Chapter 46 046

Spirits were rather rare in Midgard. Elementalist was a hidden class, and ordinary stores didn't even sell related equipment. However, the impression players felt after seeing the spirit once was mostly the same—they were jealous as hell.

It was justified, as the spirits boasted overpowered specs that matched their rarity. They were even loyal as a dog when it came to their masters. That was one of the reasons people were so obsessed with hidden classes. Seojin was the same about that, as he almost shed a tear of bliss.

'…The investment was a success.'

Flappy, the little spirit, finally took off its tablecloth-like exterior and revealed what was inside.

'Is she a fairy? What's kind of attributes does she have?'

Flappy was now a tiny girl who was around the size of Seojin's palm. She had translucent wings attached at her back and was rubbing her eyes with her tiny hands as if she was drowsy.

She was like a living, breathing doll. From a flying tablecloth to this… Seojin gave her enough time to wake up, feeling like he was a father now.

"…Ah."

Flappy opened her eyes wide and froze on the spot.

"Sorry, I was surpri—"

"Hey! Oh, it's just you. Ah thought it wuz sumone else."

Her voice was cute, but… Seojin felt that her manner of speech was slightly peculiar.

"Mah shoulders is killin' may!"

Flappy stretched out as Seojin stared at her, having no idea what to say.

'What was… that?'

How could she be so cute yet speak like… that? But alas, that wasn't the end. Flappy scratched her belly like she was an old man in a midlife crisis.

"Do ya hav any beer? Beer is perfect fahwar wakin' up. After sleepin' fahwar thray hunnerd years, Ahm losin' mah mind."

"…Beer?"

"Ayyo, beer. Why you so dumb now? Thuh guy who brought may out wuz quick'n speedy."

"Quick'n speedy…"

Seojin was lost for words. Why did she have to be so small and cute but acted like that?! Of course, Flappy couldn't care less about Seojin as he suffered a hard reality check.

"If yer don't hav no beer, wha don't yawl git sum magic stones? Yawl know magic stones, raht?"

"Magic stones…"

Seojin had no idea why he was being obedient as he opened the auction window, searching through the long list of available items.

Low-Quality Magic Stone: 1 Silver

Mid-Quality Magic Stone: 33 Silver

High-Quality Magic Stone…

…

Items Received

Seojin had purchased each type of stone. However, when he took out a low-quality one…

"Hey."

"…Huh?"

"Am Ah supposed tuh eat thet crap?"

"…"

Seojin silently swapped it out for a medium quality stone. Flappy nodded as if she thought she was being awfully generous today.

"The'll do. Alright, give it tuh may."

Then, she reached out with her petite arms, almost snatching the stone that was larger than her upper body. Flappy took a bite, and then almost buried her face in the stone.

'That's… adorable.'

Seojin almost felt like he was hand-feeding a squirrel as he watched the cute, palm-sized girl munch on the stone.

'Damn, I almost forgot.'

Only then did Seojin come to his senses and open the status window.

Flappy.

* Greater Spirit.

* ???

Seojin's jaw dropped.

'Greater Spirit?'

The hidden details at the bottom of the window were the least of his concerns right now, as Greater Spirits could steamroll hunting grounds around the same level as them.

"…This little one?"

Flappy was busy munching the magic stone, so she couldn't hear it. One thing for was for certain, and it was that Seojin had made the right choice. Who cared about a billion won or her weird way of speaking when a mere mid-level Elementalist could earn at least millions in income every month?

"…Hey, Flappy."

"Hey, Ahm eatin' raht now. Don't make may tawk."

She had a fair point. Seojin waited for around ten minutes until Flappy finally finished devouring the entire stone, patting her full belly.

"Okay, Ahm all ears."

"Er, you are Flappy… right?"

"Seriously? Ya gave may thet name an' ye already forgot? Ye sure you don't needa checkup?"

"The magic stone… is it tasty?"

"Whut is yawl tawkin' bout? Ahv gist gotta eat tuh survive, gist lahk humans do."

"There are meals that are better than the other. How's this for change?"

Seojin picked up a stone with his fingers and showed it to Flappy. The color was different from the one that Flappy just ate. Flappy started to drool at the sight of the finest magic stone, which was worth a whopping ten golds.

"…Yore raht."

"I think we need to talk."

"So, this was the Valaran Kingdom, right? I heard that adventurers here use something called polite speech! Am I right? (◕ᴗ◕✿)"

"You don't need to."

"Thank thuh Lawd. So, wadja want?"

Flappy's eyes were locked on the stone for the entirety of their conversation. It was a bit underwhelming, though. Seojin wanted Flappy to be freaking out and jumping at the sight of it. Seojin finally initiated a serious conversation.

"First of all, a question. What did you mean by three hundred years?"

* * *

The conversation progressed as Flappy answered all of Seojin's questions quite seriously, which was unexpected.

First of all, about the three hundred years. That was how many years had passed since Flappy gained the minimum amount of cognitive ability.

"If it went with the natural flow, my 'class' would have risen more than a hundred years later."

However, Seojin had given her concentrated natural energy which had been accumulated more than a thousand years ago. The Fruit of Life. Flappy became a greater spirit by just eating that, and thanks to her remarkably enhanced intelligence, she could remember all of her experiences over hundreds of years.

"It feels lahk Ahm watchin' uh movie. It's sumpn thet Ahv been thoo, but habumt experienced. Do yawl understaynd whut Ahm sayin'?"

"I guess."

"All raht, so, movin' on…"

The same message popped up every time Flappy told him about one of her abilities.

Unlocked: Spirit's Ability

Unlocked: Spirit's…

Flappy

* Greater Spirit

* Element: Blank

* Available Skills: Stealth(☆☆☆☆☆), Flight(☆☆☆) Telepathy…

Her abilities were ridiculously overpowered, as if to prove that she indeed was a greater spirit. However, unfortunately…

"That's all."

