Chapter 141: Responses - IV

"...Yeah?"

Reazue could barely croak out a coherent word; the syllables of that single question squeezed out like a garbled transmission from an almost empty tube of toothpaste.

When he faced us with motion so delicate that I would think it was done by a prince, we saw his eyes—which were as deep as a puddle.

For a moment, I wondered if my statement a few days ago had been correct.

’Looking at Kuvie and Gron...’

Uh, I think I made a mistake in that regard. A wording mistake when I asked the questions I wanted.

What I’d calculated and deduced using a combination of <Perfect Estimate> and [Absolute Awareness] had been the bare minimum requirement for them to survive an unaccompanied <Warp>.

Once again, I lamented the array of magic I memorized.

<Archmagus> Daimyuon used <Warp> to destroy—not as a mode of transport. Using such a spatial spell along with the corresponding <Maximize Maxima> enabled the <Archmagus> to erase entire regions, banishing armies into ungodly realms with no way to return alive.

Even cities would not be spared if Daimyuon poured massive amounts of mana into creating a <Warp> that ignored the integrity of its passengers.

And all the <Archmagus> needed to do was cast the spatial spell with more reckless abandon than even I did.

Therefore...

He had nothing in his arsenal that could support <Warp>, and I wasn’t bound by necessity to learn it. [Absolute Awareness] already allowed me to perform <Warp> with an insane amount of accuracy and precision.

With my current Physique, Mind, and Spirit stats, I could support my personal needs, as these stats of mine allowed me to shuttle through space without worrying too much about safety.

In the end, I just smiled wryly at Reazue, who was devoid of a single coherent paragraph in his mind.

"I think you all should rest for a few more days."

Either way, I still had to work on advancing my foundational abilities.

Kuvie wrenched her amused gaze away from Reazue and sighed. "Sure thing. I also don’t want my condition to get worse."

A chill seemed to have run up her spine.

"I don’t want to become like Reazue..."

"Same," Gron let out a sardonic snicker. "I quite value my intelligence."

Kuvie gave Gron a side eye. "Are you sure about that?"

Gron looked over, his brow twitched as if he was peeved. The smile on his face looked strained.

No, it was strained.

He was struggling to maintain a smiling face, spiteful of the fact that he was the weakest one in this building.

After a brief struggle, Gron ’confidently’ answered, "Yes, I am quite sure."

Then, he looked away with what seemed to be some form of pouting, throwing his gaze out the window to admire the vast skyline of the City of Arenas. It left Kuvie with a small smile on her face, having succeeded in bothering Gron with just a few words.

Her inner thoughts were quite loud, resonating a smug "Heh" in my mind.

Filing such personality traits away, I also looked in the same direction as Gron did, drawn by a certain instinctual urge.

[Absolute Awareness]!

My gaze shifted, changing from what I could see with just my eyes and expanding past the horizon to observe the current rush of people exploring the typhoon-wrecked city. The storm I’d wrought still had survivors.

They were primarily those who’d been standing under the umbrella of the Empire’s Guards, protected by the authority of the Primordial Dragon Empress.

Some of them had run to the guards deliberately, while some were just lucky enough to have been nearby.

These survivors were salvaging what they could—fighting and killing in arenas that had been swiftly repaired. Whatever grievances they had seemed to have been buried by greed and ambition after the Walvaskaz Empire reopened its many arenas and resource points.

The surge of fighters rapidly gaining strength was like a massive tide, sweeping up the entire province, and only a few hours away from devouring even the main tower.

It seemed like...

’I need to pay these central towers a visit.’

The fruit within the 16 Claws’ main tower was similarly only a few hours away from being ripe for harvest.

Was this why no one had invaded the central towers yet? Even Ellea’s province, which I hadn’t ravaged as badly as the White Roar Clans’ province, had yet to find a new ruler.

[Absolute Awareness].

With a burst of mana disappearing from my reserves, I heard thousands of illusory whispers, layered and stacked like an endless choir of echoes.

