Chapter 64: First Core Absorption
A/N: Thank you for the castle Lotuslin~! HUGSSS~ If you have Chapter request, do tell meee~
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He woke up a few hours after dawn the next day. How many hours was he asleep?
At this, he looked at his stats.
[Status]
Name: Finnick Altheus Solthar
Race: Human
Class: Innkeeper, Chef
Level: Awakened Tier 1
Awakening Type: Physical
Affinity: Fire, Earth, Wind
...
VITALS
HP: 300/300
Mana: 300/300
Stamina: 300/300
Wallet: 145 Gold
Hearth Points: 1050 Points
...
Skills:
Active: [Ingredient Scan] [Dish Analysis]
Passive: [Blade Proficiency - Growth Type (Lv 1)] [Monster Instinct]
[Strong Stomach] [Improved Palate] [Fire Resistance]
Condition: Normal ]
He tried to think and knew that he had been ’awakening’ for a good bulk of yesterday, and when he woke up, it was already dark outside. Looking at his recovery, he must’ve been asleep for quite a few hours.
He found out from Syl that this world had 10 months with 40 days each, and each day had 30 hours, 20 hours of daylight, and 10 hours of night. How did it work like that? He had no idea.
The hour was actually divided into a different number, but fortunately, the system adjusted it so he didn’t have to calculate all the way to the minutes. It was like how he understood the language automatically; it was automatically translated in his head.
"You were asleep for 6 hours la, your stats filled up long ago," Pang said, looking annoyed as he peeked into his room. Do the doors just open automatically for him? "So lazy. I’m hungry."
"..."
"300 HP and stamina in less than 6 hours? Not bad," he said. He knew that awakened recover faster than dormant—around twice as fast. On top of his Innkeeper privileges, this meant that his recovery was six times more than normal dormant folk!
Anyway, he stretched out and got dressed in the Newbie clothing he got from the newbie pack. It was a simple clothing consisting of a loose off-white linen (or what looked like it) shirt with an open collar, as well as dark, fitted trousers.
He took a deep breath as he was greeted with the lovely living room, completely lit up by natural lighting. His senses were sharper now, too, so it felt like the sensation of being warm and relaxed was even more pronounced.
To further help him monitor the time, he bought a clock from the [Inn] Market for yet another 1 gold. It seemed mechanical with cogs and the like, except how it was powered was a mystery. It was probably by magic, like everything else.
According to Syl, the day of the Awakening and the period after that, one had to stabilize their upgrades with cores and physical training. For now, he had a few awakened cores to play with.
He sat down on the carpet (which had already been washed in the Utility Room). In his hand was a core, and he closed his eyes to concentrate.
[-1 Defense Point]
Obviously, he had a new mob outside. However, he wanted to absorb the cores first.
[-1 Defense Point]
"Can you turn it off? I need to concentrate."
"Got it, la."
Pang followed instructions, but Finn flinched when it really did get quiet for a few minutes. "But alert me if we lose... 10 points or more within an hour. Otherwise, no need." He was suddenly worried he’d forget to turn it on at all.
Anyway, he resumed his activity and maintained his position for five minutes.
He did not think about asking Syl before, but she did mention it when she realized he wasn’t quite sure how to use the cores. She was quite confused, but she did not question him much, which he appreciated.
He closed his eyes and remembered her words. At the time, they were vague because they seemed disconnected from him as a weak, dormant man.
Fortunately, he had a fairly decent memory so he did remember the gist of her instructions.
"Feel the power inside the core. It should be warm. Then manipulate it to the point of contact, and all the way to your heart.
Easier said than done, though. For the next few minutes, Finn struggled to actually feel the power in the core. Rather, he could feel it, but there seemed to be a thin wall separating him from it.
At the side, Pang made commentaries. "It’s probably similar to the spirit stones of the first master," he mumbled. "The difference was that the first Innkeeper gathers energy in the navel, la," he said. "It’s really quite interesting."
"...I see..." he mumbled. "Did you learn anything?"
"It’s much like learning how to put a thread into the eye of a needle."
"Threads, huh?" he mumbled, resuming with his meditation.
As beings without true flesh and blood, Pang naturally didn’t consume cores like this; they just eat it up and let it combine automatically, as if the solidified power source melted upon contact.
"How fast should I be?" he asked. "How long does your Innkeeper take?"
"Hmmm...judging by the energy in this world’s awakened core, it should generally take days to consume a source like this for the first time.
"It is already very good if it is consumed within 5 or 6 hours at first. To know that it is fully consumed, it would’ve lost its sheen, like a crystal devoid of any color. That’s how spirit stones looked anyway."
Finn nodded, holding the small crystal that was no bigger than a thumb. He slowly manipulated his own energy to coax the energy out, hoping to combine with it. His mental image was his thread asking for friends.
In his mind’s eye, he kept trying to sync the ’thread’ that was his own power to resonate with the energy in the stone. He took several minutes to do so, nearly half an hour, but he did not give up. He continued to barrel through, and it was then that they finally heard the precious sound.
Crack!
Finn smiled. This is it.
...
2 hours later...
Crack!
He looked at the powder in his palm, rubbing them between his fingers. "Oh, another one bites the dust," Finn said, looking at Pang. "Is it always like this?"
Pang blinked, bouncing next to him. He looked at the ash and then at Finn, blinking.
Huh.
For a moment there, it just seemed like Finn absorbed it really quickly. Judging by the energy signature, it should’ve taken him several more hours, if not another day, to accomplish this.
And do cores in this world get destroyed? Maybe? Since they came from monsters, they might be organic? Who knows...Pang was also still learning these things.
Finn looked at the panda’s uncharacteristic solemn expression. "What is it?"
"Nothing," Pang said. He was alien to this world, too, so he didn’t know the standard.
He shrugged. It was probably normal. When was Finn cooking breakfast?