Level Eater
Chapter 168

Without any lightning strikes, they safely flew on Jeanne to the middle of the lake, and everyone disembarked on the small island using the same method as before.

Just then, dark clouds began to gather in the sky, so Tatsuro and the others hurriedly took shelter inside the stone structure.

Then Tatsuro approached the pedestal and touched it with his hand, partly to confirm whether the fish requirement had been cleared.

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Item Box contains the specified material.

Do you wish to offer it to the dungeon?

Yes / No

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"How is it? Was that correct?" (Ai)

"Yeah. We've avoided coming away empty-handed." (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro answered Ai's question while selecting "Yes," and particles emerged from him and were absorbed into the pedestal.

Then, the fish image engraved on the pedestal disappeared.

"One more to go, right?" (Ai)

"But we have no idea where that last one is." (Tatsuro)

"Even if we leave it for tomorrow, I can't imagine where it might be." (Ai)

"Since we had a snake in the lake and a fish in the forest, could the fruit be somewhere in between?" (Leah)

"We haven't looked there yet, have we?" (Ai)

However, between the forest and the lake, the reddish-brown ground only had a bit of grass growing, and from what they could see, there was nothing there.

So, it made more sense to think it might be in an unexplored part of the forest.

As they discussed this, Ai's stomach suddenly growled, so they put the conversation aside and began preparing dinner.

Today's dish was simmered moray eel. — Or something similar to it.

Actually, it wasn't the giant moray eel, but a smaller moray eel-like monster. Ai remembered it was listed in the edible monster encyclopedia, so she had Tatsuro analyze it. The result showed that the moray eel they defeated this time was also safe to eat.

So they cut out only the meat and had Tatsuro store it in his [Item Box].

Leah, with a cookbook in hand, cheerfully cooked it together with Nana. That's how it went.

"Mm~ It's delicious!" (Leah)

"You're right. I thought it would be more earthy based on its appearance, but it's actually quite delicious as an ingredient." (Ai)

"The texture is firm, and I was surprised by how tasty it was when I tasted it." (Tatsuro)

"I helped too!" (Nana)

"Ah, thank you." (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro patted Nana's head as she sat on his lap, replenishing her magic power.

By the way, Cardina and the others had their magic power fully replenished by Tatsuro while the cooking was going on, so they were now energetically keeping watch around the area.

Once their stomachs were full and the human group had recovered, they brought up the topic of portable houses that Tatsuro and Ai had discussed earlier and consulted with Leah about it.

"A house? I'm fine with our current tent. It's comfortable to sleep in." (Tatsuro)

"Well, that may be true, but if we could carry a house around, it would be more relaxing for us too. There are benefits for us as well, so don't worry about it." (Ai)

"I see... But if you told other adventurers about carrying a house around, they'd laugh and think it was a joke." (Leah)

Typically, many adventurers have [Item Box], but they only use SP for the bare minimum of luggage.

In such a world, if you were to suggest carrying a house in an [Item Box], you might even be thought of as crazy.

"Well, it would definitely take up space in the [Item Box], and normally people don't keep expanding it obsessively to the point where they have room to spare after putting a house in." (Tatsuro)

"How far have you expanded your [Item Box], Tatsuro-san?" (Leah)

"+5. But lately, I've been putting in a lot of ingredients and growing them, and SP accumulates quickly since we entered this dungeon, so I'm thinking of expanding it again. I'm also curious about what functions will be added in the future." (Tatsuro)

"Functions? I think I heard that when you reach +10, you get an upper-level skill for the [Item Box]." (Leah)

"An upper-level skill? I didn't think there were upper or lower levels for item storage skills." (Tatsuro)

"Apparently, if you get the upper-level skill, it has unlimited capacity, and you can not only speed up or slow down time but even stop it. But well, that's just what they say, and no one has actually seen it, so I think it's probably just a rumor that spread... What's wrong? Both of you?" (Leah)

""..................""

The two who had been listening to Leah's explanation were staring at each other in silence.

Unlimited capacity and the ability to stop time. If this were really possible, it would be a dream skill that could store unlimited amounts of food, monster materials, equipment, and even houses.

