Divine Fruit (1)

The Mother Tree's Divine Fruit.

It was an item difficult to obtain by force. Doing so would mean breaking through the forest and slaughtering the elves, and even if he managed that...

'The elves would destroy it first.'

They would destroy the Divine Fruit with an attitude along the lines of, Better to smash it than hand it over to scum like you!

That was why he had secured Elise's promise beforehand. Thanks to that, he had been able to enter the Mother Tree's innermost sanctum without trouble, despite disposing of an elder.

"... Take it."

Where she pointed, a single Divine Fruit rested inside a wooden box.

"Thank you."

He picked up the Divine Fruit.

[Mother Tree's Divine Fruit]

[Grade: A+]

[A fruit that grows on the Mother Tree only very rarely. Eating it seems likely to improve your health.]

[Effect: Increases all stats by 20.]

"Oh."

Kim Minwoo let out an impressed exclamation at the Divine Fruit, then looked at Elise.

"This Divine Fruit is more potent than I expected. This Mother Tree must be quite old?"

"... It is a descendant of the World Tree. It is also the only Mother Tree left on the continent."

He nodded.

The World Tree was a staple of fantasy worlds, and the tree elves loved most. But elves did not live exclusively around World Trees. Sometimes, they carried a World Tree's seed with them when they migrated to another region.

The trees that grew from those seeds were called Mother Trees.

'Basically Gyeonggi Province instead of Seoul.'

In any case, the Divine Fruits he had seen so far had ranged from B to A grade at best. This one, however, was A+, a step more potent.

"Did the World Tree survive?"

"... No. It burned and fell."

That explained it. Kim Minwoo nodded.

When a World Tree was destroyed, the oldest Mother Tree took over its role. Since this was the sole survivor, it was probably in the process of evolving into a World Tree. That would explain the Divine Fruit's potency.

'Excellent.'

He grinned.

The stat boost from a Divine Fruit was impressive, but another effect was even more broken.

'It doesn't count toward stat limits.'

Elixirs commonly came with a restriction stating that they had no effect on stats at XX or above. Stat increases from Divine Fruit did not count toward that limit. He had not gone to such lengths to obtain one for nothing.

'It's damn hard to get one outside opportunities like this.'

Ordinary gates barely had anything resembling a story. You went in, smashed everything, and left. Even if there were elves, most were hostile, and building affinity with them was difficult.

Hidden gates, on the other hand, were different. They offered vast settings, numerous races, and conflicts between them to resolve. Thanks to the nature of this setting, even the notoriously fussy elves had approached him first, giving him an opportunity.

Ultimately, obtaining a Divine Fruit meant encountering elves in a hidden gate and either building tremendous affinity with them or doing them a favor on the scale of saving their race.

"Not easy."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. Thank you for so readily handing over the Divine Fruit despite the unfortunate incident."

As he bowed his head slightly, Elise shook hers.

"... No. It gave me much to reflect on as well. In our current situation... perhaps your way is the right one."

Had she learned a thing or two? Quite a commendable elf.

"Will you eat the Divine Fruit now?"

"That's the plan."

He was better off saving the Sword Shadow Pill, since it was subject to stat limits. The Divine Fruit was different. Eating it now would not cause any major problems for his next round of elixir consumption.

'Before the Apostle makes his move.'

He needed to get the skeletons their crafting and alchemy skills as quickly as possible. To do that, every additional summon would help.

'Twenty Mana becomes twenty-two with Indomitable Soul's ten-percent bonus.'

That would let him summon eighty-eight more skeletons. Add to that the advantage those extra stats would give him in battle against the Apostle, and there was no reason not to eat it.

CRUNCH!

He bit into the Divine Fruit. Along with its sweet fragrance, a refreshing energy spread throughout his body.

[All stats increase by 20!]

A welcome message appeared before his eyes.

* * *

[The skeleton unit's crafting experience increases greatly!]

[Accumulated crafting experience creates a new skill!]

[The skeletons can now use Dwarven Crafting (F)!]

[They are learning another crafting-type skill! Proficiency increases faster!]

