Five hours passed by.
Ainen learned two more solid skills with the guidance of Lord Black, aside from acquiring the Mark of the Hunter, and trained in those skills, gaining some proficiency.
A total of ten minutes had passed by outside during these ten hours that Ainen spent in the tower.
"Brother, you're back!"
"Where did you go? You just disappeared!"
Ainen smiled. "I went to a trial place to learn some skills."
"That said, where's Clovelle?" Ainen saw that Saffa and Fraisea were here, but Clovelle was missing.
'Master, we sensed a subtle aura of a powerful resource when we entered the forest, so Clove went to find it,' Saffa answered.
'Oh, she's back.' Fraisea turned her hand in the northeast where the forest deepened.
It was utterly silent in the surroundings, and then Clovelle appeared in the form of a stream of ice before turning back to its beast form.
'Master! There's a very good resource there. It's of Fire-attribute, so it will really help you,' Clovelle said. 'But there are already humans gathered, and they were discussing what to do.'
[ New Main Quest triggered. ]
[ Main Quest: Imerfon Fireheart Fruit. ]
—> An Imerfon Fireheart fruit has ripened in the Dakuta Forest, attracting people from the Lainark Town. Get the fruit.
—> 20,000 Cook Points.
'Clove, do you know the name of the fruit you found?'
'Yes, Master. The humans were calling it Imerfon Fireheart fruit.'
Ainen's eyes glinted. 'So the system can grant quests based on the situation. Interesting.' Latest content published on novel·fiɾe·net
'How many people are there? And are they stronger than you three?'
'A few are higher leveled than us, but not a threat to us,' Clovelle replied, her tone proud. 'Even if they have more stats than us, they can't do anything to us. Our skills' quality and our innate mastery of Ice and Light are far superior to their elemental masteries.'
'Hehe, we are born from our strong mother and an even stronger father.'
Ainen smiled. Indeed. These foxes, or rather, wolf-foxes, since they were hybrids, were also highly intelligent and were clearly very powerful.
Being directly born at the Adept life-rank meant they had a solid inborn foundation.
Ainen turned to Ron and Syl before telling them about the fruit.
But he couldn't leave both of them here.
'Let's try something.'
"Clovelle, can you capture an animal or a small monster for me? I want to test something."
Meanwhile, Ainen entered the Wagon Diner and looked in the kitchen.
Ainen focused, using the Limitless Kitchen's function of reacting to his imagination and creating tools.
After a few seconds, a large screen appeared, showing everything that his eyes saw as it was connected to his vision.
'Now, I hope the main thing I want to do works.'
Clovelle soon returned with a small monster, an arm-sized lizard.
Ainen put the lizard in the kitchen and then…he put the Diner Wagon back into his Inventory.
Syl suddenly exclaimed. "I get it, brother! You are trying to see if we can stay in the kitchen while the kitchen stays in your storage!"
"Ohh…" Ron was surprised.
Ainen chuckled. "Yep. There's also a big screen inside that shows everything that I see. But first, let's see if that lizard is still alive."
Taking out the Diner Wagon again, Ainen entered the kitchen, hoping the lizard was alive.
And…it was indeed alive!
The screen was also working perfectly.
Ainen grinned and exited.
"Alright, you little imps. It's time to get inside and watch the show."
And so, Ainen started moving towards the location of the Imerfon Fireheart fruit.
Ron and Syl were inside the kitchen, watching the show from a safe place while Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea had turned into a magnificent outfit for him.
Ainen's white-blue coat shimmered like moonlight on ice. A thick fur collar framed his neck, glowing faintly, while lapis crystals embedded along the lining pulsed with soft elemental light. The coat's runic seams shifted like living embroidery, and its hem flared with each step, leaving brief trails of frost and sparks as he moved through the forest.
Following Clovelle's words, Ainen was getting close to the place and slowed down.
He has covered ten kilometers so far.
'There, people are gathered in that valley,' Clovelle said.
Ainen arrived at the valley between two mountains, but it was hard to see people due to the wilderness.
He didn't want to sneak around since he wasn't afraid.
His defense was entirely in the hands of Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea.
The coat naturally had high defense akin to their stats, but they could also use their powers to defend him from any attacks that were too much for him to handle.
So even though there were a few Adept-rank people here, Ainen wasn't worried.
'But surely, people don't just kill each other here recklessly, right?' Ainen wondered. After all, he was wearing an amazing coat, and his aura was strong.
No matter from what angle anyone looked at him, he looked like a big shot with a solid background.
'Guess I'll try to act like one, hehe.'
In the valley, at a certain grove, the air was hot, and faint ember sparks were blinking in the air.
On the ground, covered by large petals, grew a fruit, its size almost like a watermelon.
"So, how are we going to do this, Naresh? The fruit is about to fully ripen in minutes."
A beauty looking in her late twenties with wavy brown hair, and sporting a ranger's leather armor, spoke in a sharp tone as she looked at a blond-haired man of a similar age.
The atmosphere was tense.
Two parties, all Adventurers from Lainark Town.
Doomfang Brigade, 4 people. Three men, one woman. This party had three Awakened-rank adventurers between levels 70-80, and one Adept-rank blond-haired man at level 172, who was their leader.
Moonlake Pact, 5 people. Two women, three men. They had one Mortal-rank young teen looking like a fifteen-year-old at level 50 who needed stats to hit peak to breakthrough, three Awakened-rank around level 60-80, and the brown-haired Adept-rank lady at level 169, who was their leader.