Chapter 90: CH 90

The thing which is suffocating me.

***Eight-Tailed Fox VS Giant Poisonous Horned-Snake***

“Good job, everyone!”

“I’ve got enough experience points now. Time to take the Level 5 test.”

“Ugh… I thought the system reset would wipe out our experience points, so I used them to increase my inventory capacity. How should I have known that they’d leave the experience points alone and also raise the requirements to take the level tests? Ugh.”

“Right. I never thought that I’d face an experience point bottleneck for the level-up tests.”

Everyone in the party had been above Level 5 during the beta test, so they were experienced experts in the game. Moreover, Hanma, Jeros, and Ohje were part of the top one percent of those invited. Consequently, these elite users possessed skills and abilities that went beyond their level, and these were the only reason why the party could clear the hardcore version of the quest without any preparation or training.

“Testing Room. Enter.”

“I’m going to train a bit more just in case. If I fail the test, I’ll lose a tremendous amount of experience points.”

“Great work, everyone! I’ll be sending out friend requests, so don’t deny it!”

The 36 members of the party started to scatter and go their own ways. Some remained in the Star Temple to complete other quests, but Merlin was not one of them as he wasn’t interested in quests from the start.

“Anyway, what was all that about the quest being the hardcore version? Though it was difficult, based on the time we spent doing the quest, the number of experience points we received was relatively large… Everyone was eager to do the quest- was it a time-limited event?”

Once everyone left, Merlin started heading south once more. Since there were no training grounds or hunting fields where he was going, Merlin soon found himself alone on the road. 

“Yahoo! Where are we going, master?”

… Well, Merlin wasn’t entirely alone.

“Don’t sit on my head; it’s not your nest.”

“To be frank, it’s not comfortable up here either. It would be great if you had more hair.”

“Are you serious?”

Sitting atop Merlin’s head was a red feathered bird of prey, an eagle.

“Honestly, I was hoping for a dragon.”

Merlin complained. Based on the shape and size of the egg, Merlin had expected a dragon to emerge, but what came out was this red eagle, which soon retorted negatively to Merlin’s gripes.

“Unfortunately, dragons can develop with any specific training or guidance since they’re a transcendent species, so they don’t need any outside help. Of course, not all dragons fall under this category… there are less intelligent dragons that are so dumb that they can’t even accept outside help or learn from it.”

“Outside help?”

At this term that he’d never heard before, Merlin questioned the red eagle curiously, but it merely froze for a moment before changing the subject.

“Anyway, aren’t you going to give me a name? I’m greatly anticipating my new name.”

The red eagle was from the egg that Merlin had been lugging around for a while. It couldn’t go in his inventory because it housed a living being, and it was damaged during the hardcore quest. Yet, for whatever reason, the egg had moved toward the enemy and exploded, causing extensive destruction.

‘Though… it seems like the others thought it was one of my magic spells.’

That was correct. The other users assumed that Merlin had cast a spell and became elated at the outcome. It didn’t matter what Merlin said or did. He wore a mage outfit, so despite using martial arts and archery skills during the battle, they unconsciously believed he would inevitably fall back on his spells. That’s what others thought, but at the time, Merlin had been frustrated that his egg was destroyed. How long did he carry that thing around and feed it his magic power? However, right when the egg was about to explode, the red eagle hatched.

“I can’t believe you’re already capable of fighting even though you’ve just hatched.”

“Well, I guess to establish an affectionate connection with one’s master, it would have been better to hatch as a youngster, but to match your human intelligence and gain combat power, I decided it was better to develop a bit more.”

“So, instead of being a simple pet, you’re saying that you’d rather be a helpful assistant?”

The red eagle nodded.

“I like that my master is somewhat smart. Even among pets, there are rankings since not all can become as smart or strong as me. There are many pets that are dumb and have no combat power, and there are also those with natural intellect and the ability to grow alongside their master from a young age. The latter is quite rare, though.”

Merlin recalled that most of the pets he saw were the kind with low intelligence or combat power. There were also drastic differences between pets from the same species. For example, there was Arc’s pet, a cat named Ellie, who had an outstanding amount of magic power. And on the other hand, there were those girls he passed on one of Starting’s bustling streets. They carried a cat that looked cute but had no other special qualities; essentially, they were holding a typical cat. As such, it seemed that a pet’s rank could vary greatly even compared to others of its species.

“Ah, I came up with your name.”

“What?”

“Let’s go with Red Hawk.”

Merlin spoke with earnest intent. Yet, the red eagle’s reaction was immediate and fierce.

“What did you say, you little dipshit? I’m an eagle!”

“Hawk or eagle, aren’t they the same things anyway?”

“This idiotic dunce!”

The eagle cried out with an exasperated tone. Merlin didn’t think that the eagle’s name was anything special, but the eagle appeared to value it immensely.

“Hmm… then what about Quiet Heaven?”

“Quiet… Heaven?”

“It means clear, peaceful skies.”

In truth, the name came from the main character of the comic book titled ‘Red Hawk.’

“Quiet Heaven… oh, not too bad. Okay! From today, my name shall be Quiet Heaven! Hahaha! Oh, my master has some sense and talent for naming!”

Seeing his pet so ecstatic with its new name, Merlin momentarily felt some slight guilt, but then again, the name wasn’t that weird, so he just responded by nodding.

“Alright, Quiet Heaven. What are you able to do? What abilities do you have?”

“First off, I’m dashing and awesome!”

“I don’t care about a bird being dashing. What are your abilities? Tell me about them.”

In their brief time together, Merlin had come to understand Quiet Heaven’s personality, so he ignored the bird’s comment and went straight to the main point, making Quiet Heaven grumble.

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“Hmph. You’ve gained such an amazing pet, but you don’t even know how happy you should be. Well, I’m quick at recognizing things, like the temperature of a room.”

