"You are a terrible human! You are the reason the Salt Rock Shelter hasn't received any recompense for the horrors we had to face. We would have been better off without you or the Zahara Household!" He roared in anger, his gaze burning fiercely as he stared at Zuriel as though he wanted to cut him into countless pieces.
[ .... (Combo x2) You have successfully provoked the main character's anger through your reckless actions..... ]
Remembering that Malik had also been responsible for annihilating the Salt Rock Shelter in the former version of the story. Zuriel had no regard for his words.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. As I've mentioned several times, an expelled member of the Zahara Household is responsible for all of this mess. Whether you believe it or not is up to you," Zuriel replied, meeting his gaze.
Rather than responding, Malik said, "Zuriel Zahara, I promise you this... I will kill you myself."
┏━━━━━━༻✾༺━━━━━━┓
[System's notification ]
Action: The main character has developed an intense grudge against you.
Reward: +2,500EP
┗━━━━━━༻✾༺━━━━━━┛
"I will be looking forward to it," Zuriel responded with a grin.
"You—" Malik began, but before he could finish his words, he coughed heavily, his throat sore and stinging with pain.
"Get him water," Zuriel said, turning to Finn.
Finn nodded and exited the room. Within minutes, he returned with a bowl of water. He carefully unlocked the cell, opened the door, and placed the water bowl before Malik.
Finn stepped out of the cell, locking it behind him before returning to his position beside Zuriel.
Without hesitation, Malik leaned forward, his tongue lapping up the water before tilting the bowl toward him and swiftly gulping it down. He breathed out in relief as the pain in his throat dissipated.
"For each bowl of water and resource you utilize while on this ship, your sentence increases," Zuriel said.
Malik snapped his head to meet Zuriel's gaze, his eyes burning with intense hatred.
┏━━━━━━༻✾༺━━━━━━┓
[System's notification ]
Action: ( Combo x2) The main character has developed an intense grudge against you.
Reward: +5,000EP
┗━━━━━━༻✾༺━━━━━━┛
Malik lowered his gaze and focused on the floorboards. He realized that Zuriel had come here to rub his encounter with his stepfather and subsequent retreat in his face, so he decided it was best to ignore him. He was already familiar with Zuriel's taunts and knew the only way to force him to leave was to stop entertaining him.
Meanwhile, Zuriel's smile widened as he glanced at the system notification that had appeared before him. Now that he thought about it, it was reasonable. Since every interaction with the main character earned him editor points, that must also include both verbal and non-verbal interactions.
If he were ruthless and disregarded the fact that the individual before him was the main character, he could have subjected Malik to inhumane punishments each day to farm a tremendous amount of editor points.
But he was a benevolent individual.
After all, even a saintly beastmaster would erase evidence if they were threatened like this daily.
Even Malik didn't know he remained bound in chains because of Zuriel's kindness.
Zuriel took this opportunity to check his editor points. Fortunately, he had managed to strike multiple combos, allowing him to accumulate a substantial amount quickly.
[ Beastmaster Editor Points: 29,400 EP ]
Zuriel exhaled in relief. He now had enough editor points to advance Stormshell's Coral Shock Trap skill to the Blue Grade Perfection level, enhancing his overall combat prowess.
Suddenly, the brig entrance door was forcefully opened as the crewman standing guard outside rushed in. His name is Sea Jackal.
Sea Jackal halted before them and respectfully greeted, "Captain, I have important news from the helmsman."
"What is it?" Zuriel asked, eyeing the distressed crewman curiously.
"We have spotted a dungeon and are currently approaching it," the crewman reported.
Zuriel's gaze flickered, and he nodded in understanding. "Don't approach the dungeon yet. I will be there soon," he instructed.
Malik overheard the conversation and frowned.
"Is there anything else?" Zuriel asked.
Sea Jackal shook his head in response.
"Alright, you may leave," Zuriel said.
Sea Jackal nodded swiftly, turned around, and exited the brig.
"Are you planning to take on a dungeon?" Malik asked, staring intently at Zuriel.
"I plan on taking on a special dungeon," Zuriel nodded. He was curious to see if Malik was familiar with this dungeon in this version of the story.
