A System That Beats Death 14 Soulseeker

He followed silently while wearing the Concealment Mask. She had insisted that he wear it or many maidens would swoon and covet him. Hearing this Itsuki laughed in disbelief. She clearly forgot the stigma a.s.sociated with being a Darkblood and how much people fear Darkbloods.

Along their journey through the town, Itsuki noticed that Kirei had plenty of admirers. Seems that she is unaware of her own beauty, Atlas thought. It made sense though as throughout most of her life, she was shunned and had muck undermine her beauty. It would be difficult to develop any vanity after being treated as undesirable for so long.

He stepped closer to her as if to form a barrier against the lecherous curs who dared to have designs on her.

Apparently, his presence was quite daunting as Domination combined with Concealment Mask created an aura akin to a great demon. It immediately made oglers turn away and deterred those who had wanted to make moves on her. How could they dare to offend a family that could hire such an oppressive guard?

After consulting the merchant, she asked Itsuki for a few demon carca.s.ses. He furtively grabbed a bunch from the s.p.a.cial Ring and threw them towards the merchant.

The merchant crouched to inspect the corpses and exclaimed in delight, "Ooh! These are really good. The demons aren't battered which increases the quality of the meat"

He immediately turned towards the masked individual but slightly hesitated when faced with the great pressure.

"...Someone as strong as you.. Do you have anymore of these?"

Itsuki nodded before he then asked after noticing the variety of products which the store sold.

Pointing at one sign which said, Sanguine Gra.s.s Crab , he asked, "Demons are edible?"

The merchant then pridefully struck his fist against his chest and enthusiastically nodded.

"Of course! Even if some demons look disgusting, many of them can be considered hidden delicacies"

He then began to ramble about the different kinds of demons and which ones were delectable, which ones were only edible, and which ones required special preparation methods. Some of them could be used as medicine, some could be used as poison, while others were purely for enjoyment. Atlas inwardly grinned as he began to think of the variety of poisons he could ingest and gain immunity towards.

The Sanguine Gra.s.s Crab's flavor could be considered barely inferior to King Crab and was more chewy. The merchant then continued to go through the flavor of various demons before mentioning legendary demons which he would never hope to be able to taste but couldn't help having the desire to. A few of the many he mentioned were the Flaming Warhorse which had an amazing smoky flavor which also made one resistant to high temperatures and the Ingrained Soulseeker which every female desired.

Hearing this, Kirei immediately asked him to elaborate.

"Ooh! As expected, an ojou-sama like yourself would definitely be interested in this. The Ingrained Soulseeker is a demon with a pearl as its core. Legend says that if you mark the pearl with your blood, it changes color based on the closest person to you. Your soulmate will change the pearl's color to iridescent. If they are your soulmate then the pearl will react and release unique pheromones which repelled everyone other than your companion. The effect only stops if your soulmate also marks the pearl with their blood. Once that happens, the pearl splits in two and can be ingested"

"What happens after it is eaten?", Atlas asked. It wasn't everyday that he heard of edible jewelry. The flavor might be exquisite.

"I heard that when both take it, part of their souls are exchanged. It binds the two's fate together and can be used to avoid death. I doubt it's real to be honest"

Kirei couldn't help but secretly glance at Itsuki while listening about the Ingrained Soulseeker.

A pearl that binds souls? Interesting, Atlas thought. Could it have any relation to soul energy? This world proved that souls existed and he could even use souls as a subst.i.tute for magic. That pearl might be good for finding subordinates.

As Atlas entertained the many uses of an Ingrained Soulpearl, Kirei memorized the description of the Ingrained Soulseeker.

"What do you think of soulmates?", Kirei asked curious of Itsuki's opinion.

"Slightly intriguing. The concept isn't farfetched as souls do exist", he indifferently replied.

"Anyways, do you have any silk?", he asked the shopkeeper.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Underneath the collapsed Fallen PaG.o.da, hordes of demons congregated in the recesses of a deep ravine. To the front of them lay a giant torii with spiritual fluctuations. As with every torii, it was red but this one lacked sanct.i.ty and the red resembled the color of dried blood.

At the center of the torii was an upright whirlpool which refused to still. It emanated an aura of trepidation, suffering, and despair. The purple hue of the whirlpool signified a connection with Purgatory which was currently fragmented into 5 shards. Half of Purgatory went to the Diabolic One while the remaining eighths went to the 4 Demon Dukes.

