My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 275: Blame (2)

Kace continued to stare at Jal for a while. He just could not make sense of what he had said. 'There has to be more to it.' As Kace thought about it, he realised that the old captain was probably just blaming himself because he failed in his duties. 

"Can you tell us exactly what happened? It might be important." Kace asked with a solemn tone. He only hoped that Jal would grant this request. It would not be pleasant for him to dredge up the memories of his failures.

Grugda relaxed a bit as he realised that Kace was pumping the guy for information. 'Something he said. Surprised Kace. I don't think. He believes. It.' Grugda fixed the native with all three of his eyes. 'This guy. Is broken.' That's the feeling Grugda got from the native's body language and the grief he was emanating.

"Alright. It's not like there's much to say anyway." Jal replied after he finally calmed down. "Lady Rysa has a private courtyard by the oasis on the surface. She was enjoying time with her son by its waters when it happened."

Kace frowned as Jal began his story. 'So the actual site of the battle is on the surface. His mind turned to the giant silhouette that had emerged from that area. Hm, it might be tough to investigate it. Hopefully, that fucking worm hasn't destroyed anything.' Kace turned his attention back to Jal, who seemed to be collecting his thoughts.

"A hero appeared, the one that often emerges in the dungeon. The battle was heated and fierce, but the Hero was no match for Lady Rysa. He was constantly pushed back. In an effort to cover his escape, he used a wide range spell. Lady Rysa blocked it, but it was too much for me. I lost myself in the moment and focused all of my strength on protecting my own life"

"Which means you forgot about her son and how helpless he was" Kace finished for him. Receiving a nod to confirm his suspicion. 'So the spell circumvented him and killed the child directly. This answers quite a few questions. Phillip was indeed responsible for the child's death. Lady Rysa probably figured Jal did all that he could. If he continued to defend the child, then he would have died, and her child would have perished right after that regardless.'

"How did the Hero get access to the city? More importantly. How did he get into Lady Rysa's private area?" Kace had to ask this question. There probably would have been a heavier presence of guards when she was around. With her sentiments against heroes, well, her loyalists at least would have challenged Phillip. 'He's not exactly a stealthy type.'

"I don't know. It should have been impossible! My men were called away to deal with a sudden disturbance in the city. Leaving the exterior of the courtyard vulnerable. But even then, just reaching the heart of the city would have been a monumental task!"

Jal indeed seemed distraught at the event. Kace, on the other hand, felt like things were coming into place. 'Did the Chamber of Merchants make a deal with the heroes?' His eyes narrowed as he focused on this. 'They had a motive. They probably knew when she usually used that courtyard. They had the means to facilitate Phillip's infiltration. They had everything to gain, nothing to lose.'

"Jal. Did Something else happen? Right after the attack?" Kace had picked out a problem, though. He dreaded to hear whether he was right or not.

"Lady Rysa did not seem bothered at first once he escaped. Even after she confirmed, her child had passed away." Jal's voice sounded concerned. "But, as she spent some time holding his body, she suddenly became enraged. Screaming about how the filthy Hero had stolen his Spark. I don't know what that means, though."

'Spark, eh? It must be Something to do with their ability to resurrect. But, if Phillip was in the middle of escaping in fear of his life, then It wasn't intentional.' Kace's eyes narrowed as he began to suspect that the Hero's system had played a part in this somehow. 'Is it like my own ability? The rewards come from absorbing Something from those they slay?'

This seemed plausible. This world was not a game, after all. The system's had to have limitations. So, naturally, the rewards would not come from thin air. 'Although I don't necessarily have to kill my victims, I still need to absorb a part of their body. Do the heroes do Something Something similar? No, they would have more abilities then.'

His mind wandered a bit. He felt like he was on the cusp of a revelation. 'Perhaps, it's only with special creatures. Maybe, Phillip doesn't even know his ability comes from housing an actual piece of the young Phoenix. He probably just thinks that it's a reward given by the system.'

There were too many mysteries surrounding how the system worked. He knew he got it from Eve but that his own should be unique right now. Since it integrated both Monster and Hero systems into one. 'The best of both worlds?' Kace felt like he had understood something about his new existence at that moment.

It was Something that had been dangled in front of his eyes by Eve right from the start. However, he had chosen to purely focus on the Monster side. Since he assumed that was what should be best for him given his status. 'What if the path to a higher power for me does not include solely eating powerful monsters to make their abilities my own. What if I should be eating powerful heroes as well?'

As Kace made this connection on his own

"What the fuck just happened!" Sylvan shouted during another bout in Kace's Inner Mind. 

White had suddenly grown in size, entirely out of the blue. While Crimson had lost a part of shine and dimension. It was a welcome change since it made defending against Crimson a lot easier. However, the sudden change left Sylvan baffled. He was now, by far, the weakest existence in this space. Which was not a good position to be in.

"That guy! He's had a revelation about his own nature!" Sylvan swore. "Now I really have to push him into making me stronger. Otherwise, I'll be the next to go!"

He eyed the other two larger Orbs wearily. White's power was gradually increasing until it could hold Crimson back on its own. If this continued to happen, then White would no longer need him. If that came to pass Well, it was only a matter of time until both turned their sights on absorbing him to get stronger.

Sylvan withdrew from the fight to preserve his own strength. 'I should be safe for a while. Crimson feels threatened right now. They should focus on suppressing each other for a while. I'll get some rest, then start paying some attention to whatever our host is up to!' Sylvan was rightfully furious. He had intended to absorb White as soon as Kace made him stronger. However, those plans had just gone up in smoke

Back in the library

[DNA Chain HERO Rank 2: Liberated. Awarding +100 DNA points.]

Kace stared at the sudden notification that declared a windfall for him. 'How the fuck did I trigger that? Kace stared blankly at the notification. He had always wondered about how to actually rank up his DNA chains. The only clue he had ever been given was to obtain Greater Mastery over it.

Even when he absorbed the Tu'Thrag chain into his Goblin one, he had not received Something similar. Only new abilities. Kace tried to calm down as he realised that both Jal and Grugda had a sudden strange reaction to him. In truth, his sudden excited and predatory expression had made him appear unhinged for a moment. 

He sorted himself out to look more calm and relaxed as he considered the matter. 'Am I meant to understand the true nature that these chains bring to my existence?' Since he had just gained a revelation on how he should be pursuing power by eating stronger Heroes. Then this notification followed that. He could only surmise that this was the case.

'I'll have to check my stats to see what benefits it brings. If they're any good, I'll have to start dedicating some time to figuring out my other parts. Kace felt like his path to the top had gotten a little clearer. 'I wonder if that Zornok guy has absorbed something special to lock down everyone's abilities?'

Kace needlessly fantasised about what would happen if he turned such a powerful Hero into his meal. 'Hunting heroes would be so easy!' Although it was an exciting prospect, he was not fool enough to believe it was Something that he could achieve anytime soon. 'I need to build myself up more. I'll have to pay attention to the coming war. If there are any heroes with strong abilities, I should consider saving them for myself.'