Chapter 66: Mystery, Breathing, Fantasy, Abnormal Resistance (Patreon)

Renan gave a slight nod. "Sorry to trouble you, Lady Astraea."

The leveling process felt much like a regular Falna update.

A flash of white light, and the Falna etched on Renan's back went from Lv1 to Lv2. At the same moment, the sky-high five stats he'd been showing the world, all totaling 3996, reset to zero.

Next, following the normal procedure, he would engrave one Development Ability that had manifested with the level-up, then raise its level bit by bit through later battles and training.

But just then.

Astraea's startled cry rang in his ears again. "Wait, what's going on?!"

Lying on the bed, Renan asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Astraea knew she was being a bit jumpy, completely out of step with her usual persona.

But she really couldn't hold it in. In fact, if any god had been here at this moment, none of them could have kept calm either.

As for the reason...

"I don't know if it's the effect of [Rabble], Renan, but you can choose to engrave four [Development Abilities] right now."

"Four?" Renan raised an eyebrow. Now he understood why she'd reacted that way. "Can you tell me which abilities have manifested for me?"

Astraea sat astride Renan's back, her voice still tinged with something odd. "When you leveled up, these Development Abilities appeared: [Swordsman], [Mage], [Goldsmith], [Hunter], [Mystery], [Immunity], [Breathwork], [Fantasy], [Beast Taming], and [Cooking]."

"Of those, [Swordsman], [Mage], [Hunter], and [Immunity] are fairly common. As for their effects, they're exactly what they sound like."

"[Goldsmith] and [Mystery] most likely awakened because of the magic items you modified earlier."

"[Breathwork] and [Fantasy]... honestly, this is the first time I've run into them. But they should be tied to the Breathing Techniques and Mind Magic you've mastered."

"And as for the last two, [Beast Taming] and [Cooking]..." Astraea paused there.

Renan explained calmly, "In another timeline, I really did spend several months as a Pokémon Trainer and a cook."

The brown-haired goddess puffed out her cheeks slightly, her voice full of longing for a story she hadn't heard. "How wonderful. Getting to have such a completely different adventure."

Renan wasn't some hopelessly dense guy, and he immediately worked out the subtext. "Once I'm done choosing abilities, I'll tell you everything that happened, Lady Astraea."

Seeing that the boy beneath her had some sense, Astraea's lips curled high. She gave his back a light pat. "Then let's hurry up."

That was easier said than done. Deciding which four [Development Abilities] to take still kept the two of them talking for a good while.

About ten minutes later, they settled on engraving [Mystery], [Breathwork], [Fantasy], and [Immunity].

The first three needed little explanation.

[Mystery] was the rarest Development Ability native to the DanMachi world, bar none, said to be a corner of the divine realm. Taking it could hardly be a mistake.

[Breathwork] tied into Thunder Breathing and Meditate. The sooner he got it and raised its level, the faster his stats should grow.

And [Fantasy] was essentially a special version of [Mage]. The moment it was engraved, Renan felt the mana inside him flow a little more smoothly.

As for the last one, [Immunity]...

Renan had actually agonized over it for some time, torn between it, [Mage], and [Goldsmith].

In the end, he went with the ability that most high-rank adventurers carried.

For one thing, common never meant weak. If anything, it meant reliable.

For another, he'd thought of the crisis he was facing in the Harry Potter world.

A world centered on taming creatures, the Pokémon world, had been enough to awaken psychic powers in Renan. It had taught him support and attack moves like Confusion, Teleportation, and Hypnosis, and even changed the basic makeup of the mana inside him to a certain degree.

So the Harry Potter world, whose core was built on spells and supported by disciplines like alchemy and potion-making, was beyond doubt a treasure-laden spacetime, buried in gold, at least as Renan saw it now.

But to get in, the first thing he had to face was the Basilisk that had stared that other version of himself to death.

With the help of his projected mental power, Renan could already attack, defend, and dodge blindfolded to a certain extent.

But battles were never decided by simple numbers.

One careless moment, and the Basilisk's counterattack could land.

Don't forget, besides those lethal eyes that killed whoever they met, the Basilisk's fangs carried a deadly venom that, in theory, only phoenix tears could cure.

From that angle, [Immunity] mattered all the more.

If necessary, when Renan entered the Pokémon world again, he even planned to buy up venom condensed by Ekans and Golbat. Combined with antidotes, he could use it to raise his [Immunity] level.

...

"...And that's how it is. Before I came back, I got three badges in the other timeline, and I've raised three Pokémon whose strength is on par with Level 3 adventurers. If all goes well, I should be able to get my entry ticket to the Indigo League three to four months early. After that, the plan is to buy a plot of land, become self-sufficient, raise my Pokémon to the limit of their potential, and then enter the Indigo League."

"As for why I suddenly came back before reaching my goal, there are two reasons. The first was to upgrade my Falna, and you've already taken care of that for me, Lady Astraea. The second is something I'll have to solve myself by spending some time in the Dungeon."

Renan seemed to remember something then and asked curiously, "Come to think of it, I don't think I saw Captain Alize and the others when I came over. Are they not up yet?"

Astraea sat right beside the boy. At his words, a teasing smile touched her lips. "What's this? After spending every day with pretty girls in that other timeline, has your heart gone wild? Do you want to open a big harem in Orario too?"

She said it with three parts joking, but the remaining ninety-seven parts of her unreadable mood were enough to make every hair on Renan's body stand on end.

He hurriedly raised both hands in surrender and pledged his loyalty. "Lady Astraea, you know me. The ones I like have always been stunning beauties with curves like yours."

"Oh?" The brown-haired goddess cast a sidelong glance at the boy beside her. After about two seconds, she suddenly burst out laughing. "All right, all right, I'll stop teasing you. The reason you didn't see Alize and the others is that they left yesterday morning with the Loki Familia on an expedition."