"…There should be more"

"Ah dunno. Wheyun yawl introduce churself, do yawl say breathin' iz yur specialty?"

Flappy seemed to not yet fully grasp what she could and couldn't do. She must be able to use her abilities if she wanted to, but they weren't all listed on the status screen.

"It's been three hundred years."

"Ah maey look lahk thus, but mah mind izza difernt matter. Do yawl havuh problem with thet?"

"Nope, nothing."

In all honesty, it was a slight bummer, but it might actually turn out to be helpful.

"I won't have to babysit you. A three-hundred-year-old is way better than a babbling kid. Let's get to work."

"Work?"

"If you want to eat something delicious, you have to earn it. Don't tell me you were planning to dine and dash."

"Whut? Yawl sayud you'd give it tuh may after way tawked."

"And we're still talking. You said that you weren't born yesterday, so get a grip."

In an instant, Flappy weaponized her puppy eyes and cute posture.

"Master (◕ᴗ◕✿), I'm—"

"You wanna do this the hard way?"

"Whut uh bleak human." Flappy sighed. "Don't yawl see thet Ahm delicate, man? Ah suck at fitein'. Wadja want may tuh do?"

"Something you can do better than anyone right now."

Seojin retorted as he stared at Flappy's status screen.

Hiding, flying, and even long-distance communication. The combination of these skills meant that Seojin could delegate the most important task to Flappy.

* * *

The Street of Fire was one of Erzebet's landmarks, filled with echoes of hammering and blacksmiths' husky voices. Seojin was walking down the street leisurely as if he was a tourist.

-Yeah, Ah say sum sketchy guys. Are ye sure they lookin' fer ye?

A message obscured his vision. Seojin wrote his reply and pressed send.

-Yeah, they're looking for me. How many are there?

-Thray. Whut now?

-Tell me if you think they found me. keep an eye on them until then.

-Gotcha.

This brief communication feature was one Flappy's abilities—telepathy.

The word telepathy sounded a lot grander than… mere chatting, but seemed like a realistic way of implementing it.

'That's enough for me.'

Flappy, with stealth and communication in her arsenal, was able to perform counter-surveillance on the pursuers.

'She'll make fewer clumsy mistakes being three-hundred years old. Also, she's damn fast, too.'

Judging by all the information he already knew, this must be only the basic abilities of Flappy. What would happen when all of the question marks in the status screen disappeared? She'd most likely outperform any potential party member he could ever have.

"Huhuhuhu…"

Players stared at Seojin while he laughed like a creep, but he didn't care. It wasn't like ordinary players could recognize him anyway.

'Perfect.'

Seojin stopped focusing on the people who were following him and gazed around the Street of Fire. Standing in the center of the long straight road was a statue of the legendary blacksmith, Frid. The general rule was that the closer the blacksmith's shop was to the statue, the higher the blacksmith's level.

'Well, a statue of Frid…'

Maybe there was something around here. The bronze statue showed the man with curly hair and a pleasant look on his face. He was holding a sword, not a hammer, but he was holding it with both hands politely as if he was offering it to someone, not like a knight.

'Frid must be the one who forged that sword… and this represents the scene of him offering it to someone high, like a king for example. I get the gist of it now.'

Seojin sat on a bench nearby. He could see the inside of the blacksmith's shop closest to the statue, and the blacksmiths there could see him too.

'That man must be the best around here. His workshop is right in front of the statue.'

The blacksmith could enjoy the view of Frid's statue by simply turning his back. He would see Seojin too, whenever he did that.

'Now, it's a battle of patience.'

Seojin didn't do anything and just waited, staring at the blacksmith without opening the community window, auction screen, or anything.

"You want me to come back later?"

"What is later?"

In the meantime, players were constantly entering the blacksmith's shop and turning back around almost instantly. Seojin did not miss how the blacksmith's face crumpled every time. Seojin waited. An hour, two hours, and five hours later… just like that. The blacksmith put the hammer down.

'It's a sword.'

It was rugged, but was a perfect tool for cutting something down. Seojin admired it unknowingly every time it reflected the light as he watched the process of it being forged in real-time.

'It became harder every time he quenched.'

It felt strange to see the imperfections gradually straightened out. Finally, the blacksmith was satisfied and handed the sword over to his apprentice.

"Excuse me."

It was at that moment when Seojin entered the blacksmith's shop. However, the blacksmith shook his hand bluntly without even looking at him.

"Talk to him."

"I'm not here to buy armor, I just wanted to say thank you."

"What are you scheming?"

"Today was the first time I watched the entire process. I felt how demanding it was to pursue perfection and how hard it must be to keep your own standards."

"Quit sugarcoating it and tell me what you want."

Slightly, it was very slightly, but the blacksmith's attitude changed. He was still grumpy, but at least he was talking to Seojin, not his apprentice.

"No, I just wanted to thank you."

Seojin did not reveal his intentions easily. He had to hide them and act as if he didn't want anything from the blacksmith.

"…Is that really all?"

"That's all."

"I see. Well, okay."

"Oh, by the way…"

The blacksmith looked at Seojin as he dragged his sentence out, with an expression that suggested he knew what was coming.

"Now you remember what you came for?"

"May I know your name?"

"I'm Trail. Trail Halebarden."

"Trail… that's a nice name. Thank you very much."

Seojin smiled and turned around like he really didn't want anything more from him… as if knowing his name was more than enough. Ignoring Trail's gaze, which seemed to pierce the back of his head, Seojin counted the numbers mentally.

'Ten days should do it.'

Ten days would be enough to make the blacksmith a perfect ally.