As they say, where there's smoke, there's fire. The possibility might not be zero.

"Hey, Tatsuro. How much SP do you have now?" (Ai)

"Right now, I have (280). To expand to +10, it would take (45), so I have more than enough." (Tatsuro)

"Wait, both of you! It's not even certain if such a thing really exists!" (Leah)

Leah, worried that Tatsuro might waste his SP on something that might turn out to be useless, hurriedly tried to stop them.

However, for Tatsuro and the others, (45) SP in this dungeon was equivalent to about one giant moray eel sleeping under the lake bottom soil.

They could easily recover it, and even if this upper-level skill didn't appear, expanding to +10 would make storing a house or two insignificant.

Moreover, to be honest, they wanted to find out for sure whether this story was true or not.

Having the ability to get it but constantly wondering what would happen if they did was more detrimental to their mental stability.

When they explained this to Leah, she said that if the two wouldn't regret it because of her words, she would stop trying to prevent them. ...Or rather, Leah herself wanted to know the answer.

"Alright, I'm going to get it. Is that okay, Ai?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah. With time stopped, we can eat moray eel dishes as much as we want!" (Ai)

"Well... you two are really faithful to your food desires, aren't you?" (Leah)

"Well, we had scarce food supplies right after we came here. I think it's a reaction to that." (Tatsuro)

Saying that Tatsuro opened the system and started expanding the [Item Box].

+6 (Erase), +7 (Recycle), +8 (Extract Components), +9 (Duplicate), each adding functions while consuming SP, and finally, +10 (Condition met for conversion to upper-level skill) appeared.

"There is an upper-level skill!" (Tatsuro)

"Yes!" (Ai)

"Really?!" (Leah)

"Yeah, it's written in the function addition section, so there's no mistake. I'm going to get it." (Tatsuro)

"Yeah!" (Ai)

"Yes!" (Leah)

Tatsuro, receiving expectant gazes from the two, expanded to +10.

Then, where [Item Box] was written in the skill acquisition section, {Infinite Item Field} was displayed.

However, a slight problem arose here.

"A skill called [Infinite Item Field] has appeared, but it seems to require (100) SP to acquire..." (Tatsuro)

"A hundred?!" (Ai)

"A h-hundred?!" (Leah)

"Yeah. But it seems to come with unlimited capacity and free internal time setting as a bonus, in addition to the additional functions we've gained through [Item Box] expansion. — So, Ai. What should we do?" (Tatsuro)

"After coming this far, we have no choice but to get it! I'll work hard to gather the SP we've spent here!" (Ai)

"You're right. We can't turn back now, and we'll earn a hundred in no time!" (Tatsuro)

So Tatsuro, half in desperation, set out to acquire the skill.

As they were making such a fuss, Cardina and the others, who had been keeping watch, became curious about what was going on and gathered around.

|You have acquired the title [Storage Maniac].|

"That's none of your business!" (Tatsuro)

"What's wrong all of a sudden?" (Ai)

"Ah, sorry. It seems I got a new title, [Storage Maniac], when I acquired [Infinite Item Field]." (Tatsuro)

"Ahaha! So even the system recognizes it that way." (Ai)

While Ai was laughing and saying that, Tatsuro checked what kind of title it was.

This is what was written:

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Title: Storage Maniac

Rarity: 15

Effect: Grants 1 duplication point per day

Limited to party members of the title holder:

• Additional +5 to [Item Box].

• Ability to send and receive items within the above-expanded range.

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"Everyone, can you open your system and take a look?" (Tatsuro)

At Tatsuro's sudden words, everyone fell silent and opened their systems. — Then.

"...Huh? My [Item Box] has gone from +2 to +7!" (Ai)

"Mine has changed from [Item Box] to [Item Box +5] as well!" (Nana)

"Mine's the same as Nana-nee. How about you, Leah?" (Athena)

"I don't even remember getting an [Item Box], but [Item Box +4] has been added..." (Leah)

"Pewee—" (Cardina)

"Neigh—" (Jeanne)

"The ladies say they're the same as Leah. Father, what is this..." (Nana)

Amidst voices of confusion and joy at this unprecedented [Item Box] fever, Tatsuro explained the effects of the title: Storage Maniac to everyone.

