, a clamor of footsteps echoed from behind them.
Moira turned and was taken aback. Over a hundred people, sacks in hand, were charging up the mountain and frantically snatching the Extremely Hot Mushrooms off the tree trunks.
Seeing the commotion, Moira thought, ’Hadn’t she just shot herself in the foot?’
Fortunately, there were more than enough Extremely Hot Mushrooms to go around, even with so many people harvesting them.
So, even though people were harvesting at a frantic pace, no one was fighting over the mushrooms.
Once Moira had filled the Space Button she brought with her, she stopped collecting.
As she was wandering around, a splash of green suddenly caught her eye.
She went over to investigate and was surprised to find that a tree had started to sprout new leaves.
This was a rare sight. Caelus’s soil was so contaminated it couldn’t even sustain a cactus, let alone any other plants.