Fran spoke up after Kiara finished talking about her journey and her understanding of evolving black catkin.
“Got it,” said Fran. “Kiara not wrong, but more than one way.”
“What! There was more than one way?”
“Mhmm. Kiara’s way would redeem entire tribe. Must kill one S ranked evil being with only black catkin. But two easier ways to just evolve self. First, kill 1000 evil beings. Second, solo kill 1 A ranked evil being.”
“That’s it?”
“Nn.”
Kiara’s shoulders began to tremble. I thought she was about to cry or something, so her next actions took me by surprise.
“Kukukuku… Ahahahahahahaha!”
Kiara grinned, threw her head back, and roared with laughter. Her eyes teared up as she pushed up on the sides of the armchair and jumped onto her feet.
“Mia! Bring me my sword!”
Fran blinked a few times in surprise. Guendalfa’s eyes shot wide open. The maid, however, was unperturbed.
“What are you planning, Lady Kiara?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Kiara let out a fierce grin. “I’m going to beat the shit out of 1000 goblins.”
“You have to be kidding me,” said the maid. “It was only yesterday that you were still in a coma.”
“You think a couple of goblins will get the best of me just because I didn’t get a little rest? Not a chance! I can kick their asses all day any day!”
Guendalfa tried to usher Kiara back into her seat but she darted right past him towards the closet. Her belongings clattered about as she rummaged through its contents.
“It must have been fate that brought Fran here to see me the day I open my eyes again,” said Kiara. “I will not let this chance pass me by. All these years, I’ve been wondering why that detestable beast lord didn’t kill me even though I held the secrets of evolving black catkin. Now I understand: he didn’t need to kill me at all. What I knew was the hardest way to evolve as a black catkin. Nothing would’ve come of it even if I had spread the news. No one could’ve possibly pulled it off. Knowing would only have brought my people despair. But now things are different. I can do it. I can finally evolve. All I have to do is kick the shit out of a couple goblins, and I’ll be done.”
“But you aren’t as able as you were before,” said Guendalfa. “You’ve even lost your blessing!”
“Blessing?” asked Fran.
“Right, you wouldn’t know,” said Kiara. She turned to us while still holding onto an old belt. “For a very long time I held the Blessing of the Warrior God.”
“Ohh! Amazing!” Fran clapped.
“Right? I’ve already passed it down to another, but I’m still quite the fighter without it.”
I had no idea what this blessing thing was.
“What’s this Blessing of the Warrior God thing anyway?”
“Nn. Very famous skill.”
Fran’s explanation left me in shock. Blessing of the Warrior God was an extra skill with world wide renown. The basics were that it gave its user a flat increase to all stat values. It also doubled the stat values gained upon each level up. But the most famous part of the skill was the condition required for retaining it. Once each month, the skill’s bearer had to put his or her life on the line in combat. The exact definition of “life on the line,” was not well known, but something on the level of beating up a bunch of back-alley grunts wouldn’t cut it. If this condition was not fulfilled even once, the skill will leave its user and pass itself onto another.
“I first got it when I was seven years old,” continued Kiara. “I had to keep fighting and fighting in order not to lose it. I got pretty strong because of that. I managed to hold onto it for five whole decades. Sadly, I lost it about ten years back.”
“Lost it, why?” asked Fran.
“There was a time I was bedridden for six months due to illness. Because I was confined and couldn’t fight, the skill moved on from me.”
“But how keep skill while slave?”
“Oh that? When I was still working at the castle, once a month they would let me hunt monsters near the capital. That way I would keep my blessing. Slaves with extra skills were pretty valuable back in they day.”
Kiara grinned.
“So yes, I’ve lost my blessing, but I don’t give a damn. I’ve been training for decades for this moment. I will not let anyone stop me!”
