Surviving the Game as a Barbarian-Chapter 463: Proof (3)

「Character has entered the Witch's Cabin.」

It was my first time visiting the Witch's Cabin since the incident with Misha. It was much different from the last time I was here.

Swaaaaaaaaaa!

The lush green lawn and the trees with their thick foliage were gone.

"...Snow?"

A white expanse of snow stretched out before me.

The trees were bare, their branches covered in snow, and in the distance, I could see a lone cabin.

"Whoa! It's snow! It's so cold!"

Ainar was like a child, excited by the snow.

Well, it didn't snow in Lafdonia.

Except for Ice Rock, a few islands on the 6th floor, and some rifts, snow was a rare sight. Even the Frost Canyon on the 5th floor was just a frozen wasteland.

"Lokrok! Come here!"

"...It's Auyen Lokrob."

"Don't be so uptight! This is how we bond! Anyway, come here!"

"...U-Uh...?"

Amelia tried to correct her, but Ainar ignored her and dragged Auyen away to play in the snow.

"Ow! That hurts! Raines...!"

"...Yandel, are you just going to watch?"

Amelia complained, but I ignored her.

Barbarians could enjoy snowball fights too.

"Just leave them alone. They'll be busy with Erwen's essence for a while."

"So you're not going to intervene?"

"No, that's not what I meant..."

"Just go and check on the essence. I'll stay here."

"...You're not coming?"

"I need to teach them a lesson."

Amelia didn't understand, but she went to check on Erwen.

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And...

"Oh! You want to play too?!"

"Yes."

Amelia activated [Self-Replication] and started throwing snowballs at Ainar.

"Hahaha! Take this!!"

Ainar was enjoying herself at first, but her smile soon vanished.

"...U-Urgh! What are you—?!"

Amelia tackled Ainar to the ground and started rubbing her face in the snow.

"Mmmmph...!"

"Here's the snow you love so much."

"Th-This isn't the kind of snowball fight I imagined—!"

"Why do we need rules?"

"U-Urgh! I'm not going to just stand here and take this!!"

Ainar struggled to get up, but Amelia pinned her down, her legs wrapped around Ainar's arms.

And...

"What are you going to do about it?"

She used her clone to pelt Ainar's face with snowballs.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

It was like a pitcher throwing at a target.

"...Mister?"

"...Let's go."

"Okay."

We left the three of them to their snowball fight and headed towards the back of the cabin.

The Witch's Cabin was the perfect training ground.

It was a private location, and we didn't have to worry about breaking anything and paying for damages like we did in the city training grounds.

"Erwen, have you adapted to the essence?"

"Yes."

"How do you feel?"

"I don't know... I feel stronger overall, but I can't pinpoint any specific changes..."

"There must be other changes."

"...My head hurts."

It wasn't just a headache, it was probably a mental strain.

Well, it was still a huge improvement compared to her previous state.

"Don't worry, it's just the essence."

"The essence...? What do you mean?"

Erwen's eyes sparkled with curiosity, and I started explaining.

The first thing I had to explain was the stat.

[Chaos]

Doubles the amount of negative stats possessed, and increases all stats proportionally to the increased negative stats.

That's all it said in the game.

It was up to the players to figure out the formula.

"Negative stats... you mean debuffs?"

Ah, I had to explain that first.

"That's part of it, but not all of it."

Each stat in [Dungeon and Stone] had a coefficient, and that coefficient determined how much it would increase your Physical, Mental, or Ability stats.

For example, Dexterity had a coefficient of 0.5, so if your Dexterity increased by +1, your Ability stat would increase by 0.5.

'Magic Resistance, a high-value stat, has a coefficient of 3.'

Anyway, that wasn't important right now.

Most stats had a coefficient of 0 or higher, but some had negative coefficients.

I called them 'negative stats'.

"For example, you have Impulsiveness and Distrust."

These stats would decrease your overall stats if they had a positive value.

And if a stat with a positive coefficient had a negative value, it would be considered a 'debuff', like the -30 Control from [Rupture].

"Ah..."

Erwen seemed to understand the basic concept, so I started calculating.

What was Erwen's current negative stat value?

First, -80 Physical Resistance from the 'Evan' essence.

Then, -40 Soul Regeneration from the 'Lithcannon' essence I had recommended as a reward.

-30 Control from [Rupture].

'+30 Impulsiveness and +30 Distrust from 'Kalban'.

'Greed from the 'Metcrow' essence has a coefficient of 0, so we don't need to include that. And I removed the +40 Deficiency before entering the labyrinth...'

I multiplied each stat by its coefficient, added them together, and then multiplied the sum by the Chaos Essence's coefficient of 0.2.

'53.8.'

That was the total stat increase Erwen had gained from the Chaos Essence.

Well, not all of her stats.

Stats like Luck and Bone Density, which she didn't possess, wouldn't increase.

'...She's already getting a lot out of it.'

I was impressed.

I had recommended the 'Lithcannon' essence, but the rest were all essences she had chosen herself.

'It's a bit risky, considering how much her Mental stats are being reduced...'

But she had grown mentally stronger.

She was much calmer now, even though the essence's effects were stronger than before.

'I should replace it with a different essence soon.'

Mental stats had low coefficients, so they weren't ideal for maximizing the Chaos Essence's potential. Control was decent, but 'Distrust' only had a coefficient of 0.6.

It was more efficient to reduce high-value stats with high coefficients. If you could reduce Magic Resistance by 50, you could increase all your other stats by 30.

'...Well, technically it's a 100 reduction, considering the doubled negative stat effect.'

