NOVEL NEXT Chapter 66
#66
“Elves… so I can become an elf?”
It was an opportunity to transform into a completely new race, unlike the undead or vampires that evolved from humans.
With a racing heart, I immediately used 「Customization」, but it seemed the medium was a one-time use, as the branch I was holding crumbled and vanished.
And unlike before, a translucent form appeared before my eyes.
An elf resembling myself with black hair, black eyes, and pointy ears.
“Looks better than Heinz though.”
He was a handsome guy with a soft and warm vibe, quite different from the cold and sharp impression of Heinz II.
“…Should I tweak it just a bit?”
It would be hard to associate this face with my original appearance, but caution was still necessary.
The avatars would keep increasing after all.
Hans was a skeleton, so his appearance didn’t matter, while Heinz II and Harley could change their looks at will.
There was nothing to be done for Heinrich, who had formed many connections already, but Hubert seemed to need some plastic surgery soon.
Thus, after several hours of extreme focus, I painstakingly altered the appearance.
With skin like white jade, blonde hair, and green eyes, he was the very image of an ideal elf sculpted with a artisan’s care.
“Changing gender isn’t possible.”
I checked just in case, but it seemed the skill’s proficiency was still lacking or required other conditions; making a female avatar was impossible.
“Not particularly disappointed… Just curious. It would help to hide my true identity more effectively.”
Mumbling excuses where no one could hear, I cleared my throat and continued the avatar creation process.
It was time to readjust the initial stats.
The candidate job classes were elemental mage and archer, and it was hard to give up either.
“Then I’ll do both.”
Since it wasn’t a real game, there was no problem with balancing both options.
In fact, both were basic skills for elves.
“Let’s stack the stats towards affinity. To get stronger quickly, going the elemental mage route would be beneficial first.”
Most of the stats converted to affinity.
Of course, since I planned to balance it with archery, I couldn’t afford to chop down the physical stats too much, but I figured that could be improved with training later.
“Recovery might be low, but I still have the shared skill 「Super Recovery」, so I should be fine.”
Since it’s a skill that amplifies the recovery, having a low base might diminish its effects, but it would still be better than nothing.
After much deliberation, at last, the elf avatar was created.
[Avatar Info]
-Avatar Name: Harris
-Race: Elf
-Common Traits: 「Mind Hub」, 「Persona」, 「Super Recovery」, 「Crystal Clarity」
-Unique Traits: 「Child of the World Tree」
-Special Notes: The seventh avatar of Seong-hyun Han. Born as an elf using the branches of the World Tree as a medium. The effect of 「Child of the World Tree」 greatly enhances the growth rates of affinity and natural power.
Noticing that Hans and Harris’s info panels lacked anything related to 「Instant Death Immunity」, it seemed that the abilities received as bonuses were not listed in the avatar info.
“But wow, actually looks better in person.”
The handsome elf male with a gentle smile stood before me.
Maybe it was just me, but I felt some refreshing forest aroma wafting around.
“Being born from 「Customization」 seems to have affected the initial skills too.”
The skills assigned seemed too well-suited to the characteristics of the individual to be random.
It was probably an added effect of 「Customization」.
This information could be useful for creating another new avatar later.
But then, Harris’s previously soft smile gradually began to frown.
The unpleasant feeling lingering since a while ago made it hard to maintain his expression.
“So annoying…”
Feeling like being trapped in murky smoke.
With the eco-friendly air purifier gone, the remaining effects were slowly fading, allowing the stuffiness of the outside air to creep in.
“More sensitive than I imagined.”
While my main body felt fine, Harris was acutely aware of his surroundings.
In this dry city center with only a row of trees and a small park.
Simply existing here was painfully uncomfortable.
“Maybe getting used to this environment lowered my natural affinity?”
Exposing myself to such an environment wouldn’t do any good, so I decided to dismiss Harris for now.
Since today’s dimensional teleportation circle was used to send Hans to the shrine, I wouldn’t be able to send him to Auterica until tomorrow.
“By the way, Heinrich finally came to his senses.”
After a few hours engrossed in creating the new avatar, over a day had already passed in Auterica…
Heinrich, who had been hospitalized in the treatment room, finally opened his eyes.
*
“Ugh…”
“Oh! Lord Heinrich, are you coming to?”
As he groaned and opened his eyes, a woman’s eager voice was heard next to him.
“Where is this?”
“This is the intensive care unit. You’ve been here for a full day since you arrived, Lord Heinrich. I’m glad you’re coming to now.”
The healing priestess, looking like a puppy, sighed in relief and began examining Heinrich’s body again.
“Considering you took on that level of curse barehanded, your prognosis is remarkably good. Thanks to the blessing of strong body and your inherent recovery abilities, I don’t think there will be any significant aftereffects.”
“Glad to hear it…”
In truth, that was all part of a meticulous plan, but Heinrich nodded with a serious expression.
“Still, since you’re not completely purified yet, careful monitoring is necessary. For about a month, we should keep an eye on your condition…”
“Whoops~”
As the healing priestess began explaining various things.
While lying still and listening to her, he felt bored and sat up.
“Ah! You shouldn’t move carelessly yet! It must hurt a lot!”
She stated, and as he moved slightly, the informatics filtered through 「Mind Hub」 exploded.