Grasping several lines of conversation, I was able to confirm my guesses.

These challengers were deterred by two things.

The first was, of course, me.

The other deterrent was their own peers and competitors.

In the end, there was only one fruit growing in every province.

They were still waiting for the best opportunity to seize control of the central tower and take the fruit for themselves.

If they occupied the central tower too early, they would surely face wave after wave of challengers knocking on their doorstep.

Every arena had smaller versions of these surges in challengers, occurring whenever a harvest was near. The central towers, however, never faced such an issue, as their rulers occupied every floor of the arena corresponding to the Fruit of Metamorphosis.

Unless one killed their way through unconventional means like me, one would have to ’fairly’ challenge each and every defender before claiming the arena for oneself.

Of course, teams could also be built for this sake, but the City of Arenas was also home to many backstabs and betrayals.

Only the large factions who’d ruled the provinces for many years were more trusting of each other, having benefitted from the rigorous rules and regulations that distributed resources among their own.

It was the promise that everyone would have their own rightful turn that kept their greed in check.

Of course, familial bonds also helped, but that was another can of worms on its own.

Thinking up to here, I stretched my body and commanded my mana to conform to a certain purple magic circle.

"I’ll be right back," I said while waving at Kuvie and Gron. "Please don’t let Reazue do anything dangerous while his mind is still in such a bizarre state."

I paused.

"No, perhaps just make sure that no danger approaches him first."

Gron looked back at me and nodded. Kuvie did the same.

"Sure," said the two.

With that done, I completed the spell, and a beautiful purple magic circle appeared out of thin air.

6th-Circle Spatial Magic.

[Warp].

Space twisted as a miniature black hole seemed to have been born out of nothing. After a single instance of painful, incredible, and manic sensations, I found myself standing inside the empty central tower of the former White Roar Clan.

Looking up at the fruit, it was clear that it was only a few hours away from becoming ripe enough to consume. Unlike the orange lightbulb look they had a few days ago, each Fruit of Metamorphosis had grown radiant like the sun, emitting a bright yellow light.

Perhaps when there was only an hour left before the ripening process was complete, all of the challengers eyeing the Fruit of Metamorphosis, regardless of its risks, would charge forward with unrestrained avarice.

’I guess there’s a need to prepare for that too...’

Once again expending a large amount of mana, I covered the central tower with enchantments as unbreakable and as impenetrable as a battlefield filled with explosive traps.

Although I could not station underlings to guard each floor, it was enough to cover every inch of space with a lethal chain-reacting net.

It would delay the intruders long enough for me to either consume the Fruit of Metamorphosis or devise an effective method to do so.

In another sense, I was certain that I wouldn’t be subjected to a mutiny moments before success.

I only had one problem—

"...This might just destroy the central tower in the mere process of eradicating intruders."

I decided to expend another chunk of mana to reinforce the central tower to be able to withstand each reinforcement’s enchantment-laden surroundings.

Then, I twisted space once again.

[Warp]!

This time, I appeared within a bustling province in the City of Arenas.

With Ellea gone, her oppressed underlings were leading a faction war on par with the political contests between the children of recently-passed monarchs. The effects of a power vacuum were evident.

But this made me wonder if I was any good for politics.

Of course, [Absolute Awareness] was even more of a cheat in such a context. What this wandering thought of mine wished to consider was the capacity of my own personality and nature.

Could I become a leader who could lead an entire province towards a fruitful future?

"Eh,"

I shrugged before using my senses to reorient myself to this province’s characteristics.

Similar to the former White Roar Clan territory, there were many hungry gazes directed towards the central tower.

However, I felt a greater threat here, as there were still quite a few A-Rank individuals whom I hadn’t bothered to... recycle.

Though it wasn’t a threat to my life, it was still quite peeving to encounter.

After all, it was a direct threat to the comfort of my life.

These guys had long formed factions, and through a bunch of binding contracts, their signatories could maintain a rather decent cooperation.

’Should I break them from inside?’

I still had a few more hours to kill, after all.