Hekatra looked at her human hands, watching them tremble as she noticed the faint reddishness on the back, observing the nostalgic weak skin that she had possessed long ago, and felt the lack of strength in her body.
She was tremendously weak now. But in contrast, it was like her mind that had been burning and being hammered in a forge all along had now cooled, allowing her to maintain a crystal clear train of thought, able to think like how she had done back in the days.
It was something basic that she had once been capable of but had been inhibited thanks to her monster instincts in the past few decades. It was like she had a cold and hadn't been able to breathe well. And now, that cold had cleared up, allowing her to appreciate what she had possessed before.
And as she observed her figure, she could see faint wrinkles at places, looking no different from the time when she had been a human. And, as she thought about it, she could still feel her Darlac.
Rather, her reserves hadn't diminished yet. She was still a Transcendent. "How…is this possible?"
And right at this time, as she gazed at Compass Carburettor, she understood, bowing to express her gratitude, "So, my Lord is one of the Spirits. Everything makes sense then. Please forgive my earlier transgression."
"It's fine," Compass Carburettor waved his hand, relaxing upon surviving potential death. He then noticed that Hekatra's loyalty continued to climb erratically. Rather, the more she appreciated her clarity of mind, the greater she appreciated Compass Carburettor's help. And in turn, the more her loyalty towards him increased.
Soon, her loyalty reached the three digits when Compass Carburettor asked, "Can you tell me more about the disaster of the Great Megwest Empire?"
Right as he asked it, he regretted, for Hekatra's increase in loyalty abruptly stopped before beginning to steadily decrease. He abruptly said, "Fine, forget it. if you don't wish to talk about it, then I won't press any further."
"Thank you for your understanding, Lord Spirit." Hekatra bowed, "And please, there has never been a disaster."
'There has never been a disaster?' He frowned, intending to ask immediately when he controlled himself. Hekatra's reduction in loyalty stopped as it seemed to be ever slowly recovering. So, he planned to ask it later, once Hekatra's loyalty towards him surpassed whatever inhibition or reason she held.
He didn't wish to do anything that prevented an increase in loyalty.
So, after some thought, he asked with mild hesitation, "Why were you planning to capture us?"
Upon seeing that there wasn't any reduction in loyalty, he sighed in relief, watching Hekatra bow as she said, "It was to obtain a human body for our Great Emperor's son."
"What does that mean?" Compass Carburettor asked in return while his heart thumped, clearly understanding based on his experience in reading countless system novels, 'It's here, Regriel's plot!'
Hekatra hesitated for a moment before she looked at herself, sighing as she began to speak, "There is something called a Warble. It is a treasure we created that operates similar to a Transcendent's Darble Horn."
"A Transcendent's Darble Horn?" To avoid him expressing his ignorance every single time, Compass Carburettor nudged Duchess, causing her to ask on his behalf.
Right as she asked, a horn grew from Hekatra's forehead, "Once a human attains Transcendence, he/she grows a Darble Horn on their forehead. And the state of Transcendence doesn't give any increase in the quantity of Darlac in your body."
"1000 Darlac, that's the limit contained in the human body. No matter what we do, we can never increase this reserve. Those below this limit are regular Warriors and Puppeteers. And those that attain this limit are called Transcendents." Hekatra said.
"Then, why are they called Transcendents?" Duchess asked, expressing her curiosity.
"Since you are a Dungeon Monster, you wouldn't have known about it." Hekatra continued to talk, "The reason Transcendents are called as such is that they are no longer bound to an Armament or Puppet upon attaining this state of being. They can use their Darlac reserves as they wish."
She caused her hand to emit a yellowish-white radiance, condensing a projection of her hand using her energy blade, extending it in size to grab a rock and crush it into powder. She then varied it in size as she deemed fit, "This is my power as a Warrior that reached Transcendence. My energy blade is called the Energy Hand. I can condense a pair of hands using my Darlac and can use them as I deem fit. There is no State like in an Armament. I can freely modify my Energy Hand as I want."
"And," After retracting her Energy Hand, she condensed the figure of a Haggon—energy blade form—beside her using her Darlac, "And, this is my power as a Puppeteer that reached Transcendence. I can create a puppet of a Haggon to use freely. Though, there is no practical use in this power. After all, I can achieve anything I need using my Energy Hand itself. As this Haggon Puppet is in essence still an energy blade, it doesn't have any weight. So, it cannot exhibit any force."
"Though, it is still useful in multitasking," She smiled, condensing five Haggon Puppets around her, "A Puppeteer's limit is five Puppets. And as a Transcendent, I can control five of them, thanks to my talent."
She then caused the Haggon Puppets to shrink or enlarge, "There are more uses to a Puppet too, but I am more inclined to use my Energy Hand since it gets the job done the quickest. And, if I wish, I can still use a regular Armament or Puppet. Only when my Darble Horn appears on my forehead is when I activate my powers as a Transcendent."
'Incredible!' Compass Carburettor was amazed, clearly understanding that Hekatra was holding back while trying to capture them before. After all, based on what she had said, she was also able to increase the strength of her energy blade. Meaning, Duchess wouldn't have been able to break out of her Energy Hand had she not underestimated them to be regular humans.
'We were just Lucky.' He sighed.
