What He Gained
Hikaru shuddered. Select at most three job cla.s.ses at a time?
So I can use Stealth G.o.d and Throwing G.o.d at the same time? So I"ll be like a completely hidden moving sniper. If I added Wide Area Detection G.o.d, I can find my target, but they can"t find me. I can attack from both short and long distances. The birth of the perfect a.s.sa.s.sin.
Ultimately, Hikaru"s Skill tree all boiled down to a.s.sa.s.sination. It was quite disturbing. To top it off, he already possessed the cla.s.s a.s.sa.s.sination G.o.d: Night Stalker, which he hadn"t used once.
Even without the help of his job cla.s.ses, he could still do what he imagined just now. But while it would work against normal people, he would definitely need the power of his cla.s.ses against someone like Lawrence who was three or even four times stronger than a regular human being.
That wasn"t all. He could also check what his other cla.s.ses can do, like the Eye of the Storm and Forest Walker. As of the moment he had no idea of their effects. He had three slots. All he needed to do was use Stealth G.o.d for the first slot, and then choose whatever cla.s.ses he wanted to experiment with for the other two slots. That way he could avoid most danger. It was much more productive than just waiting to somehow stumble on an information about what his job cla.s.s could do, as in the case of the Lesser Angel.
Like this…?
Following what Ota wrote, Hikaru set his job cla.s.s to Lesser Angel, and then strongly pictured the other three cla.s.ses he wanted to use in his mind—Stealth G.o.d, Throwing G.o.d, and Wide Area Detection G.o.d.
「Hmm.」
The words on his guild card changed.
【Adventurers Guild Card】
【Name】Hikaru
【Registration】Pond Adventurers Guild, Kingdom of Ponsonia
【Rank】D
【Job Cla.s.s】□▲ヲヘェイ%2○※
He needn"t ask himself if he did it right. He felt the effects of the job cla.s.ses inside him. Now he could hide from any enemy, throw a stone at any target, and detect any kind of foe.
These are some stunning results… I"ll think about the best combinations at a later time.
Hikaru continued reading. He had learned several things. The Purple Drakon provided the holy mana. Holy mana was defined as sacred and precious mana from the heavens. Its nature was similar to electricity, but it was also a very powerful energy source that can be used just like normal mana. The Purple Drakon brought holy mana fragments that came in different shapes, from a cube to an octahedron.
There was no mention of a “sphere”—the one where the dragon was trapped. While it was called a “ball”, its shape was that of a cube.
Poelnxinia was quite far from here. Was it possible for the technology that Ota gained to reach the neighboring country? No, Poelnxinia tried to use holy mana to conquer the whole continent. They must"ve developed their own technology. Definitely more than just a radio station, that"s for sure.
「So it"s this guy"s fault…」
The next entries were disturbing. The power of the holy mana dazzled one of his friends. The man suggested they use it for military purposes right away. He urged them to conquer the world. Ota sensed danger and told the Purple Drakon he didn"t need any more holy mana.
Ota thought about using wireless communication to warn the public of disasters and monsters by creating a broadcast system using radio waves. He also considered producing radios for his own amus.e.m.e.nt, yet the notes were coming to an end. Before he could even complete the radio station.
『Roux Vineyard betrayed us. He attacked the villagers and took them hostage. I was almost locked up too, but I managed to escape thanks to the villagers. They said with me around, the world will become a wonderful place. They believed in my dream of creating a radio broadcasting system, that it was my original invention. They believed I could bring smiles to the people of the world, even though I"m nothing more than an engineer who worked at a broadcasting company.
Roux Vineyard is planning to use me to summon the Purple Drakon, seal it, and draw holy mana from the creature for eternity. Of course, there"s almost no chance the Purple Drakon will come back once it returned to the heavens. But what if it came back? I shut myself in this paG.o.da, the place where I do my research and where I lived, and sealed it to make sure that naïve drakon doesn"t get captured. The Purple Drakon should notice if the paG.o.da was gone. He would, right? I sure hope so. He can be a bit foolish which makes me worry. But I have no other choice. I won"t live for long. Just like my father, I"m showing symptoms of terminal cancer.』
Roux Vineyard, an ambitious man, betrayed Ota, so the j.a.panese man sealed the three-storied paG.o.da. By “seal”, I guess he means burying it underground.
