Chapter 219: [219] Race Effect

After leaving Olivia, Ark walked up to where Cici sat, isolated from the rest of the camp.

He could tell that Thalia wanted to speak to her but had been holding off to give him time, so it was only right to allow them to talk in private.

The moment Ark sat down next to Cici, he stared at the food she had in her hand. She had been eating it for so long. How was there so much left?

The petite mage suddenly scooched away, moving farther from him.

??

Ark scooched closer.

Cici scooched further away...

???

Ark moved even closer this time, and Cici tried to move further away again, only to discover she had run out of log space and was now falling sideways.

She hurriedly tried to stop her fall with her hand, only to be hit with the cruel reality that had befallen her.

Cici no longer had a left hand...

"Eeek~!"

She closed her eyes, expecting to land face-first in the snow, when Ark suddenly held her by her shoulders and pulled her back to the bench.

Cici let out a breath of relief.

"What were you doing?" Ark asked.

She glanced at him, her eyes emotionless, and then went back to nibbling on her food. "The meat. It is not enough. Get yours."

"..."

Ark gave her a dumbfounded stare. Was she trying to run away because she thought he wanted a bite?

He did not eat food, but still, Ark found her rather greedy! She didn’t even seem all that bothered about losing an arm. Maybe it was because she knew it would be regenerated back in Eden, but even so...

Ark let out an unnecessary breath and stared up at the sky before turning his attention back to her.

This was the first time he had seen Cici without her hat. Her dark purple hair was allowed to fall freely without any obstructions. It was silky smooth and had a light sheen to it.

"Cici, are you alright?" Ark asked out of nowhere.

She may have been a temporary member of his party, but it was his duty to make sure she was alright, especially after what she had gone through.

Cici stopped chewing and glanced at him, her eerie black eyes filled with confusion.

She rotated her right hand, then nodded. "Mmm. Right hand is good. Can still cast spells."

"That is not what I mean. I mean, are you *okay*?"

Cici stared at him as though he had just said rubbish, her eyebrows creasing slightly. Then she got up and walked to the other side of the camp, where Ark’s summons were, and sat down, continuing to nibble on her food in silence.

"..."

"I guess that is... an answer?"

He got up from the log and began moving from body to body, using his Dark Harvest to reap stats from each body.

To his surprise, the regular soldiers and Sunborns were seen as separate entities, so Ark was able to get a total of 28 stat points!

Eight points to strength, six points to defence, six points to agility, and finally, eight points to mana!

And that was not all. He also managed to snag a peculiar skill...

[Harvest successful! You have successfully received B-Rank skill, Frost Breaker!]

—Frost Breaker

Summons ’Frost Breaker,’ a legendary artifact crafted by the natives to cleave through the most bitter blizzards.

Frost Breaker grants the wielder resistance to frost attacks, as well as increases the efficiency of all frost-type attacks by twenty percent!

—

’Oh?’ This was the second time Ark had ever gotten a weapon-based skill. The first one he had gotten was the Hero’s Blade, which he obtained from Darius, and now he had gotten Frost Breaker...

Ark summoned the weapon, and a huge hammer appeared in his hands. The weapon was heavy, much heavier than the Hero’s Blade, and it felt as though it had enough force to burst through a mountain...

He grabbed it with both hands and faced the blizzard that was bubbling around the camp. Then, focusing his strength on his arms, Ark swung.

The hammer glowed blue, multiple runes lighting up around it, and then...

VWOOOOSH!

The blizzard was blown apart, a heavy force slamming into it and clearing the path in front of him, as well as creating a deep groove in the floor.

"Woah..."

The space in front of Ark was free of even the faintest wisp of drifting snow, almost as though that specific area had been turned into a vacuum.

It lasted for about a minute before the snow began to descend once again. Ark smirked, already enjoying the weapon.

’This will be useful later,’ he mused as he deactivated the skill. Then he summoned his status screen once more, his eyes searching for a particular option.

After reaching a synchronisation rate of fifty percent, Ark had seen a notification about gaining a new race effect. That was what he was looking for.

The first thing he saw was the upgrade notifications he had missed...

[Jenna has leveled up! Lvl 25 >> Lvl 28]

[Mountain has leveled up! Lvl 22 >> Lvl 24]

[Inquisitor has leveled up! Lvl 24 >> Lvl 26]

[Sumo has leveled up! Lvl 23 >> Lvl 25]

[Cleopatra has leveled up! Lvl 15 >> Lvl 18]

__

Ark felt a little jealous that his summons not only leveled up faster than him but also did not need to complete any ascension trials to advance.

But technically, them growing stronger also meant he was growing stronger as well...

After going through his stat screen, he finally found what he was looking for.

’Ah, there it is!’

__

> Race effect: Compartmentalization

The player can now divide his body into multiple independent segments, allowing him to reorganize his body, break it down and build it back up.

The player can no longer be killed by beheading. Only by completely destroying the host’s head can he be killed.

__

"What the..." Ark’s mouth dropped open. He knew that synchronisation rate drew him closer to becoming truly like his race, but he never expected to get benefits as good as this!

Now he actually felt like a real skeleton!

"Wait, does that mean...."

<•••>

Rodolph was trudging through the snow, walking past the multiple corpses that had been left to freeze.

"Damn it. These guys are crazy!"

Surely, he had been on a few dungeon dives in the past. He had seen people die and monsters get slain. But none had ever been as brutal as this...

Especially Ark, his summons, and Thalia...

She always seemed kind and approachable, but after watching the fight, Rodolph made a mental note to never piss her off.

"Where is he?" He wondered, searching for Ark. He could have sworn he saw him go in that direction...

’Oh, there he is!’ He thought, increasing his pace as he saw his cloak billowing in the distance.

"Hey, guild master!" Rodolph called when he got closer. "The cat boy wants to see you. He says it is important..."

The moment Ark turned around, Rodolph fell back on his butt, cold sweat dripping down his neck.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Why was Ark...

Without a HEAD?!

"Ahh!" The body waved at him. "How have you been, buddy?"

Rodolph’s eyes drifted down, only to see Ark holding his head as though it were a ball.

"W-what is... going..."

Rodolph fell back into the snow, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

"Heh? Rodolph? Shit, Rodolph?!"