Book 3: Chapter 56: Catalysts

Book 3: Chapter 56: Catalysts

Scarlet

That didnt take long, Grandpa says with a raised brow after appearing out of nowhere in my room, the man having been busy with something when I got back to the castle, making me jump in surprise straight off the bed. You ready to learn about the next set of catalysts in full? More than just what the humans know about them?

I quickly nod my head, honestly not having expected him to finish his business in just a few minutes. Seeing as I literally just sat down on my bed in the first place after getting here.

He raises his hand, making a crystal shard appear in it covered in blood as he says, This here is a Class II Fracture Core Shard, one of the many possible Catalysts. And to ascend with it, youd need two of these. Then he raises his other hand, making three objects appear there, each covered in blood as well with one of them some sort of purple organ pushed out a little closer to me than the others. This is the heart of a Class III demon, and to ascend with these, youd need one hundred Class III demon hearts as only fifty of these combined count as a Catalyst. The heart moves in a circle, making the next object some sort of crystal move to take its place. This is a Class III Metal that has passively absorbed mana for thousands of years, and to ascend with it you would need at least a few kilograms of the stuff. Although there are also some special crystals that are basically just extremely pure versions of the metal that would count as one Catalyst each. And lastly, the final object some sort of glowing orb moves to take its place. And then theres the pure brute force manner of ascending. With a core or other object packed full of mana.

Wait, something like that can act as a Catalyst? I cant help but ask, looking at the orb that Im pretty sure is just a random magical item designed to hold mana that someone filled to the top.

Grandpa nods, It can and does. The orb vanishes with a snap of his finger. But youll be using the demon hearts since youve already got quite a collection growing of them.

That has me blinking in confusion, only for a pile of hearts to suddenly appear in the room, somehow not making a mess of the floor.

You didnt think your bodyguards were only there to protect you, did you? he asks with a smug grin on his face. They were also there to collect the hearts of any demons you killed and preserve them for your ascension.

My jaw drops open.

How the heck did they manage to do that without me noticing? Im pretty sure it shouldve been rather obvious if they were going around digging through the bodies of the demons I killed.

Right now you have a total of forty-nine Class III demon hearts, he says, sounding slightly impressed by the number. So tomorrow you can go ahead and hunt just Class III demons for more hearts and if you get enough by the end of the night, you can go ahead and ascend in the bath chamber.

I nod at that, only to pause at the mention of the incredibly nice bath chamber.

He smirks at that and adds, Dont worry, the bath can easily cleanse the ascension impurities.

Thank the stars. I was not looking forward to experiencing that again. The pain is bad enough already.

You can ask him later, Tar says with a cute wave of his paw. Not like hes going anywhere permanently.

Hmm, youve got a point.

I walk over and lie down on my bed again while deactivating my armor, resulting in me once again being in casual clothes of a T-shirt and pants. Although I stopped wearing my jacket since it could get damaged on Tartarus beyond Repairs capability to repair it.

One thing I should definitely ask Leonidas about later.

What is it? Tar asks, sounding curious as he crawls onto my chest and lies down.

The armor is missing one of its most important parts.

Pockets.

The tanuki just snorts and closes his eyes, seemingly going to sleep without bothering to say anything in response.

I mean it. They really need pockets.

And I dont mean the spatial ones they have.

Real pockets I can put my hands in, because Im too used to putting my hands in my pockets as I walk. So it feels awkward now that I cant do that.

Tar doesnt respond, instead snoring.

I roll my eyes at that before glancing at the window to find the sun rising.

Then I close my eyes, beginning to go to sleep myself without caring about the open window.