Chapter 286: Life Condenser

When he said this, four puppets entered the war room carrying a large, hollow hexagon along with multiple boxes full of red cables.

"Is this…?" Sol could guess its purpose based on the context, but he had no idea what to call the odd looking object. He had never seen anything like it, though that could be said for most of the objects he had encountered here.

Torben approached it and patted it with his remaining right arm, causing a metallic clanging sound to reverberate through the room.

"It's the Life Condenser. While our people didn't have any Soul Shamans like the Mystic Blood Clan, we had the most brilliant, ingenious minds this world had ever seen. We immediately got to work, and after consulting the orcs and going through a lot of trial and error, this is the culmination of our efforts. We compensated for the aspects we lacked with more sophisticated and efficient runes, alongside conduit cables to channel life essence into a singular point to create life clusters."

He explained some technical details, including how to use it, which was surprisingly simple. Compared to the original ritual, which had many requirements, this only needed two things to function: at least ten thousand people offering a sliver of their life essence, and someone to act as the focus, through whom all the life essence would temporarily course to condense the life cluster.

When speaking of the focus, he added, "We tried to bypass the need for a focus, thinking it unnecessary, but it turned out to be the most important part of the process. Without someone as the focus, the life essence would go rampant and refuse to coalesce into a life cluster. It's rather strenuous and leaves the person weakened afterward. I hope that's not an issue."

"It's not an issue. We already have someone for that role." Sol said with a neutral expression. Although he didn't hate Kirgar as much as he used to, especially after seeing how Lapis acted so nonchalantly when encountering him again, he still hadn't forgiven him. However, having Kirgar serve that role for the rest of his life began to feel rather extreme, so Sol considered talking to Orna later about possibly reducing his sentence.

Torben found it odd that they already had someone, but didn't care enough to ask. "Then with this, you have everything you need." He also pulled out a few books and slid them over. "Instruction and maintenance manuals. They're in our language, so here's an Azremian to Universal language translation book. With this, you should be all set."

Sol took the Life Condenser and the books, storing them in a spare ring Duncan had. His own rings were too full of random objects, tools, and potions to fit anything else.

Once everything was safely stored away, Sol asked, "Thank you. With this, our mission is done. But I have to ask, what will you do now?"

Torben placed his mechanical hand under his chin, thinking for a moment. "Hmm… for now, I need to meet with Orna. I'll decide what to do based on what I hear."

Although he knew how all his people died, he never knew why, and it had been gnawing at him for ages. Now, he had the opportunity to find out.

"And what about the city?"

"What about it?"

"Can the Frostaxe Clan and our kingdom continue exploring the city? I know it's your home, but… to be frank, they're going to want to continue discovering and learning everything they can."

Though the decision to explore the city's ancient technology was out of Sol's control, he was worried that Torben might oppose it, potentially pitting himself against both nations. Sol knew Torben could command a vast army of puppets, but without the Chosen Slayer, he lacked the means to combat any A-Rankers they might send if he denied access.

Torben scoffed. "Bah, you worry too much. My people are dead. At least this way, their legacy—our legacy—will live on. I doubt any of them would have wanted to see their inventions and designs gathering dust here until the end of time. So, besides my own stuff, which is being packed as we speak, I'll leave the rest here so their creations can live on."

'I'm sure the kingdom would be very interested in your "stuff"…' Sol remarked to himself. He had already seen a few of Torben's creations, which gave a glimpse of his capabilities. But with an entire city's worth of discoveries, Sol decided it would be best not to mention this to anyone. It was the least he could do after Torben had helped them so much against the Bliss Spider.

Torben added, "But don't expect me to stick around and answer all their questions. I'm sure with the talents you've spoken of, they'll figure it out eventually."

"Oh, speaking of talents, there's something I wanted to ask."

Sol used [Analysis] on Torben again and received the same prompt as last time.

[Error detected. Would you like to submit a ticket?]

"So, about you being unable to see your own status, when I checked it with [Analysis], it asked if I wanted to submit a ticket. If you want, I can do that, and maybe it'll fix the issue."

"You have [Analysis]?" Rex mumbled under his breath, loud enough for everyone to hear. After witnessing part of Sol's battle with the Bliss Spider, he couldn't help but wonder what Sol *couldn't* do. This sentiment was shared by most of the squad, except Duncan and Lapis, whose sight had been affected, so they hadn't actually witnessed the battle.

"Hmm." Torben thought for a moment. "Is there any point in doing so? I've been just fine without it."

"Honestly, I'm not sure." Sol shrugged. "I did notice you don't have any talents or talent skills, so maybe you'll get them, but I can't say for sure. It's the first time I've seen something like this. If you do get talents, your skills will rise much faster than before."

Torben nodded, recalling Sol's earlier explanation of the system, but he still found the notion of the system odd. He had a few questions about it, but knew none of them could answer, so he didn't bother asking and instead gave his response.

"Nah, it's fine. I've been just fine without it, so I don't need it now."

Sol nodded, respecting his decision, and declined the system's prompt.

"That should be everything. Thanks again for the Life Condenser and for helping us defeat that spider monster."

"And thank you for breaking into my home and destroying my greatest weapon." Torben said jokingly before turning serious. "But truly, thank you for helping me avenge my people."

After that, the squad and Torben parted ways. Sol and the group gathered the exploration team, who had been staying in one of the large rooms in the castle, and made their way out of the ancient city with their prize in hand.