Desire

“.. 26? ”

“Yes, 26. ”

Rivera nods loudly. 26, 26...? Ajin felt a little dizzy. What the hell do you mean, your level sucks? Daisy's party, which Azin dragged away and discarded immediately, was also more level than Rivera's. You've reached this mountain at such a low level?

“.. how? ”

Azin was absurd, but he suppressed it. Rivera tilts her head in response to Azin's question.

“Yes? What? ”

“.. you said 26. At that level, you won't be able to wander around the wild forest easily. ”

Throw the bait again. The biggest problem with drifting through the forest is the golden wolf. The path to Lake Valkun is the realm of the golden wolf, the most powerful wolf except the boss in the wild forest. You must be hiding something. Azin was convinced of him. When Ajin stayed in the lower ranks, he used to hunt golden wolves by himself with a thousand-man monk handed over to the Raw Snow Scent. Rivera might have a hidden hand like that, too.

“It's my skills. ”

Rivera smiles widely and says. In saying this, he barely caught on to the fact that his mouth was about to sag. Yeah, I bet you have something to hide. I never imagined it would be so easy to tell, but if they come out so foolishly, this is convenient.

“What skills did you learn...? ”

Be careful, not blatant. Azin looks at Rivera's attention while blurring his horse's tail. However, Rivera still smiles brightly. She hugs her knee a little closer and replies.

“Energy drains and rebounds. ”

“.. Yes? ”

In Ribera's reply, Azin asks, "I don't know myself." She tilts her head and says again.

“The energy drain and rebound. That's the skill I learned. Oh, don't you know? I mean, the energy drain is a superpower.

With both arms gesturing, she was forced to look at Rivera with a dazed face, frankly describing her skills. No explanation necessary, no energy drain, no rebound. I know what the skill is. By the way, the energy drain is one of the superpowers Azin selected in the tutorial. Direct use has been reduced more than before because of the skyscraper and the salsa, but still Azin has been using it consistently while mixing the energy drain with each hit.

And rebound. It was one of the superpowers I didn't learn in person, but was considerably concerned when learning specialized skills in the tutorial. It could not be used for direct attacks, but it was one of the abilities that could be used as an absolute shield. The user absorbs every attack it touches with its psyche and restores the target's original impact. This is one of the psychic abilities that was trampled on because direct attacks are difficult and consuming and might not be good enough to continue the battle.

“So how did you write it? Wolves just came at us, didn't they? It's an attack. It can withstand a rebound, replenish the energy drain.”

Rivera shudders and explains. Her face is filled with an innocent smile, as if to ask for praise. Azin looks at her face and hears all about her. From what I've heard, Rivera wasn't very interested in the hunt and wasn't very good at it. When I was hunting parties, I was in charge of the main tanker or the sub tanker, and I lost interest in hunting, and I believed in my abilities, and I went everywhere.

“It's hard to catch monsters with my abilities. ”

I have no choice. Direct attack is only an energy drain. Reflects damage with rebound, replenishing mental strength with it. It is natural for the Pokémon to lose its effectiveness because it has no powerful attack skills.

“So I ran a lot. But no matter how many times I ran, the wolves kept chasing me, and no matter how much I replenished my strength... I ran into the lake, so I didn't chase the wolves, but wow. I almost died back then. The lake is so deep... Luckily there were no monsters! ”

So she crossed the lake. On the other side of the lake, the wolf doesn't leave yet, and she hesitates to do something about it, then climbs up the cliff.

So Rivera arrives at the blue volcano.

“.. is that all you've learned? ”

The user does not trust the target. It is foolish to think that this side would trust the target unconditionally. Though the thought has faded, there is a good chance that Rivera is the proxy. Your level is too low, your rank is too low, and you have no achievements... but you are the first to arrive at the Blue Volcano and be crowned by a dragon. The possibility of being a delegate is not zero.

“There are only two skills available in the tutorial, right? ”

In Azin's question, Rivera tilts her head back. Ajin closes his open lips.

“Well, yes.”

“It looks like you can learn skills from NPCs, but... Oh, I see. The woman who came with you, NPC, right? Looks like you're close with Mr. Basrodel. ”

“.. Yes, NPC is correct. ”

This does not need to be a lie. It is known to have the same AI as humans, so it is not impossible to travel with NPCs depending on how you do it. I've been living with Vasrodel, the Liberado Dragon, for days now.

“How did you deal with Ajin? Well, log out. ”

Rivera glares at you and asks. The question stopped for a moment. NPCs in this world are not aware that they are NPCs. In fact, it's funny to think of yourself as NPC because you're a real person, not a NPC, but for players, NPC is just NPC.

“.. how did you deal with Rivera? ”

“Well, I didn't know what to do, so I just let it go and logged out. I reconnected later, and Mr. Basrodel didn't really care. Just," Hello? ’It ended with a question like this...'

Rivera mirrors Basrodel's accent, pouting on her lips. Although it was not similar at all, Ajin smiled politely.