"That's — it's not just amazing, is it?! If this information spreads, we might see [Item Box] specialists in adventurer parties from now on." (Leah)

"Maybe. But the SP needed to get Storage Maniac is (199), which would be level 67 if you earned it just by leveling up. Considering barriers like level 50, it's not something an ordinary person could do." (Tatsuro)

"Just [Item Box], with all other skills acquired by yourself, sounds pretty tough. And after all that effort, being the baggage carrier for the party members... There might be plenty of people who want that in their party, but I wouldn't want to do it." (Leah)

"I wouldn't want to either." (Ai)

"Me neither." (Tatsuro)

In the sense of being an unsung hero, it might sound quite good, but it's just too plain. Since there's no one here who would willingly take on such a role, there's no sympathy for it.

And now, Tatsuro turned his attention to the point of being able to send and receive items.

With this, Tatsuro first took out paper and a pen from the [Infinite Item Field], wrote "Did it arrive? by Tatsuro" in Japanese, and stored it again.

Then he brought up the list of stored items, selected the memo he had just written, set Ai as the recipient, and tried sending it. Almost instantly, Ai received a notification.

|One item has been added to your [Item Box].|

"Oh? Let's see, it's this one. Come forth, piece of paper~ — Yep, it arrived properly!" (Ai)

Ai held up the handwritten memo that Tatsuro had just put into the [Infinite Item Field] for everyone to see.

Even Leah, a resident of this world, had never heard of directly sending items to someone else's [Item Box], so she was as surprised as everyone else.

"We can use this like email. Ai, try writing something and sending it from your end as a test." (Tatsuro)

"Got it~" (Ai)

"I want to try too!" (Leah)

"Pewee" (Cardina)

"Neigh" (Jeanne)

"Me too!" (Nana)

"..................Um, me too..." (Athena)

"Alright, alright. I'll distribute paper and pens to everyone so we can use this in the future. Put them in your [Item Box]." (Tatsuro)

So everyone in the group exchanged letters back and forth, and after confirming that there were no problems, they experimented with unnecessary items to see if anything changed based on distance or quantity.

By the way, since Cardina and Jeanne couldn't hold pens, Tatsuro created tools that could be fixed to their feet, which Leah further adjusted. Although the writing was a bit shaky, they were able to write letters.

Also, as they checked the new functions gained from the [Item Box] expansion, they found that:

Erase is the power to delete any item in the {Item Box}.

Recycle is the ability to convert unwanted items into relatively inexpensive resources like iron or copper that have been stored in your [Item Box] before.

Extract Components is a function that extracts and collects components from items in the [Item Box]. For example, if you extract components from blood, you can collect just water or iron.

Finally, Duplicate is a function that copies and generates the same resources that are in the [Item Box].

Since it's about resources, monster materials can be copied, but weapons or armor made from them cannot be duplicated. Furthermore, this is done using energy obtained from the Erase function of the [Item Box], so it's necessary to use it repeatedly to accumulate duplication points.

By the way, one duplication point allows for one duplication, and to accumulate one point, you need to erase a large amount of garbage or valuable materials, so the daily grant of one point from Storage Maniac is quite an exceptional effect.

"Wow, it got a lot of functions. But there are so many, I'm not sure which ones to use." (Tatsuro)

"Well, we'll just have to use them bit by bit and get used to them." (Ai)

"I thought [Item Box] was just a convenient function for storing items." (Leah)

"When you expand the functions this much, it's practically something else entirely." (Athena)

"Well, it's not like having too many is a problem. And I'm honestly happy that my capacity increased too." (Nana)

"Pewee" (Cardina)

"Neigh" (Jeanne)

Cardina and the others also seemed happy to have gotten [Item Box] without consuming SP.

And so, with various thoughts in each of their minds, the day passed with lively chatter until Tatsuro and the others went to sleep.