SSS-Class Awakening: Gacha Summoning System

Chapter 23: Aftermath

"Who are you?"

Arianna asked probingly.

Looking at her, she was certain she had never seen this person before, despite having lived in Reinett Village her entire life.

"I’m Ryven’s companion. If you want to know who I am, ask him."

Samminah replied calmly. She didn’t even spare Arianna a glance before turning away.

She had already helped enough and did not want to attract any more attention. So without waiting for her respond, she left without anyone notice, thanks to her concealment ability.

Arianna frowned slightly at such a dismissive attitude. Still, she could not ignore the fact that there was someone that has the abilities capable of affecting the soul.

After all, there was no one in the village possessed such abilities.

Only the artifact they have, Soul purification was the only thing they have revolving about the souls.

Thinking about it, Arianna let out a soft sigh.

"This must be one of the Red Troll’s abilities. I should’ve known better."

It was her first time fighting a Fifth-Stage troll, so such information was very valuable.

Because in the future if a Red Troll appears again they would be much more prepared.

Her gaze then shifted back toward the battlefield, her expression turning gloomy at the sight before her.

Corpses littered the ground while the scent of blood filled the air.

To lift some of their spirit up, Arianna spoke to everyone announcing a reward.

"Burn every corpse, including the bodies of the fallen. Those who are injured should immediately head to the medics."

"Everyone who participated in the battle will receive one thousand five hundred merit points each."

"For those people who died, have their relatives get each one thousand five hundred merit points."

Even after hearing the reward, neither the guards nor the hunters looked happy. The deaths of their companions made their emotions numb.

Although they had long accepted that casualties were inevitable, truly facing such losses was another matter entirely.

"How am I supposed to tell his wife about this...?"

One man knelt beside a corpse whose eyes still remained open.

The fallen hunter had a family waiting for him, and now someone would have to bear the burden of delivering the heartbreaking news.

He wasn’t the only one facing that burden. Nearly half of the survivors shared the same responsibility.

An hour passed quietly.

Inside the Medic Hall, a young man with ordinary dark hair lay unconscious on a soft bed while several healers continuously treated his injuries.

"This outsider actually managed to hold back a Fourth-Stage creature by himself."

"Maybe the chief was right. Perhaps he really could help the village in the future."

The healers quietly discussed among themselves.

As time passed, he gradually regained consciousness.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. Even such a simple action felt incredibly difficult, as though his entire body had gone numb.

What happened to my body...?

Ryven could clearly sense his surroundings, yet he found himself unable to move properly.

Recalling the battle, he finally realized he had suffered an intense backlash from using Beast Transformation.

Helpless, he could only remain lying down and wait for his body to recover.

At that moment, the door suddenly opened.

"The three of you may leave. There are still many injured people outside who need treatment."

"I’ll be the one who will take care of him."

Samminah entered the room, calmly conjuring five Moon Luminescence orbs around herself as she spoke.

The healers were momentarily stunned upon seeing her. It was impossible not to recognize Samminah after the battle.

Not only had she helped stop the awakening of a Sixth-Stage abomination, but her strength had also left a deep impression on everyone present.

"A-as you wish."

The healers respectfully bowed before quickly leaving the room.

The moment they left, the five spheres of moonlight drifted toward Ryven and wrapped around his body like a gentle mist.

Ryven, who remained fully conscious, immediately felt the changes within his body.

The pain throughout his body slowly faded, while the exhausted muscles and damaged muscle tissue also recovered rapidly.

Samminah then sat beside him. She let out a soft yawn while stretching her alluring body.

"Do you know? Although the aftermath of the battle doesn’t look too bad, the situation is actually far more severe than it seems."

Samminah continued speaking, not expecting Ryven to fully respond in his current condition.

"Hmm... I haven’t told you about the images I saw in the two caves we explored. Both of them may be connected to the inheritance of an evil God... or perhaps a Goddess."

As she spoke, Samminah began recounting everything she had seen, along with the conclusions she had drawn from the symbols.

"More importantly, when I said the current situation is severe, I wasn’t exaggerating. That Fifth-Stage abomination is most likely only the beginning."

"I’m certain it won’t be the last one to attack the village."

As she spoke, the image of the grinning black figure inside the cave resurfaced in her mind.

The possibility that entity was manipulating the horde of abominations was extremely high. Back in the cave, the vision had clearly shown a village surrounded by countless abominations.

And that village was most likely Reinett Village itself.

Half an hour later, with Samminah continuously healing him, Ryven finally managed to speak properly.

