Chapter 78: Sweet Talk
Until one time, this great figure was invited to the Sub-human Species’ gathering place, Amarga of the Thousand-Color Bay, to give a speech in its unique city square.
No one could have expected that his Talent had mutated when he advanced to the Legendary rank.
But he himself was completely unaware.
As a result, right at the climax of his speech, the sanity of the hundreds, even thousands, of feline Sub-humans in the audience evaporated in an instant.
They started purring one after another and even began rolling on the ground and acting cute, completely disregarding their image.
To make matters worse, several Cat-eared Female Knights in Heavy Armor rushed onto the stage, grabbed the Legendary figure’s leg, and started rubbing against it frantically.
The scene was an absolute disaster.
In the end, that Legendary Adventurer suffered a complete social death and was listed by Amarga as an "Extremely Dangerous Individual," banned from entry for life.
In addition, the book also recorded Talents like [Armor Piercing Resonance], known as the public enemy of female Professionals, and [True Confession], which would cause one to have absolutely no friends...
With these precedents setting the stage, Lance felt the excuse he had fabricated was simply ironclad.
"So, if you felt any discomfort just now, like feeling hot or dizzy, that might have been my Talent taking Effect."
Lance looked into the girl’s eyes, his tone sincere.
"I swear, I absolutely did not intentionally use any strange Spells on you."
"If you find it troubling, or if you really can’t stand it, I can try to talk less and use hand gestures to communicate from now on."
Right now, Lance’s mind was completely focused on passing the blame to his nonexistent Talent.
’As long as I’m not seen as some pervert who uses dirty tricks on young girls, I’ll be fine.’
"Ah! So that’s what it was!"
After hearing his explanation, understanding dawned on Cecilia.
A flash of realization flickered in her eyes.
’No wonder!’
’No wonder my skin felt hot the moment Senior touched my wrist.’
’No wonder my ears started to get red and tingly whenever he spoke, and even my legs felt a little weak.’
’So it wasn’t because I had some strange illness, nor was it because Senior had any ill intentions.’
’It was actually the influence of a Talent!’
She had indeed read the story about the Adventurer with the "catnip Constitution" in the miscellaneous section of the academy library, and at the time, she thought it was just a joke made up by a Minstrel.
She never expected reality to be even more absurd than the stories.
’It seems Senior’s Talent is some sort of strange Trait that specifically affects Half-Elves.’
Seeing the apologetic and even cautious expression on Lance’s face, a soft spot in Cecilia’s heart was suddenly touched.
’Senior is such a gentle and powerful person.’
’Yet because of an uncontrollable Talent like this, he has to be constantly cautious when interacting with others, and even feels insecure and guilty about it.’
’How unfair is that to him?’
’How could I blame him? How could I let him feel upset over something he can’t choose?’
An inexplicable sense of mission rose in the young girl’s heart.
"Senior, you don’t need to apologize!"
Cecilia suddenly raised her head, her tone unusually firm, and she even took a small step forward.
"Talents are bestowed by the gods and arranged by fate. This has never been your fault."
She looked at Lance, her gaze as earnest as if she were taking an oath.
"Besides, please don’t underestimate me."
"I’m a top student from Violet Academy, you know. We undergo specialized training to resist negative Spirit effects at the academy."
"It’s true!"
Afraid Lance wouldn’t believe her, she quickly added details.
"The academy has special resistance courses for the Curse System. During the final exams each year, our instructors require us to endure Curse System Spells of different Levels for a specific duration to earn credits."
She wasn’t entirely lying about this part.
"So, Senior, please just talk as you normally would. Don’t feel burdened by this at all."
To prove her point, Cecilia even told a small, white lie.
"Actually... that Effect just now wasn’t a big deal for me. I really only felt it a tiny bit."
"I was just a little unused to it since it’s my first time. After a few more times, I’m sure it will be no problem at all!"
Hearing the girl’s understanding words, Lance’s tense nerves finally relaxed.
He let out a long sigh of relief.
’Looks like the system’s description was pretty reliable after all. The so-called "mild hallucinogenic and relaxing" Effect must really be very mild.’
’Since she said it was just "a tiny bit," it should be easy to overcome.’
’It can’t be like those exaggerated anime from my past life, where a few words could make someone’s legs go weak and cause them to collapse, right?’
"That’s good."
Lance nodded, trying to shake the strange, trashy images forming in his mind.
’Since the misunderstanding is cleared up, it’s time to get back to work.’
’After all, I haven’t met today’s mob-grinding quota yet.’
"Let’s keep moving, then."
Lance said, adjusting the pack on his back.
"Mhm!"
Cecilia nodded forcefully and followed behind him.
Although the misunderstanding had been resolved, her pointed ears, hidden among her silver hair, were still flushed an unnatural crimson. They even continued to emit waves of a tingling, electric sensation.
The feeling was like ants crawling on her auricles, making her want to reach up and rub them, yet she didn’t dare do so in front of her senior.
Just as the two of them started walking, another line of small, Blue text popped up on Lance’s retina.
[You used smooth-talking to make the Half-Elf mistakenly agree with your viewpoint. You have understood the thought characteristics of the Sub-human Species·Half-Elf. Half-Elf Research Progress +2]
Seeing this notification, the corner of Lance’s mouth twitched slightly.
’What do you mean, "smooth-talking"?’
’This was clearly a white lie.’
He took the opportunity to glance at the detailed panel for [Biological Research].
The Half-Elf Illustrated Guide was currently stuck at Level 2. To reach the next Level, the progress bar showed a full 30 points were needed.
Seeing this number, Lance actually let out a huge sigh of relief internally.
’Thank goodness, thank goodness.’
’If it leveled up after just a couple of touches and a few words like before, who knows what kind of weird, socially-crippling Trait the next level would unlock.’
This high threshold actually gave him enough of a buffer to adapt.
The two of them passed through a sparse thicket and arrived at their second mission location for the day.
This was a rocky beach downstream on the river.
Compared to the open riverbank from yesterday, the terrain here was significantly more complex.
Lance stood on high ground, his keen gaze sweeping over the environment below.
As far as the eye could see, Stone Shell River Crabs disguised as rocks were scattered about, lying prone on the riverbank.
He did a rough count; there were about twenty-eight or twenty-nine of them, three or four more than in the area from yesterday.
The terrain was even more troublesome.
There wasn’t a perfect, V-shaped natural rock crevice to use for positioning like yesterday.
This time, a dozen or so boulders, ranging from half a person’s height to several people tall, were scattered haphazardly across the river beach, forming an open battlefield that resembled a Maze.