Chapter 300: Dog And Bear [MAGIC CASTLE BONUS]

After reaching the hill, the Stone Basilisk might have discovered that the area was suitable for the fruit’s appearance, especially since the Dark Night was occurring at the moment. If that was the case, the monster’s behavior suddenly made much more sense.

However, another detail caught his attention, and Alex lowered his gaze toward the note again.

’Why does it say the fruit cannot [appear] in areas with high concentrations of Origin Energy instead of saying it cannot [grow] there?’

The distinction seemed important because the author could have easily used a different word. If the fruit merely needed to grow under certain conditions, there would have been no reason to describe its appearance in that particular way.

Alex couldn’t determine what it meant, but at least he now had a possible method of removing the soul signature from his Will. The Dark Night had occurred only yesterday, so if the book was correct, there was a chance that a Star Plum Arasia fruit would appear soon.

’One thing still doesn’t make sense, though. I can understand why a Mage-type monster like the Stone Basilisk might want this fruit, but what about the Lightning Grim Ape? It’s a Warrior-type monster, so how would it benefit from eating something that helps remove soul signatures from Will?’

Alex considered visiting Sophia to discuss the matter, since she had surprised him with her reasoning earlier. However, he quickly abandoned the idea after imagining her expression if he disturbed her again so soon after she had angrily left his room.

He could almost picture her growling at him, and the thought made him smile as an old memory came back to him. Sophia really did growl when she was angry, which had once prompted Alex to jokingly call her a dog, resulting in her refusing to speak to him for an entire week.

He had eventually apologized, only to discover that she disliked dogs because one had bitten her when she was a child. However, she had informed him that he could call her a bear instead, since she liked bears.

Back then, Alex had been so confused that he couldn’t decide which part of the conversation was stranger: the fact that she did not take offense to his words because being compared to a dog could be seen as an insult, but because she disliked dogs themselves, or that she wanted to be called a bear despite being the shortest person in their group.

Alex shook his head with a small smile and returned his attention to the Rune Compendium. He had more important things to consider than Sophia’s unusual preferences, especially since the book contained information that could significantly improve his ability to create Runes.

The book explained that there were only two methods to remove the soul signature from one’s Will, and eating the Star Plum Arasia fruit would produce the same effect as achieving Vairāgya. Alex frowned when he read that part because, according to Sophia’s explanation, achieving Vairāgya would weaken his Will by reducing the intensity of his desires.

However, as he continued reading, he realized that he had misunderstood something important. Unlike achieving Vairāgya, which permanently changed the nature of one’s soul, the fruit’s effects were temporary, although the book described the process in a rather unusual way.

Technically, the effect was permanent, but it would shut down after a day unless someone used Divination Magic to reactivate it. Once reactivated, the effect would continue for another day before shutting down again, allowing the Mage to use the fruit’s benefits without permanently weakening their Will.

Alex found the information useful, although he was disappointed that the author hadn’t explained how Divination Magic worked or which spells were required to reactivate the effect. The book mentioned the subject several times, but it provided no details that could help him understand or learn it.

He continued flipping through the pages and soon discovered more information about improving Runes. Some of the methods appeared relatively minor at first, but Alex quickly realized that combining them with his existing knowledge could make his Runes significantly stronger while also reducing the time required to create them.

The book also explained how to incorporate additional components of one elemental Runes with other types of Runes to produce more complicated effects. Alex found these sections particularly interesting because they provided several possibilities for improving his combat abilities without requiring him to learn entirely new spells.

He read through all the information about elemental combinations before finally closing the book. There was still plenty left to study, but he could continue reading later, and he needed to return to the Land of Origin before wasting any more time.

Alex put the Rune Compendium aside, lay down on his bed, and activated his Return Skill. His consciousness gradually sank into darkness, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself back in the Land of Origin, feeling as though he had merely taken a short nap.

He stretched his arms and looked around at the others, who appeared to have returned safely as well. "How did everyone’s return go? Did you encounter any serious problems?"

"Mine was fine," Emma replied while continuing to eat her lunch, for the second time today.

"Same for me. There are plenty of monsters in my area, but they aren’t nearly as strong as the ones we encountered here," Sarah added, sounding relieved that her situation wasn’t as dangerous as she had feared.

Frank, however, seemed less optimistic about his circumstances. "Mine is somewhat better than before, especially because the materials and Gene Potentials I got from here have helped me improve myself and my Faction, but we’re being cornered pretty quickly, and I don’t know how much longer we can hold out."

Alex walked over and patted the plumber’s shoulder, noticing that Frank’s expression was much more determined than it had been the previous night. "In that case, we need to get stronger as quickly as possible, because waiting for things to improve on their own clearly isn’t going to work."

Frank nodded, his eyes filled with determination. Although he was still clearly worried, he no longer looked as though he had lost everything, and Alex was glad to see that he hadn’t given up.

The group gathered their belongings and began moving through the area, hoping to find the portal that would allow them to continue their journey. They hadn’t walked very far when Alex noticed that the concentration of Origin Energy around them was increasing rapidly, suggesting that they were approaching something important.

He slowed down and glanced at the others before speaking. "The portal must be nearby, so everyone should stay alert and be ready for anything."

..

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