"I-if that’s the case... Then we need to find a way to leave this place... And transmigrate somewhere else."

Ryven’s voice was weak, and each word seemed to take great effort.

Samminah furrowed her brows.

"You make it sound easy." She said with a long sigh.

"Reinett Village has existed here for centuries, yet they’ve only found a few clues about escaping this place."

Hearing that, Ryven gave a weak smile.

"But we found something."

"The prophecy you saw... Maybe killing that entity is the key to leaving this place."

As they continued talking, Ryven’s voice gradually became clearer.

When he was about to open his mouth again, the door suddenly opened. A man with a scar on his face stepped inside. Instructor Lawrence.

"Oh? Your companion is here."

Instructor Lawrence spoke with slight surprise. There was also clear admiration in his tone. Without Samminah’s help earlier, the Red Troll might have truly evolved into a Sixth-Stage abomination.

As Ryven checked his condition, he could still feel the lingering weakness throughout his body from the battle.

"Is there anything you need here?" He asked weakly.

Instructor Lawrence pulled a chair over and sat across from the two of them. His expression immediately turned serious.

"Since the two of you seem to know quite a lot, there’s one thing I’d like to ask."

He leaned back slightly before staring directly at Ryven.

"I just want to ask, how did you able to activate her ability. Beast Transformation causing you to be at this miserable state."

Ryven stayed silent for a moment. After pondering briefly, he let out a helpless sigh.

He already realized this ability could no longer stay hidden.

"You could say it’s one of my abilities."

Ryven answered vaguely, deliberately avoiding the details.

"Is that so...? What a peculiar ability you have."

He spoke with genuine interest. After a moment, however, he simply shrugged and changed the subject.

"In return, I’ll answer the question you asked earlier, Ryven."

"That sudden invasion was completely beyond our expectations. We neither anticipated nor prepared for an attack on that scale."

"That’s why the casualties became so severe."

"If we had enough time to prepare more artifacts beforehand, the losses would’ve been much lower."

Samminah, who had remained quiet until now, suddenly spoke.

"Then why didn’t the village chief participate in the battle?"

Instructor Lawrence coughed lightly before replying.

"That’s exactly the problem. He couldn’t leave."

"Marquel had to personally inspect the statue that requires sacrifices."

"The concealment barrier was still functioning properly, which makes this whole situation even stranger. A horde of abominations should never have been able to detect the village."

Samminah and Ryven exchanged glances but remained silent.

After all, Samminah’s earlier suspicion was still only a theory.

If there truly was an anomaly controlling the abominations behind the scenes, then the situation was far more dangerous than they initially thought.

Neither of them wanted to worsen everyone’s worries without concrete proof.

Before anyone could continue speaking, the door suddenly opened again, this time it was much louder. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

Bang!

The broken door flew straight into the wall.

"Hey you! What is this nonsense I’m hearing about you using my ability?!"

Suddenly Lady Arianna appeared in the room, immediately grabbing Ryven by the collar.

Naturally, he groaned in pain since his body had yet to fully recover.

Samminah’s expression instantly turned cold.

"Let go of him."

"He’s still very injured."

Instructor Lawrence also frowned slightly.

"She’s right. Also without that ability of his, the left side would’ve suffered far heavier casualties."

Hearing the two sides pressuring words, Arianna was unbothered. However seeing Ryven’s pathetic state he threw him back.

Ryven coughed immediately trying to speak.

He first inspected her condition and was shocked. Even after fighting a Fifth-Stage abomination, Arianna had only sustained minor injuries.

Only after confirming that there was nothing seriously wrong with her body did he finally answer.

"It’s an ability of mine. I can temporarily use it for only about an hour."

After finally hearing the explanation, Arianna’s expression eased slightly, though she still looked displeased. At the very least, she no longer seemed like she was about to devour him alive like earlier.

"If you ever use that ability to copy mine again without permission, I’ll personally make sure you won’t walk for a month."

She spoke fiercely, without the slightest hint of joking. Ryven felt goosebumps all over his body before quickly nodding.

After dealing with Ryven, Arianna couldn’t help but shift her gaze toward Samminah.

Unlike the way she treated Ryven, the look in her eyes toward Samminah carried clear interest and admiration.

She was extremely curious about her origins. freёwebnovel.com

Perhaps if Samminah had been the one to use Beast Transformation, she wouldn’t even complain.

Just as Arianna was about to speak, Ryven suddenly interrupted.

"Uhm... You’ve explored the map before, right?"

"Can you tell me what you saw inside the three massive holes located in the west, east, and north parts of the map?"