“In my case, it was the same. NPCs in the world are not aware of NPCs, but apparently they are set to ignore systemic issues such as logging out. ”

Psychomanipulation. Ajin kicks his tongue small. A living person, not an NPC. manipulation of them. Minimal manipulation to keep you alive in this game. Has it subdued even dragons? No, maybe Hiddenpiece... he chewed off the tip of his tongue to get rid of the unpleasantness that came to his mind. That can't be right. Hiddenpiece is an apparatus for the progress of this system. I already know everything in this world and know the purpose of the game. There's no need to manipulate them.

“Logging out doesn't bother me much, but, uhh... doing nothing in the cave is so boring. You know, I've never seen Basrodel whine like before. ”

“Do you usually look different? ”

“Yes, most of the time. Sometimes when you talk to Jeremiah, he's a little squirmy, but he's not very good to me. Most of them crouch in the form of dragons. ”

She giggles as she says.

“It was the same when you left, but you must be feeling really good. Has it been a long time since you've seen a friend? ”

“I suppose so.”

Ajin gives me a fair fight. He stares at Rivera's face and conflicts between his thoughts. Rivera's a proxy, isn't she? Just trust her words, Rivera has mastered only energy drains and rebounds and is not interested in hunting. Low level, low rank. Is that true? I was inclined to think further.

‘.. not a proxy. ’

And finally, he carefully reassures himself. Rivera is not a proxy. Just a player who's been through something special, as she said. Hiddenpiece transfers skills by selecting a surrogate from players. That's how delegates are made. But Rivera has never met Hiddenpiece, nor has she gained any other skills.

But the question remains.

“Well, there's a magic group. ”

Ajin asked me a few times. Rivera, who was looking at the ant passing by the ground, looks at him in horror as he talks.

“What? What did you say?”

“I was asking about the sorcery cast on the floor where Rivera stood. ”

“Th-that was made by Basrodel. It attracts the magical powers around me, and it helps me to think that my abilities are amazing. Thanks to you, your skill level has increased dramatically. Increased mental strength!”

Rivera giggles, and then talks. Suddenly, she's exhausted and shrunk.

“.. it'll reset it, but... ugh, no, really...”

Rivera grunts with her eyes lowered. I thought it would be the kind of dark magic gathered around the Enchanted City, but it was. I thought there might be something special that I didn't feel, but it was a simple tilt.

‘I'm not a proxy. ’

Again, he was convinced. Rivera is receiving direct help from the dragon, but has not come into contact with Hiddenpiece. Then she is not the proxy. To be honest, Azin did not know exactly what the proxy's qualifications were. High level, some accomplishments, and a student of Hiddenpiece. That's all he knows. Devello and Laquis each rank in third place, and one of them is likely to be a surrogate. However, there is still one person left. But can Level 26 really be a proxy?

‘.. no way. ’

Ajin shakes his head.

*

“What do you want to talk about? ”

With Azin and Rivera out of sight, Basrodel turns his head to look at the black snow scent. Raw Snow's scent settles on the ground and bites the pipe into her mouth.

“What's that bitch? ”

During the puffy smoke, the smell of raw snow narrowed my eyes. Her thoughts were similar to Azin's. The only other thing is, Azin asked Libera directly about her identity and Vasrodel for the black snow scent.

“... what, Libera? I'm something else.”

I muttered, expressing a stiff expression as if it was full of steam. She swoops in front of the Black Snow and reaches out and takes away the tobacco from the smell of Black Snow. Then he opened his lips and asked for a tobacco pipe even before the smell of raw snow was over.

“Whoa. I'm just holding him because he's weird and bored. That's it.”

Vasrodel replies with a burst of smoke. She crosses her arms by handing the pipe back to the black snow scent.

“I've been alone for decades. Ah, Jeremiah is as boring and clumsy as the air in a cave to me, so don't count. ”

“A great dragon cannot see more than a passing dog. ”

Jeremiah bows his head without any unpleasantness. Basrodel looks down at Jeremiah, pouting on his lips.

“Look, it's not very funny, is it? So I was bored. It's been a long time, and I didn't want to miss it.”

“What are you thinking? ”

The scent of Raw Snow stared at Basrodel and asked. Basrodel pauses and tilts his head.

“... what? ”

Basrodel asks again. In the question, the smell of black snow narrows his eyes and raises his hand to the magic camp painted on the floor.

“The sorcerer. You've drawn the magic of the entire mountain. Wh-what are you building? ”

The scent of Raw Snow stared at Basrodel and asked. In response, Bashrodel blinks for a moment and bursts his smile.

“What am I talking about? Why, it's common. ”

“What the hell? ”

Raw Snow asked with an annoying voice. In response, Bashrodel shrugs and smiles brightly.

“I'm building a warrior. ”

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Persian will appear on a regular basis. It's connected to the shadow of Azin and the castle of Persiq, so if Azin doesn't die, if he doesn't die, if he doesn't die, then it's going to be important to the end. And not all girls have been heroes. Each has a role to play and will share in the story.