As the demons began preparations to enter the torii, the whirlpool began to rupture. As the rupture dissipated, several figures could be seen emerging from the whirlpool. All of the figures possessed considerable strength as their very presence stilled the air and silenced all the demons which were previously anxious.

"To think you lessers would dare to hide this from us", one scowled.

"As expected, sc.u.m will always stay sc.u.m", another quipped.

"Now that we're here, you will all be properly reprimanded", the strongest one declared.

With a tense palm, one smacked a Demon General. Unable to block the powerful strike, he grimaced. As the palm landed on its target, intense pressure emitted and the Demon General was reduced to meat paste.

The remaining Demon Generals cowered in fear as the figure approached them at a casual pace. By the time the ma.s.sacre ended, a few thousand demons were brutalized and their corpses lay in an indistinguishable pile. The remaining horde kneeled in terror as the powerful few turned towards them.

"Now that they're taken care of. Baron, go a.s.sess this realm"

"Understood, Earl", the other demon responded.

The Earl and Viscount had sinister grins plastered on their face as they could sense the potential in this realm. It was lucky that they were the first few to arrive as they could now deter the rest. The Earl knew that the Viscount might not be able to contend with a Demon Marquis but his immense background definitely could. With a Demon Duke as his backer, even this Earl had to bow to the Viscount.

__________________________________________________________________________________

[Tailoring D+ Upgraded to C+(Effort)]

Itsuki grimaced in annoyance. As soon as he purchased the silk, he began to practice sewing. Due to having the skill already, his first few creations were above a beginner's but on par with a lackadaisical amateur's. Clearly dissatisfied with his results, he consulted a seamstress. After being given a few pointers, she demonstrated the creation process.

Despite the extensive time required, Itsuki seriously and silently watched the whole process while noting improvements which the seamstress could adopt.

He returned right after and noticed that he had pa.s.sively upgraded Tailoring to C already. With the experience gained and newfound knowledge, he created a few shirts which Kirei found peculiar as T-shirts were an alien concept in this world. His creations were already on par with commercial goods but he was sure he could do better.

They had already been in town for over 2 months as Itsuki leveled up his Tailoring Skill. After 2 months, his Tailoring Skill had finally upgraded to C+.

During her time in the town, Kirei realized that women were supposed to make the clothes and she apologized to Itsuki while requesting that she make her own clothes. Hearing this, Itsuki glared at her and to her astonishment, he pouted saying, "Too late. I'm already a better housewife than you will ever be"

Kirei immediately thought, "Sadly, he's not my wife". Which in retrospect, she found ridiculous and couldn't contain her laughter.

As Atlas did not see much reason to continue improving the Skill other than for Kirei's new kimono, Atlas decided to abuse the system which he hadn't used in a while.

[Tailoring C+ Upgraded to B+(-3000)]

3000 Points was not a huge loss as he had gained a jackpot from the Holy Supremacy Quest Path. Besides, he did not have 5 years to waste for a Skill which was not that useful. He could make money from it and obviously clothes but it was useless in combat.

Remembering the 50000 Points, Atlas' mood improved drastically. He made some crab rangoon with Sanguine Gra.s.s Crab meat. He then went to find Kirei as it was near dinnertime and she was probably starving. He found her sulking and worrying in her room which he thought was odd. He immediately entered the room asking what was troubling her.

An expression of extreme shock was evident on her visage as she saw Itsuki which immediately confounded him. Itsuki thought, Was it that surprising that I stopped sewing?

He stared at her quizzically before deciding to disregard it as her expression changed from extreme shock to being extremely delighted. He handed her the plate of crab rangoon before leaving.

She couldn't help but feel happy as she relished the crisp cheesiness which complemented her delight from seeing the round object. In her hand was an iridescent pearl which had recently changed color when Itsuki neared.

[Task a.s.signed:

Objective: Make Underclothing For Your Lover

Reward: Silk Production]

Itsuki's mood immediately soured. It was already misleading enough that he was making her a kimono but he definitely could not claim lacking any ulterior motives if he made her undergarments. Regrettably though, Silk Production was worth the misunderstanding. With it, he could create clothes without having to buy silk and the Ability even had the potential to be upgraded to produce metallic materials.