Copy Skills with Affinity!

Chapter 74

Refining (2)

"This is… kind of surprising."

The moment we stepped deeper into the Otherworld, Noel immediately said that.

"When people say 'Otherworld,' isn't it basically hell? But this is…"

"Prettier than you expected, right?"

Aiden smiled as he filled in the gap left by Noel's unfinished sentence.

Above the terrain of the real world, it looked as though countless layers of filters had been laid over a photograph, with colorful objects scattered everywhere.

And in tune with that mysterious atmosphere, Noel and Aiden floated along as if gravity no longer applied.

The Otherworld was a space where human emotions and spiritual energy became material, so surreal phenomena occurred all the time. This was one of them.

Floating in a place that resembled an abstract painting drawn by a master of surrealism—no matter how negatively you tried to describe it, the atmosphere still wouldn’t stray far from being dreamlike.

The flow of energies swirling in every direction only intensified that atmosphere.

Spiritual bodies. Thought forms.

In this world, a person’s spirit was the vessel that housed the flesh, and when the vessel of flesh no longer functioned, those spiritual forms would begin to wander the Otherworld.

Only souls with very strong regrets, like Meyer or the Warden of the Realm, remained in the material world.

In that sense—

"You shouldn't touch them carelessly. They're all someone’s soul."

As Aiden said that, Noel flinched and pulled back her hand, which had been reaching toward a white wisp drifting nearby. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

It wasn’t particularly dangerous, but respecting the dead was always the right thing to do.

They just needed to accomplish what they came here for and then leave.

Aiden unfastened his belt from the rectangular rocket they had ridden and gripped the cannon again.

He wasn’t detaching it completely—just adjusting its direction to activate it again.

"Dame Noel. Please prepare this."

"Is there something we need to do with this?"

"Catch as many as you can. It won’t be that dangerous anyway."

"...Excuse me? Catch what?"

Danger? Catch something? What was he even talking about—

Noel tilted her head in confusion.

But instead of answering, Aiden simply pointed upward with his finger.

Her gaze followed, rising toward that direction. Then, she muttered in a dazed voice.

"...Is there something up there? It’s just the sky."

And that was true. It was just a pitch-black night sky.

The only strange thing was a tiny dot moving rapidly back and forth across the center of that sky but like everything else around them, that just seemed like another quirk of the Otherworld. It didn’t seem like anything worth noting.

But then, Aiden pointed directly at that dot and let out a sigh.

"Dame Noel."

"Yes?"

"That’s an eyeball."

"...Excuse me?"

Noel responded with confusion written all over her face, clearly not understanding what he meant. Aiden left her be and tapped on the cannon, opening the entrance wide.

"Quickly, Dame Noel. We don’t have much time."

Noel was just about to ask what that was supposed to mean when she suddenly closed her mouth.

Because she had seen it.

The color of the sky shifted for a brief moment, only to return to normal right after.

It was likely the result of some creature closing and then opening its eye.

In other words

What looked like the sky above was actually the eye of some living creature.

And that enormous dot in the center—that eyeball—

Was staring directly at them.

And then—

With an ear-splitting roar, the ‘sky’ peeled away.

A gigantic creature that resembled a fish opened its jaws wide and began descending toward them.

Its shape might have made one think it was edible if it were smaller, but when Noel realized that the teeth inside that mouth were each the size of a building, the color drained from her face.

"What in the world is that—?!"

Noel shrieked in pure panic, but no one could fault her for it.

Even Aiden, who knew exactly what it was, what habits it had, how it moved—had nearly lost his mind upon seeing it.

...This is why people call the Otherworld hell.

The fact that all sorts of surreal phenomena occurred here also meant that disasters in the form of monstrous creatures like that could casually wander around.

It wasn’t for nothing that every piece of information warned people never to even think about coming here…

"This is where it gets important, Dame Noel."

Then, as he activated the propulsion unit they had strapped to their belts, Aiden quickly spoke again.

"Catch as much as you can of what comes pouring out."

"P-Pouring out? What do you mean?!"

"That."

He pointed toward the white clumps spilling out from the inside of the enormous fish's open mouth.

Any ‘lifeform’ that lived in the Otherworld would, naturally, need energy to sustain itselfand due to the nature of the environment, that energy took the form of the Otherworld’s most potent and pure traits. Energy condensed and concentrated over and over again.

That was what this was. Ectoplasm.

Exactly the material Aiden had set his sights on to use for weapon crafting.

"...I really don’t get it. How are you still so calm in a situation like this, Aiden...?"

"..."

Truthfully, Aiden was starting to wonder the same thing.

He was beginning to fear just how fast his mind was slipping away these days.

Still, being able to stay calm in situations like this was certainly a noteworthy strength. Even as he plummeted toward the ground, tethered to the propulsion unit, Aiden unfolded the cannon and calmly caught the ectoplasm falling from the creature’s mouth.

