I paced around the massive room, rubbing my temples in frustration.

Although I knew she could do that... I half expected us to do a little bit of bonding together.

But oh well, I didn't go around crying about it and instead waited patiently.

Nearly half an hour had gone by in the blink of an eye.

And while I was lost in my thoughts, I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder.

Flinching, I turned around, only to see an innocent-looking Clementine with a few droplets of blood on her face.

"I'm back~"

"Whose blood is that?"

I reached for her cheek and wiped the blood off.

"Ah. Right, I met some Demon Viscounts down there, so I killed them all."

She said that so nonchalantly that I almost didn't believe it at first.

"They were weird statues at first, but when I got closer, they turned into full-blown demons. I guess I forgot to wipe the blood off, but on the bright side..."

Clementine tossed three dark marbles into the air, and I caught them immediately.

She got the job done so easily...

Had we done it the normal way, it would've taken us several days.

Anyhow...

"Good job, Clementine."

A faint smile appeared on her face.

She then pulled a pitch-black katana out of her dimensional ring and held it out.

"You might need it if you're planning to be Mikael for a bit longer."

I stared at the katana for a moment before leaning in and giving Clementine a quick kiss.

"Thank you."

She passed the katana to me with a smirk, and I didn't hesitate to inspect it.

[The Katana of the Ancient Dragon Slayer [Midnight Variant]

[Description: A powerful katana which soaked up the blood of at least 10 dragons, increasing its sharpness and durability to impossible levels.]

[Bonus Feature: All energy imbued into the katana is expelled at double the power.]

It was surprisingly good.

But it was also very familiar to me.

This was the katana that Kevin got in the game.

It was his main weapon for a very long time.

But now, I didn't have any problems making it mine, at least for a little while longer.

"I also found this."

She raised her palm.

In it was a single white earring.

I didn't even need to inspect it to know what this was.

So I simply took it from her palm and gently placed it up to her ear.

Since this worked like magic, the earring just stuck to her ear instead of piercing it.

And like that, she now had a single white earring which didn't stand out nearly as much as I expected.

"It looks good on you."

"Yeah, but don't you think you should be the one to get the protection charm? You're always getting hurt."

I shook my head.

"I found out how to use my new trait. I'll tell you about it later, but I promise... you don't have to worry about my safety for now."

Although she didn't seem convinced, she still nodded, respecting my decision.

She adjusted the earring slightly and then sat down on the ground right beside some runes.

"So, are we eating the Special Ability Cores now?"

Matching her energy, I sat down beside her and swiftly took out all eight Special Ability Cores.

I floated four over to her and kept four myself.

Noticing her excited expression, I let out a chuckle.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. Listen to what I have to say first."

Sadly, I couldn't predict what kind of Special Abilities we'd get, because even in the game, these abilities were randomized.

In a way, it was like gacha.

But there was one important aspect to this type of gacha...

"If you consume four Special Ability Cores, you'll likely get four mundane abilities that are a little weak, and you might not even use them that often."

"But... if you consume all four of the Special Ability Cores at once, the power of the Special Ability you get will be amplified by several times, so you're bound to get something good."

Then again, I didn't want to force her into anything.

"Just saying, but if you do that, you'll only get a single Special Ability instead of four. You can do two at once too for two slightly better abilities, or—"

"I understand," she interrupted me.

Then she met my gaze with a determined look.

"In your experience... what would you say is the best move here?"

My experience, huh?

"I'm going to eat all four at once."

Clementine nodded at me.

"Then I'll do that too."

Ah...

"In that case, I'll be the first one to eat them. I might be out for a couple of minutes, or maybe an hour. Could you protect me until I'm back?"

"Obviously."

Yeah, it was a stupid question.

Of course she was going to protect me.

I finally mustered up the courage and hovered all four of the dark marbles in front of me.

As it stood, I should get a Resistance-type Special Ability.

And I really wanted something similar to Demonic Energy Resistance or Lightning Resistance.

So with those thoughts in mind, Clementine and I exchanged a glance, and finally, I popped all four of the marbles into my throat and quickly swallowed them.

In an instant, I felt my temperature spike.

My throat felt like it was burning, and soon enough, I was forced to lie down and close my eyes, doing my best to control the energy so I wouldn't accidentally suffocate to death.

Yet as I controlled the swirling energies from the Special Ability Cores, I suddenly felt Clementine lift my head.

When she lowered it again, I felt as though I was lying on a pillow.

I subtly opened one eye, and after noticing that I was lying on her thighs, I smirked slightly and got back to focusing on the Special Ability Cores.

For the next twenty minutes, I was in excruciating pain.

But once I hit the thirty-minute mark, the pain finally eased up.

I felt the Special Ability Cores start to settle, and when I finally opened my eyes, I was greeted with a pleasant surprise.

[You have consumed: x4 Special Ability Core]

[You have gained...]

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