Chapter 852: Limited Slots, First Come, First Served

Shrouded in a blood-red mist, Shinji walked forward. Wherever he passed, stakes, broken branches, and debris were swept aside.

Sensing the threat, the Crimson Fruit extended vein-like tendrils, attempting to escape. However, the previous wave of Myriad Stakes Return to the Source had already sealed off all paths. The fruit, which was essentially a concentrated essence of blood, lacked the power to force its way through; it could only wait for the human who had once destroyed it to arrive.

Any trembling or struggling was futile. From the moment it chose to devour its offspring, exposing itself to Arcueid and Shinji, its fate was sealed—whether it was the Forest of Einnashe or Child of Einnashe, both had to be eradicated.

Shinji, radiating a crimson aura, continued his advance. His pace could only be described as ordinary, far from the swift movements he had displayed when battling the Shadow Servant. Yet, the power and oppressive force emanating from him were undeniable, especially by Arcueid, the provider of the vampiric impulse. This was the kind of overwhelming destructive force that stood at the pinnacle of the world of mysteries.

Combined with the earlier Myriad Stake, this destruction was enough to silence any doubts and elevate Shinji to the rank of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors. Strength, after all, is a more powerful argument than any words!

Of course, this was a secondary goal. The primary objective was to consume as much of Arcueid's vampiric impulse as possible. The fewer vampiric impulses remain, the less mental energy is needed to suppress them, and more energy could be allocated to Marble Phantasm. A True Ancestor unburdened by the vampiric impulse is a true deity in the modern world, not just the tip of the iceberg—the iceberg being concealed by a sea of blood.

When the wave of vampiric impulse had noticeably receded, and when Arcueid's emotions, transmitted through their connection, became lighter, Shinji knew it was time to stop. Continuing would only start to drain Arcueid's mental strength, which would be counterproductive.

He deliberately retracted his outwardly projected power, condensing the remaining vampiric impulse into a large hand, which he used to grasp the struggling Crimson Fruit from a distance, holding it tightly in his palm, leaving no room for external interference.

The captured Crimson Fruit seemed to realize its fate and struggled even more violently as if declaring—If I can't live, I won't let you have it easy either.

Shinji, however, was straightforward. He swiftly returned to Arcueid's side and tossed the fruit into her hands, letting her handle the troublesome object:

"How do you use this thing? Do I just swallow it?"

"Don't swallow it. Drinking my blood would be less disgusting if you're going to turn into a vampire. I'd say my blood is far superior."

"Is there no other use for it? If the legendary fruit of immortality only has this one use, then I might as well sell it to Lorelei or Miss Rozay-en over there."

Scratching his cheek in frustration, Shinji couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed, even though Kayneth had already explained this to him once.

The two women who were mentioned reacted differently. Lorelei instinctively bit her index finger, weighing the pros and cons, while Rozay-en eagerly agreed:

"Sure, sure, I've always been interested in the Crimson Fruit. Sell it to me, I promise you won't be disappointed."

Arcueid brought the fruit up to her eyes, carefully examining it with her golden irises. After some time, she finally spoke:

"There are indeed other uses. The fruit contains a tremendous amount of life force, which can be used as a mana furnace to construct a temple or the life force can be extracted to improve a human's physical constitution."

"Improve physical constitution?"

Shinji's eyes lit up. Just a few days ago, he had been worrying about strengthening Waver's body to prevent him from overworking himself to an early grave.

"How do you do it? Is it complicated?"

"It's not complicated; it's quite simple—like this—"

As she spoke, Arcueid extended a finger and made a small cut on the surface of the fruit. A thick, red liquid began to seep out. She then touched the liquid with her finger, and it instantly evaporated, leaving behind a colorless mist that swirled around.

With a flick of her finger, the mist touched Shinji's body and vanished in an instant.

Shinji looked at the spot where the mist had disappeared, then scanned his body with his mental energy, puzzled:

"Is that it?"

"That's it."

"Why don't I feel any change?"

Indeed, Shinji didn't feel any enhancement in his body.

"Of course, there's no change."

Altrouge responded matter-of-factly, "Every enhancement has its limits. Your body has already been strengthened to its utmost potential. Unless you give up being human, no amount of further enhancement will make a difference."

A logical answer. Humans do have limits; otherwise, more people would aspire to transcend humanity. In this land of Europe, many of the most powerful heroes have non-human blood, which allows them to surpass human limits. (This is why Hector, born a mortal, could never defeat Achilles.)

Even though Shinji had inherited Scathach's legacy and benefited from the Golden Apple, his essence remained human. He possessed no non-human traits (he had rejected the opportunity to become non-human by refusing Acueid's blood). To have strengthened his body to this extent was already remarkable. Breaking through further would require a fundamental transformation of his life essence—a feat that would be no easier than becoming a magus. It's akin to the way Hector, a human hero, could only run when faced with the demigod Achilles. Throughout history, how many pure humans have truly broken through their limits?

"In that case, I don't need it then. Use it to strengthen him."

Shinji pointed directly at Waver.

"Wait—me?"

Waver was taken aback, not fully processing what was happening before Arcueid had extracted a large amount of life force and flung it in his face.

The Crimson Fruit, having been bled so much, visibly shriveled, its struggles weakening significantly. Correspondingly, Waver's complexion improved dramatically, thanks to the concentrated essence of countless blood and flesh from the Forest of Einnashe.

Shinji observed his now rosy-cheeked friend and nodded in satisfaction: "Not bad, not bad. You finally look presentable. Wearing red clothes and black-framed glasses with such a poor complexion was embarrassing for our entire community of scrying magus."

"Though I don't fully understand what you're saying—thank you."

Feeling the surge of energy within his body, Waver was genuinely moved. A healthy body is the foundation of everything, and everyone present understood the significance of this gift.

Shinji smiled slightly, then asked Arcueid, "Can he be strengthened further?"

"No."

Arcueid shook her head.

"Enhancement also depends on the person's foundation. His foundation is too weak; this is as far as he can go."

"I see."

Shinji calculated the amount Waver had consumed and compared it to the remaining volume of the fruit. The smile on his face grew wider.

"This thing is in high demand. Keeping it on hand isn't safe, so why not use it all at once? Does anyone want a body upgrade? Limited slots, first come, first served. Once it's gone, it's gone!"

In an instant, nearly everyone's breathing became noticeably heavier.