Chapter 163: What the Antares Fragment Became!
"Get out!"
Bang—
With a stumble, Ethan was pushed out by Freya while holding his clothes.
In the spacious corridor, he stood bare-chested with his clothes in his arms. The weather had already gained a faint chill, but it still could not compare to the chill in Ethan's heart.
Good grief. Her face was full of rejection, but her body had been full of "not enough."
It had taken Ethan half a day to satisfy this "Goddess of Beauty," yet who would have thought that she would kick him out right after? How was this any different from pulling up her pants and refusing to acknowledge him?
At this moment, in Ethan's heart, it was as if an entire herd of "grassland horses" was galloping past. This feeling was like he had been played with, and for free at that.
"Haah…"
On the other side, inside the room, Freya lay on a reclining chair, somewhat tired. At this moment, she looked incomparably languid, like a drowsy noble cat, elegant and proud yet heavy with sleepiness.
"That guy Ethan is a 'monster.' I originally wanted to 'drain' his stock, but I nearly exhausted myself instead."
On Freya's cloud-flushed face, an emotion called "vexation" appeared. As a woman, not only had she failed to "conquer" this man, she had been "conquered" by him instead, which meant she had no way to stop him from going out to steal bites and mess around.
After all, the relationship between the two of them was not emotional in nature. It was the purest form of "desire."
After returning to his own room, Ethan found that neither Haruhime nor Paimon was there, leaving him rather helpless. He had wanted to enjoy Haruhime's massage after coming back, since he was also very "tired."
"Since there's nothing else to do, I might as well 'experiment' a little."
Staying at home alone was not interesting anyway, so he might as well find something to do.
Then, beside Ethan, a crack tore open, and the passage to Imaginary Number Space opened.
Immediately after, a lump of black mud fell out.
Wrapped within this black mud were some strange substances. These things were all "Antares fragments," which Ethan had collected after killing Antares.
After all, it was an ancient monster from the distant past. It could devour gods, control divine power, and even launch a terrifying attack capable of destroying an entire continent. How could Ethan possibly not be curious about such a creature?
As a transmigrator, Ethan held no faith toward the so-called "gods."
On the contrary, it was not as if he had never had thoughts of slaying gods. After all, in some worlds, killing a god was a miracle, a shortcut to reach the world's peak!
(Campione: I'm familiar with this one!)
Because of that, Ethan had collected these fragments and cultivated them with black mud. He had even used the power of the Holy Grail to catalyze them.
Thump.
Now, through the effect of the black mud and the catalysis of the Holy Grail, the Antares fragments had transformed into a strange "heart." Rather than calling it a heart, it was more like a lump of matter. Every time it beat, it expanded slightly.
In order to prevent any accidents, Ethan had placed it inside Imaginary Number Space the whole time. With the Holy Grail acting as support, there was no need to worry about magical energy either.
After more than ten days, it had become like this. Ethan was also very curious about what it would become in the future.
"Master…"
Just as Ethan was looking forward to it, an incredibly faint voice rang beside his ear. Ethan could not help being startled. He looked around, and finally, his gaze locked onto the beating "heart" in front of him.
"Were you the one talking to me?"
"Master…"
It spoke again. Ethan could confirm it now. It really was "it."
"What is your name?"
"Master…"
It repeated the same address again. Ethan frowned slightly. Could this thing's self-awareness be blurry?
"Master… hungry…"
It changed. The words it spoke had changed, and it was actually crying out that it was hungry. This made Ethan rather surprised.
But speaking of hunger, what was he supposed to do? Feed it?
"What do you want to eat?"
"Meat…"
"Meat?"
Ethan was somewhat surprised. This little thing, whatever it was, actually wanted to eat meat, but he did not have any on hand.
"Wait here for a bit."
He placed the beating "heart" back into Imaginary Number Space. Then Ethan turned around, left the Tower of Babel, and headed straight for the streets.
There were not many places in Orario that sold meat. However, by coincidence, Ethan knew one place that did. He had learned about it before when his goddess had handled him, forcing him to help out at the Hostess of Fertility and go out to purchase ingredients.
"Boss, give me some meat."
"Oh, if it isn't little brother Ethan. It's been a long time since I last saw you."
The owner was a plump woman, and when she saw Ethan, she spoke with some surprise.
"I went out because of a commission, so I only just came back."
"I thought so. For the past half month or so, it's been Syr and Anya coming over."
The two of them could not be called especially familiar, but they did know each other. Ethan did not know why, but the other party had always been very enthusiastic toward him.
"How much meat do you still have?"
"How much do you want?"
"All of it."
"All of it?"
The meat-selling woman froze for a moment and glanced around her shop. She had several thousand catty of meat here. Was he saying he wanted it all by himself?
"Why are you buying so much meat all at once? Is there big business at the shop?"
"Not the shop. I want it."
"You can't eat this much meat alone."
"The Familia is holding a banquet."
"All right, I'll pack it up for you."
It was a business transaction in the first place, so the meat-selling woman did not ask too much. As a merchant, she still understood that ordinary people like them were better off staying out of Familia-related matters.
After all, in Orario, adventurers held an extremely special status. To ordinary people, adventurers were all important figures.
"All right. All the meat in the shop is here."
Before long, all the meat had been packed. Ethan did not waste any words and put all of it away. With Imaginary Number Space, he did not need to worry about having nowhere to store the meat.
Especially since everyone now knew about "spatial rings," this did not surprise the woman too much.
"Boss, here are the valis."
"Hey, kid, this is too much."
"Use the rest to help me keep some meat tomorrow. I'll come again then."
"All right."
Looking at the heavy bag of valis, the meat-selling woman shook her head for a while. Adventurers really did earn money.
On the other side, after returning, Ethan once again released the beating "heart." He took out some meat and prepared to try feeding it.
…
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