EU: Chapter 042 | Great Haul!

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"1... 2... damn... 10... 11... oh damn..."

As he counted, dragging it out as slowly as he could, Pinaka’s eyes widened until the whites showed. His lips curled, saliva swirling as his jaw eased open—part excitement, mostly madness.

"30... 31... fuck... 50... 51..."

Wood Relic of Elves—World Tree Fruit x84!

An absolutely insane number. Each World Tree Fruit practically called out to him, begging to be consumed. If he took his time with them, one by one, his stats would hit a level where he could crush anyone in his way.

Up till now, he’d only eaten half a World Tree Fruit, at most. Even that small amount had given him a serious stat boost—enough to destroy the Human Gate, turn Pronto—one of the strongest Level 2 Humans—into his staff, and roam the grain prison without a care in the world.

He couldn’t even wrap his head around how much power he’d gain from this haul. But before he could start pocketing everything in sight, Pinaka took a moment to actually look around the vault.

The fruits were lined up neatly on tagged shelves. He stepped closer to one of them and checked the tag.

[Rukhka]

He frowned, then glanced at the others, scanning through them quickly. The names clicked into place.

‘They are... names of Elves.’

Mounted on the wall was a stand, and on it sat a binder. Its hardcover was made from a wood that didn’t look like normal bark. At first glance, sure, it looked like tree bark—but the gaps between the pieces were impossibly thin, barely a tenth of a millimeter. The surface was smooth, almost unnaturally so.

It had a mild gloss and looked like it had been tempered. Pinaka’s eyes stayed locked on it as he slowly reached out and touched the bark with his index finger.

"Urgh!"

A spark shot through him—half pain, half thrill—as his authority kicked in, letting him understand exactly what he was touching.

‘It’s highly resistant to physical shock.’

Vivitri!

This bark existed for one specific reason—to hold the sacks of unborn Elves securely to the World Tree. It had to be insanely tough to support their weight and stay attached to the tree’s massive trunk.

Once an Elf was ready to hatch, the bark would crack, and the sack would fall gently from the World Tree’s branches.

Vivitri was ridiculously dense, about 5200 kilograms per cubic meter. In terms of toughness and hardness, it was right up there with steel. But it wasn’t malleable or ductile in the slightest.

According to Elven traditions, they used Vivitri to craft whatever they needed—roofs, chairs, daily tools—pretty much anything that could benefit from its toughness.

Pinaka flipped open the binder and laid a hand on one of the pages inside. The material was smooth but strange to the touch.

"This is a porous material that’s highly resistant to heat, with self-regulating properties."

Apatra!

It was the same material that made up the sacks holding unborn Elves. Once an Elf hatched, the sack would slowly break down on its own. Apatra was thin, semi-translucent, and extremely resistant to the elements.

That’s why it was used like papyrus by the Elven Race. On Apatra pages, the Elves recorded everything—knowledge, history, and secrets. It had enough shelf life to last a lifetime.

Now that he had touched them, Pinaka could replicate both materials.

‘They’ll be useful to cover myself in armor.’

The first page had neat rows divided into three columns. Pinaka quickly figured out what they were: Name, Date of Birth, and Relic Status.

It was all recorded from day one of the Human Calendar. As he flipped through the pages, a sinking feeling settled in. He started to piece it all together—what this binder really was, what the Humans had been tracking.

‘So that’s what it was. Dammit!’

The World Tree birthed around 2,000 Elves each year. For every Elf, it also produced one World Tree Fruit. The fruit was meant to be consumed by the Elf after they matured.

Once eaten, the Elf had a small chance to break into Level 3. That was huge—Elves had a much higher shot at reaching Level 3 than any other race. And it all traced back to these fruits.

In the Human Race, maybe one in a few million made it to Level 3. Other races had similar odds—or worse.

But with the World Tree Fruits, one in every 10,000 Elves could reach Level 3. So with 2,000 births per year, a Level 3 Elf emerged roughly every five years.

