NSE-Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Divine Fruit

The Mother Tree’s Divine Fruit.

An item hard to obtain by force. To do that, he’d have to break through the forest and wreck the Elves, and even if he did.

‘The Elves would destroy it first.’

I’d rather smash it than hand it over to the likes of you! Roughly like that, they would destroy the Divine Fruit.

That was why he had gotten a promise from Elise in advance.

Thanks to that, even after dealing with one Elder, he was able to enter the Mother Tree’s inner sanctum without trouble.

“……Please take it.”

Where she pointed.

Inside a box made of wood lay a single Divine Fruit.

“Thank you.”

He picked up the Divine Fruit.

[Mother Tree’s Divine Fruit]

[Grade: A+]

[A fruit that very rarely grows on the Mother Tree. It seems like eating it would make you healthy.]

[Effect: All Stats increase by 20.]

“Oh.”

Kim Min-woo let out an exclamation at the Divine Fruit. Soon he looked at Elise.

“The Divine Fruit’s effect is better than I expected. This Mother Tree must be quite old?”

“……It’s a descendant of the World Tree. It’s also the only Mother Tree left on the continent.”

He nodded.

The World Tree, one of the staples of fantasy worlds.

The tree Elves like best.

But Elves didn’t reside only at the World Tree.

Seeds of the World Tree.

They carried them and migrated to other regions as well.

The tree that grew from such a seed was called a Mother Tree.

‘Roughly the feel of Gyeonggi Province rather than Seoul.’

Either way.

Up until now, the Divine Fruits he’d seen were at best between B and A grade.

But this Divine Fruit was A+, one tier higher in effect than those.

“Did the World Tree survive?”

“……No. It burned and fell.”

No wonder.

Kim Min-woo nodded.

When the World Tree is destroyed, the oldest Mother Tree takes over its role.

Probably, since this Mother Tree was the only one remaining, it was in the middle of evolving into a World Tree.

That would be the reason for the Divine Fruit’s high effect.

‘Very good.’

He smiled broadly.

The Divine Fruit’s Stat increase was tremendous, but another effect beyond that was even more cheat-like.

‘It isn’t caught by the Stat limit.’

The phrase commonly seen on Elixirs, “cannot be applied above Stat XX.” Here, Stats raised by a Divine Fruit were not counted in that Stat figure. It wasn’t for nothing that he’d been so determined to get it.

‘Because it’s hard to get except at times like this.’

Ordinary Gates have hardly any story. You go in, smash everything, and come out.

Even if Elves are there, most are hostile and it’s hard to build Favorability.

Hidden Gates were different.

A huge stage.

Even the resolution of conflicts caused by numerous races. Thanks to the stage’s characteristics, that picky Elf had made contact first, and he’d been able to seize the opportunity.

In the end, to obtain a Divine Fruit, you had to meet Elves in a Hidden Gate and build very high Favorability or do them a favor on the level of saving their race, but.

“It’s hard.”

“Pardon?”

“Never mind. Thank you for readily handing over the Divine Fruit despite the unfortunate incident.”

When he lightly bowed his head, Elise shook her head and said.

“……No. I felt a lot too. In a situation like now…… perhaps your way may be the right answer.”

Had she realized something?

A rather commendable Elf.

“Will you eat the Divine Fruit now?”

“I intend to.”

It was better to save the Sword Shadow Elixir.

Because it would run into the Stat limit.

But the Divine Fruit was different.

Even if he ate it now, it wouldn’t be a big problem for the next Elixir-guzzling.

‘Before the Apostle moves.’

He had to put crafting and alchemy Skills into the Skeletons’ hands as soon as possible.

For that, summoning even one more would be good.

‘Magic Power 20, plus the Indomitable Soul’s 10% effect, so 22.’

He would be able to summon 88 more Skeletons. On top of that, the Stat advantage he’d gain in the battle with the Apostle.

There was no reason not to eat it.

Crunch!

He bit into the Divine Fruit.

Along with a sweet fragrance, a refreshing energy spread through his whole body.

[All Stats increase by 20!]

A pleasant message appeared before his eyes.

* * *

[The Skeleton unit’s crafting experience increases greatly!]

[The accumulated crafting experience creates a new Skill!]

[The Skeletons can now use Dwarven Crafting Method(F)!]

[You are learning another crafting-type Skill! Proficiency rises faster!]