Had he just endured that, tears and snot would have been flowing as he rolled around screaming.
“Ah… it hurts a bit, but it’s manageable.”
“You’re managing? Ah… ah! Still, you can’t! Lie down, lie down!”
After a moment of surprise, she forcibly lay Heinrich back down, calming herself.
“It’s not just the pain that’s an issue. That curse inflicted significant damage to your mind as well, so you need to keep your thoughts calm for the time being. Due to the stress, you could be prone to outbursts from minor provocations.”
“Is that so?”
Of course, Heinrich already knew that.
He had chosen curses from among the more sophisticated black magic that would not affect him.
‘With 「Mind Hub」, I can handle the mental corruption from Heart of the Undead King. This level is nothing…’
What he was more curious about was what had transpired after he had fainted.
When he asked about it, the healing priestess seemed to think it would add unnecessary stress, repeating only to focus on resting.
“Just lying down is suffocating. I feel like staying still will stress me out even more! Can’t you tell me at least a little about it?”
But under Heinrich’s insistence, she finally sighed and opened her mouth.
“First of all, there were no fatalities. Thanks to the barrier of the shrine, but it was mostly due to the Undead King being careless and relaxed. There are many injured, but they are all receiving treatment.”
And it seemed the expedition team dispatched to the Forest of Monsters was hurriedly returning, reinforcing security at the shrine.
Having already allowed a heavy intrusion, there would probably be no lowering of the alert level for a while.
“The inquisition officers are busy uncovering the circumstances of the incident.”
They were conducting on-site investigations to find out how the Undead King had invaded, along with local inquisitors deployed urgently to ascertain the truth of the incident in the Forest of Monsters.
‘This situation must have put the elves in a difficult position…’
As it turned out, they had partially contributed to lowering the shrine’s defenses…
They wouldn’t openly criticize them at this moment, but the church would surely become uncomfortable after watching the chaos unfold last night.
‘Well, once the inquisitors discover Hans’s secret laboratory, the elves will be cleared of their grievances.’
They had enough ability to figure out when and how Hans had disappeared.
“Ah! Lord Heinrich! You’re awake!”
Just then, a saintess stepped into the treatment room and locked eyes with Heinrich.
She approached him with a delighted expression, while the healing priestess quietly bowed her head and withdrew.
“How are you feeling? Shouldn’t you be resting? Wouldn’t it be better to sleep than to be awake like this? I can help you to sleep?”
Seeing her fussily sitting on the chair next to Heinrich’s bed, he hurriedly shook his head.
If he remained still, she might very well use Holy Law to put him to sleep.
“Ah, I’m fine. It’s just lying here. Besides, I actually wanted to hear about what happened after I fainted. Luckily, there were no fatalities, right?”
Picking up on his change of topic, she nodded and sighed in relief.
“Thanks to you chasing the Undead King away just in time, there were no fatalities. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t eliminate it right there, but at least we avoided the worst-case scenario of total annihilation.”
“It was all thanks to everyone coming together, wasn’t it? I wouldn’t have been able to do it alone.”
“Still! That moment when you blessed the light sword into the Heart of the Undead King felt like a scene from a legendary tale!”
The air between the saintess, who sparkled with admiration, and Heinrich, who awkwardly smiled in humility, softened gently.
However, considering the matter at hand, that atmosphere didn’t last long.
“I just came from meeting Laforey. Given this situation, I requested one more confirmation on the Undead King’s location…”
Since Laforey had a good grasp of the situation, he quickly began re-scanning at the saintess’s request.
But as expected, the energy of the Undead King, who had been in the Forest of Monsters until yesterday, had already disappeared somewhere.
“Of course, I don’t suspect the Elven Kingdom. Laforey has also received the blessing of silence, and there was no reason for that in the first place.”
While the timing was awkward, it appeared that rather than suspecting the elves, one should see that the Undead King had taken advantage of the reduced defenses of the shrine perfectly and moved in.
The issue of ‘how’ still remained unresolved entirely.
“Ah! I’ve complained too much while speaking! You’re the patient after all, I shouldn’t bother you!”
“It’s alright. As I mentioned earlier, staying still is much better than lying around. It’s nice to have someone to talk to.”
This way, I could also gather more information.
They spent their time discussing various topics until the saintess left again to attend to her duties.
*
After 10 days had passed since Heinrich’s hospitalization, I was finally able to use the dimensional teleportation circle again.
《Teleportation to the Auterica dimension completed.》
Harris was conveyed directly to Hubert, who was staying at Tarak’s base.
And received the high elf’s bracelet that had shown no changes despite being worn for quite some time.
“Hmm… Definitely feels different.”
As soon as I put on the bracelet, it responded.
Perhaps it was due to already having strong affinity from the beginning; the sensation felt completely different from when other avatars wore it.
The surrounding natural energy felt more vibrant, and my sensitivity to elements was noticeably heightened.
This truly was equipment prepared specifically for Harris.
‘In fact, it’s like the ultimate gear that needs no upgrades. After all, it used to belong to a high elf.’
While I was stroking the bracelet with a satisfied smile, an unexpected notification popped up at a moment when I was deeply immersed in the sensations.
《The World Tree watches over its child.》
“Hmm?”
The World Tree began to take an interest in Harris.
My avatar is becoming a big deal!