Anyway, that was why the Chaos Essence was so popular among damage dealers.

Tank essences rarely had negative stats that reduced damage and increased defense.

"I see... You said it was better to specialize, right...?"

Hmm, did I say that?

I couldn't remember, but it was time to move on.

"Show me your abilities."

Even though we weren't in the usual inn room, we still had to test her skills.

______________________

The Chaos Essence came with two skills.

One passive and one active.

That was all.

It seemed lacking compared to the Guardian essences, which could give you up to five active skills...

But sometimes, one powerful skill was better than a hundred mediocre ones.

(P) Chaos Circuit — All resources possessed by the character are combined into one. When all resources are depleted, the character can use the power of Chaos.

The passive skill was unique.

It combined all your resources, such as mana, natural energy, Soul Power, and divine power, into one gauge.

That alone made it incredibly valuable.

Natural energy, which was required for spirit magic, was incredibly difficult to increase.

'That's probably why Erwen absorbed the Ertes essence. She could use its passive to convert Soul Power into natural energy.'

I made a mental note to remove that essence when we got back to the city. [Elemental Fusion] wasn't a bad skill, but it wasn't worth keeping in the long run.

"So... about my abilities..."

"[Focused Fire]. Use that. We need to deplete your resources anyway. And summon your spirit too."

"...Wouldn't it be faster to summon Dicloe? He'll drain my energy much faster."

Oh, she was right.

I told her to summon Dicloe, and she reluctantly obeyed.

「Erwen Fornachi di Tersia has summoned [Dicloe, the Dark Spirit King].」

A black mass emerged from a spatial rift, taking the form of a humanoid figure.

Dicloe, at Erwen's command, fired a barrage of dark orbs at the opposite wall.

Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!

The barrier protecting the cabin didn't even flinch.

「All accumulated energy has been depleted.」

Erwen's resources were depleted after about 30 seconds.

It used to be 5 seconds when she used it at full power.

'Her mana pool must have increased.'

But that wasn't important right now.

「The empty vessel is filled with an unknown power.」

The [Chaos Circuit] activated.

「All resource consumption is nullified for 1 minute.」

The Infinite Power Mode.

"...He's not being unsummoned."

Erwen was amazed by Dicloe, who was still firing orbs.

I was also impressed.

'She can use this level of firepower for 90 seconds...'

And that wasn't all.

Her MP was infinite now.

"Erwen, use [Focused Fire]."

I gave her another order, and she drew her bow.

Whoosh!

A white light gathered at the arrowhead.

This skill, which had played a significant role in the Riakis fight, was one of the rewards I had recommended to Erwen.

The longer she charged it, the more MP it consumed...

Whoosh!

...but the damage also increased exponentially.

I usually limited her charging time to 15 seconds. After that, the MP consumption was too high, and the damage increase was negligible.

It was more efficient to use the 60-second cooldown and fire another arrow.

But...

'MP is infinite now.'

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds...

The energy at the arrowhead became more and more concentrated.

And then...

"Now."

Erwen released the arrow.

———!

A blinding flash of light filled the room.

The barrier didn't even flinch.

But...

'This is it.'

I knew it instinctively.

Kwaaang!

The explosion was deafening.

______________________

「The unknown power within the vessel has been depleted.」

「All stats are temporarily reduced by 70%.」

______________________

Erwen collapsed onto me, exhausted.

And then we heard a familiar voice calling our names.

"Bjorn! Where are you?! Bjorn!!"

It was Ainar.

"W-What was that?! Was it a dimensional collapse?! We might have to run away!!"

She was panicking, like a wild animal sensing a natural disaster.

I chuckled at her innocence.

"Don't worry, it wasn't a dimensional collapse."

"R-Really?! It was terrifying! The whole world flashed, and the ground shook!!"

"Yeah, yeah. Calm down. It's over now."

I reassured Ainar, and then Amelia approached me.

"Was that Tersia?"

"Yes."

"...The Chaos Essence is powerful."

"Don't worry, I'll get you one eventually."

I tried to reassure her, but she just turned away, muttering something about not wanting to be treated like a barbarian.

But I could tell she was looking forward to it.

"So, is it over?"

"Yeah, it's over."

We hadn't tested her active skill, but that wasn't something we could do here.

We would have to experiment in the city.

It was a unique skill.

"Erwen, can you walk?"

"No... I can't..."

I was about to carry Erwen... but Ainar beat me to it.

"Oh! I'll carry her!"

She had always been a reliable pack mule.

"Come on, hop on!"

"...."

"Hurry up."

"...Okay... Thank you..."

Ainar carried Erwen on her back, and we headed towards the cabin.

The interior of the cabin was the same as before, despite the winter wonderland outside.

The bookshelf, the table, the carpet.

The small bed where my feet would always stick out.

And...

Crackle, crackle, crackle.

The fireplace.

"Yandel, what do we do now?"

"We enter the flames."

Then we would receive the reward, the cabin would be closed, and we would be transported back to the forest.

"...Bjorn."

Ainar suddenly looked at me with a serious expression.

"I've been thinking... It doesn't feel right to just enter the flames."

What? Was she betraying me?

I didn't bother answering and walked towards the fireplace.

Crackle!

The flames were warm, not hot.

「Mental Resistance permanently increased by +50.」

Okay, the stat boost was successful...

I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth.

And then...

"Huh...?"

I opened my eyes and froze.

It wasn't the Witch's Forest.

It was a completely different place.

"Who are you?"

A pale, ghostly girl was staring at me.