“So.. who wants to give it a try next?”

Roy’s gaze swept past all of them and stopped at Delilah.

“How about you give it a try?”

Actually, he wanted to see if Delilah’s strength and agility stats would go above 50 if she used cores to increase them. That way, he would confirm that she was really more special than the Baldwins. That’s why he urged her to do it.

“No thanks.”

Delilah shot him down as she moved away from him and the disgusting things in his hands.

The side effects of taking the potion didn’t mean much to men, but they were traumatizing for a woman like her.

She didn’t want her breath to smell like shit.

She wouldn’t be able to take it.

“Let me have a go at it again!”

Aydin had tasted what it felt like to easily increase strength, and now he couldn’t get enough of it.

His little paws reached for all the glasses, but Roy slapped them away.

“What was that for?” Aydin rubbed the back of his stinging hands.

Roy lowered his eyes, looking at him calmly. “I only have a limited amount of them, so you can only take five at most.”

“Okay, I get it.”

Seeing their interactions, Maya chuckled slightly.

“Being too greedy is a sin. Why can’t my smart brother understand that?”

『Ding! The basic stats of all your friends and subordinates have surpassed 20.』

『As a result, you get 2× shards of the lord’s blessing skill!』

All the members of Roy’s party benefited greatly from the beast core purifying method. Their strength doubled in a couple of minutes. They cheered Delilah, encouraging her to have a go at it too. The peer pressure was too much. Forced by them, she chugged several glasses of the black potion like a party girl and ate multiple cores like candy.

Instantly, she experienced a surge in her strength, but her breath also underwent a disastrous change.

‘My horrendous breath might poison me to death.”

Only one thought was left in her mind.

She wanted to spray perfume in her mouth.

Just then, Roy forced a piece of candy into her mouth through her slightly parted cherry-like lips. Her tongue reflexively wrapped around it. Its upper layer melted into the nectar of sweetness as soon as it came into contact with her saliva. The offensive smell in her mouth was instantly suppressed.

“Thanks.” She felt touched by his gentleness and sweetly smiled at him.

He was looking at her with a scrutinizing gaze.historical

『Ding! Delilah’s strength has advanced to 51 points.』

『Ding! Delilah’s Agility has reached 53 points.』

‘Delilah.. she hasn’t removed a limiter, but all her stats have surpassed 50 points. Her raw potential is greater than mine. Her origins aren’t simple. Just who is she really?!’

The system’s notification rang in Roy’s ears.

『For pushing all the basic stats of your hidden blade above 50, you will be handsomely rewarded』

『×4 shard of the Lord’s Blessing Skill Obtained.』

“I hope you guys won’t share this trick with the masses until I decide to make it public.”

Roy wasn’t requesting them.

He was alerting them not to do such a silly thing, as revealing this method to loose lips would bring them an unthinkable amount of financial loss and endless trouble.

Arlo cleared his throat, looking far more mature than before.

“When are you going to do that?” Arlo questioned.

Roy answered, “Right after becoming an adult.”

Hearing what he said, Arlo came to a sudden realization, and he looked shocked.

“Wait a minute, don’t tell me you’re planning to use this to do that, right?!” Arlo exclaimed, looking at Roy like he was looking at a hundred-year-old demonic fox.

“Yes, you guessed right.” With those words, Roy confirmed his suspicions. “It will be my ticket to have an audience with the emperor.”

Roy was planning to use this method to engage the Emperor in a trade. It could be used to increase the basic stats of every trainee in the empire to the limit. The shortage of Eternal Weeds will disappear if the emperor mobilizes his forces to acquire them and encourages the people to farm them. Only a blind dog wouldn’t realize its value. The emperor was known for being wise and righteous. He would surely not miss out on this chance to strengthen the empire as a whole.

..

Outside the library.

Something massive entered the radar of the sensors Arlo had placed around the tent. It was moving towards the tent at a ridiculous speed. It was 5 kilometres away. But at the speed at which that thing was traveling, it was only a matter of minutes for it to reach the tent.

Arlo was mentally connected to the sensors.

He could command them to do anything.

Similarly, they could share their experiences with him.

Thus, they immediately relayed this news to him. There was no delay!

Arlo’s face hardened. “Trouble has found us.”

Roy snapped out of his thoughts and said, “Let’s go confront it.”

“Wouldn’t we be fine if we just stayed here?” Julian asked.

Roy replied, “No, we won’t be.”

“Whatever is heading our way can just force its way into the library through the Joker’s tent’s entrance. But if it attacks the tent while we are still inside, we will be harshly pranked. It’s best to go out immediately and face it willingly rather than be forced to.” Arlo added.

Some moments later, they could be seen outside the tent, standing on snow.

It wasn’t snowing anymore, but it was still ridiculously cold.

The worst part about this forest was that it didn’t have a cycle of day and night like other parts of the Far West Major Realm.

Nighttime was permanent in the icy, cold land.

Only that and coldness naturally existed in it.

“fwhoop-fwhoop!”

Everyone heard something.

“Can you hear that?” The twins’ heart rates sped up, and they huddled closer.

They weren’t good fighters, as they had yet to fight their first battle. Their lack of battle experience could be discerned from their actions and expressions.

“Yes, it’s the sound of wings flapping.”

“.. But where is it coming from?”

Roy and Arlo scrutinized the area in search of the source of the noise, but they found nobody in the area aside from themselves, the fiercely blowing wind, and the trees with glowing vines.

“It’s becoming more clear.”

“Something is coming to us.”

Julian anxiously looked around, gripping magic scrolls in his hands. He looked ready to blast someone to death.