[Skeleton 507 acquires alchemy more quickly...]

[Skeleton 801...]

[The power of collective intelligence!]

[The skeleton group grasps the principles of alchemy!]

[The skeletons can now use Elven Alchemy (F)!]

"Did it finally pop?!"

"Snort! Chief Senior! What's wrong?"

Urkan, who had been sleeping at camp, looked around in alarm.

"Oh, sorry. Go back to sleep."

"... Zzz! Pff! Snort!"

Urkan immediately fell sound asleep again.

In the bitter winter cold, the orcs were toughing it out, sleeping with nothing but a few hides draped over them.

They had wiped out all the nearby monsters and now had to travel far afield to hunt. That was why they were camping.

"Snort! Chief Senior! Going out?"

"Yeah. Eat this, and keep a good watch. No dozing off."

He handed jerky to the orcs standing night watch around the camp. An orc immediately broke into a broad grin and nodded.

After heading outside, he dismissed around ten skeletons and summoned them again.

CLATTER!

Ten skeletons rose to their feet.

'Time to test it out, right?'

There was no resisting this.

He pulled a heap of materials out of his spatial ring. Every one was a by-product of a high-level monster.

Properly using the skills did require a smithy or alchemy facilities. But lacking the facilities did not make the skills unusable. It merely lowered the success rate—quite considerably.

"Use these to make equipment and potions. Anything you like. Keep going until you succeed at one."

The skeletons nodded and held out their hands.

[Skeleton 1 uses Dwarven Crafting (F)!]

[Skeleton 501 uses Elven Alchemy (F)!]

.

.

[Critical failure!]

[The materials are far too high-grade for the caster to handle! Proficiency increases!]

[Critical failure!]

[The materials are far too high-grade...]

[Critical failure!]

.

.

[Crude success!]

[An Extremely Crude Minotaur Bone Sword is crafted!]

[Dwarven Crafting (F) proficiency increases greatly!]

[Success!]

[A Somewhat Strange Invisibility Potion is crafted!]

[Elven Alchemy (F) proficiency increases tremendously!]

After materials burst apart all around them, they finally produced one of each. He inspected the items.

[Extremely Crude Minotaur Bone Sword]

[Grade: Common+]

[Level Requirement: 230 or higher]

[A sword made from minotaur bone. A creation filled with a beginner's clumsiness.]

[Effect 1. Strength +10, Agility +10]

[Effect 2. Weight +20%]

[Somewhat Strange Invisibility Potion]

[Grade: Common+]

[A potion that seems likely to turn you invisible when consumed. However, it also seems likely to have side effects.]

[Effect 1. Grants invisibility for 5 minutes upon consumption.]

[Effect 2. Causes a random side effect upon consumption.]

"Heh heh."

He simply could not contain his laughter.

Critical failures? They had only just learned the skills and were working with high-level materials. Of course they would fail.

What mattered far more was...

'The possibilities are open now.'

Every crafted item had a plus attached to its grade. That would have been a rare sight if they had learned ordinary crafting or alchemy. Dwarves and elves were specialists in their respective fields. This had to be possible because they had passed their techniques on directly.

Using skills built proficiency and could raise their grades. Of course, that did not apply to Kim Minwoo. His wretched body refused to let any skill grow.

But the skeletons were different. They could build proficiency and improve their skills. Crafting skills were no exception. The higher the level of the materials they used, the faster their crafting proficiency would grow.

'Materials are plentiful.'

Auction houses, gates—he could obtain them anywhere. And he had skeletons to spare.

While other crafters built proficiency by making one or two items, a thousand or two thousand skeletons could attempt crafting and build proficiency together. The potential ceiling was insanely high.

'Besides, even crap items like these...'

There would always be demand. They were plus-grade items, after all. Price them cheaply, and they would all sell. This was not merely an investment sink; he could recoup his investment as well.

He had created a virtuous cycle capable of multiplying his money like crazy.

Other necromancers could not even attempt this. Their skeletons had no intelligence. Using intelligent undead for crafting instead would leave them woefully short on numbers, since those cost so much mana to summon. At the dullahan tier alone, most necromancers would struggle to summon even ten.

