I Became an Almighty All-Master with EX-Rank Spirits - Chapter 26

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 26
Episode 26
I returned home with a satisfied haul of materials.
My body ached, yet my lips curved into a broad smile.
Anyone who saw what I’d gathered today would understand why.
Burning Stone Tree × 1,394
Blazing Cotton × 604
Strong Stone × 705
“Phew! I won’t need to go back for a while……though, it won’t be long. I could go again tomorrow.”
Lately, my material consumption had skyrocketed.
From what I’d seen, it only increased—never decreased.
Which meant that for my sanity, I shouldn’t dream of making money from materials.
I decided to think of it differently.
I’d earn money from other sources instead.
Byproducts from the Tower of Trials and Gates.
As Spirit Stones accumulated nicely, I finally began to turn a real profit.
[Seoul Bank: 466,064,568]
Even after putting down the house deposit, the amount barely changed.
This was the return even while focusing on gathering materials.
What if I actually aimed for clears?
“Wealth could be mine in an instant!”
-That would only be true if Gates were infinite, of course.
“Can you read my thoughts?”
-……I’ll refrain from comment.
And that wasn’t all.
Lucky encounters came frequently enough.
Just today, I’d run into two thugs targeting me and sold the B-rank Paralysis Dagger I’d taken from them.
“Though I wish I’d let them live. I didn’t even get to claim the bounty.”
-Chirp-chirp! Chirp-chirp!
[Fire says it couldn’t be helped because they tried to touch him!]
[Fire says you should be satisfied that he brought back the dagger at all!]
“I’m not saying I made a mistake—just that it’s a shame. That masked one was……what was it? The time’s already gone fuzzy on me. If they’d had a friend, the bounty would’ve been sweet.”
Never mind. It was already done.
I’d eliminated two worthless thugs, and I was satisfied with the dagger I’d gained.
He’d watched over me diligently all day; I owed him a reward.
I tore into a whole roasted chicken I’d bought from the market.
“Let’s eat!”
-Chirp-chirp!
[Fire rushes frantically toward the chicken!]
He nibbled a single drumstick from the whole bird, then stuffed the entire leg—bone and all—straight into his mouth.
It vanished into Fire’s mouth, bones included.
Still unsatisfied, he crammed an entire chicken into his mouth in one go.
His appetite was absolutely vicious.
Probably because I’d only grabbed a hasty lunch earlier.
That said, ever since I’d tried the rice cakes and fried food at the market, he’d been mad for market food.
At this rate, he’d eat through every food stall in the market.
Before he could finish everything, I tore into a chicken of my own.
A can of beer to go with it, too!
“Ahh, now that’s the life.”
Everything tastes better after hard work.
After polishing off a chicken and a beer, I tossed the rest to Fire.
Now came the time to put today’s gathered materials to use.
I dumped everything in.
[Burning Stone Tree: (300/300)]
[Blazing Cotton: (100/100)]
[Strong Stone: (50/50)]
[Lowest-grade Mana Stone (F): (1,500/1,500)]
[Conditions achieved!]
[Research on Hunger Booster (C+) has begun!]
[03 : 59 : 59]
Hundreds of collected materials evaporated in an instant.
The pang of loss lasted only a moment.
I found myself eager for the next chance to use the Hunger Booster.
Even though the cooldown is two weeks, the effect alone will be worth it.
“Just four more hours to wait, then I’ll check the next research. The final stage-one project!”
Once this is complete, I can move to stage two and craft the Mana Stone Enhancement Desk.
If I remember correctly, there was something else I needed.
……Burning Stone Tree (0/300), Blazing Cotton (0/300), Strong Stone (0/250), Purification Stone (0/100), Delicious Scent Ghost Grass (0/200), Lowest-grade Mana Stone (F) (0/25,000), Low-grade Mana Stone (E) (0/9,000) — roulette unlocks upon acquisition!
“……So it’s not that I need something else, but that I need a lot of things.”
My jaw dropped at the sight of the required materials.
The final stage was packed full with an enormous quantity of items.
Among all the materials, what caught my eye was the Mana Stones.
“Twenty-five thousand F-grade and nine thousand E-grade? You’ve got to be kidding.”
I’d thought I could move to the next research stage today.
I had plenty of materials, and tons of Mana Stones too.
But this was absurd.
The total Mana Stones needed came to thirty-four thousand.
No matter how many Gates and Towers of Trials I clear.
‘There’s no way I could have this many.’
At least I had the advantage of feeding only higher-grade Mana Stones, so I’d accumulated plenty of F and E-grade stones.
I just needed to gather a bit more.
But not today.
All I could do was put it off until next time.
I considered crafting some furniture, but decided to stop here for today.
There might come a time when I need more materials after all.
No need to rush.
There’s no urgency.
-Squeak!
[Fire (EX) pats his belly, saying he ate well!]
In the meantime, Fire had polished off the entire chicken.
Not a crumb remained.
The bones were a complete loss.
At this rate, he’d end up chewing through the paper bag too.
With my belly satisfactorily full, I set about tidying the house while waiting.
I’d already finished my call with the landlord of my studio apartment and found a new place.
All I needed to do was pack my belongings and leave.
Since it was just a studio, there wasn’t much to pack.
Most of what was there was old junk anyway.
With Fire’s help, it was done in no time.
“I’ve already paid everything, so I just need to call a moving service and go.”
-Squeak! Squeak!
[Fire (EX) says he’s exhausted!]