[Skeleton 507 acquires alchemy faster…….]

[Skeleton 801…….]

[The power of Collective Intelligence!]

[The Skeleton horde realizes the subtle principles of alchemy!]

[The Skeletons can now use Elven Alchemy(F)!]

“It popped up?!”

―Snort! Eldest Brother! What is it!

Urkan, who had been camping, looked around, startled.

“Ah, sorry. Go back to sleep.”

―……Zzzzz! Phew! Snort!

Urkan instantly fell into a deep sleep.

Cold winter.

The Orcs were sleeping toughly, wrapped in a few hides.

Since they had swept every nearby monster, they had to come to far-off places to hunt.

That was the reason for camping.

―Snort! Eldest Brother! Going out?

“Yeah. Eat this, and don’t doze off, keep a good watch around.”

He handed jerky to the night-watch Orcs standing guard around the camp.

The Orc nodded, face instantly beaming.

After stepping out like that.

He canceled the summoning of about ten Skeletons and summoned them again.

Clatter!

Ten Skeletons rose to their feet.

‘Gotta test it, right?’

He couldn’t hold back.

He took out plenty of materials from the Spatial Ring. Every one of them was a by-product of high-level monsters.

To use the Skills properly, a Forge or alchemy facilities were needed.

But the lack of infrastructure didn’t mean you couldn’t use the Skills.

The success rate just dropped quite a bit.

“Try making equipment and Potions with these, anything. Until one succeeds.”

Nod!

The Skeletons held their hands forward.

[Skeleton 1 uses Dwarven Crafting Method(F)!]

[Skeleton 501 uses Elven Alchemy(F)!]

.

.

[Great Failure!]

[The caliber of the materials the caster is handling is too high! Proficiency accumulates!]

[Great Failure!]

[The caliber of the materials…….]

[Great Failure!]

.

.

[Crude Success!]

[A Very Crude Minotaur Bone Sword is crafted!]

[Dwarven Crafting Method(F) proficiency greatly increases!]

[Success!]

[A Somehow Strange Stealth Potion is crafted!]

[Elven Alchemy(F) proficiency increases enormously!]

After materials burst apart on every side, results finally came out one by one.

He examined the items.

[Very Crude Minotaur Bone Sword]

[Grade: Normal+]

[Level Restriction: 230 or above]

[A sword made from a Minotaur’s bones. A craft full of a beginner’s clumsiness.]

[Effect 1. Strength +10, Agility +10]

[Effect 2. Weight +20%]

[Somehow Strange Stealth Potion]

[Grade: Normal+]

[A Potion that seems like it would make you transparent when drunk. But it seems it also has side effects.]

[Effect 1. Becomes transparent for 5 minutes when consumed.]

[Effect 2. Suffer a random side effect when consumed.]

“Heh heh.”

He couldn’t contain his laughter at all.

Great Failure?

He’d just learned the Skills and handled high-level materials.

Naturally.

What was far more important than that.

‘Is that the possibility has opened.’

Every craft had a + attached.

It would have been a hard sight to show if they’d learned ordinary crafting or alchemy. It must be a sight possible only because they’d been taught their Arts directly by the Dwarves and Elves, the specialists of each field.

When using Skills, proficiency accumulated and the grade rose.

Of course, that didn’t apply to Kim Min-woo.

His horrific body refused growth in any Skill.

But the Skeletons were different.

These guys could accumulate proficiency and grow their Skills.

The same went for crafting Skills.

The higher-level the materials used, the faster crafting Skill proficiency accumulated.

‘Materials are overflowing.’

Whether at the Auction House or in Gates.

They could be obtained anywhere.

On top of that, Skeletons overflowed in sheer quantity.

While other crafters made one or two items and built proficiency, it was a structure where a thousand, two thousand Skeletons could attempt crafting and build proficiency.

The ceiling was insanely high.

‘And even if it’s junk like this…….’

There would be demand.

And no wonder, it’s a + item, after all.

If sold cheaply, it was bound to sell out. It was a structure where not only could he invest, but also recoup his investment.

A virtuous cycle enabling blazing money-printing had been created.

It was something other Necromancers couldn’t even attempt.

Skeletons have no intelligence.

And using intelligent Undead for crafting would fall far short on quantity. Such guys cost much Mana to summon.

Even at Dullahan level, most Necromancers couldn’t pull out even ten.