Thanks to that, even Noel, with a half-resigned look on her face, followed his lead and opened the bag to catch the falling white clumps.

Thus, for a few bizarre moments, a surreal sight unfolded—two people catching substances with sacks as a mountain-sized creature tried to devour them.

Roughly a few seconds passed.

"So—what’s the plan?! That thing’s practically on top of us!"

"There isn’t really a plan."

"...Excuse me?!"

Noel looked at him in disbelief, but Aiden was being completely honest.

Hadn’t he said from the start that this wasn’t going to be all that dangerous?

"I calculated the timing of its opening and closing. We just need to get out now."

As he said that, a portal formed directly beneath their descent path.

And with that, Aiden and Noel’s bodies slipped right through.

Soon, with a dull thud-thud sound, the flame sputtered out from the now fuel-depleted rectangular rocket, and the two of them, still tethered together, rolled limply across the ground.

"..."

"Hmm."

While Noel remained silent, Aiden casually opened the cannon to check its contents.

He picked up Noel’s sack as well and looked inside both.

Item Info -

[ Ectoplasm ] [ Extremely Rare ]

[A material that contains the pure power of the Otherworld. Unlike energy sources from the material world, it is semi-permanent and possesses a property that allows it to remember its shape and restore itself.]

★ When crafted into equipment, durability recovers automatically!

★ Boosts output when using supernatural abilities!

★ Pairs excellently with ‘Star Metal.’ When combined with this material, it produces a special synergy effect!

If Star Metal served as a vessel capable of storing supernatural abilities without any loss, then Ectoplasm was like a lubricant for people like Aiden who needed to embed multiple powers into equipment and use them roughly.

Even with Star Metal, constantly embedding and using abilities would eventually wear down the equipment’s durability, but when combined with this, it could be used almost semi-permanently.

That’s not all, though...

Still, the most important part was this—when combined with Star Metal, it created a special synergy effect.

Judging by the in-game system, it was likely the kind of effect where the equipment would come with a unique skill—something only that gear could use, like a special ability attached directly to the item.

Which direction should he take?

He could keep doing what he had been—enhancing the output of supernatural abilities to increase attack poweror he could add some utility to the equipment, turning the tide of battle in a single blow.

"...Aiden."

"...Yes?"

"...Once we’re back at the Capital Government Office, be prepared."

"..."

Apparently...

It felt like there was a mountain-sized obstacle they’d need to cross before they could even start thinking about rewards.

Seeing the murderous expression on Noel’s face, Aiden simply nodded.

Well, getting scolded was one thing. What mattered now was that they take everything here with them. He tightly secured the mouth of the sack.

"...Hmm?"

And then—

Something inside immediately caught his eye.

"Is there something else?!"

"...No."

Looking at Noel, who had been startled out of her wits, he felt it was better not to say anything.

"It’s nothing."

Noel tilted her head, puzzled by Aiden’s odd reaction.

▣

...In truth, it was definitely not nothing.

To be exact—

It was something that, especially for Noel, must never be mentioned.

Inside their lodging at the Imperial Capital Command.

Aiden cautiously looked down at the yellowish clump nestled in the sack.

All the ectoplasm was pure white. Except for this one—this one was a distinctly dull yellow. It stood out far too much.

Even at a glance, it looked extraordinary. Like it was bound to have some special effect.

And that wasn’t a wrong assumption—when appraised using Ganesha’s appraisal skill, it produced the following text:

* Item Info -

[ Special Ectoplasm ] [ ??? ]

[A substance among ectoplasm that can interact especially well with spiritual entities. It is ideally suited for exceptionally strong spirits capable of manifesting in the material world.]

For something labeled as a special item, the explanation was rather underwhelming.

It didn’t even specify what the “special interaction” entailed, so it wasn’t something you could get excited about right away.

However—

...This thing...

Here was the real issue:

Aiden had already acquired a combination that immediately brought this item’s potential to mind.

* Skill Info -

◈ Remnant: Warden of the Realm – Resolve

A skill containing the mental image of a target. Can exert a tremendously powerful effect once.

※ To access the skill information, you must possess the Unique Trait: Origin!

…He had definitely obtained this skill previously.

And in order to use it, he needed to unlock his unique ability, Origin, which in turn required opening his Personal Quest.

That led him to recall the following:

* Tip! -

▶ The target’s Personal Quest can be easily unlocked if the situation involves “Teresa Adelaide”!

▶ Make good use of personal connections! You’ll receive even greater help if you come into direct contact with “Teresa Adelaide”!

"..."

Aiden silently glared at the name displayed in his system window.

"...Spiritual entity, huh."

This thing...

It might very well be the key to unlocking all of Chapter 3.