Overwhelming Firepower

When Lucen saw that there was now a Level in the status window, he was thrilled. It was level one, but still, that didn’t matter.

He had worried that without a level, the rest of the Gun Mage skills would remain locked.

Since he was the only Gun Mage in this world, he’d been unsure how to progress. But now that he had a level, it meant unlocking new skills was only a matter of time.

Lucen looked down at his hands again, filled with cuts, calloused, and rough from swinging a sword even though he had no talent for it. A soft smile appeared on Lucen’s face. He felt that even if the Level-up system wasn’t unlocked, he would still be able to do something.

’I wonder if there are other things that could be unlocked that the status window is not showing. I guess I’ll need to try a bunch of things to see what triggers new unlocks.. For now, I just need to try and level up to see what happens.’

While he was thinking to himself, Lucen was already checking the Glacier Hares to see if they dropped anything like in the game. Unfortunately, there was nothing like that, so Lucen needed to get what he needed from the Glacier Hares by hand.

Lucen used his sword to cut off their horns. According to the alchemy books he’d been reading, the curved, ice-infused horns could be ground down and mixed with certain herbs to create a salve that prevented frostbite, a lifesaving concoction in places like this.

’I wonder if I can eat this thing?’

Lucen had never heard of anyone, either in-game or in this life, mentioning eating monsters, or if someone tried to eat one before, or what would happen. There were no stories, no legends, nor myths about eating monsters.

People in this world think of monsters as frightening and things to be killed. They are something malicious and dirty, so no one would even have the idea of eating a monster.

’There was an anime I watched before that showed the protagonist eating monsters to get stronger. Actually, now that I think about it, there were several stories of protagonists eating monsters to power up or gain new skills... I wonder if I do the same, would I get something out of it, or will I be poisoned?...’

Lucen shook his head as his thoughts were going in a bad direction.

’If monsters had elemental traits, maybe those traits lingered in the flesh,’ Lucen reasoned. ’Like how herbs still held mana traces. It’s all just essence, in a way.’

Lucen once again looked at the dead Glacier Hares, his curiosity was rising.

’Well, my body is that of the gun mage character, maybe I can withstand it. I also have the blessing of Varkun, which heals my body... Nope, that won’t work. I remember that the blessing helps with wounds and fatigue, but it won’t do anything to poison... Tsk, then should I leave it alone?’

Lucen looked at the dead glacier hares for a few seconds and made a decision. How can a gamer not experiment? Lucen took the hare and, using his sword to carve out a small strip of lean meat from the thigh. He carefully avoided the parts he remembered seeing in the various alchemy books Robert made him read.

Setting the meat aside, Lucen rummaged through his pack, pulled out a coil of rope, and sliced off a thin fiber strand. He wrapped it around a dry twig he found under a nearby bush, then placed it atop a small pile of branches and shaved bark.

”I hope this works.”

He flicked one of his shardstones against the steel edge of his arquebus, sending a hot spark. The bark had a little flame flickering weakly. Lucen shielded it from the wind and started blowing at it a little, and a small fire came alive.

Lucen smiled as he had been doing a lot of firsts today. He then proceeded to skewer the meat with a branch and held it above the fire, rotating it slowly. After a few minutes, the meat had charred slightly.

”Well... Here goes nothing.”

Lucen blew on the meat and hesitated a little as he calmed his nerves and bit a bit of the meat. It was chewy and had no taste, which meant it was not as bad as he expected. He swallowed the meat and waited. After a few minutes of waiting, he heard the notification he had been waiting for.

[Gained: Minor Frost Resistance – Duration: 30 sec]

[Gained: Minor Poison - Duration: 0.5 sec]

When Lucen heard the notification, he was truly surprised. He gained a temporary buff, but he also gained poison from it. Still, he wondered what if he ate a bit more. Lucen could not control his curiosity and took a bigger bite. After swallowing and waiting, before he could hear the notification, Lucen felt his stomach hurting a little, and it was then that he heard the notification sound.

