SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 197: Erosion (2)

A card glowed in my left hand. I was familiar with Skill Cards by now, but this one had a funny color.

Purple?

The class of the Skill determined the color of the card. Skills of Class F to C were ridiculed because their cards were the color of shit. Still, most Hunters’ Skill Cards were shit-colored, and many Hunters went to sleep crying because they didn’t even have one of those. Class B and A Skills were silver-colored. People considered them jackpots. Any Skill that was Class S and above was golden.

It was easy to forget from time to time, but my colleagues were very talented. It was quite difficult to even talk to Hunters with golden skills. Nonetheless, no one had a purple Skill Card.

Did an error occur?

I scanned the letters engraved on the front of the card.

Demonic Heaven Formula Arts.

Class: Undecided.

Effect: Formula arts based on the Demonic Heaven Arts, able to manifest the imagery that the casters share. The more casters participate in the formula, the more proficient the casters are in the Demonic Heaven Arts, and the clearer the imagery shared between the casters, the more powerful formula arts become.

The formula arts’ efficiency has not been proven yet! You are the first to create this Skill. From now on, you have to demonstrate its potential. When sufficient data has been accumulated, the Class and description of this Skill will be revised.

※Class hasn’t been decided yet.

Ah...

Now I understood why the card was purple.

Any Skill that is in trial mode seems to have a purple Skill Card. I didn’t know—

—Rad!

To my shock, the Guardian appeared right beside mine and screamed right into my ear.

What the...? What’s wrong with you?

The Guardian’s eyes sparkled.

—This is my first time seeing a purple Skill Card! Man, I never thought I would see something like this. I knew it was the right call to become a ghost instead of finding eternal peace!

It’s just a color, so why the fuss?

—Zombie, you usually catch up quicker than this. Wake up. Isn’t this strange? Would you make a symbol for a trial stage purple? When something’s effectiveness hasn’t been proven, the color is usually white.

Huh. You’re right. Purple isn’t usually the default color in cases like these.

—Yuh.

Hmm.

Perhaps the Tower’s master liked purple. When I thought about the Tower’s master, whose face I never got to see because of the darkness...

“Daddy.”

“Oh, sorry. My mind wandered for a moment,” I said, awkwardly scratching the back of my head.

“It’s okay.” Uburka shook his head, still holding onto my right hand. “But I believe I need to explain what this era is like. After all, there has to be a reason you arrived at this time. Something big is happening on the continent.”

“Something big?”

“That’s right. Perhaps it’s more fitting to say that something big is happening in the world, not just the continent,” Uburka said, grinning enigmatically. “They say that a new continent has been discovered.”

[You have been given a quest.]

The quest’s name was Age of Great Exploration.

***

A new continent was discovered twenty-four years ago.

“I stayed on the snow mountain for over three hundred and fifty years, but occasionally stopped by the city to eavesdrop on worldly affairs. I heard that, one day, a Fingil sea captain saw land that wasn’t on the map.”

Fingills were merfolk. They mostly enjoy living in rivers, but every now and then, an oddball was born among them. One Fingill wondered what the end of the ocean looked like. He happened to have the ability to satiate his curiosity, and even had the bravery to bet his life on his dream.

The Fingill captain gave a speech in front of the admirals. “I require your support. Because of their name, Terras are entitled to command the land. Those sly Sylvans also have control of the coins in our world because they are the most competent when it comes to money. However, the seas belong to Fingills and Fingills only. There shouldn’t be a single waterway we don’t know the depth and currents of!”

Despite the nonsensical speech, the admirals splashed their tails in agreement.

“You shall have one ship, one Bloodborn, and forty boatmen.”

And so began the legendary voyage.

“Hmm, they live in water. Does swimming make one think more freely or something? They also discovered seawater salt. It feels like the Fingills are the ones who come up with all kinds of unique stuff.”

“What happened to the captain?”

“He achieved his dream. Sixteen months after setting sail, he discovered the New Continent,” Uburka replied calmly. “On his glorious way back home, a killer whale ate him.”

That was just sad.

“It happens surprisingly often. Uger, the Fingills’ leading causes of death are crocodiles and killer whales, followed by drowning.”

“Merfolk can drown?”

“I don’t know the details either.”

The mystery deepened. The Black Witch sighed.

