District 7(2)

Essence Removal.

While every priest of archbishop rank or above could use this skill, there’s one condition for removing an essence.

It can only be done inside a “temple.”

That’s exactly why so many of those Noark bastards ended up ruining their characters after consuming the wrong essences.

Because removing an essence means putting your life on the line.

Even more so if their face is widely known.

“Phew…”

With a slight stagger, I handed the blue dagger back to the priest.

Every time I erased a soul, the emptiness I felt was overwhelming. It wasn’t simply because my stats had dropped.

It’s hard to put into words, but…

‘It feels like a part of my soul is being torn away.’

That’s the closest way to describe it.

Now I understand why MP is referred to as “soul power” in this world.

Swish.

I wondered if filling the empty space with something else might help, so I quickly pulled out a test tube from my subspace.

A custom essence combining Arbet, Uumdal, and the [Gigantification] of the Orc Hero.

As I popped it and poured it into my mouth like a potion, a thought crossed my mind.

If this were a game, what name would appear for the custom monster?

「The [Soul of ????] seeps into the character’s spirit.」

Hmm. Surely they wouldn’t have just lazily left it as a bunch of question marks, right?

Who knows? Anyway, I pushed aside the random thoughts and focused on the changes I could feel in my body.

Among explorers, there’s a slang term called “taming.”

The more you focus on the changes in your body when consuming an essence, the easier it is to adapt to the new ability.

“Strength +100.”

I felt a surge of vitality that made me feel like I could lift anything. Of course, if we’re only talking about the base strength boost, it probably wasn’t on par with an Ogre’s.

“Jump Power +120.”

The muscles in my thighs tightened.

“Physical Resistance +80.”

My tough skin became even tougher.

“Hearing +60.”

Sounds in the air became sharper and clearer.

No matter how much I focused, those were the only immediate changes I could detect.
Well, that doesn’t mean it’s all.

「Darkness resistance has increased by +40.」

「Soul power has increased by +50.」

「Natural regeneration has increased by +80.」

「Stamina has increased by +60.」

「Bone density has increased by +60.」

「Absorption has increased by +60.」

Ogres have high raw stats, but in total combined stats, they can’t compare to Arvet.

Of course, Arvet’s skills are terrible, but…

But since I used the Basement Floor’s system to store only the stats into the essence, that didn’t
apply to me.

“Huu…”

Once I’d finished adapting to the stat changes, I carefully opened my subspace.

Due to Uumdal’s passive skill, I had stored away all the Numbers items I’d been wearing.

[Soul Link] – The first piece of equipment acquired becomes bound and grants additional
abilities.

[The first piece of equipment acquired]

In the game, it was phrased like that, but in reality, the passive only works with “Numbered Items.”

Also…

‘If I mess up the binding, there’s no going back.’

Since the binding can only be done once, I always had to be extremely careful when handling Uumdal’s soul.

If I consumed it while fully equipped, one of the items would randomly bind.

Swish.

I reached into my subspace and visualized the specific item I wanted to retrieve.

A large, solid “something” filled my grip.

‘No.87: Kraul’s Demon Crusher.’

…Of course not.

While the Demon Crusher is a high-performance weapon and choosing it would have made me plenty strong…

‘It’s not worth wasting a passive slot on.’

There are countless passive skills better suited for a Shield Barbarian. I would’ve picked one of those passives over this in my build, but only if I didn’t already have this one.

「The character has equipped No.3: Aegis’s Barrier.」

「Total item level has increased by +18,600.」

A top-tier shield I normally wouldn’t have been able to obtain until much later.

「Call of the Soul.」

「No.3: Aegis’s Barrier has been permanently bound to the character.」

「Bound equipment cannot be destroyed.」

「All effects of bound equipment are increased by 10%.」

「When defeating monsters, bound equipment gains independent experience points. Upon reaching certain levels, the equipment unlocks unique effects.」

This shield is now a growth type.
***
[Soul Link]

It was a core skill I always took when building my shield dwarf, which relied on synergies between numbered items.

Naturally, I had researched it extensively and memorized the unique effects of most high-tier equipment.

‘Its unique effects unlock at Level 9.’

Of course, even without unlocking unique effects, it was already a great skill.

Each level increased the equipment’s performance by 10%.

Even so, it’s kind of a shame I ended up stacking the indestructibility effect twice…

Well, to be fair, most high-tier Numbered Items already come with indestructibility, so it’s not a
huge loss.

As for the binding… It’s not like I ever planned to sell it anyway, so it’s not a downside for me.

‘Gigantification.’

After confirming that my active was working properly, I glanced around.

It seemed like everyone else was finishing up, too.

After all, I wasn’t the only one who needed to reorganize.

「The [Soul of ????] seeps into Amelia Rainwales’s spirit.」

「The [Soul of ????] seeps into Misha Karlstein’s spirit.」

「The [Soul of ????] seeps into Erwin Fornacci di Tercia’s spirit.」

The three damage-dealing sisters (?) each received their own custom essence.