[Gained: Minor Frost Resistance – Duration: 1 min 22 sec]

[Gained: Minor Poison - Duration 10 sec]

Lucen felt a little nausea and a bit of pain in his stomach, but it did not last long before it disappeared. A thin, cool aura wrapped around Lucen’s skin. He felt a little less sensitive to the biting cold.

’Okay, so I do get something from eating monster meat, but it’s not all good.’ Lucen looked at the remaining meat and shook his head. ’It’s not like I need Frost Resistance right now anyway. Still, I wonder what would happen if I ate the meat of a more powerful monster. I either get a powerful buff or I’ll just die. I need to strengthen my body first before testing things like that. Maybe I can ask Robert to neutralize the toxins in the meat...’

Lucen was thinking about the new possibilities this discovery presented, and it was then that he thought of another question.

’Am I the only one able to gain buffs from this because of my Gun Mage character body, or can everyone eat this and gain a buff but not feel it, because it’s not really a showy kind of buff?’

...

While Lucen was thinking about what to do with his new knowledge of monster meat, in a secluded cabin just beyond Ironhold’s patrol range, a group of cloaked figures gathered around a rough wooden table.

”Sir,” one of them said, bowing slightly, ”we’ve confirmed it. Lucen Thornehart is heading toward the Ashpeak mountains.”

The man at the head of the table leaned back in his chair. ”How many guards?”

”None. He went alone.”

The man blinked. ”Alone?” He nearly tipped his chair backward. ”You’re telling me the Iron Duke allowed his eldest son to go out without an escort? Are you sure of this?”

”Several of the people we have inside, and the ones we paid, have told the same story.”

A tense silence followed, broken only when the man clicked his tongue. ”We need to report this. Bring out the communication orb.”

Another cloaked figure nodded and carefully lifted a small box. Inside the box was a polished orb. He placed it on the table, channeling mana into it until faint glyphs shimmered to life. A second later, a spectral projection blinked into view

”This had better be important,” the projection snapped.

The man leading the group bowed slightly. ”Master Edrim, it’s about the eldest son of the Iron Duke. He left Ironhold this morning, without any escort.”

Edrim’s eyes gleamed like a fox. ”Did he now? What a rare opportunity.”

Edrim leaned a little bit closer before he spoke. ”Capture the child alive, and bring him to me. Surely his son’s life might be able to loosen that iron grip of his on our trade.”

”Sir, is this wise?”

The second Edrim heard what his subordinate said, he frowned. ”Are you questioning me, right now?!”

”No, sir! I would never dare! But the Iron Duke would never let this down, and even if he agrees to your demands, he might kill us all after.”

Edrim’s eyes narrowed, the flickering blue projection making his sharp features appear even colder. ”I don’t recall asking for your opinion.”

The subordinate stiffened. ”Forgive me.”

Edrim leaned back in his seat and exhaled, controlling his temper. ”Of course, the Iron Duke will retaliate. But we won’t keep the boy. We’ll simply borrow him long enough to negotiate something favorable. Trade exclusivity, access to northern routes, and first pick of monster parts.”

”And if he refuses?” another figure asked quietly.

”Then...” Edrim’s voice dropped to a chilling murmur. ”I’ll return the boy in pieces.”

Edrim frowned as he glared at his men.

”We’ll see how far that iron will of his stretches when it’s his son’s blood on the bargaining table.”

”But, sir... what if the Iron Duke retaliates?” one of them dared to ask, voice low, almost trembling.

Edrim’s lips curled into a cold smile. ”He won’t do anything of the sort, not with that person backing me.” That silenced the room like a guillotine dropping.

”Now enough of these irritating questions,” Edrim snapped. ”Just do as I say and bring me the boy!”

The spectral projection flickered once, then vanished with a pulse of magic, leaving the spies in heavy silence.