SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will

Chapter 371  Body Refinement

Moon nodded as he absorbed the information. The woman was knowledgeable, and he noticed that she consistently referenced the Association’s research rather than her own experience or the findings of other groups. That told him something about her affiliation with the group. ‘She might be an Association worker…although that’s just an assumption for now.’

“Okay, that makes sense. The spirits have replaced or exchanged lives for the spiritual energy they carry.”

Isabelle nodded slowly. “I’m not sure if replace or exchange is the exact terminology. This phenomenon might not be something active that spirits choose, but something passive. Like the system instilled it in them in some way. But yes, you can think of it like that. It doesn’t really matter anyway.”

“What about beasts that provide lots of lives but little to no spiritual energy?” Moon asked. “I encountered one recently. A beast that looked like a mixture between a pig and a panda. It had impressive physical strength.”

Isabelle was quiet for a moment. “You must be talking about a Body Refiner beast.”

“Body Refiners?” Moon tilted his head. The terminology was a little familiar. Back on Earth, it was used for Null fighters who couldn’t awaken a class and instead focused everything on tempering their physical bodies through training, natural treasures and whatever means they could find.

Of course, the human Body Refiners never got close to the strength of a beast like the PanPig, at least not the ones he had heard of. The path was a very limited one, and the potential was nothing in comparison to the path most Awakeners take.

Still, for a null, becoming a Body Refiner could very well allow them to break human shackles and become strong enough to fight lower rank First Order beasts at some point. This would increase their survival rates by margins, especially if a First Order gate broke out on earth.

“Yes. Body Refiners.” Isabelle confirmed. “The terminology applies to beasts that have entered the path of refining their bodies. The Association’s research on these beasts suggests that their bodies cannot store spiritual energy, or at least naturally. So they compensate by strengthening their physical forms to an extreme degree.”

She held up a hand. “You won’t see these beasts using elements or magic. They rely entirely on pure physical power. Strength, speed, durability, all pushed to levels that rival or even surpass creatures that wield elements and magical abilities.”

‘She’s right. That PanPig was really strong. Its speed was impressive for its size.’

“Wait.” Isabelle’s suddenly gasped, interrupting his thoughts. Her eyes shrank as she stared at a fixed point in the air, clearly reading something on her status screen that only she could see. “Why are my lives lower than they should be?!”

Moon remained silent. He looked at her with an expression of mild confusion, as if he had no idea what she was talking about.

Meanwhile, in reality, he knew exactly why.

When the spirit had grabbed Isabelle and used her as a shield, Moon had made a decision after consulting her. He brought down the Thunderclap Raiju on both of them. The attack killed Isabelle and severely injured the spirit in that strike.

Her death would have cost her 2,500 lives under normal circumstances in that zone upon being killed by any being apart from Moon. But the spirit had injured her heavily throughout their fight, which meant it would claim a large portion of her lives through the damage it dealt. On top of that, Moon’s killing blow had provided him with lives as well.

He had received 1,250 from her death. The base value was only around 250, roughly 10% of her normal death cost, since the spirit had done the majority of the damage and Moon had only landed the final blow. But his Grim Reaper talent had multiplied that figure by five.

1,250 from Moon. Roughly 2,250 claimed by the spirit through their fight which resulted in a total loss of 3,500 lives instead of the standard 2,500 because of Moon.

Explaining any of this was out of the question. Playing dumb was his safest option and Isabelle had no way to prove he was responsible, even if suspicion crossed her mind. Isabelle closed her status screen and muttered, “Strange.”

She glanced at Moon for a brief moment, then looked away. She didn’t ask him anything. It seemed like the thought that he might be the cause hadn’t fully formed yet.

Moon kept his expression neutral and said nothing.

The silence between them prolonged, but Moon didn’t feel the need to fill it. Speaking now, without a prepared explanation, would only draw attention to himself. Isabelle hadn’t directed the question at him. She hadn’t even looked at him when she said it. It was a thought spoken aloud, nothing more.

If he reacted, if he offered reassurance or tried to explain it away, she might wonder why he felt the need to. That curiosity would turn into questions and questions would put him on the spot, scrambling for answers in real time. And a person scrambling for answers was a person with something to hide.

‘The best answer is silence. ‘

So Moon gave her exactly that. He sat against the wall, calm and unbothered, as if the words had passed through one ear and came out the other without registering. Currently, Moon was just another tired Evolver resting after a difficult fight. The matter was buried. For the time being. Isabelle’s eyes drifted to the bag sitting beside Moon.

“Oh, by the way. Why do you always carry that bag with you? Don’t you have a storage ring?” She tilted her head. “You could just store whatever you need in there.”

Moon glanced at the backpack Isabelle meant. The bag contained the box, which held the Supreme Ranked Turtle egg within. A living being couldn’t be placed inside a storage ring. The space wasn’t designed to sustain life. But he wasn’t about to tell her that.