Chapter 76
Chapter 76
The Power to Surpass God
“It’s very much like you to so confidently say that you’ll get much stronger. So, this supposedly super dangerous fruit that you talked about, what exactly is it? Is it that different from the ones you got near Realzard?”
“The ones I got near Realzard were, well if a normal person ate it, maybe in a few minutes—-could even be instantly, they’ll be dead. But the one I found in Carlisle forest is on a whole different level.”
“………I’m afraid I don’t understand. What even is there above ‘instant death’ level?”
“The one I found this time is one that people say could kill if you just approach close to it.”
“Wait, you……….the hell kind of thing have you been carrying around!?”
“Don’t worry it’s safely sealed inside my bag so it should be fine……..probably.”
Well I can’t be totally certain but as long as I keep it strictly bound and sealed, it should be fine.
Also, Ongneer’s fruit itself was fine to even approach I think, or maybe that’s just me being presumptuous.
As far as I could tell, the flowers of Ongneer spread around extremely toxic seeds in the air around the plant, which if you breathe in would instantly kill you.
Structurally speaking, they were close to how Dandelions spread their fluffy bits around.
And whatever living thing breathes those in, the seeds will have then plant itself into its heart and use and suck up the flesh and blood of the corpse as nutrients to grow, is my guess at least.
“If I die from this, it won’t be a joke man. Please be careful when using it!”
“I know of course. I won’t touch it when I’m around people at all.”
“So, what kind of effect does this super strong poisonous plant have then?”
“I don’t know yet. I plan to find it out from now on……..But, according to a certain source of information I have, it can apparently grant a Skill to the person.”
When I said that, Ralf stood up in surprise.
And even Esta, in a rare moment, looked completely shocked.
“HAA!? Grant a S-Skill? As if that’s real!?”
“Look, I’m not fully convinced either but according to the info I have, it is a real possibility. Well, I won’t know until do more research.”
“So there is a way to get Skills outside of [heaven’s Blessing]?!……..I, always wondered this, but isn’t Chris-san’s skill something that completely surpasses even god’s own abilities?”
” I too felt the same thing. I mean, it’s weird isn’t it? Not just raising physical abilities but also learning new Skills?! This way beyond normal man!”
Ralf and Esta made some crazy proclamations but, I don’t see my skill as something beyond the power of gods.
I mean, it’s not me that’s amazing, it’s these plants that while being unable to move were able evolve themselves to this level just to protect themselves from predators.
The fruit of that evolution was their [poison], and the energy to create and retain that poison constantly within themselves.
All I do is devour those evolutionary plants to increase my strength, it’s closer to me plundering their strength for my own gains.
That’s why, if there is a power that could surpass gods…….it belongs to this earth, and the plants that grow and evolve on these vast lands just to survive.
Normally speaking, an act that steals power from others would be considered a heresy but for the sake of my revenge, I will not question the means.
“Look, it’s still not confirmed whether the thing about Skills is true or not. What I can say is that my skill, is not as outrageous as you’re making it to be.”
I turned the place silent with those words, and all three of us slipped into our thoughts wondering about various things.
……..this talk took a strange turn and now the mood is weird but, I thought of things I still needed to ask and once again began talking to Esta, to fix this mood as well.
“Lastly, Esta I had a question, do you mind?”
“A question? For me? If I can answer by all means ask away.”
“I need to find a way to eat this plant but, can you think of a good way?……..Ah, don’t touch it at any cost. It’s obviously poisonous.”
I took out a Jinpi leaf from my bag and showed it to Esta.
“Uwaah, it’s got a lot of sharp spikes huh………..Chris-san, do you really plan on eating this?”
“If I could without getting my insides stabbed by these spikes, yes I will.”
“Hm, you could pull them out one by one or maybe crush it and grind into down is all I could think of, but can you even grind these spikes?”
“Yeah, no I already tried that. You can’t.”
“…….Say, couldn’t you like light it up and suck up the fumes instead? You know, like tobacco and cigarettes. Those things have grass inside no?”
………………………….
Now that’s an idea off of left field. Even surprising that it came from Ralf out of all people. I couldn’t hide my surprise.
I don’t know if I can actually try it considering turning a poisonous plant into fumes normally will probably cause harm to surroundings but, I never thought such an inventive idea would come from Ralf.
“true, while I doubt I could try such thing with people around considering the damage it may cause but I could do it in a place where no one else is around. Never would have thought Ralf to come up with such a thing.”
“What the hell! I too use my brain sometimes!”
“if smoking it doesn’t work, it really might be impossible with any other way no?……or maybe, you could get your alchemist friend to turn it into a potion maybe?”
“A potion eh? It’ll probably be a hard to swallow taste but that might be the most realistic option. Thanks Esta, I’ll go talk to her when I get the chance.”
Asking Shantell is certainly the safest option in my opinion.
It’s so hard to handle, I really started regretting not throwing it away again but………..
Now that I have come this far, my greed to find out its effects was stronger.
Anyway, with that talk done, our meeting was finally over.
Tomorrow, I’ll go accept my first request in Oxter.
To make sure so as to not repeat the last time’s incident, I’ll head to the guild while being cautious of not running into Greath.