“You guys... Teleportation. When you’re using someone as your driver, can you at least pipe down? Teleportation. I’ve been listening to your conversation, but you annoy me a lot. Teleportation.”

The Black Witch repeatedly chanted “Teleportation” in between sentences because we were depending on her to get us to where we needed to be. Uburka held me in his huge arms, and I held the Black Witch in mine. Thanks to this arrangement, we could teleport around neatly. If anyone saw us from a distance, we would look like matryoshkas or kangaroos.

“Oh, don’t be mad. We’re providing a comfortable seat for you in return.”

“You guys may be comfortable, but I’m not. Teleportation. Do you know how cumbersome it is to cast the same Skill over and over again? Teleportation.”

“We’re basically family now. Speaking of which, now that we’ve gotten closer, can I call you sister? I have never called anyone sister since I entered the Tower, but I want to consider you my sibling, Black Dragon Master.”

“You’re the type of person who becomes endlessly more shameless the closer you get to someone, aren’t you? Teleportation.”

The ocean spread out below us. No matter where I turned to look, I couldn’t see land or even a single reef. The endless blue continued all the way to the horizon. We were crossing the ocean, heading for this new continent.

“Don’t call me sister, though. I hate the sound of that.”

I smirked. “Then shall I call you Her Majesty the Black Dragon Queen?”

“Death King, you’re so funny,” the Black Witch said. A short session of her high-fiving my face followed.

“I won’t make fun of you anymore,” I conceded with a pout.

“Good idea. Teleportation. If you want to call me differently, just call me senior. Teleportation. I’ll allow you that much.”

“Ah, that’s nice. Senior. You can just call me Gong-Ja too.”

Instead of answering, the Black Witch turned her head and looked straight ahead. With her eyes devoid of emotion, she quietly muttered, “Teleportation.”

We stopped talking. While listening to the waves crashing below, I skimmed through the quest window.

Age of Great Exploration.

Difficulty level: A—

Goal: Exploration! Adventure! The seven species are faced with a new continent. The Fingills’ pioneering the new waterways has now attracted the other species’ attention.

“I want to live somewhere else.”

In every era, people dream of new lands. An unfulfilled desire, an unperformed miracle, an uncharted thrill... They bet everything to discover what’s on the other side of the ocean, hoping success awaits them there.

However, the New Continent is a new world only for the seven species. Other people are already living on that land.

A discord between adventurers and natives is about to erupt! Perhaps a one-sided massacre will occur. Will this exchange result in an invasion, coexistence, or banishment?

The seven species are in danger of annihilation. Guide them out of danger!

※If you fail to guide them, one or more species may be exterminated.

Massacre. Extermination. Heinous words caught my eye. They were the reason we were rushing to the New Continent.

“Do you think the kids are massacring the natives?”

The Black Witch replied, “I don’t know. Teleportation. But it’s possible. Even in the outside world, massacres often occurred during the Age of Exploration. Teleportation. Although I hope people of this world don’t do that, Teleportation, our children won’t grow up the way we want.”

“I want to prevent massacres no matter what.”

“I’m rooting for you.”

Uburka suddenly pointed out, “Ugor. There’s something over there.”

He pointed toward the horizon. I couldn’t see anything, but I immediately enhanced my vision with my aura. Something was floating there.

“A ship?”

Not just any ship. The thing was huge.

My brow furrowed. “Black Dragon Master—um, Senior—there is a boat over there. Let’s stop by.”

“Why?”

“I don’t see anyone on board.”

“Teleportation.”

It seemed that the Black Witch also spotted the ship. Even before we stepped onto the wooden deck, we sensed a strong feeling of disharmony.

The Black Witch looked around. “There are people around, but they’re all sleeping.”

The sailors asleep on deck were of different species. Most of them were Skians and Fingills, but there were some Purens among them. However, regardless of the species, all the sailors were extremely thin.

I walked up to the helmsman, who was lying at the helm of the ship, and gently grabbed his wrist.

“Malnutrition.” I circulated aura within him and inspected in detail the sailor’s physical state. “He’s showing symptoms of extreme dehydration. I think he’s been starving for three to four days. Hmm. I don’t see any injuries, and his mental state seems fine...”

While learning the Demonic Heaven Arts’ Thirst Death, I became well-versed in dehydration. Just in case, I diagnosed other sailors as well, but the symptoms were all the same. Malnutrition and severe dehydration.