'And they wouldn't have dwarven and elven crafting techniques either.'

This was a feat only Kim Minwoo could pull off.

"Death Lord is a god, and I am invincible."

He made his solemn declaration.

Rapid leveling. Two crafting techniques. A Divine Fruit, and even a bound skill book.

Those alone already made this gate expedition a colossal jackpot.

'And there's still more left.'

Apostle Belitas. Since he was presumably the boss of this B-rank gate, he was bound to cough up something.

There was a reason awakeners chased hidden gates like moths to a flame. They were littered with rewards unimaginable in ordinary gates. Of course, their difficulty was correspondingly extreme.

He checked the force overview.

[Current Resistance Force Overview]

[Leader: Kim Minwoo]

[Members: Human 1, Orcs 6,363, Dwarves 532, Elves 421]

[Level: Well-Armed Regular Army]

[Average Level: 161]

[Food Situation: Very poor.]

[Morale: Burning with fighting spirit]

[Enemy Alertness: 31 (They recognize that there is a major problem.)]

It was the tenth day since he had eaten the Mother Tree's Divine Fruit. In that time, orcs had gathered in droves, bringing their number past six thousand, and their equipment had improved considerably.

Their average level had also risen significantly. Weak orcs were wiped out during hunts, leaving increasing numbers of strong, high-level orcs among the survivors. Inevitably, their average level kept climbing.

Everything was going smoothly.

'Except for one thing... '

Enemy alertness.

It had risen dramatically from five to thirty-one. Whether or not that was enough to concern the Witch, it was high enough to put the Apostle on serious guard. Yet he had not attacked first.

'He must be wary of the orcs.'

He had heard a great deal from the dwarves and elves, including that the Witch was extremely wary of orcs. Apparently, at the height of the war, the mere report of orcs stirring would bring armies pouring in to smash them to hell. Given that, an army should have arrived already. They must have learned of the orcs' movements by now.

And yet they had not come?

That meant the enemy understood the key to this fight.

'Time.'

Orcs ate a lot. The food problem was slowly beginning to tighten its grip around their throats. The fruit supplied by the elves was nowhere near enough. That was why he had gone so far as to camp out while hunting.

'He figures there's no need to rush. I'd do the same.'

Much had changed since the past. Countless creatures had died as the cold grew harsher. Even if the orcs rose up, they could not sustain a force beyond a certain size. In just a few days, they would all starve to death.

'So he's turtling inside his fortress.'

If I wait, you'll have no choice but to come to me, won't you?

That was probably the gist of it.

Apostle Belitas was far more cautious than he had expected.

"Too bad. I've got a trump card."

His opponent had failed to account for one crucial fact: gates contained an excellent base called a midway zone. Awakeners who entered a gate could leave from its midway zone and then reenter.

Of course, they could not do that indefinitely.

'One use only.'

If they returned within three days of leaving, they would arrive back at the midway zone. After that, they could only return to the outside by clearing the gate.

One trip out of the gate and back. Normally, that would not change anything. A single trip could hardly solve the orcs' food shortage.

But Kim Minwoo was different. He had cash to spare.

What if he loaded up on spatial rings, bought up all the food, and returned? Spatial storage was a vacuum, so food did not even spoil.

Kim Minwoo grinned.

Over the past week, he had roamed tirelessly with the orcs in search of the midway zone. And he had found it.

But he had not left immediately. It would be disastrous if Belitas attacked while he was out procuring food.

So he had carefully tested whether the bastard had any intention of coming out. Now he was certain.

They had ventured this far out, even camping to hunt, and he still had not emerged?

A born turtle. The bastard had no intention of leaving his fortress at all.

Thanks to that, Minwoo had been able to reach precisely level 101, his next spending threshold, and give the skeletons all the time they needed to learn their techniques.

Now food was becoming an urgent concern. It was time to use his one-time golden ticket.

"Your senior will show you there's always someone a step ahead."

Belitas was in for quite a few shocks. Even when the orcs numbered ten thousand, then twenty thousand and beyond, they would still be plump and well-fed.