『Holy mana was needed to seal the place, and now it"s almost out. I can make it so that even after I die, this place doesn"t deteriorate fast. But the moment someone enters and the indoor equipment activates, the remaining holy mana will be completely used up. I choose to die here. The villagers let me escape, but there"s a vast amount of research materials here relating to the holy mana. I can"t take them all with me. And I"m over seventy. My body is weak. I pray that a traveler from j.a.pan makes good use of my research.』
The notes ended there. Hikaru closed the notebook. Ota"s life here wasn"t so bad. At least, until that man betrayed him.
After being saved by the villagers, he couldn"t—rather, he didn"t escape, and chose to die in this place. He probably didn"t want to go again to an unknown place.
「I know this name…」
The name Roux Vineyard sounded familiar. He saw it in one of the few spoils he took from the ruins of Poelnxinia, the royal family lineage parchment—the item that Gafrasti wanted and proof that he was a legitimate descendant of the royal family.
Hikaru couldn"t recall all the details, but he was sure he saw the name Roux Vineyard. He didn"t build the dynasty himself, but rather he became royalty after marrying a princess. In other words, Roux Vineyard sealed the Purple Drakon into the holy mana ball, and used holy mana to make Poelnxinia the ruler of the continent.
「Did you finish reading, Hikaru?」
「Yeah. The scrolls on the first floor are research doc.u.ments regarding holy mana.」
Then for a split second, everything went dark. The lights flickered, and the building shook.
「What the…」
Hikaru recalled what he read. “But the moment someone enters and the indoor equipment activates, the remaining holy mana will be completely used up.” When they entered, the lights went on, using up what was left of the holy mana. The walls, ceiling, and floor trembled.
「Oh, c.r.a.p. Let"s get outta here!」
「O-Okay!」
Hikaru grabbed Lavia"s hand, drew her close, and carried her. With his Power Burst, he leaped towards the stairs and dropped down.
「Paula!」
「H-Hikaru-sama! Wh-What"s going on?」
「We"re leaving!」
He helped the crouching Paula up and they got down to the first floor. Then the lights went out. With a boom, clouds of dust rose into the air. A wall must"ve collapsed somewhere. The dust blocked the light coming from the magic lamp.
「Tsk.」
Soil was streaming towards the metal door. Hikaru tried to push the door open, but to no avail. It wouldn"t budge. Kicking it did no good either.
「Hikaru!」
「Wh-Wh-What do we do?!」
「Get away from the door, you two!」
Hikaru produced the revolver he kept in his pocket and pulled the trigger without hesitation. The raging fire lit up the whole floor bright, the door flying in the other direction. Strong wind blew violently as the hot air mixed with the outside air.
「Run!」
Flames roared from the blast, licking at the walls, shelves, and ceiling. Unlike out there, it was dry inside which caused the fire to flare up quickly.
「Hikaru! The scrolls!」
「Run! The whole place is collapsing!」
Paula made it out first. Lavia hesitated for a second and Hikaru pulled on her hand. Then the ceiling collapsed with a loud boom. Earth and sand crushed the paG.o.da.
「Ugh!」
The shockwave pushed Hikaru forward, causing him to fall forward, but he quickly pulled Lavia close and protected her as they rolled on the ground.
「Oww…」
Hikaru touched his head. It was wet, probably with blood, but he couldn"t be sure as the fall broke the magic lamp. The paG.o.da collapsing on itself also killed the flames.
「Lavia… Are you okay?」
「H-Hikaru!」
「Hikaru-sama! I"ll heal you right away!」Paula, who escaped first, seemed to be unscathed.
「Let"s get out of here first. The cave itself might collapse.」
They scuttled out of the cave. The sun shone bright on the valley, but when Hikaru looked back and up, he could see smoke rising from where the signboard was.
「Over here, Hikaru-sama!」Paula started healing him.
「We didn"t have time to take anything.」Lavia said.
「Yeah. The cave-in might"ve actually saved half of the scrolls from burning. I"m sure Katy will be happy once we tell her.」
They"d find out once they inspected the cave-in. While the holy mana held tremendous power, it was energy that one couldn"t have unless they got in touch with a dragon.
Even if the scrolls were all lost, Hikaru already gained important information. The Lesser Angel job cla.s.s was too good.
But rather than feel happy from his newly-acquired power, Ota"s last moments made Hikaru"s heart sink.