"Canât I use those?"
The golden scale necklaces Oh Kang-Woo ripped off the pastors contained enough power to decimate the entire slums. Since Kang-Wooâs hands burned like a vampire exposed to sunlight if he touched them, he had asked the Players in Guardians to collect them.
Whoooom, whoooom.
A faint golden light was emitting from the golden scale necklace despite the death of their wearers, meaning Akartâs powers were still infused in them.
Riiing!
[Oh! I think we can gather energy from those necklaces!]
The blue message window shone. Kang-Woo smirked.
"Alright. Letâs use those necklaces."
âThank goodness I collected them.â
"But how are we going to absorb energy from them?"Kang-Woo couldnât absorb the Light of Akart using the Authority of Predation because it was like a deadly poison to him. Eve had warned him not to do so a while ago when he was about to.
[Leave it to me!]
[(ŕšâ˘Ěă â˘Ě)Ůâ§]
Eve sent an emoticon full of confidence.
[First, could you gather those necklaces in one area?]
Kang-Woo grabbed the necklaces messily sprawled on the corner of his room.
Sizzle.
"Ouch! Fuck."
His hand was burning, black smoke rising from it.
"Looks like the energy seeped out a little."
The light emitted from Salvatoreâs necklace was so powerful that it practically melted Kang-Wooâs hand off when it was on Salvatore but it was nowhere near as bad now.
[It seems some of the energy seeped out because it has been taken off of the wearer.]
"Dammit."
âI wouldâve severed their limbs and kept them alive if I knew that beforehand.â
Kang-Woo was swept with regret but shook his head. No one could have known this would happen; he would just take as much of the Titanâs energy as he could from Akartâs subordinates that would come.
"Alright, here they are."
Kang-Woo placed seven necklaces on the desk. Although the light was not as powerful as before, the necklaces still contained the Light of Akart; Kang-Wooâs hand was heavily disfigured and was not regenerating.
"Hurts like a bitch."
Kang-Woo frowned as he looked down at his hand. He had gotten so used to all of his injuries healing in seconds that it had become uncomfortable being wounded and in pain for long periods.
âNothing I canât handle, though.â
Pain of this level was laughable compared to the pain of molting.
[Well then, please wait a moment.]
The blue message window in front of Kang-Woo floated toward the desk and turned into the shape of a funnel. Kang-Wooâs eyes widened in shock.
âFuck, was that a mouth this whole time? Can a System window even be a mouth? Wasnât it just a message window?â
"What the fâ"
[Shh. Please be quiet. I need to focus.]
The transformed blue message window made contact with the golden necklaces.
[Fwoooooooooooooooo!!!]
[ę (ŕšÂŻŕ¨ÂŻ)Ď]
âIs there a need to add SFX?â
[Aah, you were at my side, all along.]
â???â
[My true mentor⌠My guiding moonlight.][1]
"What the fuck are you going on about?"
[Hihi. Itâs just a meme.]
âHow do you expect me to react to a meme I donât know?â
[Anyway, Iâve absorbed a portion of the power of a Titan!]
[Yes! But there wasnât much energy remaining in the necklaces, so⌠thereâs at least enough to awaken one new Trait.]
Kang-Woo couldnât believe seven necklaces only amounted to one Trait, albeit a large amount of power had already left them.
[It is because the Law of Titans is damaged.]
"Makes sense."
It was only natural that the efficiency of its energy-absorbing function was low. A junk carâs fuel efficiency did not change just from getting topped up with fuel.
"Then I guess it comes down to whom I should give a new Trait to."
In terms of efficiency, Kim Si-Hun, Cha Yeon-Joo, or Han Seol-Ah would be the safest choices. Considering how powerful Kang-Woo already was, he couldnât hope for a massive power-up with one or two new Traits.
âI already have so many Authorities left unused.â
It was similar to gear in RPGs; beginner gear was left unused once the player progressed further into the game. Kang-Woo barely used any offensive Authorities other than the highly efficient ones and those he was well accustomed to using.
âItâs way better to use the Flames of Voracity instead.â
He had recently been using mainly the princesâ Authorities and the Authority of Blades which he had used the longest. He would likely not use an S-rank or SS-rank Trait even if he got them.
âBut itâs not like there are only offensive-type Traits.â
There were highly useful Traits such asRuler of Demonic Energywhich concealed his demonic energy, andMana-Hungry Demonwhich converted mana into demonic energy. Considering he had useful Traits like those two, it wouldnât be bad to get some more Traits for himself.
"Alright." Kang-Wooâs eyes gleamed after much thought and he nodded. "Iâll use the first one on myself."
He thought he wouldnât have anything to do with Traits since he had reached the max level but was surging with excitement after finding out that was not the case.
"How does it work?"
[Leave it to me!]
The message window next to the necklaces flew Kang-Wooâs way and covered him like a tent.
[( ă¤ď˝Ą>ďš