Chapter 89 Orb
There were a few things Liam had to take care of, but he started with tending to his body's needs. First, he retrieved a few potions from his potion belt.
He consumed the contents of four different potions before he looked over to the Natives again.
"Nobody cooked?" Liam asked, but nobody answered. It looked like the Natives would need quite a while to digest the incidents of the past few days.
After they had been forced to keep going day by day, it was actually the first time that no dangers lurked around them. Olivia and Felicia were faring decently as well. Their mentality was strong. However, Kian and Rex seemed to have been hit hard, and even more so Jennie.
Jennie knew that she would never actually become strong. She was not a fighter and would always have to rely on others. Relying on others was only possible as long as she was useful in a certain way. Thus, she would have to show everyone clearly that she was useful in her own way.
But even though she knew that her Soultrait was a great addition to her already good treasure-hunting skills, Jennie didn't really feel confident. Her confidence dispersed the moment she noticed that their lives were hanging by a paper-thin thread that could be cut at any time. Witnessing Ludwig's death was the best and only experience she required to understand that very well.
The others were not blind or delusional. They could tell that Ludwig had progressed the fastest and that he had been the most likely to survive by Liam's side. But Ludwig had met an untimely death despite his rapid progression.
He had been too impatient and full of himself.
Liam was hungry, so he prepared a meal with the remaining boar meat he had stored in the Small Shop.
Without thinking too much about it, he cooked a larger quantity for the ducklings as well. Clearly recalling the first time he saw an acquaintance die right in front of him, Liam decided that they needed time to recover from the shock. Hence, he instinctively decided to take care of their meals. There was not much but it was better than nothing.
'Now that I think about it…I was with humans and other Halflings at that time as well…I was consoled by a human…' Liam recalled, scratching the back of his head, feeling slightly frustrated.
He didn't like most of his past but there were certain memories that were worth being cherished. They showed him that not everyone was bad, or filled with prejudice. I thought…it was a fact that most of them had some sort of prejudice in the beginning and that it took one decisive event to make them realize how stupid they had been.
Liam sighed heavily before piercing the biggest piece of meat with his index finger which had turned into a sharp claw.
He moved the enlarged pan of the Keychain of Miniature Tools to the Natives, whose gaze was now fixated on the juicy meat. Their mouth salivated when Liam started to grill it though they still had a confused look on their faces, wondering how Liam was unaffected by their recent experiences.
Meanwhile, Liam handed the others a Lumina needle each to prick their own piece of meat.
"If you want cutlery, buy it," Liam pointed out nonchalantly, thinking that their distorting expressions were clear evidence of their inability to adapt to the situation they faced and the things they would encounter in the future.
It was a waste of Arcanium to buy cutlery, and using the means they had at hand was free.
The Natives sighed deeply. They understood what Liam hinted and accepted his Lumina Needle thankfully. They began to eat their food silently for a while until Olivia cleared her throat.
"Did you expect the Arcane System to hand out additional merit points because of our low average combat level?" Olivia asked out of curiosity. It was quite obvious that Liam would have been able to conquer the Underground Tower by himself. He had been severely injured, but he had gone up against the Shedim Champion Boss all alone, and killed it.
Nobody actually helped him kill the Boss Monster, even if it was debatable how much harder it would have been to conquer the dungeon without Rex's Soultrait. At the end of the day, Rex's Soultrait made things only a little easier…and less painful for Liam's wallet.
The others only silently listened as Olivia's voice rang through the room. They also noticed a few things mentioned in the notification they had received after conquering the Underground Tower.
That was also why Rex joined the conversation adding, "We earned additional merit points because we were only a group of seven with six being Natives from Haltan as well. Did you know that?"
Liam shook his head lightly. He retrieved the letter his sister had sent him and read it for the third time.
"To be fair, I don't know everything about the Arcane System, how it is regulated, and what kind of rewards we will get from certain missions. However, it is quite simple to consider the Arcane System as a guide. It created countless paths from which you can choose any of your liking to become stronger. The more difficult a path the higher the rewards.
Thus, by conquering the Underground Tower with a total of seven people, we must have done a decent job…Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten this one…"
Liam put the letter aside. His gaze landed on the cold, fist-sized orb and he picked it up to take a look at its description, function, and rank.
[『Livral Orb』–Unique Relic (Unbound)–
Description: Dangerous Orb that can only be held by the owner and creator of the Livral Orb.
Sucks the Lifeforce of other beings if they dare to touch the Livral Orb and hoard their energy.
Can devour lifeless bodies, and digest them. The more desperate they had been during their fight for survival, the stronger the hoarded energy. The Hoarded lifeforce/energy will be converted to Arcane Power if desired. The Arcane System is willing to purchase the Arcane Power!
The Hoarded Power can be used for Rituals of Infernal Existences.
The Hoarded Power can be used to awaken the soulbound holder's bloodline.
Remark: Only a being with the Bloodline of the Orb's Creator can bind the Liral Orb to themselves.
Soulbound to Liam Wandel, the Creator's Descendant!]
'So that's what my mother has planned out for me? This bitch…'