The ongoings of the camp presented themselves to Hiro through the eyes of Tara.
He saw that the Shuvlok tribesmen were fighting against some of the new arrivals while others merely stood by, watching without intervening. Tara wasn't fighting either.
Hiro then spoke to her using telepathy, "Hey Tara. Missed me?"
Her reply was immediate. "My Looord! Where are you? The situation is serious. People are fighting!"
Hiro stopped her before she could explain further. He could already see what was happening through her eyes after all.
"Don't worry, I know what's going on over there, kind of. A serious situation isn't necessarily a bad thing. Just let me know when things get SUPER serious, okay?"
"…What is considered super serious? More importantly, are you alright, my Lord?"
Tara had been worried sick about Hiro's well-being ever since their telepathic link was abruptly cut off earlier.
"Me? I'm great! I was just… uh… performing a little experiment. Don't worry about me. As for what's SUPER-serious... Just let me know if you, your mom, Bob, or Barbara are about to die. Otherwise, don't disturb me. I'm still busy."
"Alright, my Lord."
Since Hiro claimed to be busy, Tara acknowledged his words without further questioning.
Internally, though, she mused, 'Barbara too, huh?'
With that, Hiro ended their communication, only to immediately have to deal with another upset woman.
"I really want to give you a piece of my mind right now… but what exactly are you busy with?" Carnalia was finally back online.
"Ah! Dear Carnalia! How I missed hearing your seductive voice. But I must say, I didn't realize you were a fair-weather friend. You disappeared the moment I ran into trouble," Hiro said dramatically, as if he were performing in some medieval play.
"Disappeared my ass! Didn't I tell you about this before? Ugh, I must've forgotten. There are times when my mental connection with you will be cut off, and you can't rely on my advice to get out of difficult situations. It has something to do with the Rules, and there's nothing I can do about it right now."
"Hmmm… Is that so? I guess it can't be helped, then."
Hiro accepted the explanation without much resistance.
"Hehe," Carnalia chuckled before saying, "Remember how you were gloating after bringing down the Hill Giant? And then you almost died to a bunch of goblins. Even with a Divine Class. Hehe."
Carnalia was trying to provoke Hiro, to make him realize that he wasn't nearly as strong as he thought himself to be.
But Hiro's reaction wasn't quite what she had expected.
"There is definitely some sense in your words. I've reflected deeply on my near-death experience and arrived at a conclusion."
Oh, what's this? Carnalia hadn't expected Hiro to seriously reflect.
"Good! As long as you remember not to be overconfi-"
"The conclusion!" Hiro asserted. "Is that the problem is arrows. And fast-moving projectiles in general."
"…"
That was not the conclusion Carnalia wanted to hear.
Ultimate Force Telekinesis was not a trivial Skill to use. It was not as simple as clicking a button in a video game. It typically took Hiro a moment to manifest the Force Vectors. It was not truly instantaneous.
The delay was small, but not small enough to stop an arrow mid-flight. Not to mention, Hiro would need to track an arrow's position at all times just to have a chance at stopping it. Even with his current AGI stat, that was not quite possible.
"What are you getting at?" Carnalia asked. Was there something Hiro could do about this weakness, other than just being more careful?
But Hiro did not respond. He was lost in his own thoughts.
'Theoretically speaking, if I could maintain a powerful spherical Force Vector around me 24/7, then my defense should be solid,' Hiro thought. 'But before I go further with this line of thought…'
There was something he needed to confirm with Carnalia.
"By the way, would that Force Vector I made to stop the goblin arrows also be able to stop magical projectiles?" Hiro asked.
"What…?"
Realizing Hiro was not going to answer her previous question, she sighed in resignation before responding.
"Force created by your telekinesis ability is actually Magical Force. It is different from ordinary physical force. Think of it as the Force Element, like Fire or Water Elements. So the answer is yes. Your Force Vectors can interact with magic just like they interact with physical objects."
"Perfect!" Hiro exclaimed before once again immersing himself in his contemplations.
'The problem with maintaining a powerful Force Vector around me all the time is obviously the ridiculous Carna consumption. There has to be a way to make this more efficient…'
This was Hiro's goal.
Carnalia watched as Hiro stood in place for several minutes, his right hand supporting his chin as he thought about various possibilities. She had to admit that he looked quite handsome in this pose. Choosing not to interrupt, she remained silent.
After some time, she observed as Hiro created a spherical Force Vector around himself. Then, using telekinesis, he shot a rock through the sphere.
Hiro did not aim the rock at himself. Instead, he let it travel in a straight line in front of him while he intently observed its trajectory.
Then he created a new, bigger, spherical Force Vector while still maintaining the previous one. It must be mentioned that, right now, the actual magnitude of outward force for both these vectors was quite small. As a result, Carna consumption remained minimal.
Carnalia watched Hiro's actions with growing confusion. He continued aiming rocks at a single point in front of himself, ensuring they passed through both Force Vectors. His focus never wavered, and there was a certain methodical precision to his movements.
Minutes passed as he repeated the process over and over, each attempt seemingly identical to the last. However, subtle differences began to emerge as the attempts went on.
In some of his latest attempts, the inner Force Vector would occasionally stop the rock, while the outer Force Vector never did. Carnalia observed this pattern but still had no idea what Hiro was attempting.
That was, until she noticed something unexpected appear on Hiro's Status screen. Seemingly out of nowhere, he had obtained a new Title!
"Oh? I get a new Title for doing this? Not bad." Hiro said casually.
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Skill Deriver: You have successfully created a new Skill by using an existing Skill as a base.
Effect:
(i) +30 to INT
(ii) +10% to INT
(iii) If your Class does not have the INT stat, the effects will be applied to the MAGIC stat instead.
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