That was exactly why the Elves had stayed dominant on Gangnea—from its beginning all the way up until the past few years.

But there was a catch.

That increased chance of reaching Level 3 only happened if the Elf ate the World Tree Fruit that had been specifically created for them by the World Tree.

Normally, the Elven King handled the distribution. He, along with all Level 3 Elves, could instinctively tell which fruit belonged to which Elf. They could feel the connection.

In the absence of any Level 3 Elf, the only way to match the fruits was through timing—when an Elf was born and when a World Tree Fruit ripened. Both events always occurred simultaneously. That was the method the Humans used.

“God... fucking... dammit...!” Pinaka shouted as he flipped to the last page and saw his own name.

His World Tree Fruit—the one meant for him—had already been used. It had been ground down and tossed into the fruit prison’s Potion Factory.

There were 336 days in a year, with each month holding 42 days. On average, about 2,000 Elves were born annually, which came out to roughly six births per day. There were five Potion Factories in total, running every day.

The surplus World Tree Fruits were stored in the vault.

If the Humans were preparing for war, the need for Healing Potions would skyrocket. In that case, they’d open a sixth Potion Factory—just to burn through the excess fruits. This was done in secret. And once the matching Elf had been unknowingly robbed of their fruit, they were quietly executed.

The distribution of World Tree Fruits was meticulously planned. The fruits sent to the grain prison’s Potion Factory were always from Elves born in other prisons. The Humans didn’t want to risk anything—there was a slim chance an Elf could instinctively sense or smell the fruit meant for them.

Someone like Raepekka, with insane talent, would definitely be able to recognize their own World Tree Fruit. So, the Humans didn’t take any chances.

They even went as far as using the fruits of graduating Elves a day early. In moments of desperation, an Elf might be able to detect the vault through the special bond they had with their fruit.

Pinaka had been born on Day 34 of the 8th Moon, with graduation scheduled for Day 42 of the same Moon. At dawn on that very day, his World Tree Fruit had been marked for use in the Potion Factory.

But since Pinaka had died earlier than planned, the fruit ended up being sent to a different prison entirely, and had already been consumed.

"Urgh… if only I had known about it before..." he muttered, sighing. He’d lost his one chance to naturally raise his odds of hitting Level 3. After a brief moment of frustration, he flipped through the rest of the binder but didn’t find anything useful.

Thanks to the material’s resistance, the Humans had used fire to burn the details into the pages. Pinaka didn’t care about that anymore. He turned his focus to the vault and started packing up the World Tree Fruits—all 84 of them.

He grabbed one and activated his authority on it. Nothing happened. It didn’t even budge.

"You… it’s the same as before."

He couldn’t manipulate a World Tree Fruit until he reached Level 3.

Pinaka crafted a thick case out of Vivitri wood, carving out eighty compartments lined with Apatra. Each slot was carefully cushioned, and one by one, he placed the World Tree Fruits inside before sealing the case shut.

"Urgh, it’s heavy," he grunted, shifting under the weight. He had to rely on his Weight Factor just to carry it. After some struggle, he packed it into a shoulder bag and strapped it tight across his back.

Four World Tree Fruits were left. He took three and packed them into a smaller case made the same way.

‘I’ll give this to Raepekka.’

He wasn’t expecting anything grand out of it, but if something came of it—even something small—he’d be glad.

‘He’s got enough talent to make full use of three fruits.’

But more than anything, that Spell of Wood Ski was just too damn good. Pinaka felt the urge to help Raepekka out a little more.

As for the final World Tree Fruit, Pinaka popped it into his mouth and swallowed.

Instantly, a rush of ideas surged through him. His understanding of his Spells sharpened, and his ability to use them became smoother, cleaner. His stats jumped again—by far the biggest leap yet—flooding him with a rush of power that felt close to invincibility.