[Fire (EX) says let’s call it a day and rest!]
A few more tasks and he’d start pouting in earnest.
No wonder — he’d spent the day mining materials, running through F and E-grade Gates, plus making the trip to Gwanak Mountain.
At least we didn’t go to the Ghost House on top of all that.
“Alright, let’s wrap it up for today. I was planning to rest anyway.”
-Squeak!
[Fire (EX) dashes energetically toward the shower!]
Now that I thought about it, neither of us had bathed.
I stripped down and headed to the bathroom for what would be my last shower in this studio apartment.
With a full belly and hot water cascading over me, fatigue slowly melted away.
Nothing beats an ending like this—
“Ahhh! Hey! What are you pinching?!”
-Squeak?! Squeak?
[Fire (EX) asks what that sound was!]
[Fire (EX) asks why you have a pimple on your chest!]
“It’s not a pimple, it’s a ni—. Ahhh! Stop! It’s not a pimple!”
-Squeak!
[Fire (EX) says this is quite fun!]
“……What?”
This crazy spirit king, seriously!
A small commotion broke out in the shower room.
* * *
The next morning, before dawn.
Even after sleeping soundly in the Spirit Shelter, there were places that ached.
“Ugh, seriously! Suddenly fixating on this weird thing.”
It was my nipple.
It felt even more sore than yesterday.
It was because Fire had pinched it so relentlessly.
I’d barely managed to control it with mana stones before it went too far.
If that hadn’t happened?
‘I don’t even want to imagine it.’
-Wailing?
[Fire (EX) asks if you slept well!]
“How well could I have slept?”
-Wailing. Wailing?
[Fire (EX) apologizes for yesterday!]
[Fire (EX) asks if you’ll give mana stones now!]
I was about to refuse, but I need to use the Hunger Booster anyway.
Not giving it yesterday should have been punishment enough.
“Wait. I only have one minute, so I need to squeeze out maximum value.”
An S-rank Mana Stone and an A-rank Mana Stone.
And the High-grade Fire Spirit Stone I obtained last time.
Even if the buffs don’t apply, the hunger should fill.
‘I wonder how much the High-grade Fire Spirit Stone will fill?’
Without any buffs, the Lowest-grade fills 10,000, the Low-grade fills 100,000.
So what about the High-grade Fire Spirit Stone?
I gathered the mana stones and spirit stones together.
I placed the High-grade Fire Spirit Stone in Fire’s two front paws so I could extract maximum efficiency.
Timed it with when I’d activate the skill.
[Fire (EX)’s skill, ‘Hunger Booster (C+)’ activates!]
“Now!”
-Wailing!
[Fire (EX) gallops on all fours toward the pile of mana stones and spirit stones!]
I was right not to give the mana stones yesterday.
Definitely twice as fast as when eating normally.
Not even chewing—just gulping them down smoothly.
The effect of the High-grade Fire Spirit Stone that went down first was truly astounding.
[High-grade Fire Spirit Stone (S-) consumed!]
[Hunger fills 8.6 times more than normal!]
[Hunger reduction decreases by 8 times compared to normal!]
[All consumption for crafting, research, and buff leveling decreases!]
[Maintained for 168 hours!]
“Insane!”
Both the hunger fill rate and the reduction were insane, but the real thing was the newly generated buff.
‘All consumption for crafting, research, and buff leveling decreases.’
That alone was enough.
But what was even more surprising was the hunger fill rate itself.
The multiplier doesn’t apply—only the hunger fill.
“Two million!”
This is why you hunt for high-grade spirit stones.
Sweet.
The multiplier added by the buff produced results beyond imagination.
[Successfully achieved 6,000,000 Hunger!]
[Successfully achieved 15,000,000 Hunger!]
[Fire (EX)’s skill, ‘Hunger Booster (C+)’ ends!]
[Fire (EX)’s skill, ‘Hunger Booster (C+)’ can be used again after 336 hours.]
Two level-ups in just one minute.
And I’d filled another 20 million hunger on top of that.
I thought that once I crossed a million, I’d barely level up once a week.
‘This is ridiculously fast.’
At this rate of increase, even accumulating billions of Hunger wouldn’t be difficult.
With two level-ups, Fire had grown noticeably larger.
The creature that was once the size of my fist had become as thick as my forearm.
“But when exactly will it be able to talk?”
-Wah-wah! Wah-wah!
[Fire (EX) says very soon!]
[Fire (EX) says that once a new spirit appears, it probably won’t take long before it becomes possible!]
“A new spirit? How long will that take?”
[Fire (EX) says that according to its instinct, it will be soon!]
I’d already been thinking about it anyway.
What would the next spirit be?
Since the first was fire, maybe grass? Earth? Water?
Whatever appears, I hope it’s something a bit more composed than Fire.
At my words, Fire let out a scornful laugh.
-Wah-wah! Wah-wah!
[Fire (EX) says that it is the most level-headed spirit of all!]
[Fire (EX) says that when you meet those others, you’ll think it’s nothing compared to them!]
“……Compared to it?”
It didn’t sound like a joke or jest.
Fire is already a troublemaker, but there are spirits even worse than this?
I’m already sighing.
“Ah, and I need to check the skills I obtained.”
I’d forgotten in the shock of it all.
I tried to view the system messages, but something extraordinary appeared first.
[You have successfully leveled Fire (EX) twice in just one minute for the first time!]
[You have obtained a Skill Evolution Right for S-rank and below!]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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