I concluded, “I considered every angle, but they’re just asleep.”

The sailors were breathing normally. They didn’t look like they had fainted or something.

“Have you tried waking them up with your aura?”

“Yes, I’ve been purposefully trying to wake them, but they remain asleep no matter what. This is really strange.”

“Give me a moment.” The Black Witch approached me and placed her hand on one of the sailors, black aura flickering from her fingertips. Shortly after, she narrowed her eyes. “They aren’t under a curse.”

“Drugs, maybe? Are they all high?” I asked.

“There is a good chance, but I can’t draw that conclusion from these symptoms alone. I can’t sense any trace of drugs. It’s possible that there is a drug unique to this world that I know nothing about... ”

Uburka dragged out the crew members from all over the ship. Surprisingly, the captain was a Shellmount. When Shellmounts came into contact with salt, their skin deteriorated or, in extreme cases, even melted. Yet the Shellmount captain had set sail on the ocean. He had to be incredibly brave.

Uburka rubbed his nose after he put down the Shellmount captain. “This is certainly weird. It seems like they were all working until they all fell asleep.”

“They all fell asleep at the same time?”

“Ugor.”

Thirty-two sailors lay down on the deck, asleep, as if they had forgotten about their daily lives. The mystery only deepened.

After much thought, the Black Witch suggested, “Shall we drop by one of their dreams for a moment?”

“Dreams?”

“Yeah, we would get an answer for sure if we used Person Possession, but that would cost one thousand points. We can’t waste our points in a place like this, so I’ll use Dream Appearance.”

The statement reflected her personality very well. When planning the guild budget, she probably saved every coin she could. She was the type of person to be torn between going to a dessert cafe or buying dessert at a convenience store, but end up buying dessert from a convenience store after considering cost-effectiveness.

Raviel is the type of person who rents out the entire dessert cafe she likes.

She would probably also have a dedicated seat for her. She’s so cool.

I snapped out of my thoughts and nodded. “Good. That would be the fastest way to get an answer right now.”

“Yeah, then I’ll go first...”

“You worked hard climbing the mountain and flying us across the ocean. You basically traveled the world, so let me do this.”

“See, this is why I can’t hate you.”

“You’re my senior, so I should be a good junior.”

I opened the Civilization Store.

[You have purchased Dream Appearance.]

[You have used 100 species points!]

[You now have 7,012 species points.]

I used the item on the Shellmount captain in front of me. frёewebnoѵēl.com

Swoosh!

The world around me distorted. It was as if someone took out the bathtub drain stopper lid. My head was spinning like the swirling water within the tub.

I ran out of breath, losing track of time. At some point, I closed my eyes. After a while, someone whispered, “Gong-Ja, open your eyes. Gong-Ja.”

I did. A woman who looked exactly like Raviel was looking straight at me.

Hmm.

I quickly scanned the woman’s white neck and long fingers. She had no necklace or wedding ring. I had no reason to spend my money anyway, so I had spent half of my money on the wedding ring before getting to the thirtieth floor, but it was missing from her finger.

“Haha.”

I looked around a little more just in case. I was lying on a soft bed in one of the bedrooms in the Ivansia family’s main residence. The woman with Raviel’s face looked down from above me, pinning me down on the bed. I turned my head to see the flower stand next to the bed and then a chair, but there was no golden Skill Card anywhere.

Okay, I understand what is going on.

The woman stroked my cheek. “What caught your eye?”

Her eyes gleamed softly. For a moment, I debated whether to think of this as a shitty or a diamond-in-the-dung situation. Fortunately, after 0.1 second of thinking, I came to a conclusion.

“Tomorrow is a holiday, my love. It’s been a while, so let’s have some fun—” the woman said.

“You little shit, don’t you dare try messing with me while wearing Raviel’s face. Do you have a death wish?”

The woman stopped caressing my face.

“I’ll give you ten seconds. Get off me and kneel down or I’ll crush your existence into dust. I don’t care if you’re a god from another world, their apostle, or some other random shit. Listen to me and get off. I’m not the guy that counts down. Do it yourself. You gotta kneel down within ten seconds.”

The woman’s face hardened. She seemed very confused. “How? Are you not in deep sleep? No, that can’t be. You are completely surrounded by the dream. How—”

“Your ten seconds are up.”

“So?”

I smiled brightly. “I’ll just start by beating you up.”