Chapter 1939: Greedy Sylphy
Chapter 1939: Greedy Sylphy
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Honestly, I was done pretending to be humble. I wanted more Cultivation Methods. The two Armageddon had created were spectacular, and I wouldn’t mind having more—especially if I could share them with my friends and let them grow stronger while I practiced them myself.
“I wanted to ask you for a favor. Can you make some cultivation methods for my friends or my brother?”
“Hah! You’re so shameless, already asking for more…! You truly are a hungry beast that’s never satisfied…!”
Armageddon didn’t look pleased. She had clearly seen through my request. I stayed calm and composed, pretending my only concern was helping my friends. And I wasn’t lying.
“Come on, wouldn’t it be nice to give them some form of cultivation method so they can grow stronger?” I asked.
“Hmmm… I guess if your allies become stronger, it’ll be easier for you to progress and grow,” Armageddon sighed. “…However, unlike with Aquarina, I don’t know them. I have no idea what their power levels are, what they cultivate, what their elements are, their skills, or any of that. So it’s not easy to tailor these things.”
“Hmm, you’re right. Yeah, yeah,” I nodded. “I’ll go out to a dungeon soon with all of them. Maybe once you see them fighting and everything, you’ll figure out what would suit each one best?”
“I guess I could, but I would need to be present and observe them,” she said.
“I can summon you as a small Divine Spirit!” I offered. “At this point I doubt they’ll suspect anything. They don’t really know who you are and will probably assume you’re just another Spirit or something.”
“Hmmmmmmm…” Armageddon hummed grumpily. “Okay. But you will reward me for helping them, alright?”
“What do you want?” I asked. “I’m already giving you plenty of Mana most of the time… except when I need to rest.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’ve got plenty of Mana to spare,” she said. “But I need fresh Spirit Energy. Can you give me some produced inside your Spiritual Heart?”
“Are you sure? It’s kind of corrupted and merged with Curse,” I explained. “And… well, I guess I’ll tell you who he is and what happened…”
I explained everything about Curse: his history, his sacrifice, and what he became after that tragedy. Armageddon nodded as she listened.
“I see. So that’s how it is. Interesting,” she said. “You came into contact with a Living Curse created by an Ancient Demon King, which latched onto your contracted Demon Familiar. How amusing… a pity he’s gone.”
“Yes…” I nodded. “He wasn’t the most talkative, but… he was still a friend who had been with me for years. My Spirits might not say it out loud, but I’m sure they all miss him.”
Armageddon fell silent for a moment. It was clear she didn’t share my feelings, but she respected them enough not to mock me. “Ahem, well, I believe it’s fine. If the Spirit Energy is infused with that Curse’s power, it could be even better.”
“What exactly do you need it for? Not planning any betrayal, right?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Stop saying I’m going to betray you,” she groaned. “I’m not doing that! But I need Spirit Energy from an outside source because what I have isn’t enough to slowly elevate and nourish my power and my Divine Spirit Realm. Mana is good and all, but at this stage I’m supposed to gradually cultivate spiritual energy from the outside world—to find a suitable place to absorb it. Since you have me confined inside your Dungeon, I can’t do that.”
“Oh, I imagined you were really happy in your own little pocket universe,” I said. “But I guess you’re supposed to roam the world now or something, huh? Wait, you’re not technically an Evil God, right? So you aren’t confined by their limitations.”
“As a creation of the Gods themselves, I am indeed not an Evil God,” Armageddon confirmed. “As you said, I could survive on the surface and even move around in my true divine body if I wanted. But because I died, I lost that power. When you revived me, to regain my strength I had to anchor my divine spirit soul in this Dungeon. If I try to leave now, I’ll be greatly weakened. Like I am now… well, no, this is a much more reduced form. I would be at least much larger and more intimidating…”
“Uh-huh, I see,” I nodded. “That’s a really interesting tidbit of information. I guess you do trust me to reveal a potential weakness like that, dear Armageddon.”
“Tsk…” she clicked her mandibles. “So anyway, would you lend me your Spiritual Energy, as a good Master should? I need Spiritual Energy of the Five Elements: Water, Wind, Wood, Metal, and Earth.”
“I believe I’ve got all of them covered,” I said. “Water and Wind are still not my specialties, though… And Earth I’m just barely managing. Maybe I should try to get a Water and Wind Attribute Familiar or Spirit now that I think about it.”
“After you ascended into a Demigoddess, your Soul gained even more space for contracts,” she explained. “If you wanted, you could have at least ten more familiars—between tamed creatures or spirits. If you grow stronger as a goddess, that number will continue to multiply.”
“So Gods draw power from contracts with Spirits and Familiars as well?” I asked.
“Yes. A vast majority of the gods up there are fusions between their main bodies and several powerful familiars they permanently merged with,” Armageddon revealed. “This is why it’s so hard to kill them. Whenever you think they’re dead, you’ll notice remaining pieces of their bodies crawling away as if alive.”
“No way. And I thought Familiar and Spirit Cultivation was something only mortals did…” I said.
“Well, it is widely practiced everywhere, and it’s key to continued advancement. Body and magic circle cultivation alone won’t get you far without Familiars and Spirits to support your growth,” Armageddon explained. “You’re very lucky to have contracted a being such as myself. I am a one-in-a-million entity! A goddess of the great spirits, artificially built by the gods to pioneer the exploration and conquest of this world in the distant past! I am a perfect specimen that has only refined her existence further by fusing with the Great Giant Blazing Ant Queen!”
“Yeah, yeah,” I nodded. “You’re amazing… Anyway, I’ll give you what you want. I should still be capable of refining my Spirit Energy into the Wind and Water Elements with some meditation. That Method meant for Aquarina is slowly helping me raise my affinity with Water, which had mostly stagnated… but yeah, I should definitely get some Water and Wind Attribute familiars or Spirits. Maybe tame a big wind bird or something, and then… a giant fish or a whale. That would be cool.”
“Your Living Shield has the Element of Water and Ice,” Armageddon pointed out. “Though contracted Living Equipment is kind of in-between familiars and spirits, it might not be enough… One of your missions right now should be seeking a Water or Ice Spirit or Familiar, and also a Wind one. It would be ideal if it were a Spiritual Beast, which can count as both a Tamed Familiar and a Spirit! You would gain double the power from such beings!”
“Spiritual Beasts… but aren’t they very rare to find?” I asked.
“They are… but where you are right now—the Blue Mountains—they’re full of all sorts of monsters, even outside dungeons. There should be opportunities for you to seize such a creature,” she said. “Nonetheless, I was thinking… why don’t you tame or contract one of the monsters inside your Dungeon?”
“I can’t. It doesn’t make any difference. I’ve tried before,” I said. “I once tried contracting the King Slime, but I couldn’t. It was as if it was already a contracted creature. I think the monsters inside my Dungeon count as extensions of myself, so I cannot gain power from them through familiar contracts.”
“Huh, so that’s how it is! How annoying,” Armageddon sighed. “Well, weren’t you on some kind of mission by your teacher? Now that I remember, what is that all about?”
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