Hearing his words, Malik's eyes widened in shock. He almost couldn't believe his ears. "Are you mad? You're thinking about taking on a special dungeon with this crew?" he asked.
┏━━━━━━༻✾༺━━━━━━┓
[System's notification ]
Action: You have shocked the main character with your words.
Reward: +1,500EP
┗━━━━━━༻✾༺━━━━━━┛
Standing to the side, Finn's expression was stiff before he sighed tiredly. He had initially been worried after Zuriel informed him that they would be taking on a special dungeon. However, after witnessing Zuriel's strength, his worries decreased but did not entirely vanish, as he was still uncertain about what they would encounter within the special dungeon.
Zuriel leaned toward Malik and said, "You shouldn't look down on my crew. Taking on a special dungeon isn't beyond their capabilities. They are not as weak as you think they are."
Finn was irritated by Malik's words and wanted to put him in his place. But for some reason, Zuriel wouldn't allow it, seemingly enjoying the banter, so Finn could only hold himself back and observe the young man speak freely.
Seeing his captain speak up for them, Finn puffed out his chest proudly. Though he didn't fully support Zuriel's words, since taking on a special dungeon was genuinely beyond their abilities, and they were merely going to be riding on his wings, they didn't need to admit it to Malik.
Malik opened his mouth to speak but swiftly shut it, choosing to remain silent with a contemplative expression. He didn't doubt that Zuriel had come here to brag about his encounter with the Salt Rock Leader and his retreat.
He only wondered how Zuriel knew about the location of a secret dungeon. Had he encountered one by mistake some time ago and was only now learning more about it?
Malik's mind began to race as he realized that if they ventured into a dungeon, his stepfather would be unable to locate him.
"Let's go," Zuriel said, turning around and walking toward the door. He had harvested as many editor points as he needed for today. Hopefully, Malik would be more talkative tomorrow once he realized they had entered the dungeon and survived.
Finn nodded, glancing at Malik, who glared back at them before following behind Zuriel. As they exited the room, he instructed the burly man, who was called Black Tide, to take the bowl out of the cell and keep an eye on Malik.
Black Tide nodded in response, his chest puffing forward confidently as he glanced at Zuriel before stepping into the cell. Meanwhile, the Sea Jackal continued to guard the entrance.
On their way to the deck, Zuriel summoned Stormshell from his beast space.
A glimmer of light emerged from him and coalesced into Stormshell beside him. Stormshell immediately rubbed his head against Zuriel's leg. Zuriel bent down and picked him up into his arms.
Though Stormshell was heavy and couldn't be lifted by a normal human, Zuriel's body had been tempered by the overflowing mana within him, making him much stronger than the average person.
He hadn't read far into the novel, so he didn't know why beastmasters could not absorb mana directly and had to rely on their beasts to aid the absorption. He hoped to uncover the reason soon.
Nonetheless, Zuriel couldn't help but contemplate whether this world was real in the first place if 'thegreatquill,' being a divine being, had merely written about it with Malik and the two other main characters as the protagonists, or if it was initially just a story that had transformed into a genuine, living, breathing world.
He wanted to lean toward the former, as it would explain why the novel had so many inconsistencies, meaning 'thegreatquill,' was a terrible writer. But, because he was also divine, Zuriel couldn't help but consider the latter possibility.
'I don't need to worry about such things now,' Zuriel thought, shaking his head inwardly.
His number one goal right now was to make it into the Tower of Extinct Beasts. To do that, he needed to gradually increase his strength, which would require every ounce of effort.
He only had the strength to focus on one task at a time.
Zuriel summoned Stormshell's status sheet and focused on his inherited skills.
[ Inherited Skills:
Coral Shock Trap (Blue) (Advanced)
Effect: Creates fourteen hidden electrified coral structures around the battlefield that shock enemies on contact. These structures have a stun duration of 2 seconds and cover a radius of 17 meters. They are durable enough to sustain four hits before destruction. Requires a 6-second cooldown after use. ]
Zuriel wanted to edit the skill but didn't have enough editor points to modify a Blue Grade Advanced level skill.