‘And they wouldn’t have Dwarven and Elven Arts either.’

This was a feat possible only because it was Kim Min-woo.

“Death Lord is a god, and I’m invincible.”

He solemnly declared.

Fast leveling.

Two crafting Arts.

The Divine Fruit and a Bound Skill Book on top of that.

This trip to the Gate alone was already a mega-jackpot.

‘And there’s still more to come.’

Apostle Velitas.

Since he was presumed to be the boss of this B-rank Gate, he would surely spit out something.

It wasn’t for nothing that Awakened went hunting for Hidden Gates like moths to a flame.

Rewards unimaginable in ordinary Gates. Hidden Gates had them lying all around.

Of course, the difficulty was correspondingly very high too.

He looked over the Strength panel.

[Current Resistance Army Strength]

[Leader: Kim Min-woo]

[Members: Human 1, Orcs 6,363, Dwarves 532, Elves 421]

[Rating: Well-Armed Regular Army]

[Average Level: 161]

[Food Situation: Very dire.]

[Morale: Burning with fighting spirit]

[Enemy Alert Level: 31 (They recognize that there is a major problem.)]

Day 10 since eating the Mother Tree’s Divine Fruit.

In the meantime, Orcs had gathered in droves and exceeded six thousand, and their armaments had also become solid.

The average Level had also risen a lot.

Weak Orcs got swept away in hunts. It was a structure where the high-level, strong Orcs survived in greater and greater numbers.

As a result, the average Level couldn’t help but keep rising.

Everything was going smoothly.

‘Except for one thing……’

The Enemy Alert Level.

It had risen very greatly, from 5 last time to 31. At that, even if not the Witch, the Apostle should be highly wary.

Even so, the guy hadn’t attacked first.

‘He must be wary of the Orcs.’

In the meantime, he’d heard many stories from the Dwarves and Elves.

One of them was that the Witch was greatly wary of Orcs.

When war was rampant, just hearing news of Orcs stirring would send armies rushing out en masse and smashing them to pieces.

Considering that, an army should already have come.

Since they must have already found out about the Orcs’ stirring.

And yet they weren’t coming?

It meant they knew what the core of this fight was.

‘Time.’

Orcs eat a lot.

The food problem was slowly beginning to grip their throats.

The fruit the Elves supplied was nowhere near enough.

That was why he’d even camped out to hunt.

‘They don’t need to hurry, probably. I’d have done the same.’

Much was different from the past.

As the cold turned bitter, many living creatures had died.

Even if Orcs stirred, they couldn’t form a horde above a certain level. After just a few days, they’d all starve to death.

‘So they’re probably holing up in the Fortress.’

If we wait, can you really stay away?

Roughly that kind of feeling.

Apostle Velitas.

The guy was a far more cautious fellow than he’d thought.

“But what now? We’ve got a finishing move on this side.”

The guy was failing to consider one very important fact.

That Gates have an excellent base called the Middle Zone.

An Awakened who entered a Gate could leave from the Middle Zone and re-enter.

Of course, that wasn’t possible infinitely.

‘It’s strictly single-use.’

If you left and came back within three days, you returned to the Middle Zone, and after that you could only return by clearing the Gate.

Being able to leave the Gate and come back once.

Normally, this would not be a variable.

Leaving once wouldn’t solve the Orcs’ food problem.

But for Kim Min-woo, it was different.

He had cash to spare.

If he put on a bunch of Spatial Rings, swept up all the food, and then returned?

The pocket space was a vacuum, so food wouldn’t spoil either.

Kim Min-woo smiled.

The past week.

He’d been diligently going around with the Orcs searching for the Middle Zone.

And he’d found it.

He hadn’t left right away, though.

Because if he went out to get food and Velitas attacked, it would be a disaster.

So he’d gently tested the waters to see whether this guy had any intention of coming out or not.

And now he was certain.

Camping out and hunting this far away, and he doesn’t pop out?

A born hole-up guy.

The guy had no intention of coming out at all.

Thanks to that, he’d been able to raise his Level just in time to the next spending range, Level 101, and let the Skeletons freely receive the transmitted Arts.

The food was becoming urgent.

Now was the time to use the single-use golden ticket.

“Your big brother will show you that above a runner there’s a flier.”

Velitas would be shocked a great deal from now on.

Because even when the Orc numbers exceeded ten thousand, twenty thousand, they’d be quite plump.