Chapter 135: Lucky Encounters
âWhen a spell stops being a spellâŠâ
Eren mumbled to himself as loads of thoughts started swirling inside his head. Were the cultists right in pursuing the heretic paths all along?
More importantly, if the rankers walk on their ranking journeys like beasts sans the ranking techniques and spell scrolls, will they face the same bottlenecks theyâve always faced? The questions popped up in Erenâs mind like wild mushrooms.
Then he compared Agathaâs body transformation with his attribute of shapeshifting. The ability he had gained by merging with his demon beast had also stopped being a spell.
Erenâs shapeshifting worked on his willpower. It was influenced by his thoughts and only used the mana from his mana core as a driving force. He didnât have to activate the mana circuits in a specific way to initiate the shapeshifting.
The ability wasnât totally in his control yet because of it. He didnât have a set template to follow. But Eren knew with enough practise and willpower, he would be able to take up any shape he wanted to one day.
A spell stops being a spell when it becomes an integral part of your existence.
Mana beasts had innate spells that worked on the same principle. They didnât have to study ranking techniques or practise spells to use them. They just knew what their innate spells were.
But what was stopping humans from having their innate spells?
Nobody could answer Erenâs questions because he knew some of them were taboo subjects within the ranking communities. His questions were the same ones that the cultists would ask rankers when they were confronted by them for their actions.
Eren didnât want to come across as a supporter of cultists ideologies out in the open. That would be detrimental to his future goals. What he needed was pre-processed data on the subject. And he had a person in his mind to give him that.
Even if that person wouldnât know much, Eren would make sure that the secrets they carry in their bodies come out in the open for them.
âReen, you canât eat Agatha. At least not anytime soon. Weâve just found another use for her.â
The demon beast was still thinking of having more human nuggets as she wolfed down the lamb meat. Somehow eating the human dinner had increased her appetite instead of getting satiated.
âBut we can find some other humans for you to target in this city by tomorrow. Every city has its share of scumbags after all.â
âYaay!â
The demon beast registered her happiness through her words and actions too as she raised her hands. Eren anyway was going to roam the city tomorrow. They were supposed to stay in the city for a few days before making it back to LA.
Marla was yet to confirm the other part of their missions to them yet. So all they could do till then was to wait and explore the city in the meantime. Eren was hoping he doesnât have to roam the streets with Ken in tow.
Sadly, his hopes were meant to be crushed under the protagonistâs foot.
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Knock knock knock! Knock knock, bang!
âYo, Eren. Get up, man. How can you sleep till now? Itâs 9 AM. We need to buy some souvenirs from the city.
Eren? Eren Idril! Hello.â
Eren was rudely awakened from his deep sleep. He heard persistent banging on the door of his innâs room followed by his name taken by Ken like the latter was finding joy in chanting it.
âAaargh! Fu*k this guy. Get the fu*k away from me you⊠youâŠ
Haha! Iâve run out of abuses for this madman.â
âYou want me to eat him?â
Reen asked innocently in his mind. She woke up with him. She liked to sleep in her slime form on Erenâs chest.
âYou know, thatâs not a very bad idea. Iâm considering itâŠ
Naah. The guy has many uses for him to get wasted like this. Iâll have to let him live. For now.
Reen, from now on you are forbidden to tempt me into killing Ken. Because one of these days, I might just say yes prematurely.
Youâve gotten pretty crafty yourself over these days, but donât think that I donât see your agenda in helping me.
But the question remains. What should I do with him now?
Iâll just pretend to be in deep sleep. Maybe heâll go away on his own.â
Thought Eren and laid back on his bed again drawing the sheets over him.
âEren, Ace Almera is also with me. She is waiting for you too. Get up already man.â
âGive me a break already! Iâve socialized enough these days, like seriously.â
Eren had to get up and get the door after hearing that Almera too was waiting with Ken on the other side of the door. He couldnât afford to offend an E-Ranker over his petty need to avoid Ken.
Reen merged with her master as Eren got up from his bed. Since their merging, Erenâs and Reenâs mana signatures had gotten synched. They didnât need to always keep themselves on guard about Reenâs existence getting exposed anymore. As long as Reen didnât make things too obvious, she would stay undetected by almost all the rankers.
â*Sigh. Come on in as I get ready.â
Eren couldnât get any less enthusiastic even if wanted to after seeing Kenâs bright smile. He couldnât even pretend to return the smile in response at this point. Almera was just standing there with her hands folded in front of her.
Eren was wondering why Almera wanted to accompany them but he didnât bother to ask. The girl acted aloof. The butcher wasnât in the mood to soothe her ego by asking her. He had an ego of his own to maintain after all.
Ken acted as the glue that would make two opposing magnets dubbed as Eren and Almera stay in place together. He would effortlessly shift his talks between the two to keep the conversation flowing.
âA sure-shot weapon every protagonist has in their arsenal. Their talk-talk spells.â
Eren thought in his mind and shook his head as he got readied for his forced outing with the two.
The trio started their city exploration soon afterwards.
The entire city was bustling with structured shops and chaotic open markets getting crowded by humans, elves, and sporadic dwarves. To Eren, it looked like the number of merchants was more than the buyers themselves.
The trio bought some souvenirs for themselves from a well-known shop.
But then Ken had his lucky encounter and bumped into an elf girl when they were about to visit another place. The two got to talking and spent a few minutes there standing right in the middle of the shopâs traffic.
In the end, the elf girl was smitten by Kenâs personality and vision. She gave him her ID Stone details so that he could contact her. And she also told him where he can find her in case he wants to explore the city with her. The latter kept the details to himself. But it seemed that he wasnât going to contact her anytime soon.
But someone else in Kenâs group was paying very close attention to the groupâs interaction.
âOh geezâŠ. Would you look at the time? Itâs quarter to fu*k-Ken-in-the-as* PM.â
The shapeshifter had a cunning grin on his face as the group bid adieu to the girl.
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