Chapter 341: Desire Independence [POWER STONE BONUS]
[A Great Achievement has been completed. You have met the Stars before the Second Assessment!]
[Title ’Star Gazer’ gained.]
Alex blinked in surprise before focusing on the newly acquired Title. However, when he attempted to examine its details, another notification appeared.
[Titles cannot be equipped at Adept Rank.]
Alex smiled wryly, although he wasn’t particularly surprised by the restriction. The pigeon Beast, Hoot, had previously explained that only Beast Monarchs could use Titles at lower ranks, while other Ascenders needed to reach a higher rank before gaining access to them.
Since he couldn’t examine the Title’s effects, Alex decided to leave it alone for now.
He then turned his attention toward his Reward Boxes. With the three Gold Reward Boxes he had just received, he now possessed three Gold boxes and one Bronze box.
However, Alex had no intention of opening them immediately. The probability distribution for rewards remained fixed, but the actual value of an item’s rank depended on the Ascender’s current rank.
Something considered an S Rank reward at Initiate Rank might only qualify as a B Rank reward at Adept Rank. This meant that opening his Reward Boxes after reaching a higher rank could allow him to obtain considerably more valuable items.
Since he didn’t urgently need additional equipment, saving them seemed like the more sensible decision.
’From now on, unless there’s an emergency, I’ll save my Reward Boxes until I reach the next rank,’ Alex decided.
With that matter settled, he slowly sat up and examined the glowing fruit in his hand. A familiar information screen immediately appeared before his eyes.
[Star Plum Arasia (SSS Rank)]
[Lol, you almost got ratioed. L bozo. This is why you don’t pick up random things from the street and try to eat them.]
[Effect: Allows you to attain Desire Independence.]
Alex ignored the System’s comment, having long since become accustomed to its strange sense of humor. Instead, he focused on the words ’Desire Independence,’ attempting to understand what the fruit would actually do to him.
Fortunately, thanks to what Sophia had taught him, Alex already understood the principle behind the effect. Will was generated from the desires originating within the soul, which was why it naturally carried the soul’s signature.
Desire Independence would allow him to continue generating Will without including those desires or his soul signature. Although this would weaken his Will, Alex wasn’t particularly concerned since the effect was temporary.
However, he had no intention of eating the fruit immediately. His encounter with the Monarchs had nearly destroyed his soul, and he wasn’t about to risk another unknown consequence while he was still recovering.
Alex slowly stood up, only to experience a sudden wave of dizziness that forced him to steady himself.
The weakness originated from his damaged soul, and even though Soul Recovery Spell was gradually repairing it, complete recovery would take some time.
After taking several deep breaths, he dusted off his clothes and began walking down the mountain. He soon noticed a familiar commotion near the base, where Mia was hissing aggressively at two pigeons while Joseph attempted to calm everyone down.
’So they’ve finally arrived,’ Alex thought, recognizing the two Beast representatives.
He approached Mia and gently patted her head, attempting to calm her down. “They’re our guests, Mia. You need to treat them nicely, especially since we’re going to be working together.”
Mia huffed and slapped his hand away with her tail, although she reluctantly stopped hissing. The two pigeons also relaxed slightly, but neither seemed willing to lower their guard completely.
“Greetings, Alex. I suppose you’ve finished whatever business brought you to the mountain’s summit?” Hoot asked, examining him curiously.
“Yes, I’m done for now. I assume Joseph has already told you about the Trial we discovered?” Alex replied, glancing toward his companion.
“He has, and King Pipi is quite interested in participating. We were hoping you would allow us to accompany your group,” Hoot explained.
“Of course. We’re allies now, so I don’t see any reason to exclude you,” Alex answered with a nod.
Just then, Mia released another suspicious meow while staring directly at the pigeons. Alex knew she had always been an enthusiastic hunter whenever birds were involved, and judging by her unusually wide eyes, those instincts were becoming difficult to suppress.
“Alex, could you please teach your pet some manners?” Hoot asked, sounding rather irritated.
The moment Mia heard the word ’pet,’ her fur bristled, and she immediately lunged toward Hoot. Her speed was astonishing, but the pigeon reacted just as quickly, shooting into the air before she could reach him.
“Hmph. Absolutely no manners,” Hoot declared, sounding rather smug as he looked down at Mia.
Pipi immediately released a series of hoots, causing Hoot to stop speaking. After listening for a moment, the pigeon lowered his head slightly.
“You’re correct, King Pipi. I shouldn’t have behaved that way,” Hoot admitted before turning toward Alex. “I apologize for provoking your companion. Since we’re allies, I should have shown more restraint.”
Alex was inwardly surprised by how quickly Hoot acknowledged his mistake. However, he merely nodded and said, “It’s alright, but I hope this doesn’t happen again. I don’t want our group constantly fighting among ourselves.”
“Understood. I’ll make sure to remember that,” Hoot replied, then apologized to Mia.
The group eventually settled down for dinner, and during the meal, Pipi approached Alex with an interested expression. After exchanging several hoots with the smaller pigeon, Hoot explained that King Pipi wanted Alex to teach him magic.
Alex readily agreed, since teaching someone with a completely different body structure sounded rather interesting. He began explaining the fundamentals of mana manipulation and quickly discovered that Pipi possessed surprisingly good control over his mana.
’Is it because he’s an animal and naturally possesses stronger instincts? Or does being a Beast Monarch provide some advantage?’ Alex wondered.
After observing Pipi’s manipulation for a while, he suspected that both explanations were correct. However, another possibility soon occurred to him, one that was directly related to the pigeon’s small body.
..
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