Chapter 908: A Strong Father
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"Your father's amazing." Elizabeth said. "Despite having his Spirit Orb atrophied, he can still fight so well using his Talent Abilities."
"A Spirit Orb is essential for our growth, but it is not necessary." I said. "My father and many other hunters have grown stronger even without cultivating it. In a way, even Ellergest too. He was a Rank 3 yet he held much more power than that. The Rank of a Spirit Orb doesn't mean everything."
"You're not wrong, but even then…" Elizabeth wondered. "I wonder if your father's strength is just from his Farmer Talent?"
"Most likely not just that…" I said, thinking about it more deeply. "He has most likely continued cultivating his Ki and Mana together. He has developed a Physique, and with the Dragon Potions I gave to him, which he has drank over time, he most likely developed it even more. There are many ways to grow stronger after all."
"A Physique, like us!" Said Elizabeth. "I see… But your father's Physique must be a very strong one then."
"I can't really see it with the Grimoire, sadly. But yes, it must be at least as powerful as mine." I nodded. "He has an incredible amount of Ki surging from his body. And when combined with his Farming Skills, he sorts of creates his own Cultivation Technique. I would call it… Nature Breathing Cultivation Technique."
"N-Nature Breathing?" Elizabeth tilted her head.
"It means he can absorb the life force and mana of the environmental nature to grow stronger. He did that just now against Anna." I said. "That giant shovel made of his Aura. That was a combination of Ki, Mana, a bit of his leftover spirit energy, and a lot of the environment's powers."
"Wow… I thought it was just a skill or magic." Elizabeth said. "Wait, so that's a technique outside of the skills and spells?"
"Yes, there's no such skill or spell that would allow him to do that." I said. "What my father did was a {Manifestation}, a special technique those with powerful Physiques and Auras can unleash. And I never taught him that, he learned it all by himself. His willingness to grow stronger is much higher than I ever thought."
"I guess he's just as amazing as his son then~" Elizabeth winked at me, and then gave me another kiss, this time on my nose. "Mooch!"
"You're really lovey-dovey today. Is it really nice to kiss someone like me?" I wondered.
"Hahaha! Despite your grumpy words, you are quite handsome, and also have beautiful eyes. It's hard to resist, especially when your skin is so smooth." She giggled. "You're someone very beautiful, Blake! Don't be insecure!"
"I'm not insecure, I was just asking…" I sighed. "My appearance is just that, I never considered any aspect regarding it."
"You really lack vanity, huh?" She sighed. "Come on, a bit of loving yourself wouldn't be so bad, right? You got a lot of style and are handsome, yet you're so aloof about it! …Well, that's kind of part of your charm too."
"You're a beautiful and charming girl too, Elizabeth." I admitted. "You're almost angelic in appearance, and when we are together, I feel like I don't even deserve your love. But that's-"
"Aww! Really? You've never said something like that to me!" Elizabeth quickly hugged me tightly and started kissing my cheeks. "You're so cute when you get all embarrassed! I'm lucky to have you as my boyfriend~!"
"E-Enough, Elizabeth! They're looking!" I tried to gently move her away, but she had grown exceptionally strong lately. That became a hard thing to do without using my true strength, because I didn't want to accidentally harm her.
"Well, look who's back." My father greeted me, noticing we were there. "You're on a lucky strike, your brother just came to rescue you."
"Big bro!" Anna ran to my side.
"Brother, are we hunting today too?" Allan asked.
Both were looking forward to hunting again. It seems I might have made them a bit addicted to the feeling of growing stronger. However, as they reached me, they stopped walking. Anna looked at me with a teasing smile I don't know where she even learned, and Allan blushed a bit.
"Big bro, were you doing lovey-dovey stuff with Elizabeth?" Asked Allan.
"Eh?!"
"Fufu, you can't hide it from us. I bet you are going to have a baby now!" Anna spoke as if she knew how that even worked. "I can raise the baby for you!"
"Stop speaking nonsense, you two." I almost screamed. "Ahem, anyways. Well done, I've seen you've grown a lot lately. But you have yet to release all the power you have… Hm, how about you train today as well? We should go hunt tomorrow then."
"Aren't you taking it too lightly, bro?" Asked Allan. "We want to grow stronger and level up!" Allan became surprisingly talky.
"Yeah!" Anna nodded. "Come on bro, let's go!"
"I can see you just want to run away from daddy." My father sighed. "Ahhh… This is so sad, why do you want to abandon your father like this? And I even took the time to move my schedule to be with my children!"
"You heard the old man." I said. "We're staying for now."
"Old man?!" My father cried. "A-Am I that old, Elizabeth?!"
"Hahah, of course not. Blake is just a bit grumpy." Elizabeth giggled along.
"Anyways, before you continue sparring, I need to do a few things. Your Familiars, where are they?" I asked the two.
"Over there!" Anna pointed.
"Eating grass." Allan said.
I looked to the direction Anna pointed, finding a huge tortoise eating a lot of grass. Paprika was absorbing sunlight on top of its shell. I guess the two of them got along pretty well… My own Familiars are just inside my shadows. Maybe I should let them walk outside? No, better not, they're too big and scary looking in comparison. And quite destructive too.
"Alright, let's quickly evolve them with the D Rank Spirit Orbs we've collected so far. All of them are from kills they did or helped at taking down, so it should work…" I nodded. "And I guess you three are evolving too, come out." I called my trio of Familiars as well.
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