And…

「The [Soul of ????] seeps into Aynar Pheneline’s spirit.」

「The [Soul of ????] seeps into Aynar Pheneline’s spirit.」

After erasing the essences of Smearg ([Mendel Oil]) and Vitlan ([Beast Control]), Aynar was able to slot two custom souls.

The change was immediate.

“The two essences combined equal 100 Fighting Spirit, right?

Theoretically, this should fully compensate for the lost Fighting Spirit due to the Hippramagent’s essence.”

And it was easy to tell Aynar was back to normal.

“BETHEL—RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Yeah, this is the battle cry of a Barbarian.

Watching Aynar roar with enough force to shake the whole hall filled me with pride. But then
Amelia approached me.

“How’s the new essence? Do you like it?” I asked

“We’ll talk about that later. First, we need to move on to the next stage before we waste any more time.”

You know, you could at least look happy about your new essence, even if you don’t feel like roaring like Aynar.

“…Got it.”

“Sigh… I like it, so stop sulking.”

“Oh, really?”

Anyway, Amelia was right; we didn’t have time to waste. So, I quickly moved on to the next phase of the plan.

“EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!”

Before leading them to raid another prison, there was one task that had to be done first.

“This is a historic moment!”

Sensing that a speech was about to begin, everyone fell silent and stared at me.

No one looked bored.

In fact, most of them had slightly excited looks in their eyes.

“Right now, Raphdonia is in crisis. The filthy rat bastards living underground have set their sights on our city.”

Living in this barbarian body, I realized something about myself, I had a talent for speeches. I think Amelia said I was made for it, or something like that.

“And! We are extremely lucky to have been living here!”

“What do you mean, lucky……?”

“Out of all those cities, ours was the one that got hit, isn’t that incredibly unlucky?”

My words planted question marks in the crowd’s eyes.

All reasonable doubts.

Which was why…

Now.

When the atmosphere was just right—

“No! We are all lucky! At the very least, we have been given a chance! A chance to save our city from crisis, and to claim a ‘great merit’ no one else can match!”

I continued my speech.

There was no need for a long speech.

They were all explorers, after all.

No one understood what they wanted better than I did.

“And so, I make this promise to you now.”

“When all of this is over, I, Bjorn, son of Jandel, dare to say this in front of the royal family!”

“I didn’t do this alone.”

“This city was saved because of the blood and sweat you all shed!!”

As I raised my clenched fist high, the crowd erupted into cheers as if they’d been waiting for this moment.

“WAAAAAAAAAH!!”

Was it because my fame had grown?

Or because I was just getting better at this with practice?

I didn’t know, but rousing a crowd like this seemed easier by the day.

At the very least, with this much performance, no one will doubt my sincerity later…

Unlike my passionate words, I coolly scanned the crowd before raising my voice again.

“But!”

Thinking I was starting another speech, the explorers again fell silent and listened.

“The enemy is strong! These rats have been fattening themselves on our stores, and to drive them out, we will have to spill our own blood!”

“I don’t care!!”

“I’ll kill them all!!”

Even as I emphasized the danger, the explorers, seeing this as an opportunity, refused to back down.

Not that that was a bad thing, but…

It was about time to get to the main point.

“Ahem! I admire your courage and spirit. But! As a noble of Laphdonia, a warrior, an explorer, and someone who loves this city more than anyone, I want as little bloodshed as possible. I want all of you to return alive to your families.”

The speech was really just bait for what I was about to say next.

“And so, I, Bjorn, son of Jandel, have made a decision.”

“…?”

“Starting now, I will distribute essences to all of you!!”

You know that famous saying, the more you share, the more you have?

This was exactly that kind of situation.
***
“…Huh?”

The explorers’ expressions twisted at the announcement of free essence distribution.

Well, it’s understandable.

They must be wondering why this suddenly successful Barbarian is spouting such nonsense.

Even my allies’ reactions weren’t much different.

“If you’re giving out essences…”

“You mean the ones from Basement Floor, right?”

“But why would you give away something so valuable…?”

Only Amelia remained calm.

Of course, she knew.

That this “free distribution” would ultimately bring me great benefits.

Obviously, it’s not just about reducing the spoils going to the royal family, our potential enemies.

Think about it.

‘If I just dump a bunch of essences here, who’s going to know how many are left?’

In simple terms, by dumping the trash essences on the explorers, I can quietly keep the high-value essences for myself.

There’s no way for the royal family to find out I only handed out the low quality essences.

It might sound scummy, but…

‘Casualties are inevitable in war.’

How are they going to investigate?

How would they know if the dead guy consumed a high quality or a low-quality essence?

And the justification is perfectly clean.

If I say it was an “investment to save the city,” who could complain?

Of course, in wartime, things just… go missing.

The technical term for it is tax-evasion, I think.

Anyway, that’s not important right now…

“Alright, alright! Everyone, come here! No pushing! There’s still plenty of essence to go around!”

And so, I officially began the distribution

 

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