931: Powers Gained, Powers Lost

「Yah! Hah!」

『Fran. Don’t push yourself too hard, okay? You’re not fully recovered yet.』

「I’m fine.」

Fran was swinging me around in the yard of the Sanatorium.

『How are your muscles feeling now?』

「Still hurts. But I’m fine.」

As I thought, the backlash she received was much lighter than Mea and Velmeria’s.

Mea and Zefmate paid a heavy price, temporary loss of their ability to use Awakening and a reduction to their stats. In addition, a ridiculous amount of muscle soreness.

The pain was so intense that they couldn’t get out of bed for an entire day. Zefmate was literally screaming the whole time, although Mea never got quite that bad.

In comparison, Fran got up almost immediately and started doing some practice swings.

Although her body had weakened from sleeping so long, her stats stayed the same and she could still use Awakening. She had some minor muscle aches, but not enough to stop her from moving. Her stomach also quickly returned to normal, and she was eating as much as before.

Considering how we borrowed Oratorio’s power to forcibly activate Divine Beast Form, those were some pretty light consequences. Actually, thinking about it again, falling into a coma for ten days can’t really be considered light.

If that happened while she was alone, she’d be a sitting duck the entire time. There might even be a chance of death by starvation. It must have been a really deep coma too, since she showed no response when I waved some curry above her nose.

Fran would normally be paying the same price as Mea and the others, so I’ll have to thank Fenrir and Announcer-san again.

Well, it’s always possible there’s some terrible backlash that we just haven’t noticed yet. We’d better be on careful lookout for a while longer.

Right now, Fran was swinging her sword in spite of the muscle soreness over her entire body. Rehabilitation was one of her reasons, but she also seemed to be trying to remember the feeling of using Divine Beast Form.

Slowly but surely, she practiced one swing after another, as if cutting at an invisible enemy.

The Divine Beast Form skill was already long gone. Like I thought, Fran could not attain such a tremendous power without Oratorio’s support.

Fran clenched her teeth together and muttered.

「……There was a level even higher than Awakening.」

『Yeah.』

「If I train enough, could I reach it again?」

『Hmmm, I couldn’t say for sure.』

Divine Beast Form was a skill only appearing in the legends. The Black Heavenly Tigers completely paled in comparison. Would it really be possible to attain such a mythical skill just by training alone?

I highly doubt strength is the only factor. Some sort of special condition might be the key to unlocking it. This was clearly not going to be easy.

But I know Fran won’t give up. With that power, she might be able to break the curse over the entire black cat race by herself.

Now that she had found this new hope, there was no stopping her.

「Shh! Hah!」

Fran swung me again, trying to let the feeling of that moment sink into her body. Soon after, she looked down at me, tilting her head.

「Master, are you okay?」

It seems she’s concerned about my condition too.

『I’m fine too. Fenrir and Announcer-san helped me out.』

「I see.」

『Yeah, don’t worry.』

I got some repercussions too, but it ended up being a speed reduction to my auto-repair skill. After the last ten days, that had mostly worn off.

Since it was such a minor issue, I was able to watch over Fran the entire time as she slept. In exchange, Fenrir and Announcer-san went into hibernation.

「We need to thank Announcer-san and Fenrir when they wake up.」

『Yeah, I’m sure they’ll be happy to hear that from you.』

Both Announcer-san and Fenrir were very concerned about Fran. They’d definitely love to see Fran so healthy.

On the contrary, I actually ended up gaining a few things. Wolfking and Wisdom were simply powers I had borrowed from Fenrir and Announcer-san, so I couldn’t use them now that they were asleep.

However, Mixed Slayer still remained as Golden Formula, and I retained the new skills “Evil Torrent” and “Transmission”.

The remnants of Overgrowth got reactivated by Oratorio, resulting in the “Golden Devourer” skill. Then, Announcer-san modified it for our use, resulting in the “Golden Formula” skill. It has the effect of dealing ma.s.sive damage to antidemons, so it’ll be very useful whenever we fight on this continent.

“Transmission” allows me to more easily transmit my will to every part of my body when I activate morphing. This skill contained what’s left of Fanatics’ power.

I think Announcer-san left these behind as a parting gift before going to sleep.

It wasn’t just me who got something from the battle. Fran and Urus.h.i.+ also gained levels and stats.

Both of them were now at level 70, placing them among this world’s top tiers. If this was an RPG, they’d be able to clear the final dungeon with ease.

『You guys got some insane stat gains, especially Fran.』

「Nn.」

I was very surprised when I saw her magic and agility stats increasing more than 300 points. Meanwhile, her other stats got boosted over 100 points across the board. Her HP and MP gains finally pushed her over the 1000 marker for both.

Apparently, this rapid growth was due to a combination of various factors.

First, it seems that you start getting ma.s.sive stat gains once your level reaches 70. In exchange, it becomes incredibly difficult to level up.

Second, the effect of Divine Beast Form. Though the skill itself was gone, the experience of moving as a transcendent has optimized her body and senses.

Fran’s control of thunder magic also improved, despite that not showing up in her stats. Probably another positive effect of her body remembering how to manipulate black lightning freely during Divine Beast Form.

We haven’t tried black lightning yet, but I’m sure the improvements applied there as well.

Third, the effect of her new t.i.tle “Matchless Warrior” applied here too. This one was pretty ridiculous.

Matchless Warrior: A t.i.tle given to those who are above a certain level of strength, have fought for a certain period of time in a battlefield with over 300,000 enemies, and destroyed at least 30,000 enemies.

Effect: HP+200, MP+200, STR+100, VIT+100, AGI+100, MAG+100.

The combination of these three things seems to be what gave her the sudden stat gains. Throw in the boost from Awakening, and they’ll get even higher. She’s already in the upper half of Rank A at this point.

When I first saw the Beast King and Ashwrath’s stats, I thought we’d never be able to catch up. But after seeing Fran as she is now, I’m certain she’ll be able to reach them someday.

Mea and Velmeria also earned this t.i.tle. Zefmate, however, did not. I’m sure Holy Beast Form let him meet the condition for “a certain level of power”, so it’s likely he didn’t defeat enough enemies.

Zefmate didn’t have many decisive wide-area attacks, and he tended to focus on support rather than offense, so I guess that makes sense.

「Urus.h.i.+ got stronger too.」

「Woof!」

Urus.h.i.+, who had been eating his reward of super hot spicy curry, looked up upon hearing Fran’s words. As usual, his mouth was covered in sauce, but he gave a happy bark.

Though Urus.h.i.+ didn’t end up getting as much of a boost as Fran, his stats still increased from the level up.

Also, he had a powerful new t.i.tle of his own.

Boundless Predator: A t.i.tle earned by magic beasts that have devoured countless foes.

Effect: Bonus to all predatory actions.

The effect’s kinda vague, but that only goes to show how wide ranging it is. A lot of Extra Skills were like that too.

I’m pretty sure it affects many of his skills, such as Predatory a.s.similation, so Urus.h.i.+ will receive insane benefits.

「We can still get stronger.」

「Woof!」

Fran spoke with her fists clenched. After learning that there was still plenty of room for growth, her desire for more power only grew stronger.

Well, her eyes were still glued to Urus.h.i.+’s curry. Fran managed to concentrate on her practice swings for a while, but she eventually ran out of patience.

She had a similarly powerful desire for food.