“Quick at recognizing things?”

Merlin looked confused, and Quiet Heaven explained, “Yeah, quick at recognizing things. With just one look, I can tell what abilities and properties something possesses. Additionally, I’m able to judge their level as well as their combat strength. Actually, I can even see if they’re good or evil, and although it isn’t always accurate, read someone’s personality.”

Merlin had expected Quiet Heaven to have a simple combat-related ability, so this was entirely unforeseen. It wasn’t awe-inspiring to see someone’s level and combat power but being able to tell if they were good or evil was truly surprising.

“Does that work on users?”

“Of course. Are you guys so special that you’d be different from everyone else?”

In terms of psychological infiltration to gain personal information, users were extraordinarily well protected by the system; however, most players could discover each other’s approximate level and properties. Otherwise, the system protections were so heavy that even those who tried using mind-reading skills on another user could only do so for a brief period. Furthermore, anything related to hypnosis and suggestive thought placement didn’t work on users.

“What else?”

“I’m able to share my hearing and vision with you. I can also communicate in your place.”

“Communicate in my place?”

“It’ll probably be easier to show you than to explain.”

Quiet Heaven closed its eyes and produced a single red thread of spiritual essence. Like a physical string, the spiritual essence stretched out and connected with Merlin’s left wrist.

“… Huh?”

Merlin’s perspective changed. Unexpectedly, he was looking at himself. 

Flap!

With a few flaps of its wings, Quiet Heaven rose high in the air. Interestingly, Merlin was watching through Quiet Heaven’s eyes, but his other senses were left intact. He felt his feet planted firmly on the ground and the wind blowing gently past him. Though Merlin was standing still, his field of vision was filled with passing skies. Based on the rushing winds he could hear, it seemed that Quiet Heaven had also shared this sense with Merlin.

“How’s that? Say something, anything.”

“What do you mean ‘say anything’ - huh?”

While speaking, Merlin was astonished to find that his voice was being mixed in with the rushing, passing wind. He wasn’t talking through his mouth but through Quiet Heaven’s.

“Ah, this is what you meant by sharing your senses and communicating. If I send you out, I can talk through you.”

“That’s right.”

“Users have a whisper messaging system, though. This is essentially useless.”

“…”

As if it felt hurt, Quiet Heaven stayed silent for a moment. Soon, Merlin regained his vision, finding himself entirely on the ground.

“Interesting. Speaking through you is just a mediocre ability, but sharing your vision is great. The view from the sky is pretty nice.”

“I guess so.”

Quiet Heaven responded curtly as if it were sulking and felt slighted. However, it seemed that the bird didn’t dwell on the past for too long, as Quiet Heaven quickly returned to its normal state. Merlin asked, “Do you have any additional abilities?”

“You probably already saw, but I have an attribute affinity for fire and wind. And when I combine the two appropriately, I can cause an explosion.”

This was something that Merlin had witnessed firsthand when Quiet Heaven hatched from its shell. The explosion that Quiet Heaven released when hatching was equivalent to Jeros’ spells.

“How many times can you use that?”

“It’s not a question of how many times but how often. Currently, I can use it once every four hours and 37 minutes. Also, I’m currently restricted to three uses per day.”

“Eh? Why is the cooldown so long? Furthermore, it’s exactly four hours and 37 minutes?”

This cooldown didn’t fit with what Merlin knew of DIO’s system, as it seemed to belong in any other game. Yet, Quiet Heaven just nodded its head.

“I’m an assistant, not the primary force. I can help when my master is in need or during an emergency. I’m not supposed to fight in your stead.”

“Ah, that’s unfortunate. That explosion is incredibly formidable.”

“It is possible to help me develop with some of your experience points.”

“Yeah? I don’t have any experience points to spare, though.”

Merlin was momentarily frustrated, but once he recalled how pets were not originally an addition to one’s combat power, he swiftly recovered.

“Anyway, where are we off to?”

“The sea.”

“Why are we going to the sea? There aren’t many monsters there, right?”

Quiet Heaven wasn’t wrong; the sea didn’t particularly have an abundance of monsters. While DIO’s sea was unlike the Earth’s relatively peaceful one, compared to the countless mobs in the land-based hunting fields, DIO’s sea had comparatively fewer monsters. 

This was because more users were active on land than on the sea. Naturally, more monsters would be present in places that users frequented more often. 

Dynamic Island was divided into thousands of different areas, and each place had a specific set of monsters.

“Of course, monsters don’t occupy every single meter of land, so there are places with no monsters, like the cities and the roads connecting them or the areas around the teleportation gates. However, other than these specific locations, there was always bound to be a couple of monsters somewhere. Moreover, the number of monsters grew accordingly with how many users occupied that area.”

“So, you’re saying that the sea doesn’t have many monsters due to the lack of players there?”

“Yeah. Furthermore, users don’t have reasons to go there, so I don’t expect the number of monsters to increase anytime soon.”

After hearing Quiet Heaven’s explanation, Merlin started recalling the monsters he met in the sea, finding that there indeed weren’t many there. Actually, Merlin recalled seeing much more regular marine life than monsters, but a question soon popped into his mind.

“Hmm. Aren’t there places with high quantities of monsters but barely any users? When I was in the sea, I recall seeing a sizable group of monsters moving together. On land, there are orc tribal villages and ogre dens as well.”

“Those places were made with the express intent of being hunting fields for group activities.”

The largest of such places were the four massive group hunting fields, which included the Forest of Despair and Desolate Desert. Each one was at least 100 kilometers in width and length. Moreover, though the outer sections of these hunting fields had relatively low-level monsters, the inner regions had monsters stronger than imaginable. They were extremely dangerous areas.

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