[Name: Pinaka]

[Race: High Elf]

[Authority: Lifeform]

[Control Factor: 3]

[Weight Factor: 140]

[Volume Factor: 32]

[Range Factor: 40]

[Speed Factor: 40]

[Creation Factor: 83]

[Spell: Status Epidermis, Root Glove, Wood Ski, Pinaka, Pinaka Arrow]

He’d gained a total of 153 stats. If he hadn’t focused on pushing his Creation Factor from 62 to 83, and instead spread those gains across his other stats, he could’ve gotten over 200 points from just a single World Tree Fruit.

“Still insane, since my Weight Factor reached triple digits.”

That alone made a huge difference—it let him control twice his body weight, which was incredibly useful when he had to distribute stats to his clone.

“Can I... eat more?” he muttered, pressing a hand to his stomach. He felt some strain and zero hunger.

There wasn’t a hard cap on how many World Tree Fruits he could consume, but there would be diminishing returns eventually. For now, his body was overflowing with energy and nutrients. If he tried to eat another, it’d do more harm than good.

It’d be like forcing down more food when you’re already stuffed.

‘After a few days, maybe, I can consume another.’

At least now, he didn’t have to worry about using a Pinaka Clone with authority as a throwaway potion factory. He had more than enough fruits for himself.

“Now, onto cleanup.”

He shifted most of his stats over to the two clones with authority and waited a few minutes. Meanwhile, he summoned an army of clones who launched a barrage of arrows at any soldiers that showed up, drawn in by the earlier chaos.

“Done?” Pinaka asked as a clone with authority stepped out of the office.

“Killed them all,” the clone replied, handing back the Pronto Staff.

Pinaka retracted the Sun Stone from the staff and crushed it in his hand. Then he created a new clone with authority, which immediately began generating copies of the Ogre responsible for transporting grain in the grain prison.

That was the only Ogre Pinaka had ever touched—so it was the only one he could recreate. Luckily, he didn’t need a living version.

Once a good number of Ogres were placed in the tunnel, the office, and a few in the vault, he pointed the Pronto Staff in their direction. “Pronto, my dear.”

“Blast at full force!”

Light flared, followed by a wave of searing heat as fire roared through the space, swallowing everything for a few seconds. Then, the leftovers were dragged into the Sun Stone.

“Good. Everything’s been burnt to a crisp.” He had made sure to center the fire on all of his clones, reducing them to ash first. Then, he scattered some charred Ogre limbs around, along with a few mangled human parts.

‘Now, it’ll seem like this…’ Pinaka looked over the scene he’d set up, ‘While the Warden was distracted by the Level 3 Ogre, another group came through the unguarded Human Gate, broke in, and hit the vault. After stealing all the World Tree Fruits, along with an Elf and the Vampire Race’s Relic, they ran off into T’Hara Forest and disappeared into their territory.’

Pinaka had left just enough clues for the picture to come together cleanly. With that done, he made his exit—though not before swiping the Vampire Race’s Relic.

The potion factory running in the grain prison? That was just a standby clone he’d placed earlier.

He destroyed it without hesitation and wiped out every trace as he walked out, taking down any soldiers he crossed paths with. Using his authority, he reshaped their corpses to make it look like they’d been torn apart by Ogres.

‘They’re all still in their cells?’

He felt a flicker of annoyance. The Elves hadn’t even tried to escape, despite all the chaos. But unwilling to blow his cover, he kept walking—disguised as a Human.

‘Now, it’s time to leave this prison!’

He let out a breath as he stepped into the open and inhaled the fresh air. Relief washed over him.

…

Gangnea Daily Article #42

Stats increase as their limits are pushed. But the higher those stats climb, the harder it becomes to push them further—while stamina stays fixed.

...

Author note: Aplogies for scarce update in the last week or so. I couldn't write due to sudden irl commitments. I have written two chapters today, and writing more after this so I always have some stockpile from now on. We will have daily updates from